Pass It On
Chapter Two

Destiny’s eyes and her thoughts were on the coin in her hand. She didn’t really believe it could be a true magic coin ... but ... what would it hurt to wish? Closing her eyes she wished for something simple ... something obvious ... something that was ruining her day.
“I wish the rain would stop.”

Thinking that saying it twice might help the wish along. She said it again.
“I wish the rain would stop.”

Destiny opened her eyes slowly to see Katie staring at her.

“What’s wrong Destiny?” Katie said with concern.

Destiny didn’t answer. She just stared up at the clouds and waited to see if her wish was granted.

“What’s wrong Destiny?”

“Shhh ... just wait a minute Katie.”

Katie did as she was told and sat down on the porch without another word.

Three long and silent minutes passed before Destiny put her hand out from the porch. Water droplets splashed in her palm and she sighed sadly. She looked to her other hand that held the coin that had promised her three wishes.

“Yeah ... just what I thought. No magic ... just a stupid old coin ... not even worth enough to buy a Kit Kat bar.”

Katie was up and quickly at her side. “What are you talking about Destiny?”

Destiny started to throw the coin into the street but then put it in her jean pocket. “Nothing ... I just ... well ... never mind. Let’s go riding.”

Katie looked out at the splashing puddles and then shivered. “But it’s raining and it’s cold and I don’t want to get wet.”

Destiny walked down the steps and picked up her bike from the grass. “C’mon Prep ... I said let’s ride.”

Katie whined. “But Desi ... I don’t ...”

“I said LET”S GO!” Destiny said with the look and authority of a big sister.

Katie sighed and fell in line as she always did. “Oh kay.”

Without further protest she ran down the steps and picked up her own bike. Closing the gate behind them, the pair soon headed down the sidewalk and off into the rain.

Destiny deciding that a free mini cone was just as good on a rainy day as it was a sunny day, led Katie toward the McDonald’s in TwinAire.

They had just crossed the railroad tracks when Katie noticed a tiny ray of sunshine peeking through the clouds. “Hey Destiny!” She shouted. “Look ... the sun’s trying to come out.”

Destiny riding no hands as usual looked heavenward and saw the tiny sliver of light in the dark clouds. The rain however was still falling on her nose and she continued to pedal without comment or hopeful smile.

By the time the Kroger’s was in sight ... the rain had slowed to a light drizzle. As they pulled into the McDonald’s parking lot ... it had stopped all together and the dark clouds were clearly on the run.

When the girls parked their bikes, Destiny reached into her pocket and pulled out the coin. A smile turned at her lips. “I don’t know ... maybe you do have a little magic in you.”

Katie set her kickstand and then was as Destiny’s side. “What did you say?”

Destiny’s eyes were still on the coin. “Back on the porch I wished for it to stop raining and now it has.”

Katie’s eyes went wide. “Do you really think it could be magic?”

Destiny shrugged her shoulders and then put the coin back in her pocket. “I don’t know. Maybe the rain just quit on its own.”

Katie shivered from a mixture of excitement at the possibility of magic in the palm of her sister’s hand ... and from the cold rain still soaking her shirt and pants. “And maybe ... the coin really is magic and you just used the first wish to stop the rain. Oh my gosh ... do you know what that means Desi?”

Destiny grabbed the door to the restaurant. “Yeah ... it means you just used up your wish and I only have two left.”

“Hey, wait a minute! That’s not fair! I didn’t make the wish ... you did!” Katie cried. “And besides … don’t we get three wishes apiece?”

“Paris gave us the coin together. That means we have to share the wishes, because that’s the way it is in every fairy tale I ever read … and since I’m the big sister I get two and you get one.”

Destiny gave Katie her best tough girl look. “So … are you cool with that little girl, or do you wanna bump about it?” Destiny fired the first shot into Katie’s shoulder just in case she did.

This time Katie did not back up, back down or apologize. She immediately returned fire and punched Destiny in her shoulder.

Destiny stopped, looked down at the spot where Katie hit her and then smiled approvingly at her sister. “Not bad ... you’re learning to fight back.”

Katie beamed from the praise her sister had given her. She stared at her left hand still balled into a fist, and was amazed she’d used it as a weapon.

Destiny grabbed Katie by her shirt sleeve. “Now Dumbo... let’s go get our mini cones and then head over to the baseball field to see if Tommy’s playing.”

“But ... but what about the wishes?”

Destiny pulled Katie through the door. “Cones and baseball first ... wishes later. Come on!”

