The Magic Pencil 3

Copyright © 2022 by Castell Trading Pty Ltd

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Tellwell Talent

www.tellwell.ca

ISBN

978-0-2288-5903-1 (Hardcover)

978-0-2288-5902-4 (Paperback)

978-0-2288-5904-8 (eBook)

I would like to gratefully acknowledge family, friends and colleagues who have contributed in many ways to bring my writing to fruition.

Author: Count Andreas Wilhelm von Faber-Castell

For author A.W. Faber-Castell (Count Andreas von Faber-Castell), every pencil holds the promise of magic. From the time he was a young boy he has always regarded pencils as small magic wands that inspire creativity and make the imagination visible.

Known as Count Andy to his colleagues, he is the last surviving member of the 8th generation pencil dynasty to have been actively involved in the running of the famous company, which began in Germany in 1761.

Andy was the company’s undisputed champion for developing children’s products – the main contributor to Faber-Castell’s success over recent decades. One of his claims to fame was the launch of his beloved Connector Pen. He was its sole champion initially, but with passion and persistence he ultimately brought the disbelievers in the company on board. The pen became famous worldwide, and it has been the number one colouring product in Australia for the past twenty-five years.

Table of Contents

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

CHAPTER THIRTY

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

1

CHAPTER ONE

Time passes, but true friendship stays put. Even though young Andy wouldn’t have expressed it that way, he knew instinctively that no matter how long he had to wait for the magic pencil to return, their friendship would be as strong as ever.

But it didn’t make the waiting any easier. Andy was in a constant state of longing to see the pencil again. Every morning, for nine months, he crossed a number off his wall calendar as he counted down to the day he would once again hear the pencil’s voice in his head. And now finally, at last, that exciting day had arrived!

Andy imagined that even his dog, Sassy, was excited by the prospect. He was pleased that she had recovered from her confusion after the magic pencil accidentally put the animal love spell on her. Sassy never felt good about it, but she eventually got used to the fact that every animal she met—domestic pets and wild creatures alike—loved her. It was impossible for her to chase any wild animals in the fields and forest because none ran away from her. Quite the reverse, in fact. Rabbits actually ran towards her for a cuddle, squirrels tried to feed her nuts and birds landed on her back. Even all the cats in the neighbourhood steadfastly rubbed their heads on her chest, purring loudly while totally ignoring her ferocious growling and barking. Cats not afraid of her! Outrageous! What was a fierce, red-blooded dog to do? If dogs could look embarrassed and humiliated, Sassy certainly did each time it happened.

‘Don’t worry, Sassy!’ Andy would laugh. ‘You’re still the best dog a boy could have.’

To cheer her up on such occasions Andy would throw balls for her to fetch. And, as a special treat, Andy sometimes flew a little drone close to the ground, which she loved to chase. It quickly became her favourite game; at least it ran away from her!

‘So, I hear you’ve been a very good boy while I was away and didn’t use your special powers at all! Congratulations, Andy!’

Andy almost fainted on the spot as his head instantly began spinning with excitement at the sudden sound of that familiar voice inside it. Tears of joy welled in his eyes, before spilling over and running down his cheeks.

‘Finally!’ he sobbed. ‘Finally, you are back! I don’t want you to leave me ever again!’

‘Don’t worry, Andy, I’ll be here for quite a while.’

Andy didn’t like the sound of that at all. Quite a while didn’t sound like forever to him.

‘But, Mi—’ He was about to blurt out the magic pencil’s name when he cut himself short. It was only at the very end of the pencil’s last visit that she told him her name. He was surprised it was Michaela, a girl’s name. He’d never thought about whether the pencil was male or female; it was a disembodied voice in his head. He hadn’t quite gotten used to the fact that it … she … had a name.

‘It’s OK to say my name, Andy,’ the pencil said.

‘It just feels weird,’ Andy muttered, ‘to call a voice in my head or a pencil in my pocket Michaela. Maybe if you were real, I could do it.’

‘I am real, Andy.’

‘Sorry … yes, I know. I just meant if you were—’

‘Human?’ the magic pencil said.

‘Umm … yes, I guess.’

‘Well, I do have a human form as Michaela, which I use when circumstances call for it.’

‘Really?’ Andy cried. ‘Can you show me?’

‘Of course, but only briefly. I’m not permitted by the spirit masters to take my human form without a very good reason and their consent in advance. They may instantly call me back if I transgress. I don’t have their consent, but I do have a good reason, so I’ll risk it. Just for a short time, though.’

At that, a very pretty dark-haired girl about Andy’s own age materialised right before his eyes. She had olive skin and bright emerald-green eyes.

‘Wow!’ Andy cried, gawping.

‘Hello, Andy.’

‘H-h-h-hello … Michaela.’

‘You don’t have to call me Michaela all the time—perhaps just on the rare occasions I’m in my human form. Otherwise, just talk to me as you have been doing.’

‘OK, thanks,’ Andy said. He sounded normal, but he had a very confused look on his face. ‘Your voice has totally changed,’ Andy said. ‘You sound like a young girl.’ Then he realised what a dumb remark it was and looked embarrassed.

‘Only when I am a young girl, Andy,’ the pencil replied without sarcasm.

‘Yeah … of course,’ Andy muttered, embarrassed. But he quickly regained his confidence. ‘By the way, what was the good reason you said you had for turning human?’

‘Very good, Andy! You’re getting better at listening! The reason is that I was going to tell you about one of the new skills I learnt while I was away at spirit boot camp—which was very harrowing, I must say.’

‘What new skill?’ Andy said excitedly, ignoring the pencil’s appeal for sympathy. ‘Tell me! Tell me!’

‘You’ve just seen it, Andy,’ Michaela said with a broad grin.

‘What?’

‘Materialisation!’ Michaela said. ‘I was able to show it to you rather than simply tell you about it.’

‘Oh … wow!’ Andy cried. ‘Do it again!’ He suddenly realised what he had said and wished he hadn’t.

‘I was about to,’ Michaela responded. At that, she dematerialised, vanishing into thin air.

‘Incredible!’ Andy cried. ‘Now come back again.’

‘No,’ the magic pencil said, once again as just a voice in Andy’s head and a magic pencil in his pocket. ‘My humanisation time is up, for now.’

‘But … but … can you materialise something else?’ Andy pleaded. ‘I want another demonstration!’

‘Take the cap off my pencil and place me on the floor,’ the magic pencil ordered, back to its normal, bossy self.

2

CHAPTER TWO

Andy placed the pencil on the floor, as he was told. A split second later he leapt up onto his bed in terror … with Sassy jumping after him and bouncing off his chest. Right there before them was a monstrous, grouchy-looking tiger whose full-throated ferocious growling reverberated throughout the house.

Anna, who happened to be in the room opposite to Andy’s, opened his door ready to scold her son for making such an awful noise. She almost fainted with fright when she saw the tiger’s snarling face but somehow managed to stay on her feet. She staggered out of the room and stumbled down the stairs crying out for Johann.

‘THERE’S A TIII … THERE’S A TIII… a TIGER IN YOUR SON’S ROOM! DO SOMETHING, JOHANN!

Johann swore under his breath and put his book down. Grabbing one of his walking sticks, just in case, he stormed up the stairs and into Andy’s room. Learning what a useless weapon a walking stick would be against a fully-grown tiger was a lesson he, fortunately, didn’t have to suffer. Half expecting to be confronted by a huge striped cat, all he saw was a small tabby kitten pouncing around Sassy, whose tail was wagging happily.

‘Ahhh!’ Johann muttered, grabbing the