Friday, August 26, 2005

Three Wishes

It's really not fair when someone all-knowing offers a mere mortal Three Wishes with no guidance whatsoever. With free rein like that, it is inevitable that someone would end up with a sausage hanging from the end of the nose.

We, however, shall not be so foolish. We have read the stories. We have learned from from sages and fools. This time, we're going to do it right.

While I am not all-knowing, I shall be your fairy godmother of the moment. I offer you three wishes. In addition to the usual rules (i.e. no wishing for all the wishes in the world, no wishing ill upon anyone), I shall help you form your wishes thus:

1) One wish may be for altruistic purposes.

2) One wish may be for materialistic purposes.

3) One wish may be for a modest superpower.


If my fairy godmother happens to read this post, here are my wishes:

1) From this day forth, everyone in the world gets enough to eat. That food is both nutritious and delicious.

2) I would like for my family a large-enough, affordable, earthquake-tolerant house in the neighborhood of our choice. The house can expand to accomodate guests in comfortable, sound-proof quarters.

3) I would like to be able to stretch my body into a parachute or a boat akin the mother in The Incredibles.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Definitely:

1) Health for everyone in my family

2) Cash. Lots of cash.

3) The ability to fly, of course

Anonymous said...

1) i wish for all governments to pay for the health of their citizens.

2) i wish for one year paid maternity leave.

3) i wish for the ability to speak all languages fluently without studying.

hmm...maybe i should move to canada....

Lone Star Ma said...

I don't want a super-power; do I have to have one? Can I wish for two altruistic wishes? Can you say things like "healthy and happy" in a wish or is that two wishes?

Saints and Spinners said...

ABCGirl and Tony, all those things sound perfectly reasonable, though the governments paying for the health of their citizens is going to be a bit of a stretch.

Lone Star Ma, You don't have to have a superpower, of course, but I would like you to be creative! As your fairy godmother of the moment, I need to be able to focus on something specific. Who's to say these are the only three wishes you'll ever get?

Lone Star Ma said...

I wish that all people be safe from danger (includes infection, disease, illness, accident, violence, poverty, oppression, etc.)

I wish that all people have the resources to pursue life paths that are fulfilling to them.

I wish for the power to make people understand each other's differences.

Saints and Spinners said...

Lone Star Ma, There is a satirical story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman I recommend. It's called "When I was a Witch." The narrator finds out she can do magical tricks (the one with the newspaper reporting is priceless) but when it comes to doing something practical and good for all humankind...

As you read it, you can see where it's going, but that doesn't take away from the beauty of the story.

Another story you might enjoy is the title story from the collection "Am I Blue?" edited by Marion Dane Bauer. It is particularly key to your third wish. I recommend these stories to you not in order to shirk my fairy god-mother duties, but just to let you know what kind of hard work it's going to take to see all these wishes through!

The big question often is, of course, How is the whole universe altered when one part of it is changed? Why, in the stories, do the wishes never work out the way the wishers hope they would?

Lone Star Ma said...

I will read them! Thank you!

Anonymous said...

1.) From this day forward, all man-made weaponry will be incapable of piercing human flesh, and will instead produce a pleasant tickling sensation in both the attacker and the victim when fired.

2.) A houseboat on Lake Union.

3.) The ability to fall asleep comfortably in any position or situation.

Saints and Spinners said...

Lori--
My mom has superpower #3. It's quite feline-esque. (I wonder if Catwoman has that ability.)

Wishes logged. It's going to be a busy life...

Lone Star Ma said...

I have number 3, too. It's called chronic fatigue due to sleep deprivation. It doesn't require faerie madrina powers...just a small child or two.