Fifi’s Wishing Cookies

10-12 min read
29 pages
7+

Everyone in the woods says Fifi the fox bakes wishing cookies. After one bite, a little wolf learns to howl and a little bear finds honey. So two jealous hedgehog twins sneak off with her recipe, and they find out what the real secret is.

Deep in the woods lived a little fox named Fifi. She had a golden coat, a bright, smiley face, and clever, busy paws.

Fifi baked the most wonderful cookies. The animals whispered that if you ate just one bite, your wish would come true.

One day a little wolf came to see Fifi. His ears drooped low. “I want to howl at the moon like the big wolves,” he sighed. “But all I can do is squeak.”

Fifi handed him a warm cookie that smelled of cinnamon. “Take a bite and try again,” she said. “You can do it.”

That night, the little wolf went outside under the moon. He nibbled his cookie and lifted his nose. “Squeak!” He tried again. “Squeak!” The third time, he tried so hard his paws shook…

“Ahooooo!” His howl rang out, long and loud. Over the woods, the moon seemed to shine brighter. He was so proud!

Another day, a little bear came by, mumbling to himself. “All my friends find honey, but I never do,” he grumbled. “I look and look, and I can’t find a single bees’ nest.”

Fifi gave him a warm cookie that smelled of honey. She told him just what she had told the little wolf: “Take a bite and try again. You can do it.” The little bear took a bite. The next day, he went looking again.

He searched and searched. He sniffed the air. He dug through the leaves. He looked up into the trees. Nothing! But he did not give up. At last, as the sun sank behind the tall pines, he smelled something sweet. Then he heard bees humming—bzzz, bzzz.

There was a hollow tree! He reached inside, and his paw sank into thick, sticky honey. “I found it!” he roared. He hopped for joy and licked his paw, his eyes shining.

After a bite of Fifi’s cookies, the animals kept trying—from the tiniest mouse to the proudest deer. And they did it!

In the same woods lived two hedgehog twins, Pim and Pom. They were wiggly and very impatient. They watched happy animals leave Fifi’s house, calling, “Thank you, Fifi!” Everyone loved her. And that made the twins grumpy and jealous.

“Why does everyone run to Fifi and not to us?” grumbled Pim. “Because we don’t have magic cookies,” Pom grumbled back. Pim’s eyes lit up. “Then let’s sneak in and take her recipe! We’ll bake our own magic cookies!”

One sunny day, Fifi went out to pick berries. The twins crept into her little house. They tipped over every shelf until they found a notebook with floury spots. There was the recipe! “Now all our wishes will come true!” they shouted at almost the same time.

They hurried home and fired up the oven. They mixed the dough. In went the nuts! In went the honey! And a whole mountain of cinnamon!

The dough stuck to their paws. Flour puffed up in little clouds. Their tummies rumbled—they could hardly wait! At last, the cookies in the oven turned golden and crunchy.

“Wish time!” said Pim. He took a big, greedy bite. “I want a palace made of pinecones, stronger than an oak tree!” “And I want a mountain of apples to roll down every day!” shouted Pom, with three cookies in his mouth at once.

The twins ate and ate, and they wished and wished. “I want a throne!” “I want my very own pond!” “I want to fly like an owl!” they shouted. But nothing happened. Soon their tummies were round and achy. The twins rolled on the floor, groaning, “Ooooh…”

“That’s not fair!” Pim huffed. “We did everything the recipe said!” “These cookies aren’t magic at all!” Pom agreed.

They stomped to Fifi’s house. Fifi was setting out fresh cookies—she knew the recipe by heart.

“Your recipe tricked us!” the twins shouted. “We ate and ate, and not one wish came true!” “So you have my notebook,” said Fifi calmly. “We’ll talk about that later.”

Fifi wiped the flour off her paws. She leaned down close and whispered, “Here’s the secret. My cookies are just cookies. Yummy, but plain. The magic happens when you think, ‘I can do it!’ and keep on trying.” The twins looked at each other.

“So the magic isn’t in the cookies…” Pom began slowly. “…it’s in us?” Pim finished in a small voice.

Fifi gave a soft, kind laugh. “You wanted everything right away,” she said. “But the little wolf tried and tried to howl. The little bear kept looking for honey. You just ate and waited. They kept trying. That’s why it worked.” The twins turned pink under their prickles. For the first time, they felt ashamed. They hung their little heads.

This time, each twin picked something to learn all by himself. Pim wanted to sing like a nightingale. Every day he sang, then tried again. At last, out came a lovely little song! Pim puffed up with pride.

Pom wanted to slide down the hill on his tummy, like a penguin. He slid, tumbled, and flipped head over heels. Again! And again! At last—wheee!—he zoomed all the way down.

One day the twins held out Fifi’s notebook. “We’re sorry we took it,” said Pim. “And thank you,” said Pom. Fifi smiled. “I forgive you. Everybody makes mistakes. And look at you—you learned to sing and slide all by yourselves! My cookies just gave you a little push.”

From then on, Pim and Pom knew the magic was never in the recipe. It was never in the cookies, either.

So if you think, “I can do it!” and keep on trying, and cheer for your friends instead of feeling jealous, you can make your own magic—just like Pim and Pom.

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