I Wish
Castiel stared out over the water, his faithful dog Merlin by his side. He took the book out of his pocket again and read from it.
"Give me the child- Through dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City- to take back the child that you have stolen. For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom is as great. You have no power over me."
Merlin barked loudly as an owl soared away. Castiel didn't even see it.
Bells chimed from a nearby church. Castiel heard them and panicked. "Oh, no. Merlin, it's seven o'clock. Come on, we've got to get home. Naomi will be so mad at me."
They raced home together. Naomi was standing on the porch, waiting impatiently for Castiel. He was late.
"I'm sorry," said Castiel, pleadingly. "I didn't mean to let the time slip by like that. It's not fair- you always make me babysit on the weekends."
Naomi was having none of it.
"Oh, really? Well, don't stand there in the rain. Come on," she said irritably.
"Come on, Merlin," said Castiel.
"Not in the house, Castiel. We've talked about this before. Put him in the garage."
"But it's pouring! Please let him in the house, just this once. I promise he'll be good."
"No. In the garage, now!"
"Okay, Mom, whatever," said Castiel grumpily. "Go on, Merlin, into the garage." He waved his hand, and Merlin whined but went obediently. Castiel walked into the house, shoulders slumped. Naomi followed him in and kept pestering him.
"Castiel, you're an hour late."
"I said I'm sorry," said Castiel.
"Please, let me finish," said Naomi, raising her voice. "Your father and I go out very rarely."
"You go out every weekend," said Cas.
"And I ask you to babysit only if it won't interfere with your plans," said Naomi firmly.
"You wouldn't know if I had plans," said Cas in a low voice. "You don't even ask me anymore. Please leave me alone."
"I assume you would tell me if you had a date with a girl," said Naomi. "I'd like it if you had a date. You should have dates, at your age."
Joshua came in from the kitchen, holding baby Jack.
"Ah, Castiel. You're home. We were worried about you."
"I can take care of myself," mumbled Cas. He ran up to his room, tears pricking his eyelids. "I just can't do anything right, can I?" he threw back at them, and slammed the door behind him.
"He treats me like I'm the wicked stepmother in a fairy story no matter what I say or do," complained Naomi.
"I'll talk to him," offered Joshua. He smiled reassuringly at her and climbed the stairs after Castiel.
Naomi stalked away on high heeled shoes and picked up her purse, ready to leave.
Castiel, meanwhile, was playing his favorite music box, trying to calm himself down. He was wearing a fake plastic crown and playing with some lipstick he stole from Naomi. Giving up on figuring out how girls did this stuff, he smeared some on the mirror just to annoy her and went back to his book. Maybe at least that would be a fun distraction.
"Through dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle," he read slowly, trying to make sense of the story, imagining it in his head. The girl in this story seemed to have a much better life than him. She got to have a cool adventure and save her baby brother, without actually having to deal with his whining for hours. Jack was a cutie, but he could really get on Castiel's nerves when he just wouldn't quit. Castiel almost wished he could escape into this story for real.
"Beyond the Goblin City- to take back the child that you have stolen-"
Joshua was saying something.
"Castiel? Can I talk to you, please?"
"Nothing to talk about," said Cas, whipping the plastic crown off his head. "You'd better hurry," he said, staring at the lipstick on his mirror. "You're going to be late."
"Listen, we fed Toby and put him to bed. We do have to leave now, but we'll be back around midnight," said Joshua.
"You really wanted to talk to me, didn't you," muttered Cas. "Practically broke down the door."
He flopped on the bed, noticing that one of his teddy bears was missing.
"Lancelot! If Jack took him from my room again…" Cas couldn't think of anything to finish his sentence with. He wouldn't really hurt Jack. He was just annoyed, for the hundredth time that day.
He stomped into Jack's room, and found Lancelot on the floor.
"Stop taking my stuff," he screamed at Jack. "I hate that! I hate it! I hate you!"
Immediately he knew he didn't mean it, but he and Jack were already upset, and a full-on screaming contest ensued. Castiel sat on the floor by Jack's crib, hugging Lancelot to his chest.
"Someone save me!" he yelled, glaring in Jack's direction. "Just take me away!"
Thunder rumbled outside the window. Jack howled.
"What do you want?" Cas begged, looking at the ceiling. "OK, OK, I'll tell you a story." He set Lancelot on the bed and stood looking out the window.
"Once upon a time there was a boy whose stupid stepmother always made him stay home and watch the baby. The baby was annoying and kept stealing all my stuff! The poor young boy was exhausted and- and- just done with the whole thing." Cas watched the clouds flash with lightening.
"What no one knew," Castiel announced, "Was that the king of the goblins had given the boy certain powers." He walked over to the mirror and studied his reflection, wishing that his story was real. "One night, when the baby just wouldn't shut up, he called on the goblins for help."
What Castiel did not know was that a collection of very strange beings really was listening to his conversation.
"Listen," said one of the odd little men, commonly known as goblins.
"If you say the right words, the goblins told him," Castiel continued, "we will take the baby away to the Goblin City. You will be free."
"Ahh," said one of the goblins. They stared at Castiel, waiting impatiently for him to continue.
"But the boy knew that the Goblin King would keep his little brother forever, and turn him into a goblin," Cas said. He walked back to Jack's crib and ran his hand along the railing. "So he stayed silent."
Castiel walked over to the window again, staring into the darkness and listening to the thunder roar. "But one night he couldn't take it any longer. He was tired from listening to his stepmother yell, and hurt that-" He lowered his head and scuffed his shoes on the floor dejectedly. "That his dad didn't try harder to talk to him…"
Shoulders slumped, Cas walked back to Jack's crib. Jack howled as loudly as he could and held up his arms. "Oh, all right," Cas said. He picked up Jack. "Knock it off, please."
Jack kept howling, irritating Castiel's ears and generally making him more and more frustrated. "Stop it, stop it," Cas pleaded. "I'll say the words," he added threateningly.
He didn't really take it seriously, but he couldn't say those words, not really. "No, I mustn't. I mustn't say…"
The goblins were all staring avidly at him. Several gasped.
"I wish," Castiel began hesitantly. "I wish-"
"Listen," one goblin ordered the others.
"He's going to say it!" another added.
"Say what?" a rather stupid goblin asked.
"Shut up!" the first goblin told him.
"Sorry," he said.
"You shut up," a fourth goblin said.
"Listen," the first goblin repeated, watching Castiel intently. "He's going to say the words."
"I can bear it no longer," Cas called, standing in the middle of the room. "Goblin King, Goblin King, wherever you may be, take this child of mine far away from me!" He gasped and covered his mouth. Jack kept howling. Cas breathed a sigh of relief. It hadn't worked. He hadn't expected it to, but still… He shuddered at the thought of explaining to his father that the goblins had kidnapped Jack.
The goblins all groaned in disappointment.
"That's not it," one complained.
"Where'd he learn that rubbish?" another asked. "It doesn't even start with 'I wish!'"
"Ugh," a third groaned.
"Oh, Jack, stop it!" Castiel complained, his moment of relief over. "Just quit crying. I wish I knew what to say to make the goblins take you away."
"'I wish the goblins would come and take you away right now,'" an exasperated goblin recommended. "That's not hard, is it? Huh?!"
"I wish… I just wish…" Cas said, in a slightly choked up voice.
"Did he say it?" the slow goblin from before asked.
Several goblins turned toward him and ordered, "Shut up!"
Jack kept crying. Castiel dropped him back in the crib and ran to the door. He turned back in the doorway. "I wish the goblins would come and take you away," he whispered. He flipped the light switch, filling the room with shadows. "Right now," he added as he turned away.
