The woman was nobody! I had just made some random chick naked in the middle of the street!
Fuck! My eyes widened in a sudden terrified realization and I was suddenly painfully aware of screams and jeers around me as a small crowd began to gather around the poor random girl. Guys were pointing and snapping pics on their phone. The girl was in tears and trying desperately to cover her shame.
Fuck! Fuck! I did the only thing that I could, I bolted down the street and ran into an alley. Panting, sweaty, I stood with my back to the old stained brick between two office buildings and tried to comprehend what the hell just happened. I looked down at the ring on my finger. My jaw dropped.
The old lady. Fondest wishes. Shit! It was real!
It was real!! My eyes almost popped out of my head and my sweating intensified.
Shit, shit, shit! That poor girl! I suddenly felt intense shame. I wish I hadn't of done that! I wish I hadn't...
There was a strange calm that emerged. Hesitantly, I stepped out of the alley and saw business as usual. To my shock, I saw the same girl, fully clothed, chatting on her phone as she walked on the other side of the street. It was like nothing had happened.
Because it hadn't! I had undone it with another wish.
"Holy shit." I whispered to myself, once again staring at the ring on my finger in a kind of wowed reverance. All at once, I realized the power I now possessed.
Slowly, I began walking down the street again like nothing had happened. Which, of course, was true. I thought of all the things I could do. I imagined wealth, power, and hot girls. Part of me wondered if I could change the world. Part of me wondered if I could change myself. Too much to process. Too overwhelming. I ducked into a coffee shop to get my shit together and ordered a black coffee.
I sat in the corner, alone, and contemplated. Well... there was only one way to find out.
"I wish I knew what this ring was capable of," I whispered quietly. All at once, I was hit by fever visions of flowing cosmic forces bending to my will. The ability to control time, space, matter, and energy as I pleased. Human and animal flesh and mind under my control. I could make the world... or destroy it. Pure and unlimited power at my very fingertip. I felt a wave of nausea coming and ran to the bathroom in the back to puke my guts out.
Rising from the toilet and turning to clean myself up, I stared into the mirror and saw my sunken eyes and pale face. I raised the ring and turned it casually. Why me? Who was the old lady?
I gulped. I wished I knew who the old lady was. To my sudden shock she was standing right beside me, clutching her purse patiently in front of her.
"What the..." I began, and turned to stare at her with disbelief.
"A traveller, child." The old lady said with a smile. "That's all I am. When you've been around for as long as I have, you tend to get bored. Need to spice things up a little." She punctuated this with a chuckle.
I stared at the door to the men's room nervously and she waved her hand, sensing my thoughts.
"Pay that no mind," She said dismissively. "I've stopped time. Now, you had some questions, did you?"
"Why me?" I said gruffly, my throat sore from purging breakfast.
"You know," she said thoughtfully, putting a finger to her wrinkled lips. "You're the only one over these many years that has returned my belongings. You kids today, I tell you, most just take the two thousand dollars and leave the handbag. But, you didn't even look inside, did you?"
"N-No." I eyed her purse suspiciously.
"Exactly." She smiled. "So perhaps it was fate."
"What do... I do?" I gulped.
"Whatever you wish." She shrugged casually. "Be creative! Good, bad, nice, naughty. Either way, child, I'm expecting a good show."
"What are you?" I asked again, hesitantly, whispering.
"As I said..." She whispered back calmly, patiently. "A traveller," she winked, her dim blue eyes seeming to light up.
I opened my mouth to say something else, just as the woman vanished in a blink. Startled, I looked around the dingy bathroom just as the door swung open and a rough looking construction worker stepped in, eyeing me oddly.
"You lose somethin', pal?" The man laughed, and proceeded to the urinal to unzip and drip.
I said nothing, retreating from the can and sitting back at my lonely and cooling coffee.
"Huh." I said, taking a sip and processing the encounter with the old lady.
A strange smirk formed on my face and I looked around the coffee shop, suddenly intrigued. "Huh!" I grunted again, and looked back to my finger once more.