Changing the World in 24 Hours

What would you do if you had the power to change everything…

AI Image prompt by Catherine Knee

It was just another ordinary day for an ordinary girl, with no cares in the world, or to be more accurate, no cares about the world. Ella opened her eyes and yawned, a jaw-cracker of a yawn, wriggling around in what were once crisp white sheets. Her ‘State of Independence’, as she called it, was a mess without the family’s servants to clean up after her. Enjoying her own home away from her parents, Ella was unconcerned with the filth, blind to the beer cans and crisp packets and other detritus strewn around from junk food foraging. Ella stretched out her arms as far as she could and gave another yawn just for the fun of it, making a very loud, exaggerated and wholly unnecessary noise to accompany it.

There was not much reason to get out of bed that morning, cleaning not being on her agenda, as usual. A lazy day had been carefully not planned, so that Ella could have a break from her life of wild parties and wanton disregard of health and hygiene. Ella did not actually need a break from her stress-free life, though her liver would probably rejoice if she managed the whole day alcohol free. Ella had not a care in the world, being the spoiled and indulged child of wealthy parents. Her life was comfortable and relaxed and perhaps this was why she gave no thought to anyone other than herself. Perhaps too, this was why she received her visitor.

Still in bed, and in no hurry to leave it, Ella surreptitiously picked her nose, being furtive about it, even though no one was there to see her. It took the same amount of time for her to yawn and pick her nose as it did for her senses to alert her to the fact that something was different about her room today. A flash of emerald-green caught her eye and with a “Huh?” she sat bolt upright. She could see a little green man at the end of her bed…! She really could! She knew he couldn’t really be there, but she could see him clearly! He looked so real, she was prompted to speak out loud, though not directly to him, for that would be acknowledging the insanity of it as real.

“How can I see weird things when I am not drunk? Oh no, I get it! I knew it! I have gone nuts after all!”

Ella rubbed her eyes, smacked her head and stared hard at the apparition, trying to see if he would disappear. When he did not, she stared harder, trying to see if she could see through him or not, when he startled her further by engaging with her in a conversation (tirade), one which only Ella could hear. Moving her feet a little, so that she would not be accidentally harmed by the vigorous stomping that was churning the end of the bed, Ella swallowed hard before speaking, squeezing out her replies in between his rapid-fire comments.

“No, no! Yes, I can see that you are definitely there! Okay, you may have a point. Sure, maybe you are real and I am not insane. Don’t be offended! Of course, I can see you!”

Ella winced at the tone being used upon her. He sounded real enough, with that ear-grating rant he was inflicting upon her. She decided to try to placate him, just to try and get his tone and volume back down to normal.

“Yes, I know I just said I thought I had gone nuts. You are there though, aren’t you, therefore I am not crazy.” Ella peered harder at the man. “Are you there?” She held up her hand to pre-empt another earful from him. “I know! You are! Why are you there, anyway?”

Ella listened with her head cocked slightly to one side as if she was straining to hear the unnatural voice. “Twenty-four hours, huh? You are joking! Twenty-four hours to change the world?”

Ella gave a satisfied nod as if the man’s offer proved her right. “Well, there you are then! Wouldn’t anyone think they were insane if they thought they had been given twenty-four hours and unlimited wishes to change the world by a… a… a little green man who pops into their bedroom out of thin air first thing on an ordinary Sunday morning?

“Yes, yes, I can see that you are not actually green. Of course, I can tell that it is only your clothing which is green. I might be mad, but I am not stupid.

You don’t think that green clashes with your red hair though…?”

Wincing, Ella actually rubbed her ears and screwed up her eyes a little from the pain of his screeching. She tucked her feet up into a cross-legged position, which she deemed the safest way to dodge his apparently frequent foot-stomping exercises.

“Ooh, stop yelling at me! It is too early in the morning for that! Alright, you are right! Yes, I confess, I always did believe in the subtle world, I just never expected to see it, and now there you are, on the end of my bed, giving me twenty-four hours to change the world.

