Velvet and the Three Wishes
By Beatrice Bernhard
Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Courtney who lived in a small condo with her mom and Nana. Courtney had long black hair and wore the same turquoise sweater with white bunnies on it almost every day. Her nana was very sassy and loved to cook so she was almost always wearing her apron with a picture of vegetable soup on it. One time she even wore it to bed, so she didn’t have to put it back on in the morning. Her mom was more into sporty clothes. She loved tank tops and colorful sneakers with laces. And on top of that, she was constantly flapping her gums about playing sports. Courtney and her family didn’t have a whole lot of money, so it was hard for them to afford a nice place to live.
One lovely evening, at the end of a long school day, when the sky turned pink and orange and crickets began softly chirping, Courtney headed toward the back door of her classroom where her nana was waiting to bring her home. Just then, she saw a shiny, gold object sitting in the lost and found next to the door. Courtney thought that it was her long-lost headphones that she used to listen to her favorite songs every weekend. So, she grabbed them and stuffed them in her pocket.
When Courtney got home, she flopped her backpack on their small kitchen counter, then ran to her room, which wasn't much different from the condo itself. It was small and cramped, but had just enough space to fit a closet, small desk, and bed. Courtney’s desk had a variety of colored pens and pencils. Her bed was a light beige color with sheets that looked like the cosmos.
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Courtney sat down on her bed and pulled her headphones out of her pocket. At least she thought they were her headphones but was shocked to find that they weren’t. The object she pulled out was about the size of her fist and looked a little like the kind of teapot you would see in fairy tales. Out of curiosity, Courtney shook the little teapot which began to light up with a bright, purple light. The whole room now looked like a disco party!
Then, as if the whole thing had never happened, the room stopped spinning, the purple light disappeared, and the teapot’s lid was mysteriously open. Courtney turned around and saw a sparkly purple hummingbird perching on her bedpost. And it didn’t help the bewilderment when the hummingbird began speaking!
“Hi, I’m Velvet...” she paused, “don't tell anyone, but I’m a magical wish-granting hummingbird.”
Courtney stood there, flabbergasted at what she had just heard. A few seconds later, still astonished, Courtney asked, “Wait, you can talk?!”
“Yep,” said Velvet with satisfaction, but now her tone changed. “If only it weren't for Dr. V., Bob, and Fred! Those creeps want to steal my magic and take over the city!”
“Who’s Dr. V.?” asked Courtney curiously.
“He’s a mad scientist, a REALLY mad one,” said Velvet.
How about your teapot?” asked Courtney. “Is it made of gold or a rare metal?”
“It IS made of gold, but with me in it, it’s like comparing ten cents to a million dollars.”
“Whoa!” said Courtney in amazement.
“Courtney, honey, dinner time!” shouted her nana from downstairs.
“Uh, my nana’s calling me... talk later?” she asked Velvet.
“Sure, see ya ‘round,” then Courtney hurried downstairs just in time to see her nana’s pork buns come out of the oven.
“Yummy!” said Courtney. “Did you happen to get some oranges at the grocery store today?” asked Courtney hopefully.
“Sorry honey,” said Nana looking up from cutting cucumbers for dinner. “I must’ve forgotten. Ya know I’m old and often even forget to put my teeth in. In fact, where are they now?” she said, looking around the room.
“Aww,” said Courtney, “I wish there were oranges to eat with the buns,” she said softly.
Suddenly, a small purple light appeared on the table next to Courtney’s plate. It twisted and swirled around then transformed into a small dish of oranges. Nana turned around and nearly had a heart attack when she saw the oranges.
“What-… how did the... am I … d-did you use a knife without permission?! Ya know what, I'm just going to go take a break … lately, I’ve been seeing things that are not really there.”
Courtney realized her food was getting cold, so she ate the buns and the oranges which miraculously weren't a projection or prank. Then she ran back to her room.
“You’re welcome,” Velvet said. Courtney turned around.
“Wait, you did that!?” screeched Courtney in surprise.
“Yeah, I should’ve mentioned, if you say ‘wish’ and I hear it, it automatically gets granted, and since you just used one of your wishes you now have two left.”
“Well,” said Courtney “I’m not going to say wish anymore when YOU’RE around unless I really want to. And also, wow, I even said it so quietly, and why did you follow me downstairs anyway?”
Velvet loudly cleared her throat. “I have been alone in that teapot,” said Velvet, viciously pointing her wing at the teapot, “for so long I ran out of paper on my calendar!!!” shouted Velvet at the top of her lungs.
“Ok, ok, you can stop shouting because I already lost an eardrum from THAT experience.”
The next morning Courtney was rushing around her room trying to remember everything she needed to bring to school.
OK, I have my homework... and … my sweater and … uh... oh Velvet!” Courtney said as she turned around. “You’re going to have to stay here so-,” Courtney paused as she looked at Velvet gazing toward the birds in the sky “Hey,” said Courtney “you OK?”
“Yeah,” answered Velvet “I just... wish I was free.”
“What do you mean?” said Courtney.
Well, when you’re a wish-granter, you can't do whatever you want. You always must be around to grant wishes and serve your master, which is you... currently. I remember Dr. V., Bob, and Fred had me last before accidentally dropping me and then I was found by one of your teachers and that’s how I ended up in your lost and found basket. So now you’re my master... ya get it?”
