The Night Everything Woke Up

Ten-year-old Maya lay in bed watching the storm outside her window. FLASH! Lightning split the sky like a jagged crack in a dark purple canvas. She counted the seconds. One, two, three—BOOM!

Suddenly, her stuffed bear, Barnaby, twitched on her pillow. Maya blinked. Had she imagined that? She reached for her iPhone to use the flashlight, but before she could touch it, Barnaby sat up and shook his fuzzy brown head.

"Maya!" Barnaby whispered, his button eyes sparkling. "The lightning magic is here! It only happens once every hundred years!"

Maya's cat, Mistletoe, who had been sleeping at the foot of the bed, suddenly stretched and yawned. Then she stood on two legs and began to grow—until she was as tall as Maya!

"About time," Mistletoe said, her whiskers twitching with excitement. "We have a journey to make."

"Where?" Maya asked, her heart pounding with wonder.

"To the attic," Barnaby said, hopping off the bed. "Grandmother's pyramid box will show us the way."

Maya had never been allowed to touch the small crystal pyramid on her grandmother's dresser. But tonight, as lightning flashed again, the three friends crept up the stairs.

The pyramid was glowing softly. As Maya reached out, the pyramid projected tiny dancing lights into the air—images of magical forests, flying whales, and islands floating in the sky.

"The lightning has unlocked its magic," Barnaby whispered. "It shows us that imagination is the realst magic of all."

Maya looked at her stuffed bear, her now-giant cat, and the glowing pyramid. "This is the best adventure ever."

"And it's our secret," Mistletoe purred. "Because only those who believe in magic can see it."

As the storm passed and the first stars appeared, the three friends sat together watching the pyramid's magical lights dance, knowing that imagination would always keep their adventures alive—even after the magic faded away with the dawn.