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Chapter 4
Acceptance

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Chapter Description: Andy accepts his fate. Physical and Mental AR

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Sorry for the long break, here is the conclusion.

This chapter has a lot of NZ terms in it so here is a glossary. Maori=Native person of NZ, polynesian. Pa=Maori fortress. Iwi=Maori tribe. jandals=flip-flops. Ka Mate=Maori for ’to the death.’ Treaty of Waitangi=Treaty Maoris signed that ceded NZ to the British.

Andy was very excited when he and the Harrisons arrived back home after dinner. He had been promised a cool surprise and the energetic boy could hardly contain his anticipation. Was it a cool new toy or better yet some pavlova for dessert? That would be the best, Andy loved pavlova, all the sweet fruit and creamy, rich meringue, it was so yummy! As soon as Mr. Harrison had the Infiniti parked in the drive Andy and Sean climbed out over the smooth leather seats and ran across the grass to the door, leaving Jake strapped in his car-seat, fussing because he was left behind. That didn’t bother Andy, he was a big kid after all and he didn’t need to sit in a dumb car seat anymore. He was more interested in getting in the house to see his surprise.

Mrs. Harrison called after the two youngsters, “Hold up you two, there’ll be plenty of time for surprises! Honestly I shouldn’t let you two have ice cream so late, you’ll be up all night.”

Andy and Sean shook their heads no in unison, “No we’ll go to bed, we promise!” Andy certainly didn’t want to lose dessert privileges. Of course Mrs. Harrison wasn’t his mum, but she talked to his mum a lot so it couldn’t be smart to upset her.

Mrs. Harrison finally finished un-strapping Jake from the car and let the little boy sprint over to join his big brother and Andy. “All right, in you all go now, shoes by the closet please,” she instructed.

Andy quickly dropped his cool light-up trainers on the little rug by the closet and skipped happily into the living room where there were so many cool toys to play with. He really did envy the Harrison kids. Once the kids were all gathered together playing on the carpet with their legos, Mrs. Harrison clapped her hands to get their attention and announced, “Time for your surprise Andy.”

Andy bounced up and down on his butt, giggling and grinning like the silly little boy he’d become. Mrs. Harrison was very satisfied with the way things were progressing, so it was time to help her new little charge adjust to his new social group. She pulled a blue shirt, perfectly sized for a 7-year old, out of a white plastic bag that was lying by the couch. Across the shirt were the words, ?Napier Youth Soccer.’ Smiling in encouragement she announced, “Your mum has decided to sign you to play soccer in the under eight league and since the first game is tomorrow morning we’ve decided you should have a little sleep-over here since we’ll be taking Sean for a game the same time as yours. Isn’t that exciting sweetie, you’ll just love playing soccer and you’ll get to make lots of new friends I’m sure.”

This was not exactly what Andy had been expecting for his surprise. It wasn’t anything immediate and new or sweet as he had hoped. But he didn’t really feel that disappointed because he was going to get to have his first ever sleep-over! And maybe playing soccer would be fun, even if the thought of it scared him a bit at the moment.

Mrs. Harrison, looking pleased that Andy was excited by the prospect of a sleep-over, then pulled out something else from behind the couch. It was a nylon drawstring bag. “I thought that it would be an extra special treat for you two to have a little camp-out in the back yard,” she announced.

Andy was overjoyed, a camp-out was such a cool idea. That was something big kids got to do. “Oh boy, oh boy!” Andy cheered. Sean seemed excited at the prospect as well. “We can have snacks and stay up late and tell stories. Y’know I’ve been camping before of course, so I’ll teach you how to camp like a big kid,” Sean explained.

Andy liked having a surrogate big brother like Sean, most big kids were mean and pushy but Sean seemed genuinely nice to Andy. Mrs. Harrison helped them get ready for their camp-out while Mr. Harrison set up the tent in the yard. She got out bags of crisps and biscuits for them to enjoy before bed. As long as they were in their tent, she didn’t mind them being up late. It was Friday night after all. Next she loaded the boys arms with torches and sleeping bags and ground rolls to put in the tent. Finally she handed Andy a soft fleecy set of PJs to put on. They were white and covered in Toy Story characters with little elastic bands at the ankles. Andy happily pulled on the cozy jammies in the bathroom, he didn’t want anyone seeing him undressed of course, and headed downstairs. There Sean was already dressed in his Rugby jammies and holding a red torch in his hand.

