8 PIP

Chapter eight, Pip. Where my friend Pip had been just a moment before, there was now a furry blue… thing? "Aaaghh!" I yelped again. "Zoey, it's me!" said the furry thing. Sassafras was all poofed out, carefully sniffing the blue creature. I rubbed my eyes. Oh! It was Pip. His green hair was gone. And instead of Pip's purple and neon orange polka-dotted frog skin, he was now covered in fluffy blue fur. "Oh no—hic—oh no—hic—not again—hic—!" said the floating creature who had rung the magic doorbell. "Ack!" said Pip. My head bounced back and forth between the

creature and Pip. Pip was now his normal color, with no fur or hair—but he had just laid a chicken egg. As the egg slowly rolled to a stop by his paw, Sassafras bolted and hid behind a stack of books. "Oh my!" I said to Pip, and I then I spun back to the floating creature. "Ummmm, sorry— one moment!" I shut the barn door and rushed Pip back over

to Tiny. Was he changing, too? What if he got even tinier? "Pheww," I said. Tiny was unchanged. "Well, I think we found out what has been causing all the changes in the forest." Pip shivered and looked at his arms and legs, which were back to normal… for now. "Ohhh!" he said. "That makes sense." I shook my head. What was he talking about? Nothing was making sense! Pip put his hand on mine. "That was a Wishypoof, Zoey." "A whaaa—?" I said. "Ah, you probably haven't seen one before. They are pretty rare. Wishypoofs are magical creatures that can grant wishes!" I shook my head again. "But—you didn't wish to lay an egg… did you?" Pip stuck out his tongue. "Oh, goodness no!" I thought for a moment. That sound… she had the hiccups! "Do you think maybe her magic is not working right because she's hiccupping?" Pip put a hand to his chin and thought for a moment. "Maybe! We should go ask her!" He

stood up and then froze. "Um, maybe you should go ask her. It seems safer for me to stay here." I nodded and hurried back to the barn door. Just as I was about to open it, I paused. The last time I opened the door, Pip turned into a fluffy blue frog. I went around the long way just to be safe. Once I reached the back of the barn I could hear the hic—hic—hic sound of hiccups. "Um, hello? Wishypoof?" She slowly floated over to me and dried her eyes. "Are you—hic—Zoey?" "That's me! Are you doing OK?" "Not really—hic—" Tears ran down her tiny face. "I don't—hic—know what—hic—is going on—hic—but I started—hic—making this weird —hic—noise and then—hic—my wishing powers —hic—started changing the—hic—forest creatures—hic—" She had to stop talking for a moment because she was crying too hard.

"Oh, don't worry… um, Miss Wishypoof. We'll find a way to fix it!" I gently patted her. "You can—hic—call me—hic—Wishy." She brushed away her tears. "I—hic—think I—hic—keep changing—hic —forest creatures—hic—and… and—hic—and I —hic—think I—hic—just made—hic—a baby unicorn—hic—DISAPPEAAAR!" she wailed. "Oh! No—Tiny isn't gone. He's just… tiny. I have him in the barn right now," I told her. "Really?" She sniffed. "He's—hic—safe?" I nodded.

"I don't—hic—want to—hic—keep doing —hic—this—hic—" She wiped her nose. "Can you—hic—make this—hic—go away?" "I think you just have the hiccups," I said. "The—hic—what?" she asked. "Hiccups. You know? When your stomach kind of squinches up and you make that sound?" She wrinkled up her face. "I have—hic— never heard of—hic—hiccups. They must—hic— be what—hic—is making—hic—my magic—hic —do these—hic—weird things—hic. How do —hic—you make them—hic—go away?" "Well… that's a good question. In my family we hold our breath for as long as we can." Wishy nodded and closed her mouth. Her little cheeks puffed out, and her face turned red. I could still hear little hiccups as she did it, but I crossed my fingers that this would work.