The air around

us was hazy,

as if I were

seeing it through

a gossamer film.

They sat across

from me with

looks of concern

etched on their

faces. The blonde

one said simply:

“How are things going for you?”

I tried to

convey my frustration.

“Well, he won’t leave. I don’t know what else to do. He just showed up one day and won’t leave. I don’t know how to make him.”

The brunette gave

me a kind

smile. She touched

my knee softly.

“Well have you tried talking to him?”

I nodded vigorously.

“I’ve been nice about it, telling him that it’s not just working out, nothing against him or anything. But he won’t listen.”

The blonde one

put a finger

to her chin.

“Weren’t you telling us last week about his cousin? Angus or something?”

“Angry Angus. Yeah, he came to stay for a bit, but him I did get rid of. But the other one won’t go, this Max Shadow person. He won’t leave. I’ve tried everything and he won’t go.”

“Maybe he isn’t supposed to.”

The brunette said.

“What do you mean?”

“Well…”

Here she looked

at me with

a knowing glance.

“Sometimes, people or events come along for a reason. We just have to find out what that reason is.”

I considered her

words. I tried

to think of

the reason why

Max Shadow was

there. I shrugged.

“Besides, you don’t have much choice, do you?”

The blonde said.

“He lives inside of you after all.”

She pointed to

the brunette in

with a well

manicured hand.

“She has Diana Diabetes inside of her, always trying to make her foods she knows that are bad for her.”

The blonde indicated

herself laying a

hand on her heart.

“I have Cathy Cancer who is always with me, though she’s currently visiting her aunt.”

The blonde touched

my knee again.

“We all have uninvited guests within us. We just have to find a way to exist with them instead of against them.”

The haze that

surrounded both of

them began to

grow until it

was difficult to

see the. Their

features were even

more blurred when

light began to

shine through them.

“Trust in yourself.”

The blonde said.

“It will become clear in time.”

The light pouring

into them filled

my eyes and

I woke to

find a new

warmth in myself

and a wetness

on my cheeks.

I was wandering

in the forest.

The sky was

filled with stars

that shone bright

lighting my path

and leading the

way, shining yellow

against an indigo

sky. I could see

red ladybugs flying

past me and

landing on leaves

as green as

an emerald. I

walked further and

watched as the

sky turned to

daylight, the orange

sun brilliant against

the blue sky.

I came upon

a tree covered

in violet coloured

flowers. There were

words written on

the leaves and

I tried to

read them, but

time passed quickly

here. The leaves

turned brown and

were swept off

of the tree

by the wind,

words floating into

the distance to

make a poem

in the sky.

Only one leaf

was left upon

the tree. I

wondered what word

was written upon

it and got

closer so I

could see. The

leave was still

bright green and

I leaned in

close to read

the scrawl of

letters upon its

surface. It read:

LOVE.

As I wondered

about what love

was to me,

I heard a voice

on the other

side of the

tree. Looking through

its branches, I

saw you there,

calling to me.

I touched the

tree branches to

get a closer

look at you

and the tree

erupted into bloom,

leaves of every

colour imaginable covered

its surface. The

light around you

grew brighter still.

I walked around

the tree, stepping

over a small

stream, the earth

under my feet

lush and green,

the air around

me smelling of

honeysuckle, the fire

of the sun

bright against my

skin. I went

to you and

embraced you. As

I felt your

heart beating in

time with mine,

I let out

a breath I

hadn’t even known

I was holding.

The rainbow coloured

leaves flew from

the tree, filling

the sky like

shimmering lights and

I was content

in the knowledge

that I finally

knew what love

really was.

They would find me at night:

small balls of light

that shone and pulsed

in tune to the words

that were being uttered

from within the orbs:

“I wish I was more popular.”

“I wish I was more beautiful.”

“I wish that he loved me.”

I would touch one of the

balls of light and would be shown

the person’s face. I would know

instinctively how to find them.

what their names were,

everything about them.

I would clasp their orb of light

close to me as I went

in search of them,

keeping it safe as I travelled.

With their wish, they had given away

their light and I knew that

they needed it back.

I could answer their wishes in a way,

I could help them be happier

with who they were.

By sending their wish out

the cosmos, they had

sent out a piece of themselves

with it by filling the with

with so much need and so much

intent. They did not know it

but they had sent out parts

of their soul, had diminished

their light, even if it was just

by the smallest degree. They needed

it back. I wondered what to do

while I kept their wishes safe,

pondered on it, thought of the

power of wishes, an ordinary magic

that everyone can do. However,

all magic has a price, even if it’s

something as simple as a wish.

As I contemplated, my own light

began to grow stronger,

the light increasing with each

moment of intense thought.

Then it occurred to me what I

could do for these people that

needed their light back. I sat

with each with and added a bit

of my own light to the orb,

filling each with a message.

“You are loved by the people that matter.”

“You are beautiful outside as well as in.”

“Love yourself first and love will follow.”

I sent each of the orbs sailing

out of the window. Soon, the sky

near my apartment was filled with

hundreds of glowing orbs,

each pulsing and glowing with its own

bright and brilliant light, so bright

that it was as if the sun had chosen to glow

within the dark. As the wishes went back

to the people that had made them,

I watched them and, taking a deep breath,

made my own wish, in hopes that someone

would hear it.