Quote:
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.


Idirian looked up at the tree with its generous spread of branches covered in lights and stars. He had heard Ainsley talking about it a few days ago, how beautiful it was and the idea behind it. The Wishing Tree was not new to him by any means; he had seen it before and heard other people talking about it. But he’d never thought to come and participate in it before.

Things were different now, though. He actually felt happy for the first time in years. There had been happy days before, of course, he loved his little sister and was glad he had gotten to be such a big part of her life. But always in the background was that part of him that grieved for his mother. It grieved for what their family could have been, had things turned out different. That part of him dwelled in the past and he could not see past it.

Until a certain chaos gremlin had walked into his life. He had never expected someone like her, but then how could he have? She was a beautiful disaster and she was everything he had ever wanted, and everything he ever needed and didn’t know it. He still grieved for his mother, and would always, but it didn’t hurt quite as much as it did before. He had things to look forward to now, and not just for Ainsley’s sake.

He was going to be a father soon, and he was both excited and terrified. The least he could do, he supposed, was give something back to the city. He had no idea where to start until Ainsley had reminded him of the Wishing Tree. He stepped closer to the tree and looked up at all the wishes hanging from it before reaching for one written on purple paper. His mother’s favorite color, as well as Noa’s.

Inside the folded paper was written I wish the park wasn’t so dirty. That was simple enough. He slid the paper into his back pocket and went about cleaning up in the park. He picked up trash around the park and thought about bringing Haji here in the future. As he cleaned up garbage around the swing set, he pictured himself and Noa pushing Haji on the swings with Ainsley making faces that made him giggle.

He moved to the playset to clean up next, and wondered if Haji would be afraid of the slide or if he would love it. Regardless, Idri or Noa would be there at the bottom to catch him until he was confident enough to do it on his own. The monkey bars had always been one of Idri’s favorites. He loved swinging back and forth and racing his friends when he was a kid. Idri could hold him up while Haji tried to hang off the bars.

It would be adorable, and he was sure Noa would take pictures. God, the amount of pictures they would have of Haji. They’d have to get some of those digital photo frames to hold them all. It had been a long time since he had any pictures taken of himself. He was sure Ainsley had some, but he was never very happy in them.

He had so many reasons to be happy now. Ainsley, Noa, Haji, and the power to protect them. He never thought his life could be like this. He’d been prepared to live just for Ainsley’s sake, so she never wanted for anything. But everything was different now, and it was incredible.

Once he’d spent a couple hours cleaning up, he found an empty place in the park and dug a shallow hole to plant the purple paper in. He patted the dirt back over it before heading back to the Wishing Tree. He plucked a piece of purple paper from the stack and thought for a moment about what he wanted to wish for. He knew it was supposed to be something general, something to help the town, but he wanted to write down the wish he wanted to come true the most.

I wish for Garrett and Gina to stay in prison until they die.

They didn’t deserve to know Ainsley as she was now. They didn’t deserve to meet Noa, and they damn sure didn’t deserve to know Haji. For what they had put him and Ains through, they only deserved to stay in prison. Since it wasn’t a wish anyone could really grant for him, he tied it up where most people wouldn’t be able to reach.

There weren’t many wishes up that high, and he wondered if the other ones that were there were like his. A wish dearly desired but not easy for anyone to grant. He’d have to bring Ainsley here, help her grant a wish. Maybe Noa could join them. She wouldn’t be able to do much as pregnant as she was, but he would help her, too.

Maybe they could turn it into a family tradition, now that their family was growing. It had been just him and Ainsley for so long, and now it was them and Noa, and Alexis, and soon Haji. Not to mention his aunt, uncle, and cousins. He and Noa had gone to dinner with Aunt Selene and her husband, but they had decided to wait until after Haji was born and they had settled into parent life a little before meeting the rest of the family.

And…he still needed to actually tell Ainsley that their family was going to get even bigger. She was going to be ecstatic to know that she had cousins her own age. Considering Selene’s family wealth… He wouldn’t be surprised if those cousins went to Crystal Academy along with his sister.

Idirian looked up at the tree with its generous spread of branches, and hoped that one day his own family tree would resemble the Wishing Tree in scope. His life had changed in so many ways just over the last year, but he wouldn’t trade his life now for anything. Everything he had gone through had led him here and as much as he hated his past…

It had been worth it, for this.