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The Wishing Tree (1): 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.


Magic was in the air, or so she had come to believe!

She'd always loved sleight of hand, embraced the opportunity to be mystified by those who had worked out how to trick the eye and to distract from the truth. The fact of the matter was that those individuals were still entertaining and always would be, but they paled in comparison to the fact there was now real magic. Unsurprisingly she had found herself regarding this year's festival with a touch more interest than last; where those within Destiny City might call it a quaint thought, she was now fully on board with the superstition that maybe those wishes could come true.

The tree itself was extraordinary; stunning in appearance and made even more so by the decorative trinkets that were now cradled within its boughs. Each time a star spun, it caught the light and sparkled, giving this particular tree the magical appearance that the community may have been going for.

All around her, Liliane could see people meandering towards the tree. Some were in groups, others were very much on their own, but each had made the effort to place a wish on the branches. Curiously, there were some who had taken to burying them and she had to wonder if perhaps they wanted a higher power to intervene, as opposed to those who appeared to slip up to the tree to take a wish down and sweep off with it quietly into the depths of the crowds that gathered around each stall.

But if she were to approach then what would she wish for?

The red head's lips parted as she continued to watch the crowds and as the morning drew on it seemed that she was subject to a measure of inspiration. It was at this point that she finally rose from the bench she had been parked on and gave her hands a very gentle clean off. There hadn't been any dust on them, but it was par for the course when one sat down in the park; something about the benches and grass just made people wipe themselves down even if it wasn't necessary.

Ah, but now that the mundane ritual had been completed she strode towards the stall with renewed purpose and took one of the coloured leaves of paper.

Pulling the pencil from her bag, she moved off to the side to avoid causing an inconvenience to those patiently waiting for their own turn. And on that little piece of paper...?

"I wish for her to make a full recovery..."

There were no names this time, in her eyes if the tree was magical then it would know who she spoke about. With her friend in hospital and struggling to recall some of the most important of her memories, she could only hope that in time some of those came back. In the meantime though, she could hope for her to recover enough to get out soon and then from there, she could wish for her to recover fully.

With a smile on her lips she then chose to move away from the tree, if only for a short while, to find a spot fitting enough for her to seal her wish.

Now this part of her search took a little longer, she wanted to make sure the place suited the person the wish was for. Within ten minutes she had managed to navigate her way through the crowds though, and found herself in the rose gardens.

Perfect!

Her smile deepened and she knelt down to carefully brush aside some of the soil in the flower beds. She dared not disturb the roses just in case the seeds didn't compliment them, but she felt that the normal flower beds might be more acceptable. At least in these flower beds the seeds would mix more naturally with whatever was planned to sprout and they wouldn't mess up the careful soil composition the roses needed to thrive.

With her paper now pressed into the hole she then buried it and let out the breath she had been holding for some inexplicable reason or another; now she would just have to wait for this magic to take hold.

Nevertheless, there was no guarantee that this magic would be immediate and rather than wait an undefined period of time to see the second coming, she decided to make her way back towards the tree. This time it wouldn't be for another wish, but instead to see if maybe she could offer a little bit of magic to help someone whose requests were more humble and within her means...

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