The Trouble With Spells Read Online Free PDF Page A

eating, Grandma surprised me by bringing out a giant piñata in the
shape of a donkey. A couple of the guys helped her string it up from the large
tree in the middle of her yard.
    Since I was the
birthday girl, I got nominated to go first. After I was blindfolded, I made a
few feeble attempts to hit the swinging cardboard animal, but only managed to
connect with it once, and that was just a slight brush. I eagerly pulled off
the blindfold and passed it on to someone else before I made myself look any
more foolish.
    As it turned out,
the piñata was just what the guys from the football team needed to get them
going. They started to eagerly take turns, each one trying to outdo the next
while their girlfriends laughed and cheered them on.
    I suddenly
realized we were all having a great time, and my eyes sought out my grandma who
was watching the whole game play out with a large smile on her face. She snuck
a quick wink at me. I smiled back at her, then moved back toward the rear of
the group since some of the guys were getting pretty aggressive with the
baseball bat.
    Finally, the
piñata gave a great crack when Brad whacked it with a super hard hit. Candy
flew everywhere. Shelly ran over with a squeal to pull Brad’s blindfold off and
gave him a little kiss on the lips, while all the other kids scrambled at their
feet gathering up candy. I laughed to myself at the funny picture they all made
and wished I had a camera to capture the moment.
    “Time for
presents!” Grandma called over the din. She grabbed my arm, shuttling me over
to a seat near a table where several gift bags were piled.
    She placed a funny
looking bow on my head and handed me a gift bag to open.
    “This one is from
Maggie Pratt,” she said, reading the tag.
    I shot Maggie a
smile and began removing the tissue paper from the bag. Maggie and I had
chemistry together, and she was a really sweet girl.
    I opened presents
for about ten minutes while Grandma wrote everything down on a list so I could
send out thank you notes later. When we were all done, I was sitting next to a
nice stack of gifts and feeling a little overwhelmed at everyone’s generosity
toward me. Grandma went back into the house and proceeded to bring out my
birthday cake.
    I had to admit the
cake was pretty impressive. It was in the shape of a star with three tiered
layers. There was one candle in the points of each of the stars and one in the
very center of the cake on the top layer, making a total of sixteen. It was
decorated in pink frosting with little white beaded accents around the sides.
    My friends broke
into singing the happy birthday song while Grandma lit the candles.
    “Make a wish!”
someone yelled, as I leaned over to blow the candles out. I was amazed to find
an unbidden picture of Vance Mangum raced into my mind. I closed my eyes and
savored the image for a moment before taking a large breath and blowing out all
the candles.
    The group cheered
at my success and began lining up for a piece of cake. When Grandma was done
cutting it for everyone, I went over and wrapped my arms around her in a giant
hug.
    “Thank you,
Grandma. For everything you’ve done.”
    She laughed and
hugged me back. “It was the least I could do. I’m just sorry your mom couldn’t
get off work so she could join us.”
    I nodded. “I do
have another surprise for you, though.” She smiled slyly.
    “Really?” I looked
at her expectantly, wondering what it could possibly be.
    “Come with me,”
she added, stepping away and gesturing with her index finger for me to follow. She
led me back into the house, through the kitchen and out into the family room.
    “Dad!” I cried out
when I saw the debonair looking man sitting in the armchair , reading the
newspaper.
    “Hey, Pumpkin!” He
dropped the paper to the floor, jumping up to greet me.
    We enveloped each
other in a deep embrace.
    “I thought you
were in Denver!” I nuzzled my head against his shoulder, realizing how much I
missed