“Yes, of course, I am grateful. It is very kind of you indeed. I think. Hmm… that does make me think. You see, now I am tempted to waste some of my twenty-four hours with considering the motive for your gift. Why did you say you had given me this wish, or should I say, multiple wishes, again?

“Yes, okay, I know you didn’t actually say why. That was supposed to be a leading question so you could tell me why you made your offer, and then I would decide if I would accept. Now that I am considering all aspects of your… er… kind offer, I might spend some of my twenty-four hours considering the karmic impact of making changes that may disturb people’s life paths.”

Ella snorted and laughed to herself, enjoying her little poke at the little man-creature-thing. Her friends would like that comment if they had heard it. She was a little surprised though, at the accusation which followed, tempered only by the man’s rolling eyes and condescending shake of his head. She wasn’t being pretentious! She definitely wasn’t stuck up! Just because her family was wealthy didn’t make her stuck up, so how dare he say that to her!

“Oh, stop insulting me already! I am just thinking this, if you are not real, then neither is your gift, so whatever I wish for will be just for fun and doesn’t count. And… if you are real… well, what harm would it do to change the world we live in so… okay… let’s do it!”

Ella jumped out of her bed, enthusiastic now for her task, her mind racing to try and think what actually was wrong with her perfect world, things that she could correct with wishes. Within seconds she shrieked and jumped back under the covers at twice the speed she had left them.

“Er… before we start… could you just turn around and let me put some clothes on?

“Yes, yes, I know, all you non-physical creatures can see us at any time anyway. Yes, yes, I know too that I am too big and ungainly for you to find exciting, though it is unkind of you to say so. Just… turn around please… for my sake? All right, for your sake then, so I won’t offend your delicate little green eyes with my lack of figure! Thank you!”

 As her unlikely visitor turned his back to her, Ella jumped out of bed again, a little more huffily this time. She streaked to her wardrobe and yanked on her tatty old black jeans. She added a scarlet t-shirt with a wild slogan on it and then her rebellious black combat boots and grey socks. She yanked her blonde hair back into a tight ponytail and looked around again for the green creature, man, thingie, whatever he was. Ella more than half expected the imaginary vision to no longer be visible, but to her surprise, there he was, waiting impatiently for her to dress.

“Okay, I’m ready. Let’s go! Oh! Sorry, we don’t have to go anywhere to do this? Oh! Of course! So, you let me leap out of bed and run around like a scalded cat because…?”

Ella narrowed her eyes and gave the two-foot-tall man a withering glare. She was not impressed with him doubling over with laughter and slapping his thighs, making comments about how she looked scampering around in her altogether!

“Stop laughing, it wasn’t that funny!”

Ella was a little exasperated when he started wiping his tears on his sleeve. She truly didn’t think she had looked that funny, and her nameless visitor was making a meal of his amusement. She wondered if he was doing it deliberately to provoke her.

“Oh, just shut up and come on! Let’s go and sit on the lawn then. It’s much prettier out there than it is in my stuffy bedroom.

“No, the stuffiness has nothing at all to do with the untidiness of my room. It isn’t that untidy! God, you are so damn rude!”

Ella left the house and found a comfortable place to sit under a shady tree, although the sun was mild and gentle and would have been equally as comfortable to sit in its warm caress. Ella sat cross-legged with her back against the rough bark of the tree, somehow glad she could still see the little fae creature, and that he had not popped off into nothingness, the nothingness he had originally popped out of into her bedroom! She wasn’t sure why she was glad he was still there, the argumentative little brat that he was.

Maybe she was glad because his continued presence was proof that she had not been seeing things, but then, maybe he still wasn’t really there and her still seeing him meant she really had gone insane. She shrugged. Either way, it would be fun trying to save the world, be it real or imaginary. Didn’t everyone want to save the world? She let her mind wander, trying to work out what needed seeing to in the world.

