Amanda--A Horse of Course Read online

  The Wish Fairies

  Amanda, A Horse of Course

  Pat Judd

  Copyright © Pat Judd 2011

  Pat Judd asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any

  form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior written permission from the author.

  Cover art © Algol

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  CHAPTER ONE - THE WISH LIST

  CHAPTER TWO - PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

  CHAPTER THREE - A PINK SURPRISE

  CHAPTER FOUR - NO ROOM TO MOVE

  CHAPTER FIVE - THE WISH WATCH

  CHAPTER SIX - MORE PONIES?

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  CHAPTER ONE - THE WISH LIST

  Wanda landed gently on the windowsill and looked through the window. She tucked her wings back so that a stray gust of wind would not sweep her off the ledge.

  Inside the room she saw a young girl sleeping. Her lips were drawn up in a small smile as she slept. It was the smile of a birthday girl, dreaming of her birthday to come.

  ‘Well, are you going in?’ a voice drifted to her on the wind.

  Wanda looked over and saw another fairy sitting on a tree branch, watching her.

  ‘Yes, Mirella. I’m just making sure she’s asleep,’ Wanda replied.

  ‘She can’t see you anyway! At least not until she makes her birthday wish,’ Mirella reminded her. ‘You’d better get in there and look at the list.’

  Wanda took a deep breath and nodded. It was her first day as a wish fairy and she was a little nervous. She patted the bag over her shoulder that had her wand and fairy dust inside. Then she checked the golden wish watch that hung from a gold chain around her neck. It had a single pointer and three words on the dial - WAKE, CAKE, SLEEP. At the moment the pointer on the watch was pointing to WAKE.

  ‘Do you remember what to do?’ Mirella asked.

  ‘Check the list.

  Practice all the wishes on it.

  Sit on the cake and make the wish come true.’

  Wanda had repeated it many times, most of the night actually. It seemed a fairly simple list but she had been told by other fairies that things could go wrong.

  ‘You never know which one she’ll pick when she blows out her candles. And remember to tell her she has one day of her wish - until she goes to sleep tonight!’ Mirella reminded her.

  Wanda nodded. She heaved on the window and pulled it open a small way then slipped inside. Excitement bubbled inside her. At last she was a real wish fairy. She fluttered over to the nightstand and hovered. This was where she would find the wish list - she hoped. She looked at the cluttered items and then grinned. There it was, tucked inside her diary. She moved a toy pony off the diary and with a tug she pulled the list out. She flew over to the window to look at it. She had been practicing wishes for months and was sure she could handle most things - well, some things.

  She looked at the list. At the top was a name. Amanda. The first birthday wish was... A Horse.

  Wanda had been warned of this. It seemed almost all little girls wanted a horse of their own. It was a tricky one and Wanda wasn’t sure she could do it. She read the next wish. Surely this one would be easier.

  A Horse.

  Wanda frowned. She read the next one.

  A Horse.

  With a small sigh, Wanda saw all the wishes were the same. She wasn’t very good at horses. Maybe she could get Amanda to wish for something else. Something easy like a pretty dress.

  Wanda heard a small sound as Amanda began to wake up. She quickly flew to the nightstand and put the wish list back. With a soft flutter of her wings she flew back to the windowsill and sat watching. She had to find out when they were going to have the birthday cake. She hoped she would have time to practice her horses.

  Amanda sat up, rubbed her eyes and grinned. She snatched up the wish list and grabbed a pencil. She wrote on it, put it back on the table and ran from the room.

  ‘Mum, Dad... it’s my birthday!’ she yelled.

  Wanda flew back to look at the list. Maybe she had changed her mind about the horse. She looked at the last line on the list.

  A Pony.

  CHAPTER TWO - PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

  Wanda hurried after Amanda. She flew into the next room just as Amanda launched herself at her parents’ bed.

  ‘Morning birthday girl,’ her mother said, smiling as she sat up.

  ‘Happy birthday,’ her father said, reaching under the bed and pulling out a pink wrapped present. ‘There’s one more but your grandmother is picking it up. She’ll bring it over at lunch time. We’ll have the cake when she comes.’

