People desires and long for many different things, for example freedom from a controlled marriage as Kate Chopin describes in “The Story of An Hour” for his family to reunite as mentioned in “The Powder, by Tobias Wolff, and for the opportunity to satisfy his curiosity after the pain and hardship of childhood to recover the first gift ever. The authors of these short story all describes wishes coming true even if it’s only for a moment.
In “The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin the author shows us that wishes can be granted even though it might only be just for a little while as she describe the response of a young woman to her husband’s presumed death. The belief that marriage should occur only when two people are in love; although this belief is common it is not always the case and people marry for a variety of reasons. Love was not a deciding factor for nor was love their reason that Mrs Mallard was married and therefore after receiving the news of her husband’s death her reaction was so very ironic.
After learning of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard experienced emotions she knew to be wrong. It seems that she has grown accustomed to her husband and remained with him out of stationary comfort and tradition. Although she knew she should be saddened over her husband’s death; she eagerly embraced the freedom it provided her with. With her newly found freedom, Mrs. Mallard begin doing and experiencing things she never imagined doing while her husband was alive such as when she does nothing except rejoice over the freedom she is enjoying. Mrs. Mallard interpreted patches of blue sky, between dark clouds, as a prelude of good things to come. Instead of being overtaken by grief, she was overcome by joy. This joy comes from the feeling of freedom she was experiencing for the first time in her life. Her sister Josephine is the one who must tell her the bad news in the company of her husband’s friend Richards who was the one who heard the news first and then double-checked to make sure it was not a mistake. It is at this point in the second paragraph when the narrator of “Story of an Hour” narrows the focus on Mrs. Mallard and her reaction which is not taken with a “paralyzed inability to accept its significance” but rather with an instant bout of tears as she steals away to her room, wanting to be alone and sinking into an armchair by the window with a “physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul.”
Mrs. Mallard is enthusiastic over her husband’s death but doesn’t let anyone realize that, when the most unexpected happens, her husband is actually alive and he enters the room shocking everyone. The reappearance of Mr. Mallard gives Mrs. Mallard such a shock that she dies “of joy that kills”. In a sense, joy did kill her because of her husband’s sudden appearance. The doctor believed that Mrs. Mallard died from the shock of a sudden reappearance of her husband, who was believed to be dead. Mrs. Mallard’s feeling of freedom was far too much for her to return to the controlled life that existed with her husband. The sudden tragic death of Mrs. Mallard shocked everyone for they thought she would be overjoyed upon seeing that her husband was not dead. Apparently, there are some things far worse than death for Mrs. Mallard it was seeing that her husband was back.
“Powder," by Tobias Wolff, the author also gives another example of wishes coming true as he recall his memory of a specific ski trip taken with his father, at a time when his parent's were on the verge of divorce. He recounts the day with vivid detail, telling us the reasons why his parents divorce was imminent, but also how much he loves his father despite his faults. The separation of the boy's parents which is leading to the inevitable divorce is the root of the conflict. His father does not help matters with his actions, as in taking the boy to bars previously against his mother's will, and keeping him late this particular Christmas Eve, skiing longer than they should have which leads to being snowed in on the mountain, because the road home is closed due to adverse weather. The father comments that the boy's mother will not forgive him if he does not deliver the boy home in time for dinner. Showing determination, thus planting the seed that he truly does care to make things right with both his son and wife, he breaks the law by passing through a road block put up by local police and makes a fearless run down the mountain road covered with fresh powder from the snowstorm. The boy is filled with worry over the consequences waiting for them at the bottom, but is not afraid for their safety because he trusts his father's driving skills. This is the turning point that makes the boy realize his worries are pointless; when he can just as easily enjoy the moment of exhilaration with his father instead of concentrating on problems that he has no control over.
The author in the short story, “The Watch,” by Elie Wies, also describes his desire to return to that place in his childhood. A place full of excitement, anger, sadness and pain all at once. The place where it all began and ended all in the same time and after twenty years his wish to satisfy his curiosity would be fulfilled and he would return to the place where he and his family were once strip of everything they ever owned ,when they were chased by the Hungarian out of there nation he would return.
Although so much time have past, it seem like it was only yesterday that he receive the most remarkable gold watch as his gift for his bar mitzvah. The gift he remembered symbolized his manhood and also changes his life forever. He also explains how the watch became a part of him when he and his family were chased from their home and before leaving they buried their most valued treasure, with the intention to return some day. Upon returning to that sacred place and seeing himself in a way in which he began to remember, not only his most valuable possession but that his parents who also buried the belongings in around the same spot as he did. He relived the events as he arrived in the garden, but he was overcome by his curiosity, he had to see his watch one last time .Therefore as he began to dig nothing matters, the only thing he wish for then was to see and to feel a part of his past which he did.