A week went by, everything better than the year and half we had. I was no longer made fun of. Joshua joined six different sports. Stan got a girlfriend with several other girls desperately clawing at each other for him. And Felicia was happy with her new girlfriend and position of power on social networks.
They were all happy but we were separated. Once great friends who spent every waking minute with each other, now barely waved at each other in the hallways.
And it seemed like I was the only one who seemed upset by this. I tried to hang out with them but they were always busy.
Finally Joshua broke the silence between us by inviting us over to a Papa McKing Hut Jr (get fucked Copyright). We ordered our food and immediately I felt the seriousness surrounding us. No longer did I feel up to cheerful and friendly banter.
"I think... We should stop hanging out with each other," Joshua spoke slowly almost as though being a jock had liquefied his brain.
"What do you mean?" I said, distraught, "we've been best friends since diapers!"
Joshua countered, "Yeah but we're so different now, I mean we hang out with such different people and we barely see each other".
I started, "Yeah but-
"Josh is right, we have grown too far apart," Felicia said, sipping her smoothie.
I turned to Stan, the first person I befriended, the only one not agreeing with this. "Stanley?" I whimpered out, a cry for help.
He sighed heavily, "I'm sorry Mark, we are just... Not compatible anymore".
I couldn't stand it anymore, I quickly stood up and was about to leave, but a question made me stop and turn back at them. "Did you guys ever see a creepy doctor? Wears an old lab coat and a gas mask?"
Based on their collective looks of stark horror I took it as a yes and felt my stomach drop. "Thanks for lunch, dick," I said then left.
Outside across the street I saw the same doctor, staring at me with those big, empty, black lenses. He lifted his right arm up to his chest and began tapping his wrist with his left index finger; as though he was tapping a watch.
My phone dinged, making me jump. I took my eyes off of him and stared down at the notification.
ALERT: You only have 23 days until wish is maxed out. Do you wish to switch to premium?
I ignored it and shoved my phone back into my pocket.
When I got home, a dark cloud loomed over my house; both literally and figuratively. Police cars were swarmed around my house and my mother's sobs could be heard from the door way.
In the kitchen, my mother's face was buried in her hands letting in huge heaves of breath. My sister was crying too. And my dad was in the corner of the room slumped in the couch, his face unreadable but you could tears in his eyes.
"What's going on?" I asked my mom. She answered me with the biggest cry of all and a tight squeeze that took the breath from me.
And that's when I realized it. The only person who wasn't there. My brother.
"Where's Dylan?" I asked, almost afraid of her answer.
"He's- he's gone baby," she could barely control herself.
My mind went blank. "The hell do you mean gone?!" I ripped away in a rage.
"We- we f-f-found him this a-a-afternoon," mom blew her nose into an old handkerchief.
"No, no you're wrong," I said, running upstairs to Dylan's room, "Dylan! Dylan! Answer me DAMNIT!"
When I got to his room, it was too much to handle. The rope that was hung in the middle of the room. The fallen over stool that was underneath it. Dylan's face, now ghostly pale. His eyes were the last thing I saw before they zipped up the black bag and carried him away. Lifeless, grey, dead. Just like him.
"It's a damn shame," I heard one of the cops say, "this kid played football with my son at uni".
"Did they find a note?" Another said.
"Nada, just this weird piece of paper in his copy trey".
"The hell does 'your wish has expired'?"
YOU ARE READING
Dr Wish
HorrorCareful what you wish for is a curious expression, and it is brought to life as a group of teens soon find out that wishing away their problems isn't as easy as they thought.
