Make A Wish
In which I play god and kids see ghost.
00:54
28/08/19
A room in one of the several buildings in M university is lit. It has stayed that way for three months whether by daylight or the light that shines out of a computer screen. Phil never allows the darkness to have its influence. If you could fly or perhaps climb a tree to peek into Phil’s window you’d see him seated by the window as he stares at his laptop screen. Looking beyond him, you should notice the brown door attached to the sky-blue painted wall, standing adjacent to this wall are brown closets with a cream towel vividly hanging out of one. That is as much as you can see if you are viewing from the window. Getting inside, there isn’t much to see save for two beds and Ron, a dark skinned, nappy haired young man lying on one of the beds.
Phil reads the text displayed on his laptop screen aloud;
“Thank you for registering, Phil Idont. We would grant you a wish if you get us the admin password to Fey Underground.”
-Jorge wishin’
Phil examined the page, like most site on the dark web t’was poorly designed. It had almost nothing on it except the “Thank you for registering…” text, a text field where he could fill in the admin password and the ‘logout’ text highlighted in black at the bottom of the page.
“A wishing site.” He muttered to himself. He is going to do the task not because offering to grant him a wish was a good payment but because he hadn’t been hired in days and he wanted something to do. Phil is a hacker. He never got hired ’til he ventured into the dark net. The internet, like everything real must possess a dark side and even if it can thrive without a dark side, if it’s to be whole it must cast a shadow, the dark net.
He looks out of the window (don’t worry; he doesn’t see you staring at him from the tree branch.) The sky is not filled with stars. It should’ve been full of stars but things lose their beauty as they age. So, there’s only one star left and the moon. He walked with a tired droop to the side of his bed and falls facedown.
20:02
30/08/29
“shut up! He did tell me.” Yelled Marty, a chubby black boy in blue checkered pyjamas.
“Phil, you told Marty and didn’t tell us.” Johd said as he widened his eyeballs.
“He told all of us.” Said Steve, with a calm voice that emanated from a bare-chested young man lying on Ron’s bed.
Johd began to button his white shirt as he said, “you talk a lot of shit, Steve.” He was involuntarily doing his last button when he stopped half way, widening his eyes again. “When did he tell us?”
“He told us…”
“wei, wei, wei, wei, wei, wei, wait!” Chuck interrupted, “I’m kinda lost here, what are we talking about?” He stood. Chuck’s voice was deep and seemed to hit a slightly high note at the middle of every sentence he utters.
‘Buhahahahaha!” laughed Marty, his squarely chiseled jaw turned rounder.
“Chuck guy is just mad.” Said Johd, turning and walking towards the door.
Phil raised his head up as he tilted his laptop lid downwards. “everybody was in the room when I said it”. Sliding out of bed, he smiled with half of his face. “Johd guy, always forgetting sturvs.” His voice almost sounded like Chuck’s were it not for the high notes Chuck’s voice would occasionally hit. “Get up” Phil told Marty who was seated on Phil’s seat. He sat. He shook his head with his eyes fixed to his screen he pasted something on a texted field on the fey underground site.
Marty scratched his nose as he said. “does he even talk to girls, he…”
“He doesn’t!” said Johd.
“He does,” said Steve, “he just doesn’t talk to people around him.”
“We know nothing about nothing about him and we’re supposed to be his friends.” Muttered Johd.
“Is he straight? I don’t see him talking to girls.” Said Marty, staring at Steve.
“I don’t know ask him”
“Phil!” said Marty
“yeah!” Phil said without taking his eyes off the screen.
“Who’s she? said Steve as he sat up, he’d figured he didn’t know Phil as much as he’d thought.
Phil didn’t answer the question; his eyes were entranced by his laptop. He was curious to know how a poorly developed site like Fey underground could grant wishes.
“Yo Phil, do we know her? Chuck asked pacing around like he’s under the influence of some narcotics.
Phil’s eyebrows were abnormally close to each other, a closeness that is reached only when one is frowning. He had typed and sent the password and a blank page loaded. He stared at the URL and his eyebrows drew even closer as he whispered the URL to himself, “makeawish.logi”. Suddenly, the question Chuck asked hit him. “Maisie,” He raised his head. “her name is Maisie.”
