The apple tree

     Every wish, once fulfilled, instantly awakens new wishes. According to legend, Adam and Eve were banished from paradise for their bold wishes. That's what happened to our friend Joschka one day.

     It happened on a sunny summer day. Large white clouds drifted across the sky. A small stream meandered through the meadows, past a hill on which stood an ancient apple tree. Its bark was furrowed with deep cracks, and its wide-spreading crown protected from the blazing rays of the sun. There, in the shade of the apple tree, lay Joschka, stretched out on his back, his arms folded beneath his head. Tired from playing, he blinked sleepily into the canopy of leaves. The apples peeping out from the leaves were not yet ripe, but their number promised a bountiful harvest. Joschka tried in vain to count them. There were too many as to count them by means of his ten fingers. The warmth had made him thirsty and his mouth was watering. He thought the apples could help him quench his thirst. Expectantly, he stood on tiptoe and shook the branches of the tree. An apple fell into the grass. Joschka picked it up and took a hearty bite. But, oh dear! The apple was rotten and full of wormholes.    

The old apple tree had noticed Joschka. A light breeze stirred its leaves, and Joschka heard it whisper: "Everything in life has its time." Joschka was amazed, for he hadn't known an apple tree can speak. So that he didn't miss any word, he remained silent, and the apple tree continued: "Fruits that ripen prematurely are often rotten and full of wormholes. Guard your dreams, for their fulfilment doesn't always live up to their promise." The apple tree fell silent. Sleep had taken Joschka. A dull red light shimmered through his closed eyelids.

     A fairy stepped out of this light. "Joschka," she whispered, "I grant you three wishes. They shall come true. But think carefully, for the temptation is great, and it could easily happen that all your wishes are wasted before you know it." With that, the fairy disappeared.

     Joschka thought about it: He had always been annoyed that his older brother treated him like a little child, just because he hadn't started school yet. So he immediately wished to be a schoolchild. As promised, his wish came true. Outside, the weather was beautiful. But Joschka sat sweating on his school bench. He gazed longingly through the window and dreamed of the green meadow where his contemporaries were playing by the stream. But he consoled himself with the thought that he still had two wishes left. He sat, holding his head in his hands, and pondered. His teacher's life seemed desirable to him. This one was always cheerful and seemed to know everything a person needed to know. So he wished that school would end and that he could take his teacher's place. As before, his wish was immediately granted. Now he had to teach the children to read and write and much else, which the children didn't yet know. But Joschka realized that the things the children asked him about were foreign to him too. His students' thirst for knowledge brought him great distress.

     In his distress, he remembered his grandfather. This one was always cheerful and had many interesting stories to tell. Now, he too wanted to be like his grandfather. Joschka had barely even thought this wish when he was sitting on the bench in front of the house, blinking in the sunlight. He felt the warmth do his limbs well. But when he stood up, he had to lean on a stick, for walking was difficult. In his head, he searched for a good story. But nothing came to mind. His grandfather's stories had matured over the years he had observed life.

     Joschka became sad. He remembered the apple tree's words: "Everything in life has its time." The happy days of his childhood seemed lost forever, his three wishes were lost. But, as fairy tales go, the fairy touched him with her magic wand. Joschka awoke from his dream and rubbed sleepily his eyes. Wise through experience, he resolved to guard his dreams and keep his wishes until their time has come.