"...I wish I knew what the real story behind this rock was."
Suddenly, eons of time flashed before Zoe's eyes. She saw images of ancient Celtic Druids summoning ancient spirits, nameless and older than the human race itself. She saw them binding the spirits to the stone, which was then carved with intricate runes.
More time passed and she saw the druids growing prosperous from the stone's magic. Then a struggle. Greed and betrayal as the rock was lost to ambitious, evil men with a lust for power. They ruled the land and oppressed the people using the stone's power. The druids gathered what remained of their magic and cursed the stone. From then on only those who made specific wishes could use it, and even then the stone may randomly twist a wish to mean something other than the original caster intended. Also, wishes may not be undone, to make the wielder think twice about what they were doing. It may not have been enough to stop the stone, but it was all they could do to curb it's power.
Then Zoe was treated to a montage of the rock's various owners and how they met their end. The images flashed faster and faster through the ages, the rock had far too many owners for Zoe to clearly see each one. She tried hard to see if she could see what happened to her grandfather, but it was too late. She suddenly flashed back to reality.
"Whoa." she gasped, "So it's true."
She went back to check her algebra book. Cursing herself for dismissing it so quickly. After all, it did magically change every page in the book and that had to mean something. She skimmed through the pages again, and while it was true that the first few looked like doodles and childish drawings, the later pages looked like her own school notes, then later there were scantrons, and even college thesis papers. Zoe realized that the rock really had granted her wish, just not the way she wanted. The algebra book's pages had been replaced with every test Mr. Jones had ever taken from pre-school all the way through college.
Zoe was more excited than ever, this rock could be really powerful, but it was also treacherous. She knew she wanted to wish for great wealth, so she and her Mom could buy whatever they wanted. But how could she make a wish without it turning into something twisted?
