One Wish

The sky is rumbling with angry thunder and lightning flashing in the heavens, illuminating the ground. Standing at a distance below the valley, the Wish surveyed its surroundings, hiding in the shadows among the bushes. It spread its semi-translucent wings and took off into the sky, the wings beating furiously. The Wish hovered for a while, pausing, and then headed north to a little village near the edge of a roaring river.

 

The river is the Life and Death of the villagers, providing sustenance but taking away life from the foolish few who decided to go against the might of the river. The river overflows when the monsoon season comes and the villagers had to move to the hills nearby to a temporary refuge, leaving the river to wreck destructions on the lands below. Houses and trees are destroyed and dismantled by the strong currents and animals drowned if they are unable to escape to higher grounds.

 

The Wish landed on a tree branch, the leaves covering its slender body from sight. Only a few people had seen the Wish. They say the Wish came from an ancient race of creatures with strange powers but the race had died out through the passing of time. Only a handful of the strange creatures still roamed the lands and they can take on different forms and shapes. The unbelievers dismissed the existence of the creatures and mocked those who believed, saying that the creatures are things of legends and stories befitting for infants and children.

 

One of those creatures is named as the Wish by the humans and for one special reason. The Wish has the power of granting deepest wants and desires, turning wishes into reality. Many men had tried to search and capture the Wish but none had succeeded. The Wish does not grant wishes by force or command. It randomly selects and grants wishes as it wills. It likes to see and observe quietly what the humans will do with their wish, never interfering with the outcomes.

The Wish nimbly jumped down to the grassy earth, its glittering black eyes scrutinizing a hut in front of it. It saw a small baby boy lying in a crib through the unlatched window. Flexing its wings once again, the Wish flew into the hut gracefully, carefully maneuvering around the potted plants on the ledge of the window. The wind was blowing hard and the curtains rippled by the force of the wind.

It flew next to the side of the sleeping infant and folded its wings. The sleeping baby was unaware of a little creature beside of him and continued in his deep slumber. The Wish leaned over towards the pale ears of the infant and said, ‘I give you the Gift of a Wish to be granted whenever you desire.’

Satisfied with what it had done, the Wish faded from sight and disappeared while the boy slept on, not knowing that he had been given a Gift by the Wish.