the device

Complete Story

"Well, I will see you next year! Have a good summer." A young woman named Emma said to her roommate as she left in a rush, not even waiting for a reply. The 22 year old was a junior in college.. Today was the final day of her semester, and the young woman was in a hurry to get to the airport on time. Emma was used to being overwhelmed: as a nursing student she always had a lot of schoolwork, and as a workaholic she was usually working any time she wasn't busy studying. This is why it was crucial she leave that night, as she was already going to be starting her full time summer job in only two days.

Arriving at the airport, Emma found herself studying while waiting to board the plane. Even though it was summer she felt the need to continue studying as she was quite a perfectionist. She got straight A's and felt if she didn't keep up with studying over the summer she could risk forgetting things and risk lowering her perfect GPA, and wasn't about to take that risk. However, she did pause when she saw a cute guy around her age come in and sit across from her. Emma was quite flirtatious and with a thin waist and big breasts and butt she had no problem getting  most guy's attention. Walking over to him, she smiled flirtatiously while brushing her long brown hair out of her bright blue eyes. After talking to him a bit she found out he lived not too far from her parent's, and was able to score his number before leaving to board the plane.

By the time the flight was finally over it was already late at night. Grabbing her bags she saw her stepfather Jeff waiting to pick her up.

"Hey Emma, good to see you. Let me Take your bags."

"Sure, Thanks. And good to see you too." Emma said while giving him an awkward hug. She liked her step dad well enough, and since her biological father had left before she was born Jeff was really the only father figure she had ever had. However, her mother didn't remarry until Emma was 15. But that was also around the same time Emma started working and entering honors classes, so she really wasn't home much and as such had never really had the time to really bond with her step dad much.

"Is Mom here?" Emma asked as the two got into the car to begin the drive home.

"No, unfortunately she wasn't feeling great and had to go to bed early. She felt bad for not being here though."

"Eh, it's fine." Emma said with a shrug. She was a bit disappointed but it wasn't too surprising. Throughout most of Emma's childhood her at-the-time single mom was almost always working to provide for her daughter, meaning Emma didn't get to see her a lot. And then by Emma's teen years she was the one always busy. Emma loved her mother but the two just weren't super close.

Emma groaned as she woke up the next morning. By the time she had arrived home she was so tired she just immediately went to sleep, not even bothering to unpack her bags. Pulling herself out of bed, Emma was trying to figure out what she could do for the day. She had a lot of things she needed to get done, and not a lot of time. It may have only been the first day of summer, but for Emma it was kind of her only day.  Tomorrow she would already be going back to her summer job, and she was planning to work at least 60 hours a week. Combine that with all the studying she had and she wasn't going to have much free time. With next year being her final year of school, she had quite a bit of other things she needed to get done in preparation as well. Overwhelmed and unhappy with her overstaffed life, Emma decided to go on a walk around town to clear her head. She got dressed and tried to leave the house as quick and quietly as possible, hoping to avoid-

"Emma! You're home!!!"

"Hi Hayley." Emma said as a little blonde girl came running up to her, wrapping her arms around her legs in a big hug. This 6 year old was Emma's younger half sister. Because Emma had been in college much of Hayley's life the two didn't get to spend a lot of time together, but Hayley absolutely adored her big sister. Emma loved her little sister and thought it was sweet that she looked up to her so much, but would be lying if said she didn't frequently find herself getting annoyed with her as well. The energetic and rambunctious child always wanted Emma's time and attention, and that was a lot to ask considering how busy Emma always was.

"I missed you so much Emma! I have so much to tell you, and so many new games I learned! Oh, and let me show you my new toys. I got some really cool ones! And I-"

"Ok, you can show me that stuff later. Right now I've got to go run some errands." Emma said while cutting her sister off, knowing that if she didn't she would continue talking for hours.

"What?! No fair! But you just got here!"

"I know, but it's really important! I'll just be gone for a little bit, ok?"

"Fine!" Hayley said pouting. Emma simply rolled her eyes as she left.

