“But, dad! You work as a construction worker!” you complain. You then begin to visualize what awaited you tomorrow as the life of a construction worker. Shuddering, you shake your head. “There’s no way I can do that.”
“Don’t worry too much about it Son.” your dad says calmly. “Right now we’re working on an easy part of the project, so tomorrow should be a breeze.”
You appreciate your dad trying to calm you down, even if it didn’t really make you feel better, but you would like if he took the whole situation a bit more seriously.
“Dad! Come on! Could you take this a bit more seriously? Things aren’t that easy!” you yell angrily but with your dad’s voice it comes out more louder and powerful than you mean it to. You yelled so loud that you find it surprises you.
Looking over to your dad, you see he also looks surprised at you from the surprised expression on his face. Taking a second to calm down, you take a deep breath and let it out before speaking again.
“Sorry, dad. I’m just freaking out over this whole situation.” you apologize as you rub the back of your neck with your left palm.
“Sorry, son. I didn’t know how stressed out you were about this.” your dad responds. “I have to admit, I’m also worried about the socks missing and the idea of you going to my job tomorrow. But I thought it would be better to avoid telling you any of this to stop you from worrying too much.”
You look at your dad, shocked. You didn’t even know he was worried, even a little bit, this whole time. He must’ve just been keeping a calm composure to reassure you.
“Anyway, I’ll admit that I’m worried about the socks missing and what we have to do tomorrow.” your dad admits. “But! I think we have to be calm about this situation and logically deal with it, so we can resolve it.”
“Yeah. You’re right.” you nod.
“Besides, we should probably be optimistic with what we do have.” your dad says positively.
You realize he’s right. The whole situation could’ve been more trickier if your mom was home or if you and your dad had something important to do at school or work. In fact, it wasn’t even completely hopeless. You both still had a pretty good idea where the socks were
“Dad, you’re right. I think we have a pretty good chance at solving this.” you tell him confidently before remembering something else you have to say.
“Oh, dad. Sorry about losing the socks.” you say, feeling ashamed for being so careless and leaving you and your dad in this whole situation.
“It’s ok. It was just an accident.” your dad tells you. “It could’ve happened to either of us.”
“Thanks.” you tell him, gratefully. His sympathetic and understanding response makes you feel a little better.
Feeling more calm now, you feel ready to assess the problem. “Okay so we still have some things to take care of. I mean… how am I even supposed to get to your job site?” you ask him.
“I got it covered. I’ll just text my buddy, Evan, into giving you a ride. I’ll just tell him I’m having some car problems.” your dad responds.
“That sounds good.” you say. “But won’t anyone be suspicious of me if I act different tomorrow or say something wrong?”
“Honestly Son, you might just have to stay quiet all day tomorrow.” your dad admits. “Just tell them you’re still sick from the cold yesterday and have a sore throat, that should excuse any weird behavior and your low amount of talking.”
“I’ll also have my phone on me the whole time, so if you need any help you can text me.” Your dad waves his phone in front of you letting you catch on to a slight oversight.
“Wait! We’re going to have to swap phones. Other people might notice I have a different phone than you usually have.” you say.
“Good thinking, Son.” your dad says. Swapping phones with him, you hope nobody tries to call or contact you or your dad tomorrow. After you both teach other your phone’s passwords, you both go over the plan for tomorrow. Once you both have it memorized and feel confident in it, your dad opens the door to leave the room.
You’re both surprised to find Tim outside, on the other side of the door. He has a suspicious look on his face but not towards you but towards your dad.
“Trent, what do you keep talking about with dad?” he asks your dad. “You better not be telling him things about me.”
“Tim, I had to tell your brother something important. So we’ve been having an important conversation all afternoon.” you lie. “Don’t worry, it doesn’t have anything to do with you.”
Tim looks at you and seems to accept your explanation. Giving a less suspicious glance at your dad he finally gives up and walks back to his bedroom.
You and your dad both exchange a look of relief before he heads to your bedroom. You walk back inside your parents’ bedroom and realize that you’ll be staying here instead of your proper bedroom for the night.
Taking a deep breath you sit on your parents’ bed before exhaling. Lying down on your back, you find yourself stressing over the entire ordeal and begin trying to calm yourself over the missing socks. “It’s fine! Dad will find the socks tomorrow.” you say although you don’t sound too sure. That’s when your mind begins racing. But… what if dad didn’t? What happened then?
You would have to welcome your new life as a construction worker.
You lie still and stare at the ceiling as you acknowledge this. After a few seconds pass, you realize something else. You wouldn’t just be stuck as a construction worker… you would be stuck as your father. Which meant instead of worrying over your new job you should be stressed about something more important: welcoming your new identity as your dad.
Life... Job… All of it. You would have to live your dad’s life completely.
You find yourself completely lost in thought as you take in this realization. You’re not even sure how much time passes as you lie still, thinking about your new life as your dad, that you don’t even realize you drift off.
The next thing you know is that you’re being awaken by a blaring sound as you feel someone shaking you.
“Son! Get up! You’re going to be late for work!” you hear your voice say. Confused, it takes a few seconds for you to remember it’s your dad as you blink your eyes open. Rubbing them, you see your dad standing in your pajamas next to your dad’s alarm clock reading seven o’clock.
You spring up and roll over, which is a bit harder to do in your dad’s heavier body, feeling a bit tired and restless from the night prior.
“I have my work clothes all set for you on the bed.” your dad says, motioning at the clothes laid out on the bed. “Get changed quickly and meet me at the front door!”
Your dad leaves the room and closes the door behind him. You uncharacteristically let out a groan, which you recognize as the same old man groans your dad always makes in the morning, before standing up.
Looking at your dad’s work clothes, you look at your own clothes and realize you’re still wearing the same clothes from yesterday. You never even got to take a shower and change into your dad’s pajamas before accidentally falling asleep.
A bit annoyed, you take off your shirt, pants and socks before putting on your dad’s work shirt, pants, and socks. Putting on his work boots, you tie them before spotting a small rectangular pin on the bed. Picking it up, you realize it’s a name tag reading: Steve Smith, your dad’s name. Pinning it on your shirt, you put on his safety vest and hard hat before you finally finish getting dressed. You put your dad’s phone and wallet in your pockets before leaving your parents’ bedroom and closing the door behind you.
You never could have imagined yourself in a million years, dressed in your dad’s work clothes and heading to his job. Yet here you were, stuck in your dad’s body, dressed in his work clothes, and going to his job.
As you approach the front door, you find your dad standing next to it. “Good luck! Evan’s waiting for you outside. I’ll text you as soon as I find the socks.” your dad says before opening the door and waving you goodbye.
You step outside, ready to go to work, as your dad.