Wish Upon a Friend

by Phoebe Bright

  “It was real!” she cried, floating back down onto the carpet.

  Mom popped her head out of the kitchen. “What was real?”

  Cassie hesitated. She didn’t think Mom would believe her if she explained about Stella or her new bird charm. She could hardly believe it herself!

  “Nothing,” Cassie said at last. She pointed to her old cat, who was settling on his cushion next to the hall radiator. “I was talking to Twinkle.”

  “Well, head into the dining room and talk to the guests,” said Mom. “I’m just about to bring breakfast out.”

  A man, a woman, and a boy with curly brown hair were sitting at the long wooden table in the dining room.

  “Hi,” said Cassie.

  The woman smiled. “You must be Cassie. This is our son, Alex,” she said. “And that’s Comet, under the table.”

  Under the table? Cassie bent down and saw a small, fluffy white puppy chewing a blue rubber bone. He wagged his tail.

  Twinkle won’t like Comet staying here! she thought. But she had to admit that Comet was awfully cute.

  Alex seemed to be concentrating on a box in his lap. Cassie glanced at it and saw test tubes inside. “What’s that?” she asked.

  Alex fidgeted. “Well, er . . . actually, it’s top secret,” he said.

  “Show Cassie,” said his dad. “I’m sure she won’t tell anyone.”

  “Of course not,” said Cassie.

  “It’s my experiment,” Alex told her. “I’m going to be a scientist when I grow up.”

  “Are you really?” Cassie was interested. “What’s the experiment for?”

  Alex tapped a notebook that lay beside his cereal bowl. “It’s all in here,” he said, “but it’s easier to show you.” He held a test tube over the bowl. “The white powder in here is baking soda, and I’m going to add some of this green food coloring. Could you get me some vinegar, please?”

  Cassie headed to the kitchen, grabbed the bottle from one of the cabinets, and brought it back to Alex.

  “Watch,” said Alex as he poured some into the test tube.

  The mixture fizzed and bubbled into a green froth that erupted into the bowl.

  “Wow!” said Cassie. “That’s like magic!”

  “It’s not magic,” said Alex, shrugging his shoulders. “It’s science.” He jotted down some notes. “These are my observations.”

  “You’d get along well with my dad,” said Cassie. “He’s an astronomer.”

  Alex’s father grinned. “We’re on vacation here for two weeks, so I’m sure Alex would love to see your dad’s observatory.”

  Cassie gave Alex a smile, but he just kept writing in his notebook. Cassie’s mom hurried in with enormous plates of bacon, eggs, sausage, fruit, and toast, but Cassie decided just to have a piece of toast and leave. Alex didn’t seem all that friendly, and besides, she wanted to see if what Stella had said about becoming a Lucky Star was true. It sounded so exciting!

  I wonder who has a special wish, she thought, as she took a bite of her toast. And how can I make it come true?

  “Excuse me,” Cassie said to Alex’s family. “I’m going out now.” She reached down to pet the cute little puppy. “Bye, Comet.”

  As she stood up, she accidentally bumped the edge of the table, making the cups and plates rattle. “Oops!” she said. Two apples toppled from the fruit bowl.

  Cassie caught one, and just before the other rolled off the table, Alex grabbed it.

  He passed it to her. “Here you go.”

  “You moved fast!” said Cassie. “Thanks.”

  He smiled, then quickly looked down.

  Oh! He’s not unfriendly, thought Cassie suddenly. He’s shy!

  “Would you like to come to the beach?” she asked him.

  Alex’s face lit up. “Really?” he said. He carefully put his experiment off to one side of the dining room. Then he grinned, as if he couldn’t wait to get going. “Can we take Comet?” he asked.

  “Yes,” said his dad, “but don’t let him run off.”

  “We won’t, I promise,” said Cassie.

  Alex clipped a leash to Comet’s collar, and they stepped out into the morning sunshine. Cassie noticed Twinkle lounging in the garden, enjoying the sun. But when he spotted the puppy, he scuttled under the hedge.

