There Was a Wizard In My Room

A lesson in fiction.

Robert couldn't believe his eyes, but there it stood in front of him. With a pointy hat, a long grey beard and a staff in his elderly hand. There was a wizard in his room.

“Hello, young man,” the wizard spoke softly.

“A...a...are you really a wizard?”

“Yes, yes I am.”

“Are you going to kill me?”

The wizard gave Robert a most peculiar look, “Now why would I do a thing like that?”

“Well it's 3 in the morning and you're stood at the edge of my bed...” The 9 year old wiped his tired eyes but knew too well he was not dreaming.

“Ha ha ha,” the wizard let out a powerful laugh. “No, no, no, I am a nice wizard.” He smiled as he looked around the boy's room — toys covered all four corners of it and all shared the same theme... “So you like spacey things?” The wizard said whilst fiddling with a miniature C3PO.

“Oh yes!” Robert leaned forward and clutched hold of his covers tightly. “When I grow up I want to be an astronaut!”

“Well that's just ridiculous!” The wizard spat out. “There is no space programme here in Scotland!”

Robert sighed and looked despairingly out of the window at the clear night sky, “Yeah... that's what Daddy always tells me.”

The old man immediately felt guilt run through him and reached out one of his frail hands, placing it on the boys shoulder. “Well, Scotland might not have a space programme, but I certainly do.” The wizard grinned a wide majestic grin.
“Would you like for me to show you?”

Little Robert couldn't believe it, there he was standing on a star, like he was a real-life spaceman.

“Beautiful isn't it?” The wizard smiled down at him from his perch upon a moon.

Robert nodded enthusiastically, it really was like a dream.

And so every now and then the wizard made sure to return to Robert's room during his slumber to grant another wish.

Robert wished for baseball bats, fancy hats, personalized welcome door-mats, a puppy, a budgie, hundreds of money and even an orbiting satellite... and the wizard gave him it all, if only for one night.

Infact, by the time Robert had reached the age of 18, he had now done just about everything a boy could want, as long as it rhymed and was gone when the sun came up.
And he owed it all to that Wizard in his room at night.

However, on the eve of Robert's 19h Birthday, he conjured up a wish so unusual it even took a wizard who had thought he'd heard it all by surprise.

“I wish I was a girl!”

“A girl?” The wizard raised an eyebrow quizzically. “But why?”

“I just think I'd just be happier that way.” Robert shrugged. “So, can you do it for me?”

“Why Robert, I don't think I can.” The wizard backed away slowly.

“But you've always granted my wishes?!”

“And enough was never enough!” The wizard opened the door and walked half way out, “I guess you're just too old now for the wizard in your room.”

And with that the wizard was gone and out of Robert's life.

He waited up every night though for his elderly friend to stop by, but he never did. And every day he cursed him for not granting that final wish.

10 years passed and Robert was now 28, unemployed, and ultimately unhappy. It was now that the wizard decided to re-enter his life, 20 years after they first met.
It took a few pinches, slaps against his own face, and sobering up to make Robert satisfied that he had really returned and he led by demand when the wizard ushered him towards the window in the corner of his adulthood room.

“I'm sorry I didn't grant your last wish, Robert,” the wizard spoke solemnly. “And I'm sorry I forced you to hold on to me for 10 years."

Robert watched as a shooting star traveled directly past his window. “I still want it though, that last wish, I think...”

The wizard turned towards the boy who was now a man who was now also the same height as him, “Because it truly is what you desire? Or because anything would be better than this?” He gestured towards the room and Robert's life in general.

“I... I don't know...”

The Wizard breathed in and out heavily, “You could have brought the universe to Scotland, you know. There was no real reason why you couldn't. Heck, you could have just bought a fancy hat if you really wanted one that bad! But, you didn't. You had all the things you wanted most in life but for one night only.” The Wizard spotted the old C3PO figurine and sighed, “That's all wishing is Robert, wishing can only bring you a little hope and a little joy for a little while, without any action these things just... fade away.”

Small tears had begun dripping down Robert's face.

“If you really want to become a woman, there is absolutely nothing stopping you.”

Robert made a weak attempt to dry his eyes before stepping closer to the wizard, “Are you even real?”

The wizard let out a throaty chuckle, “Ha ha ha, I think we both know the answer to that.”

Robert nodded thoughtfully.

“And so I will grant your final wish tonight if you so choose. Or, you can finally let me go and take action all by yourself.”

Robert looked out again at the starry sky as he thought about all the wishes he had let go to waste over the last 20 years. He thought of how since the moment that wizard set foot in his room he had become so full of hope and wonder, and yet had become so lazy.

“So...” the wizard reached out and put his frail hand on Robert's shoulder once again. “What's it going to be?”