Marigold Star

by Elise Primavera

  He had a very good nose, which always came in handy for times like this. He sniffed loudly. Marigold waited, her heart pounding, until he finally concluded that he did not smell brownies.

  Marigold fell backward and lay flat on her back with her hands over her face. She’d be lucky if just the brownies had gotten it. “You realize, Lightning, that Granny warned me just a little while ago not to lose my wand.”

  “Uh-huh,” Lightning said.

  “And that I promised I wouldn’t,” she continued.

  “Uh-huh,” Lightning said again.

  “And that because I’ve lost it, something terrible could happen.”

  “Yes, but on the bright side, that’s only if it gets into the hands of a brownie, which it didn’t—or a human,” Lightning reminded her.

  “And that could never happen, right, Lightning?” Marigold’s eyes filled with tears. “I mean, there’s no way—right, Lightning?” Marigold was getting more and more upset. “I promised Granny I wouldn’t lose it, and now I have! I promised! I promised!”

  “Calm down, Marigold.” Lightning was used to getting into fixes with her, and this was just another. “Maybe it’s easier to find an invisible wand if you yourself are invisible.”

  “Do you think?” Marigold brightened.

  “Let’s see what Granny’s book says,” Lightning suggested.

  They both looked at where it had fallen onto the floor next to the bed.

  Marigold picked up the book and it was opened to a page. “Wow,” she said softly.

  “It’s almost like it knew,” Lightning whispered.

  The page said:

  It’s easier to find a magic wand if you yourself are invisible!*

  *see next page, Invisibility Spells

  “Except you’ll probably need a wand to do the spell,” Lightning muttered.

  Marigold turned the page to see:

  !!!NO WAND REQUIRED!!!

  “WOW! Look, Lightning!”

  The page said:

  **** INVIS-O-FRIEND SPELL ****

  This spell will make you invisible to all but that one very special friend who needs you the most.*

  STEP ONE: Stand in center of room away from any movable objects.

  STEP TWO: Repeat the following words as many times as needed:

  “Izzable dizzable, make me invisible to all but one.

  Send me to the most friendless of friends—unless I’ve never been a friend before.”

  STEP THREE: Close eyes.

  *you must have prior experience as a friend to complete this spell!

  “This is perfect!” Marigold could have jumped for joy. “I’ll be invisible and find my magic wand!”

  Lightning didn’t look so sure. “But, Marigold, it doesn’t say specifically about finding a lost wand. And I don’t like that part about you being sent ‘to the most friendless of friends.’”

  Marigold rolled her eyes. “It means that I’ll be invisible to everyone but you, silly—the one who needs me the most!”

  “But—” Lightning said.

  “Stop being so negative,” Marigold said. “Watch.” She stood in the center of the room, repeated the words, and closed her eyes.

  “See? It’s fine!” she said. “You can still see me, right, Lightning? Lightning?”

  6

  Winnie

  “Who’s Lightning?” a voice said.

  Marigold opened her eyes to see that she was in someone else’s room. A black crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling over a canopied bed, where a girl who looked to be about Marigold’s age sat scowling at her. She wore green pajamas and had a little pug nose that made her look like she smelled something bad. Marigold’s wand glittered in the girl’s hand. “I said, who’s Lightning?” the girl repeated.

  “H-He’s my dragon,” Marigold stammered. Except for the unpleasant expression on her face, this girl resembled the children in the picture on the Candy Land box. “I’m Marigold Star. Are you a . . . human?”

  “Of course I am—don’t be ridiculous.” The girl stuck her tongue out.

  Marigold tried to speak, but nothing came out. How had she ended up in a human girl’s bedroom? “But—but humans aren’t supposed to be in Bramblycrumbly!”

  “Bramby-whaty?” the girl asked.

  “Bramblycrumbly—you’re not supposed to be here, human!”

  “I am too supposed to be here.” The girl huffed. “You’re the one who’s not supposed to be here!”

  Marigold suddenly had the worst feeling. “Where. Is. Here?”

  The girl rolled her eyes. “The world,” she said impatiently.

  “The Human World?” Marigold’s voice rose in panic.

