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Still Careful What You Wish For	By : shikiblade Category: G through L > Goosebump Series Views: 4953 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Goosebumps franchise, characters or plot points mentioned or resembling original works from the series, etc. No money is made from this publication.

Chapter List
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Chapter Two

I braked hard and called out. The figure in black, an old woman, turned from whatever she was looking at to see me coming, and only just had enough time to step back to avoid being hit as I skidded to a halt.

I took her in for a moment; a woman in a long black dress down to her ankles with a red shawl around her shoulders. She had a short bob haircut that was partially hidden under a black cloche hat.

“I’m so sorry,” I said. “Are you alright?”

“Oh, I’m quite alright young man. You did give me a start, but I was off in my own world.”

“So long as you’re okay,” I said with a smile of relief.

“Yes. Perhaps you could help me. I’m trying to get to Knight Street.”

“Oh sure, it’s not too far. What number?” I asked

“Number 239.” I paused. Knight Street ran half the length of town, and the higher numbers were at the further end.

“That is a bit far and I need to get home, but I can get you part of the way,” I offered.

“Oh thank you,” she said. She put her hand out for me to shake, “I’m Clarissa. Some know me as Clarissa the Crystal Lady.” I took her hand and it was like shaking a fleshy icicle it was so cold.

“I’m Jerry.”

“Well Jerry, let us be on our way.” I dismounted my bike and we started walking in the correct direction. From where we were, it was about a ten minute walk down the main street. As we kept walking, I looked at Clarissa. She had a really undeterminable face. I couldn’t tell if she was in her twenties and eccentric or in her early seventies and dressed in period clothing.

“Why are you called the Crystal Lady?” I asked, in an attempt to make conversation as we walked.

“I work with crystals my dear boy. Think of it is a business. I’ve helped several people in my line of work.”

“Sounds cool,” I said. “I like helping too, whenever I can.”
“I can see that. You’re very kind to help me, when you could be home studying.”

“Well, I could be at home annoying my little brother Rhys.” I explained.

“That is what siblings are for.” Clarissa seemed be on my wavelength, so I liked her.

As we neared Knight Street, the main road became busier and the buildings went from houses to doctors and businesses in old renovated homes. After that they were simple shops, and then growing into businesses.

We turned onto Knight Street and the properties started going in reverse. When we got halfway, I looked at my watch. It was already past six.

“I’m sorry Clarissa, this is as far as I can take you, and I’ve got to go home.”

“Well before you go, let me repay your kindness. I want to grant you three wishes.”

This took a moment to sink in, and then to comprehend.

“I beg your pardon?” I asked.

“I’ll grant you three wishes. Don’t believe me do you? I promise that whatever you wish, I will grant.”

“Really Clarissa, it was great talking to you, but…”

“Please Jerry, I promise whatever you wish will come true. Make your first wish.”

I thought about it. What would I really want right now?

“Okay, I wish I was good enough to place in the chess tournament at school,” I said. Clarissa took from a bag around her shoulders a large red crystal ball. It started glowing, the light reflected in Clarissa’s dark eyes, and was very bewitching and a little creepy. After a few moments, the red light faded and Clarissa replaced the ball into the bag.

“Good luck tomorrow,” Clarissa said, turned on her heel and was on her way. It should have been that line that tipped me off to her knowing more than she did, however I wasn’t thinking straight, and wanted to go home.

Dinner at home is always an open discussion between mum, dad, Rhys and myself. Television has never been an option. Mum talked about how she was going at work, dad talked about his creative project, and Rhys talked about how he had made the school soccer team.

“And how was your day Jerry?” Mum asked.

“I did badly in chess club, I watched Bronson at his tryouts, and I helped an otherwise eccentric woman find her way.” I answered briefly.

“How did Bronson go?” Dad asked.

“Wait, did you help an old woman across the street?” Rhys cut in.

“Bronson is going to state championships, and no, I helped her find a street.”

“Good on him,” Dad said without paying much attention to what had actually been said.

“And well done on being a boy scout,” my brother jeered. Well, at least I could beat him at a video game later. I almost always do.

“Do you want some help with your chess game?” dad asked. Dad was the one who got me into chess in the first place.

“Sure dad, that’d be great.”

“Rhys could you clear the table, Jerry can you please get the dessert things ready?” Mum asked as she crossed her cutlery on her plate. I walked out to the kitchen and started gathering dessert bowls and the ice cream to take out to the dining table.

“Seriously, you are becoming such a goody-goody,” Rhys said as he walked in with a stack of dishes.

“At least I’m not behind in my homework,” I responded.

“Probably because you do it all in class so you can look good to the teachers.”

“We’ll see how good I look at graduation. Anyway, I still suck at chess,”

“Like you do at most board games. Why do you even go?” he asked.

