The Wishing Box

Marlene walks through the front door of her apartment building carrying a plastic bag full of take home boxes. She wears a pair of dark jeans and a yellow shirt covered in grease stains, the logo of Sunny's Diner printed on the back. She walks to the end of the hall to the mailboxes, she struggles with her keys before unlocking her mailbox.

Marlene pulls out the normal bills and past due statements that she and her husband, Marco, receive daily, but when she looks inside she is surprised to see a small brown package. She pulls it out and examines it, not even an address is written on it. She locks the mailbox and heads up the three flights of stairs to her apartment.

"Babe, I'm home!" Marlene shouts as she enters her apartment.

She closes the door behind her, tossing the mail onto the coffee table, and walks into the kitchen, "Ricky let me take home more leftovers, so we're all set for dinner!" She opens the fridge and stuffs the leftovers inside. After no response she rolls her eyes and slams the fridge door, doing so reveals a note left for her by Marco.

She pulls the note off the fridge, "Got a job, be home by nine." She sighs, "More leftovers for me then."

Marlene falls into their dingy sofa and peels off her shoes and socks. She begins sifting through her mail, quickly noticing that every envelope has large red letters reading PAST DUE. She laughs to herself while throwing each piece of mail aside, "Everyone wants money, huh? Well get in line." She lets out a huff and glances at the small brown package. She picks it up and rips off the brown paper revealing a plain brown box. Again she examines it looking for a sign of where it came from, but finds nothing.

Marlene lifts the tabs of the box and opens it, and inside is nothing more than a white business card with small writing. Confused, she takes the card out of the box and reads it aloud, "A simple wish can make all your dreams come true. First, say your wish aloud then tear this card in two. Return the card to the box and seal it tight, what happens next will be a delight."

Marlene furrows her brow with skepticism, she turns the card around to read the back, "An important rule, the first wish is free, but the next one will cost a small fee." She scoffs, "What religious garbage are you selling?" She stares at the card for a moment, then looks to the pile of angry letters. She smiles and sarcastically closes her eyes, "I wish...I was debt free." She rips the card in half and waits. She opens one eye and sighs, "Oh, well." She shoves the card into the box and closes the tabs, sealing it. Marlene leaves it on the table and walks to her bedroom, she undresses and gets in the shower.

After her shower, Marlene enters the living room with a towel wrapped around her head, wearing a fresh set of pajamas. She takes one step in the living room but stops abruptly when she sees a medium sized, brown package sitting on her coffee table. "Babe!" She waits for a response, "Marco are you home?" With no answer she steps towards the table and inspects the box. It's plain, no writing to be seen. She uses her nail to tear the paper and finds a plain brown box underneath.

She removes all of the paper and lets it fall to the ground. She hesitates for a moment before lifting the tabs and looking inside. She wasn't sure what to expect when she looked inside, but it certainly wasn't a stack of papers. She finds a similar business card to the one from earlier on top, she pulls it out and sits it aside. Marlene reaches inside and pulls out the top document, on it is an itemized statement for her student loan account. She skims the document and makes it to the bottom of the page to see nothing but zeros and the words PAID IN FULL.

"What the fuck?" She mutters to herself in disbelief. She digs through the rest of the box pulling out paper after paper, each one listing her once overdue accounts now completely paid off. "What the fuck?!"

Marlene sits at the kitchen table, the pile of documents laid out in front of her. Her hair lays dried and unbrushed on her shoulders, she bites at her nails anxiously. Marco unlocks the front door and enters the apartment, "Mars, I'm home!"

"In here!" She replies.

Marco enters the kitchen and is quickly confused by the mess on the table. "What's this?"

Marlene gestures for him to sit down, which he does. "I know you'll think I'm crazy, but I..." She laughs, "it's all...gone!"

Marco shakes his head, "What are you talking about?"

"Look!" She exclaims, "Look at this!" She shoves papers in his face, Marco begins examining the papers as Marlene continues her rant. "I called all of them, every debt collector, bank, loan officer. I called them all and they confirmed it, all of my accounts, paid...in...full."

Marco shakes his head again, "That doesn't make any sense."

"I know!" Marlene shouts, "But it's real!" She waits for a moment for Marco to process the information but can see that he is still confused, "We got this package today, inside was this card." She holds up the business card, "Or, not this card, but one just like it. It says to make a wish, tear the card in half and put it back in the box and the wish will come true."

Marco takes the card from her and looks it over before scoffing, "So you're saying this business card granted your wish, like a genie?"

"All I'm saying is, I followed the steps, and wished to be debt free...and now I am."

Marco tosses the card onto the table, "This can't be real, Mars, it's a prank or something."

