Relentless: Three Novels (21 page)

“Sweet! Let’s get this party started!” Susie said.

The two girls headed into Aimee’s house. Susie said hello to Aimee’s parents, as they made their way to her room.

“I can’t wait for the party tonight,” said Susie.

“Hey!” Jennifer and Kayla made their way into Aimee’s room.

“Hey girls.” Jennifer and Kayla joined the other two on the bed. They all hung their legs over the edge, sitting in a line.

“We’re just chilling, waiting for Samantha and then my mom is going to order pizza,” Aimee said. “What do you all want to do first?”

“Let’s find a scary movie to watch tonight on Netflix while we’re waiting,” Kayla said.

“How about Slumber Party Monster,” suggested Jennifer.

“That’s perfect for tonight,” added Aimee.

Susie hated scary movies, but she didn’t want to let her friends know. They would all make fun of her for being such a baby.

“Girls, Samantha is here.” Samantha entered the room. She always talked about herself in the third person, like it was cool to do that.

The girls played a game of “Truth or Dare.”

“Truth or Dare?” Aimee asked Susie.

“Truth.”

“Who do you think is the cutest boy in our class?”

The girls began to giggle.

“Chris Barnes.”

“Oh!,” the other girls said.

“He is pretty cute, but not as cute as Mike Arnold,” said Kayla.

The girls all giggled again. “He lives next door you know,” said Aimee.

“We should toilet paper his house tonight.”

“Perfect idea. My mom got a case from Costco.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Susie said.

Aimee’s mom knocked on the door and let the girls know the pizza was here.

The five girls dashed to the kitchen to eat.

“I love pizza!” Susie said.

“Me too,” added Jennifer.

After they ate their pizza, they went back into the bedroom where they engaged in prank calls. Beauty makeovers were followed by sneaking out to toilet paper Mike’s house. They made a huge mess since the Arnolds weren’t home and they had plenty of time to get all of the trees covered with the rolls of white toilet paper. Squealing, they ran back to Aimee’s house.

Susie was dreading the horror movie, she was trying to stall the other girls so they would forget about it.

But good ole’ Aimee remembered, and they began to watch.

Susie hid under the blankets for most of the movie. The movie turned out to be even scarier then she thought it would be. She couldn’t even eat the popcorn that Aimee’s mom had made and she loved popcorn.

At midnight, Aimee’s mom came in and told the girls it was time for bed.

“Aw, come on, Mom.”

“It’s getting late, Aimee. We agreed that at midnight, everyone would at least lie down and let the parents get some sleep. By the way, Mrs. Arnold called and asked if you girls toilet papered their yard.”

Aimee didn’t reply.

“That’s what I thought. I guess I know what all of you will be doing in the morning.”

“Cleaning it up?” Aimee said.

“Yes, all of you!” her mom said and then the mood was set for the night. Somber.

The girls got out their sleeping bags and laid them on the floor.

Everyone fell asleep instantly, except Susie.

She could still see the scary monster chasing the girls at the party in her mind. It definitely left its mark with her. By the time she actually fell asleep, it was daylight.

The girls got up early and ate breakfast and then they went and apologized to the Arnolds and cleaned up their yard. Mike helped, which made all of the girls giggle because he was so cute. When the Arnold’s yard was clean, Aimee’s mom told them that they had to go home, because they were having company that afternoon. A Bible study.

The rest of the girls left with their parents. But not Susie. She didn’t have parents anymore. She was excited to start her life without them. She skipped home, let herself in the front door and sat on the couch to watch television. “Direct TV, here I come!” she said aloud. “A jillion channels and I can watch whatever I want, now!”

I could get used to this, she thought. Normally, her parents didn’t let her watch much TV. So, she knew exactly how she was spending the rest of her afternoon.

Susie fell asleep in the middle of one of her television programs. When she was sleeping, she had a nightmare of the monster from the movie the night before. She dreamed that he got inside the house and was chasing her.

She woke up to the sound of her own scream. “Mom, Dad, I had a bad dream.” Susie ran into their bedroom, but nothing was in there. Then she remembered her wish. No parents existed.

“It’s okay, I’ll be fine. I sure am hungry though.”

