The Wishing Stone By Teek © 2020

Summary: Making a wish on the Wishing Stone is a great honor. One that only ten people every hundred years gets to make. Many wishes throughout time have dramatically changed the life of the Wishee for the positive, but there are consequences to one's actions. When the youngest Wishee in history makes a life-altering wish, those around twelve-year-old Mikey must adjust to the changes.

~o~O~o~

Mike felt so uncomfortable standing on stage wearing a suit and tie. He looked out at the crowd. He could no longer deny that this really was going to happen. He was the youngest ever to get a chance to make a wish on the Wishing Stone. Being only twelve, many felt he shouldn’t be allowed the privilege. They believed no individual younger than eighteen should be given a wish. There were even those that say only people 30 and older should be allowed access to the stone. There was one fact, though, that was not disputed. Mike’s ID number was drawn in the lottery, and according to the law, that meant he was allowed the opportunity to make a wish.

“When this stone was found 300 years ago today in the Temple of the Gods,” World Leader Evans said to the crowd. “The world was divided by different countries, with competition and wars between them. The stone changed everything. Most believed it belonged to the world, not any one country. Within five years, there was world peace without one weapon fired to take possession of the stone. Some historians speculate a wish is what really brought us peace, but regardless, the World Government was formed, and we have been a united society for almost 300 years. The military was transformed into Protection Squads and Planetary Exploration. It did not take long for scientists to realize the strength of the Wishing Stone was decreasing with each wish. Limits were placed on its use. After years of debate, it was decided that every ten years, individuals ten and older would be put into a lottery, and the winner would be allowed one wish on the stone. On this 300th Anniversary, I have the honor of overseeing the first Pre-Teen making a wish.”

The crowd voiced positive and negative comments. Mike felt that some of them would probably prefer his death, rather than letting some kid waste a precious wish. Mike, however, was more scared of the stone than the crowd. From all that he had learned, a voiced wish was not always granted, but a Wishee was always given their wish. Some said the stone read the wisher’s mind, heart, and soul. It would reach inside the wisher and pull out the true desire. Most accounts from wish receivers appeared to say the stone was very good at granting True Wishes.

Mike knew his wish was strange, something only a very weird kid would want. There was no way he was going to tell anyone what he wanted, and fortunately, the law said the Wishee never had to reveal the desired wish. If it does come true, well, everyone will have to live with it whether they like it or not. Just like they had to live with Lucy’s wish 130 years ago. If it didn’t come true, he didn’t want people to use him as a way to prove kids shouldn’t be allowed to make wishes.

Mike smiled when he recalled Lucy’s wish. She was also a very controversial Wishee. She was a forty-two-year-old lady with an intellectual disability. Like Mike, many believed she shouldn’t be allowed to make a wish. But, the law was very clear. When a person’s ID number was drawn, they got to make a wish. Against protest, she made a wish. When she put her hand on the stone, she said loud and clear, “I wish I was smart.” That was not the wish granted. The stone read her heart and soul to determine her True Wish, a unicorn. About 50% of the horses in the world instantly turned into unicorns. There was even a rare species of horse that turned into alicorns, flying unicorns.

Years later, Lucy told people that since she was a little girl, she had always wanted to see a real unicorn. When she found out that she won a wish, her thoughts immediately went to those unicorns. Reporters had discovered that people had pressured her to wish for all sorts of things. Her parents and caregivers had told her to wish for a higher intellect. Lucy told the investigators that she wished to be smarter because that is what her Mom and Dad told her to do. The stone knew that was not her True Wish, so it didn’t grant that wish.

Since Lucy’s wish, the World Government created laws to prevent pressure on the individuals who win the wish. Nowadays, most people don’t believe pressure can have any influence, so few try. Well, few adults at least. Mike had several kids at school tell him what to wish for and what not to wish for. When Emery threatened Mike only to wish for what Emery wanted, Mike almost told a teacher. He didn’t, though, knowing it didn’t matter what the bully said. Mike figured he would only need to tell a grown-up if Emery tried to follow through with the “or else” after the wish.

As World Leader Evans prattled, Mike’s mind wondered. He remembered his family’s last trip to the fair when he got to ride a unicorn. Smiling at the memory, Mike realized that only happened because of someone like him who made a wish. Would the stone grant the wish he asks for, or would it ignore that and instead give him something else? Mike wasn’t sure what his True Wish was, but he certainly knew what he wanted it to be.

“Mike here is a sixth-grader at Diamond Lake Elementary School in Weetoon Province,” World Leader Evans rambled on. “He likes music and history classes. In his free time, he plays a mean game of Starball.”

The crowd applauded.

“May we have the Wishing Stone please,” World Leader Evans commanded.

Mike looked at the multi-colored sparkling stone coming out on a black pillow. He had always loved the way it sparkled in the light. When he was six, Mikey had made his own with glitter paint and a rock he had found in the backyard. Now he was inches away from the real thing. In fact, he was about to touch the real thing.

The excitement and World Leader Evans’ long speeches were getting to Mike. He mouthed to himself, “Focus Mike, the whole world is looking at you. Just a few more minutes, and this will all be over.”

“Ten people every one-hundred years get to make a wish,” World Leader Evans prattled on. “Mike here will go down in history. Quite an achievement for such a young person. Are you ready, Mike?”

Mike took a deep breath, “Yes, sir.”

“By the Freedom Accords, I must ask you one more time. Do you want to take this wish and live forever with the consequences?”

After a few wishes had not gone as the Wishee had wanted, Freedom Accords were created to allow someone to back out of the wish opportunity. This was the fourth time Mike had been asked this question.

Mike swallowed, “Yes, sir.”

“Then by the power granted upon me by the Wishing Stone Protocol of 2042, I hereby grant you one wish,” with that, World Leader Evans opened the locket around his neck and withdrew a bracelet. “Please hold out your hand.”

Mike held his right hand out, palm down, and World Leader Evans put the bracelet around Mike’s wrist, “Go ahead, Mike. Put your hand on the stone and make your wish.”

Mike looked at his wrist and the stone sitting on the pedestal between him and the World Leader. He couldn’t see the force field, but he had learned all about it in his research on the stone. The pillow the stone sat on contained a complex force field device protecting the stone. Only someone wearing the bracelet can pass through the force field. This prevented anyone from accidentally making a wish or trying to make one they didn’t earn.

Looking over at his parents and eight-year-old little sister, Mike smiled. Taking a deep breath, he put his hand out and held it just above the stone. Closing his eyes, he lowered his hand onto the stone.

Thousands of multi-colored stars erupted out of the stone, passing right through Mike’s hand like it wasn’t even there. They went above Mike and swirled around like the clouds of a hurricane. A second later, the stars went down, surrounding him from head to toe in a cylinder of swirling stars. All the audience could see were bright multi-colored lights pulsing around where Mike had been standing.

Everyone watching instantly started to panic. No living soul had seen the stone respond to a wish in this fashion. It had been almost two hundred years since the stone responded in this fashion. Back then, a bystander died when the stars finished their job and shot off in every direction, severing the building they had been in. It collapsed. Even though they were outside in a huge field, fear drove the response. In absolute terror, the audience ran as fast as they could away from the stage. The only exceptions were Mike’s family and the World Leader with his protection squad.

The World Leader was quickly escorted into a bunker next to the stage, putting him at least 12 feet below Mike. Mike’s family got down on the ground. Dad allowed them to look up but not lift their heads or body. Being only about six feet below Mike, he hoped they would be safe.

As the stars engulfed Mike, he felt his body tingling, from inside his heart to the end of every hair. He started to float up into the air as the arms stretched out to the side. His mind went all hazy. For five minutes, the stars swirled around, encompassing him in a tube. Then, they changed formation to look like a spiraling Galaxy around the waist. A second later, they shot out along the horizon in every direction. As the body lowered to the ground, consciousness returned. A female voice said, “All Wishes Granted.”

Those closest to the stage looked up when they heard the sound of the Wishing Stone bracelet hitting the wooden stage. Then there were gasps and Mom shouting out, “My Baby!”

“Medic,” World Leader Evans shouted out as he came up from the hole and saw . . . the individual standing on stage.

Out of the bunker came two medics charging up on stage to the lone individual standing in a daze.

“Do you know your name,” a medic asked?

“Milly,” the little girl on stage answered. She scrunched her eyes together and shook her head back and forth, trying to clear her thinking.

“I’m Milly,” she said with more confidence.

The Wishing Stone By Teek © 2020

Summary: Making a wish on the Wishing Stone is a great honor. One that only ten people every hundred years gets to make. Many wishes throughout time have dramatically changed the life of the Wishee for the positive, but there are consequences to one's actions. When the youngest Wishee in history makes a life-altering wish, those around twelve-year-old Mikey must adjust to the changes.

~o~O~o~

Chapter Summary: Twelve-year-old Mikey is now Milly. What did the wish magic do? Everyone soon learns there is more to this wish than just the girl in pigtails in front of them.

---

~o~O~o~

“Milly,” the medic continued. “Can you follow my finger?”

Milly looked down at one of the medics that put a medical sensor on her arm, just below her pink dress's puffy short sleeve.

“Look at me Milly,” the first medic said. “Look at my finger.”

Milly looked at the medic and followed the finger.

“My Baby! What happened to my baby?” Milly heard her mom scream out as she approached in a run.

“Mommy,” Milly turned and stretched out her arms. She tried to move towards her Mom, but the Medics held her in place.

When Mom reached her, Milly was embraced in a big hug.

“What has happened to my baby,” Marsha asked.

“Congratulations, it’s a girl,” one of the medics said after a quick look at his tablet. “Milly here is now seven years old.”

“What?” Marsha asked without stopping the hug.

“Mam, I do not know what Mike wished for, but the wish has turned him into a seven-year-old girl.”

Marsha looked at Milly and then at the medic, “Is he . . . she okay?”

“The scans show everything is considered normal.”

“Can we go home now Mommy,” Milly asked? “I’m tired.”

Marsha looked at the medic and then at World Leader Evans, who was now standing beside them.

“Well, this is unexpected. A gender-switching wish combined with a regression wish. I would never have expected that out of a kid. Must have wished to be a little girl . . . hmm, wonder if it was his intention . . . ”

“Stop speculating and tell me what happened to my son!”

“Mrs. Soffin,” World Leader Evans said calmly. “You saw the same thing we all saw. The only explanation is that your transgender son wished to be a little girl.”

“But my son wasn’t transgender,” Mrs. Soffin said as she started to think. Could the world leader have been right? Could Mike have been a transgender girl?

“As for the young girl’s question,” World Leader Evans continued. “Considering the circumstances, it might be a good idea. As long as the medics approve it, I am okay with you going home. She doesn’t look like she is ready for the press. They can’t interview her for eight years, but that never stops them from throwing a bunch of questions out.”

“Eight?” Mrs. Soffin questioned, “I thought the law said three years after the wish unless the Wishee initiates the interview.”

“The law says three years, or age fifteen, whichever is later. With her now being seven, it will be eight years before she reaches the age of inquiry. Until now, no Wishee has been young enough to trigger the Child Clause in the law. Even at twelve-years-old, the Child Clause didn’t apply since he’d turn fifteen in less than three years. Now . . . Well, when you leave, I will remind the press of the Child Clause in the law.”

“Is she okay to go home,” Marsha asked the medic?

“The Emergency Medic scanners say all of her readings are within the normal range when compared to her medical records. I see no reason why she can’t go home.”

“Normal? Her medical records should say she is a twelve-year-old boy. They can’t consider this,” Mrs. Soffin said, gesturing at Milly. “Normal!”

The medic turned his tablet towards Mrs. Soffin to show her the screen.

“Melissa Louise Soffin (Milly), female, 7-5 years old, 2nd Grader at Diamond Lake Elementary School,” Marsha read off the screen. She then looked up at World Leader Evans with a quizzical look.

“Transformational wishes have been known to change the Wishee’s past, including things like medical and school records. It often changes material things to go along with the main wish. You may find Mike’s room at home is now a little girl’s room. From what we know, only the memories of the Wishee are changed, so don’t expect anyone to remember Milly. They expect them to have her in their records. I would guess that Milly's artwork is hanging up in her classroom and at your house. No one knows how the magic works. That is why after 300 years, we still call it ‘magic’.”

“Mommy,” Sarah said as she came up to them with Dad. “Where’s Mikey?”

Milly escaped Mom’s embrace and ran up to Sarah, giving her a big hug, “Sarah!”

Sarah looked down at the girl with high curly pigtails, wearing a pink party dress, “Who are you?”

“Silly Sarah, I’m Milly,” Milly said without letting go of the hug.

“Milly! No. How? What?” Sarah looked down at the little girl and then over to Mom and up to Dad.

“Sarah,” Mom tried to explain. “Mikey wished to be a little girl, so now instead of being the little sister, you are the big sister. Your little sister’s name is Milly.”

Mom forced a smile, hoping the eight-year-old would accept the new reality. Sarah looked at Mom with a strange look, then down at the girl, hugging her, and then up to Dad.

“Sarah,” Dad tried to explain. “I didn’t know Mikey wanted to be a little girl, but you saw the same thing I did. The colorful stars swirled around Mikey, and when they left, this little girl was in his place. She seems to know us, so it does appear that your brother wished to be a girl,” Dad replied to Sarah’s inquiring face.

Sarah moved Milly to an arm’s length and looked at her real close. Milly smiled.

“She has Mikey’s eyes,” Sarah said as she bounced one of Milly’s curly pigtails. Smiling, “Pigtails tied off with ribbons and bows. Just the way . . .”

“Sissy,” Milly asked? “Who’s Mikey?”

“She doesn’t know,” Dad inquired to no one in particular?

World Leader Evans replied, “Transformational Wishees usually remember their past. Some report it like remembering a dream. No regressive wish has ever brought a Whishee to such a young age. Maybe that is impacting her ability to recall her previous life.”

Dad got down on his knees and took Milly’s hands, “Milly, you used to be a boy named Mikey, but with some magic, you are now a girl named Milly.”

Milly looked at Dad and then at Sarah, who was nodding her head. Milly broke out into a giggle fit, “That is funny, Daddy. Next, you’re going to say that Mikey was old.”

“He was twelve,” Sarah said.

“That’s really ooooooolllllllld,” Milly exclaimed.

Everyone else laughed or giggled at Milly’s comment, but attention was quickly drawn to the noise from the crowd, starting to make their way back towards the stage.

World Leader Evans picked up the bracelet that had fallen off Milly’s small wrist and put it back into the locket around his neck.

“The Fairy Godmother did say, ‘All Wishes Granted’,” Milly stated. “Is that what she was talking about? Did she turn me back into Princess Milly? It was nice of her to lift the curse that an evil witch had put on me, turning me into a boy.”

“What is she talking about,” Marsha asked?

World Leader Evans replied, “The Wishee usually hears a voice say ‘Wish Granted’ so that is probably her Fairy Godmother. The only curious thing is she said, ‘All Wishes Granted’. No other Wishee reported that. The stone only grant’s one wish at a time, so . . . ”

“We have to get out of here,” Marsha said to World Leader Evans as people were getting close enough to the stage to hear the conversation.

“Lisa,” World Leader Evans called out.

A lady in a uniform was quickly standing next to the World Leader, “Yes, Sir?”

“Get them home safe with my protection squad. The back-up crew can cover me and get me to the World Leader Residence when I’m done here.”

“Yes, sir,” Lisa said with a salute. Tapping something on her wrist, “A team on Wishee. B team on Leader.”

Turning to Mr. and Mrs. Soffin, “Is it just the four of you?”

Marsha replied, “Yes.”

“Okay, Soffin family. Let’s go before those reporters realize I am whisking you away from here. Follow me to the limo.” As they started away, she tapped the device on her wrist again, “Jackson and Tame, get the Wishee’s transport to their house.”

Marsha held Milly’s hand as they followed Lisa to the Limo, and Gregg had Sarah’s.

“It’s a blue Stella-vee parked in reserved parking,” Gregg said. “Do I need to go with him so he can get into the transport?”

“World Leader Protection Squad has full access to everything. He’ll get it back to your house. Don’t worry,” Lisa stated. “Right now, just worry about your family. Let my team and me worry about everything else.”

When they reached the limo, Lisa went into the trunk and took out two child booster seats. She handed one to Sarah and set up the other for Milly.

“Up you go,” Lisa said as Milly and Mrs. Soffin entered the Limo.

Milly sat down, and mom turned the dial on the seat to Big Kid Restraints.

>>Seat set to Big Kid restraints. Child restrained.<< the seat announced.

Sarah set her dial and pressed the button as she sat down. Her seat said, >>Seat set to Big Kid restraints. Child restrained.<<

By the time the limo took off, Milly was asleep. Her seat said, >>Restraints set to sleeping child.<<

“Mommy, is she really Milly?” Sarah looked at the sleeping girl.

“She definitely is your little sister now, Sarah,” Mom said, forcing a smile.

“Really,” Sarah said, looking from Mom to Milly. “Zara is going to be so jealous. We both wanted baby sisters, but I actually got one. I’ll be the bestest big sister there ever was.”

Mom chuckled, “She is probably going to need a lot of help. This morning she was a twelve-year-old boy. No one has taught her how to be a proper young lady.”

“Oh, she knows how to be one of those Mommy,” Sarah declared. “She’ll be a great little girl. Mikey taught me how to do tea parties, how to be a proper princess, how to pick up things off the floor without my panties showing, and how to redo my hair ties all by myself.”

“I never thought about it that way,” Gregg commented. “I always thought he was just being nice to his little sister by playing dolls and princess with her. I guess it was more than just a nice big brother.”

“How could we have missed that he wanted to be a girl,” Marsha asked?

“He must have been petrified of the changes puberty was doing to his body,” Gregg commented.

“I wonder why he wished to go back to a little girl?” Marsha pondered out loud.

“That’s easy,” Sarah declared. “Mikey always told me I was very lucky because I got to be a little girl, playing princess and being told how cute I was by everyone when I wore a pretty dress. He knew the bestest thing in the world was being a Little Girl. If Milly were twelve, she wouldn’t get to play dollies, wear fancy party dresses, or wear pigtails with ribbons and bows. The girls in Mikey’s class never wear their hair in high pigtails tied off with ribbons and bows. He said that was a special treat just for little girls. Doesn’t Milly look so cute in them? Milly always . . . ”

Sarah went silent as she looked at Milly sleeping. A huge smile grew on her face.

Smiling at Sarah, Marsh looked over to her husband, “Sounds like Milly has been part of our family for a long time. We just didn’t see her. It sounds like Milly might be more girly than Sarah.”

“Great,” Dad rolled his eyes. “I am doomed. Being the only boy in the house, I don’t stand a chance.”

“Nope, Daddy. Girls rule!” Sarah tilted her head, smiled, and blinked her eyes.

Lisa let out a slight chuckle at that.

Dad gestured his hand towards Sara, “You see what I am up against?”

“Little girls do have magical powers over Daddies. Don’t worry, dear. If you surrender now, you will be spared a long and painful death.”

“Unlikely, but at least they give good hugs and kisses,” Gregg said, looking out the window at the house they were approaching. “Where are we? This isn’t our house.”

“What do you mean,” Lisa said, looking down at the computer display in the limo. “This limo uses the government location network. Look here. The system clearly states that this is the Soffin residence in Diamond Lake. Gregg and Marsha Soffin, with children Sarah and Melissa.”

“That sounds like us,” Marsha stated.

As the limo came to a stop on the Rooftop landing zone, Milly woke up. Looking around, she promptly declared, “We’re home!”

“Looks like Milly recognizes the place,” Lisa said. “If you guys don’t, it must be part of her wish. There is a simple way to find out. The home won’t let you in if it isn’t your house.”

“Good point,” Marsha said as she released Milly from the child seat restraints.

Milly jumped down, opened the limo door, and ran for the house entrance.

“Wait, Milly,” Mom yelled out. “We aren’t even sure if this is our . . .”

“I have her Mommy,” Sara followed her sister.

Running up to the door, it automatically opened. Milly ran into the house and headed for her room. Sarah was right behind her.

Milly grabbed her dolly off the bed, “Oh Susie, I really missed you. That was mean of Mommy saying I couldn’t take you. We got to ride in a limo. Yeah, I know, just like a real princess. Wish I had my princess hat on for the ride.”

“But you did have a princess dress on,” Sarah said as she entered the room.

Milly looked down at her pink, little girl party dress with a ribbon around her high waist, tied off in a bow on her back, “It is the bestest Princess dress ever.”

Sarah looked around the room. Milly was sitting on a little girl's pink princess bed talking to her dolly. The nightstand had a Princess Castle light on it, and there was a pop-up tent princess castle in the corner by the window seat. Little and Big Kid toys were on the shelves and floor. Looking at the dresser, Sarah smiled. It had been her dresser since she was a baby. This morning it had been in Sarah’s room with her doll and tiara collections on top, but now it had stuffed animals and some Little One's Princess Stacy toys. On the walls were decals of castles, princesses, and unicorns.

“Girl’s,” Mom yelled out from the garage door. “Where are you?”

Sarah yelled out, “We’re in Princess Milly’s room, Mommy.”

Moments later, Mom, Dad, and Lisa entered the room.

“Isn’t this the coolest Princess bedroom Daddy,” Sarah said, going over to explore the pop-up castle?

The adults looked around the room. Little girl pink was everywhere, from the toys to the bedspread. For a princess obsessed girl, it would be a dream room. Marsha and Lisa couldn’t help but smiles at the cuteness. Milly and her dolly headed over to the toys on the floor. Sarah joined her.

“Gregg,” Marsha said. “Why don’t you go look around the house. If it really is ours, it should have some of our stuff in it. The only thing in here that looks familiar is the dresser. It looks like the one Sarah and Mikey had.”

“It’s mine, Mommy,” Sarah pointed to the side of the dresser. “Look, it has my height measurements on the side. See.”

Mom went over and looked at the side of the dresser. It had been a changing table when the kids were little. On the side, she had measured the kid’s growth. Marsha looked at the two girls' height measurements from when they could first stand up on their own until they reached the top of the dresser. Although she never remembered doing it with Milly, Sarah's memories were clear as could be. It sure looked like the measurements she made, and it did look like her writing.

“I’ll be leaving now,” Lisa said. “You’re a lucky little girl Milly. You get to have what every transgender girl wishes they had, a real little girl's childhood. From a little girl to a woman, you will be a girl in body and mind. May all your dreams come true.”

Milly smiled up at Lisa.

“I had never thought of it that way,” Marsha said. “Maybe that’s why she was regressed to such a young age. Thank You, Lisa.”

“Oh, by the way,” Lisa said before turning to leave the room. “Your transport is in the garage, but my soldier said it isn’t the one your husband described. It is yours though, we confirmed it with the government registration info.”

“Thanks, Lisa,” Marsha said. “Please, tell World Leader Evans thank you.”

Lisa smiled and left.

“Mommy,” Milly asked?

“Honey,” Gregg interrupted as he entered the room. “This is our house, but it also isn’t. I don’t know how we can even afford to live in this place. It is a three-story house with a killer view.”

“House,” Marsha said. “Who owns this house?”

>>You and Gregg do. The two of you paid cash for the house nine years ago,<< the House Unit answered.

“Cash,” Marsha looked at Gregg. “House, what is my job, and how long have I had it?”

>>You are the Chief Financial Officer of Elmire Corporation. You have been in that position for a year and a half.<<

“Gregg, that job would be at least twice the pay of my job before the wish. I thought World Leader Evans said a wish didn’t change the past. I can see Milly’s back story needing revision, but ours?”

“The World Leader said people’s memories are not changed, but material things are,” Gregg said, looking over at Milly and Sarah playing. “So why would you have a different job? House, what is my current job?”

>>Gregg Soffin, Independent Writer. Author of four published fiction books. Not currently on anyone’s payroll but receiving regular royalty checks.<<

“But, you gave up writing thirteen years ago,” Marsha quizzically looked at Gregg.

“Yeah, I had to when you got pregnant with Mike,” Gregg remembered. “But, if you hadn’t gotten pregnant with Mike . . .”

“You would have continued working on that novel idea you had,” Marsha said.

“House, what is my income each month?” Gregg asked.

>>It averages 10,000 Zeeboes, if last month’s income is excluded.<<

“House,” Marsha asked. “Why did you exclude last month’s income?”

>>It is outside the norms to be considered regular income.<<

“House, what did Gregg earn last month, and from what?”

>>Gregg Soffin deposited five-hundred thousand Zeeboes into the family account from Books Galore Publishing for completing the next book in the Galactic Family Series.<<

“Publishers don’t pay writers an advance that high unless they have a proven track record of top book sales Solar System wide,” Gregg said, looking at Marsha and then over to Milly. “What did she wish for?”

“No one has asked her,” Mom replied. “It’s against the law.”

“Our twelve-year-old boy is now a seven-year-old girl. I think we have the right to know,” Dad commented, going over and sitting on the floor next to Milly.

“Milly, what did you wish for?”

Milly looked at Dad, “I don’t know, Daddy. It was your made-up story. What did I wish for?”

“Milly,” Mom asked. “What were you doing up on the stage today?”

“Getting checked by the doctor, people.”

“No, before the medics,” Mom explained.

“I . . . I . . . I was pretending I was a little princess that all the people came to see. Did I do a good job pretending to be a princess, Mommy?”

“Yes, Milly. You were so good that everyone thought you were a real princess.”

“Oh, goodie,” Milly clapped her hands together. Turning to her toys, she re-entered her make-believe world of Princess Play.

“Does she seem to be acting younger than seven-and-a-half,” Marsha asked?

The Wishing Stone By Teek © 2020

Summary: Making a wish on the Wishing Stone is a great honor. One that only ten people every hundred years gets to make. Many wishes throughout time have dramatically changed the life of the Wishee for the positive, but there are consequences to one's actions. When the youngest Wishee in history makes a life-altering wish, those around twelve-year-old Mikey must adjust to the changes.

~o~O~o~

Chapter Summary: A doctor is called in to help investigate why Milly's cognitive abilities do not match that of a 7-year-old.

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~o~O~o~

Marsha sent Sarah off to find her bedroom. Looking down at Milly playing with her Little Ones Princes Stacy Castle Playset, she saw a little girl fully engrossed in a full make-believe world. She went over to the nightstand and picked up The Book. Sitting down on the window seat, she opened it and typed in the name of a book that both Mikey and Sarah had loved when they were turning six and just learning how to read. Milly was seven, so this should be easy for her.

“Milly,” Marsha said. “Come here for a minute.”

Milly put down her toys and went up to Mommy.

Mom lifted Milly onto her lap, “Milly, let’s read a story. Do you know this story?”

“Tom the Bat,” Milly declared with a smile.

“Yeah,” Marsha smiled as she pressed the button to turn the page. “Tom the Bat sat on a mat. Okay, Milly, now your turn.”

“He go broom broom broom up in the air and flew around all the trees,” Milly traced the path that she thought Tom should take.

Mom smiled and gave Milly a slight squeeze, “Princess, that’s not what the words say. Can you read the words? Tom will do all the things if you read the words.”

“No, Mommy,” Milly pointed at the words. “I don’t know any of those words.”

“Tom go up,” Marsha read as Milly got all excited as Tom flew up off the mat. “Tom on top.” The holographic bat flew to the top of a holographic tree. “Tom go down.” The bat flew back down to the mat.

Each time Mommy read the words, Tom flew to the next place. Milly followed the path with her finger, occasionally trying to catch the holographic bat. When Mom reached the end of the story, Milly clapped and asked Mommy to read it again. Mom said she would reread it later and sent Milly back to playing.

“She should have been able to read that Gregg,” Marsha said. “And by seven-and-a-half, Mikey and Sara were calling this a baby book. Did you see how she was responding when I was reading it? She definitely doesn’t view it as a baby book.”

“What does this mean,” Gregg asked?

After a few moments of the two parents just watching Milly, Marsha said, “House, Medical Mode.”

>>Do you want a doctor brought in on this?<<

Taking a deep breath, “Yes, House, please see if the kid’s Pediatrician is available. If not, send all reports to the Pediatrician’s office, and ask for a consult when available.”

>>We are second in line for consultation with the Pediatrician. A nurse is available if needed.<<

“No Nurse is needed at this time. Start a General Health Scan of Milly.”

>>Heart, Lungs, Blood Pressure, and temperature are all within normal limits for a passively playing 6-year-old girl.<<

“House? Milly is seven.”

>>Checking. Melissa Louise Soffin, 6 years, 11 months old.<<

“House, confirm please.”

>>Melissa Louise Soffin, 6 years, 11 months old, 1st grader at Diamond Lake Elementary School. Confirmed with school and medical records, along with biological scans to determine age.<<

Perplexed, Marsha looked at Gregg, “House, how old was she when the medics checked her after the wish?”

>>6 years, 11 months old<<

“Gregg, I saw the medic’s display. It said her age was 7-years, 5-months old.”

Gregg shrugged his shoulders.

Marsha continued, “House, go deeper. Do a Well Child Check-Up scan,”

>>Scanning. Everything is in the average range for a 6-year, 11-month-old girl.<<

Marsha looked at Gregg in confusion.

“What,” Gregg asked? “That’s good, isn’t it?”

“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Soffin,” Dr. Mire said as a Holographic image of her appeared in the room. “How can I help you today?”

Marsha stood up, “Dr. Mire, I have some concerns about Milly.”

“Milly?”

Marsha gestured to Milly playing on the floor.

Dr. Mire looked at the child playing on the floor and then at the file connected to that child, “What? This file says I examined Milly in person five months ago, but I don’t recognize the child in front of me.”

“Dr. Mire,” Marsha looked down at Milly. “I have a strange question for you. Who are my children?”

“Mike and Sarah,” Dr. Mire responded without hesitation.

“Were you aware that Mike won The Wishing Stone lottery?”

“Everyone knows that. He is the first in the Weetoon Province to win that in over a hundred years. Probably known throughout the Solar System, being the first pre-teen to win the Wishing Stone Lottery.”

“Mike made his wish, and it turned him into this little girl. I am now the proud mom to Melissa Louise Soffin, age 6.”

“Oh my,” Dr. Mire exclaimed as she started flipping through the files in front of her. “How odd, I have six years of medical records on Melissa, or should I say, Milly. According to these records, I have been her doctor since the day she was born, but I have no recollection of Milly.”

“I never even considered the possibility of Mike being Transgender. Did you ever test him for gender identity?”

“It’s not one of the usual tests we run on children unless there is a reason to do it. I don’t recall you or the schools bringing up a reason to give the test.”

Marsha scrunched her eyes together and shook her head back and forth, “Although this concerns me, there are more pressing issues. She has gotten six months younger since the initial wish transformation. How young is Milly going to get? She is having memory problems, not even remembering making the wish. Then there are cognitive issues. She can’t read yet, even very beginning reading books, and she appears to act like she is a Little Kid, not a Big Kid. Could she be Intellectually Disabled?”

“I’ve read about regression wishes and gender-switching wishes,” Dr. Mire smiled at the two worried parents. “Not sure there has ever been one that combined those two. The general belief has always been that all transformation occurs at the time of the wish, but if that were true, she wouldn’t still be getting younger.”

Dr. Mire started pulling up some information and ordering scans, “In the past, attempts to study wish magic from a medical perspective has always faced challenges. The magic changes all records, so only people’s memories can tell us what changes occurred.”

“That would explain it,” Marsha blurted out. “Just after the wish, the medics device listed her age at 7 years, 5 months old, but now house says the scan then put her at 6 years, 11 months old. If the wish magic changes the records as she gets younger, it will put her age then the same as now.

“Well, we know Mikey was a 12-year-old boy, and now, he is a 6-year-old girl,” Gregg stated.

“That is something we know, but it also presents us with a lot of unknowns,” Dr. Mire stated as she looked at scans and ordered more. “No child younger than 18 has ever wished before, and I believe the youngest to make a regression wish was 68, and they only became 30. We are in uncharted territory here.”

Gregg went over and hugged Marsha.

“First, let’s get the legal elements out of the way,” Dr. Mire stated. “Office, link to the Wishing Stone Database. Create a new entry, with security locks in effect until the Wishee dies or she unlocks it as an adult. Upload all medical records gathered in our attempts to explain or examine changes due to the wish. Since we are in an unknown area here, upload all data for the next year, and at that time set a prompt to ask me if the process should continue.”

Dr. Mire looked at the worried parents, “Now, let’s see what we can find out. Looking at these scan results, it looks like basic health is within the normal range for a 6-year-old girl.”

Dr. Mire pressed a few buttons on her display, and a blue light engulfed Milly, “That is odd.”

“What,” Marsha immediately questioned?

“Normally, in 6-year-olds, there is a multiplying factor of brain neuron development. Her number of neurons are shrinking, but the system hasn’t flagged that. Hold on a minute, let me check something.”

Dr. Mire scrolled through the flagging criteria, “Oh, I see. The number is still above what is considered normal for a 6-year-old. It won’t identify an abnormality until it gets below what is normal for her age. It makes sense, I guess. The programmers never expected backward development. Okay, changing those criteria so decreasing neuron numbers are viewed as out of the norm.”

Pressing a few buttons on her display control panel, the light around Milly changed to purple and focused on just encompassing her head. Milly just kept playing with her toys.

“Fascinating,” Dr. Mire looked at her display. “The links between neurons are disintegrating. What is causing that to happen?”

Dr. Mire swiped one scan data up to its own display and then did the same for another scan. After pressing a few buttons, she did it again, “House, focus scan right there where the neuron links are disintegrating. Can you get a closer look at that?”

>>Increasing scanners to their maximum level.<<

“What is that?” Dr. Mire scrunched her eyebrows. “There is some type of foreign substance in her brain, eating away at the neuron links. House Unit, use all your scanners. Scan everything within your range, looking for this unknown substance.”

