Joe had always felt bad about his breakup with Sue. They had dated for two years, but he felt that they had grown apart. He needed to move on. But leaving Sue wasn't going to be easy, she could be a spiteful, jealous woman when she wanted to be.
Joe and Sue had fought off and on for almost all the time they'd been together. Never were there two more different personalities than Joe and Sue. Joe was an easy-going sort of fellow -- standing just above 5'11 and weighing about 180. Athletic and trim, he had light brown hair and beard, and blue eyes that made the girls sigh when they looked at him.
Sue's, standing at 5'5', was a little on the thin side at 115 pounds of temper that flashed as red hot as the color of her hair. It had been nearly a year since he first told her that he wanted to break up. Her response was to smash his windshield with her shoe.
Joe didn't want to be there, but Sue had wheedled him into agreeing to a short meeting. He braced himself as he knocked on the door. It opened immediate, and Sue stood beaming from ear to ear. "Don't just stand there silly, come on in."
"Hi, Sue."
"Hi sweetie" She said. Sue was dressed to kill. She had on one of Joe's favorite outfits, a short little sun dress that showed off her shapely legs and less than generous cleavage. Joe knew what she wanted, but he was going to ask her anyway. "What did you need to see me about Sue."
"I just wanted to see you and apologize for how mean I've been to you since our breakup. I was really hoping that we could patch things up and try to work things out. You know, go back to the way things used to be."
"I'm sorry, Sue but it's over between us." Joe said flatly.
"No, Joe, you and I were meant to be together. I see our future. We'll be married and have a little family."
Sue opened one of the bedrooms off of her living room and gestured within.
"Look," she said, "I've even set up a room for our children when they arrive."
Joe continued shaking his head. "You don't get it Sue, it's over, and it's been over. I've got a great relationship with Betty and both of us are very happy. You'll just have to get over it."
"Nobody dumps me!" Sue said with blistering anger as she turned and locked the front door behind her. Turned toward Joe. "I told you that if I couldn't have you, then no one would. And I meant it!"
"Sue, this is ridiculous," Joe said. "Open the door, I've got to leave. I'm meeting Betty in a few hours and I've got to get changed."
"Changed? Changed? Yes, that's exactly what I have in mind, Joe. Do you know what this is?" she asked as she held up a gold medallion with a large purple jewel in the center. "It's called the Amulet of Hebe. She was the Greek goddess of youth. Legend says that this amulet can bestow youth on mortals. And seeing what this cost me to get it, I think we ought to give it a test run, don't you?"
Sue held the amulet up and began chanting words in a strange unfamiliar tongue. Joe could see a light building in intensity with the jewel. Suddenly a lance of violet light erupted from the medallion and Joe found his body bathed in an pale violet light. A shivering tingling feeling coursed through every part of his body.
"Better look in the mirror, Joe," she purred. "Think Betty will want you now?"
Joe turned and saw his face, but not his face from today, but the one he wore ten years ago. Gone was the 28 year old man. In his place was a younger man of eighteen with a scraggly beard that did not quite cover his face. In a moment, even that bit of beard retreated into his face, leaving him a smooth-cheeked teen of sixteen with a slight case of acne. He notice that he had dropped about two inches in height as well.
"What's happening," Joe cried, as he watched his body grow increasingly younger.
"I told you that I'd never let that slut Betty take my place. I'm going to fix it so she'll never be able to take my place in bed," she said. "Look at yourself Joe, you're nothing but a teenager now."
Sure enough, Joe's clothes were starting to hang on him as his height diminished to under five and half feet, and his weight would be lucky to top 115 pounds. He couldn't be any more than thirteen when Sue, at 5'5", walked over to him, and in his horror, he saw that shewas now at least two inches taller than he was.
"Stop it, Sue, stop it please," he said, noting that his voice cracked, lacking the adult timbre it had only moments before. Joe was finding it harder and harder to keep his pants up as his arms began to disappear within the sleeves of his shirt. As he attempted to hitch his pants, they fell to the floor and as he looked down, he felt his body retreat across the threshold of puberty. He watched in horror as he hair that covered his pubic area tingled and retracted within his body. He was a smooth -- as smooth as the twelve-year-old child he had become.
