In tonight’s bedtime story for kids, we have a specially selected Koko Rewind, where we meet Maggie and her best friend, a white fluffy rabbit called Marshmallow. Maggie is a magician and her bunny friend is always there to help whenever Maggie puts on a magic show. Marshmallow is happy to be an assistant, but one day he is given the chance to be a magician too. Relax, get sleepy, and let’s begin!
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The No1 kids bedtime stories & sleep meditations podcast that helps children sleep like a dream. Hosted by the world's biggest fan of bedtime stories, Abbe Opher! All episodes are safe for babies, children and really big kids 0 to 100, so settle down tonight and get sleepy with the world's greatest bedtime stories & sleep meditations for kids.
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Narrator 🎙 Abbe Opher
Author ✍️ Gillian Rogerson
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
00:00:10
Speaker 1: Hi, and welcome back to Coco Sleep, a podcast of
00:00:15
Speaker 1: original children's bedtime stories and sleepy meditations designed to make
00:00:21
Speaker 1: bedtime a dream. If you've been listening for a while,
00:00:26
Speaker 1: you know that our library here at sleep HQ is
00:00:30
Speaker 1: stuffed from floor to ceiling with different kinds of bedtime stories.
00:00:35
Speaker 1: We've read tales about Sonny the playful puppy, Disco the
00:00:40
Speaker 1: Dancing Dragon, Theodore the magnanimous seafaring Monkey, and of course,
00:00:46
Speaker 1: Coco the ukulele playing Koala Bear, and our show's mascot.
00:00:52
Speaker 1: Can you remember any others? I'd love to know which
00:00:56
Speaker 1: story you come back to each night, or which one
00:01:00
Speaker 1: you tell your friends and family about. Who knows, maybe
00:01:04
Speaker 1: it'll be this one. In tonight's bedtime story, we meet
00:01:09
Speaker 1: Maggie and her best friend, a white, fluffy rabbit called Marshmallow.
00:01:14
Speaker 1: Maggie is a magician, and her bunny friend is always
00:01:17
Speaker 1: there to help whenever Maggie puts on a magic show.
00:01:21
Speaker 1: Marshmallow is happy to be an assistant, but one day
00:01:26
Speaker 1: he's given the chance to be a magician too. Settle
00:01:30
Speaker 1: down in your bed and get as comfy as you can.
00:01:34
Speaker 1: Wiggle your fingers toes and nose just like Marshmallow, and
00:01:41
Speaker 1: listen while I tell you all about Marshmallow's first performance
00:01:46
Speaker 1: as a magician. This is the Magician's Rabbit by Gillian Rogerson.
00:02:01
Speaker 1: On her eighth birthday, Maggie Green was given two amazing
00:02:06
Speaker 1: gifts from her parents. One was a magic said that
00:02:10
Speaker 1: she wanted since she was five, and the other was
00:02:14
Speaker 1: something she wasn't expecting at all, a cute, fluffy white bunny.
00:02:21
Speaker 1: As soon as Maggie saw the little rabbit, she fell
00:02:24
Speaker 1: in love with him and knew they would be best
00:02:27
Speaker 1: friends forever. She could tell by looking into the rabbit's
00:02:32
Speaker 1: golden brown eyes that he felt the same way too.
00:02:37
Speaker 1: When Maggie's mama asked what they should call him, Maggie
00:02:41
Speaker 1: said Marshmallow, because that's what he looks like, a big,
00:02:47
Speaker 1: soft marshmallow, and I love marshmallows. The little bunny stayed
00:02:55
Speaker 1: right next to Maggie's side throughout her birthday. Maggie held
00:02:59
Speaker 1: him in her hands, but when she needed her hands
00:03:02
Speaker 1: for something else, such as unwrapping presents or passing slices
00:03:07
Speaker 1: of birthday cake around, she gave Marshmallow to her mum
00:03:11
Speaker 1: to look after. Her. Mum was happy to do so
00:03:15
Speaker 1: because she had fallen in love with Marshmallow too. At
00:03:19
Speaker 1: the end of her birthday, Maggie and the rabbit went
00:03:22
Speaker 1: to her bedroom. Maggie sat down on a big floor cushion.
