Later that night Jon was lying on his bed, thinking about things. Mostly about things that involved the wishing stone.
The thing was dangerous, that much was obvious. Not being able to truly undo any wishes that are granted was simply terrifying. Of course, that wasn't exactly true. With careful wording he could probably twist things in such a way that wish would be undone. But who knew what kind of consequences that would bring? The stone interpreted wishes in pretty unique ways and unless he worded wish with a lot of detail, it would be hard to get exact effects he hoped for.
The fiasco with Karyn was all proof he needed for that. The stone granted wishes in such a way that no-one besides the people who heard wish would notice that anything is different. So now Karyn always had the big breasts and blonde hair she wished for. All pictures he had with her showed that quite clearly. Who knows what else changed because of that accidental wish? Maybe she has boyfriend she knows nothing about? Girlfriend? After all - Jon always was suspicious that Karyn was actually lesbian. The possible consequences of even something as simple as blue branch wish were also enormous...
Jon shakes his head, trying to concentrate. He needs to think very long and hard what to do with the thing. Locking it up and throwing the key out probably wouldn't help in the long term. The thing obviously was magic, he simply couldn't imagine technology capable of altering reality in such a way. And if it was magic - what other magic things or beings existed out there? Genies? Fairies? Vampires? Demons? Mages? The list could probably go on and on.
The stone also was ancient. If his grandpa found it in some ruins, it was possible that some kind of records or legends remained about it. And if that is true - who knows what kind of desperate people were actually looking for it? Maybe even some magical evil beings were looking for it at this very moment? The thing probably attracted trouble like a damn magnet. If he locked the stone away, how he will be able to protect it and his family from anyone wanting to use it? Even with stone itself - unless he wished for some kind of powers of his own, he couldn't really use it in a fight faster than someone could pull a trigger.
No, locking it away won't help anyone. Sending it to someone else could make things very ugly, very fast. There was only one possible conclusion...
He had to use it.
Coming to that decision brings even more questions to Jon's mind. What to use it for? The first thought was his family. They weren't really rich, but they weren't poor either. Their house was nice and had enough rooms for his whole family: him, his brother Jacob, his sister Zoe and his parents Linda and Adam. His mother Linda and his father Adam were nice people, truly. He loved his parents. But they were kinda... distant. For Jon's parents all that really mattered in his life was that he would have good grades and some friends. They didn't really ask about anything else on his life, never were really interested if he was bullied or not...
His sister Zoe and his brother Jacob also didn't had best relationship with Jon. Zoe was a goth and seemed to be constantly angry at the world. Jacob had different likes than Jon, so they did not hang out much - Jacob was much more sporty and active than Jon himself was.
In conclusion his relationship with his family sucked. So if he really wanted, he could improve things with stone.
Other person Jon could use the stone for was, obviously, himself. He could always wish to become more handsome, popular, wish to have girlfriend... or several. Hell, he could wish for magical powers, knowledge of martial arts, skills from comics or manga he read. He could become ruler of town if he wanted, with his personal harem. Heck, he could even see if grass really was greener in other side of the fence and become a girl... He could do dozens of various things to improve himself or just have fun. It is not like anyone around him knew about stone...
Well, besides Karyn...
Karyn... She was his friend for as long as he could remember. Hell, they practically grew up together because their families are pretty close. Jon always wanted to ask her to become his girlfriend. She was kind, funny, pretty, if a bit tomboyish, they had a lot in common... and yet he never asked her out. Why? Well, for one he was pretty sure she was lesbian. Or bisexual. She also treated him more as a brother than a friend. Jon wasn't even sure if Karyn even saw him as dating material. And also he was afraid of rejection. He was afraid that if he asked her out it would ruin their friendship. If that happened, he would become pretty much alone. The few other people he counted as friends weren't as close to him as Karyn.
So yes, he was tempted to wish that Karyn was his girlfriend. Extremely so. He was tempted to wish for lots of things... and he will.
The hardest question Jon Madison was thinking over tonight was not if to use the stone or not. The hardest question that wasn't giving him rest was this:
Where to begin?
