this wish

earlier tonight, around eight o’clock, i was standing on a downtown street corner waiting for the king streetcar. i’d just finished a fruitless trek to mountain equipment co-op to see about a new pair of keens (i went home without them), and was mentally planning the rest of my evening – should i eat dinner right away? watch 30 Rock? take a hot shower first and eat later? – a when i saw a streetcar approaching. i was relieved, partly because i was growing increasingly wary of the weird man near the transit shelter, who kept nervously looking over his shoulder at me like i might suddenly shank him, and partly because it was really cold and windy out and i was ready to be warm.

as i took out my token and moved a few steps back to let the weird man get on first, i looked heavenward for some reason and suddenly saw it.

a wish.

out of nowhere, descending slowly from above and floating directly towards me as if being guided into my reach by some unseen being.

now, i’m not sure what the fluffy, delicate, white thing i’m referring to as “a wish” is actually called, but it looks a little like dandelion fluff and i know it’s spawned by some kind of weed. they grow in clusters, then float out on the wind and drift through the air like little tufts of magic.

and whenever i see one i immediately become eight years old again.

as children, we always tried to catch the “wishes.” once you did, you held it in your hands, silently made a wish and then re-released the fluff into the breeze, presumably so that your wish could be carried to whatever governing force would take care of what you’d requested.

as an adult, i will always chase down a wish if i can. so, to see one tonight – and one that was so perfectly round and full-bodied and clear and distinct in the night sky, descending before me like a beautiful celestial body – was an opportunity i was not about to miss. this was clearly a very special wish being sent my way.

i made the first attempt at grabbing it and missed, then reached again and caught the wish between the fuzzy-gloved thumb and index finger of my left hand. my gloves are blue, and i could see the enormous, fluffy wish clinging to the yarn as if it were holding on for dear life.

but the streetcar had already arrived and it was my turn to get on so, not wanting to squander the wish by wishing too hastily or botching its release back into the world, i kept my two fingers pressed together and actually carried the wish with me onboard. wishes like this don’t arrive without a good reason, especially not on windy october nights, so i was going to make sure this one counted.

as the streetcar rolled eastward, i looked down at the wish full of potential, and thought about what i’d wish for.

and i knew right away what it would be.

when we arrived at the st. andrew subway entrance, wish still betwixt my fingers, i got off the streetcar. i moved to the sidewalk, took a deep breath and silently wished my wish as strongly and as hopefully and as clearly as i could wish it.

then i shook the wish free and watched as it floated back up into the sky, carried on the currents of passing traffic and buoyed by the hopes of a gal in fuzzy blue gloves.