“C’mon Andy lets get going!” Sean declared impatiently.

“Okay, I’m coming, I’m coming!” he responded. Then, turning to Mrs. Harrison, he asked, “Will you be, um, checking on us tonight?” with a hint of anxiety in his voice.

“Oh you’ll be fine sweetie, Sean will watch out for you and I’ll be just upstairs if you need anything very important tonight, but I think a big boy like you should be just fine, Andy.” She assured the somewhat nervous boy.

Andy nodded, trying to suppress his trepidations. At first the idea of a camp-out seemed so exciting, but now he was feeling the fears of a little boy creeping up on him. He didn’t want to be a dumb little kid, but he kind of wanted his mummy here right now. He wasn’t sure why the idea of sleeping in the back yard made him so unsettled. It seemed to him that this should be nothing, and yet he felt an undeniable nervousness. But now Sean was leading the way out and he didn’t wanna be a chicken, so he followed the older boy out back.

The tent was small, but the two boys had plenty of room to eat their snacks and play. As Andy got his laid out his sleeping bag little Jake came running out of the house in his silly footed PJs covered in Bob the Builder characters. “What do you want Jake?” Sean asked dismissively.

The little boy pouted and demanded, “I wanna have a camp out! Let me in.”

“No, go back inside Jake, no little boys allowed,” Sean insisted.

“But Andy gets to sleep out and he’s not much bigger than me anymore!” Jake argued.

Andy became puzzled by his statement. What did he mean by ?anymore.’ When had he ever been bigger than he was now? Andy figured Jake must me confused about some pretend game he had played earlier, or he was just making stuff up. He was only five after all and that was so much younger than seven and a half.

“Andy is my mate Jake, and when you’re his age I’ll let you camp out, okay, but not tonight, so go inside now before mum gets cross,” Sean stated with finality.

Jake looked very peeved, but he simply yelled, “You’re not fair!” and ran back into the house. Andy watched him disappear into the warm, well-lit house and again felt a twinge of envy. But at the same time he couldn’t help but giggle at the ridiculous jammies little kids like Jake wore, with those stupid little feet. What was the point, he went barefoot all day and then he put something on his feet to go to bed, it was very silly as far as Andy was concerned.

For an hour Andy was very glad he had been allowed to camp out. Sean and he had so many lollies and crisps it was like Halloween. Sean told him silly jokes and talked about all the stupid things some of his mates at school had done recently. But then he changed the subject to something new. “You wanna hear a scary story?” he asked.

Andy shook his head, he didn’t really want to be scared tonight. But Sean wouldn’t take no for an answer. “Oh c’mon Andy. What are you a chicken? Buck, buck, buck!” he taunted.

“No, I’m not chicken, I just don’t like stupid stories.”

“Hey it’s a camp-out tradition and I know some really true ones too. Have you ever heard the tale of Old One-Armed Rangi?”

Andy shook his head.

“Oh great, this is a good one ?cause it happened right near here,” Sean told him seriously.

Holding the torch up so that it illuminated his face eerily in the darkened tent, Sean smiled malevolently and began his frightening tale. “Old Rangi was a Maori chief. His iwi ruled the very land we live on and they had been here for centuries. Old Rangi was a stubborn chief and he refused to sign the Treaty of Waitangi or recognize the British crown. But a few of his people, in their greed sold off their land to settlers. But Old Rangi refused to leave the land. He made war on the British settlers and burned their towns during the land wars. The settlers decided to stop Rangi by kidnapping his children and holding them for ransom. But Rangi still would not leave the land so they sent his sons to live with the missionaries in Auckland where he could not get to them. So Rangi began to steal their children from their farms and their towns. He would stalk the night alone with his dog at his side snatching up little kids from their beds. Eventually the townspeople located Rangi’s pa and laid siege to it. All his supporters, his family fled to safety but Rangi remained, standing on the top of his defensive walls dancing a fearsome haka, shouting ?Ka Mate, Ka Mate’ at the settlers. Finally the settlers took the pa and they captured Rangi at a great expense in lives. They took him up to the bluff to hang him from the pohutukawa tree there, but Rangi had one final trick. With a high whistle he called his dog to his aid and it attacked his captors. Rangi ran to the edge of the bluff, but just as he reached it one of the men pursuing him threw the noose at his neck, but instead caught it around his arm. As Rangi jumped off the cliff his arm snapped clean off! He fell into the sea below and his crazy dog jumped right after him. Rangi was never seen again, but his body was never found and every so often a child would go missing from a farm, never to be seen again. They say that Old One-Armed Rangi still roams this area with his dog at his side, this land that used to belong to him, looking for unprotected pakeha children to snatch away forever.” Sean finished in an ominous tone, as Andy shook with anxiety.

