Chapter 10

10 Phoebe and Stella began feeding the bubbles into the cloud machine while Rosie caught the cleaned ones at the other end and carefully returned them to the net. Mothew flew back and forth excitedly, shouting encouraging words. "You're nearly done, Dragon Girls! The daydreams look better than ever."

It was true. Every daydream bubble shone brightly, with a happy scene moving inside it. They released a warm, sweet smell, like a baking cake. Rosie knew that the creatures of the Magic Forest were going to enjoy bumping into them. As the net filled with the cleaned daydreams, it slowly began to rise. It was like the net was filled with puffy hope. Finally, the machine let out a couple of small puffs of pink cloud and stopped. "All done, Dragon Girls," said the Sky Skimmer, floating above them. "Better get them back to the Dream Collectors as quickly as you can. Daydreams are best served fresh." Rosie and her friends didn't need to be told twice. They gathered up the strings of the net and pulled them tight. The Sky Skimmer led the way out of the head cloud. "Let's take the shortcut," it said. Instead of popping out of the head cloud's mouth, the way they'd come in, they flew out of

its ear. Rosie thought the head cloud looked quite pleased to have them out! "Good luck, Dragon Girls," called the Sky Skimmer as they began to jump away over the springy clouds. "And remember, daydream whenever you can." "Never fear," chuckled Rosie. "I always do!" Rosie was very glad Mothew was there to lead the way back to the sunset rays. The cloudscape had completely changed, and she had no idea which way to go. But Mothew had no trouble finding his way. "I can smell the sunset on the sunset rays," he explained proudly. They arrived back at the place where the rays poked up through clouds. "So how do we get back down?" asked Phoebe. "It's very steep!" "Yes, it's VERY steep!" Mothew agreed cheerily. "But it's also very fun. Just make sure

you hold on tight." Rosie went first. Gripping on to the daydream bubbles with one claw and a gleaming ray with the other, she launched off. The air streamed past her, almost taking her breath away. It was the fastest, most slippery slide she had ever been on! Her heart leapt into her chest, and she let out a happy little roar. As they neared the treetops, she heard a purry voice in her ear. GlidyCat! "Get ready to let go of the ray," GlidyCat said. "We will be over the daydream clearing in a moment. Three, two, one! Let go!" Rosie let go of the ray. For a moment, she tumbled through the air. Then she remembered she had wings. Flapping hard, she righted herself in the sky, still clutching the daydreams. It felt good to be flying again! She looked over her shoulder and was pleased to see that Phoebe and Stella had let go of their rays and were also flying.

"Goodbye, Night Dragons!" called Mothew and his dad, who were still sliding down the ray, heading toward the station below. "Thanks for the adventure!" Down below, Rosie could see the clearing. The newly repaired daydream bubbles began to jostle about, as if they were eager to be set free. "Nearly there," Rosie said to them soothingly. A few moments later, Rosie and the others landed back in the clearing. The Dream Collectors came bounding over. "You did it!" they squeaked. "The daydreams are fixed! Hand them over, and we'll start hiding

them in the forest." Rosie barely had time to undo the net before the squirrelly creatures began grabbing the daydreams, balancing them on their tails, and leaping away into the undergrowth. The net began to uncoil itself and slithered back into a neat knot at the base of Rosie's necklace. "Am I imagining it," said Stella, "or is it getting darker already?" Rosie looked around. Stella was right! The golden twilight glow had definitely begun to fade. The rich velvet blue of night was creeping into the sky. GlidyCat fluttered in midair. "It's time to return to the Tree Queen's glade," she announced. The twilight colors continued giving way to nighttime shades as Rosie and her friends flew through the forest. Rosie could hear the birds singing their final songs of the day. Animals scampered into their burrows for the night.