All rights reserved.
Contains adult content for 18 years and older.
"How extravagant you are, throwing away women like that. Someday they may be scarce." (Claude Rains - "Casablanca" (1942))
********************
"What the . . . Robin! Shit!" Ken yelled, as the warm yellow liquid flowed down his arm.
The 18 month old just bounced up and down in his arms and let out an assortment of slurred baby dialect.
"Oh brother! Robin, what am I going to . . . do . . . with . . . you?" Ken trailed off as he watched the surf roll in.
"Perfect!" Ken ran across the beach and into the ocean. He waded in until the water was a little bit above his waist and proceeded to bob the naked Robin in and out of the waves. Robin shrieked loudly when Ken first dunked her in the cool water, but soon she was smiling and giggling gleefully. Ken was sort of getting into it to, as he began to speak to Robin in baby-talk. He began to remember how he used to do this with Natalie when she was a baby. Unfortunately, he caught himself more than once calling her Natalie out loud, as they continued playing.
"Okay Nat . . . er . . . Robin, I think you're clean enough."
Ken splashed some water on his arm and wiped it off on his side. He then went to wrap Robin back up in her oversized swimsuit, only to find it was no longer in his possession.
"Shit!" Ken exclaimed, realizing he must have dropped it in the water somewhere. Not having the time or the ambition to go on another underwater scavenger hunt, he forfeited Robin's need for attire.
He carried Robin back to the shore and took off in the direction he last remembered seeing the two girls playing before his black-out.
Ten minutes later, Ken came across an area covered with torn clothing and beheaded Barbie dolls. Obviously, this was where Molly and Robin had been. Ken grabbed the end of a crumpled blanket with one hand, shook it out and then carefully laid Robin down on it.
"Well, it looks like somebody made their second wish." Ken remarked as he picked up the remains of a discarded blue and yellow swimsuit. "I just hope she doesn't still have the bottle on her . . . Robin! No!"
The one year old had crawled off the blanket and was now depositing the decapitated head of a Ken doll in her mouth.
Ken rushed over and pulled the saliva coated object out before it was sucked into her mouth like a deposit tube at a bank window. "No! Bad! Bad girl! No stick head in mouth!" Ironically, as soon as that statement left his lips, Ken's mind began to recall thoughts of his wife's personal distaste of certain oral gratifications. Thoughts of how he had to literally beg his wife (when she was her normal age) to give him a blowjob, and even then he wouldn't get one.
Suddenly, Robin began to wail like a police siren. Ken picked her up and placed her over his shoulder, while gently patting her back. "Shhhhhhhhhhh." Ken said softly, noticing Robin felt lighter since he last held her.
"Now I know how Jerry Sienfeld must feel on a date." Ken joked to himself as Robin slowly quieted down.
As he moved around the area, continuing to calm Robin down, he was abruptly blinded by a bright flash of light.
After a few seconds of purple dots and red streaks, Ken regained his normal vision.
"Holy shit! The bottle!" Ken promptly leaned forward and picked up the cause, and hopefully the solution, to all his problems.
"Finally! Now maybe we can get things back to normal." Ken quickly uncorked the bottle. He then placed the piece of paper he had been carrying back inside and recapped it. He shook it for a few seconds and then tossed it in the air a couple of times, before opening the top with the exuberance of a kid on Christmas morning.
"Let's get this show on the road." Ken placed Robin back on the blanket and walked over to an unzipped duffel bag full of clothes. He began sifting through the garments and pulled out a large red They Might Be Giants T-shirt. "This should be big enough." Ken held out the shirt in front of him. "As for the bottom, I'll just wrap a towel around her until we get back to the hotel room."
Ken walked back over the sprawling infant and threw the shirt down next to her.
"Okay, here goes nothing." Ken took a deep breath and looked around. It was late afternoon and most of the beach crowd had dispersed, with the exception of a few scattered people here and there. He figured it was safe enough to change Robin out in the open, especially with time running out.
"I wish my wife Robin here, would return to her normal age, in both mind and body, of forrr . . .
um, twenty-one again over the course of the next ten minutes."
Ken then proceeded to wait until he could see a noticeable change in Robin. After a few minutes, Ken did detect a significant change in Robin. She was getting smaller.
"What the *****! What went wrong?" Ken exclaimed to himself, as Robin looked up at him with a big grin and drool hanging out of her mouth. "I did everything exactly the same as before. It should have worked. Let me see that note again."
Ken took the note out of the bottle and quickly read it over:
TO WHOEVER OPENS THIS BOTTLE - YOU ARE NOW THE PROUD RECIPIENT OF 3 WISHES TO DO WITH AS YOU SEE FIT.
WARNING : PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING RULES BEFORE WISHING.
#1. ONE WISH PER PERSON; EITHER FOR THE WISHER OR TO ANOTHER PERSON. (I.E. CAN'T MAKE ONE WISH TO BE A MILLION DOLLARS TO EACH MEMBER OF THE FAMILY.)
#2. NO WISHING FOR MORE WISHES!!!
#3. ALL 3 WISHES MUST BE MADE IN A 24 HOUR WINDOW STARTING FROM THE OPENING OF THIS BOTTLE OR ALL WILL BE FORFEIT.
