"What in the world are you talking about?" said Joseph. "That's the silliest thing I ever..."
No, he didn't believe Jon. But there was an easy way out. "I wish Joseph would believe me about the wish."
When Jon looked back at Joseph, he seemed to blink, as if confused for a moment. Then Joseph said "Oh, a real wish. Why didn't you say so? You hear about these things all the time in fantasy games, but I never thought it'd really happen to me. I'd better make sure I do this right. I can say that I want this and this and this and get a whole bunch of things, right?"
"Well, yes, but..."
"Great!" He got out a piece of paper from his bookbag and started writing down some things on it, then crossing them out.
Jon tried getting up and walking around the table to read Joseph's words, but Joseph turned the paper away from him. "No peeking, this is my wish!" But Jon was worried. The wishes didn't try to twist the wish, but neither did they try to guess exactly what the wisher wanted. The more things Joseph wished for, the greater the chance that he'd accidentally wish for something disastrous.
Finally, Joseph wrote down his last word and began reading his overly long wish. "I wish...."
