“Make a wish,” the speaker called out to the crowd, and almost immediately, Stella saw one Good Wish Orb after another materialize, each glowing with its own unique, vibrant color.
She sighed happily as she watched the orbs take flight, even though she knew she hadn’t been responsible for creating them; it was all thanks to the shooting star. But it did remind her that she still needed to focus on Lindie’s wish—the one she’d already made that Stella was there to help grant but hadn’t quite pinpointed yet.
“That man sure seemed impressed with your telescope,” Stella said to Lindie after he walked away. “He almost couldn’t believe you really built it yourself.”
“Yeah, neither can my parents,” Lindie answered. “They weren’t exactly thrilled about me coming here tonight.”
“Really? Why?” Stella felt her Wish Pendant beginning to get warm beneath her pink sweater and sensed that she was getting closer to the wish that had sent her on this mission.
“My mother wanted me to go dress shopping with her for a dance I’m supposed to attend with my boyfriend this weekend.” Lindie made a sour face and rolled her eyes.
“Why did you come here instead?” Stella asked as her mind flashed back to a bittersweet memory of going to the New Beginnings Ball with Ozzie, Cora, and Theodore.
“Because…just look at this place!” Lindie gazed up at the sky and spun around happily. “All I’ve ever wanted to do is learn about the planets and the stars.”
“They are quite wonderful,” Stella agreed.
“Yeah,” said Lindie. Then she nodded sadly and frowned as she looked down at the grassy hill. “If only I could be an astronaut one day.”
Stella’s Wish Pendant grew warmer still. “Why can’t you?” she asked. “What’s stopping you?”
“My parents, mostly.” Lindie sighed and sat down on the fuzzy blue-striped blanket she had spread out on the grass, motioning for Stella to join her. “I was actually going to apply for an ASAA scholarship—but they told me I shouldn’t bother.”
In case Stella didn’t know, Lindie explained, the ASAA stood for the American Space and Aeronautics Academy, which was a special school that focused on space exploration.
“Why would your parents say something so discouraging?” Stella wondered while shaking her head.
“They think it’s crazy for a girl to want to be an astronaut,” Lindie explained, “and I guess maybe they’re right; it’s not like there are any women in the space program. They don’t want me to get my hopes up. But I still wish I could somehow find a way to get that scholarship.”
Stella noticed that her Wish Pendant was glowing so brightly that it became almost unbearably hot. Despite the discomfort, this was the best possible indicator of what the Wisher was seeking. This was Lindie’s wish—to get that scholarship—and it was up to Stella to help her.
“Well, you can’t get it if you don’t apply,” Stella pointed out.
“I know, but the application has to be postmarked by Monday,” Lindie said with a sigh, seemingly resigned to her fate. “So I would have to finish it this weekend.”
Stella realized she’d have to act quickly. “Well, how much have you already done?”
Lindie’s eyes sparkled in the moonlight as soon as Stella asked that. “Do you know anything about artificial satellites?”
“Of course,” responded Stella, who then nodded, recalling the information Starland had acquired about the devices Wishlings had been launching into orbit recently. “Like the Sputnik and the Explorer, right? You can send them out into space and use them to record information about all sorts of things.”
“Exactly!” Lindie seemed both thrilled and surprised that Stella knew so much. “I built one and actually managed to gather a whole lot of data with it. It’s not exactly as advanced as the others you mentioned—obviously—but I’ve made quite a few interesting discoveries with it.”
“That sounds star—er, fantastic!” Stella was truly impressed.
“Thanks.” Lindie smiled, perking up slightly. “I have a replica of it at home—you know, in case I decide to submit it with my scholarship application.”
“You do?”
“Yeah—would you like to see it?” Lindie asked.
“I’d love to!” Stella replied.
“Okay,” Lindie said. “But do you need to let your parents know where you’ll be?”
“No. I told them I’d be out most of the night for the eclipse party,” Stella explained quickly.
