Authors: M. P. Kozlowsky

Juniper Berry (14 page)

BOOK: Juniper Berry

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W
HEN THE DAY OF THE PARTY ARRIVED
, so did nearly fifty guests. Juniper, however, did not know any of them. She found their names on the balloons and, with the help of her parents' various employees, spread word across the Internet, hoping the owners would take notice and come to reclaim what they had lost.

Juniper had never been so happy.

Nor had Giles. At nearly the same time as Juniper's parents reclaimed their balloons, the Abernathys reclaimed theirs. They rejoiced as well, embracing Giles as the son they never had. Life as it ought to be returned.

It wasn't so for everybody. Not every person came to the party. Some may never have come across the invitation, for some it might have been too lateâas it almost was for the Berrysâwhile others may have had no desire to give up the lives they had gained in losing a part of themselves.

In the backyard, the balloons were everywhere, and Juniper was thrilled to see those who were eager to find theirs and open them like birthday gifts. Smiles spread seamlessly from face to face as tears of joy fell. There were happy reunions left and right, and people sang and played games and lived as if they were children again.

At one point, as she and Giles returned to reflect on the ruins of the tree, she was tapped on the shoulder. “I'd like mine back, too.” It was Dmitri.

Juniper looked up at him. “I thought I might find your name on one of the balloons. You knew what was happening all along.”

Dmitri nodded. “When I first came here, I made a deal with thatÂ .Â .Â . that thing. He can beÂ .Â .Â . persuasive. And when I inhaled that balloon, I felt different. I began to hate myself and I vowed never to return there. But there was still the temptation, always the temptation, and that was why I tried to chop it down. Your father stopped me, of course, and I'm glad he did.”

“But why?” Giles asked.

“There will always be temptation, wherever we go in life, with whatever we do. There will always be an easier way out. But there's nothing to gain from that. We have to overcome such urges; we have to be stronger. I fought hard and I won. Every day, I stared down that tree and everything it represented. But you two are something else. You didn't fight for yourselves, you fought for others. That makes you two the strongest people I know.” He laid a hand on Giles's shoulder, then found his balloon tethered to a nearby tree. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I've been waiting for this a long time.” And off he went, undoing the string.

Juniper turned to Giles. “You hear that? There are different kinds of strength.”

Giles smiled and grabbed Juniper's hand. Together they walked through the party, witnesses to the beauty of life restored.

Throughout the day, Juniper talked to nearly everyone. Her parents proudly paraded her around, introducing her to anybody who would listen. And not once did she wish she was somewhere else, not once did she yearn for that which she didn't have, not once did she wish she was something she wasn't. She looked each person in the eye and said, “Hello. I'm Juniper Berry.”

About the Author

M. P. KOZLOWSKY
was a high school English teacher before becoming a writer.
JUNIPER BERRY
is his first book. He lives in New York with his wife and daughter.

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Juniper Berry

Printed in the United States of America.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kozlowsky, M. P.

Juniper Berry / M.P. Kozlowsky ; drawings by Erwin Madrid. â 1st ed.

Â Â Â Â p. cm.

Summary: When eleven-year-old Juniper begins to suspect something is wrong with her mother and father, she and her friend Giles discover they have been selling their souls, pieces at a time, to a silver-tongued creature in a terrifying fairy-tale underworld.

ISBN 978-0-06-199869-0 (trade bdg.)

[1. FamiliesâFiction. 2. SoulâFiction. 3. Ghouls and ogresâFiction. 4. SupernaturalâFiction.] I. Madrid, Erwin, ill. II. Title.

PZ7.K8567Ju 2011

[Fic]âdc22

2010040338
CIP
AC

11Â Â 12Â Â 13Â Â 14Â Â 15Â Â Â Â LP/RRDBÂ Â Â Â 10Â Â 9Â Â 8Â Â 7Â Â 6Â Â 5Â Â 4Â Â 3Â Â 2Â Â 1

First Edition

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