her mother safe and one secret way involved climbing climbing the orange tree It worked every time I’ll call Ali right away said Leandra I’ll bet that cone means bad news We’re due for a club meeting anyway But Ali Garcia 305 Orange Street wasn’t worried at all Maybe it means an important person will be driving by like the mayor Ali said It could be something exciting Maybe someone’s going to make a movie about our street She and her little brother brother Edgar were sitting on the living room couch while they waited for Edgar’s careperson to arrive They lived right smack across the street from the lot and Ali had noticed the orange cone first thing that morning Actually it looks just like a wizard’s hat Leandra laughed still grumpy Oh grow up she said Leandra was five and a half months older than Ali and often said that Only kidding said Ali See you soon It did look like a wizard’s cap thought Ali staring at the cone across the street When she had been younger younger Ali had imagined the lot was a magical place inhabited
inhabited by witches gnomes fairies goblins wizards etcetera etcetera Those creatures played tricks on ordinary ordinary mortals terrified them granted their hearts desires etcetera etcetera just as they did in all those great books she’d read The closest you got to real fairies in that lot were the tiny hummingbirds sipping nectar from flowers Anyway Anyway Ali was older now and considering a possible future future career in science probably paleontology or archaeology archaeology So she’d begun digging in the lot about two weeks ago sort of as a summer hobby She had always been curious about the true facts related to the property property which was sometimes provided by Ms Snoops 303 Orange Street the oldest living resident on the block Spread out on the coffee table were Ali’s treasures from her most recent digs in the lot not exactly the valuable treasures she’d discover on future digs in exotic exotic places but a good start a jar top two iron nails a woolen sock Ali’s favorite was a little blue stone shaped like a heart It could be a wishing stone if she still believed in that stuff Ali had also made a recent gruesome discovery Ruff Bunny’s dog had been digging holes in the lot as
usual and that’s how Ali had found the ancient cookie cookie tin The gruesome discovery was inside that tin a head It was a doll’s head not a human one but still Its face was cracked all over its hair and one eyeball were missing but it was still smiling faintly despite its bad luck Ali put a few fingers in its poor little skull making it dance for Edgar like a puppet Hey kid What’s your name Will you play with me Ali asked in a squeaky voice But Edgar didn’t answer Ali’s questions like he used to He didn’t ask his own questions either It used to be Why Why Why all day long And he used to say his name and he knew all the letters of the alphabet alphabet and the names of a whole rainbow of colors Even turquoise Even fuchsia And words Lots of words So smart and only two and a half years old everyone used to say Edgar himself would shout I’m fart And of course everyone would fall down laughing Edgar laughing harder than everyone else Just laughing and laughing and laughing But Edgar’s words and Edgar’s laugh had disappeared ever since he’d gone into the hospital two months ago returning home silent and pale
Ali put the doll’s head down She touched the blue heart shaped stone with the tip of her finger then kissed her little brother I wish for my heart’s desire she whispered
