Relentless: Three Novels (20 page)

That was way better than going to school all day.

Benny waved goodbye to his parents as they left for work. Then he headed to the kitchen to start the dishes. He filled up the sink with hot water and squeezed in some dish soap.

The dishes didn’t take him very long at all to do. In fact, he made such good time that he decided to reward himself with one game of his favorite game on PlayStation3.

He turned on his game and inserted the disc into the drive.

Words popped up on the screen. Words that he could not read.

“Why can’t I read this?” he said. Benny was the best reader in his class and read on a much higher grade level then the other children. Benny went over and over in his mind why he suddenly couldn’t read anymore. Then he remembered his wish of no school. Could that be why he couldn’t read? Because he had never gone to school to learn how?

Oh well, who needs to read anyway? He turned off his game because he could not read the words on the television screen. Benny turned off the TV and decided to clean the living room.

After he finished cleaning the living room, vacuuming, and cleaning all the bedrooms in the house, it was 3:00 p.m.

School had just let out and he had been working all day, and still had to wash his dad’s car.

Benny thought it would be nice to go find Tommy and Steven. They would be walking home soon and he couldn’t wait to tell them about his wish. They would be so jealous. Benny skipped out the front door and went to find his friends.

A little while later, he spotted the two of them walking. He ran to greet them.

“Hey guys, you would not believe what happened!”

“Who are you?” Steven asked.

“Stop messing around, Steven,” Benny said.

“How do you know my name?” Steven asked.

“Steven, stop it, man.”

“Look, kid, we don’t know who you are,” Tommy said.

“Tommy, it’s me, Benny. We have been best friends since kindergarten.”

Wait, Benny thought, if I never went to school that means I never went to kindergarten. Then maybe they really don’t know me. But they must know me, we all live so close!

“Wait, a minute, Benny,” Tommy said. “You’re the kid that spends his life doing chores because he doesn’t go to school.”

Tommy and Steven began to laugh. Tommy said, “Dude, you’re a total weirdo. Who doesn’t go to school?”

“Shut up,” Steven said. “Maybe he’s homeschooled, Tommy.” Steven asked Benny, “Are your parents homeschooling you?”

“No. I just do chores and my parents go to work.”

“Why?” Tommy asked.

“I wanted it that way,” Benny said.

“Dude! For real? You’re totally rocking your grand plan to become a… ditch digger!” Tommy said.

The boys howled with laughter. Benny began to get angry with the two boys. How could his two best friends treat him this way? He guessed that they weren’t his best friends anymore.

Suddenly, Benny blurted out: “You don’t understand. I can’t read! I want to so badly but I can’t read!” Hot tears rose up to his eyes and threatened to spill over.

Tommy and Steven looked at each other and then back at Benny. “Oh, my gosh, I’m so sorry that we teased you!” Tommy said.

Steven said, “Yeah, we never would have teased you if we knew you had a reading disability!”

“Sorry! Sorry!” they both said, their faces serious and concerned.

They squirmed uncomfortably and Steven punched Tommy in the shoulder. “You suck. He’s a ‘special’ kid!”

“No, I’m not!” Benny said, knowing what kind of ‘special’ he meant.

“You’re making it worse,” Tommy said to Steven.

“We didn’t mean to be jerks,” Steven said. “We should just…go.”

Tommy said, “Yeah, we don’t go around teasing kids with a disability, not ever. No hard feelings, kid, we hope. See ya around. I hope you can someday go to school and learn to read. It will make your life so much better, I promise.” He paused. “I feel so bad for saying stuff to you. We should have just walked on by. We had no idea.”

And then the boys ran away, pity on their faces for the boy who didn’t go to school and couldn’t read.

Now the tears did flow as Tommy and Steven headed fast toward Tommy’s house, leaving Benny alone in his misery, tears falling, nose running and sobs choking him.

“Forget them,” Benny said, his tears running down his face and wetting his shirt. “I’ll just go to the tree house. Then he remembered: no friends, no tree house.

He remembered that he still had to wash the car before his parents came home from work.

He headed home, then suddenly he realized what day it was. It was Friday, the day of the school carnival! Every year he enjoyed the carnival and looked forward to it. He would just go without Tommy and Steven. He didn’t need friends, he just needed the ride, “The Ring of Fire.”

