Carly Antinucci began to wake up when she heard movement across the hall in her parent’s room.  She heard her Dad cough a few times and her Mom walking around. She knew her Dad would head to their bathroom and shower while her Mom came over and woke her up.

Her Mom, Elizabeth, would say “Carly…time to get up” as she popped her head into her room. Once acknowledged, she would head downstairs to get coffee and start her morning routine.
Carly would join her for her cereal before they both went back up to get ready. Her Dad would leave while they were getting ready and then Elizabeth would drive Carly to school.

Carly sighed at the predictable sameness of it all just as she heard footsteps approaching her door. It swung open and she looked at her Mom as she leaned in, her hair disheveled from sleep and her face a bit puffy, as she said “Carly…time to get up”

“I’m up Mom” Carly replied as she pushed her covers down.

Elizabeth just smiled and turned away to head down the stairs. She headed down looking forward to her coffee not thinking about much. It was just another day for Liz Antinucci. She would have her morning routine with her husband and daughter and head off for another day at work. She picked up her iPad as her Keurig cup of Vanilla flavored coffee brewed behind her.

She used her right foot to scratch and itch on her left leg as she stood at the counter. She was wearing a light purple nightgown and listening for her daughter to come down.

Sure enough footsteps on the stairs indicated that Carly was on her way. Liz smiled to herself and thought “That girl is too serious for 11”

Carly came into the kitchen and rubbed her eyes. She was 11 and in the Fifth grade at Park Elementary. Her strawberry blonde hair stood up on the right side as she tugged on a green long sleeve top and a pair of fluffy yellow shorts.

Liz got a bowl down to keep her daughter from climbing up on the counter to get one. Carly poured in Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Milk in and went to the table a few steps ahead of Liz and her coffee cup.

They both sat at the same time and crossed their ankles in a similar manner linking the mother and daughter in their idiosyncrasies.

“So what’s on tap for you today?” Liz asked her daughter.

Carly shrugged her shoulders as she chewed until she could answer “It’s Tuesday, so I have Spanish today. We’re reading The Odyssey…more fractions in Math…so I don’t know. There could always be a quiz”

“What about your friends…any plans with them?” Liz asked.

“Jeez Mom, I don’t know…”Carly said a bit frustrated. “What about you? What’s going on at your work today?”

Liz smiled and rolled her eyes but played along “Just the usual boring office stuff”

“And what about your friends: Are you going to go to lunch with Jessica?” Carly asked in mock sincerity.

“Point taken missy” Liz replied with sarcasm.

“Why do parents ask so many questions?” Carly asked.

“Well, we really do care about our kids and want to see them do well both in school and socially. I know that’s hard for you to believe but I really do care”

Carly smirked and had another spoonful as she brought her feet up onto the bottom rung of the chair. “So I have another question?”

“Fire away” Elizabeth replied.

“Did you like school when you were going?”

“Well I…” Liz began.

“Not looking back on it but putting yourself back into the moment. Did you like it when it was your every day?” Carly asked.

Liz smiled briefly before it faded “Honestly there were good days and bad days…good years and bad years, some teachers I liked and some I didn’t. It’s not that different from being an adult and going to work every day…good bosses and bad bosses; friends come and go. It’s life Carly just on different scales”

“I get it” Carly responded. “Your life though is up here on the scale” she said as she lifted her right hand to eye level “And my life is down here” she added dropping her left hand to just above the table.

“You have to learn the skills of school but also how to interact while you’re in school” Liz answered running her finger around the outside lip of her mug and looking back down to her newsfeed. Elizabeth was just 33 and could still easily remember her days in school. She wasn’t naive about it and tried to be realistic when talking to her daughter.

After a few minutes Carly finished her cereal and looked over at her Mom. She was twirling a strand of brown hair around her finger and chewing on her bottom lip as she read. “ You look just like a kid when you do that with your hair and I don’t think you could do school these days” Carly said.

“What?” Liz said now looking up.

“I think it’s changed since you went” Carly added.

“Maybe it’s changed for the better” Elizabeth said.

“I wouldn’t know” Carly said.

“No, you wouldn’t and I guess you really can’t know and neither can I. It’s not like I can go back to school” Liz said.

