Coming to Terms With the End of the World

Not paying the Sin of Solace any attention, Sunny bent down and studied the rune. 

It was carved into the wood, but not with any kind of instrument. The grooves were deep, but crude and uneven, with rough and shaky edges. It was as if someone used their nails to scratch the rune into the wooden surface in a fit of madness. 

The rune was a familiar one, too. 

"Wish."

It had other meanings, too — desire, yearning, longing, aspiration… even hope, sometimes, depending on the context. Sunny knew that rune all too well. How could he not, after spending so much time on the Chained Isles?

But its most fundamental meaning was just that, a wish. 

He stared at the rune for some time, thinking.

Who had carved it into the ancient wood? And why?

Had it been carved before the piece of wood he was using as a raft ended up as flotsam, or after?

What did it mean?