Gifted

Originally posted on March 16, 2020.

Lawrence had known Kara ever since they were kids. She was always better than him in every way he could imagine. She was smarter, more talented, better looking by far...even when he tried really hard to excel at something new, she’d take a single try and blow him out of the water. The worst part? She was also much nicer and also more popular. Even when Lawrence became a loner nerd in high school; Kara was nice to him, stayed his friend, and defended him against the other popular kids. She stayed in touch through college, and he tried to stay polite. But, frankly, every time he talked to her he felt annoyed and jealous. She had to have some flaw, right? He wished he could be perfect like her!

Then one day he awoke in a large, unfamiliar room. The nails on his hand were painted. He rushed to a mirror to see Kara’s face looking back at him. He was Kara! He had her body! But he wondered as he looked over at the piano, did he also have her abilities? He sat and began to effortlessly play; it seemed he did! He thought about if Kara was now stuck in his body. For a second, he wanted to laugh; but it quickly faded into a feeling of concern. He also seemed to have Kara’s unbelievable niceness. He knew he had to call her to see if she was okay. But the person on the other end of the phone seemed to actually be Lawrence and not Kara stuck in his body. He stopped short of asking directly, lest being thought of as insane. As he hung up, he realized he now had the most amazing gift in the world.