Silently he waited, the inky darkness enfolding him. It was his prison and his cocoon; helpless, he waited for those words. The words could shape him, give form to his formlessness, and grant him power with the simple phrase: I wish.
Suddenly, he was soaring. An inexorable force dragged him forward, speeding him to his destiny. He ripped through the veils of darkness and found himself in the world. He reached inside and willed. Where there had been nothing, now there were broad white wings, and he was flying.
It was pure joy, to feel the wind whistling through his feathers. Below, he spotted a small rodent. He hooted with glee, dropping down out of the sky, frightening the creature and grasping it in his claws. He felt the pull again, more strongly. Dropping his prey, he flew onward.
He fluttered down and alighted on a branch. Claws skittering back and forth, he watched the girl close the door behind her.
"I wish the goblins would come take you away… Right now." Those were the words she had uttered, the words that dragged him into the world.
What made her think he wanted the brat any more than she did? But he had no choice; her wish had foisted the child upon him. He gazed through the window, the power of his will conjuring away the little one. Her imagination shaped his power. Goblins scurried out from under the bed, crawling out from under doors, and materializing from amongst the shadows. Quickly, they whisked the boy away, to some as-of-yet unknown place.
"Why aren't you crying?" She rushed back into the room, and he was drawn toward the window. His goblins took the form of her fears – and hopes – scurrying about the room. He was pulled into the room. His wings brushed against her forehead; the force of her mind overwhelmed him, and he was quickly transmuted to another form.