Do wishes ever really come true? Or is it that we work towards making our wishes come true that makes them happen? Robin Baker, a freelance writer, and John Christian, a photography student at Brooks Institute, were challenged by this question.
Robin's wish did come true after she tossed a coin into a fountain. She was at the airport headed to Chicago to ghostwrite for a celebrated novelist, that is, until John stole her wish when he took her coin from the fountain into which she had tossed it. While she didn't know John had taken her coin, she was acutely aware something had happened when she suddenly found herself stranded and destitute at the airport after she got a call canceling her new job.
John happened to come to the airport to pick up his boss. He came across Robin sobbing in the airport waiting room. He introduced himself and they talked about her situation. John felt compelled to help. Though risky, she accepted John's invitation to stay at his home until she could get her life back together.
Robin was shocked to find John's home was, as she described it, an enchanted cottage in a mystical garden, at a great Santa Barbara, California estate. Their relationship moved along until Robin learned John had taken her coin from the fountain. She became very upset. "Wishing coins are something six year olds believe in, Robin. There are no wishes. There is no Peter Pan, no Tinkerbell," John said in his defense.
This infuriated Robin. Wasn't it bad enough John had stolen her wish? It was heartbreaking to have lost her dream job. But for John to now make fun of her beliefs was just too much. Over the next few days she thought about what had happened. While her dream job dissipated when the coin was removed from the fountain, she had to admit her coin had brought them together, though even this was as much in question as wishes coming true. Maybe there are no wishes, she surmised. Maybe wishes were just a holdover from her childhood as John had suggested. Maybe it was time to grow up and face the real world. Maybe?