Pocketful of Tame Wishes
fantasyEveryoneThe second name was Old Marta, who lived alone by the well. Her jar was pale blue and cold to the touch. The note said she'd wished to 'never feel lonely again.' Wren tucked the jar into her coat and hurried to Marta's cottage, but the door stood wide open and the rooms were empty.
Inside, the cottage was crammed with people Marta did not know. The wish had pulled strangers in from miles around to keep her company, and now they wouldn't leave. Marta sat squeezed in a corner, more overwhelmed than lonely. 'Make them stop,' she begged Wren.
What happens next?
2 ways forwardWren opened the jar and spoke true: 'Bring her one good friend, not a hundred strangers.' The crowd faded away like mist, all but a kind neighbor named Bess, who stayed and put the kettle on. Marta smiled at last. The wish was mended right.