Fortune Cookie Fiasco (Krystal Ball)

by Ruby Ann Phillips

  “Here’s a prediction,” I announced. “No matter how sweet your crepes will be, you three will always be sour creeps!”

  Billy and Claire burst into hysterical laughter.

  “Way to go, Krystal!” Claire hooted.

  Kate gasped, turned red, and stomped away.

  Susan and Emily snatched the fortune cookies out of Billy’s and Claire’s hands before following Kate to the other side of the cafeteria.

  “Hey!” Billy shouted. “I was going to eat that!”

  “Ah, let them go,” I said with newfound confidence. My smile reached from ear to ear. “At least now, Kate and her goons know what kind of competition awaits them.”

  “Yeah!” Claire agreed. “They’re going to get one heck of a fight.”

  “That trip to the zoo is as good as ours,” I said, putting my arms around my friends. “You may rely on it!”

  Chapter 4

  Sweet Dreams

  When the final bell rang, Billy, Claire, and I bolted out of the classroom. We couldn’t wait for the weekend to start!

  Mrs. Voyance, Claire’s mom, was waiting for us in the schoolyard. She picks us up on Friday afternoons because the other parents are working.

  After a short car ride, Mrs. Voyance dropped Billy and me off at our building. I thanked her and waved good-bye to Claire as they drove away.

  “I’m going to visit my mom at work,” I said to Billy. I started walking toward the hair salon. “Are you going to join me?”

  “Nah,” Billy replied. “I’m going to walk to the bakery. Maybe my parents have some day-old doughnuts. They’re still good, you know.”

  I laughed and waved good-bye to Billy.

  Through the large display window, I could see my mom and the other hair stylists working on their customers. In my mother’s chair was an old woman whose back was turned toward the door.

  As I entered the store, I started to get a sensation. I stopped, closed my eyes, and tilted my head. A warm tingle went up and down my body. The same tingle you get when you receive a BIG birthday present and can’t wait to open it.

  It’s totally an amazing feeling.

  “Hi, Mom!” I called out.

  “Hi, honey,” Mom said. “Give me a moment to add the finishing touches on this lovely lady.”

  SNIP! SNIP! “Voilà!” she said.

  My mother swiveled the chair around so I could get a good look at the customer.

  “GRANDMA!” I shouted with glee.

  I ran over and hugged her tightly. She smelled like gardenias and hair spray.

  “Hello, darling,” Grandma said. “I’ve been thinking a lot about you.”

  She stroked my cheek and then cupped my face in her hands.

  “Last night, I was sending positive vibes your way,” she said. “Did you feel them?”

  “I got a vision of you on the Great Wall of China,” I said. “And then . . . Dad took us to a Chinese restaurant!”

  “Oh, did he?” Grandma asked. There was twinkle in her eye.

  I gasped. “Did you send us a mental message?”

  “It’s part of our gift, my child,” Grandma said, kissing my forehead. “Anything is possible if you put your mind to it. Remember that.”

  “Thanks for the advice, Grandma,” I said. Then I remembered, “Gosh! Advice! You’ll never guess what my friends and I are doing for the school’s annual bake-off!”

  “Oh, I’m sure I can,” Grandma said, smiling. “But I want you to tell me.”

  I told her all about the handmade fortune cookies that my group planned to bake. And how we wanted to put handwritten fortunes inside.

  Suddenly, my expression changed to a sad one. “I just realized we don’t know the first thing about making fortune cookies,” I said.

  “Cheer up, child,” Grandma said. “Good news is always right around the corner.”

  She nodded her head toward the door.

  Just then, Billy ran inside. “Hey, Krystal,” he called out. “Guess what?”

  “What?” I wondered.

  “I asked my parents if we can make our fortune cookies at the bakery, and they said yes!” said Billy. “They have all the latest cooking machinery and stuff. With their help, we’re going to blow the competition out of the water.”

  “Oh, my stars!” I cried. “That’s great news!”