>>The highest concentrations are seen to various degrees through Melissa’s body, clothing that she is wearing, and clothing she isn’t wearing. Trace amounts of that substance can be found throughout things in the house. It is changing things at a molecular and atomic level. Amounts of this substance are dropping fast in most items.<<

“House Unit,” Dr. Mire commanded. “Link to the Wishing Stone Database. Is there any reference to a substance that changes things at this level?”

>>Nothing in the database appears to match what my scans are detecting.<<

“Maintain link, create a new entry, and label the substance, I don’t know, something like Magical Transformation Substance. Ping the Wishing Stone Society, highest priority.”

“What is going on Dr. Mire?” Marsha asked. “Is Milly okay? Are we in danger?”

“There appear to be no negative emissions, so I see no danger to anyone other than Milly. I think we just discovered the substance that does the magic. I will let the W.S. Society deal with that. Now, back to Milly. From what I can see, the magic is still changing Milly.”

“How young is she going to get,” Marsha questioned? “Do I need to start shopping for a crib?”

“I don’t know how much younger, but . . .”

>>Incoming Government Communication: Wishing Stone Society, Professor Ian<<

“Accept,” Gregg said.

“Greetings. I am Professor Ian. I have dispatched a mobile power plant to your location, and it should be there in less than ten minutes. As soon as my transport is loaded, I will be on my way to your house. I should be there in 30 minutes with a Research Level upgrade for your House Unit. As soon as the power plant is attached, I want your House Unit to continuously scan with all sensors throughout your house and grounds constantly. Record data on house archive and be on constant upload to the Wishing Stone Society Archival Database. Any questions?”

“Um, Professor Ian,” Gregg said. “You may be used to getting what you want, but no one enters this house without my permission. The law is pretty clear. My child cannot be a lab rat.”

“I am sorry, Mr. Soffin,” Professor Ian stated. “I completely understand the law regarding the study of the wish magic. You may not understand that the law allows for passive and active scanning when the Wish Particle is found. I do not require access inside your house for any purpose other than installing the new scanners, upgrading your House Unit, and the power plant to keep it running continuously. I have no intention of having any interaction with your child. I am only interested in the Wish Particle and what it does. I see you have a Doctor's consult currently going on. If it makes you feel better, all data collected by the scanners on humans can go through her first, with only the Wish Particle data coming to me.”

“What is this Wish Particle you keep referring to,” Marsha asked?

“Mam, the Wish Particle is the unknown substance your House Unit sent us information on. We first picked it up with a scanner 50 years ago, but nowhere near the level of quality imaging you have. That is why your House Unit was unable to get a match from our database. Attempts to scan when an individual makes a wish has always overwhelmed our tech, but I will be just as happy to study the aftereffects if the Wish Particle is still there. We have been waiting for this opportunity. House and Office level scanners in the last seven years have finally reached a level where they can see it. Your House Unit must have been built since then.”

>>This Housing Unit was grown nine years ago.<<

“Those must have been some high-end scanners at the time of install. Oh well, it doesn’t matter. They are out of date now, and I need research-grade scanners to go sub-atomic. I’ll be replacing your scanners with the latest Military Grade Research Scanners.”

Mr. and Mrs. Soffin looked at each other and then at Dr. Mire.

“Dr. Mire,” Marsha said. “I’ll do anything to protect my baby. I assume those improved scanners will improve your ability to treat her.”

“Yes, they will,” Dr. Mire said. “Professor Ian, you should know that the Wishee is still being transformed. Based upon that fact and where we are seeing the highest concentration of this Wish Particle you are talking about, you will find other things like her clothes being transformed. Shhhrrr . . . She’s shrinking! That is why the clothes are saturated with the Wish Particle. They are constantly adjusting to her new size. House Unit, every thirty minutes, I want you to print a hard copy of her height, weight, age, and basic health info to my clinic printer.”

“That is a strange request Dr. Mire,” Professor Ian commented. “Hard Copy printers are rarely used. Why are you printing a hard copy of the info?”

“The child’s age has changed in my electronic records since first read after the transformation. If I can’t rely on my electronic records, I am hoping a hard copy can save the changes.”

“That is brilliant Dr. Mire,” Professor Ian noted. “That might explain why we get no data when we start scans before the wish. The Wish Particle infects anything connected with the Wishee transformation of reality as we know it. We will need to scan anything holding the data for the Wish Particle constantly. If we detect it, we can’t trust the historical elements of the data. House Unit, who or what in the house has the highest saturation of the Wish Particle?”

>>Melissa does.<<

“House Unit,” Professor Ian directed. “We need a way to measure the level of the Wish Particle. If an item with no particles has a score of zero, scan all items in the house and assign a number to Melissa’s saturation level, assume she is below 50% saturation.<<

>>I have assigned Melissa a Wish Particle number of 41 per 1 atomic density. Sending you information on all items in the house using the same scale.<<

“I think I will step out and look over this data. I will be at your location shortly,” Professor Ian said before vanishing.

A rumble was heard coming from outside the house.

“What dat Daddy,” Milly asked, looking up at the ceiling?

“I think that is a special thing to make sure we don’t run out of power,” Dad said, looking down at Milly. “Don’t worry about it Princess. I will go deal with it.”

“Mommy, Mommy, Mommy,” Sarah screamed as she came running into the room and embraced Mom.

“It’s okay Sarah,” Mom got down and hugged her. “It is just something very big being delivered. Why don’t you go play with your little sister.”

Dad left the room after kissing Sarah on her head. Sarah looked around at the holographic person in the room.

“Hi Dr. Mire,” Sarah said as she passed her and went over to play with Milly.

“Hi Sarah,” Dr. Mire replied.

“Dr. Mire,” Marsha asked? “If she is still getting younger, how much is she shrinking?”

“The display currently records her age at 6 years, 10 months old, and height at 117 centimeters tall. You said the medics reported her as 7 years, 5 months old just after the transformation. We don’t have the data, but I bet she probably is shrinking. I just wish there was a way to figure out how much.”

“She’s six now?” Sara asked. “Wow! Mommy, Mommy, I know how to tell if she is shrinking.”

The doctor and Mom both looked at Sarah, while Milly just played with a Little Ones Princess figure in her hand.

“She hugged me just after she turned into a girl. I could just barely see over the top of her head. If she hugs me again, I could see where the top of her head is on me.”

“Smart little girl you have there,” Dr. Mire complemented. “That will give us a way to measure her that is guaranteed not to be impacted by the Wish Magic. Sarah’s height will stay the same over the next few days, and we measure from the bottom of her eyes to the top of Milly’s head.”

Marsha got Milly to get up and hug Sarah. This time the top of Milly’s head was at Sarah’s mouth.

“Look, Mom,” Sarah said. “I can put my chin on the top of her head.”

“No, Sarah. I need you looking forward for this,” Mrs. Mire said as the house projected a ruler to measure the distance.

“House Unit,” Dr. Mire ordered as the girls went back to playing. “Professor Ian will order what he wants, but I want Well Child Check-up level scans once a minute linked to my office. At this point, she is getting younger, but there does not appear to be any health concerns connected with that. If anything moves out of the green on the Well Child Check-Up, Emergency Medical Ping me.”

>>Affirmative. Continuous Well Child level scanning of Melissa, with a once per minute link to your office. Emergency Medical Ping if anything goes out of the green.<<

“Now,” Dr. Mire said. “These cognitive concerns you mentioned. What we may be seeing is her cognitive level matching where her body is progressing to. The changes that happen in the brain between five-and-a-half and six-and-a-half alter how a kid thinks. Make-believe play like she is doing right now comes in the mid to late 2’s, so we know she is functioning higher than that. House, scan Milly’s various developmental levels, include a cognitive processing scan.”

>>Inconclusive.<<

Dr. Mire and Marsha looked at each other in confusion.

“House,” Dr. Mire inquired? “Explain.”

>>As per the Pediatric Health Guidelines, Melissa’s Social, Emotional, Communication, Gross Motor, Fine Motor, and Adaptive skills were all scanned three times. Each time, a different score was recorded in each area with no pattern or trend to the scores. Expecting a human would ask for me to scan again, I did. There are now six different scores for each of those areas. There is no obvious pattern to the score distribution. They fluctuate up and down at random.<<

“I was afraid of that,” Dr. Mire said. “With her still regressing, things are in too much flux to get an accurate reading. Let’s try a different approach. House, what is the high and low-end range of the skills?”

>>The average high is at an 8.8 age level. The lowest scores average at 36 months.<<

Dr. Mire took a deep breath, “36 months to 8.8 years old. Interesting range, but I would guess her final age will be somewhere in that range. Her physical body is getting younger, so I can’t explain why some of those skills are so much higher, unless . . .”

Marsha looked at Dr. Mire just standing there thinking, “Unless what Dr. Mire?”

“Unless the wish magic is leaving options open for the final transformation. That covers two developmental stages: the Little Kid stage of 3 to 6 years old, and the Big Kid stage of 6 to 9. Mike was at the end of the Tween stage when he made the wish. Milly’s physical body has regressed one level down from Tween to Big Kid. Developmental Scans and your observations have her functioning more like a Little Kid, which would put her two stages down from where Mikey was. But body and mind regressions are not stable. Either it overshot one, or . . . or it is still trying to stabilize them and is unsure which to settle on, Little Kid or Big Kid.”

“That makes sense. I guess,” Marsha looked down at Milly playing.

“For this moment,” Dr. Mire said. “I am not sure what can be done. This is Wish Magic at work. It has never harmed a Wishee, and it doesn’t appear to be harming Milly. She appears healthy and unfazed by all of this. Until this process is done, all we can really do is monitor the process. Unless you have something else for me to look into, I’ll check back with you in an hour,” Dr. Mire commented as she continued to look over the data.

“Thank You,” Marsha said. “I guess I will just have to wait for the process to end.”

“You can get through this,” Dr. Mire reassured her. “I’m here if you need me. Right now, I’m going to look over this data and look up some other information. I’ll see you in an hour.”

Marsha watched Dr. Mire vanish, then sat down watching the girls play peacefully.

With the girls getting along, Marsha stood up, “Sarah, please stay here playing with your little sister. I’m going to go look around the house.”

“Okay, Mommy.”

Marsha kissed Sarah on her forehead, “Thanks. I’ll be back shortly.”

Marsha decided to start on the ground floor. The girl’s playroom was huge, with a toy store supply of toys. Marsha noticed that there were still some toddler toys spread throughout the room, including a few out, looking like they had been played with recently. Did this mean Milly was going to regress down to a toddler level? Marsha shook that off, remembering that little kids don’t give up the toys they have outgrown very easily.

In the kitchen, Marsha found sippy cups, divided plates, and toddler silverware. Nothing out of place for a 6-year-old. One drawer did have three bibs in it, but again, an occasional bib at 6 wasn’t unheard of. Marsha was relieved not to see a high chair in the dining room, but there was a Princess booster seat.

After checking in on the girls, Marsha went to look at the bedrooms. Sarah’s bedroom seemed almost identical to what it did before the wish, except it was bigger and had an attached bathroom like Milly’s room did. The master bedroom was a suite that was very large and had a fantastic mountain view. Gregg always wanted a house with a view. It looks like he got it. Almost everything in the room was the same as what was in their old master bedroom.

“How could I have not known that my boy was transgender,” Marsha asked to an empty room? “What kind of mom doesn’t know something like that about their child?”

Marsha looked down at the multiple people working around the mobile power plant, getting it connected to the house. A military looking transport vehicle was approaching the house. Figuring it was Professor Ian, Marsha headed for the garage to meet him, only stopping for a moment to make sure the girls were still playing peacefully.

When Marsha opened up the door to the garage, she saw three transport vehicles in the four-vehicle garage. She didn’t recognize any of the vehicles but figured the flashy high-end transport was probably Gregg’s. It was the type of vehicle he liked. The Easy Access Family Transport was probably hers. She had always wanted one like that, especially when Mike and Sarah were small enough to be carried to the house when they fell asleep during transport. Marsha realized that Milly now fit into that category. The third transport had a guy getting stuff out of the back.

“Hello, and welcome,” Marsha said as she approached.

“Hi there. One minute,” the guy said as he pulled a large case out of the transport.

“Sorry,” the guy said, turning to Marsha so she could see him for the first time. “I am Professor Ian. Nice to meet you, Mrs. Soffin. If you can direct me to your House Unit, I will get to work upgrading it.”

“Welcome, Professor. The Multi-Floor lift is right over there,” Marsha said, pointing to a gated area by the door into the house. “From what I saw, the House Unit utility room is on the ground floor.”

Marsha thought for a moment and then stated, “House, please give Professor Ian access to all sections of the house he needs to upgrade your systems. Link to his tablet any house maps you have to the various sensors and scanners.”

>>Temporary 1 hour access to house granted. If longer access is needed, new permission will be needed.<<

“Understood House,” Professor Ian replied.

>>No access is granted to 3rd floor living quarters. All those sensors are accessed through the attic.<<

“Thank You, House, for that information,” Marsha said. “Professor, I will try to keep the kids in the bedrooms and out of your way.”

Marsha left the garage and went back to the girls.

Sitting down on the window seat, “House, treat the Professor like any other service tech. Regular security protocols if he does anything outside of his assigned task, which is to upgrade the House Unit and its sensors.”

>>Affirmative<<

“Girls, there is a guy named Professor Ian in the house. He is making improvements to the sensors. If we stay in the bedrooms, we will be out of his way.”

“Okay, Mommy,” Sarah said while stopping what she was doing.

Marsha looked at Milly. She made no reaction to the comment. She just continued playing. After about ten minutes, Gregg came into the room.

“Well, the external power plant is all hooked up,” Gregg announced as he came over and sat next to his wife. “They say it is enough power to run a small research facility for a year. With it just powering our house, the kids will have grandkids before it runs out of power.”

“Why did they bring something so powerful,” Marsha asked.

“The techs don’t ask those types of questions. They just do as they are told. They were told to deliver a T-12 Power Plant to this residence and connect it to the house. When they finished that, they left. No questions asked.”

“That’s the government for you,” Marsha rolled her eyes.

“I saw a transport vehicle drive into the garage,” Gregg commented. “Was that Professor Ian?”

“Yeah, he is upgrading the House Unit and all the sensors. If we stay in the Living Quarters, we will be out of his way since the sensors for these rooms are in the attic.”

“Okay,” Gregg said, giving his wife a quick peck on the cheek. “I guess that gives me a good excuse to play with my girls.”

Dad got down on the floor with the young girls and picked up a knight on a space skid, “Okay, I slayed the dragon and saved the princess from a life trapped in the tower of the castle. Do I get a kiss now?”

“Ewwwwww,” Milly exclaimed, holding up the princess in her hands. “A proper princess would never kiss a yucky boy unless they were Prince Charming, and then only because it is a law that princesses have to kiss Prince Charming.”

Dad chuckled, “But I am Prince Charming, just wearing my knight’s battle gear.”

“You can be such a goofball at times Gregg,” Marsha said, smiling.

“Yup, that’s why you married me. My wit and charm.”

“I’m not sure who behaves more like a little kid, you or the girls,” Marsha responded.

Both girls pointed at Daddy. Everyone started laughing.

A few hours later, dinner was interrupted by the House Unit, >>There is an incoming Holo Com-Link from a personal number. It has been more than six hours since the wish. Do you still want all personal number calls blocked?<<

Gregg took a deep breath and looked over to his wife. She just shrugged her shoulders.

“House, allow communications from family only,” Gregg stated.

>>There is an incoming Com-Link from Marsha’s parents.<<

This time it was Marsha that took a deep breath, “House Accept Com-Link.”

“It is about time you answered my Com. I have been trying to reach you for hours. That idiot World Leader is all over the news networks claiming that Mikey has been transformed into a 7-year-old girl. What kind of total garbage is that? They even created some Fizbam act showing the wish magic transforming him.”

“Hi, Mom,” Marsha finally got in. “Nice to see you, but please watch your language. We have two little girls here.”

“Don’t tell me to watch my language, and you are no longer a little girl.”

“Mom, let me introduce you to your new granddaughter, Melissa Louise Soffin. She goes by Milly.”

Milly held up her right hand, and she opened and closed it as a way to wave hi.

For the first time, Marsha’s Mom looked around, noticing the little girl in pigtails sitting next to Sarah. She looked back and forth between the two kids.

“Who? What?”

“Hi, Grandma,” Milly and Sarah said together.

“You mean that windbag World Leader Evans was telling the truth?”

“Mostly. He probably doesn’t have the latest information. Milly is now 6, not 7. Her regression is slowing, but she does still appear to be getting younger. About forty-five minutes ago, the doctor said she was about 6 years, 5 months old, which means she has gotten one year younger since the wish initially turned her into a 7-year-old girl.”

“What happened to Mikey? Where’d he go?”

Sarah started moving her pointy finger over and over again at Milly.

“A Fairy Godmother granted my wish and turned me back into the little girl I was before the evil witch turned me into a boy,” Milly declared between bites.

“What?”

“Mom, it’s just her way of understanding something beyond her level of comprehension,” Marsha explained. “She’s just a little girl trying to make sense of something the adults are struggling to understand. If you want proof, look at the artwork I sent you last month from the two kids. I bet the one from Mikey is now from a little kid named Milly.”

Marsha’s mom went to the next room and looked at the artwork. The elegant drawing Mikey had done was gone. It had been replaced with a coloring sheet of a princess, with most of the coloring going outside the lines. It looked only a little better than scribbling. At the bottom of the picture was a little kid writing of the name Milly.

“What happened to Mike’s artwork?” Grandma asked, holding up Milly’s art.

“All of Mike was magically transformed to Milly, that includes records, art, and other stuff,” Marsha tried to explain. “Material things are changed, but human memories are not. Well, one person does have altered memories, Milly.”

“But . . . What . . . Milly?”

“Mom,” Marsha broke in. “We are in the middle of dinner. I will Com-Link you tonight after we put the girls to bed.”

“Little Girls, bed. Yeah, Com-Link me then,” Grandma said and then vanished.

“What was wrong with Grandma,” Sarah asked?

“She was struggling to accept Milly,” Mom responded. “Gregg, why don’t you go call your parents and sister in your office. Let’s not have another event like that in front of the girls.”

Taking a big mouth full of food, Gregg got up and headed upstairs to his office.

“Mommy,” Milly asked. “Should the Fairy Godmother have kept me a boy?”

The Wishing Stone By Teek © 2020

Summary: Making a wish on the Wishing Stone is a great honor. One that only ten people every hundred years gets to make. Many wishes throughout time have dramatically changed the life of the Wishee for the positive, but there are consequences to one's actions. When the youngest Wishee in history makes a life-altering wish, those around twelve-year-old Mikey must adjust to the changes.

~o~O~o~

Chapter Summary: There are consequences to the wish that impact more than just Milly. Some people are more accepting than others.

---

~o~O~o~

Note: In the future, some things are a little different from our time. Their currency is Zeeboes. The kids wear Zoombot shoes, and the futuristic equivalency of milk, which doesn’t have any harmful negative impacts on humans, is called Gubit. Yeah, I know. Who names something Gubit or wears Zoombots on their feet? I could ask the same about you. Did you wear Crocs in your younger days? Or did you drink Yoohoo? Just imagine what people in the future will think about our names for things. So, let’s not judge their names for things. Now, I return you to the future, where wishes really can come true.

“Mommy,” Milly asked. “Should the Fairy Godmother have kept me a boy?”

“What would make you ask such a crazy question Milly,” Marsha asked?

“Grandma is mad I’m not this Mikey you tell me I used to be. I don’t want Grandma to be mad.”

“Oh, Milly,” Marsha said, getting up from her seat and going over to Milly. “Never think that the Fairy Godmother made a mistake. You should always be who you are and never let anyone else hold you back from being that. The Fairy Godmother granted your wish to be a little girl because that is what you should be. She only grants true wishes, which means, at your core, you wanted with all of your heart to be a Little Princess. She made that possible, and now you will always be my princess. All I want is for you to be happy and loved for who you are. I am so happy that the Fairy Godmother helped me see the real you.”

“But . . .”

“No buts Milly. You are a little girl, and that is all that is important. No one should ever be forced to live the wrong gender. A girl growing up in a boy's body is bad enough, but that girl shouldn’t have to be treated like a boy. Your wish changed things for you. You now have a special treat, a chance to be the little girl you were born as. No one will ever again treat you like a boy. That is a very good thing.”

Gregg came barging into the room, “Kids, go play in your playroom!”

“Gregg, they haven’t finished dinner yet,” Marsha objected.

“They can finish dinner later. Sarah, take your little sister and go play,” Gregg ordered.

Sarah looked at Dad and then at Mom, unsure of what to do.

Marsha looked at Gregg, then Sarah, and finally at the little one she was hugging, “Whatever, go ahead Milly, go play with your sister in the playroom.”

The girls got down and ran off to the playroom.

“What is so important that it had to interrupt the girl’s dinner?”

“House, run the top news story please.”

A holo-projected news reporter was displayed sitting at a table with two other individuals, “Reports are coming in from all over the Solar System. At approximately 12:35 pm Greenwich Mean Time, Earth, 1% of the population magically changed gender. Individuals from prenatal to old age are suddenly facing life as the opposite gender. The current belief is that all these individuals were six or higher on the transgender spectrum scale. For adults that were transformed, they find themselves with a body that matches their mind, and not one has complained. Parents of children, however, are in a total uproar over the incident. Most did not know their children were transgender, and many claim their child wasn’t.”

“It is believed that Michael Soffin’s wish is the cause of all of this. The Vid Recording of that incident shows him changing from a 12-year-old boy to a young girl of seven. None of the other transformed individuals have regressed in age, but all have changed gender like Michael. As per Wish Law, no reporters are allowed to ask what the wish was. World Leader Evans pointed out a little-known element of the law, stating that a Wishee must be fifteen years old before any interviews can occur. With Michael’s regression, it will be eight years before we are allowed to ask any questions. Senior Wish Analyst George Marker is here to help us gain understanding. George, what is your take on all of this?”

“A wish always has the potential to have a life-changing impact on the Solar System. Based on current reports, I would guess that Michael wished to be a little girl and not have anyone struggle with being transgender. The unclear thing is how that happened. A Wishee is allowed one wish, and the stone has never before granted two wishes at one time. This looks like two different wishes. One that regressed and changed the Wishee to female, and a second one to change the physical body of all transgender individuals to match their true gender.”

“What about the parents that say their transformed children were not transgender,” the news reporter asked?

“Based on previous wish investigations, I suspect those parents are wrong, but further investigation will be done. The Wish Magic is very accurate in its work. With all the adults transformed being transgender, I would be shocked to find a child wasn’t. I can understand, however, how the parent of a young child would be confused and upset by this.”

The news reporter turned to the third guest, “Eileen Simmons is president of the Age Matters Organization. They have been lobbying for over thirty years for the minimum age a Wishee can be should be at least 25, and preferably 30. They have spearheaded several protests throughout the Solar System this afternoon, using this wish as proof that children shouldn’t be granted wishes.”

“That is right, Larry. The immaturity of the Wishee has led to this chaos. We wouldn’t see such a disaster if an adult made the wish. Michael was only 12 years old. An adult would never have caused all transgender individuals to transform against their will.”

“We have had several people older than 30 make wishes that have caused significant changes throughout the Solar System, including last decade’s Wishee who was 57. How can you blame all of this on the age of the Wishee? Especially with this wish, the only people truly affected get a problem solved for the better.”

“How can you say that, Larry? The parents of a 4-year-old boy who is now a girl are devastated by the loss of their son. All because some immature kid didn’t think before making his wish.”

“But that kid will no longer grow up with the challenges of being transgender. . .”

“House, turn off the news,” Marsha commanded. “Can you believe that woman?”

“Definitely not in sync with reality.”

“Gregg, the wish changed all those people. Our baby is going to be hated by people for the rest of her life.”

“Marsha, she is also going to be loved by all those people for sharing her wish with them. We knew this was part of the challenge of making a wish. The possibilities were all explained to Mikey several times before he made his wish. He heard the protests and objections to a 12-year-old making a wish and knew things would probably get worse after the wish.”

“I know. It’s just,” Marsha broke out in tears.

Gregg hugged his wife, “We tried to shield Mikey from all the possibilities, but he was too determined to research the wishing stone. He read everything he could get his hands on. He knew the power that stone has and how a wish could change the world.”

Marsha smiled, “You know who his favorite Wishee was?”

“No.”

“It was Lisa, that lady who was intellectually disabled who wished for unicorns.”

“He has always loved unicorns,” Gregg said. “I guess it was a sign of his girl side we were never willing to see.”

“Boys like unicorns,” Marsha retorted.

Gregg rolled his eyes and hugged Marsha.

“How did we not know he was transgender?”

“We never considered it because no one expects their son to want to be a girl. We just thought he was a nice big brother to his little sister,” Gregg commented.

“Instead, his playtime with her was his only chance to be the girl she was. It must have been so hard for her watching Sarah get all those girl things that he wanted just as much,” tears started to flow again down Marsha’s face.

“What gets at me,” Gregg commented. “Is that he didn’t feel he could tell us.”

The two were silent for a few minutes. They could hear the kids playing together in the playroom. Milly was playing Princess, and Sarah was the queen. Sarah would occasionally tell Milly what to do and how to be a proper Princess.

“What are we going to do about all of this,” Marsha asked?

“We raise our little girl to the best of our ability. Like any kid, we shield her from as much as we can until she is able to handle it. Her regression younger than she was at the Wish Ceremony may work in our favor. Except for the school, doctor, and family, no one needs to know she is the one that made the wish. The public will be looking for an older kid. No one will expect the Wishee to be a little girl so young. Even if they make the connection, who is going to attack a little kid who’s only six years old?”

“I guess,” Marsha replied. “Come on, let’s get those two through dinner. Looking at Sarah’s plate, we have a big challenge in front of us. She hasn’t touched any of her vegetables.”

The family was soon all sitting down again, eating dinner. Gregg tried to get Sarah to eat the vegetables with no luck.

“You can’t make me eat that horrible thing. Isn’t it illegal to make kids eat broccoli?”

“No dessert if you don’t eat all your vegetables,” Gregg finally said in frustration.

“Fine, I didn’t want that piece of chocolate cake anyway.”

Marsha smiled at that comment. Looking over at Milly, who had most of her vegetables eaten already, “Eat up, Milly. It looks like Sarah won’t be having her piece of cake for dessert, so I guess you can have more.”

“What?” Sarah shouted. “That’s not fair. It’s my piece of cake. Milly can’t have my cake.”

“Well, Sarah,” Mom said. “You don’t want it.”

Milly grabbed a carrot stick in one hand and a chicken nugget in the other. She took a bite of each.

“Milly is eating her veggies, so . . .”

Sarah huffed and grabbed one of her two pieces of broccoli and stuffed it in her mouth.

“I bow to the master,” Gregg said.

Marsha just smiled and dug into her dinner. Between bites, she asked, “You were only up there long enough for one Com-Link. Who did you talk to?”

“I called my parents, who told me about the news. We didn’t have time to talk. They said I needed to watch the news and I could call them back after the kids were in bed.”

“Your parents are so great. They always understand the struggles of being a parent.”

“My sister and I weren’t exactly the easiest kids to raise.”

“You should probably go call your sister . . .”

“All done, Mommy!” Milly said with a mouth full of food.

“Good job Milly, but chew and swallow, please,” Mom replied.

Sarah shivered and made a face that clearly showed her dislike as she put the last piece of broccoli in her mouth, “Done. Cake mine.”

“Neither of you can have any cake until you swallow the food.”

Sarah slumped her shoulders and started to chew.

Swallowing, Milly looked at Mommy, “Cake now?”

“Go put your plate in the cleaner.”

Milly got down, took her Princess Stacy plate to the kitchen cleaner, and quickly returned to her Princess booster seat. By the time Milly was sitting down, Sarah was bringing her plate to the cleaner.

Marsha got up to get the girls their cake. After cutting a small piece for each girl, she placed them on the table. She refilled the girl’s cups of Gubit, for chocolate cake just isn’t the same without Gubit.

Looking at the two girls, the age difference could be seen. Sarah was using her fork to eat the cake, getting some chocolate on her face. Milly was mostly using her hands, getting chocolate covering her face, hands, cup, and dress. Looking at her dress, it was now obvious why there were still bibs in the kitchen. Marsha stuck that fact in her head for the next time she served chocolate cake to the girls.

While Sarah brought her plate and silverware to the cleaner, Mom attacked Milly with a damp washcloth. Seconds after Sarah put the last of her dishes in the cleaner, the House spoke.

>>HOMEWORK REMINDER: Sarah has a math assignment to do for homework and read for 20 minutes.<<

“Do I have to Mom?” Sarah complained.

“You may have gotten today off from school for the Wish Ceremony, but that doesn’t mean you can get out of doing your homework. Go get your School Pad, but first, stop by the bathroom and clean the rest of the chocolate off your face.”

“I’ll read first,” Sarah stated.

“No. You will do your math first. Go get your School Pad and bring it down here.”

“Fine!” Sarah said as she stomped off.

“As for you,” Mom said, examining Milly’s face and hands to make sure she got everything. “I think we need to get you out of that dress. I’m not sure which got more of the cake, it or your tummy.”

Milly smiled, “It was yummy.”

“Let’s go get you in your jammies.”

Milly got down off her booster seat and charged off to her room. When Marsha finally caught up to her, the bed had a one-piece footed pajamas on it and some unicorn slippers. Milly was trying to get the dress off.

“I need to undo the zipper in the back silly,” Mom said, coming up to Milly. “Hands up.”

Milly raised her arms, and Mom took the dress off. She immediately brought it over to the clothes cleaner in the closet, “House. Clean the dress, with extra attention to get all of the chocolate off of it.”

When Marsha turned around, she saw Milly putting on the pajamas.

“Waaaaaait a minute. Tights off first.”

Milly got down on the floor to take her tights off. Marsha smiled at the struggles, determination, and fast pace of the process. In no time, Milly had her Unicorn one-piece pajamas on with the hood up, so the horn was sticking up above her head. Then she put on her Unicorn slippers.

“Okay, my baby girl has been turned into a unicorn,” Mom smiled. “I wonder if I need to get a unicorn stall in the back yard?”

“Don’t be silly Mommy. Unicorns have to live in the house, or you can’t take advantage of their kindness powers.”

Marsha went up and embraced Milly in a big hug, “Oh, we wouldn’t want to lose out on this unicorn’s super kindness powers.”

Milly giggled.

“I guess we will just have to have the Unicorn live here in Milly’s room. If Milly comes back to us, I guess we can find someplace for her to sleep.”

“Milly can sleep with you and Daddy?”

“I think Milly is a big girl who can sleep in her own bed.”

“If I havta.”

Mom tickled Milly, who instantly broke out in a giggle fit.

“House,” Marsha asked? “Does Milly have any homework?”

>>Green Day: wear something green and bring in something green that can fit inside a closed school backpack.<<

“Last time I brought Hoppy,” Milly announced. “I’ll go get Hoppy.”

Mom stopped the unicorn before she could run off, “Hold on a minute, little one. If you brought Hoppy on last month’s Green Day, you are not allowed to bring her again this time.”

“But Mom.”

“Wait a minute. 1st graders don’t do a color day one day a week. House, please confirm Milly’s Homework.”

>> Diamond Lake Early Learning Center school-wide homework: Green Day: wear something green and bring in something green that can fit inside a closed school backpack.<<

“House, Milly goes to Elementary School.”

>>Checking . . . No, Melissa Louise Soffin is a student in Mrs. Erksin’s Early Learner 4 classroom at Diamond Lake Early Learning Center.<<

Marsha looked at Milly, who was shaking her head up and down.

“Teacher Erksin the bestest teacher ever,” Milly declared.

“House, how old is Milly?”

>>Melissa is 6 years, 3 months old.<<

“Yup, I’m 6!”

“Okay. Well, we better get back to your homework. You said you brought Hoppy last month,” Marsha quizzically looked at Milly. “You remember what you brought last month for Green Day?”

“Yeah, Mommy,” Milly said, looking around her room.

“Do you remember the one before that?”

“Celery? Or four-leaf clover card you helped me make for Teacher. I don’t remember,” Milly suddenly got a big smile. “Mommy, can I ask?”

Mom smiled at her little girl, “Sure, sweetie. Go ahead. Speak clearly, and start by saying, ‘House’.”

Milly stood up tall and said, “House.”

With no command following, the House Unit replied, >>How may I help you Princess Milly?<<

“I love it when she calls me that,” Milly told Mom. “House, what did I bring to show and tell on Green Days?”

>>Last Month was your stuffed animal Hoppy, before that was a green card you made for your teacher, celery, Little Ones Christmas Tree, and green candy canes. More are available if you want me to go back further.<<

“That Milly is why we tell House what you bring each time, so we can always remember,” Mom explained. “Wouldn’t want to bring the same thing in twice.”

Marsha looked at Milly and then at the House Control Panel in the room. How could it know what she brought for the last five months of homework when Milly just came into existence today. The list sounded familiar, though. Marsha’s eyes went wide when she finally connected where she had heard that list before. It was what Mikey brought one of the years he was in the Early Learning Center. The magic didn’t entirely create a new history for Milly. It just modified Mikey’s history.

“Mommy,” Milly asked? “Why can’t it be Pink day? Pink is the bestest color. I have lots of pink stuff.”

Looking around the room, Marsha smiled, “You certainly do Milly, but we need to be fair to all the colors. Green would be sad if we skipped her. Let’s go down to the playroom to see if we can find something green to bring.”

