Short Story: The Wishing Well's Last Wish

 The Wishing Well's Last Wish

The copper coin felt warm against her palm, almost as if it were alive. Strange, considering it had been lying forgotten at the bottom of her grandmother's jewellery box for who knew how many years, tarnished green with age and worn smoothly by countless fingers. But as the autumn wind whipped through the abandoned churchyard, sending golden leaves spiralling around the crumbling stone well at its heart, the coin seemed to pulse with its own heartbeat. 
"Are you absolutely certain this is a good idea?" Ronnie Roland whispered, his freckled face pale in the dying afternoon light. He'd been her best friend since they were five, but even his unwavering loyalty had limits, and exploring a supposedly haunted churchyard was apparently pushing those boundaries. 
"It's just an old well, Ronnie," she replied, though her voice caught slightly on the words. The well didn't look like 'just' anything. Moss-covered stones rose from the earth in a perfect circle, and though she couldn't see the bottom through the gathering shadows, she could hear something that sounded suspiciously like whispers echoing from its depths. 
The coin grew warmer. 
She'd found the strange copper piece that morning whilst helping clear out Gran's cottage, tucked beneath faded letters and broken brooches. The moment her fingers had closed around it, images had flooded her mind - this churchyard, this well, and a desperate certainty that she needed to be here before sunset. Gran had always said she had 'the sight', though she'd never explained what that meant beyond warning her to trust her instincts. 
Right now, her instincts were screaming at her to run. 
"Ellison," Ronnie's voice was barely audible now, "look at the water." 
She peered over the well's edge and gasped. Far below, instead of the stagnant pond she'd expected, crystal-clear water reflected the sky like a mirror. But that wasn't what made her heart skip - it was the face looking back at her. Not her own reflection, but that of a woman with silver hair that seemed to flow like liquid moonlight and eyes the colour of deep ocean storms. 
"Who dares disturb the Keeper of Wishes on this, the last day of her guardianship?" The voice rose from the water like mist, ancient and melodious and tinged with a sadness so profound it made Ellison's chest ache. 
Ronnie stumbled backwards, his trainers skidding on the damp leaves. "That's not possible. Wells don't talk. People in wells definitely don't talk." 
But Ellison found herself stepping closer, the copper coin now so warm it was almost burning her palm. "You're Felicia Dewdrop, aren't you? The guardian Gran told me about in her stories." 
The face in the water smiled, though tears seemed to shimmer in those storm-grey eyes. "Your grandmother was a wise woman, child. She knew this day would come, knew someone would need to make the choice that I cannot." 
"What choice?" Ellison's voice was barely a whisper. 
"For a thousand years, I have granted the wishes of those pure of heart, those who sought not for themselves but for others. This well has been a beacon of hope, a place where the impossible became possible through the power of selfless love." Felicia's image wavered like heat shimmer. "But all magic has its price, and mine is finally due." 
The water began to glow with soft, silvery light, and suddenly Ellison could see the bottom of the well. It was filled not with water, but with thousands upon thousands of coins, each one gleaming as if newly minted. And floating among them, barely visible in the ethereal light, was the most beautiful creature she'd ever seen. 
No bigger than her hand, the being looked like it was made of liquid starlight, with gossamer wings that sparkled like dewdrops and hair that flowed like captured moonbeams. It moved through the coin-filled space with graceful, dance-like motions, but even from this distance, Ellison could see that its light was fading. 
"Shimmer," Felicia said softly, and the little creature looked up with eyes like tiny galaxies. "My faithful companion, keeper of the well's heart. She grows weaker with each passing hour, and when her light finally dims, the magic will be gone forever." 
"But why?" Ronnie had crept closer despite his fear, his curiosity finally overcoming his terror. "What's happening to her?" 
"The well's power comes from the wishes themselves," Felicia explained, her voice growing fainter. "Each selfless wish made here feeds the magic, keeps Shimmer strong, maintains the connection between hope and reality. But it has been so long since anyone came with a pure heart. So long since anyone wished for something beyond their own desires." 
