Question of the Day #384

After the sunset last night, we leaned back in deck chairs and stared up at the sky.

"I just saw a shooting star," said J.

"Make a wish," H said.

"Did I ever tell you how to wish?" J asked.

"Huh? What do you mean how to wish?" I asked.

J leaned in like she was ready to share a serious secret.

"When I was a little kid, my friends and I went to this magical little store, up a cobblestone alley, above a restaurant in Chatham. It was filled with angel figurines and crazy candles and the lady who ran the place gave us wishing stones and taught us how to wish," said J.

"Sounds very Eastwick," I said.

"Very," she nodded.

"So what's the proper wishing process?" H asked.

"She told us to take the wishing stones home and before we went to sleep, she instructed us to hold the stones and always wish in the present tense. Like, 'I wish I have a million dollars.'"

"Interesting. If I were to wish that, I'd probably say, "I wish I had a million dollars," I said.

"Exactly. That's past. Over. Done with," J said. "And then you have to end with 'for the greater good.'"

"'For the greater good?'" H repeated.

"Yes. For example, you can't just say, 'I wish I'm married,' because you could be married to an idiot. So you'd say, 'I wish I'm married for the greater good.'"

"Who knew wishing was so complicated," I said.

"But think about it. Imagine you wish for a million dollars, get it and then become an evil, greedy person. You have to add for the 'greater good.'"

"And that's it?" H asked.

"No, then we were told to put our wishing stones under our pillows and sleep on our wishes."

"That's pretty cool," I said.

"Yeah. I wish I have a wishing stone. For the greater good," H said.

What are you wishing for? Or are we not supposed to tell? ; )

xoxo,
Suzanne