Bear

The thud of the car door closing still echoes in my ears. I watch through the window as Nikki walks up the pathway to her front door, her silhouette fading into the porch light. To her, I'm just Bear—the reliable coworker, the safe friend she can vent to. She has no idea that every time she smiles at me, it feels like a beautiful, agonizing twist of a knife in my chest. I'm so tired of being left behind in this dark car. I'm so sick of this crushing loneliness.

As her front door clicks shut, my trembling fingers reach into my pocket and pull out the "One Wish Willow" branch. It feels unnervingly warm against my palm. The man in the alley said it was real, that it could give me what I want. I stare up at her dark bedroom window, my heart hammering violently against my ribs. Desperation completely overrides my sanity.

I squeeze the wooden branch so tight the edges dig into my skin, close my eyes, and whisper into the empty, suffocating silence of the vehicle:

"I wish... I wish Nikki loved me more than anything else in this world."

A sudden, icy shiver runs down my spine as the air in the car turns completely still. I exhale a heavy breath, looking at the branch in my hand with a mix of terror and sudden, selfish hope. I turn the ignition, drive away, and wait for tomorrow... completely unaware of the nightmare I have just unleashed upon us both.