When You Wish upon a Rat

by Maureen McCarthy

  “Well, it’s much easier to get to places from there because you’re, like, way out in …” She frowned and looked down at her notebook. “I’m sorry, I don’t even know where that is.”

  “Well …”

  “I guess …”

  “You’ll have a big, beautiful room all to yourself,” Cindy said, smiling down at Ruth, “your own bathroom, and whenever you want anything, you just have to ring down for room service. Night or day.”

  Ruth nodded, trying to imagine what that might mean. “So, if I want a milkshake in the middle of the night …?” She looked at her brothers, who were almost choking with envy.

  “Or a hot pie and a Coke.” Cindy laughed. “Or your clothes ironed or access to the Internet … all you do is just pick up the phone.” Ruth stared at her, openmouthed. “Think you can handle that?”

  “I’m afraid we don’t have the money for that sort of thing,” Mrs. Craze said awkwardly.

  “You don’t pay a cent!” Cindy gave her a condescending smile. “The show will be picking up the tab, and please don’t worry about her. I’ll be in the room right next door. Each morning I’ll take Ruth to whatever media events are happening that day. Staying in a hotel will be a great experience for her,” Cindy said, reaching out and squeezing Ruth’s arm, “and it will make the whole week leading up to the final much easier to manage.”

  “I think she might be a bit young,” Mrs. Craze said. “To stay in a hotel room on her own, I mean,” she added. They all looked at Ruth, who was trying not to look as nervous as she felt. But she’d been thinking the same thing.

  “What do you say, Ruth?” Cindy asked.

  “I’ll be fine,” Ruth said quickly. She’d never been inside a fancy hotel before. Not even on the ground floor. Imagine being a guest there!

  “I’ll be fine,” she said again, more firmly.

  “Good girl!” Cindy turned to Mr. and Mrs. Craze. “Think of it as a great … opportunity.” She consulted her notebook again. “Now, that’s about all, I think,” she said, putting a hand on Ruth’s arm. “Want to come and have a look at those prizes?”

  “But I’ve got my prize,” Ruth said, holding up the check.

  “Oh, I’ve got loads more for you!” Cindy gave her a toothy smile and winked. “I think you’ll be pleased.” She looked at the rest of the family. “There’s no need for you to hang around. I’ll take care of her,” she said.

  Ruth saw the disappointment on all their faces and felt bad—for her brothers, especially. At the same time, she couldn’t help seeing them all through Cindy’s perfectly made-up eyes. Her parents looked so wretchedly old-fashioned and so badly matched. Never before had she noticed just how skinny and tall her father was compared with her short, dumpy mother.

  “Ruth?” Marcus was actually begging her with his eyes.

  Ruth turned to look at Cindy, who reluctantly relented. “Well, you could come by for a few minutes to take some of the prizes home,” she said. “I assume you drove here?”

  Mr. Craze nodded.

  “Off we go, then.”

  Cindy linked arms with Ruth and led the way back into the building through a long windowless corridor, and the rest of the family followed. Ruth glanced behind at them occasionally. The boys were excited, but her parents seemed uneasy. She’d be glad when they did go home and she could get on with dealing with … whatever was going to happen next.

  As they followed Cindy’s clicking stilettos down the corridor, every now and then a door would open and a famous face would peep out.

  “Hi, Ruth!” said the guy who read the news. “Well done! I know you’ll kill ’em next week.”

  “Thanks … Mr.…”

  “It’s Kevin.” He grinned.

  “Thanks, Kevin.”

  “Good for you, Ruth,” a pretty blond woman said, beaming. “My whole family was rooting for you. So cool under pressure! You really should consider a career in the media.”

  “Thanks.” It wasn’t until she got a little closer that Ruth saw that the woman was from The Breakfast Show, and behind her, getting his makeup fixed, was her sidekick—the two most popular television personalities in the country. The man got up from his chair and came to the door.

  “What a clever girl you are!” he said, and then smiled at the rest of the family. “You guys must be thrilled.”

  “Oh, we are!” her mum said shyly.

  “Very proud,” her father mumbled.

