Katarina and her puppy Romeo had been working in the Morphadoodle Community Garden all day long.  They were quite a team.  Romeo, like most four-legged friends, was an expert digger, and Katarina had trained him to dig just enough of a hole for her to plant a seed.  They had worked for hours putting the final touches on their origninal version of a Dog 'n "Kat" Garden.  Katarina took one last look around admiring their handiwork.  With Zoey's guidance, they had planted an assortment of flowers, herbs, and ornamental grasses.  Katarina and Romeo were especially fond of the dog-tooth lilies, pussy willow, and dog grass that gave off the sweet scent of vanilla.

Zoey certainly had a gift.  She had been morphed with not one but TWO green thumbs and was always eager to help her friends learn more about the natural world.  That's why she was the perfect master gardener to oversee the development of the Community Garden. All the Morphadoodles raved about their small plots that they nurtured with Zoey's advice.  Chef Poire thought the fresh herbs growing in his Kitchen Garden were magnifique. Horatio was thrilled with the vibrant colors of his Rainbow Garden.  The yellow daffodils, red snapdragons, and blue cornflowers were the subjects of his new series of flower paintings.  Ashley was so enthralled with her Fairy Garden that she frequently spent her afternoons nestled in the bell-shaped flowers of the foxgloves, nibbling on the tiniest (and the tastiest)Alpine strawberries.

"We're done for the day," Katarina said to Zoey as she balanced on her skateboard and lifted her pooped and panting pooch into her arms.  "We're heading home before it gets dark for some ice cold rainbow sherbet."  She sighed.  "I'm so tired of the summer," she whispered to Romeo as they glided down the path past Ashley's Fairy Garden toward the main gate.  "It's SO hot!  I would give anything for a taste of winter.  I want to catch a snowflake on my tongue." 

She didn't notice Ashley's wand quiver in the waning light.  She didn't know that within a Wink and a Blink, her wish was about to come true.

The next day Katarina was up with the sun.  Prepared for an afternoon of surfing at the beach, she and Romeo headed back to the garden to do some early morning watering.  As they got closer, Katarina felt a bit of a chill.  "How strange," she said to her furry companion, "it seems to be getting cooler.  Well, it certainly is a nice break from all the hot weather we've been having."  When the duo reached the main gate, they saw that the Morphadoodle Community Garden was nothing like the evening before.  The ground was covered with a blanket of snow, icicles hung from the branches of trees, but oddly, all of the plantings were full of color and life.  They began to make their way to their patch of land and saw a snow-covered grassy knoll that was perfect for skiing, and the small pond was frozen over for skating.  It was truly a winter wonderland- all in the middle of July!

Katarina heard a giggle from above.  It was Ashley dancing in between snowflakes, wand glistening.  "So how is this for a taste of winter, Kat?" the friendly fairy asked.  "Enjoy it while you can.  The spell will break at sundown.  The Morphadoodles are having all sorts of winter fun.  Horatio is building Morphadoodle snow sculptures, and the chef is serving snow cones all day.  He told me he is making a special one for you in a coconut bowl."  Before Katarina could thank her tiny friend, Ashley dashed off to make a snow angel. 

Katarina smiled and followed the laughter, deeper into the magical garden thinking about the snowballs she would make for Romeo to chase and the most unusual day she would share with her most unusual friends.