“And they let you?” Lindie’s mouth dropped open.
“Yes, they know how much I love the stars—and the moon,” Stella said with a grin.
“You’re so lucky.”
Once Stella had helped Lindie gather up her telescope and blanket, they began the short walk from the observatory to Lindie’s house. On the way, Stella thought about the fact that there were so few girls at the observatory that night—and that apparently not many seemed to be interested in science, as the man at the party had mentioned. If Lindie applied for and got the ASAA scholarship, there was no telling how many Wishling girls might be motivated to do similar things! Stella felt a rush of excitement as she remembered what Skylar had said: “This is bound to be your most important—but also most challenging—mission yet.” It was certainly looking that way.
As they walked along Lindie’s street, Stella noticed that all the houses and their yards looked quite similar, with flat roofs, large windows, and neatly manicured lawns. Stella was having mixed feelings: as excited as she was about the importance of the mission, she couldn’t stop thinking about the potential challenges it presented as well. What if Lindie remained convinced that it wasn’t worth applying for the scholarship? What if she decided that she really should listen to her parents and not get her hopes up?
Stella shook her head in an effort to banish her concerns. She couldn’t allow such thoughts to interfere with the task at hand. She needed to stay positive!
“Edward, is that you?” a woman called out after Lindie opened the front door and she and Stella made their way into a room decorated with a shaggy white carpet and furniture with colors that were almost as bright as those on Starland: an orange couch, yellow chairs, and pale blue tables.
Before Lindie could reply, a woman came in through an open doorway. She was flawlessly styled in a green knee-length dress and matching high-heeled shoes, along with a pearl necklace and earrings and bright pink lipstick. Her chin-length hair, which was the same light brown as Lindie’s, cascaded in a neat wave around her face and was flipped up at the ends. She looked like she was ready to go out to a fancy party.
“Oh, Lindie—it’s you.” The woman smiled but then narrowed her eyes at Stella. “I didn’t know you were bringing a friend home.”
“Yes, Mother, this is Stella,” Lindie replied. “We met at the lunar eclipse party.”
“I see. Hello, Stella. You may call me Carol.” Lindie’s mother got a slightly uncomfortable look on her face. “So you find these, ah, moon-gazing parties to be enjoyable, too?”
Stella felt awkward—especially at the thought of calling a parent by her first name—but forced a smile nonetheless. “Yes…Carol…I do,” she said with a quick nod. “And it was so fun being able to look through the telescope that Lindie built.”
“Was it?” Lindie’s mother grimaced. “So that box of bolts actually worked?”
“It sure did—even better than I expected!” Lindie said proudly as she set down the equipment on the nearest table and motioned for Stella to place the blanket next to it.
“Oh, Lindie, please take those things up to your room,” her mother said sternly. “I don’t want there to be a lot of clutter in the house when your father gets home from his meeting!”
“Sorry, Mother.” Lindie sucked in her breath and grabbed the box, then asked Stella to take the blanket and follow her upstairs—which Stella gladly did. Lindie’s mother seemed so strict and critical, and Stella felt almost physically weak in the presence of so
much negative energy.
Lindie led Stella to the end of a hallway and into her bedroom. It was quite large and reminded Stella a bit of her side of the dorm room at Starling Academy, especially the pink comforter, shiny pink pillows, and gold cushions on the bed. The far wall was entirely glass—a big floor-to-ceiling window with a sliding glass door that led out to a deck—and there a white telescope was set up on a tripod over in the corner. Stella could easily picture Lindie taking it out onto the deck to look up at the sky at night.
“Your room is so nice,” Stella remarked.
“Thank you,” said Lindie as she set the box containing her telescope equipment down in a corner and walked over to her desk. She opened the bottom drawer and took out a silver winged object.
“Is that the satellite?” Stella asked, dropping the blanket she was carrying next to Lindie’s telescope equipment before rushing over to take a look.
