CHAPTER 1 In which Tish comes out of Nowhere Have you ever heard of Tish Tish who was -quick like a mongoose but lazy like a bear Tish who was heavy like a mammoth but had a heart like a feather Tish who had small stumpy wings and could almost nearly fly Tish who cried so easily when he was happy or hungry or mad Well now you have He is yours too Because Tish belongs to everybody but especially to Charles Dimple Which is only fair since Charles was the one to dream him up in the first place Tish began as a spark An idea To start with he was no more than a speck of gold dust He floated 5
on the wind Bobbed across an ocean Tumbled down a waterfall Hurtling towards his destiny like a shooting star When he finally arrived at 33 Sprinkle Street damp and a little weary it was late and Charles was in bed staring blankly at a page His ginger curls falling over his eyes His pencil hovering over an empty line There is something missing he was thinking But what is it The spark flickered on the windowsill watching the small huddle of pajamas searching for an idea unaware that one was right beside him Creeping closer the spark glimmered on Charles's shoulder trying to see what he was making It was a list Charles Dimple made a lot of lists since from his observations ideas liked to stretch and sprawl across the page when they were just waking up This particular list was labeled THE PERFECT FRIEND Although it was more like a job description than a list At the top of Charles's list were TUSKS Tusks were important to Charles Dimple Beneath TUSKS was another word BIG His perfect friend would be BIG And by BIG Charles 6
meant that his friend should be big enough to hide beneath in a storm But not so big that he wouldn't fit on the top bunk which is where he would sleep if he promised to mind his tail and keep it clean TAIL being third on the list Furthermore his perfect friend would have wisps of smoke that curled from his nostrils like the steam from a hot apple pie A bit like a dragon but better Loyalty honesty and politeness were also essential Yet he shouldn't be too polite just enough that he would snap the last chocolate chip cookie in half and share it with you But not so polite that he would say after you when going through a door or fail to tell you that you had parsley in your teeth There should be feathers and fur Perhaps some bristles like a hedgehog A trunk for holding pencils or a berry swirl waffle cone from Mr. Confetti's ice cream truck And an umbrella Umbrellas were also important to Charles Dimple It's me crackled the spark Or it could be Glowing with excitement the spark fizzed and hummed around Charles's head Pick me pick me Charles trapped it with his mind like a firefly in a jar Once inside something powerful began to take shape The idea stretched and swelled until poof 7
