My One Wish
by Chad Robertson
If, one day, while I was walking, I found a magic something and maybe rubbed it and
a genie came out and said it would grant me one wish, I think I would wish for Fairbanks
to be closed down from 17-92 all the way to 436 and I could drive a racecar through all the
twists and turns and there would be no bugs out that day so I could laugh out loud and not
worry about getting them in my mouth. My racecar would be bright blue with a golden lightning
bolt painted across the side of it.
Most others would probably wish for something like world peace or an end to global starvation,
but those things could happen without genies in magic somethings. I mean, we could stop paying
farmers not to grow food- or- respect each other's beliefs and exchange apple pies and fruit
baskets like neighbors should. But I'll never get my local authorities to close those streets,
imagine the bureaucratic red tape! (and where would I get the money for a racecar anyway?)
People shouldn't waste wishes on things they could achieve otherwise. They just have to change
their minds. My favorite color used to be green, but now it's blue. I changed my mind. See?
That's all people need to do. Most folks say, "Apples and oranges." And I say, "No, really;
all you have to do is change your mind." But they don't listen to me.
At this point, I'd probably get real mad and lose my temper and do something foolish to show
them all how wrong they are. Sometimes I overreact, or at least, that's what I'm told. They'd
probably say the same when I wished to torch the planet.
The genie would nod his head and maybe make some random exclamation like, "Alacazam!" and then
the earth would glow and melt your shoe soles and you couldn't move and oceans of lava would
flood the continents and broil all the people and when it cooled there would be only gray, and
soot, and death.
And the next day, along with the rising sun in the East, the realization of my mistake would
dawn on me and that's when I'd know beyond a doubt that God exists. You see, I think only He
would curse Man with weakness and frailty, but then grant us all our perfect 20/20 hindsight.
I could have wished that people would change their minds. I'd hear his laughing thunder and
make a mental note to keep an eye on that God; He's a sneaky Little Devil with a twisted sense
of humor.
At times I'd probably miss certain things I used to enjoy, like walking barefoot in grass or
hoping my real father was dead. But I could change my mind again and gray would be my favorite
color and I'd spend the rest of my days crafting ash snowmen and spitting towards the sky to
extinguish the sun.
