A Magic Crystal? (2 page)

“This house used to be a fire station,”
Mr. Happleton told him. “That was before Casey was born. The garage was even bigger than it is now. We remodeled. What’s now the living room used to be part of the garage.”

“Cool,” said Marvin.

Mr. Happleton parked the car in the driveway. Marvin climbed out of the car.

“Don’t forget your book,” Casey reminded him.

Marvin’s book lay on the back seat. He picked it up, then followed Casey into the house.

It looked pretty much like a normal house, except there was a pole right in the middle of the living room.

“That’s the fire pole,” said Casey. “The firemen used to slide down it when there was a fire.”

“Cool,” Marvin said as he walked over to it.

Marvin looked up. There was a round hole in the ceiling, and he could see another hole in the ceiling above that, and the one above that, too. The pole went all the way up to the fourth floor.

“Are you allowed to slide down it?” he asked.

“Sure,” said Casey. “I do my homework at the very top. It’s the library. Then, when my dad calls me to dinner, I slide down the pole.”

“That is so cool,” said Marvin.

“Here’s the phone,” said Casey’s father, handing it to him.

Marvin set his book down on a table and took the phone. He called home. His mother seemed quite surprised when he told her he was at Casey Happleton’s house.

“Can you give me their phone number?” she asked.

“No one knows it,” said Marvin.

“What do you mean, no one knows it?”

Marvin put his hand next to his mouth and whispered into the phone. He didn’t
want to embarrass Casey and her father. “They don’t know their own phone number.”

“How could they not know their phone number?”

“I don’t know.”

“Let me speak to Casey’s mother.”

“Well, she might know it,” said Marvin. “But she’s not here. You can talk to her dad.”

He handed the phone to Mr. Happleton. “My mom wants to talk to you.”

To Marvin’s surprise, he heard Mr. Happleton recite a phone number.

Marvin turned to Casey. “I thought your dad just said he didn’t know your phone number.”

“Are you crazy?” asked Casey. “Of course he knows our phone number!”

“Well,
you
don’t,” said Marvin.

“I do, too,” said Casey. “I’ve known it since preschool.”

Casey’s father hung up the phone. He told Marvin his mother would come pick him up around five o’clock.

Marvin put up his hands. “Wait a minute. Didn’t you both just tell me you didn’t know your phone number?”

They looked at him strangely.

Marvin wondered if he was going crazy. “You asked me if I knew my phone number. I said I did, and then you both said you didn’t.”

“That’s right,” said Casey’s father. “Why would I know your phone number? I just met you.”

Marvin’s book lay on the table. It was called
A Thousand Cats.

The Magic Crystal

“Do you want to know a secret?” asked Casey.

Marvin shrugged.

“Follow me,” she said. “I’ll tell you in the library.” She started up the stairs.

Marvin followed. He was glad to be going to the library. Maybe he’d get to slide down the fire pole.

By the time he reached the fourth floor, his legs were sore and he was out of breath. He was not used to climbing so many stairs.

“In here,” said Casey.

She opened the door to the library. The room was shaped like an octagon. Every wall was covered with bookshelves. The fire pole came up through the middle of the room. There was a railing around it, so somebody wouldn’t accidentally fall through the hole.

“Do you know why you came to my house today?” Casey asked him.

“Um … no,” said Marvin. He didn’t want her to think he liked her.

“Because of this!” said Casey. She pulled something out of her pocket. “It’s a magic crystal. It makes all your wishes come true.” She showed it to Marvin.

Marvin took it from her and examined it. It was almost transparent, with flecks of green and gold.

“It used to be just a normal rock,” Casey explained. “Then, last night, it got struck by lightning! And it turned into a magic crystal.”

Marvin remembered that it had stormed last night. The lightning and thunder had scared his little sister, Linzy. But how would Casey know that the lightning had struck this rock?

“I wished that you’d come to my house today,” said Casey. “And here you are.”

Marvin knew that had nothing to do with the rock. The only reason he was here was because Stuart and Nick had gotten into a fight. “What other wishes have you made?” he asked.

“Just two other wishes so far,” said Casey. “You have to be real careful with wishes. First I wished that Judy and I would be friends forever.”

That doesn’t prove anything
, Marvin thought.

“And then,” said Casey, “remember when Clarence was bragging about how he can stick a needle through his finger?”

Marvin remembered. Clarence was grossing out everybody in class.

“I wished he’d be quiet,” said Casey. “And he was!”

“Mrs. North told him to be quiet,” Marvin pointed out.

“I wished it right before Mrs. North told him,” said Casey.

Marvin didn’t think that proved anything either.

“You try,” said Casey.

Marvin looked at the rock.

“You have to close your eyes and squeeze the crystal as hard as you can, so that it hurts. Then make a wish,” said Casey.

Marvin tried to think of something to wish for. He felt silly. He closed his eyes and squeezed the rock so hard it hurt the palm of his hand. “I wish I knew when the book report was due.”

“That doesn’t count,” said Casey. “I already told you it was due Tuesday. You have to make a
real
wish.”

