The Cat Who Caught Lightning

Emma loved her cat Muffin, even though Muffin was the most ordinary-looking cat in the world—orange fur that stuck up like a punk rocker, and messy hair that always looked like she'd just woken up.

But Emma knew Muffin's secret. On stormy nights, when lightning flashed across the sky, Muffin's wild hair would crackle with tiny sparks.

One evening, as thunder rumbled and Emma sat by her window watching the rain, Muffin suddenly jumped up, her fur standing straight up like she'd seen a ghost.

"Muffin? What's wrong?" Emma asked.

The cat meowed urgently and started running in circles around Emma's room, faster and faster. Then Emma saw it—tiny bolts of lightning dancing between Muffin's paws!

"You're magic!" Emma gasped.

Muffin darted to the window and tapped the glass with her nose. Outside, in the garden, Emma's little brother Timmy was crying. He'd dropped his favorite teddy bear down a storm drain, and the rain was washing it away.

Emma threw on her raincoat and grabbed her flashlight, running after Muffin into the rainy backyard. The drain was too deep to reach, and the water rushed fast.

Muffin stood on her hind legs and reached both paws into the drain. Her crazy hair crackled brighter than ever. ZAP! A bolt of mini lightning shot from her fur—straight into the drain!

The water bubbled and steamed, and suddenly Timmy's teddy bear popped up, floating as light as a feather!

Emma grabbed it just as Muffin collapsed, exhausted. Her hair was now flat and smooth.

"You're a superhero," Emma whispered, cuddling the sleepy cat.

Inside, Timmy hugged his teddy, never knowing how he'd been saved. But Emma knew—sometimes the most ordinary-looking friends have the most extraordinary magic inside them.