The Swapping/J.Smallbone

V: And Now We're Dead

The light was bright. Jerry blinked. And then again. And then again.

Two tiny faces peered at him.

His girls.

He sat up so quickly, he nearly bopped Mabel in the face. Isla shrieked.

"You're alive!"

"I'm alive!"Jerry yelled, squeezing his kids.

"I thought you died,"Mabel whispered into his ear.

"I thought I did too."

He kept squeezing. Well, until Isla squirmed and said that was enough for one day.

He was elated.

"Come on,"he said, getting up. "Let's watch a movie."

Isla and Mabel argued over which film to see while Jerry got himself some water. He nearly dropped the cup when he saw what was on the counter.

A cookie. An orange -ginger cookie, covered in white frosting - piped with an apology. The blue cursive I'm sorry plunged ice into his veins.

🍊

The light was bright. Joel blinked. And then again. And then again.

A woman was sobbing over him.

"Oh, Joel..."

Wait. He knew that voice.

"Moriah?"he creaked.

"Joel!"

It was a sappy reunion. After all, his whole family and band and some other people (seriously, what was Matt Maher doing there?) had shown up to see him die (was there nothing good on Netflix?). Also, there was some man dressed up as Winnie the Pooh, a gesture only his nieces and nephews seemed to appreciate.

"Oh, I thought I was gonna lose you, Joely,"Moriah wept. It was very melodramatic, and made Joel wonder if he'd accidentally woken up into a soap opera. After waking up in someone else's life, he couldn't be sure.

"Here, baby, I got this for you." She reached into her purse and pulled out a cookie. An orange -ginger cookie. Piped with a blue cursive apology.

🍊

The end.