The Wishing Well

The kitchen looked as though a bomb had hit it. Annabel looked around. Her baking frenzy had left the kitchen in a mess. Pots and pans lay piled up around and in the sink. Containers holding the ingredients she needed cluttered the benches. Annabel put her hands on her hips as she looked at the cookies she had already baked. Still a few more batches needed for the seniors' fundraiser.

Annabel reached for the big, steel, mixing bowl. She could see her wrinkled face in the shiny steel. Mentally she checked the list of what she needed: flour, eggs, milk and butter - all there. Her eyes scanned the table.

"Sugar, where is the sugar?" Annabel muttered.

She shifted things around the table but it was nowhere to be seen. Annabel planted her hands on her hips. She would have to go visit her sister, Grace, and borrow some sugar. The cookies were needed in the morning, and Grace would love the late night visit and had finally stopped giving her lectures about how dangerous the streets were at night. Annabel pulled off her apron, grabbed her purse and shuffled out the door.

It was a warm night. The moon was high in the sky and the stars looked brilliant. Annabel ambled along taking in the beautiful evening. Grace's house was only a few minutes walk away if she took a short cut. Annabel stopped and looked up the long alleyway. On the other side she could see the plaza. She hesitated before stepping into it. If Gracie knew about this shortcut, she'd have a fit!

The stench of urine and rot assaulted her. She quickened her speed to the maximum her little legs could go. Annabel noticed something gleaming out of the corner of her eye. She stopped to have a look. Sitting beside an overflowing bin was a large silver coin. She reached down to pick it up. The coin glowed strangely. It shined brightly even with no direct light.

The old woman continued on her way. She could now see the wishing well in the middle of the plaza. Annabel headed toward it. It was a tradition of hers, from when she was a little girl, to make a wish in it every time she passed.

“Oi, old woman!”

Annabel spun around. A young man stood in the alleyway from where she had just come. She froze, her heart pounded in her chest. She stared at him with wide eyes. He scuttled toward her. Musk and booze replaced the smell of urine as he drew close. She felt pity for him but that did not stop her heart from trying to jump out her chest.

“Gimme your bag!” He stuck out his hand, “Look I don’t wanna hurt ya, just give it.”

Annabel continued to stare. The young man impatiently snatched the purse from her hand, and Annabel flinched but didn't attempt to fight him. She stood frozen and continued to stare into his eyes. The mugger returned her gaze a moment, then bolted.

Annabel's eyes filled with tears, but she shuffled toward the well. Her fear faded as she remembered again her childhood tradition. At the side she sat down so she could look into the water. The moon was full and was reflected on the sparkling water. It danced beside her face on the surface. The coin she had found earlier fell from her fingers. It hit the stone and roll in a circle before falling over near her resting hand. She picked it up and studied it, it was beautiful; she had never seen anything like it before. Engraved on one side was a little well and on the other a full moon. She decided then to use it for her wish.

Annabel tried to think of a worthy wish, but she could only remember the mugger. She pitied him. It broke her heart to think that someone so young could have no future. He would most likely be dead in a few years. He would probably die before her.

“Tonight I shall wish for something not for me. I'll make a wish for that poor, young man. Let him get his life back on track. Let whatever it was that led him down the wrong path be changed.”

Annabel smiled and tossed the coin into the fountain. Then, the old woman rose with a grunt and hobbled out of the plaza towards her sister's home.

In the bottom of the wishing well the coin lay. The water around it began to stir. A small whirlpool formed. The coin rose up the center of the vortex. It began to glow brighter and brighter until it lit up the whole plaza. Then the coin floated upward, out of the well, and light filtered off it as if it were a tiny disco ball. In the blink of an eye, it was gone. The plaza was once more blanketed in shadows and quiet.