Empty Crown (Published)

Wish

As predicted by the madam, Xiao Foo survived the flood. Drifting on a board, he reached dry land. Once more beginning life in another place, once more roaming the streets finding a way to fill his stomach.

"I am hungry," thought the boy. His clothes had tattered with time, and he smelled terribly. Today he was alone again, "Ah, no. There is still one. And it's calling me," said the young boy out loud trying to cover the sound of his one constant companion: the unhappy, grumpy, and grumbling stomach.

Since the disaster, he was always starving and never had a full meal.

As he wandered aimlessly through the town, his stomach grumbled with hunger, but the passersby seemed to avoid him, paying him no attention. No sympathetic glances came his way, let alone any food.

It was a harsh reality where even scraps had their hierarchy, and he wasn't entitled to those from the restaurants; the older beggars had already claimed them for themselves. The world felt like a cold and unwelcoming place, and he struggled to find a place to belong, yearning for a morsel of kindness which he knew would never arrive.

So, the boy could only rely on himself as he scrapped some food from the dumpster and sometimes, he would get sick as a result. Yet it was better than starving. And in one of his trips to the dumpster, he heard an inn owner talking with his customers. "Go to woods," said someone. "That's where you can get your wish granted."

"It's just a myth."

"That place scares me," said another.

"It is creepy now that I think of it."

"But it might worth a shot."

"A wish granting temple."

Xiao Foo heard more similar conversations as he wandered from place to place, all saying that they would get their wish granted if they went into the temple in the forest, but none dared to enter. Not only was it creepy, but it had a lot of dangerous animals roaming around.

"I am not afraid," thought the boy and he hiked into the woods, walking along the hidden path that was long forsaken, reclaimed by mother nature. Thick bushes grown so tall without any human intervention almost covered him, a stone path had become hidden and slippery as moss grew onto them, but he overcame these obstacles with a wish in his mind.

"I want a place to live and a full stomach," thought Xiao Foo happily. The deity would listen to him and grant his simple wish. With hope he walked across roads, climbed across hills to find the fabled temple.

However, that little wish too was robbed from him.

He found nothing and was currently stranded nowhere, without supplies, he was in the midst of despair. Starving to death.

I will die in this forest. I will soon, my stomach is gnawing at me. My thirst couldn't be quenched. I have no energy left to leave this dreadful forest. My leg is injured and festering. Everything was a lie.

The nights were cold, and the haunting howls of nearby wolves used to fill him with fear. But now, fear had given way to numbness, as he had lost all hope in this world. There was no longer anything left for him to wish for.

The relentless struggles and heartaches had taken their toll, leaving him with a heavy heart and a spirit that had grown weary of it all.

No, there was one small wish that lingered in his heart—a faint hope that perhaps one of the wolves would come and make death swifter, granting him relief from his endless suffering. He thought that in death, he might find solace and a respite from the unforgiving world. But fate had different plans in store for him, as it often does, and his path was destined to take a different turn, leading him towards an unforeseen destiny.