  “I know, right?” Billy said. “There I was, sneaking around the kitchen looking for a snack, when the idea just popped into my head. Do you believe it?”

  Grandma looked at me and winked.

  “Without a doubt,” I said.

  * * *

  That evening, Grandma joined us for dinner. After we finished, Dad walked her to the subway so she could get back home to New York City.

  Even though she’s a quick train ride away, I like to think she’s always with me — guiding me like a guardian angel.

  Once I changed into my pajamas and brushed my teeth, Mom and Dad came to tuck me in.

  “Sweet dreams,” they said.

  Hugging Stanley tight, I closed my eyes and drifted away to Dreamland . . .

  I found myself walking along a winding path through a lush forest on a bright, sunny day. But there was something different about the foliage.

  Instead of berries or fruit on the trees, there were gumdrops and candy canes! The bushes around me were tightly coiled strands of rainbow-colored licorice. Tall, swirly lollipops grew out of the ground around me, and the path beneath my feet was made entirely of graham cracker.

  I even noticed that the air smelled like pink bubble gum.

  A sweet dream indeed, I thought.

  Suddenly, something large and white flew by overhead. There was a fluttering of wings and a gust of wind as the mysterious shape landed behind me.

  I spun around and gasped.

  Before me was the most magnificently majestic creature I had ever seen — a winged unicorn!

  “It’s a . . . a Pegasus!” I exclaimed.

  “Indeed,” she replied. “But you can call me Peggy Sue.”

  “And you can talk!” I said.

  “Climb on my back,” Peggy Sue urged. “We haven’t a moment to lose”

  Chapter 5

  Great Gumdrops!

  Without thinking, I did as the Pegasus said. I gripped Peggy Sue’s mane tightly, and we soared over the magical candy forest.

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  “We must get to Patisserie Palace,” Peggy Sue said. “The kingdom is under attack!”

  Deafening wind rushed all around me.

  “King Sprinkle sent me to find you, Krystal,” Peggy Sue replied. “You’re our only hope.”

  “Say what?” I shouted in shock.

  The winged horse swooped downward toward a large castle made entirely of cake, glazed with strawberry frosting. The towers were waffled ice cream cones with spires made of whipped cream and giant cherries on top.

  All around the castle was a bubbling, swirling milk shake moat. It looked so delicious!

  “We’ve arrived, young hero,” Peggy Sue stated.

  “Uh,” I stammered. “What did you mean I’m your only hope?”

  “Only you possess the strength to defeat the dragon,” said the unicorn.

  “D-d-dragon?” I gulped.

  “Yes!” Peggy Sue exclaimed. “That monster has set her fiery sights on King Sprinkle’s crown. She will stop at nothing until she rules the kingdom.”

  Peggy Sue closed her eyes, and the horn atop her forehead started to glow.

  “Great gumdrops!” she cried, pointing a hoof toward the sky. “The dragon is upon us. Look!”

  A scaly beast with sharp jagged teeth appeared above us. The dragon flapped her mighty wings and circled the castle. Her scales shimmered orange and yellow in the sunlight.

>   “ROOAAAR!”

  The dragon belched a fireball at one of the waffle cone towers. The structure went up in smoke, turning into a toasted crumbling mess.

  This caused the enormous dollop of whipped cream resting on top of it to come tumbling down. The cream slid down the frosted castle wall. It grew into an unstoppable avalanche of delicious danger. And it was coming right at us!

  Peggy Sue took flight, and I hugged her neck for dear life. We swerved and swooped, but weren’t fast enough to avoid the avalanche.

  PLOP-POW!

  We were being dragged down toward the depths of the milk shake moat.

  Peggy Sue flapped her wings, but it was useless. The sugary sweetness washed over us.

  Everything went dark.

  * * *

  Gasping for breath, I woke up and found my pillow over my head. I had been chewing on it in my sleep. There was a big glob of slobber and drool all over it. Gross!

