Immediately after the stone glowed, the room looked very different. He wasn't sure what had happened.
He reached into his pocket, but the stone wasn't there. Where did it go? He looked around the room, thinking he might have dropped it, but it was nowhere to be seen. Everything else looked pretty much as he expected it, with only a few things different, or out of place.
He went out into the hall, and saw more of the same. It was the same, but some things looked different, or rearranged. He peeked into Mikey's room. Now that was different. But not like he'd expected.
Mikey's things were all gone. The room was full of boxes. He went to check on Zoe, and found her room was different too. For one thing, it was neat and clean, which was not something Zoe was known for. And most of her stuff was gone.
What's going on? He asked. He hurried downstairs and found his mother in the kitchen. "Mom, where's..." he trailed off as she turned. She was...old. Well, not ancient, but she'd aged. He suddenly realized something. He'd wished for an older brother...and the only way his mom could have had one is if she had one younger, or had been older when he was born.
He hadn't wanted that. "Mom, where is everyone?"
"Everyone?" She asked, confused. "Did you invite Karyn to dinner without telling me?" There were only two places set at the table. "Your sister said she might stop by later for some things."
"Stop by?" He asked her, confused.
"From school," she said.
Why would she need things? He looked around, and suddenly spotted the family photos. They were different too. He focused on one he remembered, that was taken over a year ago. He looked exactly the same as he remembered, but out of the three children in the picture, he was the youngest. Zoe was still the middle child and...that must be Mikey. He was wearing a cap and gown.
It was a graduation photo. He looked over the other photos on the wall. A few of them had birthday cakes in them, making it a bit more helpful. He was still 16. But Zoe, instead of being two years younger, was now two years older. And Mikey was now six years older, instead of six years younger. He'd become the baby of the family.
