Heidi heckelbeck sunshin.., p.1
Heidi Heckelbeck Sunshine Magic, page 1
FLOATING SHORTS
Heidi Heckelbeck started her day by daydreaming in bed.
I wish I knew another witch my age, she thought. Then we could share magical secrets and cast spells together and…
Scrape! Clump! Scrape!
The sound of dresser drawers opening jolted Heidi upright.
She watched as her dresser drawers opened all by themselves. Then her folded clothes swooshed out of her bedroom and into the hall.
“That’s new,” said Heidi.
She chased her clothes downstairs, where there was a full-blown tornado of outfits in the living room. Heidi fended off a pair of underwear with her arm.
“What’s going on?” Heidi asked.
Heidi’s aunt turned around as a pair of shorts landed in an open suitcase.
“I’m magic packing, silly!” announced Aunt Trudy. “Didn’t your mom tell you?”
Mom poked her head in from the kitchen. “No, because I wanted it to be a surprise!”
“Well then, surprise!” said Aunt Trudy. “We’re going to Castle Spell Cove. Your mom and I used to vacation there when we were your age.”
With a snap, the clothes landed in the open suitcases. Then the packed luggage zipped itself shut and floated out the front door.
“Um, what if the neighbors see our flying suitcases?” Heidi asked.
Aunt Trudy waved her off. “Don’t worry. I put a shimmer spell around the yard. Our secret is safe. Now go get dressed so we can hit the beach!”
Heidi ran up the stairs and nearly bumped into an egg-and-cheese biscuit floating in front of her.
“Don’t forget your breakfast!” Mom called.
Heidi shook her head. What’s with all the magic today?
Her little brother, Henry Heckelbeck, snagged the biscuit in midair and took a big bite.
“Don’t you love magic?” he said. “It’s so tasty!”
“That was MINE!” Heidi complained.
Then—POOF!—another breakfast sandwich appeared for Heidi.
Her little brother might be a breakfast stealer, but he was right about one thing.
Heidi did love magic.
SAND-SATIONAL!
The Heckelbecks never used magic to travel because Dad loved to drive.
Luckily, Heidi loved looking out the window. They passed a farm with a peach orchard and horses. They also passed an old mill with a waterfall, and then a lake filled with boats.
Finally, Heidi spotted a sign that read CASTLE SPELL COVE: THE SECRET SEASIDE VILLAGE WHERE DREAMS COME TRUE.
The car bumped along cobblestone streets lined with little shops with magical names like the Sand Witch Shop, Coven Creamery, and Spellbinder’s Books.
“I see the water!” Heidi shouted as she rolled down the window and breathed in the salty air.
Dad turned down a sandy lane and parked in a driveway speckled with broken seashells.
“We’re here!” he announced.
The cottage had gray shingles, white trim, and a bright blue door. It was so cute!
Dad unlocked the front door as Heidi and Henry raced inside to explore every room and find the perfect place to stay. Heidi picked an upstairs bedroom with views of the ocean.
She thudded back down the wooden stairs and onto the porch with a hammock.
Heidi flung herself onto the hammock and said, “This is the life!”
“Oh, it gets even better,” said Aunt Trudy. “Want to see the beach before dinner?”
“Do I ever!” Heidi cheered as she leaped back up.
Then the whole Heckelbeck family wandered down to a sandy path that led through the dunes.
Heidi and Henry kicked off their shoes and raced to the beach.
The first thing they saw was the ocean, but then something else caught their eye.
“Wow!” shouted Henry. “Check out that sand-sational sandcastle!”
“That’s not a sandcastle,” said Heidi. “It’s a sand KINGDOM!”
“I’m going to get a closer look!” Henry said.
He sprinted wildly toward the sandcastle, and Heidi called out, “Be careful!”
But it was too late! Henry tripped, and was going to crash into the castle.
Oh no! thought Heidi. I can’t watch!
But then a gust of strong wind came out of nowhere and pushed her brother back up.
“Phew! That was close!” Henry said. “I guess I’m just lucky!”
Heidi agreed, but she felt a charge in the air. It was a sizzle she’d felt before. Something that felt like magic.
A WELL-KEPT SECRET
Eeee! Today is our first full day at the beach! thought Heidi as she hopped out of bed, already dressed in her swimsuit and matching shorts.
A plate with scrambled eggs and a cinnamon roll greeted her at the kitchen table.
Henry had already cleaned his plate. Mom and Aunt Trudy were packing an old-fashioned picnic basket with sandwiches, pretzels, chocolate chip cookies, and grapes.
“Beep! Beep!” said Dad as he wheeled a cooler into the kitchen.
“Did you pack any NEW sodas?” asked Henry. Sodas were a specialty in the Heckelbeck household. Dad worked for a soda company called The FIZZ.
“Well, we have water,” said Dad. “And my new Ice-Cream Sodas, like Orange Vanilla and Strawberry Cheesecake!”
“Yay!” cried Heidi and Henry at the same time. Then they cleared their plates and gathered beach toys, a cabana, and folding chairs. They loaded everything onto a beach wagon and set off for the beach.
