submitted by omicrony - Oct 11, 2002
You met Cindy for the first time and learned of her unusual ability in Did You Lose Your Parents? Below is the story of how it all started.
Throughout the ages, many have searched for the secret of eternal youth. I have found it. My name is Cindy. Many would consider my youth a blessing...but I prefer to call it a curse.
The doorbell chimes went off as Cindy set the pot of water on the fire. She poked the fire a couple times and with a sigh of satisfaction wiped her hands on a towel and headed for the front door.
Opening the door revealed her childhood friend Samantha.
"My goodness Samantha, you definitely like to keep people waiting"
"Sorry, " Samantha held up a small bag, "I just stopped by the bakery to get us some crumpets…besides, knowing you, I'm sure you just put on the tea."
She turned back to the road, "Thanks for the ride Tom…I'll walk back home later."
"Sure Samantha, see you later, " Tom replied, then slapped the reins on the horse. The carriage slowly started off.
Cindy and Samantha went into the house, laid out the crumpets and sat down. A soft whistle started blowing in the kitchen. Cindy stood back up, arranged her dress and hurried into the kitchen.
"That's a nice dress Cindy, are you excited?"
"Oh, yes. I can't believe I finally got the attentions of the doctor."
The doctor, Philip Saddington, was the most desired bachelor in town. He was a phenomenal physician and developed new treatments all the time that seemed to have miraculous effects. He wasn't the primary doctor in the town; he was more of a specialist. All the ladies in town, especially the younger ones swooned all over him. Despite the attention he never seemed to succumb to their charms... actually he was so quiet that nobody knew much about him.
Cindy was never one to throw herself at anyone. She always had a hard time committing when she did find a relationship and her current status was the result of that. She was practically 30 years old, definitely past her prime in this day and age, and unmarried. She stood 5 foot 10 inches, a very tall woman, Samantha was only 5 foot 4, She still had much of her figure but had a little weight in places she'd rather not think about. Looking in the mirror she pushed her hair back noticing a few gray strands. All in all, she didn't look that bad she thought…but how to compete with all of the 16-20 year olds in town? Perhaps she could…. since he invited her over to his place her gentle suggestions to the doctor must be having the effect she desired . Funny though… she'd have thought he'd invite her to the theatre for the first date…not his house. She blushed as she thought of the implications.
"Oh, you must be… are those naughty thoughts you're having right now?" teased Samantha.
Cindy walked back into the room and set down the tray, "Do be quiet," she chided giving Samantha a light slap on the wrist, "and don't you dare mess my dress, I prepared this one just for this occasion." She spooned some honey into the teacup and handed it to Samantha.
"I wouldn't dream of it, " Samantha accepted the cup and carefully took a sip, " mmm, you always make the best tea. I can't believe you're the oldest single woman in town."
"If I haven't found the right one, I haven't found the right one. I am not as…giving as the other women here."
"Cindy!" Samantha looked up in mock horror, "You're not saying I'm a trollop?"
"If the slipper fits," Cindy laughed, "no of course not."
Samantha tilted her head as her eyes twinkled, "So what brought this on? Why did he ask you over to his place?"
"I'm not sure. He said he wanted to see me and share something with me."
"Oooo, sounds risqué. And you accepted? Are you sure you're proper?"
"I can always walk out. Just because I…"
The grandfather clock went off, bonging 6 times.
"Oh my, I'm late. I knew you'd make me late, " Cindy got up frantically and carefully arranged her dress. "Can you clean up? Thanks, " she said, not waiting for an answer as she ran out the door.
Samantha winced slightly as the door slammed shut behind Cindy. She sighed, "how does she always get me to clean up behind her?"
****************
Cindy stood in front of the door of the house. It was an exquisite 2 story home that stood on the top of a hill. Somehow it looked bleak, but cozy at the same time. She shook her dress a few times to get rid of the dust from the road. She took a few deep breaths to slow her breathing down, it'd never do to look like she had been hurrying. She knocked on the door.
After a minute, it opened. Her head tilted back to look the man in the eyes.
