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The Wishing Tree (1): A Destiny City Star Festival Tradition to be held every year; In Town Square, there is a beautiful tree with spreading branches. It is tall, but the lowest branches are easily reached. The city has decorated the tree with small, starlike ornaments and glistening lights. Thick leaves and beautiful purple flowers dangle from the branches, along with a myriad of different colored papers with handwritten wishes. Next to the tree is a stack of blank paper with twine attached, and a handwritten sign that explains:

Write your wish on a sheet of paper and tie it to the tree. Take one wish off the tree and do your best to grant it. When you have granted the wish, bury the paper in the park.

The papers are biodegradable and filled with seeds. There are no rules for wishing, but you are encouraged to wish for something vague enough that it can be interpreted in many ways so that it can be granted; you do not write your name on it, but it is encouraged to write something that doesn’t wish for self gain, but rather something that can make the world a better place. Some wishes dangling from the tree already include things like “I wish there wasn’t so much litter in the park,” “I wish someone would clean the graffiti off the old historic buildings,” and “I wish there were more volunteers at the shelter.”

If you choose to use the Wishing Tree, what do you wish for? If your wish is private, you may write it on the paper and choose a spot in the park and bury it yourself instead of hanging it on the tree.


She was back in Destiny City after several years. Unlike before she left Dessie had grown and changed, she was no longer a lost little girl trying to make her way in the world with a chip a mile wide on her shoulder. She hadn’t forgotten her past but she liked to think that she had accepted it and moved past it. She still hated to be touched without warning but she was not quite as quick with her fists as she once was… she was just more likely to give a verbal warning first before punching someone’s lights out. She had changed but the city hadn't.

It was still large, busy, and dangerous but something that Dessie had learned was that while no city was safe, Destiny City was just a special kettle of fish. Muggers and murders still occured but no where else was the fight between good and evil so blatantly out there. Out for all the world to see. The dangers of the city were just so ‘in your face’ and impossible to ignore. So then why did she come back? Why did she return to this insanity?

For her family. There were little ones now. Children that wouldn’t be able to protect themselves. Their family can, and would, rip the city apart for them. That didn’t mean that Dessie didn’t feel protective of the twins, or her new little sister. It just took…. An adjustment period being back in her room with the house full of little children. It was different. A full house as it were. It didn’t help that she was feeling a little off, it was likely just the physical shock of being back in the city or some other thing that is making her system wonky. It didn’t matter really, it wasn’t like she had a cold or anything. That she checked, with a newborn about to be added to the household as soon as they came home from the hospital Dessie wasn’t about to possibly expose anyone to an illness. It was likely just mental. She would get over it, she was sure of it.

The young woman covered a yawn as she eased through the crowd at the Town Square. She hadn’t meant to come here but here she was. Dessie decided to take a few minutes to herself before heading back to the house. But even that was ruined when the smell of cooking meat made the blond wrinkle her nose. The stand selling hot dogs looked normal but the scent was off… her stomach flipped a few times, unhappy at the smells that seemed to follow her. She sped up, nearly past the wishing tree, when someone called out and urged her to leave a wish. Dessie shook her head only to have a small pencil and piece of paper handed to her with a smile. Blinking in surprise, the blond was about to hand it back when her dinner rolled in her stomach and she understood the ‘green at the gills’ statement that people used when they felt like they were going to be sick. So without saying anything she took the offered slip of paper and made a hasty exit.

Once she was free of the smell of hotdogs and people, including a few that needed showers, Dessie felt better but still not great. Maybe she did have a cold. After taking a few deep breaths of ‘clear’ park air, city air really wasn’t all that clean no matter where you were, and quickly jotted down the first thing that came to her mind. A silly wish, a grandiose wish, one that could never come true in a million years: World Peace. A wonderful sentiment but one that couldn’t happen, and yet Dessie still wished for the next generation to have no fear, no pain, and above all no worries.

With a rueful shake of her head she quickly buried the paper, pausing only a second when she dug up a dirt covered charm of some sort. She pocketed the dirty object, planning on cleaning it once she got back home. Making paper wishes was a stupid tradition. It was pointless since they didn’t come true.

But if it did- if it really could… that would be the best thing ever.

With a sigh Dessie made her way towards home, towards her family. She wanted to sleep, but she also really wanted some pickles.

Strange.

((Word Count: 740))