Table of Contents

  My Future Awaits

  Chapter 1  Bad Monday

  Chapter 2  Welcome to Oz

  Chapter 3  The Good Witch?

  Chapter 4  New Girl

  Chapter 5  A Twister

  Chapter 6  Wicked Witch?

  Chapter 7  Dress Rehearsal

  Chapter 8  Break a Leg

  Chapter 9  Accessorize!

  Chapter 10  On with the Snow

  My Future Awaits

  Hi there! My name is Krystal Ball. I’m from Queens, which is a part of New York City. Some people call this place the Big Apple. But I live in a tiny, two-bedroom apartment with my mom and dad, so it seems pretty small to me.

  Don’t get me wrong...I love, LOVE my parents. My mom works as a hair stylist on the first floor of our building. My dad’s a high school history teacher. He’s always saying things like, “History repeats itself, sweetie.” Whatever that means.

  I’m not that interested in the past, though. I’m much more excited about...the future.

  I like astrology, palm reading, and stargazing. Why? Well, let me tell you a little secret. I’m not exactly normal. I may look small, you see, but I’m really a medium. That means I have a special ability, kind of like a sixth sense. My grandma calls this my “gift.” It helps me see what the future holds, but it’s never quite clear. I can learn things about a person or an object by touching them and, sometimes, my dreams show little glimpses of events that haven’t happened yet.

  I usually have trouble understanding these visions, or premonitions, but I’m working on improving my skills. I also go to Nikola Tesla Elementary School, and being a fourth-grade fortune-teller while juggling science projects, math tests, and homework isn’t easy.

  What else can I tell you about me? Ah! My best friend, Billy, lives in the apartment above ours. I’ve known him my whole life, and that’s a really long time. Almost ten years…Whoa! My other best friend, Claire, is the new girl at school. Both Billy and Claire know about my amazing gift, but they have pinky-sworn to secrecy.

  Together, we zip around the neighborhood on our scooters, seeking out adventure. But with my abilities, adventure usually finds us first!

  Okay, so you got all that? Good.

  Now take a deep breath, relax your eyes, and clear your mind. My future awaits…

  Chapter 1

  Bad Monday

  “Oh my stars!” I cried as the school bell rang. I dashed to my seat just as our teacher, Miss Callisto, looked up from her desk.

  “Good morning, and happy Monday!” she said, gliding across the floor from her desk to the whiteboard. With a marker, she wrote the day’s lesson on the board: DEFINING GRAVITY.

  My best friend, Billy, looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “What’s up, Krystal?” he asked.

  “I would’ve been here sooner, but I couldn’t find my lucky scarf,” I said, pointing to the green scarf wrapped around my hair.

  “Nice!” said Billy.

  “Yeah, SUPER cute, Krystal,” joked a voice nearby. It was Emily Heart, the mean girl that sits behind me. “Are you trying to take the attention away from that outfit?”

  Okay, so here’s the deal...

  Normally, I really like school, but recently things have changed. The main reason I wear a scarf on my head is because Emily started to pick on me. She teases me about my bushy hair.

  It’s totally unfair. So what if she has long, shiny, perfect hair. That doesn’t give her the right to pick on me, does it?

  Her words stung, and my eyes burned like I was about to cry. I quickly focused on Miss Callisto’s lesson. She was talking about Isaac Newton’s discovery of gravity.

  But I still couldn’t concentrate, so I got up to sharpen my pencil. On the way back to my seat, Emily stood and started walking to the pencil sharpener, too. Then WHAM! She bumped into me. On purpose!

  I felt a surge of bad energy.

  The pencil dropped from my hand because of Isaac Newton’s gravity. Closing my eyes and tilting my head, I heard it roll across the classroom floor.

  A blurry vision formed in my mind. My pencil rolled and rolled and finally stopped at Emily’s feet. She picked up her right foot and slammed it down hard on my pencil. The heel of her shoe snapped it in half.

