That moment, Mikey left the kitchen whistling, and passed by Jon on the way to his bedroom. Jon, sure that eventually he'd end regretting this, just couldn't resist.
"Mikey, wait." called Jon, and Mikey stopped halfway up the stairs. Jon gulped, "I need your help."
"Finally, I thought you'd never say it. Come up to my room." said Mikey with a grin.
When he reached his room, Mikey waited for Jon to come in and closed the door behind him. Walking to a chair that looked really comfortable, Mikey took out the stone from his pocket and started playing with it in his hands.
"So, what do you want?" he asked Jon.
Jon took a deep breath, "The heels," he replied, going straight to the point, "Just make them easy to walk in, I'm sick of stumbling around, and make them comfortable, so it doesn't hurt to wear them and walk in them."
"You know that will cost you, right?"
"I know, so what's the catch?" asked Jon.
Mikey seemed to think about it for a moment. "The catch is that I will do what you want, but I won't tell you what I'll do in return until you have accepted the deal, and you can't go back on it afterwards." Mikey said.
Jon tried to stifle a laugh, even in his situation. That was a very old trick he had used hundreds of times on Mikey. He would want something with all his might, so Jon would make a deal with Mikey to get it for him, without telling him what Jon was going to get in return from it, unless he accepted, usually something with a greater value than what Mikey wanted. Most of the time impatience made the worse of Mikey and he'd accept at once, with bad consequences for him. This time, Jon would not take the bait.
"Then I don't have anything else to discuss here, Mikey" said Jon, getting to the door.
"Wait!" Mikey said quickly, "What if I change something else for you too, something that will improve your situation a little. No catch and no buts whatsoever with that."
"I want to add a number of terms and conditions, if we are going to do this deal."
"Okay." nodded Mikey.
"First, I want that mowing the lawn is the last of the my chores. After that, I'll be done and I won't have to do anything else, and I'll be able to take this damn clothes off." said Jon.
"Sounds good, I promise-" Mikey started.
"Wait, I'm not done yet." Jon cut him off, thinking he may have the upper hand there, "Second, I want you to fulfill our deal immediately, it doesn't help if you don't do it after I finish working. And third, I want you to use the stone to wish that these conditions are met in our deal, just in case. "
Mikey shrugged, "All that sounds good. Do we have a deal, then?" he asked, stretching out his hand.
Jon hesitated. It looked way too easy, so Jon went over the terms of the deal he just told him. Mikey had accepted too easily, but everything seemed right, the conditions seemed robust and there was no way for Mikey to break his word and not fulfill his part of the deal. What did Mikey want in return, that Jon couldn't tell, but it couldn't be much worse than what he was doing already... Right?
"Deal," said Jon, starting to get impatient, "Just wish for the conditions first, and let's do it, I think I'm starting to get cramps in my legs" and then shook hands with Mikey.
"Perfect. Now, I wish that mowing the lawn was the last Jon's chores for today, and once completed he will be able to remove clothes he is wearing right now. I also wish that I, Mikey, have to fulfill my part of the deal right after we both agreed to it," the stone flashed twice, granting the two wishes. Immediately afterwards, Mikey spoke again, "Like the terms of our deal, I wish that, until I decide otherwise, Jon would find easy to walk in high heels, just like an average person with practice, and that he finds them quite comfortable to wear, like any other normal shoe.
The stone flashed again, granting that new wish. Jon noticed that the pain in his feet was fading away, replaced with a very mild feeling of discomfort, as if it had been long standing with normal shoes, which certainly he had been doing all the morning. Jon couldn't help smiling for the first time
that day, and he felt renewed, somehow. Taking a few steps as a test, Jon realized that he no longer struggled to maintain his balance and he moved with ease when walking, as if he had been wearing heels for months. Jon didn't think he would be able to run a marathon or anything, but this really was a great step forward.
His joy was short-lived, though, dissipating immediately when Mikey spoke again. "Now, it's your turn."
"Okay, what do I need to do?" asked Jon.
"It's not so much as what you have to do, as what I'm going to change," explained Mikey, making Jon almost shrink in fear. Taking a breath, Mikey continued, "I wish that, again until I decide otherwise, Jon had to wear high heels to be able to walk or even to stand up without falling."
Astounded, Jon couldn't believe what his brother did just wish. On one hand, while wearing heels still was humiliating, I wasn't as bad as before. But on the other hand, Mikey had virtually locked him up in the heels for the remainder of the week! Before Jon had time to do or say anything, Mikey returned to hold the stone tightly in his hand.
"I wouldn't do anything stupid if I were you," Mikey said, "It was a square deal. Your conditions were met and I have done my part of it. If you don't like the results, maybe you should think really hard before you agree to things like this, Jon." Again, Jon's own words, this time addressed back to himself by Mikey.
Jon just gave Mikey a look full of hate. "Clearly, I can't win with you, right?" said Jon, his voice filled with anger, and walked out of Mikey's room with his head bowed down, the long locks of cherry colored hair covering his face, more aware than ever of the sound the heels made on the ground at every step.
"I thought that was clear from the moment I had the wishing stone and you didn't" said his younger brother, before Jon went out of his sight.
