Rather later...
"Mom!" exclaimed Jon. "I'd like to try something..."
"What?" said her mother. She didn't know, of course, that Jon had been anything but a girl all along.
"Call me a guy. I mean, I have a guy's name, right?"
"I don't get it..." said the woman. "But fine, Jon, you're a girl."
"No, call me a guy!"
"I did... I thought I did! Jon, you're a girl! That's funny, I can't say..."
"Mom, I really hope that that's going to be enough to prove what I'm about to tell you. I can't say it any more than you can, but I've been transformed by magic, and I hope you can figure out what I mean. The whole thing has to do with Karyn. She stole the magic rock I got from Grandpa..."
Jon's mother frowned as if Jon was going to tell her that she was being kidnapped by aliens. "You're not seriously expecting me to believe...."
"Then what force is keeping you from saying, you know?"
"Nothing. I don't understand it, but it still doesn't prove..."
"Well," explained Jon, "here's a better one." She walked over to a drawer under the sink in the kitchen, followed by her mother, opened it, and pulled out a pair of scissors.
"Jon!" yelled her mother. "Put that down! You're... you're going to hurt yourself. I didn't think you were so emotionally unstable... I should have recognized the signs..."
"Will you listen to me! I'm not planning to hurt myself!" She pulled at a good-sized handful of her long, black, hair and reached towards where her head was, and cut the hair off. Then she said, "I'm going to go out now," and took a step towards the door.
Instantly her hair grew back to its previous length.
"Th-- that's impossible!"
"No, it's very possible, Mom. And if you really want to see something, go look at Karyn's Livejournal diary.
"Karyn McMillan? She hates..."
"No, Mom. She doesn't. Not until the stone got to her. Her Livejournal account is on a computer a zillion miles away and the stone and device have a limited range. You can see how she really feels."
"Even if I accept all of this, what can I do?"
"I don't know, Mom. Maybe talk to Karyn's new mother and try to get her to get you the stone... Or talk to Karyn's relatives out of state. Maybe you can look in your old papers and stuff and see if you have anything from Grandpa that has to do with magic. Maybe you can just walk up to her and take it... I don't think I can get close to her, but I bet you can." (Jon didn't know the wish preventing her from taking the stone only lasted until Karyn got home.) "Maybe just help me think of something... I still have the fantasy and nightmare device and I can still use it..."
"Well, uhh... why don't I..."
