Eva awoke on Monday morning and did her morning routine. She brushed her teeth, brushed her hair, put in a barrette or two, and got herself dressed, putting on a pretty floral print sundress. She was checking her reflection in the mirror when it hit her.

'Oh my goodness', she realized, 'I did all of that completely naturally'. It hadn't even occurred to her until that point that there was anything unusual about waking up as a girl and getting ready for her girly day. She shuddered a little at the thought that she might forget all about who she used to be. She was ecstatic to be Eva, but she didn't want to forget about being Eddie. The idea made her sad. But somehow she was certain that would never happen.

She also didn't want to ever take for granted this wonderful gift that had been bestowed upon her. She resolved then and there to emphasize those elements of femininity that give back to the world - empathy, compassion, nurturing, grace. The universe had made things right with her, and she would make things right with the universe, by being the best person she could be.

Her mother was in the kitchen when she came down to get some cereal.

"You ready for some knitting?" Marian asked.

"Knitting?"

"Yes, don't you remember? We were going to work on the afghan this morning."

"Oh... ok," Eva replied, a bit alarmed at the prospect of exposing herself as a knitting know-nothing.

"Why, do you have other plans?"

"No, not until 1. Mickie and I are going out to Grady's Ford."

"It's so cute how you call him Mickie," Marian smiled.

Eva silently chastised herself for messing up his name again, but luckily it seemed like she could continue to get away with it without raising suspicion.

"OK let's get to it," Marian patted the sofa next to her, and Eva sat down, taking the knitting needles handed to her, along with a nub of a blanket connected to a ball of yarn. Marian had a similar setup and started right in on it. Eva stared at the needles, then at the yarn, with a rising sense of panic.

"Hello, little miss daydreamer," her mother said, snapping her fingers. "Aren't you going to start?"

Eva looked at her vacantly. "Um, I'm kinda drawing a blank..."

"Honestly," Marian grinned, "you are so preoccupied the last few days." She guided Eva's hands around the needles and looped the yarn, starting the motions needed. A muscle memory from who knows where kicked in, and within moments she was totally in a groove, knitting and purling as naturally as walking. A feeling of wonder flushed through her. It was like braiding Rosey's hair the day before - it seemed utterly foreign until she just started trying it, then suddenly it was second nature. She had to have faith that other things that would be expected of her would come to her as easily.

"Now I know we got interrupted the other night, but you promised to tell me about this problem between you and Stacy." Marian said gently. "Are you ready to talk about it?"

"Stacy?" Eva asked, again puzzled.

"Yes honey, Stacy Larson. I know there's some trouble between you two and you swore you would tell me about it."

"Uh... Mom, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Eva! Don't you try to snow me! I've been around the block once or twice you know."

Eva was quiet, looking down at her knitting, trying desperately to pull something out of her memory. She knew who Stacy Larson was, of course, but they'd had hardly any interaction, or at least Stacy and Eddie had had hardly any. What was Eva supposed to know about her? She'd been so thrilled when her fingers remembered how to braid, or how to knit, but she couldn't just dig her fingers into her brain and pull out a memory that didn't exist. She tried to will it out, thought of everything she could remember about Stacy, to cause some spark. But there was nothing. Her cheek felt moist and she realized she had started to cry.

"I can't remember, Mom!" she suddenly wailed. How was she going to live as Eva, if she can't remember what Eva has lived? Somehow she had thought it would all come to her, but suddenly she felt like just as much an imposter as she had as Eddie.

"Sweet peach, what's going on?" Marian took the needles and set them aside, and pulled her daughter in for a hug. "What is it you don't remember?"

"About Stacy, I don't remember anything happening!"

"But sweetie, you were all torn up about it, how could you just forget? That doesn't make any sense!"

She wanted to tell her mom she was a big phony, a pretender. Like the universe had put her in this new role, but still she didn't fit, she couldn't be herself because she didn't even know who she had been. But she couldn't say anything, she just sobbed into her mother's comforting bosom.

"Honey I'm a little worried about you, you've been saying some strange things lately. I wonder if... well maybe you should see a doctor."