“Good story eh?” Sean asked, looking very satisfied with himself.

“Um, yeah, really scary,” Andy agreed, trying not to give away his fear.

Sean yawned and looked at his glow in the dark watch. “It’s really late, I’m gonna go to sleep now. See you in the morning.”

A few minutes later Andy found himself laying wide awake in the darkened tent feeling completely alone and very frightened. A voice deep in the back of his mind told him that he had nothing to be afraid of, that this was stupid. But that voice seemed so small now, and Andy felt so small now, so small and weak and alone. He really wanted his mummy now. But eventually Andy did fall asleep only to have nightmares about an old Maori man with wrinkled brown skin and frightening facial tattoos circling the tent with his snarling dog, pointing menacingly at the tent with the bony finger on his only hand. The mangy dog pounced on the tent, his white, sharp teeth sinking into it, and Andy awoke with a start. He was covered in cold sweat and his heart was racing but the nightmare was over. Andy wanted to cry. Wind swept over the nylon tent making eerie noises and Andy had to fight his emotions not to cry out and wake up Sean. And then he became aware of something much worse. He realized that the sweat covering his body was not the only wetness he felt. He opened his sleeping back slowly and realized that he had indeed wet himself in his sleep. He felt horribly embarrassed. He couldn’t tell Sean, he’d never look at him as a big kid again after that. He decided the only thing he could do was go inside and tell Mrs. Harrison.

Liz Harrison awoke out a deep sleep at two in the morning to find a seven year-old boy with tears staining his red cheeks, standing at the side of her bed tapping her arm. “Andy? What, what is it dear? What are you doing in here?” she asked groggily.

“I had an accident,” he managed, looking absolutely devastated.

Liz instantly felt pity for the poor little kid. Reduced in age by eight years, thrown into an unfamiliar situation and now this. If it weren’t all for the best she’d feel very guilty for all of this. But in the end this was what was best for the boy, she knew it and his mum knew it. So she pulled herself together and got herself out of bed. “It’s okay Andy, you did nothing wrong, some boys mature slower than others, the important thing now is to get you in some dry clothes.” She instructed, leading Andy to the bathroom.

“Now stay here and I’ll look for something dry for you to wear. Just get undressed and put the wet clothes and undies in the tub.”

Andy looked at her with horror, “I don’t wanna, y’know, undress.”

Liz suppressed a giggle at the boy’s still intact sense of modesty when he had so little to be modest of. “I’m sorry dear, I’m just so used to Jake, when he was little he was always such a little nudist so when he had an accident I just let him air dry. I’ll get you clothes first and then you can change in here while I get Sean’s bed made up for you.”

Liz got the boy changed into an oversized T-shirt and sweatpants and tucked safely in bed. She’d have to tell Jane to buy some Goodnites for the boy. She could see why this restart was necessary, he certainly seemed overly anxious and mature for his age, even now. He was the kind of boy who wouldn’t take off his shirt at the pool or the beach. She was glad her kids weren’t so overly inhibited, even if Jake could use a bit more inhibition. In fact, Liz decided, she needed to have a serious talk about the situation with Jane in the morning.

Andy awoke in a much better mood the next morning. He was warm and dry and tucked safely in Sean’s comfy bed, the night-light still on. He just hoped Sean wouldn’t be upset at him for leaving in the night and he hopes Mrs. Harrison hadn’t told Sean anything about what happened the last night. Andy tip-toed down the stairs, straining his ears to see if they were talking about him. His spirits lifted when he discerned the conversation was all about soccer. He found Sean busily eating his toast and jam and Jake sitting in his booster seat eating scrambled eggs with his fingers. Mrs. Harrison was just spreading thick raspberry jam on another slice of toast when she noticed his appearance.

