This is a series of vignettes about the magic idols from the Monkey Gods stories. There is TG in this story, but it is not the primary focus of most of the chapters, which were originally posted as a serial story on my Yahoo group.

Part 1

The chirping of a bird filled the air abruptly breaking the silence which had ruled the room. The little parakeet frantically bounced around its cage as though sensing that something powerful and momentous was about to occur.

On the other side of the dorm room, 19 year old college student Michelle sat and stared in thoughtful silence at the strange object sitting on her desk. It was a small marble figurine of a monkey sitting in the lotus position. The figurine looked silly but Michelle was well aware that it was far more than it first appeared.

"Let's see," Michelle spoke, making her first noise in half an hour.

Michelle quickly glanced to her noisy parakeet wishing it would be quiet. It was hard thinking with it making such a racket and at the moment she needed her thoughts to be clear. She couldn't make any mistakes at all with this once in a lifetime opportunity.

It was hard to believe that Michelle had found this marble monkey just a few hours ago in the most unlikely of places. It had been under the wheel of her tire and she hadn't even known it was there until she'd backed out of her parking space and had gone right over it...feeling the bump as she did so. Of course she'd immediately gotten out of her car to see what she'd run over and...and there it was. It hadn't even been broken or damaged at all by her running over it though that was hardly the most amazing thing about the figurine.

When Michelle had picked up the marble monkey it had actually spoken to her...or at least somehow put words directly into her mind. It hadn't said anything at all since but she wasn't about to forget what it had told her. It had told her that she could make three wishes then it would grant two of them to her and one to the next wisher.

Once Michelle had gotten over her initial shock and disbelief she'd spent the last half hour thinking about what she could possibly wish for...and how she could word the wishes. After all, everyone heard about monkey paw wishes...ones that were twisted in ways you didn't intend.

"But not for me," she said, sure that her wishes would work out the way she intended them. Even if the monkey told her she'd only get two of them.

Michelle took a deep breath then began to carefully recite her wishes, trying to be specific so that they wouldn't come back to bite her. She felt extremely nervous as she finished but also incredibly excited.

The moment Michelle finished making her third wish she felt a strange tingling rush through her entire body. Every hair on her body no matter how fine all stood up at once as thought caught in a massive surge of static electricity

Suddenly, Michelle felt a surge of new information flooding into her mind. She gasped in shock though she already knew what this was. This was one of her three wishes being granted. Now she knew everything she would need in order to earn straight A's in all of her classes for the rest of the year.

Then Michelle noticed something glittering from the corner of her eye and turned to see gold and diamonds spread out all over the floor. There was a pile of jewelry, an exact and perfect copy of each piece of jewelry in her favorite jewelry store. Nothing was stolen from them so there was no crime and she could keep the pieces she wanted and sell the rest for enough money to last her a long time. The jewelry might be more difficult to use than just cash but it was also less likely to be called counterfeit and get her in trouble.

As delighted as Michelle was by this new knowledge and wealth, she was also disappointed by which of her three wishes the monkey had chosen not to grant. The truth was, that one could have been the most useful of them all.

It was then that Michelle suddenly realized that the magic wasn't done with her quite yet. She could feel a tingling along her skin and had just noticed that her body was starting to change. Her clothes were starting to become loose as well.

"What the...?" Michelle gasped in shock, confused by what was happening to her body. "This isn't what I wished for..." She felt a frantic panic as she looked at herself, as she saw how she was changing. This certainly wasn't her third wish. "What's happening to me?"

When Michelle finished changing mere seconds later, she immediately turned to the marble monkey to demand answers. But to her further surprise the monkey figurine was no longer sitting on her desk where she'd left it. She quickly looked around but saw no sign of where it could have possibly gone.

"Oh no," Michelle gasped in horror as she looked over her transformed body, "Oh no..." Then she took one more look at the empty spot which had previously been occupied by that marble monkey and screamed.

--------------------

The sound of birds filled the air as two crows cawed back and forth, almost seeming to compete for which could be the loudest. Unfortunately, neither one seemed to be near their limit or appeared as though they would submit anytime soon.

Sixteen year old Cal scowled as he walked past the obnoxious birds, wishing they'd be quiet for once. It seemed that there were almost always a couple of birds creating a racket from the same tree nearly every day when he walked home from school.

"Maybe I should ask for a BB gun for Christmas," he mused, thinking about how much fun it would be to quiet the crows for once.

As it was, there was almost no way Cal would be able to hear his cell phone ring if anyone called him. Specifically, Cal was waiting for his friend Dave to call with plans to sneak out after dark so they could TP a tree in the yard of Dave's asshole neighbor.

"That's gonna be fun," Cal grinned mischieviously, remembering the way that neighbor had refused to let them get a football that had accidentally ended up on his roof during a game of catch.

Cal continued thinking about the plans he and Dave had...thinking that perhaps they should fork the yard too. He'd never done that before but he'd heard it was a great prank.

Just then, Cal noticed a small object on the sidewalk just a few yards ahead of him. His first thought was that it was just a rock but when he got close enough to kick it out of his way he realized that it was something else. Cal bent over and saw that it was actually some sort of white rock or ceramic figurine made to look like a monkey.

"Some kind of cheap trinket," Cal muttered, thinking of all the little decorations his mom had all over the house or the junk that was usually sold at garage sales for just a quarter.

At first Cal was just going to leave the monkey figurine where he'd found it and keep walking but then he got curious. Maybe it was one of those collectible knick knacks that looked just like the cheap ones but were for some unexplainable reason a lot more expensive. It might even make a decent birthday present for his mom since she liked that kind of thing.

Cal picked up the monkey figurine and held it up for a closer look, not being any more impressed than he was with his first look. Now he could see some faint dark streaks through the white stone and the fact that it had two green gems for eyes. Probably cheap plastic, Cal thought absently. It still looked like cheap junk to him.

But then Cal suddenly heard words...more in his head than with his ears. "You may make three wishes," the voice told him inside his head, seeming somehow to actually be coming from the monkey. "Two of these wishes shall be granted to thee and one shall be granted to the next wisher?"

"What the hell?" Cal gasped in surprise, dropping the monkey to the ground where it bounced once off the sidewalk before landing in the grass beside it.

Cal just stood there for a moment staring down at the figurine in disbelief, sure that he must have imagined this. However, he knew that he hadn't. He really had heard it talking to him in his mind.

"Three wishes," he licked his lips then bent down and carefully picked the monkey up again. There were no chips or signs of damage from his dropping it onto the sidewalk. "What do you mean about granting two of them...?" However, there was no response or indication that this was anything other than a normal inanimate trinket.

Cal licked his lips, tempted to make his wishes right away but knowing it might be better to at least think about it a bit more so he could be sure about what he wanted. Well, there was one wish he already knew he was going to make for sure but that still left two others.

"I can't believe this," Cal muttered as he clutched the monkey figurine tight in his hand and hurried home with all thoughts of his prank with Dave or even the annoying crows forgotten.

As soon as Cal got home he rushed into his bedroom and locked the door behind him. When he was sure he wouldn't be interrupted by his parents or his older brother Greg he sat down on his bed and examined the monkey figurine in more detail.

"Hello," Cal introduced himself to the monkey, "My name is Cal..." He felt foolish for talking to an inanimate object like that. Then he had an idea, "Are you some kind of genie in there?" However, there was still no response.

After a minute of trying in vain to get the monkey to talk again, Cal was beginning to doubt himself. Maybe he had imagined the thing with the voice in his head. Then again, it certainly wouldn't hurt to make his wishes anyway.

Cal started with the obvious wish, the one he'd known he'd make the moment he'd heard the offer of wishes. "I wish my uncle Peter didn't have cancer anymore."

There was no sign that the monkey had heard or acknowledged this first wish, nor did Cal really expect any. It had proven itself to be very good at looking like an ordinary carved rock.

"I wish," Cal started with a grin, "I wish I was tall and had big muscles like a body builder."

Cal chuckled in delight as he imagined being tall and muscular. He'd be the envy of all the guys and would have all the girls throwing themselves at him. And of course, no one would EVER mess with him again.

Then for his third wish, Cal already knew what he wanted. "I wish my dad would buy me a car..." As soon as the words left Cal's mouth he realized that he hadn't worded it quite right and could do even better. "I mean a Porsche. I wish I had a Porsche."

The monkey figurine grew warm in Cal's hand...then it was suddenly gone. There was no flash of light...no puff of smoke...not even a single sound to indicate it was gone. It second it was held tightly in his grip and the next it was no longer there.

"What the hell?" Cal gasped in surprise, staring at his empty hand in confusion, "Where'd it go?"

For several seconds Cal just sat there, staring at his hand with a growing feeling of disappointment. This had seemed so anticlimactic. He'd expected more after making his wish. He'd expected some big flash of light or puff of smoke as his wishes were all granted...or maybe even a big thunderous voice in his head saying 'GRANTED". But there was nothing. There was no sign his wishes had been granted or even that the monkey had ever been there in the first place.

"Damn," Cal scowled, feeling as though he'd just been cheated. He looked down at himself and snorted in disgust, "Where are all my muscles?" He shook his head, "That stupid thing cheated me."

Cal spent the next half hour in his room, sure that he must have been the victim of some practical joke. Maybe someone was video taping him to catch him making a fool of himself by actually falling for it and making three wishes. But when he looked around his room there was no camera. Of course, any practical joker could have expected him to have made his wishes right there out on the sidewalk. If that was the case he'd at least kept them from recording him actually making the wishes.

Once Cal had calmed down, he decided to go get an after school snack. He left his room and headed straight for the kitchen, hoping they still had some Oreo's left in the cupboard.

Just as Cal reached the kitchen though and was about to search the cupboard, he heard his dad's voice, "Hey Calvin. How was school today?"

Cal turned to look at his dad who'd just come home from work, "All right," he said with a shrug.

"Good," his dad responded with a nod, obviously not too interested in the details but wanting to be polite.

"You know," Cal's dad mused, "I got to thinking that you're sixteen now..." He shook his head, "It’s amazing how fast time goes by..."

"Yeah," Cal forced a smile, not wanting to hear another talk about no matter how old he got he'd always remain a little boy in his dad's eyes.

"Well," his dad grinned, "I think it's time you got your own car." He winked at Cal, "Maybe having your own car will motivate you to finish that drivers test and get your license."

"What?" Cal gasped, staring at his dad in amazement, "You're serious?"

"Of course," his dad grinned, "We'll go out looking for a used car for you on Saturday. How does that sound?"

Cal gulped, feeling almost dizzy. Before this his dad had always told him that if he wanted a car he could get a job and save up for it on his own. This was a complete turnaround and Cal could only think of one place it could have come from.

"How about a Porsche?" Cal asked eagerly.

"Sure," his dad responded, making Cal grin in delight until he added, "Once you make enough to buy it yourself. If I could afford a Porsche don't you think I'd be driving one myself?"

Cal felt nearly dizzy as he returned to his room, his delight about the wishes having returned. It looked like his wishes were actually being granted...even if the monkey didn't accept the change he'd tried making to his last wish.

But as happy as Cal was at having one of his wishes granted, he still wondered about the other two. Fortunately, a few hours later he had more good news when he overheard his parents talking.

“I just got off the phone with my brother Peter," Cal overheard his dad saying, "He said that he just suddenly started feeling great...that all the aches and dizziness just went away." There was a note of relief in his dad's voice as he continued, "He says he hasn't felt this good since before he got sick."

Cal grinned to himself when he overheard this, feeling quite pleased that he'd made that wish. It looked like his uncle Peter no longer had cancer...even if he didn't know it himself yet.

Cal was delighted that two of his wishes had indeed been granted so far, but there was still no sign of him growing taller or more muscular. Maybe that wish would be granted by him suddenly having a growth spurt and growing over the next year or two so no one would think anything strange about it...such as if he suddenly changed all at once.

"That would be all right too," Cal sighed, knowing that he'd rather grow all at once rather than waiting for it. But as long as he got what he wanted it would be worth it.

However, Cal began thinking about what the monkey had actually told him when it said he could make three wishes. Now that he thought about it he remembered that after it had said he could make three wishes it said something about granting two wishes. Cal hadn't really been paying much attention to that part at the time, having been too focused on a weird voice in his head saying he could make three wishes.

"Maybe that means it's only going to grant two of my wishes," Cal mused to himself, feeling disappointed. He'd really wanted to get big and muscular. "But at least it fixed uncle Peter..." For that he was very grateful.

Cal had a hard time containing his excitement and keeping himself from blurting out to his dad that uncle Peter was not only feeling better but was completely cured of cancer. He was well aware of the fact that his parents wouldn't believe his claims or any claims that he'd found a magic monkey figurine that granted wishes. Besides, he didn't want any extra attention from his parents when he still had other plans for the night.

Cal went to bed at his normal time though he was careful not to go to sleep. He waited for a good hour after going to bed before quietly climbing out from under his covers and getting dressed again. A quick look at his clock revealed that he was right on schedule.

"I wonder if I should tell Dave about the wishes," Cal mused to himself, imagining his friend's reaction. Unfortunately, he decided Dave would call him nuts and wouldn't believe it. "At least I can tell him my dad is buying me a car. That should impress him."

A minute later Cal climbed out his window and got away from his house under the cover of darkness. He made his way as fast as he could to Dave's house, wishing that he already had his car so it would be faster or at least that he hadn't decided last year that he was too grown up to keep riding a bicycle.

When Cal reached Dave's house his friend was already waiting for him outside. Dave gestured for Cal to be quiet then held up a roll of toilet paper to show that he was prepared for their practical joke.

"About time you got here," Dave whispered to Cal, looking annoyed.

Cal shrugged, "Sue me."

Then Cal paused, staring at Dave with a frown. Cal wasn't sure why but he felt something strange when he looked at Dave. It was almost like he could feel Dave with his mind and all he had to do was reach out and touch him.

"Are you ready?" Dave asked, breaking Cal out of his strange thoughts.

"Yeah," Cal scowled, feeling embarrassed at what he'd been thinking.

Cal shook his head to clear it of such weird ideas and instead turned his attention to the task at hand. He followed Dave next door where the two boys began to toss the roll of toilet paper over the trees and brushes in the neighbor's yard, leaving long trails of toilet paper behind when they did so.

"It's like playing catch," Cal called out to Dave, thinking about the game of catch with football which had started this feud with the neighbor to begin with. He threw the roll of toilet paper to Dave or at least what was left of it.

Just then the front door opened and the neighbor stepped out, demanding, "Who's there?"

Each of the boys immediately dove for cover with Dave jumping over the fence into his own yard while Cal was left behind to hide behind a large toilet paper covered shrub.

"Who's there?" the neighbor demanded again, this time more angrily as he saw his yard, "What the hell did you do to my yard...?"

Cal gulped, afraid that the neighbor would see and recognize him. The last thing he wanted to do was explain this to his parents. He glanced around the bush and saw Dave's neighbor still standing at his doorway, a grumpy middle-aged man who had to be in his late forties.

"No," Cal gasped, suddenly realizing that he could somehow feel this man...the same way he'd left Dave earlier. Cal could feel the man's presence in his mind...could almost touch it.

Then Cal suddenly began to feel a strange tingling over his entire body. It happened so fast that Cal had no idea what was going on, only that his body seemed to be changing. Mere seconds after this tingling started it stopped but he was left with an entirely different sensation...one of being in a stranger’s body.

Cal could barely see himself as he hid in the darkness behind the bush but he could feel that his body was changed. He gasped in shock and staggered out from the bush and into the light provided by the yard light. He was barely even aware of the man standing in the front door as all his attention went down to his own body.

"What the hell?" Cal gasped in shock.

The first thing that Cal saw when he looked down was a pair of large bulges pushing out from the front of his chest, straining his shirt to nearly the bursting point. It wasn't even the shirt he was wearing minutes ago but some silky red blouse. But that seemed appropriate because as he looked down the rest of his clothes had changed as well. Instead of his pants he was wearing a knee length skirt. And instead of his tennis shoes he was wearing a pair of black women's shoes with a slight heel.

"Oh God," Cal winced in horror, feeling extremely confused.

Cal immediately knew that not only had his clothes changed but so had his body. From what little he saw he actually had a body to go with the clothes...with sexy looking ladies legs and a generous pair of breasts. He shook his head in disbelief and felt long hair tickling his shoulders.

Before Cal could make any sense at all about what was happening to him, Dave's neighbor called out, "Catherine? Is that you?" He sounded completely shocked but not nearly as shocked as Cal felt.

Cal stared at the man feeling almost as horrified at being seen like this as he did for being like this. There was a look of recognition, shock, and disbelief on the man's face as he stared at Cal...looking almost as though he'd just seen a ghost.

And at that moment Cal suddenly realized that he could not only feel the man now...but could feel them somehow being connected. He was somehow connected to the man who took several hesitant steps towards him.

Cal immediately turned and started to run in the opposite direction Dave had. He ran away from the man's yard while calls of "Catherine," followed behind him. His pursuer seemed too shocked to actually follow him far so Cal quickly lost him.

"Oh God," Cal exclaimed, hearing a woman's voice instead of his own.

Cal closed his eyes, fully aware of the strange feeling and balance of his body. He could even feel himself still being connected to that man somehow. He winced and mentally pulled himself away, feeling that mental connection snapping and the man's presence vanishing from his mind entirely.

Then Cal suddenly felt it again, the same tingling sensation which had hit him earlier when he'd so unexpectedly been transformed. The wave of transformation rushed over him again and like before had passed entirely in mere seconds. When those seconds were over though Cal was back to his own body and shape once more.

"That was impossible," Cal whispered, patting his chest which had become flat once again. He looked over himself, seeing that his clothes were back to normal and there was nothing to indicate he had ever gone through such a change. It was almost as though it had all been in his mind...though he was sure it hadn't been. It had been no more a figment of his imagination than the monkey's offer of wishes. "That monkey thing did this to me..." He was sure of it. But he had no idea of how or why. "I didn't wish for anything like that."

Cal shook his head again then realized that he'd entirely forgotten about Dave. Of course Dave had escaped the wrath of his neighbor when he'd gotten back to his own yard before even being seen. He'd left Cal behind to face the risk of being caught alone.

For a brief moment Cal was tempted to go back to Dave's place and let his friend know that he'd escaped being caught...even if not saying how. He didn't think Dave would believe him on that. But then he decided that it could wait for tomorrow.

"Man it's been a weird day," Cal sighed as he started walking home.

First there was that magic wish granting monkey figurine and then turning into a chick which had fortunately worn off after only a few minutes. He just couldn't figure out why it had happened in the first place since he hadn't wished for anything of the sort.

"Well, it's all over now," Cal grinned, thinking of both his forthcoming new car and his uncle Peter's good health. He might have been turned into a girl for a few minutes...a few very scary minutes, but now he was back to normal and that was a small price to pay for the two wishes he had been granted. "I don't think I'll ever have a day this weird again..."

However, a faint voice whispered in the back of Cal's mind that it might be a good idea to knock on wood because you never know what the future might hold.

Part 2

Cal yawned as he trudged along the sidewalk on the way to school, regretting that he'd stayed out so late the night before. He sighed, wishing that he and Dave had decided to wait until the weekend to play their practical joke on Dave's neighbor.

Cal tried not to think much about the events of the night before but he couldn't help it. It wasn't the staying out late on a school night which bothered him the most...though it certainly left him tired at the moment. It was the weird change he'd gone through when he looked at Dave's neighbor.

"I'm lucky I didn't get caught," he told himself grimly, realizing the irony of the fact that his inexplicable transformation into a girl had probably saved him from being caught...or at least recognized. "I'm just glad it wore off."

With a shake of his head Cal tried turning his thoughts to something a little nicer...like the car his dad was going to buy him. He smiled at that, thinking it would be nice not having to walk to school anymore. Of course, he still had to get his license and he doubted his dad would pay for gas or insurance which would mean getting a job as well. That would be a pain but a small price to pay for the car.

"And I still never got to tell Dave about the car either," he muttered to himself. Of course, he'd just have to rectify that today in school.

When Cal arrived at school a short time later he was startled to suddenly realize that he could sense another presence... No, he could feel several people around him just the way he'd been able to feel Dave and the neighbor with just his mind.

"Oh shit," Cal gulped as he realized that the weirdness that had happened last night wasn't really over.

Cal quickly walked through the crowed of other students, trying to ignore this strange awareness. All he had to do was look at a boy in his way and he became aware of the other boys presence. In fact, he felt almost as though he could reach out and touch them with his mind though he was very careful not to do that since he remembered what happened last night when he'd done that with Dave's neighbor.

Once Cal reached his classroom and took a seat he let out a sigh of relief. He could still feel some of the people around him, especially the boy sitting directly in front of him, but he didn't feel nearly as overwhelmed.

Cal scowled in annoyance, confused by this strange awareness he was having of other people and disliking that feeling of confusion. He was tempted to mentally touch one of these people...like the boy sitting in front of him in order to explore this awareness and contact. However, he remembered what happened when he'd mentally connected to Dave's neighbor the night before and shuddered, not wanting a repeat of that.

As Cal sat through class, he finally noticed that it was only the boys he was feeling like this. When he stared at another boy in class he could feel their presence more strongly but when he stared at a girl...nothing. For some reason it was only the boys he was sensing near him that way.

"This makes no sense," Cal muttered to himself, unable to understand why this was happening to him. He had no doubt that it was caused by that strange white monkey figurine that had granted his wishes yesterday but this was certainly not anything that he'd wished. All he could figure was that maybe it had something to do with what the monkey had told him...after he'd gotten so stunned by the fact that it actually was talking and offering wishes that he'd stopped paying attention to what else it was saying. "I wish I'd listened more..."

Cal was impatient for class to end, looking forward to the next class which he shared with Dave. He wasn't sure if he wanted to talk to Dave about all this weirdness yet but he definitely wanted to talk to him about last night and what had happened. Cal wanted to give Dave some shit for running off and leaving him behind like that...and maybe make sure Dave hadn't gotten caught sneaking back into his house.

The moment the bell rang announcing the end of the class Cal was already rushing out the door. But seconds later when he was in the hall surrounded by students...surrounded by boys whom he could sense the presence of in his head, he wished he'd stayed behind.

"Damn," Cal cursed in annoyance. It wasn't as though this was painful, but it was far too strange sensing other people like this...especially boys. It seemed sort of gay to feel guys like this especially when he thought about the way he'd turned into a girl for a few minutes last night.

Cal went to the nearest bathroom, relieved to feel the people fade away. Their presence only seemed to remain in his mind as long as he was fairly close to them. There was only one other boy in the bathroom at that moment so Cal didn't feel quite so crowded as he did in the hall or even in class.

Still, Cal sat down in the stall and closed the door just so he could feel as though he had some real privacy. He could still feel the other boy who was washing his hands at the sink though now that he was out of sight his presence was starting to fade from Cal's mind.

Then on an impulse Cal mentally reached out to see if he could still feel the boy. He made mental contact and an instant later felt the strange tingling rush through his body exactly as it had last night.

"Oh no," Cal gasped then immediately clamped a hand over his mouth in the hopes that he hadn't been heard. It had been the voice of a girl.

Cal remained frozen in shock, relieved when he heard the other boy leaving the bathroom. However, he could still feel the boy’s presence and the link that now connected them even though the boy had gone beyond what seemed to be Cal's normal range.

"At least he's gone," Cal muttered, looking down at his hands and seeing that they were indeed girl hands with long manicured nails and everything. However, the skin color was quite a bit more tan than he was used to seeing.

Cal was about to mentally break the link with the other boy since that had worked to change him back to normal last night, but he couldn't help but feeling curious. Since he was sure he could change back like he did last night just by breaking the link with the other boy, he no longer felt quite as worried. That left room for his curiosity about how he'd changed.

Cal looked down at himself and saw that he was indeed wearing girl clothes again but not the same ones as last night. His chest didn't feel quite as big either though the two lumps did stick out more than he was comfortable with.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Cal muttered.

Cal carefully stepped out from the bathroom stall, silently praying that no other boys came in right now. After all, he really didn't want to explain why he was in the boys bathroom while looking like a girl. However, he had to know what he looked like.

Cal looked into the mirror and saw a very beautiful Asian girl staring back at him. He was surprised at that and the fact that he was bustier than any Asian girl he'd ever actually seen before. He even had long black hair which went halfway down his back.

"Damn," Cal gasped in amazement, feeling a swirl of mixed emotions ranging from shock to curiosity.

But just then the door began to open again. Cal responded by immediately going back into the stall before the newcomer could actually enter and see him. At the same time, he had severed the link with the other boy and almost instantly felt himself turning back to normal.

As soon as Cal had finished changing back to normal he let out a sigh of relief. He quickly looked himself over just to double check that he was indeed back to normal, then he flushed the toilet for cover and came out of the stall.

"Back to normal...again," Cal muttered quietly to himself as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. He let out a sigh of relief and then left the bathroom and hurried to class.

When Cal reached his second period class he saw that Dave was already there and sitting in his normal seat. Cal slipped into his usual seat beside Dave and the two gave each other a conspiratorial look but didn't say anything for a full minute.

"Did you get caught?" Dave asked in a worried tone.

