Wishes Have to be Worked At

Grandpa looks after Milo for a while

Milo sat in his bedroom, polishing the brass pot. He polished for so long and so hard that when he held it up in a glance of late afternoon sunlight, he had to squint to protect his eyes. Satisfied he had polished the pot to the satisfaction of his Grandpa, he rested it on the bedside table, closed his eyes tight and made a wish.

Then, hitching up his pants he went back through the house, with its rooms full of battered and broken furniture, searching out Grandpa and tell him he had finished polishing the pot.

Grandpa was in his usual place, sitting in the old rocker beside an open window, through which he overlooked the harbor, keeping one hand holding the strap of his braces, and the other holding his pipe.

“It’s done, Grandpa. I can’t look at it, it’s so bright.”

“And you rubbed it for a full hour, is that right, lad?”

“Longer, Grandpa.”

“And you made a wish?”

“I did.”

“Good….good.” The old man’s nose glowed as if sprayed with scarlet lacquer. “Come here and give your old Grandpa a hug, Milo.”

Milo climbed up into Grandpa’s lap and snuggled against his belly. While Grandpa told Milo a story, the boy could smell the boiled linseed oil on Grandpa’s coveralls and the scent of wood shavings above the aroma of onion stew Grandpa had made for lunch. The two rocked together, looking out on a yard full of broken sideboards, wooden dolls with legs missing, broken cricket bats, and other assorted heaps of junk.

“Thank you for telling me the story, Grandpa, it was fun.” Milo said.

“Aye, lad. When I was your age, my father always read me stories. I would get off his knee and fight dragons, rescue princesses, and set sail on my bed, making every wish come true in a different land.

“Do you really think my wish will come true?”

“If you polished long enough and wished hard enough, Milo. Wishes have to be worked at.”

It didn’t matter to Milo that his Grandpa had hair growing from his ears, smelled of oil, or sometimes burped in a way his parents told him was rude. It didn’t matter to Milo that Grandpa would sometimes drift asleep while eating dinner, watching his mouth yawn wide open and his teeth fall out because Grandpa knew things, magic things, and told him wild tales.

The following day, before Milo woke, Grandpa picked up the phone that jangled against the wall.

“Hey, Dad. I hope everything’s okay.”

“Aye, that it is. What did the doctors have to say, lad?”

“They say I’m clear, Dad. The cancer is gone.”

Grandpa hangs up the phone and sniffs happily at the early morning sunshine before looking in on a sleeping Milo.

He sees the pot on the bedside table shining brightly and wonders what his Grandson could have wished.

Another from Harry:

Read or Miss out! The Doctor - Joanie Adams

Karen Schwartz, Nancy Oglesby, Katie Michaelson, Bernie Pullen, Michelle Jimerson Morris, Amy, Julia A. Keirns, Tina, Pat Romito LaPointe, Brandon Ellrich, Misty Rae, Karen Hoffman, Susie Winfield, Vincent Pisano, Marlene Samuels, Ray Day, Randy Pulley, Michael Rhodes, Lu Skerdoo, Pluto Wolnosci 🟣, Paula Shablo, Bruce Coulter, Ellen Baker, Kelley Murphy, Leigh-Anne Dennison, Patricia Timmermans, Keeley Schroder, James Michael Wilkinson, Whye Waite, John Hansen, Trudy Van Buskirk, | Dixie Dodd | The Doctor — Joanie Adams| Adda Maria | Dennett | [email protected] | Nancy Santos | Jenny Blue | Jack Herlocker | Love | Barbara J. Martin | Audrey Clifford | Maria Rattray | Jerry Dwyer | Denise Shelton | Trisha Faye | StorySculptress | Deborah Joyce Goodwin (Red:The-Lady In Blue) | Kelly Corinne Elliott | Emma Vincent | izzibella Beau | Karen Grant | Shay Bishop | RosenberryRJ

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