Kate, Alice, and Norm went to an old costume shop in town to find their outfits for the Halloween dance. Kate was looking at a black dress when Alice spotted it. It was a white strapless gown with beading all over the bodice. It looked like something out of a fairy tale. She took it into the dressing room and tried it on. Once she made sure it fit okay, she stepped out of the dressing room. Kate and Norm froze when they saw her.
"Oh my gosh, it's gorgeous!" Kate exclaimed. Norm, however, didn't say a word. He just stared at Alice. She slipped back into the dressing room. She tried to pull the dress up more, but it just slid down again. She was too skinny.
"It's not going to fit." She said quietly to herself.
"I can make it fit." Norm was suddenly behind her. "All you have to do is wish it." He put his hand on her bare shoulder. She didn't want to waste her second wish on something as useless as a dress, but as she looked at herself in the mirror, she saw an image she hasn't seen in years. She saw herself as a princess wearing a beautiful dress with a prince by her side.
"I wish…" The image in the mirror called to her like a siren in the sea. "…I wish this dress would fit me perfectly." Norm snapped his fingers and the dress shrank around her. When it felt snug around her waist, her body filled out where it was loose. She stared in the mirror. She really did look like a princess. "Thank you." She turned around and hugged him. Norm looked at her with astonishment. None of his masters ever said "thank you" before. They were always glad to get rid of him. Hmm... he thought. Maybe humans aren't completely hopeless...
Alice bought the dress and a white mask that matched, while Kate bought a black dress with green, black, and purple in the skirt, along with a black mask with black, green, and yellow feathers over the top.
"I'm going as the spirit of Mardi Gras." Kate said proudly. "She's going as Cinderella." She pointed to Alice. The old man at the register didn't change his bored expression as he rang up the costumes. They paid for their stuff and left.
When Alice and Norm got back to her room, Alice decided to put her plan into action. The dress was all she'd ever wanted and she planned to thank him properly.
"Norm? I can't thank you enough for fixing the dress." Alice said.
"It was nothing." He said, lounging on the bed.
"I know what my last wish is. I wish you were free." The result was nothing like that Disney movie. The gold bands around his arms vanished and once the shock wore off, he celebrated.
"Yeah! I'm free! You can keep the lamp as a souvenir, hon. I'm free! And I'm coming for you, Canada!" And with that, he was gone. Alice heard someone coming up the stairs, so she turned her T.V. on. Her mom came into the room.
"What was that noise?" she asked.
"Sorry. I didn't realize how loud the T.V. was." Alice lied. Her mom saw the dress hanging on a knob of her dresser.
"Is this for the Halloween dance?" Alice nodded. "It's beautiful."
"Thanks." Her mom noticed something was wrong.
"Are you okay?" she asked. Alice didn't even notice that she was sad that Norm was gone.
"Yeah, I'm just really tired. We were looking for a long time today. I'm just going to finish my homework and get ready for bed."
"Okay, but have some dinner before you go to bed. I'll get some ready for you."
"Thanks." Her mom left the room and Alice got her homework out. She was working on her Calculus homework when her mind wandered. Did he really want to leave that badly? She asked herself. I was really starting to like him. She pushed the thought out of her mind and continued on her homework. Soon, her mom came back up with a plate of pasta.
"When you're done, come downstairs. We have something for you." Alice did her homework while she ate. When she finished, she went downstairs to help with the dishes. Her parents were sitting at the table.
"Alice," her dad said. "We want to speak with you." Alice sat at the table with them.
"Honey, these came in the mail for you." Her mom handed her two envelopes. Her college acceptance letters!