Member-only story
You Get One Wish. What Will It Be?
A short story
Walter slid the milkshake forward too far, then watched in horror as it tipped over the counter’s edge and splashed to the floor. “You dumb idiot!” The kid on the other side of the counter, a boy his own age, jumped back too late to avoid the splatter.
“Walter!” Mr. Delaney, owner of Delaney’s Deli, rushed over. “How many times have I told you? This was your last chance. A two-year-old could do this job better than you.” Mr. Delaney’s eyebrows wiggled furiously, two writhing caterpillars run amok. “You bring out the worst in me, Walter. Do you wreak havoc everywhere?”
Walter didn’t know what to say. Try as he would, he did things wrong. Ice cream scoops toppled from their cones. Cokes sloshed over the rims of cups into the laps of elderly women. Sandwiches burned on the grill, their charred odor permeating the deli. Mr. Delaney had almost fired him three times, but each time Walter pleaded and his employer relented.
When the boy with the milkshake-soaked shirt stalked off, Walter pleaded again, and Mr. Delaney relented again. “I’m too soft-hearted. I’ll give you one more chance, but I can’t afford another mistake,” the deli owner warned.
Walter’s heart soared as he returned to the whir of the milkshake maker and the sizzle of hamburgers on the grill. He had to…
