With an expression of shock on her face, Mom dropped the piece of paper on the table, right next to mine, clearly showing to all our family that she was the one who'd swap bodies with me. That meant I'd be my own mother. I'd become a middle-aged woman. And Mom would become me, a teenage boy.
"So... I suppose that means the two of us will have to become each other," Mom said, still shaken.
"We can still back down if you want," Dad said.
"No. You wouldn't even suggest this if it weren't me," replied Mom. "We have to be fair: my name came out, I'll do it."
"I'll call Larry," Dad said. "He said we can do the procedure a week from now."
"I need to be alone," I said.
I left the room in a hurry, leaving my barely touched meal behind. I was starving, but I didn't even care. They'd just told me I'd have to spend the rest of my life as my mother! I ran into my room and lied down on the bed. I half expected to start crying uncontrollably, but I didn't: truth be told, I was simply unable to process the consequences of what just happened. Instead, I just laid there, staring at nothing, with my brain trying to reboot after a complete crash. I barely noticed the door opening.
"Dude, are you okay?" Cassandra asked.
"What do you want?"
"This is my room too," she replied. "I'm allowed to come in here after dinner."
"Dinner's already over?"
"Yeah, it's been half an hour since you left."
Half an hour? It didn't feel that long. Then again, I wasn't really paying attention to the passage of time. Cassie sat on her own bed, facing me.
"Listen, I know that's a huge shock. I didn't expect that either. But you gotta keep it together."
"Easy for you to say, you're not the one who'll get turned into a housewife next week."
"I know, but... look, you'll get used to it eventually. We all will. And then things will be normal again... mostly. And the rest of our problems will be solved. It probably won't even be that bad."
"I know. If being Mom was so horrible, she wouldn't have put up with it all this time. The problem is that I won't be me."
"You'll always be you... just in a different body. But you'll still have me, Stephen and Laura. It'll be okay."
"I hope you're right about this. I really do. I'm just... scared. When I voted in favor of the swap, I didn't think it would be me. I figured it might be something like you and Amelia, maybe."
"F**k no, that would've been horrible. Look, I know it sounds bad, but you don't have much of a choice, here. You'll just have to get used to being Mom. For what it's worth, I'm sure you'll make a great mother."
"Oh thanks, that makes me feel so much better," I replied, sarcastically.
"Now come on, you can't keep moping like that," Cassie said, as she turned on the TV. She handed me a DualShock. "I'm gonna play Killzone. Now you can either play with me and get your mind off this, or cry in a corner. Your choice."
She was right about one thing: crying wouldn't solve anything. If I was gonna be Mom for the rest of my life, I might as well enjoy my last week as me. I picked up the controller and started playing.  | Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
<<-- Previous · Outline  · Recent Additions © Copyright 2024 Unknown Dude (UN: unknowndude at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
Scifiwizard Retired has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work within this interactive story. Poster accepts all responsibility, legal and otherwise, for the content uploaded, submitted to and posted on Writing.Com. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author