A story, for (grown up) children.

Tommy walked along the beach, picking up pebbles and throwing them into the sea. He was very sad, and when he was sad, Tommy made "wishes".

This isn't unusual - all sorts of people make wishes when they get sad, but none of them ever get granted because there just aren't enough magic pebbles to go round.

However, as Tommy sat down on a rock, and looked out at the waves, he casually picked up the first pebble that came to hand - and it was indeed a magic pebble. Why was it magic ? Because the pebble granted wishes to whoever its owner was, three wishes to be precise. Nobody really knows why wishes always come in threes, maybe it's just cheaper that way.

The magic pebble really didn't look very different from any other kind of pebble; it was sort of round, grey and just about the size that a pebble should be, in fact there was no earthly reason why Tommy should suspect that he was holding a magic pebble, which is why he wasted his first wish:

'I wish this was a magic pebble,' thought Tommy. The pebble remained exactly as it was, and granted Tommy's wish. Nothing much happened of course, because it was already magic so there wasn't much to do.

Tommy sat there gloomily, and stared at his pebble, totally unaware of the magic that he had just witnessed. 'But how can I tell if this is a magic pebble ?' he thought to himself. 'If this is a magic pebble,' he said out loud (although there was nobody there but himself),'then I wish it would tell me so.'

'Hi there,' said a small pebbley voice, 'I'm your magic pebble !' Tommy was shocked. He couldn't believe his ears.

'Did you just talk to me ?' He said to the pebble.

'Yes,' replied the pebble cheerfully.

'Gosh,' said Tommy. 'Does that mean.. you'll grant me three wishes ?'

'Not three,' replied the pebble, 'you only have one wish left.' Tommy was confused.

'Why ?' he asked.

'Because you wasted the other two,' explained the pebble simply.

'But that's not fair,' argued Tommy.

'Yes it is,' replied the pebble, 'those are the rules.'

'Well, I didn't know that, did I ?' objected Tommy.

'That's not my concern,' replied the pebble. 'I'm just a simple magic pebble, I grant three wishes and then I leave, no arguments, no exceptions.'

'But how was I supposed to know you were a magic pebble !?'

'You should have considered that possibility when you made your first wish,' reasoned the pebble. Tommy was very angry. He was a very highly paid executive and wasn't used to being talked to in this manor, especially by pebbles, be they magic or otherwise.

'O bugger,' he said, 'I wish I'd never even met you !'

'Fair enough,' replied the pebble, in the sort of voice that only a pebble with a sarcastic smile would say, and instantly vanished.

Inspired by a cartoon in The Guardian newspaper many, many years ago.
Original version: November 8, 1992
Rewritten: 19 April 2005

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