  Craaack!

  The sound sent shivers down my spine.

  Suddenly, I heard my name and my eyes snapped open.

  It was Miss Callisto. “Krystal, what are you doing out of your seat?” she asked.

  “S-s-sorry,” I stuttered and sat down quickly. I looked over at Emily, who smiled wickedly.

  My cheeks burned. This was not a happy Monday at all. This was a SAD Monday!

  ***

  After lunch, we headed outside for recess. I joined Billy and his friends. One of them had a big, bouncy kickball. I could run faster than most boys, so they always asked me to play with them.

  It’s nice to be popular at something!

  As we passed Emily and her friends, Kate and Susan, they each stuck out their tongue. “Looking...sharp!” Emily called out, pretending to write with a pencil.

  Billy’s friend Joey threw the kickball at their feet. It bounced high over their heads. The girls screamed and scattered.

  By the end of recess, I had forgotten all about Emily and her nasty friends. Back inside the classroom, Miss Callisto was waiting for us with a big smile on her face.

  “Are you ready for your next assignment?” she asked. “It’s an exciting treat for everyone!”

  Miss Callisto walked over to her shelf and pulled out a thick book with a gold cover. On the front, the title was written in swirly red type.

  I gasped.

  “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum,” Miss Callisto said. “It’s my favorite.”

  That’s one of my favorite books, too! I thought.

  I couldn’t wait to hear what came next. What exciting project would it be? A book report? A scavenger hunt? A diorama? (FYI: I love building dioramas!)

  “Our class is putting on a play of The Wizard of Oz for the entire school,” Miss Callisto announced. “Isn’t that, well, WONDERFUL?!”

  My dream project quickly became a nightmare! I had no business acting in front of the whole school. I couldn’t even stand in front of the class without my knees turning to jelly.

  “Here is the script,” our teacher said, handing out stacks of stapled paper. “Tonight, I want you to think about which character you’d like to play. We’ll be choosing parts tomorrow.”

  Miss Callisto turned her back to us and began writing our homework on the whiteboard.

  “Of course, I’m going to be Dorothy,” said Emily to Susan and Kate. “I was born to be a star!” She flipped her hair over her shoulder.

  “Weren’t you born under a bridge?” Billy asked. “You know, like the other trolls?”

  A couple students covered their mouths to keep from laughing out loud.

  Emily stuck her tongue out at Billy. “Whatever,” she said.

  I watched Emily from the corner of my eye. Suddenly, I felt a knot in the pit of my stomach. This Sad Monday was quickly turning into a very Bad Monday.

  Would Miss Callisto really give Emily “Evil” Heart the part of Dorothy? I wondered.

  I closed my eyes, trying to predict the future, but the voice inside my head replied...

  “Cannot predict now.”

  Chapter 2

  Welcome to Oz

  Briinnng!

  The bell rang, and the day was finally over. I leaped from my desk and was halfway out the door before the bell even finished.

  Billy sprinted to catch up to me. “Wait up, Krystal!” he called out. “What’s wrong?”

  I told Billy about my vision. Something bad was going to happen to me, and Emily was going to be the cause of it.

  I swallowed hard. “Is Emily going to snap me in half like my pencil?” I wondered aloud.

  Billy started laughing. “Are you kidding?” he asked. “I could sit on her, and she’d be a street pizza.” Then his mind drifted off to his favorite subject. “Mmm...pizza,” he said dreamily. “Let’s go. I’m starving!”

  When we reached the edge of the schoolyard, I spotted my mom. I was so relieved. Without a word, I ran into her arms and hugged her tight.

  “Oh!” Mom said, startled by my greeting. “Hello, honey. How are you?”

  “Mmmfffff,” I said, my face still buried.

  “I think she might be hungry,” Billy offered.

  “Hi, Billy,” said Mom. “Is everything okay?”

  I pulled away and said, “No everything is NOT okay! There’s this girl named Emily…and she’s really mean…and I didn’t do anything to her!” I tried extra hard not to cry.