Dodging the finger that was trying to poke at her, by weaving her head out of reach, Ella couldn’t help the small sigh that escaped her, thinking that he was bordering on nagging her now, with his chivvying comments!

“Yes, yes, I know time is ‘a-wasting’ thank you. Sit here with me and let’s start, shall we? So, tell me again, properly this time, how does this work?”

Ella wriggled a little and sat a little more comfortably. She listened carefully, her head cocked to one side, and her eyes fixed on his animated face.

“Oh.”

 “I see.”

Ella scratched her head for a second or two, feeling suddenly that this might be a little more serious than she had initially considered it to be. She slowly nodded. She thought she understood her task properly now. She turned sincere eyes fully upon the man, whom she could look straight in the eye since she was sitting down.

“Well, all right, let me just make sure I have got it right. I will just sit here with my eyes closed then and say out loud what I would like to see changed in the world. How long will it take to make each change I name?”

Ella scowled, not bothering to hide her displeasure at his answer, or the pleased smirk on his face as he delivered it.

“Oh, you need the full twenty-four hours for the changes? So, I don’t get twenty-four hours’ worth of wishes? You weren’t very clear about that in the first place!”

Although never having met a leprechaun before, this ambiguity reinforced the stereotype she had mentally applied to her visitor.

“Typical! Obscure fae dialogue. Why am I not really surprised|? So, I get how long to tell you what I want changed then? To make my wishes?

Fifteen minutes? Fifteen minutes!”

The man went off at her about ingratitude and Ella stared, indignant! He was the one who had played tricks on her, leading her to believe she had a whole day, and he was acting offended when she displayed surprise at finding she only had fifteen minutes! Oh, the injustice of it! But, considering how red-faced the man was, and how dangerously he was waving his arms around, she decided that mollification was the best tactic.

“No, no, I am not ungrateful. Truly! Please don’t shout at me so much. There was enough of that in my bedroom, thank you very much! Shhh, now! If all I have is fifteen minutes let me get started.”

Ella settled back and closed her eyes thinking for a few moments. She began to realize that although her life was perfect, with lots of money and parties and comfort, it wasn’t really like that for everyone else. She wasn’t going to wish everyone wealthy though, that didn’t make sense. She sighed as she thought; realizing she had never given much thought to the rest of the world before, but opinions had obviously already formed themselves in her mind because it did not take her long to start with her wishes. She spoke out loud as instructed previously.

“The first thing I would like is for it to be impossible for anyone to lie in a court of law. Yes, only in court. I won’t outlaw lying outside of court, because they do help with preventing hurt feelings and smooth things over considerably at times, but I think truth is important in a law case and so, no one can tell a lie in a courtroom. That will ensure that those who are guilty will be punished and those who are innocent will not, without making us a species of barbarically outspoken insensitive heathens. Got that one then?”

Ella did feel a moment’s twinge of regret, realizing how patronizing her question came across when the man’s face crumpled a little. She felt even worse at his defensive remarks.

“Yes, yes, I know you have. Sorry!”

Her regret lasted only seconds as the man swung back from subdued to giving her another lecture. She scowled at him.

“I said ‘Sorry’!”

Ella shot the man a suspicious frown. Was he doing this on purpose? She did have a time limit, and the man did seem to be consuming it with his melodrama. Enough was enough! Ella cut off his sanctimonious yammering, determined to proceed.

“Okay, next, I would like no one to be able to ill-treat or abuse a child.”

Shooting a pained look at the little man, Ella struggled to remain polite. There he went, interjecting again with hair-splitting questions. She was fairly sure now that he was trying to consume her time with arguing instead of wishing. Giving him the civility of a brief explanation was as far as she would go in pandering to his ridiculous questions. She did not bother to moderate her tone to a more polite one in order to deliver his answers.