"Man, this sucks! Summer is going to be so busy, and this is my last summer break! I deserve at least one day to do something fun, right? But what could I even do?" Emma said out loud to herself as she walked the streets of her hometown. "Oh, I know! I could text that guy from yesterday...but what's the point! It's not like I have time for a relationship!" She said while thinking back to her multiple college boyfriends, each ending ultimately due to her inflexible schedule. Sighing, she kicked a can in frustration, watching as it rolled down the sidewalk before stopping in front of a building. Emma had lived in this town her entire life, and it wasn't exactly big. She knew everything that was in it...yet never had seen this building before. Looking closer out of curiosity, it looked like a relatively normal, albeit somewhat old fashioned store. Its brown walls and basic sign that read "The mystery shop" seemed pretty generic and uninteresting, yet despite this she felt compelled to go inside and check it out. Inside the store was full of various objects including a lot of books, crystals, and a lot of strange artifacts and objects she didn't recognize. She browsed for a bit, unsure of what the purpose of most of these items. One particular piece caught her eye, a strange object that looked like a pocket watch, but didn't appear to be for telling time. It had a strange dial on the top and 2 buttons on the sides, and was covered in strange markings that looked like letters, but not from any language she knew of.

"Ah, I see you are interested in my age device?" a mysterious voice said, causing Emma to jump. Turning around, she saw a man dressed in a black coat and top hat. While he looked to be in his 30s, his expressions and outfit made him feel much older, as if he were from a different time.

"I'm sorry, did you say 'age device?' What on earth is that?" Emma responded with genuine curiosity.

"I'm glad you asked. I got this from a place...very far from here, you could say. This device is capable of changing a person's age. In fact, it can alter reality itself!"

"Right...you know that sounds like complete bs, right?"

"Believe what you would like...or try it yourself. I will sell it to you for a reasonable price. lets say...$10?"

Emma didn't believe the man at all. What he was saying sounded absurd! Still, she had to admit it looked cool, and at such a low price it would at least make a good decoration.

"Ok, I'll take it."

"Fantastic! I will give you instructions on how to use it. Just remember, reality is a complicated thing. Changing it can lead to unforeseen results, so be careful."

"Why did I spend money on this again?" Emma said to herself when she got home. She knew it was impossible for it to work like the man told her, and while sure it looked neat it didn't exactly match her décor. "I guess I may as well try it, right? Obviously nothing will happen but I may as well try." Even though she doubted the validity she secretly was hoping it was legit. If it did she could go back to an age where she had less responsibilities and actually enjoy her summer, then change back before the start of next semester. Maybe she would have to do a little studying still but not working for the summer would be huge! Taking out the instructions the man had written for her, she decided to test it out on the off chance it actually did something.

"OK, so I have to turn this dial to select the age I want to be..." Emma thought about a good age, and decided on 14, the last age before she started working or doing advanced classes and as such the last time she remembered not feeling stressed. "These markings aren't that easy to use, hopefully this is 14! OK, the left button makes me change, and the right changes someone else. Oh! But it says if I want anyone to keep their original memories and mind I have to press the other button while saying their name...This is ridiculous! Whatever, I guess I want myself to remember and I think that's-" Emma was cut off by her little sister entering her room. "Hayley go away! I'm busy right now!" Emma said as she pressed the buttons.

"Nothing happened. I should have known." Emma said disappointed. "Oh well, I suppose going back to then is impossible." She said while picking up a picture of herself and her mother on her first day of high school, staring at it longingly.

"Hey Emma, will you play with me? Pleaaaase?"

"Sorry, not right now."

"But you never do! And I haven't seen you in a really, really long time!"

"Well I cant-'' Emma began before Suddenly time itself appeared to stop for a moment as everything went black.

"Wha-what just happened?" Emma wondered as her vision began to return. She was still standing in the same spot in her room, but said room looked very different. When Emma left for college her mother converted the room into an exercise room due to its larger size, so during the summer's Emma stayed in the guest room. Or at least what used to be the guest room. Scanning her surroundings Emma began taking in all the changes. The basic gray walls were instead painted a bright blue, which happened to be Emma's favorite color. Most of the furniture had changed, and she noticed a few posters of different bands and tv shows she didn't recognize on the walls. She had never unpacked yet after coming back home but noticed her suitcases were gone, and saw a big dresser that looked full of clothes for a preteen girl. But her eyes stopped at the body sized mirror hanging on her door. Or more specifically at the reflection staring back.

To her surprise the device had actually appeared to work! Her face was rounder and she had a bit of acne on her previously clear skin. She was overall smaller, having shrunk at least a full foot while her limbs and body looked thinner and shorter. After the initial shock wore off she realized just how loose her clothes were. Her shirt was now very baggy and her pants felt like they could almost fall off, the bottom touching the floor as they were now too long for her. She could clearly feel her bra hanging loosely as well.

"I should still have boobs, I definitely had them when I was 14." Emma said to herself, noticing a pair of silver braces on her teeth when she opened her mouth. She realized this was an odd first reaction, but frankly she was still in shock.

"Emma?! Is that really you?!" Emma turned around to the sound of the startled screech of her sister, who she had forgotten was even in the room. "Wow, that was cool! How'd you do it? You look like a kid now!" Hayley said in amazement.