00:03:28
Speaker 1: She looked at the magic set and tried to make
00:03:31
Speaker 1: sense of it. Marshmallow sat on her lap and tried
00:03:36
Speaker 1: to make sense of it too. Maggie said to the rabbit,
00:03:41
Speaker 1: these instructions look confusing. I don't think I'll be able
00:03:46
Speaker 1: to do any of the tricks. Marshmallow looked at her
00:03:51
Speaker 1: with his lovely brown eyes and twitched his little nose
00:03:55
Speaker 1: as if to say, you can do it. I know
00:03:59
Speaker 1: you can. Maggie smiled, Thank you, Marshmallow. I will keep
00:04:06
Speaker 1: trying until I can do all these tricks. And that's
00:04:10
Speaker 1: just what Maggie did. She took her time, read the
00:04:14
Speaker 1: instructions carefully, and using the magic wand that came with
00:04:19
Speaker 1: the kit, she practiced every magic trick over and over again.
00:04:27
Speaker 1: Marshmallow was by her side all the time. He'd talked
00:04:32
Speaker 1: to her in his special rabbit language, which included twitching
00:04:37
Speaker 1: his nose, making his ears go floppy, and thumping his
00:04:42
Speaker 1: back legs. When Maggie got a trick right, Marshmallow would
00:04:47
Speaker 1: bunny hop joyfully around the room. Sometimes Maggie would join
00:04:53
Speaker 1: in with him and bunny hop too. Maggie quickly got
00:04:58
Speaker 1: used to Marshmallow's rabbit language, and they would spend hours
00:05:02
Speaker 1: talking to each other. Maggie practiced and practiced her magic
00:05:08
Speaker 1: skills until the day came when she was ready to
00:05:12
Speaker 1: put on a show for her mom and dad. Before
00:05:17
Speaker 1: the show began, Maggie took her little rabbit into her bedroom,
00:05:23
Speaker 1: sat down, and placed him on her knee. She said, Marshmallow,
00:05:31
Speaker 1: you know how all my tricks work. I'm worried I
00:05:34
Speaker 1: might forget how to do some of them. Will you
00:05:38
Speaker 1: be my assistant? Please? And then if I forget something,
00:05:44
Speaker 1: you can remind me what to do. The fluffy white
00:05:48
Speaker 1: bunny blinked twice and scrunched up his tiny pink nose,
00:05:54
Speaker 1: which meant yes. Oh, thank you. Maggie said, with the
00:06:00
Speaker 1: big smile on her face. I feel much braver now
00:06:04
Speaker 1: with you helping me. They had a little cuddle for
00:06:09
Speaker 1: good luck. They left Maggie's bedroom and headed to the
00:06:13
Speaker 1: living room, where their first magical performance was going to
00:06:17
Speaker 1: take place. Maggie and Marshmallow began the show by giving
00:06:22
Speaker 1: the audience Maggie's mum and dad a bow. Maggie's first
00:06:27
Speaker 1: trick was to make a large knot in a piece
00:06:31
Speaker 1: of rope disappear. She held the rope up, waved her
00:06:37
Speaker 1: wand over it, and said the magic word, Abrah kadabrah.
00:06:45
Speaker 1: Marshmallow repeated the magic word by twitching his whiskers three times.
00:06:52
Speaker 1: Maggie waved the rope in the air. Tada, the knot
00:06:57
Speaker 1: has disappeared. Her parents were amazed and gave her a
00:07:03
Speaker 1: round of applause. More tricks followed, each one more astounding
00:07:10
Speaker 1: than the one before it. Maggie asked her dad to
00:07:14
Speaker 1: pick a playing card from a pack. She closed her
00:07:18
Speaker 1: eyes whilst he took a card out. Marshmallow did too,
00:07:24
Speaker 1: using her magic wand Maggie tapped the remaining cards and said, Dad,
00:07:33
Speaker 1: your card is the Queen of Hearts? Am I right?
00:07:38
Speaker 1: Her dad said yes, He was totally amazed and asked
00:07:44
Speaker 1: how she done it. Maggie gave him a serious look
00:07:49
Speaker 1: and said, a magician never reveals her secrets. Her dad
00:07:56
Speaker 1: smiled at Marshmallow, how about the magician's rabbit? Well, he
00:08:02
Speaker 1: tell me how you did it. Marshmallow tapped his right
00:08:07
Speaker 1: leg on the floor and blinked once. Maggie's dad didn't
00:08:13
Speaker 1: speak rabbit, but he assumed the bunny was saying he
00:08:18
Speaker 1: wouldn't reveal Maggie's secrets either. Her parents asked for more tricks.
