Snow days were always a mixed blessing. Sure, we got out of school, but there's always a price. Spring break was cut short to stay with the state-mandated 180-day school year policy. On the other hand, going back to school on Thursday meant two days of school followed by a weekend. A sort of warm-up, if you will. None of my teachers bothered to assign homework for this short week, which is just as well. It's not like I was in a any state of mind to concentrate on pre-calculus when I'm preoccupied with the potential within my grandfather's legacy.
I never thought I'd manage it, but I did finally sleep that night. I had some very vivid dreams that left me restless in the morning, and I was in a daze all day at school on Friday. I'd stuck to my plan to leave the stone at home, but I couldn't help but spend the day on the edge of panic. What if Mom found the stone while I was at school? How would I ever know? What if Zoe found it? Or worse - Mikey? At least I didn't have to worry about Dana finding it. She didn't even come home from Appalachian for Spring break.
It took every bit of patience I had to sit on the wall and wait for Karyn. I was about to give up and run home to make sure the stone was okay when I noticed her walking toward me. She was only a few yards away when I spotted her - I wasn't used to her new look yet.
"Hiya, Jon-boy! Did you bring it? I have some thoughts?"
"Nope. I left it at home so I wouldn't freak out like yesterday. Didn't help, though. Let's run to my house, I'm afraid someone will find it."
Karyn knows me better than anyone, and had her own reasons to want to get to the stone. We couldn't even talk because we were walking so fast we couldn't breathe. We both ran up the stairs and straight into my bedroom. I was the first one home, fortunately, and the stone was right where I left it. Karyn, who apparently knew me even better than I thought, went straight for my hiding spot and grabbed the stone.
"I wanna try something." Karyn set the stone down on my nightstand and sat on my bed. "I think I can fix this pretty easily. I'm going to wish that I have blond hair because I own a blonde wig that's at home in my closet from Halloween. The worst that can happen is that I have a wig, and still have to figure this out."
"Good idea! Go for it," I replied.
She held the stone. "I wish," Karyn began, "that I have blonde hair because I own a blonde wig that I wore for Halloween."
I felt the usual sensation of being forced to look away, and when I looked at Karyn, she looked normal. Mostly. Even though she was wearing a baggy tee-shirt and jeans, I could still tell she was slightly bustier than usual.
Karyn noticed my glance and covered herself with her arms. "Yeah," she said. "I'm still not sure what to do about these...."
"And you know," she continued, "I thought the change was rather obvious to everyone because of the stares I was getting.all day, but now that I think about it..." She paused, put the stone down, and went on, "I think it's part of the wish. I wished that I would get attention like Sarah. Today, I think I did. It was really freaking weird."
I had an idea. "Here's a thought - we could wish that you getting attention like Sarah was on that same Halloween."
"Oh hell yeah! That should work great!" She picked up the stone. "I wish that when I got some of the attention I wished for yesterday, it was on the Halloween when I was wearing the blonde wig." The stone did its flashing thing, but I couldn't see a difference. Then again, I don't know what difference I could have seen.
After a moment, I realized something. "You know what? I think this stone is pretty safe to use if we just think before wishing and always leave room for an out. We just have to think of one for your chest." I was really relieved, and I could see Karyn relax a bit, as well.
"I'll figure these out later. Let's go have some fun. Something we haven't done in forever."
I looked at her dumbly.
"Skating! We haven't been roller skating since middle school! It'll be awesome! We'll take the stone with us, and experiment a little."
It didn't take long for me to agree. "I'm not going dressed like this, though," she continued, brandishing the stone. "Let me see here.... Aha!"
