Your Planet or Mine?

For Courtney and Connor Gunning,
the two best kids in the whole world.

N
INE-YEAR-OLD
J
ANA
J
ASPER
squirmed in bed, bursting with excitement, when her parents came to her bedroom to say goodbye before leaving to catch a red-eye flight from Sacramento to Washington, DC. She had a big secret.

“Listen to Grandpa,” her mother said, kissing Jana once on each cheek and the lips as she issued orders in her Russian accent. “Do as he says.”

Jana nodded.
Mom,
she yearned to shout,
there’s a boy stuck in our tree! Right here, outside my window.

“Grandpa can’t chase after the three of you like he used to.”

And he glows in the dark. Blue and green. Just like the light sticks we got on the Fourth of July.

Her mom cradled Jana’s face in soft hands that smelled like roses. “I already spoke to your brother and sister, but I did not tell them this, my little dreamer. Don’t become so lost in your imagination that you forget to have fun. Promise me.”

Lost? But she never felt lost when she played pretend. Not like she did in real life sometimes. Jana nodded anyway. Was the boy still in the oak tree? She was dying to know. But she didn’t dare steal a look after she’d just made the promise about dreaming.

Jana took a peek anyway. She couldn’t help it. The boy was there, snagged between the shoulder blades by a branch below her window but above the bottom floor. How did that happen? Maybe he flew into the tree and got stuck. Kicking and swinging his arms, he fought like a bug caught in a spiderweb. It wasn’t his body that glowed, or his clothes, but something that covered him from head to toe like a wet suit made from a soap bubble. You could see right through it to his strange clothes.

Why would anyone wear a dark shirt with long sleeves in August? And those pants, too tight and tucked into weird lumpy shoes with rubbery soles that looked a little like Grandpa’s fly-fishing boots. She didn’t know what to think about his hair. The brown color was the only thing normal about it. Not only was his hair longer than hers, some pieces were tied in skinny braids. But it didn’t look like girl’s hair at all. It was wild and exotic. And so was he.

Like Peter Pan, she thought. Her own magical boy!

“There’s no such thing as magic,” her first grade teacher had said after seeing a picture Jana had drawn of a fairy godmother giving her a box with a big bow that said Gift of Gab, so she’d be able to talk up a storm like the other kids. “Jana, magic is how people explain what they don’t understand.” Jana remembered feeling sorry for Miss Richards.

It didn’t matter anyway because soon after that, Jana left to be homeschooled. Dad and Mom said they took her out because she was unusually bright and needed special attention, but Jana knew the main reason was because she didn’t talk. She
could
talk; it was just that the words got all jumbled up before she had a chance to get them out. Or she’d think too hard about what she wanted to say and when she was finally ready the chance to speak had passed.

“Janushka!” Mom clapped her hands together to get her attention. “Already you have escaped. Off in your imaginary world.”

Jana made a smile that said, “Sorry.”

Mom pulled her close to press a kiss to her forehead. “Maybe you will take me with you sometime. We will run together in your dreams. What do you think of that?”

Jana giggled.

From where he stood leaning against the bedroom door, her dad shook his head at them and grinned. He was dressed in a black business suit, a white shirt and a colorful tie. Love made his eyes bright, but there was worry there, too. Jana saw it. She wanted to be like other kids, so she could make her dad feel better. “Do you know what the reporter told me today after the interview, Jana? He couldn’t believe there was a Jasper who didn’t love to talk.”

Jana blushed hotly.

“Ah, munchkin.” Her father walked to the bed and pulled her into his arms. As a rule, Dad kept his children out of the spotlight, but because the campaign was about to start, more people wanted interviews with the entire family. Jana dreaded it. When she was little, her silence could be explained away as shyness; but not anymore. Today, she’d ached with embarrassment at not being able to do anything else but smile or shake her head to answer questions the man had so patiently asked her. But her father’s hug told her all was forgiven.

Everyone looked up to him. He’d been a state senator for longer than she could remember, and before she was born, a state assemblyman. Now he was running for U.S. Congress, just like Grandpa did before he became the governor of California and served two terms.

