Part 1 – Mimi's Silly Spell
Mimi was a very small witch.
She was only four years old.
She had a round purple hat.
She had tiny green boots that went,
“Tip tap, tip tap,”
when she walked on the floor.
Mimi lived in a cozy, happy forest.
The trees were soft and friendly.
The wind liked to whisper,
“Whoooosh, hello, Mimi!”
One sunny evening, Mimi sat on a little rock.
She held a shiny yellow spoon.
It was her magic spoon.
“I will make a spell,” Mimi said.
“A very, very silly spell!”
Her black cat, Bobo, curled up by her feet.
Bobo had one white paw and one silly ear
that always flopped down.
“Meow,” said Bobo.
“That sounds fun.”
Mimi thought and thought.
Her hat wiggled when she thought.
“I know!” she cried.
“I will make… a dancing candle!
But it will be an invisible candle.
A pretend candle!
A candle that only dances
when we laugh!”
Mimi stood up on her rock.
She held up her spoon.
“Wiggly wands
and socks that jingle,
make a candle
dance and giggle!”
She pointed her spoon at the air.
Nothing was there.
But Mimi smiled.
“I can see it,” she said.
“It's a little invisible candle!
It's standing right here!”
She pointed to a tiny spot on the rock.
Bobo looked very hard.
He could not see anything.
He sniffed the air.
“Meow?” he asked.
“Where?”
“Right here,” Mimi giggled.
“Let's make it dance.
Bobo, you have to laugh.”
Bobo didn't feel like laughing yet.
So Mimi tickled his white paw.
She went, “Tickle tickle tickle!”
“Me-HE-HE-ow!” Bobo laughed.
He rolled on his back.
The air above the rock
began to wiggle and shine.
A little golden line of light
twisted and twirled.
The invisible candle started to dance!
It hopped on one invisible foot.
It spun around and around.
“Look, Bobo!” Mimi clapped.
“The candle is dancing!”
Bobo's eyes went big and round.
He still could not see the candle very well,
but he saw tiny sparkles in the air.
“Meow!” he said.
“That is silly!”
The more Mimi and Bobo laughed,
the faster the pretend candle danced.
It shook its invisible bottom.
It wiggled its invisible flame.
Mimi laughed so much
that her hat fell over her eyes.
“Oh! I can't see!” she giggled,
and the invisible candle
bumped its invisible head.
“Boop!” said Mimi,
and she kissed the empty air.
“There, all better.”
Everything was funny and light.
Everything felt safe and warm.
Then, from behind a big blue bush,
something peeked out.
It was a tiny ball of light.
Then another.
And another.
They were will-o'-wisps.
Little forest lights.
They were very, very silly.
Part 2 – The Cheeky Will-o'-Wisps
The first will-o'-wisp
was round and pink.
It bounced like a bubble.
The second was green and stripey.
It wobbled when it moved.
The third was blue
with shiny silver dots.
It liked to twirl.
“Look, look, look!” cried Mimi.
“Sparkly friends!”
The will-o'-wisps zoomed closer.
They giggled in little,
“Peep peep peep!” sounds.
The pink one zipped behind Mimi
and tickled her hat.
“Hey!” Mimi laughed.
“That tickles!”
The green one bounced on Bobo's tail.
Boing, boing, boing!
“Me-OW-ow-ow!” Bobo laughed.
He was not hurt.
He just felt very, very silly.
The blue one floated over the rock.
It bumped into the dancing candle.
Or it tried to.
But the invisible candle
jumped out of the way.
The candle shimmied left.
It shimmied right.
The blue wisp chased it
round and round.
They looked like
they were playing tag.
Mimi clapped her hands.
“Everybody is dancing!
Hooray!”
The will-o'-wisps made silly faces.
They stretched out long,
then went short again.
They made themselves into shapes.
The pink one turned into a big circle.
The green one turned into
a wiggly line.
The blue one turned into
a little star.
“Do it again!” Mimi cried.
“Again, again!”
The wisps giggled,
“Peep peep peep!”
They liked to show off.
But then the pink wisp
had a funny idea.
It bobbed up to Mimi's spoon.
Boop!
The spoon slipped from Mimi's hand.
Clink!
It fell on the rock.
“Oh!” said Mimi.
“My magic spoon!”
The green wisp bounced on the spoon.
Boing, boing!
The spoon flipped in the air.
The blue wisp twirled under it
and gave it a spin.
The spoon flew up,
then down,
then landed softly
in Bobo's furry belly.
Bobo blinked.
He was very surprised.
He looked down at the spoon.
The spoon looked back.
Well, it almost did.
“Meow?” he said.
“I am not a spoon shelf.”
Mimi bent down and picked it up.
Her face was kind and calm.
“It's okay, Bobo,” she said.
“The wisps are only playing.
They are just a little bit…
too bouncy.”
The will-o'-wisps circled Mimi.
They made question shapes in the air.
They wanted to know more.
Mimi smiled.
“Do you want to see
our dancing candle?” she asked.
The wisps bobbed up and down.
“Yes, yes!” their little lights seemed to say.
“It is invisible,” Mimi explained.
“You can't see it very well.
But if you laugh…
it dances!”
The wisps looked at each other.
Then they began to laugh.
Their laughs sounded like
tiny bells and bubbles.
“Tee-pee-pee!
