A Puff of Pink

by Miranda Jones

  “By the way, do you want a ride over to Mary’s tonight?” asked Mrs. Miller.

  “Um—no thanks, Mom,” Ali replied. “I’ll walk.” She wasn’t sure her mom would be too pleased if her cool silver car suddenly turned bright pink—which is what would happen as soon as Ali touched the door handle!

  Mrs. Miller nodded and went downstairs.

  “Genie!” Ali whispered. “Where are you?”

  “Over here,” Genie called, appearing cross-legged on Ali’s pillow. “Well, that didn’t go too badly, did it? I think I’d better come with you to Mary’s, though. You might need my help.”

  Ali raised her eyebrows. “Your help?” she echoed. “You’re the one who got me into this mess!” Anxiously she glanced at the hourglass on Genie’s wrist, but only a few grains of sand had trickled through so far. Ali sighed. It looked like her wish was going to last for a long time.

  “But the pink looks lovely,” Genie insisted, bouncing on the pillow. “It’s my favorite color. Lots of nice things are pink—like bubble gum and cotton candy and roses and the sky at sunset.…”

  “That doesn’t help,” Ali grumbled. “Just tell me how I’m supposed to go to Mary’s house and not turn anything pink?”

  Genie bounced so hard that she flew into the air and did a somersault like a gymnast. “Whoopee! I’m pretty good at this, don’t you think? You could always phone and tell her you can’t come,” she suggested as she landed on the pillow.

  “Good idea,” Ali agreed eagerly. Then her face fell. “No, I can’t do that. I’d have to touch the phone, and it would turn pink.”

  “Then you’ll just have to go,” Genie advised. “But don’t touch anything. And wait for me! I won’t be long.” She vanished, leaving just a puff of pink smoke behind her.

  “Don’t touch anything?” Ali repeated, frowning. “How am I supposed to do that?” She reached out to pick up her green backpack. In a flash it turned bright pink. Ali shook her head and sighed. It was impossible not to touch things.

  Whoosh! Little Genie appeared on Ali’s pillow again. Instead of wearing her usual genie clothes, she had changed into jazzy pink pants and a sparkly jacket. Her ponytail holder glittered with pink jewels.

  “What do you think?” She beamed, striking a pose. “With all this pink around, I didn’t want to feel left out.”

  “Very nice,” Ali said. She couldn’t help smiling as Genie strutted up and down the bed like a supermodel. “You’d better let me put you in the backpack.”

  She reached out, but Genie leapt back. “I know I love pink, but I don’t want to be pink!” She grinned. “I’ll get into the backpack myself.”

  Well, that’s nice, Ali thought a bit crossly as she put the backpack on the bed and watched Genie wriggle into the pocket. After all, it was all Genie’s fault that she had a touch of pink. And was she really going to be able to visit Mary without touching anything? Ali was beginning to feel very, very worried.

  Chapter Four

  Flower Power

  Taking a deep breath, Ali slung her backpack over her shoulder and went out of the bedroom. “Don’t touch anything,” she whispered to herself. “Don’t touch anything.” Just to make sure, she jammed her hands tightly into the pockets of her jeans.

  “Remember, don’t touch anything,” Genie said, popping her head out of the backpack pocket as Ali reached the top of the stairs.

  “I know,” Ali told her. “And don’t make such a fuss—you’re making me nervous!”

  Genie winked at her. “Just trying to help,” she chirped, disappearing into the pocket again.

  Ali walked downstairs, feeling as if she was treading on eggshells. She remembered not to touch the walls or the banisters, but by the time she got to the bottom, she was feeling quite worn out with worry. How was she going to make it all the way to Mary’s? Then she remembered something else and groaned loudly.

  “What’s the matter?” Little Genie peered out of the pocket again.

  “How am I going to open the front door?”

  “Ask your mom or dad to do it for you,” suggested Genie. The kitchen door at the end of the hall was half open, and they could hear Ali’s mom and dad chatting.

  Ali shook her head. “They’ll think I’m nuts,” she whispered.

  “Hold on! Fab idea alert!” Genie craned her neck and beamed up at Ali. “I’ll make myself full size so I can open the door for you, and then I’ll make myself small again. Simple.”

