Her Final Wish

Before I continue, I must say something. I've always been a small time gamer. While my friends saved all their pennies to buy the latest consoles and cutting edge games, I was incredibly intent with my Nintendo 64, some consider it the best console of all time. I spent my free time exploring every inch of Hyrule, and perfecting my secret agent skills in GoldenEye 007. Sure, maybe I wasn't the coolest guy ever, but I was very content, and had loving parents. Childhood was a great time for me, so moving out wasn't an easy transition. My social skills left a lot to be desired, so I spent a lot of time indoors, catching up with my internet friends, and roaming every corner of the internet. With all the updated technology available nowadays, I though, maybe, after 20 years, it might be time for a little upgrade. However, today's gaming market is a freaking minefield. Would I buy and build my own PC, or would I buy the sleekest looking console I can buy. I worked hard in school, and took no prisoners, so money wasn't a problem. My limited knowledge of technology, however, was. Eventually, after 3 days of research, I decided, hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. So I spent the rest of the 4th day searching for the best value Nintendo 64 console, with games and hopefully a controller. It didn't take me long to find a great deal; A mint condition console, bundled with 4 games and a controller. Both of the classic Zelda's, GoldenEye, it was bringing back a wave of nostalgia. Although, something caught my eye. An old purple cartridge, right at the back, caught my attention. It looked like the original sticker had been removed, with the white sticker still on the front. The owner had obviously gone over front with a thick black marker pen, but I couldn't make it out, due to it being stuck behind the other games. Aside from that, the product seemed absolutely perfect, it was just what I'd been looking for. Considering what was being sold, the asking price was staggeringly low. Whatever, I wasn't about to complain. I quickly ordered the console, after checking the customer feedback, which was damn near perfect. Delivery showed that it should arrive at lunchtime tomorrow. I could hardly believe my luck. To my surprise, the console actually arrived the same day I ordered it. The seller personally delivered it to my house. He seemed like a perfectly normal, happy guy, although he did seem very happy to hand the console over to me. When I questioned him about it, he said something about how gaming overtook his son's life, and he wants his son to develop more. I didn't question this, instead, I thanked the man, and when he was gone, I unwrapped the console from the bubble wrap. It felt great to be holding the console I had become so familiar with. The games looked perfect, and I checked for dust, as any self respecting gamer would. Then, two things struck me. The listing clearly stated that only one controller was bundled, however, there were two included. This didn't scare me or shock me, it was just a free controller. I suppose the guy bundled it in for free, he had no use for it anymore. And then, I rooted through the box, and found the old cartridge. It had erratic writing on the front, but I could clearly make out the words "The Wishing Well" I'd never heard of it, and quickly looked it up on my phone. No results whatsoever. I was undeterred, however. Hyrule was calling to me, and I could not resist. The console took minutes to set up, and I inserted both controllers, leaving the second one on top of my console. I inserted Ocarina of Time, and spent about two hours, reliving my childhood. It was absolutely brilliant, and impressive to see how well the game still holds up. But, I couldn't ignore the small voice in the back of my head, reminding me of the old cartridge. When I had reached a point where I was ready to stop playing, I removed Ocarina of Time from my N64, and took The Wishing Well in my hands. I had to be very careful, it could be bootlegged, nothing, or a faulty cartridge, which might do some damage to my system. However, my curiosity got the better of me, and I inserted the old cartridge in my system. One weird thing happened first off. My controller died on me, forcing me to use the one I had inserted in the second slot. I checked, and the second controller would only work in the second slot. Anyway, the console booted up as normal, but the Nintendo 64 logo span the opposite way. That didn't matter, maybe the cartridge was a hack, and it's the author's way of identifying their work? Anyway, the game took about 3 minutes to load, and the title screen came up. The title screen showed a grey misted backdrop, with a small town faintly visible. In the center of the screen, was a small, basic well. The game was rather dated in terms of graphics, looking like an early N64 game. Nothing happened for about 2 minutes. In the background, was a faint sound of jaunty music, not unsettling, rather, quite uplifting. Then, a small girl walked onto the screen. She had short, jet black hair, and a long grayish dress, not unlike the misted backdrop. She walked towards the well, carrying a bucket with her. She used the well, and fetched her water. I thought this might just be a funny little animation, just a little project someone worked on. Then, after the girl filled her bucket, a small darker text box appeared above her. "You have 3 coins. Make a wish today?" I thought this was pretty weird, but it had a certain charm to it. I accepted, and the girl fished a coin from the bottom of the bucket, and threw it straight into the well. "Thanks for playing. You've made me happy. You have two coins. Come back tomorrow!" The girl walked off screen, and the background dimmed down. The console flashed off, and I sat back in my chair, flicking the channel over to the news, just for ambient noise. I didn't know what that was, but, despite the lack of plot or sense, I enjoyed it. Why, when it had no rhyme or reason. I looked at the news, and the time in the corner displayed 23:37. Damn, it was late. I headed up for bed, my head filled with both my Hyrule adventures, and the charming little girl. I got my nightly glass of water, and headed to bed, falling asleep almost instantly. My night was peaceful, no dreams, nightmares, random awakenings, nothing. I awoke the next morning feeling incredibly refreshed. I got myself washed, dressed, and made my breakfast, itching to return to my console, but not to Link, rather, to the little girl, and the well. As soon as I was ready, I booted my console, and the boot sequence ran, with the logo spinning in the wrong direction again. The backdrop loaded, yet it looked a shade darker than last time. The village was more faint, and I couldn't make it out very well, as it kinda faded into the background, looking blurred. This time, it took around 4 minutes for the girl to appear. Her hair was far longer, and her dress looked more worn, and shorter, more like a year had passed, not less than 7 hours. She went up to the well, and placed the bucket in. It took her a worrying amount of time for her to retrieve the bucket again, and the water looked... dirty, and had a similar color to the mist. The text box popped up again "You have 2 coins. Make a wish today?" I felt odd, and slightly unnerved. I thought about this question. It seemed to make her happy last time. I took a long time to make a decision, but before I could choose "Yes", another text box appeared. "Hurry and make up your damn mind." This was a little startling. Sure, she was an animation, and I could turn it off at any time, but I felt very strange, like I was responsible for her decrepit look. But I gave her a wish yesterday. Contemplating this, I clicked yes. The girl fished a coin from the bottom of the bucket again, and dropped it on the floor, and bent over to pick it up, and in the process, dropped the water. I felt horrible. The little girl brought up another text box "No. Mummy won't be happy. Please. Mummy will be very sad" I felt slightly sick, which bewildered me. This wasn't real. She wasn't real. Yet, I was scared. Then, a very faint weeping came from the speakers in my TV. But this chilled me to the core. This wasn't any normal sound clip. This was incredibly realistic, more like the speakers were holes in the wall, and the girl was in the next room. Then, a colossal thump came from upstairs. My N64 immediately shut off. My heart thumping, I stayed perfectly still, but no further sound came. I moved from my downstairs room to the kitchen, and grabbed the largest knife in my drawer, and headed up the stairs, following the sound. TO BE CONTINUED.