“Come On Logan! Get your glove on the ground…get your glove dirty” Charlotte Jenkins stood up and yelled from the stands at her little brother as he cashed after the ground ball that had just gone between his legs. “God…he’s driving me crazy watching him” she mumbled sitting back down.

“I don’t know what to tell you” her best friend Lyndsey North said. “Maybe baseball just isn’t his game”

“Well thank you Captain Obvious” Charlotte replied sarcastically.

“Maybe golf would suit him better” Lyndsey suggested. “He’s always swinging at pitches in the dirt” she added with a laugh.

Charlotte laughed too and stretched out her long legs over the bleacher bench in front of them. “I don’t know what else to do with him; my Dad and I work with him all the time and he just doesn’t get it”

“Not everyone is cut out for sports you know” Lyndsey replied tapping her flip flop clad feet up and down on the metal bleachers.

“But Logan should be better than this” the star Volleyball and Basketball player said.

Charlotte Jenkins was a naturally gifted athlete and her Dad had been a star until a knee injury cut short his football career. They were both exasperated by Logan’s lack of ability and his lack of passion for sports.

“If I could somehow astral project myself out there and somehow control his body” Charlotte said jokingly.

Lyndsey’s eyebrows went up but she didn’t say anything.

Charlotte loved baseball; she had played from age 6 up through 13 and had been the best player on not only her team, but the entire league. Every year it was the same thing; hearing the calls of “They’ve got a girl on their team” until she whipped fastballs and curves past them mowing the opposing players down like grass.

When she wasn’t pitching, she played shortstop and batted cleanup as she was also their best hitter. She had been devastated when she was told at 13, her playing days were over. Little League was done and her high school wouldn’t allow girls on the team. She had begged her Dad to fight for her but even he was against it.

“Your body is changing and you will fall behind high school boys eventually” he told her.

Charlotte was crushed; she refused to even pick up a softball and instead focused on Volleyball, Basketball and track.  

Her body had changed; changed into a 5’10” toned machine that she was convinced could still dominate the diamond. She was on her way to Marquette University in the fall on a full ride scholarship for Volleyball but her heart still belonged to baseball.

Lyndsey could tell how tense her friend was next to her “Ease up just a little bit on the accelerator there babe…these are only 8 year olds out there”

Charlotte’s intense green eyes burned through her best friend as she stared at her. When Lyndsey laughed at her, she finally cracked a smile. “You’re right” she replied with a shake of her head “It’s just that…Grrrr…if I could only be out there playing again”

“Don’t joke about things like that” Lyndsey said but Charlotte paid her no attention. Charlotte was redoing her ponytail, slicking her chestnut brown hair back and reworking her hair tie.

Lyndsey North saw that her little brother Adam had just made a good stop at shortstop so she applauded and called out to him “Good play there short!”

Adam looked up to the stands and smiled. He got back into the ready position for the next hitter though as he tugged on his cap.

Lyndsey and Adam were very close for a brother and sister with 10 years between them. They shared what you might call a unique relationship. Up until last year, Lyndsey had been Adam’s 7 year old little sister and he was a bullying and blustering 17 year old. Their Mom had sought to teach them a lesson and had swapped their ages with the intention of switching them back at the end of a week.

Adam however had realized that he was a jerk and deserved to be the younger of the two. Lyndsey had adjusted quickly to being a teen and was a much better older sister than Adam had ever been as an older brother.

The world had somehow simply rearranged itself to accept this fact. Lyndsey found herself no longer a second grader, but instead, a girl about to go into her senior year of high school with friends and an academic record to show it all had always been this way.

Text messages from Charlotte had introduced her to her new life as they chatted as if they had been friends their whole lives. Lyndsey was a teammate of Charlotte for both Volleyball and Basketball but was nowhere near as good as her friend. No scholarships would be coming Lyndsey’s way as she would be living at home and attending a local university in the fall.

“Lead us off right Adam!” Lyndsey called out to her brother who was now in the dugout getting his helmet on.

“You’re only down by two runs guys…you can do this!” Charlotte yelled clapping her hands and standing again trying to fire them up “Cheer on your team guys!”

“Adam is a friend of mine, he can rip it anytime…rip the ball…rip rip the ball” the boys chanted as Adam went up to bat.

Adam hit a solid single and moved up to second when Alex grounded out. Another boy named Blake walked and then Tristan singled to load the bases. “Oh No…Logan’s on deck” Charlotte realized as a boy named Deacon came up.

“Deacon’s a good hitter, maybe he’ll just clear the bases and end the game” Lyndsey said. It was the bottom of the sixth, the last inning, but Deacon popped up to the pitcher for the second out.

“I can’t even look” Charlotte said as Logan walked up to the plate. He let the first pitch go which was right down the middle for strike one.

The second pitch was high for ball one and he fouled off the third one for strike two.

“Come on Logan” Lyndsey cheered for him before the pitch was delivered. It was low but Logan chased it, missing it entirely for strike three.

“Shit” Charlotte mumbled amid the cheers coming from the other side of the field. “God Damn It”

“Line up guys…good game…good try Logan” the boys coach could be heard telling them.

The stands emptied as the kids packed up their equipment bags “Don’t be too hard on him Charlotte” Lyndsey said as she dug her car keys out of her pocket.

Charlotte just sighed and shook her head in frustration and disappointment “That kid…” she said with a wan smile to Lyndsey. “We would have won if I was up to bat in that game”

“Well I would hope a recent High school grad could get a hit off an 8 year old” Lyndsey joked.
Charlotte scratched her eyebrow and dipped her chin “You know what I mean”

“I do and I told you don’t even joke about that” Lyndsey said maintaining a smile for show but Charlotte couldn’t get the thought out of head of being a little girl and playing baseball again.

