Wishes, Gems, and Disasters by Martha Wickham (books to read this summer .txt) 📕

for her classes. “You must pay for your classes before school starts,” the school secretary told Tracy.
She smiled, “Okay, that’s fine.” Tracy went back to her room and lay in the darkened bed. As she relaxed she really liked the new southern state she was in. Looking forward to the next day she fell asleep.
In the morning she freshened up and put on her shoes to go to the school office. She went to her suitcase and opened it. Next Tracy opened the chest that held thousands of her school dollars. To her immediate shock it was empty. The rest of the afternoon she spent it angrily looking for the money. She knew she didn’t forget it at home because she left her room empty and her mother had sold their former house to an older couple. She called her mother to ask what happened but her mother never answered her phone. No one did.
Tracy did not think anyone stole the money because no one was near her. She called her mother again and this time left a message on her answering machine for mom to call her back. She thought she could pay for her classes with a credit card but she didn’t have one so she called the MasterCard company and ordered one but she didn’t know if it would get there on time.
Finally in the evening her mother called and Tracy explained the money problem. “I don’t know exactly where it went. But I do know that when my husband Donovan helped me clean out the house and he took what you described and gave it to a couple from Mississippi to throw away. We don’t really know each other they just help their brother drive the garbage truck that picks up all the garbage. I’ll give you their names and you can call them and ask them. That was days ago so by now they have probably moved to the swamps.”
Tracy took the information and the plan. Then she called Tasha to tell her she loved it there and didn’t want to leave but had a problem with her money. After the call she signed and sent Tasha an I miss you card.
By the next day she did not have a credit card yet and she wanted to call the money holding Mr. Fielding and ask for it back. Chances are she thought the fool didn’t even know there was money in the wrapping and Tracy Rostone was ready to do whatever it took to get the money back, or almost whatever. She had her mind permanently made up.
So the very next day, she was in a hurry because school started in two weeks, she found the man’s address and phone number in the phone book. She rented a car and started drive up North West to where the man lived.
In the evening when she finally arrived in the town where he lived she realized he lived by a large swamp with lots of water. She parked her car off the side of a dirt road by a tree and found a wooden boat. It was small and had a paddle in it to get it moving. She put her black purse around her shoulder. It had everything in it she thought she needed, including a flashlight. Tracy sat in the boat and pushed off the side of the shore with the wooden paddle. She paddled on down the swamp water towards the house. She could see thick, green and brown, mossy plants hanging off the sides of trees, water, and rocks. It was all beautifully creepy but she was brave so she moved on and took a deep breath. As she quietly moved on she wondered if there were fish in the water. The house was not far and she would be there in minutes.
She saw the number on the house she was looking for and pulled the boat up to the shore and left it. She knocked on the big white houses door. An older looking woman with curly short hair and black glasses answered it. “Hi, I’m Tracy Rostone. I’m looking for the garbage truck driver who lives here. My mother gave him something of mine to throw away. Can I see him please?” The woman didn’t say anything but nodded her head yes and went back in the house.
A minute later the man came to the door way and stepped out. “I’m Tracy, Ms. Rostone’s daughter, and I want to know if you remember my mother giving you something to throw away when you drove by her house. It was wrapped in white newspaper?”
“Yes, I do,” he replied.
“Well if it’s not too much trouble we want it back. Have you thrown it out yet?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Can I have it back? I need it.”
“No. What’s given to me I take and never give it back. Besides I’m not sure where it is.”
“Okay then, bye.” Tracy walked away disappointed. She looked like she had given up but wouldn’t. She would get her money back even if it meant tearing down his walls. She walked away back towards the boat.
Tracy had been sitting in the boat for almost an hour when the sky looked as dark as night. It had fallen. She needed that money wrapped in newspaper. Without it she couldn’t go to school. If she didn’t go to school she wouldn’t know what to do with herself. Her next idea struck and it struck at the perfect time. She walked back up to the house and noticed his truck was gone. They left the house possibly to pick up garbage or eat dinner at a restaurant then get drunk and collapse in a motel.
Tracy walked to the back of the house; they didn’t have a fence around it. The house was big with two levels. One of the windows upstairs was open a crack. Trying all the bottom windows she saw they were locked. She went to their shed and climbed to the roof. Standing on it she opened the window and climbed into the house. Searching everywhere she did not see her money. She went on to the next room and bang. Knocking over a small table it hit the wooden floor hard but there she saw her money wrapped in newspaper, lying on a box.
She picked it up and sat silently. The first sounds of night could be heard because crickets were making their sounds. She went back to the window and slid out of it. She quickly ran back to her boat and floated away in it slowly. The darkness made it harder to see so she put her money down and took her flashlight out and turned it on. She slowly floated towards her car.
A frog jumped into the water. Tracy put her flashlight over the water and watched. She could see pretty rocks on the near bottom and leaned over the side as she watched them. The boat slowly turned towards it’s side and started to flip over. It was a small boat and she did everything she could to stop it. She began crawling towards the middle of the boat but it was too late. The money wrapped in newspaper quickly slid off the side of the boat and into the water. It splashed and the water covered Tracy. The boat was alright and she stopped paddling.
Tracy held the light into the water, vaguely she could see a little of the money from where she was. She reached into the water to grab it but couldn’t reach. She gripped her flashlight tight and jumped into the water feet first.
Tracy came through the water with her flashlight on under the water. She saw a greenish thing in the distance. It shook and she thought it was a person playing a prank, next she panicked because she thought it was the swamp monster. She had heard of him before when she was a small young person. When she sat around with her friends they would tell scary stories and some people in school and at home would talk about a swamp monster that lives in the swamps and chases his victims but people survived it usually. Sometimes she didn’t believe the stories.
Quickly she swam below the water and took the money. After popping out of the water and climbing on the boat she paddled fast toward her car. Coming closer she stopped to look at what she thought may be a monster. She lit it up with her light and it shook like it did before after the wind blew. It was only a mossy bush. Her heart beat faster because she was scared and in no time she was back at her car. Tracy jumped in and locked the car door. She sat still. “Thank God it wasn’t the creepy swamp monster. I almost wish it was. I want to see him,” she said to herself.
She rolled down the window and called loudly, “Come out swamp monster! I want you!” The area was filled with shadows from the moon’s light. She looked through the window and saw a human looking figure coming toward her and she heard it’s foot steps. She started the car, put on her seatbelt, turned on the headlights, and drove away. She would be back at her room in three hours.

Running back up to her room she called Tasha on the phone. “Guess what. I found my money and I think I met the swamp monster. I hope he doesn’t find me. It’s a short success story.”
“Okay, I’ll be there tomorrow,” Tasha replied.

In the morning Tracy paid for her classes and deposited the rest of the money in the bank. When she got back to her room in the afternoon Tasha showed up to visit the school and said hi to Tracy. Everything was going fine as planned. Tracy started her classes and did well. She also received a credit card and liked it there so much she never wanted to go back home, except to get her furniture and visit her mother.


The Baking Disaster


Nadine stood and wondered what she would do with her life. As she walked down the street to her house she felt the dead leaves that fell from the trees crunch under