Please, oh please, let that be it. Witch or no witch, I’m exhausted. Oh . . . look at poor Austin. He looks so . . . hopeless. OK, I can do this.
“Just a little bit longer, and this nightmare will be behind us,” April said to Austin.
“April,” Eve asked, “are you ready?”
“Heck yeah!” April sat up. Her heart was still thumping.
“Last step,” Eve said. “Yay! Put Austin on the closet floor. Close the door. Hold the hairs in your hand. Then say this:
“Heaven, please help with the recent past,
To undo the spell that I just cast.
Please take this request as formal,
And turn my brother back to normal.”
twenty-five
April’s eyes widened. “Hey! That’s what I said before.”
“Really?” Eve asked.
“Yep,” April said, proudly lifting up her chin. “I found it. It wasn’t in a cool hundred-year-old book, but on Google.”
“That’s good. You were doing the right thing,” Eve said, excited.
“Hmmm. Interesting,” said Grace. “I couldn’t find it on Google, but April could with the same keywords. And, the online spell is the same as the spell in your book—well, at least the words are the same. I wonder what witch put it online. And, how many other witches are there?” Grace pondered, looking off into the distance.
“Ok, Sherlock. Let’s figure that out later. Right now, I have to worry about getting my brother back.” April smiled, looking down at Austin. Austin tilted his head to the side. April felt like he was giving her a small smile.
April picked the hairs up from her desk. “Wish me luck!” she said, looking at her friends lying on the floor.
“Good luck,” Eve and Grace said together. They both crossed their fingers.
April scooped Austin up from the bed with one hand. She whispered in his ear, “This will work.”
She placed him on the clean closet floor. He lay down, looking up at her. His eyes were wide and unblinking.
April held her breath with her eyes locked onto his. “Remember when I was super sick a few months ago with that really high fever? You even brought me soup in bed. You were so worried. Your eyes looked just like they do right now.”
She could feel huge, tight knots in her stomach.
I think I may puke.
“My mother is going to call Grace’s parents any minute now. Then, I will be in SO much trouble for—geez—everything.”
I’ve run out of time. This is it. I’m starting to feel dizzy. Oh no. What if this doesn’t work? Then Grace and Eve will get in trouble, too, for helping me. Then, I will be a bad friend, the worst daughter, and absolutely the most horrible sister in the entire world. April exhaled.
“Just breathe,” Eve said, trying to give April a smile.
“April?” Grace asked. “You have to close the closet door.”
“I know but, but, what if . . .”
“April, it will work because, as my grand-mère said, ‘Some people have gifts.’”
April took a breath. She looked at Eve. “You think I really have a gift? Do you really think I am a witch? You don’t think that door thing was some weird, uh . . .”
“I know you have a gift,” Eve said, smiling.
“Remember the floating dog thing, too?” Grace asked.
April smiled at her friends, but still felt jittery inside.
She wiped her sweaty palm on her pants. Smiling at Austin, she closed the closet door.
I promise if he is turned back, then I will not do anything like this to him again. I know I will want to, but he doesn’t deserve this. Yeah, he may bother me, but, but he also protects me.
April closed her eyes.
She said, “Heaven above, please help with the recent past,
To undo the spell that I just cast.
Please take this request as formal,
And turn my brother back to normal.”
And then she slowly opened the door.
twenty-six
When April looked into the closet, she saw her angry, red-faced brother. His arms were tightly crossed. His dark brown hair was standing straight up on his head.
April gasped and put her hand over her mouth. Uh oh. Maybe the run into the door caused some damage. He looked like he had been struck by lightning and had a massive sunburn.
She dropped her hands and jumped on him. She hugged him so tightly.
He pushed her off. “I cannot believe you did that to me!” he yelled.
“Austin, I’m sorry,” April pleaded.
“I don’t want to hear it!” he said. Their mom always said that when they were in trouble. “I’m not going to tell Mom and Dad, but you are going to do all of my chores for the next month.” He walked to her door.
“Wait, Austin!” she grabbed his arm.
“What!”
April slowly raised her eyes from the ground. “I guess I’m the ‘Prankster of the Year’ now.” She lifted one corner of her mouth, giving Austin a half grin.
