Make a Wish!

by Miranda Jones

  “Ali, look at me,” called Genie. She'd climbed down from the birdbath and was sitting in the sunshine. She had a large yellow-and-white daisy on her head. “Do you like my sun hat?”

  “It's lovely!” Ali laughed. Then she turned pink as Mrs. Carter looked curiously at her “Um, I was just thinking about a joke my friend Mary told me,” Ali explained quickly.

  “Oh?” Mrs. Carter looked interested.

  “Why don't you tell it to me?”

  Ali's mind went blank. She couldn't remember any jokes at all. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “I can't remember it exactly.”

  Then her eyes almost popped out of her head. A yellow-and-white daisy was hurrying across the lawn toward her!

  “Genie!” Ali breathed. To her horror, Mrs. Carter chose that very moment to look over the fence into the Millers' yard.

  The flower stopped and froze. Ali held her breath and looked at Mrs. Carter Had she spotted Genie underneath the daisy?

  “That's a pretty flower,” said Mrs. Carter “But it's growing right in the middle of your lawn. Your dad will have to be careful when he mows the grass.”

  Ali gave a sigh of relief. “Oh yes, I'll tell him,” she said.

  As Mrs. Carter started struggling with her sheets again, Ali rushed over to Genie. “What are you doing?” she whispered. “Mrs. Carter nearly saw you! I don't think I could have explained a daisy that can walk!”

  “Sorry!” Little Genie grinned up at her.

  “But I had to get to you somehow. It's the tiger!”

  “What about him?” Ali looked at the spot where the tiger had been a moment ago. Now there was no sign of him. “Oh no, where's he gone?”

  “Look!” Little Genie squeaked, pointing across the lawn.

  Ali spun around just in time to see the tiger disappear through a gap in the fence—right into Mrs. Carter's yard!

  “Oh no!” she gasped, racing over to the fence. Ali had used the gap before when she went to visit Mrs. Carter and Marmalade. Maybe she would have time to grab the tiger before Mrs. Carter spotted him. At the moment Mrs. Carter had her back to them, trying to peg another wet sheet to the line while the wind flapped it in all directions.

  But Ali was too late. As she reached the fence, she saw the tiger race up to the cat flap in Mrs. Carter's back door He poked the cat flap curiously with one paw, and it swung open. He pushed his striped head through and then jumped inside. The flap swung shut behind him.

  Ali groaned. She turned around to find Genie next to her, still hiding under her daisy. “Genie,” she whispered. “Do something!”

  “Don't worry,” said Genie. “Maybe our tiger will make friends with Marmalade.”

  “He'll scare Marmalade to death,” Ali half shrieked. “And Mrs. Carter, too! Look, she's nearly finished hanging out her washing. We've got to get the tiger out of her house!”

  “Leave it to me,” Little Genie said confidently. She sat down cross-legged on the lawn, closed her eyes, and started whispering.

  Ali waited impatiently “Well?” she demanded when Little Genie opened her eyes.

  “Hang loose,” Genie said. “The tiger should be here any minute now. I did a summoning spell. I think I remembered the right words.”

  “Well, where is he, then?” Ali asked, looking around.

  Just then there was a loud meow. And then another A big black-and-white cat jumped onto Mrs. Carter's fence from the yard on the other side. Then a tabby cat appeared from behind the shed at the bottom of the garden, followed by a small white cat with bright green eyes. All three were yowling at the tops of their voices.

  “Goodness me!” gasped Mrs. Carter as a fat ginger cat and a jet-black kitten joined the first one on top of the fence. She clapped her hands over her ears as all five cats wailed loudly. “Where have all these cats come from?”

  “Genie!” Ali whispered, her heart racing. “What have you done?”

  “Er—I suppose it might be because of my spell,” Little Genie admitted, her cheeks turning red. She and Ali peered through the gap in the fence into Mrs. Carter's garden.

  More cats were arriving from all over the place. Now there were eight cats sitting on the fence, their tails swinging. There were six cats sitting on the shed roof and another five milling around Mrs. Carter's legs. The noise was deafening as they howled and yowled.

  “Shoo!” shouted Mrs. Carter, clapping her hands. “Go home, all of you!” But none of the cats took any notice. Mrs. Carter looked worried. “I'd better go inside and make sure Marmalade's all right,” she said. “I'm sure all this noise must be scaring him.”

