Dillon clearly remembered that his Grandma Sarah had told him that the Wishing Tree never gave any wishes without taking something in return, but he still knew he just had to make the wish. His need was too great to ignore.

The Wishing Tree was set deep in a forested glade in a natural clearing. It towered over the other trees, and around it at its broad base grew only bright yellow misery flowers, so named because of the misery the Wishes granted brought to any who dared make a Wish. Legend had it that in the thousand years of the Wishing Tree’s existence, it had never, not once, failed to grant a Wish.

Dillon thought of Miriam standing here, alone and desperate, making her Wish, which took her life as payment. She had told him she would Wish for her dying mother to become better, and although he had tried to dissuade her from making the Wish, she wouldn’t listen to him. The day after her mother had miraculously recovered from her three-month long terminal illness, Miriam was run down by a wild Mustang and killed.

Dillon looked up at the soaring branches of the gigantic tree and steeled himself for what he knew he had to do. All of a sudden, the forest went eerily quiet. He only noticed the silence because it was so abrupt. One minute the birds were singing, the insects were buzzing and even the leaves fluttering in the breeze had made a pleasant rustle; the next minute all was deathly silent. It was as if the forest knew what he was planning to do, and it was waiting with barely contained curiosity to see what would happen.

Dillon went closer to the Tree, standing in the same spot where generations of Oakdale residents had stood to make their ill-fated Wishes. Grandma Sarah’s words came back to him: “Face the Tree’s trunk and focus on the knot shaped like a tear. Formulate your Wish clearly in your mind before you utter it. Be sure you have the wording just right, not that any of that ever helps the Wisher. The Tree always exacts payment in one form or another.”

“You have been a Granter of Wishes for ages, haven’t you?” Dillon asked the Tree. “Strange, isn’t it, that no one ever thought to wonder what you would ask for if you could make a Wish. Perhaps none of us ever thought that you might be just as alive, just as sentient as any of us, but simply a different life form. Well, I have a wish for you, Wishing Tree,” Dillon said and took a deep breath. Before he could change his mind, he rapidly spoke his Wish aloud.

“I Wish for you to disappear from this world forever!”

His words echoed loudly in the quiet glade, and then the Wishing Tree slowly turned transparent. First its branches vanished, then the broad trunk turned as translucent as a dragonfly’s wings. With a soft sigh, the Tree was gone.

In its place stood a beautiful young girl of Dillon’s age.

She smiled at Dillon in delight and said, “Thank you for lifting the enchantment! I have been waiting all these years for someone to make a Wish for me, and here you are.” Dillon could only gape in astonishment at her.

“I was imprisoned in the tree by my teacher, a wicked sorceress who was envious of my generosity and tendency to help others. She cursed me and said I could grant Wishes henceforth, but my Wishes would be barbed. It broke my heart these thousand years to see the effects the granting of wishes had on those desperate ones. Finally, I am free, thanks to you!”

Before he could say anything, the girl approached him and gave him a joyous, lingering kiss.

Dillon slowly realised what the price of his Wish was, but this time the payment was a sweet, willing one. It was his heart.

Image: Valentin Petkov (www.unsplash.com)