Chapter 1: Voilà! Our Spell Is Done

Chapter One Voilà! Our Spell Is Done
FADE IN:

EXTERIOR OLIVE’S BACKYARD. DAY.

Fully fenced backyard of charming bungalow house nestled in an urban neighborhood lined with tall trees. CLOSE-UP of OLIVE holding an opened velvet bag. KAYLA digs her gloved hand inside and pulls out rose-colored marbles. They both lay the marbles one by one in the grass, preparing for their “Reveal It Now” spell.

OLIVE (VOICE-OVER)

My best friend, Kayla, and I always do our best to follow the rules of magic. One of those rules, and my favorite, is that Magic Is Stronger When Done Together.

A winter chill hugged the air, but Olive didn’t mind. She preferred doing spells outside when no one was around. And as usual, Mom was still at work. But even more important, Olive was on a super-important mission. Today she would choose the perfect story for her next film.

“Any ideas yet?” Kayla asked.

Olive pushed up her red glasses. “Still thinking.” She shrugged.

There were several loglines bouncing around in her head:

• A reimagining of The Witches, where a young kid stumbles onto a wizarding convention and must save the good witches from their evil grandmother, even after being turned into a cat.
• A silent Halloween dinner with a daughter and her deceased father, when suddenly they’re ambushed by candy corn–eating zombies.
• When a bully unleashes a destructive spell on a middle school, timid thirteen-year-old twins must step up to save their classmates.

But Olive wasn’t ready to say them out loud yet. Before sharing, she wanted to choose her favorite one with 100 percent confidence. Even when sharing with her best friend.

“I have the perfect film for you,” Kayla said.

Olive plucked another marble from the bag. “Yeah?”

“Nick and James claim that there are R.A.A.T.S. roaming the park near our neighborhood.”

Olive paused. “Say, huh?”

“R.A.A.T.S. Rodents at a tremendous size.” Kayla rolled the few marbles she had left in her hand. “You could do one of those found-footage movies. A town invaded by gigantic radioactive rats!”

Kayla’s older twin brothers were always making up ridiculous stories. But it could make an interesting film. It reminded Olive of the R.O.U.S.—rodents of unusual size. These giant ratlike creatures live in fire swamps in one of her dad’s favorite fantasy films from decades ago, The Princess Bride.

Olive mentally added it to her list.

She dropped the last marble to the ground and stepped back. Their large circle was complete! They interlocked their right pinkie fingers and chanted in unison, “This is just between us.” Dancing around the marbles, the two sang:

“Hocus-pocus!

Bring in focus,

the film that should be done.

Boom, boom, kapow!

Let us know now,

the film that should be done.”

Kayla shimmied gracefully. Olive awkwardly bounced along. They continued moving around the circle until they’d repeated the verses three times, and then ended with:

“Presto! Shazam!

Alakazam!

Voilà! Our spell is done.”

Turning thirteen in April, Olive would finally be able to attend the Rose City Summer Film Camp. Ten lucky students would get to produce a short film, from developing the screenplay to final editing. Rumors buzzed that Gillian Vansant would be a guest speaker this summer. She’d attended the camp as a kid and recently got nominated for Best Director at the Oscars!

Getting into Rose City would be a huge step toward making Olive’s directorial dreams come true. The most important part of the application was to submit an eight-minute short. And that was exactly why Olive was doing this spell.

“Well?” Kayla said.

Olive still wasn’t sure which story to pick. But she did know the perfect location to film it. “Off to the cemetery!”

Olive wasn’t allowed to wander in the nearby park after dark, even if she wasn’t alone. Luckily, there was still an hour before sunset. That would give Olive and Kayla enough time to take the unfamiliar path on their way to the cemetery with the hopes of spotting R.A.A.T.S.

Though Olive doubted that the twins’ story about rodents at a tremendous size was true, it couldn’t hurt to make a quick investigation. Who knew what interesting footage she might capture?

At the edge of the park, Olive and Kayla stepped off the sidewalk and into a thick patch of trees. They zigged and zagged, stepping over roots, and avoiding low-hanging branches. Olive held her phone above her feet. With each heavy stomp, her winter boots snapped twigs and crunched leaves. She panned the phone toward the towering conifers and redwoods blocking out the sun. Deeper in, the usual neighborhood sounds faded.

Still filming, Olive asked, “Are you sure you know where we’re going?”

Kayla nodded. “The twins gave me detailed directions.”

Olive released a heavy sigh. She let her mind wander as it often did. Her best film ideas came to her this way. As she carefully stepped over another tree root, she imagined that this was the part in the movie where the best friends were separated. Her boot would get caught, causing her to fall and sprain her ankle. So the sidekick would have to go for help, leaving the injured hero alone in the woods to fend for herself. Against gigantic and hungry radioactive rats!

Something howled. Olive jumped, wobbling back into the present.

The trees had become sparser. Off in the distance a jogger was accompanied by a German shepherd. Olive laughed it off.

Kayla froze. “Did you hear that?”

Olive strained to listen. As she was shaking her head, a twig snapped.

Kayla’s hand flew over her mouth. She pointed at something large and low to the ground.

Olive squinted, then jerked back.

A large humpbacked beast—at least three feet long—lumbered in the distance.

Was it…? No, it couldn’t be. Could it? There’s no such thing as rodents at a tremendous size! Right?

Her fingers shaking, Olive swung her camera’s view toward the moving creature. Kayla leaned into Olive. Their gazes locked onto the screen. Moving her hands to keep the fuzzy critter in frame, Olive zoomed in as far as her phone would allow. She gasped.

It had four huge chisel-shaped buckteeth! On top and bottom. And they were orange!

The beast growled. Kayla and Olive shrieked.

As it waddled on, Olive registered the creature’s tiny, rounded ears and thick reddish-brown fur. Once she caught sight of its broad, flat tail, that’s when she knew. She’d seen this animal on the back of the state flag since kindergarten. It also happened to be their middle school’s mascot.

“It’s a beaver!” Olive said.

“He’s so cute,” Kayla cooed.

Olive giggled. “It’s definitely at a tremendous size.”

“What should we call him? Justin Beaver?”

Olive groaned. “Butternut? Gnawly? Webber?”

Kayla shook her head with each one.

“I know,” Olive said. “Waddle!”

Kayla made the heart hand sign.

Olive turned back to her phone’s screen. “Hey, where’s Waddle?”

They stared out into the distance, but their new friend was gone.