#4. FINALLY, BE VERY SPECIFIC IN YOUR REQUESTS. THE RESULTS COULD BE CATASTROPHIC.
"Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah, catastrophic. I still don't see where I went wrong." Ken continued reading.
WITH THAT SAID, WISH AWAY!
P.S. REMEMBER : THREE WISHES PER PERSON; NO MORE, NO LESS! DO NOT WASTE YOUR WISHES, FOR THREE IS ALL YOU WILL RECEIVE!
"P.S.? P.S.?!! I don't remember there being a P.S. at the end of this note! That P.S. is B.S." Ken was about to toss the bottle as far away from himself as his strength could muster, when reason quickly fell upon him once again.
"Great! This means I've gotta find someone else to open this bottle and waste, I mean use, their three wishes on Robin and Nat . . . tal . . . lie. Oh my god! Natalie! I almost forgot about her."
Ken put the note back in the bottle and closed it. He glanced down at Robin, who was making gurgling sounds as she again crawled off the blanket. "Hmmmmmm. Maybe Robin could make the three . . . No! I believe that would be a bad idea." Ken rationalized to himself. "At her age, she'd probably wish for a warm bottle, a clean diaper and a stuffed animal."
No, Natalie was his only option at this point.
Ken leaned over the adorable 10 month old. "Come on Robin. Let's go find Grandma Nat."
As Ken bent down to pick up the T-shirt and Robin, when he noticed the sand around her bottom was dark and wet.
"Robin! Oh, brother!"
*******************
"Come on, Becki! Are you gonna play volleyball or fiddle with your clothes all day?" Teresa yelled, waving her hands out in front of her.
"Alright already! Just gimme a second! God!" Becki yelled back, as she lifted the sides of her bikini bottom back over her hips. Unfortunately, as soon as she let go, the sides dropped right back down to where they were. Distinctive tan lines showed their previous location. Her top had pretty much following the same path as her bottom. Becki's cleavage, though still existent, was somewhat less pronounce than it had been earlier. The gradual erosion of her breasts was now causing the once skin tight halter top to sag slightly. A thin strip of white flesh was becoming noticeably visible just above her top.
The 16 year old continued monkeying with the straps of her halter top, as she jerked the ball out of Molly's hands. "I believe it's my serve." Becki remarked coldly, as she walked to the corner of the court.
Becki was about to throw the ball in the air when she suddenly stopped. "What's the score again?"
"18 to 20! Our lead!" Teresa yelled over the net.
Becki went to throw the ball in the air once more, when again she stopped. "What are we playing to?"
"TWENTY-ONE!!!" Both girls on the other side of the net yelled in unison.
"Oh yeah. Sorry." Becki shrugged her shoulders. "For some reason I keep forgetting."
Becki served the ball, which barely made it over the net, unlike her usual powerhouse serves.
Peggy returned it immediately, as the ball arched high in the air over the net.
Molly had positioned herself for the return volley, when suddenly her view was obstructed.
Becki had ran across the court and had placed herself in front of Molly and the ball, so she could make the return serve. As the the ball came down, Becki jumped high into the air and spiked the ball.
It hit dead center into the middle of the net.
On top of that, Becki had put a little to much effort into the dud return and landed off balance. She proceeded to fall on her backside on to the sand with a 'THUMP'.
Teresa and Peggy couldn't help but laugh at their friend's awkward predicament.
""Nice teamwork there, Becki." Teresa commented.
Peggy couldn't resist joining in also. "For Becki, there is no 'I' in team; but there sure is a 'M' and an 'E'."
"Ohhhh! Dis!" The two girls high-fived each other. "A-hem! I believe it's our serve now."
Becki just sat there in the sand for a few moments, totally oblivious to the adolescent riffs of her two friends. The fifteen year old knew she was playing a shitty game, but just couldn't figure out why. Becki wasn't aware that she had been regressing slowly, both physically and mentally, during the game. Her changing perspective was now causing her to misjudge and miscalculate every move she made. What Becki did realize though, was that her bathing suit was feeling more and more cumbersome and, most importantly, the new girl Sandy was playing better than she was.
Still wallowing in self pity, Becki was jolted into reality by the sudden appearance of a hand in her face.
"Are you alright?" Molly asked, starting to feel somewhat sorry for the position she had wished her sister in. "Here, let's me help you up."
Becki immediately slapped Molly's extended hand away from her. "I'm fine!" Becki replied coldly, as she picked herself up. "I don't need your help or your sympathy. I mean, it's not like I'm a six year old or something."
"Not yet, anyway." Molly mumbled under her breath, as any remorse she had for her sister and what was happening to her melted away.
"Fine!" Molly raised her arms in the air in defeat and returned to her position.
"Fine!" Becki replied back, continuing to fidget with her outfit. Wrinkles were starting to develop across the material in her halter top, especially on the sides and in between her breasts. Tan lines were becoming more and more visible, like white location markers, as her swimsuit continued to sag. Eventually, her transformation did not go totally unnoticed by her fellow playmates.
