I sat on the wall behind school, just waiting for the day to be over. I reflexively smoothed out my skirt and tried to keep from adjusting my boobs every five seconds. I just couldn't get used to them. It was the first day back from Spring Break and I was ready to have a heart attack over the package. I kept the box in my purse the whole day. Fortunately school allowed girls to take their purses with them to class.
I was waiting for Karyn. She had been my best friend since forever. Her family lived in the house next to mine. Then she came around the corner. Her short red hair always appeared untidy. She was wearing her usual t-shirt, jeans and scuffed up shoes. "Hey, there, Josie," she said. "Glad to be back to school? I don't know about you, but there's only so much skiing a girl can do in a week."
"Hey," I said.
"You don't sound to happy," said Karyn.
"My grandfather died last week," I said.
"That's horrible," said Karyn. "He seemed so healthy. Didn't he just go on some sort of expedition?"
"Yeah," I said. "To Mexico. It was a heart attack, they think."
"They think?" said Karyn. "Wouldn't a bunch of doctors know?"
"It's not that," I said, adjusting myself again. Stupid panties, I thought. Keep bunching up in the wrong places. "I'm just not sure it was him."
"What makes you think that?" Karyn asked, incredulously.
"I got this in the mail just after he died," I said, handing her the package. Inside it was a small, plain rock and a note. "Go ahead, read it."
Dear Josie,
If you are reading this, it means that I have passed on. But I wanted to give you this, before I did. I found this stone on an expidition to Central America in a Mayan ruin. It is a wishing stone. It will grant you any wish you desire. Simply hold it in your hand and start the wish with 'I wish.' Your wish will then come true. There appears to be no limit to the number of wishes or range of the stone's reach. However, there are a few other things you need to know. When this stone changes reality, eveyone who did not hear the wish will have their memories changed so they think the new reality has always been that way. It does require skin contact, so you can't use it while wearing gloves, or if touching it through other clothing. Also, wishes cannot be reversed, only modified. I hope that you will use this stone well.
Don't be sad that I am gone. Just think of this as going on to the next great adventure.
Signed,
Your Grandfather
"A wishing stone?" said Karyn. "I'm not only supposed to believe that your dead grandfather might not really be 'dead,' but that you now have a stone that grants wishes."
"I know it sounds hard to believe," I said. "I had a hard time believing it, too, until I tried it out. It really works. Let me show you."
I took her to the back of the school. "I wish the school was painted blue," I said. The stone flashed lightly and the stone went from battleship grey to light blue. "I wish the school was back to grey again." Nothing. "I wish the school was a darker shade of blue." Flash. It was now dark blue.
"Wow," said Karyn. "So, you really can't reverse wishes?"
"Yeah," I said. "I learned that one the hard way."
"What do you mean, 'the hard way?'" asked Karyn.
"Look at me," I said. I stood there, a petite five foot two young woman. I had black hair that went down to my waist, blue eyes and dd-cup breasts. "Would you believe that, up until yesterday, I was a boy named Jon?"
