A Gaggle of Short Stories

Anything?

  I walk down the moonlit path. I hear the rustling of the leaves around me. I've been walking for ten minutes trying to reach the wishing tree before I am noticably missing. At last I find the clearing. I quicken my pace and enter the mouth of the clearing. Before me stands the wishing tree. I clutch the piece of fabric, cut from my favorite sweater, tightly in my hand. I walk slowly towards the beautiful birch tree. I extend my arms and lay the piece of pink fabric onto a long branch protruding from the tree. It looks indifferent to the other strips of cloth tide to the tree. Before I can even think about turning around and running away, a strange creature that walks on all fours and is not quite human but not quite animal either, slithers out into the clearing. "What is it you desire?" "I wish for my brother to be accepted into his dream school, Music Academy." The creature creeps closer, his tail dragging behind. "And what is it you offer me?" I reply without hesitation. "Anything!" At this he bares a toothy grin, "Anything?" he repeats. I nod my head. He quickly turns around and says, "See to it your brother be accepted." With this he crawls back into the shadows. I walk back to my house a tad shaken up and return to my room for slumber. The next morning I wake-up to the sound of ambulance sirens coming from outside the house. I rush down the stairs to see my brother crying.  "What's wrong?" I ask him. "Mom had a heart attack in the night and passed away." I tear up and soon am sobbing along side him. A moment later I hear the mail slip through the slot in the door. I hesitantly open the door and see a white paper from Music Academy with an acceptance letter printed upon it.