“…About five years ago,” Victoria continued. “I was at the gym late one night. When I left I went to the parking garage to get my car. But when I got to my car I found a small child, no more than 3 years old, crying and wandering around with no guardian. I tried to ask the child, a boy, where his parents were, but he just would not stop crying. I was going to call the police, but I could not get a signal in the garage. After waiting about ten minutes and getting the child to calm down somewhat, I decided I would just take him to the nearest police station.” She stopped talking for a moment. A glass of water appeared on the table and she took a few sips. “If you want anything, you can wish for it, you know,” she said.
“I’m good,” I said slowly.
“Just as I was about to load the child into my car, another car came screeching into the garage and came to a noisy halt behind my own car. A very frantic looking woman got out of the car. The child immediately ran to her and called her ‘Mommy.’ I was relieved that the child and his mother were reunited. But the mother insisted upon giving me a token of appreciation. I assured her it was not necessary. She was absolutely insistent, however. She gave me a ring that she told me could grant wishes and when she put it on my finger, she made me wish that no one would ever be able to remove it. She thanked me again and was gone in a flash.” She looked at me. “Sound slightly familiar?” she asked.
I nodded and said, “Yea, but it was an old woman who…”
“I will get to that,” she cut me off. “I went home and did not give the ring a second thought. I was happy that the child and mother were reunited. Everything changed the next morning. I was running late to work. It was also raining hard and then I was stuck in traffic. I had totally forgotten about the ring by this time. Because of the situation I wished I had arrived at my job ten minutes prior to that time. With the blink of an eye I found myself sitting in my parking space at my office. I looked at the clock on the car and it was ten minutes earlier than it just had been. Fortunately, no one noticed. Because of the rain I made another wish that I was sitting in my office and no one would realize I had suddenly appeared there. That worked, too. I suddenly realized that the woman who gave me the ring told me the truth.”
“So how does that lead to all of this?” I asked. She gave me a stern look. “Sorry, forgot not to ask.”
She cleared her throat and continued, “This is where the story really begins. Later that day I was doing some shopping in the mall. The music that was playing was really loud and really annoying, so I wished for it to change. It did. I took a few steps and then suddenly everything around me stopped. Sound familiar again?” I nodded. “I was obviously mystified, just as you were. Then I heard a man say to me…”
“Such powers are not meant to be used with such frivolity,” another voice said.
Victoria looked annoyed. “That,” she finished her sentence.
I stood up in slight panic. Obviously I had just heard that voice, but there was no one else in the room. “Who said that?” I asked.