Cassandra was an average 18 year old girl walking home from the mall. It was a cloudy but pleasant day, yet the plain brunette's gaze was fixed down toward the sidewalk as she strode along.
Soon to head off to her state college at the end of the summer, Cass had had a rather unremarkable life up through high school. Nothing interesting ever happened to her or her friends. So it was a great surprise to here when her downcast gaze caught a golden glimmer from within a large crack on the sidewalk. She stopped, crouching down to get a closer look.
There in the cracked concrete sat a simple golden ring.
"Wow, it sure is beautiful," she murmured, picking it up and holding it flat in the palm of her hand. "I wonder if it's real gold?" She peered more closely at it.
The outer band was finely polished but unadorned. However, on the inner band, engraved in the gold, were 3 simple words.
"Make a wish." she read aloud, "Funny thing to get engraved."
She picked it up off her palm and slid it onto her right ring finger. It fit perfectly. Cass held out her hand and continued to stare at the ring, admiring how the gold looked on her hand. Cass felt the strangest sensation she did so, as if there was a small, warm coil of energy inside her, waiting to be released.
Her reverie was broken when a raindrop landed on the back of her hand, shortly followed by more. She tilted her head upwards, frowning. The pleasant weather wasn't holding up, grey clouds now dominated the sky. The rumble of thunder sounded in the distance.
"Of course" she said, "Can't ever just have something nice can I?" Still frowning, she peered down the road, she was still a good mile away from home, and the rain drops were getting heavier and more frequent.
Almost unbidden, the words of the ring's engraving flashed across her thoughts.
Make a wish.
Surely not. She thought to herself. You were lucky enough to find this, not like you're lucky enough to find a real magic ring.
She looked at the ring again thoughtfully. No hurt in trying though right? She glanced around nervously, making sure nobody was around to hear here. The darkening street was empty.
"Uhh," she said uncertainly, "I wish I was home."
Everything seemed to distort, objects and colors twisting around her until she found herself sitting on her bed. Despite being stationary, she felt as though she might topple over from the sheer enormity of what had just happened.
"Holy shit! It actually works!" she shouted.
"What works? Is everything alright" asked her mother, walking into her room with a look of concern on her face.
"Oh, uh, sorry, I was trying to get my computer to work," she lied quickly. Her mother's eyes flicked over to her computer, which sat on her desk a good 10 feet from where Cass was currently sitting, its screen dark.
"I wish for her to believe me and leave!" Cass muttered under her breath in a panic.
There was a sort of sparkle around her mother, and the curiosity and disbelief slid off her face immediately. She simply stated "Oh, well, alright then. You should dry yourself off, you're getting water on your bed." She then left the room without another word.
"It definitely works," Cass said in awe, staring at the ring on her finger, its gold color glinting in the soft light of her room.
First thing's first. She thought. "I wish I knew how many wishes this ring has."
Infinite.
The word sprang into her head, and a satisfied smile shone on her face. Endless possibilities now lay before her, maybe her life wouldn't be so dull now?