“Good morning Andy, did you sleep well?” she asked without hinting at the goings on just a few hours earlier.

Andy took a seat next to Sean and waited for the older boy to say something about his leaving in the night, but Sean just continued chomping away at his meal. Mrs. Harrison gave Andy a plate full of delicious toast and eggs and declared, “Well go on, tuck in, you’ve got a full day, you’re going to need your energy. Your mum and dad will meet us at soccer and then we thought we all would have a barbeque this afternoon together.”

Andy enthusiastically ate his meal, excited both that no one seemed to remember the terrible night, and that his mum and dad would be there to see him play soccer. Mr. Harrison soon came into the kitchen and smiled indulgently down at Andy. “You’ve got some jam on your cheek there mate,” he informed Andy with a good natured laugh.

Andy blushed as he realized he’d gotten a lot of jam on his face actually. He had been daydreaming about soccer and hadn’t been very careful in his eating habits. He now felt very conflicted though. On the one hand he was quite embarrassed to be so messy but on the other he felt that he shouldn’t care so much. Andy’s mind was still very much in conflict with itself. But his reverie was soon broken when he noticed Mr. Harrison was spreading marmite all over his toast. “Eww! That stuff is disgusting Mr. Harrison, how can you eat that?” Andy demanded incredulously.

But Mr. Harrison took a big bite of the yeast spread covered toast before answering, “Nothing like it in the world, marmite. You’ll learn to love it or you’ll learn to hate it, but if you stay in this house, you’ve got to try it.”

Andy stuck out his tongue and insisted, “Not me, yuck!” Jake giggled at that and began blowing raspberries up at his dad, but Sean seemed uninterested in their childish display of tongues and simply left to get dressed for soccer. Realizing that he was acting more like little Jake than Sean, Andy put his tongue back in his mouth a bit abashed and returned to finishing his meal, totally forgetting the jam still smeared all over his cheek in his rush to look more mature. Jake finished his meal in the meantime and soon his dad took him up to get dressed as well.

Having finished his meal Andy arrived back at Sean’s room to find Mrs. Harrison had laid out his uniform on the bed. Sean was already dressed and waiting downstairs so he had his privacy. He pulled on the blue t-shirt and white soccer shorts then the red knee-socks and shin guards. Finally he pulled on the cool light-up trainers he had so recently acquired and set about trying to do up the laces. He recalled that the night before he had had Mrs. Harrison do them, but surely he could do them on his own. And yet each time, just when he was sure he had it right they got jumbled up and confused. It was very upsetting to Andy, being certain he knew how to do something, but being utterly unable to remember how to do it. He felt smaller than ever before. Maybe if he hadn’t worn sandals or jandals all the time he’d know how to do this, but as it was he finally had to admit defeat and head down the stairs with his shoe-laces flopping freely about.

Andy found Mrs. Harrison down in the living room helping Jake do up the button on his jeans. Of course Jake wasn’t wearing shoes since he wasn’t playing soccer, he would just be watching. He didn’t have to face the indignity of asking a grown-up to tie his shoes, but of course to Jake it wouldn’t have been an indignity. In fact, Andy again realized, it really shouldn’t have bothered him so much. But it did. Mrs. Harrison finished with Jake and let the boy skip outside, while she nodded at Andy. “All ready to go honey?”

Andy blushed, “Well, not quite, could you tie my shoes please?” he finally asked.

“Well of course dear, come over here and we’ll get you done right up,” she ordered. Then seeing his sad face she added, “What’s the matter dear, you look sick. Are you nervous about the game?”

“No. I just feel stupid ?cause I can’t tie my shoes,” he admitted.

“Oh sweetie, no worries about that, you know Sean wears sandals all the time because he couldn’t do his laces properly till he was eight at least. You just give it some time, she’ll be right.”

Andy felt a bit better about his difficulties as they rode to the soccer match. He had been feeling so small and out of place recently but Mrs. Harrison always seemed to be able to make it better with a few comforting words. Not only that but soon Andy would be seeing his mum and dad and that was the most exciting thought of all. Even though it had only been a day, it felt to him as though it had been an eternity since he’d seen his parents. He longed for a cuddle in his mum’s arms and to feel his dad’s big hand messing up his hair.

