It was slow at work. The sound of papers shuffling, clacking adding machines, scratching pencils. So basically any other day as clerk for a shipping company. Roman hate being in there, it just sucked the life out of him, but, it what was holding up his family. He punched more numbers, speared another piece of paper, and began writing, but broke his pencil. He sighed. Oh, what a fun trip to the pencil sharpener.

Roman cranked it round and round and turned to face the window. The view was the same every time. He could see the other building that held more workers, slaving away at their jobs, all dull and gray. He then looked further outside. It was still as equally grey as his work and mood. Though Roman had never stopped dreaming of finding a grander life for his family. A life that has, colors, excitment, dreams that came true...

Which was soon interuppted by, "Thank you Chalmers."

Roman spun around to see his boss. And he walking through his direction.

Taking his chance, Roman went up to him and said, "Sir, Roman Barnum."

He stuck out his hand, but his boss didn't take it. He continued to read through the journal he was holding. Not wanting to lose conversation, Roman followed.

"If I may sir, I believe I have skill and ideas that can go well beyond punching numbers into an adding machine," His boss looked up a bit, Roman took as a good sign, "I read about this German fellow, Lilienthal, I believe, who's developed a glider that can take a man in the air sir, isn't that amazing?"

Roman stopped his boss, making him spin completely around, facing him, "If you apply that to this business, it be revolutionary-"

"Gentlemen!" His boss suddenly called out to all the workers.

"Okay, so much for that idea." Roman thought to himself.

"Can I have your attention?" Suddenly his boss handed him a slip of paper.

Roman raised an eyebrow and looked down. It was a layoff notice.

"Your all dismiss."

Roman was beyond disbelief as he skimmed it. The notice stated that the company was bankrupted and that the workers can not continue on with their jobs. It ended with the words, until further notice. Further notice? How long would that be?

"Bankrupted?" Shock was clear as day on his face, "But I thought the company had a dozen trading ships."

His boss sighed, "Yes, at the bottom of the South China Sea. Typhoon sank them all."

Then he just walked away. Roman couldn't form the proper words for the situation. Through his mind, "layoff" was the nice way of saying, "you're fired". In the background he could hear incredulity of his fellow workers. He knows he shouldn't be thinking the way he was, everyone else was fired, oh sorry, layoff as well. But he knew he had it harder then any of the workers. He had a wife and two kids, Rose and Alex, that he had to provide for.

He had a home he still needs to pay and repair for. He wanted to get of this job, but Roman to plan it out, not to unexpectedly have it ripped away from without a back up plan. He truly never thought the day would come where he would be leaving his job, with little hope in the future.

---------------

The sky had turned dark by the time Roman got home. As he entered inside, the apartment was still rundown as ever and it still had that pesky leaking coming from the ceiling. Roman looked up and shook his head. The place really need a lot of TLC, but it would be costly. Oh, what was he going to tell his wife? He walked up the fire escape, carrying the box that held his office things, and once he got to the top, he saw his family. Valerie was hanging up the sheets on the clothes line, but she was also playing with their two children.

First there was Rose. She was the eldest of the two. She had short, thick brown hair, satin gray eyes, and was really tall for her age. She has this shy, quiet personality, which would clash with her brother's personality, but the two are like yin and yang. Then there was Alex. He was the youngest of the two. He had short, cropped brown hair, light brown eyes, and had this habit of wearing a bandana. His personality is wild, eccentric, always bringing a smile to others faces. 

The two at the moment were playing tag with imaginary weapons. Valerie made fingers guns and pretended to shoot, making sound effects. Rose then pretended to shot an arrow at her mother and Valerie made a sound of defeat.

"Tag, you're it!" Rose said, tagging Alex.

Alex laughed as he started chasing her, "Oh, you're going to get it!"

Valerie had a smile of thousand suns as she watched her children play, but was then surprised by the presents of her husband.

"Hey." Roman voice didn't really held any emotion.

"Oh god-" Valerie was startled, but the shook it off with a laugh.

She then grabbed a sheet to hang it, "You're home early."

"And until further notice." Roman held up his layoff notice sheet.

