"Remind me why I'm doing this again?" I asked my sister as I folded the paper.
"Because you love me."
"Right," I rolled my eyes as I finished the fold. "Done."
I showed my handiwork.
"That's suppose to be a paper crane?" My sister questioned. "It looks like a crane that has been run over by a steam roller."
"I tried," I said as I added it to the tiny flock of paper cranes we had be making for the past half an hour. "Again, remind me why we're doing this."
"Because, in myth, if you make a thousand paper cranes, you get a wish." My sister handed me a new sheet of paper.
"And what are you going to wish for?" I questioned. "World peace?"
"No," She answered in a high voice. There was a pause then she said in a low voice, "I was going to wish your cancer away."
I felt my heart stop. "I'm beating it. I'm fine. Wish for something more important."
"You are important." She said.
"Nice to hear that. More important than JK Rowling?"
"Don't push it."
I laughed as I started again.
I knew about the Paper Crane Tale. I went online and Googled. But I wasn't doing what my sister was doing. Making a thousand cranes to make one wish. I made a wish on each crane.
To keep my family safe. To make them not grieve too much for me. To make them find love and happiness.
Not once did I wish my cancer away. I couldn't. I knew that no amount of wishing would making the killer inside my chest go away and let me live.