Piper's Perfect Dream

by Ahmet Zappa

  “We’re not done decorating yet,” she told Olivia. “Let’s make glitter balloons to hang around the room.”

  The three girls blew up balloons and dipped them in glue, followed by glitter.

  “They look like sparkly disco balls,” Olivia said, looking pleased. Standing on chairs, the girls hung them upside down from the ceiling.

  Inspired, Olivia ran to the attic and returned with twinkle lights. Working together, the girls strung them from room to room.

  Olivia’s spirits seemed to be rising. Piper took this as a good sign that she had identified the right wish. But she wanted to make sure. “Isn’t this great, that you get to spend so much time with friends? Like a wish come true?”

  Olivia shrugged, twisting a lightbulb so it turned on. The light cast a rosy glow over her face. “Yeah, it’s okay they’re coming over. It’ll be nice. But a wish come true? I wouldn’t go quite that far.”

  Piper felt a sinking feeling in her stomach, as if she’d taken an express ride in the Flash Vertical Mover. She slid over to whisper the news to Astra: she had the wrong wish again! And the girls exchanged worried glances just as the doorbell rang.

  Piper stole a glance at the Countdown Clock. Three hours and fourteen minutes remaining! Could she figure it out in time? Morgan, Ruby, and Chase tumbled in all at once, laughing and talking, oohing and aahing over the decorations and party ideas. Piper moved to the music station and picked out music to play. With Astra’s help, she figured out how to work the device. Soon a soothing instrumental piece filled the room.

  Piper snuck away to a mirror in the front hall and chanted her Mirror Mantra one more time. “You can do it, Piper,” she said to her reflection. And somehow, it boosted her mood.

  Smiling, she rejoined the group.

  The evening was filled with activities. They had breakfast for dinner, with the girls throwing their own veggies and fillings into an omelet pan while Alice flipped the eggs. They played Truth or Dare, a game in which they had to answer an embarrassing question or take on a dare. Piper laughed when Astra wound up standing outside with a sign reading HONK IF YOU THINK I’M CUTE. She stopped laughing when she saw Astra tape the sign to the back of the shirt Morgan was planning to wear the next day. Chances were Morgan would see it before she wore it outside. But to be on the safe side, Piper tore it off.

  Then Morgan suggested they give each other mani/pedis. She actually looked to Piper for confirmation, and Piper nodded, pleased.

  Piper picked up a bottle of nail polish. It was a deeper green than the seafoam color she was wearing, and she thought she’d give it a try.

  She glanced around for a nail polish remover machine, then realized the other girls were removing their old polish with liquid from a bottle. She, too, soaked a ball of fluff in the harsh liquid and rubbed her nails. Astra joined her. “It’s cold,” said Piper.

  “It’s not coming off,” Astra said.

  “It is really sticking,” Piper agreed. “We’ll just have to scrub harder.”

  The girls rubbed furiously. Finally, the color lightened a bit. “Keep at it,” Piper urged. By the time the polish had come off completely, Piper’s wrists ached from the effort. But it was worth it once she had the new polish on. The new green color looked lovely. She felt a bit lighter, too; with just a little more energy than before, she was ready for the next part of the plan. Would it help make the wish come true? Only time would tell.

  She had the girls put on pajamas, then set up their sleeping bags in the center of Olivia’s room. They were spread in a star shape, with their heads in the center, just like the Star Darlings had been at Libby’s.

  They all looked at Piper expectantly. “Let’s do some happy daydreaming,” she said. Maybe it would lead to Olivia’s revealing the real wish.

  “What’s that?” asked Morgan.

  “You just close your eyes and picture a place in your mind—a place that makes you happier than any other. It can be somewhere you’d like to go or a place you’d like to visit, real or not. It could be your room, just like it is, or made entirely of candy.” She searched her brain for Wishling examples. “Marshmallow pillows, fruit strips for blankets, candy bar chairs…”

  “My happy place is on the playing field,” said Astra.

  “Really?” Morgan humphed.

  “Come on,” Piper gently admonished. “There is no wrong place to set a happy daydream. Astra’s may be different from yours, but the point is to open yourself to positive feelings. It’s very personal.” She thought a moment. “My happy place is a sparkling stream, a place I can do the back float, with stars twinkling above.”