“I just think once you’re an adult and working, it’s just easier is all” Carly added.

“Ha” Elizabeth laughed “Just wait…you’ll see. You spend your whole childhood thinking that being an adult is so great and you can’t wait to get there and then as soon as you do, you realize what a fool you were and how good your childhood was”

“What are you two talking about?” Mike Antinucci asked as he came into the room.

“Typical stuff…Carly can’t wait to be an adult and thinks we have it easier than kids do” Liz said as she gave her husband a kiss.

Mike ruffled his daughter’s hair and kissed her on top of the head as he headed for the door “You might be better at being an adult than your Mom” he said as he winked at Liz. “I mean she does complain every time she has to help you with your Math homework”

“Hey!” Liz yelled out.

“I’ll talk to you later honey…love ya both” Mike said as he headed out the door with a smile.

Carly crossed her arms in her minor victory “I just wish something cool would happen. Every day it’s the same old thing; more school for me and more work for you”

“What could possibly be so cool and different for us?” Liz asked.

“I don’t know” Carly paused and kicked her feet “Oh wait! I’ve got it! We could swap bodies like Freaky Friday and you could go to school and I could go to work for each other”

“What?” Liz said sitting up straight and laughing “Now that would definitely be crazy”

“Crazy awesome you mean. We can swap bodies and you can be me and I can be you. You could see if you could make it through school and I could finally see what the adult world was all about”

“Yeah like that could just happen Carly” Elizabeth laughed. “People just don’t swap bodies with one another”

“But if they could don’t you think it would be cool?” Carly shot back quickly and excitedly.

“I guess if you say so honey” Elizabeth said. “But don’t you think it would be weird to actually be in somebody else’s body?”

“How so…it’s not like we’re strangers”

“No but still: You’d look in a mirror and see my face… Looking into a mirror and seeing your Mom’s face staring back at you wouldn’t be weird to you?” Liz said with a shake of her head. “And you’d walk with my legs and have my body instead of your own and…you know…you’d have to go to the bathroom with my…” Liz blushed.

“And you’d have to do it all as your own daughter. So I guess it would be weird for both of us but weird in a really cool way” Carly said, her eyes wide.

“You wouldn’t be freaked out having to be your own Mom…being me?” Elizabeth questioned.

“No. I think it would be cool to be you but you know, like, not forever” Carly replied.

“Oh so how long would you like your trail adulthood to last? How long would it be acceptable to you to be me?”

“I’m thinking like a week” Carly said with a nod. “A week as you would be good and I think it would be good for you to spend a week as me”

“Oh…you’ve thought this all out huh” Liz laughed.

“So if we could do it, would you?” Carly inquired.

Liz threw her hands up and said in an over exaggerated tone “Sure! Why the heck not? It might be nice to go back to school”

“Thanks Carly” Carly said. “You need to go get ready for school while I get ready for work now” Carly said in a serious voice while smiling the whole time.

“Um…okay Mom” Liz replied with her own laugh. “Don’t forget you have clients in the office today so you have to wear something nice today”

They both laughed but as Liz stopped; a concerned look came over her face. She had looked down at her coffee mug and saw her hand curled around the handle.

“Uh…” she said looking carefully at her fingertips “What’s going on?” Elizabeth said quietly, her brow furrowed in confusion. Slowly she brought her right hand off the cup and put her fingers out straight. “Look at my nails Carly” she said as she flipped her hand around to face her daughter across the table.

“I don’t; wait! What’s going on with your hand Mom?” Carly said.

“Um” Liz flipped her hands back around so she could look at her nails. Her hands were tingling and trembling a bit as her nails seemed to be getting smaller and thinner on her hands. “Uh!” she said with more urgency and surprise as her fingers now twitched and began to slim and get smaller.

“My…my hands!” she stuttered out as her hands pulsated once and began to get visibly smaller, paler, and smoother. Lines and veins vanished into smooth soft skin. “I’m not seeing this! What’s happening to my hands?”

Carly shook her head and saw her Mom’s eyes pop open even further. Elizabeth scooted back from the table and she stared down at her feet.

