The Snowman

Chapter 1
Chapter 1

The Snowman

William Conner stood in front of the bay window, looking out over the

neighborhood. He watched three boys across the street dividing their time

between a growing snowman and making snow angels. He sighed as he looked

down at his growing paunch, and wondered where the years had gone.

“Are you okay?” Evelyn Conner asked, looking up for a second from her

rocking chair.

“Just thinking back when I used to play in the snow, rather than dread

driving in it.” He smiled as the boys started wrestling each other.

“Well, you don’t have to go anywhere today. Why don’t you get another cup of coffee, and relax?”

Picking up a glass snow globe, he shook it, and watched the flakes swirl around a the figure of a sled. “We should have had the kids here,” Bill commented staring at the Christmas tree, still laden with presents. “It’s New Year’s Eve, do you think Jenny might bring them over soon?”

Evelyn sighed, and shook her head. “She’s still got a hair up her ass over last year, you know. We were such horrid parents to her, never getting her what she wanted, not spending a major fortune on the kids,” she sighed again. “She said she would be over.”

“Are you ready for this?” Bill said picking up a letter from the coffee table.

“Yes, I think I am.”

He let the paper flutter back to the table, there was no point in reading it again. “I think I will get that coffee. Do you want anything?”

“No, nothing, thanks.”

Bill bent over again, picked up the letter and crumpled it in his hand.

“Dear Dad. As you well know, this has been a hard year for us, and we really need an extra special Christmas. For Christmas this year, I’m not asking, I’m telling you what we want. For the kids, I want that set of twenty collectors plates I showed you at the Lenox web site, they will be a great investment for the future. For now, I want new car, a Rolls Royce or perhaps a Bentley, but I insist on having a car that will live up to my image.

“I know that I have said this in the past, but this time I am serious, if you don’t get me what I asked for I will make sure that you never see the kids again.”

“Are you feeling better for that, dear? You can’t let this eat at you and drive up your blood pressure again.”

After lunch, as Evelyn cleaned up the kitchen, Bill heard the crunching of tires through the snow on the driveway. He glanced out the window. “The kids are here.”

“It’s about time,” came the answer.

Bill opened the door as the bell chimed, then knelt to catch his two grandsons in a bear hug. The boys hugged for all they were worth as he picked them up.

Trevor, the elder of the two, had turned eight two months ago. A plain featured child, with mousy brown hair, the boy had a face and eyes that sparked with a wit and intelligence. His little brother, Brandon, at six, was unquestionably gorgeous, with bright blond hair, and blue eyes.

Bill set the boys down, only to turn them loose on their grandmother. He gave his daughter, Jennifer a steady glance. She had been a slim girl before the pregnancies and still was, to some extent. She carried a small, plastic grocery bag with her.

“I don’t see my present,” she said, quickly.

“You will, don’t worry about that,” Bill said, with a wide smile.

“I had better,” she said following Bill inside. “I’m warning you, Dad....”

“It’s Christmas, more or less, not in front of the boys.”

Trevor ran back, threw his arms around Bill’s waist and hugged. Bill picked the boy up and set him on a shoulder. “Merry Christmas, Grampa. I didn’t think Mom was ever gonna bring us over here. She wouldn’t let us get you and Nana anything for Christmas.”

“That’s okay,” Bill said with a smile. “You and Brandon are the only presents we need.”

“You know how tight things have been for us this year,” Jennifer added.

“But you should have seen all the stuff we got for Jan and Tom. We got them this really big crystal bowl, and real silver candlesticks, and...” Trevor started counting off on his fingers.

Bill stared at Jennifer as Evelyn and Brandon joined them.

“That’s enough, Trevor. Grandpa doesn’t want to hear this.”

“Yes, I do,” Bill said. “This really makes me feel so special.”

“I’m sorry, I am really sorry. It’s just that we got their presents and ran out of money. I’ll make it up to both of you, I swear it.”

“Oh, like my birthday present last April?” Bill said, quietly.

“What birthday present?” Jennifer demanded.

“The gift card to “Movies and More”,” Evelyn added. “You couldn’t find it in time for his birthday?”

“I don’t remember that at all.”