“Practice tomorrow night at 5:30” their coach yelled out as the boys began to run out of the dugout.

Logan and Adam came out talking and joking “Come on Logan” Charlotte said succinctly, turning her back and stomping off to the car.

“Guess I’d better go” Logan said and began to hustle off behind the long strides of his big sister.
“See you tomorrow” Adam called out after him.

“It was a good game Logan” Lyndsey yelled in encouragement.

Logan smiled over his shoulder but pulled his hat down lower on his head. He tossed his bat bag into the back seat and climbed in as Charlotte fired up the car.

She didn’t say anything for almost the entire ride home; they sat in silence. Finally Logan spoke up “I’m just not good at sports like you Charlotte okay”

Charlotte let out a long and hard sigh through her nose “Oh, I know that for sure” she replied.
“What do you want me to do about it?” Logan pleaded.

“Practice!” Charlotte snapped back “Get upset…get excited…get worked up out there…act like you care”

Logan shook his head, to him it was just a game. He liked the other boys on his team but the actual games just didn’t mean that much to him. He always kept this fact to himself though as he knew if he said it out loud, his sister and Dad would flip out on him. “I do” he said weakly.

They got home and went inside; their parents were both out this evening and they had the place to themselves. “Get your uniform off and go shower” Charlotte told her little brother.

She turned on the stove to reheat some soup for their dinner as Logan ran upstairs shedding clothes as he went.

“Pick up your dirty clothes!” she yelled after him “Don’t leave them all over the floor like you always do”

Charlotte yelled hearing him backtrack picking up his cleats and jersey.

By the time Logan came back down wearing a pair of gray shorts and a red under armor t-shirt, their soup was ready and Charlotte was dishing it out for them.

The two siblings sat across from each other at the dining room table, still not talking much.

“You’re taking this lose worse than I am” Logan said.

“And it’s a shame that I am” Charlotte replied. “If I was out there, your team would have won that game”

“Guess I missed it by not seeing you play” Logan said.

“I wish you could have seen me play; I could have shown you how baseball should be played” Charlotte shot back.

“It’s just a game…Mom doesn’t get upset like you and Dad do” Logan argued.

“Mom is Mom…she’s supposed to be nice to you all the time and be all sweet and gentle. I’m your older sister and I don’t have to be nice”

“I’d be nice to you if our places were reversed and I was your older brother” Logan offered up.

“That’s the problem; you’re too nice…you don’t have the heart for sports…the killer instinct” Charlotte told him.

“In ten years, it won’t matter for me…none of this will matter to me if I’m good at sports or not” Logan replied.

“You know what? I wish you were my older brother” Charlotte said. “It hit me while I was in the stands today just how much I miss playing baseball. You could be sitting in the stands and I could be back out there playing”

“You have no idea how happy that would make me. Being your older brother would be awesome” Logan said perking up and sitting up straight with a smile on his face.

“As awesome as it would be…it’s impossible” Charlotte said bringing him back to earth.

“But let’s just pretend it could happen” Logan said now enthralled by the idea. “If I was your age and you were mine, I’d be 18 and getting ready to go to college somewhere and you’d be the one going into third grade”

“You sure wouldn’t be going to Marquette on an athletic scholarship” Charlotte told him.

“But I’d be going somewhere and you’d be stuck here he-he-he” he laughed.

Charlotte shook her head but smiled at her little brother’s imagination.

“I wonder how short you’d be compared to me” Logan said.

“I’d probably be a few inches under 5 feet” Charlotte said slurping her soup.

“And I might be even taller than you are now” Logan responded, his voice rising higher in excitement.

Charlotte took her ponytail out and began to give herself pigtails “Is this how you think I’d look?” she asked smiling.

“Ha-Ha…that’s awesome…I think I’d tease you by calling you Charlie” Logan said.

“I don’t think I’d like that” Charlotte said.

“Whatever Charlie…I’m your big brother now and you can’t do anything about it” Logan replied.

For just an instant, Charlotte’s stomach dropped “Oh My Gosh…he is my big brother…why am I teasing him?” shot through her mind. She quickly shook her head “Where in hell did that come from?” she thought to herself. “You’re just playing a little game girl…get it together”

Logan stopped and stared at the wall behind his sister, he zoned out for a second as the phrase “Just…a…little…girl…” ran through his head, the words echoing throughout. He put his hands up to his temples and rubbed them.

“You okay over there bi…Logan” Charlotte said somewhat confused at the words that almost came out of her mouth “Big brother”

She stood up to break the mood but her mind still wandered as she cleaned up the dishes “What if I was 8 and he was 18…what if…what if?”

“So would you do it?” Charlotte asked out loud suddenly. “If we actually could swap ages with each other; would you do it?”

Logan smiled again “Yeah…in a heartbeat I’d switch ages with you…little sis. You up for it?

Charlotte smirked “Yeah…I guess I would be up for it” she admitted. “It would be cool to go back to being 8 again…delay this whole college thing for another decade and just play ball again”

“I wish we could…I really, really wish we could…that would be so cool” Logan admitted.

“I wish we could too” Charlotte said in reply. She turned away from the dishwasher she was loading and saw her brother stand up from the table. It seemed to take him longer to get up and stand up straight in front of her.

Charlotte licked her lips, a tingle raced through her and her nerve endings stood on end; something didn’t feel right.