  “Whoa, what a dream,” I said aloud.

  I climbed out of bed and picked up Stanley off the floor.

  “I don’t know what you think,” I told him, “but that certainly felt like a sign for caution.”

  Stanley stared back at me. He agreed.

  I looked over at my alarm clock.

  “Great galaxies!” I exclaimed. “Today is the day. I’m meeting Claire and Billy at the House of Sweets to make our fortune cookies.”

  I quickly rummaged through the closet and dresser to find a truly spectacular baking outfit.

  “Aha!” I exclaimed lifting a T-shirt in the air. It had an illustration of a chocolate chip cookie on the front with the phrase ‘“That’s the way the cookie crumbles!” written in swirly type.

  “How appropriate,” I said. “This is the one!”

  I wriggled myself into a pair of polka-dot leggings that looked like chocolate chips and topped off the outfit with a matching scarf.

  I was ready to bake in style!

  As I headed into the kitchen, I passed Mom and Dad in the hallway. They were still rubbing the sleep from their eyes.

  Moments later, while I was eating my cereal at the table, I got a tingling sensation. My spoon stopped in midair, dripping milk.

  I closed my eyes and tilted my head.

  “It’s Billy,” I said.

  “It’s Billy what?” my father asked, yawning.

  Knock. Knock. Knock.

  “It’s Billy at the door,” I said.

  I hopped out of my chair and opened the door. Billy was wearing a baker’s apron over his clothes and a white chef’s hat.

  “Bonjour!” He greeted us. “What’s cooking, good-looking?”

  “Billy!” I said, blushing. “What are you saying?”

  “I don’t know,” he shrugged. “That’s what my dad says to my mom.”

  “We’re going to the bakery to work on our project,” I told my parents. “See you later!”

  “Hold on,” Dad said. “I’ll walk you over and pick up some coffee to help us wake up.”

  “Shake a leg, Mr. Ball,” Billy told him. “Time waits for no man!”

  “Ooh, I like that,” I said. “That can be one of the fortunes we write in our cookies.”

  “Ha!” Billy laughed. “Then this is going to be a piece of cake. I’ve got thousands of them.”

  “Speaking of cake,” I said to Billy. “Wait until you hear about the dream I had last night. I think it’s a bad sign of things that will happen today.”

  “Well, if it involves cake,” he said, “then the outlook must be good.”

  Maybe Billy’s right, I thought, but then why do I feel like something will go wrong?

  Chapter 6

  Recipe for Disaster

  On our way to the House of Sweets, we met Claire and Mrs. Voyance on the corner. Together, we entered the store. It smelled amazing.

  The bakery had long, glass display windows with pastries galore. Sweets and treats stretched as far as the eye could see: cupcakes, tarts, croissants, muffins, cakes, biscuits, turnovers, and pies, oh, my!

  I’m salivating just thinking about the sight.

  Billy’s parents were busy rushing from customer to customer. When his dad had a free moment, Mr. Katsikis brought us into the kitchen.

  “Welcome to my magic workshop,” he announced. “Are you excited to be here?”

  Claire and I admired the kitchen. “This is so cool,” I exclaimed.

  “I’ll return when the breakfast rush slows down to help you,” Mr. Katsikis said. “Please, don’t burn the place down!” He eyed Billy and left.

  Everything gleamed with a metallic sheen. There were big tools for kneading and mixing dough hanging from the wall and trays of pastries fresh out of the oven next to more trays ready to go in. The smell was sweet and tasty.

  “MMMMmmm . . .” I said, licking my lips.

  As I reached for a fresh, gooey, chocolate chip cookie, Billy swatted my hand away.

  “Don’t eat anything,” Billy warned. “My dad has eyes everywhere.”

  “Okay, gang,” said Claire. “Let’s concentrate and come up with some fortunes.”

  We went and sat at an empty counter. Claire opened her notebook to a fresh sheet of paper.