“Can’t you just free yourself?” Courtney asked.
“No, I can only be free if you... or anyone else wishes me free” explained Velvet.
“Oh,” Courtney said.
“Courtney, honey, the bus is here!” called Nana from downstairs.
Courtney looked up. “Ya know what,” Courtney said, “Change of plans, quick, get in my bag.”
Velvet turned into a swirl of purple sparkles and disappeared into her teapot.
“Well, that could work too,” said Courtney before putting the teapot into her bag and sprinting outside just before the bus pulled away.
But little did she know that the most terrifying evildoers of the city, Dr. V., Bob, and Fred, who were standing right outside of the bus disguised as kids, wanted to steal Velvet from Courtney (one of their experiments went wrong which made them all the height of 5th graders!). Dr. V. had a solid background in science, but one day, an experiment went wrong which blew the roof off the lab where he worked. After that, he got fired and had been hunting for his revenge ever since.
“At last,” said Dr. V. in his scratchy evil voice, “our teapot tracker has led us to... SUCCESS!”
“Can it like... track gold from a million miles away?” asked Bob, the dumbest of them all.
“No, you idiot!” scolded Dr. V. “I put a tracking chip on it in case we ever lost it."
“Ohhhhhh, I get it,” said Fred, the skinny one. “When we lost the teapot, you found it and put a tracking chip on it so we could find it together.”
“No, no, no!!! You got it all wrong!” shouted Dr. V.
“I did not!” said Fred.
“Yes, you did!”
“No, I didn't!”
This went on for way too long.
As Courtney climbed aboard the bus, Dr. V., Bob, and Fred sat down in the seat behind her. When the bus began moving, Bob reached into Courtney’s unzipped backpack with pictures of sushi on it and pulled out the teapot that contained Velvet.
“Great work boys, now, keep it down, we don’t want to attract any attention,” whispered Dr. V.
“Hey boss,” said Bob very loudly, “what does the V in your name stand for? Does it stand for vain? Because if it does then that makes a lot of sense.”
Dr. V. looked at Bob like he was about to explode. “Now,” he said softly, but impatiently still glaring at Bob “whatever you do don’t make a-”
Bob couldn't keep himself together anymore and blurted out, “I wish the school bus could fly!” before Dr. V. could finish his sentence.
Suddenly, the bus began to lift into the air. All the kids began screaming. Even the bus driver was losing his mind!
“You idiot!” snarled Dr. V. “I just told you not to make any wishes! It could draw attention!”
“Sorry boss,” said Bob with shame in his voice.
Courtney finally realized what was going on. She knew that if she didn't do something fast, Dr. V., Bob, and Fred would soon be long gone with the teapot.
“Velvet,” she said frantically “I wish the bus was filled with fifty chickens!”
“Ummmm... are you sure? That's a weird thing to wish for. Because if they make it out of here alive, they're going to be YOUR pets. Do you know how much chicken scratch you’ll need? It’s like-”
“Velvet,” interrupted Courtney, “just do it, I’m using it as a distraction.”
“Oh, I get it!” replied Velvet.
Velvet’s magic filled the bus with purple light and the next moment, it was chickens. One chicken clucked and from there, it was a total nightmare. Every one of them was going absolutely bananas. They were flying around and crashing into the windows. Even now, Dr. V., Bob, and Fred were going nuts too.
Courtney realized this was her chance. She grabbed the teapot out of Bob’s hand (who was too busy freaking out to realize what had happened) and managed to get the bus doors open and hop out with Velvet close behind. Since the bus had already been moving before starting to float, they were now already close to school. Courtney sprinted all the way there, burst through the doors, and hid in her locker with Velvet.
Courtney stopped to catch her breath. She figured that by now, Dr. V., Bob, and Fred had probably found out what had happened and were coming her way. So, she needed to act quickly to finally grant Velvet the one wish she had waited for her whole life. “Velvet, I’m ready for my final wish. I wish you were free.”
Suddenly, Velvet began to light up bright purple. It looked like she was going to burst. A giant purple flare of sparkles exploded across the school. A moment later, Courtney looked down and didn't see a light... or teapot... just Velvet, sitting in her hands.
Courtney walked outside holding Velvet and held her up in the morning sun. “Be free, Velvet,” said Courtney. “You deserve it.”
After that, Velvet spread her wings and took off into the sky. When she got a few feet away, she turned around, hovering in the air like only a hummingbird can, and looked at Courtney with such gratitude and friendship, before zipping away and disappearing into the sun. While Courtney was sad to see her friend go, she was also happy that Velvet finally got her wish and was free.
That evening, when Courtney got home, her mom and nana looked at her in the most excited, happy way.
“What?” asked Courtney, confused.
“Courtney,” they said together, “we have finally saved enough money to open our very own noodle shop!”
“OUR noodle shop,” said Nana.
“What, no way, you guys are the best!”
A few months later, after a LOT of painting, hammering, designing, and fixing, they finally opened the noodle shop. On opening day, Courtney found the weekly newspaper on the doorstep right as they arrived. Her jaw dropped to the floor as she read the front-page headline:
“Dr. V. and His Gang are Finally Caught After Smuggling Countless Chickens onto a School Bus.” She’d never felt more content in her life.
That same day, Courtney hung a hummingbird feeder in a small tree right outside the front window. As she watched it day after day, she wondered if one
