The Last Wish Novels & Stories

“Your power to grant wishes…. Was that something you already had when you were alive, or did you gain it after becoming… whatever you are now?” The moment the last word left my mouth, the black mist erupted, wrapping tightly around me. It reeked of blood, so dense and suffocating it felt almost solid. The fury inside it pressed down on me like a tide, ready to drown me whole. After what felt like forever, I finally heard his answer. “…When I was alive.” --- Final Day. The system’s voice rang out: [Final Quest: “Wish” has been issued.] [Each player may now make one final wish to the Boss.]

“Useless? Me? When was the last time you took a shower, Dolores? Any idea why your last lover threw up when you brought him to the trailer? When did you last have a job?” I see her eyes turn into angry, little slits, and I know she’s going to come at me, but I don’t care. I won’t hold back anymore. If she kills me, at least the bus driver will be a witness. I can see the bus coming in the distance. “You ungrateful little brat!” Dolores snarls. “After everything I’ve done for you—”

I also wanted to finally let go of the resentment in my heart in the very place I'd once feared most. I hated these people, but more than that, I wanted to finally love myself. After saying my piece, I felt lighter than I ever had. As I turned to leave, Wesley stepped in front of me. "Ophie, can't you give us one more chance? We're your family…" I dodged his trembling hand and pointed at everyone in the room, saying coldly, "A chance? You never gave me one." "Ophelia, you bitch! You ruined everything! I'll kill you!"

My feet were trying to kick at him, but suddenly they were hanging limp instead, not listening to my brain. In my last moments of consciousness, I made one last wish. I wished, with everything I had in me, that Lord Raelen and Lord Jarrah would get what was coming to them. That there would truly be justice. I could only hope that justice arrived in time to save Sy. Then everything was dark.

But I won’t give them that satisfaction anymore. No one in this cursed palace will ever see my tears again. They will never see my weakness. Let them drag me. Let them announce my death. Let the whole kingdom cheer as I’m condemned. I’m done fighting. I’ve already lost everything that mattered. Maybe death will be peace. Maybe it will be the rest I never had. But… before I die… Before they kill me in front of laughing crowds and foreign kings… I have one last wish. Just one. I want to see my parents again.

Shining through with a shocking blue I gape at the vertical shape of its irises. As soot begins to flow from the destruction and I nod at the beast as my heart slows in my chest. With a growl large, webbed wings that crash through the walls expand on its back. I fall facedown onto the floor feeling the earth move as its humongous claws leave my vision. A vortex of wind blow through the hall at the beat of its wings as the world goes silent. As my heart takes its last beat I recall all that has come to be in this life. With my final breath I heave one last wish into the world. Forgive me.

Thousands of them. A child laughing. A mother crying. A lonely old man staring at the stars. A girl planting a silver tree. Every face lasted only a heartbeat before becoming another. Ama could not look away. “What is it?” The Last Dreamer did not answer. His eyes remained fixed on the impossible shape behind him. The First Dreamer answered instead. It's a wish. Silence. Naomi frowned. “A wish?” The voice from the river grew quieter. Older somehow. A wish that was never allowed to end.

As I closed my eyes one last time, I made a wish. "If there's a next life, I wish to never meet them again."

At last, everything is over. The End