Quote:
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.
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.
Selfless wishes huh? Jen looked up at the tree and let out a sigh. Her wish wasn't selfless; it hadn't been in seven years. How long had it been now since she'd last seen her brother? Would she recognize him if he stood next to her? Would he recognize her?
Four years.
It had been four years, now that she thought about it. Four years since he'd gone missing and her family and police had deemed him dead. Four years since an empty grave was placed in the cemetary. Four years since her brother, her protector, her hero had vanished. No... that wasn't quite right. He'd stopped being around, really, years before. She'd been eleven when she awoke as a senshi. He'd started vanishing when she was nine. He'd be... in his mid twenties at least by now. Married maybe. Maybe she'd have had little nieces or nephews.
Too bad he'd dropped off the face of the planet.
She stood in front of the tree for several minutes, watching people come up and place and remove wishes. She could try to drum up some sort of stupid wish to vaguely describe and hang up on the tree, and take one of the ones already there, but then she'd just be half assing it.
Jen had no selfless wishes, none that could be solved by regular civilians in the city. She had no selfless wishes that the powered world could solved, either. For her wish was to bring her brother back from the dead, and there was no way to do that. Tears pricked her eyes, hot and fierce, and she brushed them away with a hand. No. She'd stopped crying over Merric years ago now. He'd broken her heart, he'd abandoned her, and he'd died. No amount of wishing would ever fix that. Not unless he magically appeared in front of her, that same smile on his face and was her brother again.
She picked a piece of paper and scribbled on it, folding it tightly. The young woman found a small space in the park to bury the paper, and she left it there.
Wishing was for fools and naive little girls trying to be princesses. Jen was neither of those anymore, and in the years since she'd become a senshi, she'd grown up. It was time to move on, it was time to leave the past behind.
She collided with someone on her way out of the park. Jen stumbled back a few feet, shaking herself before looking up.
"s**t are you okay?" asked the figure she'd collided with. He stood roughly her height - a little shorter given the heels she was wearing - with long sapphire blue hair pulled into a ponytail at the nap of his neck. Steel gray eyes expressed concern, and confusion, at her. For a moment, Jen could have sworn she knew this man. He was the right height, the right appearance, hell the right baritone to his voice. But there was just something off. Something different. He could have been Merric's doppleganger for all she knew. But that wasn't possible, and clearly he didn't recognize her. So no, it couldn't be.
"Gah, I'm fine. Sorry. I wasn't paying attention," she said, hands tucking behind her back. "Sorry about the stare; thought you were someone I used to know. Enjoy the festival." Jen gave a wave and darted around him, heels clicking on the path.
Some wishes just weren't meant to be.
[ WC: 578 ]