  Ruth could see that they were both a bit overwhelmed. They loved The Breakfast Show.

  “We’ll be watching next week!”

  “Thank you.”

  Ruth and her family followed Cindy around a corner and then headed down another corridor.

  “Hello, Ruth!” came a loud, vaguely familiar voice behind them. “Or should I be saying G’day, Einstein?” The Crazes all turned to see Frankie Lee—complete with tatts and dreadlocks, fancy silver jewelry and black leather jacket—beaming at Ruth. “Wish I had your brains!” he added, sauntering up casually. Marcus stared in awe. Everybody knew that Frankie Lee was the coolest man to grace the small screen ever. He interviewed all the best bands and musicians from around the world, and here he was talking to Marcus’s little sister!

  “G’day, guys!” Frankie grinned at her brothers and parents but sidled up playfully alongside Ruth. “Hey, Cindy,” he said, pulling a tiny silver camera from out of his leather jacket, “can you take a picture of me and Ruth?”

  “Sure!” Cindy took the camera. “Up against the wall, you two!”

  The rest of the family edged away as Frankie put his arm around Ruth. Cindy flirted outrageously as she arranged the shot, giggling at Frankie’s jokes. Ruth stood smiling stiffly into the camera, aware of her family’s awed expressions. Could this really be happening?

  “Thanks,” said Frankie as he took the camera from Cindy. “Someday that one will be worth a million!” He waved good-bye and disappeared back into his dressing room. Ruth caught the look of stunned envy on her brothers’ faces and a spurt of wicked pleasure bubbled up inside her.

  • • •

  Cindy led them into a large windowless room. There were a couple of overstuffed sofas and chairs and a big round table. But over in the corner was another table piled high with boxes of all shapes and sizes.

  “All that is for you,” Cindy said with a smile, pointing at the boxes. “Do you want to have a look now?”

  “What is it?” Ruth smiled back uncertainly.

  “Everything you can think of!” Cindy said. “Every company in the country wanted to be part of the show. These are the prizes they donated for the finalist.”

  “But what have I won?”

  “Well, let’s have a look, shall we?”

  Her parents stared blankly as cameras, watches, iPods, computers, and even a plasma television were pulled from box after box. Ruth’s attention was caught by a small package next to the fancy television. Within moments she had unwrapped the coolest little mobile phone. It was silver gray with a stripe of black dots down each side. Except for Marcus, who had a crappy old thing whose battery was always running out, no one in the family even had a mobile phone! This one was so slim and sharp-looking … And you could take photos with it and send e-mails and watch telly.

  “Can I keep this?”

  “Sweetheart, you get to keep everything!” Cindy waved at the table. “It’s all yours, and there’ll be more—much more—next week if you win.”

  “Does she get to keep all of this?” Mrs. Craze asked doubtfully.

  “Of course she does,” Cindy said. “She’s the state champion!”

  “But I’m not sure we’ve got room in our house,” Mr. Craze protested.

  “Maybe it’s time to put on an extension, then,” Cindy retorted. She looked at her watch and frowned. “I’m afraid we’ve really got to get moving.” She gave Ruth a fresh version of her toothy smile. “There’s a live interview at ten and heaps of press after that. This is our highest-rating show at the moment, so ma
nagement wants maximum media coverage over the next week, in the lead-up to the national finals, but … are you hungry, Ruth?”

  Ruth nodded. She was starving.

  “What time is it?” she asked.

  “Nine o’clock,” Cindy replied. “What do you say to breakfast?”

  Ruth’s brothers’ eyes lit up at the mention of food. Mr. and Mrs. Craze looked hopeful too. Everyone was waiting to see what Ruth would say. She felt dizzy with her newly acquired power.

  “Great,” she said. “Can my family come too?”

  “I actually don’t think it’s a good idea, if you don’t mind,” Cindy said, looking at Mr. and Mrs. Craze. The boys’ faces fell. “But perhaps you’ll take care of all this?” She pointed at the boxes.

  “Yes, of course,” Mr. Craze said. “Come on, boys.” Ruth and Cindy watched as the boxes were piled up and shared out among her family to carry.

  “All right, then,” Cindy said briskly. “You’ll be able to find your way out?”

