Wish Upon A Bubble

WISH UPON A BUBBLE

Russell’s day just got worse. He had missed the bus. Because he missed the bus, he missed the train. He rushed to make up time, spilled his coffee, got to the office late, and was told he was no longer needed. Not because he was late, but because the company was downsizing. 

Now as he sat in the coffee shop pondering his future and the world falling apart according to the news, someone stepped in front of him and blocked his view.

His eyes drifted up from the man’s waist to his face with a touch of irritation. Before Russell could say anything, the man spoke.

“Can I sit down?”

Without waiting for an answer the man pulled out the chair opposite Russell and sat. Russell opened his mouth to object but the man spoke quickly.

“I’m glad I found you, Russell. We need to talk.”

Russell closed his mouth confused, frowned, and then asked as his eyes narrowed, “Do I know you?”

“You don’t know me no. But I know you.” The man smiled. He was young, thirtyish, had wild hair that looked as if he had not brushed it in a week and had just woken up.

“How…..”

“You are the man who made the greatest wish ever!”

Russell was truly perplexed. This man was insane. “I think you should leave.”

“Can’t do that Russ, my friend,” the man said. He had sparkling blue eyes and an overbite. His front teeth stood out from under his lip like a bunny rabbit and his ears protruded from the sides of his head further than anyone else Russell had ever known. The man reminded Russell of Goofy or Plug from the Beano comics.

“I’m not your friend,” Russell said acidly not in the mood to tolerate this man.

“Just give me a few minutes. Then if you still want me to leave, I’ll leave. Even if you don’t want me to leave, I’ll leave.”

Russell sighed. “Okay. If that’s what it takes.”

“Thank you.” The man sat forward hand extended. “I’m Bubbadream.” 

Russell could think of nothing to say so stayed silent. This was simply getting weirder by the second. He shook Bubbadream’s hand.

“Do you remember when you were a child? You loved bubbles so much. You played with bubbles every day and you cried when your bubble liquid was finished. Do you remember that your parents eventually kept a ready stock in their cupboard?”

Russell recalled the time in his life when he had loved playing with bubbles. How Bubbadream could know about his love for bubbles as a child was beyond him. Russell nodded hesitantly. “How do you know…?”

Bubbadream held up his hand, “Do you remember how you loved to make bubbles and watch them blow away on the wind until they popped or disappeared?”

Russell remembered and was beginning to smile. He nodded.

“And do you remember that at some point you started making wishes when you saw the bubbles floating away? And at some point, you made the same wish with every bubble, every day until you finally had a bubble that didn’t pop but floated away until you couldn’t see it anymore?”

Russell stretched his memory trying to recall. Vaguely he remembered something like what Bubbadream was describing. He nodded.

“Well, that bubble remained intact until today. At least until the early hours of this morning that is. It popped. I popped it to be exact. And now my friends are calling me ‘Bad Dream Bub’.”

Russell frowned again. His happy nostalgia quickly faded as he thought of the impossibility of a bubble surviving all these years. “I think you’re nuts. What does that have to do with me?”

“Everything. Your whole life. The whole world.”

“You’re insane,” Russell said irritation creeping back into his voice. 

“How has your day been Russell?” Bubbadream asked speaking quickly. “Less than great right?”

“Shit happens!” Russell said angrily as he started to gather his things.

“We went from world peace to a world on the brink of war within hours Russ. Look at the TV.”

Russell paused. The news showed missiles parading through the streets of Moscow and the by-line read, “Deadline to nuclear war hours away.”

Russell shook his head. “So what? Am I supposed to believe that a wish I made when I was a child has been kept alive all these years and kept the world stable? What about everybody else’s wishes? Their wishes don’t matter?”

‘What was your wish?” Bubbadream asked urgency in his voice.

Russell picked up his things and stood. He dropped a five-dollar note on the table to pay for his coffee and walked to the door.

Behind Russell, Bubbadream called out loudly bringing everyone in the coffee shop to a halt. “I wish to marry and live the happiest life ever with our children in a beautiful home in a world where there is forever peace and every person’s wish comes true, as long as it’s a good wish, spreads love, and makes the world a better place.”

Russell froze in his tracks. He recalled those words, the wish as if it were yesterday. He turned and retraced his steps ignoring the looks of other patrons in the coffee shop. He sat down and Bubbadream sat down again too.

“Who are you?” Russell asked quietly.

“Bubbadream. Wish keeper of wishes upon bubbles. Sadly I messed up and I popped yours this morning. Why do you think you suddenly see the world falling apart?”

“But how can my wish be the only wish that holds the world together?” 

“It wasn’t the only one. It was just the most powerful one so other wishes were attached to it. And when your bubble popped, they all popped too.”

“So what am I supposed to do now?” 

“Blow another bubble, wish another wish,” Bubbadream said as if it was something Russell did every day. 

“But it could take days before I make one that doesn’t pop!”

“It might also be the first bubble you make ….” Bubbadream let the thought hang in the air. 

“Why don’t you just find another kid to wish on a bubble? I’m not a kid anymore. Adults don’t believe in magic anymore. You must know that.”

“Puhleeeezzzz!” Bubbadream said rolling his eyes and throwing his hands up. “Do you know what kids are wishing for these days? They’re wishing for smartphones, computer games, money, and everything simply to be given to them.”

