"I hoped it wouldn't come to this." Jon the cheerleader grumbled.
"Jon, what are you thinking?" Karyn got a worried look on her face, and a tone in her voice.
"After I tried out the stone for the first time, things got really bad and I wrote down an all-purpose anti-wish." Jon explained.
"What first time?" Karyn was confused.
"Karyn, this is not the first time I've told you about the wishing stone. That's the power of the all-purpose anti-wish. The problem is, I never thought things would get this far." She said, motioning toward her new cheerleader outfit and breasts. "You're going to have to go with me on this don't say anything, because I've got a lot to wish for."
Karyn nodded, nervously.
Jon held the stone in her hands, took a deep breath, and began to wish.
"I wish that when I wake up tomorrow morning, I..." she gasped, "I forgot I was ever Jon, that I've always been a girl named," Jon paused and tried to come up with a good girl's name, "a girl named Joan, though that I retain as many of Jon's personality traits as possible, including likes and dislikes, taste in food, movies and music, intelligence, attitudes, vocabulary, sense of humour and fashion... except that I will naturally," she hesitated, "my fashion sense will be translated into girls' clothing. Furthermore, I wish that, if I so desire, I will be able to quit the cheerleading squad." She paused and said, "That's part one."
Karyn sighed and said, "Oh, Jon, you didn't have to"
"There's more," she interrupted. "I wish that tomorrow morning will be the first either of us have ever heard of the Wishing Stone, and that everything I have wished for becomes so embedded in reality that, once I find out about the Wishing Stone again, I have carte blanche to wish for anything, whether it was already wished for or not."
Karen interjected, "Jon, I don't think it works that way..."
"No, trust me Karyn, this is so all-encompassing it must obey. Where was I? Yes, as I was saying, I wish that nobody, not myself, nor Karyn, nor any other living person who enters my vicinity should ever remember I was Jon. That way," Jon explained, "even those who aren't directly affected by this wish, due to distance, will be once they come near me. And that ones they have been near me, they can never remember anything about the way things once were." Jon took another deep breath.
"I wish that all the boys who are now cheerleaders - Buffy, Roni, Jamie and Regina - all have happy lives, and are only bitches to the degree that normal cheerleaders are.
"Lastly, I wish that Karyn and my friendship won't be affected by my new... self, and that she lives just as she always has."
"Is that it?" Karyn asked.
"Yeah. I think so. I think I covered everything."
"So can I wish you back to being a boy?"
"Well, not yet. The wish's effect doesn't take place until tomorrow morning, when I get the stone again and this all begins again. Then you can wish anything for anyone. Carte blanche."
"Oh," Karyn said, "then you probably shouldn't have made that last wish about our friendship."
"Why?"
"Because I love you, Jon. And now you've gone and probably turned me into a lesbian." Karyn laughed, "well, I guess it could be worse. I could be a straight man."
Jon laughed, "I could arrange that for you!"
"No thanks!" Karyn giggled. "So how many times has this happened?"
"I think three, but I lost count," Jon answered, "I wish I could tell you about the time I turned you into Sarah. This is worse, though, since this is the first time I'll be stuck as a girl."
"I think you'll like it," Karyn chuckled, "how would you know if you didn't?"
Jon smiled, "that's the point!" They headed toward her doorway and gave one last hug. "See you tomorrow," Jon said, a tear in her eye.
"See you," Karyn sniffed and walked home.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
One morning, Joan was particularly tired when the alarm woke her up. She pressed snooze, but her mom called her.
"Joanie!" called Mrs. Smith, "wake up! You got a package. It's from your Grandpa's estate."
Joan didn't want to wake up, but this was interesting news. She didn't even brush her hair or change out of her PJ's when she came down to the kitchen and saw the small package on the kitchen table. Her mom gave her a hug and stroked her hair.
"How are you feeling, honey?"
"Better, mom," Joan, still clutching her teddy bear, picked up the package which, despite being large, was rather light. "I miss him. I've thought about him a lot."
"Me too sweetie," said Mrs. Smith, kissing her beautiful daughter on top of her head. "Come on, go get ready for school."
Joan took her package up to her room and ripped open the tape with a pair of nailclippers. Out of the package came a million styrofoam packing peanuts, small rock, and a note.
Joan gaped in awe as she read the note, claiming this rock was a magic wishing rock! Was this true? She'd always believed somewhat in magic, and this was too much. She had to wish for something to find out. She decided that she'd wait, study the note's instructions exactly, and test it out with her friend, Karyn.
Excitedly, she bounced to the washroom for a quick shower, eager to start the day...
{{AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, so I started the story over with a bit of a twist... ain't I a stinker?}}
