"Oh Mom! Could you come down here please?" Leonard called out. A panic started to rise in Jon but there was still nothing he could do, he was frozen right where he was.
A few moments later he could hear heels clacking softly down the basement stairs. Nancy Drullers was a pretty woman; modest but took pride in her appearance. She was the type of woman who loved to dote on anybody, especially her son. Her husband made good money, but often kept long hours at the office, which left the stay-at-home mom even more time to see to her son's needs.
"What is it sweetie? Can I get you boys some snacks?"
"That's alright, Mom. Jon and I were just talking about how much you do for me, and how you take care of things all around the house. You really have your hands full, and I don't think I tell you enough how much I appreciate it."
"Oh that's so sweet of you to say, honey!"
"But I know how much you could use an extra set of hands around here. And that's why Jon here has volunteered to help you out!"
"I... what do you mean Leonard?" Nancy was clearly confused.
"Why, I'm going to merge Jon into your life! Don't worry, you won't change a bit- the remote's set with you as the target at 100% life fusion and 90% dominance."
"Remote? Leonard, sweetie, I don't underst-" with a quick press of a button a bright white light engulfed the entire room. It cleared in an instant, and Nancy was left blinking her eyes.
"Sorry honey," she said, "I must have zoned out for a moment. What were we talking about?"
"My friend Jon, and how helpful he is. Remember him?"
Nancy looked puzzled. "No, I don't think I've met him. You should invite him over some time."
Wait, Jon was standing right in front of her! How could she not remember him? Could she even see him? He raised his arm and waved to get her attention. Oh! I can move now! He realized. Now he could get the rock and fix this wish! He reached to his pocket and... there was no pocket. Instead he felt his hand rubbing some satiny material. He looked down. Was that... a skirt? It went down just past his knees, and he could see his feet in a pair of beige pumps. His legs were smooth and shaven, but they were definitely still his legs. Strange...
He looked up at Nancy and realized why his outfit looked familiar - it was exactly what she was wearing. The same skirt, same shoes, same cardigan sweater. He looked at Leonard, who was grinning ear-to-ear. As he turned his head he felt something swish against his ears - his hair had gotten longer! It was still its normal dark brown, but styled in soft curls like Nancy's honey blonde locks. He should have wanted to yell, to run back home, but he suddenly wasn't angry, or even scared.
"Well honey," Nancy said, "I better get started on dinner. I'll let you know when it's ready!" She turned and started to head up the stairs. As she moved farther away, Jon suddenly felt a growing anxiety. With each step it grew more intense, and he felt compelled to start following her. But he was still confused. He turned to Leonard.
"Honey, what's... what's happening?" he asked.
Leonard smiled even more, "Well mom, didn't you just say you were going to start making dinner?"
Did he say that? It seemed like someone else said that. But who else would be making dinner around here? He looked up the stairs as Nancy was getting farther away, and the anxiety spiked again. He quickly went up the stairs after her, not missing a step in his shoes. At the top of the stairs they were closer, and the anxiety melted away. He was still confused, but this was better.
He felt the skirt swishing around his legs as they went to the kitchen. Was he supposed to be wearing this? He thought he'd been wearing something else just a minute ago, but when he tried to concentrate on what it was, all he could remember was pulling this skirt out of the closet this morning. His closet? Didn't he live next door? But how could he live next door to his own house? Something was very confusing about all this. Jon realized maybe he should just focus on making dinner for now. Once that was out of the way he could sort all of this out. He couldn't let his son go hungry, after all!
