"I wish I knew exactly how you worded that wish about making your mother younger than you." Then Karyn said "Oh, now I see a way. You said 'a little girl, too, but even littler than me'. You didn't say 'young'. I wish that your mother was her usual age, but that she's littler than you because she's a fraction of an inch shorter, and that she's a girl because sometimes even full-grown women are called girls. Now I wish I knew if that did what I wanted." Karyn paused and said "It's fixed!"
"So now I just need to become a boy again," said Sarah.
"A boy named Sarah."
"Oh, right. I used to be called Jon. But you know I just can't think of my name as that any more. My name is Sarah."
"I really don't think I can make your name not be Sarah," said Karyn. "Even if I did it, you still wouldn't be able to say you're a boy or that you're Jon."
"You know," said Sarah, "something's bothering me. Why should a name change and a sex change make me popular? Just because I'm a girl doesn't make me instantly popular."
"Good question," replied Karyn. "Wait... Remember what you were thinking, about Sarah McMillan? Suppose she got popular because of her name somehow. Maybe her first boyfriend picked her because he thought the name was sexy. Maybe they had too many girls becoming cheerleaders and she only became a cheerleader because someone picked the name Sarah out of a hat. Maybe some teacher made her the teacher's pet because he once knew a Sarah. There are all sorts of ways."
"So," asked Sarah Jane, "you mean if I'm named Sarah, I might have gotten some of Sarah McMillan's popularity?"
"It could be. Or it could just be a coincidence. Want to wish to find out?"
"Naaah," said Sarah. "It's not that important. We'll figure it out sooner or later...."