  I took out my pink gel pen from my backpack. It was decorated with swirly glitter and had a fuzzy yellow star at the top.

  “Isn’t that your inspiration pen?” Billy asked.

  “Why, yes,” I replied. “And it will help us come up with fabulous fortunes.”

  I rubbed my chin and stared at the pen.

  “Marvelous moonbeams!” I cried. “I’ve got a good one!”

  “Okay, Ball,” Billy said. “Let’s hear it!”

  “Always follow your dreams,” I answered and wrote it down.

  “That’s a good one,” said Claire. “My turn . . .”

  She thought for a sec.

  “Got it!” she exclaimed. “You are a star — don’t forget to shine.”

  I clapped my hands and smiled.

  “Ooh, ooh, I have one,” Billy said. “Don’t pick on your sister when she’s holding a baseball bat!’”

  Claire and I exchanged looks. “Huh?” we said.

  “Live and learn,” Billy replied. He leaned forward to show us a bump the size of a golf ball on the top of his head. “Wish I had a fortune keep me out of that misfortune.”

  We laughed and continued coming up with more sayings. When we finished, each one was cut up into a strip of paper.

  Mr. Katsikis entered the kitchen. He was holding aprons for Claire and me.

  “Okay, my junior bakers,” he said. “Let’s get cooking.”

  Moments later, we had gathered our ingredients and laid them out on the table. Claire and I measured a half cup of flour, a half a cup of sugar, and a teaspoon of vanilla.

  Billy cracked open two eggs and separated the yolks out.

  Then we mixed them all up in a bowl to create our cookie batter.

  “Now we must preheat the oven to four hundred degrees,” Mr. Katsikis told us.

  Billy jumped up. “I’ll do that!” he yelled.

  He ran over to the oven and turned the giant knob on the side.

  “Initiating . . . preheating . . . sequence!” Billy said in his robot voice.

  “Next we lightly coat a baking sheet with cooking spray,” instructed Mr. Katsikis.

  “Ooh, I want to do that!” I said.

  After Claire finished mixing the cookie batter, we spooned out four dollops and placed them near each corner of the baking sheet. Then we repeated that for the next tray.

  We filled five baking sheets for our first batch.

  “Okay, that’s it,” Billy’s dad said. “Now we put them in the oven for about five minutes.”

  The wait seemed like an eternity! />
  Finally, the oven dinged, signaling our cookies were ready.

  Mr. Katsikis put on oven mitts and removed the piping hot trays. Once they cooled off a bit, we placed a fortune in the middle of each cookie. Then we folded them in half, pressing the very top edges together lightly.

  “Watch this,” said Billy’s dad.

  He gently pulled the ends of the cookie over the rim of a clean mixing bowl.

  “Keep them here until they cool and dry,” he said. “That way they will curve into the fortune cookie shape.”

  “Wow, that was easy,” I said.

  “What did I tell you?” Billy said. “Piece of cake!”

  We completed the second batch and prepped them for the oven.

  After he put them in, Mr. Katsikis got called away by Mrs. Katsikis, leaving us alone.

  “We have five minutes to kill before they’re done,” I said.

  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Billy asked.

  I closed my eyes, tilted my head, and an idea popped in.

  “As I see it, yes,” I replied smiling.

  The three of us shouted, “Paranormal Investigators!”

  Chapter 7

  Sticky Situation

  “BRAINS!!” Billy shouted.

  He had opened a can of apple filling and scooped up two handfuls of the gooey stuff. It slid through his fingers.

  “BRAINS!” Billy said, licking up the filling.

  Then he reached over and wiped his hands on Claire’s apron.

  “Ahhh!” she screamed. “I’ve been slimed!”

  She slumped to the ground gasping for air.

  Grabbing a whisk off the counter, I ran to Claire’s side saying, “Have no fear, I am here! I will stop this creature with my Zombie Zapper.”

  Pointing the utensil at Billy, I shouted, “ZAP! ZAP! BLAM!”