The Sphinx's Secret Vitamin

Lily loved swimming in her backyard pool more than anything. One hot afternoon, while doing cannonballs, she noticed something strange at the bottom of the pool. A golden sphinx statue was winking at her!

When she dove down to touch it, the water swirled into rainbow colors, and suddenly Lily was standing on a sandy island in the middle of a magical oasis. Tall palm trees swayed in the breeze, and the sphinx came to life!

"Welcome, young adventurer," the sphinx rumbled kindly. "I've been waiting for someone brave enough to help me."

"Help you with what?" Lily asked, squeezing water from her hair.

The sphinx led her behind the palm trees to a small cave. Inside sat a grumpy-looking zombie boy named Zed, but he wasn't scary at all—just sad.

"Zed isn't really a zombie," the sphinx explained. "He's under a grumpy spell because he never takes his magical sunshine vitamin!"

Lily approached Zed cautiously. "Why won't you take it?"

"Because it tastes like old socks!" Zed complained.

Lily had an idea. She raced back to the pool, grabbed her favorite juice box, and mixed the sunshine vitamin with the sweet fruit juice. "Try this!"

Zed took a sip and his eyes lit up. The grumpy green fog vanished, revealing a boy with bright orange hair and the biggest smile Lily had ever seen.

"Thank you!" Zed cheered. "I haven't felt this happy in forever!" He handed Lily a sparkling shell. "Now you can visit our magical island anytime you want."

That night, Lily floated in her pool, under the real stars, knowing that sometimes things that seem scary just need a little help—and a good friend—to show their true colors.