  Amanda giggled and wriggled on the bed as she ripped off the paper.

  ‘A netball. Thanks Mum, thanks Dad,’ Amanda shouted as she leapt off the bed and rushed downstairs.

  ‘Wait for me!’ her mother called, dragging herself off the bed. ‘I’ll make breakfast first.’

  Wanda followed and sat on the table while they ate.

  ‘I’m sorry we couldn’t get you a horse,’ Mum said. She waved her hand towards the small back garden.

  ‘There just isn’t room for one here.’

  ‘Maybe Grandma is bringing me one,’ Amanda said hopefully.

  ‘I don’t think so,’ Mum replied. ‘Why don’t you go and see if Mary next door wants to play?’

  ‘She’s my best friend,‘ Amanda said.

  ‘Maybe next year you’ll have met enough people to have a real party,‘ Mum said. They had only been living at the new house for a week and school didn’t start until next month.

  Amanda ran off to see Mary and Wanda flew off to find somewhere quiet. She checked that Mirella had gone. She didn’t want the other fairy to see her practicing.

  She closed her eyes and thought of a horse. Did a horse have two legs or four? Was the tail curly or straight? How big was it? She had seen horses in a field but not close enough for the detail she would need. Did they have a hump on their back, or was that a zebra?

  She took out her wand and tapped it on her bag of fairy dust. A small horse, with a hump and stripes appeared. No, that didn’t look right. She tapped again and it changed into a horse as tall as the house, with wings and feathers. It was just as well the humans couldn’t see her creations. Again it didn’t look right. It was almost a horse, but there was something not quite right. She tapped her bag again and it vanished.

  This was no good. She would have to find a real horse to look at.

  She flew around the houses nearby. Surely somebody had a horse. The street where Amanda lived was filled with many houses, but not much room to keep a horse. The back gardens were so small they wouldn’t fit a rabbit!

  It was almost lunchtime when Wanda flew back to Amanda’s house. She still didn’t know exactly what a horse looked like. Maybe she would have to find Mirella and ask for help. She searched the trees but there was no sign of her.

  Amanda was playing in the driveway with her friend Mary when her mother came out.

  ‘Lunch time. Grandma will be here soon,’ she heard Amanda’s mother tell her. Mary can stay for cake if you want.’

  Oh no, she was out of time! She had to find a horse - now! Suddenly she remembered the nightstand by Amanda’s bed. There was a toy pony on it. She flew upstairs and searched the room - but the toy pony was gone.

  With a sinking heart she flew slowly down the stairs. She would fail on her first birthday wish!

  The family and Aman
da’s friend, Mary, were gathered around the table by the time Wanda arrived. Wanda flew over to the cake, ready to settle herself on the chocolate frosting and do her best.

  She looked at the cake and blinked. Right in the middle, hoof-deep in the sticky chocolate icing, was the pink pony from Amanda’s room.

  ‘Yes!’ she shouted in delight. Everyone in the room stopped and looked around. Had they heard her? She held her hand over her mouth and flew to the cake still smiling. A pony would do and now she knew what one looked like.

  ‘I’ve left your present outside,’ Grandma said, giving Amanda a hug. ‘You can come and get it after you blow out your candles.’

  Wanda sank down onto the sticky icing and leaned against the pony. The family sang happy birthday. Wanda couldn’t have been happier. She had trained hard for this moment and now it was finally here.

  ‘Blow out your candles, Amanda.’

  ‘Make a wish!’

  Amanda leaned down to blow out her candles and looked straight into the eyes of the small fairy dressed in purple.

  CHAPTER THREE - A PINK SURPRISE

  ‘Who are you?’ Amanda asked. She leaned closer and poked at Wanda with one finger.

  ‘I’m your Wish Fairy,’ Wanda replied. ‘My name is Wanda.’

  Amanda looked startled turned at her mother but she and everyone else was standing very still. She went up to her mother but she was like a statue.

  ‘Time has stopped until you make your wish,’ Wanda told her.

  ‘And it will come true?’ Amanda asked, jumping up and down with excitement.

