The AR Story Archive
Stories of Age/Time Transformation
by: skywavesage | Complete Story | Last updated Oct 15, 2017
"Aren"t you done yet?" Gary whined like a child suffering through an interminable road trip, which was doubly humiliating given that he was now young enough to get away with such brattiness. When he saw his reflection in the stainless steel of his fridge - saw his button nose, endearingly oversized ears and smooth, freckle-dotted checks - it was all Gary could do to not faint at the sight.
"I"m making good progress," Kyle replied with the practiced calm of a patient parent. "Just try and relax."
"Relax? Look at me!" Gary cried. "I"m not supposed to be younger than you!"
Kyle"s understanding smile only added to the smaller boy"s irritation. Though he had also left his preteen years behind, Kyle"s confidence and capability in such a trying time made him seem like the "big kid" that everybody in school wanted to be friends with. Gary, meanwhile, was the whimpering little boy who hid under the jungle gym while Kyle ruled recess.
"I bet you"d feel better if you had some clothes that fit. Here"¦"
Kyle handed his phone to Gary.
""¦you can order a few things for yourself through my Prime account. My treat."
Gary scowled at what he felt to be blatant condescension, jabbing violently at the screen with a stubby finger until he"d picked out an outfit befitting his current size (or, more accurately, the size he’d be when it arrived). He was about to check out when he suddenly stopped, smiled, and added one last item to the order.
"Here you go," Gary chirped as he handed back the phone.
"Pick out something cute?" Kyle chuckled as Gary scowled. "I"m just messing with you, bro. Why don"t you hop up here so we can chat for a bit?"
Gary sighed and climbed onto a barstool, fighting his swamping bathrobe every inch of the way. Though he had no desire to talk, he figured that keeping things friendly would prevent Kyle from clueing in on what Gary had planned.
"There we go," Kyle resumed the ticka-tap of his furious typing, slowed only slightly by his shrinking fingers. "Why don"t you tell me a little bit about yourself? I feel like a lousy boss for waiting "til a moment like this to learn about my most experienced programmer."
"What"s to tell? I"ve been at this since you were in diapers, which is where we"re both going to end up if you don"t hurry."
"Don"t be like that. I can talk and type at the same time, so feel free to say whatever"s on your mind. It"ll be a good distraction."
"What"s on my mind," Gary snapped, unable to help himself, "is that you took my job. You see how I live. You know how I struggle at work. I bet one of the other devs even told you about my failed marriage. That promotion was all I had. And then some kid swooped in and took it from me."
Kyle turned and frowned at Gary, who went beet red and dropped his eyes to the floor.
"I"¦I didn"t mean"¦"
"You really hate me, don"t you?"
Gary looked back up at Kyle. The boy, to his surprise, was smiling.
"Well"¦maybe hate isn"t the right word"¦"
"It"s all right," Kyle laughed. "That"s what happens when you don"t have a way to deal with negative energy; it"s like you can"t do anything but hate."
Though Gary wanted to scoff at another bout of Kyle"s new-age nonsense, he instead found himself nodding at every word.
"Here, let"s try something." Kyle took the boy"s small hands in his own. Gary flinched and reflexively pulled away, but Kyle"s grasp was firm despite its tenderness. "You"re gonna take a deep breath, and I"m gonna let go when you exhale. When I release your hands, you"re gonna release everything bad that you"re feeling right now. It"s all just gonna go away."
The skeptical boy did as he was asked, closing his eyes and filling his skinny chest with air. When he let it all out, Gary felt Kyle slowly release his hands"¦and, to his shock, he realized that it actually had helped a bit.
"Wild, right?" the older boy grinned. "I don"t do all this meditation stuff just "cause it"s cool, y"know. It really helps."
True to Kyle"s word, the conversation distracted Gary from the bizarre anxiety of the moment. Still, he couldn"t help but notice when Kyle scooted further forward in his chair to reach the keyboard, couldn"t help but whimper at the growing chubbiness of his body as it shrank deeper into his bathrobe. It was while Gary was lost in one of these moments of awed horror that a knock came at the door and nearly made him fall out of his chair.
"Easy, bro. I bet it"s just the clothes you ordered; their delivery"s super fast."
"Oh. Of course. I"¦um"¦"
Gary frowned down at himself, unsure whether he could answer the door like this.
"You want me to get it?" Kyle asked. "I mean, it was ordered in my name anyway."
""¦okay. Thanks."
