"Chris Roberson - Wishes" - читать интересную книгу автора (Roberson Chris)

Stranger, the smith said, I have heard you need a place to rest yourself, and something to eat.

It is true, the man answered, but I have no money to pay. I have only wishes to share, and nothing else.

We ask nothing from you, the smith told him, but we will share whatever you have.

And so the man smiled and stood, taking the smithтАЩs hand. They walked to the wagon, and then the
smith, his young wife, and the man who wandered into town rode south to the smithтАЩs house.

They dined simply that night. Cornbread, some beans, and a vegetable stew. They drank the sweet water
form the smithтАЩs well, and the three of them shared a pouch of tobacco. Later, the cabin filled with smoke
from the fireplace and their pipes, and the three moved out to the porch and sat watching the stars.

It was a fine meal, and my thanks, the man said. And for that I am in your debt. Now, as I have said, I
have no money, but I have the wishes.

The smithтАЩs wife asked what he meant, that he had wished. Did he carry him with him, like rare stones or
pressed flowers?

No, the man said, but I do collect them. ThatтАЩs what I do, and itтАЩs my lifeтАЩs work. I walk, and I wander,
an I collect peopleтАЩs wishes.

The smith now said that he didnтАЩt understand.

I ask people to tell me their wishes, the man answered, and I keep them up here. The man tapped his
temple with one dirtied fingernail.

Why? the smithтАЩs wife asked.

So that they donтАЩt get lost, the man told her. People lose their wishes too early, too soon in these days,
and if I didnтАЩt keep them theyтАЩd be lost forever.

What do you do with them? asked the smith.

I share them with those as will listen, to remind them.

Remind them? the smith and his wife asked together.

To remind them of this: A wish can never come true if itтАЩs forgotten, and once lost can never be
regained. Wishes arenтАЩt granted of a sudden, in the blink of an eye. A wish is for life, and itтАЩs only at the
end of that road that you reach a goal. People forget that, and they look back on themselves as children,
and all the things they wanted, and craved, and sweated after. And they say, I wanted that then, and I
didnтАЩt get it, so I best be happy with what I have. Things wonтАЩt change.

And theyтАЩre right, the man went on, things wonтАЩt change unless you want them to. You have to keep on
wanting, and keep on sweating, or youтАЩll never move an inch down that road. YouтАЩll stay where you are
forever.

So, as the stars winked overhead, the man told the smith and his wife wishes. He shared with them the
hopes and desires of the young and old (though much more of the former than the latter, as he had