Lessons in Aging: Part 2
Chris was walking briskly down the hall to his room when he saw something that stopped him. The door to Mike and Fred's room had a large, yellow duck cut out of paper on it. Which was unusual, to say the least, and a new addition. He knocked on the door, but there was no response. He'd have to ask them about it later.
More surprising was that when he got to his room, taped to the door was a sheet of paper with a few lines of badly scrawled writing a gold star sticker on one corner. He ripped it off, and saw that his name was on the corner as the author. And under it, the words, "Grade 3." He crumbled it into his pocket and unlocked his door. Someone was clearly putting odd things on people's doors as a joke. He went down the hall looking for other oddities, but even the one on Mike and Fred's door seemed to have vanished.
Chris returned to his room and got out his homework, a Bio problem set. He was still bothered by the sheet of paper, but when he reached into his pocket, it wasn't there anymore. And then he noticed that his pants had become shorts, reaching barely to his knees.
He stood up, trying to figure out what was going on, and just as suddenly, the shorts were gone. Chris shook his head, thinking that he was under too much stress as an RA. He sat down and opened the bio book. The problem set was fairly difficult. He was a Junior, and the prof had taken a bit of a detour into the advanced topics he was researching. He sighed as he tried his hardest to understand what was going on.
He soon became frustrated with the problems, which were meant for graduate students. He looked down to find some other homework and instead saw his Super Nintendo, which looked like an appealing way to take a break. He sat down, cross-legged, and adjusted his shorts a bit. Soon he was engrossed in a fast-paced game of Mario Kart.
Suddenly he was on his couch, watching T.V.. He didn't have a Super Nintendo, yet he vividly remembered playing it a moment ago. He took a deep breath, and decided to visit someone. He wouldn't feel as crazy talking while talking to someone. He wandered down to Rick's room, the first open door he saw, and stuck his head in. "So Rick, how's it going?"
Rick looked up from his computer. "Fine, what's up?"
And then Rick was no longer a college freshmen, but a little kid, wearing track pants and a t-shirt. "I can't play now. I've gotta work."
Horrified, Chris left the room and looked at himself. Normal. Slowly he walked back to his room.
He risited the urge to slam his door shut, trying to bar any odd age-changing monsters out. He turned his computer on, and waited for it to boot. All was normal till Windows booted. When had he put Winnie the Pooh on his backround? Very strange. He got into his settings and fixed it. Pooh was so babyish, and Sonic was much cooler, he thought. And then it was gone. His computer was normal, with the double helix screen he had found, and he really needed to do that biology.
He opened the Bio book and was surprised to see handwriting exercises. He didn't need those, did he?
"Chris?"
Chris spun around in his chair, one time to many, just 'cuz it was fun. In the door was Ricky, looking about seven years old.
"I hurt my finger...do you have a band-aid?"
Chris winced, remember how scared he'd felt a few years ago when he cut himself. "Yeah, c'mon in."
Chris went to the bathroom cabinet, stood on tiptoes, and grabbed the band-aid box. He helped Ricky clean it and sent him back to his room. As Ricky was leaving, he said, "Aren't you a little old for Winnie the Pooh, Chris?"
"Um, I don't know how that happened. I just changed it to Sonic."
"Uh-huh. Sure you did. That's why it's Winnie the Pooh, right?"
Chris ran over to it, and looked at it again. But now it was right again. He turned back to Ricky. "I like Winnie!"
Ricky nodded. "Me too." He pointed at his overalls, which had a large Winnie in the middle.
Chris blinked. "So, be careful next time."
Rick walked out, wearing jeans and a polo shirt again.
And suddenly, Chris had an inspiration. He walked over to Mike and Fred's room, where this had started, and knocked, loudly. There were sounds of movement, and Mike opened the door, wearing only boxers and looking like he had just woken up. "Chris, what's up? Is something wrong?"
"Oh, I guess..."
"We were asleep already! You woke me up! I'm telling mommy." And Mike was wearing Barney sleepers.
"Mikey! -er- Mike! What's going on?"
"MOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMYYYY!"
"Mikey! Quiet down! You're gonna wake someone up!"
"MOOOOOOOM-"
Chris clamped a hand and pulled Mike into his room. It looked like a 5 year old's room. Chris was shocked, until looking down he realized he couldn't have been more then 7 or 8 himself. Gone were his loafers, replace with Velcro pokemon sneakers. The shorts were back, his polo was gone, and he had a t-shirt also emblazoned with pokemon. He was so shocked he forgot...
"Mikey, quiet down. You're gonna get us in trouble! I thought you said you wanted to borrow some of my pajamas so you could feel like a big kid?"
Mikey nodded. Somehow he knew he was supposed to be older, and Chris said he'd share, so...
Both boys snuck down the hall to Chris's room. Chris dug out an old pair of Winnie the Pooh pjs. He'd outgrown them, but they'd fit Mikey and it was better then Barney.
Mikey left, "Thanks bro!", he whispered as he left. Chis turned back to the computer. How had Winnie the Pooh gotten back on there?
He blinked, and the DNA helix was back. The Barney pajamas Mike had left in the room were gone. Still, something was clearly not right. Finally, Chris convinced himself that he was so tired he was imagining things, and changed into his Sonic pajama suit and got in bed. He tossed and turned, but couldn't get comfortable. His pajamas had fit the night before, but now they seemed much too big.
Finally, unable to sleep, he got out of bed and saw Mike's pajamas. He didn't want to wear them, but he was tired, and couldn't sleep with the uncomfortable Sonic pajamas. Reluctantly, he put on the Barney sleeper, which, to his surprise, fit perfectly. Mike must have grown more then he'd realized. They were much more comfortable, and besides, noone was going to see him wearing them, since he could change before leaving his room in the morning.
He was almost asleep when the door opened and Mike crept into the room.
"Chris? I can't sleep."
Chris slunk under the covers.
"I think it's these," Mikey said, flopping the big arms of the pajamas,
"They don't fit. Where's my sleeper?"
Chris groaned. How was he going to get out of this? "I think it's in
your room."
Mike shook the bedspread. "CHRIIISSS! I already looked!"
Chris groaned louder. There was no way out of this one.
"Um, mine didn't fit, so I borrowed yours."
Mike pulled the covers off him before he could do anything, and started laughing when he saw Chris wearing Barney sleepers. "Okay! You can keep them. You look pretty funny. I guess I'm the big brother now!"
"Don't be stupid. Wearing Barney pajamas doesn't make me the little brother."
"I bet I'm taller than you."
"Are not!"
"Are too!"
"Are not!"
"Let's find out." The two tried to measure themselves, but incessent cheating by both of them made in useless. Finally they walked over to Mike's room to ask Fred to arbitrate.
"Mike is much bigger!"
"You're just saying that cause he's your twin." Mike and Fred looked oddly at Chris. "I mean, because I'm your twin." Chris blinked, and looked around.
He and Fred were both wearing their Barney sleepers, and his big brother Chris was in Pooh pajamas. He sighed, glad that things were finally back to normal.