"That's what I thought, but..."

"You didn't give anyone your social security number or anything?" He asks while standing from the table.

"No, I..." Marlene thinks for a moment. "I'll prove it to you."

"What?"

Marlene rushes to the living room and grabs the box that once held the documents, she brings it back to the kitchen and sits it on the kitchen table. "Let's make another wish, and then you'll see it works, it really works!"

"Marlene, no, you don't know who's doing this."

"Why does it matter?!"

"Because! You don't know what this is or where it all came from."

Marlene has a slight realization, she thinks for a moment then smiles, "A million dollars."

"What?"

"Let's wish for a million dollars, if it's a prank, no harm done. But if not..." Marlene smiles at Marco trying her best to be convincing.

Marco thinks for a moment before shaking his head, he smiles, "This is insane."

Marlene laughs with excitement, she holds the card with both hands and holds it over the box. She takes a deep breath, "I wish for a million dollars." She prepares to tear the card.

"Wait." Marco interrupts her, "It said the second wish costs something, do you have any idea how much that is?"

Marlene has no idea what the cost may be, but is sure it won’t outweigh the reward. She smiles, "Who cares, we'll be millionaires." She rips the card in two and drops it into the box, quickly sealing it tight.

The couple sits together in the kitchen while staring at the box, waiting for something to happen. Marco notices that it is now half past midnight and gets impatient. “How long is this supposed to take?” He asks.

“I don’t know it didn’t take this long last time.”

“Well what did you do last time after closing the box?”

“I left it on the coffee table and went to take a shower.”

“Okay, then…” Marco picks up the box and heads into the living room, Marlene quickly follows. Marco sets the box on the coffee table, “We’ll leave it here and go to bed.”

“But…”

“Nothing happened until you left the room last time, so we’ll go to bed and in the morning…”

“Our wish will come true?”

“Exactly!” Marco turns Marlene around and guides her down the hallway. They enter their bedroom, Marlene looks hesitant as Marco tucks her into bed, “We’ll check on it in the morning.” He turns off the lamp next to him and gives Marlene a quick kiss on the forehead, “Goodnight.”

Marco settles into bed while Marlene lays still, staring into the darkness. She begins arguing with herself as to whether or not she should go check on the box, she felt an endless pit growing in her stomach, a feeling of not knowing and being so unsure of what was to come. She lets herself relax and seep into the cushion of her pillow top mattress. As soon as she closes her eyes, she drifts off to sleep.

Marlene wakes hours later, it’s still dark outside. She reaches for Marco but realizes he is not in bed. Marlene remembers the box still sitting on the coffee table. She jumps out of bed and rushes to the living room expecting to see Marco digging through a box full of money.

“Marco.” Marlene says with a smile, but it quickly fades when she realizes that Marco is nowhere to be seen. But what she does find is a very large box, wrapped in plain brown paper. The thought of Marco quickly leaves her mind as she approaches it.

She hesitates for a moment before tearing off the wrapping to reveal the plain brown box underneath. She lifts the tabs and her excitement grows as she sees the contents of the box, freshly printed, large bills wrapped and neatly stacked. The total amounting to what she can safely assume was her wished for sum. She reaches for a stack of bills, but stops, and notices a picture lying face down on top of her new found fortune. She picks it up and turns it over, realizing that it is a photo of her and Marco on their honeymoon.

Marlene and Marco are dressed in their bathing suits on a beach, their arms wrapped around each other, smiling ear to ear. The longer Marlene stares at the photo, the more she questions why it was in the box. As she continues to stare, the image of Marco begins to fade. She watches in disbelief as he becomes almost translucent. As Marco disappears letters are written onto the bottom of the photo, almost as if someone was carving them with a knife.

By the time the writing was finished, Marco had completely vanished from the photo. Tears fill Marlene’s eyes when she finally reads what has been written. She drops the photo, letting it float to the floor. “Marco!” Marlene screams, shaking uncontrollably.

She begins running through the apartment, searching for him, when she can’t find him she begins looking for his things. Not even a sock is left behind, every trace of Marco has up and disappeared, as if he never existed. Panicking, Marlene begins pacing in the living room. “Oh god.” She falls to her knees, tears well up from deep inside and erupts into screams of pain and regret. “Marco!”

The photo lay just inches from her, the words PAID IN FULL clearly engraved in the image of Marlene standing alone on the beach, her arms wrapped around no one. A miracle or a wretched curse, whatever you call it, the words read true. The first wish was free, the second would cost a small fee. If only this warning had been more clear, if only Marlene took a moment to consider what a wish come true could cost her.