Maybe Jenkins was a very vain seventh-grade girl. She loved her beautiful face, her perfect smile, and her gorgeous hair. She filled her cell phone’s camera roll with selfies daily. But there was one thing Maybe did not love. Her name. Maybe complained about her name almost as often as she took selfies.
One chilly Autumn morning, while carving pumpkins with her mother, Maybe dug in, “Mother, why did you give me such a ridiculous name?”
Maybe’s mother glopped a handful of pumpkin innards onto the table and sighed, “Maybe, if you hate it so much just change it! Go to the cemetery across the street and pick one from there. When you find one you like, stop, make a wish, and chant the name three times.”
Maybe decided her mother was nuts.
#
First thing Monday morning, Maybe told her friend Tina about her mom’s crazy idea. Quiet, humble, and shy, Tina didn’t understand why Maybe cared so much about a name. But she stayed supportive, “Just try your mother’s idea. When it doesn’t work, you can throw it in her face.”
At dismissal time, Maybe headed to the cemetery. She wove through the maze of graves until a unique headstone caught her eye.
Set in the stone was a glass oval containing a black and white photo of a beautiful girl. Beneath the picture was the name Daisy Crane.
Enchanted, Maybe chanted, “Daisy Crane. I wish my name was Daisy Crane. Daisy Crane. Daisy Crane!”
Maybe waited. Nothing happened. Cold, but vindicated, she trudged home.
#
The next day, Maybe got ready for school. She glanced up. Mounted to the wall above her headboard the big squishy block letters once spelling out M-A-Y-B-E now spelled D-a-i-s-y. Maybe crashed into the kitchen, “Mother! I think I’m hallucinating!”
Mother set down her mug of pumpkin-spice coffee, “Tell me what you saw, Daisy Dear.”
Maybe-Daisy’s jaw dropped.
“Close your mouth, Daisy. You don’t want to trap any flies. You’re fine. Now get to school!”
At school, Maybe-Daisy’s teachers and classmates called her by the stolen name.
A distraught Maybe-Daisy told Tina everything at lunch time.
Tina sighed, “Isn’t this what you wanted, Daisy?”
Maybe-Daisy knew Tina had a point. And by the end of the day, was back to taking selfies.
#
By Halloween, Maybe-Daisy had fully adopted her new name. She got into her cat costume, picked up her phone, held it at just the right angle, and snapped a selfie. Yuck! The image was all blurry!! Maybe-Daisy clomped down to the parlor, where her mother waited.
Maybe-Daisy’s Mother screamed, “Daisy! You have two faces!!”
Maybe-Daisy scurried to the nearest mirror. She shrieked in terror, streaked out of the house, and across the street to the cemetery.
She flung herself at Daisy Crane’s headstone. Her toe snagged on something, and she plummeted down to the ground. Dizzy, she tried to get up. Thunk! And hit her forehead against something hard.
She blinked. A layer of glass stood between her and the old cemetery.
The real Daisy Crane’s face floated into view.
Maybe pounded the window, “Let me out!!”
The girl snickered, “Hope you enjoy my name. Be careful what you wish for, Maybe!”
Daisy left the cemetery, leaving Maybe in her grave, where she can still be found to this
day.
Caitlin McGinley is a writer and mother. She has participated in the Philadelphia Writers Workshop since 2019. She lives in Chalfont with her family.
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