Tim blinked and looked around with confusion.
He was no longer in Paul's attic.
Instead he was in a strange bed... in a quiet, dark, strange bedroom.
Bolting up in bed, Tim rubbed his eyes, desperately trying to adjust to the sudden darkness. The room remained deathly silent but gradually he was able to make out a few shadowy shapes in the black air – the outline of some walls and the silhouette of some furniture.
“Koko de wa nani ga okotte iru?” mumbled Tim... then stopped in complete and utter panic.
Was he speaking Japanese?... Waitaminute, Tim thought... he had not only spoken it but was now thinking in Japanese.
“Watashi wa dono yō ni eigo o hanasu no o wasurete iru!” Tim wailed quietly.
He had thoroughly lost the ability to speak English.
Leaping out of bed in frustration, Tim quickly crept through the darkened room with arms outstretched, trying to feel for a light switch somewhere. He succeeded in relatively quick order.
After once again rubbing his eyes (this time to adjust to brightness), Tim was able to survey the room he now found himself in. It was decorated in shades of pink and white, replete with cuddly stuffed animals and cutesy pictures of Japanese male teenage heart-throbs.
Tim next looked down at himself: he was wearing two-piece, pink “Hello Kitty” pajamas. His bare feet sported bright, glittery pink nail polish on the toes. Examining his hands, Tim found the same sparkly polish on his fingernails as well. His hair felt longer now, falling down into his face as he examined himself.
Looking around the room for some clues to his new identity, Tim found a stack of school books. He was chagrined to discover he could read the Japanese writing perfectly. The books belonged to a girl named Mika Takahashi.
Glancing around the room again, Tim spotted a mirror against one wall of the bedroom. Running to it , Tim was shocked by his reflection: a pretty, teenage Japanese girl in her pajamas was mimicking his every move.
“This isn't really happening,” Tim said softly to himself, in perfectly fluent Japanese.
Had Paul's stupid magic spell somehow actually worked? Had Tim somehow switched lives (and languages!) with some strange Japanese girl from the other side of the globe? How could Tim contact Paul and get him to change things back – Paul doesn't speak Japanese and Tim no longer speaks English?