Kellie was quite impressed when Katie returned with Mike and Bobby with her. Her twin had managed to find two of the handsomest guys she's seen and they were both single. The cousins were both very intrigued with the twins as they really were identical. Of course, there was a bit of confusion remember who was who as each twin had her sister's name tattooed on their shoulder. Still, there was a definite magnetism between them. While the waves was too mild to go surfing, the ocean was an enjoyable calm and the sun was not too overbearing. It was a good day to just relax and enjoy the beach.
Mike and Kellie seemed to hit it off right away. Kellie seemed more drawn to Mike's rugged charm and though the twins were all but indistinguishable from each other, Mike seemed to prefer Kellie over Katie. That suited Katie just fine because she and Bobby was getting along well. It was funny, one would have assumed that Katie would have preferred Mike as she was good friends with him back when they were both 7 years old. But Jack had a smoother handsomeness that appealed to her more.
But what Katie could not have known was that her nearness to Bobby was starting to wear his altered memories thin. He could still recall his new life in which he grew up with his cousin, but he was getting stronger memories of Mike being much younger than him and his physique being less impressive than it was now. Memories were also starting to spring up about Katie, though he thought he hadn't met her until today. But considering this blonde bombshell was interested in him, he wasn't inclined to complain. But then everything changed when he and Katie held hands and he came into contact with the ring on her finger.
In a flash, everything came back to him. He could remember buying the ring earlier that day as a younger teenager and how he lost it on the way home. He could also remember Katie as the little girl he used to babysat, Kellie as the mother who hired him to do so, and Mike as the tag-along cousin who often accompanied him. Bobby tightened his grip and demanded, "Where did you get this ring?"
"I got it for my birthday," said Katie.
"No you didn't. I know this ring, I just bought it today. I paid over $96 for it and you stole it!" snapped Bobby.
"What? That's crazy. How could you tell it's your ring? All gold rings look alike," said Katie.
"And how many gold rings are capable of changing someone's age?" asked Bobby. Katie gaped in surprise. Did Bobby really own the ring? How else would he know about its power. "Ah, so you admit it," said Bobby, noticing Katie's expression, "You stole it."
"I did not steal it," said Katie, "I found it on the sidewalk. I didn't even know it was magic until I made a wish with it."
"Oh, sure, like you actually found it on the sidewalk," said Bobby with a role of his eyes.
"Obviously it slipped off your finger. Rings do that," said Katie.
"This one isn't supposed to able to slip off," said Bobby before pausing and looking towards where Mike and Kellie were, "It's also not supposed to be able to make people younger either. The old man told me it could be used to make people move forward through time, not backwards."
"It appears you didn't get exactly what you paid for," said Katie.
"But I did pay for it," said Bobby, "The ring is mine. I want it back."
"Wait, this ring has enough power for the both of us," said Katie, "We could just share it."
"Share a ring? It can only be worn on one finger," said Bobby.
"It doesn't matter who's wearing it," said Katie, "We can exchange it back and forth and we can ask each other to use it. That doesn't sound like too bad an arrangement, right?"
Bobby thought it over and said, "I suppose not, but can I have the ring now?"
"I think I need to see if I can trust you first," said Katie, "I'll wear it for the rest of today and tomorrow you can have it for a day before giving it back to me and so forth. I'll use the ring's power as you want me to, but I'll be holding onto it for right now."
Bobby gave her a hard look before sighing and said, "Fine, but I expect you to keep your end."
"So, what all have you done with the ring?" asked Bobby.
"Not too much, I suppose," said Katie, "I've been adjusting me and Kellie's ages a bit at a time. I only decided to make us twins as I was comforting Jack."
"And yet Kellie never questioned anything and you both happen to be wearing identical bikinis and tattoos when you got here," said Bobby.
"The magic adjusted a lot of reality," said Katie, "It even changed our car from an old Honda to a new Jaguar. The only ones who know that anything's different now is you and me."
"So, basically that ring can alter reality any way that you wish," said Bobby.
"I'm not sure about every way," said Katie, "I think it has to involve aging in some way to make any changes. I have no idea what the limits of this thing are."
Bobby looked around the beach, which was packed with a lot of kids from all the families that have decided to go to the beach today. "Maybe we should start testing that," he said thoughtfully.
"Have anything in particular in mind?" asked Katie. She admitted that she was also curious to see what the ring could do.
"Well, let's start with something basic, namely range," said Bobby, "How about we turn every kid here into an adult?"
"I can get behind that," said Katie, "Problem is, how will we be able to keep track of who's really an adult afterwards?"
"I think I have an idea about that," said Bobby. The two of them talked over the idea of the experiment, each one able to point out little flaws in the other's suggestions until they've ironed it out.
Finally, Katie made her wish, "I wish that every kid below the age of 13 me or Bobby touch on this beach will age into a sexy 24 year old with reality around them adjusting to match and no one but me and Bobby noticing any changes. The changes will start 20 seconds after we've touched a kid and when me and Bobby leave the beach, they will change back when both of us say 'Release' and reality will shift back so no one will remember if anything happened at all."
After her wish was spoken, the ring glowed and both she and Bobby felt a tingle in their hands. Now they both had the ability to turn kids into adults with a simple touch so long as they were on the beach. With that, they started walking along the beach, looking for kids to try out this magic on.