Cal hesitated a moment, not sure if being caught as a girl but not being recognized as himself really counted as being caught. "No," he whispered back, relieved by Dave's question. That he'd ask it only meant that he hadn't been watching Cal during the strange transformation.

"Me either," Dave responded in relief.

The two of them remained quiet for most of the class and only occasionally joked in whispers about Dave's neighbor and his reaction at finding the mess in his yard. Now that they both knew they'd gotten away with it they could enjoy the success of the prank.

Cal looked at Dave several times and was briefly tempted to tell his friend about the wish granting monkey and all the other strange things that happened since. However, each time he had to remind himself that there was no way to prove it short of turning into a girl in front of Dave and there was absolutely no way he was going to do something like that. That was just WAY too embarrassing to share with anyone.

Cal spent the next several classes trying to ignore the strange new awareness of other people near him though he couldn't resist experimenting with this new awareness as well. He discovered that if he concentrated on one boy he could stay aware of his presence even after he'd gone out of Cal's normal range. And he could do that without actually having to connect to them.

The more Cal thought about all this weirdness the more curious he became. Why was he sensing boys like this? Why did he turn into a girl whenever he mentally reached out and touched them? He had a lot of questions and there seemed to be only one way to get answers. He would have to experiment.

Cal waited until lunch time then went to one of the bathrooms and locked himself into a stall. He took several deep breaths, hardly able to believe he was actually going to do this willingly. Then he reached out and mentally touched one of the other boys in the bathroom.

Cal closed his eyes and tried not to make a sound as his body changed again. The transformation was extremely rapid and painless, finishing completely in mere seconds. Only then did he open his eyes and look down at his changed body.

It wasn't easy for Cal to keep from gasping loudly in response at his transformation. He even bit his hand to keep from blurting out, "Holy shit."

It was immediately obvious that he hadn't changed the same way as he had a few hours ago or last night. For one thing, his new breasts were enormous...maybe three times the size of earlier. It looked like he had a pair of basketballs sticking out of his chest and they were heavy enough that he had to grab the wall to keep from losing balance.

After cursing silently for nearly half a minute, Cal began looking over the rest of his body. He was a very shapely and sexy looking girl with obviously huge breasts and the body of a stripper. He even had the long blonde hair and very skimpy clothing to go with the image.

"Damn," Cal muttered, tempted to take off his clothes and check out his new body in more detail. However, he was sure that a boys bathroom in school was not the place for that kind of thing. He let go of his connection to the other boy and quickly changed back to his own body. "That was weird."

Cal waited a minute, took a deep breath, then mentally reached out and connected with another boy who'd just come in. He bit back a gasp as he transformed again, this time into a slender black woman. This form lasted for less than a minute though as he was curious to link to the next boy and then the next.

By the time lunch was over Cal had turned into a dozen different girls but still had no idea what any of them really looked like as he hadn't been able to use the mirror. There was absolutely no way he was coming out of the bathroom stall in the middle of lunch time when the bathroom was at its busiest so he'd had to make do with just quickly looking down at himself.

Cal was still curious about his new abilities as he left to the bathroom as his normal self in time to reach his next class, though he was no longer afraid. After all, it might be extremely embarrassing to turn into a girl but he could also turn that off and go back to normal anytime he wanted. He was starting to think of this less as a curse and more a power.

"Like a super power," Cal chuckled to himself as he thought of it. It was an embarrassing super power and not one that would make for a good super hero, but it was definitely some sort of weird super power.

During his next class, Cal sat back and looked at each boy in the room, wondering what kind of girl he'd been turned into if he connected to each of them. He still had no idea why he was changing so differently each time but he knew it had something to do with the person he was connected to.

Then Call looked at his teacher Mr. Bonner, immediately feeling his presence as well. Cal frowned thoughtfully, wondering what would happen if he connected to Mr. Bonner. Of course, he had absolutely no intention of doing this in class or anywhere else someone could see him. However, Cal realized that he could still satisfy his curiosity anyway as well as test something else about his new powers.

"Excuse me," Cal raised his hand, "I've got to go to the bathroom..." Then before Mr. Bonner could really say anything Cal hurried out of the room.

Cal could still feel Mr. Bonner's presence when he reached the bathroom, though not by much. Even though Cal had been concentrating on Mr. Bonner in order to keep sensing him the teacher's presence had still faded from Cal's awareness. He only hoped there was enough there to connect to.

Cal quickly looked to make sure the bathroom was empty then muttered, "Here goes nothing..." He stretched out with his mind to touch Mr. Bonner's presence, finding that it was a lot harder than any of the other times he'd done this. Of course, Mr. Bonner was quite a bit farther away too. Then Cal felt the connection form. "It's working..."

The transformation rippled through Cal's body far faster than he could possibly keep track of. As with every other time his body and clothes had all finished changing all within mere seconds.

"I'll never get used to that," he exclaimed with a shake of his head, feeling the long hair brushing his shoulders.

Then Cal turned his attention to the bathroom mirror to see what he'd become this time. This was only the second time he'd been able to actually see himself this way and he wasn't disappointed.

This time Cal had been transformed into a tall, sexy, and athletic looking woman with long black hair. What really caught Cal's attention this time was the way he was dressed. He had black stiletto heeled boots that went up over his knees, a black bikini bottom, and a black leather corset thing. Then there was the studded leather collar around his neck, the matching studded leather wrist bands, and the leather whip which was coiled up and hanging from a leather belt on his wrist.

"Damn," Cal blinked in surprise, "Kinky..."

Some very naughty thoughts about what one would do with an outfit like this quickly flew through Cal's mind. He was even tempted to take the whip and try snapping it a few times in the air to get into the act himself at least a little.

"But what if someone comes in?" Cal asked himself. He knew that it was unlikely someone else would come in on him since it was the middle of the class period, but it was still possible. "Damn."

With that, Cal released his connection to Mr. Bonner and felt himself quickly turn back to normal. He released a sigh of relief, still curious about why he kept changing into different girls whenever he connected to a different guy. None of his explanation gave any answers only more questions.

Cal quickly returned to class and slipped back into his normal routine of only half paying attention to what Mr. Bonner said. He was through with his experimenting for now though knew he'd go back to it sooner or later in an attempt to answer his questions and satisfy his curiosity.

Cal continued his normal routine for the rest of his classes, being careful to ignore the mental presence's he could sense from each boy. After all, he had no intention of accidentally turning into a girl again in front of other people. That would be a humiliation he'd never live down.

When the last bell of the day rang Cal immediately started towards the school exit with Dave. "I can't wait to see the look on my neighbor's face," Dave was going on, "I wonder if he'll ever figure out who did it..."

"I hope not," Cal told him, "I don't want to get grounded for sneaking out in the middle of the night and vandalizing someone's yard."

"Yeah," Dave shrugged with a broad grin, "But it'll be worth it. That'll teach him to let me get my football next time..."

Cal just nodded, looking at Dave and sensing his friend's presence yet again. Then he suddenly wondered what kind of a girl he might turn into if he let himself get connected to Dave. Cal knew it was a stupid idea...but he was still curious.

"Ah shit," Cal sighed, "I forgot something in my locker." He let out another exaggerated sigh. "I guess I'll see you later then."

"I can come with you," Dave responded with a shrug.

"No," Cal quickly tried to discourage him, "You don't want to miss your bus."

Dave just shrugged at that, obviously thinking about how it wasn't a long walk but how he just didn't feel like making it today. "Okay then," he finally relented, "See you later..."

Once Cal had gotten rid of Dave, he hurried to the bathroom at the far end of the school...the one he knew no one was likely to be in. At the same time, he was careful to keep feeling Dave's presence without actually connecting to it. It was a difficult balance made even more difficult by the fact that Dave was getting further and further away.

"Is there anyone in here?" Cal asked when he reached the bathroom and looked inside. The moment he saw there was no one else there he stretched out his mind to make the connection. It was difficult...even more difficult than it had been with Mr. Bonner. Somehow though he was able to do it and feel the mental connection form.

Cal held his breath as his body quickly transformed again, wondering what he'd become this time. He knew he'd have that answer if not any of the others in just a few seconds. When the transformation had finished mere seconds later he let out the breath he'd been holding.

"Who am I now?" Cal mused, turning to look in the mirror. His eyes went wide though as he immediately recognized the girl who looked back, "Holy shit."

This time Cal had transformed into a very pretty brunette girl whom he recognized as Brandy Collins from several of his classes. However, he didn't look exactly like Brandy. Instead, he somehow looked like a sexier version of her. After all, her breasts were maybe B cup and he was sure the ones he now had must be about a DD cup or something.

"I look so much like her," Cal whispered in amazement, "Except bigger..." He cupped his breasts, wondering what Brandy would think of having boobs that big. Of course Dave would like them. He had a crush on Brandy after all.

Suddenly Cal froze, realizing what he'd been thinking. He mentally connected to Dave and he happened to turn into a sexier version of the very girl Dave had a crush on. It couldn't be coincidence. Cal was sure of that.

Cal quickly glanced to the door, afraid that someone might come in again. He was about to release his connection to Dave so he could change back and go home, but then he had another idea. How long could he stay like this before he had to change back? Cal hesitated for a moment, then he quickly stepped out of the bathroom door as he currently was.

"Okay," Cal let out a sigh of relief when he saw that no one had seen a girl coming out of the boy's bathroom. "Everyone is already gone..."

Still, he couldn't help but feeling nervous and self-conscious. He was almost sure someone would jump out and laugh at him for it. But when Cal walked past several students and teachers in the hallway none of them gave him a second look...except perhaps to stare at his chest longer than was necessary.

Cal quickly left the school grounds and hurried home, still feeling self-conscious by the fact that he looked like Brandy but more confident that no one could possibly recognize him. As far as anyone else was concerned he was just another high school student walking home after class.

Cal had to keep himself from running, not wanting to stand out any more than a busty high school girl normally would. He passed the obnoxious crows and then the spot where he'd found the monkey figurine. Soon he'd be home.

"Damn these feel weird," Cal muttered to himself as he thought of the way his breasts jiggled as he walked. He blushed at the thought and wished he could take off his clothes for a better look. "Maybe I can in just a bit..."

When Cal reached home just a few minutes later he realized another problem. He certainly couldn't get into the house looking like he did now. His dad wasn't home from work yet but his mom should still be home and Cal had no idea if his brother Greg was back home from school or not.

"Damn," Cal sighed, wondering if he should just give this up and change back to normal now. But after a moment to think about it he knew he could still get into his bedroom without being seen by anyone.

Cal went around to the back of his house and entered through the back door. He knew that his mom was probably in the kitchen or living room and if Greg was home he'd be in his bedroom. Cal quietly made his way to his own bedroom and let out a sigh of relief once he'd closed the door behind him.

"Privacy at last," Cal sighed in relief.

Cal took a deep breath and then looked down at himself for the first time since he'd been in the bathroom. It was still a shock seeing himself like this, with big breasts and the rest of a girl's body to go with them.

"Man this is weird," Call muttered, tempted to just let go of his connection to Dave and go back to normal. However, his curiosity was too strong to just ignore...especially after going through all this effort so he could have the privacy to satisfy it.

After hesitating a moment Cal began to take his clothes off. They weren't his familiar clothes so it was more awkward than normal, but he managed quickly enough. Piece by piece his clothes came off and hit the floor until he stood there naked, seeing for himself that his body was indeed entirely female.

"This is so freaky," Cal said with a shake of his head.

Cal ran his hands over his breasts, stunned by just how sensitive his nipples felt. This felt...good. Real good. Then without giving it any conscious thought one of his hands slipped between his legs and began to rub his new sex. It immediately sent a tingle of pleasure through his entire body causing him to moan in response.

"Feels...good," he moaned, thinking that this was an understatement.

Cal continued to finger himself, moaning in pleasure as he did so. This felt so much better than when he was a guy. He could hardly believe it. He masturbated until he finally came in an orgasm which spread over his every inch of his body. It was much more powerful than his normal orgasm.

"Oh yeah," Cal purred to himself, suddenly thinking that girls could cum lots of times. That meant he could keep going for as long as he wanted. "I think I like this..."

Cal wondered what it would be like having sex with a girl for real...or even what it would be like having sex AS a girl for real. For some reason that thought seemed especially appealing. He could just imagine trying this body out with a cute guy...like Dave. Dave was just so cute...

"What the...?" Cal gasped in shock as he suddenly realized the direction his thoughts were taking him. He immediately cut his connection to Dave and changed back to normal. Once he'd finished his transformation, he shook his head, "What the hell was that?"

Cal nearly shook as he considered what he'd been thinking just a minute earlier. He'd actually been thinking Dave was cute...even wondering what it would be like having sex with him. The very thought nearly turned his stomach.

"What was I thinking?" Cal shook his head in disbelief, "How could I think that...?" Then it dawned on him. "The link... Because I was linked to Dave..."

Whatever it was that changed Cal's body when he linked to someone, it obviously changed his mind too. He hadn't noticed any odd thoughts before this so maybe it was because he'd played with himself in that body...or maybe it just took awhile.

Cal frowned, feeling almost as though he'd been violated with those thoughts. He couldn't believe... It was obviously the strange magic that was linking him to other people and changing his body though.

For a moment Cal silently promised himself that he'd never do this again, that he'd never mentally connect to another person and transform ever EVER again. But that quickly faded under more curiosity as he wanted to better understand why this was happening to him. He was already beginning to suspect something about why he turned into different girls when he linked to different guys. Now he wanted to know if she was right.

"But for that," Cal winced, "I've got to do it again..."

Cal scowled as he thought about doing this again, knowing he'd need someone he knew better and might be able to predict. There was no way he was going to Dave's house and trying to link to Dave again, even if it wasn't a good walk away. Not after that. No, he needed someone closer and where he could still have his privacy.

"Greg," Cal mused aloud, thinking of his brother in the next room over. He'd be the ideal test subject. "Too bad I couldn't change him instead of me..."

In spite of having made his decision Cal still waited another minute to act. He took a deep breath and then went to knock on the door to Greg's room.

"Have you seen my baseball hat?" Cal asked his brother the moment the door came open.

"No," Greg snorted, "Why don't you look in your own room." Then the door slammed right in Cal's face. It was almost exactly the reaction Cal had been expecting but it had also given him what he needed.

Cal returned to his own room and locked the door behind him, muttering, "Okay... I can do this..."

Thanks to having actually seen Greg he could now feel his brother's presence just as he felt everyone else's. Now all Cal had to do was mentally reach out and make contact.

The now familiar tingling sensation rushed over Cal quickly transforming his body faster than he could really pay attention to. The wave of changes rushed over him and finished its work in mere seconds, leaving him transformed once again into a girl...a fact he immediately recognized from the new weight on his chest.

"I'm a girl again," Cal sighed unnecessarily before he actually looked down at himself.

Cal's attention was immediately caught on the huge breasts he now sported, though he tried to look past them to the clothes and other details. This time he was wearing a pink and white uniform of some sort. It took him a moment to recognize it as the uniform from the diner across town that the family sometimes went to for dinner. However, he could tell that it was cut a bit differently with the skirt being shorter than that of the diner uniforms and showing a lot more cleavage.

"Weird," Cal mused, wishing he had a full length mirror to check himself out in. He really wanted to see what he looked like but didn't dare cross the hall to get to the bathroom.

Then Cal remembered the shaving kit his uncle Peter had given him last year for Christmas. He quickly pulled it out of the bottom drawer of his dresser then took out the hand mirror which was inside. The mirror wasn't very big but it might do what he needed.

"Let's see," Cal said as he looked into the mirror, trying to get a good look at his new face. It wasn't easy with a small mirror but he could see enough to make out the details. "Red hair, green eyes, and big pouty lips with a ring through them..." Cal was startled as he hadn't even noticed the stud through his nose or the ring through his lip until he'd seen his reflection. And to his surprise, it was a somewhat familiar reflection.

Cal set the mirror down and frowned thoughtfully, knowing the girl he now looked like but also knowing that she didn't look quite like this. For one thing her breasts weren't quite this big and her skin had a few freckles whereas his face seemed flawless. The girl he was thinking of was indeed a waitress at the diner though.

"I look like a really sexy version of her though," Cal thought aloud, remembering how when he'd linked to Dave and turned into Brandy Collins he'd become a really sexy version of her and not an accurate one. However, this did sort of confirm Cal's growing suspicions about how this was working, or at least gave him more supporting evidence.

When Cal had been connected to Dave through this strange link he'd transformed to look just like the girl Dave had a crush on...though sexier. And after awhile he'd even started having some rather disturbing thoughts about his friend too. And when he linked to Greg, he turned into a sexier version of a waitress he'd seen his brother really staring at whenever they went. He turned into a girl Greg had a crush on.

"When I link to a guy I turn into the girl they have a crush on," Cal stated, sure that this was the answer. "Or at least a sexier version..."

Then there was also the matter of the way Cal had started thinking while looking like Brandy. Obviously the magic that turned him into a guy’s crush also affected his mind, though it hadn't happened for awhile. Maybe the longer he stayed that way the more he'd start thinking like that girl...or like how the guy he was connected to wished they'd think. After all, Cal was pretty sure that the real Brandy wasn't having those thoughts about Dave. She barely even noticed him.

"Oh God," Cal gasped, immediately dropping his connection to Greg. There was absolutely no way he wanted to think about his own brother like that. It had been bad enough thinking of Dave.

Cal scowled as he continued thinking about the mental changes. Maybe it was simply that the longer he stayed that way the more he'd think like the girl he looked like. Or maybe it was the orgasm which had triggered it. Either way, he knew that he didn't dare stay as a girl for very long anymore. And as good as it had felt to play with himself as a girl he didn't dare ever do that again either.

"What happens if my mind changes too much and I don't want to go back?" Cal whispered to himself, shuddering at the idea. He could become trapped as some guys crush and actually like it. "No fucking way. EVER." Can shuddered at the thought.

Cal sat down on his bed and frowned as he thought about this. For some strange reason that monkey had given him the weirdest super power ever instead of the muscles he'd asked for. It was such an embarrassing power...one he didn't dare ever tell anyone else about or use very often. After all, the last thing he wanted was to start thinking about some guy like that again.

"Just my luck," Cal sighed.

Cal remained in his room thinking about the strange events of the last couple days and what this strange new power would mean for him. He couldn't imagine using it too much knowing what he now knew about its risks, but he also knew himself and had little doubt that he'd become curious about who he'd turn into with different guys.

Eventually though, Cal left his room to go find something to snack on in the kitchen. While he was grabbing a cookie, he noticed his dad was home from work and in a good mood.

"Guess what," Cal's dad grinned at him, "I just got done talking to Peter..."

"Yeah?" Cal asked eagerly, remembering his wish from yesterday. He almost felt embarrassed that he'd gotten so caught up in these strange transformations that he'd almost forgotten uncle Peter entirely.

"He just got back from the doctor," Cal's dad continued, "And they say he's gone into a complete remission... They can't even find a trace of the cancer anymore..."

"That's great," Cal grinned, feeling thankful that at least that wish of his had worked out right. He'd always liked uncle Peter and had been horrified to see his favorite uncle just slowly wasting away. "I'm glad he's going to be all right..."

"Yeah," Cal's dad grinned, "They don't have any idea how it happened so I'd have to call this one a miracle."

"I say we go out and celebrate," Cal's mom exclaimed. "Let's go out for dinner... We can invite Peter and his girlfriend along too..."

"Great idea," Cal's dad exclaimed, then turned to Cal, "Maybe on the way back we can stop at the car dealership so you can start thinking about what you'd like."

Cal just grinned at that, feeling almost dizzy with excitement. His uncle Peter was all right and he was going to get his new car. He even got some weird super power, though he didn't know how that had happened. Because of all that, he almost didn't even mind the fact that his wish about getting big and muscular wasn't granted...though it still would have been nice too.

"Go get your brother," Cal's mom told him, gesturing for him to hurry. "I want to tell him the good news."

"Okay," Cal reluctantly agreed, knowing what kind of response he'd get when he knocked on his brother's door.

Just as Cal turned to walk away, he realized that he could sense his dad's presence the same way he'd felt everyone else's. It's just that every time he was with his dad he'd been too distracted to really pay attention to that.

"Ugh," Cal shuddered as he went to the bedroom, being very careful not to connect with his dad. "There are some things," he muttered to himself, "There are some things I really don't want to know."

--------------------

Michelle sat in the public library, staring intently at the computer in front of her. She'd been doing a lot of searching online and believed she'd finally found it. Or at least she was sure she'd found a good start.

"Finally," Michelle muttered to herself, writing the address onto her note book so she wouldn't lose it. Then Michelle got up and began to leave.

But before Michelle could reach the exit she found her way blocked by a giant of a woman. Or at least the woman looked like a giant compared to Michelle. Unfortunately, Michelle was well aware of the fact that this woman...this librarian was only about the same height as what Michelle used to have.

"Hello dear," the librarian smiled down gently at Michelle, "Are your parents around?"

Michelle grimaced and instinctively looked down at herself, wincing at the 9 year old body she now possessed. She hated to be reminded of the fact that the marble monkey had turned her into a little girl but it happened almost constantly.

"My mom's outside waiting for me," Michelle lied, giving a fake smile and then hurrying out of the library.

Once Michelle was outside she let out a sigh of relief then began to curse that horrible marble monkey which had done this to her. She certainly hadn't asked for this...hadn't asked for it to turn her into a little girl again.

"Damn," Michelle spat out vehemently.

Of course, Michelle knew what had happened. The monkey had granted her one of the wishes made by the previous wisher...just as it had told her it would. And it wasn't too hard to guess that whomever had used it before her had wished to be ten years younger.

"Ten fucking years," Michelle shook her head in disbelief. "I should be glad they didn't wish to be twenty years younger..." However, she didn't feel very grateful for that good fortune.

Michelle closed her eyes and took several deep breaths to calm down, thinking about her situation when she did. It had been weeks since she'd made her wishes and had been regressed back to childhood. And if it hadn't been for all the jewelry she'd wished for she would have really been in trouble. Fortunately, she'd been able to sell and trade enough of it to get by...even if she couldn't get what it was actually worth.

"Everyone wants to cheat the little girl," she winced.

And as bad as this was...what made it worse was the knowledge that her last wish...the one that the monkey didn't grant her...that one would taken care of this problem. Or at least it would have made it so she wouldn't have to worry about being stuck as a little girl.

"Why couldn't it have granted me that one instead of the knowledge to pass my classes?" Michelle moaned to herself. Having the knowledge to be a straight A college student didn't do much for her now that she looked like a kid. But her other wish... "I wish I could turn into the dream girl of any guy I wanted to...and that I can turn back to normal at will."

Michelle remembered that wish very clearly since she'd been thinking of all the guys she could seduce once it had been granted. But now that was not an option. And ironically, it would have been even more useful now since it would have turned her to a more appropriate age.

"Damn," she muttered again, cursing her bad luck. "And any girl who finds that stupid thing next sure is going to be lucky..." She shook her head, "That monkey sure has a nasty sense of humor...giving me that wish but taking away the one that would have made it bearable..."

But then Michelle took a deep breath, knowing that she wasn't about to just sit back and accept the fate the marble monkey had given her. She wasn't going to just accept being a little girl and waiting another ten years to get her age back. She was going to do something about it.

"With this," Michelle looked at the notebook.

She'd spent the last few weeks not only trying to survive as a little girl in a grown up world...but also trying to find clues about the monkey figurine and where it had appeared next. And after all her searching she'd found it. She'd found a picture of the monkey as an item that was to be sold at auction in just a few days.

"All I have to do is get there," Michelle muttered to herself as she started for the bus station, deciding that she didn't want to think about the other problems until she had to. After all, who'd let a 9 year old girl into an auction to actually bid? "I'll worry about that later."

Michelle felt a surge of hope as she thought about getting her hands on the monkey again. This time she'd make all three of her wishes ones that would fix this. And if it wouldn't let her wish again, she'd simply use the jewelry to pay someone else to make the wishes for her. It would work. It would have to.

However, one thing did have Michelle worried. When she saw a picture online of all the items to be sold at the auction, the monkey had looked almost exactly the same...with one small difference. In the picture, the monkey looked black instead of white...as though made out of obsidian instead of marble. But still, it was her only chance.

Part 3

Denise stood back with her hands on her hips and surveying her living room, wanting to make sure it was perfect. She frowned slightly then adjusted one of the pillows on the couch until she was satisfied. Only then did she decide that it passed inspection.

"Not bad," Denise mused, feeling rather proud of herself. Even her ex-husband Bill wouldn't have been able to find anything wrong with it and he used to love finding things to 'fix' or 'improve'. In fact, that was one of the reasons why he was her 'ex'.

Denise frowned slightly at the thought of Bill, wondering why he kept slipping into her thoughts. It had been three years since the last time she saw him yet different things still made her think of him, though admittedly it was happening less often. Still, after eight years of marriage it was hard to forget him entirely.

Then to take her mind off Bill, Denise went to the kitchen and looked over the snacks she'd prepared. "Perfect," she nodded once she saw that everything was just right there too.

