One Last Wish
Jasmine holds up the list. Her hand shakes. “Your name is not on the wish list,” she says. “That means you’ve never made a wish at the wishing well.”
She’s right about that! I never have—and after today, I probably never will.
Jasmine smiles. “Don’t you see, Daisy? You can save us with a wish!”
I frown because I’ve seen what wishes do.
Jasmine can tell I’m worried, so she calmly tells me, “The only downside is that you’ll have to give up your one and only wish.”
There’s not much to think about because given a choice, I’d always pick saving my friends, my town, and, yes, even my school. “Who has a coin?”
Posey shakes his head. “Sorry. I used my only coin for the wish lollipop.”
Lily stands as still as a chocolate-dipped pretzel rod. “I have chocolate coins in my pocket. Will those work?”
I shake my head and look at Jasmine. She opens her coin purse and looks through it very slowly—like, super-old-person slowly.
“Hurry up!” I say, because I can see the shadow of Ashley’s wish dragon flying way up in the clouds. And it’s heading right for Princess Gabby’s wish castle!
Then Jasmine holds up a penny and hands it to me.
I close my eyes, and—
“WAIT!” Posey yells. “Remember, don’t say your wish out loud or it won’t come true!”
Oh, brother, I think. Obviously. Then I close my eyes again, kiss the coin, and make my wish!
Plink!
NUTS!
Everything is back to normal—like, a kind of right-before-we-saw-Posey-and-I-crashed-into-Lily-and-Lily-lost-her-basketball normal. Nobody remembers anything about the wishing-well spell except me. I’m riding my skateboard. Lily’s not made of chocolate and she’s shooting hoops while young Jasmine draws on the ground with chalk.
“Do you want to play HORSE?” I shout as I whiz by my friends.
Jasmine looks up and says, “Sure!”
“Count me in!” agrees Lily.
We take turns shooting hoops. My shot hits the rim and bounces off the court.
“That’s an H!” Jasmine says.
I run off the court to get the ball, but somebody else has already grabbed it.
“Posey!” I shout.
He tosses the ball to me and winks. “You must have wished a really good wish!”
I look back at the girls, and then I whisper, “Posey! You’re not supposed to remember anything! That was part of my wish.”
A sly grin spreads across his face. “I could never forget one of our adventures!” Then he looks around. “So, did you change everything back to normal?”
I bounce the basketball on the dirt. “Almost everything.”
Suddenly Carol Rattinger runs past us. She’s being chased by hundreds of squirrels. “HELP! HELP! These crazy critters won’t leave me alone!”
Posey looks at me, shocked. “Daisy, you can’t let Carol talk to animals!”
We watch as Carol runs farther into the park with a sea of fluffy tails going after her.
“Oh, she can’t talk to animals,” I explain. “But until tomorrow those squirrels will think she can understand every word they say. And that’s just long enough to drive her nuts!”
Check out Daisy Dreamer’s next adventure!
“Sweet dreams, Daisy Dreamer!” Mom and Dad say as they turn off the lights.
“Wait! I’m not tired!” I tell them, but the door clicks shut. I stare up at the glow-in-the-dark stars on my ceiling and yawn.
Then I hear a familiar voice. “I’m not tired either!”
I squint my eyes to see in the dark. I wish I were a cat, like Sir Pounce, so I could have super-duper night vision.
“Posey?” I call out. “Is that you?” My heart is beating so super fast. Then I spy a light tracing a new imaginary door on my wall. The door swings open, and there’s my imaginary friend, wearing a big silly grin on his face.
“Hi, Daisy!” he says.
I breathe a sigh of relief. “You scared me!”
He slaps his knee and laughs, like he thinks that’s so funny. “Sorry. I heard you weren’t tired. So, do you want to have an adventure?”
I open my mouth, and another big fat yawn rolls out. “Isn’t it kind of late to start an adventure?” I ask.
Posey jumps onto my bed. “Not in the WOM!” he says.
The WOM is the World of Make-Believe. Obviously.
“We could go to Roller-Coaster Raceway!” Posey suggests. “Or Bouncy Town, which is a whole town made out of bounce houses!”
I get up on one elbow. That does sound fun . . . but my eyes feel so heavy. . . .
About the Author and Illustrator
Holly Anna has always had a wild imagination. When she was little, she used to doodle drawings that would transport herself and her friends to a wonderful world of make-believe. Now she visits other worlds through writing. Holly lives in San Jose, California, with her family. They have four cats: Rocket J. Squirrel, Le Mew, The Honest John Wookenchops (a.k.a. “Wookie”), and Noel.
Genevieve Santos is an illustrator born, raised, and living in San Jose, California, and sole proprietor of a small stationery company, Le Petit Elefant. Her love for animation started at a young age, and is what drives her to draw the slightest observations. She also has an insatiable weakness for ice cream.
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Little Simon
Simon & Schuster
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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First Little Simon paperback edition April 2018
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Also available in a Little Simon hardcover edition.
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