Once upon a time there was a little girl named Michelle.  She 
      had a little brother named Bobby.  She and Bobby loved to go 
      exploring in the woods behind their house.  They would sometimes 
      take a picnic lunch with them.
           Michelle loved animals and she really believed that they could 
      talk to her.  She would sit and tell her brother many stories about 
      the animals.  Bobby was only four and he would believe all that his 
      big sister would tell him.
           One Saturday afternoon, they decided to go on one of their 
      famous exploring trips.  They packed a rather large lunch and told 
      their mother that they were going to visit the animals in the woods.
           Their mother wasn't worried at all because she knew that there 
      weren't any dangerous animals in those woods, and she was glad that 
      her children enjoyed these little trips of theirs.  The only 
      animals in the thin woods behind their house were birds, squirrels, 
      and maybe an occasional chipmunk.  she bed her children a cheerful 
      farewell and off they went.
           Once at the edge of the woods, they became very excited.  They 
      both had wonderful imaginations.
           Michelle started to tell Bobby about how she got to know all 
      the animals in the woods.  She said, "One day, I was just sitting 
      next to an old oak tree, when a little squirrel came right up to me 
      and said hello."
           Bobby was listening very closely, and he became very 
      interested.
           Michelle said, "My friend the squirrel might come if we are 
      very quiet."
           Little Bobby sat very still and waited.  Michelle then pulled 
      something out of her pocket.  It was an acorn.  She told him, "The 
      squirrel gave me this on the day I met him."  She told her brother 
      that it was full of magic.
           Michelle was just telling him this but, little did she know, 
      that it really was.  She had been carrying this acorn around for 
      two weeks and never found out about it's power.
           Michelle and Bobby began walking deeper into the woods.  They 
      had never been this far into the woods before.  Bobby noticed that 
      there was a little stream with small rocks around it.  They decided 
      to go a little closer.
           Once at the stream, they sat on a large rock to toss stones 
      into the water.  The water was very clear.
           Bobby was looking at his reflection in the water when the most 
      terrible thing happened.  He fell in.  Bobby could not swim and 
      neither could Michelle.  He was struggling for something to grab 
      onto and Michelle was crying and feeling very helpless.
           Just then, she let go of the acorn that she still held in her 
      hand.  Then it happened.  There was a bright light and the acorn 
      shone with a glow that could almost hurt the eyes.
           All of a sudden, Bobby began to rise out of the water.  He 
      rose off the water and began to float to the edge where his sister 
      sat still in tears.
           Michelle looked up and was shocked to see her brother just 
      standing there looking down at her.  She asked, "How did you do 
      that?"
           Bobby said, "I didn't do anything, I just felt myself rise out 
      of the water."
           Michelle noticed that she had dropped the acorn and reached 
      down to get it.  As she did, she got the strangest feeling.  It was 
      like something that she should know, and didn't.  She looked at 
      Bobby and asked, "You don't think there really could be something 
      magic about this acorn, do you?"
           Bobby just shrugged his shoulders and went running after a 
      bird that he saw perched on a nearby rock.
           As Michelle was sitting with her head down thinking about the 
      acorn, she noticed that her friend the squirrel had appeared.
           Michelle called, "Bobby, my friend the squirrel is here."  He 
      came running towards her.  She introduced her brother to the 
      squirrel.  He could hardly believe his ears when he heard the 
      squirrel talk.  
           The three of them were having a nice conversation when it 
      started to drizzle.  Tiny raindrops fell on their cheeks. 
           The squirrel said, "I'll take you two to my house so we can 
      get out of the rain."  They came to a big tree with a fairly large 
      hole right in the trunk of it.  The squirrel motioned for the 
      children to crawl in.  Bobby looked up at his sister and said, "I'm 
      not going in there, it's dark."  
           The squirrel said, "It's not dark after you get inside", and 
      it wasn't either.  It was as lighted as their own house.  The 
      children started to call the squirrel TAG because he didn't have a 
      name, and they thought everyone must.
           Tag's house was a cozy little place.  It was small but 
      beautifully decorated.  There was a table made from a spool that 
      construction workers use.  His bed was made of grass, string and a 
      few feathers donated by Mrs. Robin.  It was very soft.  There was 
      even an picture on the wall.  The children really liked Tag's 
      house.