“Yes, starvation of children is ill-treatment. Of course, it is! No, normal hunger is not starvation. No! Putting them in homes to prevent hunger won’t work, because taking them from their families is just as hurtful, and we just said normal hunger doesn’t count. Yes, I know, the whole social infrastructure will need changing to accommodate that wish.

“What? I haven’t thought things through? No! I am NOT naïve!” The accusation of not thinking things through rankled and Ella felt her temper beginning to rise. She had been giving no warning, no time to prepare, and then the ridiculous man had the cheek to complain she had not thought things through! Ella snapped back, causing the leprechaun to take a step back away from her vehemence. Why had he even bothered giving her the wishing ability if he was going to try and spoil it for her? Perhaps this was an exercise in perversity, and he had given her the wishes and then disrupted them, just to sport with her, or even just with any human.

“Well, how can I think things through properly given so little time? I am doing my best here to be fair with this!”

Deciding she wasn’t going to rise to the bait again, although she already had done so spectacularly, Ella continued to speak, giving a condescending glance as she did so. Toning her voice down to normal, though tinged with ice, Ella continued, planning to ignore any further time-wasting provocation.

“Moving along! No one will be able to hurt animals and we will not be able to endanger a species.”

Aha! There it was! The next time-consuming question! Ella shifted her position, to uncramp her legs and gave a satisfied smirk, sure she had rumbled his tactics. Suspicious of that smile, the man edged away from her a little.

“Yes, I know animals eat other animals. I did not say ‘no killing’, so that still leaves room for carnivores. Yes, I know killing hurts!” She felt her irritation arising again already. “Oh God, I am not sure I can be more clear than I am being!”

Ella fixed a hard stare on the smug-faced little man in front of her.

“How can I be more specific? People, I mean people! People can’t hurt animals. If we eat meat, the killing must be humane and painless. Let’s say this then, people can’t maliciously hurt an animal. There, that should protect little furries, and ease individual suffering of each animal.”

Interjection, interjection, interjection! Ella couldn’t help but be provoked. She realized he did have to be clear on her intentions, but he was more than a little enraging. The obnoxious little man was wasting her time with needless arguments instead of taking the spirit of her wishes. She scowled at him, knowing he was doing it on purpose, and wisely, in the face of her scowl, the man shut up.

“Look, stop splitting hairs! Just make sure there is no room for hurting our little innocents for no reason! You work it out!”

How dare he deliver that question with that supercilious smile!

“Of course, we have innocents in our world! Animals and children are innocents! Let me continue, and don’t waste my fifteen minutes in a debate on innocence please!”

Sure, that the man didn’t need further clarification, Ella proceeded. “Thank you! Next, I would like even and equitable food distribution throughout the planet.”

It took as little as a sentence before the interjections were there again. Ella leaned forward, raising her voice, which was a little too screechy to be intimidating.

“Economics? What would you know of economics anyway? You are not human!” She held up a hand as he opened his mouth yet again. “No, no, I am not trying to insult you! There must be a way for fair and uncorrupted distribution of food excess to starving nations.

“Yes, I thought so! Do it and let the chips fall where they may. Chips! Get it? Chips!”

Ella began to giggle at her pathetic pun, and the man’s face showed he was less than impressed with her. The silliness of her joke lightened Ella’s temper and the man’s calculating expression showed that he was carefully assessing her swift change in mood.

“All right, I will stop giggling and get on with it!” Ella shifted her weight a little before she continued.

“I would like tears to actually wash away pain. Properly! People need hurt to learn and grow, but they also need relief from those same hurts. Isn’t that a jolly good one then?”

Faltering as the man pointed to an imaginary watch on his wrist and gave a malicious grin, Emma panicked a little. She spoke much faster, leaning forward in her eagerness.

“What? Time is running out? Oh no! Already?

“Okay, okay, thanks for the warning. Got it! I said ‘Okay’!