“Yes, you do, Mom,” Trevor piped up. “You found that card the next day and we got lots of movies with it. I told you it was Grampa’s card.”

“Mommy, he told,” Brandon cut it. “You said we were never to tell Grampa about that.”

“None of that, Tiger,” Bill said patting Brandon on the shoulder. “You know the rule about tattling on your brother. He was just helping his Mom and probably forgot all about not telling me about the card.” Bill frowned as he patted the boy’s jacket again. He looked back at Trevor and put him down. He spun Trevor around and whistled.

“Who got you these “Aurora B” Jackets?” Bill said glancing at Jennifer.

“Mom did,” Trevor said. “We can’t wear them anywhere but we thought it would be okay over here.”

“What do you mean you can’t wear them anywhere,” Jennifer demanded. “Those are the number one, hottest jackets around.”

“He means,” Bill said quietly, “that if he wears them someplace without a lot of grownups watching, school for instance, those jackets will be history in a matter of seconds. Some bigger kid is going to take them for the label.”

“That won’t happen to my kids.”

“Hello, Earth to Jennifer,” Evelyn said. “What planet are you living on? Don’t you read the papers? Kids are getting robbed, beaten up and even killed over those jackets. Trevor is right, if all they do is take the jacket, it won’t last five seconds in school. What were you thinking?”

“But these are the only jackets we’ve got,” Trevor added.

“There’s an easy answer for that,” Bill said. “Jennifer, these jackets are no good to the boys, take them home, hang them up in your coat closet for all of your guests to see, then take a look at these.” He walked over to the tree, and pulled out a couple of large boxes. “Boys, these you can wear.”

“What did you get them?” Jennifer asked as the boys tore open the presents.

“Wow,” Trevor said, and held up his coat. “This is great. I can wear this.”

“Where did you get that?” Jennifer demanded. “My kids are only going to wear the best of everything.”

“This is really snuggly,” Brandon declared as he tried the coat on.

“How many years will it take you to understand that the best clothes aren’t necessarily the most expensive?” Evelyn asked quietly. “You have two small boys, they are healthy and active and they need to have clothes they can play in, clothes that will stand up to them, not several hundred dollar jackets that will be ripped off.”

“No,” Jennifer held her hands to her ears. “I can’t take this. Every time I ever come over here all you can do is criticize me. I can’t do anything right.”

“That’s what mothers are for, Jen,” Evelyn added. “There has to be someone who can tell you what’s going wrong.”

“Well,” Jennifer said, and glared at the kids. “My kids aren’t going to wear cheap “K-Mart” crap like I had to.”

“These aren’t cheap and they aren’t “K-Mart”, either,” Evelyn answered back.

Jennifer paced the floor for a second, “Okay, you have a point, but where are the presents I asked for?”

“Grampa?” Trevor asked pulling on Bill’s shirt. “Did you really get us china plates for Christmas?”

“I think there might be some plates in there, Champ, but I never figured out what you can do with china plates.”

“I don’t know,” Trevor said and both boys shrugged their shoulders. “Mom says we’re going to put them on the bookshelf for everyone to see and someday they are going to be worth a major fortune. Then we can buy toys.”

Bill shook his head. “Seems like a waste of time to me. How do you play with them now?”

“We don’t play with them,” Trevor said catching his grandfather’s wink.

“Then how do you have fun with them? I know, maybe you could tie a leash around a plate and take it for walks, you know, rolling it down the sidewalk.”

“No, Grampa,” Brandon said. “It would break.”

“Okay, then maybe you can learn to juggle them, you know, spin them on the top of sticks like they do in the circus. Or maybe you could play Frisbee with them and chuck them at the wall to see how they break. China explodes when it hits the wall.”

“Dad, how can you say that,” Jennifer screamed as both boys broke into laughter.

“A grandfather’s job is to spoil his grandkids rotten and I take my position seriously. Sweetheart,” he said turning to his wife. “Would you get the plates?”

Evelyn walked over to the tree and selected two boxes.

“These are very special, collectors plates,” Bill said, and flashed Trevor another wink.

The boys didn’t hesitate to tear into the packages. Inside, they each had a box of plain white plates, with a huge box of crayons.