00:08:26
Speaker 1: The young magician made black and white pictures inside a
00:08:30
Speaker 1: book magically transform into colored ones, and then she made
00:08:37
Speaker 1: a card float in mid air above her hand. Marshmallow
00:08:43
Speaker 1: held his pour out and Maggie made the card float
00:08:47
Speaker 1: in front of him too. She didn't even know she
00:08:52
Speaker 1: could do that, but it was a neat trick. Maggie
00:08:58
Speaker 1: moved over to her mom and pulled out a tenpence
00:09:02
Speaker 1: piece from behind her mom's ear. Maggie then put it
00:09:06
Speaker 1: in her palm and made it disappear. Her mother shook
00:09:12
Speaker 1: her head in amazement. Just before Maggie started her next trick,
00:09:20
Speaker 1: Marshmallow made a snuffling noise, which meant he needed Maggie's attention.
00:09:26
Speaker 1: She went over to him and had a little chat
00:09:29
Speaker 1: with the bunny. She listened to what he said, nodded,
00:09:34
Speaker 1: and agreed it was a good idea. Maggie turned back
00:09:39
Speaker 1: to her audience and said, Marshmallow wants to help me
00:09:45
Speaker 1: with this next trick. She held up a hollow cardboard
00:09:50
Speaker 1: tube and showed it to the audience. Please look closely.
00:09:57
Speaker 1: There is nothing inside this tube. It is completely empty.
00:10:04
Speaker 1: The audience nodded. They could see it was a completely
00:10:10
Speaker 1: empty tube. Dad, please hold the end of the tube.
00:10:17
Speaker 1: Maggie handed the tube to her dad. Then she picked
00:10:22
Speaker 1: up Marshmallow and moved him over to the other end
00:10:26
Speaker 1: of the tube. The fluffy bunny twitched his whiskers three
00:10:32
Speaker 1: times as he said Abra cadabra. He moved his head
00:10:39
Speaker 1: into the opening of the tube and grabbed something inside.
00:10:46
Speaker 1: Still with Marshmallow in her arms, Maggie took a step back.
00:10:53
Speaker 1: Marshmallow was holding a string of silky handkerchiefs in his
00:10:59
Speaker 1: little mouth. Each handkerchief was attached to another in a long,
00:11:05
Speaker 1: long line. Maggie took more steps backwards as Marshmallow pulled
00:11:13
Speaker 1: more and more handkerchiefs from the tube. Maggie's dad said,
00:11:20
Speaker 1: how is he doing that? I thought the tube was empty.
00:11:27
Speaker 1: The young magician and her rabbit said nothing. They just
00:11:32
Speaker 1: smiled at each other. It was soon time for the
00:11:37
Speaker 1: last trick. It was going to be the most difficult one,
00:11:42
Speaker 1: and Maggie was a little bit worried that it wouldn't work.
00:11:48
Speaker 1: Marshmallow could see she was nervous and told Maggie he
00:11:52
Speaker 1: was going to be okay, she could do it. Maggie
00:11:57
Speaker 1: nodded at him, Yes, she could do it. She could
00:12:02
Speaker 1: do anything with her best friend at her side. Maggie
00:12:07
Speaker 1: looked at the audience For my last trick, I'm going
00:12:15
Speaker 1: to make Marshmallow disappear, but don't worry, I'll make him
00:12:20
Speaker 1: reappear straight afterwards. Maggie carefully put Marshmallow inside a glittery
00:12:28
Speaker 1: gold box. She placed a silky silver cloth over the
00:12:34
Speaker 1: top of it, waved her magic wand and said Abra cadabra.
00:12:44
Speaker 1: She pulled the silver cloth away and lifted the box
00:12:49
Speaker 1: to show the audience it was empty. Marshmallow, the little
00:12:57
Speaker 1: fluffy bunny, had disappeared. Maggie knew exactly where he'd gone,
00:13:05
Speaker 1: but she wasn't going to tell the audience that just yet.