She went into the kitchen to see what she could find to eat. There wasn’t much in the refrigerator. Even if there was, she didn’t know how to cook. She thought about going to the store, but the nearest grocery store was five miles away. She couldn’t even ride her bike that far.

She opened the kitchen pantry and pulled out a box of crackers to eat. She pulled each cracker out, one by one, and ate them with the end of a jar of peanut butter. When she finished, she realized that she was still hungry. Examining the kitchen one last time, she still couldn’t find anything.

I have an idea, she thought. I’ll see if I can go to Aimee’s for dinner.

She picked up the telephone and dialed Aimee’s number, but there was no answer. She remembered they were having a Bible study. They probably silenced their phone or maybe, she thought, They must have gone out afterward for ice cream.

She looked out the window and noticed that it was getting dark outside. She began to get afraid. She never did like the dark and now she had to face it alone.

“I’m a big girl, I will be fine. I just wish I wasn’t so hungry.”

Boom! Boom! She heard a noise outside.

“Oh no, it’s the monster from the movie.” Susie dived up the stairs into her bedroom and hid under her blankets.

Boom! Boom! “Oh, no, it’s going to get me!” she screamed.

“I want my mommy and daddy! What do I do now, without them?” She began to cry, and then remembered what Mrs. Honey Pickle told her: ‘If you need me look to the sky and repeat my name three times,’ she had said.

Susie ran to her window and said three times: “Mrs. Honey Pickle.”

She turned around and Mrs. Honey Pickle and Buzzy were in her room.

“You rang?” asked Mrs. Honey Pickle.

“Yes, I want to take back my wish.”

“And why is that?”

“Because it was a stupid wish and I didn’t realize how much I needed my parents.”

“I am happy you learned this, Susie, now I think you will be a lot happier.” She raised her index finger. “And, now what do you think of my favorite movie?”

“I loved It’s a Wonderful Life. The ending made me cry. I’m sorry that I called it cheesy dreck. It rocks.”

“There we go! That’s what I wanted to hear. How could anyone not be moved by the scene where George Bailey finds Zuzu’s petals in his pants pocket?”

“That’s my favorite part!” Susie cried. “That and the bell ringing at the end. I even watched the credits and cried like a baby.”

“I knew you were a sweet girl, Susie.”

Mrs. Honey Pickle waved her wand and said the spell in reverse and then her parents appeared. Mrs. Honey Pickle and Buzzy waved goodbye to Susie as they made their way home.

“Mom, Dad. I’ve missed you so much.”

Her mother looked at her strangely. “Honey, we haven’t gone anywhere.”

“Oh, but you have, and I’m sorry I’ll never wish for you two to disappear again. I need you guys. I love you. What was I thinking? We’re a family. Happy birthday, Daddy! I can’t wait to go away for the weekend with you two. We’re going to have so much fun!”

“Let’s get going on our trip!” her dad said.

“Yay!”

Susie leaned in and gave both of her parents a huge hug.

The End

Wish Four:

“I wish I never had to clean my room.”

“Rory,” his mother called. Why isn’t your room clean?”

“I’ll get to it later, Mom.”

“Rory, if you expect to go to the skate park today, it has to be cleaned.”

“But Mom, I’m supposed to meet my friends there now.”

“Well, then, you’d better hurry and clean first.”

Rory stomped into his room and quickly threw everything in his closet.

“Okay, Mom. I’m done.”

She came to inspect and walked right to the closet and opened it.

“Rory, I didn’t mean for you to throw everything in your closet.”

“Oh, come on, Mom! Can’t I just do it later?”

“I let you get away with not cleaning it yesterday and the day before that. So, you will have it clean before you go.”

She left his room.

“This going to take forever,” said Rory. “I wish I never had to clean my room.”

“If that’s your wish, I can grant it for you,” said Mrs. Honey Pickle.

“Where did you come from?” asked Rory.

“I am your fairy godmother and I’m here to grant you a wish.”

“Yeah right, fairy godmothers only do stuff only for girls.”

“No, I take wishes from boys, too,” said Mrs. Honey Pickle.

Buzzy barked as if he was agreeing with her.

