“Dandelions!” shouted Rebecca. “Look Pammy!” Rebecca said, blowing the dandelion into the wind. “Now I get my wish,” the five-year-old explained.

            “There’s a genie in there?” Pam asked quizzically.

            “No,” Rebecca said, offended at the suggestion. “You make a wish, and then blow, and then the wish comes true!”

            Pam picked her own dandelion, examining it, not sure how it could make her wishes come true. She closed her eyes, made a wish, and blew as hard as she could.

            That night, when they did get ice cream for dessert, Pam understood. Dandelions were magical when you believed.

            “Pleeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaasssssssseeeeee, Daddy!” Pam begged her father.

            “No Pam, and that’s it. We are not buying you new crayons, you have some at home,” he said impatiently.

            “But Brittany broke all of them. I need new ones!”

            “Pam! Enough!”

            Pam sulked the rest of the day. She needed new crayons. Brittany ate her violet crayon yesterday! She couldn’t draw a rainbow without violet.

            She sat on her front steps, too angry to go inside. She noticed a dandelion growing between the cracks of the walkway. She plucked it, and holding it close to her lips, she blew, wishing for new crayons.

            “It was so cool, like, he just kissed me. We were sitting there, and I could tell he was so nervous,” Anna prattled on.

            Pam listened, hanging on every word. Although she would never admit it, she dreamed of kissing Zack Atkins, the boy who sat in front of her in class.

            “Pam?” Anna interrupted her thoughts. “Have you ever been kissed?”

            “Um, no,” Pam mumbled.

            “You totally should, it’s so magical,” Anna rambled on again.

            Pam picked up the dandelion that was growing near the picnic table. She closed her eyes, and wished that she would kiss Zack soon.

            “Roy Anderson totally likes you,” Anna told Pam as they were walking home.

            “What? No he doesn’t. He doesn’t even know who I am,” Pam replied, kicking a pebble along the sidewalk.

            “Roy told John who told Sarah who told me that Roy thinks you are cute.”         

“No way.”

            “I’m telling you, Roy Anderson is going to ask you out tomorrow. Just wait and see.”

            Pam plucked a dandelion from the grass. She liked Roy; they had Literature together, and he seemed cool. Even if what Anna said was true, it still couldn’t hurt to make a wish, could it?

            She paced outside – she had arrived thirty minutes early to her interview. Roy had told her about the receptionist job opening at his company. She’d been hesitant at first – receptionist at a paper company wasn’t high on her list of possible careers – but Roy convinced her. They did need the money, and it would only be temporary. Just enough to get a nest egg for the wedding, maybe a bit more.

            The minutes passed, and as she walked inside, she quickly picked a dandelion. She wished for the job, she wished for a wedding, she wished for a happy life.

            Pam stumbled across her yard, the grass tickling her ankles. The alcohol was wearing off, but she still felt bubbly on the inside.

            The dandelion caught her eye. She knelt down clumsily, nearly falling over in the process. Her feet knocked the plant over, knocking off most of the fluff before she even was able to make a wish.

            She wished for nothing in particular, but for everything at the same time. She wanted to remember this feeling, the kiss, the laughter.

            She stayed here, half lying, half sitting, just watching the fluff float away. “Best Dundies Ever,” she thought.

            Jim and Karen were happy. That was all Pam could think. They were happy. Jim was joking around with Karen, like he used to do with her. Jim loved Karen, like he never would her.

            Pam sighed, her heart aching. She couldn’t think of that anymore. She looked around, trying to find something to distract her. She noticed a dandelion growing a few feet away. She scooted over, trying not to draw attention to herself. As she blew, she made her wish – a wish to be anywhere but here, in constant heartbreak, watching the person she loved, love someone else.

            She knew something was up. Jim had been acting different all day, but denied everything when she asked.

            When they walked out into the parking lot, she knew. It felt so romantic, and when she looked at him, it made sense. He was going to propose.

            Jim walked off to talk with Phyllis, and Pam wandered around. She noticed a dandelion was growing near the door. And even though there was no doubt in her mind, she still wished, she needed it to feel real. To make her believe that it really was happening. She was going to marry Jim.

            They lay on the blanket, enjoying the weather. Pam lazily picked a dandelion beside her, blowing the fluff into the air.

            “You know those things are weeds, right?”

            “They make wishes come true.”

            “You made a wish? What was it?”

            “If I tell you, it won’t come true!” She felt silly for believing in such a childhood fantasy, and didn’t want to admit that she dreamed of doing this with her own child someday. But that dream seemed so far away now, too much heartbreak and pain. She tried to hide her sadness, not wanting to ruin their peaceful afternoon.

            “Look mommy!” the three year old pranced around the yard, holding a dandelion in her hand.

            “It’s a dandelion. You can blow it and make a wish!”

            “Like a flying star?”

            Pam laugher, “Yes, like a shooting star. Try it. Close your eyes, and make a wish – but you can’t tell me, okay?”

            The little girl nodded seriously, her brown curls bobbing up and down. She closed her eyes, and pursed her lips. Pam watched at the fluff flied through the air, dancing up and down in the wind.

            “Look, mommy, look!” Sophie pointed at the fluff excitedly. “They’re flying!”