One damned nickel

Wells. Falling stars. Blue fairies. Tarnished lamps that go mostly unnoticed except for the occasional rub by a laughing passerby at whatever sad antique store it currently resides at. I don’t have to ask you if you know what these things have in common. If you don't know just quit reading now before you're tempted to find out. I’m sure most of you have heard the saying ‘Be careful what you wish for.’ I'm here to tell you it's true.

I wish – aha, there’s that word again – I wish I had only wished upon a star or rubbed some crappy piece of silver. It may be disheartening to others to know that stars are just dust and light to us, gloriously dying or already dead billions of light years away, and not exactly wish granting material. Maybe you think they’re dead because they’ve been wished on too many times. Hard for me to swallow but of course, at this point I'd believe almost anything. After all I’ve been through I think wishing on stars is the safest thing you could do. I don’t know for sure but I’m willing to bet that genies and jinns and blue fairies are all real and should be avoided at all costs. I'm not even religious and even I wouldn't call upon the devil . . . just in case.

There’s no point in telling you what I wished for. It was selfish and childish and I got it. Ended up hurting everyone around me. Alienating those who once cared for me. Some of them vanished, completely erased from existence, all so my damn wish could come true. Like my brother. No one remembers Luke. Not my parents, not his wife, and I lost my niece and nephew as well. I've even found that memories I have of him are beginning to fade.

You’ll notice I haven’t dismissed wishing wells. Usually they are empty, full of nothing but echoes and toads. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tossed in a coin or two, made my frivolous wishes and moved on not the least bit disappointed that they didn’t come to life. But one day my luck changed and I found something.

Something faceless. Something powerful. Something insidious.

It knew what I wanted most, dangled it in front of me, and like an idiot I begged it to grant my wish. It was all too happy to give it to me albeit for a much steeper price than just a nickel. Now I go back, lonely and desperate, and it laughs at my shame from its dark hole taunting me for my weakness. It tells me it can’t reverse what happened and wouldn’t even if it could and I can’t live with what I’ve done.

I guess I’m writing this to warn you. I fought the urge to put the well’s location in this because I fear some might track it down and make the same mistake. The only good thing I have found is that it doesn’t choose everyone. I’ve seen others toss in a coin and walk away without having that unforgettable conversation, the bargaining that takes your very soul. Those people must be happy or content or whatever human beings are supposed to be. It seems to only choose those that it can deceive. Like me. Even still, better to be cautious.

I’m sorry to say there is only one way to end this curse. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you what that is either. I suppose the moral is don't end up like me. Shitty, I know, since I won't give specifics. But I will say this: be careful what you wish for.