Wish - June 10, 2012

[note: this was written during a writing exercise: we had 20 minutes to write something inspired by the word "wish". This is the result, unedited, exactly as it appeared when time ran out. You can read all of them in the waves category]]

Wish - Squiddy Geiger - June 10, 2012

The sky was clear except for a few small clouds in the distance. Arnie laughed, a happy sound against the desolate surroundings. It surprised Mary. How could he be so upbeat under these circumstances?

"What on earth are you laughing about," she asked. Her scowl just made him laugh more. This made her scowl more. "Stop that! It's not funny."

"Sure it is," he countered. "We're in the middle of the badlands, running out of food and water, and have no idea where to get help, but it's not as bad as you think. Want to know why?"

"Why," she asked.

"Because there's something I know that you don't, of course." He tapped the pack in front of him on the ground with his foot. "I have a secret. Should have told you before, but it's not something to be taken lightly." His voice turned serious as he added. "There are consequences to misuse."

"What the hell are you talking about, Arnold William Hall?" she asked, a curious tinge in her voice.

"I'm talking about a Wish, of course," he replied. He saw the blank look on her face. "A Wish. It's something I got from my grandfather. He said it was ancient, and should be guarded carefully. He said it could save my life one day, and should not be abused. Only use it when things are clearly desperate."

"You mean like right now," Mary said.

"No," he shook his head, "this isn't desperate yet. We still have a bit of food, and we have water. If we run out of food and we can use it, but not before. We don't know where we are but we could find a road anytime."

"And if we use it before?" she asked.

He laughed. "Grandfather didn't say. He only said it didn't like to be trifled with, and if you did, you'd pay dearly. You'd live, but you'd lose something of value in return. He was very clear, there's no penalty if you truly have no other options."

"I say we try it now, Arnold. Seriously, if you really have something in there that can help us," she said as she reached for his pack, "then you should use it. Now."

Arnie stalled. "I shouldn't have mentioned it until it was truly desperate here. No, we will not do this yet. Period." He laughed. "Fortunately, you don't know what, in my pack, constitutes the Wish. However, a week from now, if we still aren't safe, then I promise, I'll risk the wrath of the Old Gods, as Grandpa called them, to save us. Ok?"

Mary knew better than to challenge that tone. She aquiesced. For now.

Posted by Squiddy at June 10, 2012 08:45 PM | TrackBack