Logan shuddered and let out an “Oooo” as chills ran over him. He stopped and his green eyes darted back and forth “What’s going on?” he asked in a slightly fearful voice. “Something’s not right”

“Yeah I know” Charlotte responded “I feel weird”

“Me too” Logan said.

Charlotte came over directly in front of her little brother; they locked eyes with each other and the only sound in the house was their breathing.

Standing so still, they both recognized a shift occurring between them almost instantly. Logan began to grow taller as Charlotte began to shrink. An inch exchanged between them “What’s going on?” Logan asked loudly.

“I…I don’t know!” Charlotte responded as she began to steadily decline in height as her brother continued to grow in front of her.

“You’re shrinking!” he yelled pointing at his big sister.

“You’re growing!” she replied also pointing.

“AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!” They yelled simultaneously.

“Holy Shit this is impossible!” Charlotte exclaimed. She felt her clothes getting loose and big on her body.

“It’s our wish Charlotte! I think it’s happening!” Logan replied. He looked down and slapped a hand at his chest. His red t-shirt was lifting up away from the waistband of his shorts and growing tight across his chest.

“But that’s crazy! That can’t actually happen!” Charlotte said. She felt her bra strap droop off her shoulder and slide down her upper arm. She looked down in shock. Her chest wasn’t as large as it had been. Her shirt was loose and hanging down and she didn’t have enough to hold it up. She took a deep breath and held it jutting her chest out but even as she did, it shrank down before her eyes “AH!” she exclaimed again in surprise. “My Boobs!”

Logan was now eye level with his sister’s boobs, there was no denying that they were smaller. Her chest looked rather flat now, not like what he was used to seeing her look like.

“I’m getting older” Logan said. His voice sounded deeper when he said it.

“And I’m getting younger” Charlotte replied amazed at the sound of her voice pitching higher as she spoke. “I can’t believe this is actually happening!”

“It’s happening” Logan replied. His shorts were rising up his growing legs. Hairs began to sprout out of his calves and thighs. His arms began to lengthen and the hair on them darkened. He peeled his shirt off before he ripped through it; he could feel it pulling taut across his back.

He continued growing taller and Charlotte continued to shrink. Charlotte was only a few inches taller now and she looked at his chest as muscles developed there. She wanted to reach out and touch him to make sure it was real. Her hand reached out and touched his shoulder as it rose up.
She yanked her hand back as she felt his flesh ripple and expand.

Logan looked into the face of his older sister; it no longer looked the same either. Her eyes were wider, her chin and jawline were softer and not as prominent as her cheeks were rounder and higher. It was how he first remembered his sister from a few years ago, she must be about 13 now if he had to guess.

Charlotte examined her brother’s face as it came up equal to hers. He now longer looked like the little boy she knew, he looked like a young teenager. His features had sharpened and matured.
Freckles were no longer seen across his nose which had grown longer and wider. His eyes appeared stronger and more confident, his round baby face was no more, it had been replaced by a maturing look as he spoke, she heard a deep voice emanate and saw adult teeth filled his mouth.

“Charlotte” he said, his voice cracking and dropping.

At that moment, Charlotte’s eyes lifted upward to maintain eye contact with her little brother who wasn’t so little anymore. “Lo…Logan” she managed to reply realizing that she was now the shorter of the two of them.

Logan smiled now in spite of himself “Charlotte! I’m…I’m taller that you!”

“I…I can see that” Charlotte replied lifting her eyes even higher up now. She was only up to his chin now as he continued getting bigger than her.

“This is amazing! It’s happening…I’m older than you…I have to be older than you now!” Logan said.

“I…uh…” Charlotte had lost her confidence and standing. She looked down and blushed as her shorts gave up their tenuous hold on her shrinking hips and ass and dropped to the floor.

They both looked down as Charlotte lifted up her toes, the only thing visible in the sea of fabric at her feet. She stepped clear of them and looked at her feet. They looked smaller too. Still long but much narrower now.

Her black tank top hung low enough to cover her up; the bottom of her shirt hung at mid-thigh already and was still dipping lower as she crossed below 5 feet tall. Her legs were thinning rapidly down into the legs of a prepubescent again. She lost all signs of curves and maturity; she was a little girl again.

She looked up at her brother, her bottom lip quivering as her face rounded and her hair thinned. Her nose was tiny and pert, barely sticking out at all except at the end. Her green eyes looked huge above it along with her high round cheeks and small tightly pursed lips.

Logan’s face continued to mature. Stubble had broken out across his chin and cheeks and upper lip. His cheeks streamlined and his chin and jaw strengthened. His green eyes shone forth as his brown hair filled out into a style more fitting a young man.

He looked down at his sister and saw a little girl before him. He drew his gaze back and saw a more developed and much larger body beneath him.

Logan was 6’1” and while not built and overly muscular, he did have the body of a young adult. His chest was full and his arms had tone to them. His stomach was flat and hairs dotted both it and his chest. His gray shorts were stretched to capacity and slight tears had developed and ran down the sides to try and contain his growth and maturing body as it grew.

He looked all the way down his hairy legs to his large feet “I can’t believe it” he said again. “I’m huge”

Charlotte was speechless. She looked down at herself and took a step back. Her feet were tiny, her legs were short and skinny and her chest was non-existent.  The pigtails she had put her hair into as a joke, now fit her all too well as the bottoms of them dangled over her thin shoulders. “How?” was all she managed to say.

“Charlotte…are you okay?” Logan asked looking so far down to her it didn’t seem like anything but a dream.

“Okay? How can I be okay? I just turned into an 8 year old little girl again” Charlotte spat out.

“But it was your wish to be 8 again…I mean…you were the one who brought it up to me and asked me if I would if I could” Logan reminded her.

