Tim blinked and looked around with confusion.
He was no longer in Paul's attic.
Instead he was in a strange bed... in a quiet, dark, strange bedroom.
Bolting up in bed, Tim rubbed his eyes, desperately trying to adjust to the sudden darkness. The room remained
deathly silent but gradually he was able to make out a few shadowy shapes in the black air – the outline of
some walls and the silhouette of some furniture.
“Koko de wa nani ga okotte iru?” mumbled Tim... then stopped in complete and utter panic.
Was he speaking Japanese?... Waitaminute, Tim thought... he had not only spoken it but was now thinking in
Japanese.
“Watashi wa dono yō ni eigo o hanasu no o wasurete iru!” Tim wailed quietly.
He had thoroughly lost the ability to speak English.
Leaping out of bed in frustration, Tim quickly crept through the darkened room with arms outstretched, trying
to feel for a light switch somewhere. He succeeded in relatively quick order.
After once again rubbing his eyes (this time to adjust to brightness), Tim was able to survey the room he now
found himself in. It was decorated in shades of pink and white, replete with cuddly stuffed animals and cutesy
pictures of Japanese male teenage heart-throbs.
Tim next looked down at himself: he was wearing two-piece, pink “Hello Kitty” pajamas. His bare feet sported
bright, glittery pink nail polish on the toes. Examining his hands, Tim found the same sparkly polish on his
fingernails as well. His hair felt longer now, falling down into his face as he examined himself.
Looking around the room for some clues to his new identity, Tim found a stack of school books. He was
chagrined to discover he could read the Japanese writing perfectly. The books belonged to a girl named Mika
Takahashi.
Glancing around the room again, Tim spotted a mirror against one wall of the bedroom. Running to it , Tim was
shocked by his reflection: a pretty, teenage Japanese girl in her pajamas was mimicking his every move.
“This isn't really happening,” Tim said softly to himself, in perfectly fluent Japanese.
Had Paul's stupid magic spell somehow actually worked? Had Tim somehow switched lives (and languages!) with
some strange Japanese girl from the other side of the globe? How could Tim contact Paul and get him to change
things back – Paul doesn't speak Japanese and Tim no longer speaks English?
What next?