A young girl, Taylor, goes to the grocery store for the first time on her own and is approached by a rough looking woman, Chloe. Chloe offers to help Taylor, but Taylor is hesitant at first. Chloe t

Once upon a time, there was a 6-year-old girl named Taylor who resided in a small, cozy town with her mother. Her mother, being a young woman of 28, had given Taylor some money to go shopping all by herself for the very first time. Taylor was a brave little girl, cheerful yet quite mature for her age. The chore assigned to her was to buy her favorite candy. Brimming with excitement and a tiny bit of apprehension, Taylor walked into the local grocery store. The elaborate display of sweets made her bright eyes sparkle with delight. Soon, she chose her favorite candy bar and eagerly paid the shopkeeper, beaming with pride. As Taylor left the store, her elation melted away as she came across Chloe, a 37-year-old homeless woman, commonly known just as Closed Off. Chloe had been living on the streets from the tender age of 18. Flickers of sorrow sparked in her pale blue eyes under the tangle of her long unkempt blonde hair. Chloe was seen usually in a scanty crop top and short shorts, exhibiting her struggle to find basic commodities. Difficulty had carved beneath Chloe's hardened exterior a soft heart. Seeing little Taylor, she walked over and asked in her hoarse voice if the girl had any spare change. Taylor shook her head, sympathetically looking at Chloe. The sight of the disappointed Chloe moved Taylor, and she willingly shared a hug with the homeless woman. As they hugged, Taylor abruptly felt dizzy. When she opened her eyes, the world seemed to have grown around her. It took her a moment to realize that she was standing in Chloe's shoes, literally. She was taller, and looking into a shop's window, she saw her reflection mirroring Chloe's familiar face. "I'm mommy-sized," she gasped. Panicked, she riffled through the black purse and found an ID stating a birthdate making her older than her own mother. Heart pounding, Taylor hastily kicked off the thick wedges and swung the bag off her shoulder, warily eyeing the hidden lighter and cigarettes. "Mommy taught me not to smoke," she muttered. Catching some movement out of her new, sharper eye, she saw her own petite body standing at the corner of the street. She ran to her body, only to find Chloe's cold eyes staring back. Chloe flatly refused to switch back, already indulging in the luxury of her youthful body. Taylor felt a surge of pressure in her head; her memories began to contort, altering into Chloe's past, until the only name that resonated in her head was "Chloe." The new Chloe, feeling an awkward sense of acceptance, added, "Ow! My head! I could use a Tylenol right now." Picking up her purse and sliding back into the wedges, she lit up a cigarette, inhaling the smoke as if this was normal. She caught her reflection one more time, her voice a sad whisper, "37 years old and I'm still homeless. 19 years all by myself." The real Taylor, now imprisoned within Chloe’s body, watched in sad silence, a wide smile played on her lip, grateful but guilty about her stolen youth. The real Chloe, heart heavy with her new struggles, walked off, trying to accept her new, lonesome life. The act that began with an innocent hug sealed their fates, leaving them to navigate their newly assigned roles, the echoes of their past lives still lurking in the corners of their minds.