An Errant Wish

“I was just trying to help him!” Alice sobbed to herself as she watched the homeless man run off with her purse. She had just knelt down beside the man to try and offer some money and talk to him, maybe even find him some shelter for the night. But like a flash he had grabbed her bag and sprinted off into the distance. Alice had tried to chase him, but with a head start and a crowded street, she was soon too far behind to have a chance of catching him.

After sobbing to herself for about 10 minutes she began to trudge home, hoping that her flatmate would be home and able to let her in. When she arrived Alice managed to get let into the building by one of her neighbours, but when she reached her flat she quickly realised that no-one was home and she would have to sit wait until her housemate got back.

Resigned to that fate she slumped down to the floor with her back pressed against the door. As she did so she saw a strange glint out of the corner of her eye. Looking over she saw a strange looking gold coin just to the side of where she was slumped. She reached out and picked it up, carefully examining the intricate designs and wondered who could have lost such a beautiful thing in her building.

As she paced up and down the corridor, grasping the coin tightly in her palms, trying to figure out how she would go about finding who it belonged to. Alice couldn’t help but replay the days earlier events over and over again in her mind. She couldn’t believe how no-one on the crowded street had thought to stop the guy as he made off with her bag, no-one even stopped to comfort her as she stood in the street crying for all that time.

“Sometimes I wish I wasn’t so nice, I wish I could be like all those people, so cruel, selfish, only caring about myself and looking after number one.” She said out loud, to no-on in particular, simply trying to vent her frustrations.

Somehow reacting to her words, the coin started to burn white hot in her hand. Alice tried to let go but her hand just seemed to grip tighter and tighter. She could feel energy vibrating out of the coin and all through her body, more and more powerfully. She closed her eyes tightly and doubled over as the sensations reached their crescendo and then all of a sudden everything just stopped.

Alyssa stopped for a second and blinked. What had she been doing? She stopped a second and looked around her penthouse apartment, trying to remember what she had been doing just seconds beforehand. God she loved this place, it was one of the most expensive in the city and it was all hers, she couldn’t remember who she had convinced to buy it for her, was it the old billionaire that she had been stringing along, or the CEO that so desperately didn’t want his wife to find out about her.

That was when she remembered what she was doing, getting ready for her date. This was an important one, she was hoping to use DIllon...Darren...Dave...whatever his name was to score a modelling gig. She didn’t need the money of course, she had enough worthless saps on the hook to keep her bank account nice and full for a long time to come. But if she could land this gig, she knew it would really raise her profile and could be a stepping stone to much bigger fish.

Sitting at her vanity, she set about getting ready skilfully applying her expensive makeup and curling her long silky brunette hair to perfection. After half an hour of primping and preening over her reflection she spent a few minutes admiring how sensational she looked, she gave herself a generous spritz of alluring perfume before pulling on her glamorous dress and her elegant fur coat. Just then her phone buzzed to let her know that the car service she had ordered had arrived. Alyssa took one last look in the mirror and blew herself a kiss before making her way to the elevator.

Alyssa strode elegantly through the lobby towards the car, the click of her designer heels on the expensive marble echoing as she went. She stepped out the door her nose crinkled with disgust as she saw a homeless man sat on the sidewalk across the street. Once she got into the car, she pulled out her diamond encrusted phone from her Gucci clutch and called her building’s doorman.

“Yes, this is Alyssa Madison, I was just leaving the building and there was a disgusting hobo sitting across the street. What I want you to do is have him removed.” the utter disdain in her voice was obvious.

“I don’t care if you have him arrested or if he winds up dead in a ditch somewhere! All I care about is that I don’t have to look at that kind of filth when I return. Have I made myself clear?” She said with real venom.

Alyssa had no idea that just an hour ago she had been Alice trying so hard to help that very same man and even if she had known she wouldn’t have cared, thanks to her errant wish she only cared about one thing now, herself.