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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.


The only reason that Ekaterina had gone to the wishing tree and picked up one of the star shaped ornaments was so that she could get herself the cute little crimson star charm that they were giving away as a special, one time deal. Wishing wasn’t really her thing, and the fact that the ‘rules’ of this wishing tree involved doing something for the benefit of the city. Kat…still didn’t really like the city, and she had no real desire to help clean it, or make it a better place. It was where she lived, where she hunted and where she tolerated…and honestly, that was the best that she could really ask for right now.

She held the red star charm in her hand and took a moment to put it on the key ring that she had in her pocket, enjoying how it looked hanging there. It was nice.

Kat allowed her eyes to stray to the blank wishing token and felt as though she had been tricked into this, half wondering if it would be proper and okay to just go and give it back to the booth but…perhaps she should just throw it away? But that felt wasteful. And it looked as though it were filled with seeds…that…perhaps she could plant it.

That might be nice…and it did something good for the city. At the very least she could plant some seeds. That was easy. But as for making the wish…no. She would keep whatever she wished for to herself and figure things out later.
She was quiet on the way back to her apartment, and when she got there, Kat made her way to the grassy area near the playground, a thoughtful expression on her face. Honestly, she wasn’t sure if she even really had anything that she wished for…and if there was such a thing…she wasn’t sure she knew how to put it into words. She was…happy now. She had two wonderful friends, one of which she very much wanted to be more than friends with, and if she had to share with the third…she was starting to think that she wouldn’t truly mind that.

Kat was growing stronger too, the starseeds she collected…the starseeds she consumed continued to add to her strength, her speed…everything. It was fun to go out and do her duties now. Fun to see what she could get up to, and more often than not, the once stoic Negaverse agent had a grin on her face, though not always one of joy.

Kneeling down in the grass, the young woman began digging with a stick that was laying on the ground, her expression bland and focused as she worked. When the hole was deep enough to satisfy her, she pulled a pen from her bag and scribbled on the ornament.

I wish for life to remain as it now. I wish that they will never leave my life and that I can keep this happiness.

It sounded cheesy and for a moment, Kat thought about ripping it up and just planting the seeds but…

But she had come this far.

Also Starseeds. I wish for lots and lots of starseeds.

There. Now it wasn’t overly cutesy any longer and she didn’t have to be embarrassed.

With a determined expression she put the dirt back over the small packet of seeds and her wish, brushed herself off and went home.

There was nothing else to do, after all.