The next morning Michael got up and made his way down to the bathroom. His brother Matt was just about to go in when Michael pushed him aside “Wait your turn twerp” was all he said as he elbowed his little brother out of the way.

“Hey” Matt said in protest “I was next”

“Well you’re still next” Michael said as he closed the door in his face. On the other side, Mike smirked at just how easy it was to get his way. He took his time inside, knowing that Matt would be miserable. “I could really get used to this…” he said to himself as he walked back to get dressed.

Katrina, meanwhile, was dreaming and it wasn’t going well in her dream. She started out at seventeen but just as in real life yesterday, she started to get younger. But in her dream, it didn’t stop at age seven. She kept getting younger and smaller until she was a baby and to make matters worse, she was now picked up by a fully adult Michael who eased and comforted her by telling her that now that he was 24, he could raise her.

Katrina popped straight upright in bed hyperventilating. She flashed her hands back and forth in front of her, confirming that while it wasn’t ideal, she was at least still seven.

Katrina had been relegated to the lumpiest bed in the lodge by her older brother and sister. She tossed and turned for quite a while before she managed to get back to sleep.
She was woken up by her brother tapping her on the forehead with a pillow and saying “Get up squirt…who do you think you are? A teenager getting to sleep in?”

Katrina rubbed her cheek as she sat up. “Don’t even try it little Kat…I’m next in the bathroom” Kelsey told her as she swung her legs off the bed.

Katrina just shook her head grumpily and walked out the front door and onto the porch.
Katrina sighed and let the early morning sunshine hit her face. She let her arms drop to her sides and she thought to herself “Well, I didn’t change back over night and I’m afraid that if we get to the end of today without changing back…we never will. Mike and his family will be leaving this afternoon and it might be another year before we see them again…” Katrina was definitely worried but when she heard her Mom call for her and tell her that it was her turn in the bathroom, she spun around and yelled out “Thanks Mommy”
Katrina stopped dead in her tracks and thought “Mommy? Did I just really call her Mommy? I didn’t even think about it…I hope my mind isn’t reverting back to 7 too”

She walked slowly into the house and into the bathroom. Once inside she let out a really deep sigh and held her head high as she changed her clothes, taking in the sight of herself. “It’s not that bad” she said to herself before thinking “What am I saying?! Of course it’s bad…you don’t look like this. This isn’t who you are…snap out of it!”

Katrina huffed as she brushed out her thin long blond hair and then brushed her teeth. She had a bag of clothes that fit her seven year old self and she could only wonder what her room would look like if she had to go back home as this age tomorrow.

Michael walked with his family down from the lodges to the lake shore. The crowd was gathering there for the second and final day of the reunion.

Michael leaned over to his brother Matt and said “Listen…Mom wants me to watch you today to keep you out of trouble. Don’t piss Mom off…just don’t do it okay. It makes life easier for all of us”

Matt just smirked and nodded at his big brother.

Michael next leaned over to his sister Miranda “Hey”

She looked over “What?”

“Mom gave me your phone: If you need to check it; just make sure Mom is out of sight and let me know, okay”

“Thanks” was all she said but she had wide smile.

“Gotta watch out for my little sis” he added with a shrug. Michael realized that while he could technically bully and push around his two younger siblings; it felt better if he was cool to them and watched out for them, “Better to be respected than feared…” he thought.

The Walsh family was making their way over towards Michael and his family. Michael smiled as they approached and he got another hug from Sara.

“I still can’t get over how tall and big you’ve gotten Mike” Sara said to him.

Michael blushed a bit and mumbled “Yeah…I guess that’s just how it goes” He looked around “Good Morning Katrina” he said to the small girl lurking behind her brother.

Katrina tilted her head “Good Morning Michael” she said a bit shyly.

“Did you realize that I carried you to the lodge last night?”

Katrina blushed now, “No” she replied as she drew lines in the sand with her flip-flop “I hope I wasn’t too heavy for you”

“Not at all…light as a feather” Michael replied.

It was then that Maggie ran up to Katrina “Hey Katrina!” she called.

Katrina spun around “Hey Maggie!”

“Hey…do you want to go play on the swings?”

“Yeah” Katrina replied quickly and took off running after Maggie.

As she was running, it hit her “Why am I so excited to go swing?” She was confused but decided to just go with it and enjoy playing.

The two of them played and talked about their favorite movies and shows; and today, Katrina knew all about all of them.

Michael joined in another game of softball but as it became time for lunch, he found himself sitting across from Katrina once more. After eating greasy fried chicken, everyone else scattered, leaving the two of them alone.

“So…uh…how’s it going?” Michael asked hesitantly.