"How do you even know I'm any different? I thought everyone would think I was always this age besides me.." Emma realized just then her mistake. By telling her sister to get out she did say her name right when she pressed the button. "Oh crap! you still remember don't you?"

"Remember what? That you used to be a grown up, and now you're a kid?"

"I'm not a kid! I'm a teenager!" Emma replied, all-to-aware of her voice cracking as she talked louder. Speaking of, her voice did sound different in general, definitely higher pitch.

"You look like a kid to me! Maybe that means now you want to play?" Hayley asked hopefully. She didn't know how her big sister became less big, but she didn't really care. All she could think about was it might make her want to play more!

"I-I don't know. I need to think. And change out of these clothes!" Emma said as she went over to the dresser, almost tripping on her too-long pant leg. "Just give me five minutes at least, ok? Now please leave so I can get dressed."

"Ugh, fine!" Hayley reluctantly agreed.

After changing into some more form fitting clothes Emma tried to process everything. she was amazed that the device actually worked! But it worked a little too well. As she feared she had set the dial a little too low, appearing to be closer to 11 or 12 than 14 like she wanted. Her boobs were almost completely no more which she was a little sad about and her once curvy butt had lost its shape. Emma didn't understand how it worked, but reality did appear to change. She assumed this had always been her room in this new reality rather than a guest room as it already had all her new things in it. Everything seemed to have changed in the room besides her clothes, which she found strange. However she noticed the picture she had been holding while the change happened had remained the same as well, despite other pictures in her new room that she didn't recognize.

"Weird, this picture didn't change either. Why did this and my clothes stay the same if nothing else did? Is it because I was touching them at the time maybe?"

"Ready to play now?" Hayley said happily as she burst into her sister's room.

"Fine, I guess I can. For a little bit!" Emma said reluctantly. She knew this was the only way to get her sister to stop asking, and to be fair she did want a summer of relaxation and now actually had the opportunity. Sure the 6 year old had a very different idea of fun than her but at least it was better than work!

"Girls! Can you come down here please?"

"But mommy, we're playing hide and seek!"

"That's ok, we can finish later." Emma said, relieved as she ran down the stairs, feeling more energetic than she had in years. Hayley dramatically followed, clearly less enthusiastic about ending their game.

"Your father and I are going out tonight. We won't be home until past bedtime, Aunt Carol is coming to watch you guys but she's running a little late. Emma, we think we can count on  you to be in charge until she gets here. It should only be about a half hour at the most. Do 

 you think you can handle that?"

"Obviously! You don't even have to get a babysitter at all!" Emma said, feeling  a bit insulted.

"Oh sweetie, I think 11 might be a little too young to be home alone that long. But this is a big step we are trusting you with!"

"Honey, we've got to get going or we'll be late!" Jeff shouted from the doorway.

"Ok girls, you be good for your aunt! Emma, you know my number, call me if you have any emergencies, ok?" Her mother said while giving each of her daughters a big hug before leaving."

"Great, so I did go too far back! I wanted to be 14, not 11! This sucks." Emma grumbled to herself.

"Emma, why'd mommy and daddy treat you like a kid too? I know you look like one, but don't they know you really a grown up?"

"No-look, it's too hard for you to understand. I barely understand it myself. But that thing I was holding earlier, it really did turn me this young. I was supposed to be a teenager, and only I was supposed to remember anything, but I accidently made myself 11 and made you remember too."

"Oh..." Hayley responded, trying to wrap her mind around what her sister was saying. Her young imagination made it easier to accept the craziness of her story, but it was still a little confusing. "So is it like our secret?"

"....Sure."

"Yay! I'm so 'cited to have a secret with you! don't worry, I wont tell nobody!"

"Hey girls! It is so good to see you! I'm sorry I was late."

"Aunt carol!" Hayley shouted excitedly as she ran over to give her aunt a big hug. Emma sighed in relief, happy to be off babysitting duty. Due to her short attention span Hayley had forgotten about their game and instead begged Emma to let her braid her hair. Emma reluctantly agreed, and looking in the mirror she had to admit Hayley did a better job than she was expecting, although her hair still looked a lot messier and more tangled than she would have liked. After smoothing it out as best she could Emma greeted her aunt before putting on her shoes, intending to go out for a bit. She knew it would be unsafe for her to try to drive thanks to her shorter limbs (not to mention she lacked a car) but figured she could still go out walking somewhere or maybe catch a bus.

"Where do you think you're going, young lady?" Carol asked inquisitively.