  “Maybe we ought to try to get rid of these cats first,” Ali suggested quickly. She didn't want Mrs. Carter walking into her kitchen and coming face to face with the tiger!

  “How on earth are we going to do that?” asked Mrs. Carter, a bewildered expression on her face.

  “Yes, Genie,” Ali whispered hotly to the daisy beside her “How are we going to get rid of them? Can you do another spell? Quick, before they wake my parents up!”

  But before Genie could say anything, Ali noticed that the cat flap in Mrs. Carter's back door was beginning to open … and a lilac-striped head popped out!

  Ali's heart sank. She glanced at Mrs. Carter Luckily she was still trying to shoo the cats away and hadn't noticed the tiger.

  Ali leaned over the fence and waved to the tiger “Come here, boy,” she called softly. “Come to Ali!”

  Suddenly the tiger opened his mouth and let out the most enormous roar! The cats in the yard almost leapt out of their furry skins. With loud yowls, they took off in all directions, their tails down and their ears flat against their heads. They looked terrified!

  “Go, tiger!” Genie yelled, jumping up and down.

  “Shhh!” Ali said.

  Mrs. Carter clutched her chest as a sea of cats swarmed past her “What was that noise?” she cried. “It came from my house!”

  She spun around and stared at the cat flap. Ali and Genie looked too, and they both breathed a huge sigh of relief. The tiger had vanished back inside. Now Marmalade was peering through the cat flap, his green eyes huge with surprise.

  “Marmalade!” Mrs. Carter exclaimed, beaming with pride. “Did you scare all those cats away? I didn't know you could roar so loudly.”

  “Neither did Marmalade!” Ali whispered to Little Genie, trying not to giggle.

  “I told you our tiger would make friends with Marmalade,” Genie whispered to Ali.

  “I'm not surprised,” Mrs. Carter went on as she pinned the last sheet to the line. She smiled. “I always knew Marmalade could be brave if he wanted to be.”

  Suddenly the big black-and-white cat jumped onto the fence again. He glared at Marmalade, who quickly disappeared into the house. Ali watched, holding her breath. A second later, a familiar purple head popped through the cat flap. The tiger let out another earsplitting roar, and the black-and-white cat fled with a startled yowl. Ali couldn't help laughing when she saw that the tiger was gone again, and Marmalade's ginger head was sticking out through the cat flap by the time Mrs. Carter turned around.

  “Well done, Marmalade!” Mrs. Carter said, picking up her empty washing basket. “I don't think we'll be bothered with all those cats coming into our yard again,” she said happily, heading back to the house.

  “Ali, the tiger!” Little Genie whispered urgently from underneath the daisy. “He's still in the house!”

  “Let me open the door for you, Mrs. Carter,” Ali said quickly. She squeezed through the gap in the fence and rushed over She had to get to the kitchen and grab the tiger before Mrs. Carter spotted him!

  Ali pushed open the door and glanced around the kitchen. Marmalade was hiding under the kitchen table, his ginger fur fluffed up in alarm. But where was the tiger?

  Then Ali saw a flash of purple out of the corner of her eye. The tiger was chasing Marmalade's toy mouse around the kitchen. Quickly Ali scooped him up and pushed him under her shirt just as Mrs. Carter stepped into the roo
m after her.

  “Thank you, Ali,” Mrs. Carter said gratefully. She put the basket on the table and bent to pick up Marmalade. “Who's a clever boy, then?” she cooed proudly, tickling the ginger cat's chin.

  Marmalade let out a feeble mew and snuggled into his owner's arms.

  “I'd better be going,” Ali said, turning away before her neighbor could spot the lump under her shirt The tiger's soft fur tickled her skin.

  “Oh, stay and have some lemonade,” Mrs. Carter invited. “I'm just going to make a fresh pitcher And I've got chocolate chip cookies too. I know they're your favorite.”

  Ali hesitated. She loved chocolate. It was her absolute favorite food. But she couldn't eat a chocolate chip cookie and keep hold of a wriggling tiger at the same time!

  “No, thanks, Mrs. Carter,” she mumbled. “I'm not very hungry.”

  “All right.” Mrs. Carter looked concerned. “But that's not like you, Ali. Are you feeling all right?”

