Jenni's mom was still coming at him at full speed, though she found it considerably harder due to her new footwear.
"What did you DO to me?"
One thing Gary hadn't realized, as he stood grinning at the new Linda Madison, was that she had heard the wish, and therefore noticed that things had changed.
He immediately turned and got away as fast as possible, still taking the time to briefly admire his latest handiwork -- the flip-flopping of sandals in pursuit reminded him of the revenge he had just carried out. Gary would be back later for more.
Linda was out of breath. She hadn't had to run that fast since she was a USC Song Girl back in '85. Of course, that was only for tryouts. Once the season started, she was too busy exerting herself in other hobbies- important ones, like partying and shopping. How else do you think she got her nickname? Madison Avenue was just that - fast, fashionable, and great for a Saturday night ride.
She stopped for a second and looked up fondly at the framed photo of her and the squad. Legs crossed, the six big-haired beauties looked radiant, with the kind of ageless allure that disguised the fact that the image was close to twenty-five years old. "At least I still got it," Linda thought, as the straightened her back and smiled mischievously - finding out that she could still fit into the tight white turtleneck sweater and red and yellow-trimmed pleated skirt was enough to drive any of her boys crazy. Of course, the "Rose Bowl," as she liked to call it, was only for the special ones, or on those nights when she felt like giving herself a show. Linda especially liked going to the homecoming game when the current squad invited the alumni, mostly because she loved the attention of a million eyes, still hoping to get a glimpse of her little white Trojan panties. She might be in her forties, but through a delicate balance of aerobics, healthy eating, and buns of steel videotapes, she could still give those twenty-somethings a run for their money. She could only hope the same for her daughter, Jenni.
But, as Linda reminisced, something was nagging at the back of her mind. Wasn't she chasing someone just a second ago? And didn't she graduate from UCLA with a business degree?
Just then, bounding down the stairs came two saddle-shoes giving way to legs clad in knee socks. And in a flash, it was gone. She could barely make out what Jen had said.
"Headed to the mall and practice with Buffy! Text me, kay bye!"
That's when things started rushing back for her. But it was almost as if her mind had picture-in-picture. She could distinctly remember a boy named Jon, and her daughter Jenni, but the more she thought, the more fuzzy Jon became.Why would she ever have thought she had a boy for a son? Sure there were three of them, Jen, the oldest, Zoe, and Micki, her youngest. But who was Jon? Parts of Jon's image in Linda's mind slowly started to be replaced unconsciously; legs became longer, features smoothed and softened, skin tanned to a bronze, hair now a heavenly blonde. Soon, Linda's former son was exactly that. There was only one child in her mind at the current moment, and she had forgotten her pom-pons. She let out a small laugh to herself - "Like mother, like daughter, I guess," as she picked them up.
And a little red stone rolled directly to her feet.