Elizabeth’s feet were tingling like her hands and she looked at her bare feet on the tile floor. They twitched and began to shrink now too. “AH!” escaped from Elizabeth’s mouth. Now she stood up as her feet shrank smaller all around. Her heels smoothed and came inward at the same time her toes thinned and shrank back too. The sides of her feet narrowed and her soles softened.

“Wait….these aren’t my feet! They look…oh my God Carly…my feet look like your feet! What in the world did we just talk about?” Elizabeth said suddenly in shock.

“Mom you can’t have feet that look like…” Carly had gotten up and now made her way around the table. She looked down and saw a familiar sight but in a strange place. She stopped in her tracks and pointed down at her Mom’s feet “Oh my God those DO look like my feet! Your toes Mom! Your toes look like mine now”

“Help me Carly…take it back…I take it back! I don’t want to swap bodies with you for a week” Elizabeth said quickly.

“Mom I didn’t actually think we’d…oh no” Carly said looking downward. She raised her hands up and slowly spread her fingers out and both of them watched as her hands pulsated and began to grow larger. Her fingers grew longer along with her nails. Her thumbs grew wider and longer as lines and veins appeared across the backs.

“Oh” she said again looking even further down. She raised her right heel and pressed her toes down. Flattened out, they watched as her toes spread out wider. Her toes changed shape and her nails widened and thickened as her soles and heels roughened and her feet spread wider and longer.

“Mom I’m sorry! I didn’t actually want to change into you! I was just joking!” Carly said now disoriented by a vague feeling of dizziness. It felt to Carly like she had stepped onto a fast moving elevator going up. She felt her body lifting higher and she realized she was getting taller; she was gaining her Mother’s height and size along with her legs.

Carly’s legs strengthened and began to expand as they grew longer. Her calves filled out and muscles formed. Her thighs began to plump up and become distinct from the rest of her leg. They grew round and pressed against her fluffy yellow shorts which were getting tighter and tighter by the second all around.

“Ugh…Mommy…my legs ache!” Carly said as her legs continued to change.

“I know Carly…it’ll be alright. My legs feel weird too” Elizabeth admitted as her body began to shrink down. She was losing height and weight and body definition as her legs changed into those of her 11 year old daughter.

She shrank shorter with a feeling of being pulled down and she watched the floor come closer. Her legs began to thin and lose mass and curve. Skinny little girl legs were becoming hers as her calves and thighs became almost the exact same width. Her thighs trimmed down tremendously and her calves became skinny.

It was all one continuous motion as her ass began to deflate and go flat and her hips pulled inward and became those of a girl again. Legs like that couldn’t maintain her current chest so that too began to change.

Carly’s hips spread outward widening and taking her rear along for quite a ride. It filled up and out and her shorts began to give way to her increasing body. She felt her shorts ride up and knew that the bottoms of her cheeks were exposed and out of her shorts. Her underwear and shorts slid upward over her more ample flesh. Her waist and stomach increased and grew outward as even more height came onto her frame.

Carly’s back was stretching out and she was growing taller again. She looked over at her Mom and saw that they were the same height but her Mom looked funny with her skinny legs poking out from under her too large nightgown. “Mom…your legs! They’re so…so…”

“…skinny” Liz finished for Carly. She pointed her small toes in towards each other and felt the muscles in her skinny ankles strain. She shyly put her right foot on top of her left “I know…I’m getting your body and you’re getting mine in return”

Elizabeth looked at her daughter and saw her burgeoning frame and noticed they were the same height.

But not for long, as Elizabeth began to shrink shorter again in contrast with Carly’s growth, “You’re taller than me Carly” she called out, looking up at her daughter.

By the time Carly could even say anything, her Mom was only up to her chin. “Mom; you’re so short now. You look absolutely tiny!”

“Well I’m your height now honey” Elizabeth said matter of factly, putting her hands on her non-existent hips as she felt her body decrease even further in size. Her stomach and waist came in and her back pulled tight.

Elizabeth’s arms shrank too, making her whole body much more compact just before she began slimming down even further. Her upper arms lost all definition and her arms were now a skinny match to her legs.

Carly’s arms lengthened and grew stronger as they matured and their eyes locked as both felt a tingling in their chests.