When his body had regressed to about ten-years-old, Joe tried to get away from Sue and the amulet, hoping his rejuvenation would stop. But as he attempted to break for the door, Sue stepped on the cuff of his trousers, and Joe sprawled to the floor.. As he struggled to escape from the confines of his huge clothes, he could almost feel each beat of his heart taking him back closer to his beginnings.
He looked in the mirror in time to see a boy of seven change to a boy of six, and then to a boy of five. "Must stop it," Joe thought. "I got to get that amulet!"
Sue stood on the other side of the room, and as if reading his mind, dangled the amulet on her finger. "Looking for this Joemy?" she purred. Pointing at his pre-pubescent groin, she laughed, "Now you can't take it personal when I called you a little prick, you little prick."
By now Joe had gotten so young that his clothes severely impeded his movements. Shucking off everything, he lunged naked toward Sue. Half way to her, his legs buckled and he fell on his hard on his fanny. Getting up, he started forward again, only to realize that the reason that locomotion was becoming do difficult was that he was nearly too young to walk. With a swaying motion back and forth, Joe lost the battle of mobility and plopped down on the floor. His fall both surprised and hurt him more than he expected. He could feel unbidden tears forming in his eyes as his infant body fought against his adult's mind.
The infant won. Joe's tears turned to crying to a hearty bawl.
Sue walked slowly over to him, and with her hands on her hips, towered over the now helpless Joe. Picking him up, she rocked him in her arms. "Now, now Joemy, Sue will take care of you. Sue's pwecious widdle man's all wet."
She unlocked the door and carried him to the back bedroom. Sue's older sister had stored her baby furniture at Sue's while she and her husband were overseas with the army. So Sue had all she needed to take care of Joe. Sue had lured Joe to her house with all intentions of winning him back, or exacting her revenge on him and she had prepared a room as a nursery, just in case Joe couldn't be persuaded to leave Betty for her.
Carrying him into the nursery, she began by placing him in a bassinet. Running water in a small tub, she placed the protesting infant in the water and gave Joe a thorough baby bath. Drying him off, she carried him to the changing table and laid him face down on it. Joe soon found himself being oiled and powdered. And if that wasn't bad enough, Sue grabbed his little legs in both of her hands and lifted his backside off the table and slipped a diaper under her former lover.
Joe struggled and tried to speak, but his movements, speech and abilities had all been reduced to the level of a nine-month old baby. Producing two pins, Sue quickly fastened the diaper to Joe's little bottom, then she encased him in a set of rubber pants. A small shirt-bib completed his outfit. Sue finished by placing small white booties on his tiny feet.
Carrying Joe to the kitchen, she set him in a high chair while she proceeded to prepare a dozen or so bottles of infant formula.
Three hours later Betty knocked on Sue's door looking for Joe. Sue, olding infant Joe in her arms, opened the door. Betty, Joe's new girl as 5'8" and 130 pounds. She was almost the exact opposite of Sue, who tended to thinness, lacking a lot of what Joe called voluptuous. Betty, on the other hand measured a stunning 36D-25-35. Betty could never be called fat, but she had a fullness in the hips, that drove Joe wild. Her hair, shoulder length, was a light brown with blond highlights, that underscored her grey eyes.
"Have you seen Joe?" Betty asked warily. "He left a message on my answering machine saying that you demanded to see him, and he hasn't been seen since."
"He was supposed to come by, I wanted to return his ring, but I haven't seen him. Do you want to wait a few minutes and see if he shows up?"
"Whose baby?"
"My sister's. He's a little handful I'm minding him for a couple of weeks. How about holding him while I get his bottle?"
"Sure, I love babies."
Joe struggled in the giant arms of his girlfriend, who merely hummed and rocked him. Sue returned and took Joe back. Placing the bottle in his mouth, she whispered "Drink up little man so you'll grow big and strong."
