‘I wish . . .’ I began, and then stopped. I was about to wish for the Wish-Answerer to appear, but I realized I didn’t know how big meteors were. It might be too big to fit in the bathroom. It might be bigger than the house.

‘I wish that you’d make yourself small, Mr Wish-Answerer, and come here so I can ask you a few questions.’

A chunk of rock, about the size of my head, materialized on the bathroom shelf in front of me. It was a sort of dark grey with reddish patches. Black smoke rose from it. I could feel the heat it gave out. It had two little thin legs and two little thin arms like twigs, and it had a sort of face that looked like it was made out of marks and bumps in the rock. It had a couple of dark hollows for eyes and a sticking-out bit in the middle that looked like a beak, and there was a sort of gash or fissure for its mouth.

‘Er . . . pleased to meet you,’ I said.

That was a totally stupid thing to say, I know, but I was in a state of shock.

The Meteor didn’t say anything, but bent its skinny legs to make a little bow.

‘So – who are you?’

The Meteor still didn’t say anything, but spread its skinny arms and gave a little shrug.

‘OK, I wish you’d tell me who you are.’

I’m afraid there is no intelligible answer I could give you, the Meteor said. It had a posh, precise voice like a newsreader’s. Its mouth didn’t move, though. My name would take seven weeks to utter and would leave you none the wiser.

‘But can you tell me – this is all true, isn’t it? I’m not mad or dreaming?’

You are not mad and you are not dreaming, the Meteor confirmed.

‘So – you’ve given me a million wishes, right? And I can really have anything I want?’

As long as it is logically possible.

‘What do you mean?’

I cannot grant wishes that do not make logical sense. If you wished for a round square, for example, that wish could not be granted. Because no square by definition could ever be round.

Well, that was OK. I didn’t want a round square anyway. The last thing I needed.

‘Apart from things like that, though – whatever I wish for, I get? And there are no catches?’

Catches?

‘Well, I mean, do I have to use the wishes wisely or something? Or do I have to wish for good things?’

It’s none of my business, the Meteor said. Wish for whatever you like.

I looked at the Meteor’s little rocky face and it looked back at me. It sounds crazy, I know, but I couldn’t think of any more questions to ask.

‘Well, I suppose you can go back into space now.’