The ticking of the clock in the downstairs hallway was the only noise that filled the air as the household slept. The clock then chimed as it struck midnight, shattering the silence twelve times before falling back to its tick-tocking. That's when it happened.
The stone sat on top of Jon's bedside table, looking as harmless as any other stone, waiting for the right moment to grant its users newest wish. It was as the clock chimed its sixth chime that the stone began to glow. The glow continued to brighten as the stone began to tremble from the effort of holding its magic in till the right time, when finally it released it in a blinding yellow flash that swept through the whole house. Then, once it had encompassed the entire house, the flash of yellow then shot out over the whole town. Then it receded back to the stone and the trembling stopped, just as the twelfth chime finished, but still the Madison family slept on, unaware that their reality had changed...
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
Jon jolted awake at the sound of someone knocking on his bedroom door.
"Jon, time to get up sport. Breakfast is ready," his mother's voice called through the door.
"Okay... jus give m'few minutes..." Jon said sleepily, as he rubbed his eyes.
"Alright, but hurry up, you don't want to be late. Oh, before you come down, can you get Mikey up for me?"
Jon mumbled another Okay and, as he heard his mother's footsteps head back down the hall, he yawned. Jon got up from his bed, stretched, scratched an itch on his head and side, then went into his closet to get dressed. Once he was dressed in his usual baggy t-shirt and jeans, Jon left his bedroom and made his way into the bathroom. After relieving himself and washing his face with cold water Jon, feeling more aware of his surroundings, went to his younger brother's bedroom and knocked on the door.
"Hey, Mikey! Come on buddy, get up!" a tired groan answered him, "Mikey, if you don't wake up now, you won't get any breakfast..."
There was a sudden gasp followed by a loud thud and muffled yelp. "OW! Okay, okay! I'm awake!"
Jon couldn't help but smirk and shake his head at his little brother's actions, "Mention food and he reacts, works every time." He then headed toward the stairs. As he walked down the hall, Jon noticed that it seemed to be a bit longer than normal. As if an extra room had been added, or something.
'Was that what my wish did? Add another room to the house?' Jon asked himself.
As soon as Jon made his way to the bottom of the stairs, he noticed a few more changes to the house. The first thing he noticed was that the family room furniture wasn't the same, where a nice tan leather sectional 'L' shaped sofa, a comfy brown recliner, and a big flat screened TV and stand had been was instead two cheap looking brown sofas, a dingy old grey recliner and a medium sized black tube TV set. The second thing that Jon noticed was that there wasn't as many pictures on the walls and the wood floors were now tan carpet. Confused Jon headed for the kitchen to see what else had changed.
As Jon stepped into the kitchen, where he could hear his mom cooking breakfast, he was nearly knocked over by a small body that launched itself at him and latched onto his legs.
"Mornin' Uncle Jon!" a high pitched voice cried.
Jon looked down in shock and confusion to see a little girl of about five years old, with long shoulder length dirty blonde hair, big round chocolate brown eyes, and a wide beaming smile that was missing two front teeth, clinging tightly to his legs. 'Well, she's a cute little girl, I've never seen her before. I wonder who she is?... Wait, did she just call me Uncle Jon?'
"Sally, let go of your uncle and sit back down and finish your breakfast, now missy," Jon's mom said, only this time did Jon notice that it sounded a bit different.
Sally gave Jon one more bright smile and skipped back to her seat. Jon looked up at the woman standing by the stove, it was his mother alright, only she looked... younger, about twenty-five. Linda, Jon's mom, had her long dark brown hair hanging freely down to the middle of her back - her hair used to only be shoulder length and speckled with grey - her face was wrinkle free and the skin smooth, her figure was fit and trim and she was wearing a white camisole and a pair of plaid pajama pants. Jon's eyes moved down to her legs and it was there he made another discovery. There, a three year old girl was holding onto Linda's pants with one hand and sucking the thumb on her other. Her big blue eyes stared up at Jon through a curtain of her short, curly brown hair. She was wearing a pink shirt that was two sizes too big - the collar was so wide that it slid over her left shoulder - the hemline reached down to just below her knees, on her legs were purple sleeping pants and she wore a pair of tiny white socks on her small feet.
Jon was broken from his daze when he heard his name.
"Jon? Are you feeling alright, little bro?" Linda asked as she lifted the little girl up and held her on her hip, "You were staring at Cindy like you've seen a ghost."
'Little Bro!' was all Jon could think of before something snapped in his head and he fainted...