Ellison felt tears pricking her eyes as she watched Shimmer's light flicker like a candle in the wind. "How long do you have?" 
"Until the last light of day fades from the sky," Felicia whispered. "Then I must leave this realm forever, and the well will become nothing more than stones and stagnant water. All the wishes still waiting to be granted, all the hope stored here over the centuries, will be lost." 
The copper coin in Ellison's hand was now almost too hot to hold, but she couldn't bring herself to let it go. "There must be something we can do. Some way to save the magic." 
"There is," Felicia's voice was barely audible now, "but it requires a sacrifice greater than any I have the right to ask." 
Before Ellison could respond, the sound of heavy footsteps crunched through the fallen leaves behind them. She spun around to see a man approaching, his expensive suit incongruous in the wild churchyard setting. His face was sharp and calculating, and his eyes held the cold gleam of someone who saw the world purely in terms of profit and loss. 
"Well, well," Roe Splatter said, his voice smooth as oil and twice as unpleasant. "So the rumours were true. The legendary Wishing Well of Millbrook actually exists." 
"You need to leave," Ellison said, stepping protectively in front of the well. "This is private property." 
Roe's laugh was like breaking glass. "Actually, child, as of this morning, this entire churchyard belongs to me. Bought it from the council for a song, along with all the 'historical curiosities' it contains." His gaze fixed on the well with hungry intensity. "Do you have any idea what people would pay to throw a coin into a real wishing well? Even a fake one would be worth a fortune as a tourist attraction." 
"It's not fake," Ronnie said hotly. "And you can't just buy a place like this!" 
"I can, and I have," Roe replied, pulling a rolled document from his jacket pocket. "Demolition starts tomorrow morning. I'm thinking a nice shopping complex, maybe a car park. Much more profitable than a pile of old stones." 
Felicia's face had reappeared in the water, but she looked fainter than before, almost translucent. "He cannot be allowed to destroy the well," she said urgently. "If the stones are scattered, if the circle is broken, then even if someone were willing to make the sacrifice, it would be too late." 
"What sacrifice?" Ellison demanded, but Felicia's image was already fading. 
"The well needs a new guardian," came the whispered reply. "Someone willing to give up their mortal life to become one with the magic, to keep the wishes alive and Shimmer's light burning bright." 
Ellison's blood turned to ice. "You mean... die?" 
"Not die," Felicia's voice was like wind through autumn leaves. "Transform. Become something more than human, but lose everything that makes you human in the process. No family, no friends, no life beyond these stones. Just an eternity of granting others' wishes whilst never being able to make one for yourself." 
Roe had pulled out his mobile phone and was taking pictures of the well, muttering about 'architectural surveys' and 'structural assessments'. He seemed oblivious to the magical conversation taking place right in front of him, which Ellison supposed made sense - Gran had always said that those who didn't believe in magic couldn't see it, even when it was staring them in the face. 
"There has to be another way," Ronnie said desperately. "Some other solution." 
But even as he spoke, the light was fading from the sky, and Shimmer's glow was growing dimmer by the moment. Ellison could feel the magic itself beginning to ebb, like a tide pulling away from the shore. 
"Wait," she said suddenly. "Felicia, you said the well's power comes from selfless wishes. What if... what if someone made a wish right now? A really powerful one?" 
"Child, it would take more than one wish to restore what has been lost. It would take..." Felicia paused, hope flickering in her fading features. "It would take the most selfless wish ever made. A wish so pure, so completely without thought of personal gain, that it could reignite the magic for another thousand years." 
Ellison looked down at the copper coin in her palm. It was glowing now, soft and warm and somehow alive with possibility. She thought about all the stories Gran had told her, all the legends of people who had found this well in their darkest hours and had their prayers answered. She thought about Shimmer, dying slowly in the depths below, and about all the future wishes that would never be granted if the magic died tonight. 