Denise smiled in anticipation, looking forward to seeing her friends. They all had busy lives nowadays so only got to meet up once a month for these get together. Sharon was busy between her job and kids while Maddy had always worked such unpredictable hours. It was always nice when they could find a time when all three of their schedules would let them get together again like this...just like old times.

"And this time," Denise chuckled to herself, "I have a little surprise for them..."

It was less than a minute later when the doorbell rang announcing Denise's first visitor. She opened the door to reveal her friend Maddy standing there, looking tall, blonde, and beautiful as always. In fact, Maddy's beautiful blonde hair always made Denise feel envious as well as a little self-conscious of her plain auburn hair.

"Maddy," Denise greeted her friend with a hug, catching her familiar scent of perfume and cigarette smoke.

"I'm glad to see you," Maddy smiled as she came inside, "You wouldn't believe how close I almost came to canceling..."

"Oh?" Denise asked.

Maddy rolled her eyes, "My director called me this morning wanting me to come in and meet some new clients... But I remembered you said you had something big to show and I didn't want to miss that so I convinced him to hold off until tomorrow."

"You work too much," Denise chided her friend, "I mean, you can't even have your days off without them calling you..."

"I know," Maddy sighed, taking a seat on the couch. "My director sits in his nice office and leaves early every day while I have to run around taking care of all the little things. Unfortunately, it's the only way to get ahead..." She paused a moment then gave Denise a wink with a mischievious look, "Well ALMOST the only way..."

Denise just laughed at that, "Somehow I can't imagine you sleeping with your boss to get ahead. Teasing him mercilessly yes... But sleeping with him no."

They continued talking for several more minutes until Sharon arrived and joined them. She was a slender woman with brunette hair that she'd recently cut short in what she referred to as her 'mommy' cut. Denise still wasn't used to seeing her friend with short hair though, remembering all the years Sharon had been proud of her long locks.

"I'm glad I could get out of the house," Sharon told them. "Fortunately, I was able to talk Randy into taking the kids to see that new movie..."

"I'll bet," Maddy shook her head, "A husband...a full time job...and kids... How you find time for all that is beyond me. I barely have time for just a job and a boyfriend."

"I could use one of those myself," Denise sighed. "My job is about the same as ever but I haven't had any luck finding the right guy..."

After a few more minutes of small talk, Maddy turned to Denise and asked, "So...what's that big surprise you had for us? I was guessing a new boyfriend, but now..."

Denise grinned at her friends in anticipation, feeling surprisingly nervous. "Well, I'm sure you two won't believe me but at least humor me. Trust me, it'll be worth it for all three of us."

Then Denise reached for something beside her chair, giving a self-conscious smile as she did so. A moment later she set something down on the coffee table in front of her friends. It was a four inch tall green figurine of a monkey sitting in the lotus position.

"Is this jade?" Maddy immediately asked, picking up the figurine for a better look. "It is jade... And look...it has little diamonds in its eyes."

"Is that an antique?" Sharon asked, bending over for a closer look. "It must be expensive..."

"Oh, I get it," Maddy said, looking at Denise again. "You got this off Ebay or some garage sale for cheap then found out its worth a lot..."

"Not quite," Denise chuckled nervously, "But it is worth a lot. In fact, it's probably priceless." She gestured to the monkey figurine then continued, "Actually, I found it last week in the parking lot at work."

"And no one reported losing it?" Sharon asked in surprise.

"No," Denise shook her head then took a deep breath knowing that this was the part her friends wouldn't believe. "And when I picked it up...it talked to me."

"It talked to you?" Maddy responded with more than a little skepticism.

"I told you that you wouldn't believe me," Denise reminded her, "Just humor me and listen... I swear it's all true..."

"Okay," Sharon said slowly, looking just as skeptical as Maddy.

"I know it's impossible but it talked to me," Denise continued, "It sort of spoke directly into my mind." She shrugged self-consciously, "I don't remember the exact words but basically it said it would grant three wishes...but that they had to be to three different people. And it said that all three wishes would be granted to all three people who made the wishes."

"Okay...," Sharon said slowly, giving Denise a disbelieving look. "Is this like the time you told us Brad Pitt bought the house down the street...?"

Maddy burst out laughing, "I remember that... You said he was trying to get away and live a normal life incognito..."

Denise blushed in embarrassment then told them, "It was an honest mistake... He looked just like Brad Pitt..."

"Well he did look a little like him," Sharon admitted with a grin, "With a beard. Too bad it wasn't him...and that he wasn't already married."

"That wouldn't have stopped me," Maddy chuckled.

"This isn't the same thing," Denise protested, having feared this would be the result of telling her friends. "I'd hoped that it would talk to you too when you touched it. I guess it didn't though. That would have made this easier."

"You really believe this?" Maddy asked in surprise, looking as though she wasn't sure if Denise was serious or playing a joke."

Denise nodded, "If you'd heard it you'd believe it was real too. I even tried making some wishes right afterward but nothing happened." Before her friends could make another comment at that she quickly continued, "Then I realized that it must need all three people to make their wishes before it grants them. So of course I immediately thought of you two."

"Lucky us," Sharon responded wryly.

"Like I said," Denise reminded them, "I just need you to humor me with this. If it doesn't work you can think of it as a party game like truth or dare. But if it actually does work..." She raided and eyebrow and let that sink in.

"Fine," Maddy rolled her eyes, "I'll play."

Sharon hesitated a moment before shrugging, "Why not?"

"Great," Denise smiled in relief, "Now remember, it said that anything we wish for will be granted to all three of us so we have to be careful to only wish for things we can all use."

"Okay," Maddy said, looking at the jade monkey skeptically, "Who goes first?"

"I will," Denise said with a nervous smile, "After all I'm the one who started this." She put her hand on the monkey figurine not sure if it required physical contact to grant the wishes or not but not wanting to take a chance. "I wish to be thin, fit, and in perfect health for the rest of my life."

"That's a good one," Sharon nodded, "I've started putting on a couple pounds myself lately..."

"I've had a week to think about my wish," Denise grinned

Sharon reached over and touched the figurine saying, "I guess I'll go next." She hesitated for a moment and then began to blush before stating, "I wish my breasts were three cup sizes larger."

"I could definitely use some improvement there myself," Denise nodded in appreciation at the wish.

Sharon shrugged then looked down at herself self-consciously. She was a small A cup and Denise knew she'd always wanted to be a bit bigger.

I have no doubt that Randy loves me," Sharon admitted, "But I know he'd like me to have a little more up top. I've seen the way he looks at other women."

"He's a man," Maddy pointed out with a smile, "All men like big breasts." Then she looked down at her own C cup breasts which were larger than what either Denise or Sharon possessed. "Personally I wouldn't want that much more on top of this. They'd be way too big."

"Bite me," Sharon teased.

Maddy turned her attention to the jade monkey figurine and mused, "I suppose it's my turn." She frowned thoughtfully for a moment before stating, "I wish for a big promotion." Then she looked to the others and shrugged, "I've more than earned it."

Just then, Denise suddenly noticed a faint tingling run through her body...focused most intensely on her chest. She blinked in surprise at the strange sensation in her breasts followed quickly by the realization that her bra felt too tight.

"I feel strange," Sharon exclaimed, cupping her breasts with a look of disbelief on her face.

"My breasts," Maddy gasped, grabbing at her breasts as well.

All Denise could do was blurt out, "They're growing..." She giggled in delight that the jade monkey was actually granting their wishes instead of leaving her to look like a fool in front of her friends. She even felt smug as she saw Sharon and Maddy's reactions

"It's real," Sharon gasped, "My wish is really coming true..." Then she quickly paused to wince, "Damn... My bra... It's too tight..." She quickly started to undo her bra.

Denise only hesitated a moment before she began to undo her bra as well, letting out a sigh of relief as the pinching stopped. However, her breasts continued to swell larger...going from a B cup to a C cup and larger still.

"My shirt," Sharon blurted out, pulling her hands away and showing that her growing breasts were pushing so tightly against her shirt that it looked as though it might burst open at any moment.

Denise knew her own shirt must be doing the exact same thing since now it was her shirt which was getting far too tight. She winced, knowing it should have stopped but it wasn't. Her breasts were still growing. There was a tearing sound and then the pressure eased though her nipples were now poking out exposed.

Maddy looked back and forth between Sharon, Denise and herself. Then she gasped, "No fucking way..." She shook her head, "This is impossible..."

"But it's happening," Denise pointed out, feeling relieved as the growing seemed to be stopping. "I think it's about done..." Even as she said it the tingling sensation was fading away. "I think it's done..."

Sharon just sat there for a moment staring down at her chest, looking both embarrassed and shocked. Her own breasts had burst free from her shirt as well and swelled out like a pair of basketballs.

"This is a LOT bigger than three cups," Sharon nearly screamed, looking almost panicked. "I only wished for three cups..."

"She's right," Maddy whispered, staring at Sharon and then Denise. "You guys both grew more than that..." Then she looked at her own shirt which was stretched tight but still hadn't torn, "I don't seem to have grown quite as much..."

Denise shook her head in confusion, staring down at her own breasts which looked nice, round and perfect on her chest...albeit larger than she ever would have imagined having. They even sat up high, as though gravity had barely ever touched them.

"Oh my God," Denise gulped, wondering why Sharon's wish hadn't gone quite right. These were definitely more than two cups larger.

Suddenly Maddy exclaimed, "The monkey... It's gone..."

"What?" Denise gasped, looking at the coffee table but the jade monkey was indeed gone. "Where did it go...?"

"It's just gone," Sharon repeated the obvious.

Denise just stared at the empty spot for a moment, wondering what could have possibly gone wrong. It didn't do anything like this the last time she tried wishing...

"Oh shit," Denise blurted out, blushing brightly, "I know what went wrong..." She cupped her now massive breast and shook her head, "I didn't think..."

"What?" Sharon demanded, "What went wrong?"

"Besides your wish being granted?" Maddy asked sarcastically. She frowned, "It seems to have worked about right for me... I'm only three or four cups larger..."

"I'm a lot bigger than that," Sharon shook her head in stunned disbelief.

Denise took a deep breath, then started to explain. "Well," she blushed, "I told you how I tried making some wishes when I first found it...before I really believed it needed three people. Well, the first wish I tried making was that I had nice round, firm, and perfectly shaped D cup breasts..."

"It looks like you and Sharon think alike," Maddy pointed out with a wry smile.

"The monkey must have taken that as my wish," Denise said quietly. "Since it was the first wish I made it must have just ignored all the others...including the one I just made...and granted that one."

Maddy stared at her for a moment then whispered, "Sharon's wish stacked on top of yours..." She looked down at herself, "We all got nice firm D cups...and then an extra three cups on top of that."

"Oh shit," Denise blurted out. She stared down at her huge breasts...G cups if she was right and she was sure she was. "I'm sorry... I thought it was ignoring me the first time because I didn't have anyone else with me... Damn... I feel like an idiot..."

"I feel like a stripper," Sharon said, poking her at breasts. Then she forced a chuckle, "Well...at least Ryan is going to get a kick out of them. I don't think he's going to mind at all."

Maddy laughed at that, "No, I wouldn't imagine he would. But I can just imagine you trying to explain this to your kids..."

"Oh yeah," Sharon blushed brightly. "And everyone else is just going to think I went and got implants..."

"That we all did," Maddy added with a sigh.

"What are we going to do?" Denise asked, not sure she could show up to work with breasts the size of basketballs. "I look like a stripper..."

Just then, Denise heard an annoying beeping sound coming from Maddy's direction. "My Blackberry," Maddy told them as she dug into her purse and pulled out the device. She looked at it for a moment and then blurted out, "Holy shit..."

"What?" Denise demanded, not sure she could take any more surprises.

"One of my coworkers just sent me an e-mail," Maddy responded, looking a little dazed. "She said my asshole director just got sacked for incompetence...and that she overheard one of the higher ups saying they want me to take his position."

"Wow," Denise grinned, "You did wish for a big promotion at work." Then she suddenly brightened even more, "That means Sharon and I will be getting promoted soon too..."

"Great," Sharon responded, "Just as long as they don't promote me to company stripper..."

"I don't think you have to worry about that," Denise pointed out. "You might get more attention now but you've always been good at what you do." Then she chuckled, "I can't wait to get my promotion."

"So we've all got big promotions and monster boobs," Maddy chuckled, "When you said you had a big surprise for us, I never imagined you meant something like THESE." She cupped her breasts and gave a wry smile.

"I just wonder why none of us wished to be filthy stinking rich," Sharon pointed out, "That would have been better than a promotion."

"Well you can't think of everything," Denise sighed, still regretting her own mistake and wondering what this was going to mean for her life. There was no doubt she'd be getting a LOT more attention from now on with G cup breasts. "I just wonder where that monkey idol went..."

"No idea," Maddy sighed, "I just hope whoever finds it next doesn't make the same mistake we did." She gave Denise a pointed look though it had no real malice behind it.

"Amen to that," Sharon muttered staring down at her own breast and shaking her head. "At least I get a promotion and a very happy husband out of this."

Denise just nodded, silently thinking of the three wishes she'd tried making on her own a week earlier. She was a little disappointed in how this had all turned out, especially considering what she would have gotten if her second and third wishes had been granted as well. But there was something to be said with sharing with her friends. She just wished they didn't have to share equally large stripper breasts.

Part 4

Thirty-eight year old Daniel Morgan adjusted his dark gray suit, being careful that there were no wrinkles or lint on it. As always he was very conscious about creating a clean and professional image for work

The auction house where Daniel worked was not one of those extremely high end ones where all the people who came to bid had to be millionaires but neither was it a place that auctioned off foreclosed vehicles and property. Instead, Daniel considered it to be a happy medium. They specialized in auctioning off artwork and antiques which didn't go for huge amounts but which could often end up in the back rooms or basements of museums.

Daniel's position in the company was an administrative one, making sure that all of the items were properly appraised before they were auctioned and that all the appropriate paperwork was filled out. It was a lot of responsibility but also a position he was quite proud of.

Daniel smiled faintly to himself as he walked through the room which held all the items scheduled for auction a few hours from now. He always enjoyed seeing all the items beforehand and guessing how much each would eventually go for. Sometimes the results surprised him completely as people would bid large amounts for items he wouldn't imagine anyone really wanting.

"I wonder how much you'll go for," Daniel mused as he looked at a painting on the wall.

At the first glance this painting looked like a well-known Rembrandt piece, though the truth was that it was a forgery...and not even a perfect one. There were several flaws which would almost immediately give it away to any expert. However, there were bound to be some people interested in it in spite of the fact that it was a forgery...and just because of it.

The truth was, the art forger himself had attained a degree of notoriety due to successfully passing off some of his later works to wealthy art fans who were eager to own famous masterpieces. Of course, he was eventually caught and arrested but he'd earned enough fame as a skilled forger that his duplicates were often now desired by some as collectors pieces.

Daniel examined the painting and nodded to himself before moving to the next item, a box containing a coin collection with some coins dating back to the Roman empire. This wasn't an extremely valuable coin collection but the reason it was being auctioned off intact rather than sold to individual coin collectors was the fact that the previous owner had been something of a moderate celebrity with his own TV show before his death.

After looking at the box and the coins inside for a moment, Daniel gently ran his finger over the surface of the box. He was wearing a latex glove on one hand just so that he could touch some of the auction pieces. It made his examination of them seem more professional than if he'd just been using his bare hands.

"I suppose I should finish my paperwork," Daniel mused with a sigh, remembering that he still had a few details to take care of before the auction started. He turned and left the room, removing his latex glove as he did so and slipping it into his pocket

Daniel started for his office, wondering which of those items in today's auction would get the highest bid and which ones would be ignored. He had a pretty good idea but wanted to see if his educated guess was as accurate as he believed.

But just before Daniel reached his office he heard a commotion from down the hallway. He frowned then went to go see what was going on, hoping it wasn't a security guard coming to work drunk again. The incident two months earlier would have been a nightmare for the company if a client had seen him.

A minute later Daniel saw that a security guard was behind the noise, though fortunately not for the reason he'd feared. One of the security guards had cornered a little girl who looked around 9 years old and who was loudly arguing with him.

"I caught her trying to sneak in," the security guard told Daniel, "I was about to call the police on our little trespasser..."

"I just want to see it for a minute," the little girl argued with barely contained desperation. She took a breath and made an obvious effort to control herself as she looked up at Daniel. "I just need to see a monkey stature that you're going to auction..."

"What?" Daniel blinked in surprise, "Why?"

The girl hesitated for a moment, "I...I think it used to belong to my family." She looked down for a moment, a clear sign in Daniel's eyes that she was lying. "I just want to see if it's the same one." She gave him a steady and determined look, "I just need to see it for a minute..."

Daniel stared at the little girl for a moment, knowing she was lying but not knowing why. "I don't think so." He frowned and added, "If you like, you can tell your parents they can come bid on it in a few hours." Then he gestured for the security guard to escort her out, "Now I'm afraid you'll have to go. You're not allowed back here..."

"But," the girl protested, looking even more desperate, "Just for one minute..."

Daniel shook his head as the security guard escorted the girl away, wondering why she wanted to see the monkey statue so badly. He knew the one she was talking about since there was only one monkey statue up for auction today.

Daniel went back to the item storage room wanting to see this monkey statue and satisfy his curiosity a little. He found it in the corner looking more like a figurine than a real statue. It was about 4 inches tall and made of what looked like a solid piece of jet black obsidian, carved into the shape of a monkey sitting in the lotus position. The only thing that showed any sign of it being valuable in more than an archeological sense were the pair of small rubies set in the eyes. The monkey figurine was also a near total mystery.

The man who'd brought the obsidian monkey in to be auctioned had given little clue as to where it came from, saying only that he'd found it in his uncles basement after his uncle had passed away. Their client thought it might be worth something so brought it to the auction house.

They'd shown the monkey figurine to two different experts...neither of which could even agree about how old it was. One of them thought that it originated in India and might possibly be related to some sort of small monkey cult. The other expert suggested that it might have been created in China as a depiction of the mythical Monkey King.

Daniel frowned as he remembered one more thing about the monkey figurine, something which seemed to add to the mystery. When their client had first approached them about auctioning the obsidian monkey, he'd said something about it being too risky to try using himself and that it would be much safer to get money out of it by selling it.

"Why all the mystery behind you?" Daniel mused as he looked over the monkey figurine. It was really the first time he'd stopped to examine it personally. He reached out and brushed his hand across its head, forgetting to put his latex glove back on beforehand.

Suddenly, Daniel heard a voice as clear as crystal in his head though no sound from it seemed to touch his ears at all. "You shall be granted three wishes," the voice stated firmly, "Then twice this shall be given to the one you hate most."

"What the...," Daniel yanked his hand back as though it had been burned.

He stood there for a moment, staring at the obsidian monkey in shock. Its ruby eyes seemed to flicker faintly as though an ember burned deep inside though it could have just been his imagination. Then again, he knew that the voice in his head was probably his imagination as well.

"Impossible," Daniel whispered, not sure if he meant the voice speaking in his mind or the very idea of wishes being granted.

Daniel had never been one for flights of fancy or an overactive imagination but neither was he the sort who would ignore something simply because it didn't fit with his preconceived notions. He knew there was a good chance this was some sort of delusion or hallucination, perhaps brought on by a previously undiagnosed schizophrenia or someone having slipped him a hallucinogenic. However, he hadn't had anything to eat or drink in hours so couldn't have been drugged and he thought there would have been earlier warning signs if this was some sort of mental illness.

"But what if?" Daniel asked himself, thinking that even if the voice in his head had been a delusion there would be no harm in humoring it. It wasn't as though it was telling him to kill someone or do anything harmful. "It wouldn't hurt to at least try..."

Daniel frowned as he thought about what he'd been told by the voice in his head which had presumably come from the monkey. He chuckled at the idea that he was taking the voice seriously when normally hearing such a voice was a sign of mental problems.

There was only one way to prove whether it was real or not and that was to actually make the wishes. If the wishes were granted he knew that he hadn't been imagining things and he'd end off benefiting from this. But if the wishes weren't granted, then that would mean he had indeed imagined this and should see a doctor immediately.

"Let’s see," Daniel mused, "It said it would grant me three wishes but would give twice what I wished for to the person I hate the most." He chuckled at that, "It sounds like the setup for some joke..."

There was little doubt as to who the person was whom Daniel hated the most. That would have to be his former brother-in-law Paul. Paul had been an arrogant bastard who'd insulted him and the rest of the family constantly, and then there was the matter of his hitting Daniel's sister and eventually just leaving her. Of course, his abandoning her like that was the best thing he'd ever done for her as far as Daniel was concerned, but that wasn't the point.

"I certainly wouldn't want him to benefit from my wishes," Daniel thought aloud.

Suddenly Daniel was reminded of the client who brought in the obsidian monkey and how he'd said something to the effect that it was too risky to use himself. Had the monkey offered him three wishes as well? It certainly seemed a likely possibility...assuming that he wasn't suffering hallucinations that is.

Daniel thought about what he could possibly wish for and a minute later he had an idea. He would prefer thinking about this a little longer in order to make better use of the wishes but wasn't sure if this was a limited time offer or not. He certainly didn't want to waste the opportunity...assuming it was real...by waiting too long.

"I wish that all of my current investments in the stock market would do very well," Daniel stated, feeling rather pleased by this wish. He had a modest amount of money invested but was quite sure that Paul had never invested a dime in the stock market and probably never would. This would let him benefit from the wish but not Paul.

"For my second wish," Daniel continued with a faint smile, "I wish that anytime I am physically aroused by a woman that I shall release pheromones that will arouse them as well and make them attracted to me."

Daniel paused for a moment to think about his last wish and chuckled evilly as he did so. "I wish," he started carefully, "That one of my testicles will be removed." He certainly didn't want to lose one of his testicles but considered it a small price to pay for what that would mean for Paul. With that wish, Paul would lose both of his testicles and be completely unable to benefit from the second wish either.

Almost as soon as Daniel had finished making his final wish, he felt a strange tingling in his groins followed by a sense that something was now missing there. But before he could fully absorb the fact he noticed that there was a faint flickering glow behind the obsidian monkey's ruby eyes. He stared right into them for a moment before both the eyes and the monkey figurine they were attached to abruptly vanished.

"What the...?" Daniel gasped, grabbing for where the monkey had been but finding the spot now completely empty. It had literally vanished right before his eyes.

Then Daniel remembered his wishes and took a deep breath, reaching down to feel his groin. Through the cloth of his pants he could feel that his last wish had indeed been granted. He could feel his equipment and one of his testicles but could no longer feel the second.

"It worked," he whispered, feeling a strange mixture of relief, excitement and nervousness.

The fact that this wish had been granted meant that he hadn't been crazy. He wasn't imagining things. It also meant that he would soon find himself relatively wealthy and easily able to attract all the beautiful women he wanted. But on the other hand, it also meant that his entire world view of what was possible and what was not would have to be reevaluated. That was not a comfortable prospect to face.

Daniel sighed and looked back to the empty spot which had contained the obsidian monkey, gulping when he suddenly realized that there would be consequences for its disappearing. The auction house was responsible for keeping it safe until the auction so they would definitely notice its absence. No one would believe it had just vanished into thin air either.

"Oh no," Daniel whispered, suddenly imagining police investigations and charges of theft. "This would not be good at all. "What can I do...?"

A moment later an idea came to him though it wasn't a very nice idea. Still, it was the only thing he could think of to keep himself from being blamed. He might have been the last person to touch the monkey figurine but he certainly wasn't responsible for it vanishing like that and he refused to take the blame for it.

Daniel hurried from the room and went to the security guard, noting that he was the same one who'd stopped the girl. "One of the auction items is missing..."

"What?" The security guard gasped, "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive," Daniel said with a sigh, "It's not where it should be." He hesitated a moment, "That little girl you stopped earlier was so insistent about seeing a monkey figurine that I got curious and went to take a closer look at it myself. But when I just went and checked on it a minute ago I found it gone..."

"Damn," the security guard snarled, "That girl must have snuck back in again and somehow stolen it... I'll search the building."

"Good idea," Daniel told him, "I'll go and see if someone else might have just moved it. It might just be a misunderstanding. I don't want to accuse this girl of anything without proof..."

As the security guard rushed off to start searching for the missing obsidian monkey or the girl he thought might have taken it, Daniel let out a sigh. He felt guilty for letting the girl take the blame for this but was confident that she wouldn't get in any real trouble. After all, they had no idea who she was, had no evidence that she'd actually done it, and she was a minor on top of that. Besides, it was clear now that she knew something about the obsidian monkey and what it could do. Daniel was sure she wasn't nearly as innocent about this as she might look.

Daniel shook his head and started towards his office, wishing he could talk to the little girl to find out what she knew about the obsidian monkey...or that he could talk to the client. However, it was to later for that now.

As it was, the little girl might be blamed for the missing obsidian monkey but Daniel knew she wouldn't face any real consequences. The client wouldn't really lose out either since the insurance company would reimburse him. In fact, it was likely that he'd get more from them than the item would have gone for in auction. And then there was Daniel himself.

Daniel couldn't resist smiling as he thought about going to visit a recently divorced and very lovely neighbor of his after work. The sight of her always caused his body to respond so this would be a perfect way to test his second wish. With that and the money which was soon to come from his first wish, the future was looking quite nice for him indeed.

