A Wish for My Daughter

“And in other news! Today at twelve, we’ll sit down with local, lottery winner, Debra Ringold! So, she can tell us all about how a dream turned her into a millionaire, literally overnight! Some people have all the luck don’t they Diane?”

“They sure do Jim—”

The rest of the co-anchor’s words were cut off, as Evelyn Dominguez hit the power button on her remote.

“They suuuure do,” she sighed heavily to herself as she crossed yet another name off the long list of, ‘jobs not hiring at the moment’; and rolled herself out of bed. The Jim and Diane Early Morning Show meant that it was 7 am, which meant that she had an hour and a half to make it to La Abuelita’s.

“Hi, mommy!” A voice rang out causing Evelyn to spin around. Grinning unabashedly from ear to ear, with a mouth full of frothy white toothpaste bubbles, and wearing her favorite Elsa and Anna pajamas, was her four-year-old little girl.

“Ay, Dios mío!” Evelyn shouted at her daughter, her anxiety instantly turning into frustration. “Don’t do that! You almost gave me a heart attack!” She berated the cute little girl. “What are you even doing out of bed already?!”

“I was brushing my teeth!” Josie said happily. “Did you think I was a monster?”

“I don’t know what I thought.” Evelyn sighed.

“Mommyyyy,” the little girl’s voice grew stern. “I told you! I. Am not. A monster!”

“You’re a superhero! I know! I know! Sorry!” Evelyn said, hiding her grin behind her hand, and affecting an air of complete and utter contrition. “So, what are you doing up anyway, little one?” She asked as the two made their way down the narrow hallway to the cramped bathroom.

“Um, I don’t know,” the little girl said, carefully avoiding her mother’s inquisitive gaze as she hoisted herself up onto the turned down toilet seat, her usual perch for brushing her teeth, as it allowed her to look in the sink mirror as she brushed. Before Evelyn could probe into her daughter’s sudden caginess, the harsh brassy sound of her alarm going off her, stole her attention.

“Shoot! It's 7:20 already?! Okay, prima! Let’s get those teeth brushed! Remember, your clothes are on your dresser. I’ll go start breakfast.”

“Come on, baby!” she reaffirmed her grip on Josie’s hand as the two hustled onto the bus. She hustled Josie to the back of the crowded bus, squeezing in at the very back as an elderly gentleman made his exit. As the bus rounded a corner, Evelyn looked to see a tall black billboard, with tall white letters in the center of it reading: WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH $20,000? JOIN—. The rest of the message had been torn off by the dry, west Texas summer wind no doubt, leaving a bright brown scar across the blacked-out advertisement. ‘Hmph,’ she chuckled to herself. ‘What would I do with 20k? Well, a car wouldn’t hurt. Maybe then, I could finally let Josie get some real sunlight. She’s a good kid, but I know she’s tired of being cooped up in the house day in and day out.’ She grimaced at the thought of her parenting failures.

“What’s this mommy? Josie suddenly asked her, waving a little booklet in her face.

“S-Sorry, uh, honey. What’d you say? Oh, it's…It's…Weird,” she muttered to herself after taking hold of the little black book and reading the first page.

WISH EATER:

Upon my pages make a wish,

Write the name receive the gift,

A wish that’s wished for you, bladu,

The time the gift wished next comes true.

“Okay, really weird,” she mumbled, turning the page. This page had two columns. On the left side, were names and on the right side, were wishes.

Jacob H. Lattimore A million-dollar book idea that’ll help save the world

Lisa Stannis 12 New Clients for my business

Bethany Lee Thompson Heal My Mother

Abigail Constanza $50,000 for me and my friends

Jake M. Jones A new house for the family

David Ike Turner Help me to quit using

Rob S. Jenkins A building for my congregation

Debra Ringold Let my husband win the lottery

Evelyn’s brow furrowed as she read the last name in the entry.

“Debra Ringold? Why do I know tha—"

*DING* Now arriving DIXIE and META Drive.

The computerized voice of the bus announcing their stop, broke out over the loudspeaker, disrupting her thoughts.

“Come on sweety,” she said, standing, and unconsciously sliding the little black book into her back pocket as she shuffled off the bus, and to the daycare.

“Have a good day Mijita.”

“Mommy?”

“Yes, mi amor?” Evelyn said stopping and turning back around.

“Can you make the wish for me?”

“…Huh?”

“When you make the wish with the wishing book!”

“Uh, okay honey. Hurry and go inside”

“Promise!?”

“Yes, yes,” she chuckled. “I promise, now shoo! Go to your class.”

“You’re fired.” Oscar Maldonado, Abuelito, said to the brunette beauty forlornly.

“What?!” Evelyn exclaimed, perplexed.

“Lo siento chica, pero we just can’t afford to keep anyone on. The virus, everything is slow. Me and Abuelita are thinking of just closing down until all of this is over.”

“Abuelo—”

“I’m sorry, chica, but there’s nothing I can do.

Evelyn stared at the old man as he hobbled back inside the restaurant, hot tears stinging her eyes. “What am I supposed to do?” She finally managed to get out, staring at her reflection in the glass.