"Ummmm . . . Becki?" Teresa began to inquire, just as she was getting ready to serve. "Are you okay? You look kinda . . . . kinda different." "No, I feel fine." Becki replied, again pulling her halter top strap back up her arm and onto her shoulder. "Expect that my clothes feel kinda weird all of a sudden. Hmmpf! I must have put on my mom's swimsuit by mistake."
"Oh well." Teresa just shook her head and proceeded to serve, figuring her vision was being altered by a combination of her sweating profusely and excessive heat. "Game point!"
Teresa made an excellent serve, with Molly making just as good a return volley. Back and forth the ball went, bouncing from team member to opposing team member.
The ball had been in play for about two minutes, when sudden Teresa slammed one over the net.
Becki jumped up as high as she could to return the volley, but had misjudged the height of the ball and came up short. She barely nicked the ball with her fingernail as it passed overhead.
Fortunately, Molly was positioned far enough behind her that she was able to ricochet the ball off her wrists, back toward the other team.
Unfortunately, the ball then proceeded to ricochet off the back of Becki's head, who stood directly in front of Molly.
Becki's head jerked forward suddenly, as her body collapsed to the ground. The whole scene looked like a James H. Nicholson and Samuel Z. Arkoff's reenactment of the assassination of JFK.
The force of the blow had knocked Becki to her knees and had caused her already loose halter top to fall down to just above her stomach. The straps hanging across her elbows. The 13 years old's budding breasts, now between a large A cup and a small B cup, were fully exposed to the general masses.
Tears had already begun to form in the corners of Becki's eyes, more from the shock of the blow then the actual pain it caused. The sudden realization of her unintentional Bettie Page imitation didn't help matters much. The tears flowed fast and furious now, as she quickly scampered to put her top back on.
Becki turned her head around quickly and stared at Molly's through squinted red eyes. "You *****! You did that on purpose!" Hate poured out from every word.
Molly just stared at her dumbstruck, not knowing what to say.
Suddenly, a voice from the other side of the net sliced through the tension developing between the two girls.
"Hey! Calm down, Becki!" Teresa called out, as she and Peggy began walking toward the net. "Geez, I mean, it was an accident, right? Give the girl a break."
Becki turned her head to face her friends with such swiftness, that it was surprising a sonic boom wasn't created.
"Oh, so now your ~her~ friend! Fine, see if I care!" Becki face was now starting to turn red, as she continued her emotional meltdown. "Don't think I've forgotten how you stole Johnny DeLong from me, after you ~knew~ I had a major crush on him!"
"Johnny . . . Johnny DeLong? *****, Becki, that was back in Junior High, almost five years ago. Why the hell are you bring that up now for?" Teresa retorted back at her hyperactive friend.
"Don't patronize me, Teresa! You and I both know that it was barely five months ago, since you and Johnny went out!" The waterworks began to flow freely again. "You were never my friend. I HATE YOU! I HATE ALL OF YOU!" Becki screamed at her friends as she kicked the volleyball at Molly.
Molly instinctively dodged out of the path of the oncoming ball, as she watched her sister run away from them and disappear over a sand dune. Molly knew she had better keep an eye on Becki, especially after silently wishing her to be her previous age, and immediately took off after her.
Teresa and Peggy just stood there for a moment as they watched Becki scurry away from them. They turned and looked at each other, both with a puzzled look on their faces and then proceeded to walked over to where Beverly was resting.
"What the hell was all that commotion about over there. It sounded like Sam Kinison's doing a one man show of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf?" Beverly asked the two of them, as she started to sit up. "Was that Becki that I heard yelling and screaming? Did I just see her run off crying? What happened? Why was she acting all crazy and hysterical?"
Teresa and Peggy turned and looked at each other for a second, then returned their attention to Beverly with one quick response.
"Period!" They both answered.
********************
"Where the hell is she?" Ken grumbled, carrying Robin in one hand and some towels and blankets in the other. "Dammit! I don't have time for this hide and seek bullshit."
Ken had stopped off at their spot underneath the tree, where he had last left Natalie. When he got there, she was nowhere to be found. All that remained was a beach chair, some crumpled up towels and Robin's disregarded dark green bikini. He figured she must have went back to their hotel room for some reason, which is where he and Robin were now on their way.
Ken hit the pool gates and threw them open with a clang. The pool area was sparse with guests, since most of them had left to get ready for dinner.
The six month old in his arms began to squirm again. Ken shifted the baby over to his left arm, since his right arm was beginning to feel numb. He looked at Robin, who he had wrapped up in one of the towels, and suddenly felt a cold shiver run up and down his spine. The realization had finally hit him, that his wife and daughter would actually die soon, and it would be all his fault. The fact that is was unintentional did little to soften the blow.
"*****! What time is it?" Ken began to look frantically for a clock.
Turning around, Ken tapped the first person he came across on the shoulder. "Excuse me, Miss? Do you know what time it is?"
A very old woman in a blue dress looked up blankly in response. "Excuse me?" She said slowly, sounding like a creaking door.
"Oh my god!" Ken stood there in shock for a moment. "It . . .it can't be." Ken moved in closer toward the old woman. "Natalie? Is that you?"
