"Karyn, I know this idea might sound radical, but what if we wished that you wanted a younger sibling?" Jon asked.
Karyn's face flushed red. "Jon perhaps you don't see the problem here, but I'm trying to avoid being mind-altered! That's basically wishing away who I am as a person! I don't want a younger sibling, and just because some different version of me might, doesn't make me and her the same person!"
Jon winced, realizing that he'd probably worded that poorly. He quickly tried to correct his blunder. "Sorry, I put that really poorly. My big concern is the wish itself. It says that you'll 'see how fun and annoying they can be' so the stone is already going to somehow make you like this future sibling. We can't alter that wish. But maybe we could do that part of the wish ourselves so that way it doesn't bite us in the ass later with something we didn't plan."
Karyn glared at him before finally deflating. Sinking back into her chair and gazing up at the stained cafeteria ceiling. "I don't like this Jon-boy. It just feels wrong. At one point do I stop being me and start being some other Karyn?"
Jon wasn't sure how to answer this. It didn't seem like a big deal to him. People were always changing. Heck, even Karyn's wish yesterday had already changed people. It wasn't like everyone had just 'forgotten' that Karyn used to have red hair. Their minds had literally been altered by the stone so that everyone thought it was 'normal'. Heck, he'd even heard one classmate talking about the 'blue tree branch' one of the seven-wonders of the school. The fact of the matter was, any wish made on the stone was altering someone's mind in someway.
Making a wish to change yourself a little to make yourself more comfortable seemed like an easy solution. But Jon had always had a loose sense of self. Changing himself physically, or even mentally didn't seem like a big deal. Certainly not something he would agonize over in most situations and might even enjoy in others. ...so long as it wasn't extreme or anything.
It was a little startling to realize that he felt more worried about changing Karyn on accident than he did himself.
Jon tried to keep his voice from cracking. "I'm just scared that my wish will change you in some way we don't want. I-- Karyn, I don't know if I've ever properly apologized for all the trouble I've caused. It's all my fault. If I had just chucked that stupid rock none of this would have happened. I was so stupid and now I've messed everything up. I just... don't want to lose you because of this. Your my best friend and I don't want to lose that because I did something stupid."
Now it was Karyn's turn to get emotional. "Jon, I-- I don't blame you for what happened. It was an accident. Heck, I made one of those myself." She brushed her hair out of her face and gave a pointed glance down to emphasize what she meant. "I just don't want to come out of this as someone who isn't me."
"So, what if we wished that? Just say, 'I wish that Karyn would want a younger sibling without changing anything that made her who she is'?"
"Karyn hesitated. "Let me think about it. Lunch is almost over and I do want to make one wish before it ends."
Jon quickly retrieved the stone from his backpack. Hesitating just a moment before handing it over. "You're sure about this wish of yours? You don't have to do anything hasty."
Karyn gave him her lopsided smile and Jon felt his heart lurch a little. "I'm sure. It's probably not the best wish, but I think it'll work."
Glancing around to make sure the coast was clear, Karyn made her wishes.
"I wish that my hair was a red strawberry blonde."
Karyn's hair darkened and gained a orange-ish color. It wasn't quite as red as it had been, but it actually suited her quite well unlike the blond. Karyn seemed a little disappointed as she looked at it. Eyeing the shade critically.
"I wish my hair was redder."
Jon held his breath, but nothing happened. Karyn didn't seem surprised. Jon winced in sympathy. He wanted to tell her that he thought it looked great on her and was just about to say it when Karyn squared her shoulders took a deep breath and made a second wish.
"I wish that I didn't mind the long hair or the big boobs and that this wish is granted with a minimum change to my personality and mind."
The stone flashed and Jon looked back at Karyn to see if anything had changed. Nothing seemed too different, aside from a slight slouch she'd had before being gone. He hadn't even noticed it was there. The better posture emphasized her-- He blinked mouth agape as the words finally registered in his mind.
"Wah- I thought- Why- um, I thought you didn't want to make mind altering wishes?" He spluttered out nearly incoherently.
Karyn gave him a lopsided grin. Brushing the hair away from her face a bit more naturally than before. "I don't. But I figured if I was going to try it, I might as well get some practice in. Try it out on something small to see how bad it was."
"And, well, is it bad?" Jon asked skeptically. Feeling suddenly unsure.
She shrugged. "It's not as bad as I'd thought? Actually, it's kind of nice. I still want to wait till later for that sibling wish, but it may just be the solution to our problem."
She handed the rock back to Jon and he nearly fumbled it as he shoved it back into the bottom of his backpack.
"Well, I'm-er-glad it's helping."
Karyn grinned and with a skip in her step she set off for her next class. "Come on Jon-boy, we're gonna be late for our next classes."
Jon was a step behind her still feeling bewildered as they walked through the halls. He should have felt elated that his plan to fix things had gone so well. He hadn't actually thought it would work and had kind of just thrown it out there without giving it a ton of thought. Still, he was glad Karyn seemed to be feeling better.
So, why did he feel like he'd somehow he'd made an enormous mistake?