Philip had soft brown eyes. He stood 6-foot 3inches and had a strong chiseled face. At just over 30 he had dark hair that wasn't touched with gray at all. He stroked his mustache.
"Ms.Callahan, please come in."
"Do call me Cindy."
"And you may call me Philip, " he replied with a smile, "you didn't have any trouble finding the place?"
"Oh please, like I don't…I mean, no, I usually see your place in my daily walk, it was no trouble at all."
"Good, good. Well, sit down over here, I have much to talk to you about, " he bowed towards a chair and Cindy sat down, careful to arrange her dress properly.
"Oh, you do? " She blushed slightly.
"Yes, yes, " Phillip sat down in the chair opposite hers. To her disappointment, he seemed to have taken up the business-like manner he used when she was his patient.
"You see, I have made a discovery. An extraordinary one. If my final test works correctly it will be a boon to England! I need your help to succeed."
"What kind of help?"
"You see, what I've been working on is… hmmm, well, maybe it would be best if I showed you. It'd be hard to believe otherwise." He stood up. "Come with me."
With a slight sigh of disappointment Cindy stood and followed Phillip as he walked into study. There were shelves of books lining every wall. There were several tables stacked with books seemingly on the point of collapse.
"I have never seen so much literature owned by one person. Where did you get it all?"
"I accumulated it over the years and have written much of it myself. But this is not where the true work is actually done." Phillip slipped his hand between two shelves and with a grunt opened a crack between the shelves. Applying more pressure he pushed the shelf back revealing a straight staircase leading down.
Cindy's eyebrow arched, "Phillip, what is this…a secret lab?"
A shadow seemed to pass over Phillips eyes. "I don't like to call it that. This is just where I perform experiments and perfect treatments before I use them. You know how successful I've been…this is how."
He led Cindy down the stairs and into an open air lab. In one part of the lab there were tables, chairs and charts. On top of most the tables was a complicated array of beakers, tubes and other paraphernalia. In another part there were cages with rats and rabbits. Each of the cages was labeled with dates. Cindy felt at awe at what she was looking at, "I never would have imagined…"
"Cindy, think, what do we all wish as we get old?" without pausing he continued, "we wish that we were younger. Imagine, imagine if there was a way to reverse that, to…turn back the clock we could say. Why, we could always look and feel young. Be vibrant like we were at our prime! Why, we may even have a choice to live forever!"
Cindy put her hands on her hips. "MR. Saddington, are you saying I'm old? That I'm not as vibrant as I've always been? That, sir, is an insult!"
Phillip's face lost some color and he backpedaled, "no, no, I didn't mean that, I mean, I've seen you look at the younger women in town…and how other men look at them. Imagine if that was you."
Cindy's mood turned even darker as her skin flushed, "You should check your shoe…I think you stepped in something. Good day." Cindy turned and headed back for the stairs.
Phillip jumped in front of her using his arms to bar her way. "Look, look, I 'm sorry, I didn't mean to say it that way." He took a deep breath, "I thought long and hard about how I'd approach you with this, but I just get so excited and I forget what I'm saying."
Cindy looked up at Phillip. He seemed like a big bumbling child now. The hardness around her eyes softened. "Phillip. Even if you didn't mean that, you can't tell me that you can make people young. That's preposterous."
Phillip sensed he was being given an opportunity. He leapt to take advantange of it. Breathlessly he continued, "Let me show you." He took her hand and led her into the room with the animals. Pointing to the cages he continued.
"Each of these animals are in different stages of reversal. The ones on the left are older and the ones on the right have successfully completed their treatment. See, this one on the left is my control. He's as old as all the others." He pointed to the next set of cages, "These are 3 days into the treatment. As you can tell they're much younger. And the ones in the right I let get close to newborns before arresting their…undevelopment."
Cindy went down the line examining the rabbits and the rats. (Though she didn't really like looking at the rats.) She didn't want to believe what Phillip was saying but the evidence was compelling. Without meaning too, she began to imagine herself 10 years younger.
"How fast are they getting younger?"
"At varying rates. It really depends on how strong I make the treatment. It starts slowly and picks up speed. The ones on the left are regressing maybe a year every 5 days, the ones on the right used to be going at 10 years a day…or so I estimate. I had to be careful to catch them in time."
