Jon didn't know how long he sat there, in tears. He stared at the laptop with the star map he had wished up. He thought it would help him discover amazing things beyond his wildest dreams. Instead, it had only shown him something more existentially terrifying than his worst nightmares.
He then stared at the wishing stone. What good was a magic wishing stone if he couldn't use it to save the world?
He realized he should have known most of those wishes wouldn't work. His grandfather had said in the letter that the stone had a range limitation of several miles. Of course it would have no effect on a universe-destroying bubble four light years away. Had that range limit encompassed the entire universe, his grandfather never would have noticed there was a range limitation in the first place, unless he had been told about it by someone else. It seemed, however, that his grandfather hadn't figured out just what that limit was.
Jon wondered why his grandfather didn't just ask the stone. He then decided he would do so himself.
"I wish I knew just what the stone's range limit was." Jon said.
The stone flashed, and in an instant, Jon knew. The stone's range limit was currently 90 miles, rounded to the nearest ten. That meant it could probably affect all of Lake Point, the town where Jon lived, and many of the neighboring towns and cities. It certainly wasn't enough to affect the entire Earth.
"I wish the stone's range limit was increased to affect the entire universe." Jon said.
But, much like Jon's wishes to stop the universe-consuming void, or move the Earth out of its way, the wish did not work.
"I wish I knew why that last wish didn't work." Jon said.
And in an instant, he knew. The stone's magical energy worked similarly to the batteries of a TV remote. Over time, the stone's range limit would decrease as more magical energy would be used by powerful wishes. A century ago, the stone's range limit had been over a thousand miles, but a number of powerful wishes since then had reduced its range considerably.
The only way to increase the range limit was to place the stone in a place of great magical power so that it could recharge its energies. There were only a few such places on Earth. One of those was in South America, where Jon's grandfather had encountered the stone. But none of them were anywhere near Lake Point, or even on the North American continent.
"I wish I knew how long it would take to charge the stone enough so that its range limit was increased to affect the entire Earth." Jon said.
The answer Jon got was disheartening. Two hundred years. The Earth didn't have two hundred years. It would be only four years before the Earth was consumed by the universe-destroying bubble that had already claimed 80% of the Milky Way galaxy.
Bitterly, Jon decided he wasn't going to bother with wishing to know how long it would take to charge the stone so that its range limit was increased enough so that it could affect the entire universe. There wasn't any point.
He was on the verge of crying again. The situation was just so hopeless. And yet, he still didn't want to give up. He had to tell someone about this. He couldn't keep this to himself the entire four years before the end of the world. Everyone around him would know something was wrong from the way he acted.
He needed someone to confide in. Someone who would be willing to listen to him. Maybe they would have ideas of their own for a way out of this. At the very least, he wouldn't have to be alone with the burden of the knowledge of the universe's coming end.
