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Words fascinate me. They are a wonderful adventure.

Ever since I was a little girl and I read fairy tales, in which the paupers and protagonists were granted three life changing magic wishes, I've fantasized of having a personal fairy who'd grant me the same. And just in case one day my fantasies became a reality, I was prepared with carefully thought out wishes I'd ask for.

These are what I've always wanted to achieve, but in time I understood that there are no fairies who to grant wishes with the tap of their magic wands. So, I've learned to strive towards achieving them myself. If my wishes weren't within scope of reality, then I sought ways of enjoying them by other means.

My first wish would be to have the voice of an angel and sing in any key, any note, any tune, any melody. Music, as we all know, is the balm of up-heaved spirits, the key to open the doors which imprisons souls and let the spirit soar. If I could only sing. . . But I cannot; so I listen to music. It fills my day and brings me joy. Although, I'm not even well-versed with the latest names or titles, because I'm more of an eclectic, instrumental and classic music lover with some jazz and single artists from 50's, 60's and 70's.

My other wish would be to speak and understand all the languages which exist in the world. I could even give up my previous wish in exchange of this. Imagine what an immeasurable wealth this would be, a golden key to any culture and its literature, traditions, history, philosophy? To understand how a people live and think– without the loss in translation – would be the greatest wealth for me.

My final wish – and I pondered over this a lot – since I'm painfully familiar with William Wymark Jacob's horror story (which probably gave rise to the adage “be careful what you wish for”) is that I could read minds. Not everyone's, oh, no! I don't want my head cluttered with voices and thoughts that don't interest me. I'm neither a busybody nor a voyeur who wishes to know what's going on in everyone's life – only those who are dear to me.

If that wish were to come true, perhaps, I might have known and avoided the storms I encountered in my life, the heartbreaks I sustained, and the pain endured. Would that have been a case of “being forewarned is being forearmed?” or simply possessing an extraordinary power to rely on? I guess I'll never know.

We speak of lunatics. Our ancestors believed that the moon – lune – had an evil influence on wo/men'spsyche. Thus under certain (unfavorable lunar) circumstances, they would become, moonstruck.

The stars also played their part in human affairs. When they were favorable, men saw foresaw disaster –dis– being Latin for “ against” and “astrum” meaning “star”. Although we sometimes talk about someone being “ill-starred”, and use the word disaster, we no longer credit the stars with our misfortunes.

Right now, there are no stars or a moon; but a cool sunlight streams through the afternoon clouds. I think I'll curl up by Selim with a book, and put on a piece I love. He'll stretch and start purring happily; I'll plant a kiss on his moist nose. Music will fill our world – and joy, our souls.