I should have wished to be rich, but felt it was too self-serving.

I should have wished for fame, but felt I'd lose privacy.

I should have wished for world peace, but felt one country's peace could be another country's poverty.

I curse the day I met the Wishmaster, and even more so for the "perfect" wish I thought I'd come up with.

"I would like to become a master of language."

The Wishmaster hesitated and asked, Of every language?

I nodded. The wish was educational in nature so it couldn't have been purely vanity pushing me to become an expert linguist. The wish could not possibly affect anyone adversely, for it truly only affected me. The sole purpose of the wish was to further communication and perhaps close the global gap just a bit by having someone act as a language liaison.

How long does it take for somebody to become a master at something?

Confused, I responded with, "I guess... I mean... 10,000 hours of deliberate, focused practice is the rumor."

The Wishmaster went silent. Then, 10,000 hours of deliberate, focused practice, and you'd be a master at language?

"I suppose so."

But that's only considering one language at 10,000 hours, right?

I shrugged but agreed. I was unsure where this was headed until I noticed the wind slowing to a stop. A stillness. The ambient white noise of the city was now deafening silence and suddenly, I was whisked from being face-to-face with the Wishmaster and into my own study, armed with a pen, pad of paper, English dictionary with the doors shuttering locked.

Again confused, I asked aloud to no one in particular, "What's going on? Why am I in my house and why do I have a dictionary in front of me?"

A disembodied voice responded, This is to give you the deliberate, focused practice you need. I figure English will be the easiest since you already speak it.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand what's going on! I wanted to be a master at every language! What does this have to do with anything?"

The voice ignored. From there, we can move language by language in alphabetical order. I hope you're looking forward to Afrikaans after this first 10,000 hours!

And the Wishmaster has been silent ever since. I should have wished to be rich, for fame, for world peace.

Instead, I'm frozen in time, studying until the Wishmaster deems me an expert. If the metric is 10,000 hours, that's a little over a year for each language.

This may be fine. I mean, how many world languages can there really be?