Because of the campaign, Dad and Mom would be gone for two weeks. Jana, her older sister, Evie, and their big brother, Jared, would be with Grandpa on the family ranch that journalists called a “compound” and Jana called home. When people mentioned
Jasper
, they said words like
political dynasty
and
California’s first family
in the next breath. Dad would remind Jana, Evie and Jared, “We’re public servants first and foremost. Our duty to others comes before our own interests and ambition. There is no greater calling than to serve your fellow men and women. Never forget that, children. Never forget you’re a Jasper.”

Jana never forgot. Ever. She took her role as a Jasper seriously, tried to live up to the family name.
If only I could sound like a Jasper
.

If she wished hard enough, would it happen?

Maybe if she could borrow some of that glowing boy’s magic.

The instant her parents left the room, Jana sprang to her knees and reached for the latch that unhinged the screen covering the window. The boy’s magic was strong, but not strong enough to get him loose.
Mortal girl to the rescue,
she thought, and pulled off the screen.

“Jana, don’t you worry about the newsman teasing you for you being so quiet. That young man saw only what was on the outside when everyone knows it’s what’s on the inside that counts.”

Jana gasped. She spun around with the screen in her hands. Her grandfather stood in the doorway of her bedroom. She managed a smile, but her heart thumped in time with the ticktock of the old clock in the hallway that President Roosevelt gave Grandpa’s father a long, long time ago, before even Dad was born. Would he know what she was up to? Would he guess her plan to climb the tree?

Grandpa lifted a thick silver brow. “I thought your father fixed that screen.” With a grunt of exasperation he took it from her and placed it on the floor. “This old place is falling apart.”

Leaves made swishing noises outside. Grandpa squinted at the sliver of night sandwiched by her curtains. “Now what do you think that is? An owl? Or squirrels with insomnia?”

It’s a boy. A magical glowing boy!

“You’d better sleep with the window closed.” He reached over her bed and slammed the window shut. Jana couldn’t hear the boy’s struggles anymore.

She grabbed her grandfather by the sleeve and tried to get him to look outside.
He’s stuck. Look, Grandpa.

“Is something out there?” He took a quick glance outside, but the boy was below eye level, glowing so softly that unless you looked in the exact spot, you would miss him. “What do you see?”

Pointing, Jana tried to tell him, but the more excited she got, the more the words jammed up in her throat.
Magic,
she mouthed.

“You and your imagination. We should all have the ability to look at ordinary things and see magic.”

She burrowed into his arms for a hug. He felt big and soft and warm. She loved him so much it hurt.

“Ah, Jana. You have so much heart. More than all of us Jaspers combined.” He moved her back to see her. “Heart is what will take you to the top. It’s what this country needs. Heart and the smarts to go with it. You’re going to go far, Jana Jasper. Mind this old man’s words. Don’t let anyone tell you different.” His blue eyes glowed. “The highest office of this country is not beyond your abilities. A Jasper in the White House. Now, that sounds mighty appealing. I’ll be sure to take my vitamins so I can be around long enough to see your inauguration.” He tucked her in bed and gave her a scratchy kiss on the cheek. “President Jana Jasper. All hail the chief.”

Jana’s face turned hot at the same time her throat got thick. She hated the thought of disappointing him.
One day, Grandpa, I’ll make you proud. I’ll make all of you proud I was born into this family.
How, she didn’t know yet, but she’d figure it out.

At the door he stopped to say, “As for that magic, if a woman named Mary Poppins shows up, tell her where to find me. I think it’s going to be a long two weeks for Grandpa. Good night, punkin.”

She smiled sweetly.

The second the door closed, she yanked open the curtains and threw open the window. The trapped magical boy dangled in the same place. He’d stopped kicking, though. Maybe he was getting tired. “Peter,” she whispered dreamily. After she saved him, he’d be loyal to her forever, like a genie released from a lamp. Maybe he’d grant her three wishes, even, out of gratitude.

She threw one bare foot over the sill. The rough tiles of the roof were still warm from the day’s hot sun. She pulled her other leg through the window and stood in her nightgown, balanced on the curved area of the roof below her bedroom window. From there, she eyed the nearest oak tree branch she’d need to shimmy down to reach Peter and unhook him. Could she make it? No problem, she thought. She’d climbed more trees than she could count.

