It was Friday afternoon and Sheila was waiting on her kids to get home
from school. It was the last day of school and summer break was about to
begin. Sheila dreaded the thought of 3 long months with 2 bored kids.
She had gotten married later than most of her friends because she wanted
a career. She had put off having a family so that she could dedicate
herself to her business. Her ex-husband Mike had finally started pushing
for a family and when she was 34 she had Billy, her first child. About a
year later and she was pregnant again with Cindy. She worried that she
wouldn't have the energy to keep up with the kids when they got older.
She now feels she was right. They were good kids she thought, but there
was always, sports, or trips, or ballet, so much and the list just goes
on and on. Although she had always kept herself in shape, at 44 she just
didn't feel she could keep up with it all. Her ex-husband had taken up
with a younger woman a few years back, a college student named Becky,
and rarely had time for the kids.
"Mom? Mom, we're home!" Cindy shouted. "In here honey. I'm in the
kitchen". 'Slam', she heard the front door slam and then heard both kids
running toward the kitchen.
"Mom, look here we got tickets for Kid's World! " Billy breathlessly
explained.
Cindy chimed in "Mom, can we go, can we, can we???!!!" as she handed her
mom a flyer.
Sheila took the flyer and glanced over it 'Kid's World- Fun For Children
of All Ages-Summer Grand Opening'. Sheila shook her head and said "I
don't think so kids. I only see two tickets and you're NOT going there
by yourself!".
Cindy started to whine "But mommmmm you can buy a ticket and we can all
go!".
Sheila shot back "I'm not interested in watching a bunch of love-sick
teenagers or waiting on Geraldo to come in and report on how unsafe the
rides are!".
"Who's Geraldo?" Billy asked.
'I am old!' Sheila thought.
Cindy wasn't going to give in. "Mom we never do anything fun any more!
Pleeeeease, Pleeeeease!".
Summer break wasn't one hour old and this was starting already. "No,
kids! I don't want to hear anymore about this Park!".
Suddenly, Billy blurted out "You never wanna do anything fun! No wonder
dad left us!".
Sheila was taken by surprise and started to yell but took a deep breath
before speaking "Listen, your dad left me, he didn't leave you guys. Got
that? We couldn't get along and he has someone else now. That doesn't
mean he doesn't love you. Now go outside and forget about this Kid's
World for now! OK?".
The kids sulked off but were perked up a bit because she said
"....forget about Kid's World- FOR NOW'. Maybe she'll give in they
hoped.
Sheila kept thinking about what Billy had said. She knew the kids wanted
her to get back with their father but his girlfriend was still only 24
and she could never compete with that fact. Maybe the kids do need
something special. After a while she started thinking 'why not go?'.
What could it hurt? Finally she yelled "Kids! Come in here a minute".
Cindy and Billy both made their way into the house and looked up at
their mother waiting for an order. "OK, I've thought it over and MAYBE
we can go to Kid's World IF you promise to mind me and pick up your
rooms, take out the trash without complaining, AND help with the dishes
this summer. What do you say kids?".
"Yes, thank you, thank you!!! We promise! We promise! Thank you!".
Sheila was surprised at how much this seemed to mean to the kids.
"Alright, it's a deal. We'll leave first thing Monday morning. Lord
knows I could use some fun- if I haven't forgot how!" she laughed.
The kids both laughed too.
Monday Morning
The kids were out of bed and dressed in record time. They each grabbed
their favorite T-Shirts and big baggy shorts. Sheila chose a light
summer outfit, loose shorts, a cotton blouse, and sandals. A quick
breakfast and they were ready to roll.
"OK, everyone in the car!" Sheila announced. They all piled in the car
and Sheila glanced at the flyer checking the directions once more and
wondered out loud, "That's funny.... I was in that area not too long ago
and I don't remember any Theme Park there. Things certainly change fast
anymore!".
The kids looked at each other and laughed as the car backed out into the
street. Down the road and up onto the Interstate and a couple of exits
later they could see the huge parking lot of the Amusement Park. They
pulled in and were directed to park in the 'Ponce De Leon' section. They
parked and took the shuttle-bus to the turnstiles. The kids showed their
tickets and were quickly in while the attendant stopped Sheila and told
her admission was $10. Sheila took the money out of her 'fanny pack' and
handed it to the attendant.
She started to go through the turnstile when the attendant grabbed her
arm and put a colored bracelet on it.
"What's that for?" she asked.
"Oh, that's so you don't get lost from your kids, and ummm some other
things.... They're each specially coded" the attendant added as she
motioned her on in.
Hmmm she thought, 'coded?', and then shook her head in amazement.
