Heidi Heckelbeck and the Never-Ending Day Read online

  Chapter 1: SCRUM-DIDDLY-UMPTIOUS

  Chapter 2: SHOPPERS GONNA SHOP

  Chapter 3: A GOLD STAR DAY

  Chapter 4: HULLABALOO! HULLABALEE!

  Chapter 5: RERUN

  Chapter 6: MISS KNOW-IT-ALL

  Chapter 7: GRUMP-A-SAURUS

  Chapter 8: HERE WE GO AGAIN!

  Chapter 9: REVERSE THE CURSE!

  Chapter 10: BURNT TOAST

  ‘New Best Friend’ Excerpt

  About the Author and Illustrator

  Fee-bee!

  Heidi opened one eye.

  FEE-bee!

  Heidi opened her other eye and peeked out her bedroom window.

  Feeee-bee!

  A chickadee hopped along a thin branch and gave Heidi a curious look. It had white cheeks, a white underbelly, and a tiny black cap and bib.

  Fee-bee! the bird called again.

  Heidi giggled. “Hey! My name isn’t Phoebe,” she whispered to the bird. “It’s Heidi.”

  The chickadee tilted its head and hopped to another sunny branch. Last night’s thunderstorm had passed, and it was a beautiful day.

  Heidi pulled her covers up to her chin. She took a deep breath in. Mmmm, she said to herself. Something smells like cinnamon and spice. She got up on one elbow. Dad must be making pumpkin chocolate chip muffins! And THAT means it’s SATURDAY!

  A whoosh of happiness swept over Heidi. Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins were her favorite.

  She hopped out of bed and pulled on her brand-new owl T-shirt. She tugged on her striped tights, jean skirt, and sneakers. Then Heidi stood in front of the mirror with one hand on her hip.

  “Best outfit ever!” Heidi declared happily. And then she bounded downstairs to the kitchen.

  Dad greeted her in a blue-and-white-checked apron.

  “Welcome to Dad’s Diner!” he said, and he set a pumpkin muffin on a miniature cupcake stand in front of her.

  Heidi unfolded her napkin and placed it on her lap. Then she sank her fork into the tender muffin and slid a pumpkiny, chocolaty bite into her mouth. She shut her eyes and moaned.

  “Well?” Dad questioned. “What do you think?”

  Heidi opened her eyes. “One word,” she said. “Scrum-diddly-umptious!”

  Dad sat down next to Mom at the table. “Well, move over, Willy Wonka! Dad is in the house!”

  Heidi and Mom both laughed. Then Heidi noticed the empty chair beside her.

  “Where’s Henry?” she asked, taking a sip of milk.

  “He spent the night at Dudley’s, remember?” Mom said. “He’ll be home later this afternoon.”

  Heidi flung her napkin up in the air. “Yes! Now there’s no one to bug me at breakfast!” she cried. “Woo-hoo!”

  Mom and Dad shook their heads. Then Mom jotted some notes into her phone.

  “Heidi, I have to run some errands downtown,” she said. “Would you like to come with me?”

  Heidi wiped her mouth with her napkin, which had landed on the table in front of her.

  “I’d love to!” she said. “Can Lucy and Bruce come too?”

  Mom winked. “Already invited them,” she said.

  Heidi clapped her hands. “Yay!” she cried. “This is going to be the best day ever!”

  Heidi and her friends loved to browse in all the fun little shops on Main Street.

  “Let’s meet at Toasty’s for lunch in an hour,” Mom said. “And stay on this side of the street only.”

  Heidi nodded.

  The kids raced into the first store: Bumblebee’s Books. Bells jingle-jangled as they walked through the door. The floorboards creaked under their feet on their way to the children’s section in the back of the store. Bruce pulled a book of jokes from one of the shelves.

  “ ‘What do you call a bear with no teeth?’ ” he asked.

  Heidi tapped the side of her head. “Harmless?” she guessed.

  Lucy giggled.

  “Nope!” Bruce said. “ ‘A GUMMY bear!’ Get it?!”

  The girls shrieked with laughter. Then Bruce handed the book to Heidi. She turned the page.