  “No, Genie, it’s too risky—” Ali began. At that moment, the kitchen door opened and her dad came into the hall. Little Genie quickly ducked out of sight.

  “I’m headed to the gym,” he said. “Do you want a ride to Mary’s?”

  “No thanks, Dad, I’m fine,” Ali replied. “It’s such a lovely day, I’d rather walk.”

  Her dad looked a bit surprised. “Okay. See you later then.” To Ali’s relief, he opened the front door just ahead of her Ali scurried after him.

  “Don’t be too late, Ali,” her mom called as she shut the door behind them.

  “Okay, Mom,” Ali said.

  So far, so good, Ali said to herself as her dad held the garden gate open so that she could go through. She waved as he got into his car and drove off with a toot of the horn. Maybe this won’t be too difficult after all, Ali thought.

  “Hello, Ali. How are you?”

  Ali turned to see their neighbor Mrs. Carter standing in her front yard. She had a trowel in her hand.

  “I’m fine, thank you,” Ali replied. She went over to the fence, being careful not to touch it. “How’s Marmalade?”

  Marmalade was Mrs. Carter’s handsome but very timid ginger cat.

  “He’s fine.” Mrs. Carter beamed. “And you know, he’s so much braver now than he used to be. He doesn’t get chased by the other cats at all.”

  Ali grinned. What Mrs. Carter didn’t know was that it was all thanks to the little cartoon tiger Genie had brought to life for Ali’s first wish. The tiger had frightened all the neighborhood cats away with his deafening roar!

  Bzzzzz!

  Ali jerked sideways as a bee flew right in front of her face. As she flapped her hand to scare it away, she brushed against the blue flowers that were over by the fence. To Ali’s horror, all the flowers immediately turned bright pink!

  Mrs. Carter didn’t notice. She was too busy looking round the garden. “Now that I think of it, I haven’t seen Marmalade for a little while,” she said with a frown. “I wonder where he is.”

  “Well, I’d better be going,” Ali said quickly. She was just about to turn away when Mrs. Carter let out a shriek.

  “Oh!” she gasped. “Look at those pink flowers!”

  “Um—yes, lovely, aren’t they?” Ali stammered. She saw Little Genie pop her head curiously out of the pocket for a moment and then dive back inside, a grin on her face.

  “But that plant is only supposed to have blue flowers. I’ve never seen a pink variety before. What a wonderful surprise!”

  Ali managed a smile. She could feel her cheeks burning as pink as the flowers. Still, Mrs. Carter seemed to like them.

  “Maybe I should call that gardening channel on TV and tell them I’ve got a brand-new species of flower growing in my garden,” Mrs. Carter went on eagerly. “Perhaps they’ll even come and film it!”

  “That might not be such a good idea,” Ali began. After all, when the wishes were over, the pink flowers would turn blue again. But she didn’t get a chance to say anything else, because just then a miserable yowl interrupted them.

  Miaoooooow!

  Instantly Mrs. Carter forgot about the flowers. “That’s Marmalade!” she exclaimed. “Where is he?”

  Ali looked up. Marmalade was crouched on a branch high in a tall tree.

  “Marmalade!” Mrs. Carter rushed over to the tree and gazed up at her ginger cat. Ali and Genie followed her. “Are you stuck?”

  Marmalade mewed loudly.

  “Oh dear, I think he is stuck,” Mrs. Carter said. />
  Little Genie poked her head out of the backpack pocket. “Poor Marmalade,” she whispered to Ali.

  “If I fetch my stepladder, will you climb up and get him, please, Ali?” asked Mrs. Carter. “I’m not very steady on my feet these days.”

  Ali was just about to agree when a thought struck her. The second she touched Marmalade, the cat would turn pink! “I can’t, Mrs. Carter,” she said, searching desperately for a good excuse. “I’m—I’m scared of heights.”

  “But we’ve got to do something,” Genie whispered. She had become good friends with Marmalade since the incident with the purple tiger. “Ask Mrs. Carter to go inside and fetch some of Marmalade’s favorite cat treats. Then maybe I can do some magic to help him while she’s out of the way.”

  Ali bit her lip. Knowing Little Genie, anything could happen! On the other hand, she agreed that they had to do something to help. “Maybe we can tempt Marmalade down with some of his favorite treats, Mrs. Carter,” she said out loud.

