Retirement Restart - Part One

As I slowly come to the world around me spin, the hazy blur that makes up my vision straining to come into anything that resembles focus. My head pounds painfully, the sound of blood rushing in my ears causing me to wince and hiss through clenched teeth.

From what I can make out the room was dark and quiet, whatever I was seated on doing well to keep me upright given my poor state. I try in vain to stretch a little, my long arms immediately meeting the limit of enclosed space as I weakly smack them against what feels like cold hard metal. Yet again I wince, not only at the dull pain in my arm from the sudden contact but also due to the reverberating echoy sound that bounces around whatever I was seated in.

"Oh, you're awake" I hear a muffled voice call out, the solid walls around me doing well to distort the feminine voice from outside. "Finally, I was wondering if I'd put too much in the..." the voice continues, lost in a train of thought as I'm left to slowly collect my scattered faculties.

I try to recall how I had found myself here, trapped inside what feels like a slim metal tube. The last thing I remember had been having dinner at my mother's house, the last time I would have been eating there. I had come to help her move, or more specifically pack her things.

She had not so recently retired and as such had been eyeing up how she wanted to spend what time she had left. While she had saved a rather large sum for her retirement there was also a lot to be made in sell her large suburban family home, placing her belongings into storage, and living out of a hotel until she decided where to go from there.

To this end, she had brought me in to help her. I had been unemployed for a few months at this point, so I was easy to rope in with the promise of some cash and a few meals. I had stayed in my old home for quite a few days, packing away things into boxes while my mom questioned me relentlessly about my job status and my future. Weathering this barrage of inquiry I managed to make it through the packing with my self-esteem only a little worse for wear.

On the last day before heading home to my apartment in the city my mom had cooked a large meal of my old favorites. Herb-crusted roast lamb, mashed potatoes with gravy, and all manner of other sides and desserts were offered up as a thank you for all the work I had put in and an apology for all the questions. Without so much as a second thought, I greedily ate as much as I could, slowly growing lethargic as I practically passed out at the dining room table.

"Where...ouch" I mutter, cutting myself short as I feel a sharp pain resonate inside my skull at the loudness of my own voice.

"The Swap Clinic" the voice states in a matter-of-fact, if slightly distracted, tone. "After hours that is, can't have the staff seeing an unconscious person in the pods now can we sweetheart"

I open my mouth to demand to know why I was at the Swap Clinic. However, as I hear the last few words my train of thought derails before it can even leave the station.

"Mom?!" I shout in a hoarse tone, finally noticing how dry my mouth was.

"Not anymore" she replies with a giggle "At least not in a...metaphysical sense"

"What...What are you talking about? Why the hell am I in...This!?" I shout back, wincing as I'm bombarded with the immediate echo inside my pod.

"Well...You're the mother now" she explains, struggling to hold back her laughter. "Though I guess that makes me your son...going to have to change that"

"I'm..." I mutter, my hands darting down to my crotch as I feel for my cock. Much to my relief I immediately find my monster, flaccid and resting in my jeans. "But I still have my..." I continue before being cut off.

"Like I said, metaphysical" she says with a huff, the sound of footsteps quickly following. "Were you always this slow, or are those sleeping aids still in your system" she continues, coming into view through a dimly lit viewing window. I can barely make out her face beyond the silhouette she forms thanks to the back light, her long dark hair doing a lot of work to hide her weathered and chubby features from view. She appears to be standing on her toes just to see into the pod, another stark reminder of how short that woman truly was.

"You're my mother, but in a purely theoretical sense" she explains, trying to dumb it down as she goes. "You know, on paper" she says slowly, quickly following it up with a sigh "No wonder you lost your job teaching"

"Why...why would you do..." I mutter, squinting as I try to look her in the eyes.

"Because I'm starting over" she grumbles, cutting my sentence short. "I have the money to start over instead of retiring like everyone else...Well almost enough, and that's where you come in. Your youth, manhood, education, there is so much that can be sold to set us up. Besides, you've been unemployed for how long? You obviously screwed up, even after I did everything to give you the best start possible. I think it's time to reverse things around, you can be the parent and I'll be the daughter this time...but I won't mess things up"

As she rambles, shifting between soft dreamy tones and harsh shouting, I'm stuck merely listening in horror. I begin to struggle up from my seat, my legs shaking as I slump against the inside of the pod.

"You can't...You can't just...wait...us?" I stammer, my addled mind clinging to the strangest things.

A sharp scoff comes from beyond the door as my mother quickly paces away to someplace else in the room. "Well of course I mean..."