  “That’s terrible,” my mom said. “What if I have a nice chat with your teacher about her—?”

  “No!” I shouted. “Don’t do that! Then she’ll call me a baby for telling.”

  “Don’t worry, Mrs. Ball,” Billy said. “I will be Krystal’s personal bodyguard.”

  “That’s thoughtful of you, Billy,” Mom said. “But I’m sure we’ll figure something out. In the meantime, did anything good happen today?”

  “We’re putting on a play,” Billy answered.

  “Really?” asked my mother. “Which one?�

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  “The Wizard of Oz,” I said halfheartedly.

  “Oh, honey, that’s wonderful! You love that story!” Mom exclaimed.

  “I know,” I said, cracking a smile. Thinking about that book always made me feel better.

  “Have you gotten your parts yet?” Mom asked.

  “Not yet,” Billy said. “I want to be the Tin Woodsman because he gets to hold an axe! How cool is that?” Billy pretended to chop a tree with his hand. “Hi-ya!”

  “I want to be Dorothy. She’s my favorite,” I said. “It’s just that...I’m too shy.”

  “Let me tell you something about the theater,” Mom began, placing her hand on my shoulder. “It’s a great way to break out of your shell. You can be anyone and anything. People won’t be looking at you on that stage—they’ll be looking at your character. You have the power to bring that character to life!”

  “You’re right, Mom,” I said. “The truth is…I love Dorothy so much, and I don’t want Emily to play her.”

  Mom chuckled and took my hand. We walked all the way home talking about the play.

  ***

  That night, Mom and Dad kissed me good night. I quickly drifted off to sleep and found myself standing in a long corridor. At the end of the hall was a mirror.

  I walked toward my reflection and saw that I was wearing a big, white princess dress that puffed out at the bottom. There were poofy sleeves and sequins all over. Glittering under the light, I walked closer to the mirror.

  On top of my head was a crown made of rubies. My curly hair was shining and beautiful.

  Wait a minute! I thought.

  Suddenly, I realized that the reflection wasn’t mine. This wasn’t a mirror at all. It was a door. The person standing in front of me had curly black hair and brown eyes.

  She smiled and did a curtsy.

  “I am Glinda, the Good Witch,” she said. Her voice was soft and sweet.

  This doesn’t look like the Glinda I know from The Wizard of Oz, I thought.

  This witch was a young girl, and we were probably the same age.

  Glinda took me by the hand and gently pulled me through the doorway.

  The light was blinding, and I had to cover my eyes. The sun reflected off a yellow brick road under our feet. On either side of us was a lush forest with tall trees and rainbow-colored flowers.

  I heard birds singing happily. They hopped off their perches and fluttered around us before disappearing back into the trees.

  “Welcome to Oz,” Glinda said. “Follow me, for I have all the answers you seek.”

  My heart skipped a beat. How exciting to be in the magical land of Oz!

  As the Good Witch glided away, the yellow brick road started to crumble. It fell away from my feet and into a dark hole below.

  I cried out Glinda’s name, but she didn’t hear me. I struggled to keep up with the Good Witch, but it was too late!

  I staggered and fell into darkness.

  Chapter 3

  The Good Witch?

  Yellow bricks swirled around me as I tumbled down. Faster and faster I fell. I shut my eyes tight, and then suddenly my body jolted.

  I looked around. Pushing a wave of curls out of my face, I realized that I was back in bed. The sun was peeking in through my curtains. My purple star-patterned sheets were a tangled mess at my feet, and my stuffed stegosaurus, Stanley, had fallen off the bed. He was on the floor next to my fuzzy bunny slippers.

  I wiped the sleep from my eyes and looked at the clock. I had overslept. Time for school!

  Jumping out of bed, I ran straight to the closet. My dream inspired me to wear my yellow leggings and a puffy dress. I topped it off with a warm yellow cardigan. With no time to brush my hair, I swept it up and covered it with one of my favorite scarves, a red and white polka dot pattern with plastic beads on the trim.