As Destiny stood at the counter, Katie waited at a distance as always. The mini cones were for children only and even though Destiny knew Katie was really a kid, the server behind the counter wouldn’t feel the same way and wouldn’t give Katie a cone.

Destiny ordered two cones, saying one was for her little sister. Luckily, the server never asked to see Katie. As she waited for the cones to be filled, Destiny’s thought turned to the “maybe magic” coin in her pocket. What if ... what if ... the coin really was magic and what if they really had two wishes left? Destiny wasn’t sure what she’d want to wish for. It would be so easy to wish something for herself and if she did, it would have to be a wish she’d already made so many times, but had never been fulfilled.

Her eyes and thoughts turned to the psoriasis that had covered her body since birth. She would so love to wish it away ... so love to be able to wear shorts and tank tops or go swimming at the park pool without the stares of adults and the taunts of other children. It would be so wonderful to look in the mirror and never ... ever see a single red and ugly dry patch of skin on her body again. Then maybe ... just maybe ... a cute boy like Tommy would notice her. Yes, that would be an easy wish ... the easiest one in the whole world, but could she really be selfish and use her wish for herself?

What about the people in her life she loved? What about Mom and Dad? She sure would like to wish them a lot of money so they didn’t have to worry about the bills so much and so they could finally fix the house up nice just like they always dreamed of. Yeah ... she definitely wanted to help them and she wanted to help Paris and her brother Michael too... And she couldn’t forget about her friends in the neighborhood. She had so many friends and so many of them really needed some magic in their life.

Two mini cones being handed to Destiny by a smiling server broke her thought for the moment. Destiny smiled back, thanked the lady for the cones and then motioned for Katie to follow her outside to collect hers. It was then that Destiny knew what or who ... one of the wishes should be used for.

She wanted Katie to be her little sister in EVERY way. She wanted Katie to have the fun sized body to match that eleven and a half year old spirit of hers. She wanted Katie to finally come home and be able to stay there. She wanted Katie to wear the clothes she wanted, to play the games she wanted, to be picked up and hugged the way she wanted, to grow up the way she wanted and for the whole world to see her as she truly was.

Destiny stopped outside the door and then handed Katie her cone when she walked out. Destiny took a lick of her ice cream and then added one more want to her wish list. She wanted Katie to be able to walk up to that counter with her and get her mini cone ... just like any other kid. And as she picked up her bike, she decided to make it official.
She reached in her pocket and held the coin tight. She wished with all her heart that Katie could be her little sister ... her real little sister ... in spirit, in heart and in body.

Katie, unaware of the silent wish Destiny had used in hope of changing Katie’s destiny, thanked her for the cone and then got back on her bike. She waited for her sister to lead and Destiny did not disappoint.

“C’mon Katie ... let’s go to Christian Park and see if they're playing or not.”

“You mean to see if Tommy is playing.” Katie gently teased.

Destiny blushed once again and then waved for her to get moving. Katie followed Destiny out of the parking lot and across the intersection. The baseball diamond at Christian Park was about ten minutes away and as Katie splashed through the mud puddles along English Avenue, she noticed Destiny kept looking over her shoulder at her. Katie didn’t really think much of that, as Destiny was always checking to be sure her little sister was keeping up. Of course what she didn’t know was that Destiny was really looking back to see if her wish had fun sized Katie yet.

As Katie pedalled past parked cars and picket fences, her thoughts turned to the magic coin in Destiny’s pocket and the possibilities for the wishes she hoped it held.

Katie knew all about magic wishes. She’d been making them all her life ... especially one. She was probably about five or six the first night she wished on a star that she could have the body of a little girl instead of the boy body she’d been trapped in. But the body was only half the wish ... the other half was to be part of a family who would see ... and want and love the little girl as she truly was.

Years ... so many years had passed since the first night she’d made that wish. Her body had grown and with the aid of surgeries had been somewhat feminized to allow her to live as a woman, but the stubborn little red headed girl who made that wish so long ago had refused to grow up and was her true heart and soul. That little girl still waited for her chance to live and wondered if she’d ever have, but at least the other half of the wish had come true for her when she met Destiny and her family. They had seen past the middle aged body to the place where the little girl lived and they’d welcomed her into their hearts, their lives and their home.

And when someone would ask Destiny’s mom why she let her twelve year old daughter run around with that “crazy” redheaded person, she would tell them that Katie was her “cousin” and that emotionally and mentally she was the same age as Destiny. As long as they treated her the same as the rest of the kids she would be happy and there would be no problems, but if they didn’t or if they mistreated her ... then they’d have a problem. And while Destiny’s Mom was but a shade over five feet tall, and weighed a buck nothing, she was a little dog with a big bite and no one in the neighborhood really wanted to tangle with her or her red headed hot tempered husband. Needless to say, Katie never had a problem with the residents of Churchman Ave.

