Switching Places | Teen Ink

Switching Places

February 18, 2012
By cookiemonstaaa97 BRONZE, Scotts, Michigan
cookiemonstaaa97 BRONZE, Scotts, Michigan
4 articles 0 photos 11 comments

Favorite Quote:
Books say: she did this, because. Life says: she did this. Books are where things are explained to you, life where things aren't.
Julian Barnes


I awoke to light glistening through the window pane directly onto my face. As I sat up on the bed, I knew I'm not in my bed or my room anymore. Had I fallen asleep at someone else's house? I look down to see I'm wearing a dress that could be found in a nineteen century queen's wardrobe. My converse high-tops now replaced by conservative heels. Confusion racked my brain.

If I'm not in my room, then where am I? Who's clothes are these? More importantly, WHERE AM I?

I take a glance out the window to find more unusual surroundings. The odd part seemed to be, the more I looked around the older this place looked. I glanced around the room, it had the appearance of being endless. I eased myself off the bed and onto the cement floor. I slipped off the shoes, and became instantly chilled by the floor. I hopped to rug laying on the middle of the room. A floor to ceiling mirror was leaned up against the wall. When I looked at myself, I had to bite my lip to keep from letting a shrill shriek into the air.

My orange hair had turned brown, my eyes changed to blue, and my body had gone down three sizes in one night. The movements matched what I was telling myself to do, but that's definitely not me! I held my hand to the mirror and the stranger on the other side followed. A knock on the door shook me out of my thoughts.

A soft voice carried through the door to my left. "Miss, I've come to fetch you for your morning routine." The voice was soft and loving, though, saying miss made me think that it was more of a servant than a family member. I took one more glance at myself then opened the door, not saying a word.

"Miss, you haven't even changed your clothes from yesterday!?" a soft chuckle was suppressed while my face turned red. At a loss for words, I stood still. Waiting for her to lead me to where I was supposed to go, but instead no one moved.

"Now, miss, don't look like you don't recognize me. I've been working here for a year, already." A year? This girl couldn't have been any older than I am. This puts another question in my mind. Am I still in the same year? Probably not. As I scanned the hallway I was now in, I made not that most of the wall decorations of paintings that looked like they just dried. I looked back at the girl in front of me with a frightened smile hidden under a faulty look of drowsiness. I allowed myself to slouch to give a mock fatigue appearance, and the girl gave up. She led me down the hallway and to a room filled with clothes and shoes. Her face lit up when she told me to scan through the wardrobe and find something else to wear.

"Will you help me? Maybe you can try some on, too?" The words fell from my mouth and the shocked look on her face made me realize I had said the wrong thing. The girl wandered to the door and shut it before she spoke.

Once the door was shut tightly, she began. "Miss, are you ill? You don’t remember my name and you offer me to look through your clothes?" She looked absolutely terrified. I don't blame her. I probably have the same surprise splashed on my face. "Miss, did you hear me? Hello?" The girl took a step forward as I took a step back. I have the choice of telling her about my predicament or keeping it to myself and seeming to be lost to everyone else. There is only one reasonable choice, I have to tell her.

"No, I'm not ill, but I'm not ok either. This weird thing happened this morning or last night, I'm not sure which." I explained everything, how just yesterday, I was Madiline Perston. Just a girl living a normal life and hanging out with friends in the year 2012, then how I woke up this morning in a strange place.

When I finished with what I had to say the girl's face had turned an ashen color, but now she was slowly returning to life. Her pale blonde hair seemed to help her color look darker than what it should be, but there was still a pale tint to her skin when she spoke.

"Say you're right, and everything is how you say it is." She took a pause to walk to the other side of the room. "What do we do about it, pretend everything is fine and dandy? We won't be able to tell anyone else, that's for sure. They'll have us locked up in the asylum in a matter of minutes, because of that. I can see now why you're being confused this morning, though. My name is Maria." Shocked by her sudden acceptance of all this, I started asking a few questions about this new world and who I'm pretending to be. She stopped worrying for a few minutes to explain that I'm now Felicia Makintoch, daughter of Mark Makintoch and Lia Makintoch. They are the most respectable family in town and Felicia is always around the house. Which isn't really a house. To me it seems like a freaking palace.


Maria told me about where I should be after I get my outfit for today. When she was finished with her part of the conversation, I asked her why she is more relaxed after knowing this.

"Felicia, had done something bad and a witch in town said she would get revenge on Felicia by switching her life out with someone less fortunate than she, but I didn't think that old witch had so much power to switch with YOU." The emphasis on you was a little extreme, like she was hinting that I'm some big thing. I looked at her and her soft nature was gone from her eyes. Now, I realize that was just how Maria acts around her superiors. She's taken down her guard and so I ask what Felicia did that was so bad.

"One day while in town, the old witch was begging for money. The woman walked up to Felicia and began to for spare change. Felicia kicked rocks at the woman and told her to leave. When the old witch left, she put a curse on Felicia and told her of it's nature. Until now, I had been skeptical at first that she was going to be able to do something of this magnitude." A light tap at the door and Maria and I were on our toes. Neither of us had thought of how much time we had taken talking. So, we were taken by surprise when Lia opened the door. Maria did a good job at looking like she was doing what she was supposed to be doing. Me on the other hand…

The look on Mrs. Makintoch's face was one of surprise and love at the same time.

"Why aren't you dressed Felicia? You have to go and ride your horse later." The look on my face must have showed my cluelessness. "Your riding clothes are in the second drawer, now get dressed and hurry downstairs!" Irritation had crept into her voice and as she spun on her heal to leave, she shut the door in one fluid motion, leaving Maria and I alone again.

After a few moments Maria shuffled to the dresser and pulled out thick pants that were almost similar to the riding pants of her original time, and a thick black jacket. She helped me to find a shirt to wear under it and proceeded to help me out of the uncomfortable dress I had been wearing. Once I was dressed and ready to leave, I grabbed hold of the door knob and felt a jolt in my arm. I felt like I had grabbed onto an electric fence when out of no where, I fainted.

Hours later, I felt a cool wash cloth pressing against my forehead. It seemed like I was laying in a bed, but I wasn't sure, because another cloth covered my eyes. A familiar voice drifted to my ears, sounding distant yet close. I raised my hand to my face and removed the cloth to see my purple and green room from 2012. I looked around a little more to find my room back in it's place. My drawings hanging up on the wall, my bed back to it's old (techniquely new) self, and my SpongeBob sheets back on my bed. Even though I feel a tiny bit light headed, I jump out of bed and to the mirror. When I see my freckled face and orange hair, I feel relieved that everything is back to normal.

A creak makes me shift my attention to my door and I see my sister peeping her head in.

"Hey, you got to stay home from school, because you were talking weird, and now you're bouncing off walls? That's just down right unfair!" I run to the door to try to give her a hug, but then I remember that no one else knows what's going on. So, I tell Clarice to flee. She willingly obeyed and I sat down at my desk for a minute to get my bearings.

For a second, this whole trip felt like a dream, but then I opened a note on my desk. The handwriting was phenomenal.

It read:

Dear Madiline,

You may find this after you've come back, but I'm sorry we're the ones that had to switch places. I don't know how long we will be switched, but I have accomplished what I had to do for this curse to be over already. I hope you did not have much of a problem at my estate.. That is of course if Maria and yourself got acquainted. I will miss your family here.. They seem to be quite the lively bunch.






Much luck and Happiness,






Felicia Makintoch


The author's comments:
A piece I wrote in a few hours.

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