The Switch Read Online Free PDF

was somebody else,” he said slowly.
    “Well, there you are, then,” Dr. Aftexcludor said. “That’s just what you are. Somebody else. Perhaps you’d better have a sip of tea.”
    Tad blinked. “Wait a minute,” he spluttered. “You’re telling me . . . I wished. And my wish came true?”
    “Evidently.”
    “But then . . . I can wish again! Why can’t I wish myself back the way I was?”
    “Well, of course you can,” Dr. Aftexcludor said. “But the one snag is that you’ll have to wait for the same star, Janus, to return to the same orbit.”
    “When’s that?” Tad was excited now. For the first time he could see a way out of this nightmare.
    Dr. Aftexcludor opened the book at another page and ran a long, skeletal finger down a column of figures. He flicked back a few pages, closed his eyes as he worked it all out, then slammed the book shut. “January thirteenth,” he said.
    “January thirteenth!” Tad almost burst into tears. “But that’s seven months away!”
    “Rather more, I’m afraid,” Dr. Aftexcludor muttered. “I’m talking about January thirteenth in the year 3216.”
    “But that’s . . . that’s . . .”
    “One thousand two hundred and twenty years from now. Yes. I know. You’ll be one thousand two hundred and thirty-three years old.”
    And then Tad did begin to cry, more than he had ever cried in his life. Dr. Aftexcludor looked at him sadly. “I’m sure it’s not that bad,” he said.
    “Of course it’s bad!” Tad wailed. “It’s terrible! It’s the worst thing that’s ever happened.”
    The doctor handed Tad a handkerchief and Tad blew his nose. “What am I going to do?” he asked miserably.
    “I’m not sure there’s anything you can do,” Dr. Aftexcludor replied. “You are Bob Snarby now—whether you like it or not.” He reached out and patted Tad on the shoulder. Tad looked up and once again he wondered if the old man wasn’t hiding something. It was there in his eyes. Dr. Aftexcludor was doing his best to look sympathetic, but Tad knew that deep down he was enjoying this. “I can give you one bit of advice, though.”
    “What’s that?”
    “Well. I know it won’t look that way at the moment, but perhaps you might end up actually enjoying being Bob Snarby. Or to put it another way, maybe you can do a better job of being Bob Snarby than Bob Snarby ever did.”
    “But I’m not Bob Snarby!”
    “That’s just my point.”
    Tad had had enough. He threw down the handkerchief and stood up. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. “And I don’t believe you anyway. I’ve never heard of wishing stars. I don’t believe they exist. I think it’s all just a lot of lies, and when I wake up tomorrow I’ll be back to myself and that will be that. I’m not interested in you or your stupid servant. In fact I never want to see either of you again.” Tad stormed out of the caravan, slamming the door behind him. Dr. Aftexcludor watched him go.
    “Good-bye, Tad,” he muttered. “Or should I say . . . hello, Bob?”
     
     
    Tad spent the rest of the evening hiding and crept back into the Snarbys’ caravan only when the carnival had closed for the night. He had begun to feel ill and wondered if he had caught a cold when he had been sent out, half naked, into the rain. One moment he was too hot, the next he was shivering with cold. There was a heavy thudding in his head.
    Eric and Doll were not pleased to see him.
    “Screwed off all afternoon, ’ave we?” Eric complained. “Where’ve you bin, then, Bob? ’Aving a bit of a laugh? Breaking into cars, I’ll bet. Or vandalizing the elderly again.”
    “I’ve been thinking,” Tad said. He coughed loudly and shivered again.
    “Thinking? Thinking?” Both the Snarbys burst into malicious laughter. “You never done no thinking in your life,” Doll exclaimed. She had been holding a cream éclair and now she took a huge bite. Cream oozed out of her hand. “You was bottom of the class