Magic Cleaning

Once upon a time there was a little girl who lived in a flat in a big city. Her name was Katie and her mother was a magician. At least, Katie thought she was. She had never actually seen her mum cast a spell, but she was convinced that she could do magic.

Do you know what kind of magic? Whenever it was snack time, Katie would leave her toys lying on the carpet and run into the kitchen. Mum always put a bowl of fruit on the table for her, and then disappeared. When Katie finished her snack and went back to the playroom, all the toys were neatly arranged on the shelves.

“How did they get there, Mum?” Katie asked.

“Ah, I’ll tell you about that when you’re a bit older,” her mum always said with a mysterious smile.

Katie was so fascinated by it, she couldn’t think about anything else. One day when her mum had popped downstairs to fetch the post, Katie decided to try the magic out for herself. She left her toys on the carpet and left the room, closing the door behind her. She waited a few moments, and then opened the door again. Nothing. Nothing had happened at all.

“How is that possible?” Katie wondered, puzzled.

“You’re not doing it right,” a mysterious voice said from above.

Katie looked up in surprise. There was a family photo on the shelf, and in the corner of the photo frame, a tiny spider was spinning its web.

“I’m Merlin,” he introduced himself proudly.

“You can talk!” exclaimed Katie in wonder.

“Well, I couldn’t just stay here and say nothing. I’ve watched your mum working her magic from up here, and it definitely didn’t look…