Friday Story Bazaar ~ Tale Eight

The Wish

by
Alexander M Zoltai
Dedicated to
Maaja Wentz

~~~~~~~~~

I had one wish…

One…

There was no genie, it was a human being at the fair—a human who definitely knew exactly what I was thinking and even described the images in my mind…

After telling me I could ask for one thing, the human handed me a card with an address and said, “When you’re ready, come between 2 and 4 in the afternoon to claim your wish.”

At least I was old enough to not waste the wish on money or gold or more years of life—those wishes are so often interpreted in ways that one never expects…

I could choose only one thing, not a group of things; and, I would only have that one thing for one day…

I consulted with my best friends.

Nothing they said held interest for me.

I asked my very best friends for recommendations of others to ask; again, nothing of interest.

I took a week of vacation time and went to the mountains—arrived mid-afternoon—climbed to 9,000 feet—prepared my camp and got ready for sleep…

The stars were magnificent—I could see the largest naked-eye galaxies—Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn were awesome gems.

As I stared at the cosmos, a strange feeling started in my chest and rose to my head—the stars seemed to dim—I felt very comfortable; but, something was “happening” way at the back of my mind…

I thought I heard a voice (though, it could have just been my mind shouting…)—“Wish for a Miracle!”.

The next thing I remember was waking to the Sun breaking the horizon.

I clearly remembered the Voice—strange for me who never remembered dreams…

“Wish for a Miracle!” didn’t make any sense, though—wasn’t anywhere near specific enough…

Assuming I could think up the right miracle, would the restriction that it would only last one day make it stop working or its results fade away?

And, what if I just said, “Give me a miracle.”?

Should I trust the human from the fair to choose which miracle to manifest?

He did know exactly what was in my mind—not even my ex-wife knew that…

I waited an additional week but nothing specific came to me.

I went to the human’s abode.

He greeted me at the door, invited me in, and offered tea—I accepted.

We chatted for at least a half hour, as if we were old friends, going over the recent happenings in our lives.

Then, abruptly, he said, “What is your wish?”.

Without hesitation, I said, “Give me a Miracle!”.

I was back on the mountain—it was the depth of night—I was back in the same evening when I’d heard the Voice; but, I knew what had happened after—I knew I’d just been in that human’s home…

Had I already heard the Voice this time?

Yes…

The stars had changed their positions—the planets had set…

It didn’t feel like a miracle had happened except that I was back on the mountain—I hadn’t realized I had such high expectations for miracles…

Just a normal night under the stars at 9,000 feet—awake when I hadn’t been before—apparently living the Miracle I’d been told to ask for a few hours before; actually, a couple weeks before…

But, (I remember thinking)…

If the Miracle included changes in the flow of time, would the single day restriction apply…?

Yet, Miracle or miracle, I’ve never figured out exactly what happened.

You might think I would have, since this all occurred nearly 361 years ago…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Read More Story Bazaar Tales

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you don’t see a way to comment (or, “reply”) after this post, try up there at the top right…
Read Some Strange Fantasies
Grab A Free Novel…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Google Author Page
For Private Comments or Questions, Email: amzolt {at} gmail {dot} com