Magical Flight

by Bruce Grimes

Once there was a golden bird that could send out rainbows shaped like gold coins that fell from the sky in the wintertime. 

One day, this magical bird flew into a castle and landed on a long table. A knight was sitting at the table. He was surprised to see the bird. He said, “What are you doing here?” The bird said, “My name is Wilma. I’m here to grant you wishes. I will grant you 10 wishes every day.”

The knight was from overseas, and was leaving soon on a battleship going to Kuwait. Before he left, he hoped he could use some of the wishes from the magical bird. 

A wizard named Balthazar was in the castle, too. He was magical in a different way from Wilma.  Balthazar could give money to help the Army, and could do other kinds of magic to help people. 

The wizard built a bird cage for the nice magical bird, and the two became friends. Each felt like they were on top of the world to know another magical creature.
 
One day they had a birthday party for Balthazar, who turned 48 years old. They served ice cream sundaes. Birds don’t usually eat ice cream, but Wilma loved the taste of it. Her favorite flavors were silver and gold – magical ice cream flavors. 

The knight came back from Kuwait just in time for the party. Betsy and Bruce came to the party too, from far away in Minnesota. The wizard made a special tuxedo for the knight, using magic fabric that could make him disappear. 

The whole party went for a ride on the knight’s ship, and got very sick on the choppy waves of the ocean. Wilma was flying above the ship, trying to keep an eye on the boat crew. She wasn’t able to use her magic to help them – not even the wizard’s magic could help. Suddenly, the ship went down a steep wave that brought it back in time! 

The ship was sinking! Wilma landed on the ship and carried each person off the boat before it totally sank. Along came a big bird the size of an airplane that helped Wilma rescue the people. They climbed onto the big bird’s back, and flew to Africa. There, people were building sandcastles along the beach. 

Suddenly, a flock of golden birds just like Wilma flew down from the trees of the jungle. Wilma was so surprised and excited to see birds that looked just like her. The wizard said, “Wow, I can be friends with so many beautiful birds!” 

The African birds were magical, too. Some of the birds were toucans who could pick fruit off the trees and share it with the wizard. 

Africa was beautiful, but Balthazar, Wilma and the knight missed their castle. They were homesick. They wanted to travel back to their own time and to the castle that felt like home. 

They rented a cargo airplane to fly back to the castle. Bruce was their expert pilot. To fly forward in time, Bruce would have to make the plane move incredibly fast. Luckily, there was a special button on the plane that made it fly at hyper speed. The wizard pushed the button! The plane flew so fast that the knight crashed through the window! He had forgotten to put on his seatbelt. Wilma moved fast: She caught the knight in her beak as he zoomed by. She got tired from rescuing the knight and needed to rest inside the airplane.  

By the time they got back to the castle, Wilma was as old as a grandma. She asked, “Are there any more wishes I can grant you?” 
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The knight and Balthazar had just one wish: To stay together in the castle with each other and Wilma as friends for all time.