"It's you. I met you again." She said while pointing her finger at the man. It was the man she saw a week ago.
"Have you gone crazy?" The man asked her seriously.
Summer blinked her eyes. She looked at her mother and then at the man. She repeatedly looked at both of them and softly muttered to herself, "Both my wishes came true. I met both my mother and the man whom I met a week ago. So, do birthday wishes really come true? That was awesome!!"
She squeezed her mother's hand hard and squealed, "Mommy, am I dreaming? Am I really looking at you right now?"
It obviously would feel like a dream if she suddenly met her dead mother all of a sudden.
"Winter. What are you talking about? You are really scaring your mom, son." Her mother said with a voice filled with worry.
'Winter? Son?' Summer repeated these words in her heart, and she froze. That was when she remembered who 'Winter' was. It was her twin brother who died along with her mother many years ago.
Why are they calling her by her brother's name? That was when she recalled her changed voice and masculine hands. She walked to a nearby mirror and looked at her reflection.
The face wasn't hers.
But she shared the same features as the body she was in right now.
She understood.
She was now in her twin brother's body.
But what exactly was happening right now?
Is she still dreaming? Otherwise, why would she be in her dead twin brother's body and look at her dead mother's face right now?
***
After staying in the hospital for a week and undergoing all sorts of tests, Summer was finally leaving the hospital.
She understood her situation clearly during this week.
She wasn't dreaming, nor were her mother and her twin brother dead.
They were very much alive and were living in a completely different country from her and her father.
She did not understand why they were living separately or why they always thought that her mom and her brother had died.
But she was sure of one thing.
Her father did not know that her mom and her brother were still alive.
It was because he always looked sad on their 'death anniversary'. He would always cry on that day secretly. But she had seen him do that every year.
She sighed to herself.
She took her brother's phone, unlocked it, and dialled her own phone number.
"Hello." It was her own voice. But she knew it was her brother who was speaking.
She softly called out in doubt, "Brother?"
"Summer?" He asked back with the same doubt as her.
"Yes. It's me."
"What's going on exactly? Why am I in your body? Do you know what is going on here? Also, why are you and Dad still alive? I thought you both were dead many years ago." He shot a few questions simultaneously.
"I don't understand either. I thought you and Mom were dead many years ago as well," She said.
"I don't know what mom and dad did years ago. What are they playing at? Even if they wanted to separate, they don't have to pretend to die in front of us, right? Anyway, we can take care of that matter later. Do you know anything about why we both switched our bodies?" He asked again.
"Umm… that…" She hesitated to speak about this matter as she did not really know how to tell him about it.
"You really know something? What is it? Stop playing mum and speak."
She was startled by her brother's sudden loud voice, and she pouted, "Brother, why are you shouting at me like that? Wuuu~"
"You are crying? Why are you crying using my voice? It's disgusting. Please tell me no one could see you doing that. It would be really embarrassing if someone saw me cry like you." Winter was exasperated when he heard 'his' voice crying out of the blue.
Summer sniffled and realized her mistake. She wasn't in her body right now. If she cried in her body, she would look pitiful, but in her brother's body? It would really look embarrassing.
"I am not crying. Sniff. I am really not crying. Sniff. There is no one around me either." She said while sniffing in the middle of each sentence.
Winter sighed. He realized he was scolding his sister for crying, which she actually did, because of his voice. No matter what, he already understood that their father treated her like a little princess.
As a man, he felt embarrassed whenever their father called him 'Daddy's little Princess,' but it also showed how much he cared for and pampered her all these years.
No one might have scolded her all these years. That was why she was startled when he raised his voice a little at her.
"Fine, fine. I am sorry. Anyway, tell me what's going on with swapping our bodies now." He softened his voice and asked again after apologizing to her.
"I made a wish on my… I mean our… birthday." She said softly.
"Wish? What wish?" Winter did not understand what his sister was talking about at all.
"A birthday wish before blowing out candles on the cake. I wished to see Mommy again. Then I fainted. When I opened my eyes again, I was in front of mommy. But I did not expect to be in your body." She explained her part of the story.
"Are you kidding me right now?" He deadpanned.
"Kidding? Why would I do that?" She asked innocently.
"..." He couldn't believe his sister was so innocent despite reaching eighteen years.
He sighed to himself in defeat, "Nothing. Anyway, we swapped our bodies just because you made a birthday wish? How could that be so simple? I am sure there should be some other matter."
"Some other matter? What could it be, brother?" She asked.
"Let's look at all the clues carefully this time. Anyway, tell me what was going on on your side? Is everything alright?" He asked.