AR Central Stories

Chapter 4
Kid A: Revision B

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Chapter Description: Same idea, different characters.

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"Youth would be an ideal state if it came a little later in life." - Herbert Henry Asquith, The Observer

A Worried Man With A Worried Mind

Dr. Colin Harford felt a pain in his side. Though it seemed real, he knew it was just the psychosomatic pangs of nervousness. A nervousness that Dr. Harford couldn’t quite place. Did I leave the iron on? What a cliched thing to ask myself. What day is it today? Growing more disoriented as time passed, he yanked open the third drawer of his desk and stuck his finger inside a small bottle, pulling out his "little blue saviors" as he called them. Throwing them inside his mouth, he already began to feel the nervousness subside.

It’s a common thing for new doctors just entering the practice to be jittery their first few weeks of actual work, but it’s not a common thing for doctors to be hooked on drugs... painkillers to be exact. Dr. Harford was a case in and of himself. Being a single dad was difficult enough, but his recent foray into the kingdom of painkillers was mostly the result of the pressure he felt to be successful at the practice. I may be in over my head was the thought that most often occupied Colin’s brain. His head, it turns out, might have been the problem.

Dr. Harford had run across a strange, space-like instrument at a pawn shop and bought it two years earlier. The man running the shop claimed that no one had ever managed to figure out its purpose or make it do anything. "It’s broken," had been his exact words. Still, the device fascinated Dr. Harford and he took it home to tinker with it just as a mere hobby. Upon discovering a aqua-blue-ish liquid in a chamber affixed to the side of the device, he had stuck a drop of it on a slide at work out of curosity... and discovered that the liquid appeared to be living. Repeated viewings only revealed more and more microscopic life forms swimming around like fiesty blood cells.

The Discovery

At home, Colin’s second oldest offspring, Stephanie (or as she insisted, "Steph") was dutifully avoiding her homework. Not wanting to ruin her reputation as a devoted daydreamer, Steph had spent the vast majority of the day gazing off into space, thinking how wonderful it would be when she could drive. Driving, to this 12 year old girl, was the ultimate privilege and meant that one was an officially grown up, mature, adult, established individual. Stephanie longed for that vehicle, that sweet mobility. But the fantasy always ended with her sitting on the couch, gazing down at her favorite stuffed animal, surprised she hadn’t really turned 16 after all.

Upstairs, Stephanie’s brother Paul was staring with a fiery intensity at his video equipment.

"Why won’t this damn thing work?" were his favorite words.

At 15, Paul was a whiz when it came to the technical things in life, but socially, he made Sylvia Plath look like Drew Barrymore. Though a little young looking for his age, Paul was not by any means a bad looking guy. In fact, if he had applied himself a little more, girls would have eventually come around. But as the situation stood, Paul was content in his World of One. His TV might very well have been his best friend, along with his mounds of editing equipment which was all he ever asked for at birthdays.

"Paul... Paul..." a knocking came at his bedroom door.

"What is it?" he replied, never taking his attention off what he was doing.

"Paul, do you know when Dad’s gonna get home?" Stephanie whined.

"I have no clue, Steph. Why should I know? You know he’s been working late," Paul answered, perturbed that he had to expend any energy at all talking to his sister.

"Well, he said maybe he would--"

"Yeah, I know. Could you please just go away??!"

"Sorry, geez."

Stephanie plodded back downstairs and resigned herself back to BoredomLand. There had to be something to do. She suddenly remembered that some games and old magic trick stuff used to be hidden under her dad’s bed. Wasting no time, she hurried into her dad’s usually-off-limits bedroom and peaked under the bed. Pulling the covers up farther, she eyed a ragged cardboard box that seemed to fit the bill. Dragging it out proved to be a more difficult task than she had guessed. But her imagination wasn’t ready for what that day would bring her...

Among the keepsakes and treasures in the box were: Stephanie’s princess costume from three Halloweens ago, some scattered pictures of an old neighborhood barbecue, and a strange metal device of some kind. The device, however, was not the first object Stephanie noticed. First she leafed through the old barbecue pictures...

In them, she saw her mother, Barbara, and couldn’t help but tear up slightly. "Missed" was hardly enough of a word to describe Stephanie’s feelings about her. The pictures must have been from about eight or nine years ago, since Barbara was holding Stephanie in her arms and she looked to be no older than three. Paul appeared around kindergarten age. Also barely visible in the background was Jen, their Asian next door neighbor. The picture was taken about the time Jen had just moved onto the block, so she must have been only 21 or so. Jen had babysat Stephanie a few times when she was younger, and Stephanie still harbored some spite over Jen’s stuck-up attitude. I practically took care of myself when she was over here! Now, Jen was 30 and a single mom living with her daughter, Mia.

But nevermind the pictures; what in the world is that shiny thing sticking out of the edge of the box?

Toying with the controls, Stephanie opted to shove the rest of the box back under the bed and set her attention on the odd piece of machinery. It looked as if it had been tampered with recently, like someone was trying to open it or unscrew the sides.

As idleness often does, the attraction to the enigmatic gun thingy wore off and Stephanie reflexively reached for the phone. Joanna would most likely be home around this time. Swimming practice must be over by now Stephanie reasoned, seeing as it was after four o’clock.