"I'm not sure yet, just thought I'd go out for the night, since you're here to take over babysitting Hayley." Emma replied bluntly.

"Haha, nice try. You know I can't let you go out on your own at this hour, your parents would kill me! And I'm here to watch both of you, not just Hayley."

"Ugh, fine whatever!" Emma said angrily as she crossed her arms like a pouting child. Even if her mind was still that of an adult, some childlike instincts were creeping in, not that Emma realized it. Annoyed, she plopped down on the couch and flipped on the tv.

"Hey Emma and aunt Carol, let's play with my dolly's!" Hayley said while walking down the stairs carrying some of her dolls. She had gone so quick that  Emma didn't even realize she had left to go grab them.

"Well, you girls haven't eaten yet right? I should make you some food, you can help if you want. Then maybe we can play! Besides, I think Emma needs a bit of time to herself." Carol replied sweetly to her youngest niece before turning her attention to Emma. "But Emma, your parents told me not to let you watch too much tv, so after dinner then no more ok?" Emma simply rolled her eyes in response before returning to her show.

For the most part, the rest of the night went much smoother. After having some time to calm down Emma realized being mad at her aunt was pointless, after all she truly believed Emma to be an 11 year old and was truthfully treating her appropriately. She enjoyed eating dinner and visiting with her aunt, although she had to admit the braces were a huge pain as she got food stuck in them constantly. She didn't love having to play dolls with Hayley, especially considering how much time she already spent doing childish activities with her today. But thankfully for her Carol made sure to do some activities Emma would enjoy more as well, and Emma even actually had some fun playing board games. Eventually it got late and Carol went to put Hayley to bed. She let Emma stay up a little later, but eventually it came time for her to go to sleep as well. Emma gave some resistance simply out of spite for being treated like a child and being told what to do, not realizing the irony of her behavior. But ultimately tiredness overtook her and she drifted off to sleep.

A week later Emma was starting to have second thoughts about her plan. She didn't want to risk changing again to 14 so soon, considering the warning the shopkeeper gave her about using it too often. So she decided to try staying 11 for now. She enjoyed parts of being a kid again. It was nice to spend more time with her parents and her mother had more free time than during Emma's original childhood since she didn't have to support the household by herself anymore. And of course having less responsibilities was the entire reason she wanted this in the first place. Emma had grown so used to being tired and worn out all the time from being overworked, but now she had much more energy.

But on the other hand there were also several downsides. She was not a fan of being told what to do or having to do chores again. And she didn't like how everyone treated her like an irresponsible child who couldn't be left alone for long. Having a different set of memories than everyone else was also proving troublesome. Apparently she had some friends that she didn't know, and she and her step dad appeared to be much closer in this reality. Which made sense, as to him and everyone else he had raised her since she was 5, But to Emma the two had never spent a lot of time together. It even felt a little weird spending so much time with her mom. Emma could tell from her parents perspective she was acting more distant than usual, and while they brushed it off as her entering a moody preteen phase she knew it probably still upset them a little. And then there was Hayley. She was being even more relentless than usual. To the young girl it made sense that with her half sister being younger now it meant she would want to play and spend more time with her. Of course Emma's still adult mind found it boring to play games with a 6 year old all the time, and even if she had been naturally 11 she would have a very different idea of entertainment.

Currently Emma and her family were enjoying a day at the beach. Or, her family was at least. Emma herself had not been a big fan of swimming in her adult life, and quickly got bored. Her parents and sister however were still having a good time, and since she could no longer drive herself she was stuck there. To make matters worse there was a group of young, attractive guys at the beach who were around Emma's true age. Normally she would be flirting with them and most likely getting a few numbers, but obviously in her current body they wouldn't even notice her.

"Emma, want to make sandcastles with me?" Hayley asked sweetly.

"Ugh, not really! I'm tired of playing stupid kid games." Emma responded feeling frustrated.

"But you ARE a kid!"

"You know I'm not really! This was a mistake, as soon as we get home I'm changing back to normal. I hate getting pestered so much by you." Emma realized her words were harsher than intended, and could see her little sister looked like she was about to tear up. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so mean. I'm just...upset. I thought this would be a fun time as a kid again but I just want to be an adult. I hate having no freedom." Emma tried to explain to keep her sister from crying. Hannah simply nodded as if she understood, and went off to get her mother to play with her instead. but she just couldn't help but be confused. Why would Emma not like being a kid? It was so much fun! Hayley couldn't help but think there was still a way to show her sister just how great being a kid really was.

