When Bobby opened his eyes, everything looked the same.
"Has my wish been granted?" he asked Huey.
Huey yawned. "You'll have to go home and find out for yourself," he replied.
Bobby turned to leave, when Huey said,
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
Bobby scratched his head and looked around.
"Me," Huey said. He pointed to the well.
Bobby put Huey's shell back into the bucket and lowered him down.
Then without a thank you or good-bye, Bobby ran back home as fast as he could.
"Hello? Cy? Panther? Jane?"
Bobby called out the names of his brother and sisters as he ran into the house.
No one answered.
Bobby ran up to the room he shared with Cy.
There was only one bed.
Then he ran to the girls' room.
That room was filled with old boxes and books.
"Yippie!" Bobby shouted gleefully.
He danced around, rejoicing that he was alone.
Bobby had often wondered what it would be like to have no brothers or sisters.
Never having to share, wait, or take turns.
"Now no one can tell me what to do!" he said aloud.
"What do you think you're doing?"
a voice from behind said sharply.
Bobby whirled around to face his aunt.
He ran and gave her a hug.
"Aunt Martha! Am I glad to see you!" he said.
"What's the matter with you?
Are you feeling all right?" asked Aunt Martha.
She put her hand on Bobby's forehead.
"I'm perfectly fine," laughed Bobby.
"Glad to hear it," replied Aunt Martha, "because we've got a lot to do."
She handed Bobby the vacuum cleaner.
"You can start by vacuuming the living room downstairs.
Don't miss any spots!"
"Okay, Aunt Martha," Bobby answered, a little less happy.
As Bobby vacuumed the living room, a memory popped into his head.
He and Cy used to pretend that the vacuum was a monster.
Cy would chase him around shouting,
"He's going to suck you up!"
Bobby had to admit that his brother wasn't always bad.
They did have some fun times together.
Aunt Martha walked in.
"What's taking you so long?"
she said, putting on her coat.
"Well, I, uh . . . ," stuttered Bobby.
Aunt Martha shook her head.
"Never mind," she said.
"Get your jacket.
We're going to Mr. Keefer's."
Mr. Keefer owned the little grocery in town.
Panther and Jane used to love going there because Mr. Keefer always gave them candy.
Whenever the girls got home, Jane would always show off her candy to her brothers.
"Yummy! My favorite!"
she would say, popping a cherry candy into her mouth.
But Panther would hold out the bag to Bobby and say,
"Here, Bobby, take some of mine."
Bobby walked fast to keep up with Aunt Martha as they headed toward the grocery.
"I'm going to get the vegetables,"
Aunt Martha said when they got to Mr. Keefer's.
"Here is the list.
You get the other things and I'll meet you at the cashier."
Bobby looked helplessly at the list.
"But . . . ," he began.
But Aunt Martha had already disappeared down an aisle.
"Unsweetened canned corn," read Bobby.
He searched up and down the aisle but could not figure out where to go.
"If only Panther were here," he said under his breath.
"She would know where everything is."