Given that this transformation had been unprovoked even you’re a bit unsure at what exactly happened and are apprehensive at the turn of events. Neither you nor your father had worn any shoes to trigger the change even though you both had been wearing one of the magical socks. It’s true that you had wanted to look temporarily like your father for a bit of experimentation, to know what I felt like to be an adult and have no one tell you what to do. But you never really wanted to be your father’s age permanently. Aging suddenly 25 years without a clear explanation why had actually scared you. It just felt too real – your facial features were unmistakably yours but your body was now huge and beefy and in the throes of middle-age. You decided to come clean and tell him what you know about the magical socks.
“Dad promise you won’t be angry…”
“So you do know something about this?! What have you done this time Will?! This isn’t funny!” Your dad interjected angrily. It almost looked comical – your dad in with his teenaged voice seething with rage.
“Remember how I had bought those new socks last Tuesday? The white ones with the green hem?”
“What do your new socks have to do with this?”
“You may not believe me but they’re magical…”
“Well after what I saw today I think I believe you.”
“When you’re dressed in them and wear someone else’s shoes you turn into a copy of that person.”
“Is that why I couldn’t find my suede tan loafers? Have you been playing around with those and turning into me???”
“No I swear I only tried them on once, when you caught me in your bathroom. I just wanted to know what it’s like to be an adult. To be big and strong like you…”
“Oh son, you’ll grow up one day as well. There’s no rush! Even though now I think you’re done growing!” Your dad chuckled trying to see the irony in the situation. “But you managed to turn back that time round?”
“Yeah I put my old sneakers back on.”
“How did you manage? My huge feet can barely go into your sneakers’ opening!” Your dad eyed his now smaller feet. “I mean before all this happened… Well you know what I mean!”
You smiled at your father as he’s still adjusting to his smaller proportions. “Believe me I struggled but then I started changing back and my feet could fit in.”
You sighed. “The problem which I can’t understand is how we got transformed without wearing any shoes. And why did we switch ages rather than turning into each other?”
“Hmmm. Let’s think about this logically…” Your dad always likes to think things out. “Well we’re each wearing one of the magical socks… But we’re also wearing another normal sock. Maybe that’s affected the magic… I can’t believe I’m actually talking about magic!”
“Actually the other sock was a bit too big for me but now fits me fine… The other sock could actually have been your sock dad!”
“And my other sock actually felt small but now fits great. Most probably that’s yours. We must be wearing each other’s socks! Your mum must have mismatched the socks! Maybe that triggered the transformation!”
“Yeah that makes sense,” a smile forming on your face. “So if we switch socks we should switch back!”
“That’s worth a try!”
You both sit on the edge of the double bed taking off your socks. The bed creaks under your now hefty weight and as you lean forward to reach your feet, your belly droops further out, obstructing your view. You’re still amazed at just how big and wide your feet are now. When you remove the socks you wiggle your long meaty toes and an unpleasant musty odour wafts its way to your nose.
“Jeez Will your feet stink! And there’s more of them now! After this is over go and shower!” your dad said on smelling the odour.
“Yeah. Yeah. They won’t be this big for long…” you replied in your baritone.
He hands you his single magical sock and your old sock which is a bit stretched out after he had put it on his previously large feet. You hand him the magical sock you had been wearing together with his own larger sock which had been fitting perfectly on your new size 13 feet. You put on each other’s socks and wait.