Molly slammed the door behind her as she went into her room. “Ugh…I can’t believe she won’t let me go out tonight!” She screamed through her closed door “You Suck Meredith! Just because Mom’s gone doesn’t mean you get to ruin my life!”
Meredith stood just down the hall. “I’m not ruining your life. You know Mom wouldn’t let you go to a party tonight. I’m not going to either…I’m not getting you or me in trouble tonight.” She stated as a matter of fact. Meredith, at 22, would be in more trouble than Molly if she let her 14 year old sister go to that party tonight. She just shook her head as she stood outside her sisters’ door listening to all the verbal abuse streaming from inside.
“You just don’t get it!” Molly yelled.
“Yes…I do get it Moll…I was 14 once too and Mom never let me go out either at that age” Meredith replied as calmly as possible.
“Oh…so just because you didn’t get to have any fun, now you won’t let me have any either!” The door flung open.
Meredith looked at her little sister…14 years old gangly tall and skinny she was 5’5” now and still growing, but Meredith still had 3 inches on her.
“Look: throw a fit all you want” she said crossing her arms and now getting a bit upset at her stubborn and spoiled baby sister. “It doesn’t change the fact that I’m in charge tonight and you are not…”
“What?” Molly interrupted her “You’re in charge and you’re no different than Mom! OH!”
“What are you going to do Moll…nothing’s going to change around here tonight” Meredith said now tapping her foot.
“Ugh…I wish it would change!” she was in a full childish fit now “I wish…I wish we would just switch ages and then I’d be 22 and could go out whenever the Hell I felt like it!” she said with a stamp of her foot.
Meredith lowered her eyes at this little hissy fit and asked “Feel better now?”
Molly looked her sister in the eye and bit her bottom lip and said; “Yes…I do feel better.” That was when she noticed something…different. She suddenly felt more confident, more poised; even calmer and the thought of her going out to a party just seemed juvenile and petty.
Meredith stared at her sister waiting for her to calm down. She saw her biting her lip, then saw a look of confusion cross her sisters’ face. “What?” she asked her.
But Molly didn’t answer at first. “You…you just spouted the biggest zit on your forehead Mere…”
“What?” Meredith said as her hand went to her forehead, sure enough she felt a big bump there.
“Do you feel all right Mere?” Molly asked
Meredith had gazed away while rubbing the pimple now her eyes turned back to her sister “Yeah…I feel fine…why?” she said but she was starting to feel jittery and jumpy like something wasn’t quite right. She felt nervous all of a sudden, she felt insecure, she felt a bit helpless and confused; she fought to control the sudden flow of emotions that were crashing over her.
“Well, um, I don’t know…something feels…strange” Molly said. She did feel strange, but she also was feeling confident and bold and more protective of her younger sister. She caught herself at that “Why did I just think of Meredith as my little sister…she’s not younger than me…she’s not…is she?”
“Don’t be stupid Moll…nothing’s…” Meredith trailed off as she glanced down at her hand. Her fingernails looked different to her and it caught her attention. The nail polish was a very uncharacteristic bright pink that was uneven and chipped away. It also looked like she had been chewing at her fingernails, but that was s habit she had broken in high school.
“What?” Molly prodded her sister.
“Nothing’s…the…”
Molly looked at her sister now…really looked at her and saw Meredith staring back at her. They stared at each other intently. Molly felt a slight pain in her left ankle. She glanced down and saw a butterfly tattoo had appeared there. The immediate thought was “I got that last year on my 21st birthday” then she caught herself “What am I talking about my 21st birthday for” but she could remember it now. The drinking with her friends…the tattoo…the whole night was there.
Meredith realized that something was wrong, but she still couldn’t quite place it. She looked at her younger sister and thought “She really looks grown up; so much prettier than me…more mature than me too. No! That can’t be right. She’s my little sister…she’s my sister…she’s my…big? Sister” she shook her head and looked directly ahead into her sister’s eyes now. Molly’s eyes narrowed a bit then opened wider than before and Meredith thought further “Molly’s my older sister now. I’m the younger one of us…that’s how it’s supposed to be…isn’t it?”
Molly stared at Meredith but she also couldn’t quite place what was wrong. Molly thought “She looks scared…she looks…” then it hit her: Meredith was smaller than her. Her sister had shrunk down or she had grown taller. She could see the acne on Meredith’s face, the freckles across her nose and cheeks. There was confusion and fear in her big doe like brown eyes. Her big sister just didn’t seem as big to her now. She looked skinnier and she wasn’t standing up straight anymore. Her shoulders were hunched forward, but not everything was just physically different…there was something else.  
Then Molly blurted out “Oh My God Meredith you look like a kid!”
This triggered an avalanche of thoughts in Meredith’s mind the first being “Oh My God Molly! Mom’s going to be so pissed? What are we going to do?”
