It never hurts to try everything Not when it’s important The wind blows again finding the spaces between the buttons on my sweater I can’t see buds forming on Mr Harris’s almond trees yet but they’ll be there soon It’s the beginning of January and spring always shows up the first week of February You can count on it So what did you wish for I ask To go back in time and have Christmas again It’s the last Friday of winter break There are probably a lot of people wishing for that right now People who didn’t open all their presents with one eye on the door waiting for someone who never came And be cooped up in the house with Marcos and Miguel for another week says Sofia No thank you My wish is much bigger and more exciting She presses her lips together the way she does whenever she has a surprise treat for me in her lunch box me Tell me I poke her arm You have to tell I don’t know Then it might not come true I roll my eyes You don’t actually believe that You’re right Sofia laughs I’ll tell you I wished to be a movie star With a mansion and a closet full of beautiful dresses and somebody I pay to clean my room
I glance at the bottom of Sofia’s jeans where her mother sewed in cotton lace to make them long enough for her to keep wearing You’re right That’s a big wish Sofia stands up and begins waltzing around and waving at imaginary people She speaks with a snooty British accent When my movie premieres you’ll accompany me down the red carpet It will all be very fancy I wrinkle my nose at the word fancy Don’t be like that Sofia says her British accent faltering What I just don’t want to wear a fluffy dress or anything stupid like that It’s not stupid Sofia curls her hands into fists the way she does when she’s about to yell at her brothers I jump to my feet Maybe I can come as your bodyguard okay close Sofia’s hands unclench I guess that would be Then I can karate chop anyone who gets too Yeah Hiyah Sofia does her best impression of a roundhouse kick but she is way off I relax into ready position with my fist resting against the palm of my other hand Nobody touches my best friend These hands are registered weapons
That’s right Sofia calls into the night Watch out She’s a black belt Well not yet Sofia goes back to waving at imaginary admirers I shove my hands into my pockets You still won’t wear pink on the red carpet right No way Sofia holds out her pinkie to me Never wear pink and best friends forever I wrap my pinkie around hers and we shake on it There’s a rustle from somewhere in the orchard behind us and we both jump But it’s just Mr Harris’s cat He meows and rubs against my leg Sorry Fred I whisper No milk for you Mr Harris said it’s making you fat and lazy Fred saunters off between the trees Come on says Sofia Let’s go inside It’s freezing out here We trudge through Mr Harris’s almond orchard ducking beneath branches so they don’t catch in our hair So are you going to tell me what you wished for asks Sofia At the edge of the last row of trees the dirt turns to gravel crunching beneath our feet and we can see my house I wished for my dad to come back How long has it been now Four months and seventeen days
Sofia doesn’t act like it’s weird that I know exactly how long it’s been or tell me that it’s never going to happen Because that’s not what best friends do Instead she stops on my front porch turns around and loops her arm through mine while we look at the star one last time That’s a big wish she whispers We stay that way for a few moments with our wishes swirling around us and floating up into the sky like smoke from a bonfire