“Race you,” Milly went running out of the room.

When Marsha reached the hallway, she expected to see Milly running down the stairs and planned on telling her not to run in the house. Milly, however, was nowhere in sight. Marsha couldn’t even hear the pitter-patter of little feet running in the house. When Marsha reached the dining room, she checked on Sarah, working on her math problems.

“Did your sister come running through here,” Marsha asked?

“Nope,” Sarah said, only looking up for a moment. “Haven’t seen her since I passed the two of you when you went up to her room.”

“That’s strange. Milly went running off to the Playroom. You should have seen her go by.”

“No, Prince Charming, you can’t bring a silver unicorn to Green Day,” Sarah and Mom heard Milly say.

“Sounds like she is in the Playroom,” Sarah said before going back to her math.

Marsha headed into the Playroom to find Milly down on the ground playing with her Princess Stacy toys.

“Prince Charming, Stacy’s dresses are yellow and blue. I can’t bring Stacy to Green Day. Yeah, I know. She would be a great show and tell, but it has to be green. Princess Stacy isn’t green.”

Marsha smiled. It had been a while since she saw a kid work through their problems in a make-believe world. It was always so cute to watch. To help speed up the process, “Why don’t you take Prince Charming around the room looking for something green.”

“Come on Prince Charming,” Milly said, getting up off the floor with the Prince Charming toy still in her hand. “You are a great Knight. Time for a quest to find green.”

Marsha saw a few green things in the room, but she held her tongue. Milly was old enough to do this homework by herself. At least she thought Milly was. So far, she does appear to be labeling the colors correctly. Mikey and Sarah had mastered their colors by age four. Does that mean Milly learned them when Mikey did?

“Prince Charming,” Milly said, exasperated. “We can bring the Mystical Flying Fairy in on Purple Day, but not on Green Day.”

Milly had the toy Prince look up and down the shelves, skipping over various green items without comment. It was obvious Milly knew what green was, so Marsha went back to the Dining Room.

“Need any help,” Marsha asked as she entered the room?

“Think I’ve got it Mom,” Sarah said as she worked on the math problem. “After this problem, I only have the two word-problems left. Too bad Mikey isn’t here. He always helped me understand the word problems.”

“He was a good big brother, wasn’t he,” Mom said with a smile.

“I will never understand why they combine words with math. It is math. There should only be numbers.”

“I tend to agree with you. At my job, the math is almost always just numbers, but that math often starts with someone asking a question, wanting to know something: words that lead to a number problem. Sort of like your word-problems. You read the words and then turn it into a number problem.”

“Fine, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it, especially without Mikey to help me.”

Marsha went over and hugged Sarah. When she stood back up, she heard a ding.

“House,” Marsha said. “Show me my display. Well, it looks like it is someone’s bedtime.”

Sarah looked down at the clock display on the bottom of her School Pad, “Why do I have to go to bed so early?”

Marsha smiled as she looked down at Sarah, “Not you. Remember, you’re not the youngest anymore, so someone in the house goes to bed before you.”

“Milly!”

“Yup.”

“Serves her right. I always hated it when Mikey got to stay up later than me. Now I get to stay up later.”

“Be nice to your new sister.”

“I will.”

“In five minutes, your Holo-Display program is on. If you're done with your math by then, you can watch it before doing your reading homework.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Sarah said, turning back to her math.

Marsha went into the Playroom. Milly was sitting down on the floor, surrounded by five different green things. “I see Prince Charming found some green things for you to pick from. Which one do you want to bring to school tomorrow?”

Milly looked at her selection and pointed to one, “Can’t bring this one. It won’t fit in my school backpack.”

“Good point,” Mom said, picking it up and putting it on one of the shelves.

“That one only has a bitty bit of green, so not that one.”

Mom picked it up and put it away.

“How many do you have left?”

Milly pointed to each toy and counted, “1 . . . 2 . . . 3. Can I bring three toys?”

“No. Only one.”

Milly looked at the three toys in front of her. She reached for one and then took her hand back. Then she grabbed another, “This one.”

“Okay,” Mom said, picking up the other two. “Go put it in your backpack, and then up to bed.”

Grabbing the toy, Milly headed for the stairs at little kid speed, with Mom following behind her at a much slower pace. They stopped at the door to the garage. Off to the side were the girls’ school backpacks hanging on hooks. Milly put the toy in hers and then headed to her room.

“Mommy,” Milly asked as she entered her room. “Can I wear my Princess Stacy outfit to school tomorrow?”

“Is it green,” Mom asked. “I believe you have to wear something green. Do you want to wear a dress tomorrow?”

“Of course,” Milly responded like it was a very stupid question.

“House, holo-display the various dresses Milly has that are green or have some green on them.”

Five dresses were displayed in front of Milly.

“You pick one,” Mom stated.

Milly pointed to a pink dress with green flowers, “Can I wear that one, Mommy?”

“You will look very pretty in that dress,” Mom smiled. “House, tomorrow’s outfit for Milly will be that dress, her green tights, and her Zoombot shoes.”

>>Recorded. All items are currently clean and available.<<

“Okay, off to sanitize your teeth. Don’t want any of those sugar monsters to eat away at your teeth.”

Milly went running into her bathroom and stood on the step stool. Grabbing the tooth sanitizer, she turned it on and listened to the song it played.

“It’s supposed to be in your mouth while it plays the song.”

“Oh yeah,” Milly said, putting the sanitizer stick into her mouth.

Marsha noticed something in the bathroom that probably meant they had two more things to do before Milly could be tucked in and read a story. Next to the toilet was a castle-shaped diaper disposer, with one of the towers sticking up higher than the others with a diaper dispenser in it. Sarah still wore training pants to bed every night, which probably means Milly does too. Mikey did at this age.

Milly passed the sanitizing stick along the back of the teeth first, then on the front of the teeth, before ending on her tongue. When she pulled it out of her mouth, the song was still playing but shortly stopped.

“Next time, you need to keep it in your mouth for the whole song. If you’re not a big enough girl to do it right, I’ll go back to doing it.”

“No, I’m a big girl Mommy.”

>>House, does Milly wear diapers to bed?<<

“No, Mommy,” Milly protested. “I’m a big girl. I wear training pants.”

>>Mellissa wears level 2 training pants to bed.<<

“House, print a level 2 training pants for Milly.”

>>Princess Milly, what pattern do you want on your training pants?<<

“Hmmm, Rainbows and Unicorns,” Milly stated.

A magical twinkling sound was heard, and a pair of training pants appeared on the diaper dispenser.

Milly unzipped her pajamas and took them along with her panties off. Grabbing the training pants, she put them on. She was interrupted while starting to get her pajamas back on.

“Um,” Marsha said in her Mom voice. “Try to go potty first.”

Quick potty trip, and Milly was running over to the bed and jumped in. After tucking Milly and her Susie Doll into bed, Marsha sat on the bed to read a bedtime story.

>>You asked to be reminded that Dr. Mire would like a height measurement before Milly goes to bed.<<

“Thank You, House,” Marsha said. “Please inform Sarah to come up here at the first commercial.

>>That will be in four minutes.<<

Mom opened The Book and typed in A Princess At Bedtime. Marsha was almost done with the story when Sarah showed up. Milly was instructed to go up and hug Sarah.

“House, measure from the bottom of the eye to the top of Milly’s head. Send results to Dr. Mire.”

Both Sarah and Mom could easily see that Milly was smaller than the last time they had done this.

“Nighty Night, Milly,” Sarah said, giving one big hug and then heading back downstairs to watch her program.

Mom tucked Milly back into bed and finished the story.

“House,” Mom said at the end of the story as she was getting up. “What are Milly’s bedtime settings?”

>>Melissa is set for Little Kid Sleep Monitoring, training pants monitoring, and temperature control. Fairy and Butterfly holo-display for falling asleep, with quiet lullaby heard around her bed. Little Kid Night-time access to House Unit. There are also all the scans ordered by Dr. Mire and Professor Ian. Princess Milly has ordered Baby Sleep Monitoring settings for Susie.<<

“Thank You, House. Those settings will be just fine,” Marsha kissed Milly on the forehead and did the same for the Susie Doll. “Nighty Night Princess.”

“Night, Mommy.”

“House,” Marsha said as she reached the doorway, “Bedtime.”

The lights went out, except for a slight glow in the light strips. Windows were darkened, and holographic fairies and butterflies danced around above the bed. Marsha couldn’t hear it, but she knew there was a lullaby playing that Milly could hear. Shutting the door, she left just a crack open.

The Wishing Stone By Teek © 2020

Summary: Making a wish on the Wishing Stone is a great honor. One that only ten people every hundred years gets to make. Many wishes throughout time have dramatically changed the life of the Wishee for the positive, but there are consequences to one's actions. When the youngest Wishee in history makes a life-altering wish, those around twelve-year-old Mikey must adjust to the changes.

~o~O~o~

Chapter Summary: Mom learns more about how Milly got her name, and some about Mikey's time as Milly. Then, a nightmare triggers the Wish Particle to make more changes.

~o~O~o~

“Did you sanitize your teeth Sarah,” Mom asked as she came into the room?

“Yes, Mom,” Sarah said as she hopped into bed and grabbed her stuffed panda.

“Potty and training pants?”

Sarah hopped out of bed and ran off to the bathroom. Soon, Sarah was getting back into bed.

Mom sat down on the edge of the bed, “I am so proud of you for being a good big sister today. I know it has been a rough day with all the changes and the focus being on Milly.”

“She’s really cute Mommy. It’s going to be fun having a baby sister.”

“You know, she probably doesn’t like being called a baby. You didn’t when you were her age.”

“But she acts like a baby and is so little. She sits in booster seats, drinks from sippy cups, and lives in a make-believe princess world. How young is she going to get Mommy?”

“I don’t know,” Marsha said. “That concerns me too. She just keeps getting younger.”

Mom smiled, “House, how old is Milly?”

>>Melissa is 6 years, 2 months old - - - Correction, 6 years, 1 month old.<<

“Mikey would have loved this,” Sarah said with a smile.

“Did Mikey ever tell you he was a girl?”

“Only when we played dress-up.”

“He would play dress-up as a girl?”

“Sometimes, but only when Daddy was busy and told us not to disturb him. He was more fun when he pretended to be a girl,” Sarah said. Thinking for a moment, “I was the one that started calling him Milly. Calling him Mikey when he was in one of my dresses was just too weird.”

Mom hugged Sarah, “Milly is a wonderful name. Thank You for picking it for her.”

The two just sat there snuggled together for a few minutes, each thinking about Mikey before the wish.

“How did he fit in your dresses,” Mom asked. “He was bigger than you.”

“They never fit. Mikey hated that. We never did up the backs and always chose ones that went down to my feet. That way, they weren’t too short on him. His biggest complaint was his short hair. He always wanted pigtails or braids, but all we could do was put barrettes in his hair.”

Sarah smiled and giggled a little, “We got caught a few times. Mikey got the dress off before Daddy got to the room, but not always the barrettes. Daddy always said he looked silly with them in but said it was nice of Mikey to let me play hairdresser with him.”

“I wish we knew. If we did, we would have gotten Mikey his own dresses. Boys who are girls on the inside are called Transgender. Sometimes, people don’t have a body that matches their mind and heart. That is what happened with Mikey. He was a girl on the inside and a boy on the outside. If Daddy and I had known, we would have let him be the girl she was.”

“We didn’t have to hide it?”

“Nope. No one should ever hide who they are on the inside.”

“I’m not a veggie eating person on the inside,” Sarah declared.

“Thanks for letting me know,” Mom said with a big smile. “But, you still have to eat your veggies.”

“It was worth a try . . .”

>>Nightmare Alert - - Nightmare Alert<<

Sarah and Mom looked at each other.

“So that is how you always knew when I was having a nightmare.”

“Built-in feature of the House’s Sleep monitoring of kids,” Mom said as she stood up and headed for Milly’s room. Looking more closely at her personal display, “That is weird. Milly’s Wish Particle number is 58. Nightmare first.”

Sarah followed Mom.

“No . . . No . . .” Milly was tossing and turning in bed. “No, I don’t want to be a boy. I want my dress back. I’m not Mikey. I’m Milly.”

“House, low-level nighttime lighting, nightmare soundtrack volume 2, increase room temp 5 degrees,” Mom said as she approached the bed.

“Always love that music,” Sarah smiled. “It looks like she is having a bad nightmare. Poor thing.”

Mom sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled Milly up into a hug, rubbing her back, “It’s okay. It’s okay baby, Mommy’s here.”

Sarah watched as a very familiar routine was followed. Mommy was so gentle and managed to calm Milly back down.

“Wow, Mommy, you were so good at that. She didn’t even wake up enough to know that I was here.”

“You and Mikey gave me a lot of practice. Hopefully, in the morning, she won’t even remember that she had a nightmare.”

At the doorway, Marsha stopped and looked back at Milly, “House, reset room to previous settings.”

Marsha looked at her personal display screen, watching the steps House was taking. -She pressed a button and switched the info over to Milly, “House, confirm that Wish Particle number.”

>>Confirmed, Melissa has a Wish Particle Number of 65.<<

“Which do I call,” Marsha asked? “Both I guess. House, notify Dr. Mire and Professor Ian. Com-Link them in just above a whisper volume. Tell Gregg to come up here and put Sarah to bed.”

“But Mommy, I want to help Milly too.”

“Be a good big sister and go to bed for me, please. You can see Milly is fine.”

“Then why are you calling Dr. Mire and this ProFuser Guy.”

“Professor Ian knows a lot about the wish magic, and Dr. Mire wanted to know if something changed with Milly. Her Wish Particle numbers are going up, but she looks just fine. They just need to know what is going on.”

Gregg came up behind Sarah, “Come on Sarah Bear, let’s leave Mommy to deal with Milly.”

Sarah and Gregg were walking away when both Professor Ian and Dr. Mire appeared.

“Something up,” Dr. Mire asked, looking at the sleeping child and her scan readings?

“You wanted me for something,” Professor Ian asked?

“Milly’s Wish Particle number is going up,” Marsha said, looking at her display instead of them. “Shortly before bed, it was at 24, but now it is at 72. It is climbing fast. When I Com-Linked you, it was at 65.”

“House,” Dr. Mire said. “Give me a continuous reading scan of the basic medical info.”

“House,” Professor Ian directed. “Is there anything else in the house with increasing Wish Particle numbers?”

>>In this room, numbers are going up for all of Melissa’s clothing and some of the furniture. Some toys throughout the house have increasing numbers, and Milly’s car seat in both cars.<<

“Look at her age readout,” Dr. Mire pointed out. “Every few minutes, she gets a day younger. Correction, it is up to a day every minute.”

“Doctor,” Professor Ian blurted out. “Keep an eye on her health and organs. I am going deeper. Scanners are now at a sub-atomic level.”

“Wish Particle numbers just passed 120,” Dr. Mire stated.

“She’s glowing,” Marsha announced.

The other two looked up for a moment and then back down to their displays.

Dr. Mire went into the room and stood next to the bed, “House, display muscular structure above the body and then the skeleton above that. Show me the nerve impulse reading and the nerve pain index reading above that.”

Marsha came up next to Dr. Mire, “Is something wrong?”

“Not really,” Dr. Mire said. “She is shrinking, which would be expected if she is getting younger. Her nerve impulse reading is off the charts, but . . . look for yourself, the nerve pain index reading is zero. She is registering zero pain through all of this.”

“That’s good,” Marsha stated. “Isn’t it?”

“Look at her muscles. Not just that they are getting smaller, but also getting weaker. Her bones are losing mass and strength. When kids grow too fast, they get growing pains. She is getting younger one day every minute, during an age range that there is great growth in the body. Well, for her, it is significant shrinkage. Yet, she has no pain.”

Marsha looked at the displays, keeping an eye on the Nerve Pain Index reading. It was still at zero. The glow from Milly’s body at this point could be seen through the blanket.

“Seconds after she entered R.E.M. sleep, there was another spike in the Wish Particle Number,” Dr. Mire said out loud. “It is at 175. Regression is now at 4 days per minute.”

Gregg came in and wrapped his arm around Marsha. For three hours, the four adults watched a six-year-old child turn into a four-year-old. Bed railing netting had magically appeared on the sides of the bed just after she became four. A pacifier appeared on the nightstand next to the bed. Although all the Little Girl toys in the room stayed, the Big Girl toys were transformed into Toddler toys. The items on the top of her dresser disappeared and reappeared on the window seat. A changing pad appeared on top of the dresser. The diaper disposer that had been in the bathroom appeared next to the changing table.

Throughout the process, Milly was hugging the Susie doll. It appeared to be growing during the process, but it was just Milly getting smaller. She looked so small and skinny compared to the six-year-old that Marsha had tucked in only a few hours ago.

“I think that is it,” Professor Ian said. “The Wish Particle numbers in her are down to 10, and they are no longer in anything else throughout the house.”

“If that is correct,” Dr. Mire said. “It looks like the final regression brought her down to 4 years, 6 months old. Records show she’s not potty trained yet, but about 50% of four-year-olds are still in diapers full time, so that isn’t anything important.”

“Thank You, Dr. Mire and Professor Ian,” Gregg said. “Your help has been greatly appreciated.”

“We will keep the constant scans going until there are no Wish Particles detected. Then I have instructed the House unit just to scan every hour until she has gone one month with no sign of the particle,” Professor Ian said. “When that happens, a team will be dispatched to take the external power plant out of your yard. If you need me, you know how to contact me.”

Professor Ian vanished.

Dr. Mire held a finger over her mouth and signaled for the parents to follow her out of the room, “During the rapid transformation, the sensory signals from the body were not connected to the brain. They just got reconnected. Didn’t want to wake her up.”

“Doctor,” Marsha asked? “Is she okay?”

“Oh, she is fine for a four-year-old girl. Those scanners the Professor installed are better than any I have seen in the Hospital. The upgrades to the House unit made it possible for me to run any scan I wanted. I ran a lot of different scans,” Dr. Mire chuckled. “With those scanners, I may be coming here to do the girls' physicals instead of you coming to me. Your scanners are way better than the ones in my office. Kind of jealous, but considering the circumstances, I am glad you had them this evening. If you didn’t, she would be in the hospital at the moment. She slept through all of this and will wake up unaware of any of it happened. Much better than the trauma a hospital visit can have on a little one.”

“What about her cognitive ability? She seemed so much younger than her actual age this afternoon. She acted more like a . . . a four-year-old,” Marsha stopped as realization struck.

“Bingo,” Dr. Mire smiled. “This last transformation brought her body in line with the brain. From the scans that I have done, all of Mike’s memories are still there, just not connected with his current level of access. The brain developments that happen at ages 6, 9, and 12 are all gone like she had never developed them. Cognitively, she is a typical 4-year-old. Her motor, social, emotional, communication, and adaptive skills all align with a 4-year-old. You are now the proud parents of a very healthy, perfectly normal 4-year-old. Well, except for the fact that no one has ever seen or heard of her before today. Just a typical day in the life of a parent with a 4-year-old.”

Gregg and Marsha laughed.

“I am not certain, but I do not know of any transformational wish that had two stages to it. If this is the first, I think it has something to do with the age. Maybe the wish magic wanted to see if the brain could handle jumping down through two of those stages before bringing the body down that far. Just a theory. I’ll share it with Professor Ian unless you object.”

“No,” Marsha said. “Share anything you feel would be helpful to future parents of children wishing. Being the first can be nerve-racking. As long as the information isn’t plastered all over the news, I’m okay with you sharing it.”

“As I understand it, the Wishing Stone Society is under some of the same restrictions as the press. Until Milly turns 15, they can’t reveal anything they learn from Milly. They will be researching the data they collected tonight for eleven years before they can reveal any of it to the public,” Dr. Mire said. “I reread the law this afternoon. The child clause is very strict, protecting minors from abuse and exploitation. It also protects the rest of the family from being the targets of people seeking information. Whoever wrote it must have been a parent, probably a Mom.”

Marsha smiled.

“As Milly’s doctor, I am bound by that law and the Health Records Confidentiality Act. I can’t say anything to anyone but you. What I put in her School Medical File cannot mention or link anything to the Wishing Stone.”

“Thank You, Dr. Mire,” Gregg said.

“My pleasure,” Dr. Mire said. “Well, it has been a long day for all of us. I will check in with you tomorrow. Night.”

With that, Dr. Mire vanished.

The Wishing Stone By Teek © 2020

Summary: Making a wish on the Wishing Stone is a great honor. One that only ten people every hundred years gets to make. Many wishes throughout time have dramatically changed the life of the Wishee for the positive, but there are consequences to one's actions. When the youngest Wishee in history makes a life-altering wish, those around twelve-year-old Mikey must adjust to the changes.

~o~O~o~

Chapter Summary: Time for Milly and Sarah to go back to school.

~o~O~o~

NOTE: Little kid talk.
- The letter “R” is replaced with a “W”
- “ER” at the end of words is replaced with a short “A” sound or short "U" sound
- “ING” at the end of words is just “IN”

~o~O~o~

“Sarah, get out of there,” Marsha said in a loud whisper as she maneuvered Sarah out of Milly’s room. “I told you, we are letting her sleep until she wakes up. Your school transport will be here in ten minutes, and you are not dressed yet.”

“But Mom,” Sarah protested. “I want to meet her. She looks so little. She’s just a baby.”

“She’s four. She’s not a baby,” Mom explained as she moved Sarah into her room. “No crib, no highchair, and no baby bottles.”

“But she has a pacifier. I saw it next to her bed. Only babies have pacifiers.”

“Little boys and girls still use pacifiers from time to time. You didn’t completely give yours up until you turned five.”

Marsha worked on getting Sarah’s pajamas off a highly distracted child.

“Please, Mommy. I want to be here when she wakes up.”

“NO! You are getting on that Transport when it shows up. If you’re just in your nighttime training pants when it gets here, then I am putting you on the Transport in just your wet training pants. Now move it!”

Marsha went to the dresser and tossed some socks and panties over onto Sarah’s bed. Then she went to the closet and grabbed a dress. With Sarah focused on convincing Mom to let her stay home, Marsha managed to get her dressed for school.

“But Mom, Milly needs her big sister on her first day.”

Marsha started working on combing Sarah’s hair when they were interrupted by the house.

>>School Transport for Sarah is five minutes away from the pick-up spot.<<

“Piggies or Pony,” Mom asked?

“Pony, Please. Can you braid it?”

“No, we don’t have enough time,” Marsha said, as she moved Sarah out of her room and down the hall.

“Where’s the pick-up spot,” Sarah asked?

“Good question,” Mom looked at Sarah. “House, where is the pick-up spot?”

>>Two houses down the street,<< the house stated while projecting a holographic image of the route from the house to the pick-up spot.

“Come on,” Mom started, continuing to move Sarah down the hall while she was still combing the hair.

As Sarah put on her Zoombot shoes, Mom finished getting the hair into a ponytail.

“Is your School Pad in your backpack?”

“I put it in there after I finished my reading homework.”

As the two went through the garage door and headed down the stairs to the ground floor, “Be good at school and try to calm down enough that you don’t bug your teacher to death. Remember, If people ask about Mikey, you can tell them that he was turned into a little girl, but that is it. Her age and any other information is private. If they ask where she is? Tell them she goes to a different school now. They don’t need to know anything else. No talking about Mikey playing dress-up with you or about all the stuff that happened yesterday after the wish.”

“Okay, Mommy.”

Marsha kissed Sarah and looked down the street, “Do you see any kids you know?”

“One of the girls is in my class,” Sarah said.

“Well, go say hi to your new neighbors,” Mom smiled as she scooted her off to the School Transport pick-up spot.

>>School Transport for Sarah is two minutes away from the pick-up spot.<<

Marsha walked over to the ground floor entrance to the house and waited in the doorway until she saw Sarah get on the transport. She then headed to the kitchen. As she was pouring her morning refresher, the House notified her that Milly was in stage one of waking up. Marsha quickly drank her morning refresher and then headed up to Milly’s room.

Entering the room, Marsha saw a little girl curled up with her dolly hugged tight. Looking at the House Display Panel, she pressed a few buttons, and the windows started to let in some sunlight, a little kid wake up song began to play at .1 volume, and child status readings were displayed above the bed. Mood hormones were in line for a positive day. Temp and blood pressure were in a normal range. Diaper needed changing, but that really would only be noteworthy if it didn’t.

Marsha went over and lowered the bedside netting so she could sit down. Looking at the displays, she saw that Milly’s wake indicator bar was about to move from stage one to stage two. As soon as it moved into stage-two, the music and sunlight levels increased. Marsha started to rub Milly’s back.

A very groggy little girl voice said, “Stop Susie. I sleepin, go back to sleep.”

Mom reached over and held on to the back of the Susie doll. Wiggling it around a little, Mom pretended to be Susie talking, “Mommy Milly, the sun is coming in, and I hear the wake-up song. Time to get up.”

Milly opened her eyes and looked at Susie, “At least you didn’t jump up and down on the bed like I do with Mommy and Daddy. They weally hate it when I do that to wake them up.”

Mom took the Susie doll and made it jump up and down.

“Mommy!” Milly complained.

“Morning Princess.”

“Mornin Mommy.”

“Ready for a fun day at school today? It’s Green Day!”

“Pink Day!” Milly blurted out.

“No, Green Day. Green Show and Tell item and green on your clothes. If I remember correctly, your dress for today does have pink on it, but it is Green Day.”

“Poopy!”

“Watch your language young lady. No bad words.”

Milly was picked up and brought over to the changing table, still holding on tight to Susie. The sunlight in the room continued to increase, along with the little kid wake up music. The diaper was quickly changed, and then Milly was zipped back up into the unicorn pajamas. Marsha picked her up and carried her down to the Kitchen. Milly was placed on the counter while Marsha got breakfast together for Milly.

“Pwincess Stacy sippy cup, please Mommy.”

“Okay, your Gubit in your Princess Stacy sippy cup. Do you want some orange juice?”

“It gween day. Gween juice?”

“hmmmm, can’t make the orange juice green, but I can make the Gubit green. Do you want green Gubit?”

“Yes,” Milly said, clapping her hands.

Marsha put two drops of food coloring into the Gubit and stirred it up. She showed it to Milly before placing the lid on.

“Gween,” Milly said in such a way that Marsha wasn’t sure if it was a question or a statement.

“Green Gubit for my little princess,” Marsha said. Then after pouring the Orange Juice into another sippy cup, she showed it to Milly. “Orange Juice.”

“Owange,” Milly said as she looked in the cup.

Marsha put some scrambled eggs on Milly’s plate and showed them to Milly, “What color are the eggs?”

“Ellow”

“Good Girl, that’s right. The eggs are Yellow. You’re so smart.”

“Pwincess Stacy has a ellow dwess.”

“Yes, she does.”

Milly smiled.

Gregg entered the Kitchen, coming over and kissing Milly on her forehead, “Morning Milly.”

“Pwincess Milly!”

Gregg picked Milly up and carried her over to her booster seat, “Use your silver wear. Okay?”

“Otay,” Milly said, grabbing the toddler fork next to her plate.

“Didn’t expect the speech deficits,” Gregg said to Marsha. “But it is cute.”

“Sounds age-appropriate,” Marsha said, sitting down at the table. “Yeah, very cute.”

“So, how do you want to play this?” Gregg asked.

“I was thinking of just going in like she has been going there for a year-and-a-half and be totally confused when they have no recollection of her.”

“You wouldn’t,” Gregg questioned?

“Think about who you are talking to,” Marsha said with an evil smile.

“Fine, you would, but you won’t.”

“Okay, I probably won’t,” Marsha huffed. “You are taking all the fun out of this. Milly’s teacher is probably already confused as can be. She walked into her classroom today and probably found all indications of another kid in her class, but no recollection of the kid. She probably has Milly’s name written out in the teacher’s handwriting a few times throughout the room. That would just freak me out if it happened to me.”

“Okay,” Gregg chuckled. “That does sound a little freaky. I would kind of want to watch that surveillance vid. Seeing artwork up in the room and her name on things, but not remember the kid.”

“Then Milly walks in the room knowing everyone and the routines, but no one knows her.”

Gregg smiled, “Not sure who to feel sorry for. Sweet little Milly, or everyone else.”

“Oh, given the age and the personality of our children, you better feel sorry for everyone else.”

“Milly might be different than Mikey and Sarah were.”

Marsha giggled, “I highly doubt it. There’s too much of you in her Gregg.”

Milly picked up some scrambled eggs with her hands and stuffed it in her mouth.

“Be a big girl Milly and use your fork,” Mom directed.

“Me big giwl. Sarah little giwl. Me go thiwd gwade. Sawah go Eawly Leawnin Centa.”

“What,” Mom put her hands on her chest. “I sent the wrong kid off to third grade this morning? Oh no. My Little Girl should be in Early Learner 2, but I sent her off to Big Kid school instead. My poor baby.”

“Yup. Sawah baby. Me da Big Giwl.”

“Well Big Girl,” Mom smiled at Milly. “Eat up then. Someone is really late for third grade.”

Milly reached for some more food on her plate with her hands.

“And remember. Big girls don’t eat with their hands.”

“humf, Me baby. Goo-Goo Gaa-Gaa,” Milly said as she grabbed some eggs and stuffed them in her mouth.

“And I thought yesterday’s age fluctuations were fast and big,” Gregg commented.

After Breakfast, Milly was changed and dressed for the day. After a quick look in the school bag to make sure there was still a green toy in there, Milly ran off to Daddy’s office to give him a hug and kiss goodbye. Then off to school.

In the Transport, Marsha was reminded just how little her 12-year-old had become. The safety seat was a baby one, not even a Little Kid booster seat. She got Milly in the seat and activated the safety force fields.

>>Child is Secure<< the baby seat stated.

Marsha got in next to Milly and activated the Transport, “Diamond Lake Early Learning Center.”

>>5 minute flight time with current traffic.<< the transport announced as it took off.

“Okay, Milly,” Marsha said, looking her right in the eyes. “The kids and teachers are going to play a game today. They are going to pretend they don’t know you. I want you to just ignore their silly game. You just go through the day like normal.”

“Otay, Mommy,” Milly said with a huge smile.

As they walked into Diamond Lake Early Learning center, Marsha smiled at all the memories. Milly tried to go down to her classroom, but Mom held on tight to her hands and walked into the office.

“Can I help you,” the school secretary asked?

“I would like to see the Principal please.”

“I’ll see if she’s in. May I ask what it is in regards to?”

“I want to talk to her about Milly here.”

Milly smiled and waved at the secretary.

“If you want to register a new student, you can start filling out the forms while you wait. There’s a pad over on the counter there. Just click Register New Student.”

“Oh, no. Milly is already a student here. Your records will show she has been attending here for a year and a half.”

“I have been the secretary here for three years, and I don’t recognize either of you. Are you sure you are in the right place?”

“We are definitely in the right place. If you would get the Principal, all this could be cleared up.”

The secretary pressed a button on her desk and opened a private Com-Link, “We have someone out here that would like to see you about a new student, but they are saying the child’s been coming here for a while. . . . The child’s name is Milly.”

The principal was quickly out of her office and approaching them, “Mrs. Soffin, it has been a while since I last saw you. How is Sarah doing?”

“She is doing just fine. She is in 3rd grade this year.”

“My, they grow up fast. Seems like just yesterday she was running around this building.”

“Yeah.”

“And this must be Milly.”

Milly smiled and waved.

“Can we go to your office to talk?”

“Sure,” Mrs. Oster gestured towards her office.

“Oh,” Marsha said, turning back to the secretary. “While we’re in there, I suggest you look up in your records: Melissa Soffin, Early Learner level 2.”

With that, Marsha went into the principal’s office, still holding onto Milly’s hand. When she sat down, she pulled Milly up onto her lap.

“Okay,” Mrs. Oster said when she sat down behind her desk. “I have heard enough to piece some things together, so I will start. This morning I had one of my teachers confused over strange things happening in her room. She appeared to have a new student named Milly, but there were signs that the student had been there all year. Including artwork and a picture from the 1st day of term. Then you show up with a kid named Milly.”

Marsha hugged Milly and smiled at the Principal.

“I can put two and two together to get Milly here. Your oldest wished on the Wishing Stone yesterday. Crazy news stories talked about the Wishee turning into a little girl of about 7-years-old. The only real question is why they are calling this little thing seven. She doesn’t even look like she’s five yet.”

“She isn’t. School Unit, please identify the name, age, and classroom for the child on my lap,” Marsha directed.

>>Melissa Louise Soffin, goes by Milly. Age 4 years, 6-months-old. A student in Miss Kepper’s Early Learning 2 classroom<<

“How did the news get the age so wrong?”

“Because,” Marsha looked down at Milly. “When Mikey made the wish, the stone turned him into a 7-year-old girl. Over the next 12 hours, it regressed him down to this age. Our best guess is that the process is done. She has been this age for over eight hours.”

“O-kay, from 12 to 4 in twelve hours. Must be quite a shock on you.”

“We didn’t even know he was transgender. Sarah knew, but we didn’t.”

“Amazing that we haven’t found a way to raise kids, so they are more able to reveal that information to parents. We had two kids magically change gender yesterday in the middle of the day. It was quite a shock for everyone, especially since no one knew they were transgender until it happened. Trust me, there is no easy way to call a parent up and tell them that their Early Learner has switched gender. One of the parents took it pretty well. Once she got over the initial shock, she asked if that is why her son kept wanting to wear his sister’s dresses. The other, though, had a hard time accepting their baby girl was now a boy.”

“I am sorry.”

