The Wish Learn English through story

the wish

special under the palm of one hand

the child became aware of the scab of an

old cut

on his kneecap he bent forward to

examine it closely

a scab was always a fascinating thing

it presented a special challenge he was

never able to resist

yes he thought i will pick it off

even if it isn’t ready even if the

middle of it sticks

even if it hurts like anything

with a fingernail he began to explore

cautiously around the edges of the scab

he got a nail underneath it and when he

raised it

but ever so slightly it suddenly came

off

the whole hard brown scab came off

beautifully

leaving an interesting little circle of

smooth red skin

nice a nice indeed

he rubbed the circle and it didn’t hurt

he picked up the scab put it on his

thigh

and flipped it with a finger so that it

flew away and landed on the edge of the

carpet

the enormous red and black and yellow

carpet

that stretched the whole length of the

hole from the stairs on which he sat

to the front door in the distance

a tremendous carpet bigger than the

tennis

lawn much bigger than that

he regarded it gravely setting his eyes

upon it with

mild pleasure he had never really

noticed it before

but now all of a sudden the colors seem

to brighten

mysteriously and spring out at him in a

most

dazzling way you see

he told himself i know how it is

the red parts of the carpet are red-hot

lumps of coal what i must do is this

i must walk all the way along it to the

front

door without touching them if i touch

the red i will be burnt

as a matter of fact i will be burnt up

completely

and the black parts of the carpet

yes the black parts are snakes

poisonous snakes add us mostly

and cobras thick like tree trunks round

the middle

and if i touch one of them i’ll be

bitten and i’ll die before tea time

and if i get across safely without being

burnt and without being bitten

i will be given a puppy for my birthday

tomorrow

he got to his feet and climbed higher up

the stairs

to obtain a better view of this vast

tapestry of color

and death was it possible

was there enough yellow yellow was the

only color he was allowed to walk on

could it be done this was not a journey

to be undertaken

lightly the risks were far too great for

that

the child’s face a fringe of white gold

hair

two large blue eyes a small pointed chin

peered down anxiously over the banisters

the yellow was a bit thin in places

and there were one or two whitish gaps

but it did seem to go all the way along

to the other end

but someone who had only yesterday

triumphantly traveled the whole length

of the brick path from the stables to

the summer house

without touching the cracks this carpet

thing should not be too difficult

except for the snakes the mere

thought of snakes sent a fine

electricity of fear

running like pins down the backs of his

legs

and under the soles of his feet

he came slowly down the stairs

and advanced to the edge of the carpet

he extended one small sandal foot

and placed it cautiously upon a patch of

yellow

then he brought the other foot up and

there was just enough room for him to

stand with the two feet together

there he had started

his bright oval face was curiously

intent

a shade whiter perhaps than before

and he was holding his arms out sideways

to assist his balance

he took another step lifting his foot

high

over a patch of black aiming carefully

with his toe for a narrow

channel of yellow on the other side

when he had completed the second step he

paused to rest

standing very stiff and still

the narrow channel of yellow ran forward

unbroken for at least five yards

and he advanced gingerly along it the

bad bit as though walking a tightrope

where it finally curled off sideways

he had to take another long stride this

time over a vicious looking mixture of

black and red

halfway across he began to wobble he

waved his arms around

wildly windmill fashioned to keep his

balance

and he got across safely and rested

again on the other side

he was quite breathless now and so tense

he stood high on his toes all the time

arms out sideways fists clenched

was on a big safe island of yellow

there was lots of room on it he couldn’t

possibly fall off

and he stood there resting hesitating

waiting wishing he could stay forever

on this big safe yellow island

but the fear of not getting the puppy

compelled him to go on

step by step he edged further ahead

and between each one he paused to decide

exactly where he should put his foot

once he had a choice of ways either to

left or right

and he chose the left because although

it seemed the more difficult

there was not so much black in that

direction

the black was what had made him nervous

he’d launched quickly over his shoulder

to see how far he had come

nearly halfway there could be no turning

back now

he was in the middle and he couldn’t

turn back and he couldn’t jump off

sideways either because it was too far

and when he looked at all the red and

all the black that lay ahead of him

he felt that old sudden sickening surge

of panic in his chest

like last easter time that afternoon

when he got lost all alone in the

darkest part of piper’s wood

he took another step placing his foot

carefully upon the only little piece of

yellow within reach

and this time the point of the foot came

within a centimeter of some black

it wasn’t touching the black he could

see it wasn’t touching

he could see the small line of yellow

separating the turvy sandal from the

black

but the snake stirred as though sensing

his nearness

and raised its head and gazed at the

foot with bright

beady eyes watching to see if it was

going to touch

i’m not touching you you mustn’t

bite me you know i’m not touching you

another snake slid up noiselessly beside

the first

raised its head two heads now

two pairs of eyes staring at the foot

gazing at a little naked place just

below the sandal strap

where the skin showed through the child

went high up on his toes and stayed

there frozen stiff with terror

it was minutes before he dared to move

again

the next step would have to be a really

long one

it was this deep curling river of black

that ran

clear across the width of the carpet and

he was forced by his position to cross

it at its widest

part he thought first of trying to jump

it

but decided he couldn’t be sure of

landing accurately on the narrow band of

yellow on the other side

he took a deep breath lifted one foot

and inch by inch he pushed it out in

front of him

far far out then down

and down until at last the tip of his

sandal was across

and resting safely on the edge of the

yellow

he leaned forward transferring his

weight to his front foot

then he tried to bring the back foot up

as well

he strained and pulled and jerked his

body

but the legs were too wide apart and he

couldn’t make it

he tried to get back again

he couldn’t do that either he was doing

the splits

and he was properly stuck

he glanced down and saw this deep

curling river of black underneath him

parts of it were stirring now and

uncoiling

and beginning to shine with a dreadfully

oily glister

he wobbled waved his arms frantically to

keep his balance

but that seemed to make it worse he was

starting to go over

he was going over to the right quite

slowly

he was going over then faster and faster

and at the last moment instinctively he

put out a hand to break the fall

and the next thing he saw was this bare

hand of his going right into the middle

of a great

glistening mass of black and he gave

one piercing cry as it touched outside

in the sunshine

far away behind the house the mother was

looking for her son