"Daddy? Daddy? Where are you?" The elderly lady replied with a little more energy, as she turned her head left and right.
"My god, Natalie. I'm right in front of you. Can't you see me?"
"No. I can't. I think I'm blind, Daddy. I can't see anything." Tears rolls down the crevices in her face.
Ken waved his hand in front of Natalie's eyes, as she continued to stare off into space.
"Don't worry, Daddy will fix everything soon." Ken grabbed her hand, which felt soft and malleable, like a rotten tomato. He shuddered for a second before composing himself. "Here, just hold my hand and follow me."
Natalie got up slowly, giving Ken time to further analyze the situation. He felt felt a tad bit guilty, over the fact that he really hadn't comforted his daughter when she told him of her blindness. But seeing her in this decrepit old form, was making him harbor a growing detachment toward her. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't see his eight year old daughter while looking at the senior citizen before him. Natalie was now so old, she made Gloria Stuart look like Kirsten Dunst. Ken shuddered again, as Natalie's hand began to shake viciously. Father of the Year material, Ken was not.
"As soon as we get back to the room, you can help Daddy (another shudder) make everything normal again." Ken told the 93 year old, as they walked past the pool bar. Ken glanced at the clock hanging up and suddenly picked up the pace.
The time was 5:15.
********************
"Hey, Becki! Wait up, will ya?" Molly called after her sister. Catching up to her was pretty easy, since Becki's stride was decreasing every second as she got younger. Before she knew it, Molly was almost on top of her sister.
Molly placed her hand on Becki's shoulder, causing her sister's whole body to spasm in shock. Molly was a bit taken aback by the sight of her older sister as she turned around.
"My god! You scared the living bugaboos out of me, lady!" The 11 year old replied, looking up.
Before Molly, where once had been a voluptuous, blonde hair, blue eyed, 18 year old, now stood a skinny, little girl, barely on the verge of puberty. The long, curly locks she previously sported, now had less body and hardly reached past her shoulders. The halter top and bikini bottom, which once accentuated her womanly curves, now only served to emphasize her lack of such qualities. The halter top hung comically low on what was left of her chest, with the bottom of it almost covering her belly button. Becki hips now looked almost boyish in appearance, barely flaring out from her waist, causing her to constantly hold at least one of the sides up with her hand. Awkward would be an understatement for the way Becki looked now.
Molly was nudged out of her disbelief, as the 10 year old looked at her with a confused expression on her face. "Who are you lady? Where am I? Why am I wearing these clothes? They're so big! Where's my mom? Who are you?"
"Geez, Becki! Don't you recognize me?" As soon as Molly said that, she realized how stupid the question was. Of course her sister wouldn't recognize her in this form. She was a little girl of six the last time Becki saw her. Never the less, Molly decided to stay the course. "It's me! Molly! Your lit . . . er, ummm . . . your sister."
"Yeah right, I don't even have a sister, lady. I'm an only child." Becki replied, as she pulled her bikini bottoms up a little. Becki was barely twelve when Molly was born and, in her current nine year old mental state, she had no recollection of Molly or even a sister.
"Well, then think of me as your babysitter, cause I'm bigger than you are and now you have to do as I say." Molly said as reached for Becki's hand. Her adult hand nearly swallowing the eight year old's hand.
"Hey!" Little Becki protested, trying to squirm out of the vise-like grip her sister had on her. "Let go! You're not the boss of me!"
"Oh, be quiet." Molly told her young charge, literally dragging her across the sand. "Just do as I tell you, and everything will be okay. Okay?"
"Okay." The seven year old said meekly, showing less and less resistance as the two of them continued walking. This was due to the fact that Becki was slowly forgetting what she was being defiant about.
"Come on! We're almost to our spot." Becki began to pick up the pace in excitement. "At least we can get you something decent to wear."
Within a few moments, Molly and Becki arrived at the area where they had left their stuff.
"Ooooooooo! Barbies!" The six year old Becki yelled with elation, as she broke Molly's grip and ran toward the scattered dolls. In her pursuit of the Barbie dolls, Becki absentmindedly abandoned her hold on her bikini bottoms. She nearly broke her neck, as the bottoms quickly fell down around her ankles. Becki stopped for a second, kicked the panties away from her with her left foot, then continued on her way.
Molly had reluctantly relinquished her hand and walked over to the open duffel bag. "Hmmmmm! Not much left in here." Molly dug through the bag's remains for something that her sister could wear. "Ahhhh! Finally!" She exclaimed as she pulled out one of her old 'Little Mermaid' T-shirt and a pair of her blue shorts.
Molly turned around to see her 6 year old sister playing gleefully in the sand with her dolls. She gave a sigh of relief, as it appeared that Becki's age had finally stabilized. During the volleyball game, Molly had silently wished to herself for her sister to be her previous age. Literally switching places with her sister, Molly wanted Becki to know what it was like to be the little sister and always get picked on.
"Here squirt!" Molly threw the shirt and pants at Becki, which hit her directly in the face. "Put these on."