By the time the family got home, Emma was looking forward to using the device to go back. Sure it meant work again but at this point she thought that would be better. Unfortunately for her, her mother needed her assistance as soon as they got home. She tried to get to her room first, but knew arguing with her was not going to end well. 'Oh well, 5 more minutes as an 11 year old wasn't that bad'. Emma thought. But she couldn't have been more wrong.

Hailey was too small to be able to help, and as such was free to go upstairs before her sister. heading to her room to change, she passed by Emma's room and happened to notice the mysterious device on her dresser. Pausing for a moment, she suddenly remembered the device was what Emma had used to transform herself in the first place. Sneaking into the room, she reached up to take the device, alongside the instructions.

"Maybe if I make Emma even younger, she'll see how fun being a kid is and want to play more!" Hayley said excitedly. Despite her young age, she had just enough reading comprehension to figure out how to use the device.

Emma felt herself coming to as light returned to her eyes. She struggled to her feet, trying to recall what just happened. She had just finished helping her mother and was on her way up to her room, then suddenly blacked out at the top of the stairs. Her eyes widened when she saw how little her hands were, and how tall her surroundings looked. Her clothes were once again very loose; Her mom had her wear a t-shirt to keep the car from getting too wet on the way home that was already pretty baggy, but now it hung all the way to her knees and fit like a loose dress. She could feel the one piece swimsuit hanging loosely underneath.

"Honey. Are you ok? It sounded like you fell."

"Yeah, I'm ok Jeff. I just tripped." Emma responded. Her voice was much higher pitched, and she could feel that while her braces were gone she was missing a couple teeth.

"Jeff? Don't you mean Dad? You don't call me Jeff".

"Yeah...um, I was just joking! Uh...I'm gonna change real quick." Emma awkwardly replied as she started walking towards her room. She was able to pretty easily piece together what happened. Somehow, she had regressed in age even further. She wasn't sure how much yet, but based on her interaction with Jeff she assumed she was quite young. By the time she entered her room in a hurry, she found herself once again in shock.

First off was the room itself. The walls were bright pink, the furniture all looked huge even though most was unchanged, and the room was littered with toys, stuffed animals, and other things one would expect to see in a little girls room. Then there was Emma's reflection. As she was expecting, she was much shorter and smaller, and any of the few signs of womanhood she had were gone. She appeared to be a 7 year old girl.  But there were some surprising changes. Her brown hair was now blonde, while her eyes were now more a hazel color. While her baggy clothes covered most of her body, she could tell her face and limbs looked just a bit chubby, like she still had a bit of baby fat. This was especially alarming because of how similar she looked to Hayley now. Both her and Jeff also had blonde hair and hazel eyes, and Jeff did often describe his family genes as being "Big boned"...Emma thought back to what the man at the shop had said about reality. Was it possibly that Emma had gotten so young that she had become Jeff's biological child?

And then there was Hayley. Her (presumably) now full-sister was standing in the middle of Emma's room, a big grin on her face and device in hand.

"YOU! What did you do?!?!" Emma said furiously.

"I made you into a little kid like me! I thought that might help you." Hayley responded innocently, genuinely oblivious to her sister's anger.

"Help me?! How is this supposed to help me? I told you I wanted to be an adult, not even younger! Give that to me now!" Emma lunged towards her sister, bumping the dial a couple notches while trying to grab the device. She hated the fact that she was unable to easily just snatch it from her, appalled by the fact that she was now on a near equal level with Hayley in terms of strength.

"Hey-stop that! No, I want it!" Hayley shouted while tightening her grip. The two children began to fight, each trying to pull the device from the other. In their struggle, Emma accidently bumped the left side button. Before she could realize what she had done, the world began to grow dim again. This time however her mind did as well, quickly becoming fuzzy and jumbled. Her memories instantly began fading away until-

"...Wha-what happened? What were we doing again?" Emma said in confusion as she looked up at her older sister. "and why are my clothes so big? I don't remember my swimsuit being this large." 

"I dunno...I can't remember.'' Hayley said while staring at her 4 year old sister. She looked down in her hand and realized she was holding some strange looking thing she didn't recognize. "What's this thing? It doesn't look like one of our toys."

"I dunno...let's bring it to Daddy! He'll know what to do with it" Emma said enthusiastically while changing out of her baggy clothes. "But first let's play hide n seek!"

"Yeah, Ok, I love hide n seek! Let's play!" Hayley. THere roles had been somwehwat reversed:Emma was now the younger sister who looked up to and always wanted to play with her big sister. Thankfully however the smaller age gap meant Hayley enjoyed playing with her little sister a lot more than Emma had. The two sisters happily ran off, blisfully unaware of the changes to reality and closer than they had ever been before.