Yes ... it would be so easy for Katie to use her wish to melt the years and this body away and to slip into an eleven and half year old model that fit perfectly. It was so easy she almost asked for it, but something ... someone stopped her.

She looked ahead at her sister on the bike and knew she couldn’t selfishly wish that wish for herself, not when her wish could be used to make Destiny’s dreams come true. Katie’s heart went out to the brave little girl pedalling in front of her and how fate had cursed her body just as it had cursed her own. Psoriasis had covered Destiny’s body since birth and forced her to cover herself in clothing from neck to ankle when all the other kids were in shorts and tank tops. Doing something as childhood summer simple as going to the public pool was outside her reach. Her life had been full of doctors and crá¨mes and treatments and hopes for cures that had never come true anymore than Katie’s wish for her body to be right. But through it all, even the taunts and teases of her classmates, Destiny never let it get her down, or at least down for long. She was a brave, happy and loving little girl who blasted through her psoriasis like she did a mud puddle. She refused to let it stop her from being her, but sometimes ... sometimes when she was all alone in her room and she let the tears and pain pour out for a while, it slowed her down.

Katie didn’t want her sister to be slowed down or to be stopped from having all the fun and doing all the things the other kids did. She loved Destiny and wanted her to have the childhood and the life she deserved ... the same life Katie had wished for herself ... and she couldn’t ... wouldn’t let psoriasis stand in the way if she could do anything about it. And ... if she really had a magic wish ... how could she not use it to help Destiny? How could she use it for herself and really be happy as long as her sister hurt?

Katie stopped at the intersection waiting for the green and made two decisions. One ... she definitely wanted to stop at the Kroger’s on the way back from the ball field to get a free cookie from the bakery. Two ... she had to use her wish to make Destiny psoriasis free.

Katie, enjoying the warmth of the sun and the thought of using her wish to make Destiny’s dream come true, nearly closed her eyes and lost herself in both. Thankfully she didn’t or all would have been lost, as there at her feet lay the magic coin.

Katie’s eyes went wide as she picked it up and held it to her chest. It must have fallen out of Destiny’s pocket while she was riding. Evidently good luck was smiling on them just as the sun was. Katie decided not to waste any more time or take another chance on losing the coin. She closed her eyes and wished with all her heart that Destiny would be psoriasis free. And like her sister had before her, she wished it twice, to be doubly sure it would come true.

Katie opened her eyes and looked ahead. Destiny was waving and waiting not too patiently for her to catch up. At this distance she couldn’t tell if her wish had been granted, so she hit the pedal hard and started gaining ground. If when Katie caught up with her, the wish hadn’t been granted yet, Katie decided not to tell Destiny she had made it. She would just say she found the coin where Destiny had dropped it and give it back to her. There would still be one wish left and Katie knew what or more aptly who it should be used for.

She would do everything she could to convince Destiny to use the last wish to do something special for her family ... the same family that had done so much for Katie.

Katie smiled as she pedaled, envisioning the big house completely remodeled just as Destiny’s parents had always dreamed, and for once there would be enough money so they didn’t have to borrow, beg or make do. She thought of her adopted brother Michael seated at the ultimate game system, playing games with his friends and having fun instead of fights. She thought of Paris with her Totally Twilight Bedroom, Larry at her side, and her first song being released and going straight to number one on the charts.

“Wow!” she said aloud as she closed in on Destiny. “We just have to use the last wish to make everyone else happy. We just gotta.”

When she pulled up to Destiny, she noticed she looked more disappointed than angry at having to wait on her. Katie also noticed the small patches of dry skin were still peeking through the crá¨me on Destiny’s face and out any place her clothes didn’t cover.

Katie, obviously disappointed her wish had not been granted, reached into her pocket and pulled out the coin. “Destiny you dropped the coin.”

Destiny took the coin from her palm and put it in her pocket with little emotion. “It probably doesn’t really work anyway.”

Katie sighed, “Yeah probably.”

Destiny swung her bike round. “Come on ... let’s get to the field. Maybe we can at least catch some of the game.”

Katie said nothing as she fell in line behind Destiny. The remainder of the ride was quiet thought by both girls, both wanting to believe their wishes were going to come true but with each pump of the pedal and no magical changes evident, they were quickly losing faith.

To be continued …