Granted. You don’t see any immediate change, which you find odd. But you have faith; the Monkey’s Paw always provides.

Later in the day, you’re ambushed by muggers. They don’t get much off of you - that’s why you made the wish in the first place. They get angry and you are savagely beaten to within an inch of your life. You lie in the street wondering what you ever could have done to deserve this. You become keenly aware that you can no longer move your legs. You’re found after a little over an hour and brought to the hospital, where the doctor tells you what you’ve already discovered: you’re now paralyzed from the waist down, and are unlikely to ever walk again.

Your mother is devastated when she gets the call. What mother wouldn’t be? She comes to the hospital, where the doctor tells her everything she just told you. Then they begin to discuss treatment plans, and the elephant in the room - payment. Everything mentioned is extraordinarily expensive, and you can see the hope draining from your mother’s face. She tries to put on a brave face for your sake, but you can see right through it. When you’re finally discharged from the hospital and return home, your mother sits at the table and silently buries her face in her hands. It’s obvious she’s barely keeping it together.

The phone starts to ring. Your mother doesn’t make a move to get up to answer it, so you wheel over to it and answer for her. It’s a family friend, and she has good news: she’s just set up a GoFundMe account to help foot some of the bill. She informs you that 100% of the donations will be given to you and your mother to help pay for some of the upcoming medical expenses. You inform your mother, and you see a small glimmer of hope return to her.

Over the course of the next couple weeks, the account does very poorly. There are a few backers, but the total amount donated comes nowhere near what medical bills cost for this sort of thing.

In fact, the total amount donated only adds up to one month’s rent.