00:13:10
Speaker 1: Her mom and dad looked left and right in search
00:13:14
Speaker 1: of the rabbit. Her dad even looked under the sofa
00:13:19
Speaker 1: in case the rabbit was hiding there. He scratched his
00:13:24
Speaker 1: head in confusion. Where has he gone. Maggie pointed to
00:13:30
Speaker 1: the armchair at the side of the fireplace. Marshmallow was
00:13:35
Speaker 1: sitting on the cushion, a little bunny smile on his
00:13:40
Speaker 1: fluffy face. He raised his paw and gave the audience
00:13:46
Speaker 1: a happy wave. Maggie's mom and dad laughed in delight
00:13:52
Speaker 1: and said it was the best magic trick they had
00:13:56
Speaker 1: ever seen. Maggie said thank you and bowed her head.
00:14:03
Speaker 1: Marshmallow would have bowed his head too, but he'd fallen asleep.
00:14:09
Speaker 1: Being a magician's assistant was tiring work. Later on that day,
00:14:16
Speaker 1: Maggie and Marshmallow had a chat and agreed their first
00:14:20
Speaker 1: performance had gone very well. Maggie told her best friend
00:14:28
Speaker 1: she would love to be a professional magician. One day.
00:14:33
Speaker 1: Marshmallow put his paw on her arm, looked at her
00:14:38
Speaker 1: with his golden brown eyes, and told her she could
00:14:42
Speaker 1: do that. He believed in her. Thank you, Marshmallow, that
00:14:49
Speaker 1: means a lot to me. The years passed by, and
00:14:54
Speaker 1: Maggie practiced her magic skills every day. As always, her
00:15:01
Speaker 1: best friend Marshmallow was right by her side. Together they
00:15:09
Speaker 1: learned more difficult tricks, and Marshmallow even learned how to
00:15:15
Speaker 1: do someone his own. When Maggie was old enough, her
00:15:20
Speaker 1: dream of becoming a professional magician came true. She set
00:15:26
Speaker 1: up a business and advertised her magic shows. Of course,
00:15:32
Speaker 1: Marshmallow was there at every performance, and he loved being
00:15:37
Speaker 1: her assistant. Maggie and Marshmallow's magic shows became very popular
00:15:44
Speaker 1: and they were in great demand, especially for children's parties.
00:15:50
Speaker 1: The children loved seeing Maggie's amazing tricks, and they adored
00:15:55
Speaker 1: watching Marshmallow as he helped her. Maggie told Marshmallow he
00:16:01
Speaker 1: should perform some tricks on his own at the shows,
00:16:05
Speaker 1: for the rabbit was too shy to do that and
00:16:08
Speaker 1: said Maggie was the magician, not him. Maggie didn't agree,
00:16:13
Speaker 1: but she kept hoping that one day Marshmallow would feel
00:16:18
Speaker 1: brave enough to perform on his own. And that day
00:16:23
Speaker 1: soon came, and it happened in quite an unexpected way.
00:16:30
Speaker 1: Maggie and Marshmallow had been booked to perform at a
00:16:34
Speaker 1: child's seventh birthday party. As always, they had arrived early
00:16:40
Speaker 1: at the party to make sure they had plenty of
00:16:44
Speaker 1: time to set up their equipment. But there was a problem.
00:16:51
Speaker 1: Oh no, Maggie said to Marshmallow, I've forgotten some of
00:16:56
Speaker 1: my props and my magic won. She sighed, I suppose
00:17:05
Speaker 1: we could do the show without them. Marshmallow shook his
00:17:10
Speaker 1: head and told Maggie she should go home and collect them.
00:17:15
Speaker 1: It wouldn't take long in the car and she would
00:17:18
Speaker 1: be back before the show was due to start, and
00:17:23
Speaker 1: while she was gone, he would continue setting everything up
00:17:27
Speaker 1: for the show. Maggie said that was an excellent idea.
00:17:34
Speaker 1: She kissed the top of his fluffy head. She loved
00:17:38
Speaker 1: her little pal so much. Maggie told the child's mum
00:17:43
Speaker 1: what was happening and that she wouldn't be long. Maggie
00:17:47
Speaker 1: jumped into her car and drove home. She soon arrived
00:17:51
Speaker 1: at her house and collected the items she needed. She
00:17:56
Speaker 1: then jumped back in the car, but her car wouldn't start.
00:18:02
Speaker 1: It had broken down. She phoned a car mechanic, but
00:18:08
Speaker 1: he told her he couldn't get there for a while.