“Yes,” Lindie said with a smile, handing it to Stella. Then she opened another desk drawer and pulled out an orange folder containing a thick stack of papers. “And here’s research. It has all the details about the components of the satellite and what they do, and then a whole section with the data I gathered.”
Stella’s eyes widened as she examined the different parts of the satellite before handing it back to Lindie and looking through the pages in the folder. A diagram explained each of the components: batteries and solar panels for power, different sensors, recording chips and antennae for receiving and transmitting information, a fuel tank used for launching it, and so much more. Then there were the findings, which included measures of rainfall, changes in atmospheric temperatures, and even the amount of energy Wishworld was absorbing from the sun—which appeared to be similar to the calculations wish scientists made on Starland, measuring the wish energy being received from Wishworld.
As she read through it all, Stella couldn’t help thinking back to her Wish-Science Fair project and how desperately she had wanted to go work in the Wish-Tank—not to mention how lucky she was that so many people, including her parents, had believed in her rather than telling her she shouldn’t try because she was a girl. She knew that Lindie felt the same way about getting her dream job, and that she had to help her.
“So…what do you think?” Lindie finally asked.
“I think you have to apply for that scholarship,” Stella replied. “You simply must!”
But before Lindie could say anything, her mother appeared in the doorway with a large white box.
“Oh, dear,” she said as she walked into the room and set the box down on Lindie’s bed. “Is that the little project you’ve been working on?”
“Yes, I wanted to show it to Stella,” Lindie replied with a confident smile.
“Well, put it away, because I have something far more exciting to show you!” Lindie’s mother lifted the lid from the box and took out a dress.
Stella couldn’t help gasping when she saw how beautiful the garment was, with its sparkly gold bodice and full pink skirt. “Oh, it’s beautiful,” Stella murmured without quite realizing she’d spoken the words out loud.
“Isn’t it just?” said Lindie’s mother as she beamed proudly and widened her blue eyes at her daughter.
“Wow—it really is!” answered Lindie, hurrying over to pick up the dress before heading over to stand at a gold-framed full-length mirror in the corner. She held the dress up so it mostly concealed the yellow argyle sweater and pink pants she was wearing, and smiled happily at her reflection.
“Let’s take out those pigtails,” her mother said, removing the pink ribbons from Lindie’s hair and gently smoothing it down. “Oh, Lindie, Roger is going to be over the moon when he sees you in that tomorrow night!”
Lindie closed her eyes and tilted her head back as she twirled around the room with the dress. “He is, isn’t he?” She grinned as she opened her eyes and stared at her reflection again.
Stella’s heart immediately sank. She’d almost forgotten that Lindie’s parents thought it was more important for her to go to the dance than work on her scholarship application that weekend. Stella had to do something to steer Lindie away from the dance. But how could she possibly succeed when it appeared that the dress and her parents’ influence were pulling her in that very direction?
“But what about finishing your scholarship application?” Stella finally blurted out, unable to come up with something more subtle.
“Don’t be silly!” Lindie’s mother scowled at Stella. “Lindie knows that spending time with Roger at the dance is going to be the best way to secure her future.”
Stella glanced over at Lindie, who had spread the dress out on her bed and was gazing down at it like it had some sort of hypnotic power. “Mother’s right,” she sighed. “Finishing the application would take me all weekend, and there’s no guarantee that I would even get the scholarship.”
“But you will get Roger’s heart when he sees you in that dress!” Lindie’s mother added with a satisfied nod. “Now, your father will be home any minute and I need to finish getting dinner ready. Will you be joining us, Stella?”
Of course Stella wanted to stay—she needed to stay—but panic, not to mention the negative energy coming from Lindie’s mom, seemingly constricted her.
“Oh, yes—please stay for dinner.” Lindie nodded hopefully on Stella’s behalf.
Stella swallowed hard and finally found her voice. “That would be wonderful, thank you.”
