When I was a little girl, about ten years old, my mother often said I had the ability to look at the world through rose-colored glasses. I couldn’t understand why she kept saying this to me since I didn’t even wear glasses. She usually said it while I was regaling my family with a story about something that happened to me while I was outside playing.

My father often says, “Sally, you have quite the imagination, don’t let it run away with you.” And then my sisters laugh and laugh. I was fairly certain that they weren’t laughing because they enjoyed my story. I think they’re making fun of me. It never fails to make me get mad, and I stamp off in the middle of dinner. And then one of my older sisters would say,” there she goes again.” As a result, I rarely finished dinner or ate dessert.

And then, one night, I was late getting home for dinner because while I was taking a walk downtown on Main Street. I saw an old woman crossing the street, and just as she was stepping up on the curb, she started to trip. I ran across the street as fast as I could. And I caught her just as she was about to fall on the sidewalk and hit her head. The old lady took one look at me and smiled. When she smiled, her whole face lit up, and her eyes twinkled. “Oh, thank you so much you saved my life. I could have broken my neck. You are a hero.”

I said, “that’s the nicest thing anyone ever said to me. Thank you. But I’m not a hero. I was across the street, and I saw that you were about to trip and fall. So I ran over here to catch you so you wouldn’t get hurt. Anyone would have done the same thing.”

“No, I assure you, not everyone goes out of their way to help people. You have a good heart. And not everyone can say that. I want to give you a little gift. Would you like that?”

“Oh, I don’t know. My mother told me that I shouldn’t take anything from strangers.”

“What’s your name, dear?”

“My name is Sally.”

“Well, Sally, I’m sure your mother wouldn’t mind making this one exception.”

“Really, do you think so?”

“Yes, yes, I do. Close your eyes and hold your breath while you count to sixty.”

And that is exactly what I did. I could feel the old lady putting a chain around my neck. And it had something heavy hanging on it. I couldn’t wait to open my eyes.

“Alright, Sally, open your eyes. I’m giving you a neckless, and there’s an amulet hanging off of it that’s filled with Magic Stardust. You have to wear the necklace all the time for the necklace to work. It will allow you to see the good in people and the good in the world. This amulet only has the power to strengthen whatever is the person’s best quality.

And I can feel that you have a big heart Sally that cares for people. You see the good, and you will grow up to be a kind and decent person. And this amulet will protect your kind and good heart. And it will not let the world change who you are meant to be. The world can do that sometimes, and it can change people from who they are meant to become.”

I look down at my chest, and I see a beautiful silver star. And there’s a glass circle in the middle of the star. It’s twinkling with glimmers of light. I pick it up in my hand and say, “oh, my gosh, this is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Are you sure I can keep this?”

And when I look up, she isn’t standing there anymore. I look to the right, and the left, and across the street, and I don’t see her anywhere. I look down at my chest, and the necklace is still there. I put the amulet under my shirt. I don’t know how I’m going to tell my family about this. I know they aren’t going to believe me. They never do. I decided that it would be better if I didn’t tell them about the amulet. It will be my little secret.

That night as we are sitting at the dinner table, my oldest sister Kathleen says, “so Sally, what were you up to today?  Did anything interesting happen? Did any of the animals in the neighborhood talk to you? How about the trees? Did they have anything to say for themselves?”

If looks could kill, Kathleen would be lying on the floor at that moment. I said, “no.”

“What, nothing interesting happened? Come on, you can tell us.”

“No,”

“So, are you saying nothing interesting happened, or you aren’t going to tell us what happened?”

“No, I’m never telling any of you anything again.”

My mother says, “are you happy now, Kathleen? You can never let her be, can you? She’s just a child with a big imagination, and that’s all. Stop picking on her. Or I’m going to make you regret it. Last warning, Kathleen.”

“Oh, I was just joking. Sally just can’t take a joke.”

“That’s enough, Kathleen. Why don’t you go up to your room and think about your behavior? I’ve heard enough out of you, and you’re always causing issues at the dinner table. Sally never finishes her dinner. She eats like a bird.”

