Alone in bed, I can’t fall asleep. I have too many things going through my head. My mind is so full of ideas. All kinds of ideas. Voodoo didn’t turn out the way I expected, that’s for sure. No matter what Dad and Madison say, I don’t think I’ll ever be sure the doll didn’t work. Everything happened: the pizza treat for Sam, us being popular (even if it was only for a short time), Madison becoming nice, and Terri being apart from Dad. And I can accept all of those things—except that last one.
That’s why my brain is about to jump out of my head right now. A voodoo doll—even a Positive Happy Voodoo Doll—is one thing, but a love potion is something totally different. Now I know how things can go wrong, and I wouldn’t let that happen again. And though I don’t care about love that much, I care about Dad. And I care about Dad and Terri.
I know Uncle Arnie’s gifts have gotten me into trouble before, but what I’m thinking about wouldn’t be trouble; it would be love. I find my phone on the floor and text Madison.
Got a plan for Dad and Terri. You in?
A minute later, my phone dings with a text.
Of course! is Madison’s response.
Cool. See ya Monday! I write.
She writes back:
I lie back on my pillow and look up. I don’t know what’s going to happen next, I don’t know what school is going to be like from day to day, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to get Dad and Terri back together. But I have my friends and my family and my dog and my millipede. I have love and maybe some magic, and right now, that’s all I need.
Acknowledgments
An author writes alone, but the final product is definitely a group effort. Many thanks to my agent, Jennifer Rofé, who put me through my paces, and my editor, Caroline Abbey, for seeing potential in Cleo. You’ve made my childhood dream come true.
Others who loved Cleo right off the bat were the young people who read early drafts and gave me great input: Sarah Geithmann, Niko Parker, Henry Dorosin, and the Darkrai Book Club: Emerson Herrera, Ethan Hsu, Brandon Hsu, Miles Straw, and Eoin Janeiro.
Adults were helpful too, of course. Thanks to LA’s Writing Pad, where Cleo spoke her first words, and to my early readers Monte Smith, Lamar Damon, Steve Grieger, Kimberly Gerber-Gallagher, and my brother, Kenny Gallagher, who will not be getting paid $10 for his efforts.
No stranger to storytelling, TONI GALLAGHER earned a journalism degree from Northwestern University and has a successful career in reality TV. She began as a story editor on the early seasons of MTV’s The Real World and was a producer on the beloved Disney Channel show Bug Juice, about real kids at summer camp. Currently she is executive producer of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills on Bravo. Toni lives in Los Angeles and loves finding the magic in it. Visit her at tonigallagherink.com.
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