Before either Sarah or Karyn could make a lunge for the stone, a curious thing happened. A large black spider monkey dropped down from the ceiling and grabbed the stone in a furry hand. As the humans paused in surprise, the monkey chittered excitedly at the stone.
"Get your stinking paws off my rock, you damn dirty monkey!" Sarah yelled, launching a kick at the primate's head. The monkey yelped as Sarah's foot connected with its head and fell hard against the wall, the stone falling from its hand and sliding across the floor. Sarah shoved Jon out of the way and made a grab for the stone, but Karyn planted her foot on it.
"Sarah, you look tired," Karyn said through gritted teeth. "I wish you'll go to your room and take a nice long nap for the rest of the day."
"What are you talking about?" Sarah demanded, grabbing onto that bitch's leg trying to force her off the stone. "You can't just make me go... and take a nap... like some... little..." Actually, as she struggled to move Karyn's leg, she couldn't help but feel exhausted. It was as if all her strength was draining out of her body. "...girl..." she mumbled. Screw this, she thought, I'll get the wishing rock later. Right now she just needed a little rest.
"Thank God," Jon muttered to Karyn as Sarah stumbled upstairs. "Who knows what kind of changes she would have made." He glanced down at his girl clothes and gave a shudder. "So c'mon and wish back my clothes, will ya?"
"In a moment, Jon." Karyn was inspecting the poor monkey that had been knocked unconscious by Sarah's kick. "Hurting a defenseless animal? How cruel can you get?" Fortunately the critter was still breathing, she could see its little chest moving slowly up and down.
"Where did it come from?" Jon asked, kneeling down to get a closer look. "Did her uncle give it to her as a gift?" he wondered, half-joking. Sarah's Uncle David was known for getting her expensive presents from other countries, but a monkey?
"No collar," Karyn noted. "Local zoo escapee?"
"Maybe..." Jon said in a non-committed tone, scooping the warm body into his arms. "We should take him to the vet," he suggested. "They could help him and could figure out what to do with him."
"'Him'?" Karyn asked with a raised eyebrow. "You sure it's not a 'her'?"
"Um..." Jon lifted the monkey up to check. "Him," he confirmed. "So, you with me or not?"
"Yeah," Karyn nodded. "Let's help the poor guy out. Then we can get your clothes straightened out."
"Wait," Jon said, "Why don't we fix that first?"
"Don't be selfish, Jon," Karyn said. "The stone is dangerous. We shouldn't use it unless we've thoroughly thought out what to..." She set the rock on a table and stepped away, her hands held in the air. "...What to wish," she finished.
"That's a good point," he admitted, remembering a thousand genie/devil jokes involving wishes that hadn't been worded carefully. "We should put it someplace safe until we figure it out," he suggested. He handed Karyn the monkey, picked up the stone and, glancing around the room, placed it in an old Chinese vase decorating a shelf.
"That's safe?" Karyn asked skeptically.
"Who would look there?" Jon pointed out. "Anyway, we only have the rest of the day to figure it out, so we'd better get moving. You take Optimus Minor, and I'll work on the W-I-S-H."
"We're naming the monkey Optimus Minor?" she asked incredulously. For a cool guy, Jon could be lame at times. "Bob was taken?"
Jon shrugged, "Whatever. Bob works. Let's just get going, okay?"