“I know but…I didn’t actually think it would happen” Charlotte said still in shock.

“But it did…” Logan now raised an eyebrow “…Charlie…”

“Don’t call me that!” Charlotte shot back.

“I’m sorry…I won’t call you that but you are my little sister now by the looks of things” Logan said. “You can’t deny or dispute that”

“No but…” Charlotte replied looking around the room. She focused on a spot next to their back door. She knitted her brow in confusion at what she was seeing.

“What are you looking at?” Logan asked looking over.

“The shoes” Charlotte responded. “There’s something wrong with the shoes”

“What do you mean?” Logan asked. He took a step but his shorts and underwear ripped even more when he did causing him to stop and grab the side and pull it closer together.

“Look at the shoes Logan…I’ve never seen those sneakers before” Charlotte said pointing to a large pair of beat up black sneakers “And I know I’ve never seen a pair of small pink flip flops around here before now”

“Those must be our shoes now” Logan said walking over to them quickly. “Oh my God…look at the cleats” he added picking them up “Those aren’t the cleats I wore” showing off the pair of black cleats with three pink stripes down the side. “They must belong to…you”

Charlotte let out a long breath, she felt so light and small…compact. Walking felt weird to her as she went over and put her tiny foot into the tiny pink flip flop and she gasped when it fit her perfectly down to the dirty toe imprints in the ends “They are mine!”

“Told you…you should listen to your big brother sometime” Logan said sizing up the black sneakers “Size 12 huh”

“This can’t be happening” Charlotte said turning around. Their Mom kept a bulletin board by the back door with a calendar on it and papers pinned to it. Charlotte walked to it and looked so far up that she was embarrassed at the angle it was over her head. A sheet of paper that said ‘Third grade school supplies; Charlotte Jenkins’ caught her eye.

She reached up and pulled it off. She recognized the small printing on it as her own writing from 10 years earlier; it was back and marking off things that they had bought and things they still needed to get.

Another schedule caught her attention. ‘Fall Schedule: Miller College Incoming Freshman Logan Jenkins’

“My room!” she said dropping the paper and dashing off past her brother.

Charlotte’s little legs carried her quickly up the stairs even if they did seem ridiculously steep to her again. “Oh No” was all she said as her shoulders slumped.

Charlotte stepped into her room that was no longer the room she had a few minutes earlier. Even a tomboy like Charlotte had a butterfly comforter and stuffed animals on her bed. The walls were a neutral shade of green but the dolphin poster and total lack of electronics were apparent to her young life.

She went to her dresser and opened her bra drawer and found it filled with t-shirts and camis. Her underwear were no longer from Victoria’s Secret but were all now very small and solid colors. Her trophies were gone, her Volleyball and Basketball clothes were gone; a few scattered pieces of baseball gear dotted the corner by her door. “I’m eight” she said to her room. “It really happened”

She heard footsteps going by behind her and she peaked out as Logan entered his room. “No way” he said upon entering “Sweet!”

Logan opened the door to a room with a queen sized bed and dark blue walls. A laptop and phone sat charging on a black desk; large clothes sat around in piles along with a Miller College sweatshirt draped over the back of his chair.

Charlotte tiptoed her way across the hall. Her mouth dropped seeing her brother’s new room. “Wow” was all she said.

Logan hadn’t heard her approach and was startled when he heard her little voice beside him. He smiled as he looked down; Charlotte only came up to the middle of his chest. “I…uh…can you excuse me for a minute” Charlotte looked up at him.

“I need to uh…change my clothes” Logan said blushing a bit.

“Oh” Charlotte replied. “Sorry man” she said backing out of his room as he closed the door.

Logan blinked “This is so amazing…I can’t believe it…I’m big!” he thought. He looked down as he half tore, half stepped out of his little boy shorts and underwear. “Oh My God” he said to himself at seeing what he now possessed. He went to his dresser walking funny to compensate and found only boxer shorts instead of his small briefs. He put on a pair along with some large black shorts and a green t-shirt. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror above his dresser. He shook his head “That’s me” he whispered to himself.

“Hey come here and look at this” he heard his sister’s high voice coming from down the hall.

He came out of his room and realized she was in their parent’s room. She was pointing at the dresser when he came in, specifically at the two 8x10 pictures that hung on the wall.

Where once there was a picture of a gap toothed Logan on the right with the standard blue school picture background and Charlotte’s senior picture of her in a black dress on the left, a new set of photos greeted them now.

Logan now smiled down from the left in a suit and tie while on the right, a gap toothed Charlotte smiled.

They both looked ahead then turned to the other. Logan wasn’t sure what to expect but it wasn’t the wide gap toothed smile he received from his little sister.

“Our wish…it really came true…this is real…this is actually happening. I’m 8 and you’re 18” she said.

“You’re not…you know…upset anymore” Logan asked quizzically.

“Why would I be…I got my wish and you got yours” she shrugged her shoulders.

“But you’re just a little kid again”

“But I know how I grow up and what I look like and what I can become but now 10 years later. A lot has changed in 10 years and even more will change in another 10”

“So you’re excited about being in the third grade instead of going to Marquette in the fall?” Logan asked still thinking she might be setting him up.

They heard a car in the driveway “Mom’s home!” they both replied.

Charlotte shot into her room to change clothes. She stripped off her huge tank top and paused a moment when confronted with her flat chest. She shook her head and grabbed a pair of black and white stripped lounge pants in a kids 10-12 and a Chicago White Sox t-shirt that looked pretty worn out.

“Hey kids I’m home” she heard her Mom call out from downstairs.

