Astral Projection

For the past few nights, Max had been practicing astral projection and he felt like he was getting pretty good at it. Just the night before, he had made it to the end of the block before feeling the draw to return back home and tonight, he resolved as he brushed his teeth, he would make it even farther.

Lying down on his bed, he began to focus on his breathing, bringing it to a calm, slow rhythm. He slowly began to ease his consciousness out beyond the confines of himself and began to slowly move farther and farther away. As easy as could be, he slipped out through the front door and began to move down the street. It was not walking, per se, almost like a floating sensation. He saw the end of the street coming. This was it, he was going to make it farther today. At the back of his mind, he could feel a light tug, but every book he had read told him that that tug could be stretched out through practice. He passed the stop sign at the end of the street and kept going, the strain rapidly becoming more and more. Where he had started out moving freely, it now felt like he swam through molasses. Just a little bit farther, a little bit

With a snap, he felt himself being yanked violently back to his house. His eyes flew open and he gasped. What had happened? He always felt a little off at the end of an attempt, but he felt lighter, smaller, somehow. The ceiling of his bedroom looked different, like there was a soft fabric above him. He blinked and realized that he was staring at the pink canopy over his little sister’s bed.

“What? Why am I in Cassie’s bed? Why do I have Cassie’s voice?” He kicked off the white and pink polka dot bedspread and dashed to the mirror. He stared at the little girl in the nightgown that met his gaze in the mirror. “Holy shit! I’m Cassie!” He turned as he heard the door creak up and stared at his own bare chest. Looking up, he saw his face in a big smile.

“Hello there, little sister.” He heard his voice say.

“Cassie?”

“Looks like I’m Max now.” She said with a chuckle. “But don’t worry, I’m going to be a much different big brother than you ever were. You barely acknowledged me, but I’ll be a much more active big brother.”

“What’s that mean?” Max asked nervously.

“Shh.” Cassie shepherded him back to his bed, snickering as he stumbled over the hem of his nightie. “Go back to sleep, little girl. You need your rest.” She tucked him in and smiled. “You’ve got a big day of modeling all of my, I mean your prettiest dresses so you can really get into that little girl mindset.” She kissed his forehead. “Oh, and don’t forget you’re starting ballet on Tuesday. My former big brother will make just the cutest little ballerina!”