"I come from the future," said Jon.
"You can't," said the boy. "Nobody can really come from the future."
"But I did. Don't I look like you?"
"You look more like Dad and anyway you could be tricking me or wearing a good mask."
Jon tugged at his face. "See?No mask. Besides, that's impossible. You can't really make masks that are as good as they are on TV."
"Like you can't come from the future like they show on TV?"
"Yes, except I can. Look, I'm not sure what's going on here, but I know I don't remember having met a time travelling version of myself. And that's not easy to forget. Now I wish I was back in my own time."
Nothing happened, since this stone wouldn't grant such a wish.
"Damn, that didn't work. I bet if I tried something else it'd send me back in time again." He had guessed partly right, but didn't know that the shift was random. "I'll have to leave you a message. Do you have a piece of paper? Please don't tell your Mom yet."
The young Jon carefully examined Jon. He even walked around him. Jon just stood there and the young Jon said "All right. You look harmless and you can stay but you have to go right after that!" He walked over to his desk and sat down, picking out a piece of paper with wide lines.
"Okay, here's the message. When you're 17 years old, at spring break, you're going to get a magic stone."The younger Jon began to scribble. "Then something's going to happen and the stone will send you through time. When you get the stone, just wish to prevent that, or at least to know why it happens so you can prevent it if you want to. Got that?"
"I wrote it down but do I understand it good? When I get a magic stone, I wish that it doesn't time travel by itself?"
"Close enough. Now I'll be off."What wish could Jon make, though? He had an idea! "I wish that if I tell someone I'm a time traveller they'd believe me."
Things changed again. Jon was sent through time again. If it went back the same number of years he'd be born or an infant but what he saw didn't look like that. And what did the 9 year old Jon do anyway? Certainly seeing a man disappear in front of him would at least prove he had magic, and that message was a change from what Jon remembered. Might the timeline have changed?
Jon studied his environment and realized he was in....
