'Madison Springs'

Chapter 3
Taking A Dip

Bryan turned off the highway and drove into the town of Madison Springs. The fading sun cast long, dark shadows on the streets, and he caught sight of a handful of teenagers finishing off rugby practice at the local secondary school. The resort was on the far side of town, a grand wooden structure studded with gabled windows and balconies like a giant wedding cake. Stepping out of the car, he tried calling his brother again, but there was no answer. The fish and chips meal he had wolfed down earlier at a roadside pub hung heavily in his belly.

Pushing his way into the lobby, he thumbed through a copy of the local newspaper as he waited impatiently at the check-in line. After scanning thru the sports scores and weather forecast, his attention was caught by a small headline “Search Continues for Missing Tourists” accompanied by mugshots of several men. He started to read, but a chirpy voice interrupted: “Good evening, sir! Do you have a reservation?”

“Yes.” he replied gruffly as he tucked the newspaper under his arm.

“Your name, sir?”

“Bryan Carter. C, a, r, t, e, r.” He pulled out his credit card, slapped it down on the counter and waited irritably as she pecked away at her computer.

“Would you need help with your bags?”

“No.” he paused. “Oh, has Kellan Carter checked in yet?”

The lady turned and consulted her screen. “Yes, he arrived earlier today.”

“Can you call his room for me?”

“Sure.” She dialed, but the line was busy.

Bryan sighed with exasperation. His brother must be on a client conference call again. Based on past experience, it could easily go on for the whole night.

“The hot springs are open until 10pm if you’ll like to take a dip.” the lady continued brightly as she handed him his keycard. “Enjoy your stay!”

Resigned to spending the night by himself, Bryan dumped his bag in his room, changed and went outside. The pools were sprawled across a rugged landscape interspersed with sagging boulders and the occasional dwarven tree. Each pool had been backlit with a different color, and together they glowed like a collection of giant paint pots under the star-studded cobalt sky. An ethereal mist lapped at their surfaces.

Bryan studied a large area map that suggested a bathing sequence of progressively hotter pools, followed by diving into a frigid swimming pool and repeating the process all over again. Shaking his head with disbelief, he sought out the largest pool and slipped right in, feeling the soothing waters caress his tired body. It was a clear night, and the resort had rigged up an outdoor video projector that was playing a romantic movie. Looking around, he found that everyone else was either with a partner or chatting within a small intimate cluster.

“Hello, would you like some company?”

Bryan turned to find a buxom lady gliding thru the water towards him. Brassy blonde curls cascaded down an almond face, and a pair of periwinkle blue eyes looked at him seductively. Hooker, he realized immediately. But he was feeling really lonely, and impulsively he replied, “I’m Bryan.”

“I’m Lola. Where are you from?” her thick lips glistened as she slid up close beside him. Bryan let her chat him up, and after some casual verbal foreplay, they clambered out and went upstairs to Bryan’s room.

After freshening up, Bryan emerged from the bathroom to find that Lola had opened the complimentary bottle of wine the hotel had left in his room. “Have a drink, cutie.” she purred as she handed him a glass.

“No. I quit. I don’t drink anymore.”

“What, are you a monk or something?” she winked. “C’mon, baby, just a little tonight won’t hurt. We’ll have a lot more fun.”

“No. Believe me, lady, you won’t like me much when I’m drunk.” he placed the glass firmly back on the table. Walking behind her, he wrapped his arms around her body and gently caressed her bikini top. “Shall we get started?” he murmured raspily into her ear, feeling his crotch starting to stiffen.

To his surprise, she abruptly pushed him away. “I’ve changed my mind.” she snapped and pulled on her coat. “But I already paid!” he protested, but she just pulled the bills out from her pocket, tossed them on the bed and started for the door.

Bryan felt a dangerous tremor inside of him. First his girlfriend, then his job, and now he was getting rejected by some damn hooker from this pathetic resort town. His breath quickened, his heart palpitated, and his face turned a magma red. Reaching out, he seized Lola’s arm roughly, and when she turned around, screaming at him to let go, he splashed the wine in the glass straight at her face.

Gasping with surprise, she turned white as a sheet, and her eyes widened with horror. To Bryan’s astonishment, she started to shrink, her womanly attributes gradually eroding away. Her ample bosom collapsed, leaving her previously skintight bikini top drooping limply on a washboard chest. Bryan felt her arm grow fragile and skinny in his hand, as her hips lost their fullness and her hourglass figure vanished. Rounded, rosy cheeks and a cute little nose adorned her increasingly child-like face. Now barely eye level with his chest, Lola shrieked as her oversized coat flopped to the ground with a whoomp, dragging her bikini bottom down with it. To Bryan’s surprise, a little wiener was pushing out timidly from between her legs.

“You JERK! You’ve ruined everything!” she yelled, leaping up and spitting the remnants of the wine into his face. Shocked, he released her arm and stumbled backward, frantically wiping at his face with both hands. He felt the room spin around and a tingly feeling spread thru his body. “Am I turning into a kid too?” he thought with alarm.

Steadying himself with a chair, he looked into the dresser mirror with trepidation, half expecting to find a gawky and awkward teenager staring back at him, or worse, a freckled boy swimming in a tent-like bathrobe.

But, he looked exactly as he did before. He clapped his hands against his rough stubble just to reassure himself, then opened his bathrobe to reveal the same messy mat of chest hair and flaccid beer belly. He let out a sigh of relief, with just a twinge of disappointment as he poked absently at his unwelcome paunch, which wobbled like a bowl of jello.

Lola, on the other hand, wasn’t faring as well. By the time she got to the door, she had grown too short to reach the handle, and was now jumping helplessly at it, like a cat bounding up towards a ball of yarn only to have it yanked away at the last minute. Her bikini top was now draped diagonally across her puny body like the kind of sash that she might have once worn at a beauty contest. Bryan approached her cautiously, but when she finally turned around to face him, he realized that he was looking into the eyes of a frightened toddler boy. “Da… dah?” he tottered forward and held his arms out to Bryan hopefully.

“Urm… no?” he stammered, caught off guard. Evidently, that was the wrong answer, for the little tyke let out a high pitched scream that nearly shattered Bryan’s eardrums, shot a jet of warm pee onto Bryan’s ankles, before plonking down on his wee little bottom, thrashing his fists and feet around on the floor in a ferocious temper tantrum.