“Those plates are genuine, imitation bone china, plastic and you draw on them. See, you make your own collectors plates. Then, in twenty years, they may not be worth money, but they will sure be worth a lot of good memories for you and your mother. And that is what collectors plates are all about.”

“I’ll make you the best plates, Mommy,” Brandon said, going for the box of crayons.

“This isn’t funny,” Jennifer said.

“These are the only plates we bought, for the kids. The rest of the presents are toys.”

“Yay!” Both boys chorused. “I think they need toys for Christmas now, rather than waiting until they are too old.

“What sort of toys?” Jennifer demanded. “Jan bought them a new computer system that will help them learn to read.”

“He broke it,” Trevor said pointing at Brandon.

“Jan will replace it,” Jennifer said, quietly.

“Hmmm. I can do better than that,” Bill said picking two boxes out from under the tree, himself. “This one is Trevor’s and this one’s Brandon’s.

“What are those?”

“Look, Mom,” Trevor held up a book. “It’s.... ?My Father’s Dragon’,” he sounded out. “My Father’s Dragon. Cool, thanks Grampa.”

“’Good Night, Moon’,” Brandon said. “That’s my favorite.”

“Books?” Jennifer asked.

“They will help the boys learn how to read, and just think. All they need to operate is one kid, with an active imagination and maybe someone to read the book to them.”

“I won’t do it,” Jennifer stated, bluntly.

“Why am I not surprised?” Evelyn added. “I will, that’s what being a Gramma is all about, and I know Bill will, too.

“I have to admit, one of life’s most intense pleasures reading to a child that is cuddled up with you.”

“Forget it. Forget it,” Jennifer screamed out. “I told you what I wanted. I told you. Where are my plates?”

“Here,” Bill said and pointed to his den. “Your mother will help the boys with their presents, but I have yours set aside.” He walked to the den, waited a moment until Jennifer entered the room, then closed the door.

“Okay, Dad. What happened to the presents I wanted? When do I get the Rolls?”

“Right now,” Bill said, and picked up a box on his desk. “Here,” he took the top off the box to show a perfectly sculpted, miniature Rolls Royce. “Just what you asked for. See, it’s perfect in every detail. Here’s ?Nellie in her Nighty’, and they used real leather on the inside.”

“This had better be a joke, Dad. That’s not what I asked for.”

“It most certainly is. You asked for a Rolls Royce, and I bought one for you. This was made at the same plant that makes the cars, but you never specified the size of the Rolls. So now the question is, what in hell would you do with a car that costs $150,000.oo and you can’t even drive it?”

“I’ll drive it, all right.”

Bill shook his head. “Who’s going to watch the boys while you go toodeling around the neighborhood. Kevin? Or do you want the back seat of that Rolls to look like the back seat of your current put-put.”

“My car isn’t dirty.”

“Let’s go outside and check it out, shall we?”

Jennifer shook her head. “Okay, so it is messy. That won’t happen in the Rolls.”

“I see, and when you go somewhere to pick up the boys and they are covered with mud and grime, you are going to make them strip and bathe before they get it? Hardly. Dirt and grime go hand in hand with having two boys. You couldn’t even begin to afford the cleaning bills for that car, and neither could I if I have to pay for it, so you will have no choice but to let the crud grow and grow until that car is completely worthless.

“Or, you will have to keep an nexpensive car to cart the boys around, and keep the Rolls in the garage. What’s the point of having that car if all it will do is sit there? I can’t afford a Rolls for us, let alone to keep one in your garage to support your idea of your image.”

“You have a fancy car,” Jenny countered.

“It’s a Mercedes. I thought it was expensive when I bought it, but it’s still only a fifth of the price of your Rolls. Then if I buy you a Rolls, your brother will probably ask for a Viper or something and I’m sunk.”

“I don’t care how much it costs, I want it.”

In spite of the foot stamping, Bill shook his head. “There are a lot of things that we want and will never get. Your mother and I have worked hard for the last forty years to earn the lifestyle we have now. That, and a really good investment portfolio, but no one handed me a fabulous luxury car when I was your age, no one handed me this lifestyle and I am not handing it to you.”

