Kind of a Big Deal

by Shannon Hale

It began, predictably, with a dream.

If a deer broke in and held really still, Josie wasn’t sure she’d notice.

Everywhere, life was just about to happen.

It’s bad luck to see a bookstore and not go in.

And second-home Californians, but it was clear that everybody hated them equally.

Musicals were better than real life. And if Josie could make a wish, she’d live in one forever.

Maybe the magic wasn’t in the bench but in the tea? In fact, she couldn’t help thinking, could he be the guilt-tea party? Thanks a latte for the spiked drink. If he thought he could mess with her mind, he was about to have a brewed awakening. By any beans necessary.

So many emotions all at once. She was tempted to shoot them with crossbow bolts. The emotions, not the people.

because when being chased by a horde of undead plague victims you just want something familiar.

“What I mean to say is, I like your infectious hope.”

Everything was funny, in that way that mundane things are funny when you’re sauced on soda and near-death experiences.

She had no boundaries. No boundaries anywhere. In her loneliness and isolation, she tended to try to merge with whoever was nearest.

Even for Millennial High’s Most Talented student, being a teenager was still, at times, a horror movie.

No story is too apocalypsey for a little romance.

That was how she felt now as she faced the Zombloid hordes: Unashamed. Unafraid. Spicy. Girly.

Then Mia whispered, “I love you more than ice cream.” Josie kissed Mia’s head. It was a big thing, to be loved more than ice cream. A beautiful thing,

All her imaginings involved going backward.

Abbreviations were as much a part of theater culture as humiliating vocal warm-ups and jazz hands.

Do you ever feel like you’re in the wrong story?

“I’m older … than sand!” he said. “So what?” she said. “I’m Josie Pie.”

Well, it was a start. Who knew what might change in the future.

Even if change was right, it still hurt.

have migrated to sunny Arizona. Why was she wasting this moment thinking about geographically challenged gingers? Justin