Maddie Saves the Phoenix

 Maddie twirled around one more time for good measure, and then bowed. “And then
the magic hat should have a bunny inside.”

Her stuffed animals said nothing as they looked on. Maddie reached inside the hat
and felt all around it. No bunny. Hmm maybe her animals were right. She didn’t know how to use the magic set William got for his birthday. He wasn’t using it so maybe it would work for her.

Nope.

Her super stupendous backyard magic show was not going well.

Maddie tapped her chin, looked around, and then zoomed over to the old playhouse where her magic wand was hidden. She checked for Mom and William before zooming back to her toys.

“All right, Whaley, Sharky, Harold, and Bob. Now it’s time for a real magic trick.” Maddie closed her eyes and waved her wand, picturing a rabbit coming out of the
hat. “Abracadabra!”

She opened one eye to see if it had worked, and a bunny popped out. She’d done it.
“Look! I did it. Hey, where are you going?”

 It wasn’t just the bunny in the hat that had appeared. All of her stuffed animals
were real now, and they were running—or swimming—all over her backyard. Maddie
knew she could make an excuse for how a kitten or puppy showed up, but Mommy
would probably notice a whale and shark floating in the air.

“Uh, guys? Let’s put you back, okay? Sharky, hey, Sharky get back here! No, don’t chase Whaley. He’s your friend.” Maddie went charging after them, wand waving as she ran. She shot a spark at the whale and it dropped to the ground, happy and stuffed. One down.

Sharky was a little harder to catch. Trees, birds, and even a telephone pole ended up
as a stuffed animal on her lawn. Maddie pushed up her sleeves, and stomped over
to where Sharky was hiding behind Mommy’s favorite tree and aimed carefully.

A pop sounded behind her and Maddie spun to see Eoin, her favorite leprechaun appear.
The spell she’d planned for the shark hit Eoin instead, turning him into a small stuffed leprechaun.

“Oops.” Maddie squeezed her eyes shut and thought of her grumpy friend, then waved her wand. “Oh good. You’re back. Hey, why do you have a tail?”

Eoin glared at her before snapping his fingers. “Why is there a giant shark floating
behind the tree?”

“Well, I wanted a bunny—”

“Never mind. I don’t think I want to know.” Eoin snapped his fingers again and the
shark fell to the grass as a stuffed shark. “Just when I think you’ve mastered the wand, I come and see what you just did.”

“Yeah, I should probably not play with this.” Maddie looked toward her hiding place,
then back at Eoin. “I could put it away, but then I wouldn’t be able to help you.”

Eoin scratched his beard. “I suppose you’re right. I’m in need of your help to save a Phoenix.”

Maddie blinked. “A what?”

“A phoenix. You met one in the Fairy world, once.” Eoin stopped and looked at the
lawn around him. “Are all of these things supposed to be stuffed?”

“No, they got in my way while I was trying to change Sharky back.” Maddie tipped her
head. “Wait, when did we meet the phoenix?”

“When we were trying to save the mermaid.” Eoin snapped his fingers and a whoosh sound happened as all the birds and trees and telephone poles went back to how they
were before.

Maddie clapped her hands. “I remember now! They can start on fire!”

“Yes, that one.” He put his fingers in his mouth and whistled.

A moment later, a unicorn appeared, full-sized instead of miniature like it usually was.
Muffins whinnied and trotted over to Maddie.

“You’re here! Yay! Now it really is time for an adventure. But wait. It’s missing
something.”

Eoin looked at her confused. “What do you mean?”

“I know! Glitter!” Maddie swirled her wand around and poof! Muffins had a pretty
purple tail covered in glitter. “See? Just like th—oops!”

Eoin was also covered head to toe in glitter. He snapped his fingers to get rid of it, then poofed himself up onto Muffins. Maddie climbed up next and settled in. “Ready? Set?
Go!