The Jefferson Wish

Prologue You’d think our family would learn about wishes. We ran into a lot of trouble a year and a half ago when my sister made a snow wish that came true. It wasn’t just one wish, it ended up being a lot of wishes that came true. Some of them turned out well, but others needed everyone’s help to try to fix them. Our family always makes wishes. Snow wishes. Blowing away an eyelash and making a wish. Throwing a penny in a wishing well. I guess I should have stuck with a penny. Instead, I used a nickel...you know, the one with Thomas Jefferson on it. Now everyone thinks I’m crazy. Chapter 1 ~ Another Wish “I can’t believe you’re going to be gone for a whole week and miss school,” whined Allie as she traced a circle on the carpet with her shoe. Allie is my best friend in the whole world. I’m totally going to miss her while we’re on our vacation. I wish she could come with us. I smiled and said, “It isn’t that long. We can still text all of the time. Remember, there’s a lot of learning that is going to happen on this trip, too, so it’s not all fun and games. I’m still excited, though!” “You’re just so lucky, Polly,” said Allie. “Yes, I’m jealous, okay. I wish I could go on vacation. Virginia is so far away from Michigan!” “I’ve been wanting to go to Monticello for as long as I can remember. Monticello is this mysterious magical place they go visit every year. And, then there’s this “conversation” that they like to go to, which is why we’re going now and missing school. It must be really amazing because they keep going back,” I explained. “I just don’t see what’s so exciting about visiting the home of Thomas Jefferson. I mean, the guy has been dead for like two hundred years. But your aunt and uncle are a lot of fun, so I’m sure the trip will still be a blast,” replied Allie. Jason came running into the living room with his duffle bag dragging behind him. “I’m all packed. Are you? I’m ready first!” I hate it when he beats me at things. We’re always competing, and it’s pretty even. I’m better at some things, he’s better at other things. I guess it’s a twin thing. There was a time, over a year ago, when we stopped competing for a while, but that was a very strange time. A lot of weird things were happening in our family, especially with Tayleigh, our older sister, and our older brother, Bryant, who left for college sooner than students usually do. It was definitely a strange year. “You may be packed first, but I call shotgun!” I yelled back. “You can’t call shotgun. Aunt Leigh and Uncle TJ will sit in the front seat,” argued Jason. “Well if one of them wants to take a break and stretch out in the far back, I get shotgun whenever it comes available,” I interrupted. “Whatever,” Jason sarcastically said, then he turned to Allie. “Bye. Hopefully you can survive without Polly for a week.” “You just wish you had a best friend as awesome as I am,” sassed Allie. Allie and Jason get along pretty well. Lots of times the three of us do stuff together as long as it doesn’t make Jason look too uncool in front of his other friends. Sometimes his friend Scott, who we’ve called Scooter as long as I can remember, joins us, but he kind of bugs me. “Don’t forget to pack your raincoat,” shouted Mom from the kitchen. “May in Virginia can mean sunny and 80 degrees or rainy and 50 degrees. You need to be prepared for anything.” Jason took off running up the stairs back to his room. Obviously he forgot his raincoat. I already had mine packed, but I still needed to get a few other things like my iPod. I started to walk toward the front door with Allie as I said, “I’ll miss you tons, but you’ll survive. I’ll even text you some pictures of whatever we’re doing. I have to finish packing, though, because we’re leaving in just a few minutes. Have a great week at school.” “Hahaha. Funny. See you on Sunday,” said Allie as she gave me a quick hug. “Oh look, there’s your uncle’s Jeep coming down the street. I guess you’d better hurry. You’d better text nonstop or else!” I waved at Allie as she got on her bike to ride home and waved at Uncle TJ as he pulled into the driveway. “I’ll tell everyone you’re here!” I shouted as I ran back inside. “Come on guys, Uncle TJ and Aunt Leigh are here!” I walked up the stairs to my room to finish packing, thinking about how lucky I am. I get to miss almost a week of school. School is okay, but it’s still fun to miss some. I know we’ll learn a lot on this trip, but it’ll also be fun. I get to see what’s so special about Thomas Jefferson. I think we’re going to see some other presidential homes. We even get to meet Thomas Jefferson. I wonder how the person playing President Jefferson knows how to act? It’s not like they had video cameras to record what Jefferson was like. Maybe he’s not really like Jefferson at all. I hope I have everything I need packed. It’s hard to know what to pack for when we don’t know everything we’re going to be doing. I mean, I know we’re going to Virginia, but I’m not sure of what we’re doing when we get there. I guess I should pack extra things just in case. Luckily Tayleigh and I wear almost the same size, so I can use some of her things if I don’t have the right stuff. She always packs too much. “Are you daydreaming again?” asked Mom as she stood in my doorway. “I guess I was. I was just thinking about the trip,” I replied smiling. “Well quit thinking and get started on that trip,” ordered Mom. “Everyone is downstairs waiting for you.” She walked over and gave me a long hug. “I’m going to miss you while you’re gone. Call me every night and tell me something special about the day. I’ll look forward to those calls.” “As will I,” added my Dad, standing behind her. “I need one of those hugs, too.” I hugged them both and lugged my duffle bag downstairs. Uncle TJ grabbed it and threw it into the back of the Jeep. “Two down, one to go,” said Uncle TJ.