by Mike Ford
Finally, it was late enough to go to bed. Max was so anxious about what would happen with his wish that he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep. He lay in the dark, wondering if the Wish Eater was silently chewing, or when it would decide whether or not to eat his wish. A couple times he almost turned the light on to check, but he worried that it might keep the magic from happening.
Eventually, he could no longer keep his eyes open and fell asleep. When he woke up, the first thing he did was look for the Wish Eater.
It was gone.
Max jumped out of bed. He looked all around the nightstand, in case the Wish Eater had somehow gotten knocked off it during the night. It was nowhere to be found. His heart beating excitedly, he ran out of his room and down the stairs, not caring if he woke anyone up. In fact, he hoped he did wake everyone up, because he suddenly couldn’t wait to see his brothers and sisters again. He dashed into the kitchen.
“Good morning!” he said cheerfully. “What’s for—”
He stopped in his tracks. The kitchen was totally empty. There were no Elfie and Elsie bickering over which one of them was the better pitcher. No Charlie spilling his orange juice. No Arthur refusing to eat his scrambled eggs unless someone made the choo-choo sound and pretended the fork was a train and his mouth was a tunnel. No anything.
Max turned around and went back upstairs. This time, he noticed that the photos on the wall were the same ones that were there yesterday, showing just him and his parents. He also noticed that all the bedrooms were still empty, and that the other bed in his room was still made up as if nobody had slept in it in a long, long time. He didn’t have to open the dresser drawers to know that they still held only his things.
He looked at the spot on his bedside table where the Wish Eater had been sitting the night before. Obviously, it had eaten his wish and granted it. It was like he had never bought it. But the Wish Eater hadn’t changed everything back to how it was before.
It wasn’t fair. If he had never bought the Wish Eater, then the wish he’d made should never have been granted.
Unless, of course, the Wish Eater hadn’t granted his wish. Maybe it hadn’t disappeared after all. Maybe someone had taken it.
He hurried down the hall to his parents’ bedroom. They were just getting up.
“Did you take anything out of my room last night?” he asked.
“Take anything?” his mother repeated. “Just your dirty socks, to put in the laundry. Why?”
“Nothing else?” Max said. “You’re sure?”
“Is something missing?” his father asked.
“A toy,” Max said. “A set of, um, teeth. It was sitting on my bedside table.”
His father and mother both shook their heads.
Max sighed. “It’s the toy I got at the store the other day,” he said to his mother. “You remember it, right?”
His mother shook her head. “We didn’t get anything but the vase for Aunt Maxine,” she said.
“Not at the Gingerbread House,” Max said. “At the other store. Frightville.” Surely, he thought, his mother would remember the store filled with strange things.
“I think I’d remember a store with a name like that,” his mother said. “Are you sure you didn’t maybe dream about it?”
Max was about to argue with her that they had gone to Frightville, and that she had bought him the Wish Eater. Then he remembered—if his wish really had come true, and he had never bought the Wish Eater, then she couldn’t remember it because it had never happened.
“Maybe,” he said. “I mean, yeah, that must be it. I think I saw this thing in the window and wanted to go in, but we didn’t.”
“Tell you what,” his father said. “Why don’t we go over there today and have a look around? Maybe that thing you saw will still be there.”
Max nodded. That was actually exactly what he wanted to do, to see if the Wish Eater was still on the shelf at Frightville. Now he didn’t have to figure out a way to get there.
“I’ll be down in a minute to make breakfast,” his mother said, putting on her bathrobe. “We can go over after that, okay?”
“Thanks,” Max said, leaving their bedroom and walking back to his own room. Just to make sure, he checked once again for the Wish Eater, finding nothing. It made sense to him that if he had never bought it, his mother wouldn’t remember going into the store and buying it for him. But why did he remember it? If she had forgotten all about it, shouldn’t he have forgotten too?
