The Wishes That Separate Us.

​Once upon a time, near a playground in Ottawa, lived two best friends named Charlotte and Lily, who were both five years old. One sunny morning, while playing hide-and-seek in a patch of little trees behind Lily's house, they found a very special tree. Its leaves sparkled like glitter, and it made a happy little buzzing sound, like a bumblebee. A small, wobbly sign was stuck to the trunk with the words: "Wishing Tree - One Talent Each." Charlotte and Lily looked at each other with wide, excited eyes.

​Charlotte, who loved to draw with her crayons, went to the tree first. She closed her eyes tight and whispered to the sparkly leaves, "I wish I was the best drawer in the whole wide world!" Suddenly, her fingers felt tingly, and she just knew she could draw amazing things now.

​Then it was Lily's turn. Lily loved to sing her favorite songs. She stood in front of the buzzy tree and wished, "I wish I could sing all the songs perfectly and everyone would love to listen!" Right away, her throat felt funny in a good way, and she felt like she could sing louder and better than ever.

​At first, their new talents were so much fun! For about two years, Charlotte drew pictures of funny cats and colorful rainbows that everyone said were the best. Lily sang songs about puppies and ice cream that made everyone clap their hands. They would draw pictures while Lily sang, and Lily would sing about Charlotte’s drawings. It was the best!

​But as time went on, things started to get tricky. Lily wanted to sing all the time, even when Charlotte was trying to draw a super-duper secret picture. Lily’s loud singing sometimes made Charlotte’s crayons slip and mess up her drawings. And when Charlotte was busy drawing, she didn’t always listen carefully to Lily’s new songs, which made Lily feel a little sad.

​One day, Charlotte was making a big drawing of her cousins for her fridge. She was trying to draw her baby cousin Nates tiny toes just right, but Lily was singing her loudest song about a dinosaur. "Lily!" Charlotte said, "Can you please be a little quieter? I can't draw!" Lily stopped singing and frowned. "Well, I wanted you to hear my new song! It's the best one ever!" she said, and then stomped her foot a little. Charlotte felt like Lily only cared about her singing and not about her drawing.

​They had a little pouty time during their snack of juice boxes and cookies. Charlotte thought Lily’s singing was too loud, and Lily felt like Charlotte didn’t like her singing anymore. They missed the time when they just played together nicely.

​So, they went back to the sparkly, buzzy tree. Standing close together, they said, "Magic Tree, our special drawing and singing are making us not be such good friends anymore. We wish we could just be normal drawers and singers again, like before."

​The tree’s glittery leaves twinkled extra bright, and it buzzed a little louder. A soft, happy sound seemed to come from its branches. "Okay," the tree seemed to say. "Your wish is done. But you must try your best to remember to be good friends to each other, even without any special magic."

​They both felt a little different, like their super drawing and singing powers had gone away. Charlotte drew a little picture of a flower that was still nice, and Lily sang her favorite puppy song, and it sounded just like it used to. They looked at each other and smiled. Playing together was much more fun than having super talents that made them feel grumpy. They held hands and ran back to the playground, happy to be best friends again. They learned that playing together and being kind was the most magical thing of all. And they promised the tree they would always be careful about what they wished for.