stumbled. I hit my knees hard. The pain shot up through my entire body.
When I looked up, she was gone.
After dinner, Ron agreed to play basketball out back. But it was too cold and windy. A light snow had started to fall.
We settled for Ping-Pong in the basement.
Ping-Pong games in our basement are always difficult. For one thing, the ceiling is so low, the ball is always hitting it and bouncing crazily away. Also, Punkin has a bad habit of chasing after the ball and biting holes in it.
Ping-Pong is the only sport I’m good at. I have a really tricky serve, and I’m good at slamming the ball down my opponent’s throat. I can usually beat Ron two games out of three.
But tonight he could see my heart wasn’t in it.
“What’s up?” he asked as we batted the ball softly back and forth. His dark eyes peered into mine from behind his black-framed glasses.
I decided I
had
to tell him about Clarissa, and her red crystal ball, and the three wishes. I was so desperate to tell someone.
“I helped this strange woman a few days ago,” I blurted out. “And she granted me three wishes, I made a wish, and now all the girls on my basketball team are going to die!”
Ron dropped his paddle onto the table. His mouth dropped open. “What an amazing coincidence!” he cried.
“Huh?” I gaped at him.
“I met my fairy godmother yesterday!” Ron exclaimed. “She promised to make me the richest person in the world, and she’s going to give me a solid-gold Mercedes with a swimming pool in the back!”
He burst out laughing. He just thinks he’s such a riot.
“Aaaaagh!”
I let out an angry, frustrated groan.
Then I tossed my paddle at him and ran upstairs to my room.
I slammed the bedroom door behind me and began to pace back and forth, my arms crossed tightly in front of me.
I kept telling myself that I had to calm down, that it wasn’t good to be this stressed out. But of course, telling yourself to calm down doesn’t do any good. It only makes you more tense.
I decided I had to do something to occupy my mind, to keep myself from thinking about Judith, and Clarissa, and the new wish I had accidentally made.
My second wish.
“It’s not fair!” I cried aloud, still pacing.
After all, I didn’t know I was making a second wish. That woman tricked me! She appeared out of nowhere — and tricked me!
I stopped in front of my mirror and fiddled with my hair. I have very fine light blond hair. It’s so fine, there isn’t much I can do with it. I usually tie it in a ponytail on the right side of my head. It’s a style I saw on a model that looked a little like me in
Seventeen.
Just to keep my hands busy, I tried doing something else with my hair. Studying myself in the mirror, I tried sweeping it straight back. Then I tried parting it in the middle and letting it fall over my ears. It looked really lame.
The activity wasn’t helping. It wasn’t taking my mind off Judith at all. I pulled it back into thesame old ponytail. Then I brushed it for a while, tossed down the brush with a sigh, and returned to pacing.
My big question, of course, was: Had my wish come true?
Had I caused Judith to disappear?
As much as I hated Judith, I certainly didn’t want to be responsible for making her disappear forever.
With a loud moan, I tossed myself down on my bed.
What should I do?
I asked myself. I
had
to know if the wish had come true.
I decided to call her house.
I wouldn’t talk to her. I’d just call her house and see if she was still around.
I wouldn’t even tell them who was calling.
I looked up Judith’s number in the school directory. I didn’t know it by heart. I had only called it once before.
My hand was shaking as I reached for the phone on my desk. I punched in her phone number.
It took me three tries. I kept making mistakes.
I was really scared. I felt as if my stomach were tied in a knot and my heart had jumped up into my throat.
The phone rang. One ring.
Two rings.
Three rings.
Had
When I looked up, she was gone.
After dinner, Ron agreed to play basketball out back. But it was too cold and windy. A light snow had started to fall.
We settled for Ping-Pong in the basement.
Ping-Pong games in our basement are always difficult. For one thing, the ceiling is so low, the ball is always hitting it and bouncing crazily away. Also, Punkin has a bad habit of chasing after the ball and biting holes in it.
Ping-Pong is the only sport I’m good at. I have a really tricky serve, and I’m good at slamming the ball down my opponent’s throat. I can usually beat Ron two games out of three.
But tonight he could see my heart wasn’t in it.
“What’s up?” he asked as we batted the ball softly back and forth. His dark eyes peered into mine from behind his black-framed glasses.
I decided I
had
to tell him about Clarissa, and her red crystal ball, and the three wishes. I was so desperate to tell someone.
“I helped this strange woman a few days ago,” I blurted out. “And she granted me three wishes, I made a wish, and now all the girls on my basketball team are going to die!”
Ron dropped his paddle onto the table. His mouth dropped open. “What an amazing coincidence!” he cried.
“Huh?” I gaped at him.
“I met my fairy godmother yesterday!” Ron exclaimed. “She promised to make me the richest person in the world, and she’s going to give me a solid-gold Mercedes with a swimming pool in the back!”
He burst out laughing. He just thinks he’s such a riot.
“Aaaaagh!”
I let out an angry, frustrated groan.
Then I tossed my paddle at him and ran upstairs to my room.
I slammed the bedroom door behind me and began to pace back and forth, my arms crossed tightly in front of me.
I kept telling myself that I had to calm down, that it wasn’t good to be this stressed out. But of course, telling yourself to calm down doesn’t do any good. It only makes you more tense.
I decided I had to do something to occupy my mind, to keep myself from thinking about Judith, and Clarissa, and the new wish I had accidentally made.
My second wish.
“It’s not fair!” I cried aloud, still pacing.
After all, I didn’t know I was making a second wish. That woman tricked me! She appeared out of nowhere — and tricked me!
I stopped in front of my mirror and fiddled with my hair. I have very fine light blond hair. It’s so fine, there isn’t much I can do with it. I usually tie it in a ponytail on the right side of my head. It’s a style I saw on a model that looked a little like me in
Seventeen.
Just to keep my hands busy, I tried doing something else with my hair. Studying myself in the mirror, I tried sweeping it straight back. Then I tried parting it in the middle and letting it fall over my ears. It looked really lame.
The activity wasn’t helping. It wasn’t taking my mind off Judith at all. I pulled it back into thesame old ponytail. Then I brushed it for a while, tossed down the brush with a sigh, and returned to pacing.
My big question, of course, was: Had my wish come true?
Had I caused Judith to disappear?
As much as I hated Judith, I certainly didn’t want to be responsible for making her disappear forever.
With a loud moan, I tossed myself down on my bed.
What should I do?
I asked myself. I
had
to know if the wish had come true.
I decided to call her house.
I wouldn’t talk to her. I’d just call her house and see if she was still around.
I wouldn’t even tell them who was calling.
I looked up Judith’s number in the school directory. I didn’t know it by heart. I had only called it once before.
My hand was shaking as I reached for the phone on my desk. I punched in her phone number.
It took me three tries. I kept making mistakes.
I was really scared. I felt as if my stomach were tied in a knot and my heart had jumped up into my throat.
The phone rang. One ring.
Two rings.
Three rings.
Had
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