(Originally added by Sandyseeker)
Each of the respective Donaldsons took their places around the family table. Silently and sullenly they ate the breakfasts Alan had prepared for them.
Alan still wore his mother's pink pajamas and fuzzy pink slippers. He had to make a conscious effort not to cross his legs in a womanly fashion, but found in his groggy, early morning stupor that he was unable to resist the temptation to drink coffee from the mug labeled “World's Best Mom.”
Janet seemed grouchy and grumpy, gulping down her breakfast with only the occasional growl or grumble if another member of the family looked likely to start talking. She didn't wish to discuss their situation at the moment... and so they didn't. Janet still wore her husband's “Property of the Steelers” t-shirt and cotton pajama pants. She too drank coffee, guzzling two refills from Steve's Pittsburgh Steelers mug. She idly scratched the patchy, bald spot at the back of her head and eyed the rest of the family, making clear her unspoken wish that nobody make mention of their obvious predicament.
Megan seemed less mopy than the others, but still remained silent during the morning repast. She hungrily devoured her breakfast with the appetite of an athletic, teenage boy. She wore an old t-shirt of Alan's that sported a faded logo of his high school mascot with the words “Go Wildcats” emblazoned across the front.
Steve was the most moody and morose of the bunch. He barely touched his breakfast and sat at the table fidgeting uncomfortably with his long hair and periodically releasing loud, petulant sighs of frustration. He still wore his daughter's white and pink “Hello Kitty” pajama shirt and matching bottoms.
When he noticed Janet had finished eating the last bit of her morning meal, Steve finally summoned up the courage to speak.
“Well, what are we going to do now?” he announced.
The family was silent for a moment.
“Guess we'd better get dressed in... uh... our new clothes,” said Alan.
“You're my teenage son – not a grown woman,” said Steve. “I don't want you wearing your mother's clothes again.”
“Oh, get over it Steven,” snapped Janet. “He'll look like a damned idiot running all over town dressed like a teenage boy. Despite the way we see ourselves right now, everyone else seems to think we're each other. I don't want people thinking he's me, and then wondering why Janet Donaldson is running errands while wearing her son's clothes.”
“No,” said Steve. “We're not falling into this trap. That's what... what... that stupid book wants us to do, don't you see?”
“Uh huh,” said Janet, rolling her eyes. “The book wants us to wear each other's clothes?”
“The book did this to us!” replied Steve. “Unless we fight back and refuse to cooperate, the book wins! It switched all our identities around – God knows why – and then wants us to fall further and further into the trap of acting like each other. I'm not Megan! That might be what I see in the mirror, but it's not me! And even if the rest of the planet sees me as her, I'm not going to wear Megan's clothes.”
“You already are,” laughed Megan, pointing at her father's girlish pajamas.
“Correction then – I'm not going to wear them any longer,” said Steve.
“Maybe Dad has a point,” Alan said gently. “We've all been acting a little odd lately.”
“It's just the shock and stress of all this weirdness,” said Janet.
“I think it's more than that,” Alan replied. “Maybe we ought to struggle more against... oh, I don't know... against feeling too comfortable in these new roles? Surely our first priority has to be finding a way of changing back.”
“No,” said Janet. “That's important of course, but that has to be our second priority. The first thing we have to do is damage control. And that's why I have to get dressed in your father's clothes, and then go to work at his job today. If we all play hooky to stay home and clutch desperately at straws, then your father will get fired and you kids will get detention. We'll work on studying that book later tonight. But for right now, our number one priority has to be this: avoid damaging the lives and reputations of one another.”
“Dad, please talk some sense to her!” Alan said.
Steve was silent for a moment.
“Your mother's right,” he finally said. “I hate to admit it. But because we've already tried the book a couple times and had no success, there's no reason to believe we'll be able to reverse these changes by staying home today. Logically speaking, the best course of action is for us each to pretend we're the person we each see in the mirror. Your mother will have to go to my job, Megan will go to high school, you, Alan, will have to run whatever errands your mom has scheduled... and... and as much as I'm loathe to do this, I'm going to have to go put on Megan's clothes and spend the day pretending to be a twelve-year old girl.”
“Good,” said Janet. “Now that's settled. In the meantime, let's all try not to attract any unnecessary attention. Today is a good day for each of us to lie low, blend into the background, and not do anything to make matters worse. But throughout the day, each of you keep thinking about ideas. We'll leave the book here on the dining room table. Tonight after dinner, we'll take another look at it and brainstorm a bit for ways to change ourselves back.”
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