“Surely not all of them?”

“No not all of them but the ones playing with bubbles are. Times have changed Russell.”

“So what do I have to do?”

Bubbadream smiled revealing more goofy teeth. “Start blowing and wishing,” he said. putting a bottle of bubble fluid on the table. “But you have to get to an open area otherwise bubbles are just going to fly into buildings and cars and people and pop. Pop! Pop! Pop!”

Bubbadream flicked his fingers in the air dramatically each time he said “Pop!” louder than before. Other people in the coffee shop began to look their way again but Bubbadream was oblivious to their stares. “No wish will make it out alive.”

“Well, I’ve got nothing else to do,” Russell said grabbing the fluid. “Let’s go.”

“That’s the spirit!” Bubbadream cried attracting more looks from people in the coffee shop. Together they left the coffee shop and made their way to the underground. They took the first train that came and rode for more than thirty minutes. They finally exited the underground and using Russell’s phone followed the map until they reached a park.

“Perfect!” cried Bubbadream.

“What if I run out of bubble liquid?”

“Don’t worry about that!” Bubbadream smiled as he magically produced another bottle of fluid from nowhere.

Russell moved off towards the middle of the field and opened the bottle. Then he began blowing.

Bubble after bubble. Wish after wish. Pop. PoP. pOp. pOP!

Russell began to feel pressure as he believed what Bubbadream had told him. With each bubble that popped, the wish he made popped too.

Bubbadream came closer. He was becoming increasingly animated and excited. “Change the wish! Change the wish!” he cried every time the bubble popped.

“What do you mean?” Russell asked frustrated.

“There can be no full stops in the wish. It must be one sentence. If there is a full stop it is more than one wish. A bubble can’t hold more than one wish. One bubble, one wish!”

Russell paused and closed his eyes trying to focus and clear his mind. His goals had changed in life. Why would he make the same wish? He blew again making more wishes. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop!

“Wish for the right thing!” Bubbadream cried.

“What do you mean?” Russell asked again, anger and frustration edging into his voice.

“Don’t wish for what you think you need to wish for. Wish for what’s in your heart!”

Russell paused again. Closed his eyes. What did he want? How could he put it into one sentence? Then, finally, he had it.

Blow and wish.

Bubble. Floating. Higher than any before today. 

Yes! 

Pop! Nooooooo! 

Bubbadream was watching the news on Russell’s handphone and was becoming more and more stressed as he watched the news unfolding.

“Again! Again!” Bubbadream cried in a panic. “We’re almost out of time!”

Russell blew and wished. 

Again. 

Pop. 

Again. 

Pop!

Again…… 

POP!

Bubbadream’s cries had died down until now finally he simply said, “Oh no. Save us.” His tone was one of defeat.

“What is it?” Russell asked worriedly. He crossed to where Bubbadream was watching the news on his phone. Russia had launched nuclear missiles and America was retaliating.

“We have less than 15 minutes and this world ends. Everything we know is history. We all cease to exist. That’s how powerful your wish was….” Bubbadream’s voice trailed off reminding Russell of a child who had reached the end of a competition. A child who had finally accepted losing despite sustaining their hope of winning until the very end.

Russell hesitated, disbelieving. How could it be possible that a wish could prevent what was happening? His wish. How could he have that much power? In that instant though, there was one thing he knew for sure. He did not want to die. He did not want the world to end. There was so much he still wanted to see and do. He hadn’t even begun to live yet.

He stepped away from Bubbadream and opened the bubble liquid he carried. He kicked the empty bubble bottles out of the way as he walked back to the center of the field. Then he stopped, closed his eyes and made a wish……..

As he opened his eyes he blew on the bubble stick……..

The bubble that formed was perfect. 

It clung to the stick for a moment and then ……. floated away. It dipped towards the ground briefly before the wind’s invisible hands grasped it and carried it away……. Gently, up, up, and away.

Bubbadream had ceased his commentary the moment the bubble had been released. 

The world around them seemed to fade away. All sounds disappeared as if the world had frozen, stopped, and was watching, praying for the bubble to survive.

It floated up, up, up, its rainbow colors sparkling in the sunlight. Bubbadream cried happily, “Yes!”

Russell looked over at him and smiled as he watched Bubbadream running his hands through his wild hair and jumping up and down excitedly. “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

He turned and looked back up at the bubble. It was gone from sight and his heart sank. Had it popped or was it simply too far away to be seen? 

He looked back at Bubbadream for confirmation and realized in the same instant that Bubbadream was no longer shouting.

Bubbadream ….. was gone. Russell looked around hastily. How could he disappear? He expected at any moment to see Bubbadream running around the field screaming “Yes!” as he clutched at his wild hair making it seem even wilder. But he didn’t. 

Then he heard a cry. Distant. It was Bubbadream. But where………? Russell looked up. Bubbadream was floating in the sky.

“It’s safe! I won’t let this one pop! Thank you!” Bubbadream’s mad laughter was audible even from so high up.

Russell couldn’t help but smile as he watched until Bubbadream was just a speck in the sky and then finally vanished. He picked up his mobile phone where Bubbadream had dropped it. He activated the screen and found the news.

The reporter was saying something about nuclear missiles that disappeared miraculously and how Russia and America had made peace at the last minute.

Russell smiled. 

So wishes really do come true……..

And bubbles really are magical.