The stone flashed, and Sarah turned to look down the hallway. Now who, exactly, was going to inherit all of Jon's pants?
Sarah walked to the next door down the hall and opened it. Inside she found a goth's paradise. Dark posters on the walls. Lace drapery. White candlesticks. Realistic-looking bones. On the bed lay an open DVD case for "The Craft," next to a closed DVD case for "Hocus Pocus."
This must be Zoe's room, Sarah thought to herself.
Well, Zoe was about to be in for some changes. Sarah unceremoniously dropped the assortment of fabrics she'd been carrying onto the floor and turned to the closet. There were only a few hangers free, so Sarah unceremoniously removed about half the contents closet and placed it on Zoe's bed, extracting their hangers for her own use. This wouldn't separate those cloths from Zoe's possession, but it would give Sarah more room to work in.
The first item she reached for was a pair of black dress slacks. It wasn't too far off from some of the items already in the closet, and Sarah wanted to see what it would do. As she placed the garment on a hanger, and the hanger in the closet, a wave passed through the room.
Had something changed?
It took a moment for Sarah to notice. It was subtle, but all the dresses were now just a little bit longer. The maxi skirts, too. As though Zoe now had legs long enough to match her older brother's slacks. A 15 year-old girl with an 18 year-old boy's legs.
Sarah continued to place clothes on hangers and hangers in the closet. Not every item invited new changes, there were only so many things that could happen with the addition of a pair of pants, but Sarah started noticing cumulative effects.
As more pants entered the closet, leggings began to disappear. As though Zoe had less use for them now that she was wearing jeans so often. Then Zoe's own jeans, the few pairs that had already been in the closet and had a girl's cut to them, disappeared as well, apparently redundant. Some skirts, but not all of them, followed suit. Then dresses started shrinking into tunics.
Another subtle effect that did not go unnoticed was that, Sarah's first change to Jon having made all of his jeans designer, the quality of fabrics in Zoe's closet seemed to elevate with each additional garment, as well. Fabric laces turned to leather. Machine stitching became hand. False bodices expanded into their own separate garments.
A pair of black cargo shorts entered the closet, and a pair of ballet flats on the floor became a pair of Vans. By the time Sarah was finished, small, incremental changes had added up. She finally placed the last pair of gym shorts into Zoe's closet, took a deep, satisfied breath, and turned around.
Was she in the same bedroom?
The lace drapes were gone. The white candles were replaced by scented candles in jars. The bones replaced by multi-sided dice? Everything seemed just a touch lighter. Even the clothes Sarah had deposited on thee bed, she could see some denim among the pile that hadn't been there before. The movies in the DVD cases were now Blade II and This is Spinal Tap.
Sarah could barely contain her glee. She could not wait to see what this new Zoe was like.