Carly’s plain green top was pulled taut against her larger frame but now it began to rise up off her stomach even higher as it began to get pushed outward. Small bumps were visible that were steadily getting larger and larger.

Elizabeth’s nightgown hung on her skinny frame like a sail but it was still kept up by her breasts until those too began to recede and retreat away. Liz felt them pull tight and rise up perkier for a moment before they started getting smaller and smaller until they were just raised up bumps before going totally flat.

“Um…oh…” Carly danced nervously back and forth, shifting her weight between her feet as her breasts grew large and sensitive on her body. They pressed tightly against the shirt and her nipples stuck out. She looked down at them surprised. Her hands instinctively went to them and she gently lifted and pushed them, feeling a wholly new sensation.

“Hands off for now” Elizabeth shot at her daughter who blushed in return.

“This IS really weird” Liz added looking down and patting at her flat and skinny body.

Carly nodded as her neck grew a bit longer and her chin and jaw began to pull outward. Her cheeks widened and pulled up longer. Her lips plumped and her mouth got larger.

She bared her teeth as they changed into full adult teeth, straight and complete. Her nose grew longer and wider as her eyes widened and changed from blue to brown. Her ears grew larger, her forehead widened and her hair line shifted along with her part reversing sides.

Carly was able to catch out of her peripheral vision as her hair color changed from strawberry blonde to brown. It pulled up to below her ears and thickened as she now looked completely like her Mom. For all intents and purposes, she was now Elizabeth.

The real Elizabeth continued changing into her daughter though as her neck shortened and her chin and jaw pulled back. Her cheeks rose up round as her lips thinned and her mouth got smaller. Her teeth became crooked and smaller as well, as her nose shrank and pulled in and up. Her eyes narrowed and changed in a flash from brown to blue as her ears shrank down to Carly’s tiny ears and her forehead shrank and narrowed with her whole head.

Her part switched sides as her hair lightened from brown to her daughter’s strawberry blonde and she now looked exactly like her own daughter; she was now Carly. “AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!” She screamed in a higher pitched voice.

Carly was startled by the sudden scream so she responded with a scream of her own “AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!” came the deeper voiced scream from her lungs.

They stood across from each other screaming at the top of their lungs for a few seconds.
They both stopped and instead stood breathing deeply sizing the other up and down.

“Mom? Is that really you in there?” Carly finally said in her Mom’s voice.

“Uh-huh” Elizabeth said nodding her head with a scared look in her eyes “I’m you Carly…and you’re me”

“This is…” Carly looked down at her Mom who now looked like she used to before she looked down at herself. She took in her new, bigger body.

“This is so weird” Elizabeth said in her higher voice, both of them still trying to adjust to the sound let alone the sights.

“I was going to say this is so awesome” Carly conceded.

“What? How can you say that?” Liz said in shock.

“Well it is…who would have ever thought we could actually switch places with each other.
Did you ever think anything like this was even possible? This is a once in a lifetime thing…A body swap with your daughter. You get to be a kid again and I get to be an adult…it’s what we talked about…it came true”

“I don’t believe it” Liz said.

“Uh…Hello…it’s real. We’re both standing here and seeing it with our own eyes…er…or rather the other’s eyes I guess” Carly giggled. “Hi there blue eyes”

“This is not funny young lady I…” Liz began.

“Wait a second. Who are you calling young lady…young lady” Carly said.

“Stop it; it’s not funny Carly, we have to switch back”

“I don’t think that will happen for a week if you remember our conversation”

“What.” Liz said dropping her arms.

“If our conversation is coming true, which it obviously is, we agreed to swap bodies for a week. Well part one has happened so now we have to actually live as each other for a week and I guess next Tuesday morning, we get to switch back”

“No, that’s impossible, that’s not going to work” Liz said.

“Speaking of work; I have to get to it and you have to get to school. We have to get ready” Carly said as she turned and headed for the stairs.

“No, I…” Elizabeth began.

“No buts missy…you need to get going; we’re running behind already”

Carly didn’t break stride as she climbed the stairs and headed into her parents’ bedroom where she stripped off the tight little girls clothes that were encasing her body. She headed to the bathroom and started the shower admiring her new body and smiling and laughing to herself.

“This is too good to be true” she thought. “I can’t believe it actually happened…this feels amazing!”

