"Transference: Maria's Desperate Pact for a Second Chance"

Prompt: Maria Santiago was forty and already felt like the world had turned its back on her. A single mother of three kids, she clung so hard to the bottle that she often forgot what it meant to be a parent. She was more accustomed to the stained bar counter than her own kitchen, and she'd preferred to stumble home in the half-light of dawn than face the judgement of her children. Alex, the eldest, had unwillingly taken up the role of a parent, caring for his younger siblings, Sophia and Luca, while their mother drowned herself in the toxic sea of alcohol and self-pity. In a bar not far from her careworn home, Maria found solace in the company of Estrella. Estrella was a witch; the kind that didn't need pointy hats or broomsticks to prove her mettle. A woman well versed in the enigmatic art of the metaphysical, her gaze held the promise of otherworldly secrets and her low, resonant voice worked as a soothing balm on Maria's turbulent soul. Maria poured out her heart to Estrella, her "hard" life acting as a catharsis interrupted only by sobs and gulps of cheap whiskey. One fateful day, perhaps moved by Maria's distress or simply annoyed by her lamentations, Estrella offered Maria a strange solution. She handed Maria a parasite, a disgusting, squirming creature that lived inside a small earthen pot. This parasite, Estrella claimed, held the power to switch the bodies of two people. Maria considered the pot with a calculating gaze, wondering if this was a trick or another one of the witch's bizarre tales. On that particular evening, however, Maria was desperate enough to try anything. For the first time in years, she abandoned her place at the bar early, heading home with a strange anticipation gnawing at her heart. She sauntered into her kitchen, the place now alien to her like a forgotten memory. Ignoring the bewildered expressions of her children, Maria started cooking, surprising herself and her young ones as she did. The meal was concocted with a desperate urgency, her hands moving mechanically as her mind wrestled with her dubious plan of action. Alex, her good-hearted eldest, took a generous serving, not knowing his mother had laced it with sleeping pills prescribed for her constant hangovers. The others, Sophia and Luca, ate with an untouched innocence, the sight of their mother cooking a rarity they relished with wide eyes and curious smiles. Later that night, when the house was lulled into a silence broken only by the sporadic chirping of an insomniac cricket, Maria tiptoed into Alex's room. His steady breaths chuckled through the dim-lit room as Maria cradled the pot in her trembling hands. The parasite was lumpish and grotesque, its presence in the earthen pot an eerie reminder of the witch’s claim. As Maria stood over her son, watching him sleep, her heart pounded wildly in her chest. This was it, the moment that could change their lives one way or another. Despite what she was about to do, she didn't feel any remorse. She didn't care about that. what position her son would be in, it was only important for her to regain her youth and live her life anew. Describe how she then shoved one end of the parasite into Alex's ear, and inserted the other into herself and lay down on the bed next to Alex. She lay motionless for several hours until she felt incredible pain. The parasite stuck to her brain and began the process of swapping bodies. Despite the pain, Maria could not move, as the parasite temporarily paralyzed her body. After a while, her vision went dark and she lost consciousness. Then she suddenly woke up, already in Alex's body. He was still sound asleep, but already in Maria's worn-out old body.