Careful with What You Wish for

The tree was gone, the sky was gone, the world was gone and the evening-yellow sky above him was gone too. The sky was now the colour of midnight; pitch-black. There was a star shining above him, a blazing, twinkling light and nothing else. He almost tripped when he took a single step forward. Jared kicked an empty can as he strolled along the darken alley.

“Evening, kid.”

Jared ignored the raspy voice. The stench odour from the man gave him creeps. This was the only time he would listen to his mother’s advice. “Never talk to strangers," he told himself almost like a monologue. He quickened his pace but the man seemed to walk faster than him. His footsteps turned into running and he hunched as he took another breath.

The man was in front of him. He tipped his pointy hat and introduced himself as Mr. Wednesday. He belched. The man smelled of cigarillo and perfectly brewed beer. Jared coughed as the man circled him. He was actually shivering as the man ran his fingers across his shoulder and tossed him to the side of the road. He rolled and writhed.

“How interesting,” the man snarled with thick accent. 

The man took out what appeared to be a small jar of snuff with a picture of Black Madonna and emptied its contents. He was wearing knee-high stockings with a pale green jacket. Jared tried to scream for help but he was surprised when he had the guts to elbow the man by his stomach.

“Hold it kid. I just want to make a deal. All you do is make a wish. Anything.”

“Jeepers-creepers. What kind of a deal is that? And who are you? A leprechaun? And what’s that? A shamrock? A clover?” he barked.

“Careful, careful. Well, let’s just say I’m a leprechaun, an enchanted creature...,” he tapped his cigarillo to a nearby wall and threw the stub. He hesitated. “I’m just trying to be generous. You know being-nice-sort-of-thing. We’ll leave aside the personality quiz.” Suddenly the man who claimed himself as the leprechaun was once more in front of Jared. Jared trembled and his legs almost jellied when the red-haired creature looked intently into his eyes. “Get off from me, smelly old man.” The leprechaun grinned as if that was the funniest statement he ever heard and laughed hysterically. He let go of Jared and played with his golden coin. Flipping it through the musty air and glared. Jared slowly crawled, trying to escape from the lunatic.

“Boo!”

He was one metre away and was very terrified to look back. His stomach folded as he can feel something inside his empty pocket. He was sweating really profusely and all he ever thought was getting home safely. He could not believe his eyes. What he had witnessed just now was ridiculous.

As he got himself into his room for a hot bath, he left a heap of dirty clothes and tossed his wet shoes aside. Jared could have sworn that he heard something tapping on his window. His breath coming slowly now and he was no longer cold. He could hear the rustling winter wind, a bitter screaming around his house and for a moment he could hear words of the wind.

He gathered his clothes and something caught his eyes. It was the two sided gold coin that the leprechaun flipped. He was amazed of how immaculate the coin was. He put the coin into his pyjamas. He knew nothing of coin tricks. He dropped the clothes into their appropriate place and got ready for a good night’s sleep, thinking it would finally ease his tiredness. He rubbed his eyes as there was a loud knock on his door.

“Jared, you son of a bitch!”

A hard punch hit him hard on his empty stomach. Blood spurted and he was in agony. He would have volunteered himself as the victim of the gallows. He was indeed lost in the miasma. He choked and tried to see what was happening. He shouted for the person to stop but a kick silenced him.

“Where have you been, sunny boy? Do you want to know what your mum had given to me? A bollocking boy like you!”

Jared muttered something so faintly that nobody could decipher it. The man spat and cursed him again. Jared knew it was his tyrant father. He can no longer tolerate the tormenting pain. He was blamed for his sister’s disappearance when he was only 5 years old. Jared’s muscle went into spasm and his eyes were red of continuous tears. He begged his father to stop but instead of mercy, he was given another punch. Jared’s fingers held the coin.

“I wish for a better life...wi-th no pain...and I want happiness.”

“What did you just say?”

From afar a voice rang, “Careful with what you wish for kid.” The leprechaun smiled a crooked smile and vanished through the misty panes.

Jared was no longer struggling with the pain and all he heard was a faint meow. He searched for his father. The pain was gone and all he can see was a tabby cat with amber eyes. “Dad?” The tabby cat screeched and scrammed. It chased anything that was moving, just like a cat.

“Careful with what you wish for...”