It was several hours later that Karyn showed up at Jon's house. After the initial conversation with his mother, she had called back repeatedly, trying to locate her friend, bt no one was answering the phone at their house.
It's probably nothing, she told herself. Jon's probably at the mall, and I guess his mom's just gone out for something. Still, the thought of the rock weighed heavily on her mind, and she couldn't shake the feeling that something had gone dreadfully wrong.
Her suspicions grew as she reached the Tanner house. The family's car was still in the driveway, signalling that Jon's mom was still home, and it showed no signs of having been driven lately. More telling, grazing peacefully behind the car was a pair of - horses? No, they were ponies.
Then she took a good look at the house. She'd been so wrapped up in her own thoughts she hadn't noticed it, but it had also changed. It looks like a scaled down version of a fairy princess castle, complete with turrets and spires and a glittery golden doorway.
With some trepidation, Karyn stuck her head in the door. To her surprise, she was greeted with the sound of giggling. "Hello?" she called. "Jon? Mrs. Tanner? Anyone?"
Karyn entered cautiously, then stopped in total surprise. The inside of the Tanner household was almost completely pink, and festooned with balloons and ribbons. Plates of cookies and cake were all around. Strewn across the floor were dozens of toys - blocks, tea sets, stuffed animals, coloring books, and dollies and dollhouses of every imaginable kind.
In the middle of what had been the living room, Karyn found two little girls, one about five or so, and the other no more than two. They were tearing about the room, playing with Powerpuff Girls action figures, laughing and giggling and screaming. Finally, the older of the girls looked up and noticed their visitor. "It's Karyn! KarynKarynKaryn!"
"J-Jon?" she said in shock.
"Noo-o-o-o-o!" she giggled. "I usta was, but not no more. Now I'm jus' Sarah."
"Oh my God. J- uh, Sarah, who's this other girl? What happened to you?"
Sarah giggled again. "My mommy, she made me into a li'l girl. So I tooked the rock and wished mommy into a li'ller girl."
The toddler smiled up at her. "Uh-huh. Me's mommy."
"See? Now me'n'her c'n play all day, cuz I gots the magic rock! We gots all kindsa toysand we don't never gotsta go to no dumb ol' school or day care or nothin', an', an', an' we c'n stay up real real late, like even past eighty-leven o'clock an' watch alla telebision we wanna, an' allad eats cake'n'ice cream and junk! It's way neat!"
Karyn's mind lurched. Somehow, Jon's - Sarah's mind had been affected by the change. She was thinking, acting, and talking just like a five-year old girl - but as long as she had the rock, she was a a five-year old girl who could wreak havoc. She had to figure out some way to get the rock back and...
"Hey, hey, hey Karyn," Sarah asked. "Do you wanna play with us?"
