He Wanted His Sister's Attention. The Magic Took It Literally

Brandon had always had a deep grudge against birthdays.

To him, the date was nothing more than an annual reminder of how much harder his parents seemed to try whenever his sister was the one celebrating. Her birthdays came with huge decorations, DJs, and an endless guest list. His usually involved a plain little cake on the kitchen table and the same relatives arguing about politics.

That night, more than twenty years of accumulated frustration finally boiled over.

His parents dragged him to the table, lit the leftover pink candles from the previous year, and started singing a painfully unenthusiastic version of Happy Birthday. Brandon stared at the top of the cake, his stomach twisting.

“Go ahead, honey. Blow out the candles and make a wish!” his mother encouraged, holding up her phone to record him with considerably less enthusiasm than she had shown at his sister's parties.

Brandon took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut.

Instead of making a normal birthday wish, he let his bitterness do the talking.

“I bet if I looked more like my sister, my birthday would be better. Sometimes I wish I could be exactly like her, just so I could finally get the attention you give her!”

He blew out the candles.

What followed wasn't the peaceful trail of smoke he expected. A strange magical snap filled the room, making the lights flicker.

Brandon felt a bizarre tingling sensation begin at the roots of his hair and spread through his entire body. His oversized clothes seemed to shrink around him, his posture shifted almost against his will, and a strange weight appeared on top of his head.

When he opened his eyes, his parents dropped their forks.

Brandon ran to the hallway mirror and nearly fell backward.

The reflection staring back at him wasn't the messy-haired guy in a hoodie who had been sitting at the table moments earlier.

It was his sister.

Not just similar. Identical.

Long, wavy blonde hair cascaded over his shoulders. A sparkling tiara rested perfectly on his head, and the delicate features reflected in the mirror belonged to someone he knew far too well.

The universe had taken his birthday wish literally.

If Brandon wanted the attention his sister received, apparently he was getting the entire package.

Panicking, he rushed straight to his bedroom. He needed a reality check. He needed to turn on his console, play something for a few hours, and pretend this bizarre nightmare had never happened.

But when he pushed open the door, the real punishment was waiting for him on his desk.

The magical law of equivalent exchange had been remarkably precise.

Where his beloved next-generation gaming console had once sat, there was now a shiny box containing a professional hair dryer and a high-tech curling iron.

Apparently, the universe had decided that a popular girl with a sparkling tiara didn't need video games.

She needed a perfect blowout.

And so Brandon found himself back at the birthday table, staring miserably at his cake with what might have been the most offended expression in birthday history.

He had gotten exactly what he asked for.

His parents couldn't take their eyes off him.

Unfortunately, the price of finally becoming the center of attention was losing almost everything that had made him feel like himself.

And, apparently, his gaming setup.