"Can't you do such a small thing for me? I am tired" said my dad when I declined to go drop my grandmother to bus stand. "You go dad, you are free. I have loads to read" I said, as usual making studies as my excuse. He was angry. He left without speaking a word. I didn't care. I was tired of reading whole day and didn't wish to go anywhere. He could relax when he came home but it wasn't the same for me. I had assignments to complete and exams to read for! How can he expect me to do more? I slept thinking how life is unfair.
Next morning when I woke up, I was feeling uncomfortable. My whole body was hurting and I couldn't stretch as the place seemed congested. I sat up groggily and noticed I was sleeping on the sofa. Strange! I didn't remember coming here! I walk towards the wash basin still sleepy and take my brush. As I start brushing I look into the mirror and see dad. "Good morning Dad" I said and my reflection mimicked me. I was confused! I turned around and saw that dad wasn't anywhere near and when I look back into the mirror, the bewildered eyes of dad were staring back at me. "NO!!!" I let out a shriek as realization dawned upon me! I ran to my room and see myself sleeping peacefully. "Dad! Wake up!" I shook my body feeling like an idiot with the addressing! I saw slowly as he woke up wondering why I was disturbing him at such an early hour. His face (or rather mine) described a wide range of emotions from irritation to confusion to shock to disbelief. "What the" he started looking at me and then his reflection in the mirror. "Soul exchange" I completed.
Once the initial shock wore off, his eyes twinkled with mischief as he said "Lets get on with this. I am fed up with that office anyways. You live my life today while I live yours. I am sure it will be fun" he said as he tried to go back to sleep. I couldn't believe what he just said! Well if he wanted it to be so, then I would do it. "Fine dad. Lets do it. Lets start with your first task. The book is on the desk. You better start reading as you have to attend internals today. Now you don't want your darling daughter to score less, do you?" I smiled and left the room satisfied with the chagrin I saw on his face. It's 1-0 I thought with a mental hi-5. I went back to bed thinking I would just skip his office taking sick leave. But luck wasn't with me. Dad said I had to go as his colleague was on leave and he had to complete the accounts today! I grudgingly woke up and got ready changing the score board to 1-1. "It shouldn't be difficult" I thought. Just a matter of 9 hours and I can rest for the whole day, I consoled myself as I left for his office.
Office was hell as I didn't know what to do. So many customers were flowing in asking for details which I didn't know. Manager called me in and gave me the task of completing the accounts. He said he wanted it to be done soon. I had to send a few mails which were the only tasks I completed successfully. The account book looked like a monster that would swallow me up. So many figures and so many calculations! The sun outside was burning and the office didn't have an AC either as dad worked in a village that is at 2 hour journey from our home. And my body was hurting like hell from the travel along that poor road! I cursed dad for sleeping on the sofa and made a mental note to ask him the reason later.
By the end of the day, I was totally exhausted. The accounts were still pending. I had taken a few trips to the manager's cabin and one time he even scolded me for a mistake that wasn't mine! I wanted to talk back but realized that would put dad in a difficult position. I swallowed my pride and stood there listening to him without speaking a word. When you work under someone, you have no choice than to listen to them, I learnt. I returned home by 7 pm tired from standing in the bus throughout the journey as the bus was filled with people returning to their home for weekend! "2-1 dad! I lost" I thought as I entered home. I expected to see dad's victorious face seeing my condition but the situation was different.
Dad looked as tired as me. He told waking up early and reading wasn't a good idea as he had lost that habit. Internals had took the best out of him and the lectures that followed weren't great either. He even was caught yawning and the lecturer had given him an assignment as punishment. "How could he do that! It was just a yawn" he said still not believing the absurdity of it all. It seemed that he was writing the same and now was tired of it. He wanted some rest as his head hurt from staring at the laptop whole evening. "2-2" I thought as I smiled lightly. "But dad, why were you sleeping on the sofa yesterday?" I asked. "Well it was late when I returned from bus stand. I didn't want to disturb anyone" he said and I felt my eyes turn moist. I didn't speak a word and went inside to rest, wishing this would end.
I dreaded opening my eyes next morning! I didn't want to go through my dad's routine again! I was stalling time when dad came and woke me up. I looked at him. He was... well he was himself which meant I was back in my body! The soul switch had been reversed and I was so ecstatic. I apologized to my dad for being rude a day back when he had given me some work. He waved it aside saying he understood it wasn't easy being me either. Whatever the reason was, the switch had helped us understand each other better and I respected him even more, now that I had lived his life. "Well the assignment is still incomplete" he said sheepishly. "Oh that's nothing your daughter can't handle" I replied with a wink, glad to be back to my own self!
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| image source: google images |
Until the next post,
Keep Smiling :)
Love,
Swathi :)
