TL;DR - Write about a wish fulfilled - a choice made and the result. One week. 1551 words max (?). Link to your in the comments if you want to.
We make choices in life, and may enjoy or may suffer the consequences. Either way, we often have regrets and wonder ‘what if’. What if you had chatted up that cutie in the pub, or opened door number two or picked a different career or spent years on a world tour or even just settled down? Your life would have been different, and you would be another version of you. However, in most cases, there wouldn’t really be a better or a worse path.
This 2012 challenge was to write about a choice and its result. I picked one of my Fairy Tale Folk (tm)—Red Riding Hood, in this case. She wanted to try a different kind of role, and she showed a mature empathy, despite being a perpetual teenager. Mine is 1364 words.
Wish Fulfilled
“I just want to die!” Sophie flopped back onto her bed, grabbed a pillow, and flung it across the room. “My life sucks, nothing ever goes right for me!”
“Hey, watch it, you almost hit me!”
“Shit, who’s there?” said Sophie. She peered into the dark corner. “Get back out the window, you crack head. My dad’s a cop, and he’s in the next room.”
“I’m not a crack head. I heard you needed some help, Sophie. My name’s Red.”
“That’s a dumb name,” said Sophie. “What are you, another social worker for The Projects? My dad must have called you. You guys are a waste of time, always talking in that psycho gobbledy-gook.”
“I did get a call, ” said Red. “It sounded like you really needed someone, so I came right away.”
The call had hit Red while she was getting ready for another version of a story for the Grimms. She’d felt a blast of despair, of such desperate need that it had staggered her for a moment. She’d never felt that sort of call before, so had followed it here, to a 12-year-old girl, full of drama, emotions and hormones. She’d gone through those same issues and feelings herself—even if she’d never been 12—so had to answer this girl’s call.
Red clicked on the light next to her. “Do I look like a crack head?”
“No,” said Sophie. “But you don’t look like a social worker either. What’s with the cloak and hood?”
“It’s comfy, “ said Red. “Never mind, let’s keep this simple. If you could have three wishes, what would they be?’
“What are you, a fairy godmother?” said Sophie. “OK, smarty, let’s see. I want a new dress, and I want Danny to take me to the prom.” She paused. “And I want my mom back.”
“That’s quite a mix,” said Red. “First, your mom. I know her leaving really sucked. But I know that when she left, it was her choice. She had too many other things she was trying to juggle at once and couldn’t cope. She just had to simplify and get away to get some help. She still loves you and is doing somewhat better now. Right now, you and your dad are even closer and managing OK. If she had stayed, things would have gotten worse, much worse. Trust me.”
“Bullshit,” said Sophie. “You’re like all the others. You’re just saying that, you don’t know her, or me, or anything. She told me that she had to go, that she had no choice. Like all of us.”
Red used to think that too, that she and her friends were all just characters stuck in a story, unable to have any say in their future, in their own hopes and dreams. She knew better now.
“We all have choices and consequences,” said Red, “as part of our stories. We have our wishes and dreams, and we can try to make decisions to pick the path that gets us closer to them. And, along the way, enjoy what we can from the thread we’re on. Maybe find an even more exciting one.”
“You’re sounding like a social worker again,” said Sophie. “How do you know any of that’s true?”
“Because I can see the threads of our stories,” said Red. “Mine, yours, your mom’s. The many paths show what has happened, what might happen next, and the choices for each path. I see it all.”
“You ARE a crack head,” said Sophie. “Dad!”
“No, I’m not,” said Red. “And he’s out. So give me five minutes. At the least, you’ll have a story for your friends tomorrow in Miss Matheson’s class. Even better than the one Karen told you yesterday.”
“OK, that’s spooky,” said Sophie. “What are you, a mind reader?”
“I told you,” said Red. “I see the threads in a story. In yours, I see you picking blue wallpaper last month, instead of painting. I see you skipping math again last Monday. I see you leaving Danny a note.”
“Wow! “said Sophie. “How do you do that?”
“Not sure,” said Red. “But I’ve been able to do it for years.”
For centuries, in fact, ever since she and her fellow characters had been made real by the Grimm fairy tales they were in. In turn, they retold and re-spun the tales, using their magic to make the stories themselves even more real for people. And in between the stories, they’d found lives—and loves—for themselves.
“So, just grant my wish,” said Sophie. “Go back and make my mom stay.”
“Sorry, I can’t really play with the past,” said Red. “Too many other things change. But I can see where your mom made her choice, and the other choices she had for her, and the paths that would have unravelled for her. None is very good.
“Do you see any where she stays?” asked Sophie.
“A few,” said Red. “She stays, for a while, but then the threads show things like she and your dad fighting, her drinking more, you losing this apartment, you changing schools, and her leaving anyway. Trust me, this is a good thread for you and your dad. And not that bad overall for your mom, either.”
“Does she ever come back?” asked Sophie. “How do I choose for that?”
“I see some threads where she doesn’t, but many more where she does. But they are foggy to me if I look too far. And I don’t want to tell you what choices to make—I can’t always see everything. Anyway, you’re smart enough to do that on your own. I will say I do see you choosing to catch more math classes, and that seems to go well.”
“Math, yuck. Good thing my friend helps me. But how about my grade 8 prom? How do I convince Danny to go with me? How do I make him like me? Or can you just make it happen?”
“Maybe you’re looking at it the wrong way around,” said Red. “What about your best friend Stevie? No, hear me out. Yes, Danny is a big shot in the school, and you might feel important for one night if he takes you. But Stevie is a really nice kid. And he likes you. And my magical powers tell me he might not have a date yet. And I see that the downstream path does look promising. Sorry, that’s all I can say. Up to you to choose.”
“Well, I like him too,” said Sophie. “But we’re just friends. Although we do hang out a lot, and he listens to me, and he likes who I am.”
“And that makes you feel . . . ?” asked Red.
“Important,” said Sophie. “OK, maybe I’ll ask Stevie. But what about a dress? I can’t go in my old one, I’d die. I need something like this one—look—here’s the catalogue page.”
“Tell you what,” said Red. “You do need to remember not to give up, to keep dreaming, to take some risks and make some choices. To remind you of that, here’s a freebie.”
Red waved her hand. There was a flash, the catalogue photo shimmered and sparkled, then the dress flew off the page and onto Sophie.
“Whoah!” said Sophie. “Thank you, thank you.” She ran over and hugged Red. “But how will I explain to Dad how I got a new dress?”
“Trust me,” said Red. “He won’t even notice the new dress, he’ll just see his beautiful daughter. Have fun.”
And then she was gone.