Part 5

Janet carefully placed a pan into the sink to be rinsed then slipped her hands back into the hot and soapy water on the other side of the sink. She let out a sigh as she began scrubbing the casserole dish, wishing there was room in the dish washer for this but it was already full. Unfortunately, a lot of dishes to be washed was one of the prices one paid for taking care of a family of four.

"Let's see," Janet mused, looking down at the dish in her hands and thinking that she'd use it again in just a little while to bake some chicken for dinner. "I hope Carl doesn't mind having chicken for dinner three times this week..." Of course, Carl was still at work and wouldn't be home for nearly two hours so she couldn't ask him beforehand. "Well, he'd better be happy with it."

Just then, the side door next to the kitchen came flying open only to slam shut a moment later. Janet turned to glare at her 8 year old son Jacob who'd just come home from school.

"Hi mom," he said casually as he dropped his school back pack onto the floor.

"How many times have I told you not to slam the door?" Janet asked him patiently.

Jacob just gave her a blank look before shrugging, "I don't know..." Then he turned and rushed in the direction of his bedroom, probably to get on the new video game his dad had bought him for Christmas.

"And don't forget your back pack," Janet yelled after her son but it was too late. He was already gone. "Boys," she sighed, pulling her hands out of the dish water and drying them off on a towel.

Of course, Janet knew that little girls weren't really any easier in spite of what some people thought. Ignorant people without daughters of their own, she added mentally. After all, it was just last week her 6 year old daughter Bekka had come home from school claiming that a little boy in her class was sexually harassing her because he'd pulled her pony tail on the playground.

"What are they teaching kids in school these days?" Janet shook her head, still not sure whether to be bothered by her daughters accusations or amused.

Janet went over to where Jacob had just left his back pack in the middle of the floor and picked it up. She was about to move it out of the way when she noticed that it was a little heavier than usual and had an odd bulge out on the side.

"What did he put in here this time?" She muttered, not sure she wanted to know. She'd one found a live frog in there and nearly had a heart attack when she opened the pack and it had suddenly jumped out at her.

Janet took a deep breath to brace herself and then opened the back pack. Nothing immediately jumped out at her which she considered a good sign, but she wasn't about to consider herself safe from such surprises just yet.

A moment later Janet found the source of the extra weight and the suspicious bulge. It was some sort of white stone or ceramic figurine shaped like a monkey and with a pair of green glass eyes. The sight of it surprised Janet a little as she'd never seen this before and had no idea where Jacob could have gotten it.

Suddenly, a voice spoke inside Janet's head, being so clear and powerful that she was left with no doubt that it was indeed real and not some figment of her imagination. "You may make three wishes," the voice stated, "Two of these shall be granted to thee and one shall be granted to the next wisher."

"What the hell?" Janet exclaimed, dropping the figurine in surprise.

"Mommy said a bad word," she heard from behind her. Janet turned around to see her 6 year old Bekka standing there in the living room and watching her with a disapproving look.

Janet took a deep breath, trying not to lose it in front of her daughter. "Did you hear that?"

Bekka just nodded, "Yeah mommy... You said a bad word."

"I guess I did," Janet responded with a weak smile, "Just don't you repeat..." Then she let out a sigh, deciding that Bekka must not have heard it talking. "Strange. Very strange."

Janet hesitated a moment before reaching down to pick up the monkey figurine again. She might have just left it there if it wasn't for the kids being in the house. Though she wasn't sure what to make of this talking figurine and its offer of three wishes, she could easily imagine what would happen if it granted wishes to the kids.

"The house would turn into a hot fudge sundae," she muttered to herself, "Or our car would turn into a Transformer..."

After taking several deep breaths, Janet went back to Jacob's bedroom with the figurine firmly clutched in her hand. "Where did you get this?" she asked him, trying to keep any accusatory tone out of her voice.

Jacob just barely glanced at her and the figurine before shrugging, "I found it at the bus stop..." He didn't seem very interested though and turned his attention back to the video game he was playing, seeming more annoyed at the interruption than anything.

Janet nodded and stepped out of the room muttering, "He's almost like a teenager..." She shook her head, not sure where the figurine had really come from only that it hadn't spoken to Jacob the way it had to her. If it had he would have been much more secretive and possessive about it.

Janet returned to the living room, thinking about the monkey figurine and strange offer it had made. She wished she could talk to Carl about this but wasn't sure she wanted to wait until he came home. She didn't think it would be a great idea calling him at work either. If she told him about this he'd never believe her...not unless the monkey talked to him as well. And even then he might not believe it.

"I can make three wishes," Janet mused as she carefully tried remembering exactly what the words in her mind had said. "It will grant two of them to me and one of them to the next wisher..." She frowned for a moment as she realized something. "If it grants one of my wishes to the next wisher...then it will grant me one made by the person who had it before me?" That did make a strange sort of sense.

For the next several minutes Janet considered what wishes she might make if she was to actually take the figurine up on its offer. After all, who knew what catch there might be to this. And it might be very risky having it grant a wish to her that someone else made when she had absolutely no idea what their wish might be. However, she couldn't resist at least thinking about what she'd wish for.

"If someone else is going to get one of my wishes," Janet thought aloud, "I should probably be careful about what I wish for... I should wish for something that anyone could use."

Once Janet had her small list of wishes, she kept staring at the monkey figurine, feeling an increasing temptation to actually make them. She looked it in the green glass eyes...seeing a faint flicker of light behind them which might have just been her imagination. If this thing could grant wishes it could help out her entire family.

"Alright," Janet finally exclaimed, "I'll do it... I'll take the risk..." After all, she couldn't help but thinking that the unknown wish could be something great like becoming a millionaire. After all, most people weren't going to wish for bad things.

Janet held the monkey up to look it in the eyes as she stated, "Okay, here are my three wishes. One, I wish that my family and I would all have great health for the rest of our lives."

There was no response from the figurine or any indication it was anything other than a piece of carved stone. Janet frowned, having hoped for some sign that it had heard her or at least some indication that it was more than it appeared.

"For my second wish," Janet said a few seconds later, "I wish the mortgage on our house was paid off and all the paperwork and records would show that it was."

Then Janet thought about the third wish she'd decided on, feeling just a little bit guilty since it was more of a selfish wish. Since both kids were in school now she'd been thinking about going back to work. However, it had been quite some time since she'd held a normal job and wasn't at all confident in her ability to go get one or even keep it. Those fears were some of the main reasons she'd yet to try going back to work.

"For my third wish," Janet said, taking a deep breath for a moment before blurting out, "I wish that when I go back to work I'll be extremely good at my job."

Janet let out a sigh of relief, thankful that she'd been able to say all three wishes. She stared at the monkey figurine in expectation for a moment before noticing that the faint glow in its eyes seemed to be brighter and it was becoming warm in her hand.

Suddenly Janet felt a strange tingling sensation rush through her entire body, causing her to gasp aloud. Then the sensations changed, becoming different and far more powerful. She let out an even louder gasp and dropped the monkey figurine as every muscle in her body seemed to cramp at once.

"Mommy...!" Bekka exclaimed, rushing towards Janet with a look of worry on her face.

Janet grunted as every muscle in her body felt tense and began to spasm. It hurt...yet at the same time it almost felt good. She couldn't explain it as the sensation only grew stronger and stronger. Her entire body felt so incredibly strange that it took her a few seconds later to realize that her clothes were becoming increasingly tight and pinching painfully.

"What's happening to me?" Janet gasped in fear and confusion.

"Mommy," Bekka cried out, standing a short distance away and staring at her with wide eyes.

"Bekka," Janet started, only to stop when her shirt began to split down the seams with a loud ripping sound. She looked down at herself and gasped, seeing all of her clothes stretching to the breaking point and ripping open. "I...I'm growing."

Janet stared down at herself in confused amazement, seeing that her body was indeed growing. She'd grown enough that every bit of her clothes was several sizes too small and pinching painfully. At least what was left of her clothes were since a lot of her clothes had already burst and torn open.

"Oh no," Janet gasped, tearing at the rest of her clothes and sighing in relief as they stopped pinching.

It was then that Janet noticed her arms...and the visible muscle tone they now sported. She could only stare in shock as the muscles slowly grew bigger and thicker right before her eyes. And it wasn't just the muscles in her arms...it was all the muscles in her body.

"Oh shit," Janet whispered, staring down at herself in disbelief.

"You said a bad word mommy," Bekka said, staring up at Janet with an expression of confusion and a little fear.

"No shit," Janet muttered, not caring about keeping her language clean in front of the kids at the moment. She had far more important things to worry about.

Janet noted that the growth had stopped and her body wasn't changing anymore, though that only relieved her to a small degree. She looked over her transformed body, seeing that it was tick with muscles like a bodybuilder. Surprisingly, her breasts seemed to have grown a bit as well though she'd always heard female bodybuilders usually lost their breast size.

"How big am I?" Janet exclaimed, feeling a strange numb shock.

Janet went to the mirror on the wall and gasped at the sight of herself, though she was hardly surprised. She definitely looked a lot bigger and more muscular, though fortunately she still retained her feminine curves. In fact, they almost all looked to be somewhat enhanced in order to balance her new muscles.

Of course, Janet knew that these muscles weren't the only thing to have grown. She'd gotten taller too...quite a bit taller. Bekka who'd been following close behind her looked even smaller than normal. She wanted to know exactly how much she'd grown. Then she remembered the tool box in the laundry room. It had a tape measure in it.

Janet found the tool box and measuring tape exactly where she'd expected, in the cupboard right above the washing machine. She pulled the tape measure out and then paused, glancing to the pile of laundry which had yet to be folded.

"Just what I need," Janet muttered, grabbing a bed sheet which had just been washed and wrapping it around herself like a toga. The last thing she needed now was for Jacob to come in and catch his mom dressed in nothing more than shredded rags.

A minute later Janet had measured herself and was surprised to see that she was now 6 foot 3...quite a bit taller than her normal 5 foot 6. She'd grown a full nine inches and was now even four inches taller than Carl...not to mention more muscular.

Janet flexed her arm and stared at the muscle in amazement, beginning to feel somewhat impressed. In spite of herself, she had to admit that these new muscles she had felt strangely good. She felt rather strong.

"But why...?" She started, only to stop when she realized that she already knew the answer. "The wish..."

Janet knew that her unexpected growth had to be the result of a wish...specifically, one from the wish made by the last person who had it. All she could guess was that the last person had wished to be 6 foot 3 with muscles like a bodybuilder.

"I suppose it could be worse," Janet forced a smile, "It could have been some guy wishing for the biggest penis in the world..." She blushed at that.

Then Bekka asked, "What's a penis?" Janet stared down at her daughter in embarrassment, having forgotten she was there.

"Nothing you need to worry about yet," Janet said, giving her a reassuring smile to assure her that she was all right.

Now that Janet knew this was the result of a wish that had been passed on to her, she wanted to take another look at the monkey figurine. Maybe it would reverse this or maybe Carl could make a wish to change her back to normal since she'd already used her three wishes.

But when Janet returned to the spot where she'd dropped the figurine, she saw no sign of it on the floor. Instead, there was a small pile of papers right where the monkey should have been.

"What's this?" she asked as she one of them up, pausing when she saw that it was a letter from the bank stating that the mortgage had just been fully paid off. She quickly looked through the other papers and started to laugh. According to these documents, she and her husband no longer owed anything on the house and now owned it free and clear. "At least that wish came true..."

That reminded Janet of her other two wishes, though she realized that she had no way of knowing which of the two came true and which was given to the next person. At least not anytime soon. The only way she'd know was if she went and got a new job and did horribly at it or if one of her family got cold. It might take awhile to figure out which had been granted, though if she had to choose between the two, she hoped that the one for good health for her family had been it.

"When I go back to work," Janet mused aloud, trying to stay positive about her change instead of freaking out, "Maybe I should go to work as a personal trainer at the gym..." She chuckled and remembered her third wish, "I just might have a knack for it..."

It was then that Bekka asked, "What happened to you mommy?" She was staring up at Janet with a confused expression.

"It's hard to explain," Janet said carefully, "But I think I'm going to be all right..."

Just then, Jacob stepped into the room and froze in shock at the sight of his mom. His eyes bulged out and his mouth dropped open. "What happened to you...?" He closed his eyes and shook his head as though he might be imagining things. But when he looked back at her and saw that she still looked the same, he blurted out, "You... You're bigger than dad?" He was confused but he also sounded impressed.

"I guess I am," Janet chuckled, trying not to do anything that would make the kids worry. And since Jacob actually seemed impressed by her growth, she decided to show off a little. She flexed her arm and showed him her powerful looking bicep, chuckling even more at the looks on her kids faces.

"But how?" Jacob demanded, suddenly staring at her suspiciously.

Janet frowned, not sure how to really explain this to her kids when she didn't fully understand it all herself. After a moment though, she decided that the best course would be to tell the truth...or at least as much as she thought they'd understand.

"Do you remember the movie Aladdin?" Janet asked carefully. When both kids nodded, she continued, "Well, it turns out that genies really do exist and one of them just played a joke on me..."

Janet continued to explain what had happened to the kids, almost laughing at the look on Jacob's face when she explained that the strange monkey figurine he found had granted wishes and that he hadn't even known. After this, he went back to his bedroom to pout on the missed opportunity to make his own wishes.

Janet wasn't sure how she was going to explain all this to Carl, though it didn't take long before she had her chance. Her heart raced when his car pulled into the driveway and she took a deep breath to brace herself right before the door swung open.

"Hey honey," Carl called out as he stepped through the door, "I'm home..."

"Um...hi honey," Janet greeted him, standing right in front of him and letting him get a good look at her. His eyes went wide in confusion and surprise and she quickly said, "Something really strange happened to me today..."

"What...?" Carl blinked then shook his head as though to clear it. He looked at her again and gulped when he saw that she hadn't changed back to normal.

Janet smiled weakly at the look of confusion and amazement on Carl's face. Then before she could say anything more both Jacob and Bekka came running up and hugged their dad.

"Did you see how big mom is?" Jacob blurted out.

"It was a magic monkey genie," Bekka told him with a smug look at knowing more than her dad. Then she looked up at her mom and proudly exclaimed, "I wanna be just like mommy when I grow up..."

"Me too," Jacob admitted with a blush, still impressed though with his mother's new height and muscles.

Carl just stared at his kids for a moment then at Janet. His eyes widened again as she shifted position and revealed both her larger muscles as well as her increased cleavage.

Janet chuckled as she looked down a little on her husband, faintly amused by the fact that she was now taller and more muscular than him. Of course, she'd never tell him that.

"This is certainly a surprise for me too," Janet gestured down at her body with a wry smile. Then she gave Carl a kiss to reassure him that she was still herself before sighing self-consciously and continuing, "Boy do I have a weird story to tell you..."

Part 6

Liz frowned as she hurried across the courtyard to the university campus library in order to meet her friends there. Of course, they weren't actually her friends...just classmates whom she happened to be sharing a research project with. And unfortunately, Liz was running late.

"Damn it," Liz muttered as she glanced at her watch, shifting her back pack over her shoulder and speeding up her pace.

She was usually the one who got mad at the others for showing up late so this was going to be embarrassing. It wasn't as though she had much choice since she had to stay late after her last class to ask the professor a few questions, but that didn't change the fact that she was still late...even if only by ten minutes.

Liz reached the campus library a minute later and was disappointed to see that the others were already there. For the first time, she actually wished that they were late so maybe they wouldn't have realized she was as well.

Liz quickly glanced at the two people sitting at the table, seeing Marie sitting there with an annoyed scowl on her face. Marie was tall and slender...or just plain skinny as some people said. However, she had long raven black hair which Liz envied as it was so much nicer than her own shoulder length brown hair.

Bryan sat at the other side of the table from Marie and wasn't looking any happier about being there than she was. That wasn't surprising though as the two seemed to hate each other and Liz was usually left having to act as the peacemaker during these sessions.

Bryan was tall, athletic, blonde and a would be jock. He'd been a football player back in high school and the way he told it...he'd been the star player on several other sports teams. However, Bryan hadn't been good enough to make the university team and tended to be resentful because of that.

"Sorry I'm late," Liz greeted the other two, "I got held up after my last class..."

"About time," Bryan muttered in response.

"Like you weren't late the last time," Marie told him with a snort, defending Liz merely because Bryan was annoyed with her lateness. Liz had no doubt that if Bryan had said her lateness was no problem, then Marie would have taken the opposite side and would have acted as though it bothered her.

"Let's get started," Liz said, pulling a chair back and sitting down, then setting her back pack beside her. She adjusted position but then her foot hit something on the floor right beneath where her chair had been. "What's this...?"

Liz reached down and picked up the small hard object she'd accidentally kicked, finding that it was some sort of green ceramic figurine. She set it down on the table in front of her noting that it was shaped like a monkey sitting in the lotus position. It even had a pair of clear crystals set in its eyes.

"Did either of you bring this?" Liz asked Bryan and Marie.

"No," Bryan shook his head.

Marie just stared at it for a moment before announcing, "It looks like jade. Someone must have left it behind."

"I guess we can turn it into the librarian when we leave," Liz said, giving the monkey figurine a closer look and wondering where it came from. It looked like it might be some sort of prop from the drama department.

Just then, Liz suddenly head a voice exclaim, "Three people may each make one wish. Once all three wishes have been made each wish shall be granted to each wisher." The voice boomed with a strange clarity that almost seemed to bypass her ears and embed itself straight into her mind.

"Holy shit!" Bryan exclaimed, looking around the table with an expression of shock, "Who said that...?"

"I think..." Marie stared at the monkey figurine, "I think it came from that thing..."

Bryan shook his head, "No fucking way... Statues don't talk." He glared at Marie as though thinking she had to be stupid.

Liz blinked and stared at the monkey figurine for a moment as well before licking her lips and admitting, "I think she's right... I think it came from this..."

"Then it's obviously some kind of joke," he snorted, sitting there with a stubborn expression that revealed he wasn't going to change his mind.

Marie glared at Bryan, "You're an idiot... How in the world could someone talk directly into your mind like that... I mean, it's obviously some kind of telepathy..."

Liz closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to make sense of this as well as ignore what was about to break into a loud argument any moment. After a few seconds, she released her breath and looked back at the monkey as well as Marie and Bryan.

"That voice said we could each make a wish," Liz said slowly. "I've never heard of anything like that happening in real life." Bryan looked smug at that since Liz seemed to be agreeing with him. But then she continued, "But maybe we don't know as much as we think..." At that it was Marie's turn to look smug.

"We should try it," Marie insisted.

Bryan of course immediately snorted, "I'm not making a fool of myself by falling for some stupid joke."

Marie just smirked in response, "You do that all the time anyway."

"It wouldn't hurt to at least try it," Liz pointed out cautiously, feeling a little embarrassed even be considering something as outlandish as trying to make wishes on a supposedly magic monkey figurine. Then she looked at Bryan and gave him a weak grin, "We can think of it like a game...or a hypothetical exercise. If you had one wish with those conditions, what would you wish for...?"

Bryan snorted, looking almost thoughtful though which Liz considered a good sign. Marie was staring at the jade monkey figurine again with an expression of eagerness. Liz guessed she was probably trying to decide what she'd wish for, though it may just have been excitement over possible 'proof' that magic really existed. Liz however knew that they wouldn't know for sure until they'd made their wishes. Then they'd see if this really was magic or someone messing with them somehow. However, the voice in her head had convinced her that this was something definitely out of the ordinary.

Liz glanced to Marie though the other girl was still distracted by the figurine and didn't seem to notice. So with a sigh, Liz said, "Okay, I guess I'll go first..." She wasn't completely sure what she'd wish for if she had time to really think about it but knew that she'd have to do this before Bryan backed out completely. "I wish my tuition was completely paid off..."

The moment Liz finished making her wish she realized that she could have done much better, though it was Marie who put her own thoughts into words. "Damn," Marie shook her head, "Why didn't you wish for us to be millionaires....or even billionaires..."

"I know," Liz shook her head, "It's just the first thing I thought of... I mean, I've been worrying about my tuition payments all week..."

"Well I know what I want," Bryan exclaimed with a smirk, giving both Liz and Marie an exaggerated lascivious grin which immediately told Liz he still wasn't taking this even halfway seriously. He gave Liz a wink and joked, "I wish you both were irresistibly attracted to me.

"WHAT?" Marie screamed as she jumped to her feet, a look of rage quickly filling her eyes, "You ASSHOLE!"

"Marie," Liz exclaimed, afraid Marie was going to do something drastic like attacking Bryan right there.

"If that's the way you want it...," Marie snarled at Bryan.

Liz tried reaching for the other girl, "Marie..."

But Marie just ignored Liz and blurted out, "I wish I had a gorgeous feminine body with big boobs..."

"I wish you did too," Bryan teased, seemingly amused by Marie's angry outburst and wish. "Then you might be worth looking at..."

"GUYS," Liz exclaimed, trying to get their attention. Then she paused as she suddenly felt a strange warm tingle rush through her entire body. "What…?"

Liz gasped as the tingling sensation not only grew more powerful but her very flesh started to feel as though it was moving. She thought it was just her imagination until her clothes began to feel tight across her chest…very tight.

"Oh my God," Liz blurted out as she looked down and saw her shirt stretching to the very limit as her two now very generous breasts threatened to burst free. She grabbed them with her hands, verifying that they certainly felt real. "Oh my God…"

It was then that Liz noticed her hands… Her hands had changed as well, with her nails now being long and perfectly manicured. It was a very small change compared to her now larger breasts but it still struck her as quite noticeable and made her wonder what else had changed about her.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" Bryan yelled from across the table, his voice sounding quite wrong.

Liz tore her eyes from her breasts and hands and looked at Bryan, gasping as she did so. Bryan was changing too…and still doing so. His entire body now looked quite feminine…including a pair of breasts that swelled out larger as Liz watched.

"Your wish," Liz blurted out, turning to stare at Marie whose own transformation had already finished.

Marie looked sort of like herself…but an incredibly sexy version of herself. She had filled out in all the right places and now had the body of a stripper and a face that could have graced the cover of magazines.

"You look unbelievable," Liz gasped while Marie simultaneously exclaimed, "You're gorgeous."

"No fucking way," Bryan exclaimed with a sexy woman's voice, "I've got BOOBS!"

Liz quickly looked back at Bryan and gulped, seeing that his own transformation had just finished. Marie's wish had been to have a sexy feminine body with big boobs…and that had obviously been granted to Bryan. He looked every inch a sexy woman with big breast…breasts which were straining the limits of his own shirt.

"Oh God," Liz whispered in disbelief, glancing down to the monkey statue but seeing that it was now gone. It seemed to have vanished while she'd been distracted. "No way…"

"Oh no," Marie gulped, staring at Bryan with a look of horror, "I didn't mean…"

Liz stared at Bryan, knowing that she wouldn't mind being drop dead gorgeous but that it would have to be very difficult for him. After all, he was now so gorgeous…so sexy… She absently licked her lips, wondering what it would be like to lick those nipples of his…

"No," Liz shook her head, hardly able to believe she was thinking those thoughts about another woman…or at least someone who looked like a woman. Like a very sexy woman… "It's Bryan's wish…"

Liz quickly turned her attention to Marie, trying to keep from looking at Bryan. But to her shock, she immediately started having very similar thoughts about Maria as well.

"Each of our wishes were granted to the other two," Liz whispered, thinking about Bryan's wish. Now all three of them were irresistibly attracted to each other…a fact which was proven by the way Maria and Bryan were staring at each other with lust filled eyes. "Oh no…"

"You're so gorgeous," Marie whispered, staring at Bryan with an expression of longing…an expression he mirrored while staring back at her. Then she looked at Liz with the same look, "God… You too… I can't believe what I'm thinking about you Liz…"

"Me either," Liz gulped, her body growing hungry with desire.

"You're both so gorgeous," Bryan added.

"And you're Just as gorgeous," Marie responded with a smirk, "I know it's just our wishes…but I can't help but wanting to kiss you…"

To Liz's surprise, the front of Bryan's pants bulged out, revealing that in spite of his sexy feminine body he wasn't entirely female. He still had some of his old self left. The thought of trying it out made her blush yet feel eager at the same time.

A moment later Marie and Bryan embarrassed in a passionate kiss which stirred the desires in Liz even more. She wanted them both. Thoughts of a threesome ran through her mind and she knew that they would feel the same. It was the result of Bryan's wish but it was the way she felt.

Then Liz suddenly laughed, realizing the irony of the situation. Bryan and Marie had been arguing with each other almost nonstop and it was that very arguing which had resulted in all three of them getting these sexy new bodies. But now they were kissing each other…irresistibly attracted to each other. Liz had a feeling that their days of arguing with each other were over. Now they had other things to occupy their passions instead.

"And mine too," Liz whispered as she went to join her soon to be lovers. She licked her lips in eager anticipation, knowing that things would never be remotely the same between them again. Their wishes had made sure of that, though she wasn't in any mind to complain at the moment. Merely enjoy.

Part 7

Kat scowled as she hurried down the high school hallways, keeping her head down and not looking directly at any of the other students. Most of them didn't look directly at her either or if they did they didn't do it for more than a moment.

