Jon put down the cup of coffee and looked down. He was dressed in a business attire and there was a briefcase sitting by the door to the kitchen.
He heard the sound of someone coming down the stairs. A teenage girl who looked very familiar hurried past. "See you later, Dad."
"Oh, shit," he muttered. He took a sip of the coffee cup without thinking. Wait...I've tried coffee before, and hate it. But drinking it seemed almost automatic...as if his body was used to it.
He looked at himself in a steel pot. He was...his mom's age...Not that he hadn't guessed that. But how was he going to survive? He didn't even know what his job was, or how to do it. He could get fired...and now he had to take care of Mikey, Zoe, and his Mom.
While Linda had gone off to meet Jennifer Taylor, Zoe was in the shower, and Mikey was still sleeping. Both were unaware that their sister had been their mother earlier that morning. Jon hadn't just swapped ages with Linda; he had become the son of Linda's parents. After all, he couldn't be the son of a woman who no longer existed. Nor could his siblings. Linda couldn't be her own mother - or the mother of Zoe and Mikey. The magic had changed Jon's dead father to a dead mother in order to explain things.
"I want to make the first wish," Linda said. "I've been thinking about it all night and since you made the last one ..."
"I understand," Jennifer said. "Go ahead."
Linda smiled and said "I wish I had a mom." Her mom had died nearly ten years ago (shortly after her little brother Mikey was born) and she never really knew her. Yes, she was six years old at the time, but it wasn't enough. Spending time with someone as a child and spending time with someone as a teenager were two different things. But now, with the help of the stone, she could finally get her wish.
The stone glowed, granting her wish. (essentially giving her a new mother and giving her father a wife).
She suddenly noticed something strange, as if there was a vertical wipe across her vision. Jennifer was still standing there, but she looked...different. 'Umm...Linda, you'd better look in the mirror," she said. "Your face changed."
"Yours too," Linda said, looking at her.
"Me?" Jennifer said. "You wished for a new mom, how could I be different?"
"Your hair...it changed color...You were blond a second ago, and I swear your height changed."
Jennifer didn't remember that, unaware that she'd just swapped ages with Linda. Since they'd lived the same number of years, they'd effectively swapped birthdays...and that had somehow resulted in a change of hair color. "I'm still the same size, and I've never been blond. You changed."
Meanwhile, elsewhere, a woman who hadn't been in Linda's house seconds ago pressed her son Mikey, not wanting her son to be late for school or to be late for work.
Unknown to Jon, someone had been watching him and his family. In fact, he had been keeping an eye on Jon's family, now known as the Jennings, ever since the mysterious stranger replaced Jon's wishing stone with The Age Swap Stone.
He was well aware of how The Age Swap Stone worked, and knew that if he didn't do something, Jon wouldn't be able to provide for his family. But without the knowledge that came with this new life, his family would most likely end up out on the street. No, he had to help Jon as much as he could.
After the change happened, he caused Jon to be able to draw up the knowledge to not avoid unemployment. He couldn't make Jon forget the old reality. The mysterious stranger would notice that. Then, much to his surprise, reality shifted again...and suddenly a new mother was in the house.
He turned away from the window and hid behind a row of bushes, watching Jon leave the house and get into his car. He was glad that he was able to help Jon out, but he had to be careful. The mysterious stranger (who he knew was named Sylvester) could be watching, and he was very powerful and very dangerous. If Sylvester ever found out that he was helping Jon ... well, it wouldn't be good.
Shrugging off his fears about getting caught, he sprinted away from the Jennings house.
