I Wish

• Ruby Acres, Grade 8, Donvale Christian College
• Short Story
• 2015

Excellence Award in the 'The Write Track 2015' competition

Drunkenly, I swing my fist out, not totally sure as to what is happening. I grinned before stumbling over a rotten box of lettuce. I feel a dull pain in my stomach as I fly backwards, seeing a cruel face as I flew. I kept going, until I finally shut my eyes. I hit the ground head first, rendering my unconscious.
I slowly opened my eyes, groaning. Everything hurt and the grass around me was irritating my skin. The grass around me. I thought to myself. I was just in an alleyway! I entered a state of shock and panic. What’s happened? I thought. Am I dead? I fully opened my eyes. The sun shone brightly onto me, heating me up. A leaf of grass grew, curling itself to come down to me.
“Grab hold.” I hear. I do as the voice says, but as soon as I get up and look around, I realise that there’s nobody there. Cautiously, I head towards a swing hanging from a large oak tree. As I swung, I noticed a screen on the trunk. It began to play a video of, what looked like me as a young child.
“I wish I had that princess bed!” An infant version of me said.
“I wish I had those gel pens!” A slightly older version of me said.
“I wish I was prettier!” A, once again, slightly older version of me said. And on and on, every time I said “I wish.” Until I said one sentence.
“I wish I knew what was going on…” I muttered before seeing myself on the television, except it wasn’t myself. My eyes were a vibrant shade of blue, my cheekbones were very high, my lips were fuller and redder, my eyebrows were perfect, and my skin was clear. My eyes widened in shock. Confused, I continued with a simpler sentence:
“I wish I had a pet cat.” I looked down as I felt a furry object brush along my legs, I saw a brown and white calico kitten weaving through my legs.
“Awh!” I squealed, kneeling down, stroking the small feline. Lifting the kitten, I struck a look of confusion. Why is this happening? Where am I? I feel the pressure of two fingers pressing on each side of my head, directly on my temples. I fell to the ground, knees giving out, crumpling. I lay motionless in the soft grass, alas, I remained conscious.
The grass slowly morphs from its vibrant green into a dull grey. White lines paint themselves across the grey in three streams, followed by twelve much thicker, but shorter ones. A ball bounces towards the middle of the road, followed by a young boy, no older than five. I gasp and look away, alas, to my amazement, I am not alone. A young man faces me, despair prevalent in his eyes. He says a mere three words before walking away. The words, short they may be, terrifying they remain. “Welcome to Heaven, Alice.”