"Catch them?"
"Before they became fetuses. These animals are very tricky since they grow so fast in the first place." Seeing her face turn to concern, he quickly added, "Compared to humans that is. If you would consent to this we'll only take a few years off, as few as you want."
"Well, I wouldn't mind losing 10 years…." Cindy couldn't believe she said that. With a worried feeling she felt like she was sold on the idea.
Phillip paused, looking at the ceiling while muttering and moving his fingers, "That shouldn't be a problem…and we'll try to attain a rate of 1 year a day. We should be done in 15 days or so."
Cindy nodded to herself. It seemed foolish, but she couldn't wait to see the look on Samanthas face when her own was fresh and…she shook her head, "Okay doctor, I'll let you…but only on one condition."
"What?"
"You must take me out to dinner tonight."
*************
The next week passed quickly. Cindy had convinced Phillip to take her out every night. Consider it payment for being his little rabbit she had told him slyly. From the look on his face she couldn't tell if he was missing his work or realized she was reeling him in. She hoped the former because soon it would be too late for him. Said the spider to the fly, she thought.
"So, " said Samantha, "tell me all about him."
"Oh, he's wonderful…when he's not working. But I do spend time with him while he's working. He's very passionate about it. He's been showing me how he works."
"I have no doubt Cindy. Why, you almost look like a new woman. I thought you had some grey hairs."
"I don't? I mean, of course not…yet" Cindy's breath caught as she suddenly realized maybe the treatments were working! The doctor had been giving her daily injections of some formula. He had said that the first few days wouldn't show any difference as her body absorbed the formula. But a week had passed without any results.
"Oh, I can't believe it!" Cindy cried out. Her hands pressed he cheeks as she ran to the mirror. "I must go see Phillip!"
"What, what do you mean?" Samantha was puzzled, but was only rewarded by the door slamming as Cindy ran out. With a frown, she looked down at the mess they had created with tea and crumpets.
"She did it to me again…that woman has problems."
*****************
They had an exciting week. After discovering that Cindy has lost a few grey hairs they estimated that she was about 27. After that the process seemed to speed up to approximately 2 years a day. Faster than what Phillip had wanted but still acceptable.
"I can't believe this! You were right, you could do it!" Cindy twirled around. Her 23-year-old face shone with excitement as she twirled in her dress. She hadn't been able to fit in this one for 5 years…through no fault of her own of course. "You're a genius!"
She could see Phillip preen under that complement, "Not really, all it involved was finding the proper sequence of.."
Cindy put her fingers to his lips, "You don't need to explain it to me…I trust you…besides, all I get is confused." She hugged him tight.
Feeling her press her breasts against him, Phillip coughed quietly in embarrassment. Suddenly the reality of the situation dawned on him. Here was a girl who obviously had liked him and allowed him to experiment on her even though they had only talked in church. She had been making lunch and dinner for him daily for the last 2 weeks. Now she was younger and excited about his success. He had all aces in his hand! She was his if he laid them down on the table correctly. And who could mess up a hand like that? He started getting excited as her breasts continued to press against him. But then he shook his head. Work came first and success of this experiment took top priority. If Cindy got emotionally caught up in this, well, it was her fault.
He gripped her shoulders and pushed her away slightly. His soft brown eyes met her blue, "You've been so much help, I don't know how to repay you. But there still is one more stage. I must give you injections to fix your age. I need to go prepare them…come back this evening and I'll give them to you before dinner.
Cindy, slightly flushed, nodded acceptance. As she walked down the cobbled streets her mind was in a whirl. What was she doing? She was practically swooning like a school girl. How did she let this happen? She couldn't let herself fall for anyone. But wait…why not? If she really liked this man, why not accept it? He had given her his attention, his conversation, and now her youth. She decided she'd broach the subject with him a few days after she turned 20. Turn 20, that made her mouth curl in amusement.
