Chapter 1
“Moonbeams!” I shouted, awakened from a Sunday morning dream.
I leaped out of bed in a flurry of star-patterned bed sheets and curly black hair. I scurried out of my room and dashed down the hall.
My parents were standing in the kitchen making breakfast. “Moonbeams in a jar!” I said.
They exchanged puzzled looks and followed me into the living room.
“Is everything all right, dear?” asked my mom.
“Of course,” I said, stretching across the couch. I grabbed the remote control and waved it in the air like a magic wand. “It’s my birthday week, and I’m starting it off with Beam Dreams!”
I flicked on the television and plopped onto the couch. My frizzy curls bounced in my face, and I blew the strands away.
“What’s Beam Dreams?” asked my dad.
“Only my new favorite show,” I replied, not looking away from the TV. “There’s this pretty teenager named DeeDee, see? She has a special jar of moonbeams that her dad gave to her as a gift.”
“How can she carry moonbeams in a jar?” my dad wondered aloud.
I looked at him. “She just can.” Sheesh! Sometimes dads don’t get the simplest things.
“Her father’s an alien from outer space with magic powers,” I explained. “He gave DeeDee the moonbeams so she can have powers, too!”
My dad nodded his head. “Interesting,” he said.
“DeeDee can do lots of cool stuff,” I continued. “Like, one time, she turned invisible, and another time, she was flying around her room like this…”
I leaped off the couch with outstretched arms.
Just then, Beam Dreams started, and I returned to my spot on the couch. I sang along to the theme song while waving the remote control like a musical conductor.
Then I said, “Sometimes I feel like I’m from another planet.”
“What do you mean, honey?” Mom asked.
“Well, I wish I was pretty and popular like DeeDee,” I told my parents.
I pointed to the TV. On the screen, DeeDee sat at her bedroom vanity getting ready for school. While she brushed her hair, the golden locks glinted under the lights around the mirror.
“Her hair is so shiny and blonde,” I explained. “Mine looks like an electrified squid.” I tugged on a clump of curls in an effort to straighten them. When they sprang back to my head, I sighed.
“Aw, honey, your hair is beautiful,” said my dad. “It looks just like mine!”
My dad has a head full of curly, bushy black hair and a bristly mustache.
He leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. The hair on his upper lip tickled, but I tried not to smile. “Daaaad,” I groaned. “I don’t want to look like you. I want to look like DeeDee!”
“Your loss,” he said, returning to the kitchen.
Mom took my hand and sat down on the couch. She smiled and gently stroked my hair. “Your hair is just one of the many different parts that make you special,” she said.
“I know, Mom,” I replied. “But the kids at school make fun of it. And, if they knew about my gifts, they would tease me even more. I wish I was a teenager like DeeDee. Teens don’t have any problems at all.”
“My darling, you have no idea,” Mom said, chuckling. “I know you’re in a rush to grow up, but trust me. You need to be happy with who you are first. Then everything else will fall into place.”
I squeezed her hand. “You’re right, Mom. It’s just that, well, my birthday is in seven days. I’m going to be ten. That’s a double digit. A big deal. I want my birthday party to be special.”
“It will be,” said my mom. “Grandma says she has a very special birthday surprise for you.”
“Really?” I said. I couldn’t wait to visit her.
Then Dad shouted from the kitchen. “What do you want on your French toast?”
“Blueberries, please,” I replied. “But can we eat after Beam Dreams? It’s almost over.”
“Yes, dear,” Mom said. “May I watch, too?”
“Sure!” I said, laying my head onto her lap.
On the TV, DeeDee’s mom was painting the hallway. She had set up a ladder with a paint bucket on top of it. When DeeDee opened the door, she knocked the bucket off the ladder.
Before the can of paint could spill, DeeDee tapped her index fingers together. They sparked with electricity, and the bucket froze in midair until DeeDee carefully placed it on the floor. DeeDee’s mother was happy, and the show ended.
“Yay!” I cheered. “DeeDee does it again.”
“Sheesh,” Dad yelled from the kitchen. “All this excitement made me hungry. Now let’s eat.”
Suddenly, my ears perked up, and my body tingled. This usually happened when I was getting a vision or feeling. I closed my eyes, tilted my head, and said, “Somebody’s at the door…”
And then, the doorbell rang.