Kyle gritted his teeth and clenched his fists as he stormed away from the entrance to the roller coaster. His 17-year old brother Daniel had taken Kyle and his two other 12-year-old triplet brothers, Craig and Clay, to the state fair, which had gone well right up until they had decided to get in line for the Cyclone roller coaster. Of course, they had waited in line for nearly an hour before they got to the front, only to find out that Kyle (being an inch shorter than his same-age triplets, which had been a constant source of irritation nearly since they had been old enough to talk) was the only one of the group too short for the height requirement. Of course, Craig and Clay had taunted him about this even as they got on and he stormed down the exit ramp. Their voice still rang in his ears, even though they were heading up the hill right now.
"Stupid height requirement," he muttered to himself. "Stupid Clay and Craig. If only I could be the bigger brother for once. Then things would be different.
As he was steaming, he looked up and noticed a strange-looking tent just a few steps away. The tent was tiny, barely big enough for more than two people to stand in at a time. At first he thought that it was something for the employees, but then he saw the small sign that hung just to the right of the entrance flap. "WishGiver?" he read aloud, scrunching up his nose in confusion as he did. What the heck was that? He had been to the state fair each of the last four years, and he didn't remember any WishGiver.
He hesitated to go in, but decided that it was worth a shot. After all, it'd still be another 3-4 minutes until his brothers were off the Cyclone, and what harm could it be. Besides, since he didn't have to use the 8 tickets they did to go on the roller coaster, he had extras and could easily afford the apparent 2-ticket entrance fee for this tent.
It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the low candlelight of the tent once he stepped inside. Before they had done so, he heard a low, almost whispering voice: "Ah, yes. Kyle, my son. I have foreseen your arrival. Welcome."
Kyle's eyes went wide. How did this guy know his name. He glanced downward, thinking he may have a nametag or something on from a previous booth, but nothing said his name on it. He felt a shiver run down his spine as he replied, "T-thank you."
"Do you have your two tickets?" Kyle nodded, handing the tickets over to the man, whom he could now see was rather old and bearded, or at least dressed up with makeup to look that way.
The old man took the two tickets and quickly placed them below the table's surface. "Ah, wonderful. And the universe has already heard your desire. You wish to be bigger, do you not?"
Again, Kyle felt his blood turn cold. Either this guy had amazing hearing and could hear Kyle muttering to himself over the noise of the rest of the carnival, or something truly weird was going on. Still, even if the chances that all of this was real were remote, if it did turn out to be true...
"Kyle?" the old man repeated, seeing Kyle lost in thought.
Swallowing hard, Kyle again nodded. "Yes. I want to be big. Bigger than my brothers, bigger than my parents-- bigger than everybody, really."
For a moment, the old man didn't reply, staying still as stone. Kyle began to grow nervous, and was about to say something, when he finally answered, "The universe has granted your request, and offers you to grow one percent taller."
"One percent?!" Kyle scoffed. "That's barely anything at all!"
Though he could barely see the old man's face, Kyle could've sworn he saw a smile spread across his lips. "Don't dismiss the power of one percent, my son, for this is not just a single instance, but a cumulative effect, and can lead to amazing results. Not only this, but you have a choice of how that effect will accumulate. Each of these choices will take effect at midnight on October 1st, or about fifteen minutes from now. The first choice represents a quick satisfaction, the second choice will be more long-term, and the third choice will be eternal."
This only served to confuse Kyle even further. "What?"
Letting out a slight sigh, the old man waved his hand and produced three cards, seemingly out of thin air. "Our time must draw to a close, so I'll explain it for you as simply as possible, and then you can take these cards and make your choice, as long as it's before the stroke of midnight."
He handed Kyle the first card, which had an image of a wristwatch on it. "This card represents the quick solution. If you choose this, you will grow 1% a minute for the entire day, but only that day." He paused for a moment, then handed Kyle the second card, which had a picture of a calendar on it. "This card represents the long-term solution. By choosing this, you will grow 1% every hour for the entire year." After waiting another few seconds, he finally handed the last card over. At first, Kyle thought it had a figure eight, but then he quickly realized he was holding it sideways, and it was the infinity symbol. "And this card represents the eternal choice. Select this, and you will grow 1% every day for the rest of your life. Choose wisely, my son, and good luck."
His eyes bulging, Kyle stared at the cards. He had so many questions running through his head, but as he looked back up, he was stunned to see that he was standing back outside, still in the place he was at, but the tent he had been standing in just a moment ago had vanished. Glancing to his left, he noticed that his brothers had just stepped off the roller coaster and were heading down the ramp towards him. Was it just a dream, he wondered.
"Hey, short stuff," Clay said with a smirk. "You missed a hell of a ride. What do you got there?" he pointed at the cards that Kyle was holding in his hands.
"Uhh, nothing," Kyle said, quickly pocketing the cards. It can't be a dream if I still have these, right? he thought. What the old man was saying is impossible, though. But ... what if it's not...?
He glanced at his watch, which read 11:57. He only had a few minutes to decide, he realized, or lose the chance, according to what he had been told. As his brothers continued on to the next ride, he hung back a few steps behind them, mulling his decision over in his mind. Finally, he decided on which wish he wanted. He held out one of the cards, saying "I choose this one," just before his watch beeped and switched over to 12:00. As soon as the words left his mouth, the other two cards vanished, leaving him holding only one card.
The card he had chosen, the one that was still left in his hands, just so happened to be...
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