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.
Quote:
Hey, how much longer until you’re ready?
Selene sent the text from her car as she turned the radio up while waiting for Bryia to get her bag together and meet her outside. For over a week now she had been trying to get her friend out of the house even for a couple hours. Enjoy the sun, touch grass, maybe dip their feet into the reservoir since she knew Bryia wasn’t able to actually go swimming.
Quote:
It’s the last day of the festival. I want to make sure we actually do something…
She hit send again to try and hurry her friend up.
Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2025 2:42 pm
Bryia groaned as she read the text message from Selene. That girl needs to learn some patience, she thought to herself.
Chuckling to herself, she shook her head. Not so long ago I was like that; flying by the seat of my pants living like everything had to happen today. Bryia quickly got the rest of her supplies into the bag before heading to the door.
“I’m coming!” she yelled out the window before heading to the kitchen to grab some water and something sweet to drink before leaving.
With haste, she rushed out the door and jumped into her car, passing Selene a bottle of her favorite iced tea. “What are you in such a hurry for? Afraid all the cute boys will be gone or taken before we get there?”
Shanyume
Brycia
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Shanyume
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Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2025 2:42 pm
“Oh, you know me so well,” Selene rolled her eyes in an exaggerated manner. A light laugh escaped her as she took the Pure Leaf bottle from Bryia and twisted open the lid and took a sip. “Ahh.. you’re the best.” She sighed, then screwed the cap back on and put it in the cup holder between them.
“But for real, I just want to get to the Wishing Tree before the crowds take over. With all the random rain we’ve been having, I imagine a lot of people will be taking advantage of it being nice out.” Her smile softened, nostalgia flickering in her voice. “Besides, it’s tradition. We don’t have to stay long, we can find a place to bury our own wishes, then take off to the reservoir.”
“We can get our feet wet in the water or just walk along the beach. Or if you’re up for it we can explore some of the caves. Just get out of the stuffy house and stretch our legs.” Do something instead of sit around watching Netflix or playing on the computer.
Selene shifted her car into reverse and pulled out of the driveway before Bryia had a chance to change her mind and go back inside.
Brycia
Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2025 2:43 pm
Bryia mockingly hissed like some vampire in a poorly written teen film. “Oh god, natural light!” Bryia started sliding down the seat like she was a character melting in a children cartoon.
She sat up in her chair pulling out her ice cold water bottle, thinking to herself that sometimes water just felt like the best drink in the world. “Whatever tickles you… fancy girl! Today it’s all what you want to do. I know you don’t like being inside so much so let’s make a day of it.” Bryia figured a day out wouldn’t be all bad. She had enough supplies for a week, 3-5 hours outdoors should be fine.
When Selene start to back out of the driveway, she held her arm in the air so that the moment the car started to move forward she could dramatically point ahead and shout, “Take us to the wishing tree Miss Daisy Dukes!”
“Engage!”
Shanyume
Brycia
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Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2025 2:43 pm
“Good god, you and your nicknames. Where do you come up with them?” Probably some reference to those old TV shows she liked to watch.
Fortunately, their destination wasn’t too far away and Selene was able to find a parking spot rather quickly about a block and a half away from the Wishing Tree. She got out of the car and hustled over to Bryia’s side and opened the door. “If today’s all about what I want to do then I got a list so up up, let’s get going.”
“This won’t take long. Thirty minutes tops if we walk fast. So you can probably leave your bag.” She winked teasingly, knowing that to do so would invite misfortune. Plus, she wasn’t actually going to rush through the day since spending time with her friend was more important than rushing from one place to the next
Brycia
Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2025 2:44 pm
“Oh I got a lot more nick names for you I haven’t used. Sugar tits, candy pants, sweet cheeks, hot pants, hot lips, wonder girl, and my personally favorite would be “My Queen”” Bryia attempted a low masculine voice. “The key to the last one is to get a really low defeated masculine voice, the voice of a man who wants to give up on life like writers give up on their work.” She joked as they continued on their way.
As they arrived Bryia gets out of the car, Selene suggested she leave her bag in the car. “What you really mean is…” Bryia put her left arm across her face like she had a cape on. “Let’s get dangerous!” She was very proud of her ability to come up with bad puns and old tv and movie references few will remember.
"To the world tree—oh, I mean the wishing tree, sorry," she said, catching herself with a smile. "Always get those two mixed up."
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Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2025 2:49 pm
“You are so random…” Selene rolled her eyes dramatically then, once Bryia got out of the car, she locked the door and linked her arm through her friends before anyone could look at her and wonder why she was striking some weird a** pose.
After waiting in line for a few minutes, a spot at the table opened up and Selene nudged Bryia forward. “You go first. Don’t worry about finding a place on the tree to tie your wish, we’ll just find a pretty place to burry them and take off.” No reason to wait in a second line while parents lifted their kids so they could reach the lower branches or fussing with picking someone elses and trying to grant it.
Most of them were probably self-serving anyway and couldn’t be fulfilled.
Brycia
Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2025 2:54 pm
Bryia took a small, crinkled piece of paper from the stack, holding it delicately between her fingers as if it might dissolve under the weight of her thoughts.
She stared at the blank space for a long moment, thinking about the wish she wanted to write; something simple, something honest. A cure for her condition? That would be the logical choice, wouldn’t it? Something practical, something life-changing. But her mind wandered.
Maybe she should wish to be rich... money could solve so many things, or at least make them easier to ignore. Or what about love? A hot boyfriend, maybe. Or a hot girlfriend. Honestly, at this point, she’d settle for a hot person who was still breathing and didn’t run at the sight of emotional baggage.
She scoffed quietly to herself, the laugh brittle and humorless. In her own mind, she sounded pitiful... desperately hopeful, bordering on tragic. Not the romantic kind of tragic, but the kind where even your internal monologue winces at how low the bar has gotten.
Still, the paper waited, blank and silent, as if daring her to be sincere.
Brycia
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Shanyume
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Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2025 12:13 am
When a seat opened at the table, Selene wasted no time. She slipped into it quickly, grabbed a slip of paper and the stub of a pencil, blunt and eraserless, and without hesitation started to write.
Before they even arrived, Selene already knew what she wanted to write. It wasn’t something for herself, not really, but maybe indirectly. It was for Bryia… to feel genuine joy again; not the cynical dark humor, biting sarcasm, and sardonic quips that had become her armor these last few years.
Selene remembered when it all happened, and had been there during the start of it all. Doctor after doctor, test after test. But now…? She didn’t know what phase of the treatment Bryia was in. If there even was one any more.
Honestly, it felt like her friend had given up. She didn’t talk about it, didn’t complain. Just kept living with her sharp humor that cut both ways. To anyone else, it might look like someone who had accepted their lot in life and treated it like a cosmic joke. But Slene knew better. She saw the grief beneath it all… the kind that never screamed, just settled into silence and stayed.
When she’d finished writing her wish, she grabbed two Star Charms from the basket, one for each of them, and moved to stand behind Bryia, who stared down at a blank piece of paper. “Don’t overthink it?” she stated, dangling the purple keychain next to her friend's face. “Nobody’s going to see it anyway. So you don’t have to worry about anyone judging you.”
