The Magic Puzzle

By Toni M. Blake

When Elita’s best friend, Carmella, disappears under mysterious circumstances. Elita feels driven to find her. She’s convinced the puzzle Carmella was working on the day she disappeared is somehow involved. She takes the puzzle and puts it together herself—and suddenly finds herself pulled into Puzzle Land.

Elita is confronted by a strange and sinister man named Professor Robinson, an evil wizard who cast a spell on puzzles. In the beginning, he wanted to create a special place for the homeless children of the world, but his greed took hold. The professor began to kidnap any child he could.

Soon, Andy and Aaron follow Elita and Carmella into the puzzle. As they travel through Puzzle Land, their bodies begin to take on the shape of a new creature. It is only after they learn to forgive one another, to be honest, and to work as a team that they find the strength to escape Professor Robinson and his puzzle world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Jul 29, 2019
• ISBN: 9781480875951

Toni M. Blake

Toni M. Blake has been interested in writing children’s fiction since she had children of her own. For about fifteen years, she was a story teller at her church, and now she shares her stories with her grandchildren. Blake lives in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin with her husband, Jack, who also enjoys writing. They have three adult children and three grandchildren.

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Copyright © 2019 Toni M. Blake.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Archway Publishing

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-4808-7594-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-7595-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019903059

Archway Publishing rev. date: 03/14/2019

Prologue

Would you like to go on a supernatural adventure into a secret world?

If you could wish to be any animal, what would you wish to be?

Professor Robinson’s magic puzzle world will pull you in through the picture of a jigsaw puzzle into a secret world filled with amazing surprises, fun, and danger. Professor Robinson is an evil wizard who cast a spell on puzzles. He wanted to make a special home for all the homeless children of the world, but power and greed got a hold of him, and he began to kidnap any child he could.

When Carmella is kidnapped into one of these puzzles, her friends Elita, Andy, and Aaron must find a way to rescue her. It is only after they learn to forgive one another, to be honest, and to work as a team that they find the strength to escape Professor Robinson and his puzzle world.

This book is dedicated to my mother, Lillian Cervinka, with whom I have shared many conversations while putting together jigsaw puzzles.

Contents

Chapter 1     Not an Ordinary Day

Chapter 2     Puzzled

Chapter 3     Finding Carmella

Chapter 4     Professor Robinson’s Magic Puzzle: The Farm

Chapter 5     The Barn

Chapter 6     The Dark Forest

Chapter 7     The Rainforest

Chapter 8     Andy’s Rescue

Chapter 9     Adventure in the Sea

Chapter 10   The Cavern

Chapter 11   Escape from Puzzle Land

Chapter 12   Just an Ordinary Day

chapter 1

Not an Ordinary Day

It started out as just another ordinary day. My big brother, Andrew, had already left for school, as usual. Dad had left for work, as usual. It was early spring, and the snow had melted, leaving a chill in the air. As usual, Mom called for me to come to breakfast. I pulled on my jeans and a sweater and planned to just grab a quick breakfast and run out the door. I couldn’t wait to see my best friend, Carmella, on the bus. She was just a year younger than me and only lived a few houses down the street.

Elita, I could hear my mom say, c’mon! You don’t want to miss your bus.

I hopped down the stairs with my backpack to greet my mom.

Here’s your lunch, Elita. Sit down and eat. I want to talk to you.

So I sat down, as usual, but this was when my day changed. My mom sat down with me and looked me straight in the eye. She had pretty blue eyes, framed by her short blond hair.

What? I asked.

I got a call from Carmella’s mother late last night after you went to bed, she said. She could not find her and thought maybe you might know where she is.

How late last night? I asked.

It was after ten o’clock. Do you have any idea where she could have gone? Mom looked serious and very worried.

No, I replied. I mean, didn’t they look under the bed or in a closet or something? She had to be there somewhere.

Carmella was my best friend. She loved flowers and plants. One of her favorite pastimes was putting together puzzles. On the way home from school last night, she had been all excited about a new puzzle she had.

Elita, honey, Carmella was not in her bed last night, and she was not there this morning either. Mom spoke slowly, her voice becoming very gentle. She is missing.

In that moment it hit me that something was very wrong. Tears started to fill my eyes just from thinking that maybe something bad had happened to her. Do you think she was kidnapped? I asked, a lump forming in my throat.

They don’t know, Mom said. They just can’t find her.

I felt afraid for my friend. My mind would not accept this change to my perfectly ordinary day. No, Mom, I blurted out. She is home. She told me she was going to work on her new puzzle all night. I watched her get off the bus and go into the house.

Mom pulled me close, and we wrapped our arms around each other. I hope you are right, Elita, but I wanted you to know before you went to school.

What? School! I could no longer think about going to school. I wiped my tears on my sleeve, grabbed my backpack and lunch, and headed for the door, feeling very angry.

This isn’t a very nice day, I said with bitterness toward my mother.

Minutes later, I hopped on the bus and sat in the front with every intention of running right into Carmella’s house when the bus stopped there so I straighten this whole thing out. She had to be in there somewhere. My heart pounded, and I prayed quietly that when the bus stopped at the house, she would walk out her front door. The bus stopped. There was no Carmella. Her mother, Mrs. Rodriguez, stepped outside the front door to wave the bus on.

No! I cried. I’ll find her. I hopped