Free I Dream Of Johnny (novella) by Juliet Madison Page A

that guy, Dan? Hope he’s coming tonight so I can meet him. Bye hun!”
    Beep.
    Crappity crap. I’d definitely have to miss yoga class now. Either that or chase the charity collectors down the street and beg for my money back. I wonder if there’s a charity to support transport costs of struggling artists... I shook my head at my momentary insensitivity and headed towards the centre of the living room for Unwanted Task Two of the day: figure out how to connect and work new television, DVR, and Wii console. It would have been nice if my brother Michael helped me set it all up instead of doing a drop-and-run, but he did give me these technological rejects for free in favour of the latest models for his new apartment. I would just have to figure it out myself, he said it would be easy. But if worse came to worst I might need to sell them on eBay. ‘Mandy’s Magical Mobiles’ could certainly make room for a few household items alongside the dozens of handmade bedroom decorations for children. Then again, I was looking forward to trying out the Wii Fit program. God knows I needed it after the chocolate overdose of the last two weeks.
    “Okay, here goes...”
    Twenty minutes later I was cursing the Gods of Ridiculous Instructions and swearing profusely. How could this be so confusing? Why couldn’t it be just a simple plug in, turn on, and ta-da! What the hell did HDMI mean and what did that have to do with AV and wireless LAN? And did I or did I not require an Ethernet cable?
    Bloody technology!
    After trying and failing to reach my brother on the phone, I did what any self-respecting woman would do in this situation: throw the remote against the wall, swear some more, and give up.
    I huffed and growled like the Big Bad Wolf and stomped out of the living room and into the hallway, tripping on —you guessed it —another box of art materials.
    “Stupid box!”
    I kicked it out of the way and eyed my surroundings. Strips of plywood ready for cutting into cute shapes leant against the living room wall, craft materials were scattered across my dining table, and half-finished mobiles hung from an indoor clothesline waiting for the next coat of paint. Not only that, magazines towered on top of my bedside table, clothes waiting to be put away spilled out of the laundry basket, and about a million decorator cushions lay strewn on the floor because I hadn’t yet made the bed.
    Hot, wiry frustration coiled up inside, and overwhelmed, I scooped up the cushions and threw them onto the bed, chucked a pile of magazines into the bin, and bundled a pile of clothes into my arms. I opened the wardrobe and instead of placing the clothes on hangers, I shoved them into the narrow storage shelf on top, pushing and poking to make room.
    “I’ve had it with all this mess! I need more space!”
    I pushed and poked some more, dislodging a worn-out pair of slippers and a pink box, which fell off the shelf and bumped me on the head.
    “Bloody hell! What else can go wrong today?”
    I sat on the floor, exhausted, shaking my head at the mess my life had become. I knew I should be grateful for everything that was good in my life —my health, my friends, my...well, sometimes my family —but here I was, thirty-six, single, with an ever-expanding waistline, and a business that, although prosperous in the beginning, was now taking a rather steep nose-dive into ‘just-a-hobby’ land. I was about to pick up the old slippers and throw them in the bin too when my gaze landed on the pink box that had almost given me a concussion. High-Tech Magic Lamp — three wishes included.
    “Ha! Three wishes. If only things were that simple. Make a wish and change my life, yeah right.”
    The novelty lamp I hadn’t yet got around to opening had been given to me by my parents’ eccentric neighbour, Valerie, on my last birthday. She’d practically gate-crashed the party my parents had thrown at their house but at least she came with a gift. It was nice of her and