Summary: Little Joe has a high price to pay for a very expensive wish.<\/p>\n
Rated: Family Friendly \/ Word count: 1025<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Wells and Wishes<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cLittle brother, what in the world are you doin\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n For the last twenty minutes Hoss had stood in the shadow of a large tree watching in amusement as Little Joe pranced around the meadow picking dandelions. He would then pucker up his lips, blow the tiny seeds into the wind and then toss the empty stem over his shoulder.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m makin\u2019 a wish,\u201d answered the sprightly six-year-old as he bent down for yet another flower.<\/p>\n Hoss scrunched up his face in confusion. \u201cBy spittin\u2019 at weeds?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not spittin\u2019 at them,\u201d Joe answered. \u201cI\u2019m blowin\u2019 off the fluff. Me, Seth, and Mitch were talkin\u2019 about wishes at school on Friday and Seth says wishes only come true if blow all the fluff off a dandelion in one breath. I\u2019ve been tryin, but I don\u2019t have enough air to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you wishin\u2019 for?\u201d asked Hoss.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t matter. I just want to see if it works.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOkay,\u201d said Hoss, plucking one of the white, fluffy flowers. \u201cLet me try it.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe watched in wide-eyed amazement as Hoss, in one terrific blow, removed each and every one of the tiny seeds, and a huge grin broke out across the young boy\u2019s face as he asked, \u201cWhat did you wish for?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCan\u2019t tell you, or else it won\u2019t come true,\u201d Hoss shrugged.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, how will I know if Seth was right?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll let you know,\u201d Hoss answered, giving him a light pat on the head.<\/p>\n \u201cOkay.\u201d Little Joe turned then and began to run toward home as fast as his little legs would carry him.<\/p>\n Hoss followed him but at a distance. His father had asked him that morning to keep an eye on Little Joe while he and Adam went into town for a meeting. Hoss had agreed but he knew better than to let his baby brother know about the arrangement. The small boy tended to resent being babysat.<\/p>\n Hoss arrived in the yard a few minutes later, and his heart nearly jumped into his throat when he saw Little Joe leaning far over the side of their large well.<\/p>\n \u201cJoseph, you get down from there,\u201d he yelled. He realized his mistake an instant later, when a startled Little Joe fell head first down the long dark hole. The ear piercing cry that followed a loud splash set Hoss in motion, and he quickly lowered the bucket toward his shrieking brother.<\/p>\n Five minutes later, a half-drowned little boy peered out innocently through the hair covering his eyes, while Hoss stood towering over him, his arms folded tightly across his chest.<\/p>\n \u201cLet me guess,\u201d Hoss started, \u201cyou was makin\u2019 another wish.\u201d<\/p>\n As Little Joe bobbed his head up and down, Hoss worked to calm himself. The scare his young brother had given him was causing him to have some pretty vicious thoughts float through his mind.<\/p>\n \u201cMitch says a wish will only come true if you drop a coin down a well,\u201d Little Joe said in the space of his brother\u2019s silence.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I hope you wished that I wouldn\u2019t pound you, \u2018cause that\u2019s what I feel like doin\u2019 right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe pushed out his lower lip as his eyes sank to the ground. \u201cGee, Hoss, I wouldn\u2019t of fell if you hadn\u2019t scared me.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss thought about that for a moment and then with a sigh, reached out to ruffle his brother\u2019s curly mop. \u201cCome on, let\u2019s get you inside and dried off.\u201d<\/p>\n After Joe was dried and dressed in clean clothes, the two brothers once again made their way outside. As Hoss glanced toward the well that had been the scene of a near catastrophe, a sudden thought occurred to him.<\/p>\n \u201cHey, where\u2019d you get money to throw down that well anyway?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n When Little Joe didn\u2019t answer right away, Hoss reached down, grabbed the boy\u2019s arm, and turned him around to face him.<\/p>\n \u201cI said, where\u2019d you get that money?\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe kept his eyes glued to the ground as he scuffed his toe in the dirt. \u201cOff Pa\u2019s desk.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss\u2019s face went white and, keeping his brother\u2019s arm in a vice like grip ran back into the house. Sure enough the coins that had been on the desk that morning were gone.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe, you . . . you didn\u2019t throw all of \u2018em in there, did ya?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I thought the wish might come especially true if I threw more than just one,\u201d he answered meekly.<\/p>\n Hoss sighed and ran a hand over his face. \u201cJoe, those were gold coins. You just threw seven dollars down the well.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIs that a lot?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s more than you\u2019re gonna want to pay for, little brother. Come on.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss once more dragged Little Joe out into the yard, where the two looked forlornly down the deep, dark well. Hoss nearly jumped out of his skin a minute later when Joe shouted beside him.<\/p>\n \u201cHey, Hoss, make a wish. A lady bug is on your back.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s that got to do with anything?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I told Mitch and Seth that the only way a wish will come true is if a lady bug lands on you, and since your wish didn\u2019t come true with the dandelions, and my wish didn\u2019t come true from the well, then I must be the one that\u2019s right. So, go ahead, make a wish. Will you wish that Pa won\u2019t be mad at me for droppin\u2019 that money? Please.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cToo late, little brother,\u201d Hoss said, looking in the distance. \u201cRemember my wish I made this morning. Well, it\u2019s comin\u2019 true right now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou mean, Seth was right? What did you wish for?\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss was looking off down the road, but before he had a chance to answer, Little Joe heard the sounds of two horses approaching the yard, and raced toward the barn and the loft he could hide in.<\/p>\n As Hoss had feared, Little Joe paid for his premium wish for some time to come, and in light of his younger brother’s troubles, he never did tell him that he\u2019d wished his pa and Adam would get home early so that he\u2019d have time to get in a little fishin\u2019. He did, however, spend a lot of time that summer picking Dandelions.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Then end<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Summary: Little Joe has a high price to pay for a very expensive wish.
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