Next Generation
By spunkie-girl
Little Declan laughed happily and slapped his knees as he watched TV. Kevin looked up from his work and smiled. It had been ten years since Tess had lost her Switching powers, and as soon as they were old enough, Tess and Kevin had gotten married. Their only child, Little Declan, had not yet discovered his ability to Switch, though Tess, Kevin, and Martin, who lived next door to them, planned to try to teach him. They had visited Big Declan, the boy who had chosen to live as a fairy, and after whom their son had been named, five times in the past ten years and watched Tess's Switcher cousins grow up. Orla and Brian had both lost their Switching powers -- Orla remaining human while Brian became a fairy -- and Colm, now 13, still had two years to go. Uncle Maurice had become much more cheerful since he'd reconciled with his long lost twin, and all of them were content with their lives. Kevin forced himself out of his daydreaming and returned to the bills, wondering how on earth they'd gotten such a huge cable bill. Perhaps three-year-old Declan watched more than they realized. He made a mental note to mention it to Tess.
As he worked he became aware of a scratching in the walls. The house had rats, but he and Tess liked having them around. He glanced toward the rat hole in the wall and smiled as an unusually long nose poked out of it. "Long nose happy, huh?" Kevin sent in the visual language of the rats.
"Yup yup. Long nose happy, filled with good food. Have happy baby rats. All of us happy and fat, easy life." Kevin grinned, then glanced toward the door. "Hey!" He greeted his wife as she walked in. "How was your day?" Tess gave him a Look.
"Well, Mr. Trent is still trying to get permission to cut down the forest on Wenslow street, to build a new development. I think we've at least slowed him down though. How anyone can be so callous toward the animals…" Tess threw her jacket over a chair and let down her long black hair. "C'mere Deccie." Declan giggled as his mother scooped him up and gave him a hug. "You're three years old now." She told him seriously. "You know what Mommy and Daddy do for work don't you? Trying to help the animals?" Dec nodded, his blue eyes large. "Well, only people who can't sympathize with -- that means understand -- the animals want to hurt them. Do you want to be able to understand animals better than almost anyone else?" Dec nodded eagerly.
"Come now Tess, don't you think he's a bit young?" Kevin interjected. "He's only three years old for crying out loud!"
"He can use the extra time." Tess answered. Then, to Declan, "What's your favorite animal?" Declan thought hard.
"A monkey!" Kevin put down his calculator and turned to watch. Martin came in from the living room where he'd been reading and listening.
"OK." Tess told him. "That's a good one. Now a want you to think about what monkeys look like, OK? Picture it in your mind." Declan looked to Kevin.
"Go on honey." He urged him. Declan nodded and screwed his eyes in concentration.
"Now" Tess's voice was soft, gentle, "can you imagine what it's like to be a monkey? From the inside?" Tess felt a sense of disorientation, confusion, as the world became fluid and unfocused, and then Declan was a monkey. At first he looked shocked, then he started exploring his new body, walking around the room. Tess threw a triumphant look at the two guys.
"Can he Switch back into himself?" Kevin wondered, but almost before he'd finished the sentence, Declan was himself, laughing happily and clapping his hands.
"Monkey! I was monkey!" Half sobbing in joy, Tess threw her arms around her son. A new generation of Switchers had been born.