He washed his face and stopped crying, then hurried with washing the car so that when his parents got home, they could all go to the carnival.

Washing his father’s car was harder than it looked and it also took much longer than he hoped. He still got it done just before his parents got home. He was just putting away the vacuum when they pulled up in his mom’s car.

His mother examined all his chores, and said he did a good job.

“Can I go to the school carnival now, Mom?”

“Benny, you know the school carnival is only for students and their families.”

“What?” he yelled.

“You aren’t a student, son,” his father added.

“Remember, no school for you, Benny,” his mom said. “It’s a done deal.”

Benny stomped off to this room, even more mad than he had been at Tommy and Steven.

“Why is this happening?” He thought that he had made a good wish. He thought it would be very helpful. “I have worked all day long on chores and there is no way I’m missing this carnival.”

Benny decided that he was going to go to the carnival, no matter what. He would just tell his parents he was going to the park to skateboard.

That night he ate his dinner fast and headed out the door. He skateboarded to the school. The school looked awesome, there were even more rides there than the year before. Benny could not wait to ride them all.

He stashed his skateboard in the bushes and made his way to the carnival.

“Excuse me, young man,” Mrs. Lloyd said, “but you are not a student here.”

“How do you know?” he asked.

“Because all of the students here are wearing bright yellow wristbands.”

“Oh,” he said. “Well, my brother goes to school here and I’m with him.”

“Then you need to have him show his wristband so you can get in.”

Benny stomped back to the bushes to get his skateboard. This was not going the way he planned.

A little ways away, he saw Tommy and Steven in line for “The Ring of Fire.”

He was so upset! They were supposed to ride it all together.

He ditched them before they could see him. He didn’t want their pity. He wanted their friendship. Benny began to shed new tears. This wish was not going the way he wanted it to.

Then he remembered what Mrs. Honey Pickle said, to say her name three times in the sky if he needed her.

Benny said her name three times in the sky.

Then all of a sudden, Mrs. Honey Pickle and Buzzy arrived in their spaceship.

Buzzy was, of course, driving this time because Mrs. Honey Pickle had crashed the spaceship one too many times that week.

They both got out of the spaceship and Benny made his way over to them.

“The dog can drive?” he asked.

“He’s a magic dog; he can do anything,” Mrs. Honey Pickle answered.

Buzzy barked a few times then gave Benny a few licks on his feet.

“Mrs. Honey Pickle, my wish is a total disaster.”

“Oh, is it?”

“Yes, I can’t read, my friends don’t know me. And worst of all, I can’t get into the school carnival because I am not a student.”

“Oh dear, I can see why that would be a problem. Let me see what Buzzy and I can do.”

Mrs. Honey Pickle and Buzzy whispered to each other for a moment and then she got out her wand. She waved her wand and repeated the words she said before, but this time, she said them backward.

“There you go, Benny, your wish has been reversed. You’re back in school! You can read again!”

He looked at his arm and his heart soared with happiness. Benny thanked Mrs. Honey Pickle and Buzzy as he made his way inside the carnival with his yellow wristband.

“Benny, over here!” Steven shouted. “Where’ve you been? We can’t ride “The Ring of Fire” without you!”

Benny ran to his best friends and gave them both a big hug.

“What was that for?” Tommy asked.

“For being my best friends.”

Tommy and Steven exchanged surprised looks.

“Let’s go on the “Ring of Fire,” said Benny. “And we should scream extra loud.”

“What about your parents, they let you go with the referral? Tommy asked.

“I’ll tell them all about everything. But I’ll do it tomorrow. After I detail my dad’s car and clean up the kitchen, make the beds, do the laundry, and hug and kiss them and beg for their mercy. Tomorrow, I will. I promise.”

The three boys burst into laughter. Pretty soon, the three of them were howling.

And they did, and they had a lot of fun. Benny never got in trouble at school again and he started to enjoy it more than he ever had.

The End

Wish Three:

“I wish my parents would disappear.”

“But why can’t I go to Aimee’s slumber party tonight?” Susie Davis asked her mother.

