Little Patch of Heaven, a farm unlike ours. Filled with peace and wonder, but also danger and noise when gunshots are heard. The residents consist of farm animals. Talking animals.
Our story, like so many others, is about five very special animals. One of them is a brown show cow named Maggie. Since her home was sadly taken away by Alameda Slim and the Willie Brothers Gang, she and a peg-legged jackrabbit, who also used to have a home of his own and lost it to Slim, now live in Patch of Heaven with the other animals, including two other dairy cows and a karate-kicking stallion. Today was a normal day for them, but they planned something for tonight.
"Are you sure everything's ready for tonight, Maggie?" Lucky Jack asked.
"One hundred percent sure. And I couldn't have done it without you," Maggie said.
"Ah, it was nothing," Lucky Jack said while looking around the room.
They added a few things for tonight. There was a table with snacks and drinks and multiple sleeping bags on the ground.
"I'm so excited for tonight's slumber party. We play games, tell ghost stories, eat s'mores, and so on. After my first slumber party with Mrs. Calloway and Grace, I'm prepared for everything," Maggie said with excitement and self-assuring.
"Hopefully, there's also something that I can do, and not only that silly nonsense," Lucky Jack said, motioning with his fingers.
Maggie giggled a bit. "Don't worry, Jack. It'll be fun for everyone... And horse and rabbit."
Lucky Jack smiled at that, then he realized something. "Oh, maybe I can go into town to see if I can find some decorations for tonight," he said with excitement.
Maggie couldn't help but roll her eyes with a smile. "Okay, see you later."
Lucky Jack walked out of the barn and went into town.
He had searched the whole day for decorations and even a few gemstones. Until the time he found what he wanted, it was nighttime. He walked happily back to the barn.
"Wow. Finally, after hours of searching, I finally have some," Lucky Jack said. Suddenly, he looked at the clocktower. "Uh-oh, better hurry or else I'll be late."
But suddenly, something caught his eye. In the star-filled blanket of darkness, a big star shone very brightly. Lucky Jack couldn't keep his eyes away from it, it was so beautiful to look at. Suddenly, the star began to shine even brighter and then it began to move. It flew very fast above Lucky Jack, and it began to descend somewhere in the forest. The impact caused a huge wave of light that everyone could see, but for the moment, only Lucky Jack saw it.
"What was that?" he asked himself. "It looked like it went towards the forest. I better check it out."
He walked towards the entrance to the forest and hesitated a little. He knew how dangerous the forest was, but he was too curious. So he gathered all his strength and went into the forest. Little did he know that two small yellow eyes were watching him.
While Lucky Jack walked in the forest, he looked around nervously. Something could sneak around in the forest, waiting for the perfect moment to pounce. Suddenly, he heard something rustling. He quickly searched for the sound. He heard another, this time, a bit closer. And then one more, and suddenly, it stopped. Lucky Jack was very aware of what might happen. He turned around and what he saw in front of him suddenly made him jump into the air with a yell and fell back to the ground. It was an owl.
"Dagnabbit, owl! Don't scare me like that again. I thought you were a coyote or something," Lucky Jack said.
"Hoo?" the owl said.
"Oh, I'm going to find out what kind of shiny thing I saw around here," Lucky Jack answered.
"Hoo?" the owl asked.
"A star went that way and impacted there. I'm going there to check it out."
"Hoo-hoo," the owl said.
"I know it's the cows' slumber party tonight, but I'm so curious about that star," Lucky Jack said.
"Hoo?"
"Me. That's who," Lucky Jack said and walked past the owl.
The owl shrugged and followed him.
After minutes of walking in the forest, they finally reached the cave. It was still in the same state. Lucky Jack was a little frightened because of the look of the cave at night. But still, with great determination, he went over to it.
When they approached the cave, Lucky Jack took a look inside. He and the owl went inside and looked around.
Lucky Jack began to think. "Hmm. I wonder where it is."
"Hoo," the owl said.
"It's not 'who', it's 'where'." They began to search through most parts of the cave. After a while, they found nothing. "Did you find anything?"
"Hoo," the owl said.
Lucky Jack sighed. "I swear I didn't see things. I saw a shooting star falling here. Did I let my imagination get the best of me?"
Suddenly, a bright light shone through the cave. The owl saw it.
"Hoo-hoo. Hoo-hoo," the owl said.
"Not now, Mr. Owl. I'm trying to think," Lucky Jack said.
But the owl paid no attention to that, and instead, he used his talons to turn Lucky Jack's head to the direction of the light. Lucky Jack's eyes widened.
"Wow. It's coming from over there," Lucky Jack said and ran towards the light. When he got there, he couldn't believe his eyes at what he saw. The glowing light came from something that was at the top of a tower of rocks. Slowly, he approached the rock pile and turned his attention to his owl friend. "Wait here."
The owl sat on a branch of a tree while he watched how Lucky Jack climbed the rock pile. He climbed higher and higher until he was almost at the top. Suddenly, he slipped, which almost made him fall. One rock fell to the ground.
"Hoo!" the owl panicked.
