I Wish

Luke has been feeling a little glum since he failed in his attempt to fleece the tooth fairy last week. (He left a note under his pillow asking for a $100 bill, with a jar of his old teeth as an offering. The tooth fairy responded with a very nice note that essentially amounted to, "Nice try.") He'll do just about anything for more money to buy Lego sets, so this week he came up with a new tactic: wishing in a fountain.

After dinner the other night we passed by a fountain in the mall and he begged for some pennies to make a wish. I was curious about what could be so urgent that he needed to make a wish right away, so I leaned in a little bit to hear what he was saying. He scrunched up his eyes tightly, grasped the penny, and then flung it into the water saying quietly, "I wish I had a $100 bill!" Next he repeated this with a second penny and a sweeter, more poignant desire, "I wish I was braver!" Something must have worked because even though he didn't get the $100 bill, he reported to me the next morning that he was pretty sure he was a little bit braver.

Today we were running some errands and he became adamant that we needed to go to the mall, and no other, closer fountain would do. ("Mom, that fountain at the mall has crystals in it.") He had even brought four of his own pennies with him for wish-making purposes. So we headed back over there, because, of course, I can't resist a good excuse to go to the mall. On the way inside he didn't want to tell me what his wish was going to be. "But I can tell you this, Mom. Tomorrow I'm going to be flying with the birds."

This time I didn't eavesdrop; I just watched him concentrating carefully as he murmured his words and carefully tossed each of the four pennies into the fountain. When he was finished I asked him if he wanted another penny from my wallet. A bonus wish! He took a deep breath and said quietly, "I wish I could shoot lasers out of my eyes," and then sent the penny flying into the fountain.

More bulletins tomorrow as events warrant.