"Strange things? What do you mean?"

"Well I mean, asking about your Uncle Ed, and being afraid of the Reverend, and now you can't even remember this thing that you were so upset about a few days ago. I'm just a bit worried."

"Mom I'm sure I'm fine," she suddenly tried to walk it back. "I'm just a little forgetful, it's no big deal."

"You've never been like this before. Honey, maybe... maybe you have some kind of amnesia, or delusions..." Marian said uncomfortably. "Eva dear, do you remember last week at dinner, we were talking about where we might go next summer on vacation? Do you recall where?"

"Er..." she had no recollection, but she scrambled to deduce something. They usually went camping out west somewhere. "Um, Montana?"

"Honey, you know we were talking about Colorado."

"Oh yeah, Colorado! Sure, I remember."

"Where in Colorado?"

"Uhh... Denver?"

Marian sighed. "No baby, we were talking about the hot springs pool in Glenwood Springs. You were so excited to go back there."

"Oh, I love that pool!" She did remember going there, as Eddie. But she had no recollection of talking about it last week, and her mother was obviously growing increasingly concerned.

"Ok, let me ask you something else," Marian said slowly. "A couple weeks ago, we went to the movies, and we took two of your friends. Who came with us?"

"Geez, Mom, what is this, a quiz? I thought I was on summer break!"

"I'm just trying to make sure you're alright. Please answer my question, Eva. Who came with us?"

"Umm, umm..." It would probably be girls, she thought, my friends are girls right? "Uh, Patsy and um, Stacy?"

"Honey," her mom cocked her head, "it was Valerie and Ronda - you really don't remember?"

Eva started to tremble again. This was unraveling quickly.

"Honey, have you hit your head lately? Wiped out on your bike or something?"

At this point she wasn't sure if it was better to pretend something like that had happened, or deny there was any problem. So she just stared blankly.

"Tell me this then - who is the president of the United States?"

Eva gave her a funny look. "It's President Ford, of course."

Marian relaxed slightly. "And can you spell your last name backwards?"

"Mom, these are weird questions! Um, R-E-L... T-T-E-K. I'm not dumb Mom, I just forgot some things that weren't important."

Marian sighed with some relief. "Well I was afraid maybe you had a concussion. I guess you're ok but I'm still worried."

"Mom can I go get ready now? I'm supposed to meet Mike soon."

"Well ok - we didn't get much knitting done though. And you be careful out there on your bike."

"I will Mom." She stood up and kissed her mother's forehead and then went up the stairs to her bedroom.

Once the door was closed, she flung herself onto the bed and started to sob. Her mom was no dummy. She might be inhabiting the body of Eva, but she hadn't lived any of the experiences of Eva. Did she not think her own mother was going to see through that? This whole thing was already on a road to ruin.

Interestingly though, she pondered, her mother had not really lived through those experiences either. She had memories of it somehow, but she hadn't actually lived it any more than Eva had. Because she had been living through things with Eddie. Or they both had lived this too, but didn't both have the memories? It was so confusing!

The thing to do was see Mickie. He would reassure her and help her figure out how to cope. She put on some knee high white socks and some yellow sneakers, and fussed a bit with her hair. Then she walked downstairs, yelled goodbye to her mom, and went outside and got on her bike. It wasn't quite 1:00 yet, but she could ride around town a little bit to clear her head, and end up at his house at the right time.

Her mood lightened somewhat as she rode. She had a girl's bike now, the kind with no bar across the top, which meant she could comfortably ride it in her dress. She remembered dreaming of the wind blowing through her long hair, and relished the feeling of actually experiencing it now. She was NOT an imposter - this was her real self, and she couldn't let the weirdness of how the talisman had arranged things get in the way of her living the life she was entitled to. Anyway, she would be living new experiences now, and she could remember those, so the longer this went on, the less people would expect her to recall old memories. She just had to get through the next few weeks and she would settle in.

She showed up at Mike's at 1:00 and hopped off her bike, just as he was coming out the front door. He gave her a once over and smiled.

"Gosh, you sure have taken to this being a girl thing. You already know how to make yourself look real pretty."