But Lucky Jack regained himself and climbed further. He came closer and closer to the source of the light. The owl watched with big eyes. Lucky Jack finally approached the source and gave a little suspicious look. It was revealed to bea golden book with a strange insignia in the center. He picked it up and observed it.
"This... Is it? A book?" he askedhimself.
"Hoo?" the owl asked.
Lucky Jack slid down the pile of rocks and went to his feathered friend.
"I don't get it. It's just a book." He looked at the book and saw the strange insignia. "Wait a minute. What's this? I've never seen a symbol like this before."
The symbol looked like one big circle with two smaller circles on the top. The big circle was a blue gemstone.
"Maybe Maggie knows. Let's go," Lucky Jack said, and together, they walked out of the forest and went back to their friends.
Meanwhile, the cows and Buck were already enjoying their slumber party. Buck and Maggie were having a pillow fight, Mrs. Calloway was looking at herself in the mirror, and Grace was making a few s'mores.
"Ah, isn't this delightful?" Mrs. Calloway asked.
"It sure is," Maggie said, still playing with Buck.
"Wait till you all taste some of my self-made s'mores. This time, I put a secret ingredient in it," Grace said and came close to Maggie. "Do you know what the secret ingredient is?" she asked. Grace looked left and right. Maggie was about to say something, but Grace interrupted by whispering in her ear. "A secret."
"Um, I kinda had that thought you would say that," Maggie said.
"Say, Maggie, dear. Where's Lucky Jack?" Mrs. Calloway asked.
"I don't know. He was looking for some decorations for the party, but he still hasn't returned yet," Maggie said.
"Oh, I hope nothing happened to him," Grace said.
"I hope so, too. I mean, he could be eaten by coyotes, clobbered by mean vultures, or killed by something so strange and so mysterious that we can't even explain," Maggie said, making Grace very nervous and making her tremble.
"Maggie. Don't say that. It's one of those things that can give us a heart attack," Mrs. Calloway said.
"Yeah, besides, Lucky Jack is a smart guy. I'm sure nothing's going to happen to him," Buck said.
Maggie began to think, and suddenly, the barn door opened, revealing the rabbit and the owl. The cows and horse let out a sigh of relief, knowing that their friend was okay.
"Lucky Jack, where have you been?" Maggie asked.
"Sorry I'm late. But I just saw the strangest thing," Lucky Jack explained.
"What strange thing?" Mrs. Calloway asked.
"There was a star that shone very brightly, and suddenly, it fell down. It landed in a cave in the forest," Lucky Jack said.
"A falling star? Was there any damage?" Maggie asked.
"Not a crack. It fell on top of a pile of rocks. It glowed very brigthly. But then came the weird part, instead of a star, I found this." Lucky Jack showed her the book.
"A book?" Buck asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Wow. Mysterious," Grace said.
"And look at the insignia," Lucky Jack said and showed Maggie the cover of the book.
Maggie looked closely at the symbol of the book. Lucky Jack was right, this was an unfamiliar symbol.
"What do you think it could mean?" Lucky Jack asked.
"I have no idea." Maggie tried to open the book, but it wouldn't open. There was a lock on the right side. "It's locked. I don't even have a key for it."
"Why don't you use some type of object to open it?" Buck asked.
"I... Could try that. Wait here," Maggie said.
And with that, she walked outside and looked around. Then she went into a bush and picked up a stick. "Perfect!"
Maggie walked back inside the barn. "All right, guys. I found the perfect thing," she said to the others.
"How exactly is that going to work?" Mrs. Calloway asked.
"Easy. Watch this," Maggie said. Then she inserted the stick into the keyhole and pulled it as hard as she could, but it didn't open. "A little help here."
The others grabbed onto Maggie and tried to help her pull the book open. They pulled and pulled until the stick popped out of the keyhole, making them all fall to the floor, panting.
"That's one strong lock," Maggie said.
"Oh, my goodness, Maggie. Are you okay?" Grace asked.
"Uh, I'm fine, Grace. I've never faced a book like that before. And whatever is inside it, it must be something with really powerful magic," Maggie said while rubbing her head.
Lucky Jack looked at the insignia on the book and placed his hand on it. No one knew that the book felt Lucky Jack's hand, some kind of energy began to spark.
"Great, how do we know what's in it if we can't open it?" Buck asked.
"I'm not sure. We should go to Pearl, maybe she knows something about this book," Maggie said.
Suddenly, the book shot a pillar of energy through the roof. Lucky Jack quickly backed away. His friends noticed the pillar of energy.
"What's going on?" Grace asked.
"I don't know," Maggie answered.
"YOU WANT TO KNOW THE KNOWLEDGE FROM THIS BOOK, THAT I KNOW. BUT YOU NEED TO PROVE YOURSELF TO SHOW IF YOU'RE WORTHY!" a loud female voice spoke from the book, and suddenly, some kind of holographic circle with many kinds of symbols appeared in front of them. "CHOOSE WISELY AND DO NOT LINGER! THE CHOICE IS YOURS!"
