The Well

story fifty-five · figures 163–165

The story →

THE WELL · THIRTY-ONE WISHES, SORTED BY WHAT THEY ASK FOR — one to three sentences each · every voice recognizable · not one of them named THE WELL · THIRTY-ONE WISHES, SORTED BY WHAT THEY ASK FOR one to three sentences each · every voice recognizable · not one of them named A THING · a dog. A yard the size of a table. · money · not a philosophy about money · my knee · that is the whole of the list · more dark, honestly · a crane, finished · the strips renewed in the spring A REPETITION · I’d like a Sunday with a voice in it · one more first evening, with the boat still in it · my hour again, and the door open at three · a Saturday · the long form, and the short one again after · one assessment to close while I still recognize the questions A REFUSAL · NOT TO IMPROVE · that is the whole of it · I plan to keep laughing at the wrong time · that nobody asks about it · I’ll stay for the hill · SOMEBODY HAS TO NOT CLIMB IT · some machines shouldn’t be told everything · I bring coins the tenth word "nine words went where they went. I’m keeping the tenth FOR THE DOOR, WHICHEVER DOOR." the second Sunday "somebody already wished that, up ahead of me. I’M WISHING IT AGAIN." the child "when I’m big I’ll cut my mark on the line, where the heights go. Or I’ll be a gull." and the plainest "to be believed once WITHOUT A FEE." THIRTY-ONE VOICES, AND YOU CAN NAME MOST OF THEM FROM THE BOOK WITHOUT BEING TOLD. A chorus with no conductor — and one man from the office at the end, with a bucket.
163 · The Well
THE WELL · THE LAST THURSDAY OF THE QUARTER — the administrative closer · four sentences that undo thirty-one THE WELL · THE LAST THURSDAY OF THE QUARTER the administrative closer · four sentences that undo thirty-one THE WELL IS EMPTIED on the last Thursday of the quarter THE COINS are counted, recorded, and returned to the general account the only part of the wishing that has a ledger entry PAPER TAKEN FROM THE WATER is dried, IN CASE IT IS MONEY a wish written down, dried to see whether it was currency AND THEN discarded THE WISHES ARE NOT RECORDED THEY WERE NEVER ASKED FOR THE PAPER IS THE LINE THAT FINISHES THE STORY. Somebody could not say it aloud, so they wrote it and dropped it in — and the office dried it, in case it was currency, and having established that it was not, discarded it. This city in one sentence, and it took fifty-five stories to earn it. THE SECOND WISHER KNOWS SHE IS SECOND AND WISHES ANYWAY. It is the only communal act in the book that costs nothing and is not audited — two strangers, at the same well, asking for the same Sunday, one of them knowing. THE COINS ARE RECORDED. THE WISHES ARE NOT. THEY WERE NEVER ASKED FOR.
164 · The Well
THE WELL · WHO IS AT THE WELL — the wishes are unattributed · the book has already told you whose they are THE WELL · WHO IS AT THE WELL the wishes are unattributed · the book has already told you whose they are "I want to see one of the cranes finish" THE WORKS · the crane driver "I’ll keep my Thursdays" KINDLY CONFIRM · the renewals queue "one more first evening, with the boat still in it" FOUR MINUTES · the reviewer "nine words went where they went · the tenth for the door" CHEAP WORDS · the mother with the tin "the strips get renewed in the spring" AIRED QUARTERLY · the keeper of the held flat "…the chain on the pen is my doing" THE LICENSING HALL · a clerk "a Saturday · the long form, with the extra lines" THE STANDARD VOWS · the Thursday couple "my hour again, and the door open at three" SERVICE IMPROVEMENT · a resident of the landings "that somebody stands for me · twelve seconds is plenty" THE OBSERVANCE "I have kept every receipt since the plates" WALKING THE GROUND · or the widow "somebody to finish a sentence of mine" THE LAST WORD · and she would not correct them "I’ll stay for the hill · somebody has to not climb it" VISITING HOURS · the one who does not go up THE WELL IS THE BOOK’S CENSUS, TAKEN BY NOBODY, RECORDED NOWHERE. Twelve of the thirty-one can be matched to stories you have read; the rest cannot, and the piece never confirms any of them. That is the design: recognition offered, attribution refused. "I WOULD LIKE TO BE ASKED SOMETHING I HAVE NOT BEEN ASKED BEFORE. ANYTHING."
165 · The Well

Copyright © 2026 Hulki Okan Tabak. All rights reserved.