Taylor woke up with a jolt – something was wrong! It was dark, the middle of the night, and her brother wasn’t with her. In the distance, from deep in the jungle, she heard Jack’s voice yelling for help. Taylor didn’t know what to do at first, then she looked at the green and blue magical vine curled up next to her. She got an idea; a crazy one that just might work. She spoke to the vine. “Viney, my brother’s in trouble and we have to help him. Get us there quick!”
Taylor watched as the vine immediately began twisting and tangling on itself, growing and expanding. The vine started to take shape. The shape got bigger and bigger. It grew four long legs. The shape turned into a powerful body with a tail and a head. Taylor blinked her eyes, unsure of what she was seeing.
Then she saw it – when the magical vine was done tangling and growing, it had made itself into a beautiful and powerful horse. No – a unicorn! It was majestic and colored jungle-green and icy-blue, with eyes that shined like crystal.
The unicorn reared on its hind legs, kicking its front hoofs in the air, and gave a loud whinny, “Neeeiiiggghhh!” Then it looked right at Taylor and motioned with its head, inviting Taylor to climb up on its back.
Taylor couldn’t believe her life. She stared speechless with eyes wide and mouth open. She tried to talk but it was all just too much; too magical for words. “Wha ... I ... is the ...” she stammered. Then she gave up on words and let out the most excited and happy scream, “Aaaaaaahhhhh!”
Taylor got control of herself and managed to climb the tangled vines to the top and sit on the unicorn’s back. She held tight to the unicorn’s mane and shouted out, “Let’s go save my brother!”
The unicorn burst into a heavy gallop and leapt through the tree line and into the thick, dark jungle. Taylor was often afraid of the dark, so she was glad the magical leaves of the vine-unicorn glowed with a soft blue, lighting up the jungle around them. They galloped on and Jack’s yells grew louder and louder; they were getting close now.
Suddenly they burst into an open clearing and they saw why Jack was screaming. He was on a low branch of a tree and two tigers were circling him.
“Taylor, I must have been sleep-walking. I just woke up in the jungle,” he said. Slowly, one of the tigers started to climb the tree towards Jack. “Oh no! Oh no! Aaahh!!” Jack yelled.
Without a moment to lose, Taylor pointed at the tigers and said to the unicorn, “Get ‘em!” The unicorn, with Taylor riding, charged full speed at the tiger still on the ground. The thick, viney head of the unicorn crashed into the side of the tiger, sending it flying into the distance. That tiger yelped and ran away.
Immediately after, the other tiger leapt out of the tree and gripped onto the unicorn’s side with its sharp claws. It tore and bit at the vine, sending pieces falling to the ground. The unicorn reared back again trying to shake off the tiger. Taylor couldn’t hold on and also fell to the ground, a few feet away.
The unicorn was starting to lose its shape as the tiger ripped at the vine.
Taylor grew afraid; afraid of the tiger and sad for the unicorn. But then she worked up her courage. She told herself to get back up and keep going. She stood to her feet and spoke to the vines again – this time, not one single vine but several green and blue vines on the jungle floor. Taylor told them what she had told herself, “All my little Vineys – Get up! Get rid of this tiger!”
And they did. Each vine, wounded but still alive with magic, turned into a little mini-unicorn. Soon the entire floor of the clearing was filled with hundreds of tiny unicorns, some smaller some bigger. All at once, they charged at the tiger, slamming their weight into the beast. Overwhelmed, the tiger knew it was beat and ran off into the dark.
Taylor and Jack were left alone, thankful they were still alive. Well ... Taylor, Jack, and about two hundred miniature, magical, unicorn vine-creatures.
Jack was so happy and relieved. “I thought I was going to be tiger food! You saved me Taylor. Thanks!” He looked around at all the unicorns. “And thanks to you, Taylor’s tiny magical army ... Now, how do we get out of here?”
Taylor asked her two hundred friends, “Oh, you’re all so cute! Can you get us back to the beach?” At that, about half of the unicorns untangled then wove together to create a mat big enough for Taylor and Jack to sit on. The rest of the unicorns Jed themselves to the mat and pulled the Flynn Twins to the beach.
As they all settled down to sleep the rest of the night, the vines all untangled themselves and curled up in nice loops. Taylor and Jack laid back down and stared at the many twinkling stars in the night sky. That night, Taylor dreamed of riding unicorns through fields of flowers and butterflies. Jack ... well, Jack just dreamed about playing pranks and eating hot dogs.