  “That’s an excellent idea. I’ll get some right now.” Mrs. Carter hurried into the house.

  Ali put the backpack down on the grass, and Genie climbed out. She had taken off her jacket.

  “What are you going to do?” Ali asked. But Genie had already closed her eyes and was whispering a spell. Ali could only catch a few words of it. “… bouncing high, jumping up into the sky …”

  There was a puff of white smoke. Ali blinked. A small, round mini-trampoline had appeared under the tree.

  “Please tell me you’re not going to do what I think you’re going to do.” Ali groaned, shaking her head.

  “Well, I don’t know what you think I’m going to do,” said Genie as she climbed onto the trampoline. “But I’m going to jump on the trampoline and bounce myself right into the tree.” Marmalade was staring down at them, purring now that he’d spotted his friend. “Then I can help Marmalade down.”

  “That’s exactly what I thought,” Ali muttered. This was yet another of Genie’s wild ideas!

  “You’ve seen how good I am at bouncing on your bed,” Genie said, beginning to jump up and down. “And this is a magic trampoline, so I’ll be able to go even higher. Wheeee!”

  Ali held her breath as Genie shot up into the air. Boing! Boing! She bounced closer and closer to the branch where Marmalade was sitting, but not quite close enough. The trampoline sent her soaring into the air a third time, and this time Genie managed to grab the branch and climb onto it.

  Marmalade looked very pleased to see her. He purred even more loudly and rubbed his head against Genie.

  “Careful, you’ll knock me off the branch!” Genie laughed. She stroked Marmalade’s ear.

  “Are you okay?” Ali called, peering up into the tree.

  “I’m fine.” Genie shaded her eyes and looked at Ali. “Um—it’s a long way down, isn’t it?”

  “You’d better hurry up,” Ali warned her. “Mrs. Carter will be back any minute.”

  Genie was still staring at the ground. “It’s a long, long way down,” she said in a wobbly voice. Then she gulped and put her hand over her eyes. “You know what, Ali? I just remembered. I’m scared of heights!”

  “What?” Ali exclaimed. “You can’t be!”

  “I am,” Genie moaned. She crouched down on the branch and wrapped her arms around Marmalade’s neck. The cat licked her cheek.

  “But you’re a genie,” Ali pointed out.

  “I know, but genies can be scared of things just like anyone else,” Genie said. She was trembling all over.

  Ali groaned. They were in a real pickle!

  “Stay still, Marmalade!” Genie cried out in alarm. The ginger cat had wriggled free and was padding away from her along the branch. “Don’t leave me.”

  Marmalade stopped, still purring, and stroked Genie’s face with his fluffy tail. Then he set off again. He walked to the end of the branch and jumped neatly down to the one below.

  “Genie, he’s showing you the way down,” Ali called, relief flooding through her. “He wasn’t stuck after all. Can you follow him?”

  “I’ll try. But my knees are all wobbly,” Genie complained, getting to her feet. She crept cautiously along the branch and climbed down to where Marmalade was waiting for her, his head cocked to one side. Then the ginger cat set off again.

  Marmalade made his way down the tree branch by branch. He kept stopping and waiting for Genie to join him until they had climbed down to the lowest branches. Then Marmalade jumped lightly to the ground and sat down to wash his ruffled fur.

  Ali held up the backpack so that Little Genie could climb straight back into the pocket. She’d just slid down out of sight, her ponytail messy and her pink pants covered with leaves, when Mrs. Carter hurried out of the house with a box of cat treats. A second later the trampoline vanished into thin air.

  “Sorry I took so long,” Mrs. Carter panted. “I couldn’t remember where I’d put these.” She stopped when she saw Marmalade sitting on the lawn, licking his paw. “So he got down on his own after all, did he? What a clever boy! First he scared off all those cats, and then he climbed up that enormous tree!”

  “Yes, he’s something,” Ali agreed. “I’ve got to be going now, Mrs. Carter. I’ll see you later.” She hurried out of the garden and along the street. When she was safely out of sight, she stopped and peeped into her backpack. “Genie, are you okay?” she asked in a low voice.

  Genie was lying in the bottom of the pocket, fanning herself with her hand. She smiled weakly at Ali. “I’m fine,” she said. “Phew! That was scary.”

  “Just don’t get any more bright ideas like that,” Ali said firmly.

