It is 17th November, 2008. Ella has turned eleven.
“Make a wish!”
At that moment, somewhere outside her house, someone threw a stone at a stray. It wailed. The cry echoed in her ears as she shut her eyes.
I wish it would end.
Inside, even she knew just one little girl could never change the world.
It is 17th November, 2018. Ella has turned twenty one. Ten years have passed since she made the wish.
She doesn’t believe in wishes anymore. Luckily for her, someone else does.
She opened her bedroom window, letting the cool night air blow over her. The celebrations were over. She was alone. She got into bed and opened a book. Suddenly, the entire room became dark. One by one, the windows of houses opposite that provided the last meager strips of light in her room vanished. She got up to feel her way to the light switch, but it was hard to move her legs as her room seemed to be moving like a train. Which was not possible, she reminded herself. She felt strange, but also normal at the same time. The next second, it was the very opposite; as though she were a feather floating in space. She stretched out her hand, but now even the bed that had been right next to her was not there anymore. Her room, the nightstand, the breeze were all gone. She looked around. There was nobody.
Or so she thought.
“I’ve wanted to meet you for a long time, Ella.”
She swung around. Slowly, a candle started glowing. Little by little, the single candle made the place light up. The glow continued past, into an endless space, as far as she could see and beyond that.
The speaker was someone she’d never seen before. He was human, but he seemed to emanate a radiance that, unexplainably, made her feel safe, comforted and free, like a bird, who could fly whenever and wherever she wanted, someone with no problems in the world.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t really know who you are.”
“Ah, but it doesn’t really matter. Everyone soon becomes a nobody, not remembered, not spoken of, obliviated.”
She frowned, puzzled.
“Do you know what kindness is, Ella?”
“Um, yes.”
He gazed into the flame. “Kindness costs nothing.” he looked up. “Go make sure that evil costs something.”
He handed the candle to her. And in the blink of an eye, he was gone.
She waited for someone else to appear, but there was no one. The flame of the candle turned purple. It rose into the air and turned into a purple orb. Then it entered her palm. She glowed purple for a second.
It is 18th November, 2018. Ella woke up, sweating.
The book was on her nightstand. She was in bed. She slowly calmed down. “Just a dream.” she said, slowly. “It was just a dream.”
“Just a dream.” repeated someone else, smiling.
It is the year 2020. A man is watching the news.
“Several people have been reported missing recently, centered in the country of India. The pattern suggests that all the victims were animal abusers-” Here the channel abruptly switched to an advertisement.
Somewhere, a man drove his old farm dog to the edge of the city. He stopped and pulled the dog out. His dog romped around him, not knowing that his master did not want him anymore. The man had heard the news, of course. He had to be cautious about abandoning the dog. He looked around carefully. The only sound he heard was a cool breeze and his dog’s excited panting. He tied the leash to a pole and got into his truck. His dog whined as he drove away. It was probably a game, he thought. He strained against the leash.
There was a blinding flash. The truck jolted as the man hit the brakes. A woman appeared in front of him. Before he could even speak, she lifted her hand. A purple flare shot out of it. And then he was gone. Only she and his dog were left. She picked it up, and with a swish of her cloak, was gone too.
It is the year 2021. A news anchor gestures at a graph behind him.
The line climbed upwards slowly and then collapsed in an almost straight line. “The end of animal abuse in India…” he began.
One wish. One moment. One night.
She’d done it; The little girl had changed the world.