Liz woke early the next morning to find that she had inherited Michelle’s incontinence problem. She had wet her bed.
She felt disgusted, she had not wet a bed since she was 4 year’s old. She could not blame Michelle. It wasn’t as if the woman could have warned her. She actually felt sympathetic for Michelle. Imagine having had this problem for at least 17 years? She had heard that incontinence was often a problem with women who had experienced multiple births and Michelle certainly fitted that category. Maureen was one of 7 siblings.
Liz stripped the bed and put the sheets in the wash. She still 3 hours before she could change again. She showered, put on another of the dresses Maureen had bought over, then remade the bed.
Feeling tired after making the bed (was that due to her enhanced age?). Liz boiled the kettle and made a cup of tea. It was interesting that her craving was for tea. Usually Liz needed a coffee to get going in the morning.
As she sipped she contemplated the body she had. It was amazing to think it had birthed 7 children. Liz had not had any children. Her first husband had been infertile and her second husband didn’t want children. In hindsight Liz wished she had birthed at least one child. It would have been good to have had someone who might look out for her when she got old.
With the tea finished Liz was at a loss to fill in the next 2 and a half hours. In the end she spent a lot of time in the bathroom giving Michelle a makeover and experimenting with different hairstyles.
Besides the incontinence, being Michelle had not been so bad but she was certainly looking forward to being young again.
……..
Maureen went over to Liz’s even before Roger had left for work on Wednesday morning. She was eager to tell Liz of the idea that had come to her last night which could explain why she and Liz would shortly appear to be so much younger in the near future.
She was surprised when her mother answered the door. “Mum! What are you doing here?”
Liz was surprised that Michelle had changed so little in the last 17 or so years that Maureen did not recognise she was not Maureen’s mother. Then she realised Maureen was looking from the sun into her dark foyer. She decided to have a bit of fun.
“Liz rang me last night and asked me to come around” Of course Liz now had Michelle’s voice “She told me that you were awfully sunburnt”
“Oh yeah…. I was” Maureen didn’t know what to say. How could she explain why she wasn’t sunburnt or why there were two Maureen’s?
“You don’t look badly burnt. You had better come in”
The moment Maureen stepped through the door she saw this was not the 81 year old version of her mother she was used to. This woman looked a lot younger “Hang on! You’re not Mum! Liz?”
“I was Liz but this is what happened to me when I tried the medallion on the silk shirt you provided, Te he he!” Liz chuckled in a way that was peculiar to Michelle and Maureen readily recognised. “I had you going there for a second. Te he he!”
“You got me. I was thinking you must have let Mum in on our secret. When did you change? Just now?”
“No last night as soon as I could. It wasn’t fun being sunburnt. I tried the shirt and this is the result”
“I’m sorry. That was certainly my shirt. Mum must have borrowed it”
“I figured as much”
“So what’s it like being old?”
“I have another hour and a half before I can change and have a craving for another cup of tea. No doubt you are up for a coffee. Come in and I can tell you about it”
So Liz told of her experiences as ‘Michelle’ omitting the bed wetting thinking that was a private matter for Michelle. Then Maureen told of her idea about the miracle cream.
Liz replied “Well I suppose it would explain why we would look younger but it wasn’t pleasant being that sunburnt. If you are willing to become the sunburnt Maureen that’s fine by me. I’ve had enough of experimenting with clothes at the moment. I just want to get my young body back. Had I told you I made myself near 2 inches taller?’
“But the sunburnt Maureen body isn’t ready yet. It’s still fat. You will have to go through two changes. First to become sunburnt me, then a second to become size 12 sunburnt me”
Liz worked her way through Maureen’s logic. “Okay I see your reasoning. But how about you become the sunburnt Maureen. Roger won’t notice the extra fat”
“I think he would. You were awfully fat yesterday. Did you end up weighing yourself?”
“Yes. I was 93 kg. Mind you Michelle is 4 inches shorter and only 5 kg less”
“Mum is like me. Her weight is always going up and down. We can’t all be model thin like you”
“Well I’m certainly not model thin at the moment”
“My point is that this body” Maureen pointed at herself “is only 80 kg. I want to be down to at least 70 kg when we go to Spain and anything over a 5 kg loss or gain in a week would just be too obvious. I can’t afford to start again at 93 kg”
“So what do you propose?”
“You become sunburnt Maureen as soon as you can change. Then tonight you use the medallion on some unworn clothes and get down to my current weight. I’ll let Roger know that I’m going to apply the cream to myself tomorrow morning so he will expect me to look burnt when he gets home. The I’ll come around here and become sunburnt Maureen and you can be yourself again”
“And what are you planning to do while I’m wallowing around in your fat body”
“I’ll stay as I am and visit the travel agent and see if we can change our return flight so that it leaves from Lisbon instead of Madrid”
“Oh so when were you going to tell me about this change of plans”
“Right now. Myself and Roger planned the trip last night. We finish the tour then spend three nights in Madrid which leaves us the rest of the time to explore Portugal. I need to discuss with Meghan whether we do a one way car hire from Madrid or get to Portugal then hire the car. I’ll also book accommodation”
“So Liz doesn’t get a say in accommodation or travel plans?”
“Roger thinks you have applied the cream to yourself and are hiding out at home until your skin has peeled. He shouldn’t see your new body until at least the weekend”
“Hmm” Liz was not impressed. “I have a better idea. How about you become sunburnt Maureen immediately. I’ll take your body and go and see Meghan. You lose your dress size tonight then it gives you the option of another medallion use before sunburnt Maureen meets Roger when he gets home from work tomorrow. It would get us to the point of starting on Roger’s body so much sooner and as you say time is running out”
Maureen thought about that. She could not find a flaw in Liz’s logic. “I suppose”
“Good. You can use the dress I wore last night. The pain faded a lot during the 12 hours. It was almost bearable by the time I changed into your Mum. Take off your shirt and I’ll use it to become you as soon as my time is up.”