  “Ruff! Ruff!” Comet barked. He pulled on his leash, trying to reach the cat.

  “He just wants to play,” said Alex.

  “But he’s scaring Twinkle,” said Cassie. “Don’t worry,” she told her cat. “Comet’s just visiting for a while.”

  As they walked down the hill toward the beach, Comet ran ahead. His body moved too quickly for his legs, and he kept tumbling over.

  “He’s so cute,” said Cassie. “And fast! Comets are actually just frozen dust and gas, but they travel around the sun at thousands of miles an hour. So Comet’s a good name for him!”

  “That’s interesting,” said Alex. “You know lots about stars and planets, don’t you?”

  Cassie nodded. “My dad tells me all about them.” She suddenly realized that now she knew things about stars her dad didn’t even know — how they liked to play, for instance. She’d even touched one!

  When they reached the part of the beach where dogs were allowed, Cassie and Alex jumped off the low wall onto the warm sand. Comet sniffed the salty sea air and barked with excitement.

  As they wandered along, Cassie looked around, trying to find someone who needed her help. But everybody seemed perfectly happy! Couples snoozed in beach chairs. Kids dug in the sand or splashed in the rippling waves. A toddler was crying in the ice cream line on the boardwalk, but his dad was about to place his order. He didn’t need her help!

  Up ahead, a woman struggled to push her stroller across the sand. As it bumped along, a small blue teddy bear fell out. Cassie ran to pick up the bear and give it back to the baby, who giggled and clapped his hands.

  Immediately, Cassie checked her bracelet. The bird charm dangled there, all by itself. I guess the baby wasn’t really wishing for my help, thought Cassie. But I’m glad I made him happy.

  “Ruff! Ruff!” Comet peered at Bert’s line of donkeys and riders, way down near the water’s edge.

  “Stay!” said Alex. But it was clear that Comet wanted to meet the donkeys. He yelped and pulled and suddenly he was gone, his leash trailing behind him!

  “Quick, after him!” shouted Cassie. “If he frightens the donkeys, they’ll bolt and the kids could fall off.”

  The soft sand made it difficult to run.

  “We won’t catch him in time,” Cassie panted. “Poor Coco the donkey will be so scared!” Her bracelet jingled as she ran, and she remembered her bird charm. Oh, she thought, I wonder . . .

  Instantly, she tingled all over. Tiny silver sparkles danced around her bracelet. Then Cassie felt herself rise a little, so her feet were just above the sand! She floated past Alex and caught up with Comet in no time, grabbing his leash.

  “Got him!” she called.

  She saw Alex giving her a strange look. Flying’s my special secret, Cassie thought. I’m not ready to tell anyone about it yet.

  Quickly, she curled into a forward somersault on the sand, hoping Alex would think she’d just done a spectacular acrobatic move.

  Alex picked up Comet and turned to Bert. “Sorry — ” he began, but Bert was looking back at his cotton candy stall on the boardwalk. He frowned.

  “What’s wrong?” Cassie asked.

  “My son should be selling cotton candy today,” said Bert, “but he’s at home with a cold. I’m tired of going from the donkeys to the cotton candy and back again. It’s hard to keep an eye on everything.” He sighed.

  Cassie’s heart leaped. It sounded like Bert was wishing for help! “I’l
l do it!” she said. “I’ll make the cotton candy for you.”

  Bert’s eyes lit up, but then he said, “A little thing like you, making cotton candy?”

  “Why not?” said Cassie. She saw Alex fidget, hopping from foot to foot, almost as if he wanted to be noticed. Of course! “I won’t be on my own,” she told Bert. “You’ll help too, won’t you, Alex?”

  A grin spread across Alex’s face.

  “All right, then,” said Bert, “but come and get me if you have any problems.”

  Cassie grabbed Alex’s hand and they raced to the cotton candy stall. Alex walked Comet over to the shade and looped his leash over a post. He filled a metal bowl with fresh water from the tap and put it next to his puppy.

  Behind the counter, Cassie studied the whirring cotton candy machine and the heap of sugar glistening like starlight. She looked out at the growing line of kids. Then she looked back at the cotton candy machine.

