Once there was a man named Charles who was a very wealthy old man . He had a long face with a short grey beard that was as rough as straw. He was tall and had long spider like legs with huge feet connected to the bottom of them. He had long, soft, grey hair on his toes very different from the short rough hair of his beard. Charles was a very greedy and selfish man. He had a large and beautiful family but, he cared more about money and the things he bought with it. He had a beautiful wife and handsome sons and a lovely daughter. But, though he loved them he thought more about the happiness riches brought him and he wished for a long life to enjoy them.

One day he came across some news about a peasant being paid five pounds of gold for bringing back the prince's favorite horse that had run away and gotten lost! This had Charles furious! “HOW CAN A PEASANT GET SUCH REWARD.  NO ONE-- I SAY NO ONE-- SHOULD BE HAPPIER THAN ME,!” he exclaimed.  “If someone in the lowest class could EVER get such thing as five pounds of gold, then a man like me can EASILY get a much larger dream”

Soon he sent off to get the wish of HIS dreams. He snuck out of his bedroom window without any of his family knowing taking with him only some gold. He went to the house that he had heard was once owned by the peasant. Charles crept to the window slowly. He wedged his way through the little slit of a window and.. Finally he was in. As he walked into the house the smell of  pastries took his mind off  of the fact that this was someone else's home, and he should not be in it. Charles walked into the open with no thought and a light little voice called his name--

“Charles” which grabbed his attention right away.

“Huh” he said in a confused tone. “Who's there? How do you know my name?” He looked around and could not see a thing. He looked up, left and right, and still no person in sight The second he looked down he saw a little man with a looong beard and a wrinkled little face staring at a plate full of hot delicious smelling pastries. When the little man and Charles made eye contact, the little man disappeared into thin air with a small poof and a small cloud of steam. Charles slowly walked up to the plate of food. He picked it up, and as soon as both of his hands clutched on to the plate *BOOM* he to disappeared into thin air……….

Charles soon appeared on top of a giant mountain that no man has stepped foot on before. He turned around in disbelief. Soon he was facing a GIANT cave. He jumped back a little which pushed a rock that rattled the mountain.  The noise was answered by a huge voice that rolled like thunder.

“WHOM MUST BE HERE,” shouted the voice. The man who owned the voice was not the smartest, the man was not used to common english.

“What in the name..” said Charles, confused. “WH- WHO'S IN THERE!” he yelled as loud as he could into the dark cave.

“NO! I ASK WHO YOU!” the voice responded

Charles was still confused why he was in this mysterious place. “No you tell me who you are, why i'm here, and il- ill give so-some… GOLD!” he said in fright.

The voice responded “I NOT NEED GOLD I CAN WISH MY OWN THINGS.”

Charles was surprised to hear the voice did not want any of his gold, but what really grabbed his attention was “wish”

“Oh so you can grant any wish??” he asked.

There was a moment of dead silence after the question was asked. Soon the man responded “YOU WANT WISH!”

“ Well,” Charles stuttered, “yes, I-wish for immortality…?”   

All of a sudden the cave light up with pink and shades of purples and blues…..  *POOF*

Charles was back at what he thought was home

.

    He looked around and saw his home was no longer wood. It was a rock like substance old weathered and had green moss growing on the walls along with some old faded pictures of strange people framed on the walls with huge window with an ice like substance covering them. But, in some places it was cracked and scorched? He looked up and saw no roof, he could only see the bright blue sky with a bright orange sun that hurt his eyes to even glance at, it was as big as he had ever seen it before. Charles looked down at his clothes. He was no longer wearing rough cloth as clothing, instead he was a dressed in black and white thin soft silk. Charles called for his wife but got no answer, called once more, still no answer.  He looked around some more.. no one in sight. He called again and got no answer but a distant echo. He walked to what seemed to have once been a door frame and entered the outside world. As he looked around there was not one living soul in sight, only tall patches of grass and tall trees full with many branches and leaves surrounding him. Charles thought

“Maybe there would be village on the other side”

So Charles started down the trees with the grass tickling his legs and with every step another crunch of the leaves and twigs beneath him. He came out of the woods to find a large lake. There were no boats and no one playing in the water. He began running along the beach beside the deserted lake, next to the deserted woods away from the deserted house. He ran until he couldn’t stand anymore. He couldn't’ understand what had happened to everyone. He fell down in the sand and tried to think.

                                WHAT HAS HAPPENED ???

He thought for a long time and slowly a thought came to him: immortality….

                     “Have I outlived everyone? Am I alone?”

Be careful what you wish for.