Family Swap: Palimpsest

Instead of watching eight-year-old Ji-woo play soccer, Connie was watching fourteen-year-old Jill come up to sing "Tomorrow." With her freckles and naturally curly hair, Jill looks as if she had been born to play Annie. But looks weren't much of a consideration for the director, who was more concerned about putting on a good show. Besides, the school was overwhelmingly white. She'd been hoping for at least some minority representation. That, and couldn't one of them picked another song to audition with? How many times would they all have to hear Tomorrow before rehearsal even had begun? He should have picked a different musical. As Jill launched into the number, Connie moved to the side, hoping that they were casting on talent instead of looks. She couldn't take it if she lost because another girl she barely knew looked more the part. Hadn't they ever heard of makeup? Jill wasn't aware her former mother was looking at her competitively. A few minutes ago, a different Stott teen hadn't even been auditioning, Rachel Stott been there to sign up to paint sets and was too nervous to ever get up and sing in front of people. Of course, she'd only been a freshman for a day. Before that, she had been a sophomore, and the day before, a Junior. Unlike some, her changes had been minor, as she'd gone up or down one year...but not anymore. Rachel was an average girl of average build and height, with shoulder length brown hair. With her shy manner and average looks, no one gave her much thought. As the clock struck 3:47PM, she suddenly began to shrink slightly as her skin became wrinkled, and discolored in many places. Her hair turned grey, and she began to stoop over slightly. Her clothes transformed into a flowered dress. One of her knees transformed into a titanium replacement. She squinted suddenly, as she found herself outside in the bright sunshine, staring at a soccer game. 86 year old Rachel Wacjowski suddenly laughed to herself. For a moment there, she'd imagined she was one of these young ones....instead of being here to watch her granddaughter play. =You're getting to be a silly old woman,= she thought to herself. she hadn't been that age since Ike was President.