She looked at his front door with a frown. "Not so loud," she whispered.

"Oh yeah," he caught himself. "Sorry." They both jumped on their bikes and pulled away from the house.

"But like I was saying, I really like... how you look."

"Aren't you the same person who was saying princesses are boring cuz they just sit around and look pretty?"

He chuckled. "Ok you got me. I guess my ideas on that are different now. You certainly aren't boring. I can't hardly stop thinking about you."

She turned away bashfully and looked ahead at the street they were pedaling down, feeling the warmth rising up into her face again.

"Mike, I'm a little worried - my mom is already figuring out that I don't remember stuff that I did as Eva. She's kinda suspicious about it."

"Yeah, I had something like that too. My brother was saying some stuff about something we talked about last week, I guess, and he thought it was real weird that I didn't know what he was talking about."

"Exactly! What do we do?"

"I don't know, I gotta think on it. Did you bring the talisman? Maybe it can help somehow."

"No, I thought we were done with it. Should I get it?"

"Yeah I guess it can't hurt."

They hadn't left the city limits yet, so they turned around and headed to Eva's house. She told her mom they'd decided to play frisbee out there and she was stopping to get one. She ran up to her room, grabbed the talisman and a purse and a frisbee, and left the house and put them in her bike basket. They resumed their trip and after a nice long ride they pulled up the lane into Grady's Ford.

"Let's walk up the path I took the other day," Mike suggested. "Then we can come back the one you took."

Eva put the talisman in her purse and they set off leisurely, walking up the trail together. The woods looked like regular woods today, but there was still an aura of wonder hanging in the air somehow. This is where she had truly felt like a girl for the first time, and now she was back, in her wonderful perfect body.

"Mike, did Laura say anything about this memory thing? Did she give you any pointers on how to deal with that?"

"No. I kinda just thought that would take care of itself - she acted like everything just clicked into place. So I'm sorta surprised it's like this."

"Do you remember anything about your past as Mike? I mean, any of the stuff that other people remember?"

His eyes took on a thoughtful look. "I really don't. I feel really comfortable being me, but I couldn't tell you anything I did last week, or last month, or last year."

"I can't either. But I remember everything I did as Eddie. And I don't wanna lose those memories, but it sure would be nice to know what I did as Eva."

"Yeah I know just what you mean. I'm glad I remember being Mickie, and that I remember you being Eddie. Although I sure am glad you're Eva now."

"Mike I just want you to know, I know being Mickie didn't really fit right for you, but... well I mean, I like you better this way, but you were a really cool girl too when you were Mickie. You just did your own thing, and didn't worry about trying to fit in or any of that. And I always admired you for that."

"Yeah I see what you mean, I guess. But sometimes maybe I was acting that way, but inside I was not as confident as I seemed. Being brave and independent is good, but feeling right in your body is good too."

He continued. "I suppose that's why I liked you too, when you were Eddie. You weren't like other boys. You had a tender side or something. And even though I didn't go for that gushy girl stuff, I liked that you didn't try to act all tough like the other boys. Most of them are just putting on a show anyway."

"You think you're gonna be just like all the other boys now?"

"I kinda hope not. I wanted so bad to be a boy, but at least I have some idea about the dumb things they do sometimes. So maybe I can be a better boy, since I've seen boys from the girls' team."

"Hmm. And maybe being a boy will make me a better girl somehow?"

"Maybe." He smiled at her. "You're gonna be the best girl no matter what, if you ask me."

She blushed again. "And I think you already know how to make a girl feel good."

"Well it's funny. I hated all that girly stuff - trying to be pretty, acting all sweet and soft - it just seemed ridiculous to me. But now I sorta get it, when I see it in you. It didn't work for me, but for you - it makes me feel drawn to you. I'm still trying to figure out what it means."

"I think what it means," Eva ventured, "is that we shouldn't hafta be something we're not. Like, when I tried to be tough or confident, it just didn't feel right. And now we've got these bodies that fit better with who we are. But kids shouldn't hafta act a certain way because of whatever dumb body they got stuck with."

