The Goosebumps book about wishes going wrong.
Life has not been kind to Samantha Byrd. She's taller than average, awkward, clumsy, and the favorite target of Judith Bellwood. Things seem as though they might improve when she helps Clarissa, a friendly witch, get home, and in return is granted three wishes. Surely this will improve things! Well, no. This is one of those stories where wishes always comes true in the worst way possible.
It was adapted into the first episode of the second season of the 1995 TV series. A novelization based on the episode was released as book 8 of the Goosebumps Presents series.
It was later reissued in the Classic Goosebumps line in 2008 as a companion release to My Friends Call Me Monster.
The book provides examples of:
- The Aloner: Samantha becomes this for a day after her second wish goes wrong, and she woke up to discover she's the last person remaining on Earth.
- Alpha Bitch: Judith spends the entirety of her scenes picking on Samantha, because she can, as well as rubbing her superiority all over the latter.
- Ambiguously Evil: Clarissa gives Samantha three wishes after a Samaritan deed, but they all end up backfiring on her in increasingly worse ways, including one where everyone in the world disappears because of a poorly-worded wish. The witch claims that the girl should choose her words carefully, but her behavior makes it hard to tell if she's a Literal Genie who couldn't grand the wish any other way and just hopes Sam does it right, or a Jackass Genie who's just messing with Sam for kicks by hiding behind the Exact Words excuse.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Well, come on. Did you really expect anything else?
- Beta Bitch: Anna, Judith's constant companion.
- The Bully: Judith.
- Butt-Monkey: Samantha, where nothing goes right for her. Even being bestowed three wishes, all of them ends up backfiring on her in various ways.
- Cool Teacher: Samantha attends a very laid-back school where teachers dress casually and are addressed by their given names.
- Covers Always Lie: The UK cover
◊ shows a shattered crystal ball with Samantha's face reflected in it. There is indeed a crystal ball in the story, but it never breaks. The picture could also be interpreted as Samantha being trapped in the crystal ball, which doesn't happen either. The other notable thing about the cover is a major spoiler. - Cruel Twist Ending: In the climax, Samantha who got rid of the clumsy genie is screwed by her anyway as Judith, the Alpha Bitch, ordering her to "fly away" ends with Samantha turning into a crow. The episode is a laser-guided Karmic Twist Ending instead, as Judith asks to be admired by everyone and becomes a statue.
- Cursed with Awesome: At the end, Samantha considers ending up as a bird to be this, since she's now free from ever being bullied again.
- Eating Lunch Alone: When Judith suddenly becomes infatuated with Samantha, thanks to the third wish she made, she wants to sit next to her at lunch. This leaves Anna to sit at her own table feeling alone, glum, and enviously looking at Samantha and Judith.
- Eye Take: When Judith first starts sitting next to Samantha at lunch, Cory responds to this by staring at her across the table, his eyes wide with disbelief. Samantha admits to herself that she couldn't believe it, either.
- Forced Transformation: The story ends with Samantha being turned into a bird.
- Foregone Conclusion: Subverted. You have to wonder how Samantha Byrd is telling her story, or to who, given that her book ends with her turning into a bird.
- Foreshadowing: Judith's taunt, "Why don't you fly away, Byrd?" ends up being this. Samantha does just that at the end, after she turns into an actual bird.
- Karma Houdini: Judith, the Alpha Bitch, escapes all consequences and dooms Samantha with a spiteful wish to become a bird. On the other hand, she still has two wishes left, and Samantha (who's actually happy about her new life) feels sure that her number will soon be up. The TV episode is better about this, with Judith turned into a statue for her arrogance.
- Literal Genie: Samantha Byrd is an especially genre-blind victim of a wish-granting witch, never realizing that her words are being taken literally. Her wish to be the strongest player on her basketball team (she's a big klutz) causes everyone else to be weaker (in the book, they all become sick. In the TV show, they become klutzy just like her), her wish for everyone to leave her alone has her (and the wish-granting witch) to be the last people on Earthnote , her wish for the Alpha Bitch to become her friend turns said girl into an insane stalker, then she wishes for the Alpha Bitch to have found the wish-granting crone instead. She ends up as a bird thanks to the other girl's wish (which, according to Sam, is actually the best wish that ever came true for her, because now she doesn't have to deal with being an awkward preteen girl).
- Love Potion: A (possibly) non-romantic variation where a dorky girl helps an old woman who turns out to be a witch and gives her three wishes for her kindness. She wishes that the Alpha Bitch in her class who always bullies her will think that she's the greatest person who ever lived. They quickly become BFFs to everyone else's confusion, but she becomes so obsessed with her new best friend that she can't stop thinking about her and shows up to her house in the middle of the night.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: The ending, from Samantha's perspective. Judith uses her first wish to turn Samantha into a bird. As far as Sam's concerned, this means she's now free from ever being bullied again, so she's very grateful to her for it.
- No Longer with Us: After her first wish, when Samantha asks why Judith and her friend aren't at school, the nurse tells her, "They're gone." Samantha panics for a moment, but the nurse clarifies that they weren't well enough to come to class and had to see the doctor.
- Ordered Apology: After Judith "trips" and spills tapioca over Samantha's brand-new shoes, she retaliates by attacking her. Their home ec teacher, Daphne, breaks the two up, and forces the two to apologize to each other and shake hands. Neither one of the girls really mean it, but do it to stay out of further trouble.
- Person of Mass Destruction: As a result of Samantha's second wish, Clarissa causes everyone on earth to vanish inexplicably (or turn into flies if you've seen the TV adaptation) while trying to grant Samantha's wish. You do not want this woman on your side, and it really says a lot about Samantha when she keeps asking for wishes.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: When Judith, along with most of the girls basketball team, get sick, she thinks that Samantha is a witch and she intentionally cast a spell on them. She was right about this event happening because of Samantha having a spell cast, but she was wrong that she was a witch (Clarissa was the witch who cast the spell), and she did not get them sick on purpose (that was due to poor choice of words).
- The Sociopath: Judith comes across as downright sadistic in her hatred of Samantha, using basically every waking moment to torment her, never once showing any redeeming characteristics or even the slightest sign that she's not just downright nasty.
- Spoiler Cover: The UK cover prominently depicts a bird taking flight. Samantha's bullies repeatedly taunting her to "fly away" makes it pretty easy to work out what this means.
- The Story That Never Was: Samantha Byrd gets a gift of three wishes from the witch Clarissa. But, as expected, all these wishes come with terrible side effects. At the end, Samantha uses her final request to wish that she had never met Clarissa.
- Three Wishes: Clarissa offers these to Samantha Byrd. First she wishes that she would be the strongest member of the basketball team, but everyone else becomes weak. Then she wishes for Judith to stop bugging her, but everyone disappears. After Samantha resets the wishes, Judith accidentally wishes "Byrd, why don't you fly away?", turning her into a bird.