***************
Cindy stretched in luxury as she woke up slowly. Staring at the ceiling she recollected that today was the day. She had arrived at approximately 20 the night before and had received the final injections. Phillip had told her that the process was slowing down and even though it'd stop on it's own, this would make it a certainty. She had spent a long time looking in the mirror the night before and was satisfied. Any man in town would absolutely love her now. She had the freshness of youth, but the determined look of maturity. Her blue eyes sparkled as she brushed her shiny long brown hair. Her neck was smooth and supple and sloped down to her large firm breasts that now sat high on her chest. They offset her voluptuous hips and was connected by a waist that was narrow, but not too much so. Her legs narrowed down to her ankles that were still too small for her she thought with a grimace. Oh well. Still, Samantha was going to be sooo jealous.
She jumped out of bed marveling at how limber she was again. She laid out the dress she was planning on wearing to Phillips and began to mentally prepare what she going to cook for lunch. As she passed the mirror, she stopped. Her face didn't look quite how it did the night before. It was hard to tell but there a little something there that made her look younger.
Her breath caught as icy fire ran through her veins. The process…it didn't stop… IT DIDN'T STOP!
Panicking, she knew she needed to tell Phillip right away. She practically threw on her clothes, but made sure everything fit her correctly. Running out of her house she saw Tom on his carriage but opted not to ride with him…there'd be too many questions.
Breathless she arrived at Phillips house and pounded on the door. When there was no answer she tried the knob and was rewarded by the door swinging open. She hurried to his study and with a grunt of effort slid the bookshelves aside. Phillip, startled, looked up from his microscope, "Cindy! What a pleasure to see you so early."
"Phillip, my god, it's not stopping. I think I'm younger than last night. You said your shot would stop it. Why hasn't it stopped? My god, what are you doing to me!"
Phillip held up his hand in response the the deluge pouring from Cindy, "Cindy, slow down….calm down, it's probably your imagination."
Cindy cut him off as she approached him, "You don't seem very surprised. What are you trying to do, turn me into a baby?"
"You'd make a very cute baby Cindy."
"That's not funny, " Cindy cried, slapping him on the shoulder, "don't make jokes like that. I'd never have believed you 3 weeks ago but now it seems like it really could happen."
Phillip pulled her into his arms and hugged her. "It's okay, it probably isn't anything. Let me take a quick blood sample and look at it. You sit down over there and read something."
Cindy sniffed. "Okay, I'll be brave."
"That's my girl."
A flush went through Cindy. Yes, she thought. He's mine. She frowned. If I don't turn into a child.
Phillip took some of her blood and moved to his microscope. For some hours he muttered and mumbled and even let a curse or two go. Cindy really started to worry when he began cursing. Sometime in the early evening he came to her holding a syringe.
He looked exhausted and almost like he was defeated, "Cindy, I'm sorry, I'm not sure what's going on. The reaction I was tracking within you has changed completely. It's an entirely different process that appears to have the same effect, yet won't respond to the previous stop treatment I gave you. I did a few tests and I think I have something here that will help. But I couldn't test it very much since time is of the essence."
"You mean I'm still getting younger?"
"Yes, just looking at you I think you lost another year."
"No! Please, give me the shot…just make it stop!"
Phillip quickly prepped her arm and injected the semiclear liquid into her veins. She shuddered as it went in. "You okay"
"Yes…I'm just beginning to think I never should have agreed."
Phillip was silent for a moment, then said quietly, "I'll do whatever I can to stop it."
Cindy wasn't reassured.
***************
Sleep came hard for Cindy so she resorted to exercise to work off her extra energy. She definitely had more energy since she started becoming younger. She had taken off her dress and was in her bodice. The looseness of the bra cups was worrying her. Never the less, she jogged in place working up a thin sheen of sweat. That didn't seem to help much so she ran in small circles around the room. She didn't get much more tired but did get dizzy. She lay down while the room spun. She stared at the ceiling for at least and hour before she fell asleep.