And she thought about the choice Felicia had offered her - to become the guardian, to sacrifice her humanity for the sake of others' hopes. 
"Ellison," Ronnie said quietly, "I can see that look in your eyes. Whatever you're thinking, don't do it." 
But she was already stepping forward, raising the coin above the well's opening. "I wish," she said, her voice ringing clear and strong in the gathering dusk, "for someone else to have the chance I'm about to give up." 
"What are you doing?" Roe snapped, looking up from his phone. "Stop messing about with that old well!" 
Ellison ignored him, her attention focused entirely on the water below. "I wish for Felicia Dewdrop to be free from her guardianship, to have the mortal life she gave up a thousand years ago. I wish for her to experience everything she's missed - love, friendship, family, growing old surrounded by people who care about her." 
The coin slipped from her fingers, tumbling down into the depths. The moment it touched the water, the well exploded with light so brilliant that Ronnie cried out and Roe stumbled backwards, his expensive suit catching on the brambles. 
But Ellison barely noticed. She was falling, tumbling through space and time and starlight, her human form dissolving like mist as ancient magic rushed through her veins. She felt herself changing, becoming something more and less than she had been, her consciousness expanding to encompass every wish ever made at this sacred place. 
When the light faded, she found herself floating in the coin-filled depths of the well, her body now made of the same liquid starlight as Shimmer's. The little sprite darted towards her, glowing brighter than ever, and Ellison understood with a clarity that transcended words that she had become the new Keeper of Wishes. 
Above, she could hear Ronnie calling her name, his voice thick with tears. She wanted to comfort him, to tell him she was all right, but she found she could no longer speak in the way humans did. Her voice was now part of the wind, part of the whisper of water over stone. 
But then another voice joined Ronnie's - warm, melodious, and wonderfully, impossibly human. 
"Don't grieve for her," Felicia said, and Ellison looked up to see her former guardian standing at the well's edge, no longer a spirit of water and moonlight but a flesh-and-blood woman with silver hair and kind eyes. "She has given the greatest gift imaginable, and in return, she has received something precious beyond measure." 
"What?" Ronnie sobbed. "What could possibly be worth losing her life?" 
"The knowledge that every wish granted from this day forward will be possible because of her sacrifice," Felicia replied gently. "The certainty that hope will never die as long as there are people brave enough to believe in magic." 
As if summoned by her words, an elderly man appeared at the edge of the churchyard, leaning heavily on a walking stick. Ellison recognised him immediately - Kamin, the village historian, who had been searching for the legendary well for decades. 
"Is it true?" he asked breathlessly. "Has the well truly awakened?" 
But before anyone could answer, another figure stumbled into the churchyard - a young woman with tear-streaked cheeks and desperation in her eyes. Haylor Morntide clutched a photograph to her chest, and even from the depths of the well, Ellison could see it showed a small child with bright eyes and a brave smile. 
"Please," Haylor whispered, falling to her knees beside the well. "I know it sounds mad, but someone told me there was a place here where impossible things could happen. My daughter... she's so sick, and the doctors say there's nothing more they can do. I don't have money for a wish, I don't have anything valuable to offer, but if there's any chance..." 
She pulled a penny from her pocket - not copper like Ellison's coin, but a simple, everyday penny that had probably been rattling around in her purse for months. But as she held it over the well, it began to glow with the same warm light that had consumed Ellison's coin. 
"I wish," Haylor said, her voice breaking, "for my little girl to be well again. Not for me, not so I won't have to watch her suffer, but for her. So she can grow up and have adventures and fall in love and be everything she dreams of being." 
The penny fell, and the well sang with joy. 
Ellison felt the wish settle into her consciousness like a warm embrace, and she knew with absolute certainty that somewhere across town, a little girl was opening her eyes in a hospital bed, colour returning to her cheeks as impossible healing flowed through her small body. 
"It worked," Shimmer whispered beside her, the sprite now blazing with renewed vitality. "The magic is stronger than ever." 
