writing prompt: make a wish

Start 11:05 pm

There's nothing quite like those three little words to bring out the best, and sometimes, the worst in people. Somehow, we all want to believe in the magic of blowing out birthday candles, or breaking a wishbone, or the zillion other little suprestitions that otherwise normal, rational people succomb to. When I'm in that situation, part of me is always amazed that I'm not being more cynical about it, and that I lapse wholeheartedly back into child-like mode, quickly scanning my mind for what the best possible wish could be. That's the bit I consider the worse in people: I get so greedy when I'm about to make a wish, as if this silly gesture was truly going to be physically rewarding.

A few years ago, I would have told you that the only wish I made was for Lita to come home. God, how I miss that little dog. But no, I actually wouldn't have told you, since that may be the single cardinal rule of wishes - if you tell, it won't happen. I could never quite figure that out. How else is it supposed to work? I mean, the well-meaning people around you just may have the power to see your wish realized, but if you won't ever divulge what it is, how should anyone ever know?

I also wonder about the association between wishes, wish rituals, and prayer. What exactly is the difference between the two, if only that the first is pagan at best and merely superstitious at worst? Does the fact you are addressing a wish to some unknown power-that-be make it stronger, or more likely to be effective? Yet studies have looked at whether the power of prayer does actually exist, even in cases where people, believers and non-believers alike, don't know that they're being prayed for. Gosh, there's just so mych about the minute workings of the universe that we still don't have a clue about. And probably never will.

The good side of wishes? Well, those that are expressed, and that people rush to grant. Like the Make-a-Wish foundation; what a brilliant idea. Can't say that if I were in the position of being the wish granter, like a number of celebrities often are, I would be able to follow through. Man, that takes a certain level of simultaneous involvement and detachment I'm not sure I could bear. I mean, I wholly understand that it is a small price to pay to make a child happy, but the accumulation of such memories must be something else. It's a little reminiscent of the Green Mile; you gotta take ona little of the other's illness and find a way to carry on.

End time: 11:15 pm.

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