  ‘For the rest of today,’ Wanda said, nodding her head and pointing to the golden watch on her necklace. At the moment the single hand pointed to the word CAKE.

  ‘Is that all?’ Amanda said with a small pout.

  ‘Do you want a wish?’ Wanda asked, throwing her bag over her shoulder and flapping her wings as if to leave.

  ‘Yes, yes, I want a wish,’ Amanda said.

  ‘Make sure it‘s what you want. You only get one wish,’ Wanda reminded her

  ‘I know what I want,’ Amanda said with a big grin. ‘I want a horse!’

  ‘How about a pony?’ Wanda asked hopefully.

  ‘Okay I guess,’ Amanda said with a shrug.

  Wanda nodded, slipped her bag off her shoulder, being careful not to drop it on the icing, and took out her wand. She looked at the pink toy pony standing next to her on the cake and tapped her bag of fairy dust. A cloud of sparkling dust exploded around them and the plastic pony vanished.

  ‘Well done, Amanda!’ her mother said, clapping.

  Amanda looked at the cake, and saw Wanda was still there.

  ‘Look at my fairy mum!’ Amanda said, pointing at the cake.

  ‘Where dear?’ Mum said, looking surprised.

  ‘Adults can’t see me or hear me,’ Wanda told her.

  ‘Never mind mum,’ Amanda said. Her mother shrugged, muttered something about invisible friends and went to cut the cake.

  ‘Is that a fairy?’ Mary whispered, wide-eyed.

  ‘She’s my fairy,’ Amanda said proudly.

  ‘Come outside to see your present,’ Grandma said.

  Amanda looked around the room, and not seeing a pony, she followed Grandma outside.

  ‘Your parents and I got you this bi...” Grandma stopped talking and stared at the pink pony that stood outside the door. It looked exactly like the toy from the cake and its hooves were covered in chocolate.

  ‘A pony!’ both Amanda and Mary screamed at the same time.

  ‘A pony?’ mum said, hurrying out the door. She looked at Grandma in surprise and whispered. ‘I thought we agreed to get her a bike.’

  Grandma shrugged and looked confused. She leaned on the wall and looked as if she was going to faint ‘I’m sure I brought a bike over.’

  Amanda wasn’t listening. She took hold of the yellow halter and led the pony inside. Mary bounced along behind her, clapping and cheering. Behind them was a trail of chocolate hoof-prints on the clean floor.

  ‘Do you like your pony?’ Wanda asked, hoping Mirella was hovering nearby to listen.

  ‘It’s pink,’ Amanda said.

  ‘Umm... is that a problem?’ Wanda asked. Weren’t horses supposed to be pink? Why would they make toys pink if the real ones weren’t that colour?

  ‘I like pink!’ Amanda exclaimed. She grabbed Mary’s arm and dragged her over to the pony. ‘Let’s take it upstairs.’

  ‘Remember, it’s just for today...’ Wanda called as she flew after the birthday girl. Amanda ignored Wanda. She was busy trying to drag a huge pink pony up the stairs to her bedroom.

  ‘Are you allowed a horse in your room?’ Mary asked.

  ‘It’s my birthday. I can do whatever I want. I have a magic fairy to make my wishes come true,’ Amanda replied.

  ‘Just the one wish,’ Wanda reminded her again.

  ‘Arrgh! Look at the mess on my clean floor!’ Amanda’s mother shouted from downstairs.

  CHAPTER FOUR - NO ROOM TO MOVE

  ‘Can I ride her?’ Mary asked. ‘What’s her name?’

  Amanda was busy platting the long purple mane while the pony tried to wriggle free. ‘I think I’ll call her Pinky. I want a ride first.’

  Wanda sat on the windowsill and watched, grinning at how successful her first birthday wish had been.

  Pinky was exactly the right size for the girls to ride on and she trotted around and around the room while the girls took turns.

  Then mum came upstairs. She looked at the pony but didn’t say anything. Then she looked at the trail of chocolate hoof-prints, shook her head in disbelief and left.

  Shortly after that Amanda’s Dad came up and did the same thing.

