The Wish

As she briefly glanced out the window, the woman could see wisps of snow drifting slowly to the ground and the neighbor’s Christmas lights twinkling in the distance.

Her trance was suddenly interrupted by her husband’s voice: “Christina, is everything all right?”His voice was filled with concern, his deep brown eyes piercing her. She quickly turned to see her husband’s concerned face. "Yes…yes... Everything is just perfect!” She gazed into his gentle face and understood why he had been so concerned. The past year had been tough; it had almost broken them. Her ectopic pregnancy and the loss of her ability to have any children as a result had led her to a downward spiral of depression and despair. She did not want to leave bed for days, weeks, and months. Her bedroom became her prison, and she was unable to break free. She craved the 10 X 12 safe space she had confined herself in.

Her husband had been her rock, her unwavering support system. He had taken leave from work to be by her side as she recovered. Her parents had been killed in an automobile accident when she was eighteen, and her husband was estranged from his own family. This left only the two of them on their own, which she had enjoyed before her pregnancy. She had always been shy and quiet in school, with only a few friends. Christina had been surprised when her husband, Chris, first spoke to her in the cafeteria at work. She looked disgusted at the food slopping onto her cafeteria tray when a man standing by her made a funny observation about the food. He remarked, "I've had better food when I had to eat MREs in the Army." She laughed shyly, hiding her mouth with her hand. Chris’ eyes inquiringly glanced at her, “You have a wonderful smile; you shouldn’t cover it with your hand.” This was the beginning of a two-month whirlwind romance. Her entire life became centered around him. She worked full-time as an accountant in an office while he finished his college degree in business. Her life had been idyllic, filled with romance and laughter. She had not felt the need for anyone else until she became pregnant.

Suddenly, she needed to talk to another woman about her feelings. "Was it normal to have these emotional difficulties during pregnancy?"Christina had known something was wrong with the pregnancy from the start but had been reassured by her doctor and her husband that she need not worry. When she found out she had an ectopic pregnancy, she had been devastated. At first, she was angry at the doctor and her husband for not listening when she told them something was wrong. Following the anger was the mind-numbing depression. Her life went from overwhelming joy to one of desolation and sorrow.

 As Christina took her husband's warm hand into hers, she knew what had happened to lead to the happiness she was feeling now, as opposed to the unhappiness of last year. She thought she was pregnant again, even though the doctors had told her it was impossible. She had not spoken to Chris about the surprise pregnancy or what she had done to get the baby she wanted.

Days earlier, the doorbell rang, but Chris had not answered the door. Christina painfully dragged herself out of the bed and slipped on her fuzzy white robe and blue slippers to answer the door. As she squinted out the peephole, she did not see anyone standing outside the door. Curiosity got the best of her, and she slowly opened the wooden door. On the front porch was a plain brown paper-wrapped box tied with a brown string covered with sprinkles of white snow. Christina carefully lifted the box from the lightly covered snow-covered porch. Continuing to call for Chris, she carried the box into the living room and placed it on the glass coffee table. She grabbed scissors from the ancient wooden cabinet by the door and quickly cut open the suspicious box. As she swept the white tissue paper away, she glimpsed the top of an antique clock. She wondered as she carefully lifted the clock from the box who had sent it and why they had sent it. Christina continued looking for a card or note, but there was nothing. She opened the clock cautiously to see if she could set it and wind it up. When she opened the clock, a card fell end over end onto the coffee table.

When the card drifted onto the table, Christina raised the card to eye level and read, “Make a wish at midnight, and your wish will come true.” “Nothing in life is free; there is always a price.”

Christina thought this had to be a joke; a magical wishing clock simply didn't exist, but if she could place a wish, it would be to have a baby. She put the card back in the mysterious clock and limped to the back door to see if Chris was in the vegetable garden in the backyard. As she looked out the back door, she saw he was checking that the plastic he had placed on the ground at the beginning of winter was still in place. He looked pensive as his mind was on a thousand things. Christina shouted at him, and he turned around, walking tentatively to the back door and inside the house.

Chris was pleasantly surprised to see Christina out of bed and asked, “Are you feeling better? I see you are up and about.” Christina suddenly felt guilty for being such a burden to her husband.

When Chris walked into the living room, he spotted the clock on the coffee table and the remnants of the white tissue paper. “Where did this come from? He asked.