The soccer games were held on the rugby grounds of the high school and Andy did feel a slight sense of d?j? vu upon arrival, but now the grounds were filled with young families and rambunctious young boys running this way and that in their multi-coloured uniforms. A concession stand was selling lots of lollies and American hot dogs, with a long line of hungry patrons stretching from it. Mr. and Mrs. Harrison instructed the boys to stay together till they found the right field and led them all to the far side of the grounds. At the field Andy was elated to finally see his parents, who had already laid out their beach-towel on the grass and were ready for the game. His mum waved to him and Andy took off like a shot leaving the Harrison’s in his wake.

Jane Baxter was overjoyed when she caught sight of her son, now only a head taller than little Jake Harrison, and dressed in his cute little uniform. He was exactly the size she wanted him now, her perfect little man. Ad as soon as he saw her his little eyes lit up and he sprinted to her with glee. Wrapping him up in her embrace she gave him a big bear hug and lifted him off the ground, his legs wrapping around hers, as she hadn’t been able to do in years. “Hello honey, I guess you’ve missed your mum, eh?”

Andy just hugged her tighter for a long moment and then launched into telling her about how he was going to play soccer. Of course he didn’t remember ever having played before, this was clearly a truly exciting experience for him and she was glad to see his childlike innocence back. Jane finally released him from the hug and set him down on his feet as the Harrisons arrived at the sideline and began setting up to watch the game. Jim Baxter, though, was still staring at his son in disbelief, but Jane could see that the boy’s broad smile and sunny outlook was beginning to get to Jim, he would accept that this was the right choice soon enough. As Andy took to the field Jane set herself up next to Liz Harrison and began to discuss the next step.

Andy really liked soccer. The other kids were pretty cool and his coach didn’t yell at them or get angry. The concept of having positions was a bit beyond Andy now and he found himself compelled to chase after the ball whenever it came close along with the other seven year olds. Mum and dad yelled support from the sideline and his team was winning, he even helped score a goal! But then they substituted him out for another player and Andy found himself bored standing on the sidelines. He fidgeted and played with his socks, pulling them all the way up under his shorts till they actually looked like tights. He thought that was funny. At the end of the game the coach told them they’d all played really well and they all got oranges! Andy decided to tell his mum that he wanted to play soccer all the time from now on.

After the coach had finished his talk Andy met back up with his mum and dad and the Harrisons. “So did you have a good time Andy?” his mum asked.

“Yeah! Soccer is awesome mum, I wanna join the team! Did you see me almost get that goal, did ya see it?”

His mum nodded, “Yes dear, I saw that. You are quite the star soccer player.”

Andy basked in the glow of his mum’s praise, it meant the world to him now. But Sean was sniggering to himself about something. “What is it?” Andy asked the older boy.

“It looks like you’re wearing tights or something,” Sean laughed.

Andy just shrugged, he hadn’t really considered how juvenile he looked with his socks pulled up before, and even now it didn’t seem to bother him much. He saw other kids his age doing the same thing. Andy just ignored the older boy’s laughs, what did big kids know anyway. He was feeling more and more comfortable with kids his own age. As they all went over to watch the start of Sean’s game with the under 12s, Andy noticed Jake doing summersaults in the grass and felt the overwhelming urge to join him. Soon Andy was happily rolling summersaults on the grass alongside Jake, his socks still pulled up under his shorts, getting grass stains all over his new blue t-shirt. Andy noticed that his mum was very pleased at his antics so he clowned for her all the more. Even his dad was smiling at him and his horseplay. The morning clouds were slowly burning off and the afternoon sun was warming the day up.

“Well it looks like it’s going to be pretty nice for the barbie after all,” Mr. Harrison declared.

“Yes, why don’t we do the shopping and you get the barbeque set up, you can take Andy back with you and we’ll be over at, let’s say two o’clock, all right?” Jane asked.

“Perfect, we’ll see you then,” Liz agreed, picking up the towel as the game came to an end and Sean came running over to them.

