Coral’s mind raced with questions. Is that really Jamie? Why is he here? “Jamie!” Maggie’s yell cut through her thoughts. She ran up to meet him; seeming to have forgotten that he was riding a fast moving vehicle. “Whoa!” he yelled, swerving to the side. He stopped his bike and Maggie tackled him with a hug, almost knocking him over. “Oof!” he said. “Hey, Maggie, Ruby, Xav- wait, Coral? What are you doing here?” “What are you doing here?” she replied; a little louder than she meant to. “First, tell me what you’re doing with a earth bender, a fire bender, and a lightning bender?” he countered. Then he looked around guiltily. “Um… you did tell her about that, right guys?” “Coral’s our friend,” Maggie replied. “Sooo… why isn’t Coral totally freaked out right now?” asked Jamie. Maggie looked at Coral. “He doesn’t know?” “Know what?” he asked, puzzled. “Umm…” Coral stalled for time. How am I going to do this? “I might... be a water bender.” she confessed. “Seriously?!?!” he yelled. Coral jumped back, startled. “All these years and-” “Stop fighting!” yelled Maggie. “We’re not,” protested Jamie. “Just trying to figure things out.” But now Coral was angry. “You can't be mad at me for not telling you,” she yelled, more than a little mad. “when you never told me you could grant wishes TO ANYONE YOU WANTED TO!!!!!” Jamie looked at the ground. “You found out about that, huh.” Coral glared at him. She wasn’t sure why she was so mad all of a sudden, but she was. “Wait a minute...” Jamie continued, oblivious to Coral’s glare. “How did you find out about that?” All eyes went to Maggie. “Um…...” she said. “MAGGIE!” yelled Jamie. “I-I thought she knew already!” Maggie defended. She looked on the verge of tears. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier about your power!” Coral yelled. “I didn’t know you had a power too! And I thought you might be related to someone in the MPCS!” he yelled back. That had never occured to Coral. Ruby was watching the fight like a tennis match. “And you’re one to talk,” Jamie continued. “How come you never told me you had a power!?!” “Because I didn’t know that other people had powers too, especially not YOU!” she gasped, out of breath. But she wasn’t finished. “How come you never granted my wishes?!” she yelled. “How do you know I never granted your wishes?” he said, smirking. “Because- because…” she trailed off. The door. The water wall. “That was you!”she realized. “If you’re talking about the wall of water thingy from yesterday, then yes.” he confirmed. “Um, care to inform the rest of us what’s going on?” asked Ruby. “It’s kind of a long story,” explained Coral. “I’m patient,” Ruby said, relaxing on the grass. “Tell me everything.” And so they did. They explained every last detail to wide-eyed Maggie and eye-rolling Ruby and Xavier. “It’s true!” Coral protested to Ruby’s latest eye-roll. “So let me get this straight,” Xavier said. “You created this water wall thing, and then Jamie granted your wish to go through it?” “I didn’t create it,” Coral explained. “It was just… there.” “Well if you didn't create it, then who did?” asked Ruby. “I… I don’t know.” Coral admitted. She hadn’t given much thought to that particular incident, but she had to admit that it was strange. “Don’t look at me,” said Jamie. “I wouldn’t know a thing about making water walls or whatever.” Coral glanced over at him. Now that they were all calmed down, she wasn’t really mad anymore. Suddenly a thought occurred to her. “Jamie, why did you come here?” “I ran away from home,” he admitted. “Why?” Coral asked. “My dad and brother are members of the MPCS; I didn't want to take any more chances.” he replied. “Being captured is like my worst nightmare.” Coral nodded. Her head was still swirling with questions, but she decided to save them for later. Except - “How did you know what I wished?” she asked. “I don’t think I said it out loud, just in my mind. OMG, can you read minds?” “Not really,” he replied, looking a little embarrassed. “My brain just sort of syncs with other people’s when they think ‘I wish’.” “Like the Amazon Alexa?” Ruby chimed in. “What? No!” Jamie said quickly. “Alexa, order pizza!” Maggie said giggling. “Hey! Stop that!” Jamie said now thoroughly embarrassed. “But you can read minds, at least some of the time?” Coral checked. “Well- sort of- I don’t know.” he said, looking increasingly uncomfortable. “I just hear what you wish, that’s all,” “Hmmm,” said Coral, not entirely convinced. “So do you hear the wishes of everyone in the world? Because wouldn’t that get a little…” “Of course not,” he said, laughing. “Just the people near me.” “But you weren’t near me when I wished that… were you?” Coral asked. He shrugged. “I was next door, which I guess was close enough. I heard your wish, and I wasn’t sure what it was about, but I decided to grant it anyway, because it sounded important.”
“Well, thanks,” Coral said. “It kind of was.” “Can you grant wishes to ANYONE you want?” Ruby asked. “Well no,” Jamie replied. “At least not if I want to stay sane.” Coral gasped. “Could you go insane if you grant too many wishes?” “Well, sort of,” he explained. “If I only grant important wishes, I’ll be fine, but if I grant too many unimportant wishes, like Maggie’s constant wishes for popcorn, then yes, I could go insane.” Maggie looked guilty. “So that’s why you never granted my wishes for food,” she said. “Also,” Jamie continued. “they can’t be selfish wishes. You can only grant other people’s wishes, not your own-” “That must suck!” Ruby interrupted. “Yeah, it kinda does,” he admitted. “But can’t you just tell someone else to wish for what you want?” asked Coral. “Nope,” he sighed. “The wishes have to be made of the person wishing’s own accord. And like I said before, if I grant too many unimportant wishes, I might go insane. So I try not to do it too much.” (Story continues below)
