The Wishing Stone by Christopher Pike

1
    S ally Wilcox saw the Wishing Stone first. For that reason she felt it belonged mainly to her. That was probably the same reason she suffered more than the others from the stone. The more that was asked of it, the more it demanded in return. Of course no one knew that at first. But even if Sally had known, she probably would have made the same wishes anyway. She was a strong-willed girl, and rather impulsive.
    She and her three friends—Cindy Makey, Adam Freeman, and Watch—were not far outside of Spooksville, their hometown, when they first spottedthe stone. Since dealing with Pan’s leprechauns and fairies in the thick forest high in the hills overlooking the town, they had been staying closer to Spooksville, not wandering too deep into dangerous places that were hard to leave. However, no place in or around Spooksville was really safe. The gang was only hiking in the foothills of the foothills when Sally stopped and pointed toward a sparkle in the trees, maybe a quarter of a mile off the path they were taking through a gully.
    â€œWhat’s that?” she asked, brushing aside her dark bangs.
    â€œI don’t see anything,” Adam, who was shorter than the others, said.
    â€œNeither do I,” Watch said, removing his thick glasses and cleaning them on his shirtsleeve. “Did you see an animal?”
    â€œNo,” Sally said thoughtfully. “It was a flash of light.”
    â€œIt could have just been a reflection,” Cindy said, standing behind them.
    â€œObviously,” Sally said, leading the group. “But a reflection of what?” She paused. “I think we should look.”
    â€œI don’t know,” Cindy said, fingering her longblond hair. “If we go off the path, we’ll get all dirty.”
    â€œAnd we might run into a strange animal and have our internal organs ripped from our bodies,” Watch added.
    Sally frowned at Watch. “And you used to be so adventurous,” she said.
    â€œI was younger then,” Watch said.
    â€œYou’re only twelve now,” Adam observed. He nodded to Sally. “I’ll go with you to check it out. It shouldn’t take long to hike over there.” Sally had pointed to the far side of the gully they were presently hiking through.
    â€œWe should probably all go together,” Cindy said. “It’s not safe to separate out here.”
    â€œIt’s not safe to be alive out here,” Sally said.
    â€œBut it’s better than being dead,” Watch said.
    They hiked in the direction of the supposed flash Sally had seen. When they reached the spot, they searched the area without seeing anything unusual.
    â€œIt was probably just a trick of light,” Adam said.
    â€œPerhaps some debris from a crashed flying saucer,” Watch added.
    But Sally was unconvinced. “It was a bright flash. There must be something strange out here.”
    â€œBut strange is not necessarily good,” Cindy said.
    Sally looked at her. “Are you getting scared again?”
    â€œYes,” Cindy said and added sarcastically, “Just being out in the wilderness with you makes me tremble in my shoes.”
    â€œLet’s continue our hike,” Adam said. “Then we can go get ice cream.”
    But Sally was unconvinced. “I want to search the area one more time. I can do it myself. You guys rest here if you’re tired.”
    In fact, they were all tired. The summer was almost over but obviously the sun didn’t know. It was another hot, cloudless day. Adam, Cindy, and Watch plopped down on some boulders in the shade while Sally went off on her own. Cindy had brought a bottle of apple raspberry juice and passed it around.
    â€œAnother ten days and school starts,” Watch said, taking a deep gulp of the juice and letting out a satisfied sigh. “We won’t have many more days like this.”
    â€œWe’ll have the weekends free,” Adam, who wasnew in