As she dialed the familiar phone number, Rimsky, the family dog made his way into the living room. Rimsky was a large gray mutt that Colin had adopted out of sheer sympathy. The humane society was going to put him down about three years ago, and Colin couldn’t stand the thought. Rimsky took his name from the composer Rimsky-Korsakov; of course, he didn’t know that, but it made him all that much more of a conversation piece. Stephanie never really endeared herself to him, but Paul had made the connection immediately (as Paul rarely did). Apparently, dogs he could handle, just not homo sapiens.

"Hello. Is Jo around?" Stephanie made her usual plea.

"This is Jo," her friend answered.

"Oh, you didn’t sound like yourself. How was practice?"

"OK. So what’s up?"

"Nothing, I just didn’t have anything to do except look at old pictures and I got tired of that REALLY quickly... Anything cool you can think of to do?" Stephanie inquired.

"Not really, I have some homework I need to do though," Jo was known for her no-nonsense attitude.

"All right... well, maybe we could do somethi g later after my dad gets home."

"OK," Jo answered plainly. Jo didn’t have much of a way with words, but didn’t mince them either. She had always been teased about her masculine side (which at times trumped her feminine side almost completely). Short and still very boyish, Jo was given more to guy activities and didn’t give 1/10th of a shit what she wore to school. It had been schoolroom rumour that Jo’s parents had even allowed her to get a belly button ring. Granted, she was a textbook tomboy, but she still retained a very cute, freckle-filled face that never failed to give away her identity as a cooty-ridden girl.

When their conversation ended, Paul could be heard grunting all the way downstairs. Seeing Rimsky at the base of the stairs, he stopped a bit of his moping and commenced petting his favorite non-human.

"Haven’t you got anything better to do than talk on the phone?" Paul said to Stephanie’s back.

"Shut up! I have friends... unlike some people," she knew how to twist the knife in turn.

Paul made his way around the couch, followed by the ever-loyal Rimsky. "What’s that?" Paul instantly noticed the out-of-place device thrown on the coffee table.

"I don’t know. I found it under dad’s bed. Just some stupid toy," Stephanie spit back.

Picking the strange thing up, Paul examined it all over, picking open a little side compartment. A label pasted on the inside said "VOLATILE SUBSTANCE: KEEP AWAY FROM EXTREME HEAT OR COLD." Being the curious cat he was, Paul stuck one of his fingers inside and feeling a tiny shock, he retracted it like a flash.

"Ouch... thing shocked me," he complained, sucking his tingling digit.

"That’s what you get for sticking your finger in it, stupid."

Paul made a DUHH expression and started back up toward his room o’seclusion, Rimsky panting as he trailed Paul up the steep stairway.

I Think You’re Crazy, Maybe

Later that day, Stephanie retired to her room and Paul was lounging in the living room, with guess who... the dog. The muffled sound of the front door let Paul know dad was finally home. Must have been a bitch of a work day Paul mused, stroking Rimsky’s fine hair. Colin usually made it home by three on Saturdays, but today had been an exception. Staff meetings can be a magnificent pain in the ass.

The usual sounds of Colin taking off his jacket were followed by the usual sounds of him putting away his briefcase... another depressingly normal day.

Walking into the living room, his view of Paul was blocked by the sofa.

"Anyone home?" he said in a lonely version of Ricky Ricardo’s famous phrase.

"Hey Dad," Paul muttered nearly under his breath.

"Paul?"

"Yes?"

"That’s you, Paul?"

"Yeah Dad, geez, it’s me Paul... your son ya know?" he belted out sarcastically.

"You sound different. Do you have a cold or something? You feeling OK?" Colin repeated as he circled the couch.

Paul was on the floor, next to Rimsky, petting him calmly. But Colin was instantly taken aback; Paul was not himself. He looked a few years younger! A cursory glance at his face revealed that Paul looked closer to 11 or 12 than his true age of 15.

"Paul, look at yourself," Colin tried to alert his son to his appearance.

He then dipped his head and looked at his body. Though his clothes were very baggy and loose, nothing appeared out of place to him.

"What is it, Dad?" he said in the voice of a 12 year old.

"Son, you look like you’re 12 years old!"

Laughing slightly, he shot back, "Dad I am 12 years old." He returned his attention to Rimsky who looked up at Colin as if to reassure him that everything was OK.

For a moment, Colin though perhaps he’d gone back in time.

But Colin eventually noticed the device lying innocently on the table. Then a roller-coaster-like sinking feeling worked its way from his stomach all the way down to his feet. Though he had no idea why or how the machine had worked, he did know his son seemed to have lost years of aging, but it had not registered upstairs and he actually believed he was just 12 years of age.

"Oh *gasp* my *gasp* God! A time machine! Holy... The fountain of youth! This is... incredible!" Colin began speaking in choppy phrases.

Meanwhile, Paul on the floor, completely and utterly content with himself, not sure what his father was raving so madly about.

"Why are you pullin’ your hair, Daddy?"

Daddy Colin stopped and thought my son hasn’t called me Daddy in two years!

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Upstairs, Stephanie was busy telephoning yet another of her wide array of friends. This time it was Stacey, whom she’d known for the better part of her life.

"Have you seen Bobby? He is like sooo cute--" Stephanie talked with the quick chatter of a newly adolescent girl.

"Babe, I know Bobby. Trust me, he’s a real buttplug." Stacey had her own unique vocabulary and though some found her lexicon, well, vulgar, she was not about to change. She’d always been a wild card -- very unpredictable, but always entertaining. Detention was like her second home but she never failed to come through like some pre-teen female McGyver. She prided herself on being able to squish and squirm out of almost anything.