It was the moment of truth; Logan and Charlotte made their way down. If their Mom screamed at the top of her lungs they knew that she knew something was horribly wrong but anything else would prove to them that this was the new order of the world for them.

“Did you get something to eat?” was all she asked as they came into the kitchen.

“Um yeah Mom” Charlotte said. “Logan warmed up the leftover soup from last night”

“Oh Good” their Mom replied putting a few things away in the kitchen and kicking off her black flats into the shoe pile by the backdoor.

“How was your game?” she asked.

Logan looked at Charlotte. Charlotte was about to say “We lost” but instead a memory popped into her mind changing history. She saw herself playing earlier that day. She had hit a shot to the gap in right center that scored Adam and Blake. Without confirming this new version of their evening, she heard Logan say “Great! Charlotte hit the game winning single in the bottom of the sixth Mom. You should have seen it…it was awesome”

Charlotte looked at her brother with a look that said “You saw it too”

“Oh that’s fantastic honey” Pam Jenkins said and hugged her daughter as she went past. “Baseball is your thing isn’t it?”

“Yup” Charlotte replied.

Once they were alone again both siblings huddled close and talked fast “How did you know that?” Charlotte asked.

“I don’t know, I just saw it happen in my mind and I knew it was true” Logan answered.

“What else is still changing?” Charlotte asked. “I saw the same hit…the same game…its different now”

“I don’t know. I guess it’ll take some time to figure everything out” Logan replied.

Charlotte looked up to the key rack by the door and it hit her “Logan! Do you know how to drive?”

Logan stopped for a second and thought about it “Yeah…I do know how to drive” he looked down at his sister slightly awed.

“I don’t anymore…it’s gone” Charlotte responded thinking as hard as she could of ever being behind the wheel of a car.

“Oh” Logan replied.

“What about school?” Charlotte asked him.

When Logan thought about school he saw High School, he thought of Biology and advanced math like Calculus and realized he knew them; he understood them. “I…uh…”

“You have my knowledge now. My school and the stuff I studied for the past 10 years is yours now”
Charlotte said. “I have to learn it all over again…I can’t remember anything but stuff I learned in 2nd grade now. It’s all gone…or else I never had it to begin with”

“Yes you did” Logan said. “I didn’t think about that being part of the trade. You can’t swap ages though and leave me with a second grade education”

“I guess you’re right” Charlotte conceded. She was upset though by this latest development but understood why it had to be. She searched her mind for the word ‘necessity’ but couldn’t quite place it anymore.

Logan had to stifle a smile as he poured through the vast storage of knowledge he suddenly found at his disposal. “I’m studying engineering in the fall” he concluded.

“I wasn’t going to study that, I was going to…” Charlotte got frustrated. She stomped her foot “Shoot, I don’t remember anymore”

“But I am…it’s not like I’m an exact copy of you anyway, it’s if I had lived 18 years and you have only 8 under your belt sis” Logan said. “I took the classes I would have and they’re there now”

“I’m confused” Charlotte admitted, her brain and mental capacity still reducing on her.

“Maybe we should just go to bed, it’s been a long ass day” Logan suggested.

“Maybe you’re right” Charlotte admitted. They went upstairs, Logan in the lead and while he went into his bedroom, Charlotte went into the bathroom.

She jumped when she saw her reflection in the mirror so low down. She couldn’t see her chin but did see that there was a step stool next to the sink. She stepped up on it and took in her face.

It was a face she knew as her own but hadn’t seen in a while and wasn’t used to seeing again yet.
She took the ties out of her hair and let it fall out naturally. She bared her teeth and saw two gaps now, one above and one below. The rest of her teeth were a mixture with large adult teeth crowding out the remaining baby teeth she saw.

She picked up a pink toothbrush that had to be hers now, it was the only kids’ one in the container and she brushed her teeth. Her lounge pants were a bit too long and brushed over her feet with just the tips of her tiny toes peeking out from beneath them as she stood on her stool.

Charlotte sighed at her reflection but shrugged her shoulders and hopped down “Oh well” she thought “I’ve got practice tomorrow” which cheered her up.

She went into her room and crawled into her twin sized bed. “Everything is smaller now” she said to herself. She grabbed a stuffed dog and snuggled up with it. Her mind raced for a few moments to her confusion. She saw hallways filled with older kids, she saw basketball hoops and volleyball nets all seeming to get higher and bigger to her. The kids in the hallways seemed to tower over her and she was scared until the scene changed and smaller kids; kids her size were around her and she fell asleep feeling better.

Logan went into his room and opened up the laptop and grabbed the phone. A few text messages waited for him and he realized that he knew the people they came from. They weren’t just names of his big sister’s classmates anymore; they were his friends.

“I don’t have a big sister anymore” he thought with a chuckle “She’s just a little squirt running around here in her too big clothes now. I’m her big brother from now on I guess” He looked around the room “At least I hope it’s from now on…guess I’ll be careful to never wish I was a little kid again like she did”

He laughed and opened up an Internet browser, from his history, he saw several sites he knew he visited frequently. “This is all just coming to me…I can’t explain it, I just know”

He got on his sites and chatted and checked in with people who were expecting him. He found email accounts, Twitter accounts and various others with recent activity. Just like how he had seen the different ending to the baseball game, he just saw how these interactions went and would go “Weird” was all he kept saying to himself.

It was nearly 1 A.M. when he finally shut everything off and drifted to sleep. He saw small kids walking around him looking up in awe at his size before he saw people his own age and size surrounding him. He saw himself walking across a stage and being handed his diploma and knew he was reliving a memory from a few weeks prior as he fell deep asleep.

