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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.


Ryan ventured out from his apartment, as he so rarely did. Moving to such a big, new city the moment he'd turned 18 with stars in his eyes hadn't been the best decision for his mental health. Not knowing anyone, too freaked out by being alone for the first time in his life to reach out, he'd holed up in his apartment except for mundane things like shopping for longer than he cared to admit.

Yet here was his shining opportunity to just go out, let loose, and have fun. Sure, he'd visited a few bars or clubs and spent time enjoying himself there, but making friends with people who were constantly drunk wasn't all that great, especially considering his preferred way of dress. Maybe he was just visiting bad parts of town; he didn't really know. But it still hurt, enough to keep him chased away from the population at large.

But back to the point. He was being brave, here! There was a cool festival going on, lots of fun and laughter and good times!! It would be easy to least get out there and just have a little personal fun. Maybe he would even have the chance to meet some new people and find some friends. He'd been skittish for too long.

Swishing his skirt with a happy hum, he skipped down the roads, following the dancing lights towards the main area of the festival. Man, everything looked really pretty. Nearly everything was star-shaped and oh-so-colorful. He felt warm and happy just by being around. And he'd picked up a neat little star charm from one of the vendors as he passed by!

A smell caught his nose and immediately his mouth watered as he wandered over to the kettlecorn stand. Oh, yes. This stuff was life. Buying the largest size bag he could, he twisted the twisty-tie off immediately and started munching happily as he wandered around. Game booths, more kettlecorn places, lots of foods like hot dogs and burgers, and — oh, man, was that a hot dog eating contest?!

Damn, he really wanted to enter into that. He'd probably wipe the floor with them. He loved cooking and baking, and the only thing he loved to do more than that was to actually eat what he made. And man, did he ever eat a lot. He shook his head to chase the thought away, however. He didn't want to make himself sick for something so silly.

As he kept walking, he slowed to a stop as a large tree with a sign by it caught his eye. He stared for a long moment, soaking up the beauty of the tree covered in various bits of sparkly lights and ornaments and paper. His eyes flicked over the sign rapidly and he stepped forward, setting the bag of kettlecorn down, leaning against the sign, and tied it back up. He grimaced at the mess on his hand and wished he'd had the forethought to have gotten napkins or something.

....Oh, right, he had hand sanitizer in his pockets. Thank God. That was something, at least. He squirted a little into the sticky hand and rubbed them together quickly, making a face at the feeling. Bleh.

He took a piece of paper and one of the teeny pencils, staring at the blank paper for several minutes.

What should I wish for?

He chewed on his lip anxiously, then exhaled slowly as a thought came to him. Carefully, he wrote, I wish I was brave enough to apply to college. One of the things he wanted most was to get a culinary degree so he could run his own restaurant. It wasn't required to own one, of course, but he'd feel better. And it would be fun to tell nasty customers that he'd literally gone to college and graduated with a Master's in Culinary Arts and they could pound sand instead of acting superior.

Logically, he knew the university around here had a high acceptance rate and tuition assistance. Emotionally, he was drop-dead terrified of being rejected anyway for some random, stupid reason he'd made up in his own mind. but just... The simple act of writing this wish down made him feel a little bit stronger. He folded up the little paper into a star, like how he'd been taught when he was young. Paper stars made for better wishing, of course, since you were supposed to wish upon a star. Glancing around, he pressed the paper to his lips in a quick kiss, then picked up his bag of kettlecorn and wandered over to the park.

He buried his own wish, feeling stronger and more resolved than before. Sure, he'd probably start off only doing part time, if he was even accepted into college, but it would be a start just to apply. He could iron out the logistics later. His heart felt lighter already. He could do it. He would do it.

He smiled up at the sky, wishing on a real star for good measure. Cool. Maybe he'd finally start getting somewhere with his life. Not that he didn't love streaming video games, but still. He wanted something else in his life, too. He wanted to finally fulfill his dream.

"One small step for Ryan, one giant leap for... Future Ryan," he muttered to himself with a snicker.