Mia crouched by the garden fence and squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them, a bright blue butterfly landed on her nose.
The butterfly tickled her nose and she giggled. For one second her hands turned into tiny wings. She fluttered after it across the garden.
She spotted a dragonfly tangled in spider silk. Mia puffed her cheeks and concentrated. Her fingers stretched into long thin legs.
She buzzed forward and gently peeled the silk away. The dragonfly zoomed off. Mia watched it fly free with a happy smile.
Mia hopped toward the forest edge. A chickadee chirped from a low branch. A thorny bush blocked the bird's path.
She squeezed her eyes shut and her arms became wings. She flapped hard and bumped her head. 'Oof!' she said.
A mouse squeaked from under a log. A garden hose had looped around its tail. Mia tried to reach it with her wing-hands but they were too clumsy.
She took a breath and focused. Her body shimmered. Fur sprouted along her arms, her tail grew long and fluffy. She became a fox.
She nudged the hose with her nose and slipped her paw free. The mouse scampere away. Mia sat back on her haunches and grinned.
Mia trotted home with her fox tail swishing behind her. When she reached the garden, she pressed her paw against the warm dirt.
She felt the earth hum beneath her paw. She opened her eyes and saw everything — the butterfly on the fence, the chickadee in the branch.
She smiled and patted the ground. The garden seemed to smile back. Everything felt magical and right in the golden evening light.