Charlotte was up at 8 the following morning. She knew she had practice and she knew her parents would already be at work and she knew her big brother would sleep until noon like always.

She swung her legs out and caught herself “Wait a sec…” she said to herself. “Oh my gosh…I already almost forgot that yesterday I was his big sister” she giggled. “That’s so crazy”

She hopped out of bed and took off her pjs. “I was 18 yesterday. We swapped ages last night and this is what I look like now” she told herself as she put on a pair of green and black shorts and a neon green tank top.

She went downstairs and got out a bowl and cereal and the milk. As she got her breakfast ready, she thought “Would I wish myself back to 18 if I could? This stupid milk jug wouldn’t be so heavy if I was big again”

She closed her eyes and tried to think about exactly what she looked like yesterday morning. She saw a tall version of herself with long brown hair pulled into a ponytail but it didn’t feel right to her even as she pulled her hair into a ponytail now. It was loose and crooked but it would do.

She put on Cartoon Network and watched Teen Titans Go as she ate keeping the volume down to not wake up her brother.

She watched TV, she played video games and she worked in her third grade workbook like she promised her Mom she would do for at least 20 minutes every day during summer break before she heard heavy footsteps coming down the stairs.

Logan had a vacant look on his face when he came into the room but seeing the shrimp his sister had become made him smile and laugh out loud. “Hey…what’s up shrimp?”

“Why’d you call me that?” she shot back.

“Well you are now that’s why. I guess I’m still getting used to all this. Part of me expected to wake up this morning and be 8 again like it was all just a weird dream you know” Logan explained.

“Yeah…but I did you a favor by making you an adult and you repay me by calling me shrimp?”

“You’re so cute when you’re mad little sis” he responded stretching out on the couch. “Don’t sweat it so much, I’m just teasing you and having some fun with you”

“I’m just not used to being called these type of nicknames” Charlotte replied.

“You used to call me shrimp and squirt and little man if I remember right” Logan reminded her. “Well the tables have turned squirt. I’m not your little Lo-Lo anymore; you’re my little Charlie now and there’s nothing you can do about it” Logan teased.

“Maybe I’ll make a new wish” Charlotte threatened. “Maybe I’ll ask you if you wish you were back at 8 years old again”

“Good Luck trying to get me to agree to it. If my memory serves me correctly from yesterday, it took both of us saying I wish and I agree to get this to happen. Not much of a chance I’ll repeat it to go back”

Charlotte folded her arms over her flat chest and let out a “Hmpfh”

“You’re so cute when your feet don’t touch the ground; I love that look for you” Logan said to her.
“I’m going outside to play with my pitch back” Charlotte said picking up her mitt.

“You need help getting it out of the shed?” Logan asked.

Her baseball pitch back was pretty heavy and it was taller than her and getting the stakes into the ground might be too much for her now so she said a simple “Yes”

“Yes what?” Logan asked.

“Yes please” Charlotte replied a bit angry.

“Yes please what…?” Logan played her along.

“Yes, will you please help me get my pitch back out and set up because it’s too big and heavy for me now…happy?”

“Yes” Logan said getting up.

Charlotte’s cheeks burned red at her new situation; a situation she had wished for and had willingly put herself into. She had handed Logan her age, her experience, her knowledge and her advantages around the house.

Logan was already outside when she went out “I hope I still play like I did originally or this whole thing will really be dumb on my part” she told herself.

He set up the pitch back and stood off to the side. Charlotte stood about 30 feet away from it and she stared down the small box marked off with red ribbon; her strike zone.

Her body and muscle memory and instinct for the game took over and flooded over her. She went into her windup and zipped the ball right into the middle of the box for a perfect strike that bounced right back to her and she caught with ease.

Logan smiled as he watched his little sister throw strike after strike with increasing speed and accuracy “That’s awesome for an 8 year old” he said.

“Better than you ever were…probably better than you are at that size” Charlotte said confidently.
“Looks like Mini Midget Kershaw here is a baller” Logan told her.

Charlotte stuck out her tongue and began to throw the ball at different parts of the curved netting to get grounders and pop ups to come back to her all of which she fielded. “Easier to throw without boobs” she mumbled to herself.

“What was that? I didn’t hear you?” Logan called out cupping a hand to his ear and laughing.

“You heard me!” she yelled back.

After an hour, they went back inside “I’ll fix you some lunch” Logan told her.

Charlotte smiled and filled a glass with water to drink and sat at the table. She sat in the same seat she was in last night and it hit her how different the table looked before her. How high it was on her, how much longer it seemed across it and how her feet now dangled above the floor.

Logan put a plate with a sandwich and some chips down in front of her and sat down across from her. “Whoa” he said realizing the same thing as Charlotte. “Looks different than last night huh”

“Yeah it does…and so does the person in front of you” she replied looking across at her big brother. “You turned out better than what I thought you’d look like”

“And I had only seen this you in pictures. I never thought I’d see you like this in person” Logan said and shook his head “This is still so crazy; I’m still having a hard time believing that it actually happened to us”

“I know. You never think you’re little brother will become your big brother and I don’t mean like you finally growing taller than me but actually switching places in order. I didn’t think it was possible…” Charlotte trailed off but kept on smiling.

Logan spent the afternoon on his computer while Charlotte kept herself busy with simply enjoying being a kid. She only wanted to watch cartoons and shows on Disney, shows she had lived and died with yesterday no longer had any appeal to her.

Pam Jenkins got home a little after 4 and found Charlotte back in the backyard still taking grounders. “You need to go inside and rest up some before practice kiddo” she said.

