Jon wasn't sure at all what had happened. The stone glowed but.. maybe he got lucky? He had not meant to wish anything at all! He looked around his room, then opened the window to take a wide view of the street he lived in.
"Nothing strange here," he thought aloud. Jon looked at the stone in his hand then quickly put it in the box fearful of making any other unintended wishes. "I must have got lucky," He thought. Maybe it was another limitation of the stone.. did he have to be very specific? The stone probably didn't know what to do
After rationalising that nothing weird happened, he placed the stone back on his desk. He wrapped up the covers around himself. It was difficult to get any sleep though. He was a boy that could have anything absolutely anything. Jon was not a person that held base desires. Indeed he was a relatively happy teenager, in a normal life yet at this moment his thoughts dwelled on his grandfather. "If I could have any wish it would be to see him again," he thought. Yet that was the one wish.. the one thing that his grandfather said he must never attempt or even to seek him out.
What should he wish for
Mikey slept soundly in his room. There was no warning when something a little.. unsettling happened to his body, while he relaxed in the safety and comfort of his room. He shifted a bit to his left as a strange itchy sensation flooded his skin. Goosebumps formed around what hair he did have, the follicles themselves altering their appearance. The hair hardened, turning into needle-like projections still attached to his skin as they became a brilliant white in color. The ends of each needle then split open releasing their content turning into white, fluff of feathers.
The young boy continued to sleep...
The next day, Jon woke up. He glanced at the stone again. "It wasn't a dream," he said half with dread and half relieved. It was going to be a normal school day. He walked down the hallway. Oddly enough, Mikey seemed to be up and in the bathroom first. He shrugged and decided to change his routine while his brother was there.
"Morning Jon," said his mother as she made breakfast. "Your breakfast is ready" she smiled.
"Thanks mom." Jon idly ate the buttered toast.
Zoe was already sitting down at the table and gave a reasonably polite smile to her older brother. She tended to get up the earliest, having a bowl of cereal. Jon noted she was adding gel to her hair to give it a shine. Jon wondered if he should comment on it but.. something told him not to? It was so much easier to talk to his sister when well when they were both younger.
Zoe didn't seem to mind the silence much, as she finished her breakfast. She hoisted her school bag, ready to go. "See you later," she said as she left the house on her own.
"She's quite the independent young woman isn't she," smiled Jon's mother. "I remember when all three of you went to school together. Why don't you do that any more?"
Jon shrugged. "Well- she has her friends, and I do walk with Mikey."
"Still you are her older brother dear. You should look out for her."
"I- well- I know I do." Jon grimaced slightly. "I guess it's just the way it is though?"
His mother sighed. "It's only what you make it to be dear. Now where is Mikey anyway?"
Jon glanced upstairs He had already finished breakfast and usually they ate together. Mikey had been in the bathroom well over half an hour now, a lot longer then he usually took. His breakfast was getting cold. "I'll check up on him."
Mikey wasn't sure what had happened. He thought someone might have been playing a weird trick on him. However, when he went to the bathroom to conclude his business there as any other day but something felt.. off. It was like his pants contained something new. Unsure he opened his pyjamas and reached down where.. feathers? "What the-" He tentatively touched them. White feathers, all around his nether regions. They were quite small, barely half an inch long- but there were an awful lot of them. He wasn't sure what to make of it. There was no sign of the softer hair that had started to grow as part of what he -did- expect.
He attempted to tug on a particularly prominent feather. "Ow!" They were attached to him! Not glued on or something but actually attached! Still he had tugged hard on it to come off. This resulted in an empty cavity under the skin. It felt kind of sore, and it started to weep a very tiny bit of blood. He rubbed at it, and the blood did dry quickly. This just wasn't normal at all! He felt himself panic a bit, as he carefully inspected every other part of his body. He couldn't find anything else though amiss, it was just this odd patch of white feathers.
"I gotta get rid of this," he thought as he took a pair of scissors. Plucking it was painful but.. what about trimming? A bit unsure he cut vertical on a feather seeing the strange white striations easily come off with no pain. Feeling a bit bolder he tried to go for the larger stem. This.. this was odd though. It felt like it did hurt a bit. Not quite like plucking but he felt an odd soreness again. Touching the end of the sawn off feather, he felt a the tiny hollow stem as if it was part of his skin. Again, it wetted on his finger, as he felt blood- not much at all, but that dull ache was difficult to ignore. "Mph!" He squirmed. Maybe he could just.. trim it down?
Mikey set to work trimming where he could leaving the stems intact. Hopefully nobody would notice this. Then he heard the knock on the door.
"Hey.. Mikey? You okay?" called Jon. "Your breakfast is getting cold."
"Uh- yeah I'm fine.. sorry- I- I'll be out soon..."
