The Wish Stealers Read Online Free PDF

Gideon clapped ecstatically.
    From outside the hallway a wretched cackling echoed. Three stooped hags with straggly hair, dressed in black shredded rags, moth-bitten shawls, and pointy hats shuffled into the room.
    Every student sat straight in his or her seat. Although everyone knew the witches were just actors, the women’s faces looked wildly aged, bumpy with warts, and lined with a million creases. One of the witches carried a spell book under her arm, with the title The Future, Fate & Mortal Wishes.
    “They look real!” whispered a student in front of Griffin. Chills ran up and down her spine. They did look real. Impossibly real. Horribly real.
    “Double, double toil and trouble; / Fire burn, and cauldron bubble … Eye of newt and toe of frog, / Wool of bat and tongue of dog …” they crowed, hovering in a coven in front of the room. Griffin couldn’t take her eyes off the spell book. It’s just a prop, she reminded herself.
    The three witches finished their lines and stood likevultures, with their beady eyes scanning the classroom.
    “Beyond lifelike!” said Mrs. Gideon. “Students, do you have any questions?”
    Griffin’s hand shot up. “What’s in your spell book?”
    The first witch answered, “Would you like to take a look, my dear?”
    Griffin nodded, mesmerized by the witch’s yellow eyes. Just like Mariah’s.
    The witch hobbled over to Griffin and dropped the spell book onto her desk. “Be quick, my dear. Time is almost up,” she whispered.
    Her face, so close to Griffin’s own, looked familiar. Those pinched lips, sunken hollow cheeks, rotted skin, and dried desert of wrinkles …
    “Next question for these otherworldly actors!” said Mrs. Gideon.
    Griffin bent her head over the book and opened to the table of contents. Ancient mildew wafted up at her. She traced her finger down the page, feeling a covering of sticky cobwebs. Chapter 4: Stealing and Returning Mortal Wishes . Griffin turned to Chapter 4. Her heart raced as she read:
    If one possesses a stolen wish, the best way to break its curse is to return the wish toits rightful owner. That is the most powerful magic. Be advised it takes some time for the magic to work.
    If that is impossible, one can return the wish to a person who is on the same journey as the original wisher. The magic is not as strong, but if the intention is sincere, it may work.
    Griffin memorized each and every word. Then she read the final sentence on the page.
    If a stolen wish or wishes are not returned, they corrupt the new owner, and all that is good and full of light inside that person will be destroyed. Evil will infest its host, and tendrils of darkness soon will overtake him or her.
    Griffin’s face lost all color.
    “I’ll be needing that back now, my dear. Did you find it … lucky ?” asked the witch, suddenly hovering over Griffin.
    “Uh, yes,” said Griffin, looking deep into the witch’s swirling eyes.
    “Enchanted!” said Mrs. Gideon. “Let’s give the three actors a huge round of applause.”
    Evil smiles set on the three crones’ faces, their black teeth bared to all the students.
    Bringgg rang the bell.
    Libby waited for Griffin outside class. “Mrs. Gideon is really into this play!” said Libby, and she mimicked the teacher, “‘Fair is foul, and foul is fair!’ Those witches were freaky!”
    “Yeah,” said Griffin. Her head pounded.
    Together they walked toward their bright orange lockers. Earlier that morning they had decorated them. Griffin had brought photos of her family, her grandma and her, Libby and Griffin river rafting on a giant inner tube, Charlemagne, a shooting star, Griffin jamming on her bass guitar, and Janis Joplin singing.
    “Griff, look, is there something on your locker?” said Libby as they came closer.
    Toilet paper streamed out from the locker vents, trailing all the way down to the floor.
    “Samantha!” said Libby.
    Griffin opened her locker. Toilet paper twisted inside like paper snakes. Just