He couldn’t wait to get to Frightville and get some answers. He hurried through breakfast, wolfing down his eggs and bacon so quickly that his parents were barely done with their coffee before he was pulling on his jacket, ready to go. He waited impatiently for them to finish, then practically dragged them to the car.
“This must be some toy,” his father joked as they drove.
“There’s only one of them,” Max said. “I don’t want anyone else to get it.”
When they reached the store, he was out of the car and inside in a flash. He went to the cupboard where he’d found the Wish Eater. It wasn’t there. He ran back to the front desk, where the same peculiar man from the day before was standing, polishing a snow globe that contained a miniature village.
“Hi,” Max said. “Do you remember me?”
The man paused and looked at Max. He squinted. “You do bear a resemblance to the viscount of Lower Dogsbreath,” he said. “But he died in seventeen sixty-two, so I suspect you’re not him. Are you a descendant?”
“Not that I know of,” Max said. “I was in here the other day. I bought … I mean, I was looking at a toy. A set of teeth with a key that opens them. It was called the Wish Eater.”
The man nodded. “Of course,” he said. “A most unusual object. Only one like it I’ve ever come across.”
“Right,” Max said. “So, it’s not here now.”
“Alas, no,” the man said. “Someone bought it.”
Yes, Max wanted to say. Me.
“Do you remember who bought it?” he asked instead.
“I do,” the man replied. “A young lady. About your age, I would think. I believe her mother called her Tamyra.”
“Tamyra Hinkle?” Max asked, naming a girl in his school. He and Tamyra had been in the same English class the previous year and had worked on a project together.
“I didn’t get her last name,” the man said. “She had lovely curly black hair and eyes the color of chestnuts, if that helps.”
“Actually, it does,” Max said, as the description matched Tamyra Hinkle exactly. “Thanks.”
“If you’re looking for something unique, I have many more things here,” the man said. He held up the snow globe and shook it. “This, for instance, commemorates the blizzard of eighteen fifty-seven, which surrounded the village of Haven by the Lake. It lasted all night, and when it was over the entire town had vanished and the only thing remaining was a rock with this globe standing on it.”
“I’m good,” Max said, eyeing the snow globe warily. “But thank you.”
He found his parents, who were examining the items on the store shelves. “Okay,” he said. “We can go.”
“Did you find what you were looking for?” his father asked.
“Someone else bought it,” Max said.
“Why don’t you get something else?” his mother suggested. She picked up a small portrait of a woman whose eyes seemed to stare right at Max, even when he moved away. “I was thinking this might look nice in the downstairs powder room.”
“I think a painting of flowers would be nicer,” Max suggested.
His mother put the painting down, and Max hurried her and his father out of the store. He had an uneasy feeling about the items in Frightville and didn’t want to risk his parents buying something that would cause even more trouble than the Wish Eater had.
Also, he very much wanted to talk to Tamyra Hinkle.
He had to wait until lunchtime at school the next day to talk to Tamyra.
Normally, Tamyra sat at one of the corner tables where the quieter kids congregated, reading books or doing homework while they ate. Max had often seen her there, absorbed in a Harry Potter novel or working on a school project with one of her friends. Today, though, Tamyra was seated at one of the center tables where the popular kids sat. She was surrounded by a group of boisterous girls, all of them talking loudly and laughing.
“I just love your sweater,” one of the girls said. “Where did you get it? I want one just like it.”
“Um, at the Wallard’s superstore,” Tamyra said, pulling at the sleeve of her perfectly unremarkable blue cardigan.
The girls oohed and aahed as if it was expensive cashmere and not ordinary cotton. “We should all go there after school and get matching ones,” one of them suggested, the others nodding their heads in agreement.
Max waved, trying to get Tamyra’s attention. “Hey.”
The girls all turned and looked at him, frowning.
“What do you want?” one of them asked.
“I need to talk to Tamyra,” Max said. “About a, um, science assignment.”
“Can’t you see she’s busy talking to us?” another girl said.
