BtVS Ficlet: Switched
Title: Switched
Fandom: BtVS
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Amy Madison, Catherine Madison.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 834
Spoilers: The Witch.
Summary: Amy wakes up one morning to find something weird has happened during the night.
Written For: Challenge 263: Magic at fan_flashworks. Also for the ‘On The Outside’ square on my bingo card.
Disclaimer: I don’t own BTVS, or the characters.
Amy’s dad used to call her mom a witch all the time, but her parents were forever fighting, so she’d never thought he meant it literally. Not until now. What had her mom done? A spell of some sort, obviously, because while Amy still felt like herself on the inside, on the outside she looked… exactly like her mom. She stared at herself in the mirror, or not herself, her mother. God, it was so confusing!
It had to be a body swap, just like in those movies she used to watch; her mom had whipped Amy out of her body and taken it for herself, leaving Amy trapped in her mother’s body.
“It was wasted on you anyway, you never appreciated what you had,” her mother accused from the bedroom doorway, looking exactly like Amy except for the contemptuous expression on her face. “Look at what you’ve done to your body, stuffing yourself with candy. You’re fat and lazy! Well, not anymore, missy. I’ll whip your body into shape in no time, a strict diet and plenty of exercise, and then we’ll see.”
“But mom…” It was so weird hearing her mother’s voice when she spoke; Amy shut up quickly and swallowed hard. This couldn’t be real. It had to be an illusion, or a nightmare. She’d wake up in a minute and everything would be perfectly normal…
“But nothing! I tried with you, I really did, but you never listened. You just wasted your youth, slobbing around and eating, always eating, and I can’t stand it anymore! You were supposed to follow in my footsteps, be a cheerleader, the envy of all the other girls. Well if you won’t do it for yourself, or for me after all I’ve sacrificed for your sake, then I guess I’ll just have to do it for you. It’s the only way; you were never going to make anything of yourself anyway.”
Turning her back to the mirror, Amy stared in horror at her own body with its new inhabitant, unable to find her voice. She wanted to deny everything her mother had said, explain that she wasn’t like her mom, didn’t want the same things, that she had the right to live her life her own way, but the words wouldn’t come because at the back of her mind she wondered if maybe this really was her fault for letting her mom down.
“What’s the matter?” her mother taunted. “Cat got your tongue?” When Amy still remained silent, Catherine just gave her a disgusted look. “Fine, sulk if you want, but it won’t do you any good. Now, I’m going for a run before school and you, young lady, are going to stay here and clean this place, top to bottom. Just stay out of the attic! Oh, and in case you thought you’d raid the refrigerator while I’m gone, don’t even think about it; I put a lock on it. I’m not letting you ruin my body the way you ruined your own. I might want it back someday.” With that parting shot, she was out the door, locking it behind her, leaving Amy numb with disbelief.
“Magic’s real, my mom’s a witch, and she’s put a spell on me!” Alone, freed from the weight of her mother’s disapproval, the words slipped out with a slightly hysterical edge to them; Amy wished she could believe it was all a dream, but that wasn’t how it felt. Her heart sank; she had no choice but to accept that it was real. She was trapped in her mom’s middle-aged body, not to mention locked in the house, while her mom was off in Amy’s body, living Amy’s life…
It wasn’t right and it wasn’t fair, but what could she do about it? Even if she tried to tell anyone they’d never believe her. They’d think she was cracking up and send for the men in white coats, which would only make things worse. At least if she was here she could keep an eye on her mom, and her body, while she tried to figure out what to do, even if it meant she was sort of on the outside of her life looking in. It was marginally better than being cut off from everything she knew.
Opening her mother’s closet, Amy dressed in some of her mother’s clothes, trying to convince herself that she wouldn’t be stuck like this forever. Her mom would get tired of doing high school again, tired of trying to recapture her glory days in a body that simply wasn’t built for it. This was temporary; it had to be. Maybe the spell would wear off in a few hours, or a few days, a week at most. She clung to that hope like a lifeline as she started to do the cleaning. Somehow she was going to get her body back and then… maybe she could get away from here, go live with her dad, and forget all about magic.
