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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.


Todd was slowly getting used to Earth. To walking around in the city. Seeing the life everywhere. The crowds of people were frightening, to a degree, for someone who had lived most of his life in open meadow and often visited a small village. It was so much smaller that Todd would perhaps compare it to... hmm, a little puppy and a baby elephant. The puppy being his home, and the elephant being... He supposed Earth was his new home now, wasn't it? He wasn't sure if he would ever really, truly feel that way, though. Earth was nice to live on, and kind to him in the form of the other people whom he lived with, and occasionally the strangers that he ran into that were gentle with him, and how he was adjusting to life. He wasn't sure what exactly they all thought about him. Maybe that he was... mentally deficient? Was that the right phrasing? He didn't know, and honestly, he didn't care, as long as they were kind to him without being overbearing. He was so tired of being treated like he was lesser, being insulted over something he had no control over, and the crows. There were too many stars-damned people out here. It was suffocating.

He shook his head, trying to dispel the negative thoughts. He wanted to go out, despite the crowds and the heat and the everything, to go enjoy this "Star Fest" he'd heard about back at home. He wanted to participate in the summer celebration, to learn more about Earth's culture and see if he could settle in better, see what he could glean from interacting with people in a time of joy! There was so much to do and see here, and from what he could smell... so, so much to eat. He was ravenous, curious, and invested in doing as much as he could.

He made his way down into the park, buying a hot dog from a vendor that was covered in... several substances he could name if he thought about it, probably, but he didn't care to expend the mental energy on it just then. Not when he needed to focus on absorbing information instead of regurgitating it.

Coming across a small crowd around a tree, he paused, slurping at his hot dog (which tasted absolutely fabulous) and watched what they were doing. Writing... something on little pieces of paper, and sticking it on the tree, then picking something else off. Hmm. He wasn't very good at the English thing just yet, but he figured he could give it a shot. He finished off the hot dog and wandered over, concentrating hard on the little sign that explained what was going on.

Wishes. Write your wish. Claim someone else's, and grant it. Yours might be too.

Okay. He.... he could do that. He rubbed his temples, mindful of the headache that was building, that always tried to build whenever he did something about writing or reading in English, and carefully picked up one of the provided stars and pens.

I wish someone would make speaking easier. Phone is too flat, writing is hard, talking hurts. But speaking necessary. I want to talk with friends easier.

He folded it up and went to place it on the tree. And hoped someone would find it and help him. Somehow. On his way out, he snatched up a charm from a booth handing them out for free, twiddling it in his fingers with delight.