最难忘，是儿时与小伙伴们一起度过的快乐时光。那时的打打闹闹、追逐嬉戏是时光里最美的一幅画，定格在了永远回不去的小时候。或许，下面这只会变魔术的小兔子可以带你重返那旧日时光。

"So，" said Maisie as she practiced her baton twirling1） for the school talent show， "do you have all your jokes lined up2）， Marty？"

"I can see you&apos；ve heard all of my jokes，" said Marty. "That&apos；s the problem. So I&apos；m not doing sit-down comedy3） for this talent show. I&apos；ve got a new act4）. I&apos；m a magician."

"Since when？" asked Maisie.

"Since my uncle Bob visited last week and brought me all his old magic stuff that he had as a kid. I have a top hat and a coat to hide things up the sleeves. He even got me a bunny to pull out of the hat. My mom wasn&apos；t too happy about that. His name is Fluffy."

"This summer we can have bunny races with our pet Commander Lapin and Fluffy！" said Maisie. "Well， I&apos；d like to watch your act， but Kavita and I have to practice for the show."

"Aw，" said Deidre. "Everyone is in the show but me."

"You can be my assistant，" said Marty. "I need someone to come out with my top hat and bunny at just the right moment."

"Your beautiful assistant， you mean，" said Deidre. "Sure， that&apos；ll be great."

Mrs. Vandernost， the teacher in charge of the talent show， held rehearsals on the school stage all week.

"Why were those mean twins hanging around at rehearsal？" asked Maisie as the kids all walked home together.

"Mrs. Vandernost made Bob and Rob stagehands5），" said Marty.

"Well， I don&apos；t trust them，" said Kavita.

"Me neither，" said Maisie. "They were spending an awful lot of time around the bunny cage while Marty was onstage."

Marty wasn&apos；t paying attention. He was worried about some of his tricks. "Listen， do you think I should tell jokes after the tricks？"

"Only if they go wrong，" said Deidre. "Then tell a joke—fast."

On the night of the show， the tricks weren&apos；t the only things going wrong. Curtains went down when they should have gone up. Props6） disappeared. No one had time to find out why； they were all too busy getting ready to go on. Then Mrs. Vandernost announced to the audience that the twirling baton girls， Kavita and Maisie， would be going on after Marty the Magician， not before as it said in the program. So Marty had to race onto the stage. The card he was supposed to hide up his sleeve was missing， and his scarfs seemed to be attached to the inside of his pocket as if someone had sewn them there. He ended up telling a lot of jokes. Fast.

"Don&apos；t worry，" he said under his breath to Deidre. "Just bring out the hat and Fluffy for the big finale7）."

Deidre ran to get the hat. Kavita had just come running backstage with it and handed it to her.

"Abracadabra8）！" said Marty. "I now pull out of my hat ... COMMANDER LAPIN？" he shrieked in amazement.

"What are you doing here？"

The audience laughed uproariously9）， and the applause sounded like thunder. Everyone thought it was part of the act. Marty took a quick bow and hurried backstage. "Where&apos；s Fluffy？" he asked frantically10）. "And what is Commander Lapin doing here？"

Maisie and Kavita ran onstage and began twirling， and Deidre took Marty back to Mrs. Vandernost&apos；s art closet， where Fluffy sat safely in his cage.

"I guess you gotta hand it to11） Maisie and Kavita，" Deidre explained. "They didn&apos；t like the way Bob and Rob kept hanging around Fluffy&apos；s cage all week. So Maisie brought Commander Lapin and put his cage in Mrs. Vandernost&apos；s art closet， just in case. Then they asked Mrs. Vandernost to switch the order of the acts so they could keep an eye on the twins. Sure enough， as soon as you went onstage， the boys stole Fluffy and hid him in the janitor&apos；s12） closet. Maisie followed them while Kavita ran for Commander Lapin and got him onstage just in time. Then Maisie rescued Fluffy and hid him in Mrs. Vandernost&apos；s closet—hi， guys！"

Kavita and Maisie had come running up， a little out of breath from all of their twirling.

"Hey， Marty！" Kavita said. "If you think you were surprised to pull the wrong rabbit out of the hat， you should have seen Bob&apos；s and Rob&apos；s faces when they found Fluffy missing from the janitor&apos；s closet！"

Marty laughed. "They must have thought that Fluffy is magic after all，" he said. "Thank goodness for Fluffy the Magnificent， Magical， Disappearing Bunny and his beautiful assistants， Kavita and Maisie！"

They all laughed and were still laughing as they went onstage to take their final bows at the end of the talent show.

“那么，”梅茜一边为参加学校才艺表演练习巴东棍韵律操一边说，“你把所有笑话都串起来了吗，马蒂？”

“我知道你已经听过我所有的笑话了，”马蒂说，“这就是问题。所以这次才艺表演我不坐着演单口喜剧了。我想到个新节目，我要变魔术。”

“什么时候想到的？”梅茜问。

“我叔叔鲍勃上周来看我，还把他小时候变魔术的那些旧玩意儿全都给我带来了，就是从那时候开始的。我现在有一顶高顶礼帽和一件袖子里可以藏东西的外套。他甚至还给我弄来了一只可以从帽子里拽出来的兔子。我妈妈对我要养兔子这事可不是很高兴。这只兔子叫绒绒。”

“今年暑假可以让我们的宠物兔司令和绒绒来一场兔子赛跑！”梅茜说，“好吧，我很想看你的表演，但卡维塔和我得为演出排练。”

“噢，”戴德丽说，“每个人都要演节目，除了我。”

“你可以做我的助手，”马蒂说，“我需要一个人刚好在恰当的时刻带着我的高顶礼帽和兔子出现。”

“你的意思是，当你的美女助手？” 戴德丽说，“当然，那可太好了。”

范德诺斯特太太是负责这次才艺表演的老师，她整个星期都在学校舞台上组织彩排。

“那对一肚子坏水的双胞胎为什么总在彩排时瞎转悠啊？”所有孩子一起走路回家的时候梅茜问道。

“范德诺斯特太太让鲍勃和罗布做舞台管理员。……