My thoughts were all mixed up. I had heard my mother make her wish through the crack in the door. "I wish you could experience the kind of first love I had."
Then I had become a girl. And from that reflection, I was sure that this was what my mother had looked like when she was younger. Unconsciously putting on the nightgown until I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror, I realized that I was thinking a little bit like she was, and I was sure I was going to do what she did....
And then I realized that among the foreign mother-thoughts in my head was something about blaming the situation on a ring.
It was such a simple concept, of course. The stone showed me that there was magic in the world. But once you accept the existence of magic, wouldn't it be likely there's more than one magic item in existence? I must not be the only person in the family affected by a magic item. Mom, at the time of her first love, was influenced by some sort of magic ring. What was it? I didn't know yet. She could have been under a love spell, either by accident or not. She could have even been a guy like me, changed into a girl. That would be bizarre. She might have been grateful, or forced to be grateful by magic, or horrified... I had no idea. Perhaps there was some curse on it that kept her from seeking help or even telling anyone about it.
Until Mom had accidentally wished me into her situation.
But it wasn't exactly the same. I still had the stone, after all.
I opened the box and took out the familiar stone, along with a ring that must have materialized there just like the nightgown, no doubt a duplicate of one Mom had long ago. I felt oddly compelled to put it on, but I convinced myself to drop it for just a second. Then I made a wish... "I wish that that ring won't affect me in any way unless I want it to."
The compulsion was gone.
"Now, I wish to know exactly what that ring does, and what it or one like it did to Mom...."
