Bedtime Story

“Can I have a story?” my brother’s voice calls out, making me look up from my phone. I grin, and switch it off, thinking for a moment. “Alright, how about one of the local myths? They sure do make good stories.”

He nods enthusiastically, jumping into bed as fast as he can. I roll my eyes slightly, but flick through a couple of local stories mentally. No, that one’s too scary. That one’s just boring. And that’s gonna give him nightmares. Eventually, I settle on the ‘Fairy House’ myth. Although I’ll have to change a couple of details.

I cough dramatically, and begin to speak, “Okay, this story is about a dandelion. A magic one.” He laughs, and scoffs, “There’s no such thing as magic!” I roll my eyes slightly, and say, “It’s a myth, Danny. That means it’s not real.” I can tell he wants to protest more, but I begin to tell the story, and he goes silent pretty quickly.

“There was once a man, who was rich. Rich and stupid. He had a friend, was less rich and therefore stupider. They wanted everything, but there was a limit to everything, of course. There were some things they just couldn’t have. Well, one day, they both came to visit our city. And they were walking along the road, about to visit this club.”

Danny butts in, “A youth club?” I can’t help but laugh, and say, “Something like that. Anyway, one of them suddenly spots a couple of dandelions outside. It’s like they’re almost begging to be picked, and the two men can’t take their eyes off them. Their bodies walk forward, and their arms reach out to pick the flowers. Neither knows what’s happening – their bodies aren’t their own anymore. And then they pick them.”

Danny’s eyes go wide for a moment and I can tell I already have him hooked. I smile to myself, proud. “How did the dandelions do that?” he asked, interrupting me.

“Well, let me tell the story and you’ll find out, silly goose.”

He nods, pulling the covers up to his neck and listening close.

“You see, these magical dandelions followed simple rules, part of which you may have heard before on the playground. You’re supposed to make a wish and then blow all of the seeds away. If you’re able to, your wish will come true, right? What you probably haven’t heard at recess is that… if you don’t manage to blow them all away, however many seeds are left is how many years you have…”

“Years until what?” Danny asked, confused.

I pause for a moment. Trying to find a way to phrase this delicately. “Years left on Earth, bud.”

He sits up abruptly, eyes wide. “What?! I made a wish on a dandelion once and only missed a couple of seeds! Will, am I gonna die?”

I quickly shake my head, wrapping my arms around him to soothe him. “No, no, Danny. The dandelions on your playground aren’t magic. Like you said, magic isn’t real. Remember?”

He nods and his breathing slows. “Oh… Right…”

I smile as he pulls away and curls back up under the covers.

“Now, the dandelions in this story were magic. They were able to lure people in, encourage people to pick them and wish upon them, which is exactly what happened to these two rich and stupid men on that fateful night.”

“What did they wish for?” I smile at my younger brother’s curiosity. It always made telling him stories so much more enjoyable.

I pause for a second, enjoying the excited look on his face. “The richer one, he went first. He was always braver, always more cocky. He wished for anything he wanted, anything at all, to appear just by clicking his fingers.”

I click my fingers for dramatic effect, and Danny jumps slightly, though I can tell he’s pretending he didn’t, so I ignore it.

“A split second after he made the wish, a million thoughts rushed through his head. He didn’t want to blow it now, not anymore, not if there was a chance he could…” I trail off, not wanting to upset Danny.

“Die?” he says, seeming unbothered now he knows it’s a myth.

I nod, “Yeah. Die. Because, of course he didn’t want to die. So he looks to his friend, and asks him to make a wish too. They could do it together. And he, being the stupider one, spoke without hesitation. He wished to be famous, known by millions and billions of people around the world. And after he made the wish, no thoughts rushed through his head. He had no regrets. He wanted to blow it, he was desperate to get his wish. He didn’t even think for a second about the consequences.”

Danny’s sitting up in bed now, his eyes wide with what I hope is excitement and not fear. “You okay?” I ask, and he nods. “Yeah. I wanna hear the rest of the story!” he says, looking up at me with a huge grin.

I smile back, and carry on, “Alright, well the stupider one blows his dandelion. The other just watches as his friend’s fate is decided, right in front of him. Watches as his friend blows the flower. Watches as the seeds blow away. Watches as some seeds don’t.”

“There were only a handful of seeds left on the dandelion in the stupider man’s hand – probably fewer than ten. His fate had been decided and he didn’t even realize it. All he focused on was how he wouldn’t get his wish, complaining of how he wouldn’t be famous. He tossed the dandelion over his shoulder, scoffing about how magic couldn’t be real anyway.”

“And what about the other one? The richer man?” Danny asked, practically crawling out of his skin with every passing second.

“Well, he knew he had no choice but to complete the wish. He even tried to drop the dandelion but it seemed glued to his fingers.”

Danny shimmied with excitement and I couldn’t help but smile.

“And so he blew as hard as he could. And watched as every single seed blew away. Except one.”

Danny gasps audibly. This time I couldn’t ignore his reaction. I look him dead in the eyes as I continue.

“The stupider man watched in stunned silence as his richer friend fell to the ground, clutching his chest. He cried out for help, but no one came. As he watched his friend die, the other cursed the dandelion instead.”

Danny nods. He understands the lesson of the story. “Does he die too?”

“Yes. Several years later, after he’s had time to tell this tale to everyone who will listen.”

I pull my little brother into me, holding him close and running my fingers through his hair.

“Magic isn’t real, Danny. Hard work is. We can’t get everything we want just by wishing for it.”