Above them, Haylor was sobbing with relief as her mobile phone rang. Even from the depths of the well, Ellison could hear the joy in the doctor's voice as he delivered news that defied all medical explanation. 
Roe Splatter, meanwhile, was backing away from the well with terror in his eyes. "This isn't possible," he muttered. "Wells don't glow. Coins don't just... it's all tricks, special effects, some kind of hoax..." 
But as he turned to flee, Kamin stepped into his path. The elderly historian might have looked frail, but there was steel in his voice as he spoke. 
"Mr Splatter, I believe you'll find that your purchase of this land was made under false pretences. This churchyard has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and as such, cannot be developed or altered in any way." He smiled, and there was something almost magical in the expression. "I took the liberty of filing the paperwork this afternoon." 
"You can't do that!" Roe snarled. "I have contracts, legal documents!" 
"Which are now null and void," Kamin replied calmly. "I suggest you contact your solicitor in the morning. And Mr Splatter? I wouldn't recommend returning here after dark. The well has a new guardian now, and she doesn't take kindly to those who would destroy hope for profit." 
As if to emphasise his point, the well's light pulsed brighter, and Ellison felt a fierce protectiveness surge through her ethereal form. Roe took one look at the glowing water and fled, his expensive shoes slipping on the damp leaves as he crashed through the brambles in his haste to escape. 
"Will she be all right?" Ronnie asked quietly, kneeling beside the well. "Ellison, I mean. Will she be happy?" 
Felicia placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "She will be more than happy," she said softly. "She will be fulfilled in a way that few mortals ever experience. Every day, she will witness miracles. Every wish granted will fill her with joy beyond imagining. And she will never be alone - Shimmer will be her constant companion, and I..." she paused, looking down at her newly human hands with wonder, "I will visit often, to ensure she knows how grateful I am for the gift she has given me." 
As the last light faded from the sky and the first stars appeared overhead, more people began to arrive at the churchyard. Word was spreading, as word always does about magical places where impossible things happen, and one by one, they came with their hearts full of hope and their pockets holding simple coins that transformed into something precious the moment they were offered with pure intent. 
Ellison watched from her watery realm as an elderly woman wished for her estranged son to forgive her. She felt the magic flow as a teenager wished for his bullied classmate to find courage. She witnessed the miracle as a father wished not for wealth or success, but simply for his family to be happy together. 
Each wish strengthened her, filled her with purpose, and connected her to the endless tapestry of human hope. She was no longer Ellison Carter, a thirteen-year-old girl from Millbrook village. She was something far greater - the guardian of dreams, the keeper of impossible things, the bridge between what was and what could be.
Shimmer danced beside her in the starlit water, no longer fading but blazing with renewed life. "Do you regret it?" the sprite asked, her voice like silver bells in a gentle breeze.
Ellison considered the question as she watched Ronnie finally smile through his tears, comforted by Felicia's promise that they would meet again. She thought about the life she had given up - school, growing up, first love, all the ordinary human experiences she would never have.
Then she felt another wish settle into her consciousness - a mother hoping for her son's safe return from war, a wish so pure and desperate that it made the very stones of the well ring like cathedral bells. As the magic flowed through her to make the impossible possible, Ellison knew her answer.
"Never," she whispered, her voice becoming part of the eternal song of the well. "This is exactly where I'm meant to be."
As dawn broke over the churchyard, painting the sky in shades of rose and gold, the Wishing Well of Millbrook stood ready for another thousand years of granting the deepest desires of pure hearts. Hidden in its depths, a girl who had chosen love over life continued her eternal dance with a sprite made of starlight, whilst above them, a woman who had been freed from centuries of service began her first day as a human being in a thousand years.
And in hospitals and homes, in schools and offices, across the world, impossible things began to happen as wishes made with selfless love found their way home at last.
The well's last wish had been granted - not the end of magic, but its glorious rebirth. And at its heart, Ellison Carter danced on, keeper of dreams and guardian of hope, surrounded by the endless, beautiful music of wishes coming true.