The Cat Who Pitched Starlight

Lily sat alone on her front porch, her baseball glove resting beside her. She wanted to play, but all her friends were busy. Her mom had given her her old iphone to play games on, but Lily didn't want to stare at a screen. She wanted adventure.

That's when she saw the cat—a scruffy orange tabby with one white paw and eyes that sparkled like emeralds. The cat trotted up the driveway and dropped something at Lily's feet.

It was a baseball. But not just any baseball—this one glowed with a soft golden light.

"Meow," said the cat, and somehow Lily understood. *Pick it up.*

As soon as Lily's glove closed around the magical ball, her iphone began to buzz. When she looked at the screen, she gasped. It wasn't showing apps anymore. It was showing a baseball diamond made entirely of clouds, floating in a purple twilight sky.

"You can see it too?" asked a voice from behind her.

Lily turned to see Maya, a girl from her class she'd never really talked to before. Maya was holding her own phone, which showed the same shimmering cloud field.

"The cat brought you here too," Maya said, smiling. "His name is Whiskers, and he's the keeper of the Starlight League."

The orange cat purred proudly and then leaped into the air. But instead of coming down, he kept going—floating higher and higher until he landed on the cloud baseball diamond visible on their screens.

Lily and Maya looked at each other, then back at their phones. A glowing button appeared: PLAY BALL?

Together, they pressed it.

WHOOSH! In a swirl of stardust and sparkle, they found themselves standing on the cloud field. The cat was already there, wearing a tiny umpire's hat. Other magical creatures filled the bases—a rabbit on first, a squirrel on second, and a very serious owl waiting at home plate.

"Pitch!" called the cat.

Lily stepped onto the pitcher's mound. Maya crouched behind home plate. The ball in Lily's hand grew warm, then hot, then blazing with golden light.

She wound up and threw. The baseball soared through the air leaving a trail of sparkles like a shooting star. The owl swung his bat—a branch made of moonlight—and *CRACK!* The ball flew up, up, up until it became a real star, twinkling in the purple sky above.

"Beautiful," whispered Maya.

They played until the sky grew dark and each new star they created glowed brighter than the last. When the cat signaled that the game was over, he gave each girl a nose bump of approval.

Back on the porch, the iphone screen returned to normal. But when Lily looked up at the night sky, she saw several new stars shining especially bright.

"Same time tomorrow?" Maya asked.

"Definitely," said Lily.

The orange cat curled up beside them, purring as if to say: *Magic is better with friends.*