“What are you so happy about?" Drew asked his boyfriend Arthur as they trudged through the snow towards the cabin. "You haven't been able to stop smiling since we left this morning."
"I told you," Arthur replied, "I'm in college now, which means I don't have to sit at the kids table anymore!”
"That can't be it," Drew said skeptically, "There's gotta be something else going on. You've been so secretive about this whole trip. Why can't you tell me more about what we're doing? Your whole family is going to be here, right? Why did I have to bring my nice clothes? Is there a hot tub? Is that why you told me to bring a speedo? Also, why did you have me wrap a pair of my pajamas like a Christmas present?" He added as he shook the present he was holding in front of Arthur’s face.
"Stop asking so many questions," Arthur laughed, holding a wrapped present of his own. "Besides, even I told you what was going on, you'd never believe me."
"Whatever," Drew said, rolling his eyes.
As they continued towards the cabin, Drew noticed how big it was. "Wow, you weren't joking when you said the cabin was big." Drew observed, "Does that mean everybody gets their own room?"
Arthur smile got even bigger, "Yes, there's rooms for everybody."
They reached the cabin door and pushed it open, when they looked inside they saw a large family talking and playing. A few people stood up and welcomed them.
"Hey you made it!" Arthur’s dad said, giving him a hug. "And Drew, we're so glad you're here."
"Thanks Mr. Williams" Drew said as he hugged him.
They took off their boots and set their backpacks down.
"I'll take those," Mr. Williams said, grabbing the presents from Arthur and Drew. He took them over to a large Christmas tree and placed them on a pile of similarly sized, wrapped presents.
As Arthur and Drew got settled in, they heard a voice from the kitchen. "Dinner is ready!"
There was a rush of movement around the cabin as everybody hurried to the dinner table. As Drew followed Arthur to his seat, he passed the kids table. He noticed there were more than a dozen kids of all different ages. "These must be Arthur’s cousins" he thought to himself.
They took their seats at the adult table with Arthur’s parents, older cousins, and aunts and uncles. As they began to eat, Arthur introduced Drew to some of the relatives that were seated next to him.
"That man in the red sweater is my Uncle Alf," he said pointing out a handsome man a few years younger than his father. "Next to him is my parents who of course you already know." Next he gestured to a young woman with long brown hair, "That's my cousin Rose, she's just a few years older than me. She just got married to her husband Oscar, he’s the Mexican guy with the tattoo on his arm. This is his first time here too. Don’t be intimidated by his muscles, he’s a big softie. Next to Oscar is Shawn , he’s my age and he’s not-
Arthur was interrupted by the dinging of a glass. He had only introduced about half the table. An older man with jet black hair stood up and began to speak.
"I hope everybody is enjoying their meal." he said. "It's almost time to get to the main event. Since we have a few first timers here, I figured I should explain a little bit about what's going to happen."
"Finally I'm going to get some answers," Drew muttered under his breath. Arthur smiled and grabbed his hand.
The man continued, "Our annual winter tradition is that every year, we spend some time walking in another person's shoes...literally. Over the next week, you'll be swapping bodies with someone else."
Everybody smiled and looked around the table. Drew and Oscar had confused looks on their faces.
"To start things off, you'll pick one of the presents under the tree. As you may have guessed, there is an article of clothing in each present. Once you've picked it, you'll go to the bathroom, unwrap it, and touch the sparking stone that's hanging on the wall. Your body will then be changed into the owner of the clothing you received."
"You can't be serious," Drew whispered to Arthur. "Is he joking?"
"He’s not" Arthur smiled, "I know it sounds weird, but trust me, it's a lot of fun being someone else for a little bit."
"Do the kids swap too?" Drew asked.
"They swap with each other, that's why I was so excited to finally be at the adult table this year. Last year I had to spend a few days as some of my youngest cousins."
“Some?” Drew inquiried.
“Yeah, it’s usually one swap for the entire week but we have some optional family competitions, winner gets another shot at a random swap but it your regular body won’t be in the pool.”
Drew looked around the table. Everyone was talking excitedly amongst themselves. Rose seemed to be explaining things to Oscar just as Arthur had to him. He couldn't believe that one of these people was going to be in his body. Even stranger was that he was going to be in one of theirs...
Just as he was about to ask Arthur another question, the man in charge began to speak again.
“As always, we’ll begin with the kids table.” The kids all clapped as they got in line. One by one they grabbed a present.
Drew nudged Arthur , “Is this for real?” Arthur nodded, “Just watch.”
The first one in line was a 7 year old girl.
Drew asked, “Who is is that?” Arthur explained, "That’s my cousin Lori .” Lori went into the bathroom. A few moments later she reemerged as a 13 year old boy wearing a karate robe. The crowd erupted in applause as the boy did some karate kicks and punches.
Drew was shocked, “OMG? Is that Lori?”
Arthur laughed, “Yes. But technically she is Troy now. Troy is another one of my cousins who loves Karate.” Austin pointed to 8 year old boy who was next in line, “That’s my cousin Robby.”
Robby went into the bathroom and came out as a girl wearing a ballerina costume. The crowd applauded as Robby did a few twirls and spins. Austin leaned over to explain, “Robby ended up as my cousin Claire.” Drew still couldn’t believe how crazy this all seemed. He watched for the next 5 minutes as the cousins all kept emerging from the bathroom with new bodies. Each time, the crowd clapped at their entrance.
Soon there was only a few cousins left. Drew noticed all the adults were whispering and joking among each other.
Drew asked Arthur, “What seems to be so funny?” Arthur explained, “It’s kind of like playing roulette with the presents. There are only so many bodies that you can become. My family likes to make side bets and predict who will end up as who. My guess is that everybody is predicting what happens to Dylan.”
Drew seemed to understand and noticed there was only a few kid cousins left to open presents A muscular teenage boy who looked about 17 grabbed the next present and went into the bathroom to change. Drew asked, “Is that Dylan?”
Austin explained, “Yeah. That’s my cousin Dylan. He made All-State in football and has a full ride to play in college next year. He’s the family sweetheart.” Moments later, the crowd erupted in laughter. Dylan emerged as a 6 year old boy wearing nothing Superman undies and race car crocs.
Austin nudged Drew, “..And that’s why I’m glad to finally be at the adult table! Looks like Dylan got cousin Noah.”
The crowd whistled and jeered as Dylan seemed to be blushing from the embarrassment of his new body. He managed crack a smile and did some hero poses on his way back to the kids table. This made everybody laugh even harder. “He seems like a good sport about it though.” Drew added.
After all the kids were done swapping, the man got back up to make an announcement, “Okay adults! It’s our time to change!” The crowd cheered as they all began grabbing presents.