i post on this forum so infrequently that i have to reset my password every time i do. this story go my attention, though, and here's why. i see this story as basically a though experiment about what life would be like if we lived in a world of magical thinking. most people worry about bad things happening. most people wish good things would happen. the world of this story has begun to behave the way people's imaginary world does.
some might point to the "chain" scene in the park as a counter example to this, but i don't see it that way. it is an illustration that people don't just like to imagination the good and the bad, but also the extraordinary. we don't dwell on event-chains like "i reached into my pocket to grab a tissue and my car-keys fell out and now i have to call a mechanic" we like to think "i reached into my pocket, my car keys fell out, and a stranger saw me looking forlorn on a corner and offered me a ride and now we are married and i have to move to peru" you get the point.
the focal point of this story is that the characters can change the outcome of events just by wishing. and this makes this story one of those weird ones that are either very good or very bad. i am going to get political now, so if you don't want your escapism disturbed, stop reading. the world we currently live in is crisis. it occurred to me a couple of years ago that america is engaged in an experiment in mass magical thinking. maybe this is just my own overactive imagination, but this is what i listen to financial reporting about how all that we need to do to get back on track is to 'regain confidence in the market', or when i listen to political commentary that focuses on how people perceive a policy, rather than on the effects of that policy. not to mention that almost every single Hollywood movie, especially the ones made for children, explicitly say that wishing makes it so.
maybe magical thinking is essential in times of crisis, because it makes the crisis bearable. but it is also a really, really bad habit. and this is why this story might be bad. If the ending is supposed to be positive, that we can just all get together and click out heels together and all of our problems will be over, and that is someone's reaction to the current state of our society, that's frightening.
on the other hand, if this story is meant to be frightening, it really, really is. if it is meant to point out how people would much rather wish away their problems than take action, it's brilliant. i especially like the fact that the main character is someone i am forced to identify myself with, lifestyle-wise, while at the same time despising her for how fey-practical and completely ineffectual she is.
i have said that this falls into the category of things that i can't tell if they are brilliant or terrible. but, since the answer to this question seems to rest on what the author's intention was, i think the question is moot. my rule for this is, if it bugs me this much, it must be good.