I stared at the young punk-turned-faith-fanatic in horror. To think that one person could have altered the universe and transformed this
kid and his mind was impossible. And yet, it happened before my very eyes! After letting these facts settle in, I turned my gaze to the
wielder of this incredible power. His name was Archibal Kensing. A Christian, like his victim, he was steadfast in his beliefs and slow to
accept change of any kind. He was also, unfortunately, a severe schizophrenic, and often looked behind him because he felt "the
presence of demons", and sometimes "Satan" himself. It would be most obvious to do something like this, but up to now, I hadn't even
believed him. Archie was my brother, and since childhood, I had always been told to look out for him, take care of him, and teach him
the ways of Christianity. We were both fairly devout as kids, so those were menial tasks to me. But at the age of thirteen, I secretly
made the switch to Atheism. No one knew, not even Archie. This explains his schizophrenia, as he had always suspected that I had
changed somehow, but he never could guess close to the mark. It took full swing when I was 16. He attacked me, claiming that I had a
demon attatched to me, and we never got along since then. Fastforward a few years and skip more than 100 different conspiracy
theories, we come to a week ago. You see, exactly one week ago, he told me he had been blessed from God with the power of an
object that could cleanse the world of all sin. Immediately dismissing any possibility of truth, I told him to find a way to show me that he
wasn't lying. He accepted his challenge, and set off to accomplish it. That brings us to today, and the transformation of Ian into a devout
Christian.
As I stared at Archie, he looked on at Ian, fairly impressed with his work.
"You see that Johnny? It's divine intervention at its finest! Imagine: no more crime; no more famine; no third-world countries; no war!
Nothing but pure, unwavering faith!" I shook my head in disbelief.
"No!" I said. He looked at me with his head cocked to the side and a quizzical look on his face.
"Look Archie, as nice as that sounds, that isn't what's supposed to happen!"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that every bad thing is here for a reason. Every missionary that goes to a third world country gets a convert that believes
stronger than even they do! Every man and woman that goes through a breakup or divorce praises God harder than they ever did
before when they meet the one that they're meant to be with!" Archie sat for a minute in dumbfounded silence. I could tell my little
speech was pulling a number on him.
"The thing that you have has the potential for good, but it also has the potential for evil! Just look at Ian's eyes: lifeless specks of grey
set into an expressionless face. That isn't faith! That's brainwashing!" Archie took in every word. My heat was going a million miles an
hour as he puzzled over my statement.
After pondering my words for a good 10 minutes, he sighed. Slowly, he pulled a small golden object from the inside of his coat.
"This is more useful in the hands of one that can withstand temptation." he said as he offered me the most powerful object in the world.
I took it and examined it. It was a small orb. About 6 inches in circumference, with an intricate design etched all around. I twisted it
around and, to my amazement, the etching kept changing as it spun. It was never the same sketch twice, even when it was twisted the
other way. Archie explained that the design was always different, and that every time he put it away, it would be different when he got it
out again. He also explained how it worked. All I had to do was grasp it in my hand and wish for or will something to happen. I sat there
and gazed at my newfound power and decided to try it out. I looked at Ian one last time, and made the wish for him to return to normal,
with no one but me, him, and Archie noticing anything different. That was my first use of the Orb, but not the last.
After transporting the three of us back to my house and sorting out Ian's confusion, I wished the two back to their respective homes
and looked at the Orb again. As I looked, I wished for my deepest and most secret dream to come true...