Kat paused in front of her locker and felt the edge of her long black overcoat brushing her ankles. The coat made her a bit too warm though she couldn't admit it to anyone else. After all, that just wouldn't be very goth of her and she did have an image to maintain.

There was a small mirror on the inside of Kat's locker and she glanced at it for just a moment. She'd been called cute once though not so much since she started wearing the heavy mascara and dark lipstick. Her hair was shoulder length and mostly black with a streak of purple going through it. Then to finish off her goth image she had a small stud through her nose and rings through her lip and one of her eyebrows. These matched the half dozen silver rings she had in each of her ears.

"Fuckin math," Kat muttered as she grabbed the book for her least favorite subject and the other books she'd need for her next several classes of the day. Her scowl deepened as she slipped those books into her back pack and removed the ones she didn't need at the moment. "Fuckin school..."

Then with a grimace, Kat reminded herself that she didn't have to be at school. There were other options...especially now. She absently tightened her grip on her back pack, knowing that it contained her 'get out of jail free' card for school and everything else.

"All I have to do is use it," she sighed, knowing that she didn't dare do so. Not right now.

Kat shook her head then quickly finished exchanging books from her locker. Mere seconds later she closed the locker door and started walking to her next class again, silently cursing the very existence of algebra.

Kat had only gone a short distance when she found nearly the entire hallway blocked. She scowled, seeing that it was the three bitches and their entourage again. The three bitches consisted of the three prettiest and most popular girls in school...Kirsten, Tina and Mercedes. And unfortunately, they were usually surrounded with their latest boyfriends, guys who wanted to be their boyfriends, and girls who were trying to suck up and gain their approval. When the three bitches decided to stop and hold court they tended to block all traffic in the hallway...just as they were now.

"Damn," Kat snarled, knowing that it was pointless to ask them to move so people could get through. Not only did the three bitches not care if they blocked traffic, they seemed to take a delight in making everyone else adjust to them. "Fuckin bitches..."

With a shake of her head and another muttered profanity, Kat started to try making her way around the mob. She hoped no one paid attention to her as she didn't feel like dealing with the bitches at the moment.

Kat had nearly made her way past the mob and clear of the three bitches when she heard it, a taunting call of, "Hey look...it's an Alley Kat." Kat grimaced, immediately recognizing Kirsten's voice as well as the nickname she liked to use for Kat.

"Damn," Kat muttered to herself, "All I wanted to was to be left alone..." Kat scowled as she turned around and spat out, "Fuck you blondie..."

"Oooh, that's a great comeback," Tina responded while the crowd of sycophants just began to laugh.

"Why do you even bothering coming to school?" Kirsten smirked, "You know no one wants you here you goth freak..."

"You know," Kat spat back, "I think the peroxide has soaked into your brain... I mean, you're the one who’s so stupid you failed art last quarter. Who in the world fails art?"

A few people in the crowd started laughing at that while others just glanced to Kirsten, knowing that she'd get even with anyone who laughed at her. Kirsten just glared at Kat with raw fury in her eyes.

"Just who do you think you are...?" Mercedes demanded, about to go off on one of her own tirades, probably about how Kat didn't deserve to even be in the same school as them. At least that was what Kat guessed.

Kirsten interrupted Mercedes before she got very far into her rant, glaring at Kat with a smug anger as she said, "No one wants you... Not even your own mom." Kat winced as that verbal blow hit her right where it hurt the most. Then she could only gasp in horror as Kirsten continued, talking more to the crowd of sycophants than her now, "Did you know," Kirsten looked around with a cruel smirk, "When she was a kid, her mom took all the family money and ran away...just so she wouldn't have to deal with her anymore."

Kat clenched her fists as her body shook from emotion. Anger and humiliation warred for dominance while she just glared at Kirsten, seeing the look of smug satisfaction on the other girl's face. Everywhere around her the other students stared...some laughing while others had looks of pity. She wasn't sure which reaction was worse.

"Fuck you," Kat spat out angrily a moment later, unable to think of a better comeback at the moment.

For a brief moment Kat thought about attacking Kirsten...about tearing the other girl’s eyes out. However, she knew she was badly outnumbered as not only would Tina and Mercedes be on Kirsten's side but so would their crowd of sycophants. So with that, Kirsten turned and walked away, blushing brightly in humiliation as she could hear the laughter and further taunts of the bitches behind her.

Kat was now clear of the mob and had a clear path to her next class but that wasn't where she went. Instead, she changed directions and went out one of the side exits from the building and quickly walked towards the school football field.

A minute later, Kat arrived at her destination, a space between the football bleachers and the maintenance shed. It was a spot which she knew quite well would give her some measure of privacy, unless of course another student decided to sneak out of class and have a cigarette as they sometimes did.

"Damn," Kat spat out, still shaking from anger.

She let out a stream of profanities and then reached into her back pack, pulling out the pack of cigarettes she had hidden in the side pocket. Of course, she knew she'd get in trouble if one of the teachers found out about them but she didn't care. That had never stopped her before.

When Kat was half finished smoking her cigarette, she dropped it to the ground and then turned her attention to her back pack. With a deep scowl she reached inside and pulled out a shiny black stone figurine. It was obsidian carved into the shape of a monkey and with a pair of red gems set in the eyes.

Kat stared at the obsidian monkey figurine with a smoldering intensity, remembering how she'd found it yesterday just sitting at the end of her driveway. It had spoken to her...directly into her mind and had offered her three wishes. Of course, there was a catch. There was always a catch. The catch this time though was that whatever she wished for the person she hated the most would get twice that. That catch made it too risky to use since she didn't want to help someone she hated. And besides, she had no idea who the person she hated the most was. Not until now.

"Kirsten," Kat spat out the name like a curse.

Kat disliked a lot of people and even hated a few. She hated her mom for not only leaving her and her dad without notice all those years ago but also for taking everything they had of value at the time...making Kat's dad have to work two jobs for a long time just to make ends meet. She hated Jay, the asshole she'd given her virginity to a few months back and who had then started treating her as though she didn't even exist. She hated Mrs. Olsen, the bitch teacher who'd flunked her last year just because she disagreed with Mrs. Olsen's political views in front of the class. And of course, she hated the three bitches.

The three bitches were just that...bitches. All three of them had gone out of their way to be cruel to Kat and to humiliate her when they could, though she had a special spot of enmity for Kirsten. Kirsten was different...and the hatred more personal.

As hard as it was to believe, she and Kirsten had actually been friends back in grade school. Of course, that all changed once they reached middle school. They began hanging out with different crowds and going in different directions. It was then that Kirsten began filling out and hanging with Tina and Mercedes. Before long she'd become busty, popular...and full of herself. She'd gone from being a friend to being an obnoxious bitch.

"That bitch," Kat spat out angrily.

As angry as she'd always been at the way Kirsten had turned on her, that was nothing compared to the betrayal she now felt over the past confidences the other girl had so happily blurted out in front of the crowd.

Kat looked into the ruby eyes of the obsidian monkey, seeing a faint sparkle deep within. She hadn't used this until now because she hadn't been sure who she hated the most...but now she knew. She hated Kirsten more than anyone else.

Kat knew she could use her wishes to either help herself or hurt her enemy...and at the moment she chose the latter. There was absolutely no way she'd do anything to benefit Kirsten after that display. Instead, she was going to make Kirsten pay and pay good.

"Since you're so proud of your big tits," Kat snarled, staring intently at the monkey figurine, "I wish my tits were five times as big..."

Kat knew that since she was small chested to begin with, growing five times the size would leave her with perhaps a little bigger than she wanted to be but still quite manageable. However, Kirsten was already fairly large so growing ten times the size would leave her absolutely enormous...and ridiculous looking. Kat had seen Kirsten teasing girls she judged to be too large before so Kat relished the idea of Kirsten being on the other side of that.

Kat took a deep breath expecting her breasts to start growing immediately then she let out a sigh of disappointment when nothing happened. Either her wishes weren't really going to be granted or the figurine required her to make all three of them first. She certainly hoped it was the latter.

Though Kat would get a direct benefit...even if a little more than she really wanted on her first wish, her second wish was going to be pure vengeance on Kirsten. She'd have to pay a price for it but it would hurt Kirsten a whole lot more.

"I wish I was four inches shorter," Kat stated with a determined scowl.

Kat had no real desire to be shorter but at 5 foot 8 she felt she could afford to lose a few inches. Kirsten however was already 5 foot 4 and a little sensitive about her height at times. With this wish Kirsten should lose 8 full inches of height, leaving her only 4 foot 8. Kat smirked as she thought about Kirsten's reactions to shrinking that much.

"A small price to pay," Kat told herself smugly.

For her last wish, Kat could think of several nasty wishes. She could wish her own friends would turn on her ensuring that Tina and Mercedes would really get nasty on Kirsten. However, Kat had few friends and didn't want to lose them just to get her revenge. She could wish her mom liked to hit her...something which would have no effect on her since her own mom was long out of the picture though it would ensure Kirsten a very nasty home life. However, Kat had no wish to harm an innocent like Kirsten's mom with such a wish. Her last wish had to be something which would humiliate Kirsten but wouldn't hurt an innocent or have too much effect on her.

"I've got it," she said after a minute of consideration. "I wish I really liked getting tattoos and piercings."

Kat smirked as she finished the last wish, knowing it would have almost no effect on her. After all, she already had a number of piercings and planned on getting a tattoo or two as soon as she was able. Kirsten however had always made fun of Kat and others who had a lot of piercings and tattoos. It would be fun seeing her get more and more of them, becoming the very thing she'd always made fun of.

"As if being short and built like an over implanted stripper won't be funny enough," Kat grinned evilly.

Just then, the obsidian monkey began to get warm in Kat's hands and a wave of tingling seemed to flow out from it and through her body. She gasped as her whole body felt warm and tingly then began to change.

"It's happening," Kat whispered as her chest felt tense and began to push out, her breasts swelling larger.

However, at the same time the rest of her body was changing slightly as well though it didn't seem as noticeable as her breasts. If it hadn't been for her clothes getting looser everywhere except across her breasts she might not even have noticed she was shrinking.

The changes happened so fast that Kat barely had time to register then before she suddenly noticed something else. One second she was clutching the monkey figurine tightly and the next second her hand was empty.

"What the fuck?" Kat blurted out, staring at her empty hand and then down at the ground but seeing no sign of it. "It just fuckin vanished…"

But after a moment, Kat realized that this might be a good thing. If the figurine had vanished then there was no way Kirsten would ever be able to get hold of it and use it for her own revenge against Kat.

Kat took a deep breath and then cupped her larger breasts, smirking as she thought about how they now seemed like such a nice size. They were a little bigger than she really wanted to have but she knew that guys would certainly appreciate them.

"I can't wait to see Kirsten's," she laughed in delight.

After a minute, Kat picked up her backpack again and then cursed as she had to grab her pants. Now that she'd lost 4 inches of height her clothes were now too loose to wear properly. Her pants were about ready to fall down, though she could take care of that by tightening her belt a few notches. However, the idea of what losing 8 inches would do to Kirsten only made Kat grin broadly.

"I can't wait to see that midget tit queen," Kat chuckled to herself cheerfully as she started back towards the school building. "This is going to be so fuckin good…"

--------------------

Michelle stared intently at the laptop open in front of her, her hands twitching slightly as she kept hitting refresh on the screen. She licked her lips in eager anticipation, feeling a surge of excitement as the E-bay auction ticked down to its final few seconds.

"I've almost got it," Michelle grinned, her eyes remaining locked on the E-bay auction and the picture of a jade monkey which was posted on it.

Michelle licked her lips again, telling herself that this time it was going to be different. The last time she got close to that obsidian monkey, it had just mysteriously vanished…much like her own marble monkey had after she'd made her wish. Unfortunately, when the obsidian monkey vanished the people at that auction house thought she'd stolen it.

"I shouldn't have made such a big deal about needing to see it," she muttered to herself. "I should have just snuck in and used it…"

Michelle hated being blamed for something she didn't do…though not nearly as much as she hated being stuck as a little girl. Fortunately, she'd been able to get away before the police or security guards grabbed her. But ever since then, Michelle had been forced to remain more careful as she looked for the monkey figurine.

"Figurines," Michelle muttered, reminding herself that there were more than one.

In fact, during all her research on the marble monkey which had done this to her, she'd discovered some online accounts which suggested there were actually three separate monkeys figurines…each of which would grant wishes but with a different catch. Unfortunately, Michelle had absolutely no luck in finding any of the three again…until now. It was on E-Bay no less…though the auction page didn't say anything about wishes, just a jade monkey figurine.

Michelle looked at the picture again, amazed as the monkey figurine being auctioned looked almost exactly like the marble monkey she'd once had in her hands. However, this one was jade instead of marble and instead of having emeralds in its eyes…this one looked as though it had diamonds instead.

"Good thing they don't realize what they have," Michelle muttered, knowing that if the seller did they'd use the monkey figurine instead of selling it. And even if they did sell it, they'd be asking millions…maybe even billions instead.

Michelle grinned, knowing that it would soon all be over. She was the high bidder on the auction and it was just ending. Soon she'd be able to wish herself back to her real age. Soon she wouldn't have to be stuck as a little girl anymore. In just 5 seconds… 4 seconds… 3 seconds… 2 seconds… 1 second…

The auction ended but Michelle's eyes shot wide. "NO!" she screamed out, "NO…!" Someone had just outbid her at the very last second. Someone else had just won the auction instead of her. "I can't be…"

Michelle cursed and ranted for five minutes before she calmed down, "It's not too late yet…" She took a deep breath, trying to think straight, "I can still get hold of the seller and try to offer more…"

Michelle glared at the auction page with a deep grimace, pissed that it hadn't worked out like she'd hoped. She'd almost had it but then like in the other auction house it just slipped through her fingers. But this time it wasn't completely over yet. It might not be easy but she still might be able to get her hands on this jade monkey.

"It's not over yet," Michelle insisted, "Not yet…"

Part 8

Collin leaned back in his office chair and stared at the marble figurine that sat squarely in the middle of his desk. He frowned thoughtfully, not taking his eyes from the carved monkey as he considered his options one last time.

Just a few hours ago while on his way to work, Collin had found this item...this carved marble figurine of a monkey sitting in the lotus position. Normally he would have ignored such an item entirely though the emeralds set in its eyes had made it irresistible. He had to at least pick it up and examine it to see if they might be real.

Of course, the feature which now fascinated Collin so much that he'd completely ignored his work responsibilities since had nothing to do with the emeralds and their value. Instead, it had to do with what happened next. The figurine had somehow spoken to him, placing the words directly into his mind as it offered him three wishes...just like a genie from the old stories. Of course, there was a catch though it was hardly a bad one. He'd only get two of the wishes he made granted to him and the third would be given to someone else. By that reasoning, he assumed that one of the wishes made by whomever had it last would be granted to him.

"Such an opportunity," Collin mused aloud, smiling greedily as he thought of what such a thing could mean.

Collin had always been practical and had never been one to believe in such nonsense as magic and wishes. However, he'd never been one to ignore the obvious...such as the fact that no one could speak directly into his mind like that. That meant there was something more going on than he'd previously believed possible. Collin had never been one to ignore an opportunity either, especially not one like this.

For the first hour after finding the strange monkey figurine, Collin had wrestled with the decision of what to do with it. Could it really be some elaborate practical joke, perpetuated perhaps by one of the employees who worked for him? Or could it be real...the opportunity of a lifetime?

Collin had then decided to do a little research to see if there was anything to back up the story of a wish granting marble monkey figurine. He'd done several searches on the internet and to his surprise he actually found two such references to a marble monkey figurine. One was a lost and found posting from some young woman named Michelle who claimed to have lost a valuable family heirloom which fit the description of the item in front of him and who was begging to have it returned. The other reference was a personal blog page which gave a warning about the monkey figurine and the unknown wish which would be granted to you.

"Such a useful little item," Collin mused as he continued staring at the monkey.

Collin was a successful business executive and had gained such a powerful position in his company by being quick to seize an opportunity. Even if he'd never believed in magic or other such nonsense before this, he could somehow feel that this was the genuine article. This was an opportunity unlike any which had come before it. And since Collin had never been one to let an opportunity slip between his fingers, he made certain he would get as much as possible from this one. That was why he'd spent the last hour carefully deciding what he would wish for as well as carefully wording them in exacting detail.

"I do wonder though," Collin frowned, "What that unknown wish I will get will be..." It also frustrated him some though that one of his wishes would be granted to someone else rather than him and that he would have no control over which it would be. Collin hated not being able to control every aspect of this though that wasn't about to stop him from doing his best.

With that, Collin glanced to his office door which was still shut and locked. He'd even instructed his secretary to make sure that no one bothered him for awhile. That meant he had the privacy he needed for this and no fear of interruptions.

Collin looked at the monkey figurine and then the list he'd written his wishes out on. "I wish that Collin Bernhard Thornwood who has social security number..." He smiled as he read off his own social security number and continued his wish, "would be the wealthiest man in the world as defined by..." Then Collin spent the next two minutes defining what he meant by wealth as well as which bank accounts of his the money would go in. And since he'd specified his name, social security number, and bank accounts in the wish, even if this wish was granted to someone else the benefit would still go to him.

Once Collin had finished his first wish he paused to take a drink from the bottle of water on his desk then started on his second wish, prefacing it with his name and social security number the same way he had the first. "...would physically become thirty years of age and in perfect physical health as defined by..."

Collin wasn't quite as detailed in describing what he meant by being younger and in perfect physical health as he was always more focused more on wealth than that, but he was detailed enough that it shouldn't make any difference. He would become fifteen years younger than he currently was, ending up at 30 and in much better physical shape than he'd ever been at that age or any other time of his life.

Then Collin finally turned his attention to his third and probably the most important wish. If he had only one of these three, this was the one he would most want granted to him. He started it out prefacing it with his name and social security number as he had the last two, then continued, "...would become immortal as defined by..."

For the third time Collin went into great detail as to what he meant in his wish to become immortal. It had been many years since he'd watched that movie Highlander, and though he'd never cared for such frivolous fantasy movies, that particular concept of immortality had stuck with him and was the basis for his wish. Collin's third wish would make him such an immortal...a being who would cease aging entirely...after his second wish youthened him some...and would then make him immune from virtually all disease and death. He would even heal extremely quickly from any injury...though he would still have a way to kill himself should he ever actually tire of living forever...as unlikely as that was.

"Those are my three wishes," Collin told the statue with a smug grin.

Just then, the emeralds set in the monkey figurines' eyes began to glow. It wasn't a bright glow but it was enough to stand out and immediately draw attention. Then Collin felt a presence pushing into his mind even stronger than when the monkey had offered him the wishes earlier. But this time... This time Collin felt emotion coming from the presence when previously it had seemed little more than an automated recording. Now there was a feeling of displeasure.

A moment later, the same voice began to speak in Collin's mind again. But wheras last time it had offered him three wishes, this time it merely stated, "The offer has been revoked."

"WHAT?" Collin gasped in surprise.

Suddenly, the monkey figurine was no longer sitting on Collin's desk in front of him. There had been no flash of light or puff of smoke but it vanished right in front of him nonetheless. One second it was there and the next it was gone.

Collin immediately reached for the empty space on his desk, finding that it was indeed empty and that the figurine hadn't just turned invisible. He quickly looked under the desk as well even though he knew he would find nothing.

"How dare you?" Collin snarled, growing even angrier. "How dare you do this..."

Collin glared at the empty space on his desk with the same dark scowl which had often sent employees running in fear. That monkey figurine had just offered him everything he'd ever wanted on a silver platter...raising his hopes to new heights before yanking it all away at the last moment. This offer of wishes had suddenly turned into a cruel joke and NOBODY played jokes on Collin.

"Damn you," Collin grimaced, clenching his fists and slamming one of them down on his desk. Then he glanced to his computer, remembering the records of the statue he'd found online. It was still out there somewhere...offering wishes to someone else. "I'll find you," he promised to both himself and the monkey figurine, "I will find you...no matter what."

Then Collin leaned back in his chair again, still scowling with an intense determination. He had no idea where the marble figurine was now but he had no doubt that he'd find it again. No matter what it took... No matter how long it took... Collin was going to find that figurine again and when he did it would either grant those wishes or he'd destroy it completely. One way or another he was going to get that marble monkey.

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It had been a long day and Denise was more than happy to get home. The bank where she worked had been extremely busy all day and right before she left she got stuck dealing with an extremely pushy customer who couldn't seem to do simple math.

"Some people," Denise shook her head as she remembered the customer. The man had been taking his frustrations out on her because he'd written a check for more money than he had in the account and couldn't understand why he no longer had any money left. "But at least I'm home now..."

Being home was the very thing Denise needed at the moment. Of course, there were two other things she'd prefer to have even more but knew she couldn't at the moment. One was a tub of Ben and Jerry's...which would have gone straight to her butt. The other was her husband Tyrone who'd been working the swing shift lately and wouldn't be back till late.

With a shake of her head, Denise took off her jacket and hung it on the coat rack beside the door, pausing to glance at her reflection in the small mirror beside it. She was a slender and attractive black woman who was getting a little too close to 30 for her comfort.

"Let's see what we've got for dinner," she mused as she made her way to the kitchen, not sure what was left in the fridge.

Denise did a quick survey of the kitchen, only to pause when she saw the garbage can was nearly overflowing. She let out a sigh, annoyed that Tyrone hadn't taken care of it before he'd gone to work.

"I guess it's up to me," she scowled, "Again."

A minute later Denise stepped outside with a garbage bag in hand. She frowned as she walked to where the outdoor garbage can was set, only to pause when she noticed something sitting on top of it. It was a small figurine that looked like a monkey sitting in the lotus position. It was all white with a few dark streaks through it, perhaps marble, and it had a pair of green gems set in its eyes.

"Where did you come from?" Denise mused as she reached out to pick it up, wondering if Tyrone might have left it there or one of the neighbors.

But as soon as Denise picked up the figurine, she suddenly heard a voice that seemed to go directly into her mind. "You may make three wishes," the voice stated, "Two of these shall be granted to thee and one shall be granted to the next wisher."

Denise gasped in surprise and dropped the figurine, "What the hell...?"

She stared down at the figurine on the ground in confusion and disbelief. There was absolutely no way a marble figurine had spoken to her much less told her she could make three wishes like with some kind of genie.

"Impossible," Denise stated though she slowly bent over and picked the figurine up again. This time though it didn't speak or offer any sign that it was more than it appeared. That was almost a disappointment though at the same time it was something of a relief. "I must have imagined it..."

With a shake of her head, Denise threw the garbage into the can and then set the figurine inside as well. She turned to go back into the house but couldn't resist pausing to look back at the garbage.

"But what if it wasn't my imagination?" she asked quietly. After all, she'd never heard voices in her head before and it seemed so realistic. "It wouldn't hurt to just try it..."

Denise just stood there for several minutes silently arguing with herself over whether she should listen to the logical part of her mind which said she should leave it or the impulse that said to go back to the garbage can and end up making a fool of herself.

"Damn," Denise finally muttered. She glanced around to make sure that none of her neighbors were watching and then went back to retrieve the monkey figurine from the garbage.

Once Denise was back inside, she sat down on the couch and held the monkey up to look at it more closely. It didn't really look like anything special though the eyes did look like they might be real jewels rather than pieces of glass. In fact, when she looked into the green gems she saw the faint hint of a glow deep down inside.

"So you'll grant three wishes," Denise mused aloud. "Fine. I wish we had that big flat screen HD TV that Tyrone has been going on about lately."

Denise held her breath for a moment but nothing happened. There was no flash of light, no voice saying 'granted' in her mind and no TV suddenly appearing in the middle of the living room.

"I knew it wouldn't work," Denise scowled in disappointment.

But then she thought about what the voice in her head had told her and wondered if maybe the wishes wouldn't be granted until all three had been made. After all, it said she could make three wishes then two of them would be granted to her and one to someone else. How would it know which one it wanted to grant to someone else until she'd made all of them?

"And if it's granting one of my wishes to someone else," Denise mused as she realized something else, "Then it must mean I'll get a wish that whoever used this before me made..." She frowned thoughtfully, "I sure as hell hope it was a good wish."

Denise turned her attention back to the figurine, "Well if that's the way it's going to be... For my second wish, I wish I had all the jewelry and clothes I was wishing I could afford to buy last weekend when I was out shopping with my sister."

Then Denise paused for a moment as she considered her third and final wish. She and Tyrone had been trying to have kids for the last two years without much luck yet. This could certainly help things along. "I wish I was pregnant with Tyrone's baby."

Denise held her breath for a moment when she began to feel the figurine growing warm in her hands. She looked at it in amazement, seeing the faint glow deep in its gemstone eyes becoming just a little brighter. A moment later it suddenly vanished from her hands as though it had never been there.

"It's gone," Denise blurted out, feeling just a little foolish for stating the obvious.

A moment later, Denise suddenly noticed the living room. A large flat screen HD TV now hung on the wall...exactly as Denise had imagined when she'd wished for it. But that was nothing compared to the rest of the room.

