echo Lukas had been unlucky ever since he stepped foot in this world. Always in the middle of trouble, always one step away from his goals, always second behind the obnoxious, airheaded Bob. But today, he decided, things would change.
Lukas tapped his thumb impatiently against the palm of his hand as he guided the elderly lady across the street. His heart was racing, yet time seemed determined to take its own sweet time. He couldn’t help but sneak occasional glances at his watch. At the end of the road, the lady smiled and patted his cheek as a thank you. He smiled back with relief. Finally, his ‘merit’ was complete.
This very moment, he was supposed to be on the bus to school, yet he turned the other way—back home. He took his time to walk, just in case his parents hadn’t yet gone to work. He returned to an empty house and quickened his pace towards his bedroom, to his desk drawer, where he pulled out the four leaf clover. At his touch, a deep lilac seeped into the last spot of green on the clover, turning the leaf lilac with streaks of blue and a sheen of translucent coating. He carefully stuffed the clover into his pocket and went to find his luck.
The competition tryouts were tomorrow. And he’d have to compete against Bob for the coach’s attention for the last slot on the school team representatives. He was confident in his abilities, but strangely, at every game, he always seemed to lose somehow. The last time, his shoe was ruined so he had to get a new pair, and it messed up his game. Another time, he ate something bad the day before at a celebratory dinner and went into the game after throwing up his insides. The last, he sprained his ankle before he could compete, so Bob had to replace him. This time, he had decided to take matters into his own hands. With a little luck on his side, he was confident he could beat Bob.
Lukas arrived at a barren forest, and it was just as the vendor had described. Silent; not a soul to be heard, where trees towered like beasts, engulfing any light that tried to seep in. A shiver crept down his spine, but he forced himself to take a step into the forest. After all, this was where he’d find the wishing well. Keep walking straight until you reach a huge boulder with ivy growing, the vendor had said.
Yet, after passing by the fourth boulder covered in ivy, Lukas huffed in frustration. Sweat dripped off his face. Has he been tricked? He knew it was a bad idea, but he’d held a glimmer of hope that it would work. He was wrong. How unlucky. Defeated, Lukas turned to go. Just then, another, larger boulder at his right caught his eye. He turned swiftly—a boulder with ivy!
Excitedly, he rushed towards that direction. When you see the boulder, keep walking straight. You’ll find the wishing well there.
Lukas arrived at a crossroads. Puzzled, he walked over to a wooden sign by the middle.
[Congratulations, kind soul! You have found the crossroads! Now choose a path. One path leads to the Wishing Well—a well that brings you blessings. The other path leads to the Cursed Well— a well that brings you curses. Happy choosing!]
Lukas halted in his tracks. Cursed Well? The vendor never said anything about that. He was already unlucky enough, why would he need more curses? With his luck, he’d end up picking the Cursed Well.
The afternoon was growing late; Lukas had been out for too long, and his parents were coming home soon. He paced anxiously, unsure what to do. Maybe it was a test, some kind of riddle. One a blessing, one a curse. He kicked a stone in anger. He’d collected so much merit for this? How unlucky!
He chewed on his lips. Think. What had the vendor said?
If you have been good, you’ll find your way there.
For a person that has done no wrong, no harm will befall them.
Every path will be the right path.
The right path. Lukas considered his choices. It had to be the right path then?
He began to regret the choice as soon as he stepped further into the path. But there was no turning back, because the sign and crossroads behind him had disappeared entirely. The vendor’s words rang in his head: whatever you do, do not turn back, or you will get lost. Lukas had no choice but to keep walking.
The trees stepped aside to reveal a small circle of land. Amidst the land stood an old well covered in grime and vines. Lukas looked around, then cautiously headed towards the well, where he read the words carved into stone: throw in your clover and make a wish!
Nothing about a Cursed Well or Blessing Well, so maybe Lukas had picked the right path. For the first time, he might actually be lucky.
He tossed the clover into the well and closed his eyes. I wish everything will go as I want it to.
