Karyn was about to say that Jon was Sarah McMillan, but she had second thoughts. "It's 2 PM."
Then she looked at her watch. Of course, it was 2 PM!
"That's not much of a lie," said Jon. "It was probably like 1 already. All you did was lost an hour."
"You wanted a bigger lie?" asked Karyn.
"No, no, it's great!" exclaimed Jon. "You're being careful. It's a big responsibility. What if you said something like '2+2 adds to 5' or 'the moon is made of green cheese'? We really need to do exactly what you did, be very careful, do only small things and really think them out first. I... what?"
"What is it?" wondered Karyn.
"It's nothing," said Jon. "I suddenly remembered something from months ago. I had this dream about a magic stone that granted ultimate power...."
"That's funny," said Karyn. "Now that you mention it, I had the same dream too. But it's hard to remember. I wonder if I could use the bracelet to find out. Say a lie about remembering the dream and it'll become true."
"Let's not be too hasty about that," said Jon. "Remembering a dream is something we can do on our own. If nothing else works, then we can try magic--we don't need to use it for every little thing."
And as Jon said that, his memory suddenly became clearer again, just a tiny bit. He now remembered the shape of the rock, though its color and feel was something he thought he just barely forgot.
"Let's go home," said Jon. "We can figure out what to do with this thing on the way. You know, the busses don't run very often today. Maybe you can use the bracelet to help. You can say that a bus is coming right now."
Karyn said "Okay, one bus coming up. The number 17 bus will be at the mall in five minutes, and that's the truth!"
But at the same time, Jon shook his head.
"Jon?" asked Karyn, concerned.
"It's nothing, Karyn. It's just... that memory, that dream, isn't so clear any more. It's like I'm forgetting it again."
"If you're not just imagining it," said Karyn, "maybe it's a side effect of the bracelet."
"You mean like a warning?" wondered Jon. "I get it. In order to change the bus schedule, the magic has to move lots of busses around, change which bus drivers are working today, magically print up a few thousand bus schedules, maybe move hundreds of passengers around if the bus was taken from somewhere else, all so we can get home a little faster. It is sort of a big change for that.... yes, that's it! Now I remember what the stone in the dream looked like again!"
And in a store in the mall, a wizard was wondering. That was the young man who had gotten one of the world's most powerful magical artifacts, a wishing stone. And he had made perhaps the best wish possible--a wish that he would get the stone back when he was responsible enough to use it.
The magical bracelet was a side effect of Jon's wish. It did indeed turn lies into reality, and since the stone formed it from other sources of magic it was even stronger than the stone in some ways, but that wasn't its true purpose. The true purpose of the bracelet was as a test.
Every time Jon suggested that Karyn use the bracelet responsibly, he would remember a bit more about the stone. Every time he suggested something irresponsible, he would forget a bit. If he was responsible enough, then someday he would remember the stone completely--and at that point the stone would return to him.
Could Jon show that much responsibility in the week that Karyn will have the bracelet? The wizard certainly hoped so--but in the end, it would be up to Jon....
