Just One Wish
JUST ONE WISH
Chapter 1 I would have expected to see this sort of line if, say, Elvis had returned from the dead to give a concert. Or if some eccentric yet ultra-cool billionaire was blessing the lives of deserving teens by handing out free sports cars. But I hadn‟t expected to see this many people lined up in the dark waiting for the Day-After-Thanksgiving sale at Toys “R” Us. Really, whatever happened to good oldfashioned procrastination? Apparently every resident of Henderson, Nevada, had come out, and it was still only 4:50 A.M. The store didn‟t even open for another ten minutes. Madison zipped her jacket up higher as we climbed out of my minivan. “This is a prime example of commercialism run amok.” I didn‟t answer, because I was too busy rushing across the parking lot to the end of the line. Besides, Madison really shouldn‟t talk— every year she gets so many gifts you have to listen to her complain until New Year‟s about how she has to reorganize her room to fit them all in. Madison is not only my best friend, but probably the only friend I could convince to get up this early to track down a Talking Teen Robin Hood action figure for my six-year-old brother. I myself wouldn‟t have woken up at four-thirty if it weren‟t so important. Madison folded her arms around herself for warmth. We‟d only worn light jackets because we hadn‟t expected to wait outside very long, but even the Nevada desert is cold at ten to five in the morning. Madison‟s usually tidy shoulder-length hair—she calls it strawberry blond, but it is way more strawberry than blond— looked as though she hadn‟t even combed it. I‟d thrown on sweats and shoved my hair into a ponytail. Now I wished I‟d thought to bring a hat.
Madison peered at the line in front of us. “You know, Annika, if you can‟t find a Teen Robin Hood, I‟m sure Jeremy would be fine with a different gift. Maybe you could get him a real bow and arrow set like yours.” I thought about my compound bow, but I couldn‟t imagine
Chapter 1 I would have expected to see this sort of line if, say, Elvis had returned from the dead to give a concert. Or if some eccentric yet ultra-cool billionaire was blessing the lives of deserving teens by handing out free sports cars. But I hadn‟t expected to see this many people lined up in the dark waiting for the Day-After-Thanksgiving sale at Toys “R” Us. Really, whatever happened to good oldfashioned procrastination? Apparently every resident of Henderson, Nevada, had come out, and it was still only 4:50 A.M. The store didn‟t even open for another ten minutes. Madison zipped her jacket up higher as we climbed out of my minivan. “This is a prime example of commercialism run amok.” I didn‟t answer, because I was too busy rushing across the parking lot to the end of the line. Besides, Madison really shouldn‟t talk— every year she gets so many gifts you have to listen to her complain until New Year‟s about how she has to reorganize her room to fit them all in. Madison is not only my best friend, but probably the only friend I could convince to get up this early to track down a Talking Teen Robin Hood action figure for my six-year-old brother. I myself wouldn‟t have woken up at four-thirty if it weren‟t so important. Madison folded her arms around herself for warmth. We‟d only worn light jackets because we hadn‟t expected to wait outside very long, but even the Nevada desert is cold at ten to five in the morning. Madison‟s usually tidy shoulder-length hair—she calls it strawberry blond, but it is way more strawberry than blond— looked as though she hadn‟t even combed it. I‟d thrown on sweats and shoved my hair into a ponytail. Now I wished I‟d thought to bring a hat.
Madison peered at the line in front of us. “You know, Annika, if you can‟t find a Teen Robin Hood, I‟m sure Jeremy would be fine with a different gift. Maybe you could get him a real bow and arrow set like yours.” I thought about my compound bow, but I couldn‟t imagine