Your new tail is cool, but you wonder how long it will last. You look at the can label, hoping to find answer. You stretch your long tail out down the aisle. As you read, you feel a dull thump as someone trips over your tail. You turn around and see a small girl crying on the ground. She is clutching her knee, and her father is standing over her comforting her. He glares at you angrily.
"Hey buddy! What's your problem?" says the father. He looks at your strange tail. He begins to reach out to touch it. You quickly grab your tail and pull it towards you, rolling it up in your arms.
"Sorry, I guess it got away from me. This costume tail is hard to control sometimes, " you say.
The man looks at you skeptically, but seems to accept your answer. After all, who would believe you really just grew a dragon tail? The tail is bulky, and you have to toss the can into the trash. It doesn't matter. You already read what you need to know. The label on the can said the effects were only temporary. The tail should wither away by tomorrow. You decide to go home before your tail causes anymore trouble.
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Amy was disappointed. When she first heard the girl crying and looked down the aisle at the boy with a dragon tail, she
thought her dream had come true. She was about to see a real dragon! The twelve year old girl was obsessed with dragons. She bought all the books about them she could find and adorned her schoolbooks with dragon artwork. The other girls thought Amy was weird and teased her. But Amy didn't care. She knew the truth.
Dragons were the most majestic creatures in the world, and she was going to find one to keep as a pet. She could barely wait to soar through the sky on its back or have magical adventures with it. Then all the other girls would be sorry. They would be so jealous.
She entered the strange magic shop hoping to find some clue about how to catch one. She dared to hope they had one to sell, but at the least maybe they had a book that could help her. Then she saw the boy with the dragon tail. Or the dragon masquerading as a boy. She had tried to approach him and befriend him, but as she neared him in the aisle she heard him mention it was only a costume. Amy sighed and leaned against the wish machine, watching the boy leave.
"I wish he really was slowly turning into a real dragon, " said Amy with a sigh.
She heard a ding from the machine beside her. She looked down and saw a strange message in glowing digital print on the LCD screen.
"Wish accepted. Please insert coin to complete transaction and grant wish....."
Amy blinked. Could it be true? She looked down and saw a coin slot that accepted quarters. She fished out her small coin bag from her little plastic purse. She looked at the boy. He appeared to be leaving the store. She shrugged her shoulders, and inserted a quarter. What could it hurt? If it was a joke, she just lost a quarter and a little bit of pride. But if it worked .... she could barely contain her excitement at the thought of the possibilites.
As the coin rattled around the machine she could hear gears whirring. A small progress bar appeared on the screen. She watched as it slowly neared completion. With a ding, the bar disappeared and was replaced by a new message.
"Wish granted! Would you like another wish? Please insert a coin!"
Amy looked at the boy. He paused by the door, and seemed a little confused. He shook his head, and almost dropped his large tail. His back seemed to bulge a little, and she saw small spikes pop up from his tail and trail up his back. The skin on his neck looked a little different. Thicker, like the scales of his tail. The changes stopped, and the boy quickly walked out of the store.
Amy squealed in glee. Her wish had come true! She was a little disappointed that it was occurring slowly, but at least it was happening. Soon she would have the dragon companion she had always dreamed about! With a shock she realized that the boy was gone, and she had no idea where he had gone. She quickly slid another coin in the machine and wished she knew his name, and where he was going. As the machine granted her wish, she suddenly knew his name was John, and that he was going home. A three dimensional map of his route flashed before her mind.
She was about to chase after him when she looked back at the machine. It flashed another request, offering to grant another wish for a coin. Amy was torn. She wanted to catch up to him as soon as possible, but she didn't want to waste the opportunity to make a few more wishes. She might need them to ensure he would be her friend. The only problem was that she just had a few coins left in her purse. Amy nibbled on her fingernails nervously, debating what to do.