“It will just take a minute,” Max assured her.
“She doesn’t have a minute,” said yet another girl. “We’re planning Kayla’s birthday party, and we need her to pick the theme. She has the best ideas.”
Tamyra looked at Max and shrugged as her friends all started talking at once, making it impossible for him to be heard over their voices. “Maybe later,” he muttered and went to sit down a few tables away.
Max watched Tamyra as he chewed on the peanut butter and banana sandwich his father had packed for him. The other girls were treating her like she was the star of the show, laughing at everything she said. Tamyra seemed to be enjoying the attention too.
But there was something strange about it. Tamyra wasn’t an unpopular person, but she was definitely not the kind of girl that this group usually paid attention to. Her clothes weren’t stylish. She didn’t go to their parties or hang out with them after school. Now, though, it was as if something had changed overnight.
For the rest of the day, every time he saw Tamyra, she was surrounded by a group of girls. At first, she always seemed happy about this. But Max noticed that as the day went on, her expression began to grow less enthusiastic. By the time the last bell rang and everyone started to leave school for home, she was walking with her head down, an annoyed look on her face. Half a dozen girls followed her as she made her way down the sidewalk, and although Tamyra was obviously walking quickly to get away from them, they trotted behind her.
Max caught up with them, elbowing his way through the gaggle of girls and keeping pace with Tamyra.
“I need to talk to you,” he said. “It’s important.”
“Tay!” one of the girls behind them called out. “Should we go to Kimber’s house to listen to the new Kandi Pop album, or go to Skylar’s house and try on outfits for the dance?”
“I have homework to do,” Tamyra shouted back.
“Okay,” the girl said. “We’ll go to your house and do homework.”
Tamyra stopped and turned around. “You guys go to Kimber’s house,” she said. “Or to Skylar’s house. I don’t care. But I have to do my homework alone.”
The girls looked disappointed. One of them started to sniffle.
“Okay, fine. I’ll come over to Kimber’s house when I’m done,” Tamyra said.
“Promise?” the girls asked in unison.
“Promise.”
“Good,” said one of the girls. “Then you can tell us all about your skin-care regimen. Your cheeks are practically glowing.”
The girls split off, heading in the direction of Kimber’s house and leaving Max and Tamyra by themselves.
“Tay?” Max said.
Tamyra rolled her eyes. “It’s their nickname for me,” she said. “So, you wanted to ask me about the science assignment?”
“Actually, no,” Max replied. “I wanted to ask you about the thing you bought at Frightville yesterday.”
Tamyra got a weird look on her face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Are you sure?” said Max. “A set of teeth? With a key that opens them?”
Tamyra shrugged. “Who says I bought something like that?”
Max wasn’t sure how much to tell her about his own experience with the Wish Eater. “I was thinking about buying it. But when I went in yesterday it was gone. The man in the store told me a girl named Tamyra bought it.”
Tamyra sighed. “Okay, I did,” she said. “My cousin Lulu and I stopped in there, and I thought it was cool.” Something in her voice sounded like she regretted what she’d done. “Anyway, I kind of wish you’d bought it before I did,” she said.
“That’s the thing,” Max said. “I did.”
Tamyra looked surprised. “So, you bought it and returned it?”
Max shook his head. Now that he’d begun the conversation, he wasn’t sure how to tell Tamyra what had happened. He knew it would sound crazy. “Did you make a wish?” he asked.
“Did you?” Tamyra countered.
“Yeah,” Max admitted. “I did.”
“What did you wish for?”
Max took a deep breath. “I wished I was an only child. And when I woke up, I was.”
Tamyra gasped.
“I don’t have any brothers or sisters anymore,” Max continued. “It’s like they never existed.”
“That’s impossible,” Tamyra said. “People don’t just disappear. And I’ve never even heard you mention brothers or sisters.”
“You’ve met them,” Max said. “My sisters, Elfie and Elsie, are twins. Your softball team played against theirs last year. Elsie struck you out.”
