Here’s one to start off the week. Comments welcome!
old woman in cape kaliacra ( bulgaria) by vetlife2005 on Flickr.com
Clancy awoke one Monday morning to find a Witch in his bedroom, knitting in a rocking chair.
“Good morning, little boy,” said the Witch.
“Good morning,” said Clancy, “What are you doing in my room?”
“You dreamed my name,” said the Witch, “and anyone who dreams my name gets three wishes for their trouble. But be careful: getting what you want and being happy are two different things.”
At hearing this, Clancy grew frightened. He thought he was perfectly happy just the way he was, and now he had to wish for something. Suddenly, an idea came to him.
“I wish everything would stay the same forever,” said Clancy.
“As you wish,” said the Witch, and the whole world turned to stone. Clancy looked in terror as his entire room, including the blankets, the books, the toys, and even the glass of water by his bed all turned to stone.
“Take back!” cried Clancy.
“You mean you wish for everything to return to the way it was?” asked the Witch.
“Yeah!”
“I can’t,” laughed the Witch, “I can’t undo wishes. Wishes aren’t like knitting; you can’t just pull on the string and unravel the universe. You have to wish for a new world that was just like the old one.”
“Okay,” said Clancy, “I wish for a new world that was just like the old one.”
“As you wish,” said the Witch, and everything in the world returned to as it was before except Clancy was now an old man instead of a young boy.
“Why am I old?” asked Clancy, beginning to panic.
“Not everything can stay the same,” said the cackling Witch.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” demanded Clancy.
“Because life’s not fair,” said the Witch, suddenly very serious, “Do you think, for example, that I really want to be a Witch? I’d much rather be a garden toad. Be grateful I made the change so obvious. I could have killed your mother instead of making you old! What is your final wish?”
“I wish to be my old self!” demanded Clancy in a warbling voice.
The Witch sighed, “You aren’t listening. I can’t undo wishes. You can’t be your old self, you have to be at least a little different.”
“Fine!” yelled Clancy, “make me the same but different!”
“As you wish,” said the Witch with a heavy voice, and then she disappeared.
Clancy felt his body and saw that he was again a little boy, except he saw that three fingers were now missing from his right hand. Ever since, every time he reached for anything with that hand, he remembered the Witch and the dangers of wishing.