“We’d meet her soon, yeah.” Chuck asked with excitement.
“I don’t think so.” He said with one eyebrow raised.
“I’m following you around ’til I find this babe.”
“Buhahahahahahaha” laughed Marty.
“Chuck, let him be!” yelled Steve.
And that’s how life is every evening in room X21 on X-hall for every building in M university were name after a letter of the alphabet except for the letter M. (I hope to discover more about Phil, Marty, Johd, Chuck and Maisie as I play dice with their lives.)
16:20
11/09/19
Phil is at his computer screen, Marty and Johd are playing card on his bed the room seemed peaceful ’til the door bust open they all twitched except Phil.
“Yo, yo, yo,yo,yo,yo, guys!” yelled Chuck, bouncing into the room.
“I think Chuck is on LSD.” said Johd.
“Chuck guy always acting weird.” said Marty, slightly laughing.
“Craziest shit happened today.” said Chuck as he scanned the room, “where’s Steve?”
“dunno.” said Johd, with a shrug.
Phil is sitting on his usually seat before the window. His laptop is supposed to be on his table but it’s not “He’s at that Hackerton event.” Phil replied
“Phil, why didn’t you go?” Marty asked
“Guy, guy, guy I was about to yarn some important sturv before y’all interrupted” said Chuck.
“yarn, yarn.” Said Johd with excitement.
Chuck too out a neckerchief from he’s pocket, tying it around his neck as he tucked the flaps inside his shirt.
“So, I was at the library, yeah.” said Chuck calmly
They all nodded.
“So, manz saw this babe, she was leaving the…”
“what were you doing in the library?” Interrupted Phil.
“Yunno me, I’m wherever the ladies are, and ’em girls, they love the books
“she was looking quite jiggy and I wasn’t going to let her pass me by.”
“but I thought you’re dating that Kayla babe?” johd asked
Chuck darts around, lingering briefly on Phil’s face, “I just want to make new friends.”
“Buhahahahahahaha, this guy issa womanizer.” Giggled marty.
“So she was approaching me, yh,” He beamed, “then I hit her like t’was an accident.”
“Idiot!” spat Phil.
“To make me look like the victim I made my phone fall too like t’was an accident.”
“Buhahahahahaha” this guy’s sick.” (This is Marty.)
“Babes said sorry and manz said sorry too. I stopped her when she was about too leave and I told her…”
“This is the kind of story Chuck always comes back with.” Phil interrupted
“No, No, No! I haven’t gotten to the best part yet.” He grinned. “her name is Maisie.”
“Mais-ie” Phil beamed. “Describe her.” He demanded
“She’s slim, she walks in manner that touches my soul, she….”
“Every girl walks in a way that touches your soul.” Marty said
“She’s coffee with a little cream, she has brown eyes…”
“Is she your Maisie? asked Johd.
“I don’t know.” said Phil, with eyes darting around unexcitedly.
“She did mention an art exhibition at Luz Street.”
“We are going!” ordered Johd. “We pree this Phil’s babe asap.” Pronouncing ASAP as a word.
Johd and Marty jumped out of bed. They swiftly walked towards the door. Chuck followed them.
“She’s not my… I’m not sure if…. I don’t know.” said Steve as they left the room.
“Be ready before 7pm my G” screamed Chuck after slamming the door.
19:16
11/09/19
Over the dusty buildings, the setting sun help create the dancing shadows of four teenage boys on the grounds of M university as they shuffled down the streets. There were tall trees on both side and the sun is about to be swallowed by the university’s colossal museum.
(Fast forward, I want to meet Maisie asap too.) They are in a hall filled with boys in black suit and girls in clothes that bared their necks and shoulders seated on tables of five wrapped in purple fabric.
Slapping Chuck’s head, Johd said; “Are we in the right place?”
“yeah!” Chuck said rubbing his forehead, he seemed to have lost his abnormal enthusiasm and the usually high notes he’d hit in the middle of his sentences. (I might be wrong though as ‘Yeah’ isn’t a sentence.)
