By now Zoe had heard the commotion in the hallway, and emerged from her room with a scowl.
"What the fuck's going on?" she said with a huff. Her mother gave her a cross look, but said nothing as her expression returned to worry at the scene unfolding in front of her.
Jon did his best to explain. "This... thing just showed up. Dad's stuck inside!"
"It's ok everybodyyy!" they heard call from the buzzing tanning bed. "I feel fiiiineee.... but weeeiirrrd..."
And then, only a few moments after it started, the light and the humming started to subside. The machine appeared to power itself off and Roger was finally able to push the hatch open.
"Woah. Glad that's over. That was... odd." He stood up and walked unsteadily into the hallway.
"Are you okay?" Linda asked.
"Yeah. It was just warm. And tingly, but on the inside though. I can't really explain it."
"How long were you in there?" Zoe asked.
"It was only a few seconds..." Jon said.
"But... he's so tan!"
Roger looked down at his arms. Sure enough, they had a slight tinge of bronze that the normally pale man didn't have going in. "Weird!" He exclaimed. He ran a hand across his arms, his skin felt warm to the touch, and much softer than before. His hands went up to his shirt collar and he peeked inside.
"OMG!" He said, pulling the collar down to show his family. His chest, which had been covered by his shirt, was just as tan as his arms.
"It... tanned you under you clothes? In just a few seconds? How is that possible?" Linda asked, even more worried than before.
"Did... you just say OMG?" Jon asked. He had a bad feeling there was something much deeper going on. This had to be the stone's doing, but he would need to be careful to figure out how to fix things.
"Jon, I think we've got bigger things to worry about," Roger said. He looked back at the tanning bed. "We don't even know where this thing came from or how it got here. And until we get some answers, NOBODY is to go near this thing. Understood?" He closed the door to the room it was in.
"Yeah because I've been dying to get a tan" Zoe said sarcastically. She looked at her father, "It even gave you highlights!" she said, trying to stifle her laughter at the sight.
"My goodness, she's right!" Linda said. She took Roger by the arm and walked him to the bathroom mirror. There in the light, it was as clear as day - his salt and pepper hair now had a couple of faint blond streaks, all the way to the root. And - he couldn't be sure if it was an illusion from his now tan face - his teeth seemed whiter too.
Roger didn't want to admit it, but he was a little scared. A few seconds inside that machine and he looked so much different. But what really concerned him was the warm tingling, which he still felt deep inside.