“Practice makes perfect I guess. I’ll get better with effort.” Whether that was a reality or if I was delusional, I wasn’t sure. Then Clarissa and the wish went through my head. If she had been telling the truth, maybe my game was better already. Only playing dad would tell me for sure.

No such luck. After a serve of ice cream and apple pie, dad and I had played a game with the good chess set. While I thought I was doing better, dad still beat me after he took my queen.

“You let your concentration slide,” dad said. “Keep looking at the board ad plotting ahead. You know what you can do if you start plotting in your mind.”

“I know dad. It’s just effort and practice.”

“Well, tell you what, why don’t you take this to school tomorrow as a good luck charm.” He passed me the white queen piece and put it in my hand.

“Not from the good set dad, I don’t want to lose it by accident.”

“Good point. Why not take the queen from one of the other sets?”

Yes, other sets. Dad had a collection of chess sets from different genres and fandoms. I went through them all and took the black queen from the Simpsons set. Okay, so it was Marge Simpson with a black robe and crown in her tall hair. I liked it.

“Hope she brings you luck,” dad said with a smile. He went into the kitchen and a moment later I could hear the sounds of him making a cup of tea. I went up to my room and started my homework. The Russian Revolution was waiting and my laptop was ready for me to write all about it.

The next morning at school did not bring me much excitement. I was sitting in class looking at my book and not really paying attention to what I was reading. My mind raced with the idea of that wish and whether or not it was going to happen. Would I honestly kick everyone’s butt and win the tournament, or at least come in around 3^rd? Or had I honestly been pranked by a bizarre woman with a red flashlight parlor trick?

As the lunch bell rang I went to the cafeteria. With a chicken and salad sandwich, apple juice and blueberry muffin on my tray, I sat with Bronson and Rebecca. Rebecca is a brunette with exceptionally pale skin and bright blue eyes. Her air gets a little unkempt, however she is still attractive. Well, I can see why she is attractive.

“Rough day?” Bronson asked.

“Not really, just wondering about something.” I told them about Clarissa and what had happened after we had parted ways last night.

“Sounds weird,” said Bronson.

‘Sounds old,” Rebecca added.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“There was once a girl named Samantha, and she claimed a strange woman had granted her wishes. And then her rival seemed to go through some good luck and Sam just disappeared. No one really knows what happened to her, but a lot of strange things were happening around that time.”

“Where was this?” I asked.

“Where I used to go to school” Rebecca had transferred to our school last year.

“I see. And the fact that I am now getting the same deal?” I enquired.

“I’d just be careful what you say,” Rebecca advised. She looked sincere, and I had no reason to doubt what she was saying, it just seemed so unreal to me. I decided I would say nothing and bit into my sandwich instead.

Twenty minutes later I was sat in the Chess Club getting ready to play. My first opponent was someone I had beaten a few times, however they had beaten me more often.

“Ready?” Mr. Murray called. He held up a stopwatch. “Begin.” We had ten minutes to play the game. Everyone who was white made their first move, and all games were underway. I had put Queen Marge in my chest pocket so I could feel her giving me luck.

It was a few minutes into the game and I noted that I was actually winning. My opponent, Brendon, had made a few silly moves and I had taken a number of his good pieces. This, however, was par for the course with Brendon, and I couldn’t tell if I was going to win or not.

Two minutes later, I knew I would. He only had a handful of pawns, a knight and king while I still had a number of major players left. Within a few turns I had him completely cornered and checkmated. Brendon was disappointed, and I congratulated him on his playing, even though I felt like a dick in doing so.

Mr. Murray adjusted the board, which was a tree format, and the next players were decided. My opponent as Melissa. I had never played her before, however I saw she had beaten some tough competition, so I braced to lose.

Melissa was polite, and played well, or at least to begin with. Then she too started making silly mistakes. I managed to turn the game around and beat her. As the results were handed to Mr. Murray, he moved my name up the ladder and then said the game was over for today.

I didn’t believe I had survived this round. I had hoped to; however I didn’t think I’d beat some of the people who had been eliminated. I even got congratulated by some people who were bad winners towards me at other times. I dismissed all this as just luck, and that perhaps I had a good run. I saw also that Daniel and Corey had survived and were in tomorrow’s game as well. So far they were a long way across the tree, so I wouldn’t face them for a while.

“Well look who had a stroke of luck,” Daniel jeered as I turned to leave.

“Look who graduated primary school,” I retorted.

“Don’t get smart. I’d kick your arse at this, but it looks like someone else will have that privilege tomorrow. You won’t even make the top six, you suck that much.”

“We’ll see what happens,” I said, knowing I didn’t have the skill to back up my claim. Daniel and Corey snorted as they left the rom.

“You’ll be fine. You should be proud of what you did here today,” Mr. Murray said to me as I helped pack up.

“I know,” I answered, sliding chess pieces into their box.

What I didn’t know is how far this was going to go before it finished.
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Still Careful What You Wish For