Valerie took a look at it as Roman put down his bow to help her. Being the supportive wife she was, she gave off a sympathetic and said, "Well, I didn't think you were long for that job."

Roman grabbed the other end of the sheet, "Or any job apparently."

"That what makes our life so exciting." Despite the situation, she was just so content, but Roman was still beating himself up.

"Valerie," Roman sighed and her face morphed in concern, "This not the life I promise you."

"But I have everything I want." She answered reassuringly.

"What about the magic?" Roman insisted.

"What do you call those two kids?" She nodded towards Rose and Alex, who were still playing and laughing.

Valerie slung an arm on her husbands shoulders and called out in a western accent, "Hey you partners, look who mosey on into the corral!"

The two stopped and when they saw Roman, their faces lit up.

"Daddy!" Alex screamed and he ran over to him.

Rose didn't scream, but she did run over to her father.

"Come here!" Roman cried out as her scooped up his children.

Valerie smile at the sight. She and Roman had always consider their two children to be the sun and moon of their life. While Alex was gripping on his back, Roman felt Rose pulling on his sleeve.

"Did you bring a present?" Rose with both shyness and excitement.

"A present for what?" Roman asked, pretending to be confuse.

"For her birthday." Alex answered.

"What?"

"My birthday." Rose response was quiet.

"It's not you're birthday." Roman put down the two of them down and they laughed, knowing it was a joke.

"Okay, I do have a present," Roman replied as they sat at attention, "But not just any present, oh no, the most amazing birthday present ever."

And with that, he threw open the box that he had with him.

"This extraordinary machine was created by Leonardo Da Vinci, four hundred years ago," Roman took the things from his box and started to build.

"But the blueprints have been lost for centuries until just last week on a stormy night when a sunken pirate ship washed up on the shores of Nantucket. They found skeletons and treasures and the blueprints were recovered by none other then," Roman then lite up a match.

"J.W. Mercantile. The blueprints crossed my desk very briefly, but I manage to commit them by memory," Valerie smiled at the children, for imagination has been the virtue of their family.

"And if I had remember correctly..." Roman then pulled a small device that he made in his hand. It had the appearance of a candle holder, but it had metal, cylinder cover on it. He spun it, making Rose and Alex look in awe seeing the spiraling lights dancing on the hanging sheets.

"Happy birthday Rose." She continued on to look, seeing different patterns being made by her gift.

"This a wishing machine. You tell it your wishes." Roman had an unnoticeable wistful look in his eyes, "And it keeps them safe until they come true."

He looked down a his last second gift, then back up at his children, "Even if you forget them, they're always there."

"Can I tell a wish?" Alex asked.

He knew it was Rose gift, but he wanted his wishes to also be safely tucked away.

"Step right up, go ahead." Roman said as Alex stepped closely.

Alex took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, "I wish...to meet Santa Claus."

Everyone's faces cracked a grin, "That, is a good wish." Roman gave a 'well done' look to his son.

Then, it was Rose's turn, "I wish...for ballet slippers."

Both Roman's and Valerie's smiles slightly falter. They looked at each other, but Roman didn't want to break his daughter's heart.

"Hey, that's a good wish too."

"What's your wish mommy?" Alex asked her.

Valerie gave a cross of a laugh and a sigh, "I wish..."

She looked her creative husband.

"For happiness, like this forever. For you, for you, and for your father." The dark haired woman put a hand on Roman's shoulder.

"Bored!" Alex declared, making the couple chuckled.

"Bored? Now when has happiness have ever been bored?" Valerie asked teasingly.

What the three didn't see was Rose gazing once more at the lights surrounding them.

Every night I lie in bed

The brightest colors fill my head

A million dreams are keeping me awake

Alex joined Rose by her side, watching as the light of their wish brighten the rooftop.

I think of what the world could be

A vision of the one I see

A million dreams is all it's gonna take

Roman was also watching, but he also saw something. He saw, animals. Animals of kinds of shapes and size moving within the shadows of the lights.

A million dreams for the world we're gonna make

The Wish Machine continued on spinning through out the whole night.