[quote="Prompt - The Wishing TreeThe 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.



In the isolation of the evening the Town Square was quiet but this didn't mean that there wasn't life. On the contrary while most may have wandered home there were those who didn't necessarily have the good fortune to find their way to a more comfortable spot. At this time in the evening it was common to see this part of society wandering about, whether it be to find some measure of sustenance or simply to relocate to an area that did have a semblance of warmth. Suffice to say that none of them posed a threat and more importantly, none of them would have liked to think they posed one.

Regula was used to seeing this men and women.

His day to day work ensured that he was well aware of those who were less fortunate and while some had fallen further than others, that didn't mean that they weren't entitled to a measure of compassion. Given he was scheduled for the nightshift, he had been deployed to this particular area of the Town Square as a precaution. When it came to festivities where there were particularly pretty decorations strewn about it wasn't uncommon for them to simply go missing. Why they went missing was very much open to debate, some drunken revellers might be attracted to them like moths, while others may simply be teenagers sniping something on a dare. It was rare that such things were stolen to sell on, given that when it came down to it, they just weren't that valuable.

Having patrolled around the square for more than enough time, pausing briefly to converse with several faces he happened to recognise, he finally came to rest beneath the heavily decorated tree that the city had grown quite fond of. According to his co-workers it had been one of the most popular attractions and he could already see coloured paper wishes strewn across the entirety of the tree. He did have to wonder how some of them had gotten quite so high in to the boughs, but in the end they had all ascended to lofty heights where they might reach the ears of those willing to aid them.

Truth be told, he'd never participated in it before.

The concept was a sweet one but he'd never been much of an idealist and generally speaking when it came to affected change he preferred to do it himself. Nevertheless, whether it was boredom or simply idle curiosity that evening, he did lift his hand to tug one of the lowest ones down from the branch. Having read the instructions that had been on the sign on his approach, he hadn't yet made a wish of his own, but he was inclined to see what wishes might be there and what people may be seeking.

...If it was a car he'd scrunch it up, not exactly in the spirit of things but if someone wanted one of those they could work for it!

What he found however was an almost crayon laden piece of paper and one it was an attempt at a coherent sentence from someone who was probably no taller than his lower thigh when this was written.

It would take him a while to translate this one, he had never been the best at reading obscure sentences, but his gut told him that this wasn't one of those things that he should be throwing away. Instead, he simply folded it up carefully and slipped it into his gun belt to review later when he was able to.

However would he leave his own wish? He cast his gaze upwards and back towards the high slung branches thoughtfully. In all honesty he had nothing he desperately needed that made sense, leaving something as obscure as 'I would prefer not to blow up' was going to cause more confusion (or suspicion) than it was worth. Perhaps on this occasion he would simply stick to granting a wish rather than seeking one of his own, that seemed like the most appropriate course of action for him this evening.

With that in mind he returned his attention to what lay outside of his immediate vicinity. He would be unsurprised if everything remained quiet for this evening but he had never been one to be lax in his duties...

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