Plot summary

The Pioneer 11 space probe, containing information about the human race, is found by the Intergalactic Council of Superior Beings. They debate whether to destroy the Earth or make humanity a member of the council. Their decision protocol calls for a test - they will select one human at random and grant limitless power to him/her, "absolutely anything". After ten days, if the powers were used for evil, Earth will be destroyed. The chosen human is Neil Clarke, a struggling teacher. Neil has a crush on his neighbor, Catherine West. Oblivious to his new power, Neil first wishes for aliens to destroy 10C, his class of ill-behaved students. It happens. When he realizes what he's done, he wishes for all the dead people to be restored to life. Of course, every cemetery is quickly full of corpses crawling from their graves. He quickly corrects his far too general wish. The next ten days are filled with him learning to be quite specific in stating his wishes and undoing many of them. As he wines and dines Catherine, he incurs the wrath of the man who wants to marry her, Grant, a colonel in the US Air Force. Ultimately, Neil decides that absolute wishing power is too much trouble. He wishes the source of the power to go away. It does. Much to his surprise, Neil finds that, with no wishing power left, Catherine is willing to go on a dinner date with him.—Garon Smith