“I told you what would happen if you didn’t get what I wanted. I told you, and I meant it. You are never going to see my kids again.”

Bill shrugged. “Christopher inherits everything. I’ve already filed my revised will, and you are completely written out of it. That means you don’t get another penny for your ?emergencies’ now, or when your mother and I are gone.”

“How could you do that to me?” Jennifer screamed as she turned pale.

“You think you can play hardball with me about the kids?” Jennifer stared at him.

“Do you?” Bill asked again. “I won’t be bullied by you about the kids, Jen, as I am sure you bullied Jan and Tom to get them that computer, and I will not be blackmailed by you, either. If I gave in to you, this year, I don’t want to see what next year’s demands would be. I know, the Rolls looks so out of place at your house you need a mansion in Beverly Hills to go with the car.”

“Who told you that?” she demanded, then shut her mouth.

“It doesn’t take a lot of effort to figure something like that out, Jennifer. You may be my daughter and I love you, but I don’t have to like you that much.”

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry about the letter. I didn’t mean it.”

“Make sure you remember that, and I will ask the lawyers to rescind the will, in a year or so. Understood?” He waited until the girl nodded.

“Now, I hate to be the one to break this to you, but your maiden name isn’t Windsor, or Romanov or Vanderbilt for that matter. I don’t know where you get off thinking that you deserve a lifestyle of the rich and famous, but you aren’t royalty, and guess what, you will get the lifestyle that Kevin can provide for you.”

“Dad, Kevin has no ambition at all. All he wants to do is go to work, then come home and play with the boys. He’s turning down promotions and even overtime.”

Bill smiled and said, “There isn’t anything wrong with that. I did that when you and Chris were small. The boys need him, and if you do want to make this Christmas up to me, there is something you could do that wouldn’t even cost you any money.”

“What?”

“Grow up and start thinking about your kids for a change.”

Seething, she growled out, “You think I don’t think about my kids?”

“No, you don’t. Not one little bit. There is only one person in the world that you do think about, and she is always in the mirror. Come on, do you really believe that those china plates were a good investment?”

“The man at the store said....”

“Bullshit. I know you are smarter than to believe that kind of hype, or did you turn in your brains when you got married? In twenty years you would be really lucky to get even half of the purchase price back for those plates. They’re mass produced. We aren’t talking hand painted by Picasso plates, here, or designed by Faberge.” Bill walked over to his desk, and picked up a brochure.

“The only thing these plates are good for is to go on display at your house just so that all of your guests, if they noticed the plates and you don’t rub their noses in it, will see them as evidence of your good taste, wealth and breeding.

“The boys would see the plates and dream about them. Right now, they are kids, they are thinking that they can sell the plates for toys. In a few years it will be for cars, or college, or whatever. When they do go to sell them, then they may find out what a fraud that was. You weren’t thinking about the boys, not at all, just about your own precious image.”

“Okay, okay, I wasn’t thinking about them, you’re right.”

Bill sighed, it was just going in one ear and out again. “In any case, I did get you a Christmas gift. Your mother has more, but this one is from me.” He pulled out a large, and rather heavy box. “This is considered to be priceless, and one of the world’s greatest treasures, if you use it properly.”

Jennifer took the box. Her hands trembled as she tore off the wrapping paper, and looked inside. There, nestled in white tissue paper she found a large book, with a creamy white cover. The gold lettering read, ?The Holy Bible”. “A bible....” She pulled the bible out of the box, flipped it open then shook it. “Where’s the check?”

“No check, just words, rather important words at that. You’re supposed to read that,” Bill added quietly. “I know that your mother is into all of that New Agey - Eastern religion sort of things, but that might remind you whose belated birthday we are celebrating.”

“Funny, that is so - funny,” Jennifer dropped the book on the floor and stomped out of the room.

“Another holiday season going out with a bang,” Bill commented as he watched Jennifer slide out of his driveway. “She’s going to take it out on the boys, and I wish there was something I could do about it, but....”

“Other than spending the rest of our lives being blackmailed by that creature that used to be my daughter, I don’t see that we have any choice. She never got that from us.”

“Trevor told me there isn’t a single kid in their neighborhood that they are allowed to play with, none of them are good enough for her highness.”