  “ ‘What do birds give out on Halloween?’ ”

  Lucy raised her hand as if she were in school. “I know!” she said. “Gummy worms!”

  “Nope, but nice try!” Heidi giggled. “ ‘They give out TWEETS.’ ”

  Lucy and Bruce groaned.

  They shared a few more jokes and then scampered next door to Hazel’s Bakery.

  “Look!” Heidi cried. “Sugar cookie samples!” They tasted the broken cookie pieces. Confetti sprinkles and crumbs speckled the floor as they munched and walked toward the door. Next they wandered into the Cheese Shop. One whiff and they ran right back out.

  “Ew!” Lucy cried. “It smells like a pile of old sneakers in there!”

  Heidi pinched her nose.

  “Excuse me, Mr. Cheese Shop Owner,” she said with her nose plugged, “may I buy a wheel of stinky old tennis shoes . . . ?”

  Then they all busted out laughing and continued down the sidewalk. They passed Miss Harriet’s Dress Shop, where Melanie Maplethorpe got all her foofy outfits. Then they came to their favorite store, the Enchanted Forest—the best toy store in the whole world. It had a pirate ship, a costume chest, and funhouse mirrors.

  Heidi put on crazy glasses and a feather boa, but they were too itchy! Bruce grabbed a top hat and cane. Lucy put on a pink curly wig. Then they each stood in front of a mirror.

  “I’m short!” Heidi shrieked.

  “I’m lo-o-o-ng and stretchy!” Lucy cried. “Like a giraffe!”

  “And I’m all wavy gravy!” Bruce said, swaying from side to side.

  Then they tossed their costumes back into the trunk and looked at all the toys. Heidi found a ring that had a secret compartment. Lucy found a friendship bracelet craft kit, and Bruce found a yucky bug vacuum.

  “It sucks up bugs without hurting them!” Bruce said. “I wish I had invented this!”

  “You could’ve EASILY invented that,” Heidi said. “But someday you’ll invent something even better.”

  Bruce sucked up a plastic bug and set it free.

  Then they each paid for their things and ran back down the street to Toasty’s. Mom had already ordered grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for everyone.

  “What did you like best about your shopping trip?” Mom asked.

  “The funhouse mirrors!” Bruce said.

  “The lame jokes!” Lucy added.

  “Definitely this ring,” Heidi said, displaying it for her mother.

  Lucy and Bruce watched her open and close the secret compartment.

  “I wish every day was as awesome as today,” Lucy said.

  “Me too!” agreed Bruce.

  “Me three!” Heidi said.

  “Now, who wants to go to the Brewster Arcade?” Heidi’s mom suggested.

  Heidi whirled and stared in shock at her mother. “The ARCADE? But you never let us go to the arcade! You said it was ‘too much’!”

  “It is too much,” Mom said. “There’s too much noise and too much going on at the same time. But it’s okay once in a while.”

  Heidi, Lucy, and Bruce raced one another to the door and yanked it open. Electronic sound bites filled the air.

  Blip! Blip! Blip!

  Ding! Ding!

  Wah-wah-wah-waaahhh!

  Vroom! Vroom!

  “Don’t you just love the sounds of arcade games?” Heidi said joyfully.

  Lucy nodded. “I love the blinky lights too!”

  Bruce looked around. “I like to figure out how the games are programmed.”

  Th
en her mom handed Heidi a new twenty-dollar bill. Heidi waved it high in the air.

  “And now, see as I make this money magically DISAPPEAR!” she declared. Then Heidi slipped the bill into the token machine and felt a slight tug. “Ta-da!” she cried as the tokens rained into the slot below. She gave them out.

  They ran from one machine to another and played Treasure Temple, Scamper Puppies, Gotcha Ghosts, and Slithery Snakes.

  “We used up all our money!” Heidi said.

  Mom looked at her watch.

  “Then how about a game of glow-in-the-dark miniature golf?” she offered.

  The kids nodded their heads wildly.

  “Could this day get any better?” Heidi asked as she grabbed a club and stepped onto the glow-in-the-dark course. Everything white or neon glowed under the black lights.