Her dreams were not good. She tossed and turned fitfully in bed. Phillip was chasing her. In his hand he had a syringe filled with some vile, bubbling concoction. Every time she thought she had escaped him, he would pop around the corner and stab her with the syringe causing her to run away screaming. The needle hurt every time he stabbed her and the fire she felt in her veins hurt even more. She didn't know what it would do to her but it soon became obvious. The buildings around her started looking taller and taller as she lost height. Her breasts receded into her chest and her clothes became huge on her. She tripped and fell, her dress swallowing up her body as she collapsed into it. Looking up she saw Phillip stalking towards her, an evil grin on his face as he held his syringe ready to stab her again. She tried to stand up but her legs wouldn't support her. She opened her mouth to plead with him but all that came out was a babys wail. Holding the syringe like a knife, Phillip slowly came towards her. Her eyes focused on the needle that came closer, closer, closer….
Cindy sat bolt upright. Sweat was pouring off of her and her blankets were twisted all around her. She grabbed her arm and was relieved not to see the needle marks in it. Feeling slightly uncomfortable she adjusted the straps on her bra and froze when she realized her breasts were smaller than the night before.
Almost falling out of bed she ran to the mirror…and screamed.
Pounding came from outside and the door burst open. Phillip ran in, "What? What's wrong?" He stopped and looked at her. Standing before him as a very pretty 16 year old. Tears streaked her face but what was amazing what the difference between her breasts and the size of the cups that were supposed to hold them. Of course they were still very nice breasts but they were smaller. Her hips had gotten smaller too through not as much.
"Phillip, I'm younger, too young…why is this still happening?"
Phillip protested, "I'm not sure, it should have worked, I mean, this shouldn't have happened again, I…"
Silence filled the room.
"What did you say?" Cindy said quietly
More silence.
"Happened again? Do you mean you've done this before? To another person? And you still did it to me? I thought I was the first! What happened to them?!" Cindy was outraged. She didn't know what was making her more angry, him experimenting willy-nilly on her or that she wasn't the only one."
"It should have worked this time, my calculations were perfect! I isolated the problem with the last subject." Phillip knew then he was in trouble, " Something wrong happened with you, maybe your blood type." He spoke softer to himself, "But I took that into account, maybe it was…"
"Subject? Subject!!? I'm just a SUBJECT to you? How DARE you?!" Cindys voice became shrill and her hand went to the vase beside her bed. "You turn me into a bleeding 16 year old then tell me I'm a subject? I liked you, I thought I could love…you bastard, I'll teach you to mess with me!"
Phillip ducked as the vase flew over his head on shattered on the door behind him. Stumbling backwards he left the room and closed the door behind him.
Cindy heard a click and the sliding of a bolt. She tried to turn the knob but it was locked. She pounded on the door crying, "You bastard!! Let me out! When I get my hands on you!"
Cindy saw red. She was so angry and filled with rage she didn't know what to do. She threw vase after vase as the door, then pounded on it continuously screaming curses she never knew she knew demanding that Phillip let her out. Exhausted, she paused for a minute to wipe her damp hair from her face. Phillip, this man she had almost felt she could spend the rest of her life with had betrayed her on two levels. Not only was he an instrument in what may very well be her death, he had betrayed her trust, her love and showed an indifference that made her blood boil just thinking about it. He was going to learn that too.
With renewed vigor she continued her tirade, this time turning her attention to the furniture in the room. First she knocked over the standing mirror causing shards of glass to spray across the floor. She destroyed the table and then used parts of it to continue her assault on the door.
As she continued pounding and breaking furniture her changes accelerated. She slowly decreased in height. Her hips narrowed, her legs became shorter and less shapely. Her breasts shrank into the dress she was wearing and all but disappeared. Her dress became huge on her…one of her shoulders began to slip through the neck opening. Her dress dragged more and more on the floor despite her lifting it occasionally with her hands. Cindy reached for the doorknob and suddenly realized it was higher…much higher than it was a little while ago. But it hadn't been that long had it? She couldn't have…
Struggling, Cindy stood the broken mirror back up and gazed into the pieces that were left. Her hand flew to her face as she stared at the 10-year-old girl looking back at her.
"No, " she breathed, "no, it can't be." The fact her voice was child-like escaped her. She took one step back, away from the mirror, then another, then fell hard as her feet tripped up in her dragging dress. Her head slammed into the bed behind her.
