The Change of the Seasons: The Long Sweat

Chapter 6
Ms. Yong's Well Deserved Vacation from Children is Unsurprisingly Interrupted by a Child

Chapter Description: James goes through a lot of emotions in his quest to find his brother and escape Old Lake Beach.

[size=2]Nothing like starting the summer off with a cool Mexican beer.

This is what Kimberly Yong told herself as she downed the first bottle of the six-pack she had bought for herself today. Kimmy had come to Old Lake Beach for many different reasons but perhaps most important of all to her was to get laid; if that was at all possible. A prospect that was already doomed to failure from the beginning as she had chosen a very poor spot on the beach far away from the mass of other beach goers. Fortunately for her, she did not have to confront her antisocial tendencies amongst her peers. For as soon as she finished the first beer which she had sadly hoped would give her the courage to get closer to the various men visible throughout the beach, she heard the wailing of a child. Kimmy had a soft heart for children; she was eldest of six in her family and had spent her own childhood looking after her baby brothers and sisters. This made Kimmy a very good teacher to children but was also a contributing factor in her feelings of isolation from her peers. On instinct, she gazed the beach hoping to confirm that the child was being taken care of by a loved one and that she could simply go back to drinking her beers.

This was not at all the case; it was the worst case scenario that she hadn’t even considered. There at the end of the populous section of the beach was a naked little boy with golden blonde hair and a cute little pot belly crying his eyes out. Kimmy sprang into action, for her sake as a morally righteous woman and for the little boy’s sake who was about to have a horrible and humiliating experience that would haunt him for a lifetime. Grabbing the spare towel she had originally intended for a boy much older, she sprinted across the hot sand as fast as her small body allowed towards the young boy. Before little James had any idea what was going on, he felt his butt and crotch being covered. He then experienced the oddest sensation of being pulled along by a greater force, guiding his steps with speed and a soft touch.

James was so shocked by this that he was finally able to stop crying. He felt very happy to be with this lady. By the time Kimmy had taken little James at her spot on the outskirts of the beach, James regained some of his composure. Enough to realize that woman sitting on her knees tending to him was the same woman that had berated him just a few days back; she was even cuter now than on that day. She was dressed in a pink two-piece swimsuit and her long black hair nicely cascaded down to her boobies where he now found his head as she embraced him in tender hug. It felt so nice to James that he found himself dizzy in the head which was only amplified when Kimmy placed little James in her lap and began giving him a massage that she had perfected on his own little brothers and sisters. With every little stroke, the fear and trauma James had faced in his transformation seemed to evaporate into nothingness. His mind, still disoriented from the transformation was unable to control the influx of childish thoughts. For the moment, he surrendered himself to the whims of a 10 year old. His soul, now older than his relaxed body and his bewildered mind, was content in allowing Jonny’s 4th grade teacher to take care of him. James finally understood why this was so enthralling; Before Jonny was born, his mommy had done this for him every night after tucking him into bed and reading him a bedtime story. It felt really nice.

Kimmy could tell her little lost boy had relaxed enough when he began fiddling his legs into the sand next to the towel. Pulling him up into her lap a bit to avoid that, Kimmy began her well intentioned interrogation.

“Sweetie,” she started, “do you know where your mommy and daddy are?”

Little James shook her head, “No my mommy isn’t here, I’m with my brother.”

“Well my name is Kim Yong. What’s your name little one?” she asked while softly nudging her cheek against his.

The little boy’s pause went on far longer than she was used to with shy kids. Knowing the machinations of prepubescent boys all too well she had a feeling something with up with this particular boy.

“Jimmy,” he finally said.

“Well Jimmy, you’re a cute little white boy who is lost and naked while I’m the Asian beauty that rescued you. What a great couple we’d make.” she said and kissed him on his cheek

Jimmy giggled something fierce at that.

“How old are you Jimmy? You’re a little too young to be this wild and free.” she said while adjusting the towel around Jimmy to stress her point.

Little James did the math in his head to confirm his earlier adult thoughts, he was pretty sure he had ten years pulled out of him while he was swimming but maybe he miscounted by a year or two. But he felt like he was Jonny’s age now so he went with that. “I’m ten.” he said incredulously. Moving his tongue around his mouth he rediscovered a missing molar he had the first time he was 10 years old and he also found a couple other baby teeth he had yet lose. I’m really ten years old again, he concluded. The reality of it all still hadn’t fully hit him yet.

“That’s a good age to be." Ms. Yong said to him, “you probably just got out of 4th grade right? I know a rising 5th grader when I see one. I’m a 4th grade teacher after all; I just had to send my students off last week.”