00:18:12
Speaker 1: She then phoned for a taxi to pick her up
00:18:15
Speaker 1: as soon as possible, but they were very busy and
00:18:19
Speaker 1: couldn't help. Maggie knew she was going to be late
00:18:24
Speaker 1: for the start of the party. Yeah, she wasn't worried
00:18:28
Speaker 1: because she knew the magic show could begin without her,
00:18:32
Speaker 1: but she would need Marshmallow's help for that. Maggie phoned
00:18:37
Speaker 1: the mother of the birthday child and explained what had happened.
00:18:43
Speaker 1: Maggie said, I'll get there as soon as I can,
00:18:47
Speaker 1: but the show can start without me. Please. Could you
00:18:51
Speaker 1: take me over to Marshmallow and put me on a
00:18:54
Speaker 1: video call so he can see me. The mother was confused,
00:19:01
Speaker 1: but did what Maggie asked. She placed her phone in
00:19:06
Speaker 1: front of the rabbit. Marshmallow saw Maggie on the phone's
00:19:11
Speaker 1: screen and blinked in surprise. Maggie said to him, I'll
00:19:19
Speaker 1: be late arriving at the party, but you can start
00:19:22
Speaker 1: the show without me. You know lots of magic tricks
00:19:26
Speaker 1: and you know how to do them on your own.
00:19:30
Speaker 1: Can you start the show on your own? Please? Marshmallow
00:19:35
Speaker 1: shook his head. He told Maggie he couldn't do that.
00:19:40
Speaker 1: He wasn't a magician like her. Maggie smiled fondly at
00:19:46
Speaker 1: her friend. I've seen how good you are. You're a
00:19:51
Speaker 1: marvelous magician. The rabbit asked what would happen if he
00:19:57
Speaker 1: forgot how to do a trick. Maggie replied, you won't
00:20:03
Speaker 1: forget you always remember what to do. Marshmallow, you can
00:20:08
Speaker 1: do this. I know you can. I believe in you.
00:20:13
Speaker 1: You just need to believe in yourself. Can you do that?
00:20:21
Speaker 1: She looked into his little brown eyes and waited for
00:20:26
Speaker 1: his answer. The fluffy white bunny blinked twice and scrunched
00:20:33
Speaker 1: up his tiny pink nose, which meant yes, thank you.
00:20:41
Speaker 1: You're going to be amazing. Maggie said, I'll get there
00:20:49
Speaker 1: as soon as I can. Have fun. They said goodbye.
00:20:55
Speaker 1: Maggie smiled. She knew Marshmallow would do a work wonderful job.
00:21:02
Speaker 1: She settled back in her seat and waited for the
00:21:06
Speaker 1: calm mechanic to arrive. Meanwhile, on the other side of town,
00:21:13
Speaker 1: a fluffy white rabbit took a few moments to calm
00:21:18
Speaker 1: his mind. He took some deep, slow breaths. It was
00:21:24
Speaker 1: something Maggie and he did every time before a show.
00:21:30
Speaker 1: It helped them to relax. Marshmallow took a deep breath
00:21:36
Speaker 1: in and then breathed out in and out, in and out.
00:21:55
Speaker 1: He thought about how much Maggie believed in him. Thinking
00:22:00
Speaker 1: about his lovely friend made the rabbit smile. He would
00:22:06
Speaker 1: start the show on his own. He wouldn't let Maggie down,
00:22:11
Speaker 1: and he wouldn't let the children down either. He took
00:22:16
Speaker 1: some more deep breaths and felt much calmer. He was ready.
00:22:25
Speaker 1: Marshmallow nodded at the mother of the birthday child to
00:22:29
Speaker 1: let her know the show was about to begin. The
00:22:34
Speaker 1: mother seemed to understand him, because she gathered the party
00:22:38
Speaker 1: children together and sat them down in front of the
00:22:42
Speaker 1: fluffy white rabbit. The children smiled at the rabbit and
00:22:49
Speaker 1: waited for the show to begin. Marshmallow began the performance
00:22:56
Speaker 1: the same way he did with Maggie with some card tricks.
00:23:01
Speaker 1: Through a series of nods and twitches of his nose
00:23:05
Speaker 1: and whiskers, Marshmallow managed to make himself understood by the
00:23:10
Speaker 1: party children. He asked a girl to pick a card,
00:23:15
Speaker 1: but said she mustn't show it to him. With a giggle,
00:23:20
Speaker 1: the child did so and held the card behind her back.
