Tales of Regression

Chapter 2
Nostalgia Wave

Chapter Description: Ulrich ( TheFurEffect ) and Zach go together to a thrift store where Zach finds a DVD that brings a nostalgia wave over him, with a tiny bit of age regression magic. A commission I did specifically for my friend ( I don't do them for anyone else ) that I also plan on putting up on DA, along with my friend uploading it to their account.

Nov 3, 2021:

An average day can turn into something meaningful and memorable if you just let the nostalgia of your past kick in...

"Thanks for letting me tag along on your thrift store outing Ulrich," Zach, my purple and black beaver friend, sighs as he gets into my mid-2000s Subaru. "My father has been on my ass about getting a job, as if it wasn't hard enough. And my brother has been a bit annoying recently."

"Yep. If I had an extra room at my place I'd say you could stay there for a few days to kinda destress. I'd offer the couch, but I know Adler wouldn't allow that."

"Why is that?" As we idly chat I drive out of the apartment complex and onto a side road that needs a kot of work.

"I'm pretty sure it has to do with one of her uncles who used to couch surf at their place a lot when she was growing up. Apparently he was a real bum with a bad gambling addiction or something of the sort."

"Hmm, that makes sense, I guess." The surrounding suburban area looks more or less average with most people staying indoors if they're not raking up any leaves in their front yard. Halloween decorations still sparsely cover some houses while others lay barren of any sign that the holiday had come up. "It's too bad I caught you on your last stop."

"If I had more time I'd suggest we head to that one downtown that we both like, but I have things to do when I get back home."

"Nah, I completely understand. I wouldn't wanna be wasting any more gas on me since prices are only going up anymore. You know how I don't like to waste other peoples' money if I can avoid it."

"I wouldn't want to either..." We both relax and idly chat as I drive to a thrift store near where Zacks' father works. It's roughly about ten or so minutes away from the apartment Zach lives at and wasn't far out of my way anyways. I'm currently hoping to find some cheap, blank, rewritable DVDs so I can burn some episodes of my favorite show onto them and make my own pirated DVD for my personal collection.

"So, you just want to find some cheap, blank DVDs? I'm sure I could get a couple CDs from my fathers' stack of blank ones he got from work." We continue chatting as we park and get out of my car.

"Nah, those wouldn't work. I want some Sony DVDs that support longer extended play so that I can fit more episodes on."

"I'm not one hundred percent sure that's how it works." I shrug as we go in, masks put on.

"Neither am I, but I'm willing to try so that I can get all six seasons on a couple of DVDs over having them spread out on more than four disks. If I need help, I can just ask the internet. There's someone who's done this before and they probably know exactly how to do it."

"Just be careful. Piracy could destroy your computer." I laugh a little at his statement.

"Have you forgotten I use Linux? I know you're still in the process of switching over, but I've been using it for a couple of years now. I've got a good grip on it and even so, my antivirus software should hopefully pick up on something if I mess up. Besides, I'm using a special program made for Windows to do it for me, so if I get a virus from the program it won't destroy my computer. I just have to thoroughly test the files to make sure they're safe."

Most of the store is taken up by racks of clothing with electronics, furniture, decorations, and other such items located in the back of the store. The store doesn't have many people at all shopping around. It looks to mostly be older women with their children or the few probable resellers; the people I absolutely despise seeing in thrift stores. Regardless, if anything I'd like to think that the DVDs would be with the others, but I've been to other stores where they have them with the CDs or in some ither section that makes no sense. We both make our way back towards the DVD section. On beige shelving units lay movie cases stacked on each other, titles facing outward. Immediately I see a few DVDs I wouldn't mind getting if I wasn't after just the blank DVDs. But I just keep searching.

"Holy smokes! I haven't ever been able to find this anywhere besides online!" I look to down to my side to see Zach in joyful shock and he's squatted down to the floor holding a DVD case. It's a case for the Back to School with Franklin movie. His hands look like they're trembling with excitement. "And only a couple bucks for it too. I have to get it!" Now, I'm a fan of Franklin, but not anywhere near as much as Zach since he's been watching it since before he could read or write. To be honest, I'm a bit jealous he found that DVD.

"That's an amazing find. You'll definitely have to ket me borrow it some day. I'd love to watch it and I'm sure my child would love to watch it as well. And I know my wife would approve it because she knows it's a very wholesome show." He kind of ignores me as he opens the case to see if the DVD is inside or whether it was stolen. His trembling stops and it almost feels like he's on freeze frame for a couple seconds. "You alright there Zach? Is it an empty case?" He looks at me for and blinks a couple times.

"Uh, sorry, yeah. It has the DVD in it. I guess I was just in shock for a moment." He gets up and rubs the back of his head before pulling his leather wallet out of his dark maroon jacket.

"You mind if I see the DVD?" He hands it over after he pulls out a slightly wrinkled and folded five dollar bill. "Alright." I open it to see that there's no manual booklet but some message in Korean where the manual would be. It's white with a red bordee around them in almost like a bubble letter fashion. "Huh, I wonder what that says?"

"I don't know. If you're so interested, why don't you look it up?"

