Free Piper's Perfect Dream by Ahmet Zappa Page B

finished.
    â€œYou too?” said Alice. “Good. Just use the broom and dustpan in the corner.”
    Another confusing task! Piper eyed the long stick with bristles on one end in the corner. It didn’t look like any kind of pan, so that must be the broom. Experimenting, she pushed it along the floor. To her surprise, it moved the sugar granules into a neat pile, almost by itself! Then she swept it all into the flat pan-thing that had been next to it.
    She gazed at the pan a moment, half expecting the sugar to disappear into thin air. But of course, she was on Wishworld, not Starland, and the pan stayed full.
Next step: find a garbage can.
She spied one in the opposite corner and hurried over.
Ewww!
She wrinkled her nose. It was stuffed with actual garbage that smelled. No vanishing garbage cans here!
Disgusting!
Quickly, she dumped the sugar on top, then turned on her heel.
    â€œNice work,” said Alice, returning. “Olivia is in a booth in the back, doing homework. Why don’t you join her, and in a little while you two can have dinner here? The least we can do is feed you!”
    Olivia grinned. Her first Wishling compliment—it felt almost like Star Kindness Day. Now to find Olivia. She walked around the diner tables, all the way to the back and the very last booth.
    Schoolbooks were spread across the table, along with pencils and pens and notebooks. But there was no sign of Olivia.
    Piper’s heart sank. She’d spent way too much time filling sugar dispensers. And now look what had happened. She’d lost her Wisher!

Piper had no idea what to do next. So she sat down in the booth and idly leafed through the books, thinking. Wishling books were so heavy and cumbersome. How did students carry them around, much less hold them up to read?
    â€œConcentrate, Piper,” she told herself. “Focus on Olivia!”
    Where could she be? Why had she left so suddenly? Would she return?
    Piper pushed aside
Our Nation’s History Through the Centuries
to clear space to put her head down. She always thought better that way. But the history textbook bumped the math book, which nudged something called
Advanced Reading Material for the Young Scholar
, and they all fell onto the seat across the table.
    â€œOuch!” Olivia popped up, rubbing her shoulder. The books thudded to the floor.
    â€œYou were resting here the whole time?” Piper was amazed. “I’m so sorry I interrupted your time of rejuvenation.”
    â€œHuh?” Olivia sounded confused. She blinked and shook her head. “I must have fallen asleep.”
    Piper nodded encouragingly. It certainly made sense to sleep in the late afternoon. Although, as a general rule, she preferred an earlier naptime.
    Olivia yawned. “I’ve been so tired lately.”
    Piper leaned closer, a tingle of excitement running down her spine. Clearly, Olivia wasn’t getting enough sleep. Most likely, she was anxious about a problem; worrying could keep anyone awake. And her wish must revolve around solving the problem.
    But what was the problem?
    Piper could almost feel the wish dangling in front of her, tantalizingly, as if she could reach out and touch it.
    â€œSometimes I have trouble sleeping, too,” Piper told Olivia in a way meant to encourage her to tell more. That was stretching the truth. So Piper crossed her legs at the ankles the way Starlings did if they told a fib.
    â€œYou do?” Olivia took a deep breath. “Usually I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow and I don’t wake up until my alarm goes off. But lately I’ve been—”
    â€œSensing an evil presence lurking in your dreams. Dark and threatening. You can almost see it in your mind’s eye whenever you close your eyes….”
    Piper’s voice trailed off when she caught sight of Olivia’s put-off expression. “Uh, no,” Olivia said, leaning back against the bench, farther away from