Tamyra shook her head again. “I don’t remember them at all. Sorry.”
“It’s the Wish Eater,” Max said. “It made it so they never existed. My brothers too. I’m the only one who remembers them.”
“That’s—”
“Impossible,” Max said before she could. “You mentioned that already.”
“Well, it is,” Tamyra said.
Max knew arguing with her wasn’t going to help. “What did you wish for?” he asked instead. “Did it have anything to do with how all those girls are suddenly your best friends?”
Tamyra was silent. She obviously didn’t want to talk about it, but Max needed to know. He stood with his arms crossed, waiting for her to tell him everything.
“This is ridiculous,” Tamyra said. “That thing isn’t magic. You’re just sorry you returned it. Now you want me to give it to you, so you made up that crazy story about your sisters and brothers disappearing to make me feel sorry for you.”
She turned and walked away. Max wondered if he should chase after her. He decided not to. Tamyra wasn’t ready to talk yet. He hoped she would be soon, though. He didn’t know how he was going to get the Wish Eater to reverse his wish, but he couldn’t even try if he didn’t have it to work with.
For now, all he could do was go home and wait.
When Max got home, the house was empty.
He went upstairs, trying not to think about Elfie, Elsie, Charlie, and Arthur. But they were all he could think about. As he sat at his desk, trying to focus on the book report he was supposed to be writing for Mrs. Heneka’s class, he pictured his brothers and sisters in his mind. He tried to remember exactly what they looked like and how their voices sounded.
He thought Charlie had a scar on his chin, from the time they were playing tag at the beach and he’d slipped in the sand and cut himself on a shell. But maybe the scar was on his forehead and had been caused by running into an open cupboard door. Now Max wasn’t positive.
It was like even his memories of them were disappearing. Max took out his phone and opened the photo app. He knew he’d taken a couple shots of his brothers and sisters at Aunt Maxine’s birthday party. But when he scrol
led through the images on his phone, none of those pictures were there. Only ones with his parents remained.
He set the phone down and pulled open his desk drawer, looking for the school yearbook. When he found it, he flipped it open and turned to the section with photos of the sports teams. The one of the softball team showed a lot of faces he recognized, but Elfie and Elsie weren’t among them. In the group photos, he looked up his fifth-grade class. There he was, standing in between Dax Luftig and Karice Simpson. But the photo of the second-grade class was missing Charlie.
He shoved the yearbook back into the drawer, slamming it closed. Getting up, he ran to Elfie and Elsie’s bedroom and went inside. Everything that made the room theirs was gone: the sports equipment that was always piled in the corner, the clothes that littered the floor, the posters of Serena Williams and Lindsey Vonn. The boring office furniture that had replaced it looked lifeless and cold.
On the desk was a framed photo of Max with his parents. He was in the middle, and they were all smiling. Max turned it facedown on the desk and left the room. Being alone in the house was reminding him how much he missed the noise and chaos his siblings caused, even though it sometimes made him crazy. Right now, he would even be happy to be giving Arthur a bath.
He stood in the hallway and closed his eyes, trying again to picture the faces of his brothers and sisters. This time, he could see only ghostly images of them. Even those started to fade after a few seconds.
Max ran into his room and found a pad of paper. He wrote Elfie at the top, then stopped. He knew he had another sister. What was her name?
“Elsie,” he said finally, scribbling it down before he could forget again. Then he added Charlie and Archie beneath that. He looked at the list. Were all the names right? He didn’t think they were.
He went over to his bookshelf and pulled out his well-loved copy of Green Eggs and Ham. Turning to the inside, he looked for the names he knew should be written there. The book had been given to Elfie and Elsie by Aunt Maxine. Then it had been handed down to Max, then Charlie. Only recently, Charlie had decided that it was time for their baby brother to have it, even though he couldn’t read it himself yet. Charlie had written the new name in just like Max had written Charlie’s name in it when he’d given it to him.