As they set up their cabana and chairs on the beach, Heidi looked around. “There’s hardly anybody here!”
“Castle Spell Cove is never crowded,” said Mom, winking at Aunt Trudy. “It’s a well-kept secret.”
Aunt Trudy laughed. “I’d say it’s more than a well-kept secret.”
Heidi didn’t know what her aunt meant, but before she could ask, Henry yelled out, “Hey! The sand kingdom from yesterday is GONE.”
How could a massive sand kingdom just disappear? Heidi wondered.
Then she remembered feeling magic in the air. Was Castle Spell Cove a magical place?
Heidi couldn’t wait to find out.
FINE AND SANDY
Heidi and Henry put on sunscreen, grabbed their boogie boards, and raced into the water.
“Whoa! It feels great! Like taking a bath!” Henry said.
Heidi felt her feet sink into the soft rippled sand as she waded deeper. Then they both jumped on their boogie boards. It was time to ride!
Heidi and Henry caught waves and rode them back to shore again and again. After that, they tossed their boards on the beach and played Frisbee.
Henry caught the Frisbee every time—because Heidi was better at throwing. Henry’s throws either went too high or curved away from Heidi.
Mom waved the kids to the cabana and called out, “Lunchtime!”
The kids plunked onto towel-lined beach chairs. Heidi dug through the ice in the cooler and pulled out a water. Henry grabbed a soda.
“Why does food taste better at the beach?” asked Heidi, biting into a sandwich.
Henry popped a grape into his mouth. “Because EVERYTHING’S better at the beach!”
The whole family agreed.
Heidi watched other people as she ate. A dog raced after his owner. Some older kids skimboarded across the shallow waves. Then Heidi saw a girl her age with dark hair and brown skin. She was building a sandcastle.
Did she build the sandcastle we saw last night? Heidi wondered.
SEAS THE DAY!
Heidi was surprised when another little boy appeared by their cabana.
“Hey!” the boy said to Henry. “I’m Arjun Akhtar. Wanna play?”
“Sure!” said Henry.
“Cool!” said Arjun. “This game is called Spinning Circles! You run in circles until you reach the water. Last one to fall down wins!”
Heidi watched as Henry and his new friend spun around like two spinning tops. She wasn’t sure if she would ever understand little brothers. They were just plain weird sometimes.
“You should make a new friend too, Heidi,” said Aunt Trudy, who happened to be looking at the girl building the sandcastle. “You never know what you might have in common.”
“You’re right,” Heidi said as she wiped the sand from her legs and took a deep breath. “Okay, here goes nothing!”
Heidi marched across the warm sand and stood in front of the girl’s sandcastle. The girl was cutting tiny squares of wet sand with a Popsicle stick. She didn’t notice Heidi at first.
“Hey,” Heidi began, “your sandcastle is amazing.”
The girl squinted at Heidi and smiled. “Thanks! You know, the trick is to have the right tools.”
“Got it,” said Heidi as she kneeled next to her. “The right tool makes it cool!”
The girl laughed. “Hey, you’re funny! My name is Sunita Akhtar, but everyone calls me Sunny.”
Heidi sat on the back of her heels. “I’m Heidi Heckelbeck. Everyone calls me… Heidi. Or Heckelbeck. I think my little brother just met your little brother.”
Sunny looked up and saw Arjun and Henry running in circles. “Yep. I hope your brother knows a spell to cure the dizzies.”
Heidi didn’t know what to say to that. So she asked, “Um, mind if I watch you build?”
“I have a better idea,” Sunny said. “You want to help me?”
Heidi’s face lit up. “I’d love to!”
Sunny cut more s
quares, and Heidi spaced them along the battlement. They looked like jack-o’-lantern teeth. Sunny also showed Heidi how to make stairs with a wooden ruler. Then they filled the moat with buckets of water.
“Did you build the sand kingdom that was here yesterday?” Heidi asked.
Sunny nodded. “I did!”
“Where’d it go?” Heidi asked. “It was so beautiful!”
Sunny shrugged. “I like to start fresh every day. It’s more fun that way.”
Heidi nodded and looked at her side of the sandcastle. The towers were crooked, and the stairs were slanted. “Hmm, I’m not as good as you,” she admitted.
Sunny laughed. “Oh, that will be an easy fix.”
Then Sunny looked toward the sun and—swoosh!—the crooked towers straightened, and the slanted stairs leveled out. The now-perfect castle shimmered in the sun.
“There, that’s better,” said Sunny with a smile. “Now… race you to the water!”
As Sunny ran off, Heidi’s mouth fell open. Another girl just used MAGIC!
I’M NOT DREAMING
Heidi splashed into the water after Sunny.
As they both floated, Heidi turned to her new friend. “Can I ask you a weird question?”
“Oh, I love weird questions!” said Sunny. “Go for it!”
“Hmm, there’s no easy way to ask this,” said Heidi. “Are you a… a witch?”
“Of course I am, silly!” said Sunny as she wiped her wet hair out of her face. “I thought everyone at Castle Spell Cove was a witch. Aren’t you?”
Heidi blinked. She had never been asked if she was a witch before. It was such a surprise! Heidi suddenly felt like her whole life had been a wave that was growing and growing and growing through the ocean, and now she was about to crash on the shore.