Katrina glared at him across the table. “How’s it going? Hmmm…let me think…how’s it going? How do you think it’s going? I’m still seven!”

“Um…yeah…about that…uh…I…uh…I really don’t want to change back” Michael confessed.

“I knew it!” Katrina said sharply. “We have to change back…you don’t understand; my mind is regressing back to seven to match my body! I just spent the morning talking about Liv and Maddie and Gravity Falls and Dog with a Blog with an actual seven year old”

“Yeah I understand but…” Michael tried to interject.

“…but nothing mister seventeen year old. Listen to me; this morning I called my Mom…Mommy. I looked at myself in the mirror and for a minute I didn’t think anything was even wrong with what I was seeing. If we don’t switch back soon; we never will!”

“I know that Katrina…I understand what you’re going through because I’m going through the opposite. I woke up thinking about how when I get back home, football practice starts next week. I found my iPhone…I have an iPhone Katrina…and I found all the text messages I’ve sent to my girlfriend. I have a girlfriend now. It’s like reality warped to accept us at these ages and we’re just still catching up to them”

“But…I’m not supposed to be seven” Katrina protested.

“Yes; maybe you are supposed to be seven and I’m supposed to be seventeen. Did you ever stop to think about that?” Michael said.

Katrina just stared and whispered “But that’s impossible…”

Michael shook his head “No; what we thought was impossible actually happened yesterday. We switched ages with each other and obviously it was for a reason. I think the reason is that you should be seven and I should be seventeen”

Katrina shook her head “No. That can’t be…that’s just not fair”

“How else do you explain why we were actually able to change ages with each other as well as having our minds adjust now…and not to mention that everyone else is already perfectly fine with this arrangement”

“I…I know but…” Katrina trailed off as she looked down at her hands.

“But I don’t know what else to say to you Katrina” Michael said with a shrug.

“I wish yesterday never happened” Katrina said angrily. “But I’ll never get you to ever say another wish with me no matter how hard I try. You’re perfectly happy now that you stole my age. You get a girlfriend, a car and a senior year of high school coming up where you’re a big man: meanwhile I get the second grade again. You stole my age…my experience…and in return, I get to be your age”

Michael looked at Katrina “I’m sorry: I can’t say that I wish yesterday never happened and I can’t say that I wish I was seven again; because it’s just not true. I’m sorry that you had to lose years for me to gain them. I’m sorry that I benefited from this at your expense. I made a wish: I wished that I could be the oldest in my family and I get it that you were just humoring me when you said that you wished that could be the youngest in your family. But it happened and I’m glad that it did even if you’re not”

Michael stood up “I think that if you just let it happen; that by tomorrow, you probably won’t even remember being seventeen. I think you’ll be perfectly happy as a seven year old again”

Katrina just stared at him as he shrugged and turned around and walked away.

She took a deep breath and looked down at her dangling feet, unable to touch the ground as she sat on the picnic bench. Her mind was swimming until Maggie came up to her and asked her if she’d like to go swimming. Katrina smiled and jumped down. “Sure…I’ll go get changed” she said.

Katrina played in the lake with Maggie for quite a while and by the time she came out; she couldn’t remember why she had been mad when she went in.

Katrina was playing with Maggie a few minutes after 4 when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned and saw Michael standing behind her.

“Hey…um…my Mom is getting ready to go. We’re just about all packed up and I…uh…I…uh…wanted to say good bye to you” Michael stammered out.

Katrina looked up at him and didn’t say anything.

“It doesn’t look like we’re going to switch back before I leave so…”

“It’s okay” Katrina said.

A look of puzzlement and slight relief came across Michael’s face. “What?”

“I said it’s okay Mike” Katrina repeated. “Really…enjoy your wish” she added with a shrug and a smile.

“You’re…serious: You’re okay with this now” Michael said slowly and cautiously.

“Yeah, I mean I guess I have to be. I’m seven now and you’re seventeen, so go: Enjoy being seventeen. You got your wish…you’re the big brother and I’m a little sister. As the day has gone on; I’ve kinda gotten used to the idea” she said with a smile. “Being the baby of the family does have its advantages if you know where to look for them”

“Um okay” Michael said. He has a wide range of emotions flowing through him at that moment: Relief and excitement topped the list but there was a bit of guilt just below the surface.

“Good luck Mike” Katrina said.

“Good luck to you Katrina and…uh…thanks” Michael said as they embraced. “I’ll see you at the next reunion right”

“You can count on it” Katrina replied.

Michael smiled as he trotted off and jumped in the passenger seat of the car and Katrina went right back to playing with Maggie.