"What would that be?" she asked.
"How about we get rid of those bruises?" I asked. "So you won't be in any pain, hopefully. Well, physically
at least." She didn't look enthusiastic. I was choosing my words rather poorly. "Sorry, I sound like an
idiot."
"I know you're trying to help, Joe," she said. "I know you're not an idiot, so don't worry about me thinking
that. You're right, it would be nice to not feel pain." She gingerly touched the bruises on her arms and
winced as she did. "But...someone is going to wonder how they healed so fast, won't they? Like the police,
maybe."
"I could always wish for the marks to come back, if needed," I said. "But without the pain."
She looked at me and smiled. "You know what? Let's do that," she said. "I really don't want to look at
these damned bruises."
"OK," I said. "I wish that your bruises and any other marks from your...incident would disappear and all
physical pain associated with them would cease."
The ring complied as Rachel's bruises immediately disappeared. She touched her face and appeared to feel
nothing, as her face showed no signs of pain or stress. "Oh, this is great," she said. "I wish I had my
handheld mirror with me."
I smiled and said, "I wish it was in your hand right now."
Suddenly her hand clutched the mirror in question. She was briefly startled, but recognized what I said and
so regained herself. She gazed at her reflection in the mirror and appeared satisfied with what she saw. "I
look like me again," she said. She put down the mirror and looked at me again. "Thank you for being so kind,
Joe," she said. She leaned over and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. I was flattered. "Joe, I don't mean
to be rude, but I'm really exhausted. Would you mind if I called it a night?"
"Of course not," I said. "I'm sure you need rest."
She nodded in agreement. "I do. Thanks for everything you've done," she said. "Maybe we can do something
fun tomorrow." She raised from the couch and headed toward the bedroom. She stopped to turn around and say,
"Good night, Joe," with a smile on her face.
"Good night, Rachel," I said.
Once I heard her close the door, I stretched myself out on the couch. I turned on the television again and
surfed around for some time. I still didn't see anything on any news channels about world peace suddenly
taking hold. Such a shame, I kept thinking. Finally I was tired myself, so I turned off the TV and fell
asleep.