Untitled wish story and blog
A poor man walks the streets every day dragging a bag containing his meager belongings and a pouch tied loosely around his neck. The pouch jingles loudly and, for him, it bares more weight than what's in the bag.
He takes a seat near a sewage canal, where he makes end's meet. Here, where passersby spare him some of their loose change, or, more often than not, drop them by accident and would rather leave it than touch the grimy, dark water.
The poor man stays there for the whole day. Waiting. And when the day, his day, ends, he puts his earnings in his pouch.
On this particular collection, he drops one of the coins and it enters into the sewage drain. To others, it wouldn't be worth anything, but to him, it meant being able to drink cold water after slaving under the heat.
Upon closer inspection, he lost a 5-peso coin; even more than what he had not hoped to lose.
He decides to forget about it. And as fast as he decides that, a bottle of cold water stands in front of him; glistening under the light of a streetlamp. Not sure if it was left there on purpose or dropped, he looks around to see if it belonged to anyone. Since no one seems to want to claim it, he takes it, reluctantly.
The first sip felt like heaven; the rest he finished in a few gulps.
He made sure to keep his earnings close from then on.
A month later, as he recalled how he acquired that cold bottle of water, he decides to drop a coin on purpose, wishing for a warm dinner this time. He drops a 10-peso coin thinking that he'd get the best from it.
Minutes pass, then an hour, and... nothing.
I did this with my knowledge, he thought, and was able to spare himself of the frustration.
He makes a move to stand up but was stopped by a woman offering him a tightly-sealed package.
"Please eat it while it's still warm." she says before she walks away.
The poor man enjoys a great meal at that, steak with a side of potatoes. He dreams of it that same night.
Ever since, he's been dropping a coin into the canal every day. One evening, he receives bread, the next, he gets a bottle of beer, and then a sturdy umbrella.
The longer he does this, the more he's being observed.
One day, the poor man is approached by casually-dressed man.
The casual man spoke to him. "You drop a coin there every night."
"Yes, I have." said the poor man.
"And you've been granted a wish ever since."
"Yes... I have"
The casual man continues to ask, "What's the most expensive thing you've gotten?"
Smiling, the poor man tells him "Wine."
"Ah." replied the casual man.
Five seconds, ten, then 30 minutes passed. The casual man spoke "Why don't you wish for a house? "
The poor man, as if he's always been ready to answer that question ever since, replies. "If I wished for a house, I wouldn't have the money to maintain it or buy appliances."
"But you can always come back here to wish for those."
"No. I can't. Because if there's something I noticed while dropping my coins, it's that someone had to go through a painful experience for me to get what I wished for."
The poor man continued, "When a woman gave me a warm steak meal, she was wearing a beautiful dress. Her face was dry from tears and she looked about ready to cry again when I accepted the meal. I thought that perhaps she lost someone she loved."
"The wine came from a sharply-dress man. Maybe he lost a business deal? A case? I can't say. I also received this umbrella. But I can only imagine how troubled the original owner is for not having any shade in this heat."
"If I wished for house, will a family have to lose theirs? If I wished for more money to keep the house maintained, will a business have to shut down? I do not want those."
The casual man sat there in silence. He left without saying goodbye to the poor man.
I came up with this story while looking at a wishing well and how much coins were in it. Originally, I planned for it to be longer and injected with some dark themes. Like, what if the old man became evil and decided to push a kid into the canal so he could get something more. Or maybe the casual man's wishes also came true and he went crazy with power, not thinking of the consequences of his wishes.
But that's not how I want to write. I blame my best friend for these dark themes. (He knows who he is.)
I'd love to know how you'd write this though.
I often wonder about what it would be like if a wishing well didn't accept coins. What if, it could only give as much as it could be given?
As in, throw in a 25-cent coin and you might only get a piece of candy; 20 pesos and you could get a cup of cooked rice.
And then I thought, things have to be fair, right? Maybe, if a poor man were to wish for a house with a one-peso coin, he'd get it. But if a rich man would wish for the latest iPhone with 100 pesos, he'd get an analog phone instead. (Maybe if I can expound on those and write another story?)
The thing about wishes is that it's never always a good thing to wish too much. Because it's true when they say to be careful what you wish for. That wish may be good for you, but what about the next person?
In reference to xxxHolic (#Weab), there's a chapter/episode where a woman finds a Monkey's Paw in Yuuko's stuff. The woman was aware of the superstition behind it, so Yuuko offered it as a gift.
Now, each finger in that Monkey's Paw corresponds to a wish. But with every wish that the woman made, she was unaware of its cost. I remember her wishing for inspiration for a piece she's been told to write, but that turned into plagiarism. At her final wish, which was to bring things back to normal, the Monkey's Paw came to life and ended herS.
Ah, yes. Would that be its way of fulfilling her wish? Or could it have been it's final act all along? The Monkey's Paw made its way back to Yuuko's storage afterwards. Dormant, once again.
I guess in a way, wishes should stay dormant until you're able to make them come true yourself. Wishing wells give a good sense of hope, I'll admit, but I think it's more worth it to work hard for it.