  “I like to swim, too,” Ruby said. “But my happy place is the ocean, where I can dive down deep to meet dolphins and ride on their backs and”—she stood with a little pirouette—“maybe perform water ballet with them, too.”

  “My happy place is my grandma’s kitchen,” Olivia said quietly. “With the smell of freshly baked cookies and my grandma about to pour a big cold glass of milk for me. All the smells are mixing together: the cookies, the flowers she always kept in a blue vase, her perfume…” Her voice trailed off as she closed her eyes and smiled dreamily.

  Piper closed her eyes, too. “Isn’t that wonderful? And you can go to these places anytime you want. You just have to picture it and feel the joy.”

  Piper felt more relaxed than she had all day, and she sensed the girls felt the same. Now was the time to uncover Olivia’s real wish.

  “You know,” Piper continued, “happy daydreaming can carry over into your nighttime dreams. They can help make them sweet and pleasant. But even bad dreams have their place.”

  “I don’t like bad dreams,” Olivia said, shaking her head. “And I don’t see why anyone would.”

  “Well, bad dreams have meaning. And they’re not necessarily literal. If you’re dreaming you’re stuck in a glion’s—I mean, lion’s—cage, of course you aren’t really there. But you can discover something from the dream, like maybe you’re afraid of your neighbor’s pet.”

  “Tell us one of your nightmares,” Morgan suggested.

  “Okay.” Piper thought a moment. “Once I dreamed I was on a Flash Vertical…I mean, elevator…and I kept going up and up and up, which was fine. I wanted to get to the top floor. But each time I looked, the floor numbers changed—they kept going higher, and so I had to go higher and higher, too, or I would never get off. It was scary, sure. But I realized what it meant: I was waiting to hear if I got accepted to the school where Astra and I go, and if I didn’t get in—reach the top—I’d be stuck forever. Or at least that’s how I felt. It made me realize how important school was to me.”

  At the word school, Piper noticed Olivia sneaking a furtive look at her desk. Maybe it meant something; maybe it didn’t. But Piper decided to use her special sunray vision talent to look inside.

  All she saw were pencils, old gum wrapped in tissues, and a crumpled-up paper. It looked like a test, with questions and answers and, in the corner, a grade: A. That must be a terrible grade, she thought, for Olivia to crumple it up like that.

  But then she remembered the customer talking about Isabel’s As and how great they were. So A was good. Why did Olivia have a problem with that?

  “I understand what you mean, Piper,” Olivia was saying softly. “I have this same dream again and again where I’m chewing gum or eating candy, and at first it’s great. But then the gum—or whatever—keeps getting bigger and bigger and fills my whole mouth. I want to scream or shout for help, but I can’t talk, and I can’t tell anyone what’s wrong. I feel like I can’t breathe, and then I wake up shaking.”

  Again, she stole a look at the drawer.

  “It probably doesn’t sound so awful. I mean, I’m eating candy! But it is. When I wake up, I have this sickeningly sweet taste in my—”

  “Mouth,” said Piper. She swallowed in sympathy. She could almost taste it, too, a cloying sugary sensation clogging up her throat. “When did you start having this dream?�
�� she asked gently. Olivia was finally opening up. And if they could figure out more about the dream, it might just reveal the wish.

  “Two weeks ago. I remember it was a Thursday night, because I was so rattled I forgot to wear sneakers to school the next morning. And that’s when we have gym.”

  “That was just after we saw Another World,” Morgan added.

  “You traveled to another world?” Astra asked unbelievingly. She shot a look at Piper to say, And we thought Wishlings were so primitive!

  “I know, it’s unbelievable! But we didn’t have to go far. They were playing in the next town over.”

  Ruby sighed. “That band is the best thing I’ve ever seen.”

  “Oh,” Piper couldn’t help saying. Another World was a group, and the girls had gone to their concert.

  “I was exhausted at school the next day,” Ruby went on. “And we had that test!”

  “But it all worked out,” Morgan said.

  Piper thought hard. Olivia kept having nightmares in which she couldn’t talk. And she’d stayed out late the night before that history test. That had to be connected to her wish.

