Chapter 3:  Introducing Owen and Maddy

Kate touched down deep into the heart of an evergreen forest, just past a bubbling creek.  Just beyond lay a small cave.  She tucked her wings in and crawled into the tight opening.  Once inside, the cave seemed to inflate like a balloon.  She stretched her wings out before lying down.  The inside of the cave sparkled like glitter.  Small slits of light shot through the doorway and a couple of other holes made by burrowing creatures.  This was her favorite place, a place where she didn’t have to worry about Mama Bean, her brothers, endless chores, or humans that wanted to hurt her.  

“I so wish I could be human again, just for a day,” she muttered to herself.

“Mmmmm,” replied a small voice, “perhaps I can help you.”

The voice was so quiet that Kate wondered if the wind was playing tricks on her ears.  But then it came again.  “Hey!  Are you hard of hearing?”

Kate turned her head and knocked something small and furry into the cavern wall.  “UGH!”  A small chipmunk slowly picked himself up from the pebbly cave floor.  “Watch where you’re turning that pokey head of yours!”

A talking chipmunk?  Huh?

“Did you just talk?” Kate asked.

The chipmunk stomped up at Kate’s head.  He was no bigger than her eyeball.  “I said I might be able to help you out.  Seriously, I thought dragons had great hearing!”

Kate snorted.  “I do!  I’ve just never talked to a chipmunk before.”

“Ah!” replied Owen.  “But I’m not just a chipmunk. I am a great and powerful wizard!”

Kate snorted again, this time in laughter.  A blast of fire shot out of her nose, almost taking off the chipmunk’s fur.  “You?  A wizard?  For who?  Furry woodland animals?”

“I am Owen, the great and powerful!” The chipmunk stood on his hind legs and raised his arms.  Tiny bolts of lighting shot from his fingertips.  Kate couldn’t help but giggle.  

“Oooh!  Scary!” she mocked.

“Hey, now, don’t be hatin’,” snapped Owen.  “I’ve got lots of untapped powers that someday will help me become a wizard celebrity, just like The Great and Powerful Evan!”  Evan was known as the greatest wizard in the land, the one who lived in the magical city of Gavmerica.

“Prove it,” said Kate, wanting Owen to give her another laugh.  She was enjoying this.

“Alright, then watch this.”  He turned and pointed at a cavern mushroom clinging to the side of the cave.  He put himself into what looked like a yoga pose, arms stretched out with one leg back.  Two deep breaths.  Pause.  Two more deep breaths.  Then he spoke.  

“Fried Chicken and Waffles, Rat-a-tat-tat,

turn this mushroom into a flying bat!”

Poof!  A cloud of smoke appeared and then just as quickly vanished.  “Well, that didn’t work so well,” said Owen.  

Kate was laughing so hard that smoke blew out her ears.  She rolled on the floor clutching her stomach, tears in her eyes.  “Stop it,” she wheezed, “you’re making me laugh so hard it hurts!”

Where the mushroom once clung there was a bat.  A baseball bat.  With wings.  And eyes and a mouth.

“Wha?” the baseball bat gasped.  “What happened to me?”

This made Kate laugh even harder.  Owen the Powerful just looked frustrated.  He scowled at the bat.  “Now what exactly did I do wrong?”

The baseball bat flapped her wings and took off.  She flew around the room.  “This is much better than clinging to a cave wall, but why am I made of wood?”

“I was going for a vampire bat,” said Owen.

“Are you sure you weren’t going for an umpire bat?” laughed Kate.

“My name’s Maddy,” said the bat, “and I’m batty!”  She opened her mouth.  “And I’ve got fangs.”

Owen said that he could try to change Maddy into a real bat again, but both Kate and Maddy told him no.  Perhaps someone else could help, someone with more magical experience.  

When a dragon, a chipmunk, and a baseball bat start talking, big ideas are hatched.  “I hate being a dragon,” said Kate.  “I get bossed around, I have to do chores all day long, and I don’t ever get to hang out with my human friends anymore.  I am sure that if I were a person again, I would have the time of my life.”

“Well, I hate being a baseball bat,” said Maddy.  “This is just weird.”

“Now wait a sec,” said Owen, “I don’t want to be a chipmunk anymore, either.”

“What happened to you?” asked Kate.  “Weren’t you always a chipmunk?”

“A talking wizard chipmunk?  Yeah, right.” Owen chuckled.  “No, I was in my room.  I was told to clean it up.  I made up a magic saying and turned myself into this.  I guess ‘pick up’ and ‘chipmunk’ sound alike.”

“I guess,” frowned Kate. 

“I just want to return to my original all powerful wizard boy body so I can one day rule the world! Muhahahaha!”

Kate and Maddy just looked at each other.  “Yeaaaah.  Anyway, you mentioned Evan the Powerful,” Kate said.  “He’s a pretty smart dude, right?  Do you think he could help us?

“Perhaps,” answered Owen.  “He’s the ruler of this land.  Some say he’s a fair ruler.  Others say he’s a bit of a ham.  But he’s supposed to be the greatest of all wizards.  I guess.”

“Then that’s who we should go see,” said Maddy.