"You're a wise girl, Eva. We're lucky we got that talisman to set us right. It's too bad there's other kids out there who won't get this chance."

They reached the clearing where the two trails met, and sat down in a grassy spot to have a rest.

"Did you really wrestle a bobcat out there?" Eva asked.

"I really did. It was amazing! We were rolling all around, and it almost got its teeth on my neck, but then I flipped it around and pinned it down, and then flung it off. And it ran off whimpering into the trees."

"Wow. And if one came here right now, would you fight it?"

"How many times do I have to tell you? I'm always gonna protect you. I really..."

"You really what?"

"I really want to keep you safe. The feeling is so strong, it's like a need that I have."

"Well you already saved me."

He raised an eyebrow. "From what?"

"From living my life as the wrong person."

"Well then you saved me too. That thing only works if there are two doing it."

Eva pulled the talisman out of the little purse she'd been carrying. She turned it over in her hand, rubbing her thumb over the smooth stone surface.

"To think this simple little thing turned the whole world right-side up," she mused.

Mike reached a hand over and ran his own thumb along it. His fingers gently slid over top the back of her hand. Eva breathed in sharply as his hand slowly caressed hers. It was like there was an electricity, a vibration...

Suddenly she realized the electric feeling was not just from Mike's touch. The talisman was vibrating, warming up, like it did the first time she'd held it. It was becoming almost unpleasant, but she couldn't seem to let go. Mike's hand held hers, apparently also unable to loosen its grip.

An alarming yet familiar sensation engulfed Eva's brain. That psychedelic swirl of memories that had kicked off this whole process - it was happening again. A storm was raging inside her head. Once more she had an image of jagged pegs and round holes. Only this time, the pegs were being smoothed and buffed and rounded, and then sliding effortlessly into the holes. As each peg slid into place, a tiny burst of contentment radiated from that spot in her mind, and a feeling of bliss slowly seeped across her whole being.

Eva gasped and leaned back as the inner storm subsided and the talisman's pulse faded. Mike's hand slipped off hers as he too leaned back, looking flushed. Their eyes met, and a thunder crack boomed across the sky, even though it was a perfectly sunny day. Something clicked inside of her, and she felt her eyes filling with tears.

"Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed. "I'm... I'm really Eva! I remember it all!" It was all there, any significant event in her life that she tried to recall - birthdays, first day of school, accidents, beginnings of friendships, vacations, Sunday school, Rosey's birth. She remembered them all as she had experienced them as Eva. Eddie's memories were still with her, but they were kind of sitting on a shelf in the basement - old keepsakes that you'll never part with, but that aren't an active part of your life.

She looked over at Mike. "Do you remember now?"

He gazed back, still breathless. "Yeah, I remember everything! It's like we were always this way, somehow."

The talisman was still in her hand. "I can feel that it's really done now. We're all set. It's like it's telling me to start looking for its next owner."

"So Eva," Mike smiled at her, "if you remember everything, do you remember our talk last week, out at the fairgrounds?"

A smile widened on her face as well. "You mean the one where you asked me to be your girlfriend?"

"Yeah that's the one. The one where you said yes."

Their eyes were locked, and Mike reached out to take her hand again. She was trembling a little, but also grinning broadly.

"The one thing I can't remember is ever being as happy as this," she said. "In either of my memories."

"Me too," he concurred.

"I can't believe it. I have a boyfriend."

He repositioned himself behind her, so she could lean back into him. "And I can't believe the prettiest girl in school is my girlfriend." He circled his arms around her.

"C'mon, you know I'm not actually the prettiest."

"To me you are. To me you're the prettiest in the world."

Eva was glad Mike was holding her, because otherwise she might just float away on a perfect pink cloud of happiness.

Eventually Mike let go and sighed and stood up, then reached out his hand to help her up. She grabbed it and pulled herself up in a most ladylike fashion. He put his arm around her, she rested her head on his shoulder, and they wordlessly started the walk back out the other trail. Eva spent the walk tenderly sifting through her new treasure chest of memories, with a brand new marvelous memory to add to the collection.