“I would like to see waste recycling done with ninety-nine percent effectiveness because nothing can be one hundred percent. Oh yeah, and no dumping or littering will be possible. I would like to see cities planned with far more plants and greenways and nature bridges and leaning towards nature.”

Ella began to flow now, planet-changing ideas ranging from humanitarian to downright bizarre, popped into her head in quick succession. On the one hand, she was pleased that she was beginning to understand the problems with the world, even though a seed of sadness germinated within her, and on the other hand, she was also not so pleased that she was beginning to understand the problems with the world. She had never really given it much thought and realization settled in a thick cloud over her. She shook off the beginnings of a funk and smiled. She was doing something about it, or at least she would be, if the man was actually real.

“I am beginning to get the hang of this! This is fun! Some more! Let’s go! I would like to see….

“What! That is it? My time is up? No, way!

“Please! I already told you I am not ungrateful. I did hear you say you needed the full twenty-four hours to make the changes. Yes, I knew I only had fifteen minutes, but you did waste half of it picking fights with me!”

Fed up with his tantrums, Ella knew the swift red flush on his face indicated yet another impending mouthful from him.

“Oh dear, don’t start shouting at me again, and it really is not seemly to stamp your feet like that. It just makes you look petulant and childish.”

Ella reached out a placating hand and put on her most sincere and genuine smile. As she reached for the little green man, he vanished, and she touched nothingness.

Taken aback, Ella looked around for the creature. He was nowhere in sight! She then looked around to see if anyone had seen her talking to the man. She then realized it was probable that no one could have seen the leprechaun anyway, and if anyone had seen her, they might have assumed she was talking to herself. Luckily, there was no one else about to witness her brief insanity.

Ella considered what had just happened. Well, so, she was crazy then, but at least she spent fifteen minutes with good intentions. She gave some more thought to her choices and smiled. All in all, on the spur of the moment, she thought she had done quite well. One thing was for sure, when she woke up this morning, Ella was not likely to have given her home world more than a cursory thought. She suddenly felt full of concern over her planet. She made a number of resolutions to herself, to become more involved, perhaps to start with some charity work or something. She realized that other people also really did count, and there must be a way she could make an effort to helping… she didn’t know whom, but someone! Perhaps the man was a manifestation of her conscience, giving her a metaphorical kick up the jack? Either way, she was going to pay attention to the world more now!

Feeling a new righteousness, with a deeper appreciation of life as it really was, Ella stood up, stretched out and carried on with her day. She did not spend it lazing away, as originally intended. She signed up to volunteer at a dog’s shelter and sorted out clothing from her copious wardrobe to send to a charity shop. She cleaned her room, even remembering that the cans should be recycled and not binned. Piling dirty clothing into the washing machine in relays, Ella felt very good about herself, and how her intended lazy day had actually turned out. Her subconscious was a clever piece of work, creating that little person to gee her up. She realized that her life would never be as careless and thoughtless as before.

Ella did not, for one minute, really believe her wishes would come true… until the next morning, when her (and everyone else’s) whole world turned upside down.

Inspiration

I found myself wondering what any of us would actually do if we were handed the power to change the world. It is easy to sit back and criticise what is wrong, or to claim we know how things should be fixed, but it is a very different matter when you are the one making those decisions in real time.

Would we be careful and measured, or would we rush in and impose what we believe is right without fully understanding the consequences? It is very tempting to assume we would do better than those before us, but that confidence is rarely tested.

This story explores that idea through a deliberately flawed character. Someone who has not given the world much thought is suddenly expected to reshape it. The question is not whether she means well, but whether good intentions are enough when the stakes are that high.

Enjoy fantasy stories with high stakes decisions?
👉 Read “One Last Dive”

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👉 Explore Ethereal Visions

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Summary

A thought provoking fantasy short story by Catherine Knee exploring power, morality, and the consequences of trying to change the world under pressure.