  “Look at my shoes!” Lucy said.

  “And my golf ball!” said Bruce.

  “Even my OWL is glowing!” Heidi added.

  They all laughed.

  Then they golfed through a castle, a shipwreck, a windmill, a barnyard, a rain forest, a haunted house, and a pyramid. Bruce won a prize for a hole in one. He picked a plastic pork chop from the prize counter.

  Heidi and Lucy looked at each other and giggled.

  “What?” Bruce asked as his cheeks started turning pink. “It’s for my dog, Frankie.”

  “Oh, sure it is,” Heidi said, winking at Lucy.

  Then Mom said it was time to go, and they followed her to the car.

  “May we have a sleepover at our house?” Heidi asked. “Please?”

  Mom pressed a button, and the car beeped. “Sure!” she said, opening the door. “We can stop by Lucy’s and Bruce’s to get their things on our way to pick up Henry.”

  Heidi, Lucy, and Bruce rolled out sleeping bags in the playroom. Dad ordered pizza. Mom made popcorn. Henry lay down on the couch, and they all watched a movie.

  “This is the best night EVER!” Heidi declared.

  Lucy nodded. “I give it five gold stars!” she said.

  Bruce yawned. “And a great big blue ribbon!” he added.

  As they dragged their sleeping bags up to her room, Heidi sighed. I wish EVERY day could be this much fun, she thought.

  And this, of course, gave Heidi a crazy idea.

  Heidi wriggled out of her sleeping bag. She pulled her Book of Spells and her Witches of Westwick medallion from under her bed. Then she tiptoed downstairs. The light was still on in the kitchen, so Heidi left her spell book and medallion underneath the hall table. Then she walked casually into the kitchen.

  “Well, hello, pumpkin,” her father greeted her. “What are you doing up?” He had a slice of apple pie on the table with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

  Heidi shrugged. “I’m just not sleepy, I guess.”

  Dad got up and gave Heidi a big bear hug.

  “Did I tell you today that I love you?” he asked. Heidi shook her head against her father’s shirt.

  “Well, I do,” he said, and he kissed her on the head. Then he pulled a second fork from the utensil drawer.

  “Want to share this slice of pie with me?” he asked. Heidi sat down beside her father and they took turns having bites.

  “Did you know Henry fell asleep on the couch?” Dad said, licking his fork. “I’m going to take him up. And you need to go up too.”

  Heidi nodded. “I will,” she said. “I’m just going to put our dish in the dishwasher.”

  As soon as Dad was gone, Heidi grabbed her Book of Spells and flipped to the Contents. She found the perfect spell, called The More Things Stay the Same.

  Are you the kind of witch who has good days and bad days? Do you ever wish you could skip the bad days and have only good days? Would you like to take the best day you’ve ever had and relive it? Then this is the spell for you!

  Ingredients:

  The date you wish to relive

  2 handfuls of all-purpose flour

  1 penny

  1 drop of yellow food coloring

  Write the day you wish to relive on a piece of paper and put it in a bowl, along with the rest of the ingredients. Stir five times. Hold your Witches of Westwick medallion in one hand, and place your other hand over the mix. Chant the following spell.

  Heidi gathered all the ingredients into a bowl and cast the spell. As soon as she finished, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled overhead. Wow, Heidi thought. It’s thundering . . . just like it did last night before I went to bed . . . !

  Fee-bee!

  Heidi opened one eye.

  FEE-bee!

  Heidi opened her other eye and peeked out her bedroom window.

  I know who THAT is, Heidi said to herself. It’s that silly chickadee who woke me up yesterday! My spell worked!

  “Hello, little chickadee,” she said. “I’m Heidi, not Phoebe—remember?”

  The chickadee tilted its head and hopped to another branch.

  Heidi pulled her covers up to her chin and breathed in. Mmmm, she said to herself. It’s Saturday again, and that means I get to have pumpkin muffins TWO days in a row!

  Heidi got dressed in the same outfit and did a little pose in front of the mirror. Then she bounded downstairs to the kitchen.

