A Sad Coed

Emma was bummed out. Her boyfriend had just dumped her. It was the third relationship in a row that lasted less than four months. Her boyfriends all had the same excuse: She was too serious, not much fun, and sexually unadventurous.

She sat in a cafe and wondered if she should change her life.

Emma had never been the popular girl. She was a late bloomer in high school and did not even have a date until she turned 18. She was a bookish loner and spent her high school years alone reading in her room.

As she left the cafe, she headed down an overgrown path, a shortcut back to her dorm. She saw something odd on the ground. She took a closer look:

"The hell?" she picked it up. She flipped the tag over: Make a Wish! it said.

"I wish I was the most popular girl on campus," she said as a joke.

She felt the paw move, and she dropped it. She watched as a finger curled back to the palm. She picked it back up.