On a cool, breezy afternoon when the sun shone brightly in a clear blue sky, three kind and helpful children arrived in the countryside with their parents Mr and Mrs Hen. The place was to be their new home.

There were two girls named Anne and Jenny and the third was a boy named Ron. All the children worked hard all week until everything was completely set and not a single thing was out of its place.

On Monday morning of their second week Mrs Hen gave each of the children a basket to pick blackberries and some flowers from the woods nearby. She also packed them a delicious lunch to eat along with a beautiful table cloth that she had spent days knitting.

With these precious trea­sures from their mother, the beautiful children set off towards the woods. They collected and counted all the flowers and blackberries. They noticed that one flower Jenny had picked was more beautiful than the rest, but no one commented on it. Then just as they were about to sit down to enjoy their delicious lunch, a light began to come from the prettiest flower that Jenny had picked.

The light grew brighter and brighter until a figure formed and a tall, slim girl with long, brown hair and big, blue eyes stood before them in a pure white lace dress.

“I am the magic of the magic flower. My name is Life and my home is in this beautiful flower. I will grant you one wish, but be careful what you wish for because the wish will come true and cannot be undone.”

The children were surprised and excited at the same time and were not sure if Life was for real or just a dream. They figured that Life was for real because all of them could not be having the same dream. They took Life to their mother, who had been waiting for the children to come home. Their mother was astonished to see Life in her home. Anne explained to her mother how Jenny had come to find that flower and what Life had told them.

Their mother was silent for a long time as if deep in thought and then she finally said to Jenny, “I leave the wish up to you.”

Jenny said nothing and hours passed. At last she said in her soft voice to Life, “I wish for a wand that granted all our wishes and its magic never runs out.”

Instantly Life vanished and on the table was a golden wand with a white star on top. Jenny picked it up and said, “Make us very, very rich.”

Immediately an enormous pile of cash appeared on the table along with jewellery, designer clothes and more riches than you could imagine.

The sight was out of this world for the Hen family who had always been rather poor. Soon they were surrounded with servants in a house as big as a palace and nine huge cars. They realised that Life had given them more luxury than a king.

To outsiders the Hen family seemed to be very lucky, glamorous and enviable, but they were actually becoming sad. They had lost all their privacy and were always surrounded by the media with no time to do all the simple and joyful things the way they used to. They realised that they were happier before Life granted them their wish.

Jenny felt this sadness deeply and so she went and threw the magic wand along with all the riches in a deep blue sea. As soon as she did this, the family had a good long hug and vowed they would never try to change themselves again. They ate the delicious lunch Mrs Hen had cooked with love rather than something concocted by their master chef, and cherished every moment of happiness.

The Hen family lives to this day and wonders whether they will ever encounter Life again. Jenny will be the first to tell Life to grant wishes only if they will make people happy otherwise let them go their way. Do you think Jenny will meet Life again?

Published in Dawn, Young World, August 18th, 2018