Destiny

Destiny Parker, a quiet young woman who is dissatisfied with her life. She sees her name as a cruel joke played on her, for her life has been nothing but poverty and hardship. She thinks she's entering a grocery store to buy a few groceries with what's left of her food stamps. She's really entering...The Twilight Zone.

Destiny enters the Piggly Wiggly store with a heavy heart. It shames her greatly to use her Access card to buy food here. No one ever says anything to her, but she knows what they're thinking.

A young girl like that on welfare, she must be lazy.

Truth be known, she wasn't lazy. She just couldn't keep a job no matter how easy it was. Destiny is 28 years old and has osteoarthritis as well as fibromyalgia, carpal tunnel syndrome and diabetes. On top of those physical disabilities, she also has manic depression, chronic anxiety and depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder due to being sexually assaulted when she was a teenager.

She has tried to work, but the physical pain and the mental stress always causes her to lose the job within six months. She's applied for disability benefits, but keeps getting turned down.

Destiny is tired. Destiny feels like giving up.

I wish all this pain would just go away!

She enters the store, her problems weighing heavily on her heart and mind. She walks slowly up and down the aisles, looking for sales. Twenty dollars is all that's left on her card and has to stretch for two weeks.

She laughs to herself. Yeah, right. Like you can make twenty dollars in food last two weeks. Who do they think they're kidding?

A couple packages of lunchmeat, a loaf of bread, and a couple of frozen pizzas will have to do for now. She doesn't want to get too much as she has to walk about six blocks to get home and she can't carry anything too heavy.

As she waits in the checkout lane, a voice comes over the intercom system:

"Destiny to Aisle 7, Destiny to Aisle 7. Thank you."

Startled, she looks around. No one else appears to have heard the announcement. Confused, she isn't sure what to do. Why would anyone be paging her? She must be hearing things.

Destiny to Aisle 7, please.

Again, no one else appears to have heard the announcement. Destiny leaves her cart by the checkout and heads toward aisle 7, curious.

There is no one there.

Feeling foolish, she turns to head back to the checkout.

"Destiny." It's a man's voice.

She turns around and sees a tall man with dark hair and dark eyes, but very fair skin, standing in the middle of the aisle.

"Where did you come from?" she gasps.
"You called me."
"What? I don't even know you. How could I have called you?"
"You wished for all your pain to go away. Do you really want that?"
"How do you know that?" Destiny backs up, slowly.
"Don't be afraid. I'm here to grant your wish. If you're sure that's what you really want."
"What's the catch?"

The man laughs. "No catch. You just have to say the words out loud and I will grant your wish."
"Do I get three?"
"No, that's fairy tales, I'm real. One wish per customer. No returns." He smiles. "Well?"
"Well, I don't believe in genies, but I guess it can't hurt. I wish I would never have to feel pain again."

The lights flicker and the man disappears.

Everything goes dark.

Destiny awakens, not sure where she is. She tries to look around, but finds that she can't move. Terrified, she screams for help.

"It's okay, honey. You're okay." A kindly, middle-aged woman dressed in a nurse's uniform is standing over her.
"Where am I? What happened?"
"You've had an accident, dear. You slipped and fell while shopping and damaged your spinal cord."
"I can't feel anything."
"I know, sweetie. I'm sorry to tell you this, but you've been paralyzed. If it's any consolation, a lawyer is here to discuss a lawsuit against the store."

Destiny screams...and screams...and screams.

A wish fulfilled, but not as expected. A life gone from bad to worse. A woman's destiny decided by a poor choice of words. Be careful what you wish for...in the Twilight Zone.