Piper's Perfect Dream by Ahmet Zappa

Piper.
    â€œOh,
starf
,” Piper muttered to herself. Now she had really freaked out her Wisher. And she really needed to gain Olivia’s trust. It was so important in pinpointing the correct wish.
    â€œDon’t mind me,” she said airily, as if didn’t matter that much. “That whole ‘evil presence’ stuff? It was just part of a bad dream I had the other night.”
    Olivia smiled sadly. “I’ve been having bad dreams, too,” she confided. But then she seemed to pull back once more and shrugged. “It’s really no big deal. Everyone has bad dreams. I’m sure they’ll just go away.”
    She didn’t sound like she believed it. And Piper didn’t believe it, either. Bad dreams had a way of sticking around until you figured out what they meant.
    â€œGirls!” Alice called from behind the counter. “Come and get your dinner.”
    Reluctantly, Piper stood when Olivia did. They made their way to the front of the diner, where two heaping plates of food were waiting. Piper stared at her dish. She didn’t recognize a thing. So she grabbed a nearby menu and leafed through the pages. There were tons of choices. How could she figure out what she was eating?
    Her eyes stopped at the entry HOT DOG . She gasped. Wasn’t that a Wishling pet? But right next to the words was a picture of a cylinder-shaped food in a bun. It looked nothing at all like those cute four-legged creatures. Luckily, there were other pictures, too. Piper identified her food as a veggie burger, sweet potato fries, one of those long green and bumpy things called a pickle, and coleslaw. She couldn’t guess what that was, even squinting at the photo.
    Partial to greens, she started with the pickle. It reminded her of cukumbrella, a crunchy vegetable that didn’t need much light to grow. There were always lots to be found in the Flats.
    Piper picked up her knife and fork to cut the pickle. But Olivia was just holding hers in one hand, so Piper did the same.
When on Wishworld, do as Wishlings do,
she thought. That was one of the sayings professors were always spouting. She took a big bite. Sour! Everything else was delicious, though. Piper decided she’d have this for every meal on Wishworld if she could.
    In record time, Piper finished her dinner. Traveling to Wishworld used up so much energy! She had definitely needed to replenish. Meanwhile, Olivia just pushed her food around the plate. Piper was sure she was still thinking about her bad dream. If only she could get Olivia to open up again. She had to try. And this time, she’d take it slow.
    â€œMaybe you’d like something else to eat?” she asked gently. “Some kind of comfort food?” Eating garble greens always made Piper feel better. “I can get it for you.”
    â€œGood idea, Piper. Comfort food! But I’ll take care of it myself.” Olivia jumped off her stool, went around the counter, and started working by the fountain area.
    Piper grinned.
    Olivia smiled back as she grabbed two tall glasses. In each, she put a spoonful of chocolate syrup and some milk. Then she filled the glasses with cold seltzer from the fountain tap. Olivia named everything as she went, so it was easy to follow.
    Piper could barely contain her excitement when she heard
chocolate
. Even though she’d eaten a big dinner, she still had to try the tasty treat she’d heard about from other Star Darlings. But she did have to ask about the seltzer.
    â€œOh, it’s just bubbly water,” Olivia explained, adding a bit more.
    The drinks foamed to the brim, without one drop spilling over. Olivia mixed the glasses with a long spoon and plopped in straws. Then she pushed one across to Piper.
    â€œTry it!” she said.
    Piper sipped. “Startast—I mean fantastic!” The drink was starmazingly refreshing, with a yummy chocolate sweetness to it. But it had a fizz and pop, too, and might just have