Stacey was also a member of the swim team and was acquainted with Joanna, although their personalities didn’t exactly gel. If you had to compare each of them with former presidents, Jo would be Grant and Stacey would most certainly be Clinton. Take one guess as to which one had more fun.

"So yeah, I found this weird gun type thing under my dad’s bed. Weird huh?"

"Cool. What do you think it does?"

"Nothing I don’t think. But it shocked Paul’s finger, so that was neat."

They both laughed.

"Well, I think I heard my dad come in, so maybe I can call you back and you can come over or something if he says OK," Stephanie said, crossing her fingers.

"All righty then. Ciao mi amigo," Stacey answered, then hung up.

Stephanie flew down the stairs as she always did, not paying attention to anything but her main objective: getting Dad to say yes to something. Speeding by, she completely missed seeing Paul and Rimsky, but she did spot the strange gun now lying on the kitchen table. She picked it up and headed into the "computer room" as they called it. Colin was staring at the screen intently, and appeared to be typing a frantic email message.

"Hey Dad," Stephanie spoke, ending Colin’s train of thought.

"Oh, hey honey," Colin said, not even turning to look at his daughter... or what she held in her hand.

"I was wondering... I know you said you’d be tired today and ddn’t want anyone over, but could Stacey maybe come over... just for a little bit," Stephanie pleaded in her trademark fashion.

"Honey, please, I don’t really have time to take care of-- how about tomorrow?" Colin made his attempt at diplomacy.

"No, I want her to come over today. I’m bored and she said she--"

"I’m sorry, Steph, but just not today, OK?"

Silence was all Colin recieved for his efforts.

"Tomorrow, honey. Just wait," he said, finally turning around to view his distraught offspring. As he spun around he came face to face with the end of the strange machine. Stephanie had it aimed right at him. Of course, she thought it was just a toy...

"You never let people come over," she said sternly, slowly inching the trigger back.

"Honey, no--"

But the deed had been done. A blueish ray shot out and into his forehead, sending trillions of neuroreceptors into a frenzy. Waves of pleasure mixed with an impending sense of doom filled his body. Caught unawares as well was Stephanie, who immediately dropped the device to the ground when she realized it had actually worked!

The fun didn’t stop there. Something strange was happening to Colin; Stephanie began to notice her father’s face, which was not only plastered with a shocked expression but also seemed to be changing somehow. Niether of them had any inkling of what what occurring, but they both knew it was abnormal, and definitely like nothing either of them had seen before.

Colin stood up, and in doing so, saw that his sleeves had overtaken his arm. His belt was lengthening likewise -- or was it?

Just as Colin’s pants slid down his legs, Paul entered the room and remarked:

"Hey, what’s going on?"

Stephanie’s eyebrows went up as she turned her head.

"Paul?" she asked.

"Stephanie?"

"Dad?"

"Paul, what’s wrong with you? You look--" But her sentence was cut off by the sound of her father’s youthened voice.

"Stephanie Harford!!" he said, "I don’t know what you just did, but you better fix this right now!"

In what can only be described as confused excitation, Stephanie walked closer to her dad who now had to crane his head to see her.

"Dad! You’re... you’re... you’re a little kid!" she yelled. "You’re like a five year old!" It was true; Colin had been regressed far past the measely three years Paul had been. For a fleeting second, they all stood staring at each other as if to collectively say "What the hell??"

"What did you do to Dad?"

"What did you do to you?"

"It’s not my fault."

"What do you mean what happened to me?"

"You’re younger!"

"No I’m not. Now tell me what you did to Dad?"

"Shut up!!!" little Colin finally halted the feud. Paul would have none of this though, so he charged at Stephanie, trying to get the gun away from her. The initial contact made the gun fly a few feet, so they had to wrestle over and under each other to see who could get there first. Colin was too far away to make any meaningful run for it, plus his balance was not what it was five minutes before.

Once they reached the gun, they started fighting over it like all hell had broken loose. This is crazy Colin thought to himself, as he watched his children, now about the same age, fight like gladiators over the device. A war of words ensued.

"I had it first!"

"Well you don’t know how to use it!"

"Well you don’t either!"

In the struggle, God only knows what buttons were pushed, but just as Paul made one final swing at Stephanie for the prize, the blue beam fired once again, this time hitting Stephanie in the chest. More rapid than Colin’s descent, Steph began growing larger.

"You dufus, look what you did!" she said, snarling at her brother. She didn’t understand why Paul seemed to have given up; in fact, he was just stunned at the transformation and was starting to doubt what his retinas told him. Steph was outgrowing her clothes extremely quickly, and her body taking on a whole new shape... a womanly shape. Her hips began to widen as her hair grew longer and more dense. Paul was now significantly shorter than his little sister, a disturbing feeling to be sure. The tie-dyed shirt she had on was being unmercifully stretched and contorted as Stephanie’s breasts began to grow. Previously, she had been thrilled with the two bumps that had appeared in the last six months, but this was much more interesting... and eye-catching. Her training bra was also going through its own crucible of sorts, barely containing all of Stephanie’s new chest. It soon beame a neccessity to take off her pants, so she yanked them to the floor, trying to escape the growing tightness. Her panties were becoming one size fits all; handy that she liked them loose.

"Steph--" Paul started but couldn’t think of anything past that.

