Parker woke slowly, having to drag himself from a strange dream where he was playing with Lucas, but he was Lucas, and everything was way too big, and he couldn't think of why it was all wrong. It had been a very realistic dream, more like clear memory. He was vaguely aware of movement around him, and grunted as he realized the kids were starting to stir. There was a sweat/salt urine odor - no big surprise with so many little boys sleeping in a strange place. His nose itched and he reached up with his free hand to brush at a crusty residue around both nostrils. Was he getting a cold? Then a couple of things forced their way into his awareness and he struggled up with eyes suddenly wide.
First of all, there had been only one unoccupied hand because the thumb of his left hand was firmly planted in his mouth. Second, the urine smell was accompanied by a damp feeling in his shorts. He yanked his thumb from his mouth and stared down, only to find more craziness. Instead of the worn, brown sleeping bag he'd had for years, he was apparently sitting up in an adult-sized 'Cars' cartoon-covered sleeping bag just like the one that Lucas had crawled into last night. He automatically glanced over to see the redhead just waking up in his own bright blue sleeping. The initial relief vanished as he started comparing sizes of the little boys just starting to get up with his own perspective. His mouth fell open and he said "What the fuck!?" At least that was what Parker intended - somewhere between his brain and his mouth, something short circuited and the words fizzled out, replaced by bewildered confusion and blank incomprehension.
Benjamin was crawling out of his sleeping bag still holding Mr. Pickles. He looked around, obviously puzzled, and Parker wanted to shout "I'm here, son! I'm right here!" But again the words ceased to exist before they got out of his brain. Why couldn't he talk? What was wrong with him? Why did everything look so big?
Lucas kicked his way out of his sleeping bag and came over, an obvious stain on his SpongeBob underoos. He wrinkled his nose. "Guess we peed. Mama said it might happen." He pulled off his damp underpants and tossed them aside as he padded over to the small knapsack that held his clean clothes. Finding a pair of blue batman underoos, he poked in the bag and then pulled a matching pair out and tossed them at Parker. The other boys didn't seem to care that the 5 year-old was naked - in truth, it wasn't a big deal.
Andre was already pulling on his shorts and T-shirt. "Come on, guys! We gotta show them we don't need a babysitter! Get up! We gotta be ready to go!" Then he looked directly at Parker. "That means you, copper top! Whichever one you are."
"That's Parker!" shouted Lucas. He giggled. "Or maybe I'm Parker and he's Lucas." It was a silly game, but it made Parker grin anyway. After all not even their momma and daddy could tell... Parker scrambled up suddenly, yanking off the damp SpongeBob underoos and staring down at a pale, skinny body with a prominent tummy over a tiny nub that matched Lucas' naked form. Looking around frantically, he spotted an old floor-length mirror hanging on the back of the cabin door and ran over to it. Lucas stared back at him. No, Lucas was the copper-haired boy who now came over to stand next to him. "Wassa matter?"
Just then, there was a loud knock and the door swung inward, just missing the two 5 year-olds. Parker gaped up at the towering figure of Eddie Sims, one of the other adults on the camping trip. He peered down at Parker and Lucas. "You boys need to get dressed - breakfast in ten minutes!" Then he looked around. "Everyone do OK? Sorry that you ended up with no adult, but you guys said you could handle it."
"We did super!" Andre said. He was assuming the boss role because he was the oldest and biggest. Parkers horror at having that thought so naturally was interrupted as he was dragged over to the knapsack by his brother. Lucas started picking out clothes, finding matching shorts and T-shirts for them to wear. Parker took the clothes in a daze, 'remembering' this ritual of getting dressed to stay identical, and the unspoken leadership of Lucas as the 'older' brother - by ten minutes, according to their momma.
It was all there, he realized. He was the identical twin brother of Lucas, had grown up as a pair, a matched set that no one could tell apart. There were clear memories of the two of them at age 4, at age 3, playing as toddlers, even confused images of them as infants. The more he thought about it, the more detailed his past as Lucas' twin became - it was real, it was more than just being brothers - they were connected, shared thoughts and feelings, he and Lucas were each other. But he was also Parker Ewing, a 30 year-old father of the blonde 6 year-old who was pulling a green T-shirt over his head. A man with a mortgage, a job, a wife, responsibilities.
Maybe this was still part of the crazy dream. Parker seized on that, despite the intense realism and sensations. Partly because he was desperate to make some sense of things - but also because this was pretty cool. Five years old again? A little boy with no responsibilities, no job, no mortgage, no bills? Maybe he would hang onto this dream a little longer.