Vanessa was in awe. She had no idea how it worked, but this little toy gun was the best thing ever. She looked at the teenage boy and girl who had been trying to take the gun from her. Now they were just standing there, wearing the same outfit she (and her father) was wearing. Jon, who had been very angry a second ago, just smiled. Vanessa smiled back.
"That's a pretty dress," she told him.
"Well, it is our favorite," Jon replied, as though it should be obvious.
"Yeah," Karyn added. "We love wearing it when we go shopping with mommy!"
Vanessa couldn't believe it. They were just like her! Well, almost. They still looked like themselves (except for the hair), but they weren't mad anymore. And they seemed to like what she liked. Vanessa looked at the gun again, and wondered who else she could zap with it.
"Vanessa!" A woman's voice yelled from over the crowd. All four of them turned towards the voice, which surprised the original Vanessa a bit.
"Hi mommy!" they all said in unison. She looked angry.
"What are you doing wandering around by yourself? This is no place for a little girl to go unsupervised. Where did your father run off to?"
Vanessa looked at her father, who smiled sweetly at the woman he now thought of as his mommy. "I don't know where daddy went, but he said he'd buy us ice cream!"
"Ooh, I want mint chip!" Jon chimed in.
"Me too!" Karyn added.
"Shush!" the woman said, "There won't be any ice cream for you, young lady. It's time to go home, let's go."
"Aww," they all pouted as they began to follow the woman out of the mall. She seemed to suddenly not care that she didn't know where her husband was. Vanessa briefly considered zapping her mom as well, but knew that she was the only way they'd get home. And once they got home, they could have even more fun.