“Yeah, a vulture.”

“OK, Kathleen, go upstairs. Don’t come down until we’re finished eating, and you can wash the dishes and clean up the kitchen. See if you think that’s so funny. I’m finished tolerating your infantile behavior. You’re almost eighteen. You should know better.”

“Jeez, Mom, I was just kidding. Can’t she take a joke?”

“Go upstairs, Kathleen, not another word.”

I can’t believe my mother actually stood up for me. I look over at her, and she has her head down. And doesn’t say a word to me. Kathleen is busy stamping up the stairs to her room. I kind of feel sorry for her.

I don’t say anything during dinner, and after I take my dishes over to the sink, I say, “I’m going upstairs to finish my book.” When I get upstairs, I go into the bathroom and look in the mirror. I pull the pendant out from under my shirt and look at it in the mirror. It’s so beautiful. It looks like the stardust is moving around in the circle in the middle of the pendant. It looks brighter. I know I have to be very careful and not let anyone see it. Plus, I can’t ever take it off. So, it has to be my secret, always.

The next morning when I come down for breakfast, I make toast with peanut butter and jelly and a banana. And then I have a glass of cold milk. I know I shouldn’t drink cold milk in the morning because I always feel sick to my stomach afterward. But I really like milk, especially chocolate milk. I’m about to drink the milk when my sister Kathleen comes into the room. I don’t look at her. I stare down at my milk.

“Sally, I’m sorry I was picking on you last night. I don’t know why I do it. I should know better because Carol and Jean always tortured me because I was the youngest. And I guess when you came along, I thought it was my turn to be able to pick on somebody instead of the one that always got made fun of all the time. But what I should have been doing all this time is treating you with kindness and understanding because I knew how horrible it was to be picked on all the time. I promise I’ll do better.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. No one, I mean absolutely no one, had ever apologized to me when they made me feel bad by making fun of me or calling me stupid. I feel a tear run down my cheek, followed by another and another. That’s when Kathleen came over and gave me a hug. I hug her back. It was the first time any of my sisters were affectionate to me. Then she says let’s start over, OK?”

I nod my head because, by now, I’m crying so hard I can’t talk. Even though this is the happiest moment of my life up until now. I go into the bathroom and splash cold water on my face. And then I fold the washcloth and press it over my closed eyes. Because they’re all red from crying. When I take it off, my eyes don’t look any better. But I feel better all the same. I brush my teeth and comb my hair and go downstairs and grab my school bag and lunchbox.

As I‘m heading out the door, I yell, “bye, mom, I’m going to school now. I’ll see you later. I hear my mother say, “wait a minute, Sally I have something for you. And then she comes to the front door and says, “I made a special snack for you, Peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips in them. I know how much you love them.”

I smile at my mother and open my lunch box so she can put the cookies in there. She places them carefully into my Peter Pan lunch box. And then she says,” I want to give you a big hug and kiss. So, you know how much I love you, Sally. You’re such a kind little girl. I’m proud of you.”

And that is when my eyes start watering again. I wipe away the tears and say, “I love you too, Mommy.”  As I walk down the street towards the school, I stop for a moment and put my school bag down. And I take the amulet from under my shirt and stare at it. It is twinkling again. I don’t know if the amulet holds special powers. But I do know that something magical has happened to me. But just in case, I’m going to keep wearing this amulet for the rest of my life.

And I know that if you don’t believe, the magic will never happen. And I look up at the sky, but I can’t see the stars because of the bright sunshine. And then I hold my amulet again, and I give it a little squeeze, and I feel it getting warm, and my hand starts tingling a little. I put it back under my shirt. And then I continue on to school.

All of a sudden, I hear someone yelling, “Hey, Sally, wait up. I want to talk to you. I turn around, and it’s none other than Beth O’Hearn. I slowed down, and Beth caught up with me and says “Hey, thanks for waiting for me. “Hi Sally, I was thinking about you this morning, and I was wondering if you would like to join the writing club. I always hear you telling people interesting stories. And so, I thought you would be perfect. What do you think? The name of the club is Dream Weavers.

