Quest for the Fire Rose - Part 2

          Suddenly, a small spotted mushroom at her feet began to wiggle and squirm. Willa stared at it, open-mouthed. It wasn't a mushroom at all! It was a little man! He was an old man, with a kind, wrinkled face and a long gray beard that very nearly touched his toes. His brown robes were tied firmly around his waist with a blade of grass and his mushroom cap looked as though it had simply grown there. Willa made a small noise of disbelief. Startled by the noise, the little man looked up at her, his small, wrinkled eyes widening in shock. He opened his mouth to say something but he never got the chance for, at that moment, Willa let out an ear-splitting scream and began to run as fast as she could away from the little mushroom-man. After a few minutes of running, Willa had to stop. She collapsed in the grass, shaking. "This can't be happening. This can't be happening," she said to herself over and over again. It was not the sudden appearance of the man that had frightened her. It was the fact that she recognized him...