The Locket

I peeked out of my window when I heard the engine of a car, and brushed my long, brown hair out of my face. I watched as a red truck slowly crawled up the street, as if it was inspecting each and every house. My parents were both out of the house, and it was strange to see a car I didn't know in our tiny town. When it reached my house, it pulled to a stop. After a few seconds of no activity, out climbed a short woman with silky, black hair reaching down to her waist. She strutted confidently up to our front door and rang the doorbell. As the sound died away, I pulled away from the window. Why is this lady at my house, and who is she? Curious as of why she is here, and forgetting all about stranger-danger rules, I rushed out of my room and flew down the stairs to the door. Taking a deep breath out of anticipation, I unbolted the top lock and twisted the handle, cracking the door open enough to stick my head through.

"Hi…" I said awkwardly, "How can I help you?" I looked up into the lady's startling green eyes, staring straight back at my brown ones. She smiled and I noticed how exotic she looked. She had tan skin, making her green eyes and black hair pop, makeup that stood out beautifully, and large, gold hoop earrings. Her clothes were extravagant and colorful. Very colorful. She wore a silky, magenta tunic with teal leggings, a purple headband, and had a bright, yellow purse. Somehow, she tied all of the colors and pieces into a very pretty outfit.

"Hello!" she said, beaming. "I'm Stacy. I am looking for a girl named Annie, is she here? I have something extremely important to give her." The woman, Stacy, said smoothly. I froze, heart beating fast, shocked. How does this lady-this lady I don't even know-know my name?

"I-I am Annie." I said hesitantly after the few seconds it took me to recover. "What is it you have to give me?"

"This," she said as she pulled something out of her purse. "locket is for you. It was made for one specific person, and I believe you are that person. It has been drawing me to you, and now I've finally found you." Stacy said and smiled, obviously happy, so I plastered a grin on as well.

What did she mean when she said it was drawing her to me? As if it had a mind of its own? She must be crazy- insane, even. She continued.

"This locket is magical. It grants the true owner, you, Annie, three wishes. You can make any wish. Well, any wish except for wishing for more wishes, wishing to… er, kill someone, and to raise the dead. No zombies. So just about anything you wish for will come true. However, I advise that you use the wishes carefully. Very carefully. Be specific. Make no mistakes. There are no redos or undos." Her eyes, very serious, locked onto mine. Wow. She is a really good actor; putting this much effort into a joke. "All you need to do to make the wish is put the locket on, around your neck, and make the wish. Understand?"

I nodded quickly, putting sarcasm into it, and she handed over the locket. It had a thin, silver chain that matched the locket itself, which had intricate swirls of the silver and glass, creating an image of a tree. I wondered if it opened up. I was about to see, when Stacy spoke again.

"Congradulations! Use you three wishes well!" I smiled kindly as I slipped it on over my head.

"Thank you so-" I was cut off when suddenly she disappeared. In her place was a cloud of thick, purple smoke. I rolled my eyes. The pranksters even went far enough to have her "vanish" into thin air. When the smoke faded away, I stepped outside to see if I could catch them leaving. I must've been too late because the red truck that brought Stacy here had vanished as well. I sighed and slinked back inside and closed the door behind me. I walked back upstairs and, pausing in the hallway, took off the the locket, curiosity getting the better of me. I pried my thumb in the crack and opened it up. Inside, there was only one picture. It was of a lady with stunning green eyes and black hair. Stacy. I shivered and almost dropped it. The sky was darkening outside, turning a pretty shade of pink. I slipped the necklace back on, after all it was gorgeous, but reminding myself to get rid of Stacy's picture as soon as possible. I continued on into my room and closed the door behind me. Now what had she said about wishes? I thought as I flopped onto my bed. I love the idea of magic and had since I was little. My grandmother told me fairytales almost every time I went over to her house. She was such a good storyteller that I fell in love with fantasies. I smiled and sighed. If only wishes were real. A thought creeped into my head. It wouldn't hurt to try! But what to wish for? I reached up and grabbed the locket around my neck and closed my eyes.

"I wish… I wish… I wish…" Hmm. Making wishes is harder than I thought. And I only get three! "I wish-"

My eyes flew open as my closet door popped open. "Boo!" shouted my little brother, Max, as he jumped out of my closet. I yelped then rolled my eyes, immediately becoming annoyed. "I scared ya, I scared ya!" He taunted. "Haha! I got you good! 'Oh, I wish, I wish!' He then mocked me with a wicked grin.

"I wish that you would stop talking for once!" I said with a smirk. "Why are you even in my room? Get out!" Instantaneously after I said the words, purple smoke hissed out of the locket that was still hanging around my neck. It floated into Max's open mouth and down his throat. I gasped as it slipped back out with a glowing, yellow orb in the middle of it. What is that? My jaw then dropped as it disappeared back into the locket.

"What was that!?" I exclaimed out loud. My brother shook his head crazily as his mouth moved up and down, like he was talking, but no sound came out. His blue eyes grew wide as he groped around his throat with his hands. The realization hit me like a stone to the head.

"Oh my goodness." I said quietly. "Max, take a seat. I think I know what happened and I'll fix it." Somehow. He sat down on my bed, slightly paler than his usual self.

I began pacing the room as I thought it through, not believing it could be true. "Okay, so a lady gave me this locket, telling me that it would grant me three wishes when I put it on. I didn't believe her and just barely wished that you would stop talking. Smoke came out of the locket and… took your voice. Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no, no." I groaned. "What will I tell Mom and Dad? They won't believe me! I just need to… fix this somehow. This is really bad." What am I going to do?

I sat down next to Max on the bed and ran my fingers through my hair. As I sat there for a minute, an idea popped into my head, pushing all thoughts of worry aside. I grinned. "I wish I knew how to get Max his voice back." Well, there goes wish number two. At least it's for a good cause.

Purple smoke floated out of the locket again, but this time it swirled around my head and just floated there. The solution slowly filled my mind, like water being poured into a bucket. I knew what to do, and what I should do, but hesitated. That would give up so much. But I just can't leave my brother muted for the rest of the life. It would be incredibly unfair to him.

"I wish…" I sighed. I needed to be extra careful not to mess this up, remembering "no redos or undos" and began again. "I wish that Max will have his voice returned to him and will be able to speak once again."

The purple smoke drifted from around my head and into the locket, emerging within seconds with the yellow orb. The smoke then slinked over to Max's mouth. He sat there eyeing me until I told him that it was alright to open his mouth. Once he did, the smoke floated back down his throat, replacing his voice, and slithered back out with nothing. Max gasped and tested it.

"Hello? Yes! It worked, Annie! It worked!" Max exclaimed happily. Wow, I can't believe I got his voice back! Oh… but I used all of my three wishes.

I then noticed that the purple smoke hadn't crawled back into the locket like it had the other times. It carefully changed its shape so that it resembled a human figure. Slowly, the smoke became a person until Stacy stood directly in front of me. She waited there, eyes twinkling, for a moment before she spoke.

"I'm sorry Annie, but you are out of wishes," she said mischieviously; a smirk playing across her face. "I hope that you've spent them well. I enjoyed granting them. It always makes me laugh when I see it all go horribly wrong, as it has for most of the other people I've given wishes. Here is the lesson, Annie, be careful for what you wish for. It might just turn out that you get it." With that she disappeared without a trace. And so did the locket.

A/N:

So this was inspired from a creative writing assignment I got at school (Yes, finally a creative one!) And, yes I know that its super cheesy. It's supposed to be, but that makes it "funny". :) I hoped you enjoyed it! Give me some feedback if you can; love to hear from my readers! Thank you everyone!

Lots of Love,

Violet