‘What am I gonna do?’ She thought ruefully sitting in her small two-bedroom apartment. What could she do? ‘Nothing,’ her melancholy mind supplied. With the virus running rampant, stores and restaurants closing left and right, there was little hope of her finding a new job any time soon. On top of that, she didn’t even have a car to get to these nonexistent jobs should any of them deign to call her back. The tears came heavier as she replayed her life up till now. If only she had finished school, if only she hadn’t fallen in love; if only Cal hadn’t died, if only she hadn’t had… She stopped, unable to condemn or blame the birth of Josie for her problems, and it wasn’t like it was Calvin’s fault that he had died, just the fault of some drunk asshole of an off-duty cop, who didn’t take kindly to being told to keep his grubby hands to himself. Maybe, if she hadn’t gone out with him that night, or wore that dress…

Knowing the danger of being alone with her thoughts, she grabbed the remote that she’d thrown on the bed earlier that morning, and turned on the television. Just before she changed the channel, the words of the cheery news-anchor froze her finger above the button.

“So, Debra, tell us! Had you had this dream before? Or played these particular set of numbers before Friday'ss drawing?”

“Noo! Never!” the blonde, sixty-something-year-old woman, drawled in her west Texas accent, her huge smile threatening to unhinge her lower jaw from her plump round face. “It’s gonna sound crazy, but I’d never played the lottery b’fore I’d won! I remember praying on Thursday night, that me and my husband’d win the lottery, and when I went to bed, I had the most vivid dream I’d ever had, about playing those numbers. When I woke up and told my husband. And well,” she chortled. “He just ‘bout broke his foot tryna get us to the nearest gas station! And the rest is history!”

“Wow! That is amazing! So, the power of prayer and positive thinking transformed your life literally overnight?”

“Y-Ye-Yes!” Debra Ringold said grinning, and if that grin was a little forced as if her answer wasn’t entirely truthful. No one was the wiser.

“So, do you have any plans for your new millions?” The jolly anchorwoman asked, but Evelyn was no longer listening.

She had sat up on the bed, her fingers prying at her pocket. Her heart beating fast, and a strange tightness in her chest, as she pulled the little black book free, and flipped to the page of wishes and their makers, quickly running her fingers down the thin parchment until she reached the last entry.

“No way,” she said breathily, trying her best, and failing, to will away the flower of irrational hope that was blooming in the center of her chest. But there it was, in flowing old-lady script: ‘Debra Ringold: I wish for my husband to win the lottery.’

“Pensamiento positivo mi culo.” Evelyn said, no longer trying to deny herself the hope. A part of her told her that she was crazy, that magic wasn’t real, that little black books didn’t grant wishes, that this was all a symptom of her desperation. Another part, a larger part, didn’t care. She searched about the bed for something to write with, a half manic laugh of joy escaping her lips as she happened upon the green pen her witchy sister had prescribed for these exact situations.

“No point in going half-crazy,” she said, sending herself into another bout of frantic giggles. “Wait till I tell Josie what I did tod…” ‘Josie…’ she paused, thinking of their earlier conversation.

‘Can you make the wish for me?’ Josie’s voice filled her mind’s ear. Images of her wise-beyond-her-years daughter filled her head. Her daughter, who was the physical embodiment of an infinite love lost. To whom she owed all her happiness. With a grin, Evelyn gripped the pen and added her wish to the bottom of the page.

Jacob H. Lattimore A million-dollar book idea that’ll help save the world

Lisa Stannis 12 New Clients for my business

Bethany Lee Thompson Heal My Mother

Abigail Constanza $50,000 for me and my friends

Jake M. Jones A new house for the family

David Ike Turner Help me to quit using

Rob S. Jenkins A building for my congregation

Debra Ringold Let my husband win the lottery

Josephina Gabriella Dominguez-Harris I wish for 20,000 dollars!!!

Evelyn awoke with a start, the braying of her phone yanking her from the depths of deep sleep.

“Uhm, hello?” she said sleepily, answering the phone. “What?! Are you Sure??” she asked a sudden surge of adrenalin flooding her brain causing her to bolt up in bed. “Yes? Yes!? Oh my God. I’ll be right there!” She screamed into the phone. She couldn’t believe this was happening, not everything she had been through. ‘Josie.’

“Mommy!”

“Josie!” Evelyn exclaimed as she stepped into the daycare, seeing the small girl come racing from one of the back rooms holding a manila folder triumphantly in the air. Evelyn took the few steps to meet her daughter, wrapping her up in a big hug before setting her down and grabbing the orange folder from her hands. As she turned it upside down, two small pieces of paper fell out. Grabbing the larger piece, Evelyn began reading.

Dear Evelyn,

After some consideration, Abuelo and I, have decided to close down the restaurant and go into retirement. It’s something we’ve been thinking about doing for a little while now, but could never bring ourselves to see it through. But now, with the craziness of the Virus, and all of the election drama, we figured now is as good a time as any. We’re old Mija! So, we want to relax for as much time as we’ve got left!

That being said, we understand that this will make things even harder for you and little Josephina. After your husband died, we watched you nearly kill yourself with work in order to continue making a way for you and your daughter. And so, to show our appreciation for all your hard work, and to give you some peace of mind in the trying times ahead, we wanted to give you a little gift.  Love You Always, Abuelita.

P.S. Tell Josie, I’ll be calling to see if she kept the secret!

Evelyn’s shaking hands dropped the letter, tears streamed like rivers down her face blurring her vision as she knelt down to retrieve the second fallen slip of paper. Letting out an audible sob of joy as she saw, written in Abuelita’s elegant handwriting, a check, made out to CASH, in the amount of 20,000 dollars.

“ITS MONEYS!!!” The little girl suddenly shouted, startling her mother. Evelyn now crying uncontrollably looked up smiling, first at her daughter, and then the gathered daycare attendants who were themselves smiling and crying; all of them basking in the ambiance of Abuelita’s goodwill.