"Ugh, I don't know I just can't stand him! I know its normal to just want your siblings to grow up, but I wish he'd do the exact opposite and stay where he is mentally! I wish he was completely dependent on others and helpless in every way. Can you imagine soiling yourself all day every day? It would be complete torture for him and what's more, I wish everyone thought he was a complete freak for it happening to him! Like his friends, and even mom and dad and everyone else in the family, were perpetually ashamed of how much of a freak he was, and disgusted by him... It would be so great Sally, he'd be completely outcast! Imagine them finding him in a diaper having already wet himself in fear and confusion as all his things become stuff for baby him."
"Wow Paige, plan this out much? You're going a little dark on me." Sally asked growing tired of Paige's monologue.
"Of course I've planned this out, he's my brat of a brother. I've been wishing he would revert back to incapacitated since he was a toddler. " both girls laughed. "But you're right, I wish all this stuff would happen but it won't... plus, I have better stuff to do with my time! Like ask you about Greg Martins! Did he ask you out yet?....."
Paige tossed the rock into the air and caught it without effort. She absentmindedly set it down and continued gushing with Sally.
In the other room, reality and perspective were melting. To anyone looking in, Gabe looked like he was having a severe panic attack and couldn't move while things around him shimmered out of existence and different things shimmered in. Gabe had crumpled to the floor, his eyes open, but he wasn't seeing anything.
Paige made a number of wishes, some vague, some specific, and some implied but not spoken except she wished it would all happen...
Gabe clutched his chest as multitudes of lifetimes worth of knowledge flooded into him. It started with crafting objects, how to make rope, how to tie knots, how to make watertight bowls... it eventually morphed into applicable survival techniques and then expanded exponentially until he was the most capable person in existence. Instead of being completely dependent, he was completely independent meaning he could accomplish practically anything he dedicated his mind to with enough time and resources on hand.
Machine repair? Chemistry? Accounting, statistics, martial arts, physiology, nano-science, self-defense, cooking, ancient Greek and all its dialects? Gabe knew it. The local political structure, crime rates for different areas, Kama Sutra, how to make top quality drugs and who to contact locally to optimize profits and minimize tractability? Acupuncture, homeopathy, and how to conduct a seance? Gabe knew it. Building codes, construction methods, least and most reputable businesses in a 5 town radius, who to call, at what time, at what number to accomplish something? Gabe knew it all.
Slowly, Gabe was able to get out of his head, it took around 85 minutes for him to regain awareness and not be completely engrossed in his own thoughts. The room he was in seemed unfamiliar but he barely noticed. There was a call for dinner time, female late thirties to mid forties by her voice. Gabe was able to tell it was his mother. This brought up an image of his mother in his mind, he immediately knew how to seduce her, murder her, both, and a wide assortment of manipulations in between, including the most successful way to force her into a Stockholm syndrome like state and how to most efficiently take over control of his family. He had a very strong urge to recoil, scream and yell, but it wouldn't help him in any way, so he didn't.
Paige walked by and looked in the room, "Hey, mom called dinner if you wanted some." She said pausing only for a second before continuing.
The same flood of thoughts entered Gabe's brain immediately, as well as a complete psychological profile and a detailed breakdown of Paige's value system. within a few seconds he was able to piece together what happened. He pissed Paige off, she wished he was harmless in some way while holding the rock, so he became extremely capable instead. Gabe realized how short-sighted and idiotically dangerous his curse was and decided he had to get that stone back.
The backfiring of her first wish (wishes) worked out in Gabe's favor, unfortunately he may have too much information... analyzing so much information is time consuming and mentally exhausting. What if she wished for world peace after seeing Schindler's list? Or flawless justice system for all after reading Shawshank redemption? What if she wished aliens would stay away after being creeped out from watching a "UFO's?" show on one of the cable stations? Bad stuff, that's what.
Gabe stood up awkwardly, every movement felt weird and unbalanced. He made his way across the hall to his sisters room. The floor seemed to feel softer than usual, it gave a little under his weight and the room shook with every step he took. Was this abnormal or was this just the first time he was noticing it? He saw the stone, replaced in its corner on the desk.
