Fiddling With Fate ✓

Six

The next day, James felt guilty about how he had treated poor Iris, and decided to go to her cabin so he could apologize.

Iris opened the door after a couple seconds, but she didn’t smile like usual. Instead, she looked confused. “Who are you and what are you doing knocking on my door at eight a.m?”

“What are you talking about, Iris? Is this some kind of joke?” Now James was confused too.

“How do you know my name?” Now she looked scared. “No, this is not any kind of joke. I do not know you, and I have no idea what you are doing at my door.”

James thought he understood. “Iris, I’m sorry for how I acted yesterday. You can give up the act now.”

“What act? I don’t know who you are, how you know my name, or why you are apologizing to me at eight in the morning. I will have you know, I won’t hesitate to call the ship security.”

“Security? But Iris-”

It was too late. Iris slammed the door right in James’s face, leaving him to his confused thoughts.

That night, back in his cabin, the reality dawned on James.

Oh my gosh! Wait, I think I know what happened! he thought to himself. I was holding the monkey’s paw while I was arguing with Iris yesterday, and the last thing I said was, ‘I wish you would just leave me alone.’ The monkey’s paw must have granted my wish!

Instead of feeling relief at the new realization, however, James felt even worse. James felt that there were no more options for him. What should I do now? What is there for me in this world of heartbreak and madness? he thought.

Suddenly, James caught a whiff of a certain aroma, a delicious smell that lingered in the cabin air. It was the smell of fresh-baked cookies.

Chocolate chunk cookies.

Iris’s cookies.

James took a deep breath and thought for a minute to remember everything. He remembered Morgie, the quiet daughter whom he had loved so much. He remembered Midgley the dog, that sweet old pooch. He remembered Iris, the kind lady with the ice-blue eyes and chocolate chunk cookies. He remembered how happy they had been together, all the good times.

But now they were all gone.

After all the memories, James wiped the hot tears off his face. He knew exactly what to do. He crept into his bed and wrote a letter to no one in particular, then carefully set it on the nightstand. He took the monkey’s paw from its place on the desk, but instead of feeling rage or sadness or fear, he was surprisingly calm. Finally, he held the paw firmly in his grasp and whispered the third and final wish.

With that, James gently put the paw on top of the letter he had written, crawled back under the covers, and closed his eyes.