Joe, helpless, knew that unless he could get a hold of the amulet somehow that Sue could keep him in diapers indefinitely. Sue burped him and placed him on the floor in a playpen. Betty stood up and said, "Well, I'm going on."
Sue looked at her innocently and asked if Betty would return the ring to Joe for her to save them both any further embarrassing meetings.
"Tell that rat if he ever shows up that I've left for the beach without him," Betty said.
Little Joe screamed in rage. Both women turned and looked at him.
"Oops, he gets so jealous when he's not the center of attention," Sue observed. "I think he's getting sleepy and cranky. I'd better put him to bed."
With his tiny arms and legs flailing helplessly, Joe was carried back into the nursery.
"How long?" he wondered. How long will Sue would keep me this way?"
He figured that sooner or later someone was going to miss him. But he had no way of knowing how long she intended to keep him like this. He could go for days without being missed and who would ever connect a 28 year old man with a baby? He'd better figure out something, or else he'd be stuck in this playpen prison for a long time. Joe pondered this for awhile, but the next thing he knew it was night and the house was dark. He looked around and felt the urge to cry. He was able to fight it, but it wasn't easy.
He tried for sometime to scale the crib to no avail. He was hungry, but more embarrassing, he'd lost control of his bladder. His bottom felt cold, clammy and very uncomfortable.
Morning finally rolled around and Sue came in to get him. "Good morning, little man, and how are we feeling today?" She said as she picked Joe up and carried him to he dressing table. She removed his diaper and took a baby wipe and swabbed his bottom. Taking baby oil and powder, she quickly had him set up in another diaper.
Joe worked furiously trying to get his tongue to form the words he was trying to say. Sue noticed he was trying to talk, and held him up expectantly.
"Shuu, I doont wov yoo, " he gurgled.
Sue's anger was instantaneous. "O! You stubborn little shit!" Sue screeched and grabbed the amulet from around her neck and chanted the words again. Joe could feel himself getting younger again, and his legs buckling as he became too young to support his own weight.
"You WILL love me again Joe. Make no mistake about that."
He flopped on his bottom and felt his head was just too heavy to hold up. He fell onto his back, finally his vision blurred and any control over his arms and leg disappeared completely. It was very disconcerting to have his appendages move as though they had a life of their own. Even his mouth and tongue moved to their own whim.
Joe realized she had reduced him to a new born. "Damn, worse and worse," he thought. Things did not look good and he just messed himself again. Unfortunately his sense of smell was working perfectly.
Time was hard to gauge in this state. He couldn't see further that about a foot and he found himself falling asleep often. When he was awake Sue was in his face telling him that she loved him and that he'd soon realize that he loved her too.
"Fat chance!" he thought.
He must have fallen asleep, because he awoke to the sound of Betty's voice.
"Has Joe been by or called?"
Sue was holding Joe but his little body could only spasm.
"No. Sorry." Sue responded sharply.
"Who's baby is this now?" Betty asked.
"My sister's. You saw him yesterday, remember?" Sue said and at the words left her mouth she realized she may have made a terrible mistake. Joe was a nine-month old yesterday and now he was a newborn.
"Really, I would had sworn that baby was much older." Betty said with suspicion in her voice.
Sue turned sharply away, cursing silently to herself for making such an obvious error.
"That a really nice medallion you're wearing Sue, where did you get it?." Betty said.
"O, this old thing. It's really nothing."
Betty looked closer and noticed the writing on it. It seemed out of place on Sue. It was a large, heavy piece of jewelry. More like a costume piece than everyday wear, especial with the stretch pants and crop top she was wearing.
Sue was feeling panicky, Betty was suddenly asking way too many questions and she was acting suspicious. Sue made the mental decision that she could take care of two babies as easily as one and began fingering the amulet. She would have to hold it in both hands, and that meant putting Joe down.
"Got time for a cup of coffee?" Sue asked sweetly as she moved to get Betty within range of the amulet's power. "It's such a cool day, you might like something warm."