“Because it’s your father’s birthday and we are going away for the weekend.”

Susie scowled at her mom. “This is totally not fair, Mom! Everyone will be there.”

“Everyone but you darling.” Her mother patted her on the shoulder.

Susie ran into her room and slammed the door. She had been looking forward to the slumber party all week.

It wasn’t her fault that her father had a birthday on the day of the party. And why did she have go anyway? All she did these days was fight with her parents.

They treated her like a baby, after all, she was ten now. She would soon be a teenager.

She should be able to have a little more freedom. The telephone rang. Susie answered it on the first ring.

It was Aimee. She told her that she would not be able to attend the party tonight.

“Why not?” asked Aimee.

“It’s my dad’s birthday and we’re going away for the weekend.”

“That’s a real bummer, Susie. You’re my best friend and it won’t be the same without you.”

“I know, I wish I could go.”

“I understand, though. My parents are the same way. If it’s someone’s birthday in the family, everyone drops everything and cancels all their plans to be a part of a family birthday.”

“Yeah, it’s like a rule of life,” Susie said. “Doesn’t mean I like it, though.”

The two girls said goodbye to each other and hung up.

Susie sat on her bed and pouted. Her mother walked in to tell her to get ready to leave.

“Mom, please can I go? You and Dad will have a much better time without me away for the weekend. It’ll be like a romantic thing. Sort of, without me?”

“No, Susie you are going and that’s final. Birthdays are for everyone in the family. No one is excused. Your dad and I just had our anniversary so we are good in the romantic getaway department.”

Her mother walked out of her room.

Susie gathered her things to put into her suitcase.

“I can’t believe they’re making me go. I wish my parents would disappear.”

“Did I hear someone say something about a wish?” Mrs. Honey Pickle and Buzzy magically appeared in Susie’s room.

“Who are you and what are you doing in my room?” asked Susie.

“I am Mrs. Honey Pickle and this is my dog, Buzzy. I am your fairy godmother.

“Don’t you think I’m a little old for a fairy godmother?”

“Nonsense, one is never too old for a fairy godmother,” said Mrs. Honey Pickle. She had never been so insulted1

“Wow, I didn’t know I had a fairy godmother. How come you are coming to me now? I could have used you a long time ago. From age two, onward.”

Mrs. Honey Pickle laughed, “Well, my dear, until now, I haven’t felt you have truly needed me.”

Susie looked a little confused and then said, “So, I really get a wish?”

“Yes, one wish. What would you like?”

“I wish my parents would disappear.”

“Wow, that’s a deep one,” said Mrs. Honey Pickle. “Have you ever seen this movie called It’s a Wonderful Life?”

“That cheesy dreck? Please. Mom and Dad are ruining my life and I’m only ten years old. I can’t bear to think what will happen when I’m a teenager.”

“Very well.” Mrs. Honey Pickle took out her magic wand repeated some words and suddenly her parents were gone.

“Okay, your wish is granted. And by the way, that’s my very favorite movie in the universe.”

“Sorry. I didn’t know. So, they’re gone?”

“Yes. You are all alone. I hope you are ready for this.”

Susie leaned in and gave Mrs. Honey Pickle a big hug. “Thank you, Mrs. Honey Pickle. I’m ready! I’m very self-sufficient.”

Hmmm, Mrs. Honey Pickle thought. “If you ever need anything, just look to the sky and say my name three times. And I shall return.”

Susie nodded and Mrs. Honey Pickle and Buzzy vanished.

Susie reached for the phone and dialed Aimee’s telephone number.

“Hello, Aimee. I can come now. Woohoo!”

“Really.”

“Yay! Come on over, girlfriend!”

“Okay, girlfriend! I’ll be right over.” Susie hung up the phone and went on her way to Aimee’s house.

Aimee only lived a couple of houses down so it was an easy walk for Susie.

When she arrived at the door, Aimee was on the porch waiting for her.

“I’m so happy you could make it. What made your parents change their mind?”

“Let’s just say, they disappeared.”

“Oh!” Aimee looked a little confused.

Susie, not wanting to explain anymore to her, changed the subject. “Don’t worry about them. When is everyone getting here?”

“Pretty soon. You’re the first to arrive.”