“Seriously Bill, sometimes I wish you were more like me, then you would have your head on straight!”.
Martha had meant that last part more as a jest than anything, but her anger came from a real place of frustration with her son. She was genuinely worried about Bill sometimes. He was good kid, and a smart kid, but he had no sense of responsibility at all!
No matter what Martha's intention was, however, the magic gemstone that she was holding in her hand only took it one way. She made a wish, and she was angry, ergo the Ahn'Ger stone is obligated to do its magic thing. It started to glow brightly.
Before Bill's mother could complete her frustrated plea, the Ahn'Ger stone had warped reality, and that incarnation of Martha and Bill ceased to exist. History had just been rewritten, and now things would never be the same.
**
Bill himself had hardly been paying attention to his mother's histrionic rants. He was used to them by now, and so whenever she yelled at him, it went inside one ear and out the other like so much empty noise. This was a day he should have been paying attention.
One moment he had seen Tom finally approaching the house to go to school with him, but now? Now, after seeing how the Ahn'Ger stone had irrevocably changed him, Bill was stuttering nonsensically.
“W-w-w-w-w”
Martha stared happily at the gorgeous spring morning going on all around her while she sipped her chai tea casually. A neighbor boy, Tom Ackerman, waved at Martha and approached the front steps in a casual jogging stroll.
“Is Bill ready yet?” asked Tom.
Martha rolled her eyes sarcastically.
“If he's not, he will be. I'll go fetch him” she said. “Would you like any breakfast while you're here?”
Tom grinned. “Actually, I wouldn't mind that at all.”
Martha nodded, and then turned to her stuttering former son.
“Willow, could you go fetch Tom some eggs and bacon for me?”
“S-s-sure” said Bill, shocked at his current predicament. He shuffled inside the front door, walking past the foyer, briefly passing by a mirror where he saw his new self. He looked exactly like Mom. An exact double. A twin. He was even wearing her exact clothing choices. He couldn't look at himself anymore.
“Why can't anyone recognize how crazy this all is?” thought Bill as he robotically gathered eggs and bacon from the stove top skillet onto a plate. “Why did Mom call me Willow? That's not my name!”. Across from him, Bill's father Greg and his little sister Kimmy were busy drinking orange juice, Kimmy slurping it down nosily, while eating their own breakfast. Neither had asked even once who this stranger was and what had happened to Bill.
The food all ready, Bill began to walk out of the kitchen when he saw his mother in the foyer and approached her. Even walking felt different with these wider hips and different center of gravity. Martha took the plate of eggs and bacon and began to walk outside to give it to Tom when they were both interrupted.
“Hey Mom. Hey Aunt Willow” said the doppelganger Bill casually as he rapidly descended the stairs, leaving in a hurry to head to school. “Mmm eggs, can I have some?”
“Sorry Bill, eggs are for closers and sons who wake up on time.”
“Aww man” said Other Bill as he put on his backpack...
“But Tom can share his own eggs with you. You two have got five minutes” said Martha as she smiled.
“Thanks Mom” smiled back. They hugged each other, and the real Bill blanched. He hadn't been that affectionate towards his mother in months. All three joined Tom on the front porch.
Option 1: Bill is now Martha's twin sister. Martha still has the stone on her because she made the last wish with it.
Option 2: Bill is now Martha's twin sister. Bill is still the owner of the stone because he's the one who found it first.
Option 3: As the Bill that found the Stone no longer exists, the Ahn'Ger Stone is nowhere to be found!  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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