Betty's intuition told her to get out of there. "Not right now. I've got to find Joe. I'll see you later."
"Hold still, Bitch," Sue thought. "You'll find Joe in a minute, but you won't like it.
She began the chant, but before she could hardly begin Betty opened the door and quickly left. She walked only far enough to be out of Sue sight and stopped to listen.
"Well, Joe, your Bitch is a regular Sherlock Holmes. How would you like .... a playmate?" Sue said, laughing wickedly as she went over to where she had stuffed Joe's clothes. She pulled out his wallet and found Betty's number.
She call Betty and left a message on her answering machine. "Hi Betty, this is Sue. I heard from Joe. He's coming over this afternoon and he wants to talk the both of us. Get over here by three. Bye."
Betty was confused. She didn't know what to think. She decided to go see Mike, a friend of both her's and Joe's. Maybe he could help. He owned an unusual antique shop down on Main Street. Betty jumped in her car and drove right over to his store. The shop was open and Mike was in.
"He's not going to believe me," she thought. "But I've got to try."
"Hi Mike."
"Well, long time no see. Betty." He said.
"Mike, Joe's missing and I think his ex-girl Sue is behind it."
"Sue, huh? Well that wouldn't surprise me. She's a cold one, that woman. You know I deal in so-called magical items and Sue has been here a number of times looking for charms and power wards."
"But that kind of hocus pocus doesn't work, does it Mike?"
"Well, Betty, like anything, there's a lot of bunk out there, but I've seen things in my life that could only be explained by so-called magic. Do you have any idea at all about what might have happened to Joe? Or did you see anything strange or unusual at Sue's?"
"The only strange thing was the baby."
"What baby?"
"Yesterday when I went by looking for Joe, Sue had a baby I thought was about a year old. She sad it was her sister's. Today, she still has the baby, but it looked tinier, almost newborn."
"Hummm," Mike said. "Anything else?"
"Well she was wearing a god-awful piece of costume jewelry, which isn't like Sue, she has very fussy taste."
"What did this jewelry look like?"
"Oh, it was gold, about three inches around with a jewel in the center -- purple I think. And it had writing on it, but nothing I could make out or understand. Oh, Mike, what are we going to do?"
"Well, Betty, I'm going to do some research on what you told me. That jewel reminds me of something, but I've got to be sure. YOU stay away from Sue. Don't go near her. She's up to something no good and she probably hates you just as much for taking Joe as she is with Joe for leaving her. So watch out."
Betty left Mike's shop and headed home. After listening to her answering machine, she got worried. Maybe I should go by and see if Joe shows up. But then Mike's words of warning came back to her and she decided not to go. Instead, she decided to head to her gym for a workout. Maybe there she could work out some of the stress she felt under. Changing to her workout clothes -- skintight to show off her delectable charms -- Betty climbed into her car and started for the gym.
It was almost three o'clock, so on a whim she pulled up to where she could see Sue's house, hopefully without being seen. The hour came and went without Joe showing up. Betty sighed and started her car and pulled away.
Unbeknown to her, she had been seen. Sue was fully aware that Betty had staked out her house.
"Wearing her workout clothes," Sue mused. "That means she's headed for the gym. I wonder ...." Turning back to infant Joe, she took the amulet in her hands and spoke a different chant. This time the violet beam that engulfed Joe aged him. He awoke to find himself growing, but his elation soon vanished when he remained an infant.
"I've made you nine months old again, Joe my dear. You're a little easier to maintain, but still too young to move around or talk much. I know you're lonely and bored, so I'm going to go and get you a little playmate .... Betty! I want you to sit here and be quiet. If you make any fuss or try to escape, I'll make her so young, she'll be nothing more a grease spot. And you know, I'll do it. So sit there and shut up."
Leaving Joe ensconced in his playpen, Sue gathered up a few basic baby needs and placed them in a bag. Then she took another empty bag with her. "I'll need someplace to hide Betty's clothes after I shrink her."
Continued in Part 2