00:23:26
Speaker 1: Marshmallow twitched his whiskers three times to say Abra cadabra.
00:23:33
Speaker 1: Then he thumped his back leg three times and beckoned
00:23:38
Speaker 1: the mother to move over to him. When she came closer,
00:23:44
Speaker 1: Marshmallow reached his poor out and covered up the diamond
00:23:49
Speaker 1: rain she was wearing. He looked back at the child
00:23:53
Speaker 1: who had picked the card. Oh, the mother said, in surprise,
00:24:00
Speaker 1: I think marshmallows trying to tell us the card is
00:24:05
Speaker 1: the three of diamonds. Is that the card you picked? Claire?
00:24:12
Speaker 1: Claire gasped and held up the card. It was the
00:24:17
Speaker 1: three of diamonds. The children were utterly amazed and asked
00:24:25
Speaker 1: Marshmallow how he had known that. Marshmallow didn't say anything,
00:24:32
Speaker 1: but smiled wisely at the audience. More tricks followed. Marshmallow
00:24:40
Speaker 1: started with the simpler ones because they were easier to
00:24:44
Speaker 1: do and he knew them very well. He still felt
00:24:49
Speaker 1: a bit nervous about performing on his own, but seeing
00:24:54
Speaker 1: the delight on the children's faces made his nervousness disappear.
00:25:00
Speaker 1: It wasn't long before he was having a lot of
00:25:03
Speaker 1: fun performing in front of the audience. The children watching
00:25:09
Speaker 1: him were having a lot of fun too. They'd never
00:25:13
Speaker 1: seen a rabbit doing magic tricks before and thought he
00:25:18
Speaker 1: was absolutely wonderful. Marshmallow asked the birthday child, a boy
00:25:26
Speaker 1: called Ben, to come closer and help him with the
00:25:30
Speaker 1: next magic trick. Ben moved over to the rabbit. Marshmallow
00:25:39
Speaker 1: put his poor on Ben's shoulder, and reached for something
00:25:43
Speaker 1: behind Ben's ear. The rabbit's whiskers tickled Ben's cheeks and
00:25:50
Speaker 1: the boy giggled. The rabbit pulled out a tenpence piece
00:25:57
Speaker 1: from behind the boy's ear and showed it to him. Wow,
00:26:03
Speaker 1: Ben said, that was behind my ear? Have I got
00:26:08
Speaker 1: one behind my other ear? Marshmallow had a look, and
00:26:14
Speaker 1: to Ben's delight, there was another tenpence piece hiding there too.
00:26:22
Speaker 1: The rabbit gave it to Ben. Eager hands in the
00:26:26
Speaker 1: audience shot up, and the children all wanted to know
00:26:31
Speaker 1: if they had money behind their ears as well. Marshmallow
00:26:37
Speaker 1: hopped towards them and began checking the children's ears. He
00:26:43
Speaker 1: found silver coins behind them. All the children were astonished
00:26:51
Speaker 1: and stared at their coins as though they'd never seen
00:26:56
Speaker 1: money before. One girl said she was going to keep
00:27:01
Speaker 1: the coin forever and would never ever ever spend it.
00:27:11
Speaker 1: More tricks followed. Their children loved them all. They oowed
00:27:18
Speaker 1: when Marshmallow made shiny silver leaves magically appear on a
00:27:24
Speaker 1: tiny tree. They are when he made silver hoops twirl
00:27:31
Speaker 1: and whirl through the air without anyone holding them, and
00:27:36
Speaker 1: they stared in astonishment when Marshmallow juggled three carrots in
00:27:42
Speaker 1: his little paws, whilst dancing backwards across the room, and then,
00:27:49
Speaker 1: with a twitch of his nose, the rabbit made the
00:27:53
Speaker 1: carrots disappear. The children cheered and gave him a loud
00:28:00
Speaker 1: round of applause. They asked for more tricks. Marshmallow was
00:28:08
Speaker 1: having such a good time that he didn't notice Maggie
00:28:13
Speaker 1: had arrived at the party. She was standing in the
00:28:19
Speaker 1: doorway and watching her little friend at work. As soon
00:28:26
Speaker 1: as she'd seen what a good time Marshmallow was having,
00:28:31
Speaker 1: she had decided to stay where she was and let
00:28:35
Speaker 1: him continue on his own. Her heart filled with love
00:28:41
Speaker 1: as she watched him perform. He was a marvelous magician.
