The Magical Adventures of Savvy and Mars: The Right Wish to Wish

By K. Onley and L. Onley

A new holiday adventure and heartwarming story about friendship, gift-giving, and what wishes mean for us all!

 

 

6th Grader Marquette "Mars" Waters dreams of being a crafter and a streamer. Her Christmas wish? Everything she needs to start her new streaming channel and a new Ida doll, part of the Am

• Language: English
• Publisher: StarTuft Media
• Release date: Nov 24, 2023
• ISBN: 9798988755890

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The Magical Adventures of Savvy and Mars

THE MAGICAL ADVENTURES OF SAVVY AND MARS

The Right Wish to Wish

K. AND L. ONLEY

StarTuft LLC

Copyright © 2023 by K. and L. Onley

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

To our grandmothers, Dorothy and Marie.

For teaching us the magic of Christmas in their special ways.

And for the love they showed us, the prayers they said for us, and the dreams they dreamed for us.

To our mother, Nannette, longtime consultant and friend to Santa Claus.

For filling our homes with Black Santas, providing joyful Christmas mornings, curating an amazing soundtrack for our lives, and teaching us everyday magic.

We love you, always.

CONTENTS

1. The Vibe in Mars’ Room

2. Mummah and Savvy on Christmas Eve

3. Building B on Christmas Mornin’

4. Savvy and Mars are Not at the Big Brunch

5. United at the North Pole

6. Retrieving Savvy’s Doll

7. Mama’s Gift

8. The Warm Heart Award

9. The Thanks

10. Christmas Dinner at the North Pole

11. Gifts in Little Boxes

12. Joy and Family

13. A Vibe of Her Own

14. The Right Wish to Wish

15. Best Friends and Dolls

Epilogue: Stream Day Vibes

Acknowledgments

The Vibe in Mars’ Room

Chapter One

THE VIBE IN MARS’ ROOM

What’s the vibe on Christmas Eve? In Mars’ room, the vibe is chill. In Mars’ room, the vibe is always chill. This Christmas Eve, even though Mars has butterflies in her stomach, she’s keeping as much chill as she can manage. So is Savvy. It’s harder for Savvy to keep her chill, but Mars sees how hard she’s working at it and she appreciates the effort. Savvy always tries hard. Mars loves her for that.

Mars shifts her legs and leans on one arm as she watches her favorite streamer change the face of a doll she rescued from the dump. People get dolls that don’t look like them, or they get old, or whatever, so they throw them away, and it’s… so sad. I think that all dolls deserve many lives, you know? EbonyUsagi says with a sigh. EbonyUsagi is a little older than Mars. Mars doesn’t know her real name, but she wishes she did. The streamer has her locs piled high and wrapped with red ribbon and bells for Christmas Eve, so every time she moves her head, there is a lovely tinkle sound. Mars wonders if having bells in her hair would annoy her. She watches intently as EbonyUsagi paints liquid acrylic polymer, a clear glue for crafts, onto the doll’s brown cheeks, making high cheekbones where there had been regular round baby cheeks before. Ideas bubble in Mars’ head—about the stream she wants to create and the dolls she wants to change. Hopefully, all the tools she asked for will be under the tree tomorrow morning. If it’s all there, she can be a cool Black girl hobby streamer like EbonyUsagi. Maybe EbonyUsagi will follow her stream someday and they can even be internet friends.

On the floor behind her, Savvy lies on her stomach, feet wiggling in the air, coloring with Mars’ good colored pencils. She’s working on a drawing of her Sojourner doll… but with cat ears and a long dress with neon colors. Mars shakes her head at it. That’s not at all what Sojourner Truth would have worn. Not even close.

"When I open my Sojourner doll tomorrow, I am going to be so happy. Santa has her on his sleigh right now and she knows she’s coming to my house and she’s going to be happy, too!" Savvy says—well, sings. She likes to sing her thoughts sometimes. She kicks her legs with joy—wide circles of happiness. Mars is good with it. It’s chill enough.

EbonyUsagi is talking about doll hair—how to take it off, how to put on new wigs that will stay. Mars thinks about if she’s going to make a wig of hair for her new Ida doll or if she’s going to keep the hair that she comes with.

"You’ve been telling Santa how good I’ve been, right Jerome?" Savvy says to her Holiday Home Elf Doll. Savvy has him posed on his stomach on the floor with her, his legs up in the air. Mars looks down at the doll and his clothes, admiring the pretty embroidery of the otherwise cheesy costume. It’s the long hat that bothers her—so impractical. She wanted to take that thing off, remove the glue, and make him some hair. Maybe some cornrows or something. Cornrows with bells at the end, maybe. She wonders if people would watch that on her stream…

As if Savvy can feel Mars’ thoughts, she picks up the elf doll and tucks him into the crook of her arm, squeezing him a little bit. Good ol’ Jerome… best elf ever…

Jerome can’t get back to Santa if you keep carrying him with you wherever you go, Savvy, Mars says absently.

Savvy gives a pshhhhh. "Girl, what? He goes when I’m asleep!"

