Karyn almost didn't think about using the stone. She didn't want this to backfire, so she wanted to make sure she was doing it manually. She grabbed the waste bin from next to the writing desk and swept every single cosmetic from off of the dresser into it. She tied off the bag and tossed it by the door. She went into the closet and systematically removed every garment that was anything other than white, black, or brown. Those went into a pile next to the door as well. She took the curtains off the rods, pulled the blankets off the beds, pushed them apart and stuck an end-table between them.
There was a corkboard on a wall full of pictures of friends and family. The pictures all went in the pile.
There was a big, pink "S" hanging on the wall behind one bed and a big, pink "K" hanging on the wall behind the other. Those went in the pile.
Karyn rooted through drawers, looked under the beds, scanned every inch of that space for anything that had a hint of personality. It all went in the pile.
And just as she finished, just as she thought she'd been as thorough as possible, out of the corner of her eye she saw a familiar car through the window.
Her mom's car. It was pulling into the driveway. Her mom got out. Kara and Sarah got out. They hadn't changed.
But her wish! She'd made so many changes to this room, surely they should be at least a little bit different. Karyn stared at the pile of Sarah things next to the bedroom door, and then it hit her: the room was certainly more disorganized now, but everything that had been in it before was still in it!
Karyn's heart leapt into her throat, and her hand leapt for the stone. "I wish all the things I've thrown into this pile would go somewhere else!"
And then they were gone, just like that.
Karyn looked out the window again, and breathed a sign of relief: Sarah and Kara now wore their hair down in a plain style. They had no makeup. They wore plain white T-shirts and tan skirts. And overall they just looked... tired. Like they were missing the energy that they normally had.
They had definitely changed. But that didn't mean they would be easy to confront. Karyn did one last visual sweep of the room as she heard the front door open, and said "I wish I was in my bedroom holding the stone."
