"Time to get ready for school honey!" the feminine voice somehow slipped beneath the layers of sleep that had been consuming me, and I felt myself start to rouse. I'd never been a morning person so, true to form I shifted onto my side and tried to slip back into blissful unconsciousness. Something didn't feel right, but I tried to ignore it, squeezing my eyes shut tightly and trying to shut out the world around me. A few moments passed and I shifted again, trying to find a comfortable position. A thought, more of a realization began to form in the back of my mind, and struggled to fire off the neurons that would send me into a panic.
"I'm not going to holler for you again!" the voice said. Thank you, I thought bitterly, shifting again. "If you don't get up you're gonna miss your ride and I don't have time to drive you. You'll have to walk!" Now I heard a forceful knocking on the door. She was probably right anyway. I thought about the previous day and the wish that Karyn had made. I had to get the rock and get to school so we could try and figure out how to fix it. I'd toyed with the idea last night of simply wishing her memory of the wish away. Actually I'd toyed with the idea of making her forget about the rock all together. Her wish had been impulsive and, not to put too fine a point on it, stupid. Grandpa had sent me the stone because he trusted me. Now I wasn't sure I trusted her. Still, she was my friend, and I couldn't make a decision like this too lightly.
"Last chance!" the voice of the apparent liar shouted again.
"All right! All right! I'm up!" As soon as the words left my lips, I froze. It literally felt as though my body was ice cold. Slowly, afraid of what sights might greet me, I opened my eyes. One thing was certain, this definitely wasn't my room. In fact, I seriously doubted that any boy had ever spent more than a few minutes in it. It definitely belonged to a girl, and it seemed oddly familiar, as though I'd seen it before. I was shaking now.
"There's some scrambled eggs left in the pan!" the voice hollered up. "I've gotta leave for work! See you tonight sweetie!" With that I heard a door slam shut downstairs, but I really wasn't paying it much attention. I was too busy worrying about what I might find when I pulled the covers away. Suddenly the difficulties I'd had getting comfortable seemed of extreme importance.
Marshaling all of my, courage, I slowly peeled away the purple blanket and nearly feinted. This definitely wasn't my body, but who's was it. I was wearing a plain t-shirt and a pair of black girl's underwear over a body that seemed to fit them perfectly.
Calm down Jon, I urged myself. *Just calm down. This is some kind of dream or something *
"Ouch," I said softly when pinching my arm completely failed to wake me up.
Okay so it's not a dream. Get a grip Jon I thought as my new body began to tremble. Something must have happened with the rock. You just need to find it and you can fix this. I wasn't sure I believed it was going to be that easy, but at least it was a glimmer of hope to latch onto. Slowly I sat up. It was strange. My balance felt slightly off, and there was weight in areas that there hadn't been weight before. My eyes drifted toward the vanity mirror on the far side of the room.
It might help to know who I'm supposed to be, I thought weakly as I stood up. Slowly, my legs shaking beneath my unsteady form, I made my way toward the mirror. For a moment I closed my eyes, afraid of what I might see. Finally, I opened them and gasped. I'd known I wouldn't see my own reflection, but I'd never expected to see