  Pinky stood still while her mane was brushed out again then re-plaited. The girls washed the chocolate off with mum’s best towel and they took turns leading her around the room. After they painted her hooves red with mum’s nail polish they platted her mane one more time.

  ‘I think she needs a bath,’ Mary suggested.

  ‘Good idea,’ Amanda agreed and they led the little pony to the bathroom. They couldn’t get her in the bath so they turned on the shower. Pinky didn’t like the water. She began to wriggle and kick.

  ‘Umm... Amanda,’ Mary said as they turned off the water. ‘Pinky is growing.’

  ‘Really?’ Amanda said, and tried to climb on Pinky’s back but the pony was too tall. Wanda flew over to look. Sure enough Pinky was much bigger than before. They led her back to the bedroom and she only just fitted in!

  Pinky was still upset about the shower and when they tried to brush her coat with Amanda’s hair brush Pinky had had enough. She kicked and jumped around the room, crashing into the bookshelf and breaking the desk lamp.

  ‘Maybe my room isn’t the best place for her,’ Amanda said, looking at the destruction her new pony had caused.

  Pinky must have thought the same too as she bolted from the room and ran off down the hallway.

  ‘Oh no!’ Amanda yelled. ‘Not mum’s room.’

  The two girls ran off after the pony but they were too late. Pinky had already kicked over the dressing table. There was a loud cracking sound as Pinky kicked the window.

  ‘You’re in trouble now,’ Mary said, backing away a bit.

  ‘Wanda!’ Amanda shouted. ‘What do I do?’

  ‘I can’t help,’ Wanda said, fluttering over and dodging the wildly kicking pony. ‘I can only give one wish.’

  Amanda tried to grab the pony by the bright yellow halter but it wouldn’t let her.

  The pony was getting bigger by the minute and soon she would fill up the entire room.

  Wanda felt bad. A birthday wish was supposed to be fun. ‘I could move her down to the garden - that’s not really a wish.’

  ‘Yes please!’ both girls said.

  With a tap of her wand, the pony vanished and the girls ran off down the stairs. Wanda flew after them. The girls ran past Amanda’s parents and gr
andma and out to the back garden. Wanda looked at the grownups as she flew past. They were talking quietly together and pointing at the pony through the window.

  ‘I didn’t buy a pony,’ Grandma insisted, getting a receipt out of her bag. ‘See it’s for a bike.’

  ‘So where did it come from?’ Dad asked. Nobody answered.

  Wanda flew off to join the girls in the garden.

  ‘Wanda! She’s getting bigger,’ Amanda said.

  ‘She’s as big as a real horse now,’ Mary said. ‘I saw one down at the farm we went to at Christmas.’

  ‘They’re that big?’ Amanda said, looking up at the large pink pony. It had just knocked over the washing line and one hoof smashed a pot plant.

  Just then a voice spoke from high above them. ‘It looks like you’ve got a problem.’

  Wanda looked up and saw Mirella sitting on the roof. Her legs hung over the edge and fairy dust sprinkled from them as she moved.

  ‘This is Mirella. She’s been training me,’ Wanda told the girls. She hung her head. ‘I did my best.’

  ‘The wish is just fine,’ Mirella said, fluttering down. ‘It’s a horse-sized pony, so you gave her exactly what she asked for.’

  ‘But there’s just no room for a pony here,’ Amanda said with a sigh.

  ‘Did you tell her about the rewind?’ Mirella asked Wanda.

  ‘No!’ Wanda said with a grin. That was the answer to their problems.

  ‘What’s a rewind?’ Amanda asked.

  ‘It will fix everything,’ Wanda said, taking out the watch that hung from her golden necklace.

  CHAPTER FIVE - THE WISH WATCH

  The two girls gathered around the small watch and peered at it closely.

  ‘It is the wish watch,’ Wanda explained. The single pointer was now halfway between CAKE and SLEEP.

  ‘Your wish will last as long as it takes for the pointer to reach SLEEP. That’s bedtime tonight,’ Mirella told them.

  ‘I can’t leave the poor pony here that long,’ Amanda said. Pinky was trying to stand still but barely had any room at all. The girls had to climb over the fence and look at her from the other side.