  “I … think so.”

  “Just follow the exit signs. Oh, and we’ll be in touch about this afternoon.”

  “Will you be all right, Ruthie?” Mrs. Craze asked.

  “Of course,” Ruth said.

  “Don’t worry, we won’t touch any of it, Ruth,” her father said. “We’ll put it all in your room for you to have when you get back, won’t we, boys?”

  They nodded miserably.

  “Okay, thanks.” Ruth watched them all troop out of the room carrying her stuff, wishing she didn’t feel so … like she’d let them down in some way. “I don’t mind if you look at everything,” she called after them.

  white walls and carpet that was thick and soft to walk on. Half a dozen nicely set polished wood tables were placed around the room, some already occupied by glamorous people, all eating and talking and laughing. Most of them stopped as Cindy walked in with Ruth, and light clapping broke out.

  “Well done, Ruth!” someone called.

  “Here’s the Quiz Kid Wonder!”

  “Just the beginning, kid,” called the man from Media Today. “You’re on your way!”

  “Thanks!” Ruth now had an inkling of what royalty must feel like when they walked into a room and everyone knew who they were.

  Cindy led her to one of two tables in the nicest part of the room, right near a big window overlooking the river. While Cindy was calling the waiter over to take their order, Ruth took a few moments to look out the window and marvel at the river twisting and turning like a glistening brown snake below. She had never seen the city from this high up. If she did go on to have a career in television, she’d be able to work in a place like this every day.

  “I need to run through our schedule for the day,” said Cindy when the food arrived. “Just go on with your breakfast and I’ll tell you about it.”

  “Okay.” Ruth picked up her knife and fork and attacked her eggs on toast. For some reason she wasn’t quite as hungry as she’d been before. It was probably just nerves.

  “First up, there’s the live interview with Gordon Blake. You know the show?”

  “Not really.”

  “Just a chat show. He’ll introduce you as the state finalist. Then he’ll ask you how it feels to be a winner and what your hopes are for the future.” She laughed a little. “You feel comfortable doing that?”

  “I guess so,” Ruth said nervously.

  “Then we have a couple of other interviews. The Sun is going to do a feature article about you and Bindi Irwin. Subject is ‘Amazing Aussie Kids.’ You okay with that?” Cindy was speaking so fast that Ruth could barely keep up. “All will want to do their own photos, so we’ll take you down to wardrobe first up. Okay so far?”

  Ruth nodded, wondering what would happen if she said no.

  “And later on in the afternoon a crew will go around to your house and we’ll film an ‘At Home with Ruth Craze’ segment for Wednesday’s Home show.”

  What? Ruth put her knife and fork down. “But that show is about houses!” she said.

  “Not exactly,” Cindy replied. “Melissa will interview you at your home, maybe on a sofa or in your kitchen. Then we’ll move from room to room, and you can tell us all about your house. Memories, special objects, who does the cooking, et cetera.”

  “I don’t think so,” Ruth said, appalled.

  “Really?” Cindy looked startled. “Why not?”

  “It’s just that our house is … not very nice.”

  “Oh, don’t worry about that!” Cindy gave a fluttery little wave. “It’ll be fine. They’ll do some quick interviews with your parents and brothers. It will be over before you know it and we’ll have a little showcase of Ruth Craze’s life.”

  “Our house,” Ruth stammered, “is a sort of …” She was unable to say the word dump, but that was what she meant. Their house was a complete dump! No way could it be filmed for a home show!

  “Doesn’t matter,” Cindy said firmly. “Family homes are fine every once in a while.”

  But Ruth was picturing the family bathroom. The yellow, stained basin and smelly toilet, the pile of damp towels in the corner, the broken tiles and patches of mold growing in the shower recess and the taped-over broken window. “I told your parents that we’d film only what you guys are comfortable with,” Cindy said hurriedly when she noticed Ruth’s expression. “Honestly.”

  “So Mum and Dad know about this?”

  “Sure,” Cindy said. “They’re fine.”