Evelyn sighed, and walked over to join Bill by the bay window. “Those kids need playmates more than anything.”

“Yes, you’re right, but I’m too old to be effective, and I don’t know any rich kids we could import over there.”

“You aren’t too old, and knowing you, you would jump at the chance to play with the boys,” Evelyn commented.

“Well, the old chestnut has always been ?inside every fat man there’s a skinny kid trying to get out.’ I was never that skinny as a kid, but if I could get that kid out, I would in a heart beat.”

“Why don’t you?”

“Why don’t I what?” Bill asked. “I can’t just turn back the clock and be eight years old, again. Even if I could, what do I do about this house, our marriage, you know, things that I can do as an adult?”

“It wouldn’t have to be for that long, just long enough to teach our daughter a few things about image, and give the kids some real help over there.”

Bill turned and gave his wife a long, look. “What are you talking about? No amount of plastic surgery is going to make me look like a kid, again. I don’t believe any of your holistic therapists have some sort of magic spell that would do it, and I’m not sure if I could even if it was real.”

Evelyn smiled, “You just said you would jump at the chance, and trust me, Bill, you would fit right in with any group of kids around.”

“I will take that as a compliment, but it’s physically impossible for me to turn into a kid again, so what’s the point? What would you do if I did?”

“I would go with you, not all the way back to childhood, but I would be your Mom. You take care of the kids, and I take care of Jennifer.”

“This calls for a drink - okay, you don’t have to give that look. I meant “Ovaltine” or “Bosco”, there, that takes me back. All we need now is a passing wizard with a youthening spell and twelve sided dice. Or maybe you found the Fountain of Youth and haven’t shared it with anyone?”

“Bill,” Evelyn said resting her hands on his shoulders and looking straight into her husband’s eyes. “You don’t need to make fun of this. It’s real or I wouldn’t mention it. I know you don’t want to hear about my ?New Age’ contacts, but there is someone that can do this.”

“Please, sweetheart. The most that would happen is that your ?friend’ would have us get in touch with our inner children, and that’s it.”

“No, this is quite real, and safe. You don’t believe me?” Evelyn asked quietly.

“No, I don’t. This is the craziest suggestion I have ever heard. I want to help the kids, more than anything I want to help the kids, but we don’t need to resort to fantasies. Okay, if this is real, where would we live? We can’t come back here.”

“No, I have a place lined up. We have the money to live on, comfortably and you can either be home schooled or go back to St. Joseph’s.”

“Home schooled, I don’t think the third grade is ready for me, and I know I am not ready for elementary school again. We can turn back into us, right?”

“Of course, you worry too much, Bill. Everything is set, say the word and we can start whenever you want. After all, none of this is real so you have nothing to lose.”

Evelyn drove to a small business park, on the other side of the city. “Dr. Kylie is expecting us, and I want you to be nice to him, and not a single crack about quacks, do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Mom,” Bill said as he looked out the window. He counted a row of evergreens lining the walkway to the building. “Okay, and if this doesn’t work, and it won’t, can I make the cracks then?”

Bill followed his wife inside the sparsely furnished office, and took off his coat.

“Hi, Julie,” Evelyn said to the receptionist. “Over there,” she told Bill pointing out the coat rack.

“Dr. Kylie will be with you in a minute, Mrs. Connor.”

“Thanks. Bill, will you stop fidgeting. Just sit down, and relax. Read a book.”

“Yes, dear,” he said with a long sigh. He took a seat, opened one of the magazines on the table and flipped through it as Evelyn settled in with her knitting.

“Mr. and Mrs. Conner, you can come back now, just follow me.”

“This is it,” Evelyn said, and took Bill’s hand.

“I hope so.”

They waited in an office, with more comfortable seating. A tall man, who looked to be in his mid thirties, entered, and smiled. “Hello, Evelyn, good to see you again. Mr. Conner, this is a pleasure. I am Dr. Kylie, yes, I am the snake oil salesman, here. I can even show you my snakes. Would it make you feel better to know that everything I do here is the result of a genuine magic potion?”

“Actually, Dr. Kylie,” Bill said, standing up to shake the man’s hand. “It would. You see I have a bet with my wife about all of this, and that might just put me over the top.”