Gabe picked it up and closed his eyes and whispered, "I wish this stone would grant the opposite of whatever was wished for while holding or touching it." Unlike two hours ago, there was no reaction to indicate that anything changed. If this worked, the wishing stone would invert his wish, and then grant it meaning it would grant actual wishes. Gabe found a pencil on Paige's desk, "I wish this pencil would become a blue ball-point gel pen instead." The pencil shimmered and faded out of existence, replaced by a fancy, new, ball point gel pen.
"I wish nobody would notice Paige's wishing stone was missing and everyone would recognize this as a different stone." That was good but people could still touch the stone, Gabe thought with disappointment. "I wish that anybody other than me would avoid touching this stone at all costs unless I give them permission to do so, or I die." with an approving grunt Gabe decided it was safe enough for now and he should put it in his room and go to dinner.
He stepped across the hallway back to his room, getting to the doorway, he was greeted with an unfamiliar, clean, and masculine scent. As he looked into the room, all his things were gone... no... replaced. Gabe had a vague sense of ownership over this space but was not familiar with the contents. His toys, were gone, replaced by... stacks of diplomas and certificates.
Gabe set the rock on a dresser, it was the only decorative item in the room and felt entirely out of place in this space. He moved over to the bookshelf reading the titles of the books and realizing he knew all the contents and could give supporting and contradictory references for each concept contained in the books. "Gabe, Dinners on the table! Come and eat!" Mom called jarring him out of his thoughts.
"Thank you. I'll be just a few more minutes." he replied in an unfamiliar deep voice. Putting his hand to his throat, his hand felt his throat had stubble, and his throat felt that his hand seemed huge and meaty. "What the?" It has been all of 3 minutes since Gabe regained coherent consciousness and each of those 180 seconds were filled with a new revelation of some kind.
Gabe walked to the bathroom, grabbing the wishing stone as he left his room. He paused before looking in the mirror, mentally preparing himself for whatever he may find. He stepped in front of the mirror with his eyes closed. He did an inverted blink where he opened his eyes for a fraction of a second so his brain won't be flooded with all the information all at once.
He was taller, bigger, and now had a beard shadow on his face though he didn't have time to catch any features. Cautiously he opened his eyes and as expected he was flooded with information. Based on the average american door height being around 6'8'' Gabe knew he was around 6'1'', as though he had been a builder his whole life. Looking at his face, he was somewhere between 22 and 24. He lifted his shirt to find he was blessed with an athletic build, 6 pack abs, and healthy dusting of body hair that connected to his beard area. He was a very lean and probably weighed around 220 lbs.
"What's going on?" Gabe mumbled to himself, eyeing the wishing stone. He had already put together that the original wish was to incapacitate him, now he put together how he was to be incapacitated, but what else changed? Picking up the stone, "I wish I knew my sisters wish as it was granted as opposed to how it was spoken."
The thoughts pushed their way into his brain as though Paige was speaking them to him, though the voice lacked emotion or emphasis. "I wish he would grow up including mentally, That he was completely independent and never in need of help. That he wouldn't soil himself, that he and these changes are well accepted by everyone and causing pride in friends and family, and that his things would become appropriate for him as an adult."
"GABE! Dinner!" Mom was growing impatient.
"At least now I know people won't freak out when they see me." Gabe commented to himself. "COMING." He called to his mother. He replaced the stone on his dresser, and headed downstairs.
(Sorry I ended up defining so much about him. I realize he may seem practically perfect with all the skills and a hot young body, but I believe there is still plenty of room to keep the story interesting. For example personality flaws can creep in, and although he has a huge knowledge base, that doesn't make him perfect. we can all make a mistake now and then!. On the bright side, I didn't define his new independent life, and didnt tell you about the travel suitcase in the closet that was formerly his room. If you want to take the story there, despite whatever his original orientation was, he's pan-sexual now as part of his capability enhancements from the wish.)