... which is what Jon's grandfather saw in the crystal ball, until he stopped concentrating and the vision dissipated.
He thought about what he had seen. Thousands of loops, most of them bad? Jon becoming a pair of panties or a hooker? Dinosaur incidents? Bad rewinds?
But he had to go away for a while, and he couldn't take the stone with him. He had to give the stone to someone. But maybe Jon wasn't the best choice. The next choice was Zoe, but there was a problem: he had absolutely no idea whether Zoe would use the stone properly or not. And the crystal ball had so many limits on it that it wasn't funny; it turned out that astrological problems completely prevented him from using it on Zoe at all.
It wasn't hard to guess that Zoe was about as likely to have problems with the stone as Jon. But thinking over the two options, he finally decided to take a chance on his 16 year old granddaughter. Zoe would get the stone.
A few days later, Zoe and her best friend Athena were at school, just before class, talking and gossiping.
"So your brother's girlfriend just came home from the mountains?" said Athena.
"Yeah," replied Zoe. "But while everyone's going over to meet her again, I wanted to show you something. Because I just can't keep this to myself. It's about Grandpa. He was on one of his expeditions a few months ago. But he died."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear..." said Athena. "Funny how we listen to songs about dying, but when someone really dies, it's different... But you don't seem that upset."
"No," said Zoe. "I don't, because I don't think Grandpa's really dead at all."
"You mean there was no body?" asked Athena.
"No, there was," replied Zoe. "It's something else that made me suspicious. Something beyond my wildest dreams. It's my inheritance." She realized Athena was bound to have morbid thoughts about mutilated and bodies and such, but continued anyway. "It's this!" she said, holding up a box. It was fairly unimpressive, about one inch by four and an inch deep, made of plain dark wood with a few markings carved into it.
"Wait," said Athena. "I recognize those markings. They're..."
"On the front of my notebook. I know. But this is the real thing. Oh, it was probably just an old box Grandpa had lying about, and the symbols don't mean anything, but what was inside was certainly real...."
Zoe removed a crumpled piece of paper and a rather unusual, if plain-looking, stone. The stone was slightly metallic, rather like hematite, but with a reddish hue to its surface, rounded, flattish and about an inch across. "Read the note," she said, handing it to her friend.
Dear Zoe,
If you are reading this, it means I have passed on. Do not mourn my leaving; although we shall no longer be able to spend time together, be happy knowing that where I am now is just a new start and a different perspective than before and that I shall just look at it as my next great adventure.
The stone you find in this box is my legacy to you. Treat it with care, it does not look like much, but it has immense power. I have entrusted it to you, as my favorite granddaughter and friend, to be its keeper and guardian now that I am gone.
I found the stone on my latest expedition to South America and I believe it to be of Incan origin. How it works, or where it came from beyond that, I have no idea. All I can tell you is how it works and trust you to use it wisely.
Bear with me on this next bit; I know it sounds fantastic, but trust me when I tell you that I am telling the truth. All I say is real and it will not take much experimentation for you to prove it.
While holding the stone against your flesh (I recommend just holding it in your hand as the simplest approach), simply use the words 'I wish' followed by whatever it is you want the stone to do. There is no limit to the number of times you can do this, as far as I can divine, but beware for the words of a wish can be reinterpreted but not changed once the breath is over. The stone has great power, but is not unlimited. Changes made will be as if it has always been so, apart from for those within earshot of the wish or out of the range of influence of the stone. This range I estimate at several miles, but I fear I have not been able to determine an exact figure.
I must go now. Use the gift I have given you wisely, and think of me often.
Your friend, always,
Grandpa.
Athena finished reading the note and said "Oh. What are you going to do with it? Try it? That can't possibly..."
Zoe pointed to a tree branch on the ground. "I wish that that tree branch was blue." There was a sensation like getting something in the eye, and then Athena saw the branch turn a bright blue.
"Whoa. It can possibly," said Athena.
"And that's not all," said Zoe. "I wish the branch was red." A few seconds later, she continued. "Nothing happened. I can't reverse wishes with this thing. I wished it was blue, so I can't change that again and take the blue away. Now, I wish the branch was dark blue."
The branch changed color.
"See?" said Zoe. "The wish can't be reversed, but it can be changed. Reinterpreted. Making it a different kind of blue didn't reverse the old wish, because the old wish just said 'blue'. Want to try it?"
Athena said, "Sure."
"But don't mess up! Anything you do can't be reversed. Pick something small."
"Fine, I wish to have the new Evanescence CD in my hand."
A second later, Athena was holding a CD. She handed the rock back to Zoe.
"Good idea," said Zoe. "It's much better than saying something like 'I wish I had blonde hair and boobs' and never being able to change it."
"Zoe, you..." said Athena.
Zoe laughed.
"Wait a minute," said Athena. "I didn't get a sensation in my eye this time. I didn't have to look away."
"Fooled you. I didn't say anything about boob size, and you know that I had blonde hair until I started dyeing it. That wish didn't even count as a wish! It didn't do anything at all. Anyway, class is going to start soon. But I think having this thing is going to be very interesting...."