“Oh…um…okay Mom. I was bored inside” Charlotte told her Mom. She ran over to her in the driveway and looked up at her again. She hadn’t looked up to her 5’4” Mother for at least 6 years. Her Mom looked so much bigger again to her; someone to be looked up to and as she thought about her, different memories floated around. Days of shopping and going on visits to colleges were gone and replaced with playing with her in the yard and having her come in for holidays at school.

Charlotte went in and changed clothes. She left on the green and black shorts but she put on socks and a white under armor t-shirt. She grabbed her team hat, the Marlins, and nervously sat and waited to go to practice.

Logan never came out of his room or acknowledged that anyone was even home, he was too engrossed in his new life except for hearing cars in and out of the driveway.

Charlotte hopped out of the car and slung her equipment bag on her back. She rushed over to the bench and the coach greeted her like all the rest of the kids “Hey Charlotte…what’s up?” Coach Don said.

“Nothing coach” she chirped out taking out her mitt.

“Grab a ball…Deacon just got here too. You two can go play catch”

Charlotte smiled at Deacon and they both ran to the outfield grass to warm up. Tristan came out next to her as he was warming up with the team’s first baseman Hank who stood by Deacon. More and more kids filed in over the next 10 minutes until the whole team was there.

“Alright guys” Coach Don called out “We’re going to start with some fielding practice…I want Alex at pitcher…Hank at first…Adam at second…Charlotte at short…Tristan at third…Blake go out to right field…Parker center…Deacon in left and Wyatt can stay in at catcher”

Adam was confused “Short’s my position…” he thought as he watched a girl run to his spot on the field. “Who’s she and where’s Logan?” he thought watching Blake go out to Logan’s usual position.
“Look alive out there Marlins” Coach Don said as he began to hit to each kid. Adam watched as he hit a sharp grounder to short that took a wicked last second hop “No way!” Adam said as Charlotte adjusted, brought her glove up and fielded it cleanly before firing the ball directly at Hank’s chest.

“Good Play Charlotte…nice stop!” Coach Don yelled.

“Thanks Coach” she said with a smile.

Adam was looking at Charlotte, there was something about that smile, when the grounder hit him in the leg. “Wake up out there Adam…what are you looking at?”

Adam came back to reality “Sorry coach…give me another one!” he called out as he threw the ball back to Wyatt.

“You awake this time?” his coach said as he popped one up to him

“I got it!’ he called drifting under it and snapping it in his glove.

“Good catch”

This went on for several turns. Adam kept glancing out of the corner of his eye at Charlotte; she was so intense; always ready and watching the ball the whole time. “Go get some water…it’s a hot one tonight and then we’re going to work on our base running” Coach Don called to them.

Adam dashed to the dugout and grabbed his water bottle. Charlotte was a few feet away drinking from hers. Her long dark ponytail stuck out of the back of her baseball cap above the adjustable strap.
She smiled at him, her green eyes shining in the sunlight. Adam was 4’7”; he had gotten back two of the inches he had lost a year ago when he had shrunk down from the arrogant 17 year old he had been into the 7 year old he became.

Charlotte was about an inch taller than him he noticed as he took off his cap and ran a hand through his sweaty short cut blond hair. Adam smiled involuntarily and blushed hard. Charlotte grabbed her helmet and headed to home plate. Adam turned to Hank and said “When did Charlotte join our team?”

Hank looked at Adam like he had bugs crawling on him “What are you talking about? Charlotte been the best player on the team all season ya dink. Hello…she drove you in last night to win the game man”

Adam was dumbfounded; they had lost yesterday when Logan struck out “No Logan ended yesterday’s game” he said.

“Was Logan the name of the other team’s pitcher?” Hank asked. “I didn’t know that kid for the Yankees yesterday” Hank replied getting his own helmet on.

“No Logan’s on our team” Adam replied.

Hank again looked at Adam “Are you alright…did you get hit in the head?” he said with a laugh and left the dugout.

Adam looked around unsure of himself. “What’s going on?” he asked himself.

Practice went on, Charlotte went back to short and Adam to second so they could work on covering the bag and tagging with their assistant coach while other kids worked at their spots. “Good sweep Adam” Charlotte told him.

“Nice stop Charlotte” Adam told her after he put a throw high for her “And you kept your foot on the bag”

“Thanks” she said quickly keeping their drill going.

At the end of practice they gathered up in the outfield around their coach. Charlotte got down on her knees while Adam sat down and picked at the grass next to her. “Okay guys…game on Saturday at 10 against the Royals…be at the middle school field by 9:30. If anyone needs a ride let me know” Coach Don told them before they broke up and headed off.

Adam took his time packing up his bag next to Charlotte, she looked over and smiled at him again “See you Saturday morning Adam” she said.

“Um yeah…see ya” Adam replied “Good practice tonight” he added in.

“Thanks” she was beaming and smiled wide before she ran off to her Mom’s waiting car.

Adam walked to the other side of the parking lot where his older sister sat. It was too humid for Lyndsey, so she chose to stay in the air conditioning and watch the last few minutes of her brother’s practice.

“How was practice?” she asked him as he tossed his bag in the back.

“Um…it was fine” Adam said. “Can I ride up front this time?”

“Sure…it’s only a few minutes to home” Lyndsey replied.

“Yes!” he said with a fist pump as he got in the passenger seat.

“Mom called while you were out there. She said Hi and I love You to you but she probably won’t get a chance to call again until Sunday with all the stuff for Aunt Cass’s wedding going on now” Lyndsey told her brother as they drove off.

