Allison's door creaks open, and from her position on her bed, Zoe spies her sister wrapped in a pink towel making her way to the bathroom. She sighed her ambivalence. Allison had cleaned her room and apparently made a new friend. Maybe that was a good sign? After the unintended consequences with her mom, Zoe had been walking on eggshells over the wish she'd made for Allison. When her grandpa gave her the stone, she'd been skeptical to say the least. More than that, even when she came to believe, she'd been overcome with trepidation. As a little girl her obsession with creepy stories had lead her to discover The Monkey's Paw at the school library. Recalling that grim tale, she trembled at the thought of a wish that couldn't be undone. How differently that old story might have gone. How much more horrible it could have been. Shaking the thought from her mind, She reflects on the outcome of her own wishes.
After summoning up the courage she crafted a wish intended to help the whole family. It's exact diction was written on the paper she now clasped tightly in a fist. It read,
"I wish that my mother had achieved a major promotion 10 years ago, by her own merit, had maintained it by her own efforts, and had all the skills and aptitudes she needed so that our family would never have to worry about money again." With her word smithing, she had intended to make sure the stone didn't do any sketchy magical voodoo that would arouse suspicion and invite catastrophe, but all she had ended up doing was pinning herself down with a narrow interpretation.
How could she have guessed that their exhausted, though loving, mother, would become so emotionally detached thanks to her wish? If that weren't enough, Zoe quickly realized that financial problems weren't really what she wanted fixed. She wanted more time with her mom, but this new Ms.Madison was an aggressively career oriented lady. She showed her affections the way someone might fill out a tax return. All the boxes were filled in. All the variables accounted for. But it had no enjoyment nor heart.
Zoe began to tear up as she recalled the confrontation with her mother only that weekend. "Of course I love you two. Where's this coming from?" Her mother had insisted, "But I have responsibilities at work. There are employees depending on me, and investors to satisfy. I can't leave them hanging." The words not spoken were louder than those that were. Zoe and Allison were dropped off at the theater while their mother drove back to work. But hey, Zoe considered sardonically, at least mom gave her money for snacks instead of playfully smuggling them in her purse this time. Allison had changed as well. Rather than joining Zoe for the movie, she took her money for the ticket, called Ryder, and disappeared. Zoe watched the movie alone.
She tried a few wishes to undo her mistake, but each one failed to activate the stone. There were sketchier reinterpretations she could experiment with, but she wasn't ready to risk it. Instead, she turned her attention to her sister. Her sister was never very bright, but she was kind, sociable, optimistic, and at least tried to work hard. This new girl was far from it. Sure, she was sociable, but also vindictive and mean. Rather than being optimistic, she was jaded and boy crazy. Apparently in this reality, she'd screwed her way through half a dozen football players before flunking out of her junior year. Ryder was only the latest in a series of "bad boys" that Allison had been dating. Three days Zoe tolerated this girl that was, but was not, her sister. The tipping point came when Zoe confronted Allison about skipping school to have sex. After a heated encounter Allison told her she was just going to drop out of high school anyway. Zoe couldn't bear to watch her sister destroy her life, and so she turned back to the stone.
She crafted her next wish more carefully, and while it wasn't quite what she intended, so far it seemed to be working out for the best. She glanced at the paper where her second major wish was written.
"I wish that Allison would become who she originally was, without changing who she is." Zoe didn't want to destroy the girl that Allison was in this reality, even if she didn't like her. But she still wanted her sister back! And this wish seemed ambiguous enough to reinterpret if there were problems. The wish had only been made the previous night. At first she feared no change. The sounds of sex escaped Allison's room the prior evening, and the door was locked the next morning, but when Zoe broke in to confront her sister, she found her alone and angry, but not dismissive or insulting. Now Allison makes a new friend, cleans her room, and does her homework? Zoe sighs. Maybe this wish is working out. Maybe she can rekindle her sisterhood with this Allison after all...
