Life In The Gumball Machine Page 9

  “You’re lying, and I’m telling Mom.”

  “Go ahead, see if I care,” Joe sneered.

  Just then, the doorbell rang. Daisy shoved her brother into the counter as she left the kitchen to answer the door. Three more of her friends from school – Katie, Rebecca and Amanda – had all arrived carrying gifts. They wished her a happy birthday and they all started chatting and laughing. Daisy led them through to the back yard, and introduced everyone to Violet. All of her friends were very nice to Violet. She never should have listened to Joe. After everyone had arrived, Daisy counted fourteen guests. Only two couldn’t make it because they had a soccer game.

  ****

  After the party had gone on for a while, Daisy was finally able to sit down with Violet for a moment to talk.

  “I like your name,” said Violet.

  “Thanks. I like your name, too,” said Daisy. “Hey, that’s why we like flowers so much, isn’t it? Both of us are named after flowers!”

  “Yep, and they’re pretty flowers, too,” added Violet.

  “There sure are lots of pretty colors in the worlds,” Daisy said, thoughtfully.

  “You mean world. There’s only one world.”

  “Huh? What did I say?”

  “You said, ‘worlds’ with an ‘s’ on the end – like there is more than one world.”

  “Oh. Right. I meant ‘world’.” Daisy giggled. “Whoops!”

  “Well, anyway, you’re right. There sure are a lot of pretty colors in the world,” Violet said.

  Daisy had a good feeling that she would finally have a real best friend who she could do “girlie” things with. She couldn’t wait to start their friendship. In fact, she thought, why not start now? “Hey Violet, remember when I said I’d tell you how I got so dirty and messy today.”

  “Yes,” Violet said.

  “Well, this is what happened, but don’t tell the other kids, okay? It will be our little secret.”

  “Okay.” Violet was thrilled to be the only friend to hear Daisy’s secret. Daisy started her story from the beginning at the old shed, and told her everything that happened to her and the boys. Throughout her story, Violet interrupted her and said, “No way. That can’t be true.” Daisy would nod her head and say, “I know it’s hard to believe, but it is true. Just ask Patrick and Michael. They’ll tell you.”

  Daisy continued with her story and told her everything up to the part when she arrived at Violet’s house a little while ago.

  “Wow. That is an amazing story. I still can’t believe it’s true,” Violet said. “It seems like a fantasy.”

  “I know. I feel the same way,” Daisy said. “If I didn’t have so much trouble pulling the dried pink pudding from my hair, I would have thought it was a dream myself.”

  Patrick and Michael joined the two girls. “What’s happening you two?” Patrick asked.

  “I just told Violet about our adventure today.”

  Michael smiled at Violet. “Pretty amazing, huh? I keep thinking it might have been a dream, but it wasn’t.”

  Violet nodded in agreement. “It sure sounds like a dream, although it explains why Daisy looked like such a mess a couple of hours ago. It really is an amazing story. I wish I could have been there with you guys.” They all agreed she would have been amazed.

  They continued their conversation for a while, until it was time for cake and ice cream.

  The party was a huge success. They all talked, danced (Patrick did his robot dance again), played games, and then Daisy opened her presents.

  Later, Violet came and sat next to Daisy. “This is a great party, Daisy. Thanks for inviting me. Your friends are really nice.”

  “You’re welcome. I’m glad you could come, and I’m glad you were able to meet my friends. I knew you’d like them.”

  As they walked toward the food table, they saw Michael pull something from his pocket.

  “Hey. Where’d these gumballs come from?” he asked Patrick. Patrick looked into Michael’s hand.

  “Maybe they came from ‘you-know-where,’” Patrick said, laughing. “Maybe they’ll start hiccupping and turn into gigantic gumballs right before our eyes, and then roll over all of us.” Patrick started laughing so hard that he had to hold his stomach.

  “Now that’s not funny, Patrick,” said Michael nervously. Looking down at the palm of his hand, both he and Patrick looked at the gumballs, and then blinked and looked again.

  “What the heck?” Patrick reached for one of the gumballs and, as he did, it moved in Michael’s hand. Patrick jumped and quickly pulled back his hand and shouted, “Whoa!” Some of the party guests stopped talking and looked over at them. Michael spoke to the group. “Don’t worry. Ha ha! Everything is fine. It’s nothing. Never mind,” he said to the guests. “Go back to what you were doing.”

  The two boys turned their attention back to Michael’s hand.

  Michael held his hand closer to their eyes so they could be sure they were seeing what they thought they were seeing.

  “Hi Michael!” said the two gumballs. They were waving their little hands and smiling. “Remember us? Gordy Gumble and Vinnie Gumba? As you can see, we need your help. We were sucked back with you guys and ended up in Michael’s pocket right before the latch closed.”

  “Uh-oh,” was all Michael could say.

  Coming up from behind them, Violet asked, “What’s the matter?”

  Michael squished his hand together and brought it behind his back. He could hear Vinnie and Gordy mumbling something. Then he pulled his hand back in front of him to show Violet. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened, but no words came out.

  Patrick tried to stay calm. “Violet, could you have Daisy come here for a minute?”

  “Be right back.” Violet took off running, and returned with Daisy.

  “What’s up?” Daisy asked.

  “It’s more like – what’s down,” answered Michael as he opened his palm.

  Daisy let out a small gasp as the four of them looked down at the little white and black gumballs in Michael’s hand. “Uh-oh,” Daisy said.

  “You guys really were telling the truth, weren’t you? Look at those cute little talking gumballs,” Violet said. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

  The two gumballs were smiling and waving. “Hi Daisy!”

  Daisy put her hands to her cheeks. She was in shock as she looked at the boys and said, “What the heck are they doing here? How are we going to get them back? We can’t let anyone see them – or hear them.” The boys just shook their heads. They had no answers to Daisy’s questions.

  Daisy’s voice was full of fear. “You guys, we are in big trouble!”

  THE END