“Oh, you have nothing to apologize for. We, as a society, have decided to accept Wish Magic. That means we have to accept the consequences of that magic. This wish changed the long term life for many people for the positive. I don’t know how much you have been watching the news, but the current discussion is around how we raise children. Some of the colonies out in the Solar System have already mandated all children at six years old be given the Gender Rating Scale. They also passed legislation banning gender-specific marketing of toys and clothing. They’re not banning any of the toys or clothes, just the marketing approaches. There is also a push to drop all judgment of choices by children on what clothes they wear or toys they choose to play with.”

“We heard one news burst yesterday, but I didn’t hear anything about that.”

“How much did the wish magic change her? Do we have a 4-year-old with a 12-year-old’s knowledge?”

“Medical scans by her Pediatrician last night put her at a 4-year-old level in all areas. Even back in diapers. I assume the test results are in your School Files.”

“Many of those scan results are automatically put in the School File unless the doctor intentionally tells them not to go there. Same thing with our scans showing up in the Pediatrician files.”

“I have always appreciated that,” Marsha said. “It has helped everyone work as one to meet the needs of the kids.”

Milly started to squirm to get down.

“We should probably get her off to class,” Mrs. Oster said. “Before she finds something fun to tear apart in my office.”

Marsha chuckled as she stood up, putting Milly on her hip. After a minute of dealing with a fidgety child, she put Milly down. Holding on to her hand, they walked down the hall to the classroom.

“Here we are,” Mrs. Oster said, walking into the classroom. “Miss Kepper, I found your mystery student. You were right. It was Wish Magic that has brought her to you.”

Milly escaped Mommy’s grasp and ran off to her cubby. She quickly hung up her backpack and then ran off to the attendance chart. She grabbed the picture of herself and put it on the board to show she was here. Then she went off to the toys.

“She appears to know exactly what to do. How does she know,” Miss Kepper asked?

“As far as I can figure out,” Marsha said. “She has memories like she had grown up normally. Some are borrowed from the first time she was this age, but others are new. I ask that you treat her like she has been in your class all term. That is what she believes.”

“Weird, but okay,” Miss Kepper said. “I read her file this morning, including the notes written by me. Strange reading notes I wrote but knowing I didn’t write them.”

“Yeah, lots of strange things with all of this,” Marsha said. “I guess I should start with a formal introduction. Hello, I am Marsha Soffin, and that pigtailed bundle of energy over there is my daughter Milly.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Ellen Kepper, and my assistants are Susan Mitchell and Maggy Johnson. The kids usually call us Teacher Ellen, Teacher Susan, and Teacher Maggy.”

“I know your busy,” Marsha said looking around at the room full of kids. “So, I’ll make this brief. You need to know a few things. Her Little Kid mind has put an interesting twist on the Wishing Stone. She is very into Princesses. When we told her, she used to be a boy but had magically turned her into a girl, she twisted it all around. She thinks an evil witch had turned her into a boy, and a Fairy Godmother came to her rescue and turned her back into a girl.”

“Oh, my,” Miss Kepper smile. “Good imagination. Interesting way to put order into a crazy situation.”

“Little Kid make-believe worlds are fun at times,” Marsha agreed. “Milly is very much into Princesses and anything little girl pink. She has no memory of her previous life, and I would prefer it not be a topic brought up.”

“Okay,” Miss Kepper said as a little kid came up, pulling on her shirt. Before turning to the kid, she said to the adults, “Excuse me.”

“Let’s go back to my office,” Mrs. Oster said to Marsha.

Once they reached the office, “So Mrs. Soffin, Is there anything we need to know.”

“You know she is the Wishee, but I want to keep that a secret as much as possible.”

“I can understand. Fortunately, Early Learners are so ego-centric they won’t notice or care.”

“Yeah, I can see that.”

“Did you know what he was going to wish for before he made it?”

“No,” Marsha said. “Mike was adamant about keeping it a secret. He never told us he was transgender, so I am not surprised he didn’t want to tell us he was going to wish to be a little girl. He knew his rights, and he knew the dangers of making a wish. He was concerned about the Wishing Stone granting only True Wishes. He was concerned his wish wouldn’t be considered a True Wish.”

“I’ve heard that is something a lot of Wishees are concerned about.”

“I am sorry the wish has caused you so many problems,” Marsha added.

“Oh no, Mrs. Soffin. It added challenges to my day yesterday and today, but no real problems. As a society, we have chosen to live with the consequences of the wishes, no matter what happens. Some may gripe and complain, but if you ask them if we should stop wishing, they would all say, no.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“Wishes have given us everything from unicorns to light speed drives. Very rarely are they viewed as negative in the long run. This one won’t either.”

“I hope not.”

After a few minutes of silence, Mrs. Oster asked, “So, who is the primary contact?”

“It is Gregg, my husband. He works from home and can drop whatever he is doing to help with the kids. I can’t really do that in my job,” Marsha said, wondering what challenges she was about to face in her new job. “Speaking of which, I probably should get to work. Thank You for listening to my concerns.”

“Mrs. Soffin,” Mrs. Oster said, standing up. “You have a second chance with Milly that parents of transgender kids usually never get. You get to raise her from a little girl, with her being herself. I know all of this is a little overwhelming at the moment but try to step back and see the positives. 4-year-old little girls are great little cuddlers, and love someone just sitting down and reading them a story.”

“What do you mean I can’t get that scan?” Professor Ian asked.

“Professor, we didn’t think we needed to upgrade the school scanners since all Diamond Lake schools got School Unit upgrades three years ago. They’re School Units, that means that they already have impressive scanners,” Lieutenant Commander Peters explained.

“That may be, but I need sub-atomic level scans on this. I can’t get them because the School Unit doesn’t scan down that far. Now get out to that school and upgrade that system immediately. Be extra careful, though. It is a School Unit, and the kids are there. The system cannot go down for even a second, and every child must always be within the range of at least one active scanner at all times.”

“Understood, Professor. Will you be making the first contact, or should I?”

“You focus on getting what you need, and then get out to that school as fast as possible. Remember, it’s a School Unit. There are hundreds of sensors that will need to be upgraded with secondary backup systems included. Focus on where the Wishee currently is, and then where they are going to be. Don’t stop there, though. I want every sensor in that school upgraded that could ever possibly scan that child. Don’t forget the School Transport either. I lost data this morning when the Wishee was transported to school. I don’t want to lose her again when she goes home. Just be careful. School is in session. Disrupt the normal functions of that school as little as possible. Understood?”

“Yes, Professor,” Lieutenant Commander Peters said as he left the room.

“Lab,” Professor Ian commanded. “Get me the Superintendent of Diamond Lake Schools and the Principal of Diamond Lake Early Learning Center. I want a conference Com-Link with both of them together. Send with the Com-Link requests, Government IDs, and Clearance Levels.”

>>Diamond Lake Early Learning Center School Unit is routing me directly to the Principal. School System Offices are directing me to the Superintendent’s Secretary.<<

“Lab, Patch in the Superintendent when you get them.”

“Hello,” Mrs. Oster said, accepting the Com-Link. “How may I help you?”

“Mrs. Oster, I am Professor Ian, Executive Director of the Wishing Stone Society. This is going to be a three-way Com-Link with the Superintendent of Diamond Lake Schools. Are you able to hold until they Link-In?”

“Certainly,” Mrs. Oster said. “Is this regarding Milly Soffin?”

“Yes and No. I would prefer to wait until the Superintendent Com-Links in, so I only have to say this stuff once.”

“I understand,” Mrs. Oster said as she moved over to the conference table in her office.

About a minute later, the Superintendent appeared, “Superintendent Gould, how may I help you?”

The Superintendent looked around at who was in the Com-Link, “Hello, Principal Oster.”

“Thank you, both of you, for meeting with me. Superintendent Gould, I am Professor Ian, Executive Director of the Wishing Stone Society. I want your permission to upgrade the School Unit at Diamond Lake Early Learning Center and at least one of your School Transports,” Professor Ian stated.

“We have a fairly new School Unit Professor, only three years old. It is working fine, and we have had no problems with it. Why are you requesting it be upgraded,” Mrs. Oster asked?

“I have been scanning the Wishee, but I need a more detailed scan that your system can’t handle.”

“I think you have made a mistake Professor Ian,” Superintendent Gould stated. “The Wishee goes to Diamond Lake Elementary, and this is the Principal for our Early Learning Center.”

“Actually,” Mrs. Oster corrected. “The Wishee does attend my school. She is in one of our Early Learner 2 classrooms.”

The Superintendent looked confused as he looked back and forth between the two other people in the Com-Link.

“I am sure you are aware by now, Superintendent Gould, that the wish changed the gender and age of the Wishee,” Professor Ian said. “As of the middle of last night, the age of the Wishee was 4-years, 6-months old. School Unit, what is the age of Milly Soffin?”

>>Melissa Louise Soffin is 4-years, 6-months old.<<

“Good, she still is that age,” Professor Ian said.

“Professor,” Mrs. Oster asked? “You said you have been scanning a child in my school. What gives you the right to tap into our systems and use them to scan one of my students illegally?”

“Principal Oster,” Superintendent said. “I think you should activate your Com-Link identification tool. It will show you three symbols above the Professor’s Com-Link image. The first one symbolizes that this is a secure and encrypted communication. The second one is a military symbol and rank. It has been a while since I was in the military, but there are only about five people in the military with a higher rank if I recall correctly. The third symbol, however, is the one that is important here. The Professor is only asking out of courtesy. I suspect he already has a team in route to your school to initiate the upgrade. That third symbol is the Government Rank and the indicator of authority. The up arrow on it indicates that he is in control here, not us.”

Professor Ian looked straight at Principal Oster, “I am sorry I did not inform you that I was accessing your system and gathering this data. Here at the W.S. society, we try to stay in the background and unseen as much as possible. Your School Unit recognized my authority to do the scan I was asking it to do, and it determined that it could do what I was asking without any compromise to regular duties. I was not collecting any data on any children in your school.”

“What do you mean,” Mrs. Oster interrupted. “You are scanning and collecting data on Milly. She is a student at my school.”

Superintendent Gould responded before Professor Ian could, “Principal Oster, a month ago when I found out we had a Wishee in our Schools, I researched those laws. I sent a summary of my findings to the Elementary School Principal. I’m sorry I didn’t send one to you. I didn’t know the Wishee was now young enough to be in your school. Here, let me send it now. You can read through it after this Com-Link. Basically, the Wishing Stone Society can do almost anything as long as they don’t ask the Wishee what they wished for. The Professor wants to upgrade our School Unit. There is nothing in the law that prevents him from doing that or accessing the School Unit to observe a Wishee. I suspect, though, he is not observing the Wishee, or at least not as you or I would observe a child. If that is all they wanted to do, they wouldn’t need to upgrade our systems. School Units are designed to keep an eye on children and have a high level of medical and intellectual scanners. So, Professor, what are you doing that requires an upgrade to our system?”

“I’m asking your system to scan anything and everything with the Wish Particle in it. Those scans coming directly to me are at a cellular or molecular level or smaller. At the moment, in your school, the Wish Particles are only seen in one child and the memory banks of your School Unit. I believe if you look into it, you will also find the Wishee’s doctor is also doing scans collecting data on things at the cellular level and above,” Professor Ian paused for a moment before continuing. “Principal Oster, I will point out to you that many have access to your School Unit, scanning children in your school without asking you permission first. Doctors do it all the time. I’m the father of two kids. I go to a check-up for one of my kids without my child because they are in school. The doctor accesses the School Unit and does the physical. It’s a lovely system: the kid doesn’t miss any school. The kid doesn’t even know that they just had a doctor visit, so no anxiety. As the doctor explained to me, the School Unit has security protocols to only allow scans of children by authorized personnel who have a legal right to the information. The only way I could access your system and do the scans I have done is to have the legal right to do them.”

“What is this Wish Particle,” Superintendent Gould asked? “It’s in the memory banks of the School Unit?”

“Fifty years ago, we first discovered the Wish Particle. It is the substance that does the magic. Until yesterday, we never got a clear scan of this particle. Ever since the Wishee’s House Unit picked it up during a medical scan by her doctor, we have been tracking it. That is what we are observing. Your School Unit can see the substance, but I need to do some sub-atomic scans. Your system was just never designed to do something like that.”

“Not even the most expensive School Units could do something like that,” Superintendent Gould said.

“Typically, only the best Hospital Units and Research Facility Units can do that level of scanning,” Professor Ian said. “We will be replacing every scanner in your school that ever has a chance of scanning the Wishee. Every classroom, hallway, office, and outside scanners. I don’t believe I have to upgrade your School Unit, just the scanners. We will also upgrade the scanners on the School Transport that brings the Wishee to school and back home each day. We lost scanning ability when the Wishee was transported to school this morning. Don’t want that drop-off, even for short periods.”

“Actually,” Principal Oster said. “The child was transported to school today by the child’s mother.”

“Thank you for that information. I will arrange for the family’s transports to get system upgrades.”

“Professor Ian,” Superintendent Gould asked. “I assume you want this done immediately. How much of a disruption to the school will this be?”

“You were correct earlier when you assumed I had a crew in route to your school. I have given them explicit directions to disrupt the regular routines of the school as little as possible. I have also explained that the school Unit cannot go down for even a second, and every child in the school must always be within the range of an active scanner at all times,” Professor Ian explained. “Now that all being said, I know anyone out of the norm in a school building is a distraction to children. I apologize upfront for that. This really is important and critical to be done as soon as possible.”

“Thank You, Professor Ian, for understanding the needs of a school,” Superintendent Gould said. “I will send over Allen, our Director of School Unit maintenance, to help with the process.”

“Thank You,” Professor Ian responded. “It will be appreciated. Lieutenant Commander Jose Peters is in charge of the crew that will be arriving. He has instructions to start with the room that the Wishee is in and where they will be next. He will most likely have a big enough team to have some of his crew replacing scanners in empty rooms, like when kids are at music, physical education, art, and recess. If you could allow access to a schedule so they can see where to be when it would be appreciated.”

“School,” Principal Oster commanded. “Create a schedule for identification of all parts of the school where and when there will be no children.”

Principal Oster looked at the other two Com-Link participants before continuing, “Attach a map of the locations of all School Unit sensors, with information on replacement access points.”

“School,” Superintendent Gould directed. “When Lieutenant Commander Jose Peters’ team shows up. Give them full access to replace your sensors. Please make sure they are never replacing both the primary and secondary sensors for an area at the same time. If their actions in any way limit your ability to perform your duties, inform them, Allen, Principal Oster, and me immediately.”

“Am I about to have a swarm of men in military uniforms and military vehicles show up at my school?”

“Yes,” Professor Ian responded.

“I have 543 children six and under in this school that will flip by seeing just one person in a military uniform and will be all excited to tell their parents that the military was at school today. We need to find a way to make this part of their day instead of something strange. Otherwise, we will have the parents all in panic mode. What if . . .,” Mrs. Oster paused for a moment thinking, “What if we had a few of the military men go around visiting each classroom for a quick question and answer time and set up some military vehicle tours.”

Professor Ian smiled. “My youngest is 12. He would love something like that. It is a great cover story too, and public relations. Excuse me for a moment. Lab, has Jose left yet?”

>>He is at the warehouse loading supplies.<<

“Lab, Com-Link Jose into this conference.”

“Lieutenant Commander Jose Peters,” Jose declared as he accepted the Com-Link. Looking around at the group, he said, “Sir?”

“Lieutenant Commander,” Professor Ian said. “I am altering your Mission a little. It has been pointed out that no matter what we do, we will disrupt the school and community. We will need a cover story and a distraction. Principal Oster has suggested tours of the military vehicles for the kids and some personnel going into each room to answer questions. Makeup 5 teams of a male and a female soldier. Have them report to the Principal for a classroom assignment. Supply them with 560 of those Little Kid military hats we have for base visitors. Every kid in the school gets a hat, even if they are absent today.”

“Understood.”

“Bring a variety of military vehicles and leave two personnel on each vehicle to help with tours of the equipment.”

“Yes, sir,” Lieutenant Commander Peters replied.

“I want every kid in that school going home full of excitement for Military Visit Day at school. This is an Early Learning Center, so you are dealing with little kids. Make sure you select your personnel carefully. They can be more dangerous than anything the troops have ever encountered.”

Mrs. Oster chuckled while nodding her head up and down.

“Is there a field big enough for us to land a Planetary Explorer Vehicle on,” Lieutenant Commander Peters asked?

“We have a Starball field,” replied Mrs. Oster. “Is that big enough?”

“That would be perfect for a Z-37 Mam. Can we occupy it for the day?”

“Oh,” Principal Oster said with a huge smile. “They will be talking about this day for years. Usually, we just get the Fire and Police departments to visit. Although our students are always impressed by them, they still comment on their older siblings’ special school activities or field trips. This time, the Littles get the talk of the town event. The field is all yours. The school transports pull up behind the school. As long as it is empty by 4 pm, you can use that location for the military vehicle tours. You will also find a loading dock at the back of the school where you can unload all those sensors you will be installing. One last thing though it is Green Day at our school today. If some of those vehicles and uniforms could be Green, it would be easier to pass off that this was all planned ahead of time.”

“Thank You, Mam. I think we can arrange the Green Day alignment. Not all divisions on this base have green uniforms or vehicles, but enough do to make it a good Green Day showing. ETA is about 30 minutes. Anything else?”

The Superintendent, Principal, and Professor Ian all looked at each other shaking their heads no.

“That should cover it, Jose,” Professor Ian said.

Lieutenant Commander Peters saluted and logged off.

“Thank You, Professor Ian,” Principal Oster said. “Sounds like I have a lot to do before they show up. Unless there is anything else, I will leave and get to work on that.”

“I think we have covered everything. If you have any questions, please Com-Link me,” Professor Ian said.

“Good Luck, both of you,” Superintendent Gould said and left the conference Com-Link.

Professor Ian nodded to the Principal and vanished.

Taking a deep breath, Principal Oster directed, “School, in 30 minutes, we are having a Military Visit Day. Set up a classroom visitation schedule for five groups to visit all the classrooms, allow 30-minutes visitations with 10-minute gaps between them. Make sure Miss Kepper’s classroom is in the first rotation. Then, set up a schedule for classrooms to visit the military vehicles that will be coming. Allow 45 minutes to an hour for each classroom. I want those visits over by 3 pm. Specials, Lunch, Nap Time, and Recess have priority in the schedule, try not to interrupt them, and if you have to, do it with the older kids, not the younger ones.”

Taking another deep breath, “School, ping all teachers and adult personnel in the school that are not classroom aides, letting them know I will be making an extremely important announcement over Staff Personal Displays in 1 minute that will need their full attention.”

Mrs. Oster looked at the created schedules for classroom visits and vehicle visits, “School, update the scanner replacement schedule of empty classrooms to go with the new Military Visit Day schedules.”

Taking another deep breath, “School, send this to all the personnel I identified earlier. - - Good Morning. I am sorry for the short notice. We have a special opportunity, and I couldn’t resist taking advantage of it. To go along with Green Day, we are having a Military Visit Day! I am sending you altered schedules for today that will include times that military personnel will be visiting classrooms and when each classroom will have a chance to visit the military equipment. The Starball field is off-limits today. There will be a Z-37 Planetary Explorer Vehicle parked on it. The rest of the military vehicles will be parked in the School Transport parking lot. Make sure all the students are with your class during the visits. This takes priority over things like Speech, OT, and other Special Services. The kids will remember this for years. Let’s make it a big day for them. On a side note, the military personnel has a secondary task here. They will be replacing all of the School Unit’s scanners. This should not impact any School Unit's abilities. The School Unit will ensure that either the Primary or Secondary Scanners in your classrooms or offices are always online. They will attempt to do that work as much as possible when the kids are not in your classroom. Questions and Concerns, please direct to the School Secretary. Problems, direct to me. Thank You, everyone, and again, sorry for the last-minute change.”

After a moment of silence, >>Com-Announcement ended<<

“School, Com-Link Superintendent Gould.”

“Principal Oster, already have a problem,” Superintendent Gould asked?

“Not exactly,” Principal Oster said with a smile. “If they want to upgrade the scanners on the School Transport that brings Milly to and from school, they will need access to it. More importantly, though, you and the Transport Department will have to decide which transports will have to get upgraded. She may always be on the same route, but it is not always the same vehicle.”

“Oh,” Superintendent Gould scrunched his mouth together and moved it to one side. After a moment, “Good point. They have been having trouble with some of the Transport Vehicles.”

“I will also need a location to send the military personnel for doing that part of the job. Will it be the Transport Barn or some other location? My building’s parking spaces are going to be a little busy with military vehicles. I can probably park one School Transport at a time in our main parking lot if needed.”

“Thanks, Karen,” Superintendent Gould said. “I’ll talk with the head of Transportation and get back to you.”

As soon as the Superintendent vanished, Principal Oster said, “School, Personal Com-Link me into Miss Kepper.”

“Principal Oster,” Miss Kepper said. “When you pull a surprise event, you really pull a whopper.”

“Sorry about that. The military was coming to replace all the scanners in the school because of Milly. I just took advantage of their presence.”

Miss Kepper looked over at her new student, “Milly huh, she is a sweet little thing, but it is strange that she knows everything like she has been here all term. The classroom aides and I are struggling to learn her as fast as possible. At least the other kids have taken a new student in without question.”

“That is good,” Principal Oster said. “Since they are doing all of this because of Milly, your classroom will be the first to get the sensors replaced, and that will happen with the kids in the room. To help distract the kids, I have the Military Team Classroom Visit for your room happening at the same time.”

“Okay, that explains why my classroom events didn’t appear to line up with the others in my pod.”

“Sorry about that. It’s not going to be an easy day for anyone. Keep Milly out of the spotlight please. I don’t want any of the military personnel to know she is the Wishee.”

“That should be easy. She blends in with the other kids. She is just another bubbly 4-year-old girl obsessed over princesses.”

Principal Oster smiled, “Well, I’ll let you get back to your class. I have a few things to do before the invasion.”

“So, you’re now the oldest,” Zara said as the girls worked on their morning assignment.

“Yeah. She’s just a little baby. She’s in diapers full time, she uses a pacifier and has netting on the side of her bed. She looked so small sleeping in her bed this morning.”

“Wow, a real baby sister,” Zara exclaimed as she pressed the button on the work she just did to see if she got the answer correct. “I wish my mom would get me a baby sister.”

“I’m not looking forward to a kid running around the house in stinky poopy diapers, though,” Sarah pinched her nose.

“Zara and Sarah cut the chit-chat and get back to work please,” their teacher reprimanded.

“I’m sorry, sir, but I have never met our CFO. . . Yes, sir, I am the CFO’s secretary. . . Yes sir, I have been the CFO’s secretary for several years, but . . . sir . . . No sir, I am not on any drugs. I can explain, sir. Yesterday our CFO was a guy named Fred Ells. When lunch was over yesterday, it was a lady named Marsha Soffin. . . Yes, sir. I assume she is related to the Wishing Stone Wishee. I can’t explain it sir. I saw the news too. The wish appeared to be making that transgender kid a little girl and all transgender individuals changing gender to their gender identity. I have no idea how the Wishee’s relative has become our CFO. . . I will have her contact you as soon as she comes in. . . Yes, sir. I will let her know.”

Marsha stood in the doorway, listening, waiting for the end of the Com-Link. As the secretary ended the link, Marsha went up to her desk.

“May I help you,” Erin asked?

“Maybe,” Marsha said. “If you can accept that I don’t have all the answers, and I need your help to get me through this.”

“Excuse me?”

“Hello, I am Marsha Soffin.”

“Oh, thank the Gods,” Erin said. “I was starting to think someone was pulling the worse prank in the Solar System on me.”

Marsha looked around Erin into her office and noticed a couch, “Let’s go in there and have a talk.”

“But the CEO wants you to call him immediately.”

“Yeah, and as you already pointed out to him, today is my first day on the job.”

The two chatted for about thirty minutes, strategizing how to approach the day. All meetings would be rescheduled for next week. Only people at or above Marsha’s level in the company could have any access to her. Erin would be the gatekeeper until Marsha could get current with the latest information. But first, Marsha needed to look at her personnel file.

“I never thought Wish Magic would impact me,” Erin said as she went back out to her desk to start rescheduling meetings.

“Sorry, Erin,” Marsha said. “Office, display my personnel file.”

Erin turned and smiled at Marsha, “Oh no, this is going to be an interesting challenge. Anyways, you appear to at least be a person. I couldn’t say that about the individual who was in this position yesterday morning.”

After spending some time getting familiar with the documents in her personnel file, Marsha took a deep breath, knowing what she had to do next, “Office, Com-Link the CEO.”

Forty-five minutes later, the link was disconnected.

“Erin,” Marsha said loudly. “Please come in here when you get a chance.”

“Now I know you are a person,” Erin said, coming into the room. Mr. Ells never said, Please.”

“I think I passed the job interview,” Marsha said. “He was not happy that Fred was no longer his CFO. Glad I looked at my resume in my personnel file before calling him. Thanks for recommending that. I probably would have been fired if I couldn’t have shown him that. It is so strange, not even knowing my own past. This Wish Magic has messed up my life so much.”

“Maybe,” Erin said, sitting down. “It looks to me like this is where you would have been if you hadn’t gotten pregnant with Mike. Haven’t you ever watched any of those time travel movies and wondered what your life would have been like if one element of your past was changed? It has actually happened to you. Your past was rewritten by the birth of your son never happening. Is it really worse now, or just different?”

“I have two loving children and a loving husband,” Marsha said while looking at a photo on her desk of her happy family. “My husband and I now have jobs we could only have dreamed of before, so you’re right. Not worse, just very bumpy at the moment. Well, time to get back to work. I need to get up to speed on the company, and fast, or I won’t have this job very long. Any critical reports or meetings in the next week I need to be ready for?”

“No,” Erin said with a smile. “I’ve rescheduled or canceled everything for the rest of this week and next. I hope you don’t mind, but I told a few just to send in a report rather than rescheduling.”

“That’s great, Erin. Anything to decrease the stress on me this next week.”

>>Marsha, Incoming Personal Com-Link from your mother.<<

“Any way, to get out of this,” Marsha asked Erin?

“You can delay, but not avoid, Moms. You better take it,” Erin suggested as she stood up and walked out.

“Office, accept Com-Link.”

“Marsha, you never called me back last night. Now, I want you to explain this to me,” Marsha’s mom held up a princess coloring page that was scribbled all over. “Why does Milly’s picture look like a 3-year-old did it?”

“Hi Mom,” Marsha said with a forced smile. “Nice to see you too.”

“Yeah, Yeah. Nice to see you, but first I lose Mikey’s lovely drawing. Now, I have Milly’s turned into just a scribbled-on page. What is going on?”

“Milly regressed more, and she is now 4-years-old. Scribbling is perfectly normal at that age,” Marsha explained. “I am sure Milly was very proud of her coloring, so you should be too.”

“What do you mean Mikey regressed more? How did he do that?”

“It is Milly, Mom. Milly. Milly is a girl. Trust me on that. I have changed her diapers. The Wishing Stone left Wish Particles in Milly, and last night when I was supposed to be calling you, they decided to regress her more. We think it finished last night when she was regressed to 4-years-old.”

“Diapers? Mikey is back in diapers?”

“Mom! Mikey is no more. She is Milly! Milly Mom! Milly! And yes, Milly, like half of the 4-year-olds in the Solar System, is in diapers,” Marsha said in frustration.

“Don’t get all huffy with me, young lady. I was just wondering where the pretty colored picture of a princess went.”

“You still have a pretty Milly masterpiece, Mom. Thanks for calling, but I am at work and need to get going.”

“Bye, Marsha.”

“Bye, Mom.”

Erin came back into the office as soon as Marsha’s Holographic Image vanished, “That sounded heated.”

“In the future, feel free to tell her I am busy when she calls. Just take a message and tell her I’ll call her back.”

“Will you?”

“Most of the time,” Marsha chuckled. “But I try to keep my personal life and business separate. There is one exception, though. If it is the schools, doctor, or even my husband calling about my kids, I can be interrupted in the middle of anything.”

“The more I get to know you, the more I like you,” Erin said as she turned and went back to her desk.

“House,” Gregg said. “I just finished reading through my first book. Show me my second, please.”

>>Do you want the second one in that series, your second published book, or your second book?<<

Gregg scrunched his eyes together and tilted his head to the side, “House, explain.”

>>Your first book has three books in the series. Your second published book was not part of any series. The second book you wrote was never submitted for publication.<<

“House, why was it never submitted?”

>>Unknown.<<

“Okay, now you have my curiosity peaked. House, let’s read them in the order that I wrote them, including the unpublished ones.”

>>Alright, next book, A Father’s Love. Never submitted for publication.<<

“Larry!”

“Yes, Dear, but can I please point something out. It isn’t like going out to dinner in London when you live in New Zealand. We live on a different planet.”

“But we have a brand-new granddaughter that I have never met. Are you really going to deprive me of seeing my grandbaby?”

“Another planet.”

“We both have vacation time. We have the Zeeboes to make the trip. A grandbaby!”

“Starla, I understand you want to see your new grandbaby, but . . .”

“Fine, you stay here. I’m going. I’ll just tell everyone you were too much of an idiot to make the trip to meet your new granddaughter. I am sure your son will understand you making me do the trip alone.”

“Don’t play the helpless girl routine with me,” Larry rolled his eyes. “You were moon hopping around Saturn when I met you. Alone! A trip back to Earth alone would be something you considered fun, so your guilt trip isn’t going to work. Knowing you, you’ll find the most expensive luxury liner to do the trip on.”

“I’m not as young as I used to be. Nothing wrong with traveling in comfort.”

“Starla. Gregg said they were trying to go on with life as if nothing happened. They say that Milly doesn’t even remember being a boy. Us showing up is not going to make things seem normal for Milly.”

“It may only be a four-and-a-half-hour direct flight from Neptune to Earth, but it will take us at least a week to reach Earth taking a Luxury Cruise Ship. You know how they like to stop at all the spaceports along the way. Anyways, who knows when the next one leaves Titan’s Spaceport? We could be waiting up to a week just to get on one.”

“House,” Larry asked? “When does the next cruise ship leave the Titan Spaceport?”

>>The Star Hopper departs Titan Spaceport in three days.<<

“See,” Starla smiled at her husband. “We can’t even leave for three days. It will be over a week before we show up. Plenty of time for Gregg and his family to adjust to Milly in their lives.”

“I’m not going to talk you out of this, am I?”

“Nope. I want to meet this new 6-year-old girl in our family.”

“House, display accommodation options on the Star Hopper’s next cruise from here to Earth.”

“Where is that freak brother of yours,” Emery said as he approached Sarah’s table, holding his lunch tray. “I told him what to wish for, and instead, he turns a bunch of freaks into bigger freaks.”

“You can get in big trouble for telling a Wishee what to wish for,” Zara said to Emery.

“Oh, shut up,” Emery said to Zara before turning to Sarah. “Where’s your brother?”

Sarah tried to ignore him and just kept eating.

“I am going to pulverize that weirdo brother of yours, and if you don’t tell me where he is, I will do the same to you. Now tell me!”

Sarah’s hand started to shake a little, so she put her spoon down and put her hands on her lap.

Emery slammed one of his hands down on the table, a sound heard throughout the cafeteria. With a raised voice, he stated, “I asked you a question.”

“Emery,” the cafeteria monitor said as they approached. “What are you doing over here with the 3rd graders?”

“Oh, I am just asking her where her brother is? I didn’t see him in school today,” Emery said in a calm voice.

The cafeteria monitor’s personal display showed an emergency medical alert on Sarah Soffin; her heart rate had skyrocketed, and her adrenaline levels were at a fight or flight level.

“Are you going to tell me the truth, or do I need to get the Principal?”

Emery turned and gave Sarah and Zara an evil look before looking at the cafeteria monitor with a smile, “As I said. I was just concerned about that girl’s brother, and I was asking where he was. Thought he might be sick.”

The cafeteria monitor activated a request for the Principal and School Nurse to come to the cafeteria.

“Very well, Emery,” the cafeteria monitor said, shaking her head back and forth. “You were given a chance and then lied to me.”

“I didn’t lie,” Emery claimed. “Ask those girls. They will tell you I was just being a concerned friend for her brother.”

The Cafeteria monitor didn’t even bother to look at the girls, “Come with me, please.”

“What? I didn’t do anything,” Emery protested.

“Now, Emery.”

“Fine!” Emery slammed his tray down on the table in front of Sarah and Zara, with food splattering off of it. Looking at Sarah, he said, “You’re now dead meat just like your brother. I don’t care how little you are. I’m going to pound you into nothingness.”

“And that just got you suspended,” Principal Janson said, coming up behind Emery. “My office, Now!”

The nurse was right behind the Principal. When he entered the cafeteria, the School Unit projected Sarah’s Emergency Alert information on the nurse’s display. Seeing them and the interactions with the Principal and Emery, the nurse went up to Sarah’s side and got her to turn her back to Emery, “Take a deep breath, Sarah, nice and slow.”

It took a little bit before Sarah’s numbers started to drop. Once her heart rate got down to 120, the nurse escorted Sarah to his office.

“Did he touch you?”

“No,” Sarah said blankly. “He was so mad at my baby sister. He wanted to hurt her and me.”

“Sarah,” Nurse John said. “You don’t have a baby sister.”

“He was mad at Mikey for not making the wish he told Mikey to make. He was going to beat her up, and then he got mad at me.”

“He told Mikey what to wish for?”

“Yeah,” Sarah said, finally looking the nurse in the eyes.

“School Unit,” Nurse John said. “Replay that for the Principal, please. Let her know about Emery’s violation of Wishing Stone Law and his threats to Sarah.”

>>Sarah Soffin’s comments on the situation are forwarded to Principal Janson.<<

“I’m the big sister,” Sarah rambled. “How can I protect Milly from kids like Emery?”