Andy was glad he got to go back to the Harrisons’ one more time because they had a lot of cool toys he hadn’t yet had the chance to play with. He followed Sean’s lead on the ride home, pulling off his wool socks, which had gotten uncomfortably hot and itchy as the day warmed up and leaving them next to his shoes in the back seat of the car. Upon arriving home the three barefoot boys immediately ran to the back yard to play on the swing-set. Andy had a contest with Sean to see who could swing higher, but the bigger boy easily won. Andy also lost in a foot-race and a tree-climbing contest. He didn’t like losing at everything and it made him a bit upset. Meanwhile Jake had taken further steps to cool down by removing his jeans so that he was playing in the grass in a T-shirt and underoos, playing with his toy dinosaurs. Tired of losing at everything Andy decided to join Jake on his hands and knees in the grass, taking a T-Rex and making the roar noises for it. He found he liked playing with Jake more than playing with Sean. Andy felt comfortable on his hands and knees playing with toys now, he didn’t want to play big kid games. And then the strangest thought crossed his mind. Perhaps he should take off his shorts, Jake certainly looked comfortable in his undies. But as quickly as he thought it, he dismissed it. It was a very silly thing to even consider, it was hot out, but he didn’t want anyone seeing him in his undies, how embarrassing. It wasn’t like he was really a little kid like Jake, he wasn’t as big as Sean either, but he wasn’t that little.

As he played dinosaurs Andy suddenly became aware that he needed to pee and badly. Dropping the toys he ran inside and raced to the toilet. It worried him a bit how suddenly the urge hit him. But as soon as he was done, the only thing on his mind was playing again. He found that all day it had been getting easier to forget any worries and focus only on what was immediately before him. As Andy padded down the hallway towards the stairs he noticed the door to Jake’s room was open. Curiosity got the best of him and he poked his head into the room. Jake’s walls were painted in sky-blue and the ceiling painted with clouds. His messy bed had airplane decal covered sheets and there were pictures of trains and planes and trucks on the walls. His toy chest at the foot of the bed was overflowing onto the thick green carpet. But what really caught Andy’s eye was the smaller chest in the corner that was filled with Thomas the Tank Engine trains. Andy really liked the trains, but he was too big to play with them now. But maybe while everyone was outside it wouldn’t hurt to play with the little kid toys. For the briefest of moments something told him it was a bad idea, but all day his mind had been losing its focus and he pushed aside the worrisome thoughts and got down on his hands and knees to play with the toy trains. Being down on the floor like this felt so natural now, and he could recall so clearly his mum getting upset about the holes in the knees of his jeans and trousers that he got from playing like this on the floor. Taking Gordon and James in his hands Andy set the blue and red toys on the floor and became engrossed in his imaginary game of train station, making ?Chugga-chugga-chugga,’ noises for the trains and putting on a British accent to imitate the voices of Gordon and James. To his delight he discovered a little toy rail-set was under Jake’s bed and he could run the toy trains on it. It even had a flashing railroad crossing.

As Andy played he failed to notice that toys were covered in a fine film of a dusty substance. It had been several minutes before Andy noticed the looseness of his soccer shirt and shorts. When he became cognizant that something was wrong, it was already far too late. Andy stood up to discover he had the body of a five-year old. The loss of two years was huge to such a small boy and Andy began to panic. What was wrong with him? He didn’t know what he should do. But there was one instinct still intact, one distant memory that briefly resurfaced and he knew he needed to leave the room immediately without pausing for anything else.

Andy dropped his shorts as he scurried down the hallway away from the room that so frightened him. His oversized shirt still protected him but he felt so very vulnerable now. He knew he wasn’t five, he knew this was all wrong and he knew he needed to get away, but everything else was a blank. He wasn’t sure where he was even going. But as he got to the bottom of the stairs and headed for the back yard he overheard adult voices in the kitchen. Tip-toeing over to the kitchen, but careful to stay out of sight he could make out what was being said.

“Right, that will be cute won’t it, hahaha,” Liz Harrison laughed.

“Well it should be done pretty soon, should you go up there and check on him?” asked Mr. Harrison.

“No, I’ll give it another minute. I told you he couldn’t resist those trains, have you seen the way he looks at Jake when he plays with his little toys. Jane is going to be so happy and of course so is he. He’ll make a perfect playmate for Jake, I mean they already get along so well together don’t they.”

