"I wish," said Karyn, "that Eric and Keith would write a note confessing keeping Brooke a slave, then be magically compelled to buy a one-way ticket to Sudan, go there without telling anyone, and let themselves be taken captive by a slave trader."
"You can't!" yelled Eric.
"I most certainly can!" replied Karyn. "You kept my girlfriend a slave; you can have a try at being slaves yourselves."
"But that's a horrible way to treat someone. To be forced to work for someone else's benefit. To be treated like nothing more than an animal by some sadistic person out for only his own benefit."
"You should have thought of that before you did it to Brooke."
"We didn't do the same thing! Brooke came willingly. Real slaves get beaten and starved and put into shackles. I remember when we first used the stone on Brooke. She said she liked dressing to make us happy."
"She was submissive. She'd smile forever and never tell you she hated it if that wasn't what you wanted to see and hear. And just because you weren't beating her doesn't mean you weren't forcing her. Magic makes it easier to fool yourself about exactly what you're doing. I've heard enough."
"She isn't even your girlfriend! That was just another wish."
"Don't be absurd. Now I've heard enough. I wonder when the next flight to Sudan leaves. She walked out with Brooke, leaving the two to write their confession and leave for Africa.
Karyn saw Brooke back to her dorm--Brooke was a year older than Karyn and a freshman in college while working part-time as a lab assistant--and they spent some quality time together. Naked, in bed, exploring the familiar forms of each others' bodies and finding comfort together.
Later, they watched the evening news, which reported that Eric and Keith had confessed keeping their assistant in slavery, and then apparently vanished. Karyn knew the police would question Brooke, and made a wish that they would question her briefly, think she's innocent, and leave her alone.
Karyn went home with the stone. She was glad that she had been able to rescue Brooke; in the three years they had been lovers they had never faced a problem together as big as this. And now she had a magic wishing stone. She'd have to find out where it came from sooner or later. There were also some things she might want to wish for right now.
Before going to sleep, Karyn put the stone on her pillow in front of herself, on top of the instruction manual, and thought long and hard about what she was going to do. Finally she picked it up....