Nearly everywhere Denise looked she could see signs of her dream shopping trip with shirts, jackets, pants and dresses all folded up and laying across all the furniture and even on the floor. Jewelry covered most of the coffee table though other pieces seemed to be scattered around the room and left in almost random places such a gleaming bracelet set atop the stereo speaker or a diamond necklace which hung from the ceiling fan. And there were even shoes... Nowhere in her wish had Denise even mentioned shoes, only the clothes and jewelry but she could see a half dozen pair of new shoes sitting on the floor as well.

"Holy shit," Denise blurted out in stunned amazement, hardly able to believe all the stuff which now occupied the room. She recognized a lot of it from her shopping trip and remembered trying a lot of the clothes on while just drooling over the jewelry. "Unbelievable..."

Denise just stood there for several minutes staring at all the clothes and jewelry and touching them to make sure they were real. Then she remembered her third wish...the one which would not have been granted since the TV and jewelry were there.

"I guess it’s no kids yet," Denise sighed, absently touching her stomach. "I guess Tyrone and will just have to keep trying the old fashioned way..." She smiled at that since it might not be as reliable but it was certainly a lot more fun than just wishing the baby to come.

However, that still left the last wish...the wish Denise should have gotten from someone else. She looked around the living room but saw no sign of another wish, only the two she'd made. All Denise could figure was that if she had been granted a wish someone else had made, then it must be either something like her greatest enemy suddenly having a heart attack or something so subtle she might not even recognize it until it happened.

"Maybe it's something like wishing to win the lottery," Denise mused, thinking that might not be a bad wish at all. Of course, she'd have no idea if that was it unless she played the lottery and happened to win. "I just wish I knew what that last wish was..."

Denise shrugged and decided that there was no use worrying about it. If that wish had been granted she'd just have to keep her eyes open and try to see any signs of it. Other than that there was nothing to do but enjoy the benefits of the two wishes which had been granted.

"I hope Tyrone likes his new TV," she grinned to herself, picking up a golden bracelet and slipping it around her wrist. "I know I like my new presents..." Then she paused to absently rub her stomach again and sighed, "I just hope that whoever got my third wish wants kids."

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It was only mid-afternoon yet it somehow seemed much later as 13 year old Tina stepped off the school bus. It had been a long day at school which just seemed to drag on forever, thanks in no small part to some of the other students.

Tina scowled as she thought of the popular cheerleaders at school, the ones who everyone seemed to drool over even though they were just snobby bitches. Tina knew that if she had a single wish she'd wish the whole lot of them were flat chested nerds. Or maybe she'd just wish to be sexier and more popular than any of them. Then she could look down on them for a change.

Tina watched the school bus continue on its way and was then about to cross the street to get home when she noticed something sitting right under a fire hydrant. It was a small statue of a monkey that looked like it was made of white ceramic or maybe even marble.

"Careful," Tina joked as she reached down for the figurine, "A dog might pee on you here…"

Tina chuckled at her little joke as she held the figurine and stared into the green gems that were its eyes. They seemed to glow every so faintly from deep within. Suddenly, Tina heard a voice in her head…

Part 9

The cold rain came down hard and slowly soaked through Rich's clothes, filling him with an ever increasing wet misery. He was so distracted by his discomfort that he didn't pay attention to where he stepped until his foot went into a puddle, soaking it all the way through.

"Damn," Rich grimaced, not at all surprised. It was the perfect ending to a bad day. Then again, it had been a miserable year all around.

Rich had actually come to work today in good spirits, confident that he would be getting the big promotion. He'd been working for the company for nearly nine years and was sure he deserved it more than anyone else. But instead, they gave the promotion to a beautiful young woman who'd only been with the company half as long as he had. And to rub it in even worse, he himself had been the one who trained her when she first started.

Normally, Rich might have said she got the promotion instead of him because she'd flirted with the right person...or did a little more than just flirt. Or perhaps, she'd only gotten the promotion to fill some sort of equality percentage. However, Rich had to admit that she was very sharp and quite good at her job. But that just depressed him all the more.

"Some people seem to have all the luck," Rich sighed as he thought about it. The woman he'd trained had just become his new supervisor. It just didn't seem fair.

Of course, life itself had never seemed to be very fair to Rich. He was 5 foot 8 and had been teased about being short all through high school. Some of the guys he worked with still teased him a bit. Even his beautiful wife Alison was an inch and a half taller than him, a fact which she delighted in reminding him of.

Alison was beautiful with long blonde hair and Rich knew he was lucky to have her...even with their problems. She never seemed satisfied with anything Rich did and frequently expressed disappointment in nearly everything about him. There were times he suspected that the only reason she'd ever married him was because she thought she could get him to do whatever she wanted. Unfortunately, history had shown that things usually did go her way.

Then about three months ago things had become even more problematic when Rich discovered Alison had been having an affair with his best friend Will. This betrayal had been devastating to Rich and had cost him his best friend. However, he and Alison were trying to work out their problems and save their marriage.

When Rich finally reached his car he glanced back the way he'd come and scowled over the long parking lot between him and the building where he worked. When he'd come to work this morning the only open parking space he'd been able to find had been at the farthest end of the lot. He thought that should have been the first sign of the kind of day he was going to have.

"I wish that for once I could be the one having a good day," Rich sighed to himself, trying to remember the last time he'd felt particularly lucky.

Rich pulled out his keys and was unlocking his car when he looked to the side and noticed something on the curb. Curious, he looked closer and saw that it was a black figurine which seemed to have been made of obsidian or some similar black stone and was carved into the shape of a monkey sitting in the lotus position. It even had a pair of red crystals or gemstones set into the eyes.

Suddenly a voice boomed right in Rich's head, somehow seeming to have bypassed his ears entirely. "You shall be granted three wishes," the voice stated, "Then twice this shall be given to the one you hate most."

Rich gasped in shock and dropped the figurine which hit the ground and bounced before rolling under his car. He couldn't believe it... There was no such thing as talking figurines much less one that granted wishes. It was completely and utterly impossible.

"But what if...?" a voice seemed to whisper in the back of his mind.

Rich just stood there in the pouring rain scarcely even noticing it anymore. His mind swirled with conflicting thoughts and emotions but the one thing that he kept coming back to was asking himself the question 'what if?'.

Perhaps this was it...the thing he'd been waiting for as long as he could remember. Perhaps this was opportunity not only knocking on his door but pounding on it and ringing the doorbell as well. How could he possibly ignore such an opportunity just because it might turn out to be a disappointment?

Rich finally dropped to his knees and reached for the figurine under his car, getting even more wet in the process but no longer caring. He quickly grabbed the monkey figurine and then climbed into his car with it, feeling just a little more safe and secure now that he was out of the raid.

Rich held the figurine up for a better look and thought about what the voice in his head had told him. It would grant him three wishes but then whomever he hated the most would get twice that. The person he hated the most could only be one person.

"Will," Rich said, feeling a mixture of sadness and anger as he thought about his onetime friend. Will had betrayed him three months ago by sleeping with Alison. It was the kind of thing that could not be forgiven.

For a brief moment Rich thought about using his three wishes to get revenge on Will but then decided against it. There was so much this could do to improve his own life that he wasn't going to ignore that...even if Will benefited from it too.

Rich knew immediately what his first wish was going to be. For his entire life he'd almost always been the shortest guy in any group. Sure, he wasn't a midget and he was still taller than a lot of women he encountered, but he'd always been teased with nicknames like short. And then there were Alison's derisive comments about his being shorter than her...

"I wish I was six inches taller," Rich stated.

That would put him at a respectable height of 6 foot 2. He'd be tall but not so much that he'd trade the nickname shorty for beanpole or have to listen to all sorts of tall jokes.

"For my second wish," Rich mused, still trying to decide for sure what he wanted, "I think..." Then he paused with a grin thinking of a wish that would go perfectly with his first one. "I wish I had muscles like a bodybuilder..." He chuckled to himself, "I always wanted to have big muscles..." He could just imagine being big and impressive for a change and could hardly wait.

Then for his third wish, Rich decided that he was going to show Alison. He grinned in satisfaction as he thought of what he wanted, thinking about how she'd always teased him and how he'd finally be able to really impress her.

"I wish I had a ten inch long penis," Rich announced with a grin.

Almost the moment the words had left his lips Rich felt the figurine grow warm in his hand followed by a strange sensation which rushed through his body. He gasped as his body suddenly felt strangely tense and then began to grow.

"It's working," Rich blurted out in surprise.

Rich could feel his body growing, his muscles swelling and his clothes becoming tighter and tighter. He gasped in amazement and then discomfort as his wet clothes were pushed to the stretching point and then began to tear. The button on his pants snapped just as the ones on his shirt began to pop loose one by one.

"My shoes," he grunted, quickly trying to pull his feet out of the shoes which had become painfully tight.

Just then, the weight in Rich's hand from the figurine abruptly vanished. He glanced back to his hand but it was now empty. A quick look at the car seat and the floor showed that he hadn't merely dropped it. Somehow, the strange monkey figurine had actually vanished.

However, Rich was too distracted from his still growing body and tearing clothes to give the figurine much further thought. Instead, he focused on trying to get loose from his clothes while the front seat of his car seemed to become somewhat smaller.

Rich adjusted his seat and slit it all the way back to give him more room in what was quickly becoming a far too small space. He groaned as his body swelled outward, half wincing and half grinning as his clothes all burst open and tore to shreds.

A minute later the growth finally stopped and Rich could only sit there taking several deep breaths and trying to make sense of this. He looked down at himself, seeing that his shirt had torn off entirely and his pants were little more than shredded shorts. Huge muscles now bulged out all over his body making him suddenly feel like the Hulk.

"Nice," Rich grinned, flexing his arms and staring in amazement and the bulging bicep the size of a softball. Then he reached between his legs and felt another bulge there. "VERY nice," he grinned even more broadly.

Rich flexed his newly grown muscles and admired how big they were...how strong he now felt. He couldn't wait to get home and show off for Alison. There was no way she could help but be impressed by his new body.

Rich would have liked to have just sat there and examining his transformed body a bit more closely but he had little room in the front of his car and even less privacy. He could check himself out when he got home at the same time he showed off for Alison.

With that, Rich adjusted his seat again and turned on his car. He chuckled to himself as he began to drive home, eager to see himself in the mirror as well as the look on Alison's face.

Rich grinned broadly as he drove home, hardly able to believe how such a shitty day had just turned into the best day of his life. He didn't even care if Will benefited from his wishes. All that mattered was that he got such a benefit. Now he was bound to impress Alison. There was no way that bitch could complain about this.

When Rich arrived home a short time later, he climbed out of his car and chuckled. The extra 6 inches of height made quite a difference. The car seemed small compared to normal, especially when he stood beside it. He definitely liked this perspective.

"Wait till Alison sees this," he said with a smug grin, flexing his arms to stare at his bulging biceps. He'd always dreamed of being built like one of those action heroes in the movies and now he was.

Rich had never felt as confident as he did strolling up to his front door, secure in his new height, muscles and increased penis. Never before in his life had he had as much to be confident about.

"Honey, I'm home," Rich called out as he stepped into the house. He stood by the door and struck a pose so as to look more impressive. "You'll never believe what happened to me…"

"It can't be as weird as what just happened to me," Alison's voice came from the next room right before she stepped through the doorway and stopped to stare at Rich.

Rich gasped in surprise as he saw Alison, hardly able to believe what he saw. He'd been impressed by his own transformation but it was nothing compared to how much Alison had changed.

Alison had always been a little taller than him but now stood just short of 7 feet tall. Even with his extra six inches she now towered over him. Her body bulged with muscle…even more than what he now possessed. The new muscles were absolutely enormous, out of proportion to even her new huge body. It made her look almost monstrous…especially with the huge 20 inch long cock that she now sported between her legs.

"LOOK AT ME!" Alison snarled furiously, gesturing down at her massive body and the extremely impressive member she now sported, "I'm a FREAK!"

Rich could only stare up at his wife in shock and horror before finally whispering, "Oh shit…"

Of course, Rich immediately knew exactly what had happened. He'd thought that Will was the person he hated the most… After all, Will had been his best friend and had betrayed him so horribly. But at the same time, Alison was his wife and her betrayal had been all the nastier. Add that on top of the fact that there were years of building resentment. But she was his wife and Rich thought he was supposed to love her…even with their problems. Rich hadn't wanted to admit it to himself but now he was forced to accept the fact that he did indeed hate her. He hated her for her betrayal and the way she'd been belittling him for years.

"You know what did this," Alison said, glaring at Rich with narrowing eyes. She gave him a dangerous look…the one she always did before she got particularly vicious. "You did this to me… You turned me into a freak…"

"Oh shit," Rich gulped again, feeling a growing fear as Alison stomped towards him.

Her huge mass shook the floor with each stop and she looked even more impressive…even more monstrous as she got closer, towering over him by 8 inches rather than her usual two. And then there was the fact that her unbelievably massive muscles all made his new ones look small. Her muscles looked twice as bulky on her frame as his own did, but add that to her larger frame and she had to be three or even four times as strong as him.

"WHAT DID YOU DO LITTLE MAN?" Alison demanded angrily, "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?"

Rich cringed back, all his newfound confidence fading away to nothing. He'd made a big mistake…a HUGE mistake… And now… Now that he saw the furious look in Alison's eyes and the threatening way she was reaching for him, he knew for a fact he was going to be paying an ENORMOUS price for that mistake…

"Oh God," Rich squeaked out, suddenly thinking that this was definitely the WORST day of his entire life.

Part 10

Bus stations had the bad reputation of being filthy and surrounded by homeless people, drug addicts and beggars. By those standards the bus station Michelle currently found herself in was quite nice. It was reasonably clean and she could only see one vagrant asking for change and no one who was taking drugs...even if a couple looked as though they might be on something.

Michelle looked around and scowled, feeling small and helpless as she had for months. She wasn't sure she'd even get used to this and desperately hoped she'd never have to. Unfortunately, she knew she wouldn't have many more chances to solve her problem without growing up all over again.

At the moment, Michelle was very aware of the fact that she had very little money left on her. She'd already sold or traded all of the jewelry she got from her wish though she hadn't gotten anything near what it was actually worth. Now after months of traveling and living off of it the money was nearly gone. This would probably be her last chance because once she ran out of money she'd be forced to find another alternative. She suspected she'd have to go into the child foster system since living on the streets without money was not a pleasant thought.

In spite of her growing money problem, Michelle let herself feel hopeful. Maybe this would be it. Maybe this time she'd be able to find a way to break the curse that came along with her wishes.

"Damn marble monkey," she muttered, wishing she'd never found that cursed monkey figurine.

At the same time though, Michelle was glad that she'd found the jade monkey figurine on E-bay...even if she'd been outbid for it. She'd immediately contacted the buyer hoping she could get him to sell it to her anyway...though she'd been too late. He'd already mailed it to the buyer...though Michelle had been able to bribe him into giving her the mailing address.

"And I'm almost there," she chuckled nervously. She just hoped she arrived before the package did...and before any wishes were made.

Michelle closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, not sure if luck was working for or against her on this one. Sure she'd lost the E-bay auction but she had been able to get the mailing address of the buyer. And if she thought about it, it was probably good luck that the seller didn't seem to know what he had or it never would have been put up for auction in the first place. Apparently the figurine had never offered him three wishes...for which she was quite grateful.

"Three wishes," Michelle muttered, knowing quite well that it wasn't the same figurine she'd found and used herself. It had completely different rules about how it worked though that could be an advantage. And regardless of whether it was the same one or not it was her best chance at getting back to her rightful age.

In the months since Michelle's regression she'd searched the internet for anything she could find about the marble monkey figurine. In the process she learned even more than she expected. She'd found numerous stories about not one but three different monkey figurines. Each of them seemed to be made of a different material and would grant wishes with a different catch. One web site seemed to be written by someone who actually knew more about them claimed that they were representatives of three monkey gods.

The marble monkey figurine which she'd found and made her wishes on granted wishes but would give one of them away to the next person...and give you an unknown wish in return. The jade monkey she was currently after had another set of rules according to the claims she'd read online. This one would grant three wishes...but spread out over three people. That meant you didn't get any surprise wishes coming at you though you did have to worry about the other two people wishing along with you.

"I just hope I get there before it gets used," Michelle muttered, clenching her fists impatiently. She was still quite angry about how close she'd come to the obsidian monkey before losing it and she didn't want to have that happen again.

Then with that, Michelle took the piece of paper with the address from her pocket and looked at it again. She nodded to herself and then continued on her way. It wasn't much further now.

--------------------

Fifteen year old Jenny flopped down onto her bed with her latest stuffed animal, an orange plush monkey given to her as a present from her aunt. Actually it was an orangutan and not a monkey but it was close enough that Jenny still liked it.

"You are kind of cute," Jenny mused, "Even if your arms are a little too long..."

After examining her new toy for a minute Jenny got back up and placed it on a shelf beside a stuffed purple gorilla. It wasn't technically a monkey either but all eleven of the other stuffed animals on the shelf were.

Jenny stood back for a moment and admired her stuffed monkey collection though it was hardly the limit of her monkeys. She also had at least seven figurines of monkeys scattered around her room and two posters.

For as long as Jenny could remember she'd liked monkeys. They were cute and funny at the same time which was why she'd started collecting monkey things back when she was just a kid. Now she had a lot of monkey decorations and hoped to one day get a real monkey as a pet.

"If only dad would let me," Jenny sighed.

Just then, Jenny heard her dad's voice calling, "Hey Jenny... There's a package here for you.

Jenny suddenly grinned as she realized what the package had to be. She paused to look into the mirror beside her door to make sure her hair wasn't too messed up. It was blonde...not naturally so...and currently pulled back into a pony tail. Once she saw it was reasonably presentable she ran out of her bedroom to get the package.

Seconds later Jenny found her dad in the living room with the package sitting on the coffee table. It was a cardboard box about a foot square and was marked with all the mailing tags.

"This is that thing you got from E-bay isn't it?" her dad asked.

Jenny nodded, "I think so..." Then she paused to look at her dad frowning slightly, "Are you feeling okay?" It hadn't been that long since he'd been sick and though he'd gotten better Jenny still worried about him sometimes.

"I'm fine," her dad chuckled, "Never better..."

"Okay then," Jenny responded, picking up the box and hurrying back to her room.

As soon as Jenny was alone she tore open the box and looked inside. She saw her prize and quickly pulled it out, holding it up to the light so she could see it better. It was a new monkey figurine that she'd just won off E-bay. It would definitely make a nice addition to her collection.

This monkey figurine didn't look as fancy as a couple of her other ones but there was something about it that made it somehow seem special. That was why she'd immediately bid on it when she saw it up for auction. The monkey was carved out of jade and was about 4 inches tall. It even had a pair of shiny crystals in its eyes that she thought must be cut glass.

"Cool," Jenny mused aloud, "I think you'll look good over there..."

Suddenly, Jenny heard a strange voice speaking inside her head. "Three people may each make one wish. Once all three wishes have been made each wish shall be granted to each wisher."

Jenny just stood there in shock with her mouth open, sure that she must have just imagined this. But at the same time, she'd never heard voices before and it certainly seemed so real.

"Did you...?" Jenny gulped and looked at the monkey figurine more closely, "Did you just talk to me...?"

There was no response from the figurine nor any indication that it was anything other than a normal decoration. Still, Jenny couldn't shake the feeling that it was actually looking at her...that it was actually waiting. Maybe waiting for her to start making those wishes.

After a minute Jenny carefully set the monkey figurine down, afraid of what might happen if she accidentally dropped it or especially broke it. Would it just take away these wishes it offered her or maybe do something bad to her instead. She shuddered at the thought and certainly didn't want to find out.

"Three wishes," Jenny told herself, trying to make sense of what she'd heard in her head, "But only one per person..."

Jenny had heard stories of genies and monkey paws that granted wishes but never of monkey statues and never of wishes with a catch like this. Usually in those stories it was three wishes...not three wishes spread over three people. That difference alone made her more sure this was real. If it had just been her imagination there wouldn't have been any catch like that.

"Three wishes," Jenny repeated thoughtfully as she sat down on the edge of her bed.

Jenny spent the next hour thinking about what she would wish for with three wishes...or with only one wish since that would seem to be her share. There were so many things she wanted...so many things she could ask for. The only questions were which of those she'd use her wish on and who would get the other two.

"It's not fair that I've gotta share wishes," she grumbled to herself, annoyed that she could only make one of her wishes when she could think of so many others to make as well. "Aladdin didn't have to share his wishes..."

Then with a sigh, Jenny got up and went to look at the jade monkey figurine again. It looked exactly as it had before, like a cute little monkey that would make a great decoration for her room. However, there was nothing about it that would indicate it was magical or anything more than that.

With a shake of her head, Jenny left her room to go talk to her dad. He smiled when he saw her approaching and asked, "So, how's your new figurine?"

"It’s...," Jenny paused for a moment, not sure how to describe it. "It’s unique."

"I just hope you didn't spend too much to buy it," he told her.

"Not too much," Jenny lied, not wanting to admit she'd gotten a bit carried away with her bidding and spent most of what she had. Then she took a deep breath and quickly asked, "Dad...do you believe in magic?"

"In magic?" Jenny's dad blinked in surprise. He scratched his chin for a moment appearing to take her question seriously. "I don't know about magic," he said finally, "but I do believe in miracles."

"Oh?" Jenny asked curiously

Her dad nodded with a serious expression. "Sure. Six months ago I had cancer and was starting treatments. Then one day it all went into remission and even seemed to just vanish completely." Then he put his hand on Jenny's shoulder and smiled gently, "If that's not a miracle I don't know what is."

Jenny nodded, "I guess..."

Jenny looked at her dad and smiled, remembering how relieved she'd been when his cancer had gone away like that. She'd been so worried about him...though she hadn't been willing to admit to anyone even herself just how much. The truth was she'd been terrified she was going to lose him.

"I think there are more things out there than we understand," her dad told her then chuckled, "I hope that answers your question. Why'd you want to know?"

"Um...no reason," Jenny quickly told him, not quite sure how to tell him about the monkey. "But if you had one wish...what would you wish for?"

"Let's see," he mused, rubbing at his chin again as he thought about it. "I could wish for my health...but I already have that one. I could wish for a great job but I already like my job and the people I work with. I could wish for the best daughter in the world but I already have that too." Jenny laughed as he gave her a grin, "I guess I don't really have anything to wish for."

Jenny laughed, "Thanks dad."

Jenny went back to her room still not quite sure what to do about the monkey figurine and the wishes. As her dad pointed out, there wasn't anything that he really wanted anymore so it might be a bit of a waste giving him one of the three wishes. But if there was anyone else who deserved one of them it was him.

A short time later Jenny heard the doorbell ringing so went to go check it out. She reached the living room just in time to see her cousin Greg stepping inside. He was 18 years old, kind of skinny and could be kind of a nice guy at times though he tried hard not to let anyone see that.

"Glad you could make it," Jenny's dad greeted him with a grin. "But where's your brother? I thought he was coming to help clean my garage too."

"I don't know where Cal is," Greg shrugged with a look of annoyance, "The doofus has been acting real weird for a couple months…ever since dad bought him that car."

"You're just jealous," Jenny teased him, "He didn't buy you a car."

"No he didn't," Greg scowled, revealing that she'd hit the problem on the head, "I had to buy my own…"

"And I'm sure you appreciate your car more because of it too," Jenny's dad told him with a chuckle.

Greg nodded, not looking at all convinced. Then he looked to Jenny's dad, "So uncle Peter…where do you want me to start?"

"Right this way," Jenny's dad told him then gestured for him to follow.

Jenny watched her dad and cousin go to the garage though she stayed behind, wondering if she should tell them both about the monkey and the wishes it had offered. After all, there were three people available now and that was what the monkey said it needed.

"Now I just have to decide which of those wishes I want to make," Jenny frowned to herself, heading back to her bedroom to both figure it out and to avoid being drug into helping clean out the garage. "So many choices…"

Part 11

Jenny sat in her bedroom scribbling out her homework and glancing every few minutes to the jade monkey which now rested in a prominent position on her dresser. As much as she tried focusing on this school work she couldn't help but thinking about the monkey and the wishes it had offered to grant.

"I wonder," Jenny mused aloud, trying to decide yet again what she would wish for. It would probably be great to be the hottest and most popular girl in school, but then again there was that strange catch about having to share her wishes. That made the whole situation all the more complicated.

Just then, there was a gentle knocking on the bedroom door. Before Jenny could answer the door opened and her cousin Greg stuck his head in.

"Hey," Jenny protested, "You know I could have been dressing..."

"In the middle of the day?" Greg asked with a raised eyebrow, coming the rest of the way inside.

"That's not the point," Jenny nearly pouted, "I might not have been decent..."

"You've never been decent," Greg teased her, "But that's never stopped me from talking to you before..."

Jenny rolled her eyes at that, "Very funny..."

"I thought so," he chuckled.

Jenny glared at him for just a moment before asking, "So, are you done cleaning our garage?"

"Not yet," Greg shrugged, "I'm just taking a break for lunch." Then he gave her a suspicious look, "Why aren't you helping though. I mean, it is your garage..."