Little Becki stood up, bare-assed to the wind, with nothing on except her over-sized halter top. The top covered her like a teddy, coming down just to the top of her behind. The front now hung very low, with her light pink nipples showing predominately above the neck line. As she bent over to pick up the clothes, the top suddenly flipped up over her head. Straightening back up, the straps easily slid down her arms, causing the entire halter top to come crashing down around her feet.
Molly stood there for a second, watching her nude little sister struggle with her clothes. "Oh, for the love of Pete! Here let me help you." Molly grabbed the yellow shirt and helped her on with it.
Molly had just gotten the shorts up to Becki's waist, when a familiar voice piped up from behind her.
"Well, here you guys are! I've been looking everywhere for you two. Where have you been?"
Molly and Becki both turned around in one fluid motion, yelling the same thing at the same time. "Mommy!!!"
*******************
"FINALLY!" Ken exclaimed, as he pushed his hotel room door open with a 'whoosh'.
The journey to the room from the pool had been about as pleasant to Ken as the Bataan Death March. Having a 3 month old blowing out his left eardrum in the elevator with her constant crying, had drove home a migraine he had been trying to suppress since coming to in the lifeguard shack. Plus, having to stop every three minutes cause his 93 year old daughter kept getting tired, only made matters worse. This was not Ken's idea of having fun with the family.
"Well, this has been some family vacation!" Ken said laughingly, driven half insane by Natalie and Robin. "Next year, I think we should go to Iraq and let them test an anthrax bomb on us."
Ken walked to the bed with Robin and Natalie, dropping towels and clothing along the way. He lead Natalie to a chair and helped her sit down slowly. Ken then carried Robin over the bed and laid her down gently in the center of the bed. The one month old was completely helpless, not even having enough strength to lift her head up. Ken was surprised at how something so small could make so much noise. He surely didn't remember Natalie making this much of a racket when she was a baby.
Ken then proceeded to walk over to Natalie, taking the bottle out of his pocket as he did. He loosened the top slightly, so that her fragile hands could easily remove the cork. Ken squatted down in front of Natalie and handed her the bottle.
"Okay Natalie, I need you to open this bottle for me."
"Alright." Natalie feebly replied, as she fumbled with the glass container. After feeling around the surface of the bottle for a while, she finally got a grasp on the cork. Natalie tried to open the bottle, but her trembling hands made the job extremely difficult. Her muscle were also shrinking, causing her to exert more energy into accomplishing her task than she figured.
Ken glanced up at the clock above the television. It read 5:30 exactly.
"Come on Natalie! Hurry up!"
"I'm trying Daddy! But the pain in my hands is making it hard to do." Natalie replied, as beads of sweat began to form on her wrinkled brow. "And now I have a pain in my left arm too."
Ken's attention was distracted elsewhere, as he had turned around to check on Robin. Her perpetual loop of screaming had suddenly stopped and Ken know knew why. Robin's tiny body laid there silently as it slowly began to curl up into a fetal position. Ken figured Robin was now on the negative end of the age scale. Her eyes were closed and her features were becoming less and less defined. Ken knew the shrinking embryo on the bed would die within the next few minutes if he didn't do something now.
Ken was about to turned back around and face Natalie, when he felt something hit his foot.
It was the bottle, opened, and with a faint purple mist coming out of it. Relieved that Natalie finally opened the bottle, Ken began to lift his head. His line of sight came across her hand with the cork still in it, as he continued to look upward. When Ken finally came across the visage of his 94 year old daughter, he turned white as a sheet.
There Natalie sat, one arm clutching her chest, as streaks of sweat dripped down her face. Her sunken eyes had rolled back into her head, and she was now gritting what was left of her teeth, as if in servere pain. Slowly rocking back and forth, while incoherent grunts and grasps could still be heard coming from her mouth.
Ken instantly realized what had happened.
"Holy ***** shit! My daughter is going into cardiac arrest!"
********************
END OF CHAPTER NINE
I'd like to dedicate this chapter to the late Roddy McDowall, who recently past away last weekend. I admired and respected his work as an actor and will deeply miss him. One of my favorite film is "Fright Night" (1985) in which Mr. McDowall portrayed Peter Vincent, the great vampire killer.
- Omnibus
Beach Bottle Boo-Boo Finale
By Omnibus
All rights reserved.
Contains adult content for 18 years and older.
“The world belongs to the young. Make way for them. Let them have it. I am an anachronism.” (Boris Karloff - “Targets” (1968))
PART 10
********************
“Mommy! Mommy!” The six year old Becki screamed, running toward her mother and hugging her leg excitedly.
“Mommy!” Molly screamed also, but for a completely different reason than Becki.
Becki was more than anxious to see her mother, where as Molly was a bit apprehensive concerning the recent return of Carol. She had kept her distance while little Becki ran over to her mother, fearful of what the consequences would be when, or if, Carol discovered her daughters had switched ages. She was also a little disoriented by the unfamiliar view of looking at her mother eye to eye, instead of eye to waist.
“Okay! Okay!” Carol replied, trying to pry the six year old off her leg like a piece of duct tape. “Geez, I wasn’t gone that long. Okay Molly, you can let go of mommy’s leg anytime now.”
The little girl’s head shot up instantly with a confused expression plastered across her face. “I’m Becki, Mommy!”