Mars rolls her eyes. "You’re a fifth grader this year, Savvy…" It’s fine to still believe in Santa, she guesses, but everybody knows the elf thing is to just sell dolls and keep little kids from actin’ up. No magic there but the magic of making money.

Savvy puts down her colored pencil and admires her work—Sojourner’s dress flows with swirls of neon green and full circles of orange. Atop her head, Savvy has drawn matching orange cat ears, a signature for her drawings. Mars smiles at it.

I’m not going to cut up my doll or anything, Savvy says, But I feel like I could make a dress like this for her. Don’t you think?

Mars shrugs. Sure, I guess. If that’s what you want to do…

After a few more moments of contemplating her work, Savvy looks up at Mars. Hey Mars?

Yes?

"You’ll actually play with your Ida doll, right? And you and me, we’ll play Ida and Sojourner, right? Just like you said?"

Mars takes in a deep breath, lets it out, stares hard at the screen, and doesn’t answer. She hears Savvy let out a breath of her own, and she’s pretty sure that Savvy is probably pouting a little bit. Mars feels badly about that, but Mama always says, if you don’t have something nice to say, keep your thoughts to yourself. So that’s what Mars is doing. Playing with dolls is for little girls. Crafting with dolls is for big girls. She’s a big girl for real now. Savvy has to catch up with that, eventually.

EbonyUsagi puts liquid acrylic on the doll’s brows to make them bigger. Suddenly the doll is looking more like an alien than a person and Mars is confused.

So, when you get your Ida doll, are you going to change her instead of play with her? Are you going to change Harriet, too? Savvy asks. She’s getting a blank page out of the pile, having slipped her drawing under the bed. With the shift of position, Savvy bumps into Jerome, and he rolls onto Mars.

Well, I kinda want to make them both look more accurate. I already know I can find hair that’s more accurate. And I’ve been watching videos on re-stuffing bodies to make them look different. If I get the sewing machine and fabric I asked for, I can start making authentic clothes for them. I’ve been researching historical patterns. Did you know that there are replica historical dress patterns for dolls? And if you know where to look, you can get the right kind of fabric, and…

She trails off because EbonyUsagi’s brush technique with the liquid acrylic is super interesting and she’s pretty sure Savvy’s not paying attention anymore. Mars nerds out sometimes. She doesn’t expect people to listen to her when she does.

"Do you think Santa has room on his sleigh for an Ida doll, a sewing machine, and fabric, and patterns? I only asked for two things. You asked for a lot-lot," Savvy says after a minute.

Mars frowns while she thinks about the question. Santa either has room or he doesn’t. Mars is pretty sure that if Santa really is the one comin’ ‘round with a bunch of gifts, he has infinite room on his magical vehicle because that’s how magic works. What she doesn’t say to her friend is she isn’t worried about Santa. She’s worried about Mama. Whatever Mama thinks is reasonable will end up under the tree. That’s how Christmas works, she wants to say to her friend, who ought to know ‘cause she’s a fifth grader now.

But Savvy is humming softly to herself and EbonyUsagi is moving on to another topic, so she just sighs. And they stay that way, these two friends in Mars’ room. The vibe is chill. When Savvy’s mama comes to pick her up, the two of them give each other tight hugs.

Good luck, Mars says to Savvy.

Savvy says, "Pshhhhh. What luck? Santa’s got me. And you. See you in the morning!"

Ok, Marquette, you know what to do, Mama says to Mars as soon as Savvy is out the door.

Santa’ll skip all the girls who choose to stay up late tonight, Daddy says with a chuckle. Mars gives him a Look, which isn’t quite like The Look Mama gives her sometimes, but it’s the best look she can give that’s a little sassy, a little playful, and won’t get her in trouble. This just makes Daddy smile so wide that it looks like the joy of it will fly well beyond his face and across the room.

Mama wraps her arms around Mars. "Don’t you tell me you’ve stopped believing in Santa! Tonight is not the night to let the magic drop! Better save that for some other day, or else ain’t nothin’ gonna be under this tree for anybody!"

Mars shrugs her off. "Mama, really?"

"Yes, really, child! Don’t you go messing this up for folk! Now brush those teeth and get yourself to bed. Daddy and I are doing the same."

"I’m not missin’ my Santa appointment! Been tracking him on my app and everything. He’s got my hot new jersey in that sleigh and I need to show it off at the big brunch tomorrow!"

Mars smiles as Mama gives Daddy The Look and asks, "Who said Santa gettin’ you that jersey? You got a closet full of jerseys. What you need another one for?"

They walk out of the living room together, Daddy wrapping an arm around Mama’s shoulder. "Well, you see, my love, this jersey is from the Newark Eagles. Santa be knowin’ a lot about the Negro Leagues, you see, and…"

Their bedroom door closes behind them. Mars stands alone for a moment, watching the colorful lights twinkle on their Christmas tree. Mama had set out some wrapped boxes under it already for friends and family members who will be by over the next few days. The lights of the tree cast ribbons of color around the room, soft and feathering, as if they could float out of the apartment if only the walls and ceiling would get out of the way.

Daddy mentioning the Big