With that, the cows, horse, and rabbit looked at each other in confusion while the holographic circle kept floating horizontally.
"Wha... What do you mean?" Mrs. Calloway said.
A burst of magic appeared in the center of the circle, showing a symbol.
"It looks like an apple." Grace looked at it curiously.
Maggie began to concentrate and kept looking at the circle and the symbol. She also noticed the other symbols on the circle. "I think we need to choose the matching symbol."
"Oh. There it is. I see it," Buck said and pointed at the apple symbol on the circle.
Maggie stepped closer and slowly placed her hoof on the circle. When she rotated the circle a bit, her hoof flinched back. But then she placed it back and rotated the circle so the apple symbol was in front of the big apple symbol. The big apple symbol exploded a bit and changed into a new symbol.
"Now it's a sun," Mrs. Calloway said.
Maggie began to think again. "I think we need speed and teamwork to win this challenge. Help me with this."
"I see the sun symbol," Grace said.
Maggie rotated the circle until the big symbol exploded again and took a new symbol. This time, it was a lamp. This time, Buck rotated the circle, and the symbol exploded again. The pillar of energy became stronger.
"Hurry, who knows what will happen if that pillar enlarges," Mrs. Calloway said.
The new symbol was a glass slipper.
"Hey, look. A glass slipper," Maggie said.
"Over there!" Lucky Jack said.
Maggie rotated the circle again, and the symbol exploded once more. The new symbol was a snow flake. Mrs. Calloway rotated it, and the symbol exploded. During the time, different symbols appeared. A rose, a butterfly, a jack o' lantern, a lion cub, a music note, a sea shell, and a chinese dragon. Finally, the last symbol was a medal with a cloud and a lightning bolt. Time was running out. Maggie quickly rotated the circle with the matching symbol in front, and all of a sudden, the pillar of energy disappeared. The cows, horse, and rabbit were covering their eyes from the light.
"You have proven yourself worthy, noble ones. Please, accept your reward," the female voice said, and in a flash, a key appeared.
The animals looked wide eyed at the key. Maggie took it and examined it for a while.
"Wow, what was that all about?" Buck asked.
Maggie looked at the book again and slowly placed the key in the keyhole. The keyhole accepted the key and the lock opened.
"It's open," Lucky Jack said.
"I wonder what's in there," Grace said.
"Wait and see," Mrs. Calloway said.
Maggie opened the book and she saw a message on the first page of the book. She read it out loud.
Dear readers and adventurers,
You are in possession of the Book of Disney. This book is very special in its own way.
It makes the world you are living now change forever. While you read it, it is just like you are experiencing the stories yourself.
Experience these amazing adventures full of wonder and danger. Face the nefarious villains and
bond yourself with the characters that are pure of heart.
Have fun.
Maggie raised an eyebrow and looked through the various pages of the book. Then her eyes widened. "Wait. This is a storybook."
"A storybook?" Mrs. Calloway asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You mean, a book with stories that tells about princes, princesses, and dragons and such?" Buck asked.
"When you say it that way, then yes," Maggie said.
"Oh, my goodness. Can you read one, Maggie?" Grace asked.
"Well, I don't know..." Maggie said.
"Please, pretty please," Grace said, and she looked at Maggie with puppy dog eyes.
Maggie, of course, couldn't resist. "Well, okay. Who knows. It might be fun."
"Places, everyone," Mrs. Calloway said while she laid on her belly.
The rest of the animals sat on their haunches or on their bellies. Lucky Jack also sat down.
"All right, let's read the first one," Maggie said and turned to the first story of the book.
Maggie read the title and then the story.
Once upon a time,
there lived a lovely little Princess named Snow White.
Her vain and wicked stepmother, the Queen, feared that some day, Snow White's beauty would surpass her own. So she dressed the little Princess in rags and forced her to work as a Scullery Maid.
"How awful," Grace said.
"My word. I may be prim and proper, but I would never do such a thing to my family," Mrs. Calloway said.
Maggie read further.
Each day, the vain Queen consulted her Magic Mirror,
"Magic Mirror on the Wall,
Who is the fairest one of all?"
..and as long as the Mirror answered, "You are the fairest one of all",
Snow White was safe from the Queen's cruel jealousy.
"Whoa, that Queen has a real problem," Lucky Jack said.
"You can say that again," Buck said.
"Oh. I hope that Snow White likes animals like us," Grace said with a cute smile.
"I think we're about..." Maggie said. But before she could finish, a large burst of magic, light, and energy was released from the book. It began to suck Maggie inside.
"WOW! HEY! AAAAAAAAHHH!" Maggie screamed.
"Maggie!" Lucky Jack yelled. He leapt towards Maggie and tried to pull her out. But he also got sucked in.
Buck tried to get both Lucky Jack and Maggie out of the book and he got sucked in, too. Soon, Mrs. Calloway tried and then Grace. But it didn't help, they all got sucked inside the book.
With all of them sucked in, the book quickly began to close, showing the cover. The cows, horse, and rabbit began to swirl around in some kind of vortex through space. It kept going faster and faster until a bright light shone at the end, covering the entire area with light.