Fiddling With Fate ✓

One

James Wester looked down at the monkey's paw clutched tightly in his hands as he sat on the soft couch in cabin 3B. He felt the gentle rocking of the ship while his mind played hopscotch between his thoughts. The shriveled, ugly thing in his hands had long, curved fingernails and was dry and wrinkly. He remembered getting it from that old man, the old fakir in India with mischief playing in his eyes. The fakir had said something about the paw having magical powers and that it would grant three different men three wishes each. He had chosen James to be the first owner of the paw. However, the man - his name was Raoul Nizamabad - had also warned him that "fate rules people's lives, and that those who interfere with it do so to their sorrow."

James's thoughts were interrupted when his daughter Morgan walked into the cabin with their dog, Midgley. Midgley was a springer spaniel that James and Morgan had owned for a long time. He barked eagerly to see James.

"Hey dad, what're you up to?" asked the eleven-year-old girl, peeking into her father's lap.

He avoided her question and instead asked one of his own. "Do you believe what that old fakir said, about this paw having special powers?" He held it up for her to see.

"I don't know," she answered plainly. "Would mom have believed him?"

James felt a pang of missing in his heart at the thought of his late wife.

"Maybe," he replied wistfully.

"Well, I don't think it would hurt to try one little wish, would it?" Morgan asked.

"I guess you're right. But what should I wish for?" James thought for a second.

"Oooh, you can wish for money!" his daughter suggested. "Or for a new mommy!"

James almost felt guilty at that second option. Yet he pondered again, carefully weighing it. Why not? he thought. At least a little happiness would come from a new love, and it would be good for Morgan to have a mother in her life. It's been hard for me to be a parent all alone.

"Alright, then." he held the paw up firmly. "I wish to find love again."

He thought he felt it writhe slightly in his grasp, and dropped it to the floor.

Hmm. Maybe nothing happened. Oh well, he reasoned. It really was worth a try.

James changed the subject. "Why don't we go out on deck and take Midgley for a walk?"

"Okay, let's go! The sun is nice and warm outside," his daughter agreed.