The Wish

 

The Wish – Alex and the waterfall

Destitute and Dangerous, crumbling, and chaotic, the city had turned into a hard, harsh, and ugly place for its inhabitants to live. The dust lined streets showed it was uncared for. Every structure either natural or manufactured, covered in black soot from the volume of traffic that passed them.

People wheezed and coughed as they went about their business not caring about anything around them. It was a place devoid of love, beauty, warmth, or emotion that indicated an empathic resonance to it. There were very few trees and the only green seen were the weeds that grew between the hard, dusty streets and the poor excuse for soil.

The air was hard and gritty, and it tasted like a desert was entering your mouth if you did not cover it when you breathed. Food was scarce and people were thin, mean, and nasty. They had to wear copious layers of cloth to ensure that they could manoeuvre around the city safely. Without the safety clothes the only passage available conducted through the old, reused tunnels of the ancient metro line and electrical tunnels.

Alex had lived here all his life and had grown to resemble the city – tough, harsh, and mean. He had suffered at its hands and the hands of the citizens and survived the ordeal still clinging to the hope that one day he might be able to save the dying world from its inevitable doom. Suddenly, the floor gave way and he found himself falling down a strange Shute.

Fear gripped him and his mouth went dry, and his breathing became more frantic. Lights illuminated the scene, and a sense of calm and tranquillity overcame him. As a bright waterfall cascaded from the ceiling throwing the cavern into an explosion of colour danced before his eyes. As his skin felt the waterfall a beautiful angelic voice spoke to him. “Welcome Alex!” It spoke to him in a soothing and empathetic tone. He felt he should be afraid, but he was not. There was no malice in the voice, and it was evident that the owner sought to converse in a peaceful manner.

A smile crept onto his face, “Who are you? Why are you here?” Two amazingly simple questions but ones that would have far reaching consequences. 

“I am the Water Wish,” the voice said, “and I have waited a long time for you Alex.”

“Alex, what is your wish? Think hard and think carefully. Word it well and you can save the world. Word it wrong and we will all perish. Only you have a chance to save this world.”

“I wish for the world to be a place of beauty for plants, animals and humans to live in peaceful co-existence relying on each to heal this broken sphere.”

The next morning, Alex woke in a soft comfortable banana skin sleeping bag. He unpeeled it to get out and suddenly realized what he had done. As his eyes adjusted to the scene before him, he realized his wish had come true and the world was a changed place. Gone was the harsh ugly city in its place stood a metropolis of trees and vegetation. People stared in awe at the beauty around them the babbling brook, the fresh air the sapphire sky. Vehicles were outdated and forgotten by animals and plants, each living in perfect coexistence. His wish had come true and every heart in the world had changed for the better!