A Tidemark bedtime story
Aurelia and Uncle Ari’s Dream-Powered Marshmallow Factory
A wish makes it sparkle. A dream makes it go. What happens next? Turn the page and you’ll know.
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Leaf 2
The Factory Opens
Each night Uncle Ari, with whiskers aglow, tied his flour-white apron in one tidy bow. The copper pot waited. The whipper stood still. No plug and no wire—and it never would, until…
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Leaf 3
The Power Rule
One bedtime wish made the machinery start. One sleeping dream gave each marshmallow heart. The children loved mallows—colossal and light! The trouble was getting those children goodnight.
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Leaf 4
Aurelia’s Wish
That evening, Daddy began with a grin. “I’ll start it!” cried Aurelia. “Please count me in! Make one cloud-big marshmallow for everyone here—soft as a pillow and twice as much cheer!”
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Leaf 5
The Factory Answers
Her wish zipped away with a zizzle-zing-ZING! The pipes flickered gold and the kettle went PING! The whipper went wibble. The belt whispered low. “The wish woke us up. Now a dream makes us go.”
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Leaf 6
The Dream-Launch Chair
To send off her dream, she must snuggle in bed. But Aurelia eyed the blue chair instead. “A launch-chair needs bunnies! And blankets! And—” Daddy smiled, held out his paw. “Bed. Bunny. Hand.”
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Leaf 7
One More Job
She plumped every cushion. She straightened each ear. Then found a new job whenever sleep wandered near. “One teeny tweak, then I’m ready,” she said. But each tweak made three tweaks. Still not in bed.
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Leaf 8
Everything Except Aurelia
Two throws and ten toys made the chair mighty grand, with no room for dreamers—a flaw in the plan. Far off, the wish-light grew dim in the land. Daddy whispered once more, “Bed. Bunny. Hand.”
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Leaf 9
Just Cozy
Aurelia looked at the chair, then the basket, then bed. “Must everything be perfect?” she sleepily said. “No. Dreams only need you, tucked cozy and tight.” One bunny could cuddle. One could nest there tonight.
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Leaf 10
Bed, Bunny, Hand
She left the launch-chair and its grand pillow pile. She tucked in one bunny. The other could smile from the basket beside her, all snug where it sat. “Bed. Bunny. Hand. I can dream just like that.”
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Leaf 11
The Dream Door
Daddy kept reading in low, rumbly rhyme. Her breaths became slower—one puff at a time. Then POP went a dream-door, all golden and bright. Uncle Ari bowed. “You arrived just right.”
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Leaf 12
Dream Production
Her dream spun the whippers—whizz-whuffle-WHOO! Warm syrup swirled safely through copper pipes, too. The nozzles puffed clouds into starch-dusted rows, while one giant marshmallow rose… and rose… and ROSE!
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Leaf 13
Nothing Was Ruined
Aurelia wiggled. The dream gave a hop. The pipes became quiet; the belts took a stop. Nothing had broken. The magic could wait. Daddy held steady. Her dream found its gate.
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Leaf 14
The Giant Surprise
Uncle Ari boxed up the cloud-big surprise. Too wide for the carton! Too tall! What a size! For dreams need no perfect beginning to grow—just a story, a warm hand, and letting things go.
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