Monkey's Paw Prequel: Wish Upon A Time

Wish Upon A Time

My father had just passed away. He was a very healthy man who still had many years before him. There was something that happened to him. He was living in India and would write every day about what's happening there. Then one month before he died, he just stopped writing. That's when I decided to move my family to India and find out what happened. As I was looking through my father's belongings, I found a black little box with my name written on it. I gasped at the sight of it. It was a shrivelled paw with three fingers sticking up. Beside it was a note written for me.

"Clint, if you're reading this that probably means I'm dead. What you see inside is the Monkeys Paw, which was given to me by a fakir. It can grant three wishes, but it has consequences. You cannot get rid of it because it will always return. I want you to keep it and forget about it. Never wish for anything".

Then at the very bottom, he writes best wishes, Dad. I was confused at first. I wondered if he was just pulling a joke or is this actually real? I quickly disregarded the thought of the magical paw, but I still wanted to respect my dad's wishes. Aside from the paw, he left behind his house. I thought it would be a good idea to move my family to India since we had no more relatives in Britain. Soon enough, I joined the army for the British East Indian Company and I eventually forgot the paw. Then one day my daughter was looking through my stuff when she came across the paw. I quickly grabbed it from her and said,

" I told you to not touch my stuff! I just wish you'd stop putting your hands where they don't belong".

The moment I said that one of the fingers curled down. I was terrified of what happened. Was I imagining things?

As I came back from work the next day, I find my daughter lying on her bed. Her hands were gone and all that was left was the strips of gauze holding the blood inside. My wife came in and said,

" She fell from a tree, but as she was falling her hands got pierced by some branches. Her veins had been affected, so the only thing to do was amputate it to stop it from getting infections".

I felt a lump in my throat. I was responsible for what happened. I went and grabbed the Monkey's Paw and tossed it in the river. The next morning, there it was. The paw had reappeared in front of my house. I put it back in my house knowing that I was cursed to keep it.

Two years later, there was a food shortage across the country. Every time I walk back from my work I see people on the streets dying off slowly to hunger. I barely had enough food for my family. Eventually, my mind wandered back to the paw. Every night I would just stare at it for hours not knowing what to do. After a while, I fell to the temptation.

I whispered to the paw, " I wish to end this food shortage."

A shiver ran down from my spine as the second finger curled down. That's when the voices started.

The next morning, I wake up to the screams of my wife. I ran down and find her straddling our child in her hand. My beloved daughter was drained of life. Her face was ghastly white and her skin had peeled off showing only the flesh. My hand started trembling and I didn't know what to feel. I cried that night, not sleeping at all. It turned out my daughter was not the only one. Thousands of people across India had been infected overnight by the deadly disease. It appeared in one night and killed all of the infected, but it somehow disappeared as well. The food shortage had ended but at the cost of many lives. I vowed to never touch the paw again.

After ten years in the army, I had been promoted to Seargent Major. I was happy with my promotion and I wanted to celebrate the night with my wife. Yet. I knew that was not possible. After our daughter's death, she was always unhappy. Nothing would cheer her up anymore. I just wanted her to smile again. That's when I thought about the paw. Then I heard a voice. "Make a wish", it said. I looked around and I did not see anyone. Maybe I should make a wish, it's only a simple request. I rummaged through my old boxes and found the paw. I couldn't bring myself to do it not after last time. Then one night I find myself asleep on my office desk. In my hand, was the monkey's paw and in the other was a drawing of a smiling face. I don't know what I was thinking that night, but it was enough to convince me to make my final wish.

I uttered my last request, " I wish to make my wife happy again".

At last, the third finger curled down and an eerie silence soon followed after. This time I did not care. I was just excited to see my wife happy soon. The next day, I came back from work and entered my house. I was horrified at the sight. My dearest wife was hanging from the ceiling as her body limply swayed. Her hands were bloody and her face was carved into a big smile. Below her was a note that said, " I made myself smile forever". I felt this pain in my heart. I couldn't breathe or do anything. I wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn't come out. Something was happening to me as I felt no regret or sadness.

A few years later, I retired from my position and decided to move back to Britain. I tried to give away the paw, but no one wanted it. I even tried to give it for free, but people still didn't want it. I eventually gave up hope from being freed from my curse, but one day I met an old friend. His name was Mr. White. We talked for a while and I accidentally brought up the paw. He was interested and asked me to drop by later that night. It was cold and wet that night. As I approached the front door, there they were. A perfect family of three laughing and smiling. The paw had started uncurling its shrivelled fingers until all three were up again. We had a great time that night. I told them of all I had seen in India, but the paw finally came up. They asked for the paw and I gave it to them. I shouldn't have done that, but I could not handle it anymore. I was free from the curse, but it didn't give me the satisfaction I was looking for. I just wanted to be reunited with my family.

At last, I found myself standing on the edge of a cliff. As I was looking at the bottom, I felt something push me into the darkness. There I was falling to the bottomless pit of my own desires.