  But what about the dog hair all over the sofa? Ruth wanted to say. And the grease-laden stove that hasn’t been cleaned since Marcus thought he’d make hamburgers for his cycling team two weeks ago? It was bad enough actually living in their house without letting everyone else see it. Nothing about their house belonged on television … except as a joke! What could her mother have been thinking to agree to it?

  The next few hours zipped by in a haze of frenzied activity. First she went to the wardrobe department and a stylist came up with a whole lot of new ideas about how she should look, along with about a dozen complete sets of new clothes. After the live interview someone took off her heavy television makeup and then redid it more subtly for the photo shoot. Someone else came by to muck around with her hair. She got a new style for each different photographer and lots of pleasant chitchat from everyone.

  “God, you are such a star, Ruth!” The makeup guy sighed. “How did you get to be so clever?”

  “You’ve got fabulous hair, Ruth!” the hairdresser said. “Mind if we trim the front a bit?”

  Ruth had never had this much attention in her whole life. It felt weird at first, all of them hovering around asking her if she was comfy and would she mind sitting here or there and would she mind putting on a hat for the photo and then could she take it off again please. But after a couple of hours she got quite used to it; in fact, it didn’t take long before she accepted it as normal, more or less. Yes, she was happy to wear those red boots, but not the brown ones. She’d always hated brown. “Sure, honey! Whatever! Bring over the red boots in her size, will you, Dean?”

  “What happens to all the clothes at the end of this?” Ruth asked, fingering a light gray wool sweater longingly.

  “You have them, of course, Ruthie.” Carol the props girl was busy showing her how to thread the belt through a pair of new five-hundred-dollar jeans. “It’s part of the deal.”

  The reporters were all nice too, and they asked the same questions, so after the first interview there was nothing even vaguely scary or intimidating about talking to them.

  “Do you go to bed early, Ruth?”

  “How many hours of studying do you do every day?”

  “What do your friends think of your success?”

  “What is your favorite meal?”

  • • •

  Before heading back to the hotel to settle in, Ruth had lunch in the dining room. She was sitting with the crew, tucking into spicy sausage rolls and steak fries and an Italian soft drink, when the realization
came to her in a flash. Being a star was totally great! Apart from a few little downers like having to stand in one position for the photographers and having to smile when you didn’t feel like it, she couldn’t think of a nicer lifestyle. Yes, she thought as she picked another sweet pastry off the little glass plate that had been brought in especially for her. At last he got it right! Thank you, Rodney!

  But by the time Ruth got back to the hotel and walked into the plush lobby, she was totally exhausted.

  Cindy took her by the arm and led her to the elevator. “You look like you could do with a rest,” she said. “We’ve got an hour-long window in our schedule. What about chilling out in front of the telly? Or you can have a swim in the heated pool or … ring your friends.”

  “Okay.” Ruth stumbled into the elevator ahead of Cindy, and within only a matter of seconds they were on the fifteenth floor. Cindy opened the door for her and ushered her into a beautiful room overlooking the park and, past that, the city. Such a big room and all to herself! The furniture—a desk, chair, and enormous bed—was made of polished wood with deep green leather trimmings. Ruth stood and stared around in wonder.

  “So you think you’ll be okay here, Ruth?”

  Ruth looked over at Cindy, who was busily setting some biscuits and a bottle of soft drink on the coffee table.

  “Oh, sure. I’ll be fine. Thanks, Cindy.”

  Cindy was looking at her watch. “How about I show you a few things and then leave you alone for a while?”

  “Sure,” Ruth said. She was actually longing for Cindy to leave so she could examine everything in the room properly.

  Cindy showed her the room service menu and the phone and how to ring reception. Then she showed her the bathroom and how the shower worked. The luxury almost shocked Ruth. There were gold faucets and a big fluffy white towel, little packets and bottles of shampoo, and the bathtub was huge.

  There was a knock on the door, and a man brought in a small case.

  “We sent someone out to buy a few things for you,” Cindy said. “Toothbrush and pajamas and other bits and pieces.”

  “Wow!” Ruth was overwhelmed. “Thank you so much.”

  “So have a little rest, okay?” Cindy said, showing her again how the taps worked. “Now, don’t hesitate to call me if—”