Chapter 2

When I wished for a lifetime supply of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, I sort of thought they’d be delivered to me over the course of my life.

Nope. I got them all at once.

There were thousands of sandwiches, each individually wrapped in a little plastic bag. The entire kitchen was full, probably the entire house! I was up to my armpits in them, and the boy who had granted my wish was trying to wade toward me.

It settled one thing. The kid was a genie. A real genie!

And now I had a lot of sandwiches.

I locked eyes with the boy. He made a conspicuous gesture as though wiping at something on his cheek. It was the kind of gesture that made me do the same. As soon as my fingers touched my right cheek, I felt the promised smear of peanut butter.

For the next few seconds I tried to wipe it off. It felt slightly dried and crusty, but as I felt it flaking away, more appeared.

“It’s useless,” the boy said, practically swimming through sandwiches to reach me. “You can’t get rid of a consequence.”

As I lowered my hand in defeat, I noticed that the watch he’d given me had changed. The hourglass seemed to have collapsed, folding paper-thin across the leather band. The shiny top of the hourglass now looked very much like a regular watch, with numbers displayed on the face.

“I’m Ace,” I said, reaching out for a handshake. “What’s your name?”

“Ridge,” he answered, giving me a high five.

“Your name is Ridge?” I clarified. I can’t say it was the strangest name I’d ever heard. I once met someone who went by Wiggy.

“Yeah,” he said. “Genies get their names from wherever their jar was originally discovered.”

“Someone found you on a ridge?” I asked. “Like, the top of a mountain?”

“I guess,” he said.

“That seems dangerous. What were you doing up there?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I was in a jar.”

“You can’t get out of the jar on your own?” I asked.

“Nope,” said Ridge. “It takes a Wishmaker.”

“Wishmaker?” I asked.

Ridge nodded. “Whoever opens my jar becomes the Wishmaker.” He pointed at me. “That’s you, now.”

I was a Wishmaker. I had a genie. And I had just wasted one of my wishes on sandwiches?

“These are supposed to last a lifetime?” I said.

I set the peanut butter jar on top of the pile and picked up the nearest sandwich. I took it as a good sign that there were so many. Didn’t that mean I was going to live a long time? Or maybe I was destined to eat them quickly.

“It would have been a lot nicer to get a few delivered each day,” I pointed out.

“You should have mentioned that when you wished,” said Ridge.

“Won’t these go bad before I have a chance to eat them all?” I didn’t want moldy bread.

“The sandwiches are magically preserved,” the genie said. “They won’t spoil.”

Peeling away the bag, I began chowing down. “So, what now?”

Ridge looked at me as though it was obvious. “We begin the quest.”

“Quest?” I raised one eyebrow. “What quest?”

“Didn’t you read the warning label on my jar?” he asked.

Right, that. “I was too hungry to read,” I said, scouring the mounds of sandwiches for the jar’s lid.

“The lid’s gone,” Ridge said, realizing what I must have been searching for. “It puffed into smoke as soon as you opened the jar.”

“Then how am I supposed to read the warning label?” I cried.

“It’s a little late for that,” Ridge said calmly. “The Universe likes to warn the Wishmakers about what they’re getting themselves into, but if you don’t read the label—”

“Who is this Universe you keep talking about?” I cut him off.

“Not who,” said Ridge. “The Universe is the force that grants wishes.”

Well, I had to admit, the Universe actually made a pretty good PB and J. “And it’s your job to give the consequences?” I asked.

Ridge shook his head, eyes wide. “Not me! The Universe does that, too. It has to keep things in balance,” explained Ridge. “The natural choices you make every day bring about natural consequences. Same thing applies to wishes—it’s just that wishes aren’t really natural, so some of the consequences can be rather . . . strange.”

“So the next two wishes I make will also come with consequences?” I clarified.

“Not just the next two,” he answered. “All of them.”

“Wait,” I said. “I get more than three wishes?”

“Of course!” Ridge replied. “You have unlimited wishes. And you get thirty seconds on the hourglass to decide if you want to take the consequence.”

“What happens if I don’t accept?” I asked.

“Life goes on like normal,” said the genie, “but you don’t get your wish. And, believe me, you’ll need wishes to complete your quest.”

Oh, right. “So, what is this quest?” I asked.

Ridge grimaced. “It’s a big one. I don’t know if the Universe has ever assigned a quest with a consequence as big as this one.”

“Wait a minute. Quests have consequences, too?” I asked, finishing the first of my countless sandwiches.

“Oh, yeah,” answered Ridge. “The warning label on the lid explained that. When you opened the jar, you got unlimited wishes. To balance this, the Universe gave you a quest. And if you don’t complete the quest, there’ll be a nasty consequence.”

“Like what?” I asked. “Peanut butter in my eye?”

“It’s different every time,” said Ridge. “Most Wishmakers have simpler quests. . . .”

“With simpler consequences,” I finished for him.

Ridge nodded. “They’re still bad—don’t get me wrong. Usually, failing a quest means a neighborhood will burn down, or a city will get hit by a tsunami, or dolphins will go extinct. But in your case . . .” He looked grim. “Well, if you don’t complete the Universe’s quest, then all the cats and dogs in the world will turn into zombies and destroy mankind!”

I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. All pets would turn into zombies? He had to be joking, right? “How do you make this stuff up?” I rolled my eyes.

“I don’t,” said Ridge. “That’s the consequence that will occur if you fail to complete your quest.”

“Luckily, I don’t have any pets,” I said.

“This isn’t just about you,” said Ridge. “We’re talking about every human being on earth.”

I didn’t want to believe him. It was hard to imagine cute little kitties craving brains. But I hadn’t believed him about the sandwiches, either, and now I was practically swimming in them.

“Only you can stop this from happening, Ace,” said my genie. “You have seven days to complete the quest.”

I took a deep breath. “All right. What do I have to do?”