Examining herself, Stephanie was quite pleased with what the mistake had done to her. The world had gotten smaller but she, much to her pleasure, had gotten bigger. Easily 16 or so, Stephanie could now gaze down at her father and brother like a god (or at least it felt that way). The progression slowed, and she couldn’t help but chuckle with glee.

"This is so cool! Check me out!" she sang as she pranced, pantless around the room, her new breasts bouncing along with her.

"Stephanie, calm down. It’s obvious this is an age changing device, all right. Now all I want you to do is change me back into an adult, all right honey?" sounded comical coming from a child of six.

"Whatever," Steph said, fiddling with the dials. "OK, I think this is it." She pointed the device at her father and squeezed the trigger. The transformation began and Colin started back up the age totem pole: grade school, pre-teen, adolescent, twenties, thirties, and finally back to his old mature, craggy age.

"You OK, Dad?" Steph questioned.

Standing with his just his underwear and shirt still on, Colin didn’t say a word.

"Ummmm, Dad? Are you with us?" Paul injected.

Still, nothing. Then he raised his arm and then firmly planted his thumb in his mouth and began sucking.

"Why is he acting that way?"

Stephanie tried once again to decifer the controls, but to no avail. At which point, Colin began wailing (which was rather disconcerting coming from the deep vocal chords of a 40 year old male).

"He thinks he’s a baby!" Paul assessed the situation with his copyrighted bluntness. Paul’s take on this was a bit ironic seeing that his situation was the opposite of his father’s, younger but not knowing it. "Well, you screwed this up good," he commented, crossing his arms.

Rimsky trotted in and began growling at Stephanie. "Rimsky, it’s just me," Stephanie said, attempting to quiet the dog. Luckily, Rimsky wasn’t born with much of an attention span, and eventually, he was satisfied with just going into the next room and lying down. Some brave watchdog.

"Well, now what are you going to do?" Paul interrogated his indecisive sister, not expecting a coherent answer.

"Waaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!" Colin screamed, almost making the walls shake with his volume.

"Shhhhh," Stephanie put her finger to her lips. "Well, maybe you can help me figure this thing out." Stephanie had ulterior motives for this move.

"Hand it over," demanded Paul.

"Here," Stephanie said, capitulating to Paul’s request. "Just tell me what you think this does... oh and this right here..." she began pointing out the messages that had appeared on the little digital screen.

Being the wizard of all things technical, Paul, even with his new age of 12, managed to tell Stephanie what he thought various mechanisms on the device did. Should I trust a 12 year old to tell me how this thing works? she wondered what other choice do I have? The stakes were limitless, and Stephanie had more plans than simply changing everyone back to normal. Besides, if I change Dad back, he’s gonna make me change back to. This was not a viable option, since Stephanie had already fallen deeply in love with the new gifts she had been given. Being the big sister might be nice...

Just as Paul finished his miniature speech on controlling the device, Stephanie snatched the gun away from him, giggling.

"What? No. Don’t try anything, ok?"

"Thanks for the instructions, Paul. So how about we see how well they work, eh?" Steph said, adjusting the controls and holding the gun at Paul.

"Why? What are you--"

The familiar blue light filled the room, painting the walls an aqua hue. Paul grabbed his arm where the beam had shined, but there was nothing he could do. The chair next to him began increasing in height, and all he could conjure up as a response was: "Why, Steph... anie?"

"I’m not gonna let you two make me younger again. And don’t say you wouldn’t cuz I know you would!" barked Steph.

Colin, all the while, had been standing stationary, getting saliva all over his thumb and mumbling things that sounded like "mommy", "teeshee", and "xsbeuyfndkjd." He was amused watching Paul shrink to the size of a little boy.

"He get witttle," was all he could produce, drool hanging from the side of his lips. Now here was a picture for the family photo album.

Dropping seven more years off his life, Paul was reduced to a kindergartener, but, as Stephanie was glad to see, he didn’t know anything had changed. As he stepped out of the mound of teen clothing, all that remained was his shirt, the neckhole now engulfing not only his neck but his right shoulder. Dotting his nose were a few dedicated freckles. Stephanie smiled.

What Was That You Tried To Say?

Paul had apparently been regressed far enough that modesty was no longer an issue. Ripping the massive shirt off his body, Paul went running around the room. Geez, what happened between five and now that made you such a loner? Steph wondered watching her misanthropic brother prance around the room naked.

"He nakeee," Colin mumbled, still quite obsessed with his right thumb.

"You can’t catch me! You can’t catch me!" Paul repeated, laughing like this kid he was, as he circumnavigated the room.

He seems harmless enough Stephanie figured Might as well let him have his fun.

But Colin was another case. Every two minutes or so, he would start balling again yelling for his "teeshee" as if it were the only thing that could keep him alive. Since it seemed of the utmost importance, Stephanie went upstairs to her old baby room and hunted through the closets for "baby related" items. All she managed to find was a pacifier and one of her baggy pajama tops covered in Teddy Bears that might fit her dad.

Downstairs, she pulled Colin’s shirt off (this ignited a giggling fit for some reason), and put the top on him. Tight as it was, it just managed to cover the top of him. Colin smiled like he was gazing into the Cave of Wonders as Stephanie poked the pacifier in his mouth. He sucked away, carefree as ever...

Just then, Stephanie felt a whack on the back of her head. Paul had found a blow-up baseball bat in the open closet and thought slamming the back of Steph’s head would be the most creative and entertaining way of utilizing it.

