Charlie the Wizard

Charlie the Wizard
by Robert Camp

Charlie was a wizard. Not the old kind of wizard that carries a wand and reads old spells all day, but a real wizard with real powers. These powers made his complicated six-year-old problems easy to deal with. In fact one day when Charlie was really hungry he walked into the kitchen to find that his mother had just made him a peanut butter sandwich. He knew his powers had prompted his mom to make it for him because he was so hungry. Yeah, life was easy for Charlie the Wizard.

Charlie discovered his powers one night when his mother was reading him a bedtime story. The name of the book was “Yid the Wizard”. In the story Yid saved an entire city from a fire breathing dragon using his magic staff. Yid was such a great wizard that Charlie wanted to stay up later to continue reading the story. Charlie’s mother had just closed the book and was about to tell him it was bedtime when the phone rang. It was Grandma and she could talk for hours. He knew Grandma had called because he wanted to stay up just a little later. He had powers just like Yid.

The first thing Charlie had to do was to find himself a magic staff. He set out the next morning to find himself a nice staff of wood in his mother’s garden. After a long two-minute search he found what he was looking for. It was a small shaft of wood that fit smoothly in his hand. Even though it had fallen over the fence from the neighbor’s oak tree, he knew it was magic.

The first test was to see what magical powers his new staff had. Charlie began by using every magic word he could think of. “Kablam! Kabloey!” But nothing happened. Then he realized that in order for the staff to work he needed a robe and wizard’s cap just like Yid. (Everyone knows that a wizard’s staff only responds to a real wizard and Charlie was not dressed like a real wizard.)

He ran to his parents’ bathroom to get his father’s blue robe. Meanwhile, his mother found the dirty stick that Charlie was using for a staff laying on the floor of the playroom. She picked it up and took it outside because that is where dirty sticks belong. On his way back to the play room Charlie passed his mother who was walking in the back door. “What are you doing Charlie?” she asked in a motherly voice.

“I’m testing my magic staff,” said Charlie fidgeting with the pink towel wrapped around his head. Then he hurried off to the playroom.

When Charlie got back to the playroom, he was in for a surprise. His staff was gone. It had disappeared! “Why did I have to pick the invisible staff?” moaned Charlie. “Now I’ll never find it!”

Just then Charlie’s mother peeked into the room. “Is anything wrong Charlie?”

“Yes, I lost my magic staff. It’s invisible.”

His mother gave an understanding nod and patted him on his head. “Maybe the staff isn’t invisible Charlie. Maybe it travels all by itself.” Charlie looked confused. “Maybe you should check in the back yard,” she said with a smile. Charlie looked up at her hopefully.

Charlie found his staff in the backyard laying by the garden. He happily picked it up and marched triumphantly back to the house. Now that he knew his staff was a traveling staff Charlie had to be more careful with it. He put a counter spell on it and locked it in his closet so it would not leave again. He decided being a wizard can make a person very hungry and took a break for lunch.