I – Island Wish

I – Island Wish

I didn’t believe in wishing wells. That was until I was visiting my old friend, Dave, in the backwoods of his home upstate and he had one of those old-style in-ground water wells. You know the kind that is built of stone and have a wooden crosspiece built over the opening. Where a bucket is attached to a long rope. You drop the bucket down into the well and then crank it up until you find the bucket full of water. 

Dave told me it was a wishing well. All I had to do was throw in a coin and wish for something. I humored him by taking a quarter out of my pocket and tossing it in the well and made a wish. “I wish I was on a deserted island,” I said out loud.

I really should have been more specific with my wish, for the next thing I knew I was standing on, you guessed it, a deserted island in the middle of nowhere. 

It’s been three days now since I got here. There are some woods on the island where I found shelter and fresh streams with water I can drink. I have managed to find some berries and other edible plants that have sustained me, but that’s about it. 

When I go to the shore all I see is an endless skyline and water. The island itself is very small. I can walk the circumference of it in about 2 hours. It’s made up of white beach sand on the perimeter, bordering a dense forest of trees and greenery covering the center part of the land portion. There are some pathways through the forest, but they don’t lead anywhere in particular. As to wildlife, I see very little other than birds that come and go with the island winds. Luckily for me, the weather is somewhat warm during the day and cool but not unbearable during the night. 

I can not see any way off of this island. Like I said I should have been more specific with my wish. I’m hoping that Dave figures out that I’m missing and can figure out a way to find me. Of course, that would assume time passes at the same rate here on this island. 

What I find interesting is that there is always enough for me to eat and drink. No matter how much I pick or find, there is always more food and water at the same place that I had picked over the day before. 

I will say this.  It is very peaceful here, though occasionally I do miss company. I certainly don’t miss the frenetic craziness of my real world with its Pandemic restrictions. 

So that’s it. Here I am, now a true believer in wishing wells, wishing that I had wished for a working wishing well on this island. 

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Author’s note: A week later I was wished back to Dave’s house by Dave himself. He had figured I had learned what I was destined to learn. We didn’t speak of it again.