involving baby ducks.
“I will just help bring the little baby ducklings safely to Earth then I will come, OK, Melanie,” he said guiltily behind his hand.
“No, it’s not OK, Obi! I need you to leave NOW!”
The magician produced a cone of paper from inside his shirt. A puff of bright pink smoke came out. The crowd gave a little collective “Oooh!”
“It’s a trick!” I said desperately. “It isn’t real magic—”
“Obi!” Brice spoke in his coldest, most scary voice. “Listen to what Mel’s telling you. Do what she says, OK?”
Obi gave us a mean four-year-old’s glare and edged closer to the magician. If it had been Jade I’d have dragged her away screaming if necessary. But to do that I’d have to materialise.
“Too many humans,” Reuben said, reading my mind. “You’d cause a riot.”
It was mad! Our baby buddha was suddenly acting like a normal stroppy toddler and we had no clue how to handle him!
“Think!” Brice blazed. “There must be some way to disable this scumbag.”
“A net,” said Reuben. “An energy net. We can drop it over him.”
“Drop it over who ?” Brice sounded frantic. “It makes a difference.”
“Over the scumbag. Stop him sucking Obi into his energy field.”
We all frantically visualised a shimmery net, like a giant butterfly net floating down over the magician, but it just broke up into ugly-coloured pixels.
Brice swore. “It isn’t working. WHY isn’t it working?”
Reuben tugged at his dreads. “The creep’s plugged his energy system into Obi’s. He’s tapping into his bodhisattva energy and using it to fight us off.”
“Omigosh,” I wailed. “Then they’ve got him.”
“Because you are such a special little boy I’m going to let you use my magic powder,” the magician said in his wheedling voice. “I want you to put a little tiny sprinkle into this bowl.”
Throughout human history, the PODS have always used corrupted humans to do their dirty work for them, but I’ve never seen a human who adored being used as much as that magician.
Obi sprinkled very carefully and PING! A tiny jet black duckling was swimming in circles around the bowl.
He shot us a look of pure awe and delight. “Wow! I just made a baby duck!” he whispered from behind his hand.
“You haven’t finished yet!” the magician said, rubbing his hands. “We don’t want our little duckie to be all alone in the world, do we? He needs little friends. Can you count to two? Can you sprinkle twice more?”
His syrupy voice was so fake it would have made a puppy puke, but by this time Obi had totally lost touch with his own instincts.
“I can count LOADS more than that!” he said proudly.
I saw people smiling. The other street magicians had child assistants, but none of them was as cute as Obi.
Obi carefully sprinkled the magician’s powder once, then twice and PING! PING! there were now three teeny black ducklings swimming in tiny anxious circles.
Obi let out a shout of laughter, literally stomping with glee. “Now I made THREE!”
If you were four and hugely overexcited and you had some magic powder left, what would you do?
“I’m going to make just one more little baby duck,” Obi announced to the crowd.
“Obi, I swear if you don’t come with me I’m going to—!”
Beside myself with worry I actually tried to grab him. My hands went through him as if we were both made of clouds. Totally ignoring me Obi emptied the rest of the powder into the tub. Like teeny stones, the ducklings sank below the water leaving a single wispy feather floating on the surface.
Obi stared at it in disbelief. “Where are the little ducks?”
The magician was suddenly looming over Obi like a genie uncoiling from a bottle. “I said twice , you stupid child!” he hissed. “You made the magic go wrong!”
The colour drained from Obi’s face. “I didn’t mean to,” he whimpered. “I didn’t mean to make it go wrong.”
“It’s too late to be sorry,”
“I will just help bring the little baby ducklings safely to Earth then I will come, OK, Melanie,” he said guiltily behind his hand.
“No, it’s not OK, Obi! I need you to leave NOW!”
The magician produced a cone of paper from inside his shirt. A puff of bright pink smoke came out. The crowd gave a little collective “Oooh!”
“It’s a trick!” I said desperately. “It isn’t real magic—”
“Obi!” Brice spoke in his coldest, most scary voice. “Listen to what Mel’s telling you. Do what she says, OK?”
Obi gave us a mean four-year-old’s glare and edged closer to the magician. If it had been Jade I’d have dragged her away screaming if necessary. But to do that I’d have to materialise.
“Too many humans,” Reuben said, reading my mind. “You’d cause a riot.”
It was mad! Our baby buddha was suddenly acting like a normal stroppy toddler and we had no clue how to handle him!
“Think!” Brice blazed. “There must be some way to disable this scumbag.”
“A net,” said Reuben. “An energy net. We can drop it over him.”
“Drop it over who ?” Brice sounded frantic. “It makes a difference.”
“Over the scumbag. Stop him sucking Obi into his energy field.”
We all frantically visualised a shimmery net, like a giant butterfly net floating down over the magician, but it just broke up into ugly-coloured pixels.
Brice swore. “It isn’t working. WHY isn’t it working?”
Reuben tugged at his dreads. “The creep’s plugged his energy system into Obi’s. He’s tapping into his bodhisattva energy and using it to fight us off.”
“Omigosh,” I wailed. “Then they’ve got him.”
“Because you are such a special little boy I’m going to let you use my magic powder,” the magician said in his wheedling voice. “I want you to put a little tiny sprinkle into this bowl.”
Throughout human history, the PODS have always used corrupted humans to do their dirty work for them, but I’ve never seen a human who adored being used as much as that magician.
Obi sprinkled very carefully and PING! A tiny jet black duckling was swimming in circles around the bowl.
He shot us a look of pure awe and delight. “Wow! I just made a baby duck!” he whispered from behind his hand.
“You haven’t finished yet!” the magician said, rubbing his hands. “We don’t want our little duckie to be all alone in the world, do we? He needs little friends. Can you count to two? Can you sprinkle twice more?”
His syrupy voice was so fake it would have made a puppy puke, but by this time Obi had totally lost touch with his own instincts.
“I can count LOADS more than that!” he said proudly.
I saw people smiling. The other street magicians had child assistants, but none of them was as cute as Obi.
Obi carefully sprinkled the magician’s powder once, then twice and PING! PING! there were now three teeny black ducklings swimming in tiny anxious circles.
Obi let out a shout of laughter, literally stomping with glee. “Now I made THREE!”
If you were four and hugely overexcited and you had some magic powder left, what would you do?
“I’m going to make just one more little baby duck,” Obi announced to the crowd.
“Obi, I swear if you don’t come with me I’m going to—!”
Beside myself with worry I actually tried to grab him. My hands went through him as if we were both made of clouds. Totally ignoring me Obi emptied the rest of the powder into the tub. Like teeny stones, the ducklings sank below the water leaving a single wispy feather floating on the surface.
Obi stared at it in disbelief. “Where are the little ducks?”
The magician was suddenly looming over Obi like a genie uncoiling from a bottle. “I said twice , you stupid child!” he hissed. “You made the magic go wrong!”
The colour drained from Obi’s face. “I didn’t mean to,” he whimpered. “I didn’t mean to make it go wrong.”
“It’s too late to be sorry,”
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