Bubble Butts 16 | Sharon Mitchell

The night of the fair arrived. Jordan’s exhibit glowed under neon lights, while Sharon’s booth looked… modest. But as she dipped her wand into Bubble Butts 16, something shifted. The solution, a secret blend of seawater, honey, and heat-treated polymers, produced bubbles that hovered like balloons, reflecting the audience’s faces in liquid mirrors.

“Impossible,” Jordan muttered, peering over.

Then, Sharon did the unthinkable: she handed a bubble to a toddler, who giggled as it floated past her nose. The crowd erupted.

The trail led Sharon to a clearing where a massive, ornate gate stood. Its iron bars were twisted into the shape of swirling clouds, and at its center rested a massive, translucent sphere that pulsed like a heartbeat. The silver key fit perfectly into a lock hidden in the base of the sphere. With a soft click, the gate swung open, releasing a fragrant breeze that smelled of lilac and fresh rain.

Beyond the gate lay the Glimmering Glade—a meadow carpeted with soft, bioluminescent grass that glowed in pastel shades. Above it floated a sea of bubbles, each one larger than the last, drifting lazily across the sky. But there was something special about these bubbles: each contained a tiny, perfectly formed, round “butt” of cloud, like a fluffy, floating cushion. Sharon Mitchell Bubble Butts 16

“Welcome, Sharon,” a melodic voice called. A tall, elegant figure stepped forward, draped in robes made of woven mist. She introduced herself as Aeliana, the Cloud‑Weaver Queen.

“The Bubble Butts are the heart of our realm,” Aeliana explained. “They store the laughter, dreams, and hope of every child who ever imagined a world beyond the ordinary. Over the years, some of the bubbles have become… stagnant. If they’re not refreshed, the Glade will lose its light, and the world above will forget how to dream.”

Sharon’s eyes widened. “What can I do?”

“A single true laugh can set a bubble free,” Aeliana said, gesturing to a particularly large bubble that hovered near the ground, its surface dim and heavy. “But only a laugh born from genuine joy can break the spell.” The night of the fair arrived

Sharon’s basement lab, cluttered with beakers and duct-taped inventions, was her sanctuary. For months, she’d been perfecting "Bubble Butts 16," her 16th iteration of a revolutionary bubble solution promising spheres thick enough to walk through. Her previous attempts had gone catastrophically awry: Bubble Butts 12 had melted her grandfather’s toupee into a soap sculpture, and 14 had inflamed like a faulty lava lamp.

Her older brother, Devin, poked his head into the lab. “Mitchell, your ‘aerosolized science experiment’ is clouding up the entire neighborhood. Do something before Mom smells this!”

Sharon adjusted her safety goggles. “It’s just water, corn syrup, and a touch of nitro—”

“Nitro?”

“—Glycerin!” she lied, squirting a pink liquid into a wire loop. A delicate bubble formed, wobbling like a heartbeat. “This one will be perfect. I can feel it!”

Sharon thought of the bakery, of the early mornings when the dough rose just right, of the warm smiles of her regulars, and of the simple pleasure of sharing a freshly baked croissant with a friend. She closed her eyes, inhaled the scent of cinnamon and sugar, and let a memory surface: the time her grandmother taught her how to knead dough while humming an old lullaby. The memory sparked a smile, which soon turned into a genuine, hearty laugh.

The laughter rang out, clear as a bell. As it traveled through the glade, the massive bubble quivered, then burst in a shower of sparkling starlight. From within the burst emerged a cascade of tiny, glowing cloud‑butts that rose up and dissolved into the sky, each one leaving a faint, golden trail.

The other bubbles responded in kind, popping one by one, each release accompanied by peals of laughter from the children who had gathered at the edge of the glade. The air filled with a chorus of giggles, chortles, and delighted squeals. The Glade lit up brighter than ever, and the sky above Willowbrook seemed to shimmer with a new, hopeful glow. The trail led Sharon to a clearing where