"Because my dad won't pay me to do it," Jenny responded with a shrug. Then she gave her cutest and most innocent expression as she asked, "Besides... I'm just a weak little girl and can't be expected to lift heavy stuff..."

Greg snorted, "An annoying little con artist is more like it." He shook his head, "Here I am doing stuff you should be doing yourself. And that lazy brother of mine was supposed to be here helping. Good thing your dad is pretty cool with the pay. Anyway, I was about to head out and grab something to eat for lunch. Want to come with me?"

"Sure," Jenny grinned, "There's this place all the kids from school go... It’s great..."

"Hey," Greg protested, "I'm the one whose paying so shouldn't I get to pick where we're going?" But at the same time his grin showed that he wasn't very serious about that.

Greg left Jenny's room and started to follow. "Wait a moment," she blurted out as something occurred to her. Jenny dashed back to her room and grabbed the jade monkey figurine from her dresser and quickly dropped it into her back pack which she then slung over her shoulder. "I've got something I want to talk to you about while we eat..."

A short time later they were sitting at the restaurant and eating. Greg took the first bite of his hamburger, glancing to the back pack Jenny had brought with though hadn't opened yet. He was curious but kept quiet for the moment, knowing that she'd either start talking about whatever she wanted to talk about in a minute or he'd start teasing her mercilessly.

"Isn't this place great," Jenny grinned, "Everyone in school likes coming here." She abruptly pointed across the restaurant, "See her... She's in my math class..." Then in an almost conspiratorial tone she continued, "She's kind of a bitch though." Then Jenny looked around and frowned slightly, staring at a boy her own age who was looking right back.

"And what about him?" Greg asked, teasing her, "Someone you have a crush on?"

"No," Jenny responded quickly, "That's Ryan... We have a couple classes together but he's a jerk..."

"If you don't like the kids who hang out here why did you want to come?" Greg asked with a chuckle.

"Because it's a great place," Jenny argued, looking almost offended that he'd question her. She pointed to a corner where there were several of those dancing video games along with some kids playing them. "McDonalds doesn't have that."

"Cool," Greg responded though he was actually not all that impressed. It wasn't bad but there were other restaurants he'd much rather eat at, especially this one with a really hot waitress... "So what was it you wanted to talk about?"

Jenny hesitated a moment then reached for her back pack. She paused several seconds more just holding the small stuffed monkey that was hanging from the zipper before she finally opened the pack. She reached her hand in before suddenly stopping again.

"Do you believe in magic?" Jenny abruptly asked Greg nervously.

"What?" Greg blinked in surprise, not having expected that question. He'd half expected Jenny to tell him that she wanted his help in talking her dad into letting her have a pet monkey. "Magic? You mean that stage stuff or the whole Lord of the Rings type thing?"

"I mean like genies and magic wishes," Jenny leaned forward and whispered in a conspiratorial manner.

Greg just stared at her for a moment before he burst out laughing, "Hell no... Damn, that sounds just like something Cal asked me once..."

Jenny turned bright red in embarrassment but glared at Greg with a determined expression. She then pulled the small jade monkey figurine from the back pack and set it down on the table, giving Greg a smug look.

"I know this will sound silly," Jenny told him, "But I'm not lying. I'm not crazy and I'm not making this up. This is real."

"Okay," he responded slowly, feeling uncomfortable about the situation already. Greg couldn't help but wondering if his cousin had gone crazy.

Jenny stared proudly at the figurine for a moment waiting for it to speak to Greg as it had spoken to her. She wanted to see the look on his face when it repeated the offer of granting the wishes. However, the monkey remained silent and made her feel embarrassed.

"Don't laugh," Jenny warned Greg, "But when I got this thing a few hours ago it actually talked to me. It said it would grant three wishes but that I had to share them with two other people.

"This grants wishes?" Greg asked, trying hard to keep a straight face as he saw that Jenny actually seemed to be serious.

"I'm not kidding," Jenny protested, "I know how it sounds but I'm not stupid..."

Greg just shook his head, "You've been talking to my dimwit brother too much. Just last week Cal tried telling me the same kind of thing and insisting that magic wishes were real." Greg shook his head again, "What a doofus..." He looked Jenny in the eyes, "Please don't be like Cal..."

Jenny was beginning to get worked up and wondering how she could convince Greg of the truth when she suddenly noticed someone coming straight towards their table. She turned and saw Ryan coming towards them with that annoying smirk he always seemed to have.

"What do you want?" Jenny demanded.

"I just wanted to say hi," Ryan responded with an expression of mock innocence. Then he looked at Greg and asked, "Is this your boyfriend? Isn't he kind of old for you...?"

"No," Jenny gasped, staring at Greg in horror.

"I'm her cousin," Greg responded in a cold tone, giving Ryan a glare that he knew would intimidate the boy. It worked as Ryan took a nervous step back.

"Ryan didn't remain cowed for more than a moment though and he grinned, "Sorry... Easy mistake..."

Jenny just snorted, “Go away and leave me alone..."

"But I'm not done with what I came over here for," Ryan responded with another mock innocent expression that made Jenny instantly suspicious.

"I thought you just came over to say hi," Greg scowled.

Ryan shrugged, "Yeah...and to play a game."

"What kind of game?" Jenny demanded, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

Ryan just grinned then responded, "Keep away." Then before either Jenny or Greg realized it he quickly snatched up the jade monkey from the table, stuck his tongue out at Jenny, and then ran for the restaurant door.

"MY MONKEY!" Jenny cried out, jumping to her feet.

Greg was on his feet even before Jenny and running towards the door after Ryan while yelling, "Get your ass back here..." He didn't believe Jenny's claims about the figurine being magic but he certainly wasn't going to let someone steal it from her like that right in front of him, "You'd better give that back..."

But when Greg reached the door he paused to look around seeing no sign of Ryan. The other boy had a head start and Greg had no idea which direction he'd taken after leaving the restaurant. He stood there for a moment looking around but he couldn't see where Ryan went.

"DAMN!" Greg spat out angrily.

"He stole my monkey," Jenny cried out as she came up beside Greg. She stared at her cousin with a look of horror, "Now we can't make the wishes…"

"Yeah," Greg grimaced, still not believing the nonsense about wishes though he was angry at himself for letting that little punk get away. "Don't worry… We'll get your damn monkey back somehow…"

Jenny just nodded, knowing that even if they did get it back it could be too late. What if that jerk Ryan got to use up all the wishes before then? She shuddered at the idea of what a boy like him might do with three wishes…assuming he'd find someone to share them with.

"My wishes," she whispered, feeling a horrible sense of loss and a fear that she'd never get them back. The cold weight of disappointment settled over her as she turned back into the restaurant.

When Jenny and Greg returned home a short time later her disappointment hadn't improved any. She felt a growing depression as she convinced herself that she'd never get back the monkey or the wishes it offered. And to make it worse, Greg offered his sympathies on the theft and even promised to take care of Ryan, but he didn't believe in the wishes and anything he did would probably be too late.

"I guess I'd better get back to the garage," Greg said as they reached the front door. "I'm really sorry about your figurine but your dad won't pay me if I don't finish the garage…"

"I know," Jenny sighed.

Just then, Jenny heard someone call out, "Excuse me…" She turned to see a little girl of about 9 years old coming towards them with a strange expression on her face.

"Hello," Jenny greeted the girl, wondering who she was. "Are you lost?"

The girl scowled, looking annoyed at that. She gave Jenny a strange intense look and calmly asked, "Are you Jennifer Conrad?"

Jenny blinked in surprise, "Yeah… How'd you know my name?"

The girl let out a sigh of relief, "I need to talk to you…"

"I'm kind of busy right now," Jenny responded, turning to go back inside.

"I've got work to do," Greg said as he turned as well.

"You're the one who bought the monkey idol," the girl blurted out, causing Jenny to stop and turn back to her. The girl stood there with a serious expression.

"Yeah," Jenny answered suspiciously. "How'd you know?"

The girl let out a sigh of relief, then took a deep breath before asking, "Did it talk to you yet?"

"What?" Jenny gasped in surprise.

"It already offered you three wishes didn't it?" the girl asked with a serious expression. "Did you make them…?"

Greg paused to stare at this girl in surprise, wondering who she was and how she knew about that strange story Jenny had been telling him. Then he snorted, "You're in on this with her aren't you…" He looked at Jenny, "You put her up to this…"

However, both Jenny and the girl both ignored Greg. Instead, they just stood there staring at each other for a moment. Finally, the girl nodded in relief, "I'm guessing you didn't…not yet." Then she held out her hand and smiled, "I'm Michelle and I think we need to talk…"

Part 12

The air in Jenny's bedroom was silent for a minute with a strange tension. Jenny sat on the corner of her bed and watched Michelle with a curious expression while Greg gave her a look that was more skeptical. He was sure that Michelle's presence had to be part of a joke but Jenny certainly seemed surprised by her presence as well as her claims of knowing something about the monkey figurine she was obsessed with. As much as Greg doubted any of this he couldn't resist his curiosity to see how things would go.

"Okay kid," Jenny said, trying to look mature and intimidating to the apparent nine year old, "Tell me what you know about my monkey."

Michelle gave Jenny a flat look then shook her head in annoyance. "First off," she said in a cold tone, "Don't call me kid. I'm a lot older than I look."

"Oh," Greg responded in mock surprise, "What are you then...? Ten? Eleven?"

"Try nineteen," Michelle glared at him earning a slight gasp from Jenny. Then she turned her attention back to Jenny and continued, "There are actually three monkey god idols... Each one of them will grant three wishes...but they each have a different catch."

"Like having to share the wishes," Jenny thought aloud.

"Exactly," Michelle nodded, "You see, a couple months ago..."

Michelle was about to start describing how she'd found the marble monkey and had her life ruined as a result when there was a sudden knocking on the bedroom door. They all turned to look as it opened a sixteen year old boy stuck his head in.

"So this is where everyone is," he said as he came inside.

"Hi Cal," Jenny greeted her cousin.

Greg just glared at his little brother, "You're late... I've been having to clean the garage myself..."

"Sorry," Cal shrugged, "I kind of got caught up in something..." Then he looked around the room and caught sight of Michelle. Cal was obviously a little surprised to see the apparent young girl there and asked, "So, what's going on?"

Greg snorted, "They're talking about a magic monkey statue that grants wishes..."

"Greg," Jenny gasped, "You can't just go telling everyone... It was supposed to be a secret..."

Cal just gulped and held his hands out about four inches apart from each other, "A white monkey sitting down about this big?"

This time it was Michelle who stared at him and gasped, "You've seen the marble monkey..." At his blank look she quickly added, "It has emerald eyes..."

"Yeah," Cal stared at her in amazement, now more curious than ever who she was.

By this point Greg was looking at Michelle for an explanation. Michelle frowned then repeated what she'd said before Cal had entered the room and interrupted her. "There are three monkey god idols. Each one will grant three wishes but each of them has a different catch. The jade monkey," she nodded to Jenny, "makes three people share the wishes."

"What jade monkey?" Cal asked, earning a glare from Jenny who wanted to hear what Michelle had to say.

"Several months ago I found the marble monkey," Michelle stated quietly. "And it ruined my life..." Cal nodded slightly while Jenny and Greg gave her blank looks. "It lets you make three wishes," she explained to them, "But it only grants two of them to you. It takes one of your wishes and gives whatever you wished for to the next person who uses it. And of course, it gives something the previous user had wished for to you..." She gestured down at herself and sighed, "Whoever had it before me must have wished to be ten years younger because I suddenly turned into a kid."

"OUCH," Cal winced, "I guess I got off lucky..."

"So you did use it," Michelle frowned, giving him a curious look as though silently demanding his explanation.

Cal noticed both Michelle and Jenny watching him expectantly while Greg just scowled skeptically. He sighed, "I found it a couple months ago too and it was kind of...weird. At least it granted two of my wishes..."

"What did you wish for?" Jenny asked eagerly.

"I wished your dad wasn't sick anymore," Cal admitted, feeling both embarrassed about that and proud. He was glad that he could finally tell someone that he was responsible for saving his uncle Peter.

"You did that?" Jenny gasped, suddenly jumping forward and hugging him, "Thank you so much..."

Cal blushed self-consciously and added, "Oh, and I wished I had a car..."

"You really expect me to believe dad bought you a car just because you wished for it?" Greg asked though his skepticism was beginning to fade a little as he got caught up in the story.

"That was around the time I found it too...," Michelle thought aloud, "What did you get from the previous person?"

"Super powers," Cal admitted with a bright blush, "But they're kind of embarrassing so I don't want to talk about it..."

At this point Greg snorted loudly, refusing to believe there was any way at all his brother had super powers. The fact that Cal said he didn't want to talk about them was even more proof to Greg that this was all some sort of elaborate joke. If Cal had real super powers he'd be showing them off every chance he got.

Michelle just nodded, curious but not wanting to pry. "After this happened to me," she gestured down at herself with a sigh, "I tried finding the figurine again so I might be able to get back to normal. I did a lot of research and that's how I found out there are three of them. I even found the third one but it vanished before I had a chance to use it..." She let out another sigh as she thought about the missed opportunity of the obsidian monkey, but then looked back to Jenny, "And that's why I'm here."

"You want to use one of my wishes to turn back to normal," Jenny said in realization.

Michelle nodded again. "I almost won the monkey on E-bay but you beat me at the last second. Please, let me have one of the wishes... I just want to get my old life back." Then she quickly added, "I know a lot about these things and how they've worked with some people. I've had plenty of time to think about this so I can make sure your wishes don't come back and bite you in the ass like they have a lot of others."

"I...I can't," Jenny responded almost in a whisper, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"What?" Michelle gasped.

Jenny frowned then reluctantly admitted, "I... I don't have it anymore. Someone stole it from me."

"WHAT?" Michelle nearly choked at that, seeing her last opportunity slipping away after getting so close. "Not again..."

"Some prick she goes to school with stole it while we were having lunch," Greg scowled, still feeling guilty for letting Ryan get away. "The punk was too fast for me and got away..." His eyes narrowed, "But when I get my hands on him he'll wish he'd never been born..."

"So you just let this guy rob Jenny and you didn't do anything," Cal demanded of his brother, knowing that this was a serious issue but also knowing this was great material to tease his brother about. There was no way he was going to ignore something like that. "You're useless..."

"Shut up," Greg snapped, making a threatening step towards Cal who just smirked. Then he turned apologetically to Jenny, "Don't worry. I'll get it back for you..."

"But by then it might be too late," Jenny moaned, knowing that the monkey might tell Ryan he could make the wishes now instead. "I'm sorry," she told Michelle, "I'd give you a wish if I still had it..."

They were all silent for a minute while Michelle and Jenny both thought about this missed opportunity. Greg scowled, feeling guilty and frustrated for letting the figurine get stolen from right in front of him in the first place.

Finally, Cal whispered, "I think I can get it back..."

"What?" Jenny turned to him in surprise.

"I think I can get it back from him," Cal said, this time with a little more conviction. "I just need to know where he is..."

"And how can you do that?" Greg demanded suspiciously, once again thinking that Cal must be in on this joke. He might be working with Ryan so he can just go and pick the figurine up and then come back looking like a hero.

"Because I have super powers," Cal told him with a forced smile. Then he turned to Jenny, "Do you know where he lives or where he hangs out?"

"I don't know," Jenny fought back tears though not very successfully. "I think I know what street he lives on but I'm not sure. The only places I know he hangs out are at school or the restaurant where he stole the monkey from me..."

"And let me guess," Greg said giving him a suspicious look. "In exchange for getting it back all you want is one of the wishes…"

Cal paused for a moment and thought about it then he looked at Jenny and shook his head. "No… I don't think so. I've already had my chance at making wishes and I don't think I need to mess with that anymore…" He shuddered slightly which made Jenny curious.

"Do you really think you can get it back?" Jenny asked hopefully.

Cal nodded yes then told her, "Just tell me everything you can about where to find this guy…"

--------------------

Cal stepped in the restaurant and looked around with a grim expression. He quickly looked down at the page from Jenny's school yearbook...at the picture of this Ryan guy that she'd circled for him. Then he looked around the restaurant again but didn't see any sign of the boy in the picture.

"Damn," Cal muttered, having hoped Ryan would have returned to the scene of the crime. It would have made this much easier for him.

After a minute of looking Cal turned away with a frown, still a bit shaken by the discovery that Jenny had found a magic wishing monkey just like the one he had. Well, maybe not just like it but one that was close enough.

"Who knew there were so many of those things around," he sighed.

Cal stood outside the restaurant for another few minutes in the vague hope that Ryan would come back. Then Cal shook his head and decided that it was time to try the next step.

Cal climbed into his car and paused to rub the steering wheel affectionately. His car was something of an old piece of junk but it was his car. He would have preferred a Porsche but that was what happened when he didn't specify when he made his wish. Maybe he'd have to warn Jenny about that when she made hers...as if that Michelle chick hadn't already pointed that out.

"I hope I can find this Ryan guy," Cal muttered. If he could find Ryan and get the monkey back before the other boy had used it's wishes that would really make him look good...and let him show up that jerk off brother Greg. Cal grinned at the thought of getting the monkey back when Greg had failed. It would give him great ammunition to use when teasing Greg in the future.

Since the restaurant had proven to be a bust Cal looked at the sheet of paper with the street name Jenny had written down. She was sure Ryan lived on this street though she had no idea in which house. That would be a bit of a problem but Cal was sure he could work around it. So with that he started his car and began going to his new destination.

Cal arrived at that street a few minutes later and parked at the end. He remained in his car for a minute half wishing that Jenny were there to help him pick out Ryan. Then again, he reminded himself that she'd wanted to come but he had to refuse. After all, he had good reason for not wanting anyone else with him.

Cal climbed out of his car and looked around, trying to see a teenage boy who looked like the one in Jenny's annual. He didn't see any sign of Ryan but he did see something he thought might be just as useful. There was an old lady doing something in the flower bed in her front yard. Cal nodded to himself and began walking towards her.

"Excuse me," Cal called out to the old woman, "Can you help me please…"

The old woman looked up and blinked a few times, "Yes? What can I do for you?"

"Well," Cal started, "I'm trying to find a friend from school… He gave me his address and I'm supposed to meet him at his place but I kind of forgot the house number…" Cal gave her an embarrassed look, "All I could remember was what street he told me…"

"Oh sure," the old woman gave Cal a pleasant smile, "What's his name?"

"Ryan," Cal told her, "He's the same age as me…"

"Ryan…," the woman frowned for a moment as she stared off into space with a thoughtful expression. "Oh yes… I believe that's the boy who lives down there…" She pointed down the street. "I think he's the boy who lives in that blue house…"

"Thanks so much," Cal told her, "I really appreciate this."

"It's no problem," the old woman chuckled, going back to her work in the flower bed.

Cal walked down the street to the blue house and paused on the sidewalk to look at it. There… Right through the living room he could actually see the boy in the picture. This was it. This was Ryan's house.

"Perfect," Cal said aloud with an evil grin.

Cal took a deep breath and then reached out with his mind until he felt himself become linked to the boy he saw through the window. He gasped as the wave of transformation rushed over his body changing him from a boy into a girl in a matter of seconds.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to this," he mused aloud.

Then Cal looked down at himself and saw that he was now a rather busty girl in a red and white cheerleader outfit. He shook his head, feeling the long hair which brushed against his shoulder blades.

"This should do it," Cal sighed before walking towards the door with a determined step.

Cal rang the doorbell and silently prayed that it was Ryan who answered the door and not his mom or dad. It could be a little awkward if there was someone else there. But a few seconds later the door opened and Ryan was the one standing there.

Cal stared at the other boy for a moment and felt a swirl of new thoughts and emotions that tried to rise. He quickly pushed them down, silently cursing this extra annoying part of his power. He could turn into any guy's ideal girlfriend but when he did he got all the thoughts and emotions that girl would have. Fortunately, he could easily push those away and keep them from affecting him though the longer he stayed as a girl the harder that became.

"What…?" Ryan gasped, staring at Cal with an expression of both surprise and attraction. It was an expression Cal was used to seeing on the faces of guys he used his power on. After all, at the moment Cal was Ryan's dream girl and he could only imagine how he'd react if his own dream girl suddenly showed up like that. "I can't believe… You're…"

"Hi," Cal smiled at Ryan, knowing that this would have an effect. It always had an effect when he smiled at a guy while looking like his dream girl. This time was no different. "Can I come in? I want to talk to you about something…"

Ryan looked nervous and glanced around to make sure no one else was there, almost as if afraid this was some sort of trap or practical joke. Then he nodded, "Yeah…" He stepped aside and let Cal walk past.

Cal stepped into the house and looked around the living room, relieved that there was no one else there. It seemed to be just him and Ryan which would make things all the easier for him.

Just then, Cal saw a mirror hanging from the living room wall and caught sight of himself in it. He let out a faint gasp of surprise as he saw what he looked like…and who.

"Jenny," Cal whispered to himself in amazement.

Cal looked just like his cousin Jenny…or at least like a sexier and idealized version of her. He had bigger breasts and looked hotter all around, but he definitely had a strong resemblance to his cousin.

Suddenly everything snapped into place and made sense. Now Cal could understand why Ryan had been messing with Jenny. He had a crush on her…and from the fact that Cal's power made him look like this it must be a rather large crush. Of course, he thought that Ryan probably could have chosen a better way of getting Jenny's attention because all he was doing was pissing her off.

"Jenny…," Ryan gasped, drawing Cal's attention back to him, "You…you look… You look different…" His eyes were going up and down Cal's body, pausing on his chest.

"You took something that belongs to me," Cal said, giving Ryan a steady look. "It means a lot to me and I want it back…" He was tempted to threaten Ryan but instead forced himself to smile gently, "Please…"

"I was just playing around," Ryan protested, already going to the corner where the jade monkey figurine was sitting. "I was going to give it back… Honest…"

Cal took the figurine from Ryan's hands, half expecting it to talk to him and offer him three wishes. He was partly disappointed when it didn't and partly relieved. He'd already had enough change in his life thanks to the three wishes he'd already made. Then again, he couldn't help but thinking of the one wish he'd made which hadn't been granted.

"I didn't mean any harm," Ryan was apologizing, "I just wanted to have some fun… It was just a little joke…"

"Well thank you for giving it back," Cal responded, trying to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. Then he frowned, remembering Jenny's fears that Ryan may have used the wishes. "Did anything happen with it? Did you do anything to it?"

Ryan gave him a blank look, "Um…no…"

Cal let out a faint sigh of relief. It was pretty clear that it hadn't talked to Ryan…the same way it hadn't talked to him. Maybe since it had offered the wishes to Jenny it wouldn't talk to anyone else until she made them. Cal didn't know and didn't care enough to give it much thought.

"Good," Cal told him, giving him another forced smile. "I'm still not happy about this…"

"I know," Ryan said, giving a Cal a look with mischievious spark in his eye that suggested he was going to try something again soon. Cal wanted to cut him off before he had a chance.

"I've got to go," Cal said, giving Ryan a warning look, "My cousin is waiting in his car for me…"

"Oh," Ryan responded with a look of disappointment. Then he shyly commented, "I guess I'll see you at school…"

Cal shrugged, "I guess…" Then he frowned, deciding to do Jenny another favor, "But you really pissed me off doing that… Stop being such a jerk if you want me to talk to you at school…"

And with that, Cal turned and left Ryan's house without another word. He could feel the other boy watching him from the window as he quickly walked down the street to his car. He wanted to change back to normal but couldn't do that until he was out of Ryan's sight.

When Cal reached his car a minute later, he climbed behind the wheel and looked at his reflection in the rear view mirror. He shook his head in amazement at seeing Jenny's face like that…a sexier version of Jenny's face that is.

Cal let his connection to Ryan go and felt his body quickly transform back to normal. He let out a sigh of relief as he was once again his normal boy self. Then he gently ran his hand over the monkey figurine and smile.

"Eat that Greg," Cal chuckled to himself, pleased he could outdo his big brother. "Jenny's going to owe me big for this one…"

Part 13

The air was silent as everyone stood in Jenny's living room just staring at the jade monkey figurine which currently sat on the bed. Each of them stared at the figurine, their thoughts and emotions swirling in different directions.

Cal grinned smugly, feeling proud that he'd been able to get the monkey back when his brother had failed. At the moment, he occupied the position of hero...a fact which gave him Jenny's appreciation and Greg's annoyance.

Jenny was relieved that she hadn't lost out on her wishes and the once in a lifetime opportunity. She glanced at Cal and smiled before turning her attention back to the cute monkey figurine.

Greg felt a confusing swirl of mixed emotions. On one hand, he knew that there was no thing as magic and that this must be some elaborate prank or delusion on the others part. But on the other hand he was staring to believe the stories about magic and wishes in spite of himself. Now that he was staring at the monkey like this he was getting the feeling there was something more to it than there looked. He couldn't help but thinking 'what if?'.

The apparent nine year old Michelle stared at the figurine with a hungry expression and hungry contained excitement. Yet at the same time, she felt a hint of nervousness and fear as she thought that something would probably go wrong and ruin her chances again. Yet for now, there it was. There was the thing that could finally give her back her life.

"The jade monkey," Michelle whispered in awe. "I finally found it..."

