It was the end of the school day. I loved this time because then I could recover from Mr. Jerriso’s lectures. That time it was all about appreciating what you have. I thought he was nuts because it’s hard to appreciate what you have when you don’t have anything.

My dad left as soon as I was born. I never knew him, but whoever he was, I will never forgive him. We lived in a very small house in the back country of Arizona. It wasn’t very lively. Vines and dirt had taken it over.

When I walked inside, I could see the stairs and the door that led to my mom’s room. As I walked into my room, I saw my bed, the only thing that was in my room besides my backpack and the books inside of it. It was very blank, to be specific, pale white. There was no color whatsoever.

I had finished my homework, and it must’ve been hard considering that it was night time by the time I was done. The stars were out and the moon gleamed across the sky. One thing stood out the most to me, a star that shot across the sky. “Maybe this could be my way out,” I thought. I took another second to think, and then blurted out, “I wish I had something that would make my life a little bit better than it is now.” I heard a pop in the floor below me. Soon, the floor popped rapidly. I got on my bed. As soon as I did, the floor below my bed fell in, leaving me to go sailing down to my mom’s room below. “Great!” I yelled, as I got out of my bed and walked across my mom’s bedroom floor, covered with wood and dust.
My mom wasn’t there. I wondered why, and then thanked God because I could clean up the mess from my floor before she got home.

It took me all night. My mom’s room ended up being cleaner than it was before my floor fell in. I was calm, until I looked at the clock. It showed “8:05”. I called my mom’s cell phone and she picked up.

“Hello,” She said.

“Hey Mom, could you call me in sick today?” I asked

“Why, what happened,” She asked

“My bedroom floor fell in,” I said frustrated.

“You won’t have to worry about that.” She said.

“Why?” I asked, and then continued, “
I don’t have a room anymore and you have a hole in the ceiling. I’m going to have to sleep on that hundred- year- old couch!”

“No you won’t, honey. Last night I bought an old Victorian house. It’s white and has many rooms,” She exaggerated.

“Wait, where is it?” I asked.

“It’s in Inman, South Carolina!” She said excitedly.

“Do you mean we’re moving? All the way across the country?” I asked angrily. Then responded, “No!”

That “no” didn’t work. When my mom got home, we packed our bags with the little amount of clothes we owned, and then soon went to the airport. We flew many hours. I thought it was never going to end until we landed in Columbia, South Carolina, and then soon continued in a taxi to the town of Inman.

We arrived at our new house, and soon I found out my mom’s exaggerations. The paint on the house was white, but it had brown spots where the paint was peeled off. The door had a golden handle and knocker and was covered in cobwebs.

We went inside and I soon found out why she bought the house. The deed on the table shown it was sold for three hundred dollars. It was really nice for what it was worth, though. At least it was better than our old house.

I went upstairs to my new room. It had old wallpaper and a smooth ceiling, with an opening that led to the attic. The floors were sturdy, thankfully. I didn’t want to go plunging downstairs any time soon. The main colors were red and white. The bed was large. It was prepared with clean sheets and, at the end of it, a folded bedspread.

I opened the closet; inside it was a ladder to the attic. I set the ladder into the opening of the attic. The inside of it was pitch black. I took a flashlight out of my backpack and shone it in the attic. It was small, consisting of an air conditioning unit. I suddenly looked over only to find an old Victorian pocket watch. It was golden and had a very unique design. I opened it and inside there was a note.

The note was addressed, “To Whom It May Concern.” It continued with, “This watch contains the ability to change certain events in your life.”

“Wow!” I said in amazement.

“The only catch is that you have to sum up the event in one wish.” It continued. I skipped the rest, and then continued with a wish.

“I wish I had a perfect life!” I yelled with feeling. There was a quick flash of light, and then the flashes were more constant.

I ended up landing in unknown front lawn in the suburbs. Typically, all the houses looked the same. I knocked on the door of the house I landed next to and, surprisingly my mom answered the door.

“Did you forget your key, honey?” she asked.

“No. Since when did we move here?” I asked.

“We’ve always lived here, silly,” She said about ready to laugh. “Your dad will be home in a few minutes to take you to the golf course.”

“My Dad?” I asked surprised.

“Yes, your dad,” She said.

“I don’t even like golf!” I yelled.

I noticed that the perfect world I mentioned wasn’t so great. A car soon pulled up.

“Let’s get going,” the man said, “We don’t want to miss tee time”
I put my hands in my pockets and said, “No”, then continued inside. A mirror met me after I opened the door. A strange face stood there, staring at me. I felt something in my pocket and noticed it was the note. I scanned it until I could find a clue of who owned it last. It had sentences before the signature. They read, “Just don’t wish for the perfect life,” and continued, “It’s not so great-Sincerely, Mike D. Jerriso.”