"You somehow traded places with my mom. Now you're real, and she's...in a TV show. I know that sounds crazy, but..."
She picked up a nearby photo. "That's her with you..." she said. Suddenly, she blinked. The woman was gone, replaced by Alex in the picture.
Jon saw it too. "We need to figure out how to get my mother back before you completely replace her," he said. He moved to touch the TV. The screen was solid. he didn't feel the pull he'd felt before. This was not going to be easy.
"This is not possible...." Alex insisted.
"I'm going to try something," Jon said, running upstairs for the wishing stone. "I wish my mom was back." Nothing happened. He guessed that would contradict whatever was going on.
He needed help. The only one to turn to was Karyn...but what if she was like Mikey...unaware of what was going on? But he needed someone who knew about the wish, but could also tell him what this new reality was like without thinking he was insane.
"I wish that Karyn would be aware of how both how things were before my wish and after, but..." he added, realizing that two sets of memories would probably be disorienting to suddenly have... "in such a way that she doesn't panic. I wish that Karyn would have already decided to come and visit me and will arrive at my door and be about to ring the doorbell just as I get to the door."
He headed back downstairs. Doctor Bolton was sitting downstairs watching...well, his mom on TV. "This is all wrong," she insisted. "It's my kids, my house...but this woman isn't a doctor. She works in an office. The people are the same...but everything else is different."
So, his mother hadn't just taken the character's place...her life, or parts of it, came with her.
He went for the door, surprising Karyn, whose finger was near the doorbell. "Come in, quickly."
"Jon, I nodded off watching TV, and...Hi, Doctor Bolton..." she said to Alex. "I dreamed your mom was that woman on TV...you know, Linda Madison from Jefferson Lake?"
