Brittany's+Tale

 Be careful what you wish for...  Long ago in November of 1862 in the small town of Varde, there lived a man by the name of Joseph. Joseph was always a kind and caring man; and he attended church every chance that he got. He stood at an average height of 5’11”, he had the average face of a 38 year old man, and he was at an average weight of a man his age. Everything about him was just plain old average. He secretly hated his dull, routine life, however, and deep down in his heart he hungered for something that he always knew was missing in his life- he just didn’t know what it was.

Joseph lived a well thought-out and planned life; he always knew that he was going to follow in his father’s footsteps as the owner of the small town’s only drug store. This job was passed down from generation to generation in the Smith family, and no one would dare think of breaking that tradition of eighty years.

Joseph was different though, and he was always looking for a way to live differently; to fill his “missing space”, and to one day leave the traditions of his family. Was he always going to pursue this boring, drug out, day to day lifestyle until his time on earth ends? He pondered these ideas as he stood behind the counter, getting ready for closing time, and another night going home to his typical loving wife and two children.

It was dark on his walk home; everyone else that lived in Joseph’s town was already in their homes with their families. He kicked rocks along the dim-lighted path, creating games as he strolled along. Suddenly, he tripped. As he got up from his unexpected visit with the ground, he looked back to see what had made him fall. A dark shadow in the shape of a foot tapped on the dirt beneath it. “Excuse me.”, said the figure above in a deep voice. He lent out a hand as he went on to say, “Let me help you up, Joseph.” “Do I know you?” Joseph replied nervously, squinting and straining his eyes to get a better look at the mysterious man. “No, we haven’t met, I’m afraid…but I know you very well.” He continued, “I know that you have always wanted to be someone else, and to get out of your boring daily life that you pursue.”

Joseph, having never spoken of his thoughts and feelings to anyone, asked, “Who are you?”

“That doesn’t matter. What does matter is that I’m going to grant you two wishes….free of charge, so that you can see what it’s like to have what you desire. Just wish, and snap your fingers and it will be done. Think it over. I’ll be seeing you soon.” And with that, the shady man disappeared into the night.

Joseph stood in shock, thinking about what had just happened. Once he regained the knowledge that he was standing alone outside, he continued his walk homeward. When he arrived to his house, his wife was furious abut how late he was coming home. They began to argue as couples do, and eventually, it led to his wife saying that Joseph was not a good father figure for their two boys, since he never seems to be around. Joseph, enraged of his wife’s remark, responded with, “Sometimes I wish that we never even had children.” And then the idea popped into his head…With that, he let the anger that he was feeling get the best of him, and he snapped his fingers. He then entered an alternate universe where he and his wife never had children. Joseph felt a burst of power as if he now had the ability to control his own life for the first time. With this, he then decided to use the second and last wish. Again, without thinking about the consequences of what he was doing, he exclaimed, “I wish I never had to work… especially at that stupid store again!” *snap*, his wish was granted.

Joseph’s house wasn’t changed, his children still weren’t around, and Joseph didn’t notice anything was gone right away. He decided to walk down to his families store and realized that it didn’t belong to his family anymore-but another family. He got so delighted with the fact that he didn’t have to work in that place in which he hated so much, and the other fact that he didn’t have to take on the responsibility of taking care of two children anymore. Joseph strolled home, and just relaxed for the first time in 14 years.

This cheerfulness didn’t last long, though. Soon, Joseph became bored. Days went by, and Joseph began to miss his children. His kindness to the people of the town disappeared, and though he wished he never had to work again, he didn’t wish for money to support himself and his wife. For that, his wife left him, and the delight that he was feeling soon fell to bitterness and despair. He was too lazy to get a job so Joseph eventually ended up living on the streets, begging people for spare change. One day, he came across a wealthy looking, and clean cut man and asked for spare money for food. The man looked at him with dark eyes, gave him 75 cents, and said in a familiar deep voice, “life’s rough, isn’t it?”, then walked away with a grin.



Brittany, your story is awesome! and so is your picture.