“You’re the little sister Sarah,” Nurse John said.

“No, Milly is my little sister. Emery wanted to beat her up. He is so much bigger than me. How can I protect her?”

“You don’t need to protect Mikey. He is older than you.”

“Mikey’s a girl now. I’m a big sister now. Big sisters protect little sisters.”

Nurse John hadn’t seen the wish Mikey made, but he knew all about it. He had dealt with helping a few parents yesterday deal with the sudden change of gender their children had gone through. He saw how the kids accepted the change, but he had never thought about the impact it might have on the siblings. What Nurse John didn’t understand was why Sarah kept saying she was the big sister. Mikey was older than Sarah, so as a girl, Mikey would still be older than Sarah. What had Emery done to Sarah?

“Milly is just a baby.”

“Milly? Is that your sister?”

“Yeah, Milly.”

“Do you want me to call Milly down here? She will tell you that you don’t need to worry about Emery hurting her.”

“You can’t. She doesn’t go to this school.”

“Sarah,” Nurse John said. “I have been the nurse here since before Mikey started in 1st grade. He . . I mean, she is in 6th grade. Just down the hall.”

“No, Nurse John. Milly goes to Diamond Lake Early Learning Center.”

Nurse John chuckled, “A 12-year-old would look awfully silly going to the Early Learning Center.”

“Milly’s 4, not 12.”

“School,” Nurse John stated. “Can you please ask Milly Soffin’s teacher to send her down here to help Sarah with something?”

>>There is no student in this school named Milly Soffin.<<

“School, tell the teacher of Sarah Soffin’s sister to send her down to my office.”

>>Sarah Soffin does not have a sister at this school.<<

Nurse John looked at Sarah and then over to the School Unit display panel on his desk, “School, does Sarah have a sibling?”

>>Melissa Louise Soffin<<

“Tell Melissa’s teacher to send her down to my office.”

>>Melissa does not attend this school.<<

“School,” Sarah said. “Please tell Nurse John, my sister’s name, age, and school.”

>>Melissa Louise Soffin, age 4-years, 6-months. She attends Diamond Lake Early Learning Center.<<

Nurse John looked at Sarah and then over to his desk. He got up and went over to the desk and looked at the display. There it was clearly showing: Sarah’s sibling was 4. Looking back at Sarah and then at the display, before looking back at Sarah.

In response, Sarah shook her head up and down, “I’m the big sister now. She’s just a baby in diapers.”

Nurse John sat down on his chair, “Wish Magic . . . turned him . . . into a 4-year-old. . . girl . . . in diapers?”

Sarah shook her head up and down, “And a pacifier.”

“School, keyboard. Clip data, and add this note. Then send to Principal,” Nurse John put beneath the info on Melissa Soffin: ‘Mikey Soffin was turned into this little girl.’

“Elizabeth,” Tamra asked, coming out of her office. “What is this payment last month of five-hundred-thousand Zeeboes?”

“What? We didn’t pay anything that expensive last month,” Elizabeth said, looking over the display Tamra shared.

“Well, the financial records say otherwise. Figure this out. If the higher-ups see this, we will both be looking for new jobs.”

Elizabeth starts sifting through the data, “It is an advance to an author named Gregg Soffin.”

“We don’t have any clients named Gregg.

“According to this, we do,” Elizabeth said, showing Tamra her screen.

“Look at those sales and pre-orders. Who is this guy? That can’t be real. It says I have been handling the account for years, but I’ve never heard of him. We must have been hacked. Get the Tech guys to figure it out as soon as possible. Prepare a press release explaining that we have been hacked and robbed. As soon as the tech guys have figured it out, we’ll call the police.”

“Umm, Tamra,” Elizabeth said. “This Gregg Soffin is a real author. I just checked the sites of our top three booksellers, and his last three books are selling like crazy. All of their sites say we are the publisher. Corporate lists him as a Multi-Million Zeeboe author, with you in charge of the account.”

“Office, show me a bio on author Gregg Soffin.”

Tamra looked over the bio, “Office, show me the top media posting on author Gregg Soffin.”

>>Galaxy renowned author Gregg Soffin was seen today at the Wishing Stone ceremony as his son was turned into a girl after making a wish on the Wishing Stone. Fans are waiting for his next book with pre-orders climbing at alarming rates.<<

“Office, pause,” Tamra took a deep breath. “Elizabeth, could this be wish magic?”

“I guess, but wasn’t the wish to turn all transgender people to their proper gender?”

Tamra looked at Elizabeth and then back at her display, “This is too much of a coincidence. Hold off on the press release. Keep the Tech people checking our security, but inform them that there might not be a breach. It looks like I better become knowledgeable about this author. If this is right, we have a draft for his next book in our systems. Find out where it is in the release process?”

Tamra walked back into her office, talking to herself, “Wish magic. Grrrrrrrr! Sure, Mom, come visit. It’s an easy week at work. Not anymore. What am I going to tell her now? I sure hope this Gregg guy doesn’t com-link me before I can figure out what is going on. Office, remind me to call Gregg Soffin before I leave work today.”

“Daaaaaaaad,” Sarah screamed as she came through the door into the house. “I’m home.”

Gregg marked where he was in the book he was reading and headed out of his office to find Sarah. Holo-Projector, Playroom, or the kitchen were the three most likely places. When Gregg found her, she had the refrigerator door wide open, looking for something to eat.

“Close the door,” Gregg said.

Sarah turned to Dad and smiled, “Hi, Daddy.”

“Close the door, please, Sarah.”

Sarah closed the door.

“House,” Gregg said. “Display on the counter the afternoon snacks that Sarah can choose from.”

Grapes, carrots, celery, plums, and yogurt were displayed.

“Do we have booberry yogurt,” Sarah asked?

>>Two cups of Blueberry yogurt are available.<<

“That what you want,” Dad asked?

“Yeah, I can’t believe it offered carrots and celery. It knows I hate all veggies,” Sarah said as she saw the Blueberry yogurt displayed on the refrigerator door, showing her where to find it.

“It hopes you will change your mind,” Dad responded. “And you still do like Ants on a Log. They are made with celery, raisins, and peanut butter: vegetable, fruit, and nuts.”

“Yeah, but that’s yummy,” Sarah said as she got a spoon and headed over to the table. “If all vegetables tasted as good as Ants on a Log, I would eat them without complaining.”

Dad chuckled as he went over and got a cookie for Sarah. Returning to the table, “Rough day?”

“That meany threatened to beat Milly and me up.”

“That was very wrong of him. He got suspended from school for that and may be in even more trouble for trying to force Mikey to wish for a particular thing.”

“He deserves it,” Sarah said before taking a bite of her cookie.

“What he did was definitely wrong,” Dad stated.

“He’s a big Poopy Head!”

Dad smiled, deciding not to reprimand the language this time, “I bet it was scary.”

“I almost peed in my panties when he slammed his tray down on the table,” Sarah said.

“Yeah,” Dad replied. “That can happen to some people when they get scared.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do when he comes after me,” Sarah said as she dug into her yogurt.

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Dad said. “He will not be returning to Diamond Lake Elementary School. When his suspension is over, he will be going to a different elementary school that has a special class to teach him how to get along with others.”

Sarah smiled and finished her snack in silence. When Dad came over and put a bowl of grapes at Milly’s spot, he took Sarah’s yogurt cup and spoon. Sarah continued to just sit there.

“Daddy?”

“Yeah, Sarah Bear,” Dad inquired as he put the spoon in the cleaner and the yogurt cup in the recycler?

>>Milly’s School Transport will be here in 1 minute<<

“I have to go get her off the Transport,” Dad said. “They won’t let kids off the Early Learner Transport unless someone is there to get them. You want to come with me?”

Gregg started heading towards the roof-top landing pad. When he got about halfway up the stairs, Sarah got off her chair and ran to catch up.

The two of them stood at the door as the School Transport landed. The security gates opened and activated. Sarah looked at the two security gates. They extended all the way up to the house on each side, preventing little ones from running off into dangerous places. Big Kid’s School Transports didn’t do that.

>>School Transport has confirmed the identity of the adult waiting to receive Melissa. You are now allowed to approach the transport.<< the House Unit said.

As the transport door opened, Sarah’s smile grew at the little girl getting help with her backpack. Milly was wearing a military hat that Sarah had never seen before. The School Transport Aide was helping her get the backpack on, “Dad, she’s so tiny and cute as can be. Just a tiny itty bitty baby.”

Dad looked down at Sarah, “You know, she’s not going to like being called a baby.”

“But she really is one now. She wears diapers and uses a pacifier.”

“Can you do me a favor, please? Try not to call her a baby this afternoon. No matter how much she may act like one.”

“Okay,” Sarah sighed. “But she’s sooooo little.”

Gregg looked at Milly. She was the average height for a 4-year-old, wasn’t she?

The Transport Aide finally let Milly go. As fast as the little legs could carry her, she ran right into Daddy’s arms.

“Daddy, I militawy solja now. I was the pilot. Z-37 go weally fast,” Milly said as she was being picked up.

The security gates on the School Transport receded. The three watched the transport leave before Dad carried Milly into the house, with Sarah following.

“What’s a Z-37,” Sarah asked as Dad was taking Milly’s backpack and shoes off?

“It big militawy space ship. It was on Starball field. Took up the whole thing.”

“You had a Z-37 at your school,” Dad asked?

“Yeah, and I got to sit in the pilot seat.”

“House,” Sarah said. “What’s a Z-37?”

House projected an image in front of Sarah, >>Z-37 Planetary Explorer Vehicle is a small military vehicle used to explore unknown planets in other Solar Systems. It has extensive scanning capabilities for mapping and surveying a planet. The typical crew complement is 25 military personnel. It is one of the latest in a long line of Explorer class vehicles.<<

“That landed on the Starball field at school,” Sarah questioned? “Is that where you got the Military hat?”

“No, got hat at otha militawy stuff.”

“There were other military vehicles,” Dad asked?

“Uh-huh”

“House,” Dad said. “What happened at Milly’s school today?”

>>Diamond Lake Elementary had Green Day and Military Visit Day. Seven military vehicles visited the school for the kids to learn about and explore. Each class had a visit from two military personnel.<<

“That’s not fair,” Sarah complained. “I never had a Military Visit Day when I went to the Early Learning Center. We’ve never had one at the Elementary School either. Why did she get one?”

Dad smiled as he hung up Milly’s backpack and headed down to the dining room, “Sarah, sometimes you get the cool field trips and activities, and sometimes Milly will get them. That is just the way things are. Today Milly got something special at her school. We need to be happy for her and learn from what she did. When you get to go on a cool field trip, she will have to do the same with you.”

Sarah huffed, “We never do anything cool at our school.”

“That is not true, Sarah Bear, and you know it. You loved that trip to the Aquarium last month,” Dad said.

“A tank can stop monstas as big as a school twansport,” Milly said as she was put down on her booster seat and grabbed a grape.

“Wow,” Dad said, kissing the top of Milly’s head. “Was there a tank at school?”

“Yeah, but no monstas.”

“That is good,” Dad said. “We don’t want Monsters at school. We don’t even have any here on Earth. The tank goes to other planets to fight monsters.”

“Daddy, are there really monsters on other planets,” Sarah asked?

“Not monsters, but there are enormous animals that they have to fight off when establishing new colonies. Some are bigger than School Transports.”

“Can we go see dem Daddy, Please?” Milly pleaded.

“No, Milly. It takes years to go to other Solar Systems. You have to go to school tomorrow, so we can’t spend years going to see the monsters.”

“Z-37 go supa-dupa fast. Even fasta than Daddy’s Twanspowt,” Milly stated between grapes.

“Yes, it does, but it doesn’t go fast enough to get to another Solar System. It has to get a ride on a Galaxy Explorer.”

“Galaxy Explowa big?”

“They are super-duper big,” Dad smiled. “House, display a Galaxy Explorer the size of the dining room table. Then display a proportional sized Z-37.”

“Look, Daddy,” Milly said, holding one of her grapes up. “Z-37 size of my gwape.”

“That’s a big ship if the Z-37 took up the whole Starball field,” Sarah said.

“Yeah, Galaxy Explorers are huge ships. It takes over 4 years to reach the nearest Solar System and the same amount of time to get back. If you had friends there and wanted to go visit them and come back, you would be 17 years old when you got back here.”

“Wow, that’s a long time,” Sarah said.

“Done,” Milly said with cheeks bulging.

“Chew and swallow, Princess,” Dad smiled at Milly. “Then you can go watch Little Ones Disney.”

“But Dad,” Sarah complained. “Those shows are for babies. I want to watch Big Kid Disney.”

“Sarah,” Dad tried to stop the tantrum. “According to the House Unit, Milly’s favorite Princess Stacy program is on in a few minutes. When that is done, you can watch one of your shows while Milly plays in the playroom.”

“Fine,” Sarah conceded. “The baby can go first.”

“I’m not a baby! I’m a big giwl,” Milly protested. “Sawah, I pilot in militawy. Pilots are big giwls, not babies.”

“Told you Sarah,” Dad said.

“Can I go now Daddy,” Milly asked, opening up her mouth to show that it was empty?

“Go ahead,” Dad said, taking her bowl to the cleaner.

Milly got down and immediately ran off and up the stairs.

“Where is she going,” Sarah asked?

“Don’t know, but the house won’t let her get into anyplace she isn’t supposed to be,” Dad said.

Moments later, Milly came running back with her Susie Doll hugged tightly as she ran to the Living room and jumped on the couch.

“House,” Dad said. “Turn on Little Ones Disney for Milly. When Princess Stacy is over, turn it off.”

“And she says she’s not a baby,” Sarah said. “She sure looks like one. Even going upstairs, it looks like she is crawling instead of walking.”

“Sarah.”

“Sorry, Dad. I’ll try. Was I that little when I was her age?”

“Why don’t you go up and look at the height chart on the changing table,” Dad smiled down at Sarah.

As Milly started dancing to the Princess Stacy Holo-Program opening sequence, Sarah went up to Milly’s room. Looking at her lines and Milly’s lines, Sarah found their two lines made on their 4th birthdays. Milly was only a little bit smaller than Sarah was at that age.

Sarah turned away from the height chart and looked at the changing table itself that the chart was drawn on. It had been hers yesterday morning. The changing pad had been taken off years ago when she stopped wearing diapers, but it was back now that Milly was in diapers.

Sarah headed to her room and played for a bit before heading downstairs.

“No Pwincess Stacy. Not thewe, it over thewe,” Sarah heard Milly say.

Looking at Dad sitting at the dining room table reading, Sarah said, “She does know that Princess Stacy can’t hear her, doesn’t she?”

Dad smiled, “You used to do the same thing when you were her age watching Princess Stacy.”

Sarah went over and sat down on the couch next to Milly. She didn’t remember talking to the Holograms like Milly was, but she did remember watching Princess Stacy shows and enjoying them. Soon Sarah was sucked into the episode, forgetting that she was too old to be watching a Little Kid show.

>>Episode is done. No more Holo-Programs for Princess Milly.<<

“Owwww,” Milly complained.

“Come on Milly,” Dad said picking her up. “Let’s go find your Princess Stacy playset and see if she can find a Space Explorer to fly around in.”

“Pwincess Stacy pilot! Yeah, just like me. Bye-bye Sawah,” Milly said, looking at Sarah while opening and closing her hand.

As soon as Milly and Dad were out of the room, “House, turn on Big Kid Disney.”

“Heeeeeellllllllllp,” Milly screamed as she ran into Sarah’s room and jumped on her. Embracing Sarah in a big hug, “Mommy’s a big meany.”

Sarah looked down at the little unicorn dressed kid hugging her and looking back occasionally at the door, “What did she do?”

“She said I haveta go to bed,” Milly answered.

“Oh,” Sarah smiled and lifted Milly onto her lap, “That is being mean. It’s much more fun just to play all night.”

“Uh-huh.”

Sarah looked around her room, trying to figure out a way to help her little sister. It was the right thing for a big sister to do, “See my BooBear over there Milly?”

“Yeah,” Milly said, looking over at Sarah’s precious Teddy Bear. “She soft.”

“Yes, she is. She is very very soft. She is also one who does not like going to bed, just like you. Just before you came in here, she was telling me how she wanted to play with Susie.”

“Susie fun to play wif,” Milly said with a smile.

“Go get BooBear, and then we will go find Susie,” Sarah said, noticing Mom backing away from her doorway.

“Susie in my room.”

“Let’s get the two together for some fun,” Sarah said, standing up.

Milly went over to Sarah’s bed and got BooBear. Going back to Sarah, she took her hand. The three of them went together to Milly’s room.

“Susie,” Milly said, coming into the room. “Sawah’s BooBeaw came to play.”

They went over to Milly’s bed, where Susie was. Milly jumped up onto the bed and put BooBear next to Susie.

Sarah sat down on the bed, taking BooBear bringing life to her, “Susie, we came to play with you instead of going to bed.”

Milly picked up Susie, “Play, Play. No bed!”

“Shhhhhh,” Sarah made BooBear say. “We have to be quiet, or Mommy will know we are up playing.”

“Yeah, Susie,” Milly said. “Quiet. Don’t let Mommy know.”

“Why don’t we turn the lights down,” Sarah suggested. “So, Mommy will think you are sleeping. House, Lights level two”

Sarah made BooBear talk, “Sarah, story, story, story.”

“No BooBear,” Sarah replied. “Milly wouldn’t want a story. She wants to play.”

Sarah had BooBear go over to the Susie Dolly, “But we want a story. Please.”

“Yeah Sawah, stowy,” Milly said.

“Okay,” Sarah said. “Let’s get into bed. It will make it harder for Mommy to see us.”

Milly scooted up and got under the sheets and blanket until it was up to her neck. She grabbed both Susie and BooBear, putting one in each arm, making sure they also were under the covers up to their heads. Sarah looked at the pacifier on the bedstand as she scooted under the blanket, but not the sheets.

“Once upon a time, a long time ago,” Sarah said.

“Oooo, Susie,” Milly said. “This is going to be good. All good stowies stawt Once Upon a Time.”

Sarah smiled. She reached over and got Milly’s pacifier and offered it to Milly. Milly took it and stuffed it in her mouth.

“The world was a scary place with no Friendship Magic because there were no unicorns.”

“That would be tewwible,” Milly said.

Sarah noticed the windows starting to darken and could just barely hear a lullaby. Smiling, she continued the story, “One girl grew up loving unicorns and always wanted to see one. She was very sad having no unicorns. Then one day, she made a wish on a wishing stone. It was a really pretty stone, all different sparkling colors. She put her hand on the stone, and lots of colorful stars started to come out of the stone.”

Suddenly the room was full of multi-colored stars holo-projected. Sarah said to herself, ‘Thanks, Mom.’

“Pwetty,” Milly said through her pacifier, hugging both BooBear and Susie.

“Suddenly, a unicorn appeared next to the girl. It was all white, with a multi-colored mane,” Sarah looked at Milly’s pajamas. “And the horn was all pink.”

“Just like mine,” Milly said with glee, grabbing the horn on her pajamas.

“Yup, just like yours,” Sarah noticing that the lullaby got just a little louder and unicorns started to be projected with the multicolored stars. “Why don’t you lay down and look up at the unicorns and stars while I finish the story.”

Milly snuggled in with Susie and BooBear, staring up at the projections as they floated gently by above her.

“The girl looked at the unicorn and felt it’s soft mane. She gave it a big hug. Then in another brilliant flash of light, there was an Alicorn.”

“Ohhhhh, a winged unicorn,” Milly said in aww. “Da vewy ware.”

“Yes, they are very rare,” Sarah smiled at Milly.

“I bet she heard da Faiwy Godmotha say All Wishes Gwanted. Doctow said Faiwy Godmotha do dat.”

“Yes, that is exactly what happened,” Sarah agreed.

“What was the giwl’s name,” Milly asked.

“Um . . . Um,” Sarah tried to remember the Wishee’s name who wished for unicorns.

Then on Sarah’s personal display came a message, ‘Her name was Lucy.’

Saying in her head, ‘Thank You Mom.’ Sarah turned to Milly and said, “Her name was Lucy. Lucy went over and felt the feathers on the wings of the Alicorn. They were even softer than BooBear.”

Milly smiled and squeezed BooBear, as her eyes started to flutter.

“Lucy put the magic wishing stone down and climbed up on the Alicorn,” Sarah continued. “The two of them took off into the air. She looked down and saw her house, school, and the park she liked to play in. Lucy was so happy, and she could feel that the Alicorn was happy too. They lived happily ever after.”

Sarah looked over at Milly. Her eyes were closed.

“Thank You, Sawah,” Milly said without opening her eyes. “Bestest stowy evew.”

Sarah kissed Milly on her forehead and got out of bed. As she headed for the door, she saw Mom standing there, signaling with her hands for her to do something. Looking back at the bed, Sarah smiled and went back over to it. She raised the bed netting. Then she left the room.

Closing the door, leaving just a crack, Mom directed Sarah over to her bedroom. They both stayed silent until they were in Sarah’s room.

“Thank you Sarah,” Mom said. “You did a very good job. Especially since it was your first time ever putting your little sister to bed.”

“Thanks Mom,” Sarah beamed at the compliment. “Did I ever run away like that at bedtime when I was her age?”

“Yeah,” Mom said with a smile. “But you typically went to Dad if I was putting you to bed or me if Dad was putting you to bed. Mikey was always a good helper, though. He was great at getting your stuffed animals to talk you into bed.”

“I remembered that,” Sarah said. “That is why I used BooBear to help me.”

“If we wait until your bedtime,” Mom said, smiling at Sarah. “I think I can get Blueberry away from Milly so you can sleep with her.”

“Blueberry and I have slept together for like forever,” Sarah said, sitting back down on the window seat, where she was before being interrupted. “I guess I can sleep with one of my other stuffed animals for tonight. Let Milly sleep with Blueberry tonight.”

“You are such a big girl,” Mom said, sitting down with Sarah. Chuckling a little, “I remember when you got Blueberry and named her. It was Christmas shortly after you turned two. We had Blueberry pancakes for breakfast, and you wouldn’t let go of your new teddy bear. Mikey asked you what you were going to name him. You told Mikey your bear was a girl, not a yucky boy. Then you named her Blueberry. Of course, you couldn’t pronounce Blueberry correctly, and it came out boobewwy.”

Smiling, Sarah commented, “Still does. I had Booberry yogurt after school today.”

“But you are fully capable of saying blueberry correctly now, but whenever I hear you call your bear, BooBear, it always takes me back to my memories of when you were two,” Mom said, hugging Sarah.

“Milly has cute little kid talk,” Sarah observed. “She can’t even say my name right.”

“She says all her R sounds as W. That is normal for her age,” Mom commented. “Does make her look even cuter, doesn’t it? She will probably have the R sound by the time she gets to 1st grade. Most kids do. Well, you’re a big girl now. A big girl who still has to finish her homework. House, how much more reading does Sarah have left to do before finishing her homework assignment?”

>>She has eight more minutes left out of twenty.<<

“Well, Sarah, you finish that, and then you can have some playtime or join Daddy and me downstairs. Or, you can just keep reading.”

“Keep reading? Funny Mom,” Sarah picked up her school pad and started reading from where she left off.

Marsha went downstairs and joined Gregg in the living room, “So, your parents are coming. That’s a long trip just to see Milly.”

“You know my Mom. She’ll do anything to spend time with the grandkids. She has a new grandbaby, and holo-images are not going to ease her cravings to cuddle and kiss that baby,” Gregg said. “Dad said they will be here in nine days. He couldn’t stop complaining about the trip. Apparently, Mom bought passage in one of the most expensive cabins on the cruise ship.”

Marsha chuckled, “Your rough and tumble Mom. Gatta love her. Go rock climbing up a cliff in an astro-suit, then get the full spa treatment for a fancy night out.”

“When do you think we should tell the kids,” Gregg asked?

“Not until the day they are coming or maybe the day before. You know Sarah, no patience, and Milly is a Little Kid, they have no sense of time. Well, Sarah’s sense of time isn’t a whole lot better. Speaking of which, I think I hear little feet coming down the stairs.”

“All done Mommy,” Sarah declared as she entered the room.

“Did you put your School Pad in your backpack,” Mom asked?

Sarah went running out of the room.

“Will she ever remember to do that without prompting,” Marsha asked?

“High expectations for a little kid who still wears training pants to bed every night,” Gregg replied.

“Okay, good point,” Marsha smiled. “She can be so grown up at times and so little at other times.”

“Challenges and joys of raising children,” Gregg smiled. “At least her issues are normal ones. Mikey, or should I say Milly has definitely thrown us some that would be considered out of the norm.”

“Transgender girl, making a magical wish that actually comes true, and regresses from being twelve down to a four-year-old, sounds like just your typical run of the mill kid,” Marsha said, trying to maintain a straight face.

“Just your typical kid,” Gregg chuckled. “Our typical kid.”

Sarah charged into the room and pounced onto Dad.

“uuuuuuhhhhhhh,” Gregg got out, surprised by the sudden kid landing on him.

“Daddy,” Sarah said with glee. “Can we play Shooting Stars and Climbing Asteroids?”

“Go ahead Gregg,” Marsha said. “It’s a little too advanced for Milly, so after her going to bed is a good time to play. You can probably get in one game before Sarah’s bedtime.”

“No Mommy,” Sarah protested. “You have to play too.”

“Go clear space in the Playroom to play,” Dad said, hugging Sarah.

Sarah got off Daddy and went running off to the playroom.

“Sarah,” Mom yelled. “Put the toys on the shelves, and not just pushed to the side on the floor.”

In a much softer voice, “House, when we play the game tonight, set Sarah to Little Kid level.”

“What you do that for,” Gregg asked?

“It will increase her chances of winning,” Marsha said. “And I think she needs the joy of winning at the moment.”

“Can I set me to Little Kid too,” Gregg asked?

Marsha threw a couch pillow at Gregg, “You goofball.”

Marsha and Gregg got up and headed into the playroom.

“Mommy,” Sarah asked as she ate her cereal. “Can I pllllllllllllease have kitty cat nail polish?”

“I want Pwincess Stacy nail polish,” Milly chimed in.

“Neither of you are wearing holo-nail polish to school. You would not get any schoolwork done,” Mom pointed out. “Especially you, Sarah. The last time you had kitty nail polish, you kept playing with the kitty cats hovering above your nails.”

“It’s fun having the kitty cats play with each other,” Sarah said before taking another bite of cereal.

“But at school, you are supposed to be doing your schoolwork, not playing with holo-kitties.”

“Mommy,” Milly said. “Can you braid my pigtails?”

Marsha looked over at the two girls, “I think I could do that. Sarah, your School transport comes first. Do you want braids too?”

“Mommy braids are the best,” Sarah said. “Daddy can’t do the fancy ones.”

“ufffffff,” Dad got out, as he grabbed his heart.

Marsha smiled as she went over to a drawer and got out the hair supplies, “What do you want as the ties?”

“Kittens!” Sarah stated.

“Wibbons and bows,” Milly yelled out.

Marsha headed over to Sarah and started working on her hair as Sarah ate. By the time she was done eating, Mom had finished her hair.

>>School Transport for Sarah is five minutes away from the pick-up spot.<<

“Perfect timing,” Marsha kissed Sarah. “Go get your School Bag, and off you go.”

“Kissy Sissy,” Milly held her arms out for a hug.

Sarah went over to Milly with a huge smile and gave her a hug and kiss, “Milly, you be a good girl at school today.”

“Me pwincess. Pwincesses always good,” Milly declared.

Sarah chuckled, “Well, Princess Milly. See you after school.”

Milly waved goodbye as Sarah hugged Mom and then headed up the stairs to get her school bag.

“Mommy,” Milly said. “Can I weaw my Pwincess Stacy cwown to school?”

“House, display Sarah until she gets on the School Transport,” Marsha said before turning to Milly. “Now, Princess Milly. Royalty needs to wear regular little girl clothing to school. It wouldn’t be fair to the other little boys and girls if you wore your crown and everyone treated you like royalty. No, you definitely need to be in regular little girl clothes.”

>>School Transportation inquiry. Milly did not ride the school transport to school the last two days. Is she riding the school transport to school today?<<

“House, let them know I will take her to school today.”

Milly looked down at her unicorn pajamas, “Can I go as a unicown?”

“Not today,” Mom said, approaching Milly’s hair. “Only on Pajama Day.”

Milly kept eating her breakfast as Mom did her hair up in two braided pigtails finished off with ribbons and bows.

After cleaning up a strawberry jam covered face, Marsha carried Milly upstairs to her bedroom. They went over to the closet to pick an outfit for the day, “Let’s see. No Princess Crown, but you could wear your dress with Princess Stacy on the chest.”

“Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes!”

Marsha placed Milly down on the changing table and started taking her pajamas off.

“Mommy. Da going to pwetend today day don’t know me again?”

“Sorry, Milly,” Marsha hugged Milly. “I forget that this is hard on you too. They met you yesterday, so everyone should know you today.”

“Mommy, why do day pwetend no know me?”

Marsha looked at Milly with a quizzical look, “Don’t you remember Milly?”

“Memba what, Mommy?”

“Do you remember us telling you about Mikey and his wish?”

“Who Mikey?”

“No one important Milly, you’re the important one. Do you remember making a wish on the wishing stone Milly?”

“A wish like that, Lucy giwl who wish for unicown?”

“Yes, Milly. You made a wish just like she did. Do you remember?”

“No, Mommy. Did I wish for mewmaids?”

“No, you didn’t wish for mermaids. You wished to be a little princess. Do you remember the Fairy Godmother telling you that all your wishes were granted?”

“I have a Fairy Godmother?”

Marsha smiled, “Yes, Milly, all Princesses have a Fairy Godmother. Not just Cinderella. You’re my little princess, so you have a Fairy Godmother.”

Marsha finished dressing Milly and sent her over to the toys in the room, “House, please see if Dr. Mire is available regarding something with Milly. Mark as non-emergency.”

>>Dr. Mire will join you when she is done with her current patient. Melissa has been automatically marked as high priority by the Doctor’s Office System.<<

“Not sure that is necessary, but I’m not complaining,” Marsha said as she stood at the changing table, looking over at Milly.

After a few minutes, Dr. Mire appeared, “Hi Mrs. Soffin. Has something changed?”

“She doesn’t even remember the wishing stone saying, ‘All wishes granted’ anymore. What’s going on with my baby?”

Dr. Mire ran a few scans, asked Milly a few questions, and then turned to Mrs. Soffin, “Everything is reading within normal limits. She still has the Wish Particle in her, but it is stable at 5. It has been there for a while now. You’re right. Milly has no recollection of making a wish or even her made-up story of a Fairy Godmother turning her back into a girl. Little kids have funny memories, but she should remember what happened two days ago. As far as she is concerned, two days ago she was at school. No memory of even being up on stage being examined by the medics. Doesn’t even remember Professor Ian and I visiting. To her, this has just been a typical week. She thinks the last time I saw her was when you brought her in for her 4-year-old checkup. She remembers that clearly.”

“The wish magic is erasing her past?”

“I don’t think so,” Dr. Mire said. “I think it is blocking it from her awareness. The scans show sections of memory with no access to the rest of her brain. I suspect at some point in her life she will remember her life as Mikey, but for the moment, the magic is doing everything possible to give her a normal childhood.”

“Why is it still changing her?”

“That I cannot answer,” Dr. Mire said. “There are a lot of unknowns. I talked with Professor Ian yesterday afternoon. His teams have been busy scanning as many of the individuals that had switched biological gender. They had scanned millions of individuals, and none had Wish Particles when they did the scanning. The only place they are still finding wish particles is in Milly and her medical records.”

“Her medical records still have Wish Particles in them?”

“They still did yesterday afternoon. Office, are there still Wish Particles in Milly’s Records?”

>>Yes<<

“So,” Dr. Mire said. “I would guess that means that the transformations aren’t done.”

Marsha looked at Milly as Dr. Mire flipped through the hard copy data from last night.

“That is interesting,” Dr. Mire said. “There was an increase in Wish Particles around 1 am. The level went up to 50 and then back down to 5. I bet that is when she lost connections to her memories of making the wish.”

“Is she going to be okay?”

“I think so,” Dr. Mire said. “The wish magic is working hard to make her okay: physically and psychologically. I bet Sarah will have a greater psychological impact from all of this than Milly.”

“What should I look out for?”

“Kids Sarah’s age tend to show disruptive or regressive behaviors. In this case, disruptive behaviors would be to get attention because she would feel Milly is getting more attention than her. The regressive behaviors would be more due to stress levels. The more stressed she is, the farther she would regress, showing behaviors that she has outgrown. She might play with toys she hasn’t played with for years or watch TV shows she previously stopped watching. She might start having potty accidents or want to be carried.”

“I’ll keep an eye out for anything,” Marsha responded. “What should I do if she shows any of these little kid behaviors?”

“You may not like this answer, but you treat her the way she is acting. Don’t punish her or reprimand her. Just let her be the guide of what she needs. Give her a bit of extra attention in a positive way. Then contact me, and I will set her up with a counselor to talk with about her issues.”

“Thanks, Dr. Mire.”

“Let me know if you have any other concerns and keep me up to date on Sarah.”

“Okay, Sorry to get all worried Mommy, on you.”

Dr. Mire smiled, “That is perfectly normal, Mrs. Soffin. Even with Milly being your third Little Kid. Catch you later.”

Dr. Mire vanished.

Marsha stood there watching Milly play with her Little Ones, Princess Stacy Play Castle. She had Susie and BooBear with her. Princess Stacy was on an adventure, seeking a magical treasure, which was Milly’s Princess hat. Her stuffed dog was guarding the treasure, and BooBear was trying to talk the stuffed doggy into letting Princess Stacy have the treasure.