Andy couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Even to his seven-year old mind it was clear that whatever had happened to him was on purpose and they knew it. And not only that, his mum knew it. Andy was truly scared now, he had to fight back the urge to cry. Right now he had to get out of here, even if he wasn’t sure where he was going to go. Andy crept back away from the kitchen into the foyer and carefully opened the front door to leave. Closing the doot quietly behind him, Andy jumped down the steps and started to run for his own house across the front lawn. But about halfway there he stepped in a hole and fell flat on his face in the dirt. Again he had to fight the urge to cry out but he restrained himself and spit out some dirt he got in his mouth. Then he looked up only to be shocked to see a pair of feet standing right in front of him, a pair of dirty bare feet. Craning his head back Andy realized that Sean was looking down at him with an amused expression on his face.

“Having some trouble little guy?” Sean asked. “What happened to your shorts, you decide to take ?em off too?” he continued, noticing his exposed underwear.

Andy let a few tears drip down his cheeks, “Sean, look at me, I shrunk! My shorts fell off and I was tryin’ to get away, but I fell and I dunno where to go, I’m scared!”

Sean looked Andy up and down as though he hadn’t noticed till now that the boy had shrunk. Finally he looked Andy in the eye and told him, “It’s gonna be okay, I’ll take you up to my room and we’ll figure something out.”

“No! I won’t go back in there I won’t!”

“You can’t run down the street dressed like that and you sure can’t go home since your mum knows about this,” Sean rationalised.

Andy didn’t question how Sean knew his mum was in on it, he just felt glad someone bigger than him was taking charge. He gave Sean his hand and the older boy led him quietly up o his room without his parents hearing them. Once there, Sean looked him all over and sighed. “I dunno Andy, this is crazy. I don’t know how we can grow you back up, maybe it won’t be so bad. You like playing with Jake anyway and you like his toys...”

Andy cut Sean off mid-sentence, “No, no, no! I don’t wanna be little again, this is wrong! We gotta fix me someway.”

“Okay, but you have to calm down, you’re acting like a baby right now. If you really want to be a big kid then you have to do what I tell you and you have to behave. Now you wait right here and I’ll get you some clothes to wear that will fit,” Sean ordered, leaving Andy alone in his room.

Andy thought a lot about what Sean had said. Did he really want to be a big kid? The world seemed so scary and foreign right now and he really just wanted his mum to hug him in her arms. He did enjoy playing with Jake’s toys after all. As he sat on the floor pondering all these things Andy slowly became aware of something making light from under the bed. Getting down on his tummy and reaching under Andy felt something plastic and pulled it out. It was a piece of the toy train-set, the railroad crossing piece with its flickering red light, a light which began to grow bright as soon as he put his hand on the piece. It was an entrancing sight. And the piece grew suddenly warm and seemed to tingle and give off heat as something happened. Andy felt the tingle again begin deep in his brain as the toy began to affect his mind. But as he felt his mind diminishing this time he didn’t fight it. He was too overwhelmed by his desire to be loved and cared for by his mum, to no longer have to try to be a big boy anymore. As he opened his mind to the affects of the toy he felt the most relaxing, wonderful sensation. He felt every muscle relax, every care float away as his most basic mental abilities like reading and writing and the alphabet disappeared from his mind forever along with all his memories of school.

The lights on the toy train piece went out and the warmth dissipated. Andy found himself holding a cool plastic train piece sitting on the floor on his bum in Sean’s room. Sean was a big boy, he had lots of cool stuff. Andy liked looking at all of Sean’s cool toys but most of all Andy felt like putting his thumb in his mouth. He knew he shouldn’t ?cause big boys don’t do that. But Andy didn’t care, he didn’t want to be big, he never wanted to grow up. Andy sucked on his thumb and felt safe and happy.

Sean arrived back a moment later carrying a pair of small jean shorts in his hands. “Here you go Andy, you can wear these,” he told the newly reduced little boy.

But Andy shook his head, removing his thumb to insist, “No jeans, they all scratchy!”

Sean smiled as the boy re-inserted his thumb in his mouth understanding what had happened while he was gone. “Okay then,” he said, “let’s go to Jake’s room and you can chose something to wear, okay?”

Andy liked the sound of that, his mummy never let him choose his own clothes. He followed Sean to Jake’s room and looked through the closet. Soon he found something really cool. “I wanna wear ?dis.” He insisted, pulling out a Spiderman costume that Jake had worn last Halloween.