  “I'm fine,” Ali said weakly, backing toward the door She was holding on to the tiger through her shirt with both hands, but she was afraid he was going to escape at any moment. He was squirming and prodding her stomach with his strong little paws. She was even more afraid that he was going to let out another roar and give the game away! “My mom's probably wondering where I am. Bye!”

  “Genie!” Ali whispered as she squeezed back through the gap in the fence. “Genie, I've got him! Little Genie? Where are you?”

  There was no answer The daisy was lying on the ground, and Little Genie was nowhere to be seen. Where could she be? Hoping it was somewhere safe, Ali hurried indoors with the tiger Her mom was in the shower, and a note said Dad and Jake had gone to pick up doughnuts for breakfast, so she rushed upstairs to her bedroom, opened the sock drawer, and popped the tiger inside. He seemed quite happy to be back. He yawned, showing his tiny white teeth, and curled up on a pair of Ali's wooly socks.

  Ali looked in the lamp and under her bed, but there was no sign of Genie. She hadn't had any breakfast yet, and the doughnut shop was a good way away. Maybe she'd have some chocolate from the secret supply under her bed.

  Ali pulled her special chocolate tin out from under her bed, opened it, and peered inside. It was empty.

  “That's weird,” she said to herself. “I'm sure there were two candy bars in here yesterday.” She looked around her bedroom in case she had taken them out and forgotten them, but she didn't see them anywhere.

  All that talk about chocolate chip cookies had made Ali hungry. She knew there were some cookies in the cookie jar, so she ran downstairs. But when she looked inside, the jar was empty. All that was left were a few crumbs.

  “Darn,” Ali muttered, annoyed. “And where's Little Genie gone?”

  “Who are you talking to, Ali?” asked her mom, coming into the kitchen.

  “Oh! N-no one,” Ali stammered. “Just clearing my throat.”

  “Oh, Ali!” said her mom, spotting the empty cookie jar “You've eaten all the cookies?”

  “No, I haven't,” Ali protested, but Mom still looked mad.

  “Well, I'm not buying any more until I go shopping next week,” she said sternly. “So you and Jake are going to have to wait.” Shaking her head, she began to unload the dishwasher.

  Feeling puzzled and a bit fed up, Ali grabbed an apple and went back upstairs. Why was all the chocolate in the house disappearing? And where was Genie?

  “Oh, there you are!” Little Genie's head popped up out of the sock drawer as Ali walked into her bedroom. The tiger popped up beside her “I've been looking everywhere for you.”

  “And I've been looking for you,” Ali grumbled. “I barely got out of Mrs. Carter's house without her seeing the tiger And now all my chocolate's vanished!”

  Little Genie looked a bit sheepish. “Yes, I wanted to talk to you about that,” she began.

  “Ali?” Her mom was calling from the bottom of the stairs. “Mary's here.”

  “Oh! Time for me to disappear!” Little Genie patted the tiger and grinned at Ali. “Remember, don't say a word to your friend about me, okay?”

  Ali nodded, wondering what Little Genie had to say about the chocolate. But there wasn't any time. As Little Genie climbed out of the drawer and onto Ali's desk, something fluttered to the floor Ali picked it up and stared at it. It was a candy bar wrapper from one of her candy bars!

  “Genie!” she began, but just then there was a puff of pink smoke as Genie disappeared into her lamp. A second later, the door opened. Ali shot across the room and slammed the sock drawer shut, with the tiger inside it.

  “Hi!” Mary grinned at her “Are you talking to yourself?”

  “Yes—I mean, no,” Ali replied, flustered. She glanced nervously at the lamp. The tiniest bit of pink smoke was still drifting around it. Ali hoped Mary wouldn't notice.

  Mary gave her a funny look. “Are you okay?”

  “I'm fine,” Ali said, trying to look as normal as possible.

  “Oh wow, is this the lamp your grandma bought you?” Mary went over to the Lava lamp on the desk and picked it up.

  Ali gulped. She hoped Genie wasn't bobbing around with the pink bubbles. “It's cool, isn't it?” she said, her voice high and squeaky.

  Grrrrr!

  Mary jumped and put the lamp back on the desk. “What was that?” she asked, her eyes wide.

  Ali glanced desperately at the sock drawer “Oh, it was just my stomach rumbling,” she explained quickly. “I didn't have any breakfast. My dad's getting doughnuts.”