At that moment Cindy grabbed her hand and said "C'mon mom, let's ride
the Merry Go Round", and began pulling her toward the ride.
The Merry Go Round
The Merry Go Round was one of the first rides in the park. It appeared
to be extremely old with all the horses intricately painted. Sheila
admired the hard work that had went into maintaining such an antique.
They walked toward the ride and each chose a favorite horse to ride. It
began to turn. Slowly at first, then faster. The calliope started to
play. The music reminded Sheila of the carnivals she had attended when
she was a kid. Just as the Merry Go Round's speed seemed to peak, Sheila
felt a tingle that started in her wrist. 'Strange' she thought. The
feeling passed quickly and it was soon forgotten.
The Merry Go Round began to slow and soon came to a complete stop. They
all got off and Sheila noticed the kids staring at her. "What's the
matter kids?".
"Oh, nothing" they giggled.
Sheila rolled her eyes and had begun looking around and admiring the
other rides when Billy asked "What's next?".
"The Tea Cups are next!" said Cindy.
Sheila asked rhetorically "You kids have an order for the rides you want
to ride in? Sheeez, kids!".
They all laughed and headed for the Tea Cups. They sat down in the Tea
Cup and soon it started to spin. Billy grabbed the wheel in the middle
and spun it causing the Cup to spin even more. The more Billy spun the
wheel, the faster the Cup would spin. All of a sudden Sheila felt the
tingle start in her wrist again. The Cup kept spinning and Billy kept
making it go even faster.
Just then the hair-clip in Sheila's hair flew out and her hair began
flowing wildy in the wind. She forgot about the tingling as the kids
started laughing at her as she futilely tried to keep the hair out of
her face. Finally, the Tea Cup stopped spinning and they dizzyingly got
out of the Cup. Sheila started looking for her hair clip and asked the
kids to "hold up a minute".
Cindy stopped and said "Mom why don't you just leave it! You look better
without it anyway!".
Billy added "Yeah - you don't look like such an old 'fuddy duddy'!" And
then they broke out in giggles.
"Oh, alright. I never liked that clip anyway. Sooooo, whats next on the
'list' kids?".
"The Funhouse!" Cindy replied. They all took off for the Funhouse with
Cindy leading the way.
Sheila started to ask Cindy to slow down but decided to just pick up her
pace a bit instead. As they hurried to the area with the Funhouse Sheila
looked at a group of teens waiting in line for one of the rides. They
were all wearing baggy clothing and she thought to herself just how odd
teenager's fashion sense is these days.
The Funhouse
There was a long stairway leading up to and old looking door made up to
look like something from the Addam's Family. As they reached the door it
opened unassisted. Not surprisingly a speaker played the sound of a
'creeeeak' as it slowly opened.
Cindy looked at her mom and said "You go first, OK?".
Sheila walked inside and now the speaker was playing some 'evil'
sounding laughter. She looked at the line on the floor and followed it
into the next room. A door quickly opened and a fake clown head popped
out of the wall. They continued on deeper into the building.
Suddenly they found themselves in a dimly lit room full of mirrors. All
distorted. All blurry. The dim, flickering light didn't help. They
looked at themselves in the mirrors and pointed at their reflections.
One made them look short and dumpy, another made them look tall and
skinny. Sheila's hair looked even longer to her in the mirrors.
She brushed her hair off her shoulders and then Billy grabbed her and
said "Let's hurry".
They moved on to the next room which had a wavy floor that just kept
moving under their feet. The sound coming from the speakers changed from
the 'evil' laughter into 'screams'. The walls seemed to move in and out
and there were pictures on the wall which had eyes that seemed to follow
them. Just then Sheila felt another tingle.
Before she had time to even acknowledge the feeling the floor suddenly
stopped moving and straightened out. A door opened leading them back
outside. Outside, the bright sunlight was blinding after being in the
dark Funhouse. Sheila took note that the 'shaking' floor had really
ruffled up her clothing and she went into a nearby Ladies Room to
straighten up. She looked around but nowhere was there a mirror on the
wall. She just sighed and began straightening up. She tightened the
straps on her sandals because they had started slipping in the room with
the moving floor.
She noticed the movement must have made her fanny-pack's belt loosen
because it was a little loose on her now. She tightened the belt some
more. She had worn a loose fitting blouse and now it felt a little
baggy. She unbuttoned it at the bottom and then tied it in a knot
exposing her midriff. Her waist looked a little smaller and she was
happy that her new diet seemed to be paying dividends. She rolled up the
short sleeves on her blouse and then reached down and cuffed the legs of
her shorts.
The sun was so strong and felt so good to her. She thought a little sun
might be good for her. She couldn't remember the last time she had
actually worked on a summer tan. A grin crossed her face and she
loosened the top button of her blouse. She brushed her hair with her
hand and thought it really felt full -'must be that new conditioner'.