"Owww, " she cried, almost bursting to tears. Her head throbbed and felt funny, kind of fuzzy. She wiped the tears that had formed in the corner of her eyes. She had been upset about something…but what? She felt strange, like she knew she should be doing something. She looked down at the huge dress she wore.
She knew! She was playing dress up. Plucking at the dress she wished she it was smaller, maybe then she wouldn't have tripped. She didn't want to play dress up if it meant bonking her head a lot. That hurt! Her eyes caught an image in the mirror. A doll!!! Looking behind her she found a raggedy doll laying on the windowsill.
She went over and picked it up. She loved it! "So what's you name," she asked. "I'm going to call you Sally."
****************
Phillip stood outside the room he had locked Cindy in. It had gotten awfully quiet in there. He wondered if he should risk sticking his head in. Wow that lady had some spunk in her. If his experiments didn't come first…
He put his ear to the door. He heard a voice. It sounded like a child's. A child talking to someone. He couldn't quite make out the words but it seemed like a very animated conversation. He opened the door.
The room was a mess, pieces of furniture strewn everywhere. There were dents in the wall and the door. Pieces of glass mirror littered the floor on one side of the room. But sitting on the other side was a little girl, around 10 he guessed, playing with a doll. She had short brown hair and wore a dress, much, much too big for her. In fact it looked like it would slide off of her at any time. "C…Cindy?"
The girl looked up, startled. Her eyes became defense as she clutched the doll close to her chest. "Who're you mister?"
"I'm, I'm…"
"Are you my uncie?"
"Uhh, yes, I'm your Uncle Phillip. Don't you remember?"
She shook her head, "nuh unh. Have you met Sally?" She held up the doll.
"No, but I'm glad to meet her." This was amazing! She must have lost 5 years in 30 minutes? Maybe a little longer? He wasn't sure; he hadn't been watching the clock. This hadn't occurred before. None of his other subjects exhibited this phenomenon. She had forgotten who he was, thankfully, and seemed to be thinking like a child. Physical AND mental regression, he thought. Not ideal, but fascinating.
"Can you play with me uncie Phillip? We'll have lots of fun."
"Not now, but I need to do some tests on you?"
"Tests, what are those?"
"Well, never mind that. But I'd bet you'd like some clothes that fit."
"That'd be great, " she exclaimed, jumping up, "As long as we find some for Sally too."
******************
Cindy slowly regressed as the next few days passed. Phillip had a really horrible time trying to get blood samples from her because like all children, she had developed a fear of the needle. In a burst of inspiration he ran out to the local store and bought some candy to bribe her into doing what he wanted. He developed a few more changes to his formula but nothing he did affected her de-aging processes to the smallest degree. She seemed to have stabilized at losing 2 years a day.
At the moment she had been reduced to a crying…one year old he thought. The descent hadn't been fun for her or him. Well maybe it was fun for her. Her awareness seemed sporadic. She would realize she was getting smaller and keep asking him about it and then suddenly forget that she had been bigger. She had kept calling him Uncle until 2 days ago and then, much to his dismay, started calling him daddy. Her speech had become more and more childish and she seemed to have lost the ability to speak the day before. This was the first time any of his subjects had literally lost their mind. Before, they had always kept their mental abilities. It was nice, he mused, not to have to listen to the constant pleading, threats and curses this time.
The whole process was incredible fascinating. He has been up for the past 3 days straight so he wouldn't miss a moment. There was no way to know if she'd have a change in the rate of her regression and he didn't want to miss a thing. But now he was so tired he was beginning to see things. Twice he could have sworn while he looked into the crib at her, she had suddenly shrunk into an egg. He felt if he watched her turn into a pink elephant he'd dutifully take notes, then later wonder what the hell he was talking about.
"Well, Cindy, " he talked down to her, "I won't be able to watch you for a while, I need to get at least a few hours sleep. Now don't disappear on me while I'm in the other room okay?"
Cindy's face stared up to him, then twisted up as she began to cry. "Not again," said Phillip as he picked her up. Hugging her too him, he made comforting noises until she quieted down. Amazing how naturally this came to you after a while. Lifting her over his head, he was rewarded by a couple chortles and a laugh from her.
