Mrs. Swanson kept her hand on my back as we both walked further down the hallway. She suddenly pushed me towards into Hall C, which intersected with the main hallway and pinned me against the wall.

“Wow, you’ve got yourself in a whirlpool of trouble, haven’t you” she said to me.

I was still a little shaken from a few seconds ago, so all I could say was, “Yeah, you could say that.”

“Oh Andy, one thing’s for sure, you’ve learned a lot since you stepped into my store.”

My brain abruptly paused. I could not believe what she was saying to me!

“S-store? What? What are you talking about?”

She slowly bent down to level her eyes to mine. She was silent for a few seconds, and then finally whispered, “Are you happy, Andy?” to me.

“You… It’s you! You’re the gypsy lady! How…how are you in the body of Mrs. Swanson? Are you a witch, a ghost, or something?”

“Sweet boy, let’s just say I have power.”

“But I saw you in front of Vicky’s Summer Goods. You turned into a mannequin!”

“Or… I know how to shift bodies!”

“You know what. At this point, I’m not going to care! Do you have something that can help me? Because of those controllers you gave me, the class valedictorian is going to grow up to be a fry cook and my two best friends are mindless zombies! Please! Give me something to save them!”

The lady reached into her pocket and then pulled something out from her black slacks. She placed the thing into my hand and when she lifted her hand away, I only saw a black rubber controller that said, “I will let Andrew go to the library” on it.

“Andrew,” she finally said, “All I gave you is all you have. To tell you the truth, you have learned a lot since you walked into my old knick-knack store. Only a few days ago, you let a mere $10 and a chore ruin your day. Now, with the power to get your way, you’re trying to save others instead of helping yourself.”

“Not to be rude ma’am, but how is that going to save anyone?”

“Look at your hand and look at your pocket. I believe that with your brain and your resources, you can get out of this predicament.”

“How? I have to save three people with only two rubber controllers? That’s impossible!”  

The lady stood back up, walked to my side, and whispered into my ear, “Use what you’ve learned and what you have, and you can solve about anything.”

I had no idea what to say. I just kept look at the gypsy lady in the body of Mrs. Swanson. She gave me one last look, one last smile, turned around, and walked away into the dark end of the hallway.

The announcers, with their poor audio quality and static, turned on once more, and Principal Van Dooren said, “Mr. Andrew Nilson, please report to the Principal’s office immediately! Mr. Andrew Nilson!”

No more time to waste! I felt the black rubber controller in my right fist, took a deep breath, and went on my way to the office.