“Oh great! Here it comes!” Molly thought to herself.
“Molly, I don’t have time for fun and games right now.” Carol began attempting to walk with Becki still leeching onto her leg. “It’s getting late, I’m tired and I still have to get dinner for you two.”
“No Mommy, I’m Becki!’ The child suddenly let go of her mother’s leg and continued staring at her, as if insulted. “Who’s Molly?”
Carol rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Look Honey, Becki’s over there.” She explained, pointing at the 18 year old Molly, who smiled precariously in response. “You’re Molly, my precious little angel.” Carol proceeded to rub noses with Becki in an affectionate gesture.
“NO! I’M BECKI!” The child exploded in defiance. “I don’t who she is?”
Molly quickly intervened at this point before total chaos set in. “Oh, just ignore her mom! We were just pretending to be each other early, and I guess she got too wrapped up in the game. Just call the baby Becki for awhile, until she gets tired of it.”
“I’m not a baby!” Becki stamped her foot in anger. “I’m almost seven years old! You’re the baby!”
“Not anymore, Squirt!” Adding fuel to the fire, Molly proceeded to stick her tongue out at her new little sister.
“Okay you two, enough!” Carol interrupted the two of them. “Becki, you should know better than to tease your little sister.” She scolded Molly, who simply put her head down. Returning her attention to Becki, Carol decided to play her daughter’s game, at least until they got home. “And you, young lady, what do you say to dinner at McDonald’s?”
“Yah!” The little girl’s expression immediately brightened. “Race ya to the car.” Becki instantly took off across the sand.
“Whoa there Molly! Wait up for Becki and Mommy!” Carol yelled after her daughter, realizing her mistake as soon as she said it.
The six year old stopped abruptly, like a dog on a choke chain, and quickly turned around. “I’M BECKI!” The red-faced girl screamed as she jumped up and down. “I’M BECKI!”
Carol turned to Molly, who was next to her, in exasperation. The expression on her face was that of a woman desperately looking for a explanation to the sudden strange behavior of her child.
Molly just looked backed at her mother and shrugged her shoulders. “Kids!”
********************
“*****! Come on Natalie, hold on!” Ken screamed at the old woman, shaking her vigorously. “Don’t you dare ***** die on me, you hear me!”
The only response Natalie gave back was a faint gargling sound.
“Wish to be 8 years old again!” Ken screamed in Natalie’s ear, forcefully slapping her across the face at the same time. “Damn it Natalie, wish to be 8 years old again!” Beads of sweat poured down Ken’s face, as the panicked man repeated the phrase over and over. Barely coherent of Ken’s words, as she slipped in and out of consciousness, Natalie slowly and softly began to mumble something audible. “Wish I . . . wish . . . I wish . . “
“Yeah, come on Natalie! I know you can do it!” Ken cheered her on.
“Wish I . . . . . . . eight . . . . . . again.” With that, Natalie’s head fell lifelessly forward and she ceased breathing.
Ken just sat there in shock and stared blankly at the inanimate old woman, in a detached sort of way. It almost appeared as if the 23 year old was on the verge of crying. Whether it was from the trauma of the apparent deaths of his wife and daughter or from the fear of being accused of their deaths though, could not be determined.
Ken was suddenly jolted out of his self pity by a loud coughing noise and looked up.
It was Natalie, and she was alive, but just barely. Though still weak and still kind of out of it, the wish seemed to have worked. Ken breathed a sigh of relief, but quickly jumped up realizing he was still not out of the danger zone yet.
Grabbing the groggy woman by the shoulders, Ken began to shake her like before. “Quick Natalie, wish your mother to be 43 again!” In the back of his mind, Ken really wanted his wife to be 21 again, but decided that beggars can’t be choosers at this point. Besides, once his wife was restored, she could easily wish to be young again herself, especially since she had yet to open the bottle.
“Come on Natalie! Wish Mommy to be 43 again!” He ordered the old woman in a louder voice. Ken turned his head toward the bed and saw a tiny inactive figure lying there, no larger than his hand.
“Oh, this is not good.” Ken thought to himself, returning his attention back to Natalie. “Say, I wish Mommy was 43 again! I wish Mommy was 43 again!”
Natalie was silent for a minute, then began to mumble a few words. “Wish . . . Mommy . . . four . . . . tee.”
Ken stepped back for a moment, then just shrugged his shoulders. “Oh well, close enough.” Turning to look at the tiny creature on the bed, Ken just stared at it’s undefined features, which made it impossible to determine if it was a male or female anymore. After watching the zygote for awhile, it didn’t appear to be getting any smaller, unfortunately it didn’t appear to be getting any larger either. Looking back at Natalie, Ken couldn’t detect any changes in her appearance. Of course, it’s hard for most people to see the difference between a 94 year old and an 88 year old.
Suddenly, Ken heard a baby crying from behind him. He quickly turned around and was greeted by the sight of a newborn baby girl screaming on the bed.
Ken’s whole body collapsed in alleviation, like a soldier told to be at ease. “Whoa brother! That was a little too close for comfort!”
