Make A Wish

Make A Wish

I was lying on my little cot on the terrace and was counting the stars. Mama had said if you cannot sleep, then count the stars. One night, I saw a sudden streak of light across the sky. Intrigued, I asked my sister what it was. My sister was my surrogate mom, as I was the youngest. She explained to me that how we could Make A Wish on a shooting star and it will come true. This piqued my curiosity. As it is, I dwelt in a fantasy land and lived out the fairy tales; I read. This wishing star sounded like a sci-fi fantasy.

Rules to Follow to Make a Wish

1. Firstly, close your eyes while making a wish
2. Second, say, “Starlight, star bright, first star I see tonight: I wish I may, I wish I might have this wish I wish tonight”
3. Believe in your wish, or it will not be granted
4. The 4^th condition was the toughest- Do not tell anyone what you wished for.

Now, I could not keep any secret, how could I not share my wish without getting a bellyache?

Sleeping on the terrace was an everyday affair, as the rooms were too hot to sleep in. The summers were a tough time to bear with the severe heat. We did not have a cooler or an AC and has to rely on nature to lull us to sleep. (remember counting the stars?)

It was a sultry night in midsummer; I was in class 3. I lay wide awake as the heat wouldn’t let me sleep. Counting stars too didn’t help. I was gazing at the twinkling stars and the naughty moon flirting with all of them. Suddenly, I saw something zoom across my vision and I quickly shut my eyes. Now, I had practised this many times and “Starlight star bright.” just tumbled out, and I made my wish.

“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

My sister was sleeping on the cot next to mine and heard me whispering my wish out loud. Yet, she asked, “What did you wish for, sweetheart?” My sister knew all my secrets, so no harm in telling her about my wish is what I thought.

In all innocence, I said, “I wished for a natural AC, which would let me sleep through the heat. It should not be expensive as my cousins have. But something we could afford without it weighing down my Bauji’s pocket.”

I could see the glimmer of a smile on my sister’s lips. She was amused at my innocence and my maturity in not burdening my parents.

“It is pretty late, sleep as you have to go to school in the morning,” she whispered in the quiet of the night. My parents, my sisters and my brother were all sleeping in a line on the terrace.

I closed my eyes to sleep and wondered if I had wished for a frog prince, would it come true? Would I be a princess and find my handsome prince if I kissed the frog?

Or

If I had wished to be Cinderella, would the prince come looking for me with a glass slipper?

Make a Wish

I was oscillating between sleep and dreams when I suddenly felt as if I were floating in cool climes. I could see cottages with picket fences. Lush green lawns, a pond surrounded by beds of roses. The sheer beauty and enchantment of the place mesmerized me. I could feel the zephyr as I slept. I felt as if it blew me into Thumbelina’s garden.

The magical song of the Nightingale woke me up, and I was smiling when I opened my eyes. My sister, with a gleam in the eye, queried, “Why are you grinning?”

I jumped on her bed and squealed, “My wish came true. I got the natural AC I asked for and I slept like a log”

After that night my faith in my wishing star became strong. I never missed a shooting star nor did I miss wishing on one.

My Wishes Were Modest…

1. To get a 3^rd rank-I knew I couldn’t beat my friends who stood first and second.
2. To get permission to go for the class picnic.
3. To play the lead in the annual school drama.
4. To sing the National Anthem on the podium on Independence day
5. To be my teacher’s pet (I always got the badge for good conduct)
6. To have a new frock on my birthday.
7. To distribute eclairs in the class and give my teachers a Cadbury on my birthday.

All these wishes came true, and I was a die-hard believer in my wishes for a shooting star. Kids believe in Santa Claus getting gifts or the Tooth Fairy leaving money under the pillow, isn’t it? I hugged myself and was thankful that the gift of fantasy transported me away from my rather humdrum life.

A few years later, (I had stepped into my teens) I chanced upon my sister, heartily laughing with her friends. I stood by the door in order to hear the adult talk.

To my astonishment, she was relating the incident about my shooting star wish and how she made it come true.

My sister dearest glibly described how she took the white bed linen, dipped it in a bucket of water and covered me with it. The air cooled the wet blanket and made me feel cool. This is the harsh truth behind my shooting star wish. But it did not deter me. I still have my head in the clouds.

Make A Wish without a star too. Keep the child in yo, alive. Write and read aloud your affirmations every day to make your wishes come true. Manifest them with your thoughts.

My previous post on the Blogchatter Blog Hop is a Story-Twin Souls- Message in a Bottle and 4 things about today’s world that puzzle me, Let’s toss-read versus Write

This post is a part of Blogchatter Blog Hop.