The Wide Awake Wizard

over the little cottage where Ziggy the Wizard lived. The day had ended, and Ziggy was getting ready for bed. He brushed his teeth and changed into his black cat pajamas. Then the little Wizard lied down in bed, but sleep did not come. Oh maybe if I had different color blankets, I could sleep better, thought Ziggy. The big yellow stars covering his comforter were much too bright. So Ziggy grabbed his wand and gave it a wave. The stars twinkled out one by one. The blanket was now just a

dark blue of an empty sky. Too empty, murmured Ziggy. The stars might have been too bright, but they still needed something. He tapped the blankets, making moons and asked, rods appear. Ah, that's better The little wizard tried to close his eyes again, but the world outside was much too noisy. He could hear the hooting of owls and chirping of crickets. There were bowl frogs croaking and bad squeaking.

It was all much too loud. Ziggy waved his wand toward the window and all of the creature's sounds disappeared. Now he listened and heard nothing. Oh now it's too quiet. Ziggy needed something rhythmic and soothing to listen to as he tried to sleep. He waved his wand, making a wavy lake appear outside his window. He listened as the waves touched the shore. The sound of the slow lapping water was just what he needed. Ah, wonderful, Ziggy smiled. He rolled over to get some shut eye, but felt

something lumpy in his mattress. He tried to smooth it out, but the bump kept coming back. The mattress was just too hard. This won't do. He shook his head. Ziggy tapped it with his wand and the mattress became a cloud. It was so fluffy that he sank into it. Ziggy pulled himself up from the top of the cloud mattress or too soft. Another tap, and his bed became the fluffy, furry back of a polar bear. Growled the bear, Oh

too furry. Ziggy quickly tapped the bear mattress again, turning the polar bear into a bed of soft flower petals. Ziggy began to sniffle, and his nose began to itch. He felt a sneeze coming, and as he let it go, he tapped his wand once more a shoe, the flower bed transformed back into a soft, squishy mattress. This time the lumps were gone. Ziggy listened to the peaceful waves on his soft, lump free bed. His night light shined bright in the corner of his room. Oh too brightly,

thought Ziggy. So with the flick of his wand the night light went out. Now it was you, you know what? Too dark. He waved his wand towards the ceiling, and the sun appeared above. Oh too bright again, Ziggy shook his head and tried once more. The sun moved across his ceiling, down the wall, and slowly set behind his bed. Ziggy's wand waved and brought out fireflies to replace it much better. They flew lazily around over his bed, casting just enough light in his room. Ziggy settled back into

his bed and closed his eyes. The lapping of the lake outside made him think about the cool water. Suddenly, Ziggy's mouth felt dry. I wish I had some cool water inside, he said. With a wave of his wand, Ziggy created a stream. It ran through his bedroom floor below. Oops, too much water. He waved it again, and the stream flowed into a cup. Sitting on his bedside table, Ziggy gulped it down. Ah. Now he hoped to get some sleep. What else could he need? Ziggy closed his eyes and

began to drift off HM. Then he remembered he never read his favorite bedtime story. His eyes popped open, and his favorite book wiggled off the shelf toward him. Ziggy tapped the pages with his wand and waited. The pictures wiggled and lifted themselves up from the page one by one. The Knight appeared first, pulling his horse off the page after him. Then the castle rose up, ready to be protected. A flame fired out from the pages, and the dragon

pulled itself free. Ziggy watched as his favorite story played out on top of his blankets. The knight rode his horse around the kingdom, ready to defend it. Then the dragon approached the castle. Everything was fine until the dragon blew his fiery breath. Ziggy's blankets began to smoke, and he quickly tapped them with his wand to put it out. The night eventually stopped. The dragon and Ziggy cheered as they became friends. Then the pictures floated down toward the

pages and sank back into the book. Ziggy yawned, has his favorite story book closed itself back up and floated toward the shelf where it nestled itself in for the night. Was he finally ready for sleep? Ziggy hoped, so. He gave him one good stretch, closed his eyes, and finally drifted off to sleep. May you friends, have very sweet dreams tonight. Good night,