In the country of England, around the year 1920, a man by the name of Mr. White walked down to the ocean. He put a metal box with two hinges and a clasp into the water. As he did this, he muttered, "There. I hope this doesn't cause any more trouble." Unfortunately, his hope did not come true.

In the year of 2008, Shinichi Kudou, an 8-year-old boy with hair that stuck up a lot in front, was playing at a beach near his hometown of Tokyo, Japan. He was trying to see how far into the earth he could dig without hitting any clay or water. After 25 minutes, he hit something hard with his shovel. Reaching into the ground, Shinichi grabbed the hard thing and pulled it out of the hole. It turned out to be an old, metal box. He opened it, only to find what looked like a withered, hairy hand and a very old note, which he couldn't read. He ran over to his mother, Yukiko, and his father, Yusaku. "Do either of you know how to read this?" he asked. Yusaku took the paper and looked at it. "It's in English, but I can read it. It says, 'Danger! Do not wish on this monkey's paw. If you do, your wishes will backfire, and you will suffer the consequences." "Well, that's an interesting note, but you should get rid of the paw. Who knows what germs it could have on it." said Yukiko. "OK." Shinichi sighed. He went back to where his shovel was. "I wonder if this thing really works." he thought. He held it up and whispered, "I wish my hair wasn't so crazy." A few moments after he said that, a strong wind picked up, blew through his hair, and then died down. "Shinichi! Time to go!" Yukiko called. Shinichi ran over to his parents. "I'm here." he said. "Who are you?" asked Yukiko. "Mom! It's me! Did you get amnesia or something?" Shinichi yelled. "Either this random kid called you 'Mom', or I need new glasses." said Yusaku. "Your glasses are fine." Yukiko replied. "Can I borrow your mirror?" Shinichi asked Yukiko. "Sure, but you better not steal it." she answered. She pulled her compact out of her purse and handed it to him. When he looked in it, he could barely recognize himself. His hair was sticking straight down, and his bangs went down to right above his eyes. "Can I also borrow your hair gel?" he asked. Yukiko handed it to him. He squirted some into his hand, put it into his hair, and made his bangs stick up like they usually did. "Oh, it is you. Sorry, Shinichi." Yukiko apologized. They went home and spent the evening in happiness.

The next day, Shinichi was reading a book under a tree. The monkey's paw was sitting behind him. "Hi, Shinichi!" said a voice. Shinichi jumped up in surprise and dropped his book. "Ran! Don't startle me like that!" he yelled. Ran Mouri, a pretty girl the same age as Shinichi, looked offended. "There's no need to yell." she pouted. "Well, I'm reading, so go away." he told her. "What's that?" Ran asked, pointing to the monkey's paw. "This? It's...nothing." Shinichi replied, picking up the monkey's paw. "It sure looks like something. An ugly something, but still something. Can I see it?" she questioned. "No!" Shinichi shouted. "Go away! I wish everyone would just leave me alone for once!" He started reading again, completely ignoring Ran. 30 minutes later, he looked up from his book. "Something seems wrong, but I can't figure it out." he thought. He looked around for a long time, and finally he figured it out. "It's too quiet, but Tokyo is never quiet." he said to himself. There wasn't a person in sight. "What's going on?" Shinichi wondered. He ran home, shouting, "Mom! Dad! Something weird's going on here!" There was no reply. He looked all around the house, even under the beds. They weren't anywhere in the house. There wasn't even a note saying where they went. Shinichi went to one of the busiest streets in the city. No one was there, either. He finally figured out why he was the only one left in Tokyo. "It was that wish I made when I was yelling at Ran. The paw made it come true!" he reasoned. He ran back to the tree where he left his book and the monkey's paw. Picking them up, he dashed back to his house. "This needs to end now. I can't live alone forever. I'm already lonely." he said. He held up the paw and wished, "I wish everyone would come back, and no tricks!" After that, he heard car engines running and people talking, so he knew his wish worked. "In all of the stories, things like this only give 3 wishes, so this thing has no power anymore, but just to be safe, I should get rid of it." he thought. He got out all of the things he needed for the procedure.

Shinichi took a knife, a cup, and the blender out of the cupboard. He started to chop the monkey's paw up, first the fingers and the thumb, and then the palm. As soon as that was done, he put the pieces in the blender and turned it on. After the paw turned into a thick liquid, he poured it into the cup and set it outside to evaporate. "Shinichi? Why are you using the blender?" Yukiko called. "A science experiment." he called back. "Can I go to Ran's house?" "OK, have fun." said Yusaku. Shinichi walked to Ran's house, the liquefied monkey's paw forgotten.