"Karyn... Why couldn't you have been more careful..." I thought to myself as I walked home. Even though I hadn't made the wish, I still felt a deep sense of guilt in my gut. "I should have warned her, or at least cut her off..." I sighed as I continued down the sidewalk. "I just wish I had..." I stopped in my tracks and looked down at my empty hands. Just hearing the word wish now caused me stomach churning anxiety. "You're safe dummy." I mumbled and continued on down the sidewalk while my mind swirled with ideas for a safe wish. "I need something simple. Like a wish that the wish can be undone... Or like wish training wheels or something. I just need a safe sandbox for Karyn and I to fully test the stone's magic. I don't need either of us permanently disfigured by the stone." I briefly pictured Karyn in her current state. I hated to admit it, but her larger bust line was rather eye catching. Though the pin-straight long blonde hair really didn't suit Karyn. It was too off brand for the laid back down-to-earth girl I had been friends with since we were kids.
In my pocket I felt my phone buzz with a couple notifications, but I just ignored them. "The notifications can wait." I mumbled as I continued to walk down the sidewalk. Unlike many of my peers, I resented the smartphone that I had to carry around with me to function in today's world. I felt like someone born in the wrong generation. I yearned for a more simple time when you could just disassociate from the world, but wasn't the era I was born into. No, I had to carry around a device that feeds me mind altering drivel all day while it simultaneously spies on me. "Maybe I should wish that smartphones were never invented." I mumbled as kicked an acorn off the sidewalk. "Or even better. Maybe I should wish social media was never invented." I smirked at the thought of no more Fastgram, DingDong, Headbook, or Honker. "But the stone doesn't have unlimited power so that's just a pipe dream..."
Rounding the corner I could see my house off in the distance. "The training wheels idea is a good one though. Maybe I can make a wish that all of my wishes automatically have extra clauses added to them so that they are safer. Like a clause that would have changed Karyn's wish to I wish I had long dyed blonde hair that looks practically natural and big boobs that aren't so big that I find them uncomfortable... Or I wish... Ugh..." I groaned in frustration. "Or maybe the wish can stay the same, but it tacks on a clause that refers to a set of rules. So like..." Out of the corner of my eye I noticed one of the neighborhood kids staring at me as I mumbled to myself. I just nodded awkwardly and continued in my head. "Like the wish would be I wish I had long blonde hair and big boobs as defined by the set of rules on the paper in front of me. Then there could be rules that I write, or that the safety mechanism writes. So like rule 1 would be something like. The color of the hair is the result of hair dye. And then rule 2 would be um... Big as defined by Karyn... but not huge. No, big but comfortable. Or... Shit. Something like that. I just need like a month to wrap my head around this stone, but I want there to be an out... or a safety mechanism on it so that I can't screw things up too much." I let out another sigh and headed up the sidewalk to my house.
I nodded at my mom as I walked into the house. "Dad's getting pizza tonight so we can eat before Josie's concert." I heard her say as I disappeared down the stairs to my bedroom in the basement. After closing the bedroom door behind me, I sat down my backpack, unzipped it, and pulled out the box containing the stone. Hurrying over to my bed I slid the box between the mattress and the box spring. It was the safest hiding spot I had at the moment. Letting out a deep sigh, I stood up and proceeded to face-plant onto my bed.
"What the fuck am I going to do?" I mumbled to myself.