“What are you asking me for?” Molly asked.
Meredith just stared at her sister again; confused and somewhat weakly she said “What do you mean, why am I asking you; you’re my big sister…”
“What!?” Molly yelled.
“What!?” Meredith yelled back snapping to her senses momentarily. “What did I just say?” she asked.
“You…you said that I was your big sister!” Molly said with a bit of panic in her voice. She stepped back against the wall. Hearing it out loud brought it home to her.
“What? I…Why did I…why would I…” Meredith stammered fighting wave after wave of confusing thoughts in her mind. “I’m older than Molly” she thought hard “So why is Molly older than me now…this doesn’t make any sense…but…”
“But” Meredith said out loud.
“But what?” Molly answered slowly. She looked intently at Meredith. Meredith had pursed her lips tightly and Molly could see her tongue working underneath her tightened lips, she could see confusion in Meredith’s eyes. Meredith took a step back and backed up against the wall. A single tear leaked out of Meredith’s right eye and she looked up at her sister Molly and said with just the slightest lisp “Help Me.”
Molly looked down into her sister’s face. When she heard Meredith’s voice emanate forth she cocked her head to the side and caught a glimpse of…”Meredith! You’re wearing braces again!”
Meredith just nodded, crying freely now “What’s going on Molly!?” she said somewhat garbled.
Molly just shook her head, she was confused…Meredith hadn’t worn braces since she was 15…but how could that be… she wasn’t 15; Molly thought for a clear second…Meredith was 14.
“Oh my God Mere…”Molly said, her hand flying to her mouth; covering it. “Oh my God…You’re…You’re…”
Meredith looked up into her sister’s face. It seemed higher than before and her sister seemed so much more mature and grown up to her now. She knew that she didn’t always look like that but the reason why was fading quickly. In a moment of pure clarity “I’m a kid again!” she yelled “And you’re…not. You’re the adult now…why am I a kid now…I’m not 14…you are…but you...you’re 22” she ended on a very high confused note.
“Oh my God Meredith… My wish! It’s coming true” Molly said.
“What wish?” Meredith answered, now more confused.
“I…I said…I said I wish we would switch ages. And now; we have I think” Molly said meekly.
“What have you done?” Meredith yelled her voice now a bit higher than before as panic rose in her voice “Change us back!”
“Uh…I wish we could switch ages back to where we were!” Molly said.
Meredith looked up to her sister in desperation “I don’t want to be a kid again. I don’t want to be 14 again! Change us back!”
“I’m trying!” Molly said through gritted teeth. “I wish we would switch ages again. I wish I could take back my first wish.”
As Molly tried all different types of wording Meredith was getting impatient. “It’s not working!” she yelled “Uh…this is so unfair!”
Molly chuckled at how petulant and young Meredith sounded at that moment.
“What’s so funny Moll?”
“Nu…nothing is funny, I just…I don’t…” She shrugged her shoulders.
Meredith let out a huge sigh then turned and opened the bathroom door. She spun around and looked at the mirror on the wall. “Uh…Um…” was all she managed. Looking back at her was a short skinny girl. Pimples across her forehead, faint freckles across the bridge of her nose, braces filling a slightly too big mouth; her clothes were too big for her…especially her bra.
As Meredith stared at her reflection, she saw another image enter the picture. Molly had come into the bathroom. Meredith realized that she only came up to her sister’s shoulder. She was no longer the tallest or the oldest in this picture. She thought that this should bother her…but why. Her sister Molly’s dark hair hung down, framing her mature face, no acne or braces for her, just the pretty face of her older sister reflected above her goofy face “Maybe” Meredith thought “Maybe when I’m 22, I’ll finally be free of all this crap going on with my face”
Molly had walked into the bathroom and saw herself now. “Oh my God” she thought “I AM an adult!” she pushed her hair back from her face to reveal smooth skin, pretty smile, piercing green eyes. She saw her glasses on the countertop “Glasses…I don’t need…oh; yes I do…now” She picked up the black frames and slid them on. That was when she realized her clothes were different. Instead of the tight jeans and tight top that showed off nothing much, she realized she was now in yoga pants and an old T-shirt. It was her sister that had on skinny jeans and a white tank top. Her sister’s hair was longer now too; not as long as hers but longer than before. Molly could see that Meredith was deep in thought staring at the glass. Molly backed a step up, scratched her hairline and walked out into the hallway.
Meredith saw her sister leave Why was she so confused she thought? Molly had told her that she wasn’t allowed to go out and with Mom out, Molly was in charge. Meredith walked out into the hallway and saw Molly still standing there; arms crossed.
“Hey…don’t tell Mom I was being a brat okay” Meredith said with downcast eyes.
Molly just smiled a knowing smile “I won’t…I was 14 once too you know”