About this story
It hatches into the Phoenix, imperious and scorched-proof, who explains that the carpet grants three wishes a day to whoever is careless enough to phrase one. A joyride to a ruined tower nets buried gold and a lost route home, and the chapter ends with the treasure abandoned underground and Father's key already turning in the lock.
How it opens
Robert's indoor fireworks celebrated Guy Fawkes by setting the nursery carpet alight.
CyrilThe instructions promised colored stars, not a private fire brigade.
MotherI accept that the fireworks escaped by accident; the scorched carpet must still be replaced.
An unfamiliar golden egg rolled from its folds and stopped beside the nursery fender.
JaneIt may be a curtain knob, although curtain knobs do not usually feel warm.
Kindly open the guard; rebirth is difficult enough without nursery ironwork.