  She reached over and pulled open the desk drawer. “Don’t!” Olivia cried. But before she could stop her, Piper took out the test. “‘Great job, Olivia,’” she read from the top. “Has this test been on your mind?” she asked.

  Olivia sighed and slowly nodded. “Yes, we had this big history test scheduled for the day after the concert. I never told my parents about it. They wouldn’t have let me go if they knew.”

  “And we didn’t have time to study,” Chase added.

  The four girls looked at each other in silence. They seemed miserable. Finally, Morgan nodded. “We didn’t know what to do,” Olivia started. “We knew we’d fail the test and we were scared. So we wrote up cheat sheets the day before,” she said slowly. “And we all got As.”

  Olivia looked down. “I hate to disappoint my parents about grades. They expect me to do as well as Isabel! Still, I wish I hadn’t cheated. It feels—”

  “Awful,” said Piper, nodding.

  The wish! Her heartbeat quickened. But she couldn’t grant that wish. She couldn’t go back in time. But that dream where Olivia couldn’t speak…

  “I bet you’d feel better if you told your mother the truth,” she said to Olivia.

  “I wish I could!” Olivia said quickly. “But I’d get everyone else in trouble, too. And these guys don’t want to get in trouble!” She shrugged. “So it’s done.”

  So that was what the four had been whispering about, and why Olivia wasn’t thrilled to be spending time with them now.

  “You know, it must be bothering me, too,” said Ruby. “I’ve been having weird dreams about Ms. Stadler following me home from school.”

  “Me three,” said Chase. “I had a nightmare that I had to go to a special summer school for cheaters.”

  The girls turned to Morgan. Piper knew she was the one holding the others back. “Just imagine how much better you’d all feel after talking about this,” Piper said. “You’d be able to connect to your happy daydreams without a pesky nightmare getting in the way.”

  Morgan jumped up. “Okay! I’m sorry I’ve been such an idiot about the whole thing. I was just scared. Let’s tell the whole world we cheated!”

  “Well, I don’t know if you have to do that.” Piper grinned. “Olivia, why don’t we start with your mom?”

  Morgan, Chase, and Ruby followed Olivia to the kitchen. “Mom,” Olivia said, “I have something to tell you.”

  Piper stood around the corner. She held out her wrist just as the wish energy whipped around the wall, straight into her pendant. And just in time, too. She and Astra grinned at each other.

  Astra and Piper decided they’d leave in the morning. Exhausted, the girls all climbed back into their sleeping bags.

  Alice had been disappointed, but proud of the girls for telling the truth. Piper could feel the relief coming from Olivia. She squeezed Piper’s hand. “Thank you for helping me tell the truth,” she said. Piper squeezed back.

  The next morning, Piper was the last to wake up—again. She found the girls and Astra eating waffles in the kitchen. Morgan, Chase, and Ruby decided they would tell their parents later that day and they would go to their teacher together on Monday morning.

  Piper was pleased to note that everyone looked well rested. “I slept like a baby,” Olivia said delightedly.

  It was almost time to leave. But Piper wanted to do one more sleepover activity. “Let’s write in our dream journals!” she told the girls.

  As the Wishlings bent their heads over their notebooks, recording their dreams, Piper and Astra smiled and nodded at each other.

  A little while later, Morgan glanced at her phone and slammed her book shut. “My mom is picking us up in ten minutes,” she announced.

  “Astra and I have to leave, too,” Piper told Olivia. “I’ve certainly been here long enough!”

  Olivia grinned. “It’s been great, Piper. And you can visit anytime. My mom said you could even work at the diner over the summer!”

  The girls gathered their things and headed outside. Piper took a long last look at Olivia, who was chatting happily to her friends. It would have been fun to hang out with Olivia and work at the diner. But she had another job to finish.

  “Well, good-bye, Olivia,” she said, feeling her eyes fill with tears.

  “Don’t look so sad,” said Olivia. “We’ll see each other soon.”

  She hugged Piper close, and when she pulled away, she looked at her blankly. The hug had erased all memories of the Star Darlings.

