“Please let me have peace,” the girl begged of the light in the night sky.
“Let your gravity pull the corners of my mouth and my head high.
Let there be no more war within my skull. In the battle, reverse the tide!
Whatever I need to do for this wish, anything, I shall abide.”
“Poor girl, too young to be begging for such an end to sorrow.
Tell me, for one wish, will you complete this mission by morning, tomorrow?”
The light sent for a parchment and pen to appear on her nightstand.
“I demand a list of gratitude before sunrise; use your bad writing hand.”
“How shall I write words you can read without acute coordination
or a source of joy after all that effort and frustration?
With the day not beginning at all and I must be done, I ask:
oh, light in the sky, is there a real solution to this task?”
“I am certain you’ll be able to complete what I want.
I shall read it. It matters not the neatness or font.
Now please, embark. You have a limited amount of hours.
Try and you will have access to a wish’s powers.”
And with that the light became obscured by wisping clouds.
The girl was left questioning and wondering aloud.
What has made her feel joy? What can she find in the night?
If this task had certain completion, why did she feel fright?
“This task is beyond stressful, I cannot think of anything.
Maybe some tea will help, who knows what it will bring.”
So the girl snuck out of her room and took some leaves from a jar.
Once the tea was prepared, it was hot and black as tar.
Taking a sip, its malty taste was sobering as well as sublime.
“What an experience to have! This won’t be the last time.”
After finishing the tea she looked at the dregs left over.
They formed the shape of a bird, as lucky as a clover.
Her smile was short lived, she knew she should get to writing.
“With another good sign, in my mind there should be no fighting.”
She sat at her desk with the parchment and pen and tried to inscribe,
but the words were awful and, at her, the time started to jibe.
The clouds faded and the light approached her once again.
“I know time’s almost up, light in the sky, I haven’t forgotten.
You see, I only have one thing, and I can’t bear to write wrong-handed.”
“Your solution is simple. You have taken an obvious thing for granted.”
“This task has been nothing but frustrating, the only break was for tea.
I wasted my time and should’ve focused on what makes me happy.”
“To be grateful doesn’t mean to be completely happy, child.
It is often right in front of you. No need for it to be grand or wild.”
“All I need is one more thing to add. If only I could write like normal.”
That’s when an idea came to the girl. She wrote while the shy became auroral.
The light in the sky peered at the list and smiled brightly, “You have done wonderfully.”
“But what does it accomplish to know I appreciate tea and writing normally?”
“It is something you can come back to when the war in your mind seems grim,
for war is not one big scrimmage, but many battles. Some can be very dim.
You see, your wish is already granted as long as you don’t take things for granted.
You don’t need my magic because you are already enchanted.”
The light faded away and the sunrise peeked over the peaks of the mountains.
The morning light captured the vibrant greens of nature and the shine of fountains.
“The sunrise is pleasant, I suppose.” The girl watched a bird fly across the sky
and sighed. “I can write and enjoy tea. Maybe for other things I can try.”
--Amirah L., 9th-12th Grade