He was about to talk when Karyn gave him a fierce scowl, "Oh, so you think this is funny? You're really amused with all of this aren't you? You think it's some kind of game, right? Well, all of this is real to me, and I don't think you really understand what you wished for, so I think I'll give you a firsthand demonstration " she snapped. Before Jon realized what was happening she took the stone, and started wishing, "First, I wish Jon would stand still until I gave him permission to move," she said.
Jon froze in place, unable to move a single muscle below his neck, "Karyn, what are you doing?" he asked nervously.
Karyn grinned, and looking him right in the eye said, "I wish Jon would be reassigned tomorrow morning,"
"What? Karyn, no!" he cried out in disbelief at what he just heard.
"No wait, I'm not done yet," Karyn continued, "I wish that if Jon gets pregnant at any time after the reassignment, she won't be able to change back until the pregnancy is over,"
"Well, I could always get an abortion " Jon countered.
Karyn looked at him like he just used a word she'd never heard before,"Huh? What's a abersion? It sounds like a real word, but I never heard of it before. It's simple, if you get pregnant, and don't get a miscarriage, you'll have to give birth to the baby. Unless you killed it, but then you'd be arrested for murder, and I'm sure you wouldn't want that " Jon's face went pale, and he broke into a cold sweat. He realized that in this new reality he wished for, practically all abortions were illegal, probably due to the risk of lowering population levels. Karyn had never heard of abortions because nobody ever talked about them. The very concept of a woman intentionally having an abortion was unthinkable, even to most liberals. All women were expected to carry their children to term, even if they'd been raped, and nobody questioned it. Jon realized Karyn was right, he really didn't realize what he'd done to the world.
Just then, Jon's mother called to him from the hall, "Jon, remember you and Mikey are getting your operations tomorrow morning. Be polite and cooperate with the doctors, ok? After it's done, I'll drop you off at school, so you can sign in late at the office,"
Struggling to keep his voice calm, he answered, "Ok mom, I know," resigning himself to his fate.
"Oh, yeah, and just one last wish to make sure you really learn your lesson," Karyn said," I wish that for the next six months, the stone wouldn't accept anyone's wishes. You won't be weaseling your way out of this one Jon, or would that be Jane now?" she taunted. "You'll just have to deal with being a girl for half a year," she said, dropping the currently useless stone on the floor. For a second, Jon worried that she'd leave without giving him permission to move again, but she turned around to say one last thing to him," Jon, look, this isn't anything personal. I'm your friend, and nothing's going to change that, but you really do need to be taught a lesson for what you did. That stone isn't a toy, it's dangerous. You can't just go around wishing for whatever you think of like a little kid. Maybe some time as a girl will teach you responsibility. Ok, you can move now," she said, finally leaving.
Jon was able to move again, but he was NOT looking forward to the wishes that Karyn made
