I walked in silence while Xiz floated beside me, lost in thought. It’s not my fault, it was their choice. I warned them of the consequences. It’s not my fault. What do I do now? Get rid of this? I can’t keep using this. I have a million bucks, this should be enough for getting a good lawyer to fight my brother’s case.

Then, from the deepest, darkest corners of my mind, a voice popped up. But what if it’s not enough? What if the case drags on and you run out of money again? What if nothing is left for your own future? This isn’t enough, you have to keep going. This could be your only chance.

But what about the consequences? This can’t be worth it, I’ll ruin lives.

Well you live and learn. Don’t go for such large scale problems, stick to small ones, and be smarter about the wishes. Go for richer clients, get even more money! You’ll be able to buy a house, free your brother, let your parents finally retire, and live the life you’ve always wanted!

I don’t know…

Just try one more, see how it goes.

Fine…

And get lots of bones for Xiz, can’t forget your buddy.

Yeah, bones for X-

“Hey! Was that you in my head? Can you read my mind?” I asked, turning to Xiz.

“W-whaat? No, those were your own thoughts. I wasn’t listening in on your internal conflict and made you think of getting me more bones'' Xiz answered, eyes darting around.

“Don’t do that Xiz, it’s rude.”

I made up my mind, I was gonna keep doing this, more carefully though. Xiz and I kept walking, leaving Emerald Fields in our dust. By the afternoon, after following the road for quite some time, I was able to get some reception on my phone and then sent an anonymous tip about the mayor to the provincial police. I don’t think they’ll be able to do anything about it at the moment with everything going on there now but at least they’ll have it on file or something.

I scrolled through my contacts, looking for an old friend from uni, good ol Berny. I rang his number and waited through the rings, no answer. Then my phone buzzed. A text.

B: You know I don’t like phone calls. Wassup?

R: need your help with something, let's meet up. Where you at?

B: Nouveau City but ain’t that far from your place?

R: kk omw, send the whole address too

B: Will do

I got a Rad Ride to pick me up and take me to Nouveau City. It was pretty far from where I was now but I knew there would be a lot of rich people there to sell wishes to. I gave the driver 5 stars and a tip for being quiet the whole ride. I stepped out of the vehicle in front of the apartment building, noticing the homeless man sleeping in front of the doors. The building seemed old and in disrepair. I carefully stepped over him and got inside the building, texting Berny to buzz me in.

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When I heard a ’buzz’, I pushed the door open and got inside the building. I went over to the elevator but it looked like it was out of service. Damnit. Xiz had already ditched me and was probably checking out the apartment. I walked over to the flight of stairs that reeked of cigarettes and the smell of something dead and made my way up.

Finally, I made it to Berny’s apartment and knocked on his door. It swung open to reveal Berny, taller, chubbier, and balder than the last time I saw him, wearing a t-shirt and shorts.

“Hey man, long time no see!” he said happily, giving me a bear hug.

“Good to see you too bro,” I struggled to say while being squeezed. He let go of me and we walked into the apartment. The place was a mess, just like his dorm room used to be. Empty bottles here, empty cup noodles there, and a pile of unfolded laundry in the corner. I sat down on the couch and he brought some snacks over.

“Well, what brings you all the way to my neck of the woods?” he asked, so I told him what happened before, about how I found some mysterious shop and bought the paw, even how the first wish I used to alleviate a drought ended up flooding a town. He stared at me for a moment, as if waiting for a punchline.

“Haha, you’re so funny. I don’t get why you made up all that stuff but I’m not falling for it.”

“I’m serious, see,” I took out the paw from my bag and showed him. He picked it up and turned it over in his hands.

“So you bought some hyper realistic severed monkey hand, so what?” he said while poking it. “Damn, how much did this cost? It feels so real.”

I sighed, leaning back into my seat. “It is real, I’m not kidding. What, you want proof? Xiz, make it do something.”

The paw pinched his hand. He chuckled and said “Haha, how’d you do that? Is it, like, voice activated? Xiz, make a fist.” The paw curled all of its fingers inwards and made a fist. “That’s sick, yo. You could really fool people with this.”

“I’m being serious, it’s real. Grants wishes with horrible consequences and all.”

“Unclench” commanded Berney as it opened up the hand. “Okay okay, now do the phone thing with the hand.” The pinky finger and thumb stuck out while all the other fingers bent inwards. “Haha, wow, this does everything. Hello hello?” he joked, putting it to his ear and pretending to use it as a phone. Suddenly his eyes grew wide in shock and he quickly put the paw down on the coffee table. “Haha, woah, how’d you make it say my name?”

“I didn’t. I keep telling you, it’s real. Make it go back to normal Xiz.” The hand went back to normal with the pinky finger curled inwards and the rest of the fingers open. “See, this is to show I used the first wish.”

“Right buddy. I believe you” he said sarcastically. “Why do you call it Xiz?”

“That’s the name of the demon granting wishes, not the paw.”

“Uh-huh, whatever you say. Prove it.”

“Sure, why not? Xiz is right here. Could you show yourself to him?” I said while turning to him.

“What, are you schizo now?” asked Berny. “There’s no one beside you. I’m not falling for this.”

“You sure about this?” Xiz asked hesitantly while staring at Berny.

“Yeah, Bern’s an old friend, we can trust him.”

He shrugged his shoulders.“If you say so.”

Suddenly, Berny started yelling. “What the hell is that!?” He climbed over his seat backwards while looking at us and then fell onto the ground. “AHHHHH!!” he screamed in terror while trying to run out of the room.

“Woah woah woah, chill Berny,” said Xiz, reaching for Berny while seated, his arms stretching like snakes after their prey. This terrified Berny even more, making him scream louder and try to get out. Xiz snapped his fingers, making all the open doors slam shut. He struggled with the door handles to no avail, panicking more. Xiz kept stretching his arms after him, chasing where he was running to then finally catching him. One hand covered his mouth, muffling his shrieks while the other wrapped around him.