Benny loved to draw. He wasn’t the best at it, but he didn’t care. Every afternoon, he sat on his porch with his sketchbook, doodling whatever came to mind. One rainy day, while exploring his grandma’s attic, he found an old paintbrush inside a wooden box. A tiny note was taped to it: “Use wisely.”
Benny dipped the brush into his paint set and swiped it across the page. To his amazement, the lines shimmered and the picture of a small blue bird fluttered off the paper! It chirped and flew around his room before disappearing into the wall.
Heart racing, Benny tried again, painting a bright red apple. This time, the fruit plopped onto his desk, as real as any apple from the kitchen. His eyes widened. A magic paintbrush!
For days, Benny painted everything he could think of—golden coins, a bouncing puppy, even a tiny sailboat that floated in his bathtub. But then, he made a mistake. A big mistake.
Feeling mischievous, he painted a tall, shadowy castle on the edge of his paper. As soon as he lifted the brush, the castle trembled and grew bigger… and bigger… until it swallowed up his entire room!
Benny gasped. He stood in a dark, swirling mist, the castle towering before him. Then, from inside, a deep growl rumbled. A creature with glowing yellow eyes stepped forward.
"You brought me here," it snarled, "but I do not belong in your world."
Terrified, Benny clutched the brush. "I—I didn’t mean to!" he stammered.
The creature loomed closer. "Then fix it. Now."
With shaking hands, Benny grabbed his sketchbook and painted a golden door. The paint glowed, forming a real, shimmering doorway. The creature hesitated, then stepped through. With a relieved sigh, Benny painted over the castle until nothing remained but his bedroom walls.
From that day on, he only painted things that made the world brighter—never darker. And he never, ever forgot to use wisely.