Gregg walked in and hugged Marsha, “You okay?”

“Just got done talking to Dr. Mire. The magic is still changing her.”

“Getting younger?”

“No, she’s not, but she is getting trapped in her new world. She is losing access to all memories connected to Mikey and making the wish. Doesn’t even remember the day of the wish.”

“Just little girl memories. Wish magic is so cool,” Gregg smiled at Milly’s play.

“You would be impressed with it, Mr. Fantasy World Writer.”

“Actually,” Gregg replied. “Not all of my books were in a fantasy world, only the published ones.”

Marsha looked at Gregg in confusion.

“I’ve written a few other books but never submitted them for publication. They are . . . well, maybe you should read them and judge for yourself. The one I read yesterday brought me to tears.”

“Books that can bring a reader to tears are usually popular, so why haven’t you submitted it for publication?”

“Look, Mommy,” Milly yelled out. “Stacy on top.”

Marsha and Gregg looked at the Princess Stacy figure balanced on the top of the castle.

“Wow, Milly,” Marsha said. “That must have been really hard to get her to balance up there.”

Milly smiled and ran a unicorn into the castle, knocking over the Princess Stacy figure. Giggling, she picked up Stacy and put her on the unicorn.

“She’s happy,” Gregg pointed out. “Maybe that is all we should be worried about. Mikey never got to be the little princess, and we never got to see the Milly side of him. Now, we both get to experience Milly. If we only got to know her from 12 years old and up, we would forever regret missing her little and big girl years. Missing the magic years of childhood would be devastating.”

Marsha kissed Gregg on his cheek, “Just when I think I couldn’t love you anymore, you go and say something like that. I just feel like we lost a child, and he was erased from history.”

“We can get in big trouble if we do this.”

“Oh, don’t be such a baby,” Laren said as he laid down on the roof. “As long as we don’t interview him or disrupt his day, they can’t do anything to us.”

“That is not exactly what the law says, and you know it. That law attempts to protect the Wishee from people like us.”

“All we’re doing is taking a picture of him,” Laren pointed out

“You do know he is now a she?

“Just because he wished to be a girl, that does not make him a girl. He was born a boy and will die a boy. Some magical power giving him the body of a girl is just perverted. Look at him.”

“I thought the Wishing Stone turned him into a 6 or 7-year-old. That kid looks to be three.”

“Oh, big money,” Laren said, zooming in on Marsha lifting Milly out of the car. “That sure looked like a diaper. I’ll have to replay that sequence later to be certain. Someone will pay big for info like that. 12-year-old boy put in a dress and diapers by the wishing stone.”

“Are you sure that’s the Wishee,” Eric asked? “It sure looks like a 3-year-old girl.”

“We followed that transport from the Wishee’s house. They only have two kids, an 8-year-old girl and the Wishee,” Laren stated as he filmed Marsha taking Milly into the school. “That kid who got on the school transport this morning had to be the Wishee’s sister, since this kid is definitely not eight. This is the Wishee.”

“And what exactly do you want with the Wishee?”

Lauren and Eric instantly turned around at that question, only to see three military soldiers standing on the roof and several more in a military transport behind them.

“Put the camera down and put your hands up,” one of the soldiers said. “You are under arrest for violation of the Wishee Child Protection Clause of the Wish Accords.”

“Told you this was illegal,” Eric said.

“Oh, shut up.”

“Hi Teacha,” Milly said as she pranced into the classroom.

“Morning, Milly,” Miss Kepper said, walking up to Milly and Marsha.

>>The Building is now in security level 1, ordered by an outside agency. The Building is Secure, level 1.<<

The windows went opaque, and a green glow appeared all around them. Miss Kepper and Marsha looked at each other while Milly went to hang up her backpack.

“That’s strange,” Miss Kepper said. “I’ve never heard that before.”

“Don’t you run security drills with the kids?” Marsha asked. “Is this a drill?”

“We run drills, but,” Miss Kepper looked around the room, counting all the children and assuring the windows were in a lockdown setting. “I’ve never heard of an outside agency securing the building. It is usually the Police or Fire Department.”

“What does Level 1 mean,” Marsha asked?

“It means the building is in lockdown, but all things inside the building can continue as usual.”

“Are the kids safe,” Marsha asked, looking around at the kids playing.

“The green light around the windows means the security force fields are in place. The windows have changed to opaque so no one can see in. Yeah, the kids are very safe,” Miss Kepper said, looking around the room.

“You’re focused on the kids. I’ll let you get to them,” Marsha said as she turned to leave.

“Have a good day Mrs. Soffin,” Miss Kepper said as she turned to look over the room.

Marsha made her way to the office, only pausing for a moment as she looked at the front door windows all opaque and the green glow around the whole door.

The secretary entered the office right behind Marsha, “I will be right with you. I just need to do one more thing connected with securing the building.”

Mrs. Oster came out of her office and looked at the secretary’s desk display, “Looks like the School Unit says the building is secure. Were all the door’s security force fields up?”

“Yes, and all teachers have reported in that the windows in their classrooms are all opaque with security screens activated.”

Mrs. Oster noticed Marsha standing there, “Mrs. Soffin, I think you should come into my office. I have to make a Com, but maybe you should be there when I make it.”

Marsha followed Mrs. Oster into her office.

“School, Com-Link the Superintendent. Send ID as School Emergency Alert,” Mrs. Oster said, gesturing for Marsha to sit down at the conference table.

Superintendent Gould appeared around the conference table, “State the nature of the emergency.”

“An outside agency put our school onto Security Lockdown Level 1. The building is secure,” Mrs. Oster replied. “I immediately received a Com-Link from World Leader Evan’s Protection Squad. They arrested two individuals on a building rooftop across the street. The individuals were violating the Wishee Child Protection Clause of the Wish Accords. I was told more information would be given soon.”

Superintendent Gould looked at Principal Oster and then at Marsha, “If you are there, were you dropping Milly off at school?”

“Yes,” Marsha said.

“Were you or Milly injured?”

“No, we didn’t even know anything about this until the School Unit announced that it was securing the building.”

“You have another child,” Superintendent Gould said. “What school do they go to?”

Marsha’s eyes went wide, “Sarah goes to Diamond Lake Elementary.”

“Office, set security level 1 at Diamond Lake Elementary. Com-Link the Elementary Principal into this conversation.”

>>Security Level 1 set at Diamond Lake Elementary.<<

“Hello,” Principal Janson said as she appeared and looked around at the table.

“Office,” Superintendent Gould said. “I want parallel security settings for Diamond Lake Elementary and Diamond Lake Early Learning Center until I deactivate the command. Once a security alert is triggered, only me or the Assistant Superintendent can deactivate it.”

>>Security between the two buildings is now in parallel. Deactivation of security alerts is limited to the Superintendent or the Assistant Superintendent.<<

“Okay,” Superintendent Gould said. “Principal Janson, there has been an arrest of two individuals connected with a violation of the Wishee Child Protection Clause. World Leader Evans’ Protection Squad put Diamond Lake Early Learning center on security lockdown. I have decided to link your two buildings' security settings since the Wishee’s sister goes to your school.”

Principal Janson nodded in agreement.

“I want to make it clear to all three of you,” Superintendent Gould stated. “The security of the children is more important than the education. I will always provide more security than recommended. I was hoping we wouldn’t run into any problems, but I did prepare for this. Office, initiate Wish Protocol 1 at the two buildings when the current security settings are deactivated.”

The two principals looked at each other and then at the Superintendent.

“The full details of what I have just done has been sent to you three and the Police Department.”

>>Incoming Com-Link from World Leader Evans Protection Squad.<< Diamond Lake Early Learning Center School Unit stated.

“Accept Com-Link, and bring into currently active Com-Link,” Principal Oster said.

“Mrs. Oster,” An officer said before looking around at everyone at the table.

“Officer, I am Superintendent Gould. This is Principal Janson from the local Elementary School where the Wishee’s sister attends, and I assume you know Mrs. Soffin, the Wishee’s mother. Please continue.”

“Greetings all. I am Lieutenant Stiles. I am in charge of the Protection Squad attached to the Wishee.”

“What do you mean Protection Squad attached to Milly,” Marsha asked?

“Mam,” Lieutenant Stiles answered. “World Leader Evans assigned my team to protect your child as soon as he learned that the Wishee was a child. We have tried hard to avoid disrupting your family while still providing the protection ordered by World Leader Evans. Today we arrested two individuals that were following and recording the Wishee. They are part of a radical fringe anti-transgender group that has become very active since the wish. When we identified them breaching the 2 Kilometer bubble around the Wishee, my team scanned them and determined they had no weapons. Not knowing their intentions, I decided to observe from a distance as long as they didn’t get too close. As soon as we had proof they were breaking the Wishee Child Protection Clause, we moved in and took them into custody. I apologize for disrupting your day. They were transmitting the recordings to an unknown location. Until we could track down all who received that recording, I felt it would be best to have extra protection on the Wishee. Fortunately, schools are very good at protecting children without disrupting their days too much.”

“Lieutenant,” Superintendent Gould said. “Thank You. Security of the students is of top priority.”

“We tracked the recording to memory banks at the home of one of the individuals we arrested. Since no one else had seen the recording, we rescind the security alert.”

“What is the threat analysis,” Superintendent Gould asked?

“Several anti-transgender organizations and groups are protesting and objecting to the changes the Wishee caused. We are not tracking any direct threats to the Wishee at this time. We feel you can go back to operations as usual. We will be widening our protection squad to include the Wishee’s sister. The two we picked up today were unsure which was the Wishee: Milly or Sarah. They knew the Wishing Stone had transformed the Wishee into a child around Sarah’s age.”

“Thank You, I think,” Marsha said. “I am still not sure what to think about my children having protection squads assigned to them.”

“Hopefully, they will never know, mam,” Lieutenant Stiles said.

“Do I need to coordinate with you whenever we go somewhere,” Marsha asked?

“No, Mam. Unless there is a credible direct threat to any of you, we want you to go throughout your day as usual.”

“If we are doing our job right, you will never see us.”

After getting several more reassurances that Milly and Sarah would be okay, Lieutenant Stiles and Marsha left.

“Okay,” Superintendent Gould said, turning to the two principals. “Time to talk school security for all children. The new school security settings have all windows on permanent security lock. All outside sensors will scan everyone who enters the grounds, including the parking lot, for weapons. If any are detected, the School Unit will automatically put the building on lockdown and notify the police. I will send out a notice today to all parents letting them know the new security settings will lock down the building if a weapon is detected on school grounds. We may get a few false alarms, but I would rather get them than miss a real threat.”

“Why are you setting all the windows in the school to sun deflection all the time,” Mrs. Oster asked, looking over the security details the Superintendent sent?

“Ah, our multi-function windows,” Superintendent Gould answered. “In sun deflection setting, they are darkened, but more importantly, they will allow the kids to look out without allowing others to look in. It will make the rooms a bit darker, but everyone will adjust to that quickly.”

“House, who is my agent,” Gregg asked?

>>Dee Farstone<<

“House, Com-link Dee.”

“Cleary Writing Agency,” a man answered the Com-Link. “How may I help you?”

“Hello,” Gregg said. “Dee Farstone is my agent. Is she available?”

The receptionist looked at the Com-Link ID and checked his list of clients, “Please hold on Mr. Soffin, and I will see if she is available.”

Gregg nodded as the receptionist's holo-image vanished, and a display of books the agency represented was displayed. Gregg scrolled through the books as he waited.

“Greetings, Mr. Soffin,” a lady said as she appeared. “The receptionist said you were a client of our agency and you asked for me. I’m not sure why you want to talk to me instead of your agent, but how may I help you?”

Gregg smiled and took a deep breath, “Ms. Farstone, my name is Gregg Soffin. You actually are my agent, and I am a major author throughout the Galaxy. You just don’t have any knowledge of this. Don’t worry, I don’t have any memory of working with you either.”

Dee started to respond but stopped when she saw Gregg hold up a finger, asking her to wait a minute.

“I know this may sound unbelievable, but my son, now my daughter, made a wish on the Wishing Stone, changing his/her life and mine. We are dealing with Wishing Stone magic changes, so I ask for a little patience as we both figure out the changes. I was contacted by Amz Publishing House last night about my next book's release, which I apparently delivered to them last month. My bank account shows the deposit of Five-Hundred-Thousand Zeeboes as an advance once they got the draft. I am sure your bank account will show your cut of that transaction. Now, that all being said, records and reality are two different things. You and I have no memory of working together. We need to build up our relationship. I spent yesterday learning about my changed life. I would like you to spend some time today learning about the changes on your end, then the two of us can talk tomorrow.”

“Mr. Soffin,” Dee smiled. “I can see here that my records do say you are my client. A quick scan shows that you are a popular author. But I have never heard of you before. Thank you for giving me some time to figure things out. If you are about to have another book released, I better be on top of things quickly.”

“Ms. Farstone, as I see things. We have a big problem with the release of that book. Records may show that I am a popular author, and the pre-sales of the book are high. Unfortunately, no one has ever heard of me. No one has ever read any of my books. Pre-Sales are going to fall off a cliff because of this. There needs to be a huge publicity campaign to introduce me and my books to the galaxy. I don’t think the publisher has figured this out yet, or if they have, they didn’t bring it up when talking to me last night.”

“Oh, my,” Dee said as she pulled up pre-sales data. “You are right. There have been no pre-sales of the book since the wish was made. Okay, I have some work to do. Are you prepared to go on a Galaxy Wide book tour?”

“Not exactly,” Gregg said. “I am the father of two little girls, eight and four. I need to stay local to something I could do while the girls are in school. My parents are coming from Neptune to see their new granddaughter and will be here in about a week. Until then, let’s not book anything any farther away than Saturn. I can get there, do an event, and get back before the kids come home from school. I need to be here when they get home. My wife’s job doesn’t allow for her to leave early at the moment.”

“Okay,” Dee said. “I can work with that. Anything during the week is allowed as long as you are home when the kids get back from school, but weekends are open.”

“Wait,” Gregg said. “I didn’t say that. But . . . Yeah, I guess. Go with that. Marsha will understand.”

“Can I book you on early shows? Can your wife get the kids off to school?”

“We can make that work. She usually doesn’t leave for work until after they leave anyways.”

“Okay, let me learn all about you, your books, and our signed agreement. I will get back to you tomorrow morning. It has been nice meeting you Gregg. I look forward to working with you.”

“Nice meeting you Ms. Farstone. See you tomorrow.”

As Dee Farstone faded away, Gregg walked over to the window, looking out at the view, “House, start a new book. Let’s put a temporary title on it of . . . Life Upside Down. Chapter One, Allen looked around the room wondering where he was. . .”

“I put the baby to bed last night,” Sarah said as she climbed the astro wall. “It was so cute. She came running to me to save her from Mom trying to put her to bed.”

“That’s so cool,” Zara said.

“She fell asleep as I told her a story.”

“Awwwwwwwww.”

Sarah smiled as she reached the top, “She wouldn’t let me leave for school this morning without giving me a hug and kiss.”

“You are so lucky,” Zara said as she caught up with Sarah. “Can we have a playdate so I can see this baby sister of yours?”

Sarah wiggled her loose tooth with her tongue before answering, “I’ll ask Dad. Maybe tomorrow after school.”

“I’m sure my Mom will be okay with it,” Zara said as she headed for the twisty slide. “Race you to the climbing web.”

Sarah sees Zara with a lead and turns to go the opposite direction. She grabs the fireman pole and slides down to the ground just as Zara started down the slide.

“Hey, that’s not fair,” Zara screams out as she went down the twisty slide.

Sarah laughed as she raced off to the Climbing Web. As Zara came running up to the Web, Sarah said, “What took ya?”

Zara stuck her tongue out and then started climbing, “Beat you to the top.”

When the two were at the top, they sat there looking out over the playground.

“Does someone have to feed her,” Zara asked?

“Nah, she can feed herself, but she uses her hands a lot. Mom did load two loads onto the fork at the end and fed her after she said she was done, but she can feed herself. There are some bibs in the kitchen, but she hasn’t worn one yet. Dad says she will only wear a bib for messy foods.”

“Mom threatens to put a bib on me when we eat spaghetti, but she never does,” Zara said. “That would be soooooo embarrassing.”

“Parents can be so strange at times,” Sarah complained. “They just don’t understand how hard it is to be a kid.”

“Definitely!”

The two of them sat there for a while, watching the other kids play. All the time, Sarah was playing with her loose tooth.

“That was a strange emergency drill they had this morning,” Zara commented. “Then when it was done, the windows didn’t go back to normal.”

“And look over there at the playground fence. It still has the green lights on them. Doesn’t that mean they are still set for Lock-Down mode,” Sarah asked?

“That’s strange,” Zara looked around the playground at the fence. “It looks like we are still on Lock-Down.”

“But we’re not allowed to come outside and play on the playground during a Lock-Down.”

“Yeah, strange,” Zara said. “Must be a glitch in the system, and they couldn’t turn some of the security settings off.”

“Maybe,” Sarah pondered. “Or there is some danger they are not telling us about.”

“Oh, stop being a worry wort,” Zara brushed Sarah’s idea away. “They wouldn’t let us out here if there was any danger. Look below us. They won’t even let us climb up here without turning on the Safety Ground, just in case we fall. I wouldn’t get hurt if I fell on that, but someone would come running and checking me all over if I fell. We’re not babies, but they treat us that way.”

“Goo-Goo Gaa-Gaa,” Sarah said before the two girls broke out in a fit of giggles.

“World Leader Evans,” Lucy said, coming into his office. “There was an incident over in Diamond Lake, Weetoon Province. Two individuals were arrested in violation of the Wish Protocols Child Clause.”

“What? Is the kid okay? Was anyone hurt?”

“Everyone is fine. It was just some radical anti-transgender fanatics taking pictures of the Wishee. There was no direct interaction with the Wishee or her family. The family does now know, however, that there is a Protection Squad assigned to the Wishee. The Squad leader has expanded protection to include the older sister since the two arrested were not positive which kid was the Wishee.”

“Smart move,” World Leader Evans said. “Give him whatever troops and resources he needs. I will not have the first child Wishee, or her sister, get hurt on my watch. Get a press release ready with all the pertinent information and call a press conference for me to explain this all to the press. I need it to stress the significance of this violation to the Child Clause of the Wish Protocols. We need to scare people away from even getting close to that kid. Get one or two displays that point out the Child Clause's key features requiring people to leave the kid alone. I want the Justice Department there with me, explaining the consequences if the Child Clause is violated.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Put a clampdown on any news releases on this incident until I talk to the press. They’re going to gripe and complain, so we better pull this all off quickly. Within the next hour if possible. I want a Com-Link in the next fifteen minutes with the Protection Squad leader and whoever the Justice Department will put on this issue. After that Com-Link, I want one with the Wishee’s parents before I talk to the press.”

“Yes, Sir. Anything else?”

“No, except for clearing my schedule until after the Press Conference.”

“That’s her,” Joanne said to Fred. “The one with braided pigtails and the cat hair ties.”

“You sure,” Fred asked?

“That’s what my older brother said. He’s in her class.”

“I’d hate to give it to the wrong person.”

“Then ask her if she is the Wishee’s sister, but you better do it fast. Her school transport just pulled up.”

Fred went running up to Sarah, “You Wishee sister?”

Sarah smiled down at the little first grader, “Yeah.”

Fred held out an envelope, “This for Wishee.”

As soon as Sarah took the envelope, Fred ran back to Joanne. She looked at the envelope. It had ‘Wishee’ written on it. She looked over at the first-grader and smiled. Putting the envelope in her backpack, she followed her line onto the school transport to go home.

“Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad,” Sarah yelled as she entered the house and ran up to Gregg’s office. “Look, Dad! Look!”

Sarah stretched out her hand with a tooth held between her fingers.

“Oh wow, Sarah Bear. You lost a tooth.”

“It came out on the trip home. I was sitting there wiggling it with my tongue, and it just fell out.”

Dad smiled, “They will do that when you wiggle them with your tongue. Let’s go put it some place safe until you can make a magical Tooth Fairy tooth holder.”

“I can’t make one of those without Mikey,” Sarah pointed out as she followed Dad out of the office. “He was the one that put the magic in the holder so the Tooth Fairy would find the tooth and leave a big prize for the tooth. How am I going to do this without Mikey?”

“That is a problem,” Dad said as he entered the kitchen. “But the other kids in your class have lost teeth, and the Tooth Fairy would visit them. They didn’t have Mikey help them. Maybe it was just magic Mikey had because he was the oldest. You think you might have that magic, now that you are the oldest?”

Sarah moved her mouth around and contorted it in a variety of ways as she thought about the possibility, “Maybe.”

“House, display snack options for Sarah,” Gregg said as he opened a drawer and took out a little container in the shape of a tooth. “Sarah, put your tooth in here until you can make the Magical Tooth Fairy Tooth Holder.”

Sarah took the tooth container and put her tooth in it. Sarah remembered getting this tooth container from the School Nurse back when she was in 1st grade after losing her first tooth. Snapping it shut, she put it on the counter next to the holographic bananas.

“So, what do you want for a snack?”

Sarah looked at the choices; bananas, celery, yogurt, and grapes.

“House,” Sarah asked? “Do we have raisins?”

>>Yes<<

“Can I have Ants-on-a-Log?”

Dad smiled, “Sure. You get the celery, and I’ll get the peanut butter and raisins.”

With all the items on the table, including a little kid knife, Sarah got to work making the snack.

“Make some for Milly too.”

“Okay, Dad,” Sarah said. “Oh, Dad, a little first grader came up to me just before getting on the school transport and gave me an envelope for Milly. It’s in my backpack.”

Gregg went up the stairs to retrieve the envelope. He opened the envelope and found a card with a heart on it. Opening the card, Gregg found a little kid drawing of a boy with a big smile. Above the picture were two words, Thank You. The card was signed below the picture, Fred. Gregg smiled and put it in his office. Then he returned to the dining room.

“Who gave you the card?”

“Just some little first-grade boy,” Sarah said.

“Did he say anything when he gave it to you?”

“He asked me if I was the Wishee’s sister and then said the envelope was for the Wishee. He ran away as soon as I took the envelope,” Sarah said as she filled another stalk of celery with peanut butter.

“Do you know the kid?”

“Never seen him before,” Sarah said, just looking up for a second. “Was it mean? I’ll tell him to stay away from Milly if it was mean.”

“No,” Dad let out a slight chuckle. “It was a Thank You card.”

Sarah stopped working and looked at Dad, “A Thank You card? What was he thanking Milly for?”

“I am not sure, but I would guess he is thanking her for the Wish Magic turning him into a boy.”

“What do you mean. The Wish Magic turned Milly into a girl.”

“Mikey’s wish also turned all people who were transgender into their true gender.”

“It did? Wow! Way to go, Mikey,” Sarah’s smile grew as she sat there and thought about this new information. “The day before he made the wish, we were having a tea party. I asked him if he knew what he was going to wish for. He didn’t tell me what it was, but he said it might help a lot of other kids just like him. I gave him an extra cookie for trying to help others.”

Dad smiled as he watched Sarah start to put the raisins, ants, on the logs.

>>Milly’s School Transport will be here in 1 minute<<

“You stay here and eat your snack,” Dad said. “I’ll go get Milly.”

Milly was eating her third Ants-on-a-log when the house charmed in, >>Reminder, Milly has Ballet in 30 minutes.<<

Gregg’s eyes went wide and looked at Sarah and Milly sitting at the table, “House, how long does it take to get to the Ballet class?”

>>10 minutes of transport travel time.<<

“That means we have 15 minutes or less to get her ready to go and into the transport,” Gregg announced. “Sarah . . . Um, you . . . make sure you have your school tablet with you when we go. You can get some of your homework done during her lesson.”

“That’s not fair. She gets Ballet lessons, and I don’t.”

“You want Ballet lessons,” Gregg asked?

“No, but . . .” Sarah said before taking the last bite of her snack.

“Then stop complaining,” Gregg pointed out. “You did Ballet when you were little and stopped when it switched to the Big Kid classes because you didn’t like it anymore. Now let me figure this out. It’s been years since I had to bring a kid to Ballet lessons. I didn’t know she had Ballet.”

“Need Tutu,” Milly said with her mouth full.

“Yes, leotard and tutu,” Gregg said. “Sarah, clean up here, get ready to go, and go potty. I’ll get Milly ready.”

“But we have to make the Magical Tooth Holder.”

“Sarah,” Gregg looks at Sarah and then at the tooth in the container on the counter. “Your tooth is safe until we get back. Then you can work on a Magical Tooth Holder.”

Sarah’s shoulders slumped, “Alright.”

As soon as Milly was done, she was picked up and carried up to her room. Dad changed her diaper and got her dressed for Ballet class. Before leaving the room, Milly grabbed Susie.

“Sarah,” Dad yelled as he headed for the garage door. “Sarah, where are you? We need to go. Now.”

Sarah came running up and grabbed her backpack. Unzipping it, she stuffed something inside and followed Dad out the door. The girls were quickly secured in their safety seats, and Gregg told the transport to go to the Ballet School.

“Daddy,” Sarah asked as she looked out the window? “Where are we going?”

Gregg looked at Sarah, “To Milly’s Ballet class. You know that.”

“No, Daddy,” Sarah said, pointing out the window. “Where are we going?”

Gregg looked out the window, noticing that they were getting farther and farther away from the ground. He looked at the display screen and asked, “Transport, where are we going?”

>>L.E.O. Kids Training Center, Starlight Ballet School<<

“Oh,” Gregg said. “That explains things. We are going LEO.”

“Leo? What does Leo have to do with where we are going. He is an annoying kid in my class.”

Gregg chuckled, “No, Sarah Bear. L.E.O. stands for Low Earth Orbit. Milly’s Ballet school is apparently on a space station.”

“Why is it in space?”

“Floaty Ballet!” Milly declared with a big smile.

Gregg gestures towards Milly, “That would be why.”

“Floaty Ballet? What is Floaty Ballet,” Sarah asked?

“It is Ballet in zero-gravity or decreased gravity,” Gregg explained.

“Floaty Ballet da bestest,” Milly stated. “Can’t fall down and go boom.”

“That is one major advantage for little kids and ones with disabilities,” Gregg smiled. “Less boo-boos.”

“Do they have a Zero-G playground at the LEO Kids Center,” Sarah asked?

“Yeah, bestest playgwound,” Milly replied.

“Dad, can I play on the playground while Milly has her class?”

“No!” Milly objected. “We play on playgwound afta class.”

“We apparently have a routine, so that means you still have to do your homework while she is in class.”

“But Dad,” Sarah complained. “What about Sofia the Fourth? Can’t I watch it?”

“You can’t watch shows on your School Pad.”

“I know,” Sarah said. “That’s why I grabbed my Kid Pad. I can get Big Kid Disney on it.”

“Okay, Sofia the Fourth. Then you do your homework until Milly is done with class.”

Sarah smiled as she sat back in her seat and watched the scenery as they approached the space station.

The parking garage only had a little gravity, but not much. Sarah was easily jumping back and forth over the transport as Dad got Milly out.

“Milly,” Dad said as he lifted her out of her seat. “You need to leave Suzie here in the transport.”

“No, Daddy,” Milly responded, holding onto her Susie doll tight. “She wants to play at the playground.”

“Well, she can't go to ballet class with you, so she has to stay here in the car.“

“Sawah’s backpack?”

“Let's just leave her here in the transport, okay Milly?”

“No, Daddy,” Milly said, holding tighter onto Susie.

“Sarah,” Dad said. “Stop jumping around and come help me with Milly. Can Susie please stay in your backpack while Milly is at Ballet?”

Sarah looked at Milly’s pleading face and her tight grip on Susie, “I guess.”

Dad let Milly carry Susie as they headed towards the Ballet school.

“May I help you,” the lady sitting behind a desk asked as they entered the Ballet school?

“We are here for Milly’s Ballet class.”

“I am sorry, but we are not currently taking new students until the beginning of the Summer term. If you fill out an application, we can contact you when we have an opening.”

“I believe you will discover Milly is already a student,” George said. “Check your records. They will show she has been coming regularly. Her name is Milly Soffin.”

“Oh, is she one of the Wishee transformed kids? I need her old name, and I will update her records for her new name.”

Sarah giggled.

“No,” Gregg smiled. “She is the Wishee. Her background was changed. Please check your records. Although I have no memory of ever bringing her here, she has full memory of her new past.”

“Oh really, cool,” the receptionist smiled up at Milly being carried by Gregg. “My niece was transformed. She is much happier now. Let me see here. You are right. Milly Soffin is listed as a student. Her class is in the very low gravity padded room. It’s down the hall, the third door on the left. The waiting room for the parents and siblings is the first door on the right, or you can go to the playground and come back when the class is over.”

“NO!” Milly blurted out. “We go playgwound afta class.”

“Don’t worry princess,” Gregg said. “We will wait to go to the playground until you are done with Ballet.”

The receptionist smiled, “My niece’s memory and past were not changed. She is lucky, but she is so little. My data says she’s four. I thought the wish transformed her into a 7-year-old?”

“It did, but then she kept getting younger.”

“Oh my,” the receptionist exclaimed. “Is she still regressing?”

“It doesn’t appear so,” Gregg said. “She has stayed this age for a while now.”

Seeing a few people come in with kids around Milly’s age, Milly squirmed until Dad put her down. She went running off to class.

“Milly,” Gregg called out. “Come back here.”

Milly kept running down the hall.

“I’ll get her Dad,” Sarah said as she took off after Milly.

“I better follow them,” Gregg said to the receptionist.

“Stop by here once she is settled into class.”

“Okay,” Gregg said as he started towards the girls.

Milly turned into her classroom at full speed. She quickly went to the side of the room with almost no gravity and pushed off. Floating up to the ceiling, she pushed off and headed for the foam Ballet barre. Sarah was running after Milly when suddenly she found herself floating through the air.

“Hey,” Sarah complained. “That’s not fair. I wasn’t ready.”

Milly giggled.

“Who do we have here,” A lady said, going over to Milly.

“Silly Miss Twacy. It me, Milly.”

“She doesn’t know,” Sarah said. “She believes that you know her. Wish magic gave her memories we don’t have.”

Miss Tracy looked at Sarah and then back at Milly, “So you’re one of the people transformed by the Wishee.”

“No,” Sarah interrupted. “She is the Wishee.”

Miss Tracy looked at Sarah and then at Milly, “She can’t be the Wishee. She’s too young.”

“She definitely is the Wishee,” Gregg said as he came in the room. “She continued to get younger after the wish was made. It brought her down to a four-year-old.”

“No,” Miss Tracy said, looking at Gregg and then over to Sarah. “Very funny. She’s the Wishee’s age, not the little one.”

Gregg smiled, “School, please state the name and age of Milly.”

>>Melissa Louise Soffin, goes by Milly, age 4-years, 6-months old.<<

Gregg scooted over to Milly, managing to do it without leaving the ground, “School, is someone from the Wishing Stone Society seeking data on a child in this room?”

>>Wishing Stone Society access is confirmed. They are recording data on a substance inside Milly Soffin.<<

Miss Tracy looked at Milly holding onto the ballet barre with one hand and a doll with the other.

Gregg got down on his knees to be at Milly’s level, “Okay, Princess. Susie needs to go with Sarah while you are in class.”

Milly gave Susie a big hug and kissed her, “Hewe, Daddy. Make Sawah take good cawe of Susie.”

“She will be well taken care of,” Dad said as he noticed the room filling up with kids. “You be a good girl for the teacher.”

“Wait a minute,” Miss Tracy said. “We are too far into the term to take new students.”

“School,” Gregg said. “Is Milly a student in this class?”

>>Yes<<

“You will find that she has the memories of being here from the start of the class. She will know you and all the other students, but none of them or you will know her. I know it will be strange, but just Wish Magic at work.”

Miss Tracy didn’t know what to say.

Milly gave Susie to Dad and then kissed Milly on her forehead. On his way towards the door, he grabbed Sarah’s wrist as she was slowly floating hands first down from the ceiling. The two of them headed back out to the receptionist.

“I hope you got her settled in okay,” the receptionist said.

“Milly is fine, but I’m not sure about the teacher. She seemed a little shocked by the new stu. . .”

“Dad,” Sarah interrupted. “Sofia the Fourth is about to start. Can I go watch it?”

“Here, Mr. Soffin,” the receptionist said as she swiped something up to his personal display. “Since you have no memory of her starting here, I figure you can use the introduction packet. She can watch Sofia the Fourth in our waiting area.”

“Thanks,” Gregg said, leading Sarah off to the waiting room.

“Gregg, where are you and the girls,” Marsha asked over the Com-Link?

Gregg looked up at the maze of tunnels on the Zero-G playground, which the girls were going through, “We’re in L.E.O. at the Kids Training Center. Apparently, Milly has Ballet lessons up here every Thursday. I was giving them some time in the Zero-G playground before heading home, but if your there, I’ll round them up and head back.”

“Are they playing together and having fun?”

“All three of them are having a ball,” Gregg replied.

“Three? Last I checked, we only had two children.”

Gregg chuckled, “Susie is up here playing with the girls. Milly insisted that she wanted to play on the playground.”

“At least it is a Zero-G playground. BooBear always got so filthy when Sarah took her to a playground with dirt. You stay, and I will join you up there. When I did sports up there in High School, they had a few family-friendly restaurants where we can eat dinner. Let the girls play together. Sarah needs to see some of the fun parts of having a little sister.”

“Okay, I’ll see you in a few. We’re parked in the Starlight Ballet School parking area, but the restaurants are close to the Zero-G stadium parking lots.”

