For whatever reason I zeroed in on the weird greasy haired crazy looking lady. She looked like a vagrant, or homeless, or just mentally ill. There were hundreds of these kinds of people around the city. She was whispering to herself and wringing her hands together, agitated. The goth girl at the counter watched her warily.
Hmm. I wished that whatever problems she had would go away and she could live a normal happy life. To my amazement, the woman stopped suddenly, startled at herself, and looked around in sudden realization if not comprehension of how odd she was acting. She looked over her grimy clothes and rubbed her stringy dry hair as if seeing them both for the first time.
I watched as she rose from the table slowly, clear, troubled, and I noticed the bags under her eyes and her wrinkled face for the first time. She was a little more than middle aged, advanced from a rough life. I watched as she exited the coffee shop, stood on the street, and then sat down on a nearby bench in contemplation.
I was so intrigued I had to know this woman better. I left the coffee joint too and wound up sitting down next to the woman on the bench. She stared at me in confusion and looked away sheepishly.
“Um, hey... are you okay? I saw you leave and you looked upset.” I asked.
“I’ve wasted my whole life, kid.” She said, looking down at the ground sadly. “I... I kind of just... had it hit me all at once.”
“Oh... I’m sorry. Do... do you want to talk about it?”
“No, no,” she sighed, rising from the bench in obvious frustration. “Just... don’t do drugs, okay? They’ll fuck you up.”
I watched as she rose from the bench, wandered off into the afternoon crowds on the street, and kind of vanished down the block.
I felt strangely uncomfortable. Had I made her life better or worse? I wondered what her story was. I sat there for a few minutes watching people go by and felt weird. I... wished that woman would be okay. I felt the tingle of my ring working.
Unsettled, I wandered down the street and kicked at some gravel on the sidewalk as I passed it, lost deep in thought. I decided that I had a responsibility with this power to help people, or make the world better, or something. Anything, really. I might be the only person in the world with a magical wish ring.
I looked down at the hand in my jacket pocket. I wished I knew if there other rings in the world. A clear and resounding ‘no’ echoed in my mind. I blinked and nodded to myself. Well, okay then.
I found myself wandering toward the mall nearby. I was completely overwhelmed and in need of some familiar surroundings.