Joan sucked in a ragged breath as she regained conciousness. Odd droning sounds reached her ears. It took her a few minutes to realize they were voices.
"-such a horrible thing to happen to one of our students."
"Yes, it is. Her parents must be notified as soon as possible. Fortunately, it seems that nothing else was done to her. Probably just some kind of sick prank. Sometimes, I have to wonder what's happening to this generation, where someone thinks it's funny to knock out some poor girl, strip her naked, and leave her by the school flagpole. We're going to have to catch the culprit as soon as possible. This behavior will not be tolerated."
Naked? Flagpole? Joan could hardly believe what she was hearing. Slowly, she took stock of her surroundings. She currently lay in a bed in the school's medical station. The voices, coming from the waiting room, she recognized as those of the school nurse and Principal Reddings. What had happened?
Suddenly, she heard the nurse, Ms. Welling, ask, "Oh hello, did you need something?"
Nicole's voice answered. "I wish that you, the principal, and whoever found Joan naked under the flagpole would forget about the incident and would also ignore me and Joan for the next hour."
After a pause, Ms. Welling continued. "What were we just talking about, Mr. Reddings?"
"I don't remember," replied a very puzzled principal. "Excuse me, I need to get back to my office."
At the same time, Nicole entered the room and ran to her friend. "Joan! I'm so glad you're back."
"What happened?"
The girl grimaced. "Well, I guess I forgot to wish that you'd be dressed when you got back from your trip. It almost caused a school-wide incident. You're just lucky I made a wish to let me know when you showed up. Meanwhile, we gotta get out of here."
Slowly, Joan sat up. Then, she looked down and snatched the blanket up to cover herself. "Nicole! My clothes!"
"Oops, sorry." Holding up the stone in her hand, she said, "I wish that Joan had on the clothes she wore to school this morning."
Nothing happened. Joan frowned. "Huh?"
"It didn't work. Let's see, I wish that the clothes Joan wore this morning would appear on this bed." Immediately, Joan's clothes materialized at the foot of the bed, neatly folded.
Joan sighed with relief. "That works. I guess I'll get dressed the old fashioned way."
As the girl got up from the bed, Nicole asked, "Joan, where'd you get that bracelet?"
Looking down, Joan discovered the manacle still attached to her wrist. Turning it over, she tried to find a way to get it off, but as before, it refused to budge. "Ugh, can you get this thing off of me?"
Although still confused, Nicole nodded. "I wish that the bracelet on Joan's wrist would come off."
Joan felt the manacle tingle for a moment, then nothing. "Uh-oh."
"What do you mean 'uh oh?' And what is it?"
"It's a long story. Let's just get out of here, and I'll explain it to you."
