Jon woke up the next morning. He didn't want to be late for school, but knew that he had a magic stone that could let him prevent any problems. He glanced at his stone; it was still laying in the same place he put it. But something bugged him. Then Jon looked at it and figured it out. The stone wasn't shaped like a perfect pancake, but like a real rock, and one end was a bit more pointed than the other. He was idly fiddling with it before going to bed and had turned it with the more pointed end facing downwards.
It was upwards now. Moreover, there was a bit of sand on the stone. (The intruder had gotten it there when he dropped the fake stone, before changing his mind, but Jon didn't know this.)
He had vaguely heard a sound in the nighttime, but had gone back to sleep. Could it be that there really had been someone in his room? And they had taken the stone? Could this be, not his real stone, but a replacement?
Jon got showered, dressed, and ate breakfast, but was just barely on time for school. Therefore, he went to his one reserve trick the stone. Not knowing that he had The Same Stone, Jon was afraid that the stone could do something strange. But it looked just the same. Or did it? He held it up to the light very carefully and caught a glimpse of a lighter patch on one side of it, and felt a slight dent in one side. Could those have been there before? Or could they be some subtle sign that the stone had been switched?
Jon glanced at his watch again. There was no choice. "I wish I was going to school and would arrive on time." Instantly there was a flash of light--not from the stone, but because he had gone from a room to the outside. Karyn was ahead of him.
He ran to catch up. "Wait up, Karyn!"
"Hi, Jon!" she replied.
"Karyn, I think something's funny. I think there was a guy in my room last night, and he switched the stone. I have no idea what it did. It seemed to get me here, but..."
Karyn looked at him puzzled.
"Wait, you didn't forget what the stone does? Did he swap it with some kind of amnesia granting stone?"
"Huh? No, Jon."
"That's good. There isn't, well, anything strange about me?"
Karyn glanced at Jon. "Why should there be?" she said. "You look the same as usual. Same hair, same clothes... The stone didn't give you a tail or anything if that's what you mean."
"Thanks. I... wait a minute. You wouldn't notice anything that changed anyway. And what if it has some kind of delayed effect? Maybe it's a magic stone that makes me on my way to school and then five hours later turns me into a player piano. Maybe the stone works on everyone in my class."
"Then they'd all be going to school," said Karyn. "You might not even notice. But if you wish your brother's home or something like that, suddenly everyone has a brother. If you really think something's wrong, maybe you'd better leave the stone at home."
"Yeah, but what if it works on proximity? If you make a wish the nearest person to the stone gets zapped an hour later. I'd better keep it on my person if that's it."
"And what if..." continued Karyn. They did finally get to school on time, but Jon was worried; little did he know, he had the Same Stone....