  Five minutes later Ali reached the O’Connors’ house and breathed a sigh of relief. She’d made it—and she’d managed not to turn anything else pink along the way. Luckily the O’Connors’ front gate was wide open, so she didn’t have to touch it. Mr. O’Connor was always going on at Mary to shut the gate behind her so that Nugget didn’t get out. But now Ali was very glad her friend hadn’t taken any notice.

  I’m doing pretty well, Ali thought proudly as she walked up to the front door Then her face fell. “Oh no!” she said under her breath.

  Chapter Five

  Wash and Dry

  Genie stuck her head out of the pocket. “What’s the matter?” she asked.

  “How am I going to ring the bell?” Ali pointed at the doorbell. “I’ll turn the whole door pink.”

  “Just shout ‘Mary!’ really loudly,” suggested Genie. “She’ll hear you and open the door.”

  “Yes, and so will all the neighbors,” Ali protested.

  “All right, hold up the backpack and I’ll ring the bell,” said Genie.

  Ali lifted the backpack up and Genie leaned out of the pocket toward the bell. She pressed it, but Ali didn’t hear any chimes. “You’ll have to do it harder,” she whispered.

  “Okay,” Genie panted. She put both hands on the bell, took a deep breath, and pressed it again with all her strength. This time Ali heard a faint ring inside the house. Huffing and puffing, Genie slipped back into the pocket a split second before Mary opened the door.

  “Hi,” Ali said. “Sorry I’m late.”

  “That’s okay,” Mary said.

  “What’s up?” Ali asked as she stepped into the house, making sure she didn’t touch the door or Mary on her way in. “You look a bit stressed.”

  Mary rolled her eyes. “Daniel is driving me crazy!”

  Ali couldn’t believe that Daniel could possibly be more annoying than the Bulldozer.

  “What’s he done now?”

  Mary looked embarrassed. “We had this bet,” she explained. “You know how he’s always got lots of girls chasing after him—or so he says.”

  Ali nodded. Every time she saw Daniel, he seemed to have a different girlfriend.

  “Well, he gave his phone number to a girl he met on the bus. I bet him she wouldn’t call,” Mary went on. “And she did. So that means I lost.”

 
; “What did you bet?” Ali asked.

  “I have to wash his dirty soccer jerseys and shorts.” Mary made a face. “And not just his—it’s Daniel’s turn to do his team’s laundry. So I have to wash his teammates’ stinky old jerseys too!”

  “Yuck!” Ali wrinkled her nose. “Can’t you get out of it?”

  “No.” Mary sighed and led the way to the kitchen. “My mom says a deal’s a deal. All the stuff’s in the dryer right now, and Daniel’s running around yelling because he’s got a match in an hour. Can you help me?”

  Ali gulped. “Okay,” she mumbled, hoping she wouldn’t have to touch anything.

  “By the way, I like your new backpack,” Mary said, glancing at Ali. “And your new pink clothes. Don’t tell me you’ve turned into Tiffany’s biggest fan,” she teased.

  Ali shook her head. “Actually, I’ve decided I don’t really like pink that much,” she said glumly.

  The radio was on. Mary’s dad was making a cup of coffee. He grinned at Ali. “Hi, how’re you doing?” he said. “What do you think about Mary doing Daniel’s washing? Pretty impressive, huh?”

  “Well, I’m not doing it again,” Mary said. She went over to the small laundry room next to the kitchen. The clothes in the dryer were still spinning around.

  “Hello, Mr. O’Connor.” Ali carefully put her backpack down on the table.

  “Hey, this is my favorite!” Mary’s dad stopped stirring his coffee as a song started to play on the radio. He began snapping his fingers and swinging his hips. “It’s the new BoyFrenzy single. Have you heard it, Ali?”

  Ali couldn’t stop giggling. Mr. O’Connor was really funny! Mary didn’t think so. She shook her head as her dad danced around the kitchen singing, “Don’t leave me, baby! Please say you’ll never go away!”

  Suddenly Ali heard a noise behind her. It was coming from the backpack. Genie was humming the tune along with Mr. O’Connor. “Shhh, Genie!” Ali shushed under her breath. She looked up to find Mary staring at her.

  “Don’t join in!” Mary told Ali. “It just makes him show off even more.”