Three days ago I was a normal teenager, who was about to celebrate his sixteenth birthday in three days.
Two days ago I started having an uncontrollable urge to suck on my thumb. And I do mean uncontrollable. Every time I turned around I would find my thumb in my mouth, without realizing I had done it. Or when I had done it. I had a very embarrassing day at school.
Yesterday I did something I hadn't done in thirteen years. I wet my bed. When I told my mom, she didn't shout or scream. She acted like she had been expecting it. All she said to me was, "I will put some plastic sheets on your bed, until we find out if it is just a one time thing."
Just being glad I wasn't in trouble, I agreed. Today when I awoke, I found out what this all meant.
When I awoke this morning, I had wet my bed again. This didn't bother me at all. What did bother me was, when I opened my eyes everything looked so huge. I suddenly became very scared. I then did something no sixteen year-old boy would ever do. I started to cry. Not like a grown-up but like a baby.
My parents immediately entered my room. My mom said these words as she bent down. "I see my baby is awake." She then picked me as if I were a baby and cradled me in her arms, rocking me back and forth.
My dad finally said something. "Dean, we should have told you about this before but we didn't."
With my mom still rocking me back and forth. My dad went on and explained what had happened.
"You see, six generations back, one of our ancestors, perjured himself in court against a woman that everyone said was a witch. It turns out she really was a witch. The only way anybody could prove it was with false testimony. So as this witch was leaving the courtroom for the last time she put a curse on our family. We didn't find out about until our ancestor reach his sixteenth birthday when his parents found a baby in his bed.
"Since that time, when one of our family reach their sixteenth birthday, a baby would be found in their place. The signs we were watching out for were the sucking on the thumb and wetting the bed."
"Dean, you're not the only one caught in the family curse. Remember your cousin James who everybody said had run away. He didn't. She is living at home as your baby cousin Jamie. You see that is the other part of the curse. Your sex changed. You are a newborn baby girl."
"We are sorry about this. But there was nothing we could do," said my mom. "In a few minutes you'll forget everything that you have learned."
"Would Deanna like to have some breakfast?" As my mom said this, she opened her housecoat, revealing her breast. "The witch wasn't all that cruel. She knew a baby needed to be fed. So part of the curse is. I'll be able to breast feed you."
My mom squeezed her breast and squirted a little milk into my mouth. As I swallowed my first taste of breast milk, my mind suddenly went blank.
As you can see I haven't finished my first feeding yet.