The dictaphone

"That's mine !" Wendy said, running to her locker to hide the strange package in.

Vanessa couldn't drive AND keep an eye on her bag at the same time, could she ? Of course not. So she didn't see Wendy stealing the package from her and quietly putting it in her own backpack, and now, the 13 years old had the thing. Checking again the paper with the package, Wendy smiled as she noticed the part about wishes coming true. Sure, she was a bit too old to believe in stories about magic and stuff but... well, it was worth a shot. Everybody knew that genies didn't exist, but still, alone with an arabic lamp, everybody still tried to rub it just to be sure ! Wendy still decided to wait for lunch break to open the package : her sister was still close, and she didn't want her to realize about her theft. After closing her locker, she ran to her first class.

When the bell rang hours later, Wendy happily went to her locker and took out the package before running to a corner of the school yard were she used to eat with her two best friends, Brooke and Tamara. The two black-haired girls were nice and fun and even if they were better looking than her with their b-cups, Wendy knew that puberty would soon change that. Or so she hoped. But still, at least, they weren't taller than her : they were both 4'10, just like her.

While waiting for them, Wendy opened the package, hidden behind her backpack and ready to put it back in if anybody was coming too close. And was a bit disappointed as she was really expecting some kind of magic lamp. Instead, there was a silver and black dictaphone, with no accessories at all, and nothing recorded in as Wendy quickly checked. "Too bad. What am I supposed to do with that ?" she said, inspecting the device and searching for something to help her in any way. Finally, she read again the paper, and she suddenly thought about something : why would genies still live in old fashioned lamps nowadays ? Couldn't they hide in some sorts of new devices ? "Well, that's worth a shot", Wendy said just before pushing the recording button.

"I wish I was a natural redhead"

She liked redheads. That was kind of cool. The kind of wish perfect for a try : something she wanted, but not something secret enough to take a big risk saying it loud and recording it in some kind of new device. When she pressed stop, nothing seemed to happen. Her hairs were still blonde, as usual. As she was sighing, she saw Brooke and Tamara in the schoolyard, coming to meet her. She still had a few seconds in front of her, so she decided to give a last try, thinking about an old movie where wishes were coming true thanks to a book : whatever the people were writing in was becoming the truth.

"I'm a natural redhead" Wendy recorded. For a second, she thought that the device was broken as she heard a strange sparkling sound, and she quickly put it back in her backpack as Tamara and Brooke were closing.

"Hey Wendy !
- Hi girls !
- What were you doing ?
- Nothing. Just... well, nothing interesting at all. Ready to eat ?
- Yeah, sure. Grab your lunch and let's enjoy the sun !"

But when Wendy patted the grass next to her to invite her friends to sit down, she opened her eyes wide, looking at her arms : her skin was a bit paler than usual and... she had freckles ?

"What ? What's on my arm ! - exclaimed the girl
- What ? Is there an ant ? - said Tamara, bending to inspect her friend's arm
- No ! No look, I have freckles !
- Oh yeah ? - Brooke laughed - Aren't a lot of redheads supposed to have some ? Did you forget ?"

Wendy gazed strangely at her friend, and after a few seconds, took some of her own hairs in her hand : they were... red ! A light red, but still ! She was a redhead ! She had to restrain a scream as she wanted to share her joy with the whole world : the voice recorder ! It was magic ! It had changed her and... and her friends were acting just like if it was normal. Without adding a single word, Wendy reached for her pocket mirror and gazed at her reflection : she had still the same face and haircut but... her hairs were now red. Somewhere between red and orange, but still. And she had freckles. Over her nose, her cheeks, running down her neck and disappearing in her shirt... and on her arms. This was sort of cute. She liked it.

But now that she knew for the device, she had to try something else !