She made the leap and ran along the center of the branch like it was the balance beam at gymnastics camp. As it narrowed, she dropped to her butt and scooted forward. Her legs dangled, knocking loose bark and leaves. In the corner of her eye, she caught movement. Peter had twisted around and was looking up at her.

No, not looking,
staring,
working his way up from her toes and chipped, glitter nail polish to her skinny suntanned legs sticking out of her pink nightgown until he reached her face and stopped. As if he had any reason to stare.
He
was the one dressed in weird clothes. And
he
was the one hanging from a tree like a human-size inchworm. But he had a friendly face and the kind of mouth that looked as if it smiled a lot, only it wasn’t smiling now. It was wide-open in shock.

Haven’t you ever been rescued by a girl before? A mortal girl?

Jana inched forward until she’d reached the limb directly above his and went down on her stomach to slide the last little bit. She took a swipe at him, but missed. The limb creaked.

One…more…inch…Grunting, she stretched out her arm and hooked her fingers in the boy’s glow-bubble outfit.

It didn’t feel hot, or even slippery. It was smooth and cool, like rubber.
Hold still
,
I got you
. The boy seemed to understand she wanted to help. She squeezed the glow-skin to get a better grip on his shirt. It would take a good, hard lift to unhook him. But she couldn’t budge him. No wonder he hadn’t been able to get free. His body weight was keeping him hooked. What if he was still stuck here in the morning when Jared woke up? Jana gave one hard yank.
Crack!

The branch splintered and went down. Like a tick on a dog’s tail, she held on. The branch smacked into the one that had snagged Peter and knocked him loose.

At the last second there was a whoosh of wind that seemed to slow his fall, and he landed on his feet. He made eye contact with her and dipped his head once, probably to thank her for unhooking him.

Jana grinned and waved, maybe a little too hard. Her branch made a grinding sound and flipped over. She yelped and hung on. Somehow, she was still attached to the limb when the spinning stopped.

She opened one eye. Then the other. The good news was that she was still alive. The bad news was that she now hung upside down like a possum. If not for her fear of hitting the ground headfirst, she would have been wild with embarrassment about her panties showing.

The magical boy waited below, looking worried for her, but the branch was broken; she couldn’t climb back the way she came. Her only choice was to fall. She let go with her legs and hung by her hands. It was a long way down to the ground.
Bend your knees when you hit
. That’s what Jared would say.

Jana let go. For a frightening second, wind shrieked past her ears. She hit the ground and rolled onto her side. That wasn’t so bad. She climbed to her feet, shaking off leaves like a dog shook off water. With a big grin, she spun in a pirouette and curtsied. But the boy was jogging backward so fast that he stumbled. Looking even more upset, he jumped up off the grass and escaped into the shadows.

A gust of wind blew through the garden, whipping Jana’s hair around her face. A row of plastic daisy pinwheels spun, clicking and clacking, and near the barn, a gate creaked open and slammed shut.

“Squeee!”
From her pen near the barn, Jana’s frightened potbellied pig squealed above the commotion. Before Jana could reach the pen to soothe her, Minnie had pushed the gate open and escaped.

The prissy little pig scurried down the path leading away from the garden.
Minnie!
Jana thrust her feet into pink rubber flip-flops lying on the patio and raced after her pig.

No blue-green glow. Peter was nowhere to be seen. Was he afraid of her? He’d sure run away fast.

Her flip-flops scraped on the gravel as she hurried along the dirt path behind the barn to a place where Minnie liked to forage.
Min,
she thought urgently.
Minnie, come back!

Then, something rustled in the dark. Tingles raced up her arms. The air felt strange. Tickly.
Someone’s watching you
. Jana’s tingles turned to goose bumps, and suddenly she wished she were back in bed.

A crackling noise came from the shadows. Whatever it was, it was coming closer.

“Squeee!”
A round, little shadow darted out of the thigh-high weeds—and ran straight to Peter, who stepped onto the path and grabbed Minnie before she escaped.