Thoughts? I'd love to read about them. Feel free to leave a comment on this post!
He takes a seat near a sewage canal, where he makes end's meet. Here, where passersby spare him some of their loose change, or, more often than not, drop them by accident and would rather leave it than touch the grimy, dark water.
The poor man stays there for the whole day. Waiting. And when the day, his day, ends, he puts his earnings in his pouch.
On this particular collection, he drops one of the coins and it enters into the sewage drain. To others, it wouldn't be worth anything, but to him, it meant being able to drink cold water after slaving under the heat.
Upon closer inspection, he lost a 5-peso coin; even more than what he had not hoped to lose.
He decides to forget about it. And as fast as he decides that, a bottle of cold water stands in front of him; glistening under the light of a streetlamp. Not sure if it was left there on purpose or dropped, he looks around to see if it belonged to anyone. Since no one seems to want to claim it, he takes it, reluctantly.
The first sip felt like heaven; the rest he finished in a few gulps.
He made sure to keep his earnings close from then on.
A month later, as he recalled how he acquired that cold bottle of water, he decides to drop a coin on purpose, wishing for a warm dinner this time. He drops a 10-peso coin thinking that he'd get the best from it.
Minutes pass, then an hour, and... nothing.
I did this with my knowledge, he thought, and was able to spare himself of the frustration.
He makes a move to stand up but was stopped by a woman offering him a tightly-sealed package.
"Please eat it while it's still warm." she says before she walks away.
The poor man enjoys a great meal at that, steak with a side of potatoes. He dreams of it that same night.
Ever since, he's been dropping a coin into the canal every day. One evening, he receives bread, the next, he gets a bottle of beer, and then a sturdy umbrella.
The longer he does this, the more he's being observed.
One day, the poor man is approached by casually-dressed man.
The casual man spoke to him. "You drop a coin there every night."
"Yes, I have." said the poor man.
"And you've been granted a wish ever since."
"Yes... I have"
The casual man continues to ask, "What's the most expensive thing you've gotten?"
Smiling, the poor man tells him "Wine."
"Ah." replied the casual man.
Five seconds, ten, then 30 minutes passed. The casual man spoke "Why don't you wish for a house? "
The poor man, as if he's always been ready to answer that question ever since, replies. "If I wished for a house, I wouldn't have the money to maintain it or buy appliances."
"But you can always come back here to wish for those."
"No. I can't. Because if there's something I noticed while dropping my coins, it's that someone had to go through a painful experience for me to get what I wished for."
The poor man continued, "When a woman gave me a warm steak meal, she was wearing a beautiful dress. Her face was dry from tears and she looked about ready to cry again when I accepted the meal. I thought that perhaps she lost someone she loved."
"The wine came from a sharply-dress man. Maybe he lost a business deal? A case? I can't say. I also received this umbrella. But I can only imagine how troubled the original owner is for not having any shade in this heat."
"If I wished for house, will a family have to lose theirs? If I wished for more money to keep the house maintained, will a business have to shut down? I do not want those."
The casual man sat there in silence. He left without saying goodbye to the poor man.
I came up with this story while looking at a wishing well and how much coins were in it. Originally, I planned for it to be longer and injected with some dark themes. Like, what if the old man became evil and decided to push a kid into the canal so he could get something more. Or maybe the casual man's wishes also came true and he went crazy with power, not thinking of the consequences of his wishes.
But that's not how I want to write. I blame my best friend for these dark themes. (He knows who he is.)
I'd love to know how you'd write this though.
---
But okay. We're now at the blog part of this post.
Let's talk wishing wells.
As in, throw in a 25-cent coin and you might only get a piece of candy; 20 pesos and you could get a cup of cooked rice.
And then I thought, things have to be fair, right? Maybe, if a poor man were to wish for a house with a one-peso coin, he'd get it. But if a rich man would wish for the latest iPhone with 100 pesos, he'd get an analog phone instead. (Maybe if I can expound on those and write another story?)
The thing about wishes is that it's never always a good thing to wish too much. Because it's true when they say to be careful what you wish for. That wish may be good for you, but what about the next person?
In reference to xxxHolic (#Weab), there's a chapter/episode where a woman finds a Monkey's Paw in Yuuko's stuff. The woman was aware of the superstition behind it, so Yuuko offered it as a gift.
Now, each finger in that Monkey's Paw corresponds to a wish. But with every wish that the woman made, she was unaware of its cost. I remember her wishing for inspiration for a piece she's been told to write, but that turned into plagiarism. At her final wish, which was to bring things back to normal, the Monkey's Paw came to life and ended herS.
Ah, yes. Would that be its way of fulfilling her wish? Or could it have been it's final act all along? The Monkey's Paw made its way back to Yuuko's storage afterwards. Dormant, once again.
I guess in a way, wishes should stay dormant until you're able to make them come true yourself. Wishing wells give a good sense of hope, I'll admit, but I think it's more worth it to work hard for it.
Thoughts? I'd love to read about them. Feel free to leave a comment on this post!
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