"It's funny, but now I guess I'll have the power to do what I really wanted to do," Anne said. "I always wished to personally add to the zoo's breeding program ..."
Jon yipped, but it was too late. The zookeeper shimmered suddenly and vanished, dropping the stone to the floor. A moment later, a cage appeared containing a very confused female African lion.
Even as the former zookeeper was trying to comprehend what had happened, a pair of handlers walked into the room and started to push her cage away. "Busy day in the breeding program, isn't it?" he commented, as they shoved the huge cage toward a metal door. "When all these females give birth, we'll be the most popular zoo in the state!" They linked the cage to the door and opened it. From where he was sitting, Jon could see a little of the lion habitat. "Out you go," said the handler as he gently prodded the new lioness with a stick.
Still confused, and in some ways thinking it was all a dream, the lioness stepped into the enclosure, and then vanished behind the steel door. Jon felt his heart sink. The poor zookeeper was going to get her wish.
"Hey, look at this," one of the handlers said, picking up the wishing stone, which rested next to his shoe. Suddenly I became hopeful. It was another chance to fix things. Of course, the guy holding the stone could still make the same mistake as Anne, but there was no way to warn him.
The other handler looked at what the guy held in his hand. "So what? It's just a stone."
"It might be valuable."
"Uh huh. Sure."
The one holding the stone seemed to get agitated by his friend's lack of interest. "You know, Tom, I wish ..."