Bee-bee-bee!
Peep peep peep!”
The invisible candle
got very excited.
It jumped higher.
It spun faster.
It made big loops in the air.
The will-o'-wisps chased it happily.
They swirled around the candle
like a rainbow ring of light.
Mimi laughed too.
So did Bobo.
Everyone laughed together.
But soon,
the lights went a bit too wild.
The pink wisp bounced
off a tree branch
and made the leaves shower down.
Whoosh!
The green wisp zoomed past a flower
and made all its petals spin
like a little fan.
The blue wisp twirled so fast
it got a tiny bit dizzy.
“Whoooaaa,” it peeped,
floating in a wiggly line.
Mimi held up her hands.
“Stop a little, my sparkly friends,”
she said gently.
“Too much fast
can feel like a tumble.”
She stroked the air
where the blue wisp wobbled.
“Easy, easy.
We can play slow.”
The wisps slowed down.
Their lights got softer.
They looked calm again.
Mimi had an idea.
Her eyes shone.
“I know a new game!” she said.
“A sharing game.
We will all share the dance.”
Part 3 – Sharing the Dance
Mimi put her spoon
carefully in her pocket.
“First,” she said,
“the candle will dance.
Then the wisps will dance.
Then Bobo will dance.
Then I will dance.
We will take turns.
We will share.”
The will-o'-wisps liked this.
They made little happy pops of light.
Pop, pop, pop!
Mimi spoke to the empty air.
“Candle, candle,
kind and bright,
take your turn
and dance just right.”
The invisible candle
floated up.
It wiggled its little flame.
It made tiny gentle hops.
Hop, hop, hop.
Everyone watched.
No one pushed.
No one chased.
Bobo clapped his paws.
“Meow-wow!” he said softly.
After a while,
Mimi smiled.
“Now the candle rests,” she said.
“Now the wisps can dance.”
The wisps lined up.
Pink, green, blue.
“Ready?” Mimi asked.
“Peep!” they said.
Mimi hummed a silly song.
“Laa laa laa,
twirl and sway…”
The pink wisp bounced slow and round,
like a balloon in the sky.
The green wisp wiggled like a worm
doing a happy dance.
The blue wisp spun gently,
like a sleepy top.
Mimi and Bobo watched.
They did not grab the lights.
They did not shout,
“My turn! My turn!”
They waited.
They smiled.
They shared the time.
When the wisps were done,
their lights glowed warm and soft.
“Now Bobo,” Mimi said,
“It is your turn.”
“Meow?” Bobo said.
“Me?”
“Yes, you,” Mimi laughed.
“You may do
the Kitten Dance.”
Bobo stood up on his back paws.
He wobbled a little.
Then he did tiny jumps.
Hop, hop.
He swung his tail like a rope.
Swish, swish.
He made his ears go up and down.
Flop, flop.
The will-o'-wisps watched Bobo.
They clapped with little sparks.
The invisible candle watched too.
It made a soft golden glow
in the air.
Bobo finished with a big spin.
Then he fell slowly on his soft tummy.
Plop!
Everyone laughed.
But it was kind laughter,
not mean laughter.
Mimi bowed.
“Now,” she said,
“I will share my dance.
You all watched me
and waited for your turns.
Now I will dance for you.”
She took off her purple hat
and held it like a drum.
She tapped it.
Tap tap.
Her green boots went,
“Tip tap, tip tap.”
Mimi did
the Silly Witch Wiggle.
She wiggled her shoulders.
She wiggled her toes.
She scrunched up her nose.
The wisps copied her
with their lights.
Their colors wiggled too.
Pink wiggle.
Green wiggle.
Blue wiggle.
The invisible candle
swayed side to side,
very politely,
like a tiny dancer on a stage.
When Mimi stopped,
everyone felt happy
and a little bit tired.
Mimi sat on the rock again.
She patted the place
where the candle liked to stand.
“Thank you for sharing,
little candle,” she said.
She patted Bobo.
“Thank you for sharing,
my funny cat.”
She smiled at the wisps.
“Thank you for sharing,
bright friends.”
The will-o'-wisps floated close.
They gently touched Mimi's cheeks
with soft light.
It felt warm and cozy,
like tiny hugs.
Then the wisps did
one last thing.
They all came together
in front of Mimi.
Pink, green, and blue
joined into one big,
shimmery ball of light.
The big light split into four
little stars.
One star floated to Mimi.
One star floated to Bobo.
One star floated to the empty air
where the candle danced.
One star stayed with the wisps.
They had shared their light.
Mimi held her star in her hands.
It felt like a smile.
“This is our sharing star,”
she whispered.
“We can all have some.
We can all shine.”
The sky turned orange and soft.
It was almost bedtime.
Mimi put her star gently
into her pocket
with her magic spoon.
“Come back and play tomorrow,”
she told the wisps.
“Peep peep,” they answered,
and floated off into the trees,
glowing like tiny lanterns.
Bobo curled up beside Mimi.
He purred,
“Meow-rrr.”
The invisible candle
gave one last tiny dance,
a slow sleepy wiggle,
then stood very still.
Mimi yawned
a big, cozy yawn.
Today had been
a funny, magical day,
full of gentle spells,
sparkly friends,
and lots and lots of sharing.
And the forest
was quiet and calm
and very, very happy.