Austin’s face was beet red. He narrowed his eyes and tightened his lips. “Now it’s two months of chores.” He forcefully turned the knob.
“Wait! Wait!” April said jumping up and down.
“What!” he said, his teeth clenched together.
“You have to sneak out, and then come in through the front door. Mom and Dad think you’re at Michael’s.”
Austin glared at her, not even noticing the other girls. His tightly squeezed lips relaxed. “Fine. But, I don’t have my book bag or overnight stuff.”
“Just say you left everything at Michael’s. I left my stuff there, too. Just say you’ll pick it up later, you’re tired, and you forgot.”
“Fine. Go downstairs and watch out for me. I’ll sneak out the door. Then, I’ll come back in and slam it,” he said. “And you can’t let Mom and Dad know that you’re doing my chores, either.” He pointed his finger in her face.
That used to get April really angry. But, she quietly looked down at her feet. “OK. I promise.”
“Hi, Austin. Nice to see you back with us,” Grace said, giving an awkward smile.
Austin glanced at her and rolled his eyes.
“Austin? Be nice,” April said. “They helped get you back to normal.”
He glared at her again. She looked down at the rug and left her bedroom.
She loudly stomped down the stairs. Her parents were in the kitchen. “Ummm . . . Mom and Dad, can we have a snack?”
“Sure, princess,” her dad answered.
“Can we have some—”
Bam! The front door slammed.
“Hello?” Austin asked from the hallway.
“We’re in here!” April yelled.
“Great, you’re home,” their mom said with a smile. “I was getting ready to call Rita.”
“This is a sleeping record for you, Austin,” Mr. Appleton said, putting his hand on Austin’s shoulder.
“I guess, uh . . .” Austin said, looking at April.
Oh no! Oh no! Austin, think. Think of something to say. We can’t get caught now!
Austin stared at April. April swallowed hard.
April jumped in. “I thought you and Michael stayed up playing Michael’s new video game.” April had her eyes locked on Austin’s.
“Well, yeah. We played it for a while. It was pretty late when we went to bed. But I guess, I was just, uh, tired,” Austin said, smirking at April.
April smiled. They both looked at their mom and dad.
Mrs. Appleton opened the refrigerator. “Anyway, it’s perfect timing. You kids ready for a snack?”
Grace and Eve came running down the stairs.
“Everyone go wash your hands then come sit—” ACHOO!!! “I wonder what is bothering my allergies. I’m usually only allergic to animals,” Mrs. Appleton said, looking at April’s father.
April, Austin, Eve, and Grace walked toward the bathroom, chuckling. They all looked at each other and smiled. A
ustin ran into the bathroom first. He slammed the door in the girls’ faces.
Grace looked at April. “I guess everything is back to normal in Appleton-land?”
“I sure hope so,” April said, letting out a huge breath. “Well, I will be up to my eyeballs in laundry and dishes. But it’s better than what Mom and Dad would do to me—”
Austin came out of the bathroom. He quietly said to April, “You can start by cleaning my room tonight. You know Dad expects our rooms clean by the time we leave for Sunday dinner at Nana’s. You may want to get a head start.”
He walked away, chuckling to himself. Grace’s eyes bulged. She pointed at Austin’s back. She covered her mouth with one hand, so as to not let out a loud laugh. Eve and April started to laugh, looking at the little white chunks of dog hair stuck to the back of his shirt.
“OMG! OMG!” Grace said, laughing.
April closed her eyes. I wish my new glasses were here right now.
The doorbell rang. April’s mother opened the door and the delivery man handed her a small package. April’s mom looked at it. “April, your new glasses are here.” Her mother walked into the kitchen with the package and began opening it.
“You just did that, huh?” Grace asked, wide-eyed.
“Yep,” April smirked. “So, what are you guys doing next weekend?”
About the Author
Talia Aikens-Nuñez wanted to be a meteorologist, a politician and a lawyer. It was raising her bilingual children that inspired Talia to write multicultural children’s books. Her family loves nature so much that she and her husband vowed that they will always try to live close to water, so now they live on a river in Connecticut.
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