Their Mom Cheryl was in the Bahamas for her sister’s beach wedding. It was just too expensive for everyone to go, so she had left Lyndsey in charge for a few days.

“Oh okay” Adam said staring out the windshield.

“You alright over there bro?” Lyndsey asked as she tucked her long blonde hair back out of her face.

“Yeah I guess” Adam said. “It’s just practice was, well, it was…I don’t know. It was weird”

“Weird how?” Lyndsey asked.

“Well it’s…I don’t know” Adam said shaking his head and taking off his hat.

“Just tell me” Lyndsey said.

“Well you know Logan on our team?”

“Yeah”

“Well Logan wasn’t at practice tonight” Adam told her.

“Maybe he was sick tonight or his family had something going on” Lyndsey replied.

“No” Adam said but didn’t follow it up immediately. They sat in silence as Adam composed his thoughts “You know how Logan struck out last night to end the game right”

“Yeah…his sister was pissed” Lyndsey laughed nervously.

“Well when I asked Hank about Logan striking out, he didn’t know anything about it” Adam said, his voice rising up at the end confused.

“You’re not making any sense Adam” Lyndsey told her brother.

“I know that’s why I said it was weird” Adam replied. “Here the thing…listen…we had a new player on our team tonight and everybody else like Hank said she had been on the team all season but I know that’s wrong and that’s what’s so weird”

“She?” Lyndsey asked with a rise of her eyebrows.

“Yeah, and she was in my position. Coach Don put her at shortstop and moved me to second base” Adam said as they came up to a red light and stopped.

Lyndsey looked at her brother, her face a mask of confusion “What are you talking about? Who’s this girl who was at practice with you guys tonight?”

“Her name’s Charlotte and she…” Adam began.

“What?!” Lyndsey nearly choked. “What’s her name?”

“Charlotte” Adam repeated.

“What does Charlotte look like?” Lyndsey asked.

“She’s um…a little bit taller than me and she’s got long brown hair in a ponytail and uh green eyes”

“What?” Lyndsey whispered. The light had turned green and car behind them beeped at them to move. Lyndsey drove on but her hands were gripping the wheel and her leg was shaking a bit as they drove the last few blocks home.

“What is it Lyndsey?” Adam asked sensing her change in mood.

“I don’t know Adam but I’ve got a really, really weird feeling about this” Lyndsey said.

“What?” Adam said anxiously “What do you think?”

“I don’t know yet” Lyndsey told her brother as she hurried home. Once there and inside, she began to ask him questions again.

“So you said Hank acted like he didn’t know Logan but he did know Charlotte?”

“Yeah” Adam replied.

Lyndsey looked out the window for a second, her mind was running in a thousand different directions, all of them destinations she was afraid to go to. She thought back to the night before and closed her eyes remembering one part of her conversation with her friend Charlotte.

Charlotte had talked about how she wished to be out there playing and that they would have won if she was out there “Did Hank tell you how yesterday’s game went?” she asked Adam, her mouth dry.

“Hank said that Charlotte drove me and Blake in to win the game” Adam said.

Lyndsey’s world spun at that moment. She got dizzy and grabbed the counter next to her for balance fearing what was going on “Oh God” she croaked out.

“What Lyndsey? What’s the matter?” Adam asked. “Are you okay?”

“I…uh…I don’t know bud” Lyndsey pulled out her phone once the world stopped spinning. She went to contacts but Charlotte wasn’t in her phone. She stared at the device in her hand. “Oh shit”

Lyndsey rushed out of the kitchen and upstairs, Adam trailing behind her “What’s going on?” he kept asking.

Lyndsey was flipping through the pictures on her phone as she went but just kept murmuring “shit” over and over. She grabbed a photo that was stuck in the bottom corner of her mirror “Where is she?” she asked no one in particular “Where is she?” she screamed louder at the picture in her hand.

“Who?” Adam asked quietly.

“She’s gone” Lyndsey said sitting on her bed.

“Who’s gone Lyndsey?” Adam asked. Their eyes locked and Lyndsey took a deep breath “I don’t know anything but somehow I think that maybe your new teammate Charlotte is my best friend”

“What?” Adam looked around nervously. He didn’t think much about what had happened to him and his sister last year at about this same time “You…” he swallowed hard “You think that…Charlotte and Logan switched ages like we did?”

Lyndsey kept eye contact with her brother and nodded.

“But why is it that only I saw it today” Adam asked.

“I don’t know but maybe it’s because we went through it already” Lyndsey told him. She held up the picture. It was of her High School basketball team after they won the Regional Final. All 12 girls are standing or kneeling giving the #1 sign and smiling. In the original picture it had been Lyndsey standing right next to Charlotte; now another girl named Rebecca was next to her and a different girl was in the front row. Her name was Jessica and she had been on the JV team as far as Lyndsey remembered but now she was in the picture.

Lyndsey got up and went to her book case. Her hands were shaking as she took out her yearbook that she had just received in the mail a few days earlier. She flipped through the senior class to the J’s and she nearly screamed and dropped the book.

Instead of a picture of Charlotte Jenkins in a black dress, it was now a picture of Logan Jenkins in a suit and tie.

Adam and Lyndsey both stared and recognized that it would be what Adam’s friend would look like at 18.

Adam ran to his room and came back with his yearbook from second grade. Adam was in Mrs. Williams’s class and Logan had been in Mrs. Archer’s class but when he flipped open to that class, the was a little gap toothed girl in the second row of pictures with the name Charlotte Jenkins there. “That’s her!” Adam yelled “That’s’ the girl who was at practice!”

“Oh shit!” Lyndsey said.