Another typical morning before senior year of high school. Mandy is at the breakfast table, idly scrolling through her phone while her younger brother pours himself a bowl of cereal. He’s as chipper and annoying as ever. “Alright!” he suddenly yells, making Mandy’s eye twitch. “I won!” He’s overjoyed and holds something up in the air.
“What did you win, sweetie?” their mother asks, sipping on her coffee.
“Oh, nothing. Only the grand prize!” By now he’s jumped up from his seat, doing his stupid little dance around the room.
Fed up with his antics, Mandy steals whatever he’s holding, extending it out of his reach.
“Hey!” he shouts. “Give it! Give it!!” Mandy rolls her eyes.
“Ugh. No way,” she says. “Not until you calm down.”
Her brother starts throwing a fit, having a temper tantrum right there in the middle of the kitchen. Great. Fabulous. “Mom!” he shouts. “Tell her to give it back!”
“Give it back, Mandy,” her mother warns. But she’s already leaving, not really caring.
Mandy looks at the prize, or whatever. It’s a small jewel. Kind of pretty actually. “What even is this?” she asks him, frowning.
“It’s my prize!”
“Yeah, I got that.” She couldn’t roll her eyes any harder if she tried. “But what *is* it?”
“It’s a magical crystal from my show, able to transform the owner into their deepest wish.”
Mandy stifles a chuckle. He couldn’t be serious. “Really?” she asks. “How does it work?”
“Give it back and I’ll show you!”
She shook her head. “Uh-uh. Tell me and I’ll give it back.”
Her brother sighed. “Ugh. Fine. You have to say the magic words.”
“Okay. What are they?”
“They’re on the back of the box. Duh!”
Mandy looked at the box. It was gibberish really. She tried sounding them out but it just made her feel stupid.
“Hey!” he shouted. “Stop! Shut up! You’ll ruin it!”
But Mandy just laughed at him… that is until the jewel actually started glowing. She immediately started to feel something strange going on within her like her body was starting to change…
