Malachi, 11 years old, VA | 4 DAYS WAITING

Wish submitted by:

Give Malachi a pencil and a blank page, and he'll disappear into it for hours, sketching everything from superheroes to detailed landscapes he's never actually seen but somehow imagines perfectly. Art is the one place where Malachi feels completely himself, a quiet refuge he's leaned on through three different foster placements and more goodbyes than any kid his age should have to say. He carries a battered sketchbook with him almost everywhere, filling its pages with the kind of detail that makes teachers stop and stare, though he rarely believes anyone when they tell him how talented he is. Malachi can be guarded and quiet around new people, a wall he's built after learning the hard way that not every home lasts, but ask him about his latest drawing and his whole face changes. Underneath that caution is a sensitive, imaginative boy who just wants a place and people worth drawing for years to come.

Malachi’s imagination is always at work, and a sprawling world map covered with armies, strategy, and history is exactly the kind of thing that could hold his attention for hours. Axis & Allies would give him a reason to pull up a chair at a table with other people, planning, laughing, and arguing over the best next move. For a boy who tends to stay quiet around new people, a game like this can be a bridge, a way to connect over something shared without needing to say much at all. It would also feed the part of him that loves maps, detail, and big ideas, and it might even inspire a few new sketches. Most of all, it would give him a reason to look forward to game nights with the people around him.