Daved's Wish

• Elle Villatora, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2018

And so it was. Daved, pronounced Daved instead of the usual David was watching his mother decorate his favourite chocolate, volcano mud cake for his birthday which was tomorrow. “Daved, eat your vegetables, or you will not have a cake tomorrow,” said his mother. Daved thought he despised his vegetables more than anyone else on the planet. He hated vegetables so much that he would rather swim in slimy crocodile-infested waters.
He had to come up with an idea, so he took a biscuit tin that represented a cake to his room and put a candle on top. He blew the candle out and made a wish. “I wish my taste buds would no longer work so I don't have to taste those rotten vegetables anymore.” He went back to the table with a hopeful smirk on his face and put one piece of cauliflower in his mouth. The wish worked! So he gobbled down the vegetables with an even bigger grin on his face. Even Margarita the cat was impressed. Daved then called and texted his friends to boast about the fact that he could eat vegetables without tasting them. “Ha-ha” he chuckled to himself feeling invincible. The cat was still staring at him curiously.
The next morning, he woke up very excited for his birthday was today. He threw off his bed covers and walked to the kitchen table. Daved went to the fridge and got last night’s Thai food and half a sausage from last new year. He mixed some mustard, jam, grated cheese, cabbage, a brussel sprout, leftover soft chips with a dash of tomato sauce and washed it down with milk mixed with lemonade. He ate and drank it all while videoing himself to show all his friends how heroic he had become with his new superpower.
Time ticked by and Daved’s friends had started arriving for his birthday party. His mother was bustling around getting the party food ready while he was outside playing hide and seek tips in the backyard. “Daved!” called his father proudly. “It is time for the party food,” Daved was so excited because all his favourite foods were there, including fairy bread, chocolate cookies, chicken crimpies, chips, party pies and hotdogs. He went to grab his first hotdog, only to discover he had he made a horrifying mistake of wishing his taste buds away. The most disappointing discovery of all, was that his ultimate favourite cake was coming up. All his friends would be able to taste it and he could only imagine the taste and the flavours of warm melting chocolate in his mouth, the marshmallow rocks and the gummy dinosaurs decorating the volcano. He felt so unsatisfied and disappointed that he angrily hoisted up the cake and threw it over the fence. All his friends at the party were glaring at the silly pug next door devouring all the cake. Moral to this story: Be careful what you wish for.