Make A Simple Wish
It was a warm summer
night in Greenfield and six-year-old Molly Hale had managed to slip into the
back courtyard so she could have some time alone. Mama had just returned after
her disappearance, Papa was here, and yet she was missing something, a memory
that was on the edge of her mind, but one she couldn’t quite place. She had
dwelled on it a little when the Unown had returned to their tiles, but it
wasn’t until her eyes alighted on the swing that the missing piece hit her:
Joseph Steven Hale, called Joey by his family and friends, the older brother
she adored so much, was gone forever. Even in her innocence, Molly knew it was
all her fault.
Joey and Molly had
the strongest of bonds ever since she had entered Joey’s life; they never fought,
if they did, they always forgave each other later on. Joey was her protector,
her knight in shining armor, the one she wanted to be like. She was dependant
on him her entire childhood, and she thought it would always be that way, Joey
did too.
Until the glass of
their perfect world was shattered.
Both Spencer and
Crystal Hale had disappeared within two years of each other, and Molly could
still remember the raw pain of running just a few feet ahead of nine-year-old
Joey, opening the door, anxious to be lifted into the arms of the father they
loved…only to find Skylar, her father’s assistant, sitting in the dining room
with their butler, Frans. He had broken the news to them gently, but neither of
the Hale children would believe him. Joey had spent the rest of the day
brooding, while Molly kept biting her lip every time she sneaked a glance at
her brother. That night, Joey and Molly returned to the dining room, Joey
carrying his dad’s laptop under one arm, Molly holding the storybook of Pokemon
legends that she and Joey used to read.
Molly set up the
laptop, her brother silent and serious, but his comforting hands on her
shoulders just the same. “Try looking in the Pictures folder, Molly, there
might be something worth looking at in there,” he suggested.
“Papa, what happened
to you?” she asked, more to herself than to Joey, as she clicked the folder on
the desktop. A photo appeared, one that looked familiar, but she wanted to
check with her brother first. “Joey, what are those Pokemon?”
“Those are Unown, Molly,
it was the picture we looked at with Dad last night,” he replied, staring at
the screen with interest. Bored with just sitting there, Molly got up and went
to investigate the box sitting beside the laptop. Don’t touch that, Joey had
warned her. Oh why, why hadn’t she listened…?
The next events
happened so fast that Molly could scarcely remember them. One minute she had
been spelling out the names of her family, she was crying, Joey had come over
to hug her, and the tiles were swirling upward through a hole in the ceiling. A
second later, real Unown had come in. Joey was just as fascinated as she was,
too fascinated to notice Molly reach for the storybook. Come back, Papa,
please…I’d give anything for you to come back, she thought. It was then
that an air current began snapping at her dress, and Joey was lifted into the
air.
“Molly!” Joey
exclaimed as he fought the pull, but the Unown were relentless.
“JOEY!” Molly
screamed, realizing her fatal mistake as she ran after him. “I DIDN’T MEAN IT!”
She raced after him, she had his hand, she wouldn’t let go, she couldn’t…
With a sudden yank,
the Unown pulled her brother away from her grasp. “MOLLY!” Joey screamed again
in a last desperate attempt to be heard as the Unown pulled him away.
“JOEY! JOEY! JOEY!”
Molly had screamed over and over again without stopping to breathe. He had cared for her for so long, how could
she live without him?
That was how Entei
had found her, crying for the loss of the only companion she had known for the
past five years. She had turned around and ran to the legendary lion Pokemon,
her memories of Joey forgotten.
***
Molly
quietly stepped over to the swing and sat down, her small hands on the coarse
rope as she braced herself to push; before, Joey was always the one who was
pushing her, her engine that would take her to the moon if she wanted to. Now
she was just Molly Hale, and that didn’t feel right to her. She pulled back and
let go, pretending that Joey was just behind her, pretending he was making the
sound effects for a whooshing engine. When Joey pushed her, the sky didn’t seem
so far away; now it was beyond her reach.
“Come
on, Joey, you can go higher than that!” she exclaimed happily, pushing herself
higher, wanting to believe that Joey would be there behind her saying, “You
wanna bet?” in a playful tone, and then pushing her higher. As Molly pushed,
the wind began to blow, and if she closed her eyes she could imagine that Joey
was just behind her. The wind wasn’t wind anymore; it was Joey, she knew it
deep down in her heart.
“Higher,
Joey, higher, higher, higher!” she exclaimed, her sweet voice almost yelling
it, wanting to believe that he was still there. The wind slowly died away, and
Molly’s false happiness went with it. She was alone, and the loss of her
brother hit her as hard as it had a year ago. Putting her face against the rope
holding her up, Molly dissolved into tears, remembering everything about the
brother she had shared the bond with and had unknowingly taken for granted.
One
of the memories that crossed her mind was just after Mama disappeared when she
was three, when she had run to Joey for comfort. They had sat on Joey’s bed
looking at beautiful illustrations of legendary Pokemon until they were too
exhausted to do anything else. As she fell asleep that night, Molly remembered
Joey singing a lullaby, a lullaby he sang to her every night afterward. How did
it go?
Fighting
the ever-present lump in her throat, Molly looked to the stars, thought of
Joey, and began to sing softly.
“When daytime turns to night,
When the moon shines bright,
When you’re tucked in tight
And everything’s alright,
Slip softly to that place
Where secret thoughts run free,
And there come face to face
With who you want to be.
So swim across the ocean blue,
Fly a rocket to the moon,
You can change your life
Or you change the world.
Take a chance,
Don’t be afraid,
Life is yours to live.
Take a chance,
And then the best is yet to come.”
Molly paused, her voice growing stronger as she
reached the chorus.
“Make a wish,
It’s up to you.
Find the strength inside,
And watch your dreams come true.
You don’t need a shooting star,
The magic’s right there in your heart.
Close your eyes, believe
And make a wish.
I’ve always hoped for happiness
And finally fulfilled my wish
Cause I just need to see you smile.”
“Make a wish,
It’s up to you.
Find the strength inside,
And watch your dreams come true.
You don’t need a shooting star,
The magic’s right there in your heart.
Close your eyes, believe
And make a wish…”
The
last few notes of the song faded into the darkness as Molly finished, her face
turned to the sky. She was no longer crying because the lullaby had made her
stronger, just like Joey did after Mama disappeared. Somewhere out there, she
could picture her brother on the road to Greenfield with some new friends, and
knew that all was right with the world.
“Jirachi,”
she whispered to the darkness, hoping that the Pokemon granter of wishes could
hear her , “bring Joey safely back to us…” Her blue eyes met the sky again. “I
miss him so much…”