"I wish I'd get an A on that science test I have to take today," Jon said. The stone glowed. Part of him didn't want to make that wish, because it almost felt like cheating, but if he could get an A on the test, he'd pass the class for sure. And he didn't want to take the class over again.
He grabbed his school bag and went downstairs. The kitchen was dark. He frowned. His mother was usually there having her morning coffee. He started to make himself a bowl of cereal when Zoe came in.
"Have you seen Mom?" He asked.
"Why?" Zoe asked.
"I wanted to talk to her."
"She's probably at work by now. And you know how she hates calls at work unless its an emergency."
He frowned. His mother was an executive assistant at a law firm downtown. She never went in this early. "I guess I'll talk to her tonight."
"She said she'd be home pretty late," Zoe said. "Why do you want to talk to her so badly?"
"Umm...no reason." Something was wrong. His mother and sister often fought, but Zoe wasn't acting angry at their mom, she was acting like she didn't care at all.
"I'm going over to Athena's after school," Zoe said. "I'll eat dinner there." She headed out.
Jon wandered into the living room, still confused, and paused. The couch was different. So was the TV. It was a larger, flat screen model. He tried to figure out what was going on. Had wishing for an A made him a better student, and somehow made his mother work harder, which got them a TV?
He continued looking for clues, and suddenly spotted something on the mantle. It was a family photo from a few years previously...before his Dad died. His mom, dad, him, Zoe, and....Mikey was missing.
He bounded up the stairs and barged into Mikey's room...and found that it was a home office. He spotted some diplomas on the wall above the desk, including a law degree. But his mother didn't have a law degree...she'd been thinking of going back to school after she had Zoe...but then she...had Mikey.
He ran out of the house to find Karyn.
