Artwork by Gun Legler

The Wishing Map is a full-length fantasy that is being posted episodically at this site. To read the previous episode, click here. To read the entire novel, begin here.

Zack and Gina had attempted unsuccessfully to send the mysterious objects back to the world they came from. Now what?

Gina picked up the Object she called the “letter opener” and held it over the harbor town of Kellansend on the Wishing Map. Kellansend was at the southern tip of the Kingdom of Sur Kellan, across the Kellish Way from Frenga, the kingdom Gina and Zack had just returned from.

A wavering shape, like the blue flame of a gas burner, rose to meet her hand.

“No!” Zack shrieked. He reached out to stop her from letting go of the Object.

“Zack, cut it out!”

“We have to…” Zack grunted as he leaned over the Map, trying to grab the letter opener out of her hand.

“Stop it, you dork! I’m not going to…”

A loud WHOOM erupted in their faces. The air over the Map began to shimmer, and then the Map itself started moving beneath them. Gina and Zack pulled back. And when they did, they both lost their grip. The letter opener fell into the blue circle and disappeared. As the ends of the Map flew upward, Gina lost her balance. Zack reached out to steady her, but he too lost his balance and crashed onto the pile of Objects.

“Noooooo!” Gina screamed as she rolled to the left.

“The Ob…!” Zack tried to grab any Object he could, but they’d become active dynamos, racing toward blue circles all over the Map.

And then, one by one they disappeared! Zack and Gina felt the tide-like suction of the blue rings on different parts of their bodies, but the Map didn’t know where to send them. As it rose spinning in the air it centrifuged them off onto the floor.

Zack and Gina looked up, mesmerized, as the Map whirled above them. A series of pops emanated from its blue rings, and then, almost as if an off-switch had been thrown, it stopped spinning and drifted to the ground. Brother and sister watched as it settled onto the floor between them, then glared at one another and said in unison:

“Your fault!”

They silently dragged the broken toy chest back into Zack’s room. Gina tripped over one of Zack’s comic book, ripping the plastic sleeve off a priceless Golden Age Green Lantern.

“Hey, butt girl! Those are unreplaceable!”

“Irreplaceable, butt boy! With all your junk, how could I help but fall?”

“Like you did on the Map?”

“Only because you made me!”

“Only because I was trying to stop you from messing up!”

“You made me mess up! I thought you were changing, but no, you’re still the same immature little dweeb that—”

“That saved your cookies in Ismara?”

“No way! Jenblevó did that. You just showed up with your friend, Big Bird!”

“Aviar!” Zack’s eyes were burning with near-tears. To let Gina see this would have been inconceivable, so he ran toward her, roaring, “Get…out…of…my…roooooooom!” He slammed his hands into her stomach and pushed her backward through the doorway.”

Gina fell back, landing hard, and screamed, “You imbecile!” But before she could continue her brother had slammed his door with a force that threatened to level the house.

She rose to her feet, firing the words “I – HATE – YOU!” like armor-piercing bullets.

A moment later a wounded voice rasped from behind the door,

“Not as much as I hate you.”

φ

Thoughts: Have you ever told someone you love that you hated them? How did you resolve the situation—or did you?

To read the next episode, click here.