“Oh, sorry, where are my manners? This is Buzzy.”

Rory looked at the two of them dumbfounded. “So, if you’re my fairy godmother, you can grant me any wish?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Okay, I bet you can’t make it so I never have to clean my room again.”

“I bet I can,” said Mrs. Honey Pickle. “All I have to do is pull out my magic wand and I can make anything happen.”

“Then do it,” he challenged.

Mrs. Honey Pickle pulled out her magic wand and cast Rory’s wish.

“There you go, Rory, your wish is granted.”

“Before you leave, Mrs. Honey Pickle, I’m going to make sure.”

This was new to Mrs. Honey Pickle. She’d never had a child question her powers before. She and Buzzy exchanged puzzled glances.

He exited his room and entered the kitchen where his mother was reading a book.

“Mom, do I still have to clean my room?”

“Rory, you never have to clean your room.”

Rory ran back to his bedroom and thanked Mrs. Honey Pickle for the wish granted. She and Buzzy left and Rory made his way to the skate park to meet his buddies.

Rory had a blast at the skate park. He showed off his skateboarding skills by doing a kick flip and a pop shove-it.

Out of all of his friends, he was the best skateboarder. He practiced every day so that one day he could become a professional skateboarder.

Rory lost track of time and didn’t realize how late it was. He missed dinner and his parents would be upset. He skateboarded toward home as fast as he could home. The last thing he needed was to be grounded.

When he finally arrived home, he found his mom, dad, and little sister, Becky, in the living room, playing a board game.

“You missed dinner,” his father said.

“I’m sorry. I lost track of time.”

“It’s okay, don’t let it happen again. There is a plate for you in the microwave.”

Rory heated up his dinner then went into his bedroom. He opened the refrigerator and poured himself a glass of milk. His bedroom was getting a little messy, but nothing too bad.

Rory was just happy that he didn’t have to clean it ever again. It took too much time, plus, he liked living in a mess. He found he could find his stuff better if it was all out so that he could see it.

He ate his dinner and drank his milk, not caring if he spilled anything on his bed.

“I can make as big of a mess as I want and not have to clean it.” Rory threw some of his dinner on the floor just because he could. He laughed at himself and got ready for bed.

* * *

The next morning, his friends Kevin and Alan came over to play. When Rory explained to his pals about his wish, they decided to help make a mess, too.

They tossed comic books, toys, and dirty clothes all over the room, as they yelled.

“This is a lot of fun,” said Alan.

“The best part is, we don’t have to clean it up,” said Rory.

“We should do this every day,” Kevin said as he opened up Rory’s closet and scattered a bunch of old toy soldiers all over the floor.

The boys took off posters off the wall and tore Rory’s sheets and blankets off his bed. They even found a stale bag of cheese puffs under the bed and they had a cheese puff fight. When they finished making a big mess, there was no room to even walk in Rory’s room, so they decided it was time to skateboard.

They had a blast at the park, telling the other boys what fun they had making a mess of Rory’s room.

“Wow, your mom doesn’t even care?” asked one boy.

“No, I made a wish that I would never have to clean my room again and it came true.”

“That’s awesome,” said another boy.

After the skate park, Rory went home to get ready for Little League practice. He entered his room and was astonished by the mess. It really was a disaster. It even…smelled!

Rory went through his mess to look for his baseball glove and bat. He couldn’t find them. This had never happened to him before. He was always able to find anything in his messy room.

This might take a while, he thought.

A half hour had passed and he still couldn’t find his baseball gear. He called to his mom to help him. But she told him that it was his room and he needed to find it himself.

Finally, buried in the depths of his closet, lay the two items. Rory grabbed his glove and bat and headed for practice.

“That sure did take a long time,” said Rory. “I will ask my mom to clean my room when I get home.”

Little League practice went by quickly and soon, Rory was back home in his disgusting bedroom. He could hardly look at it.

“Mom,” asked Rory, “can you pick up my room for me?”

“Rory, if you don’t have to clean your room, then that means I don’t have to do it, either. It can stay filthy as long as I’m concerned. If you want to live like a pig, do it.”

“I guess it’s not that bad,” he thought. “After all this is what I wanted.”