Sean laughed at the boy’s choice but said, “Okay, if that’s what you want.”

Liz Harrison couldn’t help but chuckle when she saw Sean coming out the back door with Andy at his side. The now tiny little boy was dressed in a complete Halloween costume, save for his bare feet below the elastic ankles and the lack of a mask. Andy looked like he couldn’t have been happier to be dressed up like this, not a hint of big boy embarrassment, just a child’s sense of wonder. Jake was also beaming at the sight, overjoyed to have a new playmate all his own. The two boys wasted no time getting acquainted, and Liz was heartened to see they were two of a kind, running around the yard pretending to be superheroes.

“Zoom!” Andy yelled as he soared around the yard pretending he was Spiderman swinging from web to web. He was having a great time playing with his best mate Jake. He was so involved in his game he almost didn’t notice his mum and dad arriving. But upon seeing them he launched himself over to greet them and get a hug. “Mummy, mummy!” he squealed, raising up his arms for a hug, which he promptly got.

“Well hello there my little cuddle-bug,” Jane crooned as she snuggled him in her arms. He was so tiny now, just a five-year old that fit snuggly in her embrace.

Andy giggled uncontrollably as his mummy blew raspberries on his tummy, scooping him off the ground in her arms. His mind was so empty now, but he didn’t miss a bit of his former intelligence or maturity, he was as happy as could be cuddled in his mother’s arms, just a little boy in a Halloween costume in March. It was soon clear to his mum that he had regressed further than expected. Whether it was the power of the last device on a small body or just his acceptance of the process, he clearly was acting more like he had at age four than at five. He might have the body of a five year-old but mentally he was a bit further back. And that was perfectly fine with Jane, she’d just let him go to kindy an extra year, he’d always been too mature for his age, now she wouldn’t have to worry about that anymore.

After a wonderful afternoon of barbequing and talking it was time to get some dessert from the market and Jake and Andy both wanted to come along. Neither Jane nor Jim could convince Andy to change out of the costume so the little boy ran around the supermarket in his costume, his little bare feet slapping on the linoleum floor telling anyone who would listen, “I’m spidaman!” and holding out his hands as if to shoot webs from them. Any bashfulness he had had left before the final regression was gone now.

Jane Baxter finally had what she really wanted, her little boy was back, but even better, her husband had at last accepted this transformation. She watched as he sat little Andy in his lap and read him a story from Winnie the Pooh. Andy was quietly sucking his thumb, dressed only in his Goodnites his eyes drooping after a long and tiring day. Jim was looking more fatherly and contented than he had in years. And it was all thanks to the Harrisons and their amazing invention. That night she tucked her little one in his bed, now decorated in Thomas the Tank Engine designs, kissing his cheek and watching him drift off to sleep.

Andy liked his new life, not that he knew there was anything new about it. He just enjoyed being a little kid immensely. On Sunday the sun was out and it was very warm so his mum and dad loaded up the car and along with the Harrisons they went to the beach. Andy loved the beach, the warm sand between his toes the cool sea breeze in his hair and he finally got to take off his clothes without mummy being upset. It didn’t matter that Jake had on swim togs, mummy said he didn’t have to and Andy loved the feel of the warm sun on his bare bum-bum as he ran stark naked around the beach playing sea monsters with Jake and then building big sand castles with Sean’s help. As he skipped through the sand by some really big kids, he thought something about them looked familiar, but he wasn’t sure. For a second he felt a rush of... of something indescribable. But then he felt a cool breeze on his exposed parts and he forgot all about those silly thoughts, he was just a little boy after all.

Jane thought it was refreshing that her once overly-modest son had become a little nudist. If only he knew that he was playing in the sand in his birthday suit right in front of several of his old high school friends, he’d be horrified. But as it was he continued is innocent beach fun completely oblivious. She looked more closely at the high school kids, laying there looking blas? in the face of such a beautiful day, interested only in getting their tans despite the ozone hole. Where was their interest in having some fun, playing in the water, having a cricket game. Well maybe they could do something about that. Perhaps those girls would be happier if they could get an all-over tan the way her son was now. Maybe they could benefit from a little return to innocence. Jane turned to Liz and with a mischievous grin she asked, “Say Liz do you think you’d like to come to a meeting of the PTA with me, I think we might have some more work to do.”

 

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