"There we go…no more crying right? Owww, " Phillip almost dropped her as a pain shot up his arm. Gritting his teeth he kept hold of her, then set her back into the crib. He rubbed his arm. That was weird…it felt kind of like the shock you get when you touch a doorknob but the feeling ran all the way up his arm instead of staying in his fingers.
With a last look into the crib, he saw Cindy was trying hard to put her toes into her mouth. Walking to his bedroom down the hall he fell into the bed. He should really blow out the lantern; it'd never do to keep it lit, he thought, but passed out before he could finish the thought.
************
Cindy finally succeeding in putting her toes into her mouth and sucked on them happily. But that got boring so she started looking around. She was lying on a blanket and there were wooden bars all around her going up and up and up. She rolled over on her side and tried to push herself up. It took several tries but she eventually succeeded. It seemed much easier the last time she tried. Looking up at the bars she suddenly wanted to climb over them. But to do that, she reasoned, she needed to touch the top. Falling over and getting on all 4's she crawled over and reached for the bars. Grabbing them she tried to pull herself onto her feet. Again, it took her a few tries, but soon her legs were able to support her and with a little cry of delight, she stood up.
But she had another problem now. This thing, this blanket wrapped around her legs was getting uncomfortable. With her chubby fingers she tried to pull it away from her stomach. But it wouldn't stay away. It kept going back to where it was before. Twisting her face, she prepared to cry.
The fall on her butt surprised her but instead of crying she wiggled around. The blanket suddenly started moving down her legs and with a cry of glee she pushed it down further. Kicking her legs the blanket flew off.
Cindy grabbed the bars and stood up much easier now. She could see the tops of the bars now! In fact if she stretched she could reach the top of them! She stretched and stretched and then she was able to get her fingers over them.
Wow, she thought, the more I stretch the bigger I get. Maybe if I keep doing it I could be as big as the bars. Bracing her legs she looked up at the ceiling while stretching her arms over her head. Minutes passed and when she looked at the top of the bars she could tell it was working. Her head now reached the top of the bars. Time for her escape.
She pulled herself up and swung her leg over the top. With a crash she landed on the floor outside the crib. Rubbing her butt she noticed her dolly on the floor, "Sally, " she cried aloud and scooped up the doll. It had been so long since she had played with Sally. Or had it? Shrugging her shoulders, she started playing then realized she had to go pee-pee. Dragging Sally behind her, she walked over to the door. The doorknob was right below her eye level. She opened the door and walked down the hall.
After relieving herself, she gazed into the small mirror to see the 10-year girl she was. Or was she? She seemed to remember something, like she had been older…that she was getting younger. A man, she remembered, a man she thought she could trust.
Her eyes widened as her memory came back. Phillip!! And he couldn't stop her from getting younger. She was going to die a baby! Tears forming, she looked in the mirror again. Wait a minute, it didn't look like she was getting younger. The sink was slightly lower than it been a couple minutes ago. Her nipples tingled and started feeling sore. Pushing them with her fingers she suddenly realized she was naked.
Flushing with embarrassment, she found a towel and wrapped it around her. The e towel just touched the floor. He had done it, she thought. He figured out how to fix her and was returning her age to her. The anger she felt towards him evaporated. But where was he?
Sticking her head out into the hall she called out his name. No answer. This was creepy she thought. She called again. Feeling a little pressure in her chest she noticed that she was beginning to develop small breasts. The towel had inched off the floor. Slowly walking down the hall she saw a light in the end room.
Adjusting her towel, the bottom was now up to her shins, she tapped the door, called his name and walked in. Lying on the bed asleep was a 19-year-old boy. Did Phillip have a son, she wondered. He never mentioned him. Curiously, she looked at him closer. He had the same hair and seemingly the same chiseled face. He wore a coat very similar to what Phillip always wore. She paused, could this be him? "Phillip, "she said softly, "Phillip!"
Phillips eyes snapped open. Before him was 14 year old girl. She was only wearing a towel and took his breath away. She was beautiful, if not a little young for him.
He bounced out of bed, stood up and looked down at her, "