---
tags: Kyle, Latest Story
---

# HS-TJ-1.6
### Theme
Courage and perseverance

### Title
The Magic Rod

### Stats
Setting: Aunt's house and surrounding woods
Goal: Return the kitten to his home
Crisis: Vicky tries to stop her
Change: Learns to stand up for herself

### Character
Ella

## Plot

### Scene 1

Ella’s aunt is away on a trip again, and a bored Ella mopes around the house while trying to avoid Vicky, her babysitter. Her only friend is her bird Carl, who goes with her everywhere.

### Scene 2

Ella wanders into the room where her aunt keeps the artifacts she has gathered for the museum. She is carrying Carl’s cage and sets it on the floor. Ella picks up a golden rod and fiddles with it. She asks Carl what he thinks they should do today.

### Scene 3

Ella is shocked when he tells her they should play outside. Ella sets the rod down and asks Carl to repeat himself, but he just looks at her. She thinks for a moment, and then picks the rod back up and tries again. Just like before, Carl tells her they should play outside, and she realizes that the golden rod has the power to let her speak with animals.

### Scene 4

Ella tells Vicky she is going outside and takes Carl and the rod with her. Outside in the yard, she lets Carl out of his cage, and they play together. She is overjoyed to be speaking with Carl, instead of just having her usual one-sided conversations with him. Then, she hears a small mewl and finds a kitten under the porch.

### Scene 5

Ella pulls the kitten out from beneath the porch and asks him where his mother is. The kitten responds, telling her he wandered off to play and doesn’t know where his mother is. He tells her that he lives in the woods at the back of the house and is scared. Ella tells him it’s okay, that she will help him find his mother.

### Scene 6

Ella goes into the house and tells Vicky she found a kitten and they need to go take him to his mother. Vicky shakes her head and says to put the kitten back and she will call animal services to come get him. Ella says she won’t and runs from the house.

### Scene 7

Ella and Carl flee into the woods, with Ella carrying the kitten. They search for the kitten’s mother, and in the distance, they can hear an angry Vicky yelling for her to come back this instant. Ella is scared, but she ignores Vicky and keeps looking for the kitten’s mother.

### Scene 8

With the help of the kitten, they find his mother and siblings. Ella gives the cat back to his mother, who thanks her and says that Ella should be getting home herself now. Ella nods, and she and Carl leave.

### Scene 9

On their way back home, Ella trips and loses the golden rod. She tries to look for it, but an angry Vicky finds her and carries her back to the house, with Carl flying along beside them.

### Scene 10

Vicky tells her she is grounded. Ella says she doesn’t care, that it was worth it to help the kitten. Her aunt gets home, and Vicky tells her what Ella did. Ella refuses to apologize. Vicky leaves, and Ella’s aunt tells her Vicky was just worried, and she can’t be running off on her own because it’s dangerous. Ella insists she had to help the cat. Then, they hear a sound from outside.

The two go outside and find the mother cat and her kittens sitting on the porch. Ella asks if they can stay, and her aunt reluctantly agrees. Carl flies over and lands on her shoulder. She can’t speak with the animals anymore, but it is clear that they can still understand each other’s emotions.