The Fixer brings in a small cupcake on a plate with nine candles, ready to go.
Arlan never been able to blow out all the birthday candles at once. His chances of that happening decrease each year with the addition of one more candle to his birthday cake. He takes a deep breath and blows out eight candles, leaving one.
“What did you wish for?” the Fixer asks.
“I didn't. Doesn't matter. Candles are just wick and wax, no wishes. That would be magic. Magic doesn't exist,” Arlan doesn't bother to blow out the last candle. Thinks and things sets the plate down on top of a dresser.
Arlan looks at the Fixer's toolbox, “They call you the Fixer?”
The Fixer nods slowly, “Yes, I am. I fix things.”
“Can you fix people, too?”
The Fixer thought about a girl who once had butterfly wings but the Fixer knew the boy wasn't referring to extra extremities. “People are much more complicated to fix,” he said solemnly.
“Let's try this again,” Thinks and things picks up the plate, the last flame still aglow. The boy listens but doesn't meet Thinks and things eyes. “Do you want a pet? Money? New toys? Your own race car? A planet renamed after you? Live as a king for a day? Meet extraterrestrial life? What do you want most in the world? I can make that happen.”
“All I want is my mom's mind fixed. But that would take magic and magic is just an illusion. I saw a television special where they showed all of the secrets.”
“Let me ask you a question,” Thinks and things held up a dandelion, “Is this a flower or-”
The Fixer steps forward and takes the dandelion out of his hands, “No! Don't. Don't ask.”
The Fixer's outburst heightened the boy's curiosity, “What were you going to ask me?”
Thinks and things takes the boy's hand, helps him out of bed, and guides him over to the telescope. He motions the boy to peer through and asks, “What do you see?”
“Just the moon,” shrugs the boy.
“Just the moon! Don't you see the man on the moon?”
The boy looks confused. He hesitates but peers through the telescope again, “I can sort of see a face...yeah, I can see him! I can see him!”
Thinks and things started to pace around the room, nearly hyperventilating. “If you can see it, if you can hear it...if you can believeit, it's magic,” cupped his hands around the boy's head.
“Close your eyes and listen carefully,” Thinks and things whispered.
Arlan close his eyes and started to listen. After a few moments, Arlan opened his eyes, “All I heard was an airplane.”
“How is that not magic? A huge hunk of metal flying miles up, through the air, around the world? Sure, it could be explained by physics, but just because you can explain something, doesn't make it less magical.”
Arlan closes his eyes and listened again, carefully this time. Arlan heard the airplane flying over his house and the pilot using a radio to talk to somebody on land. He heard someone typing out a message on a computer and then the click of a mouse, perhaps to send it from Minnesota to India, China, or just next door. He heard a new born baby screaming and an artificial heart beating. He heard the hum and clicking of a sewing machine, putting together pieces of fabric with thread to create a one of a kind wedding gown. He heard water running and an electrical fan blowing. He heard dandelions growing, just starting to push through the dirt in his front yard.
Thinks and things takes the dandelion out of the Fixer's hands, “Now I'm going to ask you a question...is this a flower? Or is it a weed?
Arlan didn't hesitate this time, “It's a flower.” Arlan blew out the last candle successfully.