The Zombie Baseball Adventure

Lily peered into her fishbowl, where Glimmer the goldfish swam in endless circles. Glimmer was no ordinary fish — on full moon nights, her scales shimmered like tiny stars.

"I wish my baseball would never get lost again," Lily whispered, tossing her ball into the backyard. Her fluffy dog, Barnaby, chased after it, tail wagging.

But when Barnaby returned, the ball wasn't in his mouth. It was rolling back across the grass ALL BY ITSELF.

Barnaby barked. The ball stopped, then rolled closer. AGAIN.

"It's a zombie baseball!" Lily gasped, remembering her older brother's video games. "It keeps coming back!"

The ball rolled right to her feet, bounced up, and landed in her glove. Lily threw it again. It returned. She threw it over the fence. Five minutes later, it appeared at her doorstep.

"This is amazing!" Lily laughed, throwing the ball twenty more times. Each time, her zombie baseball zoomed back like a boomerang.

Glimmer tapped her fishbowl with a tiny fin bubble. POP!

Lily rushed inside. Glimmer was floating at the top of her bowl, looking tired. The magical moon sparkles on her scales were fading.

"Oh no," Lily realized. "Magic comes with a price."

The zombie baseball slowed down. It stopped returning.

Lily's mom sliced fresh papaya for breakfast. "This fruit was special-ordered all the way from Hawaii," she said, placing a sunny yellow slice on Lily's plate.

Lily noticed something sparkle inside the papaya — a tiny moonlit scale!

"Glimmer's magic!" Lily whispered. She fed the papaya to Barnaby, who gobbled it happily. Then she carried Glimmer's bowl outside under the morning sun.

"Thank you, Glimmer," Lily said softly. "But you don't have to use your magic for me. Finding things myself is part of the adventure."

Glimmer swam a happy loop. Her sparkle returned.

That afternoon, Lily played baseball with Barnaby. When she threw the ball over the fence, she had to climb over and search through bushes until she found it.

And that was exactly how she liked it.