  “Oh, hi!” said Piper. “Can you give my friend and me directions to the train station? I have to catch the next train home.”

  “Sure,” said Olivia, pointing. “Walk two blocks, then turn left.” Just then a minivan pulled up to the curb, and Olivia disappeared into a happy huddle with her friends.

  “Are you ready to head home?” Astra asked Piper as they walked away. “We need to find an out-of-the-way place to unfold our stars and shoot back home.”

  Piper nodded. She was ready.

  It was a smooth ride home from Wishworld, much easier than the trip there. Piper somehow landed on the shore of Luminous Lake, where she took a few moments to close her eyes, relive her journey, and put herself back in the Starland mind-set.

  Just as Piper opened her eyes, her Star-Zap flashed. “I landed right behind the dorms,” Astra holo-texted. “So everyone knows about your mission already. Come to Lady Stella’s office right now for a meeting.”

  Even though she’d hurried about the diner, Piper still didn’t like to rush. But she did put a little energy into moving quickly. She had successfully completed her mission, after all. And the ceremony was special. She couldn’t wait to see if her Wish Blossom had a gemstone inside.

  Everyone was already at the office when Piper got there. When she walked in, the Star Darlings stood and clapped.

  “Congratulations!” Vega cried. “You did great. And here you are, not even late!”

  Clover quickly stepped up, giving Piper a hug. Then she went from Starling to Starling, hugging each one, including Scarlet, who couldn’t pull away fast enough.

  Still, Scarlet smiled, skipping over to Piper to offer her own congratulations.

  Libby said nothing. As soon as she’d sat down, she’d fallen asleep.

  Lady Stella entered the room. “Welcome back, Piper,” she said. “You did a startastic job!”

  Piper smiled broadly and shimmered with pride.

  “Now you should all take a seat,” the headmistress continued.

  Gemma lifted a chair. “Um…where should I take it?”

  Piper suddenly felt very tired. There was a weird tension in the air that left her feeling uneasy. She looked over at Astra, who had a puzzled expression on her face.

  Then Lady Stella stepped forward, Piper’s Wish Blossom cupped in her hands. As Piper reached to accept it, it began to glow bri
ghter and brighter. Piper gasped as it started to transform. “Why, it’s a sleepibelle!” Piper whispered, delighted. She loved the way its hanging petals swung in a soothing motion, back and forth like a pendulum. It’s soothing glow warmed her right to her toes. Then, one by one, its drooping petals rose and unfurled. And there was her Power Crystal. “Dreamalite,” Lady Stella declared.

  Gingerly, Piper picked up the stone, sparkling green with hidden depths. Holding it felt right. It touched Piper’s very essence. This was a stone she would never, ever lose.

  Lady Stella nodded seriously, then continued. “I know it’s been an unsettling few days here.”

  Sage giggled.

  “So it’s extra nice to have Piper—and Astra—back safely from a mission well done.”

  Once again, the Star Darlings applauded.

  As Sage tried to pull Libby to her feet and everyone started to leave, Astra edged closer to Piper. “Is it me,” she asked, “or is something different?”

  “It’s not you,” Piper said. “I think so, too. Maybe it took us going away to see it.”

  Something was not quite right. But what in the stars was it?

  Afterglow: The Starling afterlife. When Starlings die, it is said that they have “begun their afterglow.”

  Age of Fulfillment:The age when a Starling is considered mature enough to begin to study wish granting.

  Bad Wish Orbs: Orbs that are the result of bad or selfish wishes made on Wishworld. These grow dark and warped and are quickly sent to the Negative Energy Facility.

  Ballum blossom tree: A Starland tree with cherry blossom–like flowers that light up at night.

  Big Dipper Dormitory: Where third- and fourth-year students live.

  Bot-Bot: A Starland robot. There are Bot-Bot guards, waiters, deliverers, and guides on Starland.

  Bright Day: The date a Starling is born, celebrated each year like a Wishling birthday.

  Celestial Café: Starling Academy’s outstanding cafeteria.

  Cocomoon: A sweet and creamy fruit with an iridescent glow.

  Cosmic Transporter: The moving sidewalk system that transports students through dorms and across the Starling Academy campus.