A Touch of the Unknown (Short Stories)

One for the Ages

They say that if you make a wish three times in full before a shooting star fades you'll get your wish. I've given this much thought. The idea is pretty intriguing if you've never heard of it.

The entire premise rests on the fact that the lifespan of a shooting star is very short. There are very few things you could wish for within the amount of time given. One wouldn't even have time to wish for a single dollar bill. Firstly, the wish would have to be a single word, preferably also consisting of a single syllable. Secondly, the single word would have to form a complete wish.

For example, the word 'money' is far too vague. What kind of money, exactly? There are a lot of different types of currencies in the world. And how much are you asking for? Can the amount be assumed without any further parameters given? 'Gold', 'jewels', etc, might even be vague to the person making the wish, and therein lies the problem. The meaning would have to be crystal clear and singular in its nature. Of course, if a person had only ever used one currency and one bill, the meaning would already be clear.

That said, there are still a number of possibilities even with the strict limitations. Like I said, I've given this a lot of thought. You might not believe in such things yourself, but I invite you to entertain the possibility and hear my story.

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I hadn't played baseball since I was a kid but I found that I still had my aim. Some things you never forget, I guess. I'll admit that my arm did hurt a bit after each throw, but as long as my aim was good I thought that I could still help her.

"Dad, you're throwing way too fast!" Lucy said.

"Am I?" I said. "I'm throwing it as slow as I can."

I was. I swear.

It was Lucy's idea to try out for the baseball team. To be honest, I had lost my interest in sports a long time before, but if this was something that she wanted to try I was going to do everything I could to help her. This was our first time playing catch together. Nothing fancy. Just two gloves, a ball and some space to throw. She seemed to take to it fairly quickly, though, and by the end of that first time she was hitting the center of my glove like it was nothing.

We had a few more catch sessions together before we moved on to batting practice. She didn't take to this quite as well. The difference was pretty dramatic, really. She was a born pitcher. I could tell even then.

The tryouts went as expected. Well, they went as I expected and she was picked fairly quickly. I thought it was a little silly that they didn't give her a starting position, but since this was her first game I'm sure the decision made sense to them. She was assigned as a pitcher, of course.

Regardless, it wasn't long before they saw her talent and slated her to start a game. My interest in sports still sat somewhere next to nothing, but this was my daughter. Although she was a little older now, I still thought of her as my little princess. She was still the center of my world. The game quickly became more important to me than anything.

I should add that I didn't place much value on the outcome. I was only excited because I knew that everyone was going to see how good she was. Lucy had always been a bit of a loner. She had never once talked to me about anything that happened at school, but there were times when I could tell that she was very unhappy. I don't think she was ever the target of bullying, or at least as best as I could tell, but she always seemed to be a little more on the outside of things than the others. I wished more than anything that I could fix this for her somehow, but some things are out of reach no matter how much you might want to help someone. I just wanted everyone to see her the way I saw her.

"Do I look funny with my hair tied back like this?" she asked before the game.

"It looks fine," I said. "Are you feeling ok, though? No cold feet?"