The Wishing Well

In the middle of a forgotten village, hidden behind thick vines and thorny trees, stood an old stone well. It hadn't drawn water in decades, but the elders whispered that it once granted wishes—for a price.

A curious girl named Lina, always dreaming of magic and stories, found the well while chasing a firefly through the woods. Carved on its rim were faded words: "Wish with a whisper, pay in silence."

Lina laughed. “What harm is a little wish?” She leaned close and whispered, “I wish to never feel pain again.”

The wind stilled. The firefly blinked out.

She waited. Nothing happened.

That night, Lina tripped on a stair and scraped her knee. No pain. The next day, she burned her hand on the stove—again, nothing. Even when she bit her tongue hard enough to bleed, she felt only numbness.

She thought it was a miracle.

But over the weeks, strange things began to happen.

She didn't notice when her foot got infected after stepping on a thorn. She couldn’t tell when her skin blistered from the cold. Soon, her body grew weak, covered in unnoticed injuries. People in the village grew worried as her smile faded, her eyes darkened, and she walked like a ghost.

One day, she returned to the well, desperate.

“I take it back,” she whispered. “I want to feel again!”

But the well gave no answer.

Instead, a voice inside her head echoed:
“You asked to never feel pain. And so you shall—forever.”

They found her days later, eyes open, unmoving—alive, but trapped inside her own body. Her heart beat, but her soul was silent.

From that day on, no one went near the well. But sometimes, at twilight, villagers hear soft footsteps in the woods—and a whisper:

“Be careful what you wish for.”