James shook his head in compliance and she continued to ask him questions as he sat in her lap. He concocted a tale where he and his brother were vacationing in Old Lake Beach from out of state and that he and his brother had went out to play without their parents’ permission while they slept in late at their family condo. His brother had said he wanted to check out the boardwalk and left him in lake where he was caught by a strong current. Ms. Yong had asked him if his brother was older than he was which he dejectedly replied yes. If his birthday was still the same, he figured that he had just turned 10 back in March, meaning that Jonny was now some five months older than him now as he was turning 11 years old in October. Kimmy for her part, took the little boy’s tone to imply that Jimmy’s brother was a teenager of some sort. Thinking back on Jonny’s lazy older brother while squeezing Jimmy, Kimmy hoped against hope that this cute little boy wouldn’t grow up into such a lazy defeatist asshole like that guy was. Done with her questioning, Kimmy decided the best course of action was the buy this little guy a new swimsuit. So she told him to stand up and tied the towel around his waist so he could walk freely without fear of exposing himself in public. Hand in hand the two walked towards the center of the beach where a series of booths along the end of the beach sold various things, she could probably buy the kid something to wear there, plus they both probably needed a bite to eat. Giggling to herself, she acknowledged that she ended up picking up a nice boy for a little date after all.

James’ plan was less concrete. He needed to find his little brother and somehow convince him that he was actually James, but that would also mean exposing himself to Ms. Yong. At this point James was deeply in love with Kimberly, I don’t want her to hate and reject me forever because I was always late in picking up Jonny, he worried.

The two chatted while they strolled down the beach. James thought they had so much in common, she liked superhero movies too! After he told a joke that made Kimmy laugh, James was determined to marry her. Either he could get his mommy to figure out how to make him a grown up again or maybe, grinning at the thought, he could just go live with Ms. Yong! Mom would probably be sad but he could still visit her and all. Plus, Kimmy could look after him and do mom things for him while he grew up in her house and then he could marry her once he grew up again. James thought that could work. Anakin fell in love with Padme when he was about his new age and Kimmy didn’t seem all that much older than Padme. He thought he could make it work.

When they arrived at their destination Kimmy singled out a booth tailored for kid stuff and led Jimmy to it. The older woman running the stand was friendly and immediately showed them her collection of swim suits for preteen boys. James seemed agreeable with just about anything until the woman pulled out Avengers themed swim shorts which sent Jimmy into a childish frenzy. Once it was paid for Jimmy thanked the woman and then hugged Kimmy to thank her. Kimmy was really taking a liking to this little boy. Leading him to a changing station, Jimmy came out confident as she had ever seen him in their short time knowing each other. Kimmy then applied some suntan lotion on him and then on herself before asking him what he wanted to eat for a late lunch. Jimmy, looking around picked out the nearby Small Frys and they proceeded to head on over.

“What do you want to eat?” she asked him innocently.

Tummy growling he said, “I want a bacon fried chicken sandwich with a chocolate milkshake!”

Kimmy could see his overeating was definitely the source of his little pot belly. “You should eat something off the kid’s menu sweetie. How about the chicken nuggets instead?

Jimmy looked very sullen about the request but nonetheless agreed with her choice for him, she threw in the chocolate milkshake anyway. The couple sat down and peacefully ate their meal, happily chatting with one another during the whole thing. When she told him it was time to find his brother, Jimmy looked both very worried and very disappointed.

Approaching the boardwalk, James was getting worried about how this was going to play out. He wasn’t as disoriented as he had been thanks to the lunch Ms. Yong had fed him and felt like he had regained some semblance of his former mind. As much as the last few hours had been a personal heaven for the little boy, he knew he had to find Jonny and get back home somehow. He scanned the various boys that looked to be his new age in the hopes of finding Jonny among them. Looking out to the surf, James found himself struck stupid by the sight before him. A very tall and lean dude was stomping towards the opposite end of the beach while in water up to his waist. If James had completely regained his wits, he would probably say that he was the type of guy he would bump shoulders with while at college but would never actually interact with. He looked like a really popular guy, too cool for James to even talk to. Yet, he was wearing Jonny’s shirt and it looked like it was about to burst. It was impossible but that somehow had to be Jonny, James’ new age now made a lot more sense because of this. He had somehow swapped ages with his little brother. It was hard to believe but he would take it, especially now that the very adult looking Jonny would be unrecognizable to Kimmy. Letting go of Kimmy’s hand, he ran up to Jonny shouting his name.

Jonathan was bewildered. It wasn’t until the little boy was within arms reached that he recognized the boy as being the same one that he had seen countless times in the family photos framed all about his home. This had to be James, which meant that he must have switched ages with him. He didn’t know how but he just wanted to get out of here.

