Pitch Madness B-7: WISHES? I THOUGHT YOU SAID WITCHES!

Genre: MG Contemporary Fantasy
Word Count: 44,000

Pitch:

Thirteen-year-old Luke discovers his cell phone’s voice-powered assistant can grant wishes. But with autocorrect, even a simple wish can have catastrophic consequences. De-bugging his phone becomes disastrous. Getting rid of monsters, even worse. 

   

Excerpt:                                     
                         
I lurched forward after being shoved from behind, and the over-sized box of computer parts I’d been carrying so carefully for the last few blocks, escaped from my hands.          

In the second it took to hit the ground, all the painstaking work I did sorting the smaller parts into glass jars was lost. They burst into thousands of razor-sharp shards upon impact and scattered across the sidewalk. I froze, waiting for the tinkling sound of broken glass to stop before I dared move again.          

“Hey Price. Where’s my laptop?” a familiar voice grumbled.          

“Hello, Jonsey,” I sighed, examining the wreckage. “I promised I’d have it on Wednesday.”          

“Today’s not Wednesday?” the voice asked.          

“Nope,” I said, rescuing the parts from the broken glass, “it’s still Tuesday. Just like when you cornered me at school today.”          

He looks confused, I thought, expecting one of the grunts my clients usually give me.

“I’ll be back tomorrow,” he finally mumbled.          

“Great. Looking forward to it.” I smiled and half-waved as he stomped away. “Oh yeah,” I thought, gathering up my things. “Another satisfied customer.”

In middle school, I found my ability to fix anything with a motherboard semi-guaranteed my safety. Unless you own a miracle or a magic wand, having a talent somebody else needs is necessary to survive.

Getting home with as many good parts as I was able to manage, Max, my little monster . . . I mean my little brother, came stumbling into the room. He was five and at that age where everything he did was an effort to destroy me and everything I loved.