I spent the next little while daydreaming about the dangers and possibilities of the ring as my feet carried me down the block of their own accord. I had been this way so many times before. Eventually, the urban fortress called the mall loomed ahead. It wasn’t particularly busy today, with families and teens scurrying about their business in the parking lot much less than usual.
I wandered through the front door and found myself sitting down by one of the gaudy indoor fountains placed in the concourse.
Phewww, I thought. Here I am with unlimited power. It felt weird.
I began to watch strangers pass. It was an old past time of mine. I slowly began to think about what I could do with the ring. I checked my phone again and saw my bank balance was still billions of dollars. It began to occur to me that this thing was real and I could totally have fun with it too.
Fun...
Wait... could I... could I change *people* too?
My jaw dropped. I could totally change people! The thought was so weird and exciting that I began crowd gazing with renewed interest.
Hmmm. I caught a married couple walking by arguing, kids in tow. The husband was complaining about the wife spending his money on crap. Hey, now, you picked her for a reason buddy.
I wished the husband would be nicer to his wife.
“You know what, babe?” I caught him walking by. “I’m sorry. You’re right. The new necklace really doesn’t matter, you work so hard taking care of the kids.”
I didn’t catch the woman’s response as they walked out of my range, but she was clearly elated by the sudden change in her husband.
Holy shit! My eyes widened in shock. Okay, another one!
I saw three teen girls standing against a far wall pointing at another geekier looking girl with glasses who was struggling with a breaking shopping bag. Hmmm. They walked up to the other girl, bumped her over on purpose, and began to giggle hysterically as they walked away.
That called for something special. I got up from my bench and trailed behind, stopping to help the other upset girl with her broken bag and spilled clothing.
“Thanks, mister!” She smiled weakly.
“Do you know those other girls?” I asked.
“Yeah, they’re high schoolers who go to the same school as me. They’re bullies.”
“Well, hopefully they get what’s coming to them one day.” I shrugged. The young girl agreed, and happily skipped off with the help.
I began to trail the other three girls and caught them sitting down in the food court with smoothies and a basket of fries.
So. I looked down at my ring with a smirk.