Salomé sighed as she surveyed the disaster in the living room. Ripped cushions littered the floor, silver glitter covered the carpet like artificial snow, and in the middle of this chaos, 4-year-old Margaux wore a particularly suspicious angelic smile.

— Margaux! What have you done now? cried their mother as she entered the room.

— I was decorating, Mom! It's pretty, isn't it?

Salomé rolled her eyes. Her little sister had a remarkable talent for turning the house into a disaster zone. Every day brought its share of surprises, and rarely good ones.

The next day, there was the refrigerator incident. Margaux had decided to "tidy up" in her own way: Dad's socks were next to the cheese, her stuffed animals occupied the vegetable drawer, and the milk had mysteriously disappeared only to reappear in the shoe cupboard.

— Margaux, my darling, we DON'T put stuffed animals in the fridge! explained mom for the umpteenth time, exhausted.

"But Mr. Rabbit was too hot!" protested the little girl.

Salomé tried to be patient with her little sister, but it was difficult. Especially when Margaux's mischief affected the whole family. Like last Wednesday, when she had "decorated" the living room wall with permanent markers, creating what she called "a work of modern art."

But the incident that really pushed Mom to her limit was the one on Thursday afternoon.

Salomé was in her room, busy doing her homework, when she heard a piercing scream coming from the garden.

— MARGAUX LOUISE DUBOIS!

That triple name didn't bode well. Salomé rushed outside and stood there speechless. Coco, their adorable sandy-colored golden retriever, was frolicking happily in the garden. Except Coco wasn't sandy anymore. Coco was now a brilliant electric blue, from nose to tail.

"Margaux..." Salomé breathed, incredulous. "What did you do to Coco?"

The little girl, herself covered in blue paint, proudly dabbed at her work.

— I transformed him into a magic dog! Now he looks like a princess's dog!

Mom was on the verge of tears, holding an empty pot of blue acrylic paint.

— It was for my art project! This painting costs a fortune, and above all, ABOVE ALL, you DON'T paint a live dog!

Coco, unaware of the drama, was affectionately licking Margaux's face, leaving traces of blue drool on her cheeks.

In the evening, after two hours of bathing for Coco (who remained blue for weeks), Mom called a family meeting.

"That's enough, Margaux," she said in a firm but tired voice. "I'm really fed up. Every day is a new disaster. You have to understand that your actions have consequences."

Margaux lowered her head, her lower lip trembling slightly. Salomé felt her heart clench. She took her little sister's hand.

"You know, Margaux," she began softly, "you have a lot of imagination, and that's great. But maybe we could use your imagination differently? I could help you do fun activities, but without getting into any trouble."

Margaux's eyes lit up.

— Promise! What can we do?

The following weekend, Salomé set up a "creative corner" in the garage, with old newspapers, washable paint, and cardboard. Margaux could create whatever she wanted there, under the supervision of her older sister.

Slowly, the disasters diminished. Margaux had found aan outlet for her overflowing creativity, and Salomé discovered that being a big sister could also be rewarding.

As for Coco, he eventually regained his original color, although Mom swore she sometimes saw bluish highlights under certain lights. But at least, calm had returned to the Dubois household.

Well... until Margaux's next idea.