That night, Lukas tossed and turned, not able to sleep. What if it really was a curse? Would he lose the game?
The score was 7:6. The alarm blared, and Lukas lost again. He felt a spike of anger as he saw Bob celebrate happily amongst the other teammates. How did it go wrong? Was it a Cursed Well after all? Fuming, Lukas searched for the vendor, who was at his usual corner by the roadside. The vendor smiled and said, “How’s the wish?”
“You fraud!” yelled Lukas. “That wish was a curse.”
The vendor looked puzzled. “A curse? That’s not possible.”
Lukas threw his racket on the floor. “You tell me! I just lost the most important match of my life!”
The vendor cocked his head to the side, and offered a sheepish look. “Would you like a refund? Or perhaps, a replacement ticket?”
“I don’t want anymore of your useless clovers,” seethed Lukas.
“Even if it’s a free ticket?” asked the vendor, holding up a purple clover instead of the green one he’d gotten the first time.
“For…free?” Lukas asked skeptically.
“Entirely free.” The vendor grinned. “It’s our duty to compensate you anyway, since the clover didn’t work.” The vendor handed the clover to Lukas. “Strange that it didn’t work the first time. But you needn’t worry, for the clover never brings curses.”
Lukas frowned. “The sign definitely said one well would bring a curse while the other would bring a blessing.”
The vendor gave Lukas a funny look. “There’s only one well, boy.”
That night, Lukas arrived at the same crossroads. He frowned, puzzled. The vendor told him there would only be one well. Was the crossroads the wrong place to begin with? Or was the vendor lying? Maybe the vendor had made a mistake. But it didn’t matter, because Lukas knew which path to go now.
He took the left path and started walking. As he walked, he noticed something strange. The walls surrounding him were strangely similar to yesterday’s path. Then, a thought occurred to him: did the paths to the wells swap every time someone came? Of course! It made sense that it wouldn’t stay the same, or everyone would know eventually which path was which. Lukas cursed his own ignorant confidence earlier. He’d taken the same path to the same well.
He arrived at a familiar looking well, much to his dismay. He wanted to be over with the curse when an idea struck him. Instead of giving blessings to himself, he could just give curses to Bob. That way, Bob wouldn’t be able to play the game and Lukas would replace him. Lukas couldn’t suppress his smile at the brilliant idea. He halted for a moment, in brief hesitation, before he threw the clover in along with his guilt. I wish Bob will not be able to play the game tomorrow. I wish to beat Bob in everything. After all, Bob deserved it.
Lukas woke up the next day, excited. He waited for the coach to call him to replace poor Bob, just as Bob once had to replace Lukas. The coach had called Lukas just as the lunch bell had rang.
“Unfortunately, Bob is down with the flu and won’t be able to play the match this afternoon. Could you take his place?” the coach asked.
Lukas tried to act surprised and contain his excitement as he said, “Yes, coach.”
The coach nodded approvingly and left.
Lukas headed to prepare for the game. Just then, he overheard Bob’s friend talking on the phone. Going against his better judgement, he stopped to listen. He wanted Bob to be upset like he was for once. But somehow, Bob was relieved he was sick because he didn’t want to play the match. Playing the match meant Bob would have to skip class, and Bob heard the lecture was really important for the test the next day. Lukas’ heart dropped; no one had told him that.
Why didn’t the curse work?
Lukas spent the entirety of the game regretting his wish. He regretted ever believing the vendor, and regretted making the second wish. He was worried about the test tomorrow, about losing to Bob.
How unlucky. How very unlucky.
__________
The team lost the match because of a player’s inattentiveness.
Meanwhile, the vendor walked the path to the wishing well, picking up stray leaves to keep the path clean and clear. “Oh dear! I forgot to remove the sign and the second path. No wonder the boy got confused.” he sighed. “ No matter, the wish would’ve come true as long as the boy believed in the wish, no matter which path he took.”
Written By: Emily
Edited By: Ryan