"Quit it, you little stain!" she said, quickly standing up and reasserting her power and dominion over little Paul. Her height was now such that Paul was intimidated by her, so he reluctantly put down the bat.

Walking to the window, Stephanie stared out the glass... I could invite my friends over. We could have a lot of fun with this little thing! she mulled over the multitude of possibilities. In the yard adjacent to the Harford house was Jen’s. At the moment, Jen was lying on the edge of the fountain she had installed in the backyard. Wearing no more than a red bikini, she appeared to be sunning her slender self. I wonder...

Steph turned away from the window.

"Hey Paul, wanna have a party?" she asked.

"Sure!" Paul answered emphatically.

"OK, let’s have a party."

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Part II

Having A Party

The phone lines between the Harford home and nearly all of Stephanie’s friends were a-buzz. Steph could hardly contain the immense excitement this little machine had caused her. The weekend was shaping up to be far more of an escapist fantasy than she could have ever hoped for... only this fantasy was readily becoming reality. Steph was talking so rapidly her friends could barely comprehend what was coming from her mouth:

"So then I aimed it at Paul and now he’s just a little kid running around and Dad is still grown up but thinks he’s a baby but I got bigger when we were fighting and the-"

"Whoa, slow down there, buckaroo," Stacey tried to pull back the reigns. "I’ll be over, all right?"

"OK, come quick. You’re gonna love this!" The syllables were racing from her at a record speed. Soon Stacey and Jo would be arriving and the fun could start. Not to mention that she would be get a chance to showboat her new curves for her guests.

Colin had managed to crawl onto the couch and stretch out lengthwise while still trying to make sense of the world around him. Paul had settled down somewhat but was still hyper and wanting attention. Perhaps this was the reason he became so isolated later in life: he either ran out of juice by the time he was seven or he learned that no one would pay him enough attention save himself. Though Steph was enjoying her newfound attributes, there was a hint of uncomfortableness with seeing her brother in the buff... granted it wasn’t like seeing him at his real age, but still...

"Who’s comin’ over?" Paul questioned Steph, while marching around the room playing soldier.

"Just some friends."

"What friends?"

"Well, there names are Stacey and Joanna."

"Can we get pizza?" the admittedly endearing six year old begged.

"We’ll see... oh here they come," Steph said as she went to unlock the front door. They’re never gonna believe this! Steph thought to herself.

She opened the heavy, oak door and proclaimed: "Hey guys!" still clothed only by her top and the painfully stretched panties. Feeling momentarily disoriented, Steph felt odd having to look down at her best friends. They now seemed so young, so small, so... underdeveloped. Stacey was the youngest of the group, only having just had her 11th birthday, so her body had yet to even hint at puberty. Jo was just three months Steph’s elder (or was), and her breasts were no more than tiny swells on her chest. Compared to Stephanie’s new C-cups, niether Stacey nor Jo had anything to say.

"We’re here to play with Steph," one of them answered.

"Stace, Jo... it’s me! Can’t you tell? I told you all about the machine on the phone, didn’t I?"

"Well, yeah, but we didn’t believe you. Come on, jokes over. Where’s Stephanie?" Jo pronounced their position.

"No, really! Look, I’ll still got on my old clothes. Here, come in, come in..." Stacey and Jo filed into the house. Upon entereing, they witnessed Colin curled up on the couch, slurping away, and a naked six year old parading around the room. A pile of clothes in the corner. Steph began her explanation:

"OK, here’s what’s happened. I found this gun thingy that--"

"Please, spare me. This has gotta be a joke," Jo interrupted.

"Let her talk, Jo, geez," Stacey silenced the opposition temporarily.

"No, believe me. I found this gun thingy and I accidentily shot my dad and he turned into a little kid but then I tried to change him back and it made him big but now he thinks he’s a baby. So I got shot but it made me older, as you can see. And after Paul showed me how to work it I used it to make him a little kid too," Stephanie huffed and puffed.

"So this kid is Paul?" Jo interrupted again.

"Yes!" Steph said, motioning toward little Paul who was now sitting down, playing with invisible matchbox cars. "Watch," she said.

"Paul?"

Paul turned his head and smiled: "Yeah, Stephanie?"

Always the skeptic, Jo continued, "But that doesn’t prove anything. Why don’t you change something for us?"

"How about I make you two older like me?" Steph’s eyes lit up at the suggestion. "Don’t you guys wanna be older? See what you’ll look like all grown up?"

The two flatchested pre-teens looked at each other. "OK, do it," they nearly spoke in unison.

"OK," Steph instructed,"now I’m pretty sure I know how to use this thing now..."

"Whoa, wait, we don’t want to be little babies goo-ing around, all right? You sure you know what you’re doing?" Jo clarified.

"Yes, now you’ll be just fine. But when it starts to happen it’s gonna make your clothes get tight, so you might want to get out of them or change or-"

"Into what? I’m not gonna take my clothes off!" Jo made clear, putting her foot down.

"Lighten up, Jo, the world is our potato. Let us cook it," Stacey made one of her usual nonsensical statements.

"What in the world is that supposed to mean?" Jo looked perturbed.

"Just something I heard on TV," muttered Stacey.

"Figures."

"Well, I’ve got some of my Mom’s old stuff. You can use it," Steph added.

