Free Cassie Comes Through by Ahmet Zappa Page B

her, and in the gloom Cassie noticed a silvery white bitbat land briefly on the girl’s shoulder.
That’s odd,
she thought. Bitbats were notoriously skittish. Soon they entered the special Star Darlings Wish Cavern. Cassie took in the scene—sunlight shining through the glass roof, golden waterfalls of wish energy streaming down the sides, the garden they stood in green and abundant. The glowing Wish Orbs still in the ground waiting for the moment when they would be ready now numbered just six. It was clearly impossible for the place to exist deep underground, yet there it was, right in front of their eyes. The girls moved to the grass-covered platform in the middle of the Wish Cavern and waited for the chosen Wish Orb to emerge. They did not have to wait long. A shaft of sunlight lit up the center of the platform and the orb burst out. Cassie never took her eyes off the glowing globe. This time, instead of circling the room quickly, or pausing at each Star Darling as if trying to decide who it belonged to, the orb simply zoomed right up to one student: Cassie. She held out one hand confidently, motioning for the orb with the other as if to say,
Get over here right now.
The Wish Orb nestled right into her open palm. Everyone stared at Cassie in disbelief.
    Even Lady Stella looked very starprised. “Cassie, the Wish Orb has chosen you,” she said, which seemed unnecessary, since Cassie was already cradling the glowing orb in her hands. “Are you okay?” she asked, craning her neck to look searchingly into Cassie’s eyes.
    â€œOf course,” said Cassie. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

    As Cassie sat on her bed the morning of her mission, finalizing her arrival outfit with the help of the Wishworld Outfit Selector function on her Star-Zap, she wondered why she had feared that day so much. Everyone acted like being picked to go on a Wish Mission was such a big deal, and now that Cassie was the chosen one, it didn’t seem monumental at all. For stars’ sake, even Ophelia had gone on a mission. (Granted hers had been a startacularly terrible mess.) Cassie couldn’t understand it. She flipped through the Wishworld outfits she had picked for the rest of her trip. They were all perfectly coordinated, down to the shoes and socks. She said her mantra to herself, annoyed that she hadn’t been able to change it. “Listen to your feelings. Let your inner light sparkle,” she repeated unenthusiastically. Her mantra was a dud; there was no doubt about that.
    She glanced at her Star-Zap. It was time to head to the Wishworld Surveillance Deck. She picked up her Star-Zap, then decided to send a quick holo-text to Ophelia, who she hadn’t seen since that day in the Celestial Café.
Hey! I enjoyed our talk. Let’s get together soon so we can start making you sparkle! I’ll be in touch….
    She snapped her phone shut. “Time to go?” she said to Sage, who chuckled as if Cassie had said something amusing.
    â€œTime to go!” Sage said. “Is there any last-minute advice I can give you?”
    Cassie shook her head. “No, I’m good.”

    Cassie paused for a minute in front of the glass doors that led to the Wishworld Surveillance Deck. “You go ahead,” she said to Sage. She slipped a pair of safety starglasses over her own star-shaped glasses and took stock of herself. Though she would soon be taking off into the heavens attached to a wild shooting star and landing in an unfamiliar world, she didn’t feel any flutterfocuses taking flight in her belly. She looked down at her hands, which were not even close to trembling; they were as still as a piece of starmarble. She was cool, calm, and collected.
    She pushed open the door and was immediately mobbed by Star Darlings wearing safety starglasses in a rainbow of colors. She looked around at everyone. Someone was missing. “Where’s Libby?” she asked.
    â€œShe was