At the age of eight years old Teddy was already wishing for a different family. At school his friends would pick on him when his mother, hair amok and long dress swishing, dropped him off in a horse-drawn buggy. All Teddy wanted was to be a normal child.
Patrick has a normal family, why can’t I? All his life he had wanted to do normal things. Rather than wake up at 4am to dance in the backyard around a fire, he wanted to sleep in till 9am. Instead of playing with sticks and dead animals he wanted to play with matchbox cars. Why couldn’t his parents work at a car dealership, one with a big inflatable man outside, instead of the stupid shop for odds and ends.
When Elsie woke him on the morning of November 9, 2022, Teddy was ready for change. His mother started her daily chanting and Teddy scowled.
“I don’t want to be a part of this family anymore!” He yelled at his mother.
For a moment Elsie stared at her son with a look of awe and then, almost as quickly as the look crossed her face, it was gone. Swirling about, dress fringe sweeping the floor, Elsie hurried out of Teddy’s bedroom muttering under her breath. In all his eight years upon the Earth he had never heard his mother say anything normal. Her only friend was Tam from down the lane and Tam was a nutcase to rival his mum.
Teddy stomped into the living room and glared at his father.
“HECTOR. I want a new family.” The little brat called out.
His father glanced up from his newspaper, eyes void of expression. “Ask your mother Teddy.” The old man snorted gruffly, flapped his newspaper twice–to achieve the proper angle to take in the daily news–and returned to reading. Teddy stood in the living room, his face heating up. Nobody took him seriously! He wanted to be a real little boy instead of a boy trapped in the delusion that was his family. He wanted to be at a car dealership with an inflatable man instead of here with his stupid, stupid mother.
Whispering as he retreated to his bedroom, Teddy repeated what he had often heard at school.
“Star light, star bright,
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have this wish I wish tonight…”
Maybe the incantation would work for him. Maybe he wouldn’t have to live with his horrid family. Maybe his father would be a car salesman and his mother a teacher. Maybe he could have his own inflatable man.
Suddenly, the ground below him upheaved and he was sent spiraling through a star spangled tunnel. Dimly he could hear a snorting and as he opened his eyes he found himself in a blue, spherical, room. Across from him, on a floating pillow, sat a pony, cross legged; a feat wholly impossible for a pony.
This pony was nothing like his Gran’s ponies. Those ponies were dull creatures that squealed whenever humans approached them. Those ponies were covered in mud and had nasty teeth ready to chomp down on innocent fingers. Those ponies were, well, boring. This pony was delightful.
He gazed upon the beast in childlike excitement as it snuffled at him. The pony’s mane was purple and its coat a light blue; white spots were splashed upon it like paint. A melodic tune whistled softly past his ears and he realized that if he focused hard he could make out the words.
“A wish you make, a wish you must,
For wishing doth come at a cost,
You wish for me, you wish for much,
But only grant you one I must.”
Teddy discovered that the melodic tune was coming from the pony. Although the pony was not speaking, it was as if their minds were linked and he could read the pony’s thoughts. How absurd that wishing upon a star would land him in front of a magic pony.
The pony, very suddenly, was right in front of him; its chocolate brown eyes staring into Teddy’s green ones. The melodic tune was louder, and much clearer now. Teddy knew he had to make a wish, but what for? What could he possibly want?
After puzzling for a few minutes he registered his desire. He wanted the inflatable man. He knew it would be foolish to ask for a new family, no mere pony could grant that. But if he had to have a weird family, why couldn’t he have a weird wish? Why couldn’t he have an inflatable man, and not just any inflatable man, a blue inflatable man with gold sparkles and a goofy lopsided grin.
The pony stood there as Teddy telepathically communicated his wish. A baffled expression crossed the pony’s face as it pondered the logistics of this wish. Where would it get an inflatable man, especially one of these dimensions. How would he transport the inflatable man, surely it wouldn’t fit inside a lamp. How was the pony to buy one? Magic ponies don’t get magic money, magic ponies have to work for a living. Capitalism’s a bitch…
In an explosion of sparkles and rainbows Teddy was catapulted back into his bedroom; the magic pony was nowhere to be seen. Upon his bed rested a note, scrawled in the poorest handwriting he had ever seen.
“Surely this was written by the pony, no other creature would have such illegible writing.” He voiced softly.
Teddy picked up the note and deciphered it. It read:
“A wish as complex as this is rare to be heard but not impossible to grant. To your specifications I have been true but to your imagination I can’t . Be happy with little as much is too much. Be happy with this, I pray for thee doth love.”
Beneath the note was a black bag that had been pressed into his quilt. The bag was small but heavy. Teddy slowly opened it and peaked inside. To his bemusement he saw a snowglobe, and inside the globe was a blue inflatable man, waving wildly as golden sparkles fell around him.
Snow and Sleet Mix, Clearing at Night