As they made their way downstairs, Stella tried to think of a solution to the predicament Lindie faced. But it wasn’t until Lindie’s father arrived—and commented on how delicious dinner smelled—that it came to her. Of course! Stella would use her mind control powers over Wishling adults to make sure that Lindie’s parents encouraged her to work on her scholarship application instead of pressuring her to attend the dance. It was the only way. But she had to choose her moment, and her words, carefully.
After they had all settled around the dinner table, Stella took a deep breath and stared directly into Lindie’s dad’s dark eyes. Though fixated on her mission, Stella still couldn’t help noticing that he looked as dressed up, in a crisp white button-down shirt with a striped blue tie, as Lindie’s mother.
“Say, are you baking a chocolate cake for dessert?” Lindie’s father suddenly asked his wife, running a hand over his slick black hair as he closed his eyes for a moment and sniffed the air. One of the special powers that young Wish-Granters had over adult Wishlings was mind control, and making them smell their favorite childhood dessert was part of the fun. It also happened to make the adult Wishlings feel happy and more open to suggestion.
Before Lindie’s mother could reply, Stella stared into her eyes.
“Why, no, but—Lindie, did you put something in the oven?” asked Lindie’s mother as she turned to look at her daughter. “It does smell delicious!”
“No, I haven’t been home all evening—how would I have had time to bake a cake?” Lindie replied, wrinkling up her nose as she glanced from one parent to the other.
“Hmmm.” Lindie’s parents both shrugged. “That’s odd.”
Stella quickly seized the moment. “You know, you both must agree that Lindie should finish working on her application for the ASAA scholarship this weekend instead of going to the dance.”
Almost instantly, Lindie’s parents both nodded, their eyes glazing over as their minds became Stella’s temporary hostages.
“You know,” Lindie’s father said, “Lindie should finish working on her application for the ASAA scholarship this weekend.”
“But, Father—” Lindie nearly choked on the water she had just sipped.
“Yes,” her mother interjected. “Lindie should finish working on her application for the ASAA scholarship this weekend, instead of going to the dance.”
“What? Mother? Are you feeling all right?” Lindie leaned across the table and narrowed her eyes, studying her mother’s face, and then glanced over at Stella to see if she was equally
confused. “What about the dress? What about Roger?”
But Lindie’s parents simply turned to look at Stella and smiled as they repeated the same words, this time in almost perfect unison and with the same expression. “Lindie should finish working on her application for the ASAA scholarship this weekend, instead of going to the dance.”
“I completely agree!” Stella nodded and smiled innocently as she met Lindie’s quizzical stare. “Maybe your parents weren’t thinking clearly about it until now.”
Lindie shook her head, dumbfounded. “Maybe.”
Then Stella stared into the eyes of Lindie’s mother again and decided to try out a new strategy she’d been working on in the Wish-Tank, silently channeling an additional thought to her.
“You can wear the dress when we take you out for a celebration dinner, after you get the scholarship,” Lindie’s mother added slowly, perfectly repeating the words that Stella had planted in her mind. “We can invite Roger to that instead.”
“Um.” Lindie stared down at her plate of food, shocked but happy. “Okay.”
Although Lindie seemed thrown by the entire situation that moment, Stella felt certain things were going to fall into place from there. So she smiled quietly to herself as she began eating the casserole that Lindie’s mother had served. It had been a challenging mission so far, to be sure, but it seemed the biggest obstacles were finally behind her.
Although Stella had successfully completed the first part of her mission—with Lindie working on the ASAA scholarship application all weekend so she could send it in by the deadline—it was still another few weeks until Lindie’s graduation ceremony. That was when the name of the scholarship recipient would be revealed.
When the day finally arrived, Stella sat high up in the back row of the bleachers that looked out on Lindie’s high school football field, where chairs and a stage were set up for the graduation ceremony. It felt a lot like the day Stella had graduated from Starling Academy two years earlier—right down to the gut-wrenching nerves she was feeling.
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