The Wish
by Candida B. Korman
Chapter1:HappyBirthdayHenry
All eyes turned to Henry's mom as she carried the cake to the table. In the dimly lit room, the thirteen candles glowed. Henry knew that underneath the white coconut-covered frosting he'd find his favorite dark chocolate cake. His mom always made his favorite on his birthday. She made chocolate chip for his sister and chocolate orange for his dad. Birthdays were always special at their house. And everyone in the family loved chocolate. "Twelve plus one for good luck," Grandpa James said. There was a slight hesitation between the word 'good' and the word 'luck,' but no one seemed to notice. It had taken almost the entire year, but now it was hard to tell that he'd ever had a stroke. "Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Henry. Happy birthday to you," everyone sang, more or less in unison. "Make a wish Henry," his dad said, "Make a fantastic wish." His mother placed the cake down in front of him and he took a deep breath. Things had been pretty good for the first few months of sixth grade. He was actually having fun with the whole 'middle school' schedule of classes. But he'd had a terrible time in fifth. His tics were noisy and the medication the doctor gave him made him so sleepy he kept dozing off during school. Worst of all, most of the kids teased him, and some of the teachers took their side. "If you cluck like a chicken, Henry, they are going to call you names," Ms. Stanford said. "Maybe you should try a little self control " Coach Adams suggested. "There are successful athletes with tics. Give it a try." Henry looked at his friends and family. These were the people who cared about him most — his best friend Gary, his uncle Dave, his aunt Judy, his cousin Mark, his sister Alice, his parents and most of all, his Grandpa, James. They were the people who never rejected him, not even when his Tourette Syndrome caused him to do the most embarrassing things. There was the time he just couldn't stop coughing at a movie theater with Uncle Dave and Mark. People turned around and scowled at him and then told his uncle to "quiet that boy or leave the theater." There was the time his dad took him to work and he had to touch each and every pencil on every single desk. And the time he blurted out a curse word at Alice's birthday party. Everyone at the table understood and never made a fuss, but he knew that each and everyone of them would, given the chance, wish his TS was gone. No more cursing,

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