"I wish that any and all wishes I make in the next half hour would be temporary and reversible, but only by me," Jon's mother continued. That, Jon realized, meant that the previous wish was permanent. As a test, he took a magazine from the perfect stack on his nightstand and dropped it on the floor. Instantly, it was back on the stack.
"I need a full length mirror to see myself," Jon's mother continued. "I wish that that wall over there was full length mirror."
Instantly, one entire wall of Jon's room, the one with the least furniture along it, was a perfect full length mirror. To Jon, that was almost spookier than the cleanliness. Where his mind expected to see a blank wall, it found instead a reverse image of his room! And there was Jon, sitting quietly and suspiciously on the edge of his bed, watching his mother strut around the room, and fretting about what she might do next. It was like peeping on himself!
"I wish that all my clothes would cease to exist," his mother stated.
"Mom! What the hell is that about?" Jon insisted.
"Well, I have to see myself on order to know how I'm doing. Is that a problem?"
"Your naked!"
"Duh! Everybody was naked until about five years ago. Stupidest thing your grandpa ever did, in my opinion. Made me think the poor old guy was going senile. I mean, if he was having chills, there were lots of simpler solutions."
"I don't remember the whole world being naked," Jon began to object, but then he realized his mistake. Because he hadn't been within earshot of his grandpa's wish, he wouldn't remember a world without clothes. Instead, he remembered a made-up world with clothes. Now there's a spooky thought, he reflected.
"If grandpa did make that wish, why do you remember the way things as they were?" Jon demanded.
"I once made a wish that I'd be aware of every wish your grandpa made, and that if I chose, I could exempt myself. On the clothes one, I did exempt myself. So now, although I can wear clothes if I have to, which is most of the time, they seem unnatural and uncomfortable. I still think that's better than feeling unnatural and uncomfortable when I'm naked, though. Now, do you mind if I get on with my beauty session? We've wasted the first ten minutes."
"I don't like seeing you naked, but I can't stop looking at you," Jon complained.
"Of course you can't. You wished that you wouldn't lose sight of me during our little half hour here, which is down to nineteen minutes or whatever. Look, Jon you want me to fix this nakedness problem? If so, you have to wish me permission."
At that point, Jon's mom made a fist around the stone, then opened two fingers so Jon could reach in and touch it. "I wish my mom could make one wish to fix the nakedness problem," he mumbled.
"Fine. I wish everyone in our family would feel perfectly at ease and natural being naked around each other, and seeing each other naked," stated Jon's mom.
"Mom, you know that's wasn't the solution I wanted," Jon complained.
"Well, next time make your own wish. I'm not freaking you out anymore though, am I?"
"Uh, no," Jon replied, and then he noticed that despite himself, he'd probably be more comfortable if he took his own clothes off. Instead, though, he settled back to see what his mom would do.
"I wish I were three inches taller," she began. "I wish I was in perfect muscular shape. I wish I was in perfect cardiovascular shape. I wish I had very high lung capacity, even if that requires expanding my ribs. I wish my breasts were firmer. I wish they were higher. I wish they were larger. I wish they were slightly larger yet. I wish my nipples were a little smaller and better defined. I wish I were fifteen pounds thinner. I wish I were another five pounds thinner. I wish my abs were smooth and flat and tight. I wish for more muscle definition all over. I wish for even more muscle definition in my abs. I wish the cellulite in my thighs and butt was gone. I wish my butt were rounder and smoother and firmer. I wish my skin was smooth and tan and young-looking all over. I wish I didn't have any hair below my neck. I wish my hair was shoulder length, smooth, silky, and never got tangled. I wish my shoulders, back, and hips were perfectly shaped for maximum balance and minimum painf. I wish I had all my own teeth, except they'd have no chips, no cavities, and no fillings. I also wish they'd be perfectly straight and naturally white..."
On and on she went, correcting one supposed flaw after another. Then, at the end of the half hour, the stone disappeared from his mother's hand and reappeared in Jon's.
"Well, how do I look?" she asked Jon.
"Uh, you look great, I guess," Jon replied. "I mean you hardly look like yourself. If this is what you want, though..."
"So, do you have any plans for the rest of the day?" she asked Jon.
Yeah, thought Jon, I'm going to track down grandpa's other children, if they're still alive.
