The Wishing Flower

Chapter 8

It was finally Saturday morning and it couldn't have come any sooner. Before I left I had to ensure that everything would go as smooth as possible because if khalu found out that I was going to a concert, and not Manal's house to study for AP psychology I would never be able to leave the house again. I grabbed the phone and dialed in Manal's house number. This was step one of the plan. After a few ring, I heard Manal's voice on the other line,

"Hey Manal. Are you ready for this test? It's going to be crazy hard, so let's make sure we study well!" I say loud enough so my voice could be heard in the other room.

Manal, on the other hand, was laughing hysterically on the phone, "Gosh Sajal, you are a horrible liar, you would never get away with a muder Anyways, isn't your uncle asleep I would be surprised if that lump ever woke up this early on a Saturday".

"Hey!"I chided Manal, although a knew a lump was quite an accurate description of my uncle. "I know, but he might hear me in his dreams, I read it in a magazine. And if he has a nice dream of me being a nice innocent girl study for her test, that would make him feel at ease"

"Umm Sajal, that's kind of creepy"

I shivered after think about my uncle having dreams about you, "Yeah, you're right it is kind of creepy, but if that helps my situation then I'm okay with it for today."

"Okay, Sajal, I got to run now. I need to get to the mall, my shift starts soon"

"Oh yes, you're a working woman now. Go ahead, I got everything under control"

"Alright bye, love you. I hope you so so so much fun that tonight is a night you will never forget"

"Yeah, I hope so too. Bye, love you"

Hope is usually a wonderful feeling that can pull people out of darkness during tough times, but as great as hope is it can also be very dangerous. Deadly, even

I heard stirring in the kitchen and I poked my head out of the room to get a peek and see if my uncle had woken up. Instead, it was Zee who had woken up, who had fallen asleep on the living room couch the night before, Her black hair was a disheveled bird's nest sitting on top of her head, and her princess pajamas covered in creases and wrinkles. Her chubby little face was still masked with sleepiness as she pulled the cheerios from the counter, but her little body shook as she tried to lift the full gallon of milk out of the fridge. Her arms wobbled as she walked over to the table, but then she lost balance and the gallon tipped over, but I ran over just in time to grab the gallon. Zee's eye grew three sizes and we looked at the gallon and then back at each other and broke out into laughter from the relief of narrowly missing a disaster.

"Bhaji , you came at the perfect time", Zee said ecstatically.

"Don't worry, I'll always be there when you need me, baby girl" and I playfully winked at my sister. "Come let's go eat breakfast"

We both sat down on the carpet with our bowls of cereal and got comfy in front of the living tv. "Let's see what's on" I said pressing on the power button of the remote.

We sat there together watching Kim Possible until the ads played "Oh, Zee. There's something I need to tell you", I turned to face my sister.

I chuckled seeing her look at me so intensely with those round eyes and messy hair. I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "So, tonight I won't be home until very late. So you will need to go to sleep without me", I told her.

"Where are you going"?

I thought for a second "Hmm. Are you good at keeping secrets"?

"Yes! Yes! I kept my best friend Emily's secret when she took Fern's cookies without asking". Zee quickly covered her mouth with her hand, realizing the blunder she had just made.