Serial · ongoing
California Magical
California Magical is a magical‑realism adventure set in Palm Springs, where a science‑minded boy meets strange people, stranger creatures, and the unsettling possibility that the world is far bigger and wilder than he imagined.
Season 1 Chapter 1 – The Most Boring Summer Job in Palm Springs
At thirteen, Marco discovered he was qualified for only the crappiest of crappy summer jobs: inspecting lawn sprinklers at the old local gol…
Season 1 Chapter 2 – Room Eight
“Auck!” squawked one of the petulant ravens from across the street. Corvus corax. The corpse cracks with an axe. Marco and Rowf made their w…
Season 1 Chapter 3 – Volare’
Rowf began snorting his way around the room, nose to the floor, his stubby tail twitching with excitement. When he reached the little old la…
Season 1 Chapter 4 – Geraldine
Marco scooped the warm raven poop off his head with his hand and flung it into the lawn, wiping the rest on his pants. He grabbed Rowf and h…
Season 1 Chapter 5 – Going Away
Andrea turned to him, startled. “Marco, is this true?” He looked at Gretty, then back at his mom. “No! I would never! I was just trying to s…
Season 1 Chapter 6 – Welcome to the Kitten Brigade
Just a few feet away, nestled in the fronds of a fan palm, sat a massive Cooper’s hawk—Accipiter cooperii. It hadn’t noticed him yet. Marco…
Season 1 Chapter 7 – Facing the Fire
The small dining room table was cluttered with baskets, ribbons and bows on top of bows. The ceiling fan whirred quietly on low, so as not t…
Season 1 Chapter 8 – Basket Case
After everyone quieted down, Marbles smiled and introduced herself next. The old woman spoke very slowly. “I’m Marbles. I’m eighty-one today…
Season 1 Chapter 9 – The Mission
Ginger tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Marco, I wasn’t challenging you. That was textbook perfect Latin. I just wanted you to…
Season 1 Chapter 10 – The Dream
Anton arrived just after sunrise, picking up Marbles, Marco, and Lemon in his minivan. Marbles rode up front. Marco and Lemon sat in the bac…
Season 1 Chapter 11 – Spend Your Golden Days at Golden Rays
“WHAT!” Lemon snapped, glaring at him. “Why are you looking at me like that?” Marco realized he’d been frowning at her while remembering his…
Season 1 Chapter 12 – Crossing the Line
“Let’s go in!” Lemon said, already heading for the glass doors. “Wait!” Marco called after her. “Do we need to?” “Well, he did tell us to ge…
Season 1 Chapter 13 – The Unicorn and The Gnome
The long, winding corridor opened into a surprisingly large and elegant ballroom hosting an incredible indoor flea market. Marco took it all…
Season 1 Chapter 14 – Spread the Sunshine
Heeding Carly’s warning, Marco and Lemon dove beneath the draped flea market table to hide. Marbles did not. She stood tall, adjusting her K…
Season 1 Chapter 15 – The Fuzz
Marco’s heart was beating fast after yanking the plug on Mrs. Neel and escaping through the backstage door. He’d never done anything like th…
Season 1 Chapter 16 – The Spider’s Web
Carly pushed through the desert debris with her walking stick and forged ahead along the broad, neglected path atop the wall. Lemon skipped…
Season 1 Chapter 17 – Spread the Manure
Someone was shouting. “Stop! You’re breaking Code R, subset 2E. I repeat, stop now! This is your final warning!” Marco peeked over the edge…
Season 1 Chapter 18 – The Graveyard
After crossing the final stretch of wall to the last tower, the tired group descended the spiral stairs. At the bottom, Carly pointed to the…
Season 1 Chapter 19 – The Dress
Carly moved nimbly along her unusual trail of memories, naming and giving details about each person as they passed, softly like she was gree…
Season 1 Chapter 20 – The Monsoon
The storm was picking up fast, and the small drops of rain were rehydrating years of dried-out trash, mixing typical dump odors into unusual…
Season 1 Chapter 21 – The Water Likes That One
Near the castle’s front door grew an old Smoke tree (Psorothamnus spinosus), its sheltering branches heavy with clusters of brilliant purple…
Season 1 CHAPTER 22 – Hobo Cement
“Olivia!” Carly called out. “We have a few more guests to feed. Bring out that cheese I’ve been saving and the new box of Ritz. And you thre…
Season 1 Chapter 23 – The Dune Boy
Loud thunder rumbled above them. The lights flickered for a moment but stayed on. Marco side stepped a growing wet spot on the floor. It was…
Season 1 Chapter 24 – Bad Date
Ginger was thumbing through photos of Sunshine Castle through the years. Some were very old, pre Golden Rays. But most were from after. One…
Season 1 Chapter 25 – The Bell Tower
The sound of a girl’s soulful wailing echoed down the stairs from the top of the bell tower. “That would be my poor, eccentric Olivia,” expl…
Season 1 Chapter 26 – Trapped!
Olivia’s castle bedroom had a high ceiling and a single large oval window to the outside. A brilliant crystal chandelier glowed in the cente…
Season 1 Chapter 27 – Have a Heart
He froze for a moment. Then his logical mind kicked back in. Ah... He looked up at the mix-and-match crystals on the chandelier. The dump st…
Season 1 Chapter 28 – Keep It a Secret
“Marco has a girlfriend,” Lemon sing-songed. She had been waiting in the hall and ambushed him. “Not now, Lemon!” he snapped. Still rattled…
Season 1 Chapter 29 – Everything is Stupid
Carly slapped her hands on the table and burst out, “Yes! I’ll do it! I’m going to free the Sunshine Club! And everyone will be welcome here…