  I twirled in the mirror and declared, “Simply fabulous!”

  From where he was sitting, Stanley the dinosaur silently agreed.

  Suddenly, my ears perked up. I tilted my head and closed my eyes. Another vision!

  (Sometimes, I feel that something is going to happen right away. And I’m usually right. Other times, I get mixed signals that I have trouble understanding. Luckily, I’m learning to better control my gift every day.)

  As soon as I opened the door, Mom let out a startled gasp. Her hand was raised ready to knock.

  “Good morning, Mom!” I said, smiling. “I knew you were there.”

  Mom smiled back and kissed me on the forehead. “Krystal, it’s time for breakfast,” she said, walking back down the hall.

  I followed her to the kitchen. After I ate my cereal, I went into the hallway to put on my coat and shoes. I closed my eyes and put my hand to my head.

  “Billy should be here any second now,” I said to my mother.

  Then, right on schedule, there was a knock at the door.

  “Come in, Billy,” I cried.

  Billy let himself in. “Good morning, Mrs. Ball,” he said. “Hey, Krystal, ready for school?”

  “I sure am,” I said. “Let’s go!”

  ***

  Billy’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Katsikis, own a coffee shop around the block from where we live. It’s called The House of Sweets. They get up really early to go to work, so my mom and I walk with Billy to school. When we pass by the coffee shop, we always wave Hello.

  On our walk, I told Mom and Billy about how Glinda, the Good Witch, was in my dream.

  “That could only mean one thing,” Billy said. “Miss Callisto is giving out the parts in the school play today. You’re going to be Glinda!”

  “You really think so?” I asked.

  I started to get excited. I forgot about my shyness and imagined Glinda’s puffy, glittery white dress and that ruby covered tiara.

  “Maybe this play isn’t going to be such a disaster after all,” I said.

  “My darling, no matter what part you get, I’m sure you will be wonderful!” Mom said.

  “Thanks, Mom,” I replied.

  Once we got to the school, Mom kissed me goodbye and left. Billy and I heard the bell ring and bolted up the steps. Inside the classroom, we took our seats and waited for Miss Callisto to scold us for being late. But SHE was missing.

  “Where’s Miss Callisto?” I whispered to Billy.

  “Maybe she took the day off?” he whispered back. “Or maybe she was abducted by aliens!”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Emily snapped, overhearing our conversation. “There’s no such thing as aliens!”

  “Oh, really?” Billy said. “That’s EXACTLY what an alien would say! Why don’t you call the Mother Ship and have it beam you back home?”

  Emily crossed her arms and huffed.

  The whispers started getting louder as everyone wondered where Miss Callisto could have gone. Finally the door opened and she walked in.

  “Good morning, class. Please settle down.” Miss Callisto raised her arms. “My apologies for being late, but I have a special surprise for you.”

  She waved her hand toward the door, and said, “Everyone, meet our newest student...”

  The room fell completely silent as we all held our breaths. A new student was always exciting.

  We waited and waited and…nothing happened. Where was the new student?

  “Don’t be shy, dear. It’s all right,” Miss Callisto called out to the hallway.

  A small girl slowly walked in wearing a red baseball cap with white spots on it. She was looking at the ground so we couldn’t see her face.

  I liked her outfit, though! She was wearing jeans with flower patches sewn onto them, and her white T-shirt had a sparkling yellow star in the center.

  “Class,” Miss Callisto announced, “I’m pleased to introduce...Claire Voyance!”

  The new girl took off her baseball cap. Rows upon rows of curly black hair tumbled down to her shoulders. I was pleasantly surprised. She had hair just like mine!

  Suddenly, my body tingled all over, and I sat pin-straight in my chair. When Claire looked up, I saw that she had a pretty face with brown eyes. I had seen that face before.

 

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