           Tag invited them to stay for tea and they accepted 
      immediately.
           Tag began to set the little table, which was plenty big enough 
      for two children and a squirrel.  
           Michelle, Bobby and Tag had a lovely tea.  Tag had promised 
      that he would introduce them to some of his animal friends before 
      they went home.
           During their tea, Tag asked Michelle, "Have you noticed 
      anything special about the acorn I gave you?"
           She told him of the incident near the stream.  He said, 
      "Unlike a magic lamp that you would have to rub very hard and hope 
      a Genie would pop out, this acorn truly is magic and it just knows 
      when it's power is needed in an emergency."  Tag told Michelle, 
      "Hold the acorn tightly and make a wish, then drop the acorn to the 
      ground."
           She did as she was told and to her surprise, there was a new 
      doll sitting at the table across from her.
           When the children found out about this wishing game, they 
      wished for everything.  The little house in the tree became so 
      crowded that it was hard to move.  There were toys, dolls, games, 
      and even a candy machine.  There wasn't enough room for anyone to 
      sit with so many things in the tree.
           Tag asked Michelle to wish away everything except the two 
      thing that they wanted most.  She did just that.  She wished away 
      everything except a fire truck for Bobby and a doll for herself.
           After the rain had stopped, they decided to go out for a walk.  
      They wanted to meet Tag's friends as he had promised.  
           As they started to walk towards the stream, they ran into a 
      robin sitting on a low branch.  The bird said, "Hello, I'm waiting 
      for my young robins to return home for dinner."  They had a nice 
      chat with mother robin and continued on their way.
           As they were walking, Bobby almost fell into a hole in the 
      ground.  He became very upset at this and started to cry.  This 
      hole was the home of Mr. Rabbit.  He came out of his hole to see 
      what all the noise was about.  He was a little shocked to see the 
      children but, felt better when he saw Tag with them.  Mr. Rabbit 
      invited them in for a cold drink and a piece of cake.  Carrot cake 
      of course.  Since Michelle and Bobby did not like carrot cake, they 
      took a raincheck on Mr. Rabbit's invitation.
           Michelle was getting tired and Bobby refused to walk another 
      step.
           Michelle took the acorn out of her pocket and made a very big 
      wish.  She had to wish hard this time.  As she looked up, she saw a 
      shiny red cart being pulled by a pony.
           Bobby asked the pony, "Please Mr. Pony, we are so tired so 
      could we have a ride?"  The pony said, "Sure, if you like everyone 
      can ride."
           The children had a nice ride in the pony cart.  When they got 
      back to the stream, Bobby was rested enough to walk and Michelle 
      was no longer tired.  Michelle really hated to wish away the pony, 
      but she knew she must.
           The children told the pony good-bye and wished him right away.
           It was beginning to get into evening and Michelle and Bobby 
      knew that their mother would be getting worried about them.  They
      must not be late for dinner.
           The children felt sad that they had to leave all their new 
      found friends in the woods, but they knew all along that they had 
      to.
           Tag said, "Good-bye, until the next time you come."  All the 
      other animals came out of their hiding places to see them off.  
      Rabbits came out of their holes, birds flew out of the trees, and 
      even an old weasel came out of his hiding place.  They said good-
      bye and waving, the children started home.
           They talked of all their new friends and of what a great time 
      they had.  They just couldn't wait to tell their mother of their 
      whole adventure.
           It was about 9:00 o'clock in the morning when mother went into 
      the room where Michelle and Bobby lay fast asleep.  She shook her 
      children and told them that it was time to get up and face the 
      morning.
           They both hopped out of bed and with lots to say.  They told 
      their mother about their whole trip into the woods, about all the 
      animals, the magic acorn and even about Bobby falling into the 
      water.
           The children were very excited and it was too bad that their 
      mother had to tell them that they must have been dreaming.  After 
      she told them this, the children shook their heads and refused to 
      believe that it had all been a dream.
           Michelle looked into her pocket for the acorn.  It was not 
      there.  She turned to Bobby and told him that the acorn wasn't 
      there.  They both looked at each other with questioning faces and 
      Michelle said, "You don't suppose that it really was all just a 
      lovely dream, do you?"
           Bobby shrugged his shoulders and said, "It seems funny that we 
      should both have the same dream, don't you think?"