Jaschas' Time Shop

Chapter 1
Fair Game

Chapter Description: I remember this one like it happened yesterday. In your world I guess it did. Just on the 19th of September to be punctual. An artist wanted to see the fair be in its' former glory, I guess. We didn't really talk at all about it and everything I assume was from his nostalgic thoughts.

Come one and all! A new world awaits us all! Come down to the local fairgrounds and have a gay old time!

Today is the final day of the fair and my booth has closed up for the day. I've got everything I need packed up in my business truck. My wife is taking it all back so I can spend a little bit of time here to just relax. I've always been a fan of the local fair where I live since I was a child, but it's a lot different now that I'm all grown up. Anymore most everything is overpriced and cheap. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the stalls are selling cheap Chinese junk they bought off Wish.

"It ain't all that bad since I have my art booth every year. It's good business." I sigh as I walk through the stalls all trying their hardest to draw you in while still being within the theme this year. In order to attract more people over the years they decided to give the fair a yearly theme, and this year it's 1960s. Luckily it doesn't extend beyond the decore and style or racists would go hog wild, like some try to do every year. "I sometimes wish the fair could go back to how it used to be when I was a kid." But I also don't since safety wasn't nearly as good as it is now.

"You sir, in the red apron, why not come and check out my stall," a suave voice calls from a nearby stall. I stop and turn to my left to see a tent stall that looks like it's straight out of my childhood in the late 60s, early 70s, even down to the vintage looking clocks. A Caucasian man in a rather vintage looking suite that looks like it's from a 1930s Italian mafia member waves for me to come in with a smile on his face. He has a rather unremarkable black hair and eyes and doesn't really stand out that much in my opinion, besides his suit.

"I swear I've passed by here before and haven't seen this stall. When did you set up?" I gander at all the clocks. They bring back a small amount of nostalgia from my childhood.

"Oh, I just happened to be in the area. Now, I shall close off the tent here as business is normally one-on-one in my shop." He snaps his fingers and the tent flap closes. It catches my eye and makes me a bit suspicious, a worried look and aura coming across me. "There is no need to worry. All my sales are perfectly legal, assuming de-aging isn't illegal. I sometimes have a hard time telling when I am." His rambling makes absolutely no sense.

"You mean where instead of when, right?"

"I suppose that could work too. I assume this is the Spiralrock City fair, correct? Perhaps the 89th one?"

"Y-Yeah, this is. Look, you're starting to creep me out, so why don't I just leave and..."

"Miss out on an opportunity for your childhood? Don't act like you didn't think about wanting to experience the fair you knew as a child. Before you go, I just ask you try a sample of our de-aging formula." Beside him he grabs a briefcase and sets it on the folding table in front of him. He opens it and pulls out a dropper with some strange red goo inside. "I promise this won't hurt a bit. And I don't usually bite unless I have to." I reluctantly walk over to him.

"And this is free, right?" He nods before handing me the dropper.

"Now, all you have to do is take and squirt that on your tongue. From there I'll have you stand in front of the mirror over in the corner." I follow his instructions and wait. I wait for a few minutes and nothing changes.

"I knew this was nothing more than a sham."

"Perhaps you are one of the unfortunate few who cannot enjoy this wonderful gift. What a... Wait, it's happening!" I can feel energy building inside me as I see some of my weight melt away off my body. My clothes slim up to fit my new, rather younger, form. I look like I lost about 3 years off my age. The weight I gained while inactive due to surgery last year is gone. It feels like I have more control over my body than I did even after recovering from that scuffed cancerous tumor removal surgery I was prodded into.

"I honestly didn't think this would work." I giggle with glee as I check out my body in the mirror. "I can't wait for my wife to see me like this."

"Ah, but you must know you are not only younger, but reality will adjust itself after you leave here. Everyone will not question you being 3 years younger. It will be as though we never met and you never underwent this process."

"Okay, I think I get it. That was just a free sample, right?"

"Most certainly. The real deal is still in the briefcase. I have 2 small test tubes of a similar formula with the only difference being how young you become. I have a green formula and..."

"How much for the green formula?"

"A decisive customer like you should listen to what each formula does, but it's only $400 since these are trying times for most people." That's basically all the money I made from my booth today. My wife would kill me if she found out I did this. But all I have to do is lie and make up some excuse as to how I lost the money.

"Deal." I pull out my wallet and pull out $200 in just bills before pulling out my debit card. "You do accept debit, right?" He shakes his head before pulling out the test tube and a card reader. I pay him before he hands me the formula.

"Another satisfied customer. There is no money back once you open the test tube, so think this through carefully." I disregard his words and open it right away before drinking it all. "You certainly know what you want in life."

"Hehe, I sure do knowing I will be young again. I know I'll forget, but who exactly are you?"

"I'm Jascha Altschuler, a transdimentional seller of youth products. My jurisdiction covers your world, a world with anthropomorphic animals and no humans, and occasionally a world where animal spirits the size of humans live with humans." As he finishes his sentence I begin to feel dizzy and lightheaded. "Hmm, you shouldn't have dranken that all at once. Your tumble into childhood looks like it'll be a little further than what the formula usually does because of it. Lightheadedness and dizziness are a symptom of this."

"Childhood? I thought this stuff would bring me back to my 20s and not my childhood!"

"The purple formula I have would have, but you rushed into buying the green formula. Now you shall tumble back to innocence and shall have to grow up again. Ah, but at least you'll get to relive your childhood." I'm shocked and stuck in place as I watch my body reshape itself and become more cherubic before my height suddenly plummets, leaving me 8 years old.

"Huh, this isn't too bad." My dizziness and lightheadedness clear up as my giant sized clothes spin around me and turn into the same type of clothing I would have worn around this age. "It looks like you were wrong."

"I am almost never wrong. Just wait and see." As I begin to leave for the exit I suddenly fall to the ground with the feeling of an intense gravity pulling me down. "See, I told you. I did not do this, rather the formula is reacting violently to your action of chugging it all in a single swig." I can feel myself getting lighter as I see watch my hands recede into my long sleeves. A sense of dread comes over me as it finishes and I get up, only to find myself having a closer view of the ground beneath my feet. I dizzily get up and walk over to the mirror as my clothes transform again. I almost scream as I see myself stuck as a sniveling 4 year old, a couple of my front teeth missing. I begin run out, hoping all this is a nothing more than a sick dream. When I wake up I'll be back to a middle-aged man again. The tent flap opens and I run out to find the fair looks just like when I was a child.

"Are you ready to see the barn animals," a very nostalgic and dear voice calls from beside me. I look to see my dad holding a pamphlet with different pictures of the animals they have here. My mind starts to go numb as I forget why I was worried...

"Yeah! I wanna see the moo-moo cows!"

"I bet you can even feed one," my mommy says as we begin to walk to the animals...