...Jon sighed. "Oh well. I guess I should expect as much having a teenage son," he said as he quickly cleaned the kitchen. He walked out of the kitchen and stopped at a mirror in the hall to check his makeup. Then he grabbed a post-it note, scribbled a message, and ran back to the kitchen to stick it on the fridge. This is what the note said:
"Jon, I'll be working late. Please pick up your sister from ballet practice at 5:30, I'll be home by 6 to start dinner. Love, mom." He walked out the door, got in his mom's car, and drove to his mom's office.
Jon's mother (the real mother, Jane Duncan) was the only one who heard the wish, so as far as anyone else was concerned, she was really Jon, and Jon was really her. This was causing her problems at Jon's school. She was still in the classroom, everyone around her was taking a test. She felt like screaming, but was too confused to do so. Was this some kind of dream? It had to be. She pinched her arm. Nope, this was definitely real. How had this happened? She was in the kitchen, making breakfast, and then she said... I wish I could trade places with Jon. That was it! Somehow her wish had been granted. But she looked down at herself and realised the interpretation must have been a bit too literal. Jane still had her own body, but it had Jon's clothes (which seemed to fit her body), and nobody seemed to think anything was different. Well, she reasoned, if she had wished herself here, then she should just be able to wish things back to normal.
"I wish to switch back." she whispered. The teacher looked up. "What was that, Mr. Duncan?" she asked.
"Nothing," Jane replied. There was muffled, nervous laughter from the rest of the class, then the teacher said "Alright, get back to your tests, only 15 minutes left."
Jane felt panic. Why hadn't her wish worked? Would she be stuck this way forever? Jon must be in her place, she figured he was probably having the same problems. And if she was stuck here and failed this test for him, he'd probably be even more pissed. She did her best to finish the test, although she was a bit rusty at math, then the bell rang.
"I need to get out of here," Jane thought to herself. "If Jon's in the same boat as me, then he must still be at home. I have to get out of here!" Jane was about to just leave, when she ran into Jon's best friend, Karyn.
"Hey, Jon! I haven't seen you all day, you said you were going to skip that test so we could try out that rock."
"Karyn, I..." Jane said, fumbling the words and trying to act like Jon. Wait. What had she said? "What rock?" she asked.
"Oh, come on, Jon. Stop messing with me. You couldn't have forgotten about," her voice hushed into a whisper, "the wishing rock."
"Wishing rock!" she practically shouted. Karyn shushed her. "Karyn, tell me about this rock."
"What are you talking about? Have you lost your mind?" The two of them began walking toward a quiet place by the drinking fountains.
"Karyn, what would you think if I told you that I'm not Jon."
"Given what happened yesterday, I might have to believe it."
"Why, what happened yesterday."
"Wait, if you're not Jon, then who are you?"
"I'm his mom. Can't you tell? I've still got my old body, but nobody seems to notice or care! I found that rock this morning, and I made a wish that Jon and I would trade places."
"I see. Well, you look like Jon to me, but I'm inclined to believe you. Where's Jon, then?"
"He must be in my place. I was at home when I made my wish, so he must still be there."
"Hopefully," Karyn said.
"What?"
"Nothing. Look, I don't want to worry you any more Jon...er.. Mrs. Duncan. We can sneak out at lunch and try and find your mom.. I mean, Jon. I knew this thing would be trouble.
At lunch, Karyn and Jane got into Jon's car and drove off to Jon's house. Once there, Jane rushed inside, followed closely by Karyn.
"Jon?" Jane called. "Jon, where are you?" The house was empty. Karyn went into the kitchen and came out holding a yellow sticky note. Jane looked at the note which was in her handwriting.
"I didn't write this," she said. "What's going on here?"