  “Like hello? What other world is there?” the girl barked.

  Marigold thought she might pass out until she realized she had momentarily stopped breathing. The girl stared at her idly, rolling the handle of the wand between her thumb and fingers. The star twinkled ominously.

  “You’ve got my magic wand. Could you give it back?” Even to Marigold her voice came out sounding scared and unsure.

  “No way—I’ve been wanting one of these things for, like, forever.” The girl waved the magic wand, and Marigold couldn’t help noticing that it lit up the room in a way it never did when she used it. It was bad enough that she had lost her magic wand, but it had ended up in the worst of all places. It was the same place where Granny Cabbage had just told her something terrible could happen. And that place was—in the hands of a human!

  The girl scrunched up her nose. “You’ve got a star over your head.”

  Marigold replied, “I know, it’s blinking, and—”

  “No, it’s not,” said the girl.

  “Yes, it is,” Marigold insisted, but when she looked up, she was shocked to see that it had stopped blinking! It was shining steadily and brightly just like it always had—and that was at least one good thing. “Everyone thinks my star is supposed to be a sure sign of greatness, except that—”

  “Well, I don’t like it,” the girl snapped. “I don’t like your hat either—take it off.”

  “I can’t take it off,” Marigold said indignantly.

  Without warning the girl reached forward and grabbed what she thought was Marigold’s hat.

  “OW!” Marigold yelled. “It’s not a hat—it’s my hair!” She rubbed her head. “That wasn’t very nice, human!”

  “My name isn’t human. It’s Winnie. And of course it wasn’t nice—I’m the most unfriendly girl in town,” she said proudly.

  “You mean you don’t have any friends, Winnie?” Marigold was astonished. It seemed to her that even humans needed friends.

  “Nope,” she replied.

  “But you’ve got to have at least one friend,” Marigold insisted.

  “Yeah? Why?” Winnie asked.

  “Because . . . because . . . it’s so much fun to have friends!” Marigold said.

  “Not for me.” Winnie folded her arms and shook her head. “I don’t like anyone, especially you!” She stuck out her tongue again.

  “But everyone likes me!” Marigold exclaimed. “Even the goblins and the trolls.”

  The girl narrowed her eyes dangerously at Marigold. “Did you just call me a goblin?”

  Luckily, Marigold didn’t have to answer, because just then there was a knock at the door. A woman popped her head into the room. She had a pug nose, jet-black bangs, and a long tight braid identical to Winnie’s. She could be no one else but the girl’s mother. “Who are you talking to, sweetums?” she asked.

  Winnie pointed to Marigold. “Her.”

  “Who?” Her mother looked all around.

  “Her!”

  “But there’s no one there, Winnie Binnie,” her mother replied.

  Marigold’s mouth dropped open. Could it be possible? “Ask her what she means,” Marigold said excitedly.

  “What do you mean?” Winnie asked.

  “I mean, you are talking to someone and there are only you and I in this roo
m,” her mother replied.

  Marigold could hardly contain herself. She skipped around the room shouting, “You can’t see me because I’m INVISIBLE!” She waved a hand in the lady’s face, and when she had no reaction, Marigold did a cartwheel in the middle of the room.

  “Okay, so you didn’t just see somebody do a cartwheel in the middle of the room?” Winnie said.

  “No, silly dilly. You have a big day tomorrow. Now go to sleep!” Winnie’s mother turned off the light and shut the door.

  Marigold was so happy she could have flown if she’d known how. “I’m invisible! I’m invisible!”

  “Not to me.” Winnie traced a circle in the air with the tip of the wand, leaving a trail of sparkles.

  Marigold could feel her confidence rising. Maybe she wasn’t so hopeless after all! Maybe it wouldn’t be that difficult to get her magic wand back. Lightning would be so proud of her—she couldn’t wait to show him that she was invisible.

  Winnie was speaking. “And just so you know, I never cry, and . . . I’m not afraid of ghosts.”

  “I’m not a ghost—and please be careful with that wand.” Marigold could feel her sudden sense of well-being begin to fade. “It never works the way it’s supposed to.”

