Keith had just turned 41 years old that day, and he was feeling down and depressed about it. It kept on crossing his mind that he was now officially ‘over the hill’, and it made him feel depressed enough, to somehow wish he could turn back the clock, even if he could just be young again for a moment.
But, in Keith’s case, he was extremely lucky. He had met Peter in the grocery store, and Peter demonstrated the concept of a body swap to him by actually swapping with him at a grocery store. Not only that, but Peter gave the 41 year-old nurse to swap with the 16 year-old teenager whenever he wanted to, as long as he would give him some kind of notice. While driving home from the hospital, Keith passed a basketball court near the park, and he began to feel sad when he saw the teens playing on it.
“Look at their energy”, he thought to himself, as he slowly drove past the court. “Look at how much fun those kids are having, playing basketball while they have not a single worry in the world…”
He stopped the car and grabbed his cell phone. He pressed a few buttons, until the name “PETER” came up on the screen. He then pressed the button which dialed the number which was stored in the cell’s phone book. When he finally got the teen on the phone, he asked him what he was doing that afternoon.
“Hi Keith! Oh I’m kinda stuck at home doing Chemistry homework… This stuff is so hard! It’ll take me a few hours to answer these questions…” Peter replied to him.
“No sweat, champ! How about I pick you up? Wear your basketball clothes; I want to be a kid this afternoon. While I’m playing basketball, you can use my knowledge of chemistry to finish your homework at the park! So bring your books with you!” Keith instructed the teen. He then drove his car over to Dustin’s house, where Peter was patiently waiting outside with a backpack in his hand.
“Hey Kiddo,” Keith chuckled, as Peter climbed into the passenger seat of his minivan. “How’ve you been? Long time no swap!”
“Oh I’ve just been really busy with school. I’m drowning in homework all the time…” the teen replied. He was obviously feeling happy to see his adult buddy after almost six months.
They drove off to the basketball court at the park. Once Keith parked his minivan, they walked over to a wooden picnic table, where Peter placed his books and his backpack.
Keith glanced over at Peter’s class notes and chuckled, since the material seemed very easy to him. Then he turned towards Peter, who was standing a few yards away, watching the kids play basketball on the court.
“Shall we swap?” Keith wondered out loud. He could tell that Peter had to resist the urge to play basketball, since he had to study for Chemistry instead.
“Let’s roll…” Peter replied, as the tall teenager stood, facing Keith.
“Body-swap Peter” Keith whispered quietly. Both Peter and Keith felt the strong urge to close their eyes for about three seconds. When they opened them, Keith and Peter looked down and gasped as the realized that they had switched bodies.
“Alright! I feel great!” Peter said, as he looked at his arms and legs. Peter flexed his muscles, enjoying the feeling of being in the body of a young, athletic teenager. In the meantime, Keith walked on over to the table and glanced at Peter’s Chemistry notebook.
“Hey, this stuff makes sense to me now! This homework will be a breeze!” Keith smiled, while he was flipping through the pages. Then the adult man gently sat down at the table, with pen in hand, and began to study the Chemistry chapter which was on the table before him.
Peter turned around and walked on to the court. Several kids greeted him, since Peter was a popular figure on this court. He started to play basketball with the others, and he enjoyed every minute of it. He got pushed around a few times, and Keith noticed that. Keith then wished for Peter to have awesome basketball skills, instantly making him the best player on the court. Peter made a majority of his shots, and he was enjoying the game thoroughly.
Keith had covered the Chemistry questions in 45 minutes, and he just kicked back and enjoyed watching the game. And Keith smiled every time he saw his teenage partner score another point during the game.