My name is John and I am your typical high school nobody. I will not bother you with details but for as long as I can remember I have always been the odd kid in school that everyone else makes fun of. Having lived with my dad in Europe for a few years we were now back in the US. Despite being 19 years old and feeling more than ready to start college I stil had to put in a last effort and finish high school. Towards the end of my senior year things had gotten even worse especially since the abuse was getting more intense and also physical. This story starts with one of those beatings. Some of the guys in our school's basketball team had caught up to me when I was taking a short cut through the park on my way home and this time they didn't settle with just pushing me around. Instead they lifted me up and threw me, head first, into a small pond. I could feel the cold water sink into my clothes and heard them all laugh and scream at me. Once I had found my footing and stood up, knee deep in the cold water, all I saw Trey standing there with a huge grin on his face. Trey was the captain of the team and had always been the one rallying the rest against me.
"At least no one will notice if you pissed you pants," he said with a chuckles before turning to join the others.
I waited until they were long gone before I crawled out of the pond. I was drenched and there was no chance in hell I could sneak past my parents looking like this without having to explain myself. My dad was under the impression that I was a "normal" kid in school and I had every intention of keeping it that way. My stepmom probably knew very well but she had always seen me mostly as an inconvenience and the last thing I wanted was to give her a chance to point out I was having trouble in school. So until I had dried up I decided to stay around the park. The trouble is it was getting both cold and dark but I was even more worried that someone I knew would walk past so I went around to the other side of the pond to a small patch of trees and there I sat down and wrapped my arms around my freezing legs. It was really cold and I started rubbing my arms and legs, shivering, but it was no good. The wet clothes were freezing and as time went on I figured they would stay that way all night. That's when I heard a noise and quickly jumped up. From behind the trees walked a small skinny old man. He was wearing a baggy dirty old suit and a black top hat and as he noticed me he took a few quick steps closer.
"My God boy," se snarled, "why are you out here in the cold in those wet clothes?" I just stared at him but shrugged after a while and shook my head.
"Well boy," he continued, "don't be alarmed. I am just an old man out for a walk."
"That's alright," I said finally, "I'll be on my way."
"Not so fast," he said, and before I could react he had grabbed my arm and held me still. His grip was surprisingly firm but right as I was about to pull back I saw his face and seemed to realize he didn't mean any harm.
"I saw what those brutes did to you boy, and I don't like it. This might sound strange to you, but I am very wealthy. Very wealthy, and part of me I guess has been out here looking for someone to pass this on to." With that he planted a small white box in my hand and tapped it a few times with his hand.
"This box here is magic kid, I don't care to explain how, but it was passed to me when I was just a boy and so far it has served me well. Now maybe you are in need of it more than I." Still a bit taken back by his firm grip I was now pretty convinced that the man was delusional. Seeing he was stronger than he looked, and possibly dangerous, I figured it would be best to just play along.
"How do you mean magic?" I asked and started an attempt to free my arm. The man released his grip and instead pointed his finger at the box.
"It will grant all you wished boy. You write a wish on a note, and place it in the box. The next morning, your wish will come true." As he had now released his grip, I saw my chance and quickly turned to run. The man didn't even make an attempt to stop me, but I could hear his old dry voice behind me.
"Don't be afraid son! Try it and see for yourself."
I ran straight home, still freaked out by the old man, but once I reached my house I realized I still had to sneak past my parents in my soaked clothes. Luckily for me they were in the living room watching TV so I could sneak in through the back door without them spotting me.
"Hey I'm home. I just went by the library," I shouted as I made my way up the stairs. I ran into my room and quickly got out of the wet clothes, put on a t-shirt and a pair of dry jeans, and then laid down on my bed. There I took out the box and examined it, turning and looking for marks or anything. It didn't look plastic and I couldn't see any cuts or markings or anything that could tell where it was made. My best guess was that it was made out of ivory. Inside it was just the same, nothing special at all. I was a bit disappointed and decided to play some computer games instead.
Before I went to bed though I looked at the box again and figured I had nothing to loose, no matter how silly this was. I quickly scribbled on a piece of paper. "I wish Trey and the basketball team will pay for what they did today." I then went to bed pretty sure I would end up just as crazy as that old man one day.
The next morning I woke up as usual. I had a shower, dressed and ate my breakfast. My stepmom was in the kitchen when I came down for breakfast but didn't pay much attention to me. Things were normal. I hadn't expected anything to be different but I still felt a bit disappointed. That all changed though when I got to school. There were a couple of police cars on the parking lot and as I walked up I saw some officers leading Trey and the other guys in the team out, putting them in the back seats of the squad cars, and then drove off. As I approached the doors convinced I was in a weird dream, the head master was there to greet me. He had a serious expression on his face and led me straight to his office and there he explained how there had been several witnesses to the attack on me in the park yesterday and how the school was pressing charges against Trey and his friends. I was of course welcome to file my own charges but since the school had a zero tolerance rule against such violence, they would pay any legal expenses I might need.
I sat there in silence trying to gather my thoughts when I could hear loud voices outside the office and someone knocking hard on the door. The door then flew open and in ran a tall black woman with fury in her eyes. Her hips and chest moved with her hard steps as she walked up and pointed a finger at the head master.
"What do you mean having my boy arrested?" she screamed and pointed at the headmaster.
"Mrs. Douglas, calm down," he said and gestured to me sitting in the chair.
"This is the boy your son has been abusing and as you very well know we have a zero tolerance policy against such behavior." Here the woman cut him off and turned to me instead.
"You're lying! You're just a jealous brat," she screamed at me.