“Okay,” Marvin said, glad that he finally knew when the report was due. He closed his eyes and squeezed the rock again. “I wish I had an ice cream sundae.”

He opened his eyes.

No ice cream sundae.

Casey leaned over the railing and screamed down into the hole. “Dad! Marvin wants an ice cream sundae!”

Marvin leaned over the railing as well. He saw Casey’s father way down at the bottom
of the pole. It was a long way down. Marvin wasn’t so sure he wanted to slide down it anymore. He felt a little dizzy.

“How many scoops?” Casey’s father called up.

“How many scoops do you want, Marvin?” Casey asked him.

“Uh, two.”

“We both want two scoops!” Casey shouted.

She turned back to Marvin. “My dad makes the best ice cream sundaes.”

“Well, that doesn’t count,” said Marvin. “If your dad makes it.”

“Why not?” asked Casey. “You wished for an ice cream sundae. And now you’re going to get one.”

Still, it seemed to Marvin he would have gotten the sundae even without the magic
crystal. But now that he thought about it, he did wonder why he’d agreed to come to Casey’s house.

“When did you wish for me to come over?” he asked her. “Before or after Stuart and Nick got in a fight?”

“Before,” said Casey.

“That’s weird,” said Marvin. “I was supposed to go to Stuart’s house today. The only reason I didn’t was because he had to stay after school for fighting.”

Casey bit her finger.

The door to the library opened and a teenage girl came in.

“We’re busy,” said Casey.

“Oh, sorry,” said the girl. “I didn’t know you were in here.” She looked at Marvin. “Is he your boyfriend?”

“No way!” Casey exclaimed. “He’s just Marvin.”

The girl looked at Marvin. “Marvin Redpost?” she asked.

Marvin wondered how she knew his last name.

The girl stared at Marvin. “Aren’t you the boy who turned into a girl?”

“Uh … no,” said Marvin. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh,” said the girl. “It must have been a different Marvin Redpost.” She laughed, then turned and left the library.

“That’s my sister, Tanya,” said Casey. “She’s just stupid.”

A short while later, Mr. Happleton yelled up that the sundaes were ready.

“Let’s go,” said Casey. She ducked under the railing, grabbed the pole, then disappeared beneath the floor.

Marvin looked over the railing. His legs felt very weak. He took a long, deep breath.

He still held the magic crystal. He closed his eyes and whispered, “I wish I don’t get hurt.”

He ducked under the railing, took hold of the pole, and wrapped his legs around it. He let himself slide down, very, very slowly.

An elderly woman was watching television in the room just below the library. Tanya was there with her.

“Hi, Marvin,” said Tanya. “This is my grandmother.”

“Hi,” he said, clutching the pole.

“Marvin?” asked Tanya’s grandmother. “Aren’t you the boy who picks his nose?”

Marvin slid beneath the floor.

The Wish

Marvin swallowed a spoonful of ice cream. The sundae was delicious. It might have been the best ice cream sundae he’d ever had in his whole life. It had burnt pecans and caramel sauce.

The crystal lay on the table between him and Casey.

Maybe there was something to this wish stuff after all, Marvin thought. So far, every wish had come true.

“Now what should we wish for?” he asked Casey. “How about a million dollars?”

Casey thought it over. “I’m not sure about that,” she said.

“You’re right,” said Marvin. “
Two
million dollars.”

“Ummm … that’s kind of selfish, don’t you think?” asked Casey.

Marvin felt hurt. He didn’t think of himself as selfish. Besides, weren’t wishes supposed to be selfish? Anyway, he didn’t really believe it would come true.

Maybe that was the real reason Casey didn’t want to wish for two million dollars, he thought. Maybe she only wanted to wish for things that had a chance of coming true. That way, she could still pretend to believe in the magic crystal.

“How about this?” he suggested. “Let’s wish that nobody in Mrs. North’s class is sick tomorrow.”

“Good one!” Casey agreed.

He knew she’d like it. It wasn’t selfish. But more important, it had a good chance of coming true.

“Hold out your hand,” said Casey.

Marvin held out his right hand, palm up. Casey placed the magic crystal on top of his hand. Then she put her hand on top.

The rock was sandwiched between their two hands. The tips of their fingers pressed together.

“Close your eyes,” she whispered.

Marvin closed his eyes, and they spoke together. “We wish nobody in Mrs. North’s class is sick tomorrow.”

More than anything, Marvin hoped it would come true.

*   *   *

The next morning, he walked to school with Nick and Stuart. Nick complained about how mean Mr. McCabe was, but he didn’t really sound that mean to Marvin.

“So, what’d you do yesterday?” asked Stuart. “While we were stuck in Mr. McCabe’s office.”

“Just went over to someone’s house,” said Marvin.

“Whose house?” asked Nick.

“Just somebody’s house,” said Marvin.

He didn’t dare tell them he went to Casey’s house. They might think he liked her. They wouldn’t understand about the magic crystal. Besides, he promised Casey not to tell anyone about it.