"What about you Nic?" Lexy elbowed me gently bringing me out of my apparent fascination with the lights and the music. Did I really witness the world stop and then resume? Whatever this power was I could feel it within myself somehow, but there was also the chance my brain stopped functioning correctly and I just hallucinated the entire thing.
"Sorry, what?"
"Tipsy already?" she teased
"No, no, just thinking about something else" I smiled at her. Maybe crazy, not tipsy yet.
"We were talking about long term plans, now that my bro is nearing 30 and just promised us next year he'll have his own place"
"Is he going to get kicked out?" I asked Lexy's mom playfully as she passed near us
"He's the one that wants to leave" Kristella excused herself with a smile and went on her way
"What about you then?"
"I still have 5 years left! The plan is more or less the same though, I will finish studying this year so I can switch to work full time and save money to leave the nest"
"Yeah, but what else?"
"What do you mean?"
"Besides working and all that, what about dreams, stuff you would like to be or would"
"I.. haven't thought much about it" When Lexy said that I immediately remembered the words of the tall figure, how I have always been an observer and little else "There's just so many things I would like to do" the words came out of my mouth without realizing it, my mind went again towards the supposed power to change the world I had. Well, not the world, the lives of those around me, as the figure said it.
"Hopefully you will figure it out soon, Nic. You can't do everything" Lexy shrugged and I smiled, I wasn't even sure if that was the case now
"And you?"
"Might have to start studying nursing, unless I find a breakthrough soon. I love doing theater and have a lot of fun with it, but with Josh leaving it might be time to consider a safer plan. Hey, promise me you will dance when I change the music, please?"
"Sure" I nodded and turned my attention to the others while reflecting on Lexy's words, on the dream she had and probably won't be able to fulfill, on my own lack of a particular dream. Was that what it meant to be an observer? was that the kind of things that I could now change around me? It was time to try, to confirm it wasn't all a hallucination.
"All it takes is a thought" I mumbled and focused on the first people I saw in front of me, Lexy's stepdad and Maria. They were too enthralled on whatever they were talking about to notice my staring, and not knowing what else to look at, I stared at their clothes. Ruben was wearing the gray tracksuit and sneakers I see on him all the time whenever I come to visit and hang out with Lexy or Josh, and Maria was wearing a casual yellow dress with sandals, which was enough for the informal dress code of this family party. Noticing they were pretty much the same height and knowing Maria was an athletic person too, my mind wandered to Maria wearing that tracksuit for a moment.
And then it happened again.
"Hello? Are you there?" I called out, more prepared this time, when the lights dimmed and the music and everything around me came to a gradual halt. But there was no figure again, which for a second made me believe I was hallucinating.
"Hey, are you guys-" I called out to Maria and Ruben as they suddenly moved, but they ignored me and started disrobing instead. I was relieved, scared, excited and stunned at the same time because it wasn't an hallucination. It was real, and it was exactly like the tall figure said. They were on trance, and they were exchanging clothes just as I um.. wished? I felt a pang of discomfort and guilt at the way they were doing it so carelessly, offering me a private show they didn't consent to, but I couldn't stop staring.
It wasn't only the tracksuit, they were switching everything that they were wearing. After neatly arranging his tracksuit, sneakers and socks, Ruben took out the necklace and rings he was wearing too and finally his boxers, remaining naked for a second as Maria took out her earrings and put them on top of the neatly folded dress. The air around me felt so cold, but both naked bodies were just there, impervious to it.
I tried my best to not stare too much at Maria, even if she would never know, as they both picked up their clothes and exchanged them before starting to dress again. My eyes went wide when Maria put on Ruben's boxers and instead of looking comically oversized on her, they fit perfectly, and a look at Ruben got me another mild shock as despite his frame he had no problem whatsoever to put on Maria's brassiere, reaching his back and checking the straps as if he had done it his entire life.
"Wow" was all I could say, now wondering what would happen when this was over. The tracksuit looked great on Maria, and as much as I didn't want to admit it, the dress didn't look bad on Ruben, even if I knew it didn't make sense. I wondered for a moment if there was a way to stop this or reverse it but as both Ruben and Maria went back to the place they were talking and froze, a beep on the back of my head alerted me that something was going to happen. Sure enough, it was just as when the figure left and suddenly everything was back as normal. Or almost everything.
I remained stunned as Ruben and Maria kept talking with each other, and looking around nobody cared. The party just continued, Kristella approached her husband and tugged lightly on his dress to ask him something, before giving him a kiss and moving on to the kitchen. His own wife didn't notice, just as the figure said. His power was real.
"Hey, Niic" A voice called me out but I didn't pay attention
"Nic!"
"Yeah? What?" I turned and noticed Lexy extending her hand towards me
"You promised! Everything okay?" She teased before noticing my shocked expression
"Y-yeah, more than okay" I took her hand and started dancing with her, a bit slower than usual because both Lexy and I were throwing looks at the others. Lexy to encourage them to join in, me to make sure nobody at all noticed anything weird. Was this for tonight or forever? Could I reverse it? What else could I do? I tried to think without getting too distracted, Lexy already called me out twice. I did a silly move that never failed to make her laugh, and wondered if I could even share this with others, demonstrate this power in some way.
What happens next?
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author