00:28:47
Speaker 1: The children thought so too, and couldn't take their eyes
00:28:51
Speaker 1: off him. It was soon time for Marshmallow's last trick.
00:28:59
Speaker 1: It was the one where Maggie would place him in
00:29:02
Speaker 1: a golden, glittery box and make him disappear. It was
00:29:08
Speaker 1: going to be a tricky one to perform on his own,
00:29:12
Speaker 1: but Marshmallow was going to try his best. The little
00:29:18
Speaker 1: rabbit moved over to the box and climbed inside. Using
00:29:25
Speaker 1: his mouth, he pulled a silver cloth over the top
00:29:30
Speaker 1: of the box, so that he was hidden from the audience.
00:29:35
Speaker 1: He tapped on the inside of the box with his
00:29:39
Speaker 1: paw to let the audience know he was still there.
00:29:45
Speaker 1: Before he made himself disappear, he took a deep breath
00:29:50
Speaker 1: and blew on the silver cloth. It lifted in the
00:29:55
Speaker 1: air and floated to the rug at the side of
00:29:59
Speaker 1: the box. The birthday boy Ben walked over to the
00:30:05
Speaker 1: box and looked inside. It's empty. He said, Marshmallow has disappeared.
00:30:18
Speaker 1: Before the children could wonder where he'd gone. Ben's mother said,
00:30:25
Speaker 1: he hasn't disappeared. He's sitting on the sofa. Look children.
00:30:33
Speaker 1: The children looked at the sofa and saw Marshmallow sitting there.
00:30:39
Speaker 1: He waved his paw at them. He yawned. Being a
00:30:45
Speaker 1: magician was very tiring. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.
00:30:53
Speaker 1: When he woke up a little later, he was cuddled
00:30:57
Speaker 1: up on Maggie's lap. She smiled lovingly at him and
00:31:03
Speaker 1: said she'd seen some of his show. She told him
00:31:08
Speaker 1: how wonderful he was and that she was very proud
00:31:12
Speaker 1: of him. Marshmallow felt all warm and fuzzy inside. He
00:31:20
Speaker 1: was proud of himself too. He didn't think he'd be
00:31:25
Speaker 1: able to perform a show on his own, but he
00:31:29
Speaker 1: had managed to do it, and he'd had a lot
00:31:33
Speaker 1: of fun too. Maggie stroked Marshmallow's soft fur. She said,
00:31:42
Speaker 1: I've got a present for you. It's something I have
00:31:47
Speaker 1: had for a long time, and I've been waiting for
00:31:51
Speaker 1: the right moment to give it to you, and this
00:31:56
Speaker 1: is the right moment. She reached into her pocket and
00:32:02
Speaker 1: pulled out a little magic wand here was the perfect
00:32:08
Speaker 1: size for a rabbit to hold. Marshmallow was confused and
00:32:15
Speaker 1: said he didn't need a magic wand because it was
00:32:19
Speaker 1: Maggie who used one, not him. He was the assistant,
00:32:25
Speaker 1: not the magician. In a soft voice, Maggie said, you
00:32:33
Speaker 1: are a magician, the best magician I have ever seen.
00:32:42
Speaker 1: I'd like you to perform more magic tricks on your
00:32:45
Speaker 1: own and our shows. We could even come up with
00:32:50
Speaker 1: new tricks that need two magicians. What do you say?
00:32:55
Speaker 1: Would you like to be a professional magician with your
00:32:59
Speaker 1: own wand and perform with me? The fluffy white bunny
00:33:08
Speaker 1: blinked twice and scrunched up his tiny pink nose, which
00:33:15
Speaker 1: meant yes. Marshmallow yawned and fell back asleep, cozy and
00:33:25
Speaker 1: warm in Maggie's arms, he drifted into dreams of magical
00:33:32
Speaker 1: silver rings floating through the air, never ending lines of
00:33:39
Speaker 1: silk handkerchiefs coming out of empty tubes, books that changed
00:33:47
Speaker 1: from black and white into color, making himself vanish from
00:33:55
Speaker 1: inside a golden glittering box and reappearing somewhere else. His
00:34:05
Speaker 1: best dream was of standing next to his lovely friend
00:34:10
Speaker 1: Maggie and performing magical tricks together. What a wonderful dream.