Story Contest 2017 #2 Results » Highly Commended Story - The Wish

“The Wish” by Daphne Parker, is the Highly Commended story in the junior category of the second biannual International Short Story Contest 2017 which was organized by Kids World Fun.

The Wish

I got up from my chair, my eyes drawn down to the front of my wrist. The clock said 00D 00H 15M 14S. What was my greatest wish? I don’t even know. Tick, tick, tick. 00D 00H 14M 54S. Tick tick tick. 00D 00H 14M 02S. Click.

My eyes wandered around, as I had never heard that noise before. Click. I looked down at my wrist. The clock read 00D 00H 13M 59S. The clock had stopped. I tapped it. I looked at it again. It was the same. I squinted at the plastic cover. I was about to start violently tapping when my friend Olivia asked me what I was doing.

“Huh? What? Oh, um, going to get a fork,” I said, still staring at the clock on my wrist. I headed towards the silverware table in the school cafeteria. My eyes didn’t leave my wrist. Why are you stopped? Don’t stop! Keep going!! You are supposed to count down to my greatest wish! Don’t just stand there! Start!

“Where do you think you’re going, Miss Harly Rodgers?” my principal asked, shaking me.

“Oh, uh, hi Mr. Clayton. I’m headed to the nurse. Not feeling too well,” I said, clutching my stomach as if I were about to vomit. I ran towards the nurse’s office but stopped as soon as I was out of sight. I rushed to my locker, and dialed in the code. I got my phone out of my bookbag and opened my grandma’s contact to ask her to pick me up. I always called her since she was retired. I saw that I had 3 missed calls from her. I called, and it began to ring.

“Hello,” a deep voice said.

“Hello? Where is my Grandma?” I asked, concerned.

“Um, in the hospital. She was in a car accident and we don’t know if she’s going to um, uh, make it,” the deep voice said. I gasped and hung up. I clicked on my mom’s contact and it began ringing.

“Hello?” my mom said in a concerned voice.

“Why did a person just call me to say Grandma was hit by a car? Where is she,” I asked.

“Uh,” my mom said, worried. “It’s true.” Tears started flowing from my eyes. “Honey, I’m on my way to the school. I’ll be there in 3 minutes to go to the hospital,” my mom said after a long pause. Now I realized she had been crying herself.

“Does Dad know?” I asked, trying to keep it together. She said that he was on his way to the hospital now. I crammed books into my bag and slammed my locker door shut, running down the hallway. I forgot about my wrist-clock. I ran to the office and saw my mom’s car pulling up. “I see you, I’ll be out in a second,” I said, hanging up and trying to hold the tears back. I ran out to my mom, not even saying goodbye to my friends. She had the tissues in my seat.

“What happened?” I asked.

“She was in her car and someone texting and driving hit her,” she said. I stared out the window until we got to the hospital.

My mom asked if I was ready, and I said “nope” as I stepped out of the car. We walked up to the building, holding back what seemed like a whole river of tears. Then, I heard a click. It was the noise that my timer made when it broke! I had completely forgotten about it. It was starting to tick, but at different paces. Instead of steady ticking, it had strange pauses. Then it stopped and read 00D 00H 01M 35S. I didn’t care, though. I was only worried about Grandma. By this point, we were in the waiting room being escorted to my grandma’s room by a concerned-looking nurse. She opened the door and I could feel the tears behind my eyes. She led us in. I told myself to keep it together as a tear rolled down my cheek. I looked down at the clock. 00D 00H 00M 54S. What? The stupid thing must be malfunctioning. I reluctantly looked up at my grandma.

“Here come the tears,” I thought. She was in a neck brace and had bruises all over her right arm and leg. She had a sling on her right arm. I was handed a box of tissues as the doctor told us she was gone. I swore I saw her eyes shimmer with a tear. I ran out of the room, bawling. My mom stayed with my deceased grandma, or so we thought.

I was in the corner of the hallway when I noticed the timer on my clock said 00D 00H 00M 06S. I slid to the floor, burying my head in my knees.

“This is not what I wanted! Not at all!” I said quietly to myself.

“Well, that’s quite offensive,” I heard an elderly woman say. I looked up. She was there! Yes, she!! My grandma! I ran up to her and hugged her, even though she was in a wheelchair. The plastic timer fell off my wrist. I picked it up. The timer read 00D 00H 00M 00S.

THIS was my wish.