Orange and purple waves crashed together splattering an amber rainbow across the horizon as the sun disappeared behind the Middle Eastern desert dunes. The occasional cloud of dust blew by, dry weeds swayed in the calm wind, a dog barked, a man yelled, and a boy leaned against the sandy stones of a well. Mukhlis\u2019s sleeveless shirt, stained with filth, revealed his young tanned arms and hands that flipped a small denari over and over across his agile fingers.<\/p>\n
\u201cA wishing well,\u201d Mukhlis mumbled and peaked over the edge of the water well.<\/p>\n
\u2018Little brother, if you throw a coin in a well then you can make a wish!\u2019 <\/em>\u00a0Mukhlis recalled his oldest brother had told him this once, I know I can make a wish but who\u2019s to say it\u2019ll come true? \u2018You want a wish to come true? Jesus of Nazareth is in our town, why don\u2019t you beg him for a miracle? He has cured plenty of sick men and I heard he made a blind beggar see!\u2019 <\/em>Mukhlis\u2019 other brother had told him that day before he left for the well. Father\u2019s sick, he can\u2019t work, he can\u2019t get money, we can\u2019t get food, and we can\u2019t survive. I wonder if we\u2019ll be like that beggar soon, if we\u2019ll be on the streets. I hope not, I wouldn\u2019t mind but what if….what if Father doesn\u2019t get better? What if he….<\/em><\/p>\n Someone in a house nearby slammed their door shut and Mukhlis flinched, jerking his hand up, and the little coin flew from his fingers into the well. Mukhlis stared into the well long after he heard the quiet splash but he didn\u2019t wish, it wouldn\u2019t do any good anyways<\/em>, he supposed.<\/p>\n \u201cHello youngman,\u201d came a voice from behind Mukhlis, startling him half-to-death. If he had still had the coin he would have dropped it in again.<\/p>\n \u201cHi,\u201d the boy mumbled as he turned around to face the stranger. A hint of fear overcame him, \u2018There are bad people in this world little brother, be careful!\u2019 <\/em>His oldest brother had often told Mukhlis. Yet, as he looked upon the neat brown bearded smile of the stranger, he couldn\u2019t help but smile back.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s a kid your age doing out here?\u201d The man asked as he gestured towards the well with his arm.<\/p>\n \u201cUh….thinking,\u201d the boy replied as he watched the man sit on the edge of the well.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, what are you thinking about,\u201d the man chuckled, his eyes were bright and reminded Mukhlis of the stars that would be lighting up the sky soon.<\/p>\n Mukhlis didn\u2019t pause before answering. He wasn\u2019t that old and for a kid his age when an adult asked him a question, it was very likely that kid may never shut up but this man took his chances, \u201cMy father is sick and he doesn\u2019t look like he\u2019s getting better.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, well why do you have to be out here, to think about that?\u201d the man replied with another question, genuinely curious.<\/p>\n \u201cMy brother said that I could wish at a well, a wishing well,\u201d Mukhlis replied quickly, sucked in a quick breath and then continued, \u201cMy other brother said I should ask Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJesus?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJesus of Nazareth, he is in this town you know and he is performing miracles,\u201d the boy continued, \u201cBut I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll ask him.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh really, why not?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I\u2019m just a kid and…If Jesus is what he says he is, why would someone have to ask, wouldn\u2019t he just….know? I think he could help people just by the look on their faces,\u201d Mukhlis seemed to talk more to himself than the man.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe people have to show him they believe,\u201d the man seemed to ask this more than state it.<\/p>\n \u201cBut, if you really<\/em> believed,\u201d the boy\u2019s mind reminded him of another thing his brother had told him, \u2018Faith is unquestionable belief, you know that someone will be there for you because you have faith in them\u2019<\/em>, \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t have to ask because you would already know<\/em> that he would answer your prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHmm, you have a point,\u201d the man nodded his head solemnly.<\/p>\n Somewhere in the distance Mukhlis heard his mother calling his name, holding out the second syllable for emphasis, \u201cMukhliiiiiiiis.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell I gotta go mister,\u201d the boy sighed and turned to run down the dusty street towards his home. He stopped abruptly. A warm hand wrapped around his wrist holding him back.<\/p>\n \u201cWait, here\u2019s your coin.\u201d<\/p>\n The man dropped the tiny wet denari in Mukhlis\u2019 hand and the boy understood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Orange and purple waves crashed together splattering an amber rainbow across the horizon as the sun disappeared behind the Middle Eastern desert dunes. The occasional cloud of dust blew by, dry weeds swayed in the calm wind, a dog barked, a man yelled, and a boy leaned against the sandy stones of a well. Mukhlis\u2019s … Continue reading “The Wishing Well”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":7,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-131","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deadsquirrelpro.com\/sethpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deadsquirrelpro.com\/sethpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deadsquirrelpro.com\/sethpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deadsquirrelpro.com\/sethpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deadsquirrelpro.com\/sethpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/deadsquirrelpro.com\/sethpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":132,"href":"https:\/\/deadsquirrelpro.com\/sethpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/131\/revisions\/132"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deadsquirrelpro.com\/sethpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deadsquirrelpro.com\/sethpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}