Dreams Come True

Maria Brooks

Even though I stood in the corner with a headache, dabbling away my thoughts on my phone, I didn't want to look at anything else. My mind was frozen, the people were noisy, and I took in a deep breath while counting to five. Holding in the breath for five more seconds, I suddenly flinched when Jacelyn appeared behind me.

Ugh! How can anyone relax in such a huge crowd?

"Hey, Maria!"

"Oh, hey, Jacelyn!"

Beside Jacelyn, there was her husband, Paul, who shook hands with me. The two of them were dressed in matching king and queen t-shirts with jeans. Paul had white hair and freckles.

It's cute that they dress up like this sometimes.

"Nice to see you again," he said.

"Same to you."

The three of us walked around the various toy shops, bakeries, booths selling makeup, and women who kept insisting we'd try their perfume samples.

"Excuse me, why don't you try our orchid perfume? It's from the latest and most trendy collection."

That’s not true. I’ve seen that perfume in online stores as far back as last year.

"No, thank you. My room is overfilled with..."

"Oh, come on, a whiff won't hurt..." she said, spraying the sample in my direction.

As soon as I inhaled it, I began sneezing and coughing like crazy.

She did that on purpose. She must have!

"Oh, sorry!" she said.

"Hmph. Let's get out of here, Jacelyn."

"Sure thing."

The three of us walked away in silence. I drooped my head, not paying heed to the various people who stared at me, only to whisper or laugh about something to their friend.

I must be like an exhibit at the zoo for them. Why else is everyone looking at me in that way?

In front of us, there were groups of booths selling watches, jewelry, bags, and everything that I already owned.

When will they sell something that I don't already own? Come to think of it, what is it that I don't have?

I sighed while Jacelyn and Paul exchanged looks.

"Sorry, Maria. I shouldn't have forced you to come."

"Ah, no worries. You didn't force me. It was my own decision," I said.

"If you say so."

It was then that a specific booth caught my eye. Decked in purple velvet and shiny, golden orbs, a woman with blonde hair and purple eyes sat with a bunch of plastic bottles with corks on top. Inside were slips of paper.

Was I seeing it right? Are they selling wishes? Yes, that must be it! It reads, "Make a wish! 3."

Fantastic! It's just what I need.

"Let's go... umm... there," I said.

"Where? To that gimmicky booth? It's cheap, and the bottles are cute, but we all know it won't come true. I suppose it can serve as a cute decoration. Come, Maria, let's have ice cream together. My shift will end in two hours. There's a good deal at the local parlor," said Jacelyn.

"Sure, but can I take a quick look first?" I asked.

"Alright. Let's see if they can grant me a raise," she chuckled.

We walked up to the booth.

"Welcome! Write your wish on this paper, add it to the inside of a bottle of your choice, add crystals, beads, or colored sand, and plug it. And then, you must blow on it to make a wish!" she said.

"Oh? Sounds good to me," I said.

"Please pay here," she said, pointing at a piggy bank.

"Here!"

I spent two minutes glancing from the heart-shaped bottle to the star-shaped one.

Hearts are good for romance, right? Ah, to have a wonderful romance of my own! But usually, people wish on a star, right?

I realized I was taking too long when Jacelyn tapped my shoulder and said, "Just choose one."

"Yep. I'll go for the heart, then."

AH! No. I should have asked for the star!

"Alrighty. Here you go! Pink, green, or yellow?" she asked.

"Umm, do you have blue? Frost blue?" I mumbled.

"I'll have to check my inventory. We probably don't have that exact shade, but we do have... oh, hey! We have sky blue. Here you go!"

Who's going to tell her that sky blue isn't the same shade as frost blue? Ah. Whatever. I should be glad that I got blue.

I dropped a number of pink star crystals, purple beads, and a single green clover.

"Alright, it's time to write your wish," said the shop assistant.

"Oh, okay," I said. "Do you mind, Jacelyn? This is private."

"Okay."

In clear handwriting, I wrote, "I wish for a boyfriend!"

There we go! No one is going to know...

Some kid with an electric fan zipped past us to the counter. He wore a colorful cap and blew the plastic fan with a cat design while wiping off his sweat.

"Excuse me, may I have one?" he said.

My tiny slip of paper flew away, and Jacelyn caught it.

