You sigh you're sitting in the hot sun sweating in the sweltering humidity. You're stuck here all day for the town's ANNUAL PICNIC as proclaimed on the banner strung nearby. Your big brother Doug and his friends are playing football--earlier you had asked to play and they had used their bigger bodies on you as their tackling dummy. Then Doug had ordered you to finish unloading the car and watch the stuff until the rest of the family gets here around noon. They wanted a good spot so you're here at seven in the morning. You sigh and start to unload the heavy baskets and boxes, while your big brother plays.
As you sit there on the blanket, you notice a column of ants marching by. You notice that among the uniform black medium sized ants are a few brown and red and black ants of different sizes. You remember from your science class that ants will capture and enslave other ants. Sometimes your brother and his buds make you feel like a slave. You look over at the dozen 19-22 year olds playing football, most like your brother are only wearing shorts, but a few have on t-shirts. Their hot muscular bodies are glistening with sweat. You look down at the ants and wish that your brother and his friends could spend a day slaving away the day like those ants. There is a squeal from the lawn. You glance up and see the young men running toward you, but they seem farther away as they run...
You sit up for a better view, Doug is about 3 feet away but he's now less than 2 feet tall. He struggles to hold up his tent like shorts which are dragging on the grass. His voice squeaks something about calling 911, and suddenly he's gone, just his shorts are there. You look around it's still early and no one else seems to have noticed that the young men all shrank out of sight. You get up and go pick up the socks, shoes, shorts, jocks, and shirts that are scattered on the lawn. You think a couple times that you see bits of human colored specks moving amongs the grass. After you've stowed their clothes in your brother's trunk, you return to your spot on the blanket to think about what had happened. You feel certain that your wish was somehow responsible.
You glance down at the ant column still marching by, and notice a dozen flesh colored ants carry bread crumbs and seeds on their backs, as overseer ants stand guard. You lean close, sure enough, these new ants only have four limbs. You grin, your brother and his friends are going to spend the day as ants slaves. You wonder why your wish came true, and at the same time are concerned about how it could have come true. Instead of shrinking your brother and his buds, the way your wish was worded it could have created giant ants that would have enslaved the whole town as well as Doug and company.
You lay on your back contemplating your next wish.
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The night before a thief had stolen the magic wishing stone from the wealthy recluse who lived on the huge estate between the town and the sea. He didn't know it was a wishing stone, he just knew it was in the vault with a dozen other precious gems. Sirens echoed through the night, and his car broke down right by this park. The thief carrying the stones had decided to burying them and come back later. He had just finished as a police cruiser came through the park shining it's search light. Standing over the stones, the thief wished that he could have lived his life over again. Instantly, his perspective had shifted. He let out at wail as he went from being a 6' tall 39 year old man to a 16" bouncing baby boy. The police officers rescued the abandoned baby, and Officer Dinsmore (age 34) asked if no one was found to care for it that he and his wife be allowed to adopt him, since they could have no children of their own.