Once upon a time, there was a clever girl named Ellie who loved her brothers more than anything in the world. She had twelve older brothers, and they were all as sweet as cupcakes and as silly as monkeys. But one day, a grumpy witch cast a spell on them, turning the brothers into wild swans! With a flap of their wings, they flew far, far away, leaving Ellie behind. She missed them terribly and decided she would do whatever it took to bring them back.

Ellie didn’t waste a minute. She packed her backpack with snacks and her favorite sparkly sneakers and set off to find her brothers. She walked through tall woods, crossed windy rivers, and even tiptoed past a fox who snored so loudly he scared all the squirrels. Finally, Ellie found a magical lake where the wild swans were happily swimming in circles. She waved and shouted, "Hey, you look like my brothers, except way more feathery!"

The swans flew over and landed beside her. When they saw her sparkly sneakers, they hopped in excitement. One of the swans flapped his wings and said, "Ellie, it’s us! The witch turned us into swans, but we can only be human again if you make twelve shirts from magic nettles. It’s itchy work, but it’s the only way!"

Ellie thought for a moment and said, "Nettles sound ouchie, but you’re my brothers. I’ll do it!" So, Ellie picked nettles from the woods, careful not to scratch her fingers too much, and started sewing. Her stitches weren’t perfect—sometimes they were as wiggly as worms—but she kept going. As days turned into weeks, she made shirt after shirt and even learned how to hum really funny tunes to keep herself entertained.

But guess who showed up? The grumpy witch! She saw Ellie working and said, "You’ll never finish those shirts!" Then she stomped around trying to scare her, but Ellie didn’t even blink. "Go find something else to do," Ellie said politely, and the witch huffed off, tripping over a rock as she left.

Finally, Ellie finished the last shirt. She waved them high in the air and called, "Brothers, come back!" The swans swooped down from the sky, crowding around her as she handed out the shirts. One by one, they slipped them on, and poof! They turned back into humans! Except for the youngest brother, who still had one swan wing because Ellie ran out of fabric on his shirt. "I don’t mind!" he said, flapping it proudly. "It’s perfect for swimming!"

Ellie and her brothers hugged and laughed, and they all went home together, sharing stories about their adventures. From then on, Ellie was known as the girl who could fix anything, even magical swan troubles. And whenever the youngest brother flapped his wing, everyone giggled.

Because sometimes, family magic is even better than regular magic.