Page 111 of When You Wish Upon a Wideout

She fingered the soft duvet as she fell back on the bed, her body still wrapped in a fluffy white towel. The soft sound of the waves lapping at the shores sang through the open window of the bedroom, a lullaby luring Sienna’s eyes closed.

And for the first time in what felt like forever, Sienna dreamed of her mother.

They were in the backyard of their home in Nashville. Sienna could remember it perfectly—the grass was dewy, dampening her bare arms and legs. Even though it was nearing midnight, the humidity in the air was thick and palpable. Their mother had dragged Henry and Sienna—begrudgingly—from bed and out of the air conditioning on the eve of their eighth birthday, a little over two months since leaving Brookwood.

“I don’t want to do this,” Sienna huffed before she yawned. “This is stupid.”

Her mother groaned. “Oh, come on, Sienna.”

“I wish for a Nintendo 64,” Henry said from the other side of their mother.

“Shh,” she corrected Henry. “Don’t say it out loud.”

“It’s not even our birthday yet.”

“I know,” her mother took Sienna’s hand, squeezing it in her sweaty palm. “But do you want to know a secret? The night before you were born, I wished for both of you.”

Henry laughed. “We were already in your stomach.”

“That’s true. But you weren’tyouyet.” Her mother nudged Henry’s side. “My smart and cheeky boy,” she said before turning to Sienna. She reached out, twirling a long blonde lock around her finger. “Or my wild and fun girl.”

“I wish Beau—” Sienna said quietly.

“Don’t say it out loud.”

Sienna closed her eyes tightly and kept the refreshed wish in her mind. It wasn’t a toy or a video game, the inflatable chair she had been begging her parents for. She closed her eyes, trying to manifest the short boy with the dark, shaggy hair, the one who was there for every knee scrape, who never said no to a bike ride or catching tadpoles. Silently, Sienna begged the stars for another chance to be friends with the person who taught her what the word friend meant in the first place—I wish I could go home to Beau.

Sienna shot up, pressing a hand to her head. The shower was running, and she looked at the time on her phone.I must’ve slept an hour. Reaching for the glass of water on the nightstand, Sienna chugged it, trying to clear the heavy sleep from her fuzzy mind. She stood, walking to the window across from the bed, breathing in the ocean breeze.

“Thought you might still be asleep. I was going to join you.” Beau came up behind Sienna, yawning before pressing a kiss to her bare shoulder.

Sienna’s head fell forward.

“Are you alright?” Beau asked, stepping to the side and pressing a finger to Sienna’s chin.

“I remembered something.”

Beau shook his head. “What?”

“The first wish I ever made... I remembered the first birthday wish I made under the stars.” Sienna stammered. “The first birthday we had in Nashville after we moved—me and Henry. That was the first time my mom ever took us out in the yard to make our birthday wish.” She shook her head. “And do you know what? I kept wishing, even after it didn’t come true for days, weeks, months... until my Mom, she dragged me out of it. She just... tried to make lifesofun and exciting it was impossible to remember I was sad leaving you in the first place.” Her heart clenched, and she wrapped her arms around Beau. “I wished I could go home to you. To ride bikes or play tag. Run through the creek. And that came true when shedied.”

Beau held her tightly, cradling the back of her head.

“I died with her that day. A piece of me did,” she whispered with brutal honesty. “And when we came back to Brookwood, it was likeyoubroughtmeback.”

Her mind flooded with memories—the early days after her mother’s suicide, the way her father’s face never looked the same after the love of his life’s death. There was packing up their house in Nashville—the house Sienna had been reluctant to move into but hesitant to leave after her mother had made so many good memories in it that the colonial build had turned into a home. There were the early days back in Brookwood when Sienna contemplated running away, wondering why it was fair for her mother to, but not her.

But it wasn’t only the deep and harrowing dark loneliness Sienna remembered—it was Beau leading her out of it.

“This,” Sienna said, wiping at the flood of tears she had left in the valley of Beau’s collarbone. “This has to last forever this time. I can’t afford another tragedy to be the reason we find each other again. My mom. Grace.” Sienna shook her head fervently. “Our love has to be the reason westaythis time.”

Beau cupped her face. “It is. I’m not going anywhere, alright? I swear,” he promised into her ear as he pulled Sienna back in.

There was a solid reassurance in his breathing, in the desperation in Beau’s voice that made it easy for Sienna to believe him.

“Did you really wish for me then?”

Sienna sniffled and nodded. “What?” she asked when she felt Beau’s smile against her head.

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