What?! What are the odds that something like that ever happens to anyone in real life?

"Oh, don't worry, Maria! I got it. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," she said.

"Thanks, Jacelyn."

I smiled stiffly, tucking my hair behind my ear.

We plugged in the cork and blew on the bottle. I prayed with all my might to each and every God, Goddess, and Deity ever known by mankind. Then, I shoved the bottle into my bag.

"Can we have ice cream now?" asked Jacelyn.

"Yes, of course. Wait a minute..."

The crochet doll! Where is it? It was on my bag a few seconds ago! Damn it. I hope I didn’t lose it. It took me so long to make it.

"AH! My doll! Where did it go?" I yelled, looking around frantically.

"Relax, Maria. We'll find it. What did it look like?" asked Paul.

"Oh, he had blue hair, a white hoodie, blue jeans, beady little eyes..."

Just then, a young man with frost blue hair, muscular arms with a tattoo, a sleeveless white hoodie, and denim jeans with sneakers came close to us.

Huh? This guy looks familiar. He has the same features as my doll. I know I was hoping that my wish would come true, but I certainly didn’t believe it would. No, this is too good to be true. My crochet doll has turned into a young man. Yes! That’s got to be it.

“Hi. Maria?” he asked.

“Oh. My goodness! I can’t believe it!” I shrieked.

I grinned from ear to ear.

“Yes, what is it? I didn’t expect you to be so happy to see me again. What’s up?” he said.

He looks even better than the vision I had while making the doll. Such a handsome, yet slightly feminine face, with smooth muscles…

“Umm, Maria? You okay?” he asked.

“Yes! Never been better. What should I name you?” I pondered.

“Name? Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten who I am,” he said.

“No, I do remember crocheting you…” I said

The guy stared into my eyes while his mouth gaped open.

“That’s a bit of a weird joke, I don’t get…” he said.

“Umm, Maria?” whispered Jacelyn.

“What?” I asked.

“We found your doll.”

My grin vanished immediately. Soon, my face was flushed with heat.

“Oh, thanks, Jacelyn… You see, I thought it was funny that you look exactly like my crochet doll right here,” I murmured.

The guy blinked several times and asked if he could look at it.

“Aww. Cute. Don’t tell me you’ve made a doll out of me without even remembering who I am?” he said.

“Well…”

“I must apologize on behalf of my friend! You see, she went to that wishing booth right there, wished for a boyfriend…” said Jacelyn, as her husband stepped on her foot.

“Ouch!” she continued, “I’m sorry, Maria. I have failed you.”

“Wait, so let me get this straight,” said the guy, chuckling in a high-pitched voice.

The boy narrated the story exactly as it happened. Meanwhile, I stood in the corner, head turned away, with my hand on my arm.

“That’s our Maria,” said Jacelyn.

“Cute,” he said.

My heartbeat sped up like crazy.

He thinks that I’m an idiot! He also thinks I’m cute. If we add all that up, he must think I’m a cute idiot. That’s not very nice.

“Ugh, this is so awkward! I’m sorry, what’s your name? I can’t remember…”

“Dylus.”

“What?”

“Dylus…”

“You’re that guy from the reading circle!” I said, with even more energy than before.

“Well, yes,” he said, smiling. “At least you remember my name.”

“Of course. You always interrupted everyone whenever it was their turn to speak.”

“Ugh. It’s all in the past. I’d ask you to forget about all that.”

“But why? You’ve always been an eloquent speaker,” I said.

“Forget it. Well, it was nice meeting you after so long,” said Dylus.

“Same to you,” I said, frowning.

“Take care…”

I’ve got to do something.

“Umm, Dylus?”

“What? What’s wrong?”

“May I have your contact number? I need it for… for…”

I gulped as I stared into his emerald green eyes.

He pulled up his phone and said, “Here. Put your number in,” while smiling.

I grabbed it and typed it in at full speed.

“Here.”

“Thanks. Bye,” he said.

“Goodbye,” I said, waving.

We went to the ice cream parlor, and on the way, Jacelyn wouldn’t stop teasing me about how I forgot my crush’s name.

“I never had a crush on him,” I said, taking a spoonful of blueberry ice cream.

“Sure, Maria, sure,” said Paul.

“It’s true.”

Every few seconds, I would stare down at mini crochet Dylus.