  “Oh yeah? Well, we’ll see about that.” Winnie waved the wand over her head. “Magic wand . . . give me a green cape with a big gold star on the back!”

  BOINGO! POOF!

  Marigold’s star lit the room just enough for her to see the girl suddenly wearing a long fluffy green cape with a glittery star on the back. “How’d you do that?” Marigold exclaimed.

  “Easy! Watch this,” Winnie said. “Magic wand . . . give me a bag of delicious candy!”

  BING! BANG! BOOM!

  Marigold was shocked to see a bag of candy appear in Winnie’s hand.

  This had definitely gone too far. She had to put a stop to it at once. She held out her hand and wiggled her fingers. “Give me the wand, Winnie. Please?”

  Winnie gave her an evil grin and pointed the wand at her own feet. “Magic wand . . . give me white sneakers with green polka dots!”

  BONGO! SHRUSH!

  Just like that, she was wearing green polka-dot sneakers. She jumped up and clicked her heels. Marigold looked on helplessly—she just had to get her wand back, but how? She didn’t have Lightning to help her or Granny Cabbage to give her advice, but she still had Granny’s spell book! She reached for the book, and it opened to exactly where she’d left off. By the light of her star she read:

  THE INVIS-O-FRIEND SPELL

  Great. It was the spell that had landed her in this room in the first place. But then she noticed something. Below the spell was one little word: “over.”

  “Over?” Marigold muttered to herself, and she turned the page to see that it meant there was a lot more to this Invis-O-Friend Spell than she had thought.

  The book said:

  In order to complete the Invis-O-Friend Spell, Invis-O-Friend may not use a magic wand to simply wish for completion. Instead, Invis-O-Friend must share laughter, joy, advice, and sorrow with visible friend.

  Failure to complete the above spell by no later than the ninth birthday* of said visible friend will result in detainment of Invis-O-Friend in Human World forever.

  P.S. Invis-O-Friend may not confide in visible friend about the terms of this spell until spell is completed. Violations of these terms will also result in detainment of Invis-O-Friend in Human World forever.

  *ninth birthday: see “Lost or Missing Wands”

  Detainment in Human World forever? Marigold turned to the page on “Lost or Missing Wands” and read on with a sense of growing alarm.

  LOST OR MISSING WANDS

  If Invis-O-Friend loses a magic wand, it can result in the phenomenon known as “SEEPAGE”*

  Marigold turned the page and there it was. . . .

  *SEEPAGE: When characters, places, and/or objects spontaneously appear in a world other than their own.

  The Good News!

  If this Seepage occurred as a result of an Invis-O-Friend losing a magic wand, then at the completion of the Invis-O-Friend Spell and upon the retrieval of the magic wand with visible friend where Seepage originated, said Seepage will auto-reverse, i.e., all characters, places, and/or objects will automatically return to their appropriate worlds.

  ALSO: Seepage does not affect the age* of visible friend because technically they are still in the Human World.

  *age: See “Rules for Birthdays.”

  The Bad News!

  If Invis-O-Friend fails to complete spell by visible friend’s ninth birthday AND does NOT recover said magic wand, Bramblycrumbly will crumble and turn to brambles.

  P.S. A magic wand IS required to return to Bramblycrumbly from the Human World*

  Have a nice day! ☺

  *Human World: see “Rules for Birthdays.”

  RULES FOR BIRTHDAYS

  Be advised: It is VERY important that you know there is a—

  Marigold quickly turned the page to see what was “VERY important to know,” but on the next page there was only a list of medicinal herbs for baldness. It was a very old book with dog-eared corners and a few pages that were held together only by tape. Indeed, when she checked, there were the telltale ragged edges of several pages that had been torn out! “Very important to know, very important know . . . ,” Marigold muttered as she leafed through the book while looking for the missing pages in the hope that they’d been shoved between some other pages, but she found nothing. What was so important in these lost pages? Marigold had no idea, but now she knew what Granny meant when she said something terrible could happen if a magic wand got into the hands of a human. If she didn’t get her magic wand back, everything in Bramblycrumbly would crumble and turn to brambles. No wonder the old cabbage didn’t want to tell her—it was too awful!