Natalie, who was getting younger by the minute, was still in a sort of post hypnotic delirium, especially following her life after death experience. Thinking Ken was still dictating orders for her to repeat, Natalie’s feeble brain proceeded to select only a few choice words from Ken’s last statement.
“I wish . . . I had . . .” Natalie began to mumbled in a low, raspy voice. “ . . . I had . . . little . . . brother.”
Ken turned his head around so quickly, it looked liked he was sucker punched. “Oh my god Natalie! What the ***** did you just do!” Ken began to freak out, as he felt a sudden chill run through his entire body. He continued to scream every expletive he could think of, but it was all in vain as his memories and knowledge slowly began to dissipate.
To say the scene that took place in the Keller’s hotel bedroom over the next three hours was truly bizarre, would be a major understatement. Everyone seemed to be aging or regressing at a predetermined rate, as if some mysterious force was trying to make sure they all reached their final status at the same time. Robin appeared to be aging at six times the rate at which she regressed, while Natalie regressed at six times the rate at which she aged. Ken just seemed to be regressing at 6 years an hour.
During the first hour, baby Robin grew bigger and healthier. After a few minutes of rolling around on the bed, Robin soon became old enough to crawl, and quickly vacated the wet spot she had previously occupied. She giggled with glee as she sped across the bedspread on all fours. Unfortunately, she was so caught up in her enjoyment, she failed to observe how close she was to the edge of the bed and plummeted to the floor like Marlon Brando in a broken elevator. Robin began to cry, quite loudly, for a few seconds, and then stopped suddenly when the pain disappeared. Her speeded up metabolism also seemed to have included a sped up healing agent. Robin grabbed the side of the bed, pulled herself up on her two feet and attempted to waddle across the room. She started out shakily at first, then broke into a waddle, and soon progress to a full blown trot. At about eight years old, modesty had slowly crept into Robin’s consciousness and she quickly threw on one of Ken’s discarded white T-shirts on the floor. Robin’s body continued to grow, doubling her height and weight every 15 minutes or so.
At the beginning of the second hour, a puzzled 17 year old boy was staring down at a just as confused 12 year old girl. Both of them were at opposite ends of the puberty scale, but not for long. Neither of them recognized each other or remembered where they were or what had happened earlier. The small, frail Robin soon developed a huge crush on the still somewhat muscular Ken, who in turn proceeded to ignore the undeveloped girl. Ken’s hormones were racing to beat the band, but the 12 year old just didn’t seem to hold his attention. “Yeah right, she doesn’t even have boobs yet.” He thought to himself. In the next 15 minutes though, that all changed. Robin hit 13 and puberty hit her. Two small bumps suddenly appeared under the white shirt and continued to slowly expand outward. The bottom of the shirt slid up her legs, going from the kneecaps to about mid-thigh. As Robin’s body stretched and swell, preparing her for womanhood, Ken’s body was doing the opposite, with muscles shrinking and height diminishing. Both reached 15 at the same time, with emotions, memories, hormones, and mood swings mixing together with rampant fury within the two teenagers. Robin and Ken’s personalities were changing as much as their bodies. Robin’s innocent crush on Ken quickly turned into flirtatious teasing, which soon developed into conceited snubbing, as Robin passed Ken in age. At 18, the shirt Robin was wearing now barely covered her blooming features and she ran into the bathroom, red-faced with embarrassment. The 13 year old boy just stared in disbelief at the sight of a half naked woman running past him. “Cool!” The stunned teen said, as a small bulge grew in his oversized swim trunk, which he now had to hold up with one hand.
By the third hour, a confused ten year old boy now needed both hands to hold up his trunks, which more than once had fallen down around his ankles. Ken’s once handsome and rugged features had been replaced by a fresh innocence, practically bordering on cute. Ken suddenly heard giggling behind him and turned around. A woman in her late 20’s was just sitting in a chair laughing and pointing, at him. “Stop! Stop laughing at me, lady! It’s not funny! ” The self-conscious nine year old screamed, not paying attention to his shorts, which quickly slid down his skinny legs. The woman just laughed harder at the sight before her. The extremely embarrassed naked child immediately jumped on the bed and pulled the covers over his scrawny frame. Natalie was still laughing, finding the transformation of her parents before her very amusing, to say the least. During the first hour, her vision had finally come back, and so she was able to watch the changes unfold in front of her. For some strange reason, Natalie’s memories and mind were not affected during her regression, so she knew the two people before her were her parents. Natalie was mesmerized by the changes her parents had gone though, yet was totally oblivious to her own metamorphosis. Getting younger and younger, Natalie simply dissolved into the big blue dress she wore, like the Wicked Witch of the West under a fire sprinkler. The lump of blankets on the bed also continued to get smaller and smaller.
After being closed and locked for over an hour, the bathroom door slowly opened finally. A middle-aged woman, around her late thirties and wearing a white bathrobe, stepped disoriently into the bedroom.
“What the hell’s going on around here?” Robin asked, still a little light-headed.
“Mommy! Mommy!” Natalie screamed, seeing the vision of the mother she was use to. The 8 year old jumped off the chair and lost her over-sized dress to the floor immediately. Her now smaller body easily slipping out of the V-necked dress. The naked child ran over to Robin and squeezed her waist affectionately.