Deciding she was as ready as she ever would be without a mirror to check
herself in, she headed back out to see what the kids had planned next.
The kids looked surprised at her as she came out. "What's the matter? A
cat got your tongues?", she asked laughing.
"Nope, ummmm just wondering what took you so long? We're not getting any
younger!" Billy answered as he and Cindy burst out laughing.
Sheila was feeling frisky and ready for the next ride. "OK kids, so what
are we going to tackle next?".
Cindy paused and then asked, "I don't know yet. So, Uhhhhh Mom, are you
having fun?".
"Well, actually I haven't had this much fun in years! You kids were
right. I feel great. The sun is great. I really am enjoying this. I even
noticed a couple of those teenaged boys checking me out".
Cindy then looked at her more seriously and asked "If you were Becky's
age do you think daddy would come back home?"
"Now honey, that's a silly question. Your daddy and Becky are together
because they love each other. It doesn't matter what someone looks like
or how old they are".
It was a good answer but she actually was thinking that if she was
Becky's age she wouldn't give Mike up without a fight. She started
drifting off thinking about how she should claw that little tramp's eyes
out for what she did....breaking up her family....suddenly a tear
started to form in her eye.
Billy tried to get his mother's attention "Mom?, mom?, mom? Is something
wrong?"
"Oh I'm sorry....I was just thinking....It's nothing dear. Let's do
something else". Sheila wondered why she had suddenly felt so passionate
about Mike and Becky after all these years. She decided it must be
because of all the fun she was having with the kids and just felt Mike
should be here too. She noticed Cindy was suddenly looking sullen.
"What's wrong Cindy? Aren't 'you' having fun?"
"I want you and daddy to be together again! I don't know why you're
not!" she sobbed.
Sheila thought for a moment before speaking "Cindy your father is a good
man but he has flaws. He left me for a younger woman. One of these days
he might even leave Becky for a younger woman. He's looking for
something to make him happy and maybe one of these days he'll find it".
Cindy looked up at her mother and asked "Younger than Becky?".
Sheila smirked and then deadpanned "Honey, your father would probably
just love a cute little cheerleader".
Cindy seemed to liven up a bit and looked at Billy, "We need to go to
the the Roller Coaster".
Billy looked back at his sister and said "I, I don't think so"
"I wanna go to the Roller Coaster. It'll be perfect!" Cindy said with a
new determination in her voice.
"Look kids if Cindy wants to ride on a Roller Coaster then I do to!"
Sheila turned and took off walking toward the Roller Coaster area.
Suddenly, she spun around and yelled back at them "I'll race ya!" and
took off running with the kids hurrying to keep up.
The Roller Coaster
As they waited in line Sheila noticed how many young people were waiting
to ride in the Roller Coaster. There didn't seem to be too many people
her own age anywhere around now.
'They don't know what they're missing' she thought. 'It's not how old
you are but how young you feel, and today I feel like a 20 year old!'.
The wait was long because the Roller Coaster only had one car and they
only let people who came to the park together ride in the car. Finally
it was their turn. They got in the car and Billy looked uneasy.
"Just settle down silly. We'll go up and down a couple times and that'll
be it" his mother told him.
"I'm just not sure about this...." Billy mumbled and let his words hang
in the air.
The car jerked and then started rolling forward. Up it went, higher and
higher to the first peak. Sheila grabbed the safety bar tight and
prepared to clear the top. Then she felt the strange tingling again.
'What is that?' she thought. Over the top and down toward the bottom the
Roller Coaster raced on the tracks. Sheila looked at her hands as they
gripped the safety bar. They looked different to her. Trying to
rationalize what she was seeing she thought 'maybe it's the tan I'm
getting....but they look smoother, softer...'. The ring on her finger
wasn't tight at all.
Cindy told Billy "See, it's working better now. She's much prettier than
Becky."
'What's going on? What are they talking about?' Sheila wondered.
Just then the coaster quickly went back up another steep climb. At the
top Sheila again felt the tingle only this time she was prepared and was
looking at the hand with the wristband on it. As the coaster dropped she
actually saw her hand shrink slightly. Her long nails weren't so long
anymore, her sandals loosened. She looked at her chest and could see it
wasn't so 'full' now. The kids were staring.
Finally, Billy spoke, "Mom- you look so young....too young! I didn't
know this could happen like this. It's....".
Cindy cut in cheerifully "Mommy you look like one of the babysitters
from the highschool! You could be a cheerleader!".
Sheila looked down at her legs as the Coaster was going through a series
of turns and noticed how skinny they were now. "What have you kids
done....MY VOICE! This can't be real! No, we have to get off this thing!
