Doctor's Orders (Part 1)

Originally posted on March 3, 2019.

Every time Abe visited the doctor, he was given more bad news due to his age. A few years ago, he was told he needed to stop drinking. Last year, he was told to cut out red meat. And just a few weeks ago, he was instructed to start taking a yoga class. The 80 year old man grumbled as he stood on a mat at the beach, watching a cheerful Asian woman encouraging the other seniors in class to perform various poses. Most of the time, Abe just stood there. He was sure his body wouldn’t move in just about any of these ways, and was convinced doing so was stupid even if he could. All the while, the instructor did her best to push Abe to try with a smile. Then something odd happened. Instead of standing, Abe was now on his stomach; his hands were inexplicably touching his own feet. His body no longer ached, and he realized he was now in front of the class staring at all the other seniors. Coming to the conclusion he somehow swapped bodies with the yoga instructor, he fell to his stomach and mumbled the words, “Class dismissed.” The other seniors walked away, leaving his own body standing there with a surprised, blank expression.