"Or could there be two of us?" Timothy asked himself out loud. He really had no idea how this thing worked. He held the medallion close to his face, trying to gleam some insight from it, but no spark of inspiration came to him. All he saw was a poor reflection in the dull fake-gold of the seemingly innocuous medallion. "Hmmm?" He pondered how he could learn more about it.
On a hunch, he slipped into one of his brother's hoodies and placed the medallion inside the pocket. He quickly put on a pair of jeans before sneaking back out of the house.
Walking alone on the dimly lit streets felt different. The shadows seemed darker, and the imposing houses and fences seemed taller. In a sense, everything was bigger to him now considering he was a clone of his 13-year old brother. Timothy swallowed hard and kept walking.
As he approached his friend's house, he could see the party seemed to be dragging on. Several people he knew seemed to be passed out drunk on the lawn. But, he was not here to check on his friend or the guests.
He found the bush and grass where he had spotted the medallion. Now thinking back, he was not sure how he had seen the sparkle before; it was not like the fake gold was very reflective. "Can't worry about that now..." He told himself. He continued searching around near where the medallion was. What he was looking for, he was not sure. But to his luck, he found a polished box.
He opened it and smiled. There was a space, just big enough for the medallion, and a folded piece of paper. Timothy hastily closed the box and briskly walked back to his house.
Timothy smiled to himself as was able to sneak back into the house without waking anyone. Rushing to his room, he closed the door and turned on the light so that he could read the note.
"To whom it may concern. If you are reading this note you are no doubt the new owner of the Medallion of Zulo. Take heed, that while it may look like no more the cheap jewelry, it is the greatest thing you could have ever found. For this Medallion is magic...." The note read.
Timothy read the note twice. "So... twelve hours. Then I can change back." He said to himself. Knowing there was a way to change back, he felt much calmer. He glanced at the clock on his night stand. "About 11 more hours to go. But... seven more hours, if I'm lucky, before my parents start to wake." He said to himself, sighing. He was not keen on showing himself or explaining the medallion to them. Not that he liked keeping secrets either, but he felt it was best to limit the number of people to know about the medallion. Bregrungly, he decided to wake his brother.
He snuck back into Alex's room, tiptoeing around the clothes all over the floor. Standing over him, Timothy began to shake Alex awake. Alex made a few nonsensical noises as his eyes began to open.
"Shh... Its me, Timothy..." He said as he placed a hand over Alex's mouth. His brother panicked for a moment as he stared up at him. Timothy could only imagine what was running through his brother's head. From his brother perspective, he seemed to be staring up at his double. "I'm not your twin or anything. Its me, Timothy." I said again, calmly. When Alex did not seem like he would scream, Timothy removed his hand.
"Timothy?" Alex questioned as he sat up. His eyes wide in disbelief or shock. Timothy was not sure which emotion was more prevalent.
"Yeah... let me explain." Timothy answered.
He showed his brother the note, sharing everything he knew. His brother continued to stare at him, but now Alex's eyes gleamed with his infamous, mischievous glint. "So... we're twins for 12 hours? Just think of all the..."
"Stop right there." Timothy shook his head. "We're not doing anything, at least not tonight." He then sighed, correcting his statement. "Well, mostly nothing. I need you to turn into me. Then we can switch back tomorrow." Timothy explained his plan. Basically, he and his brother would switch places for the rest of the night. He was not very thrilled with the idea, but it was the easiest way to keep the medallion secret.
His brother, almost too eagerly, stripped and put on a pair of Timothy's boxers. Reluctantly, Timothy handed Alex the medallion so his brother could dawn it. The change was not immediate. It was slow, subtle. But within a few minutes, Timothy was staring at himself. Alex now looked just like he had.
"Sweet." Alex said as he looked at himself, seemingly marveling being his older brother. He pulled the elastic band of the boxers, glancing down.
"Don't look at my penis." Alex glared up at his brother, red in the face.
Alex, now with Timothy's voice and looks, smiled down at him. The same mischievous glint seemed to remain the same, even if his appearance had changed. "Sorry little bro."
Timothy, still appearing as his younger brother, did his best to not show his frustration. "Lets just go to bed, and then we can change back tomorrow." He held out his hand expectantly. Alex visibly seemed to hesitate, but he ended up placing the medallion back into Timothy's outstretched hand.
"You get a magical medallion and all you want to do is change back?" Alex commented as he flexed an arm. "I mean... I know why you want to be you and not me. But, just think about how cool it would be to really be twinning tomorrow?"
Timothy clutched the medallion in his hand. Part of him was curious, but there was nothing of it for now. "Lets just go to bed. Tomorrow when mom and dad are gone for work, we can talk about it." Timothy then turned to leave, but he only made it a few paces before he felt a hand on his shoulder, his hand.
"Sounds good. But, uh... this is your room for at least tonight." Alex smiled down at him, having the mischievous glint back in his eyes.
"Right... night..." Timothy sighed as he watched his younger brother, who now looked like him, leave to sleep in his bed.