It's got to stop!". The coaster went around another series of turns and
then headed for another steep climb. "No! Stop! Please!"....Up, up, up
the coaster went. Again, another tingle came over her, and then even
another. This time the safety bar seemed to move away from her. She was
in total shock. The floor seemed to fall out from under her feet leaving
her sandals behind. The safety harness suddenly got really loose for a
second before it began to pull tighter against her body.
Unlike when they first got in the Coaster, this time the harness was
able to pull flat against her chest. She started crying as the car
continued on. Her tears began to slow as the Coaster leveled off and
rolled to a stop at the other end. A large looking man came up to them
and released them from the car.
Sheila was confused and stunned. Nothing felt right. She almost fell as
she tried to step down out of the seat, totally misjudging the distance.
It didn't help that her shorts had fallen down around her ankles as she
had stood up. The blouse that she had once tied up to expose her midriff
was now hanging down to just around her knees.
Cindy took her hand and they began following the large man as he
motioned them to follow him into a room down the hall. Sheila stared
blankly at the two other children. She recognized them vaguely but
couldn't quite place them. As she walked along she began to feel very
shy and started looking down only stealing looks at the others with a
quick glance and then turning her eyes back toward the ground.
The Room
They took a seat in the room at the end of the hall and the large man
left without saying anything. A woman in a white coat then entered
carrying a few medical instruments. She looked over at Billy and asked
for his mother's name.
"Ahhhh, It's Sheila. Uhhh Are we in trouble?".
"I'll deal with you two in a minute. First I need to give your mother a
hand. This is very difficult for her. Sheila, honey, I'm Doctor Kelly
and I need to take a look at you.You come here and hop up on the table
so I can have a look at you." Sheila took the doctor's hand and walked
to the table where the doctor helped her up and onto the table. "Do you
know your name?".
Sheila shook her head indicating 'yes' and then looked back down at the
floor. "Tell me your name and how old you are sweetie".
"Shewa", she said slowly and held up her hand with all 5 fingers up.
"Are you 5 years old honey? Is that what you are saying?" the doctor
asked.
"Uh huh.... I'm fi yeara" was her reply.
Dr Kelly turned around and said "Son, do you see what you both have
done? You're old enough that you should've known better. The Roller
Coaster is NOT to be used on someone against their will. It's too much.
The regression is complete. There's nothing I can do. According to my
papers you were to return your mother to her early twenties. She
would've been a vibrant young woman and no doubt would have appreciated
the treatment. Do you think she wanted to be reduced to a kindergarten
child?".
Billy swallowed hard to answer "I'm sorry, my sister thought if mom was
younger that she and dad would get together again. When mom told her
even if she was the same age as dad's girlfriend that dad wouldn't come
home...."
"And you don't think that IF she KNEW she had really become 21 that she
might feel differently?" Dr. Kelly shook her head as she asked the
question but didn't wait for an answer turning back around as little
Sheila started crying.
"What's wrong sweetie?"
"I'm 'fraid. I want my mommy" she sobbed. "Now don't worry. You're a big
girl and you don't need your mommy right now do you? huhhh? Look at
those two over there. I bet they'll play with you. Would you like that?
If I go find a dolly would you play with it?" Sheila's face lit up and
she shook her head 'yes'.
She sat on the table with her legs dangling over the edge with her bare
feet swinging in the air. Her daughter Cindy came over and took her hand
and told her she was sorry. Sheila looked at Cindy but didn't understand
what she was sorry about.
Dr. Kelly brought a doll in for Sheila. She had called Sheila's ex
husband Mike and tried to explain what had happened. She was finally
able to convince Mike to come to the Amusement Park. When Mike arrived
at the park Dr. Kelly had him escorted down to the room where they were.
He still wouldn't believe any of the story until he noticed a birthmark
on Sheila. All of a sudden he started to believe.
"How?" he asked.
Dr. Kelly said "'How' is not important right now. We have 3 kids who
need to be taken care of and I'm hoping you'll be able to since you are
the only family they have now. Now, we DO need to keep this quiet, as
I'm sure you can understand. We will, of course, pay for all your
trouble quite handsomely."
"But how will I explain this to Becky?" he asked.
"I'm sure you'll think of something, Mike."
One Year later-
"Sheila, make a wish and blow out all 6 of your candles", Cindy told her
'little sister' "If you blow them all out at once your wish just might
come true!".
Mike and Becky were able to move into a new house and quit their jobs
with the money they received from the Amusement Park. Their three 'kids'
have all taken to their new surrounding quite well.....And Cindy is very
happy that her plan worked after all. Sort of....