Quote:
The Wishing Tree (2) : Your wish is only said to come true if you grant the wish of someone else; when you write your wish, you must also take one off of the tree and do your best to grant it. What wish do you pull off, and how do you intend to ‘grant' it? Do you work with someone else to grant this wish, or do you work alone? You may get approval from another player to use the wish their character hung up, but no names are attached so your character may not ever know who wrote it!

Wordcount: 632


When you make a wish, you also grant one. That little statement, that Abby had honestly missed in her interviews, was what led her to a local woman’s shelter. She had put up a wish that only said ‘volunteer at nursing home’ , figuring that it would at least get someone to see their grandparents, or make an elderly person’s day. Apparently the person who had written the wish she was fulfilling had the same idea except volunteering at a nursing home she was at a woman’s shelter. One where the kids were oddly silent, watching her every move with weary eyes. It was the littlest ones that made Abby’s heart ache the most, they flinched every time she apparently moved too fast. At first she had tried to play with the kids, but only the older ones seemed interested and even then they were leery of her. Then she offered to clean. Every place could always use an extra hand cleaning, right? But it was hard to face the adults, to ask them to move so she could sweep or mop, to look them in the eyes and know that in another place or time the broom, or mop, in her hand might have once been turned on them the way it never should have. As a weapon. A bluddgen. Not as a cleaning tool.

Unable to take it, knowing that these people had gone through hell itself, the young woman escaped into the back office space. “Please, is there any work you need done back here? Maybe in the kitchen?” She asked the matron of the building, nearly begging. It hurt. It made her feel guilty, and pity, and pain. Knowing, imagining, what those children and their mothers had gone through. Hollywood had only sensationalized everything. It sugar coated it. Showed a ‘glorified’ version and not this harsh, cold reality where space was tight and money was tighter. Where the shadows of the past were just as visible as the very real bruises and scars on the women and children. Just what kind of monsters had they escaped from and why weren’t they in jail? Or worse, that little particular whisper was quickly squashed since Abby was no one’s judge, jury, and executioner. She would not, and could not, take justice into her own hands even if the sight of a toddler in an arm cast from being tossed around like a rag doll made her question her morals.

“You have any cooking experience?” The world weary woman who had referred to herself as the matron asked, and when Abby enthusiastically informed her ‘yes’, directed the younger female to the kitchen with the simple instruction to make dinner for everyone. That was a good fifty to sixty people, Abby calculating the number of mouths and deciding to double it since leftovers were always possible. And kids needed good food to grow strong and healthy.

A glance at the pantry had her scrambling for some paper and a pen, scribbling out possible meals, absently rubbing the little sapphire star charm she had. Something that will last, go a long way, and used as few ingredients as possible. Stew…. Yes, that would work. Lentil stew. Low cost, filling, and lasted for weeks if frozen. Perfect.

With a plan she got to work, pausing only once when one of the women who was staying there came to help, an offer Abby gratefully accepted. Soon the kitchen was filling with a delectable scent and there were three other women there, talking and joking as they worked. It wasn’t exactly free of tension but it was a marked improvement. One that showed there was a light at the end of the tunnel. That life was changing for the better, one meal at a time.