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