After they retrieved two bras and two larger shirts from the attic, Stacey and Jo looked like girls playing dress up with their mommies’ garb. Paul laughed at the girls and their "funny dresses" as he termed them. Steph prepared the machine to what she was reasonably sure was the correct setting. She had at least mastered the physical aspect of things; the mental arena she was still a bit hazy on.

After they concluded their preparations, Jo was wearing a hysterically oversized sweater and jeans along with a woman’s bra and panties. This is so stupid she complained inside her head. Meanwhile, Stacey, the far less modest of the two, was topless except for a bra with lengthy straps (that she had to constantly sit back atop her shoulder). At the same time, she was attempting to hold up a gigantic pair of pants below.

"Hurry it up," Stacey said, trying to keep her baggy wardrobe together.

All right, all right... here, I think we’ve got it," Steph pointed the gun at Stacey, who couldn’t help but close her eyes as if she were about to go over the first hill of a roller-coaster.

The blue light engulfed Stacey, as Paul quit playing around and stared in her direction. Pretty was Paul’s reaction. Uncertainty was the basis of Stacey’s existence but even she was a little afraid of what might happen. New feelings were massaging her entire body, but she felt like she was in fact getting farther and farther away from the floor. Jo’s skepticism was slowly being cracked away as the seconds passed. One moment, Stacey’s legs would get longer and the next her breasts would gradually inflate. The formerly punkish little girl was blossoming into a whole new person; her face more adult, her body no longer that of a child’s.

Jo’s mouth was an "O" by the end of the transformation. Stacey looked to be in the vicinity of Steph’s new age.

Stacey examined her matured self, glancing up with a grin. Though Stacey didn’t grow breasts as large as Steph’s beauties, it didn’t really matter; the shock was that breasts were present at all. Something was filling the cups, and that was enough for Stacey.

"So?" Steph checked her audience again, "believe me now?"

Stunned beyond recognition of her former self, Jo remained noticeably speechless. Not only that, she knew she had become the youngest of the three when she had previously been the oldest, a switch that aroused a very sudden emotion of jealousy. Not used to shifting from first place to last in one round, Jo didn’t know what to think.

"Jo?" Stacey tried to look Jo in the eyes.

"That girl got big!" Paul motioned wildly with his hands.

"Jo?" Stacey tried again, finally gaining some form of a response. "Jo? It’s your turn. Come on, try it. It’s fun."

Eventually, Jo awoke from her little coma of envy and realized she too could grow older, and maybe even regain her spot as the leader of the group.

"Oh yeah, sure, yeah... let’s do it," Jo tried to mask her amazement and shock.

"Are you sure you want to, Jo?" Steph asked, "You know you don’t have to. You can stay 12 if you want. It’s no big deal really."

"No!" Jo made clear, "I want to do it. Really." She hadn’t the faintest idea why she felt reservations about this. After all, why would she want to stay a 12 year old when her Stephanie and Stacey got to be teenagers? With boobs? It was after this revelation that Jo realized she simply had no other choice but to let the beam hit her.

"Are you ready?" Steph started the countdown, holding the gun in front of her.

"Yes," Jo replied decisively, but secretely bracing herself and grabbing the edges of the couch as tight as she could.

The stream of intense light passed out of the gun and into Jo’s body, making her hop a bit as it happened. The shock was enough to make her rethink her decision momentarily, but in that moment, changes had already begun. An indescribable sensation, it was also like putting one hand in ice water while sticking the other in hot water. Did it feel good? Or did it send pulses of dread through its subjects? The answer was hard to say. It was safe to assume Jo had never experienced anything even coming close to it (one could ascertain this by the alternating facial expressions that flew across her face -- contentment, uncertainty, confusion. The list went on.) Jo’s body was growing at an accelerated rate, and since she had been a hair older than her compadres to begin with, it appeared she was going to age past them. Large, round breasts formed under the thick wool sweater much like mountains form from earthquakes. Her hair gained a few inches and the jeans she had selected were quickly becoming too much of a hassle. So, she unzipped them and peeled them down past her widening hips. Contrary to what everyone in life had told Jo, she was turning into quite a stunning beauty. All the traces of her tree-climbing, testosteronal past were washing away with each aging second in time.

"God, you’re really pretty!" Stacey shot out, half surprised no one had made a comment yet about Jo’s transformation.

With that, Jo pulled the now well-fitting sweater up, revealing a toned midriff (as one might expect in such a physically active specimen as Jo) and that infamous tattoo.

"She really does have one!" Stacey belted out, seeing the tattoo peek out from behind the stretching cotton undies Jo was donning. The bra that moments ago could only have been a joke was now serving its purpose nicely.

Part of the reason Jo might have been so nervous about this whole undertaking was that she, for one, had been enjoying her youth. In a different but healthy way, she just simply didn’t feel the need to rush growing up. Part of her dreaded her development of breasts because that separated her from the boys, the guys. She felt that was the ultimate end to her athleticism and the beginning of what would be her official, "grown up" life... far removed from the soccer playing days of her childhood.

But that did not render this scenario any less thrilling. Watching the mounds rise, Jo couldn’t help but savor the vision... as well as feel the jealosy disappear as she passed up Stacey and Stephanie by a year or so. The transition left Jo an 18 year old college freshmen with quite a bit "o-more" to offer.

"Sexy, sexy!" Steph said, waving her arms like a showgirl. "You’re a hottie, Jo... anna."

