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When I was little, Mummy and Daddy took me to the Olympics in London. Woolly came too.
Before the Olympics, there was a big show. My favourite part was when there were lots of children in beds. They hid from big puppets of Captain Hook and Cruella De Vil. Lots of Mary Poppins flew down with their umbrellas to beat the bad puppets.
It was magic! Magic was real, and everybody knew it!
Then a funny man called Mr. Bean played piano.
The next day, the Olympic Games started. People from all over the world came to play sports. There was swimming, running, and hammer throw. A superhero called Thor threw his special hammer so far that it disappeared into the sky. It came zooming back when he held out his hand… whoosh!
Thor gave the gold medal to the next strongest person. He said the Olympics were for people on Midgard, not other realms.
There were mutants, too. A man called Logan fenced with claws that came out of his hands. Snickt!
He cut through the other fencers’ swords. Slice ! The swords fell to the ground.
I wanted to be a superhero.
In Archery, a man called Hawkeye shot arrows right into the middle of every target. Daddy said Hawkeye didn’t have superpowers, but he was so good. He’d helped save the world.
Back at the hotel, I met a boy named Harry. Harry had a red lightning bolt on his forehead. I told him about when I got chicken pox dots all over my body.
Harry’s dad had dark clothes and a shiny metal arm with a star. He was scarier than my friend Belle’s dad was with his beard.
Harry and his dad were with a bearded man called Mr. Stark.
I wasn’t scared of beards anymore. I told Mr. Stark what Woolly had told me. “Beards are like a big giant teddy!”
He laughed. Harry said that Mr. Stark was Iron Man.
“No,” I said. “Iron Man has a red and gold suit.”
Harry and I played heroes. We ran around, until Harry’s dad said we should play sports.
Harry talked of a funny sport called Quidditch. He said he could fly on a motorbroom.
“Are you magic?” I asked him. I wanted to be magic.
Harry nodded. I asked to see some magic, but Harry said it was always an accident.
Harry’s family had all the superheroes who’d saved the world. Harry’s family made me and Mummy and Daddy seem boring.
I waved a stick like a wand. Nothing happened. I was grumpy. I wanted to be special, like Harry and his family.
I stomped off with Woolly to sit and sulk. Woolly stood up.
“Hey, Tig,” Woolly said. “It’s not nice feeling like everyone’s special except you. It’s no fun when you can't do things that others can do,”
“It’s not fair,” I told Woolly.
“Some people are magic, and some people aren’t.” Woolly waved some of his eight legs, like he was casting spells. “If everyone had magic, it wouldn’t be special anymore.”
I still wanted to be special.
“You can be a hero without magic or mutant powers. Just look at Hawkeye and Black Widow and Iron Man.” Woolly pointed at those heroes. “They don’t have special powers. Just look at all the people competing. They practised a lot to be really skilled. Mr. Stark built all his special Iron Man suits.”
I nodded, starting to smile.
“Hey, Tig,” Woolly winked at me. “You must have some magic in you somewhere. How else would you have a talking toy spider?”
Woolly laughed, then went still and floppy.
Yes, I thought! Everyone is special, and Woolly is my magic!
I grabbed Woolly and ran back to Harry, smiling. Some other children joined us. Lila and Cooper weren't magic or mutants, but they were lots of fun.
We played basketball. When Harry missed, his magic knocked the ball in the basket.
I threw Woolly up at the net. His legs got all tangled. He hung there like it was his web.
Mr. Bean walked by. When he saw Woolly in the net, he got a fright. He jumped back with wide eyes.
“It’s only my toy spider!” I told him.
Harry’s scary dad reached up with his metal arm and got Woolly down for me.
I like the Olympics. I like that everyone is special, no matter if they're magic or mutant or not. I love Woolly!