It's not a long way to her house, but the world feels so much bigger around you. You're probably a few inches shy of four feet tall, you'd guess, and even Julie towers over you now. You have to scramble to match her stride, and to your embarrassment she notices and drops her pace so it's easier for you to keep up.
You can't help but notice how much smaller your hand is than hers; flustered, you try to tug it out of her grasp, to show that you can walk by yourself, but she keeps a firm but gentle hold, and gives you a smile and a little shake of the head. You bite your lip as you realize just how much of a little-kid behavior that was; how much has this changed you already!? You have to find the well, and change back!
Julie's house is on the other side of the street from you, and you come to a crosswalk just before you reach it. You're all set to hurry across - the sooner you can resume your search, the better! - but she puts a hand on your shoulder, stopping you, and only leads you onward after carefully looking both ways. You put your lip out in a little pout - that too!? - and realize again, to your chagrin, that you're behaving so much like a seven-year-old...
Finally, you're there. She takes you up the steps and opens the door, then pauses for a moment. "Hey," she says, "let me see your feet."
Confused, you hold one up, and she takes it in her hand, steadying you with a firm grown-up hand on your shoulder as she lifts it for inspection. "Geez, you're all muddy. I guess it makes sense, but Mom's kinda particular about the carpet. Here."
There's a faucet for a garden hose near the entryway, and she takes you over and rinses your feet; she doesn't even tell you to do it, but gently rubs the accumulated dirt off herself under the running water. You sit down on the steps for a minute, waiting to dry off, a little frustrated; it'd be good to have her along to help, but it feels like the day is slipping away, and you're no closer to your goal...
Julie eyes you thoughtfully. "Wait, if the world remembers Daniel and not Danielle...did you get those clothes when you changed?"
You turn your gaze aside evasively for a moment, but she takes you gently by the chin and turns you back to face her, giving you a knowing look. "N-no," you stammer. "I, um...I lost my boy clothes in the park, and I hadta borrow some off'a a clothesline..." You're still embarrassed by how you're phrasing things in a little-kid fashion.
She chuckles and rubs the top of your head playfully. "Well, we'd better return them. I'm pretty sure we've got some of my cousins' clothes, too; Kitty's maybe a year older than you, so they should fit okay."
You can't help noticing that she didn't say "a year older than you are now" or anything to that effect; clearly she didn't mean it as a slight, but you still feel all self-conscious. She really does see you as a little girl, doesn't she...?
When she decides you've dried off enough, Julie takes you inside; thankfully, her parents are out, so there's no need to explain who you are or what you're doing there. She leads you upstairs to the guest room. "Just a minute," she says, rummaging through the drawers of the dresser; after a moment, she produces a blue denim jumper, white knee-length socks, and a top with horizontal stripes in red and white. "Lucky for you they're always forgetting stuff," she laughs.
She leaves the room so you can change. Looking over the clothes she's selected, you try to tell yourself that at least they're a little bit more like boy clothes, but you're not sure you buy it...or that you'd be more comfortable if they were. But there's no helping it; you don't have time to waste making a fuss over these, you need to get back to the park and find the well!
You pull the dress over your head and fold it neatly, setting it on the bed; then you shuck off the swimsuit; it doesn't take long for you to get dressed in your second borrowed outfit of the day. You glance into the mirror, wondering what you look like now, but...well, it's more of a tomboy look, but that only drives home how different tomboy is from boy. If you didn't know that the girl in the mirror was you, you'd never guess she wasn't really a little girl...
"Aw, don't you look adorable!" Julie says, as you join her in the hall. You feel oddly pleased at that...and then feel all weird about being pleased by it. "Shame Kitty's not here to see this. I wonder if you two'd get along...? Oh, here." She fishes out a hair elastic from her purse and runs her fingers through your auburn hair, pulling it up into a ponytail and snapping the band into place. "Don't want it getting all tangled, 'specially if we're gonna bike. Your hair turned out so pretty...!"
You feel another little jolt of the warm fuzzies at that, but before you can dwell on it too much she takes you back down to the entryway. The shoes you're borrowing turn out to be similarly tomboyish sneakers with Velcro straps, scuffed and a little dirty, but the tops are lavender and there are LEDs in the heel that twinkle in a bright little rainbow of colors as you walk. You're a bit conflicted over that; part of you feels ridiculous, but another part of you thinks it's...kinda cute...?
You exit the house, and Julie takes a moment to lock the front door; then she ducks into the garage, returning with first an adult-sized ten-speed bicycle and then a fixed-gear kids' model, plus helmets. It's definitely a girl's bike; it has the angled frame to allow for a dress or skirt to hang naturally - or, for that matter, your jumper - and it's painted a thoroughly girly shade of purple. It has a basket, too, and she sets your "borrowed" clothes down in it...and then makes sure that you put your helmet on. She really is in full big-sister mode...
They say that you never forget once you've learned to ride a bike - but now that you're a kid again, things aren't quite that simple. You remember the principles well enough, but your proportions are so different from what you're used to that...it's not quite like having to learn all over again, but it definitely takes some practice to get the feel for it.
You wobble forward at first, and it's only after a couple laps 'round the driveway that your balance becomes steadier. Julie gives you a grin and a thumbs-up, and you beam proudly...only to feel all awkward and self-conscious as you realize it. You're doing it again - you're behaving like such a little kid! Will you even still be a teenage boy inside, by the time you find the well again...?
Well, at least you're finally underway. Julie insists on tracking down the house you swiped the clothes from, first; at least it isn't far from where you ran into her. And once you've snuck them back onto the line, it's back to the park. The afternoon is already waning by the time you arrive, and you feel a nervous knot in the pit of your stomach; will you even have time to find it, before the sun goes down? It was such a long, strange path you took to get there...
The two of you scour the park for what feels like hours. Kids always seemed like they were made of energy, when you were a young adult, but you've been on your feet all day now, and your little legs are getting so tired and sore - several times, you have to stop and rest, and at one point Julie even asks you: "Are you sure you're okay to keep going...?"
You stamp your foot and turn away with a huff. "I-I'm not a li'l kid...!" you protest...but your own voice gives the lie to that.
It's already dusk when your luck turns - in a less-than-auspicious way, as you trip on the same tree root you'd stumbled over this morning, which feels like a million years ago. Thankfully, Julie catches you and keeps you from falling; you feel embarrassed at having to be saved by a grown-up, but you're too excited at the discovery to dwell on it. You tear through the bushes, across the clearing, and up the hill...and come to a sudden halt.
It isn't there.
This is the place, alright - the same bushes, the same clearing, the same hill with the same steps cut into it. But instead of the well, there's a park bench at the top, looking out over the clearing and the low canopy of treetops around it. Julie catches up to you, sputtering in surprise and concern, as you sink to your knees, taking in the enormity of it: you're stuck.
Oh, you'll understand girls, alright. You'll grow up all over again as one, and by the time you're back to the age you were before, you'll be a young woman, through and through. Will you make friends with other girls? Do girl stuff together? Will you...will you start to like boys...? Get married? Have babies, and be a, a mommy!? Overwhelmed, you burst into tears; Julie kneels down beside you and pulls you into a hug. "I'm not a li'l girl!" you bawl. "I'm not I'm not I'M NOT!!!"
But no amount of crying can summon the well again, it seems, and after a long day you're finally hitting your limit. Exhausted, you crumple into Julie's arms; she picks you up in a strong, gentle embrace, and rubs your back softly to soothe you. As your consciousness starts to fade, you hear her whisper again: "Hey, now, shhh. Hey, it'll be alright."