Free Just One Wish by Janette Rallison

Steve Raleigh’s trailer and he wasn’t in. I tried the door and it opened.
    So much for my ability to read trailers. I’d picked the makeup trailer. The lighted mirror had pictures of cast members taped to it. Makeup bottles and bobby pins cluttered the counter. I set the aquarium down with a defeated thud, then slid it under the counter. I couldn’t carry it a second longer. I shook my hands to get blood flow back to them. After a few moments of that, I realized I couldn’t pick the aquarium up again. I bent down to have a one-on-one with Herman.
    “Look, just be a good snake for the day and then we’ll take you back to the pet store, okay?” I took the lid off and tried to remember how the lady at the pet store had picked him up. Was it headfirst or by the middle? I reached in and lifted him out of the cage. He at once wrapped himself around my arm, which I hoped was not a sign he was trying to eat me.
    I pushed the aquarium behind some boxes and headed out of the door, reminding myself that normal people didn’t stop to chat with girls who walked around with large snakes. So Herman was my friend and I really shouldn’t mind that he wanted to crawl up my arm. Which is what he was now doing. Maybe he was cold. After all, he’d been without a functioning heat lamp ever since the pet store. Most people who bought snakes probably took them home and plugged their lamps back in, as opposed to using the snakes to stalk celebrities.
    Perhaps if I knocked on trailer doors, I could find someone who would tell me where Steve was. I headed to the next trailer, but before I’d reached it, the door flung open and Maid Marion—Esme Kingsley herself—strolled out. A woman wielding a can of hair spray followed after her. The woman did her best to spray Esme’s long blond curls as she walked, but mostly managed to create an aerosol cloud.
    I watched them, transfixed. I didn’t even like Maid Marion, but seeing her pop into my sight tilted the world, made it all seem unreal.
    Esme stopped short, and her hairdresser nearly bumped into her.
    “This dress isn’t right.” Esme pulled at the waistline. “See how loose this is?” It wasn’t very loose, but the woman nodded anyway. “I distinctly told them I wanted form-fitting. I’ll look fat in this. Go get Angelique. Right now.”
    Esme gave me the impression of a vase full of cut roses. Beautiful. Elegant. But she was all for show and had absolutely no intention of ever growing again. And she had sharp thorns.
    She turned on her heel and strode back into her trailer. The other woman headed to the studio building, still clutching the aerosol can. I’d been so wrapped up watching them, I only now noticed the security guard strolling across the grounds in my direction. Without another thought, I followed after the hair spray lady, jogging to catch up. “Hey, wait up!”
    Herman didn’t appreciate the bumpy ride. I felt his muscles flexing around my arm, and he slithered toward my shoulder.
    Still, now that I walked side by side with Esme’s personal hair-sprayer, I hoped the security guard would think I belonged here. I smiled over at her. “I’m going to need someone to get the door for me. As you can see, my hands are full.”
    She looked over at the snake disdainfully. “Is that real?”
    Only on a Hollywood set would someone ask you if the snake crawling up your shoulder is real.
    “He’s harmless,” I said.
    She opened the door for me, then hurried past me, either because she wanted to fulfill Esme’s wardrobe commands or because she wanted to put distance between herself and a five-foot python.
    Since I was already inside the studio and a security guard was walking around by the trailers, I might as well look around inside for Robin Hood. I headed down the hallway. Did this place have a break room? I had no idea where I was going, but walked with purpose anyway.
    Before long it felt like I had walked into the bowels of some strange fantasy land. I had to