  Could it be that the only way to keep this from happening was to make friends with this awful human? But what if Marigold didn’t have much time to make friends? What if Winnie’s birthday was tomorrow?

  “When is your ninth birthday, Winnie?” Marigold asked breathlessly.

  “Tomorrow,” Winnie snapped. “In fact, I’m having a birthday party and you’re not invited—no one is!”

  Winnie twirled the wand in a sweeping motion. “Magic wand . . . give me a magic flying carpet!”

  SWOOSH! BAM!

  A magic flying carpet instantly appeared.

  “Cut it out, Winnie!” Marigold shouted.

  “HA!” Winnie laughed, and pointed the wand at one of the tall windows. “Magic wand . . . open the window next to my bed.”

  Marigold groaned. At least “Seepage” hadn’t occurred. She looked up to see Winnie contemplating her. The girl tapped the air with the magic wand several times and chanted, “Magic wand . . . send me some ghosts!”

  7

  Izzable Dizzable

  Suddenly the curtains billowed out. The black crystal chandelier swayed and tinkled. A chill, clammy breeze swept through the room, heralding some unseen presence.

  Winnie stood with her feet planted, the green cape fluttering out behind her, the wand glittering formidably. “I’m not afraid of you, ghosts!” she exclaimed.

  Marigold held her breath.

  “Where are we?” a voice said.

  “Where are you?” another asked.

  “Where am I?” a third cried.

  Marigold’s heart sank. She had no doubt that these were the very same voices of the ghost children from Bramblycrumbly, who were now in the Human World! “Seepage,” she whispered.

  True to her promise, Winnie showed off her bravery by making rude noises at the ghosts.

  Marigold could feel their gowns brush against her as they gathered around. “Who’s that, Marigold Star?” they asked in hushed voices.

  “It’s Winnie,” Marigold replied.

  “What’s a Winnie?” They wanted to know.

  “Winnie is a human,” she answered.

  “A hu
man?” they cried.

  The pictures on the walls moved seemingly by themselves, and soon all were hanging at odd angles.

  “We’re in the Human World! That’s why we’re invisible!” they moaned. “That’s why we can’t even see ourselves!”

  Winnie stamped her foot. “Straighten those pictures on that wall this instant!”

  The ghost children gave a hardy tug on her long black braid in answer to her demand. Then one spotted her bag of candy and nipped at it. Before long all the ghosts were circling around her—except Winnie wasn’t offering anything. “Get away from my bag of candy!” She swung the wand like a baseball bat.

  The ghosts retreated over to Marigold, where they could be heard murmuring in a sulky group.

  “The human is so unfriendly—it’s because we are invisible, Marigold Star!”

  “It’s because she can’t see how nice we are . . .”

  “. . . and that all we want is candy . . .”

  “. . . and a story . . .”

  “We don’t want to be invisible, Marigold Star. Do something!”

  Marigold could barely speak, let alone answer the ghost children’s pleas. They weren’t supposed to be here. They had spontaneously appeared in a world other than their own. If only she could get her magic wand away from Winnie, she could wish the ghosts back to Bramblycrumbly!

  The room was dark. The ghost children moaned, and the wand sparkled in Winnie’s hand. If it hadn’t been for her star shining brightly, Marigold thought it would be easy to sneak up behind the girl and grab the wand right out of her hand. Which is exactly what happened. In a flash, the magic wand was snatched—but not by Marigold.

  “HEY! Give that back, you!” Winnie yelled.

  “Magic wand . . . make these ghosts visible!” a voice said.

  KA-BOOM!

  The ghosts appeared. Their white, filmy gowns glowed in the dark as they swirled and babbled, happy to be able to see one another again. They bounced on top of the canopied bed as if it were a trampoline. They lifted it off the floor to their gales of laughter and then spun it around a few times.

  Winnie hardly noticed. She chased after the magic wand that glittered and bobbed through the dark. She lunged for it, sure that she’d gotten it only to have it appear across the room. Marigold had her eye on it as well, but she found it just as difficult as Winnie to grab. They both thought it was one of the ghosts who had the magic wand. They were both wrong.