One voice in particular stood out to Jon. It was an unfamiliar voice, but certain thoughts jumped out at Jon.
'...must find the safest place to store this wishing stone. What was the old man thinking?'
This was it! Whoever this was, they knew about the wishing stone, so it was likely they knew what was going on. Jon focused on this person.
'At least now they're trying to make wishes on the new stone. If this works, then maybe they can be trusted with the regular stone.'
New stone? Regular stone? What did this mean? Jon looked at the stone currently in the room. Aside from the slime, it did look a bit different.
'Jon Gibson, I know you can hear me'.
'Crap!' Jon thought.
'Seriously, do you think I'd leave you with a 'gimmicked' knockoff of the wishing stone and NOT know of the side effects of the slime? You and Karyn are reading each other's minds right now, and I knew that if I stuck around long enough, you'd read mine as well.'
'Who are you?' Jon thoughtcasted. Try as he might, he couldn't probe deep enough to find out the stranger's identity.
'That's not important right now. I'm moving out of range of the slime's mind-reading effects now so the only reason we're even having this thought-casting conversation is because I used the original wishing stone to wish that we could communicate telepathically for the next ten minutes. So you won't find out who I am by reading my mind.'
The stranger continued. 'As you've guessed by now, I'm the one who switched the stones on you. I took the stone your grandfather sent you and replaced it with this knockoff version of it.'
'But why?' Jon asked.
'It's simple, Jon. I was on the expedition to South America with your grandfather. Don't get me wrong, I like and respect your grandfather a lot, but there are a few things we disagree on. And one of them was sending you the wishing stone.'
'He thought you were ready for it, but I strongly disagreed. I told him 'I know he's a bright young lad, but he's still a teenage boy. And teenagers often act impulsively and do things without thinking them through. What makes you think he'd be less likely to make hasty wishes that go bad than Zoe or Mikey?'. But your grandfather didn't listen to me, and sent you the stone behind my back.'
'Fortunately, I had one of the many imitation versions of the stone that had been created throughout the centuries. Long story there and I don't have time to tell it now. I used this 'Squishy Wishy' stone to find you and eventually sneak into your house and replace the original stone with the one I had, because I don't believe you or Karyn or Zoe or most of the rest of the people in your school or neighborhood can be trusted with the original just yet.'
Jon paused just a bit to take this in. 'But why?' Jon repeated. 'Why don't you trust me? Why don't you trust any of us?'
The Stone Switcher paused for a moment. 'Excuse me while I make sure the stone's safe in my bag and I'm not touching it. There, now let me explain. It all boils down to two words: I wish.'
'Do you know how often we go about our daily lives saying 'I wish'? 'I wish I had a nicer house.' 'I wish it would snow'. 'I wish my friend were here'. We say those two words without even thinking about them. And yet here's this stone of incredible, reality-altering power that's activated by sentences beginning with those two words. Can you even IMAGINE the chaos this can create?'
'You might wish your friend were here, and then they'll appear before you when they had just been sleeping or taking a shower or brushing their teeth or driving a car which proceeds to crash. You wish your deceased loved one was alive, and they suffocate in their coffin. You wish it would snow and it causes icy winter roads in spring or summer and tons of car accidents. You wish that something interesting would happen and anything from an alien invasion to half the town turning into elf girls or other mythological creatures could happen.'
'Don't even get me started on a certain hot dog jingle. If you don't know what I'm talking about, be glad. That's one less way for you to seriously screw up.'
Jon could sense the Stone Switcher's frustration as the rant resumed. 'The point is, people use the words 'I wish' way too lightly. I think that before you or anyone else can be trusted with the original stone, you must find a way of getting out of the habit of using that phrase. So I left you what I call the 'Squishy Wishy' stone in its place, designed specifically to punish people who say "I wish" while holding it.'
'By splashing us with slime every time?' Jon replied. 'Is that all this is? Some form of aversion therapy?'
'Yes, that's exactly what it is.' the Stone Switcher replied. 'But it's more than that. The slime also has the beneficial side effect of giving you the power to read the minds of anyone within 50 feet of you. It only lasts 24 hours after your most recent sliming. If you stay unslimed for 24 hours, it wears off and you won't be able to read minds any more than you did before you encountered this stone.'
'So that's it?' Jon replied. 'I can't make wishes on this stone because it's a trap designed to get me out of a habit? But I can read minds?'
'I didn't say you couldn't make wishes with it.' the Stone Switcher replied. 'You can. It's just that it won't work if you use the words "I wish". That will get you slimed. But if you use the other phrase instead, then it'll grant your wish. Its range limit is probably smaller than the other one. I'm guessing about 50 miles at the most.'
'Okay, so what's this other phrase?' Jon asked.
'You wouldn't believe me if I told you.' the Stone Switcher replied.
'Try me.' Jon replied.
'Okay. The chances of you finding this out on your own are about one percent, so I might as well tell you. You say "I wishy"'.
"I wishy?" Jon said aloud. He found himself laughing. This seemed so absurd.
'Are you serious?', Jon asked.
'I told you you wouldn't believe me. But yes, I'm serious. Anyway, I've got to go. Don't bother looking for me. I can use the stone to change shape so if your neighbors saw me, their description of me is worthless now. So long for now. Maybe you'll hear from me again someday, when I think you're ready for the original stone.'
'Wait! Who are you? Where are you taking the stone?' Jon asked.
There was no reply. Jon realized he had just experienced the telepathic equivalent of someone hanging up the phone on you.
Jon turned toward Karyn. He knew he had to tell her everything he had just learned, but whose mind was she reading now? Who had she decided to focus on?
