In this charming tale of retributive justice, a little girl with a magic finger changes the world one zap at a time. Our heroine doesn’t know where the magic comes from or how it works; all she knows is that it happens when she gets very angry.
One day at school, her teacher called her stupid for misspelling cat. Before she knew what was happening, the magic finger turned the teacher into a giant cat. She felt so bad, she vowed not to use the magic finger ever again. That was months ago.
Now, the girl likes to spend time with Phillip and William, the boys who live next door. They get along just fine, but the girl wishes they would all stop hunting. William, Phillip, and Mr. Gregg bring home a dead dear after an afternoon of hunting, and the little girl loses control. She uses the magic finger on the whole Gregg family.
The next day, the Gregg boys shoot sixteen ducks, a record for them. They are followed home from the pond by a group of four ducks that they just can’t shoot. That night while they are sleeping, the ducks circle their house. When they wake up, the whole Gregg family has shrunk, and wings have replaced their arms.
They panic, but then begin enjoying their newfound ability to fly. When they return home, four giant ducks with arms instead of wings have moved in and locked out the Greggs.
The family has a lovely time building a nest high in a tree. They are very hungry, but refuse to eat worms and slugs. They try apples, but they no longer have hands to hold them.
The Greggs spend a terrible night in their nest. The wind blows the tree around, and it rains very hard. When they wake up, the four ducks with arms are standing below the tree holding shotguns. Mr. Gregg promises he’ll never go hunting again in exchange for not being shot. Magically, the ducks and the Greggs turn back to their normal selves.
When the girl comes to visit William and Phillip, she sees strange things going on at the Gregg house. Mr. Gregg is smashing his guns, and Mrs. Gregg is burying the sixteen ducks the boys shot the day before. Phillip and William are spreading birdseed for a whole flock of birds that have gathered around. Mr. Gregg tells the girl he has changed their last name to Egg.
Just then, they hear gunshots coming from the pond. Maggie rushes down to use her magic finger on another hunting family.