  “Alex,” she said, “I promised Bert I’d help, but — I don’t know how!”

  “What should we do?” Cassie asked, worried.

  “Let’s see.” Alex peered at the machine. “The heater warms the sugar . . . turns it into liquid . . . spins the liquid . . .”

  “Excuse me!” called a girl’s voice.

  Cassie had to stretch to see over the high counter. A pretty girl with wavy hair and sky blue eyes was second in the line, and she tapped her foot impatiently. Cassie ducked down.

  “It’s Donna Fox,” she whispered to Alex, wrinkling her nose. “Her parents own the Flashley Manor Hotel. She’s spoiled rotten.”

  “Excuse me!” the voice said again.

  Cassie stood on her tiptoes. “Hi, Donna,” she said, doing her best to smile. “The cotton candy will be ready soon.”

  “I certainly hope so!” said Donna. Her eyes narrowed. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

  “I have an expert here,” said Cassie, bending down again. “That’s you, Alex. Hurry up!”

  “I won’t wait forever,” Donna called. “I could always just buy my cotton candy somewhere else.”

  I wish you would, Cassie thought, almost missing what Alex was saying.

  “. . . out come thousands of threads, and you twirl them on a stick,” he finished. “Easy!”

  Cassie poured sugar into the container in the middle of the machine, then Alex added pink food coloring. The container rattled and whirled, and out flew pale pink threads of spun sugar.

  “Alex, I need a stick!” cried Cassie.

  Alex swiftly handed her one. Cassie twirled it around and around inside the bowl, and watched a pink cloud begin to form. When it was as big as her head, she stretched over the counter to pass it to the boy at the front of the line.

  But Donna Fox reached across and snatched it right out of Cassie’s hand! She flung her money on the counter and stalked away.

  “Hey!” the boy shouted. “That’s mine.”

  “Don’t worry,” said Cassie, scooping up Donna’s coins. “I’ll make an extra-big one for you.”

  Alex was busy taking money and refilling the machine, so Cassie kept twirling spun sugar onto the sticks. But it was hard to reach the smaller kids over the high counter! She glanced down. Her feet were hidden by sugar bags, so she thought about her bird charm. Silver sparkles danced around her bracelet, and her feet left the ground! Cassie rose just high enough to reach the machine and the kids easily.

  Alex opened a fresh bag of sugar and poured it into the machine. He looked up at Cassie. “You seem taller.”

  “I’m on my tiptoes,” said Cassie.

  Outside the booth, one little girl stood back from the others. Cassie thought she looked scared.

  “Your turn, Rosie,” a tall girl said to her. “Come on. The puppy won’t hurt you.”

  Alex called across the counter. “Comet’s very friendly.”

  Rosie shook her head and stayed still.

  “I know!” said Cassie. “Let’s make Rosie a special batch of cotton candy. She’ll have to be brave and go past Comet if she wants it. Put extra coloring in, Alex.”

  He poured in double the usual amount. Soon, Cassie was twirling a deep pink cloud of cotton candy. She held it out. “Here, Rosie. It’s rose colored to match your name!”

  Was it her imagination, or did the cotton candy stick tug at her fingers — like it was trying to break free?

  Rosie’s eyes widened. She took a deep breath, then edged past Comet to take the treat from Cassie. “Thanks!”

  Cassie smiled as she twirled another stick. Her plan had worked! But then she heard Rosie give a startled cry.

  She looked up to see Rosie’s cotton candy starting to rise into the air. Up it went, taking the little girl with it!

  “What’s happening?” Rosie squealed.

  “Alex, quick!” cried Cassie. They ran around to where Rosie bobbed beneath her pink cotton-candy cloud. Luckily, no one else seemed to have noticed Rosie yet! Alex and Cassie each grabbed one of her dangling legs.

  “There must be a scientific reason for this,” Alex yelled, “if I can just figure it out.”

  Cassie knew the reason. Tiny silver sparkles danced all around the cotton candy. They swirled down the stick and around Rosie, then over Alex and Cassie, too. Somehow the charm’s magic had spread!