I am Jo realized, still feeling as if she were in the Twilight Zone. This had to be one messed up dream. Though it was not a dream; it was truer than anyone there could believe. Standing in the Harford living room were three sexy teenagers, formerly three overlooked middle schoolers, a 15 year old reduced to a wild-eyed kindergartener without a shred of modesty, and a 40 year old father whose mind was that of a gurgling infant. Of course, this wasn’t the end of the show at all. More fun could be had with this device than simply changing the ages of friends and family. There were also unsuspecting neighbors that might be fun to tinker with.

Blue Light Special

Kid A was once again working its magic. Steph, Stacey and Jo delighted in running around the room with Paul, further encouraging him to fully accept his new age. Steph, feeling a modicum of embarrassment, had searched for and eventually found a small pair of Smurf underwear that Paul had worn as a child. He had reluctantly put them on, but continued hopping around the living room furniture, Papa Smurf now stretching to cover his little behind. Colin was the only one having problems; this would be expected from a middle-aged man whose cognitive skills were on par with a pre-schooler’s. Steph decided, after much deliberation, to shrink her daddy down to his mental age so he could be happier.

"What are you doing?" Jo asked, seeing Steph aim the barrel of the device at her father.

"Just fixing a few things. Besides, Paul needs someone to play around with," Steph answered, sending the ray straight at her cooing father. The pulse made him quiver a bit, but as soon as the transformation was complete, he was in all ways a healthy toddler.

"Whoa!" Stacey’s mouth went open again. "You made your dad a baby!"

"He’ll be better this way," Steph added, pulling her father from the wad of wrinkled clothing. Colin was old enough to walk, however, and he wasted no time getting away from Steph. Naked as the day he was born, Colin was at least now in synch as far as age and mental faculties went. Seeing Paul dash into the room, he quickly darted behind Jo’s left leg and grabbed onto it like a tree trunk.

"I think he likes you," Stacey noted, seeing the cowering Colin squeeze Jo’s thigh.

"Why would he like me?"

"He ’s just playing," Steph said, slowly making her way down to his height. "Hi there," she said, trying to be friendly. "Don’t worry about Paul over there. He’s your friend, ok?" Colin did not seem reassured at this, but gradually losened his grip on Jo.

In addition to being overwhelmed with this new world, Colin also suffered from the same emotions all toddlers do. Thankfully, it wasn’t long before Colin and Paul, though they had a considerable age differenceof two or three years, were getting along as well as one could expect them to. They had a brotherly vibe about them, which was both strange and heartwarming seeing as their real relationship was father and son. This would be an episode of male bonding every psychologist in the world wouldn’t want to miss.

"Do you have anything else to wear?" Jo glanced down at her beautiful, but bare body.

"It feels so... weird," Stacey said, rocking up and down on the balls of her feet, "having boobs. I mean, it’s good... but it’s just so weird to have them so quick like."

"Well, if you think its weird, how about me?" laughed Steph, pulling up her shirt and thus removing all doubt that she indeed had the fullest breasts of all of them. Though Jo was farther along in her development, Steph did gain more weight than the others, which in turn had increased her bust size. "Not too brag or anything," Steph qualified her statement.

"Well, let’s not just sit around," Stacey smiled, "let’s go do something. I’m dying to go out in public and get my groove on."

Jo sighed at Stacey’s use of the phrase "getting her groove on." In the meantime, Paul and Colin had vanished from the living room. The trio of angels followed a trail of dropped clothes into the bathroom. Waiting there, Stephanie saw that the bathroom cabinet was in shambles and hairbrushes, toothbrushes, toothpaste, dental floss and every other toiletry imaginable was strewn around the room. Paul and Colin, both stripped down, were sitting in the bathtub, splashing at imaginary monsters and airplanes. Before Stephanie could get mad, the cuteness of the whole scene overtook her. Colin and Paul were so happy together, getting the chance to be young all over again... and at the same time, no less. Colin’s work schedule had been so relentless in the past few months that he had forgotten all about Paul -- undoubtedly part of the reason why Paul had morphed into such an introvert. But here they were, horseplaying and laughing at one another in the bathtub, oblivious to their former selves. Who couldn’t help but leave them as they were? The two boys were, suffice it to say, too picturesque to yell at.

"Look, Stephanie!" Paul said, rasing an old toy helicopter he’d found out of the water.

"Very nice," Steph said, as the other two filed in behind her.

"Awww, they’re so adorable!" Stacey put her hand to her mouth (no one knew what this meant, but she did it all the time).

"Well, boys, my friends and I are going to leave for a bit, ok?" Stephanie told them, "And I want you to be good."

"Do you think they’ll be ok?" Jo whsipered into Steph’s ear. "I mean, they are pretty young... maybe we should get a babysitter."

"Nahh, I don’t think anything’ll happen. I just wanna go somewhere..." Steph replied, in all her 12 year old wisdom.

The Tao of Kid A

Across the street, Jen was relaxing/meditating on the ledge of her backyard fountain. Might as well get a good tan while I find my center was her thought. At nearly 30 and after the birth of one child, Jen retained her charm (or lack of it) and her figure. The Chinese most likely have a clever saying or two about hourglass bods like Jen’s. Born and rasied in the United States, Jen still had an international flair about her, clinging to her Buddhist roots and herbal medicine. Today, she had elected to sport a bright red binkini that let the the sun reach the vast majority of her, shall we say, surface area.