  Dad greeted her in a blue-and-white-checked apron.

  “Welcome to Dad’s Diner!” he said, and set a pumpkin muffin on a tiny cupcake stand in front of her.

  Heidi sat down and cut a sliver of her muffin and slid it into her mouth.

  “Well, what do you think?” Dad asked.

  Heidi took a sip of milk.

  “It’s, um, scrum-diddly-umptious!” she said, trying to remember yesterday’s comment.

  Dad sat down next to Mom at the table.

  “Move over, Willy Wonka! Dad is in the house!”

  Both of her parents laughed. Heidi laughed too, because it was weird to hear her dad say the exact same thing as yesterday.

  “Where are Bruce and Lucy?” Heidi asked, taking another bite of muffin.

  “Most likely at home,” Mom said.

  Heidi looked up from her plate.

  “Oh, yea-a-a-a-ah!” she said, remembering the sleepover hadn’t happened yet. “And Henry spent the night at Dudley’s!”

  “That’s right,” Mom said. Heidi watched her mother jot some notes into her phone.

  “Mom, are we going downtown?” Heidi asked.

  Mom nodded in disbelief. “How did you know?” she questioned.

  Heidi shrugged. “Just did,” she said. “Can Lucy and Bruce come too?”

  Heidi already knew the answer, but she decided to play along.

  Mom winked. “Already invited them,” she said.

  Heidi pushed back her chair. “Great,” she said.

  “Let’s meet at Toasty’s for lunch in an hour. And stay on this side of the street only,” Mom said—just like yesterday.

  “Got it,” Heidi said, and they headed into Bumblebee’s Books. The bells jingle-jangled as before, and the floorboards creaked on the way to the children’s section too. Bruce pulled the book of jokes from one of the shelves.

  “ ‘What do you call a bear with no teeth?’ ” he asked.

  “That’s so simple!” Heidi said, knowing the punch line. “A GUMMY bear.”

  Lucy laughed as Bruce handed the joke book to Heidi. She turned the page.

  “ ‘What do birds give out on Halloween?’ ” she asked. “And FYI, it’s NOT gummy worms.”

  Lucy and Bruce began to think, but Heidi didn’t give them a chance to answer.

  “Give up?” Heidi asked. “ ‘They give out TWEETS!’ ”

  Then she snapped the book shut. “Well, this is getting a bit boring,” she declared. “You guys want to go to Hazel’s Bakery?”

  “Sure!” Lucy and Bruce agreed.

  They walked into the bakery and up to the counter. Heidi checked out the samples.

  “Oh no. Sugar cookies AGAIN!” she said. “I was kind of hoping for snickerdoodles toda
y.”

  Lucy and Bruce looked at each other and shrugged. Then they tried the sugar cookies.

  The next stop was the Cheese Shop.

  “Let’s go in!” Lucy suggested.

  “P.U. No way!” Heidi said. “That place stinks to high heaven!” As Heidi waited outside on the walk way, Lucy and Bruce ran in and ran right back out.

  “Ew!” exclaimed Lucy. “It smells like old sneakers in there!”

  “Told you,” Heidi said, skipping yesterday’s joke about ordering a wheel of old tennis shoes.

  Then they walked down the street to the Enchanted Forest. Like the day before, they put on props and posed in front of the mirrors, but Heidi ruined the fun.

  “I’m short, you’re stretchy, and you’re wavy gravy,” Heidi said. “NEXT!”

  Lucy and Bruce looked at each other and shrugged again. They decided to look at toys.

  Heidi found the same ring from yesterday. She still wanted it, but it wasn’t as fun as finding it the first time. Lucy and Bruce found the same stuff too.

  Bruce held up the bug vacuum. “I wish I had invented this,” he said a little sadly.

  Heidi had no patience for hearing Bruce say the same thing a second time.

  “Coulda, shoulda, woulda!” she said.

  Bruce frowned.

  Heidi had the same attitude at Toasty’s.

  “What did you like best about your shopping trip?” Mom asked.

  Heidi plunked her hand in the middle of the table. “I guess this ring’s pretty cool,” she said.