Confused, unsure if she was Kaitlyn or Jacob, she was abruptly woken by someone pounding on a door. Then, as it gradually came back to her who she was, Kaitlyn listened as Mrs Smith called, "Get up. I don't want any of your nonsense this morning, young man," as the voice of her father called out, "Do as you mother tells."
Unaware that she'd just thought of Jacob's father as her own, Kaitlyn started to climb out of the bed, but stopped when something wrapped around her legs hampered her movement. Pushing at the sheet and comforter, which had also become tangled around her, it came back to her in a flash what she'd done last night as she saw her pyjama pants tangled around her legs. Gazing down, studying the eight-year-old body she now inhabited, Kaitlyn pulled up on the edge of the shirt and tucked it under her chin. Seeing her naked body, she gave her little boy privates a fleeting glimpse before she pushed down the shirt. Resisting the urge to giggle as she wondered what Jacob's family would say.
Another hammering noise on the door making her jump in fright, she listened as Jacob's mom demanded, "Are you getting up? Or do I have to send your father in there to make you do?"
Scared, unsure what she should do, Kaitlyn almost called out that she was getting up. But, stopping herself, her mind flashing through scenarios and things to say, she finally called out, "Mom. I think you need to come in here," in what she hoped was a voice that sounded like not only Jacob's teenage voice, but also one that also hinted of fear and uncertainty.
Outside her son's room, Mrs Smith scowled as she thought something didn't sound right. Pushing open the door, starting to say, "If this is some ploy to get out of school," she stopped when she found herself looking at a little boy sitting in her son's bed.
Unsure what to say, unable to grasp what she was seeing, she tried to articulate what she was feeling and instead belted out, "Frank. Get in here."
From where she sat, Kaitlyn watched her mom blanch, her mouth open and close a couple time, then, as her mom called for her father, Kaitlyn whimpered, "What's happening?" as her mother turned back and stated flatly, "Who are you and what are you doing in my son's room? And where's my son? Where's Jacob?"
Not having expected this, missing completely that she'd started thing of Jacob's parents are her own, she watched as her father came rushing in. As he did this, Kaitlyn explained, "It's me, mom. Jacob."
"Jacob, my son, is fifteen years old," Mrs Smith yelled as her husband stared in shock and confusion at the sight before him.
Her mind racing quickly, Kaitlyn whined, "Please, mom. Stop. You're scaring me. And I'm already afraid as it is. I went to bed like my normal self. And I woke up, like this. How did this happen."
Still not willing to believe the little boy sitting in her son's bed was her Jacob, Mrs Smith took a step back and clutched a hand to her chest. Starting to see her son when he'd been eight, but unwilling to accept it, she looked at Frank and asked, "That's not our son, is it? It's somebody else's boy? It's some prank Jacob's playing? Right?"
Her husband, studying the boy before him, thinking that it looked like his son, but at the same time like his brother, Marcus, when he'd been that young. Weakly, he finally answered, "Somehow, it's Jacob. Margo, it is him," and clutching his wife close, feeling like he would faint if he didn't, he inquired, "How did it happen, son?" and not even waiting for a reply he stated, "This is impossible. People don't go to bed one age and wake up younger," and seeing the scared look on his son's face, he added, "We need to figure this out. Take him to see, I don't know, a doctor. Or someone. Anyone."
From where she sat, Kaitlyn resisted an urge to smile. Remaining where she was, hoping she looked scared, she heard her mom say something, but missed it. Her father answering gruffly, stepped into the room and towards her. A feeling of being overwhelmed and sinking, Kaitlyn wondered what he was going to do as her mother called out, "Ashley. We're taking your brother to the doctors. Make sure you get to school on time."
Having not expected this, Kaitlyn was taken by surprise when her dad reached out, grabbed the comforter, wrapped it around her, then scooped her up into his arms. A sudden fear washing over her as she was carried across and out of the room, she wondered if maybe she'd made a mistake somewhere in making herself younger. Behind her dad, she heard her mom commenting, "He can't go like that. He needs something decent to where," to which her father said, "We'll stop and get something on the way," as he started downstairs.
Everything happening way too fast for her, Kaitlyn wanted to cry out the truth. But then that moment of confusion came back to her and she realised she didn't know the full truth any more. Parts of her life were missing, whilst parts seemed out of place, like how she was certain her sister's name was Ashley, her best friend's name was Matt and that she was in the third grade. Yet, at the same time, she was positive she didn't have any friends, as most people considered her too weird, other girls teased her about everything she did and how she looked, her mother was always mad that she'd didn't behave properly, and that her sister had a different name.
Perplexed by this, she caught a fleeting glimpse of Ashley staring down from the top of the stairs, sleepily asking, "What's going on?" before their mother and father started rushing toward the back door.
"Nothing for you to worry about," their mom called out as their dad said, "Something's happened to your brother. We're taking him up to the hospital. See that you get to school on time," and exiting the house, he set Kaitlyn down as Mrs Smith grabbed the car keys hanging on the cork board near the door.
The concrete cool beneath her bare feet, Kaitlyn noted the concerned looks on her parent's faces. Again, she experience a twinge of doubt. Toying with the notion of whether she could somehow get to Jacob's room and get the Toroid, she was abruptly ushered into the back of the Smith's car. Sitting in the backseat, the comforter still wrapped around her, she listened as her mom and dad began talking a hushed tone as her dad started the car. Figuring there was no going back, Kaitlyn laid down and snuggled deeper under the blanket, curious to know what was going to happen, why she was having trouble recalling things and if what was wrong with her memory was because of reality trying to cement itself into place.