“Please remember that Evelyn has been my patient for quite a while.

Now,” the man said as Bill sat back down. “I know I have been called everything and then some, by most of the members of my profession, but besides being a quack, I am actually a ?Regenesist,” in that my procedure can regenerate a body, in fact, even physically change it to almost any specification. I can make you younger, very much younger. There is no magic involved, just a good understanding of quantum physics, and ancient teachings from the Far East, that have been available to scholars for centuries.”

“Yes, that all matter is in flux, and at the atomic level nothing is solid. What we see isn’t real, although if you were to kick a boulder, good and hard, you would see why Samuel Johnson refuted that theory back in the 17th century,” Bill explained quietly.

Dr. Kylie’s smile grew broader. “Actually that’s part of it, but the question isn’t if matter is in flux, it isn’t and I don’t need to kick any boulders to prove it, but if matter can be changed, at the atomic level. The answer is yes. Take that boulder, for example. You can see it, can’t you? A massive stone, covered with moss and lichen on one side, gray and brown on the other? If you wanted to drastically alter the shape of the stone, how would you do it, and without applying any sort of destructive force at all, including rubbing it down with an emery board or something?”

“No,” Bill had to admit.

“That is what my colleges and I have discovered. With the right kind of electrical impulse, including brain waves, matter can be changed, redirected as it were or regenerated. That boulder looks the way it does because matter tends to clump together as it is formed, and stays there through inertia. That rock is solid, but, if you apply the right sort of energy, you can redirect the matter throughout the rock, or the person, to take on new forms.”

“You’ve discovered this? And your names aren’t in every paper? Sounds like you have the Philosopher’s Stone.”

“We can’t change lead into gold, and the boulder if it was made of granite before we changed it, it would still be made of granite when we finished. Same with people. I couldn’t change you into a robot, just the way you are put together. I can change men into women, and vice versa, and it’s possible to change a man into an animal, but not a man into a tree.”

“The reason this hasn’t hit the paper,” Dr. Kylie continued, “is that we do not

wish the publicity. The medical and scientific community would never acknowledge our work, even to publish it in some obscure medical journals, so we have to go at this alone. We own office buildings like this one, in almost every major metropolitan area, and the only advertising we do is word of mouth. We have strict privacy rules here, and we will never reveal any of our patients.

“For example, Evelyn has been with us almost from the first, and she has seen and experienced this discovery for herself.”

“You’ve let them change you?” Bill demanded.

“I always turn back,” she said with a smile. Think of all the times you have sent me off for my ?New Agey’ meetings and treatments that you didn’t believe in, and you wouldn’t even come with me. It was all mumbo and jumbo to you. I can vouch for this, sweetheart. It works.”

“And I really will change back into a little boy?”

“You really will. Bill, I have been planning this for months if not years. When we change we both have identities to change into, the paperwork is there, and we will have the lifestyle that will impress Jennifer. You get to play with the kids to your heart’s content and when we are finished, you change back into your lovable old self.”

“Where does all the extra mass go?” Bill asked, trying not to sound too deflated.

“I’ll show you. We have a way of storing it for the reverse process.”

Bill followed Evelyn and Dr. Kylie on a grand tour of the facility. Deep in a sub basement, he viewed canister after canister that were locked and chilled.

“Here is where we store our clients extra mass. No, there aren’t gobs of flesh and fat in the chambers, just highly charged molecules, but when you return to change back we retrieve your canister.”

“And if I get the wrong one?” Bill demanded

“Doesn’t matter if you did. Matter is matter and it is the potential that is used to recreate your current self. It’s not that we would end up transplanting someone else’s nose and arms on you.”

“Okay, I need to do this for the kids, when do we start?”

Dr. Kylie took Bill, by himself, to a room on an upper floor. After a few protests, Bill undressed down to his boxers, and stretched out on a large, overstuffed bed. The room was painted a cool light blue that he found relaxing.

“Drink this,” Dr. Kylie said, as he poured out a glass of dark brown liquid. “It’s the magic potion I mentioned earlier. It will relax you, and get your body ready for the changes to come.”

Downing the glass in two gulps, Bill commented. “I still don’t believe this.”

