4. The Happy Egg

The following was written on Mar 01, 2008. A rescued story from my discarded blog.

"What do you mean, disappeared?" asked Maggy, brandishing her quill with with she had been jotting notes. "Did he become suddenly invisible? Was he dragged out in a blurry motion? Was there any puffy magical smoke?"

"Um..." Quantis tried hard to remember. " I think there was a sort of mist, and I think I heard a faint, very faint tinkling sound...and when I blinked, he was g-gone."

"Hmm." said Maggy. She thoughtfully tapped her armrest with her wand. The armchair changed colours with every tap. Blue. Brown. Pink. Maroon. Purple. Orange. Black.

"It seems to me, dear," said Maggy in a firm voice. "The first thing we need to do is go to your home. We must search for clues!"

---

4. The Happy Egg

Maggy Donut got up from her armchair, gesturing to Quantis to do the same. She gracefully waved her quill. Nothing happened.

"Whoops!" chuckled Maggy. She gracefully waved her wand. The armchairs, table and teaset disappeared with a chuckling 'pop'.

"Now, let me see," said Maggy. "What to bring, what to bring...Twiggedo! Be a dear and get all the miscellaneous items ready while I dig up my old books. Quantis, go to the mirror and ask it for some necessary things. Just thank it when you're done."

Quantis was beginning to learn. She walked over to the full-length mahogany-framed mirror and said, "Can you give me some necessary things?"

As she stared at her reflection, the mirror shimmered and hummed quietly. After a few seconds of solemn thinking, the mirror replaced her dark blue cardigan with a dark purple cardigan, complete with a hood and pair of mittens slung around her neck. Her black and red checkered skirt became a pair of long black pairs, comfortable yet stylish. And her worn out pair of sneakers were replaced with furry pink boots. As a final touch, the mirror swept up Quantis' messy dark brown curls into a neat ponytail, tied with a ribbon.

Quantis waited a few more seconds. When nothing happened, she thanked the mirror. The mirror shimmered blue in response then became for all intent and purposes an ordinary mirror.

Meanwhile, Twiggedo was running around invisibly, carrying one visible item after another from the various nooks and crannys of the shop to a pile in the middle of the room. Maggy Donut was busy rummaging in her library.

All three were soon ready. Maggy Donut tapped her spectacles in another series of magical staccatos, and the entire pile of curious items vanished. "Only they haven't really," assured Maggy Donut. "They've just been stored away in a convenient magical manner."

Maggy Donut, Quantis and Twiggedo (though you could never really be sure where Twiggedo was) returned to the ground floor of the oak tree. Quantis followed Maggy Donut outside. A sense of adventure was rising.

"We'll travel by cat," explained Maggy. "Twiggedo is a most capable magical feline. And brooms are so boring."

The long black tail that had been waving beside them suddenly grew ten times larger. The four dainty black paws that had been patting the ground impatiently suddenly became four large paws impatient for action. A breeze seemed to blow the black fur into a more aerodynamic arrangement.

Maggy clutched a handful of invisible fur and pulled herself astride Twiggedo. Quantis followed suit.

"Off we go!" cried Maggy excitedly. "Don't worry, Twiggedo is not only amazingly safe, he's amazingly All-seeing! He knows where you stay!"

One gigantic black paw pawed the ground. The invisible back bent low to the ground. Cat ears lay flat to minimise wind-resistance. With a melodic "Mrrreeeeeeeow!" Maggy Donut, Quantis Queue, and Twiggedo were off to search for clues.

They whipped through the forest as fast as the wind. They leaped over stones and tree-roots and rabbits as lightly as a hopping leaf. They thundered and tiptoed and whirlwind'd themselves right up to the Queue's doorstep.

Once there, Twiggedo shrunk to his common size. Maggy and Quantis entered the Queue's living room while Twiggedo guarded the door.

The Queue's living room was a mess. Two cups of cold blurgandy tea sat on the coffee-table. Quantis immediately began sniffing around for clues, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Every once in a while she muttered a 'Hmm..." and a "Hhhh..." which filled Quantis with hope.

After an hour of this, Quantis could contain herself no longer. "What have you found, Maggy Donut?"

"Well," said Maggy sheepishly," Nothing. This whole crime scene is so suspiciously unlike a crime scene. No mist residue, no needles, no broom fibres...nothing magical at all!"

Before Quantis could express her disappointment, there came a hiss from outside. She and our befuddled heroine hurried outside.

Twiggedo was hissing at a curious rather extraordinary visitor. It was...what looked to be...a rather

Happy Egg

The happy egg bounced at the sight of Quantis. Surprisingly, it did not crack open and spill its contents for Twiggedo to lick up.

"Hie!" bounced the egg happily. "I'm the Happy Egg! Loved by all, eaten by none! Who came first, the chicken or the egg? Neither! No Happy Chicken exists, poor thing. Nothing to be happy about."

"..." said Maggy Donut.

"..." said Quantis.

"Mreeeeoowww!" said Twiggedo.

"I," bounced the egg. "Am," bounced the egg, "Here," bounced the egg, "To HELP you!" BOUNCED the egg. It grinned widely from eye to eye.

"Nice to meet you, " managed Maggy Donut, trying not to grin.

"Help us how?" asked Quantis, trying hard to supress a smile herself.

Fed up, Twiggedo said nothing.

"I can tell you where to go next," announced the Happy Egg happily. "Humpty Dumpty sent me to help you like you helped him,"

"Ah yes," said Maggy Donut. "How is the dear?"

"Never seen him happier. Falls off every other day and still no horse or king's man can put him together again! I can almost get him to smile!" said the Happy Egg. "Now this girl, she has a very nice smile. Used to see her and Mr Queue smile all the time!" The Happy Egg bounced approvingly.

Quantis, assured that the Happy Egg wasn't sinisterly happy, gave the Egg a smile. Twiggedo was off chasing butterflies.

"Now about this vanishing business," continued the Egg, almost seriously but not quite managing it, "You need to go to..."

++to be continued