"It doesn't look so special to me," Greg responded, more to be contrary than anything else. He looked at Michelle skeptically, still finding it hard to believe she was really a lot older...even if she didn't talk like a kid.

Michelle ignored Greg's comment and looked at Jenny, "Be careful and don't make any wishes aloud until we're ready." She paused to give Greg a warning glare. "Even if you don't believe this will work."

Michelle frowned slightly and shook her head, wondering why Greg was involved in this when he didn't even believe in the magic. However, she didn't say anything aloud as she knew she was lucky that Jenny was generous enough to share a wish with a perfect stranger.

"This figurine will give us each one wish," Michelle started, trying to clarify exactly what they could expect. "But whatever one of us wishes for will be given to the others too. So if you asked for a million dollars," she looked at Greg as she said this, "I'd get a million dollars too and so would Jenny."

"That sounds good to me," Jenny grinned.

"Basically its three wishes for the price of one," Cal said in appreciation, wondering what he would have done if he'd found the jade monkey figurine instead of the marble one.

"We'll have to be careful though," Michelle frowned thoughtfully. "We don't want to wish for things that the others wouldn't want. I've heard stories about things like that." Then to make sure they understood what she meant she gave them an example, "Like what if I asked for big breasts... I don't thing Greg would like having his own pair."

Jenny snickered at that, "That would be pretty funny..."

"And what about you wanting to be older?" Greg demanded with a snort, "I don't think Jenny and I want you making us older..." Jenny blinked in surprise as she hadn't considered that and turned to look at Michelle with a more worried expression.

"I've already thought about that," Michelle smiled. "Trust me...I don't think you'll mind what I have in mind." Then she looked around the room for some paper, "In fact, I think we should all write our wishes down. We can see each other’s wishes and then reword them until they work for all of us before we actually make them aloud."

"That's pretty clever," Jenny agreed, already reaching for her notebook and some pens.

"I've had months to think about it," Michelle reminded her. Then she frowned, remembering her research and the stories she'd found online. "Before we make our wishes there are a couple more things you should know..." She gestured to the figurine, "Don't get too greedy. If you ask for too much...like ruling the world or world peace...or if you try getting too clever and tricky these things tend to vanish and take their wishes with them."

"That's good to know," Jenny said with a look of surprise on her face.

Michelle nodded and took a sheet of paper from Jenny's notebook and quickly started to write on it. A minute later she held the paper out, "This is the wish I plan on making."

Jenny read the paper and her eyes went wide, "Wow... This is great. I mean, if you make this wish I won't even have to make the one I was gonna..."

Greg looked over the wish Michelle had written and nodded faintly, "That would be a really good wish."

"I've had time to think about it," Michelle forced a smile. "With these monkey gods it pays to think your wishes out before you make them."

"Like you did?" Greg grinned.

"I did think my wishes out," Michelle told him with a sigh. Then she gestured down at herself, "This here is because someone else's wish didn't exactly agree with me."

"My turn," Jenny exclaimed, quickly writing down a wish of her own and then showing it to Michelle.

Michelle read Jenny's wish and then blinked in surprise. She frowned, not wanting to offend Jenny as she carefully said, "I don't know about him...," she gestured to Greg, "but I don't really want a pet monkey..."

Cal burst out laughing, "She's kind of obsessed with monkeys..."

"I am not," Jenny protested.

Michelle just looked around the room at all the various monkey decorations and raised an eyebrow, "I see..."

"I just think they're cute," Jenny pouted while Cal and Greg both snickered.

For the next half hour Greg and Jenny wrote down several wishes on paper while Michelle advised them on how to word them so as not to cause any unwanted or unexpected results with the others. Though Jenny and Greg both agreed that Michelle's wish was already perfect as it was, Greg and Michelle had to veto several of Jenny's.

"But what if I just ask it to give me my ideal pet?" Jenny asked thoughtfully, earning a sigh from both Greg and Michelle as well as a laugh from Cal.

"That is a better one," Michelle said carefully. "But there are other ways of getting a pet monkey that don't make you use your wish."

Cal silently watched as they finished polishing up their wishes to ensure that each got the best benefit from each of the wishes. He frowned, feeling increasingly jealous and regretting that he'd turned down the chance to make another wish. After all, his wishes hadn't given him a lot of what he'd wanted and these ones were going to be awesome.

"I made my choice," Cal quietly told himself, not wanting to look like a cry baby by whining about not being able to make a wish when he'd already turned down the chance. "Besides, a lot of things can go wrong..."

Cal chuckled slightly as he thought about what went wrong with his wishes and wondered how Greg would do with such an embarrassing super power. However, it looked like Michelle was being very careful to make sure none of their wishes backfired so things probably wouldn't be as fun for him to watch.

Once they'd agreed on the wishes and the wording, Greg turned to Jenny, "Okay, you go first. You're the one who found that thing."

Michelle nodded agreement and then looked at Greg, noticing that he'd started taking this more seriously. She was grateful for that because if he thought this was all a joke he could really screw up his wish and cause a lot of problems for both Jenny and herself.

"Okay," Jenny nodded nervously. She picked up the jade monkey figurine and licked her lips before looking down at the sheet of paper in front of her and reading, "I wish that I and my immediate family would have good luck in our finances, our chosen careers, our health, and in our love lives."

Michelle let out a faint sigh of relief, glad that Jenny followed the script instead of deciding at the last moment to wish for pet monkey anyway.

Greg grinned at Cal and teased, "Unfortunately you get the good luck too being immediate family and all..."

"Dad always said it’s better to be lucky than good," Cal grinned back.

"You next," Michelle told Greg, wanting to hold off until last just in case he decided to make a joke out of his wish at the last moment. She still wasn't sure how much he believed in the wishes and didn't want to take the risk that he thought it was all a joke. At least then she'd be able to adjust her own wish if she had to in order to minimize any damage.

Greg accepted the monkey idol from Jenny and held it nervously in his hands. He licked his lips then frowned slightly, feeling foolish for doing this. A part of him still thought that this was complete and utter nonsense but he couldn't help but feel that there might be something to it. Jenny, Michelle and Cal were all taking this so seriously and there was something about the idol itself.

"I wish," Greg said slowly as he read from the sheet of paper in front of him, "that I had a bank account in my name with twelve million U.S. Dollars in it and that all paperwork and records show this to be a legal and legitimate account with all taxes on it paid.

Cal scowled as he listened to that wish though he'd already heard them talking about how to word it. He couldn't help but feeling jealous that Greg, Jenny and a complete stranger were going to be millionaires while he had to miss out because he turned down the opportunity. It just didn't seem fair. Only his sheer stubbornness kept him from saying anything about this.

Greg handed the monkey figurine to Michelle who took it with a trembling hand. She felt nearly giddy with excitement as she looked into the crystal eyes and realized that this was finally it. After months being trapped as a child she could finally undo this curse and return to normal.

Michelle knew the words of her wish well enough that she didn't even have to look at the paper. She'd worked out which wish she would make when she first learned of the jade monkey and the cost of sharing her wish with others. "I wish," she said in a clear firm voice, "my body would physically transform into my own ideal body."

Almost as soon as the words left Michelle's mouth she could see the monkey figurine beginning to glow with a faint inner light. It was growing warmer in her hand as well, just like the last time she made her wishes. She quickly set the idol onto the floor knowing that it would vanish in just a few seconds. Then she felt the warm tingling rush through her body.

"Oh yes," Michelle gasped in delight, recognizing the sensations of her body starting to transform again.

"Holy shit," Greg blurted out in surprise as he could feel his own body starting to change as well. Michelle just glanced over at him and grinned smugly, feeling vindicated now that he was seeing for himself that she'd been telling the truth.

Michelle took a deep breath and closed her eyes, savoring the sensation of her body growing. She could feel herself getting bigger and filling out. It was exactly the opposite of what she'd gone through several months earlier when the marble monkey had reverted her to childhood. She was finally growing up again...much faster than she had the first time.

Then Michelle finally felt her clothes starting to get tight on her and she grinned. She'd intentionally worn clothes that were several sizes too big for her and loose enough to give her plenty of room to grow. The fact that they were getting tight on her was a very good sign.

Michelle finally opened her eyes and looked down at herself as her body finally stopped growing, leaving her with clothes that were several sizes too small and almost painfully tight in places. She'd never been happier especially as she saw the two bumps pushing out from her chest.

"Yes!" Michelle exclaimed, delighted to no longer be trapped as a child.

Greg stared down at himself in stunned amazement as his body finished its own growth, stretching his clothes to the limit. He too had grown though instead of becoming older he'd grown three inches taller and much more athletic. He stood up to his new height of 6 foot 2 and flexed his arm, feeling the solid muscle. He wasn't bulging enough to be a bodybuilder but he was definitely solid and ripped now.

Cal stared at his brother with feelings of jealousy, once again remembering that he could have been the one making that wish since Greg hadn't really believed in the magic. He couldn't help remembering his own wish...the one the marble monkey had given to someone else instead of him. If that had been granted he would have been the one who was tall and muscular.

"But if that one had been granted than uncle Peter might be dead," Cal quietly reminded himself. It was enough to take the sting out of the envy he currently felt.

Then Jenny jumped up and exclaimed, "Look at me..." She stood there with her hands cupping her new D cup sized breasts, looking quite impressed.

Jenny hadn't grown any taller but she had definitely become bustier...though that wasn't the limit of her changes merely the most noticeable. Her entire body had changed, becoming leaner as she lost all of her baby fat yet also curvier at the same time with a more feminine shape.

"I've got real boobs," Jenny gushed in delight.

"Yeah you do," Cal agreed, trying hard not to look at them. After all, she was his cousin. Instead, he tried making out her other changes.

Jenny's skin was a little darker as though she now had a nice tan but at the same time it was smoother and without apparent blemishes. Even the splatter of freckles on her nose and cheeks had vanished entirely. And then there was her hair which had grown six inches longer, had become more lush and luxurious as well as had changed from bleached blonde to a richer more strawberry blonde color.

All in all, Cal was surprised to realize that Jenny now looked very much like he had while he was linked to Ryan. Sure, her skin was now a little more tan and her hair color was a bit off but other than that...

"I've got to see myself," Jenny blurted out, rushing to the mirror which hung on the back of her bedroom door and admiring herself.

Michelle looked to the space where the monkey idol had said just a minute before, not at all surprised that it was gone. From everything she'd heard all the idols tended to vanish after they granted their wishes. That was what made them so difficult to track down.

Then Michelle noticed three small plastic cards sitting near where the monkey had been. She picked them up and smiled. "Look," she told Greg and Jenny, "It left us debit cards for our new bank accounts."

However, neither Jenny or Greg were paying much attention as they each tried looking at themselves in the mirror. Michelle grinned and then joined them, letting out a sigh of relief as she saw her reflection. She was pretty in a girl next door sort of way but certainly not gorgeous. She was back to the way she was right before she'd made her earlier wishes...as a nineteen year old girl. She was back to normal...just as she wanted.

Cal just sat back and watched the others jostle for a space in front of the mirror, feeling a mixture of envy and amusement. He felt a bit left out but at the same time he also felt happy for them...even for Michelle who didn't seem to have gained much compared to Greg and Jenny. Still, he noticed that she was quite happy even if she hadn't gotten super model looks.

"You really weren't kidding," Greg told Michelle, giving her an appreciative look that made her blush. It had been months since any guy had given her that kind of attention...other than one really creepy guy she'd run into at a bus station a few weeks earlier that was.

Then Jenny elbowed Greg and gestured towards Cal. Greg stared at him for a moment before saying, "You know, you're gonna be pretty lucky from now on too thanks to Jenny's wish... It was a good thing the kid...," he glanced at Michelle and continued, "that Michelle told her to include our immediate family members."

"I'm just glad the idol didn't think we were trying to get too greedy with that one," Michelle admitted.

After a moment, Jenny gave Cal a shy smile, "You used one of your wishes to save my dad's life... You didn't have to but you did... That really means a lot to me."

"And you were the one who got the monkey back from Ryan," Greg said in near disgust, still embarrassed that he'd let the other boy get away with it while Cal seemed to have no problems getting it back.

"So while you were in the bathroom earlier," Jenny told Cal with a grin, "we all talked about it and decided to share the money with you..."

"What?" Cal blinked in surprise.

"We each get twelve million thanks to Greg's wish," Michelle pointed out. "All three of us are going to give you three million of that...so all of us...YOU included will have nine million."

Cal just stared at all three of them in surprise, even more surprised that Greg was nodding his agreement. He suddenly felt guilty for his previous feelings of jealousy. He hadn't even made a wish on this jade monkey but they'd still made sure he got the benefit from two of the wishes.

"I'll be sharing mine with dad too," Jenny grinned excitedly, "And then he can't say anything if I buy my own monkey."

"I…I don't know what to say," Cal responded quietly. "Thanks..."

"I can finally get back to my own life," Michelle let out a sigh of relief, looking down at herself and actually laughing. "After all this I ended up with nothing from the marble monkey. At least this jade one worked out so much better..."

"I just wonder what I'm going to tell my folks about this," Jenny said as she looked down at herself. "Somehow I don't think my dad will buy that I just had a growth spurt..." She giggled at that.

Greg nodded in agreement, "I know what you mean." He gestured down at himself, "This is gonna be hard to explain but I'm pretty sure the money will make up for that..." He picked up the debit card in his name. "We're just gonna have to get Cal an account soon."

"Before I leave," Michelle agreed. Then in a yearning voice she whispered, "You know, I haven't seen my friends or family in months... I sent them an e-mail saying I was all right but it wasn't like I could tell them I got turned into a kid."

"Wow, that's harsh," Greg responded sympathetically.

"I don't know what I'd do if it happened to me," Jenny shuddered at the thought. Then she looked around the room, "So what do we do now?"

"Well," Greg responded with a frown, "I don't know about you but I've got to finish cleaning out your garage. Your dad is probably wondering about my really long break here..."

"Why?" Jenny asked with a confused look, "It's not like you need the money my dad was gonna pay you anymore. I mean you're rich now..."

Greg just shrugged, "But I told him I'd clean your garage so I've got to finish it."

Michelle gave Jenny an appreciative smile, "I guess I should probably be going. Thank you so much for giving me the chance to fix this..." She gestured down at herself and chuckled, "I was getting afraid I'd have to go through my teenage years all over again the hard way."

"But I thought you were going to stay long enough to share some of your money with Cal," Jenny protested, feeling a little betrayed.

Michelle laughed, "I am. But I do have to get some new clothes that fit, a hotel room, and then make some phone calls to my family..."

Jenny blushed, "Oh..."

Just as Michelle was opening the door to leave, Greg hesitantly said, "Um...Michelle..." As she turned he paused to take a deep breath before nervously asking, "Would you like to go out to dinner with me tonight?"

Michelle blinked in surprise, "You mean a date?"

Greg smiled weakly, "Something like that..."

Michelle didn't answer at first and just spent a moment looking at Greg. He was tall and athletic now which she found quite appealing but the truth was that she'd also thought him quite cute before his transformation. Then she finally smiled, "I'd like that..."

While Greg and Michelle discussed where and when Greg would pick her up for the date Cal just let out a sigh. "I guess I should be going too..." At Jenny's look he shrugged, "Hey, I never promised your dad I'd clean his garage."

Jenny stuck her tongue out at him, "You're just lazy."

"Maybe," Cal grinned, "But this has been a strange enough day for everyone...even those of us who didn't get wishes." Then he shrugged and chuckled, "I'll see you guys later..." But just before he left, he couldn't resist grinning at Jenny and thinking about how much she looked like Ryan's idealized version of her that he'd turned into earlier. "You know Jenny... I'm pretty sure you won't have any more problems with Ryan from now on. Not in the least..."

"What?" Jenny blinked in surprise while Cal turned and left her room.

"You'll see," Cal smirked. He chuckled to himself as he remembered the way Ryan had drooled over himself and knew that Jenny would now be getting the same treatment. Cal almost felt sorry for the other boy.

Cal left the house and went to his car in the driveway, pausing by his car to take a few deep breaths. Like he'd told Jenny it had definitely been a strange day even for him. He'd had a chance to make another wish but had turned it down...only to immediately start regretting it. Then ironically enough, he ended up getting the benefits of two wishes even though he hadn't made one himself.

Cal smiled at the thought of being rich himself though the money certainly wasn't the most important thing. He knew that if he really wanted, he could use this strange power to make himself rich quite easily. What mattered was that Jenny and Greg thought about him while making their own wishes and had planned to share with him the entire time. Though Cal would never say it to either of them that thought really meant a lot to him.

Most of the time Cal just thought of his brother as the jerk who always insulted him and who used to give him atomic wedgies. However, every once in awhile he proved that he could be cool too and reminded Cal that he was also the same guy who got a black eye while protecting Cal from bullies.

Just then, Cal suddenly felt a now familiar tingle rush through his body. He barely had time to gasp as his body quickly began changing and taking on a whole new form. A moment later Cal could feel the weight of large breasts on his chest and he didn't even need to look down to know that he had once again become a girl.

Becoming a girl or even a hot and sexy woman was nothing new to Cal anymore though he was surprised as this was not only the first time in over a month that he'd changed by accident, it was also the first time he'd ever transformed without actually looking at the person he was linked to or at least having them close.

"Damn," Cal grimaced, knowing that he'd accidentally become linked to his own brother again. It had been quite some time since that happened. The only reason he could think that he'd transform like this just by thinking about Greg was because they had spent so much time together. "Damn it…I don't want to be Greg's fantasy chick." The idea was just wrong on so many levels.

Cal took a deep breath and let the connection go, letting out a sigh of relief a moment later as his entire body quickly returned to normal. He shook his head, knowing that he'd have to be more careful in the future. He thought he'd had this power under control but it looked like he still had some work to do.

Suddenly, a voice behind Cal exclaimed, "Oh my God. Is that your power?"

"What?" Cal gasped, turning around to see Michelle standing a short distance away and staring at him with an expression of both amazement and amusement.

"You said you had a power," Michelle mused, more to herself than to Cal. "And to see you suddenly change like that…" She stared at him with a thoughtful look that made him uncomfortable.

"It just slipped for a moment," Cal grumbled in embarrassment, hating that someone had actually seen him changing into a chick like that. "Please don't tell Greg or Michelle…" He winced, "You have no idea what would happen."

Michelle smiled faintly, "Maybe not but I think I have an idea of what your power is."

Cal snorted, "I doubt it…"

But just as Cal was turning back to his car, Michelle laughed, "I think you're the one who found the monkey after me… I think you're the one who got the wish I made…"

"What?" Cal blinked, looking at Michelle skeptically.

Michelle just smirked, then in an almost conspiratorial voice said, "I wished I could become any guys dream girl…" She blushed a little, "I was having a hard time finding a boyfriend at the time…"

Cal just stared at Michelle with a cold chill running down his spine. "Oh shit," he whispered.

Michelle just laughed, "I knew it." She grinned and then told Cal, "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone. But I think you and I have a lot to talk about."

Cal merely nodded, too embarrassed to say anything aloud. He'd been self-conscious about his strange power before and that was before anyone else knew about it. Having someone else know was one of his worst fears come true, but at the same time a tiny part of him actually felt relieved. Now he actually had someone else he could talk to about them.

"I'll look forward to that," Cal finally admitted quietly.

Michelle just gave him a knowing smile before saying, "I'll be seeing you later then." She chuckled to herself as she walked down the street, delighted to finally know who got the results of her wish. She couldn't wait to actually find out how it was working out for Cal.

Cal shook his head as he climbed into his car, hardly able to believe another monkey had jumped into his life like this. Though it might not seem like it to anyone else he knew that his life and perspective had been completely changed by the first monkey he'd encountered. And now that this second monkey had granted its wishes he had a feeling that things were going to be changing even more. He could only hope they were for the better.

Then as Cal started his car and began to drive off, he muttered, "I wonder if I'll ever run into that last monkey Michelle talked about…" But at the same time, he couldn't help but wondering at Michelle's information. What if she didn't know as much about these monkeys as she thought? "What if there's more to them than that…?"

Epilogue

An old door creaked open and two figures stepped into the very large and dark basement. However, the darkness was cleared a moment later as the lights were turned on and a long series of light bulbs hanging from the ceiling illuminated the long room. Plain concrete walls and floors were now visible as well as the ventilation and pipes which hung from the ceiling, giving the basement a very unfinished look.

Rows of cabinets and heavy shelves lined the walls, each full of carefully catalogued and organized items, most of which could easily be mistaken for junk. Beyond the shelves and cabinets were numerous large crates and items with dust covers protecting them.

The two men stopped at the entrance to look over the apparent clutter though each had great appreciation for the items surrounding them. The overweight man in the lead was in his late fifties with badly thinning white hair and a well trimmed beard. This was Doctor Rubins, the curator of the museum.

Doctor Rubins turned to the man beside him, a tall and fit black man in his mid-forties. "Here we are Doctor Washington," he said making a grand gesture with his arm, "The basement. This is where we store all the artifacts that aren't on display."

"There are quite a few of them," Doctor Washington said, obviously impressed.

"This is only one of the rooms down here," Doctor Rubins chuckled. "We have more."

"And my new responsibilities will be to catalog these artifacts?" Doctor Washington asked

"In part," Doctor Rubins told him, "Though truthfully there is very little that you'll need to do as these are already well catalogued. The main reason I hired you is this way..." He gestured again and began to walk with Doctor Washington following close behind.

"Professor Stanton was the head of museum acquisitions for nearly two decades," Doctor Rubins told Doctor Washington as they walked. "James was brilliant at acquiring new artifacts for the museum but absolutely atrocious at keeping records." Doctor Rubins paused at a door to snort, "He kept most of what he knew about the artifacts either in his head or on yellow sticky notes until he was ready to place them on display or in our regular inventory. So when he passed away last year..."

Doctor Washington chuckled, "He left a mess behind."

"Precisely," Doctor Rubins nodded agreement, opening the door and gesturing at the contents. "We've taken to calling this Stanton's leftovers. These are the artifacts he hadn't placed in our normal inventory yet for one reason or another. I need you to identify, verify and catalog everything James left in this room." Rubins chuckled, "It'll take some time I'm sure but I'm confident you can handle it. Now you see why your experience with hard to identify artifacts was so appealing to us..."

"Then I should have asked for a larger salary," Washington joked.

"Too late now," Rubins grinned back at him. "I'll leave you to get settled in then."

As Doctor Rubins left Doctor Washington slowly looked around the room and the various artifacts which had been stored there. He saw the lid from what looked like a child sized sarcophagus sitting on a table. There was a jade tablet covered with writings, the language of which he could not immediately make out. And there were numerous pieces of pottery, jewelry, and boxes scarred among the other artifacts.

For the next half hour Doctor Washington went through the artifacts just trying to get a feel for what was there and the size of the job ahead of him. Many of the artifacts had yellow sticky notes or tags attached to them with small notes written on them, though Washington could barely make out the hand writing much less what the personalized code was supposed to read.

"It's easier trying to figure out ancient Mandarin," Washington chuckled to himself.

Then Doctor Washington found himself an intricately carved wooden box in the corner. It was two feet long by eight inches wide and had detailed carvings of monkeys running all around the outside. He couldn't immediately identify the specific style or cultural origin of the box but suspected the contents if there were any would provide some good clues.

Doctor Washington carefully opened the box and saw that there were two small bundles of cloth. He quickly put on a pair of latex gloves so as not to damage any artifacts he might find hidden in the cloth. After all, many valuable artifacts have been damaged due to exposure to the oils on the human hand and he was far too much the professional to do something like that himself.

"What do we have here?" Washington mused as he pulled one bundle out of the box. There was definitely something wrapped in the cloth, something hard and heavy.

Doctor Washington slowly unwrapped the cloth to reveal a small stone figurine which had been hidden inside. It was about four inches tall and carved in the shape of a monkey sitting in the lotus position. The stone itself was carved from what looked like granite, mostly being a grayish color but with streaks of quartz running through it. But it was the eyes that really caught his attention. They were a light blue crystal, perhaps even sapphires.

"Interesting," he mused, trying to guess where this monkey figurine had come from. It didn't really look too spectacular but there was something strangely fascinating about it.

After a minute, Doctor Washington rewrapped the monkey and returned it to the box. Then he took out the second bundle of cloth and unwrapped it as well. From the weight and feel he was not at all surprised to find that it was another figurine of a monkey sitting in the lotus position. Though both figurines were carved in the same shape, this one was made of an entirely different material. It was some sort of reddish stone with several dark burnt reddish streaks through it. The eyes in this one looked like they might have been made of amber.

"I wonder where Professor Stanton found these," Doctor Washington thought aloud, knowing quite well that it was now his responsibility to find out. After all, you couldn't put this kind of thing on display in a museum unless you at least knew some important facts about it.

Doctor Washington carefully set the second monkey back into the wooden chest beside the first. After closing the lid, he once again looked over the monkeys which were carved onto the lid. There were dozens of small monkeys prancing around the border but in the center was a more intricate carving of five monkeys sitting in the lotus position.

For some reason he couldn't explain, these simple carved monkeys caught Doctor Washington's interest. However, the mystery of their origins would have to wait for now as he had a lot of other artifacts to look over and verify as well.

The End