Jon may have been a sleep-zombie while Karyn was making her wish, but he was definitely awake, now. "I think I'll take that, for now," he said quietly, taking the stone from Karyn's hand as her stunned face simply stared at Astrid.
"Um... uhhuh. Yeah. Sure. Okay," she mumbled distractedly, before confusedly asking Astrid, "So exactly who—or what—are you, again? When I wished for a Wish Editor I assumed I'd get a thing that would let me edit wishes, not a person."
Astrid's eyes twinkled with a mirth somewhere between Santa Claus and the mischievous elves that proliferate old-school fairy tales. A shiver ran up Jon's back, to see it. "Ah, yes. You see, this is a perfect example of why you need my services, young Miss Karyn. That lack of specificity can be dangerous, so I edit the wishes to help save you from such... foibles." Astrid forced a cheery, helpful smile to her face, masking the more predatory grin she felt. This fool girl actually saw her as a person! This could be so much fun. Looking back up at the confused and hapless teenage couple, she looked significantly at the stone in Jon's hand, then up to meet his eyes, speaking aloud, again. "Shall the young master be first, then?"
Jon remained silent as he stared at the stone with a brow furrowed in intense thought. Wishes can't be reversed, so we're probably stuck with Astrid. But they can be modified, right? So maybe I could do something with that? Then again, she's just going to 'edit' the wish, whatever that means. Maybe we should start with something small, to see how this goes. We can start like I did yesterday, with Karyn.
Looking back up at Astrid, he looked at a branch on the ground and spoke confidently, "I wish that branch was blue," then felt time slow around the three of them as if made of molasses. He and Karyn saw the glowing text appear before them in a shimmering golden-white. It was like pure sunlight crafted into the shapes of letters, and yet it did not hurt their eyes to look at it.
I wish that branch was blue.
"Ah, so it begins," Astrid chirped, again covering her predatory glee with friendly effervescence. "Now, where to begin? This is quite a lovely and simple wish: So direct; so specific. Bravo, young master. However, no work is perfect in its rough form, and even here, I can see room for improvement." As she reached out and touched the word «that» with her quill, it turned to an impossible ghostly purple, like the afterimage of staring at the sun too long. Touching the word a second time, it became «my». "First edit," she crowed. "Always so satisfying, to begin the work again with new writers."
I wish MY branch was blue.
Jon and Karyn simply stared in bemusement. "'My' branch? That doesn't make any sense; Jon doesn't have branches. I thought you said the wishes had to make sense?" Karyn protested, as Jon found himself unable to speak until the editing process was complete.
Astrid simply ignored her, humming to herself and staring pensively at the glowing text, until she touched a second word: «branch». "What? Oh, quite right my dear. You are learning so quickly. Worry not; I shall correct the error." With this, she touched the word again, turning it to «hair», saying simply, "Two edits."
I wish MY HAIR was blue.
As Jon and Karyn goggled in shock and concern, Astrid continued humming to herself and providing a sparse, if running commentary to the hapless wishers. "Wishing to change the color of dead wood, so wasteful. You did this yesterday, after all. Yes, much better to experiment with the new. Variety is the spice of life, after all. Now, for my final edit, I should think some specificity may help." With this, she touches two words: «was blue». Just as Karyn is about to interject with a confused objection that Astrid is changing two words and violating the terms, Astrid taps the space between the words, where the word «highlighted» appeared in that familiar purple after-image glow.
I wish MY HAIR was HIGHLIGHTED blue.
With that, Astrid carefully set her quill back into its carrying case, and tapped the wish with a beautifully-manicured hand. The entire wish pulsed with the same purple after-image, before vanishing altogether. Suddenly, Jon felt his mouth move of its own accord just as time resumed its prior non-Molasses state. "I wish my hair was highlighted blue."
Karyn gasped as she looked over at Jon to see his dark brown hair streaked with electric blue highlights. "Jon, y-your hair..."
Jon searched for his reflection in a nearby car window, to find his formerly muted brown hair now had a glossier sheen and was decorated with electric blue highlights. "This isn't what I wished for, Astrid! At least, it isn't what I tried to wish for. You completely changed my wish!"
"Young master, I edited your wish. As I told you at the beginning, all wishers retain full ownership and authorship of their wishes. In reality, you did wish for these highlights. The nonsense with the branch was simply your rough draft, and I merely made three small edits."
"Small?! You call this change small?! I demand you change it back this instant!"
"Young master, as you well know, wishes cannot be undone. They can only be reinterpreted. If you wish to alter your hairstyle further, might I suggest another wish? Or if you feel that too risky, might I suggest something more mundane? A salon, perhaps! I'm sure they can dye over that hair in any color you like, though you may need to regularly revisit them to touch up your roots, of course. I'm sure the young mistress has experienced such things, yes?"
Hearing this, Karyn looked up at Astrid with mild horror, "Did you just say, 'touch up his roots'? As in his hair is now naturally highlighted with electric blue? Jon, I'm so sorry. We have to come up with a plan to fix this."
Astrid merely floated before the couple, the very picture of a Norse goddess looking down at them, maintaining as neutral an expression as only such supernatural beings can manifest, despite her great enjoyment at watching the two mortals. So they can be taught to plan their way out of things? Perhaps this assignment will be worthwhile after all.
