Chapter 2 - The Story

Long ago in a sleepy village, there lived many little people blessed with peaceful and joyful days. Surrounded by grass and trees, they were happy, living under the coddling watch of a ruby that sat in the center of the village.

The ruby was magical, holding the power to make wishes come true. Anything the village wanted and asked of the ruby, the ruby gave to them. The people were content, happy that the ruby gave them everything they wanted and never had to ask for anything more.

One day, a little girl came to the ruby and made a wish: "I wish I had all the candy in the village." The ruby granted her wish, giving her every kind of candy ever made in the village. The girl took the candies, smiling with joy. But across the village, many children were saddened to see their candy shops completely empty.

Later, an old man came to the ruby and made a wish: "I wish I had all the water in the village." The ruby granted his wish, bringing water around him anywhere he was. The old man danced within the waves, smiling with joy. But across the village, many people were surprised to find their rivers and wells dry.

After that, a young man came to the ruby and made a wish: "I wish I had all the land in the village." The ruby granted his wish, giving to him the whole village to choose from. After he chose, he began to build a new house, smiling with joy. But across the village, everyone's hearts grew heavy as they no longer had homes to live in.

The village lost its happy and peaceful air as the people had no food, no water, and no homes. Because a few had wished for everything, everyone else had nothing.

Out of the many people, a young and brash boy went to the village's heart where the ruby sat. He looked upon it and made a wish: "I wish you were all mine."

He waited for the ruby to grant his wish, but to his shock, the ruby did not. Instead, the ruby glowed, shook, and cracked as it became angry. It broke into pieces, each piece held by a hand belonging to a powerful creature, which came out of the ruby like a chick hatching from an egg.

"All I gave, but more you demanded," it roared, "so more is demanded from you!"

In that moment, the ruby turned the boy into a hideous beast, and did it again to the young man, old man, and little girl. The people fled across the village in fear as they were pursued by terrible monsters, which destroyed their houses and tried to devour them whole.

But then, a mother and her son stopped running and instead turned to face the monsters.

"Go," the mother said to her son, "I will make a wish to the ruby to stop them."

But the son held on to her in worry. "But mother, what if you become a monster too?"

The mother smiled and held her son, assuring him that it would not happen. She turned and ran to the ruby. When she was close, she made a wish: "I wish for everyone to be saved from the monsters."

The ruby was not impressed that yet another wish was made to it. It prepared to cast the same curse on her as it did with the other monsters. The mother waited to be turned, understanding the price she had to pay.

But to her surprise, she did not become a monster. She turned around and saw that her son had made a wish to the ruby before her. "My boy, what did you do?" she asked him.

The son smiled. "The ruby spoke to me," he said. "I wished that when you made your wish, you would not become a monster."

The mother was shocked at what her son had done, but looked around to find that the ruby granted her wish. Bubbles surrounded the monsters before rolling them away from the village. A bubble then formed around the son, taking him away from his mother. The mother cried out and tried to go after him, but he was already gone.

Peace and happiness soon returned to the village, but the mother continued to look out into the distance, waiting for her son to return home. For the rest of her days, she hoped to be with him again, thankful but saddened that he had taken on her curse.

Even now, the monsters continue to roam the lands beyond the village, a grim reminder of the consequences of one's selfish greed.

To this day, anyone who wishes upon the ruby will be given a gift, but in turn, another is punished as payment for the ruby's generosity.