Nadine and Adele

Hawaii

Hardly a word was spoken during dinner. Adele could sense the abounding tension in the air; and it took away from the appeal of most of the meal for her. Dessert was a success however...it was strawberry ice cream. Now that Adele spends most of her time over there, the Martins make sure that the freezer always has a supply on hand for her. She hasn't faced any situation yet where she wasn't able to enjoy eating a bowl of the refreshingly cold, creamy delicious treat. It always seems to make things better; even if just for that moment.

But after dinner, when they went back upstairs to Nadine's bedroom, that feeling of hers returned; and Adele couldn't stop feeling that something was wrong. She can't ignore it anymore.

"Nadine...who was that lady at the door? Your mom looked really mad at her. Why?"

"I don't know, Adele. All I know is that Corrine said she was from the Make-A-Wish Foundation; that's all."

"What's the Make-A-Wish Foundation?"

Nadine delicately attempts to answer Adele without divulging too much information about it. "It's a...well...they sort of go around and grant wishes to sick kids; like me."

"Grant wishes? Like what...ooh...could they turn you into a bird..." Adele raises her arms, stretching them out from her sides, and starts to slowly move about the room as if she were soaring along a current of air," so you could fly way up high in the sky and look down and see everything really tiny like? That would be so amazing."

Nadine laughs. "Yeah...that would be pretty awesome. But I don't think they can do that. They grant a different type of wish, Adele; ones a little more practical, and less on the magical side. But I do think your idea about being a bird is wonderful though."

Adele lowers her arms and goes over by the window. She leans in and gently blows her breath against the frigid pane of glass; causing it to fog up. Then she starts doodling upon the canvas of condensation. 

"Then...what kind of wishes do they grant?"

"I don't know...stuff like...maybe arranging for you to meet a famous person that you've always wanted to meet, or...like sending you on a vacation somewhere that you'd like to go to."

"Oh." Adele wonders aloud, "If that lady was here to grant you a wish...how come your mom made her go away?" She turns to Nadine. "Don't you want a wish granted?"

"I don't know...I never really have thought about...sure; I suppose...maybe."

All of a sudden, thoughts of everything she's going to miss out on start racing through her mind. Nadine looks at Adele happily scribbling away on the frosted window pane...becoming aware of how chilly the room feels...and scrunches down slightly into her bed, drawing her comforter up to snuggly wrap herself into; when a wish pops into her head.

"Well...if I could have one wish now...I think I'd like to go to Hawaii."

"Hawaii?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

Nadine scoots down further in bed and attempts to draw deeper into the comforter. "Because at least there it's nice and warm. It's so cold here."

Adele immediately goes to Nadine, tucks her in tighter, and sits down beside her. "Is that better?"

Nadine looks up to her and smiles. "Yeah...a lot better."

Adele smiles back, while tenderly stroking Nadine's kerchief adorned head. Nadine continues...

"Adele; I've always wanted to go to Hawaii...ever since I was a little girl and saw some brochures on it my mom brought home from work. They were having this contest where the realtor who sold the most houses that year would win a trip for them and their family to go to Hawaii. Those pictures were so beautiful...the clear blue sky and ocean...the white sand beaches...the exotic flowers...oh; and the waterfalls, Adele..." Nadine closes her eyes and begins visualizing the photos in the brochures. "I wanted her to win so badly; so we could've gone there."