The doorbell rang just as Jon's mom was opening it to step out.
"Karyn!" she said, "Zoe and I are just heading to her concert. I think Jon should be upstairs."
"Righty-o," Karyn grinned, holding the door open as Jon's mom and sister stepped through. Zoe just rolled her eyes and sighed as they climbed into the car and drove off.
"That's weird," Karyn thought to herself. "She usually pays me in advance."
Karyn started up the stairs and was surprised to find Jon's door shut with the lights off behind it. He couldn't have already gone to bed, could he have? What about the rock? Something definitely seemed off.
"Are you in here, buddy?" she asked, opening the door ajar. The thing shard of light revealed Jon, curled up on his bed. It looked like he had been crying. Karyn rushed to his side and put her arms around him.
"What's the matter, baby?" she said softly, rocking the upset child.
"Mom forgot about me," Jon sniffled.
"She forgot you?"
"She was supposed to pick me up after school and never came. I waited and waited and waited and finally walked."
"Jon!" Karyn was upset, "That's not safe. You can call me if something that happens, but I can't imagine why it would. Your mom always picks you up after school."
"Not today," Jon sniffed, "I should have brought the rock."
"No," scolded Karyn. "That's exactly why you shouldn't have brought the rock. We agreed that you and I weren't going to make any wishes unless we both agreed on it first. Otherwise it could be dangerous."
As she said "dangerous", she looked down at her newly developed chest and shot a look at Jon. He immediately began to blush but, thankfully, was already feeling better.
"So," grinned Karyn as she stepped to the dresser and retrieved the rock, "If you could have anything in the entire world, what would it be?"