Kyle hopped off the barstool, his pants and underwear immediately falling to the floor. Though his cheeks reddened, he surprised Gary by laughing it off, pulling them back up, and tightening his belt as he strode to the door.
"Hey dude," Kyle greeted the deliveryman. "You need me to sign for that?"
"Er"¦" He glanced at his tablet and then back at the little boy in the oversized clothes. "It says here it"s for a Kyle Miller"¦?"
"That"s me!" Kyle took the device and signed its screen, handing it back and taking the box from the befuddled man. "Thanks bro. Later!"
Kyle closed the door without waiting for a reply, looking triumphant as he strode back to Gary with the box under his arm.
"That was"¦so cool"¦" Gary murmured as he took it from the boy. "How did you"¦?"
"Confidence, my dude. It can pull you through just about anything. I"m almost done here " if you wanna go inside and change, I"ll probably be finished by the time you get back out."
Gary nodded and headed for his bedroom. He closed its door behind him and opened the box, frowning at what lay inside. His displeasure was only due partly to the clothes themselves; in his indignant haste, he had chosen an outfit that was chilling in its adorability. The baby blue shirt, corduroy overalls, and Sesame Street undies were perfectly suited for the Kindergartener he"d become, but what really gave him pause was the bottle of clear liquid that lay beside them. Gary wondered what had run through the mind of the Amazon employee that had been asked to put together an order of a little boy"s outfit and a vial of chloroform. It would be easy, he thought to himself as he stared at the door. Just soak a rag, put it over his mouth, make him watch the original app. It won"t even hurt.
Gary emerged from his room with his hands behind his back, blushing and looking away when Kyle gaped at his new duds.
"Holy shit." He whipped out his phone and snapped a picture. "I was kidding when I asked if you"d picked out something cute for yourself. You"re frickin" adorable."
"I am not," Gary whined. "Is the app ready?"
"Yep. I"m gonna go first; if I screwed up, better that it affects me. You"re little enough as it is. If this thing works the way I"ve programmed it to, the user should simply grow older by looking at the screen. No trance required."
"Sounds good." Gary shifted from foot to foot. "Um. There"s something I wanna give you first."
"Yeah? What is it?"
Gary took a deep breath and brought out what he"d been hiding. Kyle"s eyes widened.
"Is that"¦?"
"An Apple Newton," Gary held up the clunky, ancient PDA as though it were made of gold. "This piece of junk is the first device I ever coded for. And I want you to have it."
"Dude"¦I"¦"
"Just take it." Gary"s cheeks burned as he shoved the device into Kyle"s hands, looking away to avoid the older boy"s smile. No words passed between them as Kyle opened the reprogrammed app, staring at the altered field of pulsing colors.
"I think it works!" Kyle gleefully declared. The older boy had indeed taken on a gradual uptick of maturity, the steady growth just substantial enough to be noticeable.
"Great," Gary mumbled. "Um"¦do you think you could head out now? I could really use some privacy"¦"
"Say no more, dude." With a few deft taps, the older boy transferred the recoded app to his own device. "I"ll call a car and wait outside for it."
Kyle stepped forward and pulled Gary into a hug. The smaller boy was so surprised that he couldn"t even hug back, looking at Kyle quizzically as he pulled away.
"What"¦why did you"¦?"
"These days, it"s cool for a man to hug his friends." Kyle grinned as he hoisted his backpack over his shoulder. "Later bro."
Gary stared at the front door long after Kyle had closed it behind him. With a sigh, he grabbed his phone and opened the recoded app. The boy stared at the screen for but a second when he, out of the corner of his eye, caught sight of the disarray that surrounded him. The flies buzzing around weeks" worth of pizza boxes and takeout containers. The crumbling towers of newspapers that looked seconds away from toppling over. The general rot and clutter of a man who simply did not care anymore.
Gary frowned and lowered the phone, suddenly in no hurry to reclaim his adulthood. His little legs felt as though they were made of iron as he trudged to his bedroom, tracing a stubby finger against the faded wall of the long, silent hallway. He sniffled as he climbed into bed and let the thick blankets swaddle and swallow him, poking his head out just enough to stare at the picture on his bedside table. The tears that filled his eyes blurred the image of his ex-wife and son as he curled beneath the covers, as he clutched the phone to his shrunken body as though it were his favorite teddy bear.
Promotion or Pacifier
by: skywavesage | Complete Story | Last updated Oct 15, 2017
Stories of Age/Time Transformation