3
Wishes
Stanley had begun to hate the little coin that he’d come to
believe controlled him.
He just stared at in
his palm and tried to convince himself to finally get rid of it but then there
was the problem of his heart. It beat frantically at the thought of facing an
uncertain future without the vast advantage the coin offered.
“Stan?”
He took his eyes off the coin.
“Yes?”
“I didn’t get an
answer about that coffee. Would you like a refill?” Claire asked him.
He looked down at his
cup and saw that it was empty.
“Yes. Yes, I’d like that. Thank you.”
Claire poured his coffee from the mug and the rich aroma of
the hot caffeine filled his nose. She
gave him a sweet smile and then left him alone.
His eyes followed her
and he remembered that she’d been an art student. She had that about her; a
sort of refinement that didn’t fit in at their grimy diner. He had to say her
smile was the highlight of his day what little there was of it. If he wasn’t
here he’d end up at the park watching the birds and ignoring calls from his
agent.
Claire handed the
coffee mug to a waitress behind the counter and picked up a tray laden with
eggs, toast and a cup of the same stuff they seemed to be serving by the gallon
to everyone. Yeah, well Mike’s coffee was probably the best in town.
He started to wonder
about Claire. The vacation he’d taken from his life had been forcing his brain
in all kinds of directions but Claire was a nice one. It wasn’t just that she
was beautiful, he’d already fixated on her smile but there was also that
nagging voice that told him that something bad must have happened for someone like
her to end up here.
“She lost her scholarship.”
Stanley nearly jumped out off his skin. It was Lester, of
course. He sat across from him smiling smugly at startling him. Lester lived in
the coin but it had been months since he’d consented to speak to Stanley.
“What do you mean she lost her scholarship?”
Lester reached across and took a piece of toast off his
plate. “I mean she lost her scholarship,” he said in between bites. “Some
professor of hers got handsy and when she knocked him on his rear end he failed
her. Her scholarship’s pretty strict so that’s all it took.”
“How do you know?”
Stanley asked him.
Lester raised an
eyebrow, “Are you seriously asking me that?”
“No, I guess not,”
Stanley said. Stanley found it hard to believe but he didn’t think Lester was
lying. It made perfect sense. Poor Claire.
“So what do you intend to do about it?” Lester asked him
picking up his fork and spearing his last sausage.
“Me? What can I do about it?” Stanley asked.
“You got the coin stupid. You can give her one of your
wishes. You do have two left after all.” Lester munched loudly and with much
enthusiasm. “You know this Mike guy makes a mean breakfast.”
Stanley ignored Lester and stared at Claire. He did want to
help her but he had no way of predicting the turn in which the wish might take.
He might be damning her to same hell that plagued him.
He looked at Lester
who was sitting back, his ancient black eyes sparkling with laughter.
“What would I wish for?” he asked his tormentor.
“That’s easy. You wish for the girl to get her dream back.
To get back into the Art program, her talent will take care of the rest.”
Stanley took a deep breath and thinking of Claire closed his
eyes and made his wish. He opened them to see her still standing two tables
away serving a family. He glared at Lester.
Lester laughed at
him. “Relax big guy. She’ll get a call later today from the school telling her
they’ve decided to review her case. Her professor will get fired and she’ll get
her scholarship back. Problem solved.”
“And what about me?”
“You? You go back to
writing your books like you promised you would and I’ll consider these past few
months of rebellion as forgotten.”
“I knew it. I knew it
would come back to that. You just want me to keep writing about your kind. Do
you really think it will be enough to keep you alive?” Stanley asked him.
“Mr. Nicholls you worry about you and I’ll worry about me.
You should ask Claire out so you can celebrate. Get her number and call her.
Live your life, what little of it you still own.” Lester vanished leaving
Stanley alone in his booth.
Stanley raised his
coffee cup and took a sip grimacing at how cold it’d gotten. He wondered if
he’d made the right choice but then he had a vision of Claire standing in front
of snapping cameras with a huge smile on her face. He knew Lester was giving
him a preview of her future and it didn’t look that bad.
No comments:
Post a Comment