Marsha closed the Com-Link and headed out to her transport. When she showed up, Sarah was sitting on the ceiling, with Milly on the floor, passing Suzie back and forth between them. It only took a few minutes for Milly to notice Mom.

“Mommy,” Milly said, pushing herself off the floor, up to one of the play tunnels. Reaching the tunnel, she did a 360-degree ballerina twirl and pushed with her feet off the tunnel towards Mommy. On her way, she did summersaults until just before reaching Mom. Then she went into a position with her arms spread out, ready to hug Mommy.

Milly’s aim was pretty accurate. Marsha only needed to move over a little to catch her.

“Mommy,” Milly said, as Marsha caught her.

“Impressive moves you did there Milly,” Marsha said as she continued to hug Milly. “Did you learn those in Ballet class?”

“Yup,” Milly said with pride. “Teacha Twacy, teach me.”

“Wow, Milly,” Sarah exclaimed as she floated down to the family. “That was really cool.”

Milly smiled as she reached out for Susie, who was in Sarah’s hands. With Susie securely held by Milly, the family headed for the restaurants.

“How did you know about Milly’s Ballet lessons,” Marsha asked as they waited to be seated.

“House reminded me 30 minutes before it started.”

“You and those reminders,” Marsha smiled. “I guess they do have some positive elements to them.”

“Look,” Sara shouted while pointing towards the ceiling.

“Wow,” Milly said as she looked at the giant bubble of water floating in midair, with fish swimming in it. “Nemo!”

Gregg looked up at the water bubble, “Yup, there is Nemo swimming inside.”

As they were brought to a table, the kids couldn’t take their eyes off the huge water bubble.

“Do you want a high chair for her or a booster seat,” The waiter asked?

“Booster seat, please,” Gregg said as they reached the table.

“Our booster seats are built into the bench seats,” the waiter said. “Where do you want her to sit?”

“Milly and I will take this side,” Marsha said as she sat down.

“Booth,” the waiter said. “Booster seat, side B on the inside, at Little Kid height.”

The bench folded down a booster seat and raised it up. As soon as Milly was put down on the seat, it automatically readjusted to her perfect height.

“Look, Mommy,” Sara said as she looked at the things put in front of her from the waiter. “They have those really cool things. What are they called again?”

“Crayons,” Gregg said. “Very retro.”

“Aren’t they cool,” Sarah said. “Look, I just have to push down on it, and it gets darker.”

“Don’t push down too hard, or it will break,” Marsha said.

Sarah went to work on the fun activities on the placemat. Milly just took the red crayon and scribbled all over the pictures with it.

“Meow, Meow,” Sarah heard as she worked on finishing up her homework. A stuffed kitty appeared on the other side of the dining room table.

A few minutes later, Sarah looked up from her homework as she heard, “Roar, roar.”

A stuffed tiger appeared on the table seconds before Sarah saw Milly running off.

The next stuffed animal to arrive across from Sarah was a pig, with an “Oink, Oink” sound.

Sarah smiled when BooBear appeared on the table next, who was followed by Susie. Sarah managed to get the rest of her Math Homework done with no more interruptions. As she started her English Homework, Sarah could hear Milly in the playroom.

“M,” Milly waved her Letter Magic Princess Scepter, and a Holographic M appeared. “I . . . L . . . L . . . Y”

Milly smiled at her name displayed, so she went and repeated the same thing again. Each time she said a letter and flicked her scepter, the letter would appear. After leaving her name three times in the Playroom, Milly headed to other rooms. She was on her third time going around the Dining Room table where Sarah was working.

“Moooooooooooooooom!” Sarah screamed. “Moooooommmmm, make her stop!”

Milly covered her ears and dropped down to the floor. In a voice just over a whisper, she continued to say her name and flick her scepter.

Marsha came into the Dining Room walking through one of the M-I-L-L-Y holograms. Looking at the multiple letters floating around the room, Marsha centered her attention on the pointy Princess hat with vail coming down from the top. It was rocking back and forth on the other side of the table. A stack of letters appeared to be piling up around her.

“Milly, let’s go upstairs and let Sarah do her homework in peace,” Marsha said, looking at the collection of stuffed individuals on the table. “As long as she doesn’t get help from the zoo on the table.”

Marsha heard a giggle coming from the location of the Princess hat.

“Milly,” Marsha repeated.

Two eyes peaked up over the table, “What, Mommy?”

“I see that you have been practicing spelling your name. Why don’t you go show Daddy that you know how to spell your name?”

Milly went running off towards the stairs, “Daaaaaddddddddyyyyyyyy.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Sarah said.

“No problem. House, turn Milly’s alphabet letters off downstairs,” Mom smiled. “Sarah, I’ll take the zoo so that you can focus.”

Sarah looked at the stuffed animals on the table. Grabbing Blueberry and putting her stuffed bear on her lap, she shook her head, “No, they can stay.”

Marsha came over and kissed Sarah on the top of her head, “If you are okay with it. You doing okay?”

“Yeah, Mom,” Sarah said. “She was just being annoying repeating M-I-L-L-Y, M-I-L-L-Y over and over again.”

“Yeah, little kids can be annoying at times, but they are also lovable at times.”

Sarah smiled, remembering the hug that morning and playing on the playground.

“I was never that annoying,” Sarah pointed out.

Marsha smiled, “Oh, yes, you were. Still are at times, but less so without Mikey around to complain. It looks like you are almost done.”

Sarah blushed and looked down at her School Pad, “Uh-huh. This is easy. We learned how to do it in class today.”

“Okay, keep going. I better go up and save Daddy from the Letter Monster.”

Sarah giggled.

When Marsha entered Gregg’s study, the room was full of letters. Milly was on the floor in a giggle-fest as Gregg was tickling her.

“Gregg,” Marsha commented, causing Gregg to stop tickling Milly. “Looks like you caught the Giggle Monster.”

“No,” Milly got out between giggles. “He tickle monsta.”

“Oh really,” Marsha said with a devilish grin. “Then we better tickle the tickle monster. Attack him, Milly.”

Marsha went in to help Milly attack Gregg. Between gasps and giggles, he declared his surrender.

“Okay, Milly. We won. We defeated the mean and torturous Tickle Monster. Princess Power is victorious!”

“Pwincesses are the bestest,” Milly declared.

“I think the winner needs a change into some clothes more appropriate for her position,” Marsha declared. “I believe there are a pair of Princess Stacy pajamas waiting on her bed for the little princess to put on.”

“Pwincess Stacy PJs,” Milly shouted with glee as she got up.

“Then Daddy can tell you a story,” Marsha declared, glaring at Gregg. “A nice calming story.”

Once Milly was changed and dressed in her PJs, she ran out of her room. Marsha followed behind, but by the time she got to the hallway, Milly was nowhere to be seen.

“How does she do that? House,” Marsha asked. “Where is Milly?”

>>Melissa is running through the Livingroom.<<

“How did she get down there so fast? Off to the playroom? What is she doing in the playroom?” Marsha said as she started down the stairs.

When Marsha got to the bottom of the stairs, she saw Milly. She was not in the Playroom. She was being hugged and kissed goodnight by Sarah.

Then Milly came up to Mom, hands up, while holding onto Susie, “Uppy.”

Marsha picked Milly up, smiled at Sarah, “Come on, Milly. Let’s leave your sister in peace. It’s Daddy storytime.”

“Wait a minute,” Sarah stated. “I want to go to Daddy storytime.”

“Are you done with your homework,” Mom asked?

“No,” Sarah glumly replied. “But it’s Daddy storytime.”

Marsha smiled at the little girl with her favorite stuffed animal on her lap, “Come on, Sarah Bear and Boobear, you can come to storytime too.”

With a huge smile, Sarah jumped up and joined Mom and Milly.

When they walked into Dad’s study, he was sitting on his big comfy chair with three holo-figures in front of him; a dragon, a little girl with pigtails and wearing a princess hat, and a kitty cat.

“Oh, Milly, pick the kitty cat. Pick the kitty cat,” Sarah said.

“Ahhh, two little ones for an audience,” Dad said with a smile. “I’ll let you both pick one.”

“I pick Kitty Cat,” Sarah instantly stated.

“Me, me, me,” Milly said, pointing at the little girl princess as she was handed down to Dad.

“Okay,” Gregg said, taking Milly onto his lap. “One story about a little princess named Milly and her faithful protector Catso the Ninja cat.”

Both girls smiled and hugged their companions.

“Once upon a time in a far-off land lived young Princess Milly. She had just finished lunch when her mom, the queen, sent her outside to play. On the way, Catso joined her. An hour later, when the Queen went out to get Princess Milly, the two were nowhere to be found.”

“Oh no,” Milly exclaimed.

“Don’t worry, Milly,” Sarah assured her. “Catso will protect Princess Milly from danger.”

“Weally,” Milly asked Daddy?

“Catso is the Princess’ protector,” Dad smiled. “Let’s hear the rest of the story and see.”

“No. He has little kids and can’t stay that late. Are you sure you can’t pull off a weekend? . . . Yeah, I understand. You had him scheduled for a month from now. I do appreciate you trying to fit him in early. . . This Saturday? That is awfully short notice but put him in. I will check with him to make sure he can make it but if you don’t hear back from me, assume he can. It is late here. I’ll call you back if he can’t. Otherwise, I’ll call you tomorrow to confirm everything. . . Thanks, Elanor.”

“Office, Com-link Gregg Soffin.”

>>Soffin residence has him marked as Family Time. Do Not Disturb. To reach him, you will either need to leave a message or change the priority rating.<<

“Office, increase priority rating, but not enough to interrupt Family Time. It must be close to the kids’ bedtimes, so ask the House Unit to deliver a message with a Priority Rating of Very Important, as soon as the kids are in bed, or when Family Time is lifted, whichever comes first.”

>>House Unit says Family Time is predicted to end in 30 minutes.<<

“Hmmm,” Dee said. “I remember when my kids were that little. I hope he is having fun. My little ones were not always cooperative around bedtime.”

Milly was sound asleep by the time Dad finished the story. Marsha came over and took Milly off to bed, and directed Sarah back to her homework.

Dad looked down at Sarah, still sitting on the floor, hugging BooBear, with a big smile on her face, “What are you thinking about Sarah Bear?”

“How do you do it Daddy?”

“Do what?”

“Tell such wonderful stories. You were making it up as you told it. You kept letting Milly and me add elements of the story and make decisions for Catso and the Princess.”

“Ahhh, the art of storytelling,” Dad smiled. “I love coming up with stories and sharing them with others. Back when I was your age, I would spend hours in my make-believe worlds playing with my toys. As I got older, I learned to take that same imagination and turn it into a story I could share with others.”

“I share my playing with others, but when the teacher wants me to write a story, I can’t think of anything.”

“Come here, Sarah,” Gregg brought Sarah up onto his lap. “Next time your teacher wants you to write a story, picture yourself playing with your dollies and what you are going to do with them. Tell about their adventures, even if it is just a tea party.”

Sarah hugged Dad.

“I think Mom said you have to finish your homework. Do you need any help?”

“Nah, it’s easy tonight.”

“Then off you go,” Gregg said giving her a kiss. “I’ll be down in a little bit to help you create your Tooth Fairy tooth holder.”

As soon as Gregg was alone in his office, a notice about a Com-Link appeared on his personal display.

“House, Com-Link Dee Farstone.”

“Mr. Soffin,” Dee said when she appeared. “I am glad you could get back to me so quickly. I have an event for you this Saturday. It is at the Poetry Corner on Europa.”

“Dee, call me Gregg, please. Does this Poetry Corner know I don’t write poetry?”

“Oh, don’t worry. It is the main author's meet and greet spot in the Jupiter system. I had a children’s book author there last week, and one of my mystery writers was there the week before.”

“Okay,” Gregg said. “When do they want me there?”

“4 pm Solar System time.”

“Let’s see, that’s noon my time. How much time should I block off for the event?”

“You should be able to be in and out in two hours.”

“Perfect. Europa has that fabulous Children’s Museum I have always wanted to take the kids to. They can drop me off, and I can meet them at the museum afterward.”

“That is a good Children’s Museum. I’ll warn you, though. Once your kids go, they will want to go again.”

“Thanks for the warning. Send me the info on the Poetry Corner, and I’ll be there.”

“Gregg,” Dee said. “Watch the solar system news tomorrow. The publisher pulled a few strings and got them to do a story on you. I’ll send them information about your Meet and Greet on Europa. Hopefully, they can put it in the report.”

“This should be interesting. I guess a famous author no one has ever heard of is newsworthy.”

“Anything Wishing Stone related is newsworthy, but yeah, this should get a few people interested in reading your already published books.”

“Thanks, Dee.”

“No problem. Thanks for doing this on such short notice.”

Dee faded away, and Gregg pulled up the schedule for the Solar System Train. On Saturday, there were runs every 30 minutes direct to the Jupiter system. If they aimed for the 2 pm one, they could still make it to Europa if they missed it and had to take the 2:30 pm one. Gregg booked a ticket and then headed downstairs.

“No, it has to be yellow, with red, pink, and blue stars on it,” Sarah said.

The holographic box in front of her changed to be the colors Sarah stated.

“Now, on top, we need a tooth. Make it one of those puffy stickers.”

A display of puffy stickers appeared on the table in front of the box. Sarah flipped through a few displays of teeth before she found the one she wanted, “That one.”

“That’s a good one,” Dad said, sitting down next to Sarah.

Sarah moved the holographic tooth sticker into place, “Now I want . . . a fairy sticker.”

A collection of fairy stickers were displayed, “No. I want ones with a sparkly dress.”

A new set of fairy stickers were displayed.

“That one looks nice,” Gregg said, pointing to one looking like it was flying.

“It is missing something,” Sarah scrolled through several fairies.

“What is it missing? A crown?”

“That would be cute, but it needs something else,” Sarah pondered for a minute. “A wand! The Tooth Fairy always has a wand. House, show me stickers with the fairy having a crown and a wand.”

A new collection of fairy stickers were displayed. It didn’t take Sarah long to find the perfect one. She took it and put it on the end of the holographic box. After looking at the box a little longer, she took another fairy sticker and put it on the other side.

“It’s a very nice magical Tooth Fairy box,” Gregg said.

“Bestest one I’ve ever made,” Sarah said with pride. “House, print the box.”

Sarah went running off to watch the Object Printer make her box. She took it off the printer, brought it back to the dining room, and put her tooth inside it.

“Okay,” Sarah said, looking worried. “Daddy, I can’t do this without Mikey. He put the magic in the box. Without the magic, the Tooth Fairy won’t come.”

Gregg went up to Sarah and hugged her, “I know you miss Mikey, but you will always have him in your heart. He taught you a lot of things, including how to put the magic in the box.”

“Yeah,” Sarah responded.

“Go get a Princess Scepter, and we will find out if you have the magic in you.”

As Sarah ran up the stairs to get her Princess Scepter out of her room, Gregg smiled and quietly said, “House, run Tooth Fairy Magic Program.”

Sarah quickly returned and went up to the box. Looking at Dad, she saw him smile and nod.

Waving the scepter above her head, “I call upon Tooth Fairy Magic. Give this box the magical powers to call the Tooth Fairy tonight.”

Sarah brought down the wand towards the box. A stream of holographic sparkles followed the scepter. As Sarah tapped the box, little lights shot up from the spot and exploded like fireworks. Then little stars from those explosions fell over the box. Sarah’s smile grew bigger with each magical scene.

“It worked, Daddy,” Sarah shouted, jumping up and down. “It worked!”

Dad held up his finger to his mouth and got out, “Shhhhhhhhh, Milly is sleeping. Yes, it worked. That’s because you are a magical little girl.”

“I’m a big girl.”

Dad went over and hugged Sarah, “You’re my little girl, but yes, you are a big girl. A big girl with magical powers.”

Sarah smiled, hugged Dad back, and then grabbed the box and ran up to her bedroom.

“Sarah is all tucked in, and the Tooth Fairy box is on her nightstand. She insisted that the light on her nightstand stay on, so the Tooth Fairy can easily find the tooth,” Marsha said as she sat down next to Gregg.

“What is the tooth fairy bringing her this time?”

“I was thinking something really special, a Wishing Stone coin.”

“That would be special. You wouldn’t by any chance have one,” Gregg asked?

“NNNNNNNNNN,” Marsha hedged. “No, I was hoping you would go to London and pick one up.”

“You want me to travel halfway around the world to get a coin for our 8-year-old? You know she would be just as happy with a toy printed off the House printer.”

“She gives really good hugs when she is happy,” Marsha nudged Gregg.

“You’re as bad as the kids,” Gregg complained. “Batt your eyes and tug on my heartstrings, and you expect me to do whatever you want.”

“Who me,” Marsha batted her eyes and put her hand up to her chest. “I would never manipulate my husband like that.”

Gregg laughed and kissed Marsha, “You really want me to do that?”

“Please. It won’t take you that long. It’s only London. It’s not like I’m asking you to go to Jupiter.”

“Speaking of Jupiter, my agent wants me to do an Author Meet and Greet on Europa Saturday. Thought you and the kids could go to the Children’s Museum on Europa while I work, and I can meet you there afterward.”

“I hear that is an outstanding Children’s Museum.”

“Yeah, some say it is the best in the Solar System.”

“That will be fun,” Marsha snuggled into Gregg. “How long will you be busy.”

“Only about two hours.”

“I can watch the kids for 2 hours at the museum, but when you join us, you get the one that is driving me batty.”

“Fine. I’ll take Sarah off your hands.”

“Highly doubt it will be the eight-year-old, but we will see. That aside, you are procrastinating. You need to get going and get her coin. Tooth Fairy Daddy needs to fly off and get back here before I go to bed.”

“Fine, one trip to London and back. As long as I don’t run into traffic, I’ll see you in 30 minutes, maybe 45.”

“The Tooth Fairy brought me a Wishing Stone coin, a sheet of Tooth Fairy stickers, and a Magical Tooth Candy,” Sarah told Zara.

“You got an actual coin? Really, wow! I didn’t know the Tooth Fairy still gave out real coins. I’ve never seen a real coin. All I ever get is Zeeboes credits in my account on one of her Tooth Fairy Magical Tooth Candies.”

“I got one of the Magical Tooth Candies, but it didn’t have any credits on it. Just had the candies and toy.”

“What does the coin look like?”

“It’s small, round, and really thin. It’s multi-colored like the stone. On one side, it has a picture of the Temple of the Gods, and on the other a holographic image of the Wishing Stone.”

“Why didn’t you bring it to school,” Zara inquired?

“Mommy said I couldn’t. She didn’t want me to lose it.”

“You do tend to forget where you put things.”

“Yeah,” Sarah said. “That is why I didn’t complain when she said that.”

“Are you going to spend it? Can you spend it? What can you do with a coin?”

“Dad says it is real money, but I can’t go buy candy with it. I would have to go to a special money place to get it turned into Zeeboes that I could use.”

“Are you going to do that?”

“It’s soooooo pretty,” Sarah said with a big smile. “No way am I going to spend it. It also reminds me of Mikey. Everything is Milly now. There is nothing left of Mikey. When I look at the holographic Wishing Stone on the coin, I think of Mikey and how much he loved the Wishing Stone.”

“So, am I going to your house after school today?”

“Ummm, I forgot to ask. Between the tooth and the floaty Ballet.”

“What in the Solar System is Floaty Ballet. Wait a minute. I thought you stopped taking Ballet a few years ago?”

“I did. Milly is taking floaty Ballet. It is Ballet classes done in a place with little or no gravity.”

“How can you dance when you are floating around in space?”

“Milly can. She did this perfect ballet twirl while we were playing on the Zero-G playground after the class. Then she pushed off the play equipment and went flying off to Mommy. She has better control in Zero-G than I do.”

“Yet in gravity, she still crawls around on the floor,” Zara pointed out.

Sarah chuckled, “She’s not that little, but she does still crawl around some, especially when playing. She runs and walks most of the time, but she also gets Mom and Dad to carry her a lot. Would you believe, every time she holds her hands up and says, ‘Uppy, ’ someone picks her up.”

“Little kids don’t know how lucky they are. Mom never picks me up anymore, and Dad complains every time he does.” Then Zara uses her best Dad voice, “You’re getting too big for this squirt.”

“Yeah, my dad complains that I’m getting too big to carry, but it isn’t even an option now that Milly is here. She’s always the one being carried.”

“Wonder what your dad would do if you went up to him, held up your hands, and said, ‘Uppy’,” Zara inquired?

Sarah giggled, “I certainly wouldn’t be picked up. Oh, Zara. Did you know that Mikey’s wish changed a bunch of people?”

“Duh, of course, I did. It was all over the school when it happened. Not every day that a few kids at school magically turn from boy to girl or girl to boy.”

“I didn’t know until yesterday,” Sarah admitted.

“Oh, that’s right. You weren’t at school that day. But, you got to go to the real Wishing Stone Ceremony,” Zara pointed out.

“I skip a day of school and miss out on the biggest news at school.”

“No one in our class transformed, so I didn’t see anything,” Zara commented. “You got to see Mikey transform, though, and you got to see the Wishing Stone. No one else at school has ever seen the Wishing Stone in person. You even got to meet World Leader Evans.”

Sarah smiled, “He was nice, but I thought he would wear fancy clothes like the Kings in the Fairy Tales. He was just wearing a yucky man’s suit.”

“That would have been really cool if he did dress like the Kings in the stories,” Zara contemplated.

“Now for a story that will have you looking at your book collection. Over the last couple of days, there has been a murmur in book reader chat rooms about books that had suddenly appeared in people’s book collections. Most of you will find several books in your collection by author Gregg Soffin, but you have no recollection of buying the books. Wish Magic is to blame, or maybe we should be thanking Wish Magic. Once people started reading those mysterious books, the chat picked up about an amazing author. Last night I started reading one of those books and could not put it down. Who is this Gregg Soffin, and why is he a famous author we have never heard of,” the news reporter asked?

“Gregg is the father to the Wishee, and when the Wishing Stone regressed the Wishee, it changed Gregg’s past. Rewriting his life for what it would have been if his oldest child had been born years later. This is the first reported case of someone’s past being altered that had not directly made the wish. Checking records, all four of Gregg Soffin’s books were #1 bestsellers, and until the day of the wish, his upcoming book had record-breaking pre-sales. Gregg will be making his first author appearance since the wish this Saturday at the Poetry Corner on Europa.”

“It will be interesting to see if he can become as famous of an author now that we know about him, as our history now says he is. After reading his first book, I know I am looking forward to reading his other books.”

“Malina from the Wishing Stone Society has specialized in altered timelines. Tell me, Malina, could this Gregg Soffin be as good of an author as the Wishing Stone books have contributed to him?”

“Based upon previously altered timelines, the recipient does have the ability the new timeline contributes to them. I do not doubt that Gregg Soffin is that talented of an author. We have lots of events in our lives that can change our paths forever. Most of the altered timelines I have researched had just changed one piece of the person's past, putting them on a different path and creating a whole new reality for us. In this case, the event that was changed was the birth date of the Wishee. In the pre-wish timeline, Gregg Soffin’s oldest child was born 12 years ago. In this timeline, his oldest child was born eight years ago. By having those four years without children, his efforts to be a writer were not stopped by the need for more money upon the birth of a child.”

“Why is it that none of us can remember any of these books if the timeline has been altered?”

“Wish magic changes the memories to the new timeline of very few people. Not even the Wishee’s family members have memories of traveling down the new timeline. The Wishee knows her past, but others around her don’t. Rarely does an altered timeline affect us all as Gregg Soffin’s has, or should I say will? Like you, Marsha, I started reading one of his books yesterday when I was asked to do this interview. We have all been given a gift.”

“House,” Gregg said. “Are there any other new news stories on me?”

>>No<<

“House, turn the news off.”

“Sawah,” Milly said, walking into Sarah’s bedroom. “Play?”

Sarah looked at the Starbop dolls she was playing with and then back up at the little girl standing in her doorway, holding on tight to her Susie dolly. A week ago, she was the little girl holding onto BooBear in Mikey’s doorway, asking the same question. Mikey smiled at Sarah, put down what he was playing with, and they went off to play together. Sarah didn’t want to stop playing with her Starbop dolls, but she also didn’t want Milly messing them up. Sarah was about to say no when she remembered how sad she felt the times that Mikey said no to her. The longer there was no answer, the smile slowly faded from Milly’s face.

Looking at the doll in her hand, “Sorry, Starbeam, Milly needs me. We can play later.”

Milly ran up and hugged Sarah.

“You go down to the Playroom,” Sarah told Milly. “I will be down in a minute.”

Milly kissed Sarah and ran out the door running down the hallway to the right towards Mom and Dad’s bedroom. Looking at the Starbop Starbeam doll in her hand, Sarah asked, “Where is she going?”

Sarah dropped her doll and went running after Milly, “Milly, where are you going? We’re not supposed to go in Mommy and Daddy’s bedroom.”

“Playroom,” Milly screamed back.

Sarah went out her door and ran down the hall to Mom and Dad’s bedroom. Stopping at the doorway, “Milly, you’re not supposed to be in here. Milly.”

There was no answer.

“Milly,” Sarah shouted. “Come on, let’s go to the playroom to play.”

With no answer, Sarah gathered up her courage to go into the room to find Milly. She couldn’t go in though. The House force field blocked her from entering.

“House,” Sarah complained. “I have to go get Milly out of the room.”

>>Melissa is not in your parent’s bedroom.<<

“House, she has to be. She went running this way. If she’s not in there, where is she?”

>>Melissa is in the playroom.<<

“No, she isn’t. She went running this way, not to the playroom.”

>>Melissa is in the playroom.<<

Sarah went running off to the stairs and down to the playroom.

“Milly, Milly,” Sarah yelled. “Where are you Milly?”

When Sarah entered the playroom, she saw Milly moving a holographic blue ball into the blue circle.

>>Ding, ding, dong. You’re RRRRRRRRRight!!!!!<<

“Look, Sawah,” Milly said, hopping up and down while clapping her hands. “I do it!”

“That’s good Milly,” Sarah said, looking at Milly. “Milly, how did you get from my room to the playroom?”

“I took the slide,” Milly said, going over and picking up the red holographic cube.

“Slide,” Sarah questioned? “What slide?”

“The slide,” Milly said, trying to put the red cube in the red square.

>>Bong, Bong, Bong.<<

“Why it no go in,” Milly complained as she repeatedly tried to push the cube into the square.

“You have to turn it, Milly,” Sarah said, coming up and helping Milly turn the cube, so it fits in the square.

>>Ding, ding, dong. You’re RRRRRRRRRight!!!!!<<

“Milly,” Sarah asked. “Really, how did you get down to the playroom?”

“I went down the slide,” Milly said as she turned her attention on the yellow pyramid.

“Milly,” Sarah said in frustration. “Slides are on playgrounds, not in houses.”

Milly let go of the yellow pyramid she had just picked up. It just stayed hanging where she left it. Milly grabbed Susie off the floor and went running out of the room. Sarah followed. When they reached the 3rd floor, she stopped in the middle of the hallway just past Sarah’s bedroom.

“The Slide,” Milly said, pointing at the wall.

“Milly,” Sarah looked at where she was pointing in confusion. “There is no slide.”

“House, slide,” Milly said with a big smile. Then she went to the wall that disappeared and went down a slide.

Sarah looked at the wall that immediately reappeared after Milly went down the slide. She went up to the wall and felt it. She could feel where the wall went from wall to force field, but she couldn’t see the difference.

Looking both ways and then at the wall, “House, slide.”

The wall disappeared, and an opening to the slide appeared. Sarah got on the slide and slid down the winding slide, and came out in the playroom.

“See,” Milly said. “Slide!”

“Again!” Sarah screamed before running out of the room with Milly following.

“Girls,” Dad said as the girls ran past him as he went down the stairs, and they went up. “Don’t run in the house.”

“But Dad, there’s a slide,” Sarah explained as she continued to run up the stairs.

“Slide?”

“Yeah, Daddy,” Milly said, going up the stairs as fast as she could. “Slide.”

Gregg changed direction and followed the girls.

“Daddy,” Sarah asked? “You going down the slide?”

“What slide?”

Milly walked up to the side entrance and said, “House, slide.”

Before Gregg could say anything, Milly was on her way down the slide, and the entrance was covered up again.

“That slide, Daddy,” Sarah said with glee. “House, slide.”

Sarah jumped on the slide, saying, “Come on, Daddy.”

Gregg looked as Sarah went down the slide, and the wall reappeared, “House, slide.”

>>Sorry, you don’t have access to that command.<<

“What do you mean,” Gregg inquired. “I’m the owner of the house.”

>>If you are over 14, you must have a child with you to go down the slide.<<

“Who would set a stupid rule like that?”

>>You did. When your nephew and niece were visiting and hogging the slide so much, the little kids couldn’t get on the slide.<<

“Okay, good reason for the rule,” Gregg said as Sarah came running up behind him.

“Sarah bear,” Gregg asked? “Can I go down the slide with you?”

“I’m a big girl Daddy. You go down with the baby,” Sarah said as she went up to the slide. “House, slide.”

Sarah was gone before Gregg could say anything. Sarah got back just ahead of Milly. She was down the slide before Milly reached Dad.

“Milly,” Gregg said. “Let’s go down together this time.”

“Okay, Daddy,” Milly went up and hugged Gregg.

After several more trips down the slide, Milly went back to the Princess Stacy Color Search game.

“You figure out what you are going to talk about tomorrow,” Marsha asked Gregg as she sat down after tucking Sarah in for the night?

“I think so,” Gregg said. “I’ve picked passages from each of the books, but I hope to just focus on the first book in the series on this Meet & Greet.”

“Makes sense,” Marsha snuggled into Gregg. “Are we dropping you off, or are you dropping us off?”

“I figure you should have the transport,” Gregg responded. “So, you drop me off and then go off to the Children’s Museum. I’ll catch a taxi to the museum when I’m done.”

“What did you book on the train?”

“I got a spot in the Family Car. With a 4-year-old, it seemed the only logical choice. Sarah would watch something on her Kid Pad for the trip, but Milly probably wouldn’t.”

“You’re most likely right. The Family Car has enough to keep them entertained. Getting her back in the Transport without tears when we reach the Jupiter system might be a challenge.”

“Going anywhere with two kids under 9 is a challenge.”

Marsha chuckled, “I know, but would you believe I miss having a baby around the house.”

“Oh no, you don’t,” Gregg protested. “We have two kids who can talk to us when upset. We are not having another kid, dealing with years of guessing when they are upset.”

“Milly is only four. We still have to do some guessing when she is upset.”

“You calm her down, and she can talk to you,” Gregg pointed out. “Now, all we have to do is get her out of diapers.”

“Sarah will probably fall asleep on the trip back. As soon as we get on the train headed back to Earth, we should put her in her nighttime training pants.”

“If we bring their Pajamas and get them dressed for bed at that time,” Gregg commented. “We will probably get less resistance.”

“House,” Marsha stated. “Add to the list of items needed for the trip, items that get them all ready for bed.”

>>Teeth sanitizer, pajamas, nighttime protection, and security stuffie added for each girl, and a pacifier for Melissa added to the trip needs list. Should I also add the girl’s blankies to the list?<<

“No, we should be back by official bedtime. If the kids can’t get to sleep because they don’t have their blankie, that is okay,” Marsha replied.

“I think we should bring my Transport,” Gregg stated. “It can go twice the speed of your transport, and that might come in handy in the Jupiter System.”

“You and your fancy transports, but I guess you are right. Why don’t you make sure the kid’s support bags in your transport are fully stocked. If I need a change of clothes for one of the kids, I don’t want to find that kid’s bag empty.”

“Would I use something out of one of those bags without restocking it?”

“Yes, you would,” Marsha jabbed Gregg. “You go do that, and I will get the other stuff on the list.”

Marsha got up in the morning and headed down to the kitchen. On the way, she peeked into the girl’s rooms. Sarah was sleeping soundly, but Milly wasn’t in her bed.

“House, where is Milly?”

>>Melissa is in the playroom.<<

“It’s going to be one of those days. Wait a minute, House? How did she get to the playroom if night-time settings put a force field on the stairs preventing them from going down? Do Milly’s nighttime settings block the stairs?”

>>Yes, Melissa’s nighttime settings restrict her from using the stairs.<<

“If she is not allowed to go down the stairs, then how did she get to the playroom?”

>>She didn’t go down the stairs. She took the slide to the playroom.<<

“The what?”

>>The Slide.<<

“Who puts a slide in a house? Oh, never mind, I can picture Gregg doing that. Where is this slide? I’ve never seen it.”

>>Look down the hall towards your bedroom.<<

Marsha looked down the hall and saw a holographic display with the words ‘Slide Entrance’ and an arrow pointing at a glowing purple spot on the wall.

“House, change the settings for both girls. When on nighttime settings, access to the slide is off-limits.”

>>New settings recorded. No slide access when the girls are set for nighttime.<<

“House, how long has she been up playing?”

>>She isn’t playing. Melissa is currently asleep on the floor of the playroom.<<

“That is good, I guess. When did Milly go there, and how long was she awake for?”

>>Melissa woke up at 4 am and went to the playroom at 4:30 am. She fell back to sleep at 6:22 am.<<

“Great. A day away from home when she has had two and a half hours less sleep than usual,” Marsha headed downstairs and peeked into the playroom.

Milly was curled up on the floor under her pink unicorn blankie, sucking on her pacifier. In one hand was Susie and the other had a toy unicorn.

“House, activate playroom soundproofing. I don’t want noise from other locations reaching her.”

Marsha went to the kitchen, “First things first, something to wake me up.”

Marsha got fifteen minutes of peace and quiet before being interrupted by BooBear entering the dining room dragging a barely awake Sarah with her.