“I know. No one does. This goes against everything modern science has always taught, but it works. There,” he said and attached two electrodes to Bill’s scalp. “Lay back, close your eyes, and wait for the instructions.”

As soon as he closed his eyes, Bill felt drifty. He heard a voice talking about visualizing a child, and started to dream about a child’s face, but fell deeply asleep in spite of the voice droning in his ear.

“Wake up, sweetheart,” a voice said in Bill’s ear.

He stretched, fought back a yawn, then opened his eyes. A young woman, in her late twenties, he guessed, stood over his bed. She was pretty, and had a lovely smile, and her eyes were the same light blue as.... “Evelyn?” he asked, then cleared his throat. His voice squeeked.

“It’s me. Bill, or should I say ?Billy’? I’m Valerie now, and you are now William Harrison Alexander, III.”

“Huh?” he asked the started to sit up. He froze at the sight of his own arm against the bed. “What.... Oh - my - God.” Fully awake, he tossed the sheet aside and stared at his now hairless, and quite naked chest, then everything else. “I’m a kid. It really happened. I’m a little kid. Look at me.”

“I am, and I have no desire to see you without clothes, young man. But you are a good looking kid, no getting around that. Here, put these on.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Bill asked as he stared at the sweatpants in his wife’s hand. “I can fit into something that small?”

“Yes, you can. You look around nine, a little bit taller than Trevor, but not by much.”

“This could be fun, but how long do I have to stay like this?”

“As long as it takes,” Evelyn said, with a shrug. “Don’t worry, the house is being taken care of, we have a brand new, and expensive home in Jennifer’s neighborhood, and enough money in the bank to pull this off. All you have to do is play with the kids, and relax. I will have you registered with the school system as home schooled, remember, and we will be home before anyone can complain.”

Billy dressed in his t-shirt and sweat pants, then walked over to look himself over in the mirror. “This is going to take some getting used to. ?William Harrison Alexander the third’? What happened to 1 and 2?”

“Number one was your long departed grandfather, and number 2 was your father, recently died leaving me a rich widow.”

“I see, and where is the money for this charade coming from?”

“Investments I made into Dr. Kylie’s process. We have enough to be rich, for a while.”

“Tell me you aren’t driving a Rolls?”

“No, never a Rolls, but I do have a Jaguar.”

“Cool,” Billy said. “When can I drive it?”

“In about nine years from the look of you, young man.”

Billy sighed as he looked into the mirror. Billy Alexander stood about four and a half feet tall, and looked skinny as a flagpole. William Conner had been on the pudgy side at nine, not fat, but definitely not the athlete type. He was willing to bet he could run, and run fast. Hmm, sandy brown hair, bright blue eyes, and a turned up nose. Good looking? Yes, he had to admit, he was.

“You want to build a snowman when we get home?” Billy asked.

“No, but you might get Trevor to help you when he gets home from school.”

“Well, this turned out much better than I expected,” Dr. Kylie said from the doorway.

Billy turned, then forced himself to look way up at the man. “This is so odd. Everyone and everything is so big.”

“You will get used to it.”

Billy gave the man a wide grin. “Okay, so the snake oil actually worked. I’m ready to see the snakes, now.”

“There isn’t time, sweetie. We need to get you home,” Evelyn said, although the glance she exchanged with the doctor made Bill pause.

“Is there something I should know here?” Billy blurted out.

“No, there isn’t,” Evelyn said with a laugh. “Dr. Tom and I have been friends for a long time. Here, finished getting dressed and I will have the car brought around.”

“What for?” Billy asked, pulling his shoes and socks on. “It’s parked right out front.”

“You’ll see,” Evelyn said with another glance at the doctor.

“Whenever you are ready to go back, just let me know,” Dr. Kylie said quickly, then walked away from the room.

“You’ve done this before?” Billy asked. “All those times you were away with your New Age group, you were actually getting younger?”

“Some of the time. Dr. Tom didn’t have this process perfected until a couple of years ago, and it really has taken off. He was one of my therapists before, and still is for that matter, and you can get any other ideas out of that little head of yours.”

“Okay,” he said and let Evelyn help him with a heavy winter coat.

 

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