Chapter 3: The Wish That Went Too Far
The following morning, Monty awoke to an unusual sound—a faint, musical jingling. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, glancing around his room. The muffin sat quietly on his bedside table, its golden crumbs glistening in the sunlight. However, something was different today. The air felt…charged. There was an unmistakable hum of energy vibrating through the walls, as if the muffin itself was vibrating in anticipation.
He groaned. “This is not going to end well.”
A loud crash came from outside his window. Monty rushed over, pulling back the curtain. To his horror, he saw the old oak tree in his front yard had been transformed into a giant disco ball, its branches glittering with flashing lights, casting sporadic beams across the lawn.
“Monty! You have to see this!” Penny’s voice came through the open window.
He quickly opened the door to find her standing in his front yard, eyes wide, pointing at the tree. A small crowd of onlookers had gathered, staring at the transformed oak in awe. Monty couldn’t help but notice Mr. Bunbury in the crowd, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.
“Great. Just great,” Monty muttered, stepping outside. “Now, it’s a party tree.”
Penny pulled him aside. “That’s not the worst part. Wait until you see what else happened.”
Before Monty could respond, a loud mooing sound erupted from the sky. He looked up to see a flock of birds—no, wait—those weren’t birds at all. They were cows. Flying cows.
The cows did loops in the air, mooing in unison as they circled the disco tree like some sort of bizarre aerial ballet. The entire scene was nothing short of surreal.
“I don’t even know where to start with this one,” Monty said, rubbing his forehead.
“I think it’s pretty clear,” Penny replied. “The muffin’s magic is getting stronger. The wishes are becoming more…creative. And dangerous.”
Monty looked at the muffin on his bedside table, still sitting innocently in its ceramic dish. “I don’t get it. The wishes are supposed to be silly, but now things are spiraling out of control.”
“You don’t think it’s… more than just silly, do you?” Penny asked. “I mean, look at the flying cows! The muffin is playing with fire.”
Monty nodded, staring at the chaotic scene outside. “Yeah, I think we need to figure out how to stop it before someone wishes for something that can’t be undone.”
At the town square, Mr. Bunbury was holding court again, surrounded by an eager crowd, all hoping for their turn with the magical muffin. He stood proudly on the stage, waving his hands as if conducting a symphony.
“Gather ’round, everyone!” he boomed. “Come and make your wishes! The muffin is still granting them all!”
Monty and Penny arrived just as another person stepped up to the stage. The man, dressed in a tuxedo, cleared his throat dramatically before speaking.
“I wish that I could dance like the world’s greatest ballerina!” he declared, striking an exaggerated pose.
The muffin shimmered, and a soft melody began to play from nowhere. The man twirled, but instead of the graceful pirouettes he expected, he was suddenly spinning wildly out of control. His limbs flailed about like he was caught in a windstorm. He didn’t stop spinning, not even when he crashed into the wooden fence at the edge of the square.
The crowd roared with laughter, and Monty winced. “This is getting ridiculous.”
Penny crossed her arms. “Don’t you think we should put an end to this?”
Monty hesitated, staring at the muffin in Mr. Bunbury’s hands. It was glowing more brightly than ever before. He could feel its magic pulsing in the air like an electric charge. Something told him that they couldn’t simply take it away from Mr. Bunbury. It would only cause more chaos.
“I think we need to get to the bottom of why it’s doing this,” Monty said, pulling Penny to the side. “What if the muffin has some sort of… limit? Maybe there’s a tipping point.”
Penny furrowed her brow. “You mean if we push it too far, the wishes will start to backfire?”
“Exactly,” Monty replied. “If people keep wishing for more and more outlandish things, eventually, the magic will get out of control. We might be dealing with something that’s more dangerous than it seems.”
Penny thought for a moment. “So, what do we do? How do we stop it?”
Monty bit his lip. “We need to find someone who knows more about this muffin. Someone who might have some insight into its origins.”
That night, Monty and Penny ventured to the library to research anything related to magical muffins—or, at the very least, unusual objects that granted wishes. The library was quiet, its aisles bathed in the soft glow of lanterns.
“You don’t think we’re wasting time, do you?” Penny whispered, scanning the shelves.
“Not if we find something useful,” Monty replied. He pulled a dusty tome from the shelf and flipped through the pages. After several minutes of skimming, he found a section on ancient artifacts.
“Listen to this,” Monty said, reading aloud. “‘Magical objects with a ‘silly’ component often stem from powerful spells meant to disarm dark magic. They are designed to distract and dilute the power of malicious wishes, but…’”
“But?” Penny prompted.
“‘But they can also become unstable when pushed too far. Once the balance is disturbed, the magic becomes unpredictable and uncontrollable.’”
Penny’s eyes widened. “That’s exactly what’s happening. The muffin is unstable.”
Monty closed the book with a thud. “Which means we’re in trouble. We need to find a way to neutralize the muffin’s power before it causes any more damage.”
The next morning, Monty and Penny gathered a group of their closest friends. They huddled in Monty’s kitchen, each person taking a seat at the table.
“I think it’s time we make a plan,” Monty said, looking around at everyone. “This muffin has caused enough chaos. We need to stop it before it gets any worse.”
The group agreed. Everyone was on edge, watching the newsfeed on Penny’s phone, which was now flooded with bizarre clips of flying cows and spinning ballerinas.
“We could try to lock it away somewhere,” suggested one of Monty’s friends, a quiet guy named Ollie. “But that hasn’t worked so far.”
“I think the only way to fix this is to break the muffin’s connection to the magic,” Penny said, sounding determined.
Monty nodded. “We need to find a way to restore the balance, or the wishes will keep getting more ridiculous and uncontrollable.”
Everyone fell silent, realizing just how much was at stake. The fate of Wobblewood rested in their hands.
“We have to act fast,” Monty said, standing up. “Before this wish goes too far.”
