Three Wishes

     The dog and I have a little ritual every morning.  She gets in my face and sniffs morning breath while I chatter away along these lines, "Good morning little girl.  How are you this morning?  Did daddy fix your breakfast?  Was it good?  You're so pretty.  Your mommy's favorite girl."  And on and on.  I've mothered three dogs, and I have wished with all my might that I could have taught them how to speak English.
     Who hasn't dreamed that they could be granted three wishes?  When I was a little kid, I wished I could flap my arms and fly.  I also wanted to be invisible.  When I got older, I wished I could time travel.  However, that traveling had to be into the future since going into the past might involved being cold and dirty or being mistaken for a witch.  When I reached a certain age, I gave up wishful thinking and set realistic goals.
     Here I am today, having accomplished most of those goals.  I'm free again to yearn for the impossible.  What do I want besides a dog who will debate me on the merits of kibble vs. wet food?
     What about world peace?  Yeah, I want get-Russia-out-of-the-Crimea, nobody-will-ever-step-on-an-IED kind of peace.  But more than that,I wish everyone inner peace.  I wish Michael Jackson hadn't been such a tortured soul.  I wish the same for Paris Jackson and all the other celebrities who have everything but serenity. Jaycee Dugard, Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Georgina DeJesus - I wish that you adjust and thrive as only a person without demons can.  Victims of natural disasters and people wrongfully imprisoned - I wish you the inner calm that will give you the strength to endure until you are restored and made whole. The terminally ill - I wish you peaceful acceptance.
     I don't need three wishes.  Just one will do.  The dog and I will get along just fine speaking different languages.  And if she doesn't understand me, I'll talk louder.