Page 64 of Manors & Mischief

Up ahead, I spy the well. It’s like a gut punch when I see what shape it’s in. Moss grows over half of it. The bucket that used to hang there is gone. The rope that held it up is frayed and laying off to the side. It’s not the reveal I saw in my head as we approached it.

“What’s this?”

“This is Harvest Falls’ Wishing Well.”

She gasps. “The wishing well? Are you kidding me? The same from the story?”

“The very same.”

“So the story was real?” she asks excitedly.

“That’s what was told to me.”

“But it didn’t work for the young woman.”

I rub the rock face, pushing off bits of twigs and leaves. “My grandfather said that the well works in mysterious ways. We don’t know in what way it made her wish come true, but I believe it did, whether we can point to exactly how or not.”

She turns toward me. Her face is still red tinged with baggy eyes. “I’m guessing you’ve wished for something here.”

“Twice,” I tell her. “And both things came true.”

She smiles. “What did you wish for?”

I decide to only tell her about the first wish since like with the story of the young girl, I’m not exactly sure how the well is making my second wish come true, only that it feels like it has. “When I was young, I wished to be a pro hockey player.”

Her eyes flash. “You’re serious?”

“As a heart attack.”

“And you were, in fact, a pro hockey player.”

I gesture with my hands as if to say, obviously.

“You know, I looked up a few clips of you playing hockey the other night. You were really good.”

“Do you know anything about hockey?”

She shakes her head quickly with a laugh. “No, but I know talent when I see it. Plus, you looked so happy.”

I put my arm around her. “It used to hurt that I only played for a short amount of time. I’m pretty sure I ran the gamut of emotions. Everything from pure anger to confusion to acceptance. But honestly, not everyone can say they ever stepped foot in a pro hockey arena and played, and I can. It didn’t turn out the way I expected or even wanted, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a better plan for me.”

From where I’m standing, now that I’ve only even gotten a glimpse of what a life with love would feel like, I think I would give up hockey for it. I saw love every day in the way my grandparents loved each other, and of course, the Lewises. My mother never got that great love, so maybe I decided it wasn’t for me either, but the feelings coming up for me involving Ember say differently.

“And the other wish?”

“I’m keeping that to myself for now.”

She eyes me, but she must decide not to push it because she doesn’t ask any follow-up questions. She peers down at the well, and I follow her gaze. More moss has taken the inside rock hostage. I used to try to guess how deep it goes, but you can’t even see the water right now. “Any advice for what to wish for or how to do it?”

I move her in front of me and hug her from behind before whispering. “Just close your eyes and speak from the heart.”

“Do I have to tell you what I wished for afterward?”

“Never. It can be just yours.”

I imagine rather than see her close her eyes after she takes a deep breath. She’s still for a while. So long in fact that I wonder if something has gone wrong, but just when I’m about to ask her if she’s okay, she holds her hand out and drops the gray coin into the well. We both wait to see what we can hear, and before long, the sound of a tiny splash reaches us.

She turns in my arms. “Thank you for sharing that with me.”