Christina replied, “The doorbell rang, but when you did not answer, I came down to answer the door. No one was there, but a wrapped box was on the door stoop. I opened the box and found this beautifully carved antique clock. There was not anything telling us who sent it or why.” With a quizzical look, Chris replied, “That’s strange.”Christina agreed and asked, “Can you go ahead and put it on the fireplace mantel for me?” “I am feeling much better and would like to spend some time together eating dinner and maybe watching a good movie on TV.” Looking hopefully at Christina, Chris went to the refrigerator and pulled some leftover roast, new potatoes, and green beans to heat in the microwave. As Chris set the table, Christina realized this was the first time they had eaten dinner together in a long time. After dinner, they sat on the sofa with a warm blanket, the fireplace crackling, watching a funny Christmas movie. Chris gently took her hand and led Christina upstairs to their mutual bedroom.

This was a new beginning; Christina finally felt everything would be all right. As Christina listened that night to her husband snoring softly beside her, she could not get the clock and its promise of a wish out of her mind. She watched the clock on the bedside table click off, the minutes gradually coming closer to midnight. Silently, she slipped out of bed, treading down the steep staircase, her hand slipping down the cool wood of the staircase rail to the fireplace mantel where the inauspicious clock rested. When Christina arrived at the clock, each minute hand movement beckoned her to make her wish. “Tick. Tick, tick. Make a wish. Make a wish.” The clock was begging her to make a wish, regardless of any consequences of the wish. In an almost hypnotic state, Christina whispered, “I want a baby.” The clock did not acknowledge the wish; the pendulum continued to swing left, right, left, right. Christina silently tiptoed back to her bedroom, where her husband was still sleeping, unaware of the wish that had been made or its consequences.

As weeks passed, Christina became increasingly engaged with everyday life. Chris had already returned to work, and she was thinking about returning to work. One morning, after Chris had left for work, she suddenly became nauseous and had to run to the bathroom, vomiting. As she wiped her mouth and brushed her teeth, she began to remember how she felt when she was previously pregnant. Christina thought to herself, "How could this be? She could not be pregnant, could she? I think I still have a pregnancy test here somewhere.” She rifled through the medicine cabinet and bathroom cabinet drawers, searching. She finally found one hidden under a set of towels. She frantically opened the test and, within a minute, had her answer. "Pregnant! This was a miracle! " But she couldn't say anything to Chris, not yet! Not until she could go to her obstetrician. Chris had been through so much.

The sun glistened on the fallen snow in the morning, and the roads looked clear.

When Christina went downstairs, Chris announced, “I’ve got to go to the store and buy some milk and a couple of other things.” While Chris was gone, Christina opened a book she had started before the pregnancy, the loss, the despondency, before everything that had gone wrong in her life. Christina fell asleep while reading but was suddenly awoken by a rap at the door. Christina wiped her eyes, placed her book on the table beside her, and reached the door. Standing below the porch lights stood two uniformed police officers. Christina intuitively knew something was wrong. "Where was Chris? Why wasn’t he home yet? " She opened the door, and the police officers politely asked if they could come in momentarily. Christina fearfully waved them into the house and sat on the sofa to wait for them to speak. An older officer with graying hair at the temples spoke first. “Ms. Roberts, your husband Chris has been in an automobile accident.” He is in critical condition.” He is at Mercy Hospital at the downtown location. “Do you have anyone you can call?” Dazed, Christina answered, “No,” there is no one. I will get dressed and call an Uber to take me to the hospital.”

The younger officer gave her a card, told her to call if needed, and gradually walked out the door to their police car. Christina rushed to her bedroom, pulled her red suitcase from the closet, and started packing clothes for at least one day. Everything was moving fast: the police were at the door, there was news about Chris getting in an accident, she was packing her suitcase, and she was finally calling Uber.

Christina stood at the window, watching snowflakes flutter to the ground, impatiently waiting for her ride to the hospital. She couldn’t stop asking, “Why had this happened? Why now when everything would be perfect, just like they always dreamed?"A glimmer of memory awakened in Christina. A memory of making a wish on an ancient grandmother's clock in the middle of the night of the warning, "Nothing in life is free; there is always a price.” She could not help but think, “Was this the price of her wish? Was her husband’s life the price of her wish for a baby? Could she make another wish to make her husband well? What would be the consequences of that wish? Could she wish she never found the clock?”Around and around, the questions swirled in Christina’s mind. “What to do? What would be best for not just her but Chris too?” As she watched the snow drift gradually to the ground, Christina finally realized her choice; she could only hope Chris would agree.