“Morning, Sarah Bear,” Marsha said, putting down her drink. “Want some Scrambled Eggs for breakfast?”

“With strawberry toast?”

Marsha smiled, “Sure. BooBear does like strawberry toast, doesn’t she?”

Sarah hugged BooBear tight as she sat down at her spot at the table.

Sarah was almost done eating her breakfast when Gregg entered the room.

“Daddy,” Sarah exclaimed. “Mommy made BooBear strawberry toast!”

“Did she now,” Dad chuckled. “If it was for BooBear, why is there strawberry jam on your face?”

Sarah giggled, “I had to taste it to make sure it was good before letting BooBear have it. She’s very picky.”

“Is she now. She must have learned that from you.”

“Daddy!”

Turning to Marsha, “So where is the little princess?”

“She is in the playroom, sleeping.”

“Sleeping in the playroom,” Gregg inquired?

“Well, apparently, some crazy person put in a way for her to get to the playroom in the middle of the night, even if I put restrictions on the stairs. Who puts a slide in a house?”

“In my defense,” Gregg stated. “I have no memory of doing that.”

“Oh, it was you,” Marsha commented. “I certainly didn’t install a slide inside the house, but that is something you would do.”

“Admittedly,” Gregg grinned. “It is the type of thing I would do.”

“She was awake from 4 to 6:30 before falling asleep on the playroom floor. Neither of you is going to wake her up. Understand?”

“Yes, Mommy,” Sarah said.

“Yes, Mommy,” Gregg added.

“I mean it. Milly sleeps until she wakes up, or we will have a cranky baby all day. I do NOT want a cranky kid while we are traveling or at the museum.”

“Museum?” Sarah jerked her head around, looking straight at Mom. “We’re going to a museum?”

“Daddy has to do something on Europa, so the rest of us are going to the Children’s Museum there.”

Sarah bounced up and down in her chair, clapping. After a minute, she asks, “Where’s Ur-upa?”

“Europa,” Gregg said. “It is a moon around Jupiter.”

“That planet with the red spot storm cloud?”

“Good girl,” Mom praised. “That is the one.”

“Will we get to see the aliens living in the asteroid belt?”

Gregg chuckled, “No, sweetie. There are no aliens living in the asteroid belt. That is only pretending on the Holoprogram.”

Sarah frowned, hugging BooBear, “They’re not real?”

“Sorry, Sarah Bear. We have not found any intelligent aliens yet. Not even in other Solar Systems.”

“The Furry Jells are just make-believe?”

“Yup,” Mom shook her head up and down. “I know they look real in the Holoprogram, but they’re not.”

“But Mommy, that program isn’t a cartoon. It has real people in it.”

Marsha went over and hugged her daughter, “Learning the difference between real and make-believe is hard, sweetie. When you were Milly’s age, you believed talking puppets and cartoons were real, much like Milly does. At four, you know some things are make-believe, but not others. Eventually, you learned that all cartoons are make-believe, but you still believed in some things that are not real. That is okay. It is part of growing up. As you get older and smarter, you learn to tell the difference. With Holoprograms, though, there is an easy way to tell. Down in the corner of the program you will see a red, green, or blue dot. A red dot means it is make-believe or the person is lying. A green dot means it is real, or the person is telling the truth.”

“What does the blue dot mean?”

“Everyone has their own opinion of things. Everyone is allowed to have their own opinions. There is a difference between truth, lies, and opinion.”

“We have been learning between Facts and Opinions in school,” Sarah said with pride. “I’m good at that.”

“Yup, it is so important to know the difference between them, that they teach it in school. A blue dot means it is an opinion. There is a special filter on the Holoprograms that will show those dots on the people while talking. House, turn on Solar System Talk. Mute the sound, but turn on the Truth Filter.”

On the table was displayed a talk show with five people sitting around a table. Above the head of the person talking, Sarah could see a dot. It kept changing between green and blue.

“There are no red dots,” Sarah observed.

“That is because no one is lying.”

“Oh, look, Mommy,” Sarah blurted out. “Down in the corner, there is a blue and green dot.”

“That is because the show is to talk about facts and opinions. Now let’s look at one of your programs. House, change channels to Big Kids Dis. . .”

“No, Mommy,” Sarah shouted, pointing at the Holodisplay. “Daddy!”

Marsha looked at the Holoprogram and saw an image of Gregg, “House, volume.”

“. . . is an amazing author. I have read through two of his books at this point and can’t wait to start on the next one. Thank You, Olivia, for telling us about him.”

“I just started his fourth book,” Olivia stated. “Every free moment I have I am reading his books. They are absolutely wonderful. If I weren’t working today, I would definitely be headed to Europa for the Author Meet and Greet at the Poetry Corner. Maybe we can get him to come on this show.”

“Calm down, Olivia. He is married with two kids. One of which is the Wishee.”

“A loving dad and an outstanding author. I wonder if he tells the kids great bedtime stories.”

“He does. He does,” Sarah shouted.

“I can guarantee you that everyone in the Solar System will soon know Gregg Soffin for his stories instead of his child. With books that good, he has a long career in front of him.”

“I sure hope so,” another one of the hosts stated. “His books have definitely entertained me. With two young children, who knows, maybe we will even see some kid's books out of him.”

“Yeah, Daddy,” Sarah jumped up and down. “All the kids in my class would love Daddy Stories.”

“Well,” one of the hosts said. “Whether he does or not, I will certainly be reading every book he puts out. For those lucky ones that get to meet him today, enjoy.”

“Did any of you hear what World Leader . . .”

“House, turn off the show,” Marsha stated.

“Daddy,” Sarah asked? “Will you write a kid's book?”

“We’ll see Sarah Bear,” Dad smiled. “Maybe.”

“Gregg,” Marsha asked? “When do we have to leave?

“We have tickets on the 2 pm train, so we need to leave here by 9:30 am at the latest to make sure we make it.”

Sarah was puzzled, and that showed on her face.

“What’s wrong Sara,” Gregg asked?

Sarah held up her left hand, pointy finger, and said, “9:30.” She held up her right hand and said, “2.” Then she put her left hand into a fist and started to count, putting a finger up for each number, “9 - - 10 - - 11 - - 12 - - 1 - - 2” Looking at her fingers, she turned to Daddy and said, “That’s 6 hours. Why are we leaving six hours before the train?”

“Remember how the Wishing Stone ceremony was in a different Time Zone than us?” Dad looked for confirmation. “Well, the train is in a different time zone. It is four hours different from us.”

Sarah held up six fingers and put down four, “It takes 2 hours to get to the train?”

“It takes about 20 minutes, but you counted wrong. When you count, you don’t include the first number. Then, I also said 9:30, not 9 am. If we leave here at 9:30, we will get there 10 minutes before the train leaves.”

“Except with two little ones,” Mom added. “We need to allow more time for unexpected things. Let’s aim for 9 am to leave. Then hopefully, we can be out of here by 9:30.”

“Good point,” Gregg added. “9 am it is. House, set a 9 am alert.”

“House, show me, Milly,” Marsha said. “Inform me when she enters wake-up stages.”

>>Wake-up alerts activated for Melissa.<<

“Awwwww,” Sarah said, looking at the holo display of Milly sleeping. “The baby looks so cute sucking on her pacifier and hugging her dolly.”

“Yeah,” Marsha commented. “Almost as cute as my little girl hugging her teddy on her lap and strawberry on her face.”

“Mom!”

“If you don’t want to be called a little girl, then stop calling your sister a baby,” Marsha raised an eyebrow. “And use your napkin to wipe your face.”

Sarah grabbed her napkin and wiped her face.

“Finish up, Sarah, then go up and get changed. We're going to a Children’s Museum, so I recommend wearing pants or leggings.”

“Is she still asleep,” Gregg asked as he walked into the living room?

“Yeah,” Marsha said, putting down the book she was reading. “I am about to go in and take her up to her room to get ready to go. Did you put one of those breakfast bars she likes and a sippy cup of Gupit in your transport?”

“Just finished. The kids’ bags are in there too,” Gregg responded. “I sent Sarah to go potty before coming down here.”

Marsha stood up and headed over to the playroom, “Okay, you get Sarah in the Transport. I will join you in a few minutes with Milly.”

Milly didn’t wake up until Marsha started taking her pajamas off to change her diaper. She was quickly changed and dressed in pink pants and a purple shirt with a unicorn on it. After getting her hair up in pig-tails, the two of them headed to Gregg’s transport.

“Mommy,” Sarah asked as Milly was being put in her baby seat. “I want my unicown hown.”

“Not today Milly. We’re leaving.”

“Sawah have cat eaws. I want unicown hown.”

Marsha looked over at the cat ears headband Sarah was wearing and then back at Milly, “Sorry, Milly, but it’s too late.”

“I want my unicown hown. I want my unicown hown. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa,” Milly let out at the top of her lungs while flailing her arms and kicking her legs.

“I’ll be right back,” Gregg said as he hurried out of the transport.

It took Marsha a little bit to stop the temper tantrum, assuring Milly that Daddy would get her unicorn horn headband. Until Milly saw Gregg coming back with the headband, she didn’t fully calm down. With the unicorn headband on, and a pacifier in her mouth, she entirely calmed down.

As they were pulling out of the garage, Sarah blurted out, “I have to go potty, Mommy.”

“Transport, return to the house,” Marsha stated. “Sarah, why didn’t you go when Daddy sent you off to go potty?”

“I didn’t have to go then.”

“Gregg, this is why we plan on leaving so early for things,” Marsha commented. “Milly, why don’t you start eating your breakfast bar while Sarah goes potty.”

After returning from the bathroom, Sarah climbed back into her safety seat and activated it. Before anyone could tell the transport to take off, Milly let out a sound that immediately caused the diaper alert to activate.

“Think we could get away with waiting to change her until we are on our way to Jupiter?” Gregg inquired?

“Definitely not,” Marsha replied. “I can already smell it. Unless you want to stink up your transport.”

“Okay, I guess you do need to go change her.”

“Um, nice try,” Marsha raised an eyebrow. “I just changed her. This one is yours.”

“Come on, Milly,” Gregg released Milly from her safety seat and picked her up. “Let’s get you changed out of that stinky diaper before Mommy gets even madder at me for saying something stupid.”

Sarah was bouncing BooBear on her lap. In her BooBear voice, “Is that all I have to do is throw a temper tantrum, and I get what I want?”

“No BooBear,” Marsha quickly responded. “You are a big Bear. Milly is just a little kid. A little kid who is grumpy because she didn’t sleep all night. If you or Sarah pulled something like that, you would be in time-out and lose your Kid Pad for a few days.”

Sarah hugged BooBear, “Don’t worry, Mommy. I’m a big girl, not a baby like Milly.”

“You certainly are my Big Girl, Sarah. It is not easy being the big sister, but you are doing a good job. Today might be a little hard. We can do it.”

“Did I do stuff like that when I was her age?”

“Oh yes,” Mom smiled at Sarah. “You were an expert at throwing temper tantrums. Still do every now and then.”

“No, I don’t,” Sarah rebutted as she was making BooBear nod his head up and down. “BooBear, you’re supposed to be on my side.”

“Sarah, with Milly in a grumpy mood, we will do things a little differently today. When we get to the Children’s Museum, we will go off and do things Milly would love to do. Maybe start in the Bubble Room, I know you will love that too. Until Daddy can join us, Milly gets to pick what we do next, but as a good big sister, I am sure you can recommend a few things both of you will enjoy. I’ve watched the two of you over the last few days. She looks up to you and wants to do stuff with Big Sis.”

Sarah smiled.

“When Daddy gets to the Museum, he’ll take Milly, and the two of us can go do whatever you want in the Museum.”

“Really?”

“Yup, just the two of us having fun,” Marsha smiled. “Transport, display map of Europa’s Children’s Museum.”

“Oh, Mom, look,” Sarah shouted. “They have a pet center. Can we go to the pet center? Can we?”

“Sure, SarahBear. You want some cuddle time with kitty cats?”

Sarah’s smile grew.

“I bet Milly would love the Fairy Tale dress-up room and the ball pit.”

“Hmmm,” Marsha grinned. “I know an eight-year-old who would love the ball pit too and who still enjoys playing dress-up.”

Sarah blushed.

“Look, Mom. They have a baby room.”

“Sarah, that is for real babies, but Milly would like the Little Ones Play center,” Marsha said, pointing at one of the rooms.

By the time Dad and Milly returned, Sarah and Mom had picked a few places to visit with Milly and some to do when it was just Sarah and Mommy. Once Milly was secured in her seat, they took off for the train.

“We got out before 9:30,” Gregg said as they left the garage.

“Only by five minutes,” Marsha pointed out. “Good thing we aimed for 9 am.”

Milly looked at the map being displayed, but she couldn’t read any of the words. She commented on how pretty the map looked, with the rooms being different colors.

“Yes, Milly,” Marsha said, real pretty. “Transport, is there a Little Ones map?”

The map changed, with pictures displayed above the names of the rooms.

“Look, Mommy, a princess Room!” Milly exclaimed.

The whole family discussed the places to go and things to do at the Children’s Museum as their transport traveled up into space to the train station. None of them were paying attention to what was happening outside of the vehicle.

>>Redirect received. Changing course to the new destination.<<

This caused everyone to immediately look out the windows at where they were and what was happening. They could see that they were surrounded by plain-looking transports, one on all six sides. They were flying past the Family Car on the train and headed towards the engine at the front.

“What’s going on Gregg,” Marsha asked?

“I don’t know,” Gregg said, pressing a few buttons on the transport display screen. “It appears that our train tickets have been changed to . . . to the Elite Car.”

“That’s not an upgrade Gregg. Normal people like us can’t get a spot on that Train Car. Who ordered the redirect?”

Gregg pressed a few more buttons and then looked at Marsha with a quizzical look, “All it says is, Security Override.”

Marsha looked out at the transports surrounding them. Six identical transports, all with tinted windows and no identifiable elements on the vehicles, not even brand names or symbols, “The girls’ protection force?”

“That is my best guess,” Gregg stated. “But I have no idea why? They said they would be keeping their distance.”

>>Incoming Com-Link. Scrambled communications. No ID provided.<<

Gregg and Marsha looked at each other and then at the girls. They were both hugging their stuffed companions.

>>Security Override approved. If you do not respond in 10 seconds, communication will be initiated.<<

“Transport, Accept Com-Link,” Marsha stated.

“Soffin Family, I apologize for intruding on your day out, but we needed to increase your security for the day. There is no direct threat, but unexplained events have caused us to be concerned.”

“Lieutenant Stiles,” Gregg responded. “What unexplained events?”

“Over the last 24 hours, the number of transports booking trips to the Jupiter System has increased dramatically. All train tickets are sold out from every planet in the Solar System. The Train company has added more trains to the system today, and they are all sold out too. There is no increase in bookings at any facility in the Jupiter system. We have too many unknown factors here. Due to that, World Leader Evans has put you on his train car. The only thing more secure would be to travel on a military vehicle to Jupiter. It was not determined necessary at this time, but we will be having a light-speed military vehicle joining us on this trip, just in case. The girls will each have three bodyguards assigned to them.”

“Is that really necessary,” Marsha asked?

“That is the thing, Mam. We don’t know,” Lieutenant Stiles replied.

“Do we need to change our plans for the day? The girls and I were planning on going to the Children’s Museum while Gregg was at the Author Meet and Greet,” Marsha questioned?

“We intend to let you continue your day as planned, just with more security in place. The Children’s Museum has already been notified. They are used to high-security individuals going to their museum.”

“What about the Poetry Corner,” Gregg inquired?

“We have people on the ground there already coordinating with them,” Lieutenant Stiles answered.

“Do you think all these people are going to show up at the Poetry Corner?”

“I refuse to speculate on that at this time. We are preparing for that possibility, including informing Europa and Jupiter System Police.”

>>Incoming Com-Link. World Leader Evans. Scrambled Communication.<<

Gregg responded, “Accept Com-Link and bring into the already active one.”

“Soffin Family,” World Leader Evans said as the transport docked with the train. “I think we need to talk.”

“Sir,” Marsha said. “Can you add anything more to this situation?”

“Maybe,” World Leader Evans stated. “A disproportionate number of individuals booking train travel to the Jupiter system are wish transformed individuals or families of transformed individuals. That is the reason I initiated this Com-Link. The secret of what happened to the Wishee is still unknown. If you want it to stay that way, do not let Milly or Sarah get off the train until it returns to the Earth System. This may, however, be the time to reveal the truth. Multiple Intelligence Agencies believe that the people are going to the Jupiter System in hopes of thanking the Wishee for transforming them.”

Once the transport was fully docked, Sarah turned off her safety seat and snuggled up between Milly and Mommy.

“As I have said before, it would be better if this was revealed on our terms instead of the tabloids or news platforms,” World Leader Evans continued. “But it is your decision. We have already put in place the ability to send a message burst to everyone that shows up, telling them that all communication and messages for the Wishee are to go through the Wishing Stone Society Wishee Communication Network. Think about all of this. It is a 40-minute train trip to the Jupiter System. Once there, the train car you are on will disconnect with the train. You have exclusive access to that train car while it is in the Jupiter System. It will connect with whatever train you are returning to Earth on. Don’t worry about tickets. The train car will automatically arrange to connect to the returning train when you are ready to return to Earth.”

Gregg looked at Marsha and the girls, “World Leader Evans, what do you think we should do?”

“Secrets cause people to seek out the truth. It is always best to just tell the truth. Let the Galaxy know that the Wishee is now four years old. No interviews, but let people take pictures of her.”

“She doesn’t even know she is the Wishee,” Marsha pointed out.

“I am sorry about that, but you asked my opinion,” World Leader Evans stated. “It is your call. I will back whatever your decision is. I have to go, but Lieutenant Stiles can help you. If you need to talk to me, I have instructed my team to give you direct Com-Link access to me.”

“Thank You, World Leader Evans,” Gregg said. Turning to Lieutenant Stiles, “Can we talk on the train, please.”

“The girls’ security teams and I are docked with the train car next to your transport. Regardless of your decision, it is time everyone met.”

After the Com-Link ended, Marsha got Milly out of her Safety Seat and brought her into a big hug.

“What’s going on Mommy,” Sarah asked as she hugged Mom?

“Let’s go into the train car to have this discussion,” Gregg said.

As they left Gregg’s transport, >>Two small children detected. Do you want to activate the Choo-Choo Train protocol?<<

Looking at the two girls, Marsha smiled and said, “Train, yes.”

>>Choo Choo Train protocol activated. Settings are recorded for future rides with this family.<<

Sarah looked up at Mom with a quizzical look. Marsha just smiled. As they entered the walkway from parking area into the train car, Gregg took the gravity bracelets sitting on a shelf, and attached them to the ankles of himself, the girls, and Marsha. As they entered the main compartment of the train car, Sarah immediately noticed a kids section with toys and zero-G playground equipment. She went running over there.

“Daddy,” Sarah asked? “Can I take the gravity bracelets off?”

“No, Sarah, not until the train gets up to speed,” Gregg responded.

Marsha put Milly down and sent her off to play with the toys. Gregg and Marsha sat down on a comfortable couch and watched the kids.

“Can we do this? How are we even going to explain it to Milly? She has no memory of making the wish or being the Wishee,” Marsha said, looking at the girls exploring all the toys.

“Maybe we should,” Gregg commented. “People have trouble accepting she is the Wishee because they believe the Wishee is Sarah’s age.”

“I guess,” Marsha turned to look at ten people enter the train and go to the other end of the car. “If they are correct that a bunch of people are coming to your Author Meet and Greet in hopes of meeting Milly, this would be a good time to do it. No official Press Conference, and maybe they will talk about you instead of Milly during interviews. It hopefully will take some of the attention off of Sarah. I can’t stand having two kids with a potential target on them.”

>>All Aboard. Direct train to the Jupiter System will be leaving in five minutes.<<

“So, do we just thank everyone who shows up, tell them the Wishee was regressed down to four years old, and her memory of the event was blocked from her awareness,” Gregg asked?

“Maybe,” Marsha kept watching the girls play. “Then we bring her out, let them take pictures of us as a family, and then I leave with the girls.”

“You really think it will be that simple?”

“No, but for us, it could be. There will almost certainly be people there recording what we say, so it will be all over media networks by the end of the day. We get the Wishing Stone Society to release the same details right after we publicly state the information,” Marsha kept her eyes on the girls. “Look at them, Gregg. Do you remember when it was Mikey, age eight, and Sarah, age 4? He was so good to little Sarah. Much like Sarah is being right now to Milly. I want Sarah and Milly to have as normal of a childhood as possible. That is not going to happen with them,” Marsha pointed over to the Security Patrol at the other end of the train car. “Look over there. We have to get rid of them, and probably the only way to do that is to let the Solar System know the truth. Regardless of the law restricting interviews, that isn’t going to stop people from trying, but no one interviews a baby in diapers. It’s not even worth talking to her if she doesn’t remember making the wish.”

Gregg hugged Marsha and kissed her on the cheek.

A sound was heard throughout the train car. It started slow but then got faster and faster, Chug-u . . . Chug-u . . . Choo Choo . . . Chug-u . . . Chug-u . . . Choo Choo. Then a train whistle was heard twice.

Milly and Sarah came running up, with Sarah all excited, “We’re on a Choo-Choo train. A real Choo-Choo train!”

Milly added, “Choo-Choo Twain.”

The smiles on both Gregg and Marsha were just as big as the ones on the girls. They brought the kids up onto their laps and gave them big hugs. After some discussion about Choo-Choo Trains and that this one couldn’t travel in time like the one on the Holo-Cartoon, the kids were brought over to meet the Protection Squad.

“Okay, you two,” Marsha directed. “This is really important. Please look at these people. All of them are here to help us.”

Milly went right up to one of the ladies and hugged her.

“Awwww,” Olivia said, looking at Lieutenant Stiles. “Can I be on her team?”

Lieutenant Stiles chuckled, “Sure. Olivia’s team is on Milly. George’s team is on Sarah. Team leaders, spend some time with your VIP. Then switch and get to know the other team's VIP. Remember everyone; these are little kids. Trust is everything. We reach Jupiter System in 40 minutes. I expect all the kids' questions to be answered and little kid trust-building activities done.”

“He talk like Militawy Soldiew at school,” Milly observed.

Olivia leaned into Milly and softly said, “That is because he is a real big important Military Soldier.”

“Oh, cool,” Milly smiled. “I Z-37 pilot.”

“Sam over there,” Olivia pointed to another member of Milly’s protection team. “He is my team’s pilot. Maybe you can give him some pointers.”

“Suzie,” Milly said to her dolly. “We need to teach him evewything we know.”

Among a bunch of laughing, Olivia stated, “Sam, it looks like you are going back to school. Teacher Milly and Teacher Suzie, let’s go over to the toy area so you can teach Sam how to be a good pilot.”

“So, your sister is a pilot,” George asked Sarah? “What special skills do you have?”

“Me,” Sarah questioned while she hugged BooBear tight. “I am no one special.”

“Hmmmm,” George got down on his knees and looked Sarah in the eyes. “Everyone is someone special.”

“Not really,” Sarah declared. “Mikey was good at sports. Milly is good at Floaty Ballet. Zara is good at art. I’m not good at anything.”

Marsha moved towards Sarah, but Gregg held her back, “Let’s see what George has to say first.”

“I was watching you,” George said. “You were being a really good big sister.”

“I was just playing with Milly.”

“I’m a big brother. I know it is not always easy putting up with younger siblings. They can be so annoying at times.”

“Yeah, Milly can be annoying, but she is so cute and loveable. Well, except when she has a poopy diaper.”

George laughed, “Poopy diapers certainly do take away from the cuteness. Now, besides being a great big sister, what do you like to do?”

“I like playing with my dolls and playing on playgrounds.”

“So, other than recess, what do you like at school?”

“I like music class and . . .”

“Excuse me,” Lieutenant Stiles said quietly to Marsha and Gregg, “Can we go talk away from the kids?”

Once out of earshot of both kids, “I just got word from the advance team on Europa. The Poetry Corner has confirmed that the number of pings requesting info on their place, your appearance, and directions to get there far exceed their capabilities.”

“They can’t all be coming to see me, an author none of them had never heard of before a couple of days ago.”

“We agree. It is felt that most are coming in hopes of seeing Milly.”

“Okay, let me see what I can do,” Gregg responded. “Train, Com-Link World Leader Evans.”

>>Accessing Military Communication Network.<<

“What?” Marsha looked at Lieutenant Stiles.

“We are on a Military Train Car. It will allow for communication while traveling at lightspeed.”

“Mr. Soffin, how may I help you,” World Leader Evans asked?

“This has escalated out of control. Marsha and I have agreed to share the secret of what the Wishing Stone really did to Mikey.”

By the end of the conversation, decisions were made as to what information would be released. Coordination of release of information from the Wishing Stone Society to coincide with the family telling the public was set up. World Leader Evans used his contacts to change the location of the venue. The Europa Sky Traffic Control alerted to automatically redirect all traffic going to the Poetry Corner at the time of the event to the new location. Jupiter System Military forces would be deployed to help with security during the event. A team from the Wishing Stone Society would fly out to the event, taking comments intended for the Wishee from those in attendance. The train trip was almost over by the time all the loose ends were tied up.

“Milly,” Marsha called her over. “While we are in Zero-G, why don’t you practice some of your Ballet moves. Let me take your gravity bracelets off.”

“Floaty Ballet,” Milly said, clapping her hands while jumping up and down. Then she stopped and got all serious, “But Mommy, I can’t.”

“Why not, Princess?”

“I don’t have my tutu,” Milly said with all seriousness.

“Mommy,” Milly asked as they left the stage. “What’s a Wishee?”

“You are, silly,” Sarah answered.

“Me,” Milly asked as she looked back at the large crowd? “Why were they calling me a wish?”

Marsha took a deep breath, “As a Princess, you were given one magical wish. With your wish, you gave all those people what they wanted more than anything else. They just wanted to thank you.”

Milly thought about that as they headed to Daddy’s transport.

“Mommy, you’re not going to tell her,” Sarah questioned?

“Tell me what?”

Giving Sarah’s hand a slight squeeze, “Milly, sometimes when babies are born. The person they are on the inside does not match their body. They have a boy body but a girl heart and mind, or a girl body and a boy heart and mind. Your wish made all their bodies match their heart and mind.”

“I did that?”

Sarah got in front of Mommy, who was carrying Milly. She turned to look at the two of them and bounced up and down with a big smile, “Yup, you sure did. You changed you and all of them. You made them really, really, really happy.”

Milly stayed quiet until they were in the transport headed for the Children’s Museum, “I changed me?”

Marsha closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and smiled at Milly, “Yes, Milly.”

“All Wishes Granted,” Milly stated with a blank expression on her face. “An evil queen turned me into a boy, and a pretty Fairy Godmother turned me back into a little girl. Wasn’t that nice of her?”

>>Incoming Government Communication: Wishing Stone Society, Professor Ian<<

“Accept Com-Link,” Marsha stated.

“Marsha, what just happened with Milly? Her Wish Particle number just jumped. It hasn’t moved for days. What changed,” Professor Ian inquired?

Marsha looked at Milly and then at Sarah, “Someone told her about changing from a boy to a girl.”

Sarah meekly raised her hand.

“After thinking about that for a bit,” Marsha continued. “Milly stated, ‘All wishes granted.’ Then she used the line again of an evil witch turning her into a boy and a Fairy Godmother turning her back into a girl.”

“Interesting,” Professor Ian said, looking over at Milly in her safety seat, hugging her Susie dolly.

“Did you see what your son did?” Lucarous complained.

“Did he clean his room?”

“Eltarna, don’t be silly. Did you see what he did on that planet Earth?”

“Lucarous, stop complaining. You got tired of dealing with guiding the seeded planets, so you turned it over to OUR son.”

“He granted two wishes! Then he left Transformite in the one that made the wish.”

“Yeah,” Eltarna beamed. “I was so proud of him for doing that.”

“What? He had one job. Grant one wish that will guide the humanoids towards the day when they will encounter the other seeded planets. One wish. We can’t exactly go back down there and recharge the device.”

“Oh, come on now,” Eltarna went over and started giving her husband a back massage. “Ebit did move the humanoids towards their destiny. Throughout their solar system, there are movements to accept differences in people without question. Within ten of their years, no child will be pushed to be something or someone they are not. All those changes are hidden behind him, altering the gender of a small number of them.”

“I was impressed with that,” Lucarous admitted. “They believe these changes are due to the wish, completely unaware of the seeds of change planted to alter humanoids acceptance of differences. But, he turned that innocent child into a baby.”

“He granted a hurt child her wishes. I was proud of him for that. It reminded me of the last wish you granted on that planet. It had no purpose other than to make that sweet child happier than she had been in her entire life.”

“She was so innocent and naive.”

“I loved what you did for her Lucarous. It showed me the part of you that I fell in love with,” Eltarna kissed Lucarous. “Giving her a unicorn. You didn’t even do an impact study before giving that unicorn. Then you made it a whole species on the planet. It really was a brilliant move of transforming a species that already existed on the planet. The alicorn we brought with us when we visited the planet couldn’t survive without the special food we brought. It always amazed me that the species stayed in the humanoid’s legends. Did you see that the child Ebit granted wishes to loved unicorns?”

“But he turned a child into a baby,” Lucarous complained. “That was pushing things just a little too far. He didn’t even finish the process in one move.”

“Honey, did you pay any attention to what the kid wished for?”

“The kid wanted his body to match his mind.”

“Lucarous, the kid wanted the little girl childhood she missed because everyone judged her by the physical body instead of her brain and her heart. That was her true wish. The secondary wish is what Ebit used to advance the Earthlings. To me, it would have been cruel to turn her into a girl without regressing her the way she wanted.”

“He turned her back into a baby!”

“Not an infant, just a baby. This way, she will grow up with no memories of ever being a boy. Unlike you, Ebit DID the long-term study. The child will have the best possible future by starting over at that age. By altering the parent’s timelines to match the new birthday, the parents could fulfill their own dreams and pass that passion onto their children. Teaching them to pursue their dreams. Did you look at what this child’s most likely future is?”

Lucarous waved his arm, and possible future timelines for Milly appeared in front of him, “This can’t be right. It should be several millenniums before they are able to do that.”

“That baby girl could be the first of our seedlings to figure out how to communicate with us. All Ebit had to do was grant the child a wish to have the little girl childhood that she missed.”

“I . . . I didn’t . . .”

“That is right. You didn’t. You reacted before thinking or doing the proper research. Maybe you should have a little more faith in our son.”

“Sorry, Dear,” Lucarous lowered his head. “It’s just we established the one wish policy for a reason. Ebit granted two. He left Transformite in her. He altered four timelines.”

“Changing his Parent’s timelines?”

“Yeah,” Lucarous said. “And one other to make one of the parent’s timelines work.”

“I do feel he messed up there. He should have altered their memories along with their timelines.”

“No! He shouldn’t have altered their timelines,” Lucarous complained. “We alter the timeline of the individual making the wish and no one else.”

“Oh, come on Lucarous. That child deserved to grow up as if her existence as a male never happened. The research showed it was for the best, and I support Ebit for doing it. I just wish he had finished the process.”

“I’m not going to get any support from you on any of this, am I.”

“Nope,” Eltarna smiled. “I am very proud of our son for all he did for the Earthling’s wishes. Granting this little one’s wishes reminded me of when our kids were little and had access to Transformite technology. Just like the humanoids, they used to think it was magic too.”

“That little kid belief in magic and wishes does appear to be a universal trait of higher intellect beings,” Lucarous said with a smile. “I enjoyed it so much when our kids were little. Stop it! You are trying to distract me from the issue.”

“Is it working,” Eltarna asked?

Lucarous shook his head and rolled his eyes.

“Why are you even throwing a fit now? It’s been a few hours since Ebit did all of this.”

“Transformite just did something to that baby, and I got the alert. Why is there any Transformite left in the baby?”

“Did you read Ebit’s report on the Earthling’s wish and his actions?”

“That garbage written up for the Seedling Council? No.”

“Well, maybe you should,” Eltarna pointed out. “The research showed that it would be best for the child not to have any memory of being a boy as she goes through her childhood.”

“What did he do, put a Transformite Control Node in her?”

“Just a small one,” Eltarna said as she continued giving her husband a neck massage. “That was my recommendation. I call it the Fairy Godmother protocol.”

Lucarous put his hands over his face and shook his head back and forth while taking a deep breath.

“Don’t worry about it Lucarous,” Eltarna directed. “It’s only programmed to make sure all references to her previously being a boy never leave short-term memory. Then when she finally does become an adult, access to all memories is restored. Look at the projections Lucarous. We have done all of this with the Seedling planets to prepare them to meet each other and eventually meet us. That baby girl could be the first to do both. If, and only if, she grows up a normal little girl with no memories of making the wish or previously being a boy. At least not until she is an adult. She is so cute and adorable when she is interacting with her sister. There is real love between the two of them.”

“Eltarna? How do you know about the way she interacts with her sister? Display on.”

“Milly, we’re going to the Bubble room first. Doesn’t that sound like fun?”

“Holo Bubbles fun.”

“No, Milly, these are REAL bubbles.”

“Weal Bubbles,” Milly said as her smile grew bigger and bigger.

“Display Off,” Lucarous commanded. “So, you have been watching her. The policy is, we let the Transformite do what it does, and then we walk away and let the culture get used to the changes we made.”

Lucarous swiped his hand and pressed some buttons on his display, “There. I have disconnected the baby’s Transformite Control Node from our surveillance system. If Ebit did his job right, it should be able to complete its mission without us. This is the end of the Earthling Soap Opera.”