“Mommy! Mommy! You’re back!” Natalie elated, looking up at her mother.
“I didn’t realize I had gone anywhere.” Robin replied, even more confused than before. “And what, may I say, are you doing in my favorite blue dress?”
Natalie put her head down but continued looking up. “Sorry.”
“Young lady, you should know better than . . .to . . .take . . .things . . . that.” Robin trailed off slowly, as she began to look around the room. “Ummmm, Honey, do you know where your father is?”
“Yep! Daddy’s over there!” Natalie pointed immediately at the bed without blinking an eye.
“Where?”
“Over there!”
Robin walked over to the bed and stared down at the crumpled up blankets. “Natalie, there’s nothing here but . . .” Robin proceeded to whip the covers off the bed with one clean sweep. “ . . . a little boy. A LITTLE BOY?!?!?!?!” Robin’s eyes grew so large, she made Marty Feldman look Chinese.
Laying on the bed before her, was a naked 4 year old boy, sound asleep and sucking his thumb in silent bliss.
Natalie suddenly jumped on the bed and kneeled before the small child. “See! Here’s Daddy!”
Robin continued to stare at the little boy, blank faced and mouth wide open.
“Only now, he ain’t Daddy, he’s my brother!” Natalie remarked excitedly.
The sight of her smiling daughter hovering over her 4 year old husband quickly faded to darkness as Robin collapsed to the floor unconscious.
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EPILOGUE
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Molly continued trying to reverse the spell that changed her sister and herself every time they were alone, but to no avail. Unbeknownst to Molly, was the fact that she had used up all three of her wishes already. Adding into account, she had no idea where the magic had come from, how many wishes she could make, or how to reverse them, didn’t help matters much. It was when the family got home, did the real chaos begin.
Becki’s problems surfaced as soon as she stepped foot in the front door. To put her psychological problems into perspective, imagine suddenly waking up and being six years old again, with no idea of the past adult life you once lived. Now imagine finding out your parents are divorced, you live in a new house, you have an older sister you never saw before, and everyone around you calls you a different name than the one you had before. Add in the fact that no one will listen to you or believe you and it’s no wonder Becki’s mental state deteriorated faster than Frances Farmer on LSD. Becki was eventually sent to a psychological children’s ward for tests and observation to deal with her sudden delusional life, which in her mind was real. In actuality, it was more deprogramming than anything.
Molly fared a little better than Becki, but not by much. Thankfully, there were only three more months of Becki’s senior year to deal with. Molly, of course, failed every homework assignment and test she turned in. Fortunately, Becki’s grades were so high, her academic stumbling only affected them slightly. Future plans of college were definitely out of the question now. Molly’s educational background was barely past first grade standards, let alone twelfth grade. After graduation, Molly tried to get a job at various businesses. Her mother had to help her fill out the applications, since she could neither write nor read very well yet. Over the course of the next few years, Molly obtained several jobs, ranging from retail to fast food. Each job only lasted a few weeks though, since she was constantly getting fired for numerous reasons, from messing up on the register to not being able to talk to the customers properly. Naturally, Molly cut off all ties to Becki’s friends, not having any history with them or anything in common with them. She even had to have her mother teach her how to drive Becki’s Dodge Shadow, which Carol found extremely weird. Molly was sent more than once to the doctor for drug testing by her mother.
Carol was also extremely disturbed by her family’s current circumstances, especially having two daughters suddenly become mentally screwed-up, with no cause or reason why in sight. All physical tests had proved both of them to be normal health girls in every respect. But psychological tests revealed that Carol and her daughters would have years and years of therapy ahead of them.
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Meanwhile, on a Delta flight back to Toledo, Robin and Natalie sat quietly in their seats. In between them, little Kenny squirmed and wiggled in his seat as if it had been electrified.
“Honey, please! We’ll be on the ground shortly. Just settle down till then.” Robin checked to make sure Kenny seat belt was still fastened.
“Me bored!” Ken whined, as he continued squirming, now tinkering with his belt latch to gain his freedom. “Me wanna play!”
Natalie saw Kenny trying to sabotage his belt and immediately tried to stop him. “No! Mommy said to leave alone and be quiet!” Natalie scolded, slapping Kenny’s hands quite fiercely, then forcing them to his sides.
Kenny cried loudly at her sudden disciplinary tactics.
“Natalie, please don’t!” Robin told her daughter, then looked at Kenny, who was still crying. “Shhhhhhhhh! Quiet down, Honey. It’s alright.” She unbuckled his seat belt and pulled the four year old onto her lap. Bouncing the little tyke softly on her leg, the child soon quieted down and eventually fell asleep against her bosom.
Natalie turned around and continued looking out the plane window.
“I’m getting too old for this!” The 40 year old said to herself, still comforting the sleeping child, who sucked contently on his thumb. She pulled a strand of gray hair into her line of sight and sighed. Robin then reached into her pocket and pulled out a clear corked bottle with a rolled-up piece of paper inside. She brought it up close to her face and stared at it.
“Hmmmmmmmm! But not for long!” Robin placed the bottle back in her pocket, as a wicked smile spread across her face.
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THE END!