  Grrrrr!

  “Wow!” Mary laughed. “You must be really hungry, Ali!”

  “Starving!” Ali almost shouted. “Come on downstairs. I think I hear Bulldozer He'll eat all the iced ones if we aren't quick.”

  Mary nodded. “Have you got all your school stuff ready for tomorrow?” she asked as they traipsed downstairs.

  “Not yet,” Ali replied, looking back over her shoulder at her room. Was the first day of school really tomorrow? She'd hardly thought about it at all— she'd had genies and tigers to worry about!

  But now Ali had a plan … a plan for a second wish that would help her put an end to this entire mess!

  “Genie!” Ali whispered, tiptoeing into her bedroom at dusk. “Where are you?”

  Ali hadn't had a chance to speak to Little Genie all day. After Mary had gone home, Ali and her family had gone over to Gran's for a visit and Sunday dinner, and they'd only just got back.

  “Here I am.” Little Genie popped her head out of the sock drawer and yawned. Her ponytail was messy. “I've been crashing with the tiger.”

  The tiger appeared too, his ears pricked and his black eyes very bright.

  “Listen, I've thought of my second wish,” Ali said eagerly. “And you're going to like it.” She grinned at Little Genie. “I want one hundred chocolate candy bars! That's enough for you and me for at least a week—and I can share them with Mary too.”

  Little Genie rubbed her eyes. “Okay. Your wish is my command,” she mumbled sleepily. She raised her arms and waved them in the air.

  “Grrr!” growled the tiger, thinking this was a new game. He jumped up and tried to grab Little Genie's sleeve with his tiny teeth. As he did, his furry tail brushed against Genie's nose.

  Little Genie screwed up her face and sneezed loudly. “Aschoo! Aschoo!”

  There was a flash and then a cloud of purple smoke.

  When it cleared, Ali couldn't believe what she was seeing. There were bars of chocolate everywhere. They were piled on the bed, spilling onto the floor They were stacked on the windowsill and on the desk Ali had never seen so much chocolate in her life!

  “Wow!” she cried. “Even more than I was expecting!”

  “Oops!” Little Genie looked a bit sheepish. “I must have added two zeros to the hundred when I sneezed. Miss Spelling did say that could happen some-times. It looks like you've got ten thousand chocolate candy bars, Ali!”

  Ali grinned. “This is great!” She grabbed one
of the bars off the bed and tore open the gold and purple wrapper, her mouth watering. She couldn't wait to dig in.

  She took a big bite and stopped.

  “What's the matter?” asked Genie.

  “This is dark chocolate!” Ali groaned, waving the bar at her “I only like milk chocolate.” She stared around in despair at the thousands of chocolate bars. “Who's going to eat all these now?”

  Little Genie laughed. She climbed out of the drawer, using a sock as a rope ladder, and snapped her fingers to make herself full size. “Don't worry,” she said cheerfully, unwrapping one of the bars. “I know someone who loves dark chocolate!” She held the bar out to the tiger, which took it and ate it in two bites, purring loudly.

  Ali stared in amazement. “So that's what he eats,” she said. “Chocolate!”

  “Well, he came from a chocolate ad, didn't he?” Genie replied, unwrapping another bar and eating it herself. She lifted the tiger out of the sock drawer and put him on the floor He immediately pounced on a bar that had fallen off the bed and started trying to tear the paper off with his sharp teeth. “He likes all kinds.”

  “I suppose that's where my candy bars went, and all of our cookies too,” Ali said.

  Little Genie nodded. “I was going to tell you,” she said. “One for you,” she went on, feeding the tiger another bar of chocolate. “And one for me.”

  “Well, while you two have your feast, I'm going to bed,” Ali said a bit grumpily, pulling on her pajamas.

  Little Genie didn't seem to hear her “Another one for you,” she said. “And another one for me!”

  Ali snuggled down in bed and tried to get to sleep. But it was very difficult. Little Genie kept on rustling the foil chocolate wrappers, and the tiger was purring away like a little engine.

  At last the noise stopped. Ali crept out of bed and went to peek into the sock drawer Little Genie had shrunk back down to lamp size. She and the tiger were curled up together, fast asleep. Empty wrappers surrounded them, and their faces were smeared with chocolate.