The End
Fandom: BtVS
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Amy Madison, Catherine Madison.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 834
Spoilers: The Witch.
Summary: Amy wakes up one morning to find something weird has happened during the night.
Written For: Challenge 263: Magic at fan_flashworks. Also for the ‘On The Outside’ square on my bingo card.
Disclaimer: I don’t own BTVS, or the characters.
Amy’s dad used to call her mom a witch all the time, but her parents were forever fighting, so she’d never thought he meant it literally. Not until now. What had her mom done? A spell of some sort, obviously, because while Amy still felt like herself on the inside, on the outside she looked… exactly like her mom. She stared at herself in the mirror, or not herself, her mother. God, it was so confusing!
It had to be a body swap, just like in those movies she used to watch; her mom had whipped Amy out of her body and taken it for herself, leaving Amy trapped in her mother’s body.
“It was wasted on you anyway, you never appreciated what you had,” her mother accused from the bedroom doorway, looking exactly like Amy except for the contemptuous expression on her face. “Look at what you’ve done to your body, stuffing yourself with candy. You’re fat and lazy! Well, not anymore, missy. I’ll whip your body into shape in no time, a strict diet and plenty of exercise, and then we’ll see.”
“But mom…” It was so weird hearing her mother’s voice when she spoke; Amy shut up quickly and swallowed hard. This couldn’t be real. It had to be an illusion, or a nightmare. She’d wake up in a minute and everything would be perfectly normal…
“But nothing! I tried with you, I really did, but you never listened. You just wasted your youth, slobbing around and eating, always eating, and I can’t stand it anymore! You were supposed to follow in my footsteps, be a cheerleader, the envy of all the other girls. Well if you won’t do it for yourself, or for me after all I’ve sacrificed for your sake, then I guess I’ll just have to do it for you. It’s the only way; you were never going to make anything of yourself anyway.”
Turning her back to the mirror, Amy stared in horror at her own body with its new inhabitant, unable to find her voice. She wanted to deny everything her mother had said, explain that she wasn’t like her mom, didn’t want the same things, that she had the right to live her life her own way, but the words wouldn’t come because at the back of her mind she wondered if maybe this really was her fault for letting her mom down.
“What’s the matter?” her mother taunted. “Cat got your tongue?” When Amy still remained silent, Catherine just gave her a disgusted look. “Fine, sulk if you want, but it won’t do you any good. Now, I’m going for a run before school and you, young lady, are going to stay here and clean this place, top to bottom. Just stay out of the attic! Oh, and in case you thought you’d raid the refrigerator while I’m gone, don’t even think about it; I put a lock on it. I’m not letting you ruin my body the way you ruined your own. I might want it back someday.” With that parting shot, she was out the door, locking it behind her, leaving Amy numb with disbelief.
“Magic’s real, my mom’s a witch, and she’s put a spell on me!” Alone, freed from the weight of her mother’s disapproval, the words slipped out with a slightly hysterical edge to them; Amy wished she could believe it was all a dream, but that wasn’t how it felt. Her heart sank; she had no choice but to accept that it was real. She was trapped in her mom’s middle-aged body, not to mention locked in the house, while her mom was off in Amy’s body, living Amy’s life…
It wasn’t right and it wasn’t fair, but what could she do about it? Even if she tried to tell anyone they’d never believe her. They’d think she was cracking up and send for the men in white coats, which would only make things worse. At least if she was here she could keep an eye on her mom, and her body, while she tried to figure out what to do, even if it meant she was sort of on the outside of her life looking in. It was marginally better than being cut off from everything she knew.
Opening her mother’s closet, Amy dressed in some of her mother’s clothes, trying to convince herself that she wouldn’t be stuck like this forever. Her mom would get tired of doing high school again, tired of trying to recapture her glory days in a body that simply wasn’t built for it. This was temporary; it had to be. Maybe the spell would wear off in a few hours, or a few days, a week at most. She clung to that hope like a lifeline as she started to do the cleaning. Somehow she was going to get her body back and then… maybe she could get away from here, go live with her dad, and forget all about magic.
The End