"Maybe I will." I tell him that in a jokingly mocking manner as I take out my phone and boot up my preferred translation site for Korean. It takes me no time to switch my keyboard to Korean and attempt to hastily type the message out.

/i/Let nostalgia wave rush across you for the next few days.

"Huh, I didn't expect it to say something so weird." I look over to Zach as I hand him the closed case back and notice his clothes look a little different. Rather than the silver hoodie and dark blue sweatpants he had on, he now has on a darker gray hoodie with black jeans. And his faded blue low cut Converse are more vibrant and stand out more. I remember him saying he's had those for quite some years, so I put that look at maybe 20 years old if I had to guess, assuming he got younger somehow. You don't just suddenly look different unless something like that happens, at least that's what the ArArchive has taught me over the years. Plus, his hair is a bit more frazzled and in all the time I've known him, I've never seen it frazzled once while we've been out.

"You alright there Ulrich? You're kinda staring at me like there's something wrong with me." I break my trance as he pipes up and I stop staring directly at him.

"Y-Yeah. Sorry about that. I kinda spaced out thinking about the message in the case. Did you change your look or did I completely miss what you were wearing?"

"Huh? I've been wearing this all day. Are you feeling alright?" Maybe I'm wrong and just imagining this.

"Uh, I'm not a hundred percent sure. Maybe I'm a tad stressed from work. I just could have sworn you where wearing something else. Just ignore me and my delusions." He worriedly nods as I go back to looking at the DVDs, keeping Zach in the corner of my eye. There's no way that was a normal message. Before long I see him starting to head over to the electronics, just far enough for me not to be able to keep an eye on him. After a couple more minutes of looking I conclude there aren't any and look over at the electronics to see Zach in his black jacket, light blue jeans, and red low cuts. I could have sworn he was a little taller and was wearing something different, but I chalk that up to my imagination more than anything.

"Heh, I can't wait to get home to watch the movie tonight. Movie nights are always awesome." I walk over to him and let him know we're leaving. "Cool. Just let me pay for this and we can get going."

He heads to the front and gets in line as I wait out front. Eventually he comes out with the case and receipt in hand, looking ecstatic. This time he has on a blue hoodie and black track pants. I decide not to push this issue with him since it'll only cause confusion and make me look weird. If he's getting younger, so be it.

At this point, I should just let it be. Most people would be freaking out, but I've read so many age regression stories and seen so many clips of it that this isn't freaking me out as much as it would normally most people. It's probably just a magic mesaage and this is all in my head. He looks to be somewhere around fifteen years old now. We both get to my vehicle and take our masks off.

"Thank you for taking me woth you on ylur last stop!" His voice cracks a tiny bit as he thanks me. I chuckle little to myself as I begin to drive out of the parking lot. I can lord over the fact I finished puberty before him when whatever is happening runs its' course.

"No problem. Just don't damage the DVD." He gets a grin on his face as his clothes suddenly change and he becomes every so slightly shorter and about two years younger. He's now in a red jacket and sweatpants.

"Heh, I would never damage a DVD as special as this one." His voice sounds more prepubescent than ever before, like almost all traces of puberty have faded into the autumn breeze.

"I'd hope so." After passing by the first stop light I see out kf the corner kf my eye that Zach isn't in the passenger seat. I mentally freak out as I check the rearview mirror. Sitting in back, all excited and smiling, I see a maybe eight or nine year old Zach, obviously not tall enough to ride up front. He has on a light purple jacket, jeans, and a pair of red and black shoes. I mentally sigh as I get my eyes back on the road. Zach looks a bit cute being as young as the magic message has turned him to already.

"Thank you for buying me this DVD Mr. Ulrich." His voice sounds like what I imagine an eight year old would sound like. I don't spend much time around kids, so I don't have a clue. It also feels odd being called "Mr." by a younger version of my friend.

"No problem Zach." We're nearing the apartments he lives at the next time I look back. This time I see a maybe five year old Zach lightly bouncing in a car seat, staring out the window. He fogs it up with his breath and tries to draw and write on it. Now he's in a blue rain jacket and navy blue sweatpants. He looks so happy and cute in this form. I've never seen pictures of him this young, so this is definitely interesting. Ans of course he looks so gosh darn cute in this form, cuter than even I was.

"I hope we get back soon. I gotta use the bathroom." I internally sigh and start to speed up since I don't want to have to clean out the backseat because he got magically younger. It takes little time for me to get into the parking lot and get a spot close to his apartment. Then I quickly get out and unbuckle and get Zach out. He runs towards his apartment door, up a flight of stairs, as I follow behind at a slightly slower pace. As I reach the top of the stairs the door opens and Zachs' mother is letting him in as he runs towards the bathroom.

Zachs' Mother: Thank you again, Ulrich, for watching over Zach for a while.

The screen flickers as I type on the keyboard, filling the page of my document with this nonsensical tale.

"Hmm, I'm not so sure I wouldn't freak out over what happens in this story. Then again, it is just fiction. Magic isn't real, so I guess I might never know how I'd react. Oh well, I might as well send this off to Zach and see what he thinks of it. This is his commission after all..."