She wanted to linger on her looks but she also actually wanted to get going too. “I’m going to work! Mom has to go to school” she thought.

A stunned Elizabeth looked around the kitchen. Everything was larger to her from the walls and shelves to her own clothes. “I can’t believe it actually happened…” she thought. She heard her shower going and thought “Am I really going to do this? Am I really going to have to be Carly for a week? I can’t even get myself to move let alone get her ready for a day of school”

Finally, a foot moved. She found herself walking to the stairs and heading up them to the other bathroom, Carly’s bathroom. “Here goes nothing” she thought as she took off the huge nightgown and dropped it to the floor.

“Oh My Gosh…I don’t…” She knew she was blushing as she looked at her body “I guess I don’t really remember what it was like to look like this” but she hopped into the shower and quickly lathered up.

Wrapping up in a robe, she brushed her hair and her teeth still stunned to be looking at her daughter’s face and using her daughter’s body to accomplish it. “I can’t believe I’m going to school today instead of work. I’m Carly now…”

She moved out into the hall and despite taking a step toward her own room, she quickly adjusted and headed to Carly’s room. Once in, she dropped the robe and got dressed. She heard Carly across the hall getting ready so she called out “As we get ready I think we need to establish a few ground rules for this week”

“Um…okay…what do you have in mind?” Carly called back.

“Number one is obviously stay from your Dad as much as…” Elizabeth called out.

“Ew! Gross Mom seriously what is wrong with you!” Carly shivered as she called out.

“Your Father can’t know this happened to us and he will see you as his wife…just kiss him and fake a stomach ache for the next week okay…Ok”

“Not a problem there at all”

“Next, when other people are around I will call you Mom and you’ll call me Carly and you have to act like me and I have to act like you. But if we’re alone, you still need to listen to me: I am still your Mother even if I am in your body” Elizabeth said.

“Done Mom but it’s weird” Carly called out.

“What’s weird?”

“Well, I’m in here and some stuff is coming to my mind that is yours”

“Like what?” Elizabeth asked curiously.

“Well, for one thing, I’m doing your make-up and hair just fine but more importantly than that; I know you have a spreadsheet on cost per part you have to turn in first thing. Then there are a stack of credit apps that you have to approve or deny on the corner of your desk as well as you’re working on a stock projection for the winter quarter but that’s not due until Friday” Carly said and turned to see her old body standing in the door.

“How do you know all that?” Liz asked, her mouth open.

“I don’t know how I know it, but I know it. If this really is some sort of magic that switched us, it’s given me enough knowledge to do your job for you and not get you fired.
But yet I fully know who I am and I’m definitely Carly and not Liz in the long run” She said with a smile “So, how do I look?”

Elizabeth looked at her old body and was frankly impressed. Her hair and make-up were done perfectly. She was wearing a tan skirt and a white blouse and had a pair of black heels laid out but not stepped into yet. “You look…” she paused “…you look just like me”

“I approve of your outfit too” Carly said looking down. Elizabeth had quickly put on a stripped top, jeans and white socks. “Let’s go…we’ll still be on time”

“Um…” Elizabeth said and soon found herself running down the stairs behind her now adult daughter. Carly stopped by the door and dropped her shoes. She slipped her feet into them and picked up Liz’s purse and dug out the car keys “Don’t worry…I know how to do this too” she said as she jangled the keys.

“Oh Man…this is getting weirder and weirder” Liz said shaking her head. She grabbed Carly’s back pack and put on her sneakers and they were out the door. Climbing into the passenger’s seat and knowing that her 11 year old was behind the wheel took a lot of internal effort for Elizabeth but when Carly started it up and backed up like she was a natural, she finally exhaled.

“I can’t believe I’m dropping you off for school Mom” Carly said as she drove on.

“I can’t believe you’re driving me to school Carly. There’s a lot of unbelievable stuff going on today so far and it’s not even 8:30 A.M.”

Carly turned to her Mom and said “Now Carly Noel Antinucci, you have a good day at school”

Elizabeth realized that they had arrived “You have a good day at work…Mom” She opened the door and somehow found the courage to get out. She slung her back pack up onto her shoulder and walked toward the front door.