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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.
4
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.