“Guys let’s take a seat” Marty said pointing at the table before them occupied by candles.
They all wore untucked white shirts, blue pants and black oxfords but Phil ditched the blue pants for a charcoal coloured one. They all sat down. Chuck blew the flame off the candles.
“How do I even know this guy?” Phil said with his hand on his forehead.
“calm your tits, I was only trying to whistle, I swear.” Chuck’s voice lowered to as whisper, “look, Maisie just stepped in.”
Phil swiveled his head as fast as he could. He could see her. He could see Maisie. Her high heel sandals casted a reflection instead of a shadow like the rest of her body on the glassy floor as they gracefully took strides towards them. Her short gown bared her almost glimmering legs making her shin-bone conspicuous but that didn’t take the attractiveness away. Sticking closely to her body, her white gown curved inwards as it approached her waist patronizing the eyes to follow up to protruding chest which elegantly held up the strapless dress.
Phil wasn’t done observing when she bent to wrap her arms around him. He placed his hands on her shoulder and the other hand on her back, dropping it immediately as he expected to feel fabric and not skin.
She took the empty seat beside him, pulling back her shoulder-length, blue-black hair to reveal a little patch of lighter of skin on her ear.
“you’re late.” She said as she placed her milk-coffee coloured hand on his arm. “The exhibition is over and this…”
“Excuse me.” A waiter interrupted
“Oh! We’ll have lasagna and salad” she said holding Phil’s hand. “I don’t know about them.” She nodded toward Marty, Chuck and Johd.
“Hey hi” she waved at the three of them. “I’m Maisie”
“Hi Maisie” they replied simultaneously
“Where’s Steve?”She asked. “Phil used to mention Steve when he talks about you guys.”
“He tells you about us yet he has never mention you to us” replied Johd. He then lowered his head to silently say the sentence he’d just uttered again.
“He’s secretive.” she said, turning to Phil with a smile.
21:03
11/09/19
Phil watched her talk to his friends. He’d smile occasionally when the focus of her brown eyes came to rest on him. Her smooth unlined face, apotheosized into goddess state with make-up and a little touch of red lipstick. She had the beauty all girls have when you’re staring at them and they don’t know someone’s looking at them. She knows too much about him, she’d answered questions he couldn’t answer and when she laughed it sounded like tinkling tumblers.
“I need to leave, I feel giddy.” These words tasted sour. They were the first words that came out of his mouth after he saw Maisie.
He stood up and she stood, “Lemme go with you” she said
“There is no need for that, I just need to sleep and I’ll be fine.”
She hugged him. He wrapped his arm around her waist, raising his other hand he stroked her hair. His chin rested on her head. She oozed of cognac.
Phil walked down Luz Street. the moonlight crawled through the trees and nothing moved save for him. Maisie is the girl of his of his dreams and his friends must be dreaming with him because he’d made her up the first time he mentioned her. Phil isn’t a believer of beliefs but Maisie is a concrete reason for him to revere something. The wishing site or Maisie herself. He believed the “god concept” was a psychological tweak to help people forget their griefs and focus on something else. Maisie knew him as much as he knew himself and she was all he wanted and also all he wish to become− She was his ultimate ego. He had made her up yet he had a strong conviction to adore and worship her. And he could no longer judge people that worshipped the things they’ve made out of stones or those that picture a god in a golden city. Uncertainties and human weaknesses amplified the religious instinct in him. He knows that whatever projected his thoughts as palpable Maisie was a higher power. He doubts everything he knows but he’s sure he now believes in something.
Phil looked around him to realized he hadn’t been walking. He stroked his eyebrow as he turned back, staring at two stars dancing with the moon in the night sky. (He also sees you, observing him from above and of course me, his creator.)
Miracle is a photographer, movie director and writer (short fiction and screenplay.). He’s sometimes sarcastic. Follow his Twitter and Instagram (@photomanlogos & @miracle.otugo) for fine art photographs. If you’d like to observe him personally follow his personal pages on Twitter and Instagram (@mirvkl & @lexeffingluthor.) Happy reading.
