Read Me First

Your new WISH FULFILLER™ accepts a desire in the form of instructions entered via the keypad. Through a proprietary process, it then converts your input into an energized format, which it projects into the world to actualize the result.

WARNING

Our intent in developing the WISH FULFILLER is that it be used only for good. Built-in controls prevent the device from harming another person or overriding another person’s free will (even if you believe the other person may be following an unwise course). Do not attempt to disable this feature. Tampering with factory settings will lead to unpredictable outcomes and will void the product warranty.

Likewise, we believe that you intend to use the WISH FULFILLER for good. Note that humility is important for correct use. Before making alterations in the world, consider that you may not be in a position to know what is good.

CAUTION To reduce the likelihood of unpredictable outcomes, avoid using the WISH FULFILLER when feeling stressed, tired, or angry.

Getting Started

You may enter a maximum of 47 characters, including punctuation and spaces. The WISH FULFILLER does not recognize abbreviations or emoticons.

Strive for clarity of expression. Before using the WISH FULFILLER, take time to ask yourself what you truly want. For example, if you are seeking employment, do you simply want money, or do you want to be contributing something of value to others? Be honest with yourself. Also, be very specific in choosing the words you enter. Avoid ambiguity. Peace on earth would be entirely too vague a command to be accepted by the WISH FULFILLER. Consider that there is peace on the Moon.

CAUTION Avoid using the WISH FULFILLER to achieve short-term gratification. Product testing has shown that such usage results in reduced enjoyment and accelerated generation of new desires. Note also that additional charges apply for excessive data use.

As you contemplate the results of your initial efforts to use the WISH FULFILLER, you will have questions. To learn more about the process of achieving desirable results, consult the user guide.

What About the Boy? is a father’s story, but readers can hardly overlook the fact that the main part of the narrative ends abruptly when Joseph loses his mother.

Although my love for my son is constant, deep, and everlasting, it is no substitute for a mother’s love. Occasionally, when I hear the way women talk about their kids, or see a mom fix the stray label sticking out from the back of her child’s collar, I realize once again that the mother-child connection is something unique in nature.

That is a relationship in which one party gives absolutely everything to the other.

Now, it’s very nice when that sacrifice is appreciated. And it’s nice when you can later point to the outcome as proof that the sacrifice was justified. I’m thinking here of a video in which a grateful grown son acknowledges all his mother did to make him the success he is today. (Take a couple minutes to see that if you haven’t.)

By the way, I wish it were possible for me to say thanks to my parents as explicitly as this guy does. Maybe I wasn’t an unusually ungrateful kid; they knew I appreciated them. But now that they’re gone I find myself wanting to say more, or to undo moments when I surely vexed them. In part, my desire to succeed in life is an effort to validate all they did for me.

But regardless of whether mothers are told their sacrifice is honored, and regardless of whether they see evidence that it made a difference, I think the very nature of the relationship may be its own reward.

What kind of society would we have if we did not honor mothers?