"Of course I am," said her mother.
CJ wanted to sarcastically respond "Uh-huh,", but couldn't because of her mother's wish that she'd act like she wanted her daughter to act.
"Mother, I want to ask you one thing," said CJ.
"Of course. What is it, dear?"
"Suppose someone hurts me. As a girl, what should I do? Would you want me to fight back?"
"Of course I'd want you to fight back. But nobody's going to hurt you at ballet--"
At which point CJ thought "Gotcha" and suddenly hit her mother's arm, hard. The stone fell to the ground and she pounced on it. Just the idea of picking it up filled herself with fear, because of Karyn's earlier wish, but she could make wishes just by touching it, without picking it up. "I wish Mother would fall asleep until I want her to wake up." Her mother collapsed beside her--having never realized that she was hurting CJ, opening a loophole that let CJ attack her and get the stone.
Long ago, Jon had suggested that a wish that used his name could be reversed if his name wasn't Jon. Well, there was a way to build on that idea.
Wishes were spoken out loud. So if two names are pronounced the same, which one the wish refers to is a matter of interpretation. "I wish that all wishes that Karyn or Mom made that refer to Jon refer to me as John, spelled with an 'h', and that since that isn't my name, none of the wishes work on me any more."
CJ reached for the stone again. The feeling of unreasoning terror had vanished. She could pick it up again.
"I wish I had a list of the remaining wishes."
After that it was easy. Jon's mother had wished he was more like Karyn. "I wish that the only effect of that wish was that I was one day in age closer to Karyn."
Then the CJ wish. "I wish that Karyn would teleport here, that she and Mother would let me become Jon, and that Karyn would teleport back without either of them noticing anything strange." Karyn appeared in the room and both she and Jon's mother spoke--as if in a trance--saying "You can be Jon now." Karyn vanished as Jon grew into his normal body.
Then the memory wish. Only it wasn't on the paper. "I wish I knew why the wish that everyone remember me as CJ isn't on the paper." The answer was that changes affect people's memories anyway--the wish only made her mother seven years younger and restored Karyn's memory. The other memories had already been changed, and already changed back when Jon became himself.
"I wish this list would disappear." And so Jon cancelled all the wishes that mattered (it didn't really matter that his mother was still seven years younger).
But he still had a mother who wanted him to be a girl.
"I wish I knew if Mom really meant to change me back."
A voice whispered in his head, "She didn't mean to change you back at that moment, but what she intends in the future depends on her choice." Damn useless stone. He'd have to find out himself.
So Jon thought up a plan. Wish himself to be CJ again, with precautions. Pretend that he's still under his mother's and Karyn's control--pretend that everything is just like before, and see how far they'll take the whole CJ thing.
"I wish that in the future when anyone makes a wish that affects me, I'll know what it is and can choose to let it happen or not. I wish to become CJ until I want to change back. I wish I can make wishes on the stone at a distance, but only if I intend it, not by accident."
Then CJ put the stone in her mother's hand and made her last wish. "I wish that Mom would wake up and not notice than anything happened since she was talking to me about ballet."
CJ's mother stood up and then said "Or were you expecting someone to hurt you at ballet?" It was as if nothing had happened.
"Yes, Mother," said CJ, remembering to act CJ-ish. She'd have to remember to avoid the word "yeah" for a while. "The teachers can be quite hard on children."
"What a silly worry," said CJ's mother.
"So when can I turn back into Jon. Mother?"