Alone, it seemed, Jen was without cause for alarm... of course, there was cause for alarm. Mere feet away was Steph and her two droogies, just ready to use the gun on the next passerby. As they rounded the corner of the house, Steph motioned for the rest of the gang to stop. Now clothed in a mish-mash of various forms of dress, the sight of the three girls was a bit out of the ordinary. Jo still wore her beige sweater, and now donned a new pair of warm-up pants, Stephanie’s top had sufficiently stretched to meet its needs (barely), and Stacey had one of Colin’s jackets on as well as one of Margaret’s old skirts. A comedian would have no trouble picking any one of them out in a crowd.

"This skirt is wicked tight!" Stacey said, then was quickly shhhhh-ed by Steph.

"Shhhh... I want to use this on Jen!" Steph held up the problem-causing device. "She’s just lying over there... look... I’m gonna pay her back for all those times she babysat me and made me do all the work!"

Jo was, once again, apprehensive. "Are you positive that’s a good idea?"

"Sure. Why not?"

"Well, because you can’t just go around changing everyone’s ages, can you?"

"I don’t see why I can’t," pouted Steph.

"It just seems liek you’ll cause a lot of commotion and someone will catch on to us really fast if we--"

"I know what I’m doing. No one even knows this exists except for us... plus Colin and Paul... and they’re practically back to diapers."

"That reminds me," Jo brought up an all-too-obvious point, "since you made your dad a toddler, don’t you think he’s going to need to be diapered? He could be pooping all over the place right now."

"Always such a stickler. Don’t you ever break the rules, Jo? Come on, this’ll be fun... you know, F-U-N?"

"Well, you don’t have to get sarcastic with me. I was just wondering, that’s all," Jo backed down, something deep inside her was telling her not to fool around with anyone who was holding the device.

"Here, follow me," Steph made like the leader, with Jo following close behind, still unsure that any of this was a grand idea.

Next to the glistening fountain, Jen was in another world... enjoying the beauty of a relaxed heart rate and the sizzling rays of heat coming at her. The trickle of the fountain made just enough noise to cover for Steph and her friends as they snuck up behind her.

Suddenly moving her arm along her stomach, Jen appeared for a moment to be waking up. But that soon died down and she was back to her quest for nirvana. Little did she know revenge was only moments away.

Steph and Stacey circled the fountain, while Jo stood stolid apart from the "fun." Just then, Stacey accidentily stepped on a prominent twig and the cracking sound awoke Jen from her half-slumber. It took her a second to realize there were three unfamiliar teenagers walking around her her backyard. Jen was never one for surprises.

"What the hell are you doing?" she hastily sat up, assessing the situation, while trying to appear as if she weren’t startled.

"Awww, don’t cha remember me?" Steph danced around, spinning the device on her finger.

"No, I don’t. But I’d appreciate it if you’d leave my property," Jen said, while picking up a nearby towel and drying off. "I don’t know what this is, but you’re going to be in a shitload of trouble if I have to call the police." Jen never pussyfooted around a day in her life.

"The police. I don’t think the police would believe it," Steph joked.

"Believe what?" Jen asked, walking over to a fence post where she had hung her other clothes.

"Well, I don’t think a police officer would believe, say, a six year old girl."

"Are talking about my daughter? Look, you better leave, or I’m going to--"

"We’ll leave," Steph assured Jen, "but not before I I give you a little present."

"A present? I said for you to get out -- now get out!!" Jen was getting firey at this point.

Jen sat down, beginning her dressing routine. Always the head first.; she liked to work her way down.

"You’re gonna need that bonnet," Steph said, looking at the blue thing Jen had just put on.

"It’s not a bonnet, it’s a--"

The ray fired. So sudden was its unleashing that Jen froze, like a deer in headlights. She could only sit and watch her maturity melt away into the sweetness of innocence. As many Asian women tned to be, Jen was relatively small-busted, but that didn’t make the loss of her breasts and less dramatic. At the first hint of regression, she screamed "Stoooooooop!!!"

"Heh, cool," Stacey sounded like Beavis for a moment.

Jen watched as the three strangers began to tower over her. The bikini bottom was now about two sizes too large for Jen and her straps were loosening. The look of an independent career woman was becoming more and more a thing of the past. What’s happening to me? my arms? my legs? she thought in immediately succession. It seemed like everything was starting to go at once now: legs loosing length but gaining baby fat, arms shrinking, breasts dwindling to round nubs, and her face was looking more precious every second. Soon, the last remnants of her sexual development were gone, leaving her flatchested and without pubic hair. One could witness this because her bathing suit had swallowed her such that the holes allowed for all to see. The cups of the top hung like a necklace on her tiny body, growing younger and younger all the time.

"Stop!" she again raised her voice, a now pitiful voice.

Wondering if that was her or not, Jen stopped her screaming, and tried in vain to hold on to what was left of her adulthood, but it had all passed. She was a child, and yet, Steph was curious why she had not reacted as Paul did. The mental setting on the gun had been switched off, leaving Jen a pre-school age girl with the memories of a 30 year old woman.

"What did you-- who are you?!?" little Jen cried.

"She’s really cute," Stacey noted, "but I think all little Asian kids are cute."

"Kid? I’m not a kid!"

"Sure you’re not, Jen. But, well, let’s say you really don’t look your age," Steph laughed it off.

Jo shrugged in a "whatever" fashion.

"Let me know how well your babysitting goes," Steph felt powerful, being condescending toward the little child in front of her. "Hey, maybe I’ll get to babysit you... won’t that be a treat?"

"But--"

END OF PART II

 

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