Emily Has Become Sluggish

Aaron watched from the kitchen as his younger sister twitched, moaned and sat up groggily, staring around as if not sure where she was.

Aaron ducked out of sight, busying himself with his own dinner in case Emily wandered in demanding answers, but she was still in front of the TV when he returned with his plate.

Her unfocused gaze seemed to lock onto him and it was a while before she was able to speak.

“…Aaron?”

“Yeah?”

“Wh… where… what time is it?”

Aaron made a show of doubling back to the kitchen to check the clock. “Almost half past ten.”

He saw Emily’s face wrinkle in confusion.

“You fell asleep a couple of hours ago,” Aaron lied. “Like, you ate dinner, sat back down and when I walked past around eight you were completely out of it.”

Emily’s expression didn’t change, but her gaze wandered down to her hands, then back to the TV, then back to Aaron as she struggled to process this.

“I feel… I don’t feel good.”

“You should probably go to bed, Em. You’ll catch a cold if you lie around on the floor like that.”

Emily nodded slowly and tried to get to her feet. Aaron didn’t dare breathe as he watched his younger sister concentrate on something as simple as standing up, but it was as if she’d forgotten how to operate her own body.

After the third attempt she slumped back into a sitting position on the verge of tears and Aaron rushed forward to help her up.

“I think… I think there’s something wrong with me,” Emily whimpered.

Aaron cradled his little sister in both arms, taking her back up to her room.

“Nah, you’ve just had a bit too much TV. Get some proper sleep and you’ll be fine.”

Emily’s distress didn’t lessen by much, but she didn’t resist when Aaron laid her down on her bed and slung a set of pyjamas down next to her.

“Get changed and rest, okay?” Aaron said, trying to stop his voice from shaking. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Aaron felt as if he’d been holding his breath from the moment Emily had sat up and it wasn’t until he was back in the kitchen that he allowed himself to comprehend the implications of what he had witnessed.

A soul could grow and change to fit a more advanced body, but by the same token seemed to become cramped when **** into a more primitive one. He thought he was just imagining it with the potato’s spirit, but now he was certain. What’s more, it seemed to affect the strength of will a soul would be able to exert. Already the effects were this serious and he hadn’t swapped Emily and the Potato for more than a few hours.

God alone knew what would happen if he swapped a pair of souls for an entire day. Or a week.