Ariadne squinted down at her trio of daughters. Her nose was so far upturned, Natasha was worried she’d catch an eyeful of snot. She and her sisters sucked in a silent breath as their mother raised a finely trimmed eyebrow. ‘This is it,’ Natasha thought, too afraid to shut her eyes in fear and preparation. ‘This psycho is about to send us to another reality.’
Then Ariadne huffed, and dropped the stone into Natasha’s open palm. “Alright, dear, there you are. And thank you for using your manners. For once,” she added, along with an overly emphasized eye roll. Before Natasha, Ursula, or Gloria could even thank their mother, they were nearly shoved out onto the sidewalk. “Have fun at school, dears!” Ariadne called before slamming the door shut.
Ursula was the first to recover from the sudden exodus. She gave herself a practiced once-over, as though she’d done it alone or in a mirror many times. Perhaps she has, in this reality. “We don’t even have our backpacks,” she pouted.
Natasha dusted herself off, and checked he stone. Luckily, it hadn’t been harmed by the concrete sidewalk. She didn’t want to think about what would happen if the stone were damaged, or worse, destroyed. “I have the stone,” she announced to her sisters. “We can worry about backpacks when we’re all home.”
“And how do you plan on getting us there, sister?” Even though they shared the same voice, Gloria’s was distinct in its annoyance. Natasha didn’t want to admit it, but she had been hurt by Gloria’s sarcastic use of the word sister. In her mind, they truly had been sisters for eighteen years. “How do you even know that stone can get us home?”
“I’ll make a wish, just like you did to get us here,” Natasha fired back. Ursula tried and failed to stifle a laugh.
“Do you think I wanted to wind up with two clones following me around?” Gloria screeched. “I won’t be able to look in the mirror for at least a month now! God, I think I’ve developed a brand new disorder because of this.”
Ursula put her hands on her hips and coughed. “What’s your point, Natasha?”
“My point is—” Gloria stopped and stared blankly at Ursula. “Natasha? I’m Gloria, you idiot!”
“I’m sorry! We all look the same, I can’t tell us apart! Maybe that’s what we should wish for? ”
“No, we go home first!” Natasha shouted. She could remember having to reign her sisters in when she was little. Appaarently she’d never outgrown the habit. “Gloria, what’s your point?”
Gloria took her fingers off the bridge of her nose and looked between her sisters. “I didn’t know what the stone could do when I made my wish. And if I remember correctly, I wished for you two to feel my pain, and not to turn into human copy machines. That means the stone has its own screwed up interpretations of wishes.”
“So what, we just don’t make any more wishes? We can’t do that Gloria! I can’t be stuck like this for the rest of my life!”
Ursula let out a high pitched scream and stamped her foot. “Alright, who’s speaking now!?”
The gemstone began to glow in Natasha’s hand, and after last time, each of the sisters noticed it. Gloria and Ursula bent their legs and curled their fingers, ready to pounce. Natasha put the stone behind her back, and curled her other hand into a fist. It was a magical Mexican standoff, for the right to reality. The girls shifted their eyes, studying one another’s movements. Then Gloria kicked herself forwards, Ursula leapt onto Natasha, and the stone fell into one of their hands.
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