  Oh, no! thought Cassie. I’ll have to be much more careful with my magic from now on.

  Cassie cried, “Pull Rosie down!”

  But they couldn’t. Instead, she and Alex began to rise, too. As they floated past Comet, the puppy jumped up and caught the leg of Alex’s jeans between his teeth. Up they floated, bobbing gently in the breeze. Cassie looked down to see the puppy’s leash slide off the top of the post.

  “Comet’s coming with us,” she called to Alex as silver sparkles swirled toward the small white puppy. She looked up, hoping Rosie wasn’t too frightened, but the little girl was busy trying to catch sparkles with her free hand.

  They flew higher and higher, the cotton candy at the top, then Rosie, then Cassie and Alex hanging on to her legs. Comet was last, holding Alex’s jeans in his mouth. And they were all surrounded by sparkly magic!

  Cassie tried not to look down as they drifted higher in the sky. She squeezed her eyes shut and gulped. How in the world am I going to fix this? Cassie wondered in dismay.

  They soared even higher, until Astral-on-Sea looked like a tiny toy town below them. Even though it was daytime, Cassie could see the faint glimmer of stars and the pale shimmer of the crescent moon.

  She felt something brush past her hair — a fluffy blob of cotton candy had come loose!

  Alex saw it, too. First his eyes opened wide in surprise . . . and then his mouth opened! He leaned forward and took a bite. “Mmmm,” he said with a grin.

  Cassie was too worried to smile back. She looked up. “Are you okay, Rosie?”

  But the face that looked down was smiling. “This is fun!” squealed Rosie with delight.

  “Look!” Alex pointed to a puffy white cloud moving past. “It has a flat bottom and bumpy top, like cauliflower — it’s a cumulus cloud.”

  Cassie sighed. Of course Alex was studying the clouds when they should be trying to get back down to the beach!

  Something white and fluffy drifted past her nose. At first she thought it was a little cloud, but then she saw the wagging tail. “Comet!” she cried.

  The puppy had let go of Alex’s jeans and now bobbed around Rosie. The little girl giggled, then reached out and hugged him close. “We’re flying together,” Cassie heard her tell Comet.

  Hooray! thought Cassie. At least Rosie isn’t scared of dogs anymore!

  Alex was still busy cloud-spotting. “That cumulus is evaporating,” he said. “See? It’s getting wispy and disappearing.”

  �
�The cotton candy is getting wispy, too,” said Cassie, as they all took a dip downward. Suddenly, she had an idea. “Rosie — let’s find out what your cotton candy tastes like!”

  Rosie reached up and pulled away a handful of spun sugar. She popped it into her mouth. “It tastes . . . magical!” she said. She tore off two more pieces and passed them down.

  Cassie took a bite. The cotton candy melted on her tongue like sugary snowflakes. Rosie pulled off more pieces for all of them. As the stick of cotton candy became smaller, the silver sparkles began to fade. They drifted down.

  My plan worked, thought Cassie happily.

  Astral-on-Sea grew larger again, and soon they had all landed safely back on the sand.

  Rosie hugged Cassie. “Thanks!” she said. “That was a fantastic adventure.” She patted Comet. “And thank you, Comet! I won’t be scared of dogs anymore if they’re all as nice as you!”

  A group of children gathered around, chatting and grinning excitedly.

  “Rosie, you flew!” said a boy.

  Before Rosie could speak, Alex said, “It wasn’t exactly flying, you know.”

  “It sure looked like it,” said the tall girl.

  “No, it has to do with changes in air pressure,” said Alex. “Have you heard of thermal columns? Warm air expands, you see, and it rises. . . .”

  Cassie smiled. Thank goodness for Alex’s scientific mind. He hadn’t guessed there was magic in the air at all. The bracelet’s secret was safe!

  “I’d better get back to my mom now,” said Rosie. “Bye!” She’d only taken two steps when she bent to pick something up. It was a piece of hard, shiny driftwood, almost as round as a ball. “This is for Comet to play with,” she said.