The Lightning Palm Tree

Cleo sat cross-legged beneath the swaying **palm** tree in her backyard, watching her pet **goldfish**, Sparkle, swim in tiny circles in her bowl. Beside her, Buster the **dog** thumped his tail against the grass, sensing something magical in the warm afternoon air.

"I wish you could swim in the ocean, Sparkle," Cleo whispered, pressing her **palm** against the rough bark of the palm tree. "You're too small for such big adventures."

Suddenly, dark clouds gathered overhead. CRACK! A bolt of **lightning** struck the palm tree, making its fronds glow with shimmering light. Cleo gasped as Sparkle's bowl began to float upward!

"Buster, look!" she cried.

But something even more amazing was happening. As the **lightning** danced around them, Sparkle began to grow larger and larger, until she was the size of a dolphin, gliding through the air as if it were water.

"Take me with you!" Cleo called, and Sparkie gently swooped down. Cleo climbed onto the goldfish's back, and Buster jumped up too, his fur sparkling with magic dust.

Together they soared through the sky, above the clouds, where other magical creatures played. They met star-whales and moon-birds, and Sparkie showed them the secret kingdom where all pets go to dream at night.

"Everyone deserves adventures," Sparkie said, her voice sounding like tiny bubbles. "No matter how small they seem."

As dawn approached, they returned home. Sparkie shrunk back to her normal size, swimming happily in her bowl. But now, whenever Cleo pressed her **palm** against the palm tree and Buster wagged his tail just right, she knew magic was near.

That night, Cleo fell asleep with a smile. Some things, she learned, are exactly the right size to carry the biggest magic of all — especially friendship.