James looked up at and quickly said, “Call me Jimmy until we’re away from her.”

Jonathan didn’t know what to make of that until he saw Ms. Yong storming towards him with a fury he had never seen in his former 4th grade teacher.

“This makes the second jerk brother I have encountered this summer. Do you have any idea how long I have been watching your little brother here? He nearly drowned and lost his swimsuit because you couldn’t bother to keep an eye out for him. How dare you!”

Not knowing how to address her, Jonathan simply decided to apologize and then grab James and bug out. “I’m really sorry ma’am; I don’t know how Jimmy got away from me. It won’t happen again!” he said while grabbing James and running towards Surfer’s Mecca.

Watching the two scramble off without so much as a goodbye from Jimmy, Kimmy couldn’t help but shake her head and trod on back to her position on the beach. I really need to get laid this summer.

When they finally got to Surfer’s Mecca, the two brothers luckily found the car unlocked with the keys in the cup holder along with James’ glasses and his cell phone. James sat in the driver’s seat and reached for his glasses. Struggling to get his glasses to stay on his smaller head, he realized it was useless as his prescription was far too strong for his younger eyes. That must have been why he was able to read the menu at Small Frys so easily. Taking them back off and putting them into the cup holder again, he gazed back at the wheel and inserted the key and turned it on. James tried to reach for the pedals but his feet could barely touch the ground, let alone stretch across the floorboard. It was painful to admit it but he wasn’t going be able to physically drive them back without getting into an accident or pulled over by the cops. He turned to Jonathan and motioned for them to switch places. Jonathan walked around to the front door while James slid over to the passenger seat. James now just had to coach his little brother about what to do, it seemed easy enough.

“So you start off by…” James began, “…you just…” Despite how natural driving felt to James, his mind was suddenly bombarded with doubt about what needed to be done next. Memories of high school raged inside his mind, all the lessons he didn’t pay attention to, hanging out with his shitty gang of high school friends at the cafeteria, the high school prom...James honed in on his Driver’s Ed. class, he remembered his lazy teacher and all his classmates but for the love of heck he couldn’t remember how to back up.

He turned despairingly towards Jonny, “Is this the part where you tell me, that you’ve gained my driving skills?” James asked.

Jonathan shook his head no. In the opposite manner of his brother, Jonathan found his soul trapped in a body that was much older than he could normally control with a brain that was wired vastly differently from what he was used to. Hormones pumped unchecked throughout his system and unlike James who at least had gone through childhood before, Jonathan had no such experience and he was still lightheaded and confused from the transformation.

Dang, James lamented.

“Jonny we gotta text mom; we can’t do this by ourselves.”

………………………………………………………………………

Jenny was furious and terrified. Both of her sons had gone rogue today. James had apparently ditched his lifeguard training session while Jonny abandoned the Rainer family at the boardwalk, her desperate calls and texts to James went unanswered until suddenly she received a single text message in response telling her in broken, misspelled English that they were are Surfer’s Mecca and needed to be picked up. Jumping into her car, she drove like a mad woman to her boys. She didn’t really care what excuse they had at this point, they were going to be punished and she would give no quarter for this colossal fuck up. She back into the nearest parking spot for a quick getaway and stepped out into the parking lot, expecting her sons to be waiting nearby. The rainstorm that was brewing overhead finally gave way and she found herself drenched in rain water. It soaked her, but also cleansed her. Her long blonde hair brightened slightly and grew farther down her back. All visible signs of stress and aging on her face were gently wiped away by the rain. The fat that accumulated in her breasts and hips shrank down in size and the aches and pains that had been bothering her of late were suddenly gone. By the time she had located James’ car, Jenny had gone from 48 to 38. She had been so emotional that she hardly noticed the physical sensation that accompanied the transformation. But she felt incredibly calm now, calm enough that she at least wanted to find out what the hell had happened to her boys before she killed them.

Approaching James’ car as best as she could in the frenzy of rain and wind, she thought she heard the car doors opened and then saw the shadows of two guys. Something instantly didn’t seem right to Jenny, the taller figure that should have been James was in much better shape and the short figure that should have been Jonny was much chubbier than Jonny ever was.

A squeaky voice suddenly cracked through the storm, “Mom, don’t freak out,” the voice said. It was a voice that she hadn’t heard in many years, one that used to fill her days with so much joy.

The two shadows stepped into the light right before her. A mother’s true horror is to not be able to immediately recognize her own children. Jenny gazed at the man that looked like he could have been her own son while being completely alien to her. She then turned to the younger boy and stepped back in shock.

Jennifer Medlock was not calm anymore, she was about to freak the hell out.

The Long Sweat continues....[/size]