Be Careful What You Wish For... (novella)
| File:What you wish for.jpg | |
| Author | R. L. Stine |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series | Goosebumps |
| Genre | Horror fiction, Children's literature |
| Publisher | Scholastic |
Publication date | 1994(also 1989 as it was held) |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Preceded by | The Haunted Mask |
| Followed by | Piano Lessons Can Be Murder |
Be Careful What You Wish For… is the twelfth book in R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series.
Plot
Samantha Byrd is a tall, clumsy girl constantly being tormented by her classmate Judith, a popular girl who taunts her with comments like "Fly away, Byrd." Samantha is on her school's basketball team despite being a terrible basketball player, so she is often forced to stay late after school for practice.
One rainy afternoon after practice, Samantha happens upon an old woman named Clarissa who can't find her way home. Samantha helps the old woman, and is rewarded with three wishes. Samantha is skeptical, but decides to humor Clarissa by wishing that she were the best basketball player on her school team. The next day, during a basketball game, all the other girls (excluding Samantha) fall mysteriously ill and screw up on the court. Samantha visits Judith, who is delirious with the flu and accuses Samantha of witchcraft. Samantha gets angry and inadvertently makes her second wish: that Judith would just disappear.
When Samantha wakes up the next morning, she finds that she's the only person left in (supposedly) the entire world. There's no one at home or school or on the street. After some aimless wandering, Samantha meets up with Clarissa. Clarissa apologizes for the wish, stating that she isn't skilled in magic and couldn't make Judith disappear without making everyone else disappear. Clarissa offers to cancel the second wish and give Samantha a third wish...if Samantha can make a clear wish. Samantha wishes that everything is back to the way it was, except that Judith becomes Samantha's friend.
This wish is then granted, and Judith does indeed become Samantha's friend, but Samantha soon finds that Judith has become dangerously obsessed with Samantha. Samantha tries to get away from Judith and ends up crashing her bike in front of Clarissa. Clarissa, feeling sorry that Samantha isn't happy with her final wish, grants Samantha a fourth wish. Samantha wishes that she never met Clarissa and that Judith was the one who met Clarissa instead. The wish is granted, and Judith becomes Clarissa's friend. As Samantha walks away, she overhears Judith yelling, "Fly away, Byrd!" and Samantha, now a black crow, does just that.
Television Episode
In the television series based on the Goosebump books, this story was adapted into a one part story, with some changes:
- Clarissa (the woman who grants Sam's wishes) uses a small crystal ball to grant Sam's wishes in the book. On the TV version, Clarissa gives Sam an amulet that glows whenever Sam wishes for something.
- Sam's wish to be the best member of the basketball team: in the book, the other team members become seriously ill and can't perform so Sam can be the best by comparison (and when Samantha visits Judith at her home, Judith accuses Sam of being a witch because of the mysterious flu); in the TV version, the other team members become so clumsy that Sam is seen as the best member of the team even though Sam's team loses the game.
- Sam's accidental second wish: in the book, Sam wishes for Judith to disappear, then wakes up the next day and finds everyone in the world (except for herself and Clarissa) gone; in the TV version, Sam wishes for everyone to "buzz off" and accidentally turns everyone in town (except for herself and Clarissa) into flies.
- Judith's wish: After Sam wishes that Judith met Clarissa instead of Sam, in the book, Judith tells Sam to "fly away!" and Sam turns into a bird and flies away; in the TV version, Judith tells Clarissa that she wishes that wherever she was in the world, people would gather around and admire her. Clarissa winks at Sam then turns Judith into a statue at the park. Being a statue and not being able to talk means that Judith can't wish herself back to normal, which means she will remain a statue forever.
- Samantha's brother Ron and dog Punkin aren't in the TV version.
Connections to Other Goosebumps Books
- Clarissa was the inspiration for the Madame Doom fortune telling machines in Goosebumps HorrorLand.