No it turns out magic isn't an exact science

John continued rubbing the charm thinking of his mother as the clock ticked past midnight, nothing had changed he was still in his mothers body and likewise for his mother, "No, no, no" John began to say softly as it dawned on him that he was going to have to spend at least one more day as his mother. "Why didn't it work?" his mother said, also realising she was also trapped in her predicament just like John, "I don't know" John replied "I did exactly what I did last night, it should have worked". John and his mother stood in his room for a short while, both stunned and upset at the fact that the charm hadn't worked.

"So what now" John's mother asked, hoping that her son had an answer, an answer that wasn't she was trapped in John's body forever. "The old woman who gave me the charm" John said an idea forming in his head "surely she will know why the charm isn't working all we have to do is go back to the flea market and find her", Sally felt relief upon hearing that they weren't out of options yet "Ok sounds like a plan" she said trying to be as chipper as she could.

"We should tell your father about what has happened to us though, we can't keep him in the dark" Sally said. Hearing his mother say that John's eyes grew wide, thinking about last night and the implications of telling his father he'd fucked his son in his wife's body, "NO WE CAN'T" John whisper-screamed his mind instantly thinking about the awful consequences that could arrive from that. Sally was alarmed at such a response from her son "wha- why not??" She uttered confused and concerned as to why John was so against telling his father.

"Well last night... Well you see.... Erm once I was in your body...." John stumbled with his words as he tried to find the most palatable way to tell his mother he fucked her husband while pretending to be her, 'God this is so fucked up' John thought as he tried to find the words. Sally wasn't an idiot, in fact she was quite the opposite and she was perceptive enough to piece together the gist of it, last night her and her husband were planning on having sex, then the swap had happened, Sally didn't know exactly what went down but she knew enough to understand. "You slept with your father?" Sally asked incredulously trying to understand why John would have done that. John hearing his mother had figured it out hung his head in shame "yes" he said his voice barely above a whisper. "Why would you do that???" Sally started up in sheer disbelief at the fact that her son had done such an act, "I was in your body, I was confused, I froze up and everything happened so fast. I'm sorry mum" John said his voice sounding as though he was on the verge of tears.

Sally seeing her son, well not seeing her son as he was still in her body, upset realised this situation had been just as jarring for him as it had been for her, she couldn't blame John for getting overwhelmed and trying to keep appearances. For the first time ever Sally cursed the fact that her and Frank had such an active sex life, as she pulled her baby boy in for a hug, cradling him with his own strong arms, "No don't blame, yourself you were in a difficult situation, it's easy to get swept up when that happens" she said softly reassuring her son. "I'm sorry mum, but that's why we can't tell dad" John said feeling a deep sense of shame at having to admit what had happened. Sally thought about the implications of the acts that had been done, the lines that had been crossed, she ran through scenarios of what would happen if she told her husband, none of them looked good. Sally loved her family it was one of the most important things in her life, and she knew if she told her husband, John could never live it down, he'd live burdened by shame, hell if her husband took the news poorly enough it could destroy their happy family. Filled with resolve to never let that happen she told John "It's ok, we will just keep this secret NO ONE can know about us swapping bodies" she made sure to emphasise the no one, "What do you mean no one we just have to keep this a secret from dad?" John replied, "You don't get it" Sally followed up, "what if you tell someone and they tell your father? Even a friend who doesn't speak to your dad directly could end up mentioning it off hand and your father pieces it together. NO ONE can know, absolutely no one" Sally was deadly serious, she loved her family and she would take no risks that could lead to such an outcome. The words rang true in John's ears, "you're right mum, we can't take the risk" John said, his dad couldn't find out so he had to fool everyone.

"So tomorrow we're going the flea market then?" Sally asked reassuring herself that it would all be ok, "yeah we'll find that old woman and we will get her to tell us how we can switch back" John said nervous about tomorrow but knowing it was their best shot at getting back to normal. "Ok well your father has some errands to run tomorrow so he shouldn't be bothering us so we can do this easy" Sally said "I'm gonna go to bed, now everything is gonna be ok John" reassuring her son. With that John left his mothers room and closed the door, he padded gently over to his parents bedroom nerves in his chest as he prepared to cross the threshold to where his father was, John opened the door quietly"