Two pennies hit the bottom of the wishing well outside the galleria. Four shadows then swayed along the sidewalk. “I wish for good sleep,” said Jake. He needed it. His penny bounced and landed with the others.
His brother, Steve, chuckled, “I asked for one hundred billion dollars. I think that should cover everything.”
They were nearing his old, beaten-up Subaru. The same car he’d been, for the last month, eating, sleeping, and delivering food in with his fiancé, Sarah; she walked beside him now, carrying their to-go boxes from lunch. “I don’t believe in that stuff,” she said, “but if I did I would wish for something more practical… something that might actually come true.”
Steve turned to her, “Sarah, if you believed in that stuff then what the hell would be the point of being so modest?” he said.
“Oh! Stop mansplaining mysticism to me—I don’t care,” said Sarah.
All four doors of Steve’s car swung open and everyone climbed in. They pushed around the clothes; stepping on cables, bags, trash, etc.
“I think you both should have wished that you’d made something of your lives,” said Jake as Steve started the very old car. It growled. From beside Jake in the backseat, Maura cut in:
“It doesn’t work that way, babe, They would have to wish for a purpose.” Jake smiled as his beloved wife continued, “—And anyway, you’re not supposed to confess your wish aloud to anyone, ever! Or else it won’t come true,” she said.
Jake agreed, “To be honest, my wish was only rhetorical. I knew it was futile,” he said, then proceeded to throw guesses at his wife about the wish she threw into the well.
Meanwhile, in the front seat, Steve's ear caught a warm whisper from Sarah. It produced a cold chill in his spine. His voice broke into the backseat:
“So, Jake, when will the shop be finished with your car? We’ve got to get back—ya’ know—to finish—uhhh—npacking. We’ve got to get back to finish unpacking ya’ know,” was his story.
Jake dismissively shot back, “They’ll send a text when it’s done.”
“Jake, isn’t there anything else you want to do with your big bro while you wait?” Sarah tried. Steve scoffed.
Jake caught his brother's eye in the rear-view mirror and said, “Why don’t we just go back to your place and chill, bro?”
The car creaked and croaked, as Steve made a hard left turn into the public parking lot where he and Sarah had parked to rest last night. “Here is as good as there—my brother—it’s not all set yet, it’s not my place ya’ know, it’s just a place,” were Steve’s words.
“I know that, man. That’s why I don’t care and you shouldn’t either,” said Jake.
“Babe, just ease off, he doesn't wanna show us now,” said Maura to Jake as his phone buzzed. It was the shop, his car was finished.
Steve was speaking, “It’s not that we don’t want to, but right now is just not a-”
“Good timing anyway, his brother cut him off, “The shop is all done with the car. It’s just across the street over there.”
After a quiet moment, they were at the shop. Maura, Jake, and some stray hamburger wrappers spilled from the old car as the two former received a dry thanks from the prideful couple inside:
“Thanks for lunch,” Steve affirmed.
“Hope to see you again,” Sarah suggested.
Shutting the back door, Jake answered them, “It was nothing. Thank you for killing time with us,” he said.
Jake and Maura walked dutifully to their freshly serviced Rolls Royce, as Steve and Sarah got carried away from the shop by the ugly old Subaru, overdue for an oil change. In the Wraith,
Maura's eyes fixed on Jake with concern. “Where do you think they’ll go?” she asked him. He gave her a weak look of disapproval, and she returned a strong one.
Jake half-certainly said, “I really don't see what the problem is. They’ll figure it out—I mean—Steve must have a plan… We don’t even know what’s going on but if he wanted us to know then we would know.” half-certainly.
Maura paused and let out a sigh, before her concession, “Okay… fine.”
Jake started up the Wraith and drove them to their enormous luxury home on Prosperity Ave. Once they were there, as Jake hit the button to shut the garage door, his brother, Steve, snuck inside.