Episode 2: The Morning Shock
886 Words
The morning sun rose over San Aurelia, painting the city in shades of gold.
For six women, it should have been an ordinary day.
Instead, it became the beginning of a nightmare.
*Ariana's Awakening*
Ariana Cruz woke to the sound of children arguing.
Her eyes flew open.
Children?
She sat up abruptly.
The room was unfamiliar.
The floral curtains.
The wooden dresser.
The family photographs covering the walls.
Nothing belonged to her.
"What?"
Her heart raced.
She jumped out of bed and nearly tripped over a toy truck.
The bedroom door burst open.
A young boy rushed inside.
"Mom! Marco won't give me the remote!"
Ariana froze.
"...Mom?"
Before she could respond, another child appeared.
"He started it!"
Ariana stared at them.
The children stared back.
Then both looked confused.
"Mom, are you okay?"
Ariana stumbled toward the mirror.
The reflection made her scream.
Looking back at her was not Ariana Cruz.
It was a woman in her mid-forties.
Miriam Garcia.
*Bianca's Awakening*
Bianca Reyes woke up expecting to hear her alarm clock.
Instead, she heard a voice shouting from downstairs.
"Honey! Have you seen my blue tie?"
Bianca sat upright.
Honey?
Blue tie?
What was happening?
She rushed out of bed.
The room was cozy and modest.
Family pictures covered the walls.
One photograph showed a smiling woman standing beside a husband and two children.
The woman was Linda Ramos.
Bianca stared.
"No."
She ran into the bathroom.
The mirror confirmed her fear.
Linda's face stared back.
Bianca touched her cheeks.
The reflection copied her movements.
"No no no no no."
A little girl suddenly appeared in the doorway.
"Mom?"
Bianca nearly fainted.
*Chloe's Awakening*
Chloe Santos awoke to the smell of pancakes.
For a moment, she smiled.
Then she remembered she lived alone.
She opened her eyes.
The room wasn't her penthouse.
The ceiling was lower.
The furniture was old.
The walls displayed family photographs.
A wedding portrait hung nearby.
Chloe climbed out of bed and found herself wearing Teresa Flores's pajamas.
Her stomach dropped.
She rushed toward a mirror.
The face staring back belonged to Teresa.
A forty-seven-year-old mother.
A woman Chloe had never met.
"What is happening?!"
A man's voice came from downstairs.
"Teresa, breakfast is ready!"
Chloe screamed.
# Across Town
At the exact same time, three other women were experiencing a very different shock.
*Teresa's Awakening*
Teresa slowly opened her eyes.
The mattress felt unusually soft.
The room was enormous.
Sunlight poured through floor-to-ceiling windows.
The city skyline stretched beyond them.
"What hotel is this?"
She sat up.
Her pajamas were made of silk.
A tablet computer rested on a nearby table.
The apartment looked larger than her entire house.
Then she noticed a framed magazine cover.
The headline read:
ARIANA CRUZ: THE ARCHITECT CHANGING THE WORLD
Teresa frowned.
The woman on the cover looked familiar.
Very familiar.
Her hands trembled.
She ran to the mirror.
A younger face stared back.
Elegant.
Beautiful.
Confident.
Not her own.
Teresa gasped.
"Ariana Cruz?!"
*Linda's Awakening*
Linda woke inside a luxurious penthouse.
At first, she thought she was dreaming.
The apartment was larger than any place she had ever entered.
A giant television occupied one wall.
The kitchen looked like it belonged in a magazine.
Then she noticed dozens of awards displayed on shelves.
Technology Innovation Award.
Entrepreneur of the Year.
Business Excellence Medal.
The name of every trophy was the same.
Chloe Santos.
Linda nearly dropped one.
"What?"
She rushed to a mirror.
A young woman stared back.
Long hair.
Perfect makeup.
Expensive clothing.
Not Linda.
She touched her face.
The stranger did the same.
Linda screamed loud enough to echo through the penthouse.
*Miriam's Awakening*
Miriam woke to a phone ringing nonstop.
She grabbed it instinctively.
The screen displayed dozens of messages.
Hospital Director
Operating Room Team
Emergency Consultation
"What kind of phone is this?"
Another message arrived.
Dr. Reyes, we need your approval immediately.
Teresa blinked.
Dr. Reyes?
Her eyes widened.
She jumped out of bed and nearly slipped.
The apartment was modern and elegant.
Medical books filled the shelves.
Certificates decorated the walls.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Dr. Bianca Reyes
Miriam slowly approached a mirror.
When she saw the reflection, her knees nearly gave out.
She wasn't Miriam Garcia anymore.
She was Bianca Reyes.
A famous surgeon.
#Chaos
Within an hour, chaos spread across six different lives.
Ariana accidentally burned breakfast because she didn't know how Miriam's stove worked.
Bianca kept forgetting the names of Linda's children.
Chloe locked herself in Teresa's bathroom trying to understand what had happened.
Meanwhile—
Miriam had no idea how to operate Ariana's design software.
Linda nearly fainted when she saw the balance of Chloe's bank account.
Teresa ignored twenty-seven phone calls from the hospital because she didn't know first thing about surgery.
Every one of them thought they were losing their minds.
By noon, all six women had reached the same conclusion.
Something impossible had happened.
Someone—or something—had answered their wishes.
And now they were trapped inside each other's lives.
The only question was:
How could they ever get back?
As the afternoon sky darkened unexpectedly, the same strange silver light from the shooting star flickered for a moment above the city.
Watching from somewhere beyond the clouds was a mysterious figure cloaked in starlight.
And it smiled.©️🌠
- Writer
