Carrie couldn’t stop crying. She didn’t want to stop. She wanted the world to know how unhappy, how sad, how alone she felt now. Two years ago, her mother had died in that plane crash. Now, her grandmother, Grandma Spencer, was gone.
"Norman, can you PLEASE get that daughter of yours to shut up?" asked Judy, Norman’s bride (and Carrie’s stepmother) of the past three months.
"Leave her alone," said Norman Spencer resignedly. "She loved my mother-in-law. After Brenda died, Sassi was Carrie’s best friend in the world."
"Well, if you won’t shut the brat up, I will!" said Judy. She began to reach across her husband, her hand raised to slap Carrie’s face HARD. Norman grabbed her wrist and held it fast.
"Leave. Carrie. Alone," he said to Judy slowly and deliberately. Judy yanked her arm free, but then crossed it with the other one and leaned back in her chair to sulk.
"This won’t take long," said Mr. Greene, the executor of Sassi Corrigan’s estate, who had barely been ignoring the scene Judy was making. "Brenda Corrigan was Sassi’s only child, and that make Carrie Sassi’s only grandchild. All of the elder Mrs. Corrigan’s monies and properties will be liquidated and put into a trust fund for Carrie when she reaches her maturity."
"Did you hear that, sweetheart?" said Norman. "When you grow up, you’ll be a very rich young lady!"
"I don’t care," said Carrie. "I don’t want any money. I want Grandma!"
"I know you do, sweetheart. You loved her very much, and she loved you. That’s why she wanted to leave everything to you. She wanted to make sure you never have to worry about anything. Because she loved you."
Carrie’s only response was to sob loudly.
"Listen, brat," hissed Judy through clenched teeth. "You only get that money if you live long enough. So don’t tempt me!"
"Judy!" whispered Norman.
"Excuse me," said Mr. Greene. "There is one more thing left. I need to speak to Carrie alone, please."
"Alone? What for?" said Judy.
"I just do. It’s a condition of the will."
"You mean we have to wait for this brat to get some little secret between herself and the old dead bat?"
"No. You and Mr. Spencer may leave. What I have to tell Carrie will take a while. I’ll drive her home when we’re done."
"That’s just fine with me! Come on, Norman!"
Judy got up abruptly from the chair and went to the door. Mr. Spencer looked sadly at his daughter, whispered an "I love you!" to her, and followed his wife out the door.
"She isn’t very nice, is she?" said Mr. Greene to Carrie.
"She’s horrible!" replied the 10-year-old girl. "She hates me and I hate her! I wish Daddy would leave her!"
"He can’t, I’m afraid. She tricked him into signing a paper that says, if he ever leaves her, she gets everything!"
"Then I wish she’d disappear!"
"We can’t do that, but -- well, let me tell you why I wanted to talk to you alone. Your grandmother had one last thing that she wanted to give to you. This."
The lawyer handed Carrie a small, rectangular white box. Carrie opened it, and found a note folded up inside. Under the note was a silver chain about six inches long. Dangling from the chain were figures of differing shapes: A baby, a man, a woman, a pen, an ostrich, a kangaroo, a frog, a lamp (like Aladdin’s), and a gorilla. There were more figures, unattached, lying in the box.
"What is it?" asked Carrie. In spite of her sorrow, she was fascinated.
"It’s something your grandmother had when she was a girl -- a charm bracelet. These were chains that girls wore around their wrists. They could then go to stores and buy charms to add to the bracelet. Your grandmother bought all of the charms in the bracelet and in the box."
Carrie studied the other charms carefully, and then opened the note. It read:
Dear Carrie,
I wanted to give this to your mother, but she didn’t want it. She didn’t really need it, I guess. She was a very strong woman and didn’t come across much that she couldn’t handle by herself.
But I fear you will need it, Carrie, especially now that I see what your stepmother is like. She’s a very cunning woman. She fooled your father completely, and nearly fooled me. You need something to protect yourself from her, and others like her.
As Mr. Greene has explained to you, this is a charm bracelet. But it is a MAGIC charm bracelet.
If you touch one of the charms while looking at someone and say the word "Change" the person will turn into whatever the charm you’re touching represents. For example, if you touch the baby charm, look at someone and say "Change," that person will become a baby. To change them back, touch the charm and say "change back." It’s that simple.
You can change someone for as long as you want to. If you say "10 minute change" while touching a charm, the person will become what you turn them into for 10 minutes. At the end of that time, they will change back to normal. You can use a time change to even change yourself if you want to! If you want to be an ostrich for an hour, hold the ostrich charm and say "Carrie hour-long change!" The bracelet changes size with what the one wearing it turns into. Even if you decided to turn into a fly (I don’t recommend it, and don’t have a charm like that anyway), you would still have a tiny little bracelet around one leg.
And, yes, if you change someone and then don’t tell them to change back, or don’t set a time limit, that person will stay changed forever!
There are places that still sell charms. If you get new charms to add to the bracelet, they will work, too. (Mr. Greene has set aside an Internet account that will allow you to pay for charms in auctions and such.)
I know it will be tempting to play with your bracelet. Heaven knows I did when I was your age. I trust you to use common sense whenever you use the bracelet. And, remember, if you change someone into something, be kind, not cruel. Even your stepmother doesn’t deserve to spend her life as a dung beetle. (Fifteen minutes might be all right.)
Always remember that I love you, and will be looking down upon you from wherever I am now.
Love,
Grandma Sassi
Carrie reread the letter several times, and then looked up at Mr. Greene. Did he know about the bracelet?
"The woman charm is a good one to use for a test," he said to Carrie. "But not too long, okay? I wouldn’t want to have to explain that to my wife."
Carrie put the bracelet on her left wrist. Carefully, she touched the charm Mr. Greene had mentioned and said "One-minute change!"
Instantly, Mr. Greene’s form shifted. His face grew smoother, his fingernails longer, his lips reddened, and two lumps appeared on his chest. At the same time, Carrie noticed a bulge in his pants disappearing. Mr. Greene was still the same age, but he had definitely become female.
"What do you think?" she asked Carrie. "I’m not too beautiful, I hope."
Carrie managed to giggle. Even she was surprised she could do it on such a sad day. Several seconds passed, and then Mr. Greene turned back into a man.
"So what do you think, Carrie? Do you like your grandmother’s legacy to you?"
"Yes!" she said. "Yes. I can’t wait to try it out some more!"
Mr. Greene smiled, got up, and went to the door, asking Carrie to follow him.