Un-Switched

Chapter One: The Switch

Author fore warning;
Hello! It's been a while since I have written anything to post. Like almost 10 years a while lol. My skills have wildly improved, and after stumbling around I found this VERY OLD account. Don't ready any other published works lol, they are bad. Anyways, I hope this one is good. Please point out any typos in the comments and feel free to correct my writing- I'm always looking to improve.
P.S. this story is very important to me. It will explore gender identity and how it feels to be trapped in the wrong body- nothing more. Just fun and exploration. If you find that political or unpleasant for any reason then leave now. I am not talking politics, I'm expressing pain through art. On to the story.

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   When Anna and Elijah switched bodies they were, respectively, only twelve and eleven. Some freaky witch woman Ms.Danberry decided they absolutely needed to experience 'Life in The Other's Shoe' before placing the spell. It only took them two weeks to realize they didn't want the other's life. Unfortunately the process involved a stolen birthday, but all was forgiven with the promise of returning to their previous lives. Anna and Elijah were ready. They worked together to gather the vase, the goose, and the expensive spice that was only just celery seed. They bounded to her house, crying tears of joy as they couldn't wait to have their lives back. And nothing happened.

   Well, a lot of things happened- namely three. First, the old Ms. Danberry left the window open which allowed a wasp to fly in to her home in-observed. It had fallen into her drink. Secondly, Ms. Danberry, for perhaps a number of reasons, took a large gulp of her drink and swallowed the still squirming wasp, which proceeded to sting her all the way down to her stomach. Then Third, and perhaps the most unpleasant thing, Anna and Elijah slammed the door straight into her corpse. The two children stood there, their arms failing at their sides as they gazed down at the lifeless body of their once chance back.

  In a rage, Elijah in Anna's body threw the celery seed into the wall. They both helplessly watched as the seeds showered down and scattered across the floor. Anna inside Elijah's body let on a weak sniffle. After a moment Elijah turned to her, watching as his own face twisted into a mess of tears.
"Why are you crying? Men don't-" Elijah choked out in her voice, his words catching in his throat with his own tears. Anna paused, staring at him for a beat only to start yelling at Elijah in his own voice in turn.
"Men don't cry? Is that what you started saying?!" She shouted in sobs. "All I hear from you jerk-face father is that men don't cry! Well I'm not a man! And I want to cry!" She howled out, falling to her knees to sob.

   Elijah couldn't help but stare. It was his body doing the crying, his voice and his hands cleaning the tears away. Except he wasn't the one crying. Anna was. Elijah wanted to comfort her, but it would also be comforting himself and for some reason he couldn't stand to touch himself. In consequence it meant he couldn't touch her. He gave up as well after that moment passed. They sat across each other, eyes puffy as they stared.
"I miss my mom," Anna said. Elijah looked up, clicking his tongue a bit.
"Yeah... I think I was going to miss her too," Elijah replied, thinking about the way Anna's mom tucked him in last night after a particularly jarring day.
"You can keep your dad," she added, getting a laugh out of both of them. Elijah nodded, picking at his nails a bit.

  Another awkward pause. Neither of them quite knew what to do next. Slowly Elijah rose, still use to being the big his father raised him to be rather than the daughter Anna's parents were trying to cultivate. He reached out to her, causing Anna to give pause. He wondered if she felt the same day about touching her former body the way he did. Eventually she acquiesced, wrapping those long and cool fingers around his now stout and warm palm. Elijah pulled Anna up to her feet. His feet. He forced a bit of a smile and looked to her.
"We'll find something. I promise," he said, hugging her back when she fell into lock step before collapsing onto him.
"You smell like my mom," Anna whimpered as Elijah nodded.
"Yeah, she hugged me just before a left," he added.
"I hope I can hug her again one day,"