“YUP!” Heidi shouted, finally letting her secret free.
“Cool!” said Sunny, splashing water at Heidi.
The two friends got into a splash battle until Sunny pointed to something in the water near Heidi.
“Oh, hold still,” she said.
Heidi froze solid and cried, “What is it?!”
Sunny kept her eyes on the water. “Just a little critter. I’ll take care of it.”
With a wave of her hand, Sunny magically lifted a jellyfish into the air and gently placed it farther out into the sea.
“There,” she said. “Now we won’t bother the jellyfish, and the jellyfish won’t bother us.”
Heidi gasped. “Whoa! How did you DO that?”
“I used magic, duh!” Sunny said with a laugh. “I get my power from the sun. My mom calls it Sunshine Magic. You know about magic, right? I thought you said you were a WITCH!”
“I am,” Heidi said nervously, “but I can only do magic with my medallion and Book of Spells.”
Sunny splashed back in surprise. “You’re kidding—right?”
Heidi blushed and shook her head. “Nope, that’s the truth.”
Sunny smiled warmly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound snooty. It’s just that there’s a whole world of magic beyond the Book of Spells.”
Heidi’s eyes grew wide. “There IS?”
Heidi never imagined using magic without her Book of Spells. Aunt Trudy did magic all the time without the book, but that was Aunt Trudy. She was a grown-up! Were there other kids who could do magic like this?
“Hey, Sunny, um, would you ever teach me how to move things, um, like you just did?” Heidi asked.
This time Sunny beamed. “Yes! Of course! I’d love to!”
Heidi squealed with joy and held out her arm. “Okay, but first you have to splash me again.”
“Why?” asked Sunny.
“Because I just can’t believe I have a witch friend!” Heidi whispered like it was secret. “And I want to make sure I’m not dreaming.”
“Believe it, buddy!” Sunny cheered as she splashed Heidi with all her might.
BELLY-BUTTONING
Back on the beach, Sunny handed Heidi a butterfly kite and kept a daisy one for herself. The girls ran to a wide-open space on the warm sand.
Heidi held her hand in the air. “There’s not enough wind. We’ll never get these kites off the ground.”
“We don’t need wind, silly,” Sunny said. “We’re going to fly our kites with MAGIC. Now I’m going to focus my thoughts on the kite and direct it with my mind.”
Sunny let her kite go. It lifted into the air as if a gust of wind had caught hold of it.
Next she let out the string and ran down the beach. Then she ran back to Heidi.
She held up her hand to give Heidi a high five and yelled, “Your turn!”
Heidi held her kite in the air. Then she focused all her thoughts on the kite and let it go. Crash! The kite fell onto the sand. Heidi frowned.
“Hey, nice try!” Sunny cheered. “Now keep going!”
So Heidi did. And every time she tried, her kite thwacked onto the ground.
“My kite must be afraid of heights,” said Heidi. “It won’t even flutter! Maybe I’m doing the spell wrong because my kite wants to dig deeper into the sand.”
“Aw, kite-flying magic takes A LOT of practice,” Sunny assured her. “Wanna try something else? How about collecting seashells?”
“Okay,” said Heidi, and she dragged her kite back to their towels and grabbed a pail.
As they walked to the ocean, Heidi asked, “So, what’s your favorite shell?”
“Scallop shells, like these!” said Sunny. Then she faced the water and lifted her arms in the air. A wave washed in two perfect scallop shells.
Heidi picked up an orange one. “It’s so pretty!”
Sunny picked up a purple one. “Now you try! Just call the kind of shell you want from the sea with your mind.”
Heidi placed her bucket on the sand. She looked out to sea and concentrated on scallop shells.
Again a wave folded onto the shore, but the only thing it left behind was a hermit crab.
The hermit crab shook its claws at her and scuttled back into the water.
Heidi called to the shells again and again, but it was no use. The shells stayed put.
“Don’t worry,” Sunny said. “You’ll get the hang of it. Remember, YOU’RE A WITCH, so you have the power.”
Heidi nodded. She still had to get used to the idea that she had powers beyond her spell book.
“Hey, you want to know a cool way to find shells WITHOUT magic?” Heidi asked.
“Sure!” said Sunny.
They walked to a part of the beach striped with thousands of tiny pebbles. Heidi lay on her stomach and leaned on her elbows.
“If you look closely in between the pebbles, you’ll find teeny-tiny shells,” she said.
Sunny lay down beside Heidi, and the girls sifted through the pebbles with their fingers.
Heidi found one and showed it to Sunny.
“It’s so small!” cried Sunny.
The girls continued to search for tiny shells. Plink! Plink! Plink! They popped tiny periwinkle, coquina, cockle, and scallop shells into their pails.
“We should give this sport a name!” said Sunny.
Heidi shifted positions and wiped some pebbles from her stomach. “Let’s call it belly-buttoning, because you have to lie on your belly to find the shells.”
Sunny giggled and smiled. “I’m glad I met you, Heidi Heckelbeck.”
“Samesies!” said Heidi. “Now, SHELL we keep digging?”
