As I entered my house, thoughts of the rok were temporarily pushed aside by the scent of my mother's deliscious cooking. Smiling, I called out, "Mom, I'm home!"
My mom peeked her head through the entryway between the kitchen and the foyer. "Hi, Jon... you're a little late..."
I lowered my head sheepishly as I set down my bookbag and kicked off my shoes. "Sorry, I needed to talk to Karyn about something..."
My mother gave me a sly grin. "You two are such good friends. Well, I guess I can forgive you this time. Now head on upstairs and wash up. Dinner is almost ready."
Nodding and patting my pocket gently to make sure the rock was still there, I ran up the stairs to my room. Closing the door behind me, I reached into my pocket anxiously. But before I could take out the box, I saw someone sitting on my bed. I sighed, blinking. It was my cousin Mike. "Hi, Mike..."
Mike was my mother's brother's son, and was the same age as me. He had dark brown hair and equally dark brown eyes. Eyes that were piercing me with a near-glare. "Hey, Jon. You look surprised to see me."
One thing to know about Mike and I, we never really got along too well. Grandpa always liked me better, and Mike resented me for it. And he was kind of a jerk anyway. "Well, I really didn't... mom never told me you were here."
Mike got up off my bed, walking over to me. He was a whole head taller than me, and almost loomed over me. "Too bad about Grandpa, huh? He was a great man and will be sorely missed." he said, putting on his best act of concern. It almost made me sick to watch.
I shoved him back slightly, so as to not get cornered. "Give it a rest, Mike. What the Hell are you really here for?" I asked, in my most defiant and powerful tone.
Mike just laughed. "Well, right to the point, I see. Listen, Jonny-boy, I know that Grandpa left you something. I just wanted to see what, out of all those artifacts he had lying around, you ended up with."
"I don't think that's any of your business..." I said, before getting punched swiftly in the stomach. Gasping for air, I looked up at Mike through watering eyes. He grinned back down at me. I knew that if I didn't tell him something, he was going to kick my ass here in my own room. "Okay! Okay... he just left me this stupid rock..."
Mike's face lit up like Vegas at midnight. "He left you his wishing stone?! No fucking way..."
I blinked at him in complete shock. "You mean, you knew about this thing?"
Mike nodded, the bright smile still plastered on his face. "Yeah! Saw him use it once, but he denied it existed. I tried to get my hands on it, but that old bastard kept it well hidden..." I stared blankly up at him, not happy about my grandfather being called an 'old bastard'. Mike started to look a bit frustrated after a few minutes of silence. "Well, hand it over, Jonny-boy. I haven't got all day and I can't wait to try it out..."
Grudgingly, I reached into my pocket, and...
