Watching her sister, Mark moved to the bed as Jenifer hopped off it with ease and scampered across the room to the various doll clothes that she had left lying about. Selecting an outfit, she began to dress herself. As she did so, she started to explain.
"Those vials, I thought they must have something to do with why you looked like me, but I didn't know the full story. And, earlier, while you were in the bathroom, I snuck downstairs and took them off of the couch and went to look for any more, wanting you only to continue playing with me. Being my sister instead of my brother."
Looking down at the footed pyjamas she was wearing, Mark commented, "I can't be your sister. I can't even be someone who looks like her." and looking up, she asked, "What did you do with the vials?"
Holding up a hand, Jenifer explained, "One thing at a time," and then sat down at a small table intended for one of her dolls.
"While you were in the bathroom, and then downstairs talking to mother about dinner, I was upstairs trying to find a place to hide the vials," she continued.
"Later, after I was sure you had fallen asleep, I snuck out of bed and took the vials and decided that the best place to hide them was in the old hen house." She paused and looked down at her paw-like hands, as if reflecting and then continued.
"I thought that they would be safe there, but also I wanted to try one or two of the vials, just to see if they really could transform a person. Selecting two, I looked at them, seeing what looked like a Chipmunk and human on the front. Popping the top off of both, I poured a bit of the human one in my mouth and then a bit of the Chipmunk one in my mouth.
"Swirling them together in my mouth, I swallowed the strawberry and cinnamon flavored juice. Immediately the transformation started and shrank down to this height, while fur sprouted all over my body. Before I could really understand with what I did, I heard a noise and turning, I fled."
Jenifer paused again and then looking straight at Mark, she finished her tale.
"I don't know how long I ran from whatever had startled me. All I know is that I got lost a couple times, before I finally found myself back at the house. Unsure on how to get back in, I eventually slipped through Bowser's dog door and made my way upstairs, sure that you could help me."
Leaping up, Jenifer ran across the room, wailing out, "I don't want to be a Chipmunk. I don't want to be a Chippette. I want to be myself again. I'll show you were the vials are."
Before Mark could say or do anything, the door to Jenifer's room opened and their father walked in, demanding, "What are you doing. It's two in the morning and you're playing. The noise you’re making is enough to wake the whole house, if not the entire county. Go back to bed, young lady."
Hastily climbing back into Jenifer's bed, wondering where Jenifer had disappeared to, Mark watched as their father clicked off the light and exited.
Rolling over, Mark listened as their father moved down the hallway and back into their parents’ bedroom. After a bit, she called softly, "Jenifer? Are you there? I'll help you, but it will have to wait till tomorrow, okay?"
A movement and Jenifer climbed up onto the bed and sitting down, she looked at Mark. After a bit, she nodded reluctantly and the said, "But if you do that, it will have to wait until after school and you'll have to go to school instead of me. Can you please be me for a day?"
Realising what she was slowly getting herself into, Mark thought for a moment and then after a bit, responded with, "Okay. But only for tomorrow and then we're going to undo this whole mess."
Jenifer nodded and moved further up onto the pillow and then after a moment, she shifted to the other side and down underneath the corner, hiding herself form view. Curling up into a ball, Jenifer told her brother turned sister, "Thank you and I'm sorry for what I did."
Staring into the dark, Mark commented, "It's okay," but didn't say what was on her mind, which was that her sister got what she deserved for her greediness.
After a moment, Jenifer explained, "I think I'm losing my mind, but I don't know what to do."
"What do you mean?"
Silence from Jenifer and Mark almost re-asked her question, but then Jenifer explained, "I have all these new thoughts. Thoughts of the forest. Thoughts of two other Chipmunks. Thoughts of what I like and dislike. And it all feels like these thoughts are trying to force out what makes me Jenifer."
Unsure of what to say, realising that was the same thing she was going through, Mark finally said, "We'll figure it out tomorrow. Just hold on as tightly as possibly to your own thoughts. What makes you, you. Okay?"
Silence from Jenifer and Mark listened. After bit, she realised her sister had fallen asleep at some point. Shifting under the covers, she wondered what tomorrow would bring and if it was possible for her to really fill Jenifer's shoes for a day. After a moment, she to slept, knowing she would be woken in a couple hours by their mother.