“Really? I would love to join the club.”

“That’s great, Sally. Our next meeting is tomorrow after school in the back of the school library”

“That’s great. I’ll be there.”

This was turning out to be the best day of my life. I put my hand to my chest and could feel the amulet. And I walk through the school doors with a smile on my face for the first time in my life. As I’m walking down the hallway, I see two boys shoving someone back and forth in the hallway. They are calling her a name and laughing at her. I run up to where they’re at. And I see the girl they are shoving around is Elizabeth Hess.

“Hey, leave her alone I scream at the top of my lungs.” Mind your own business, Sally. What do you care about, Burned Betty?’ That is when I punch Charlie right in the stomach as hard as I can. Don’t you dare call her that? You’re nothing but a bully. You’re a horrible person. You better leave, or I’m going to go up to the principal’s office and tell them what you two were doing.”

Charlie said, “whatever.” But then the two of them took off. Elizabeth has been in my class since first grade. In the third grade, Elizabeth’s house caught on fire, and she was burned all over including her face. She has angry red scars. Everyone either makes fun of her or tortures her. Elizabeth has been made fun of or ignored for so long she doesn’t even cry anymore. She didn’t say anything to me. She just stood there. “Elizabeth, I was thinking that we have an empty seat at my lunch table now that Douglas Badger moved away. How would you like to sit with us?  She stared at me for a minute, and then and then she nodded without saying a word. I take her hand and say,” Come on, let’s go put our stuff in the classroom, and then we can go outside in the play yard until the bell rings. What do you say?”

She nodded her head again and quietly said, “Yes.”

As we walk down the hallway towards the classroom, I think about Elizabeth, and I wonder why I haven’t made friends with her before. I feel bad because I know what it feels like when people make fun of you and call you names. And you feel powerless to stop them. You start thinking you deserve it or something. But I know that isn’t true. Nobody deserves to be made fun of or ignored because of the way they look, where they live, or anything else. I think I might have been afraid to make friends with her because I thought people might start making fun of me too.

We put our stuff in the classroom, and then I say, “come on, let’s go outside. It’s nice out.” She stands there. “Come on, and you don’t have to be afraid anymore. I take her hand and start walking toward the door, and then we walk down the hall and out the door to the play yard. “I promise it will be alright, Elizabeth.”  I walk over to a group of my friends, and Elizabeth stands next to me. “Hi, everyone. Elizabeth is going to join us, isn’t that great? Everyone looks at me and then at Elizabeth. They all say, “yeah, that’s great. Hi, Elizabeth. I look at her, and she has the beginnings of a smile on her face.

I let go of Elizabeth’s hand and smiled at her. “Hey, guess what? Beth asked me to join the writing club. The first meeting is tomorrow after school in the library.”

My friend Helen looks at me and says, Lucky. You are really good at telling stories, Sally. That sounds fun. I wish I had your imagination. Elizabeth suddenly says, “ I like to write stories about animals. We have lots of pets. We have three dogs, four cats, and a parrot that can talk.”

“You do? Says Helen. The parrot can really talk like a person?”

“Yes,” Elizabeth says. He can say a lot of stuff. He repeats anything someone says near him.”

“Wow, Elizabeth, that is cool. I would love to meet him.”

“You would? Well, you can come to my house after school and meet him anytime.”

And then all the girls start saying,” Me too, me too.”

I looked over at Elizabeth, and her face was transformed by the big smile on her face and the twinkle in her eyes. I had never noticed what beautiful green eyes she had before. “How about on Friday after school Elizabeth? Do you think that would be alright with your mom?”

“Yes, but just in case, I’ll ask her today after school.”

Just then, the bell rings, and it’s time for us to go in. Everyone was laughing at Peter because he was making weird faces for some reason. And then we all filed into the building. As I was walking through the door, I put my hand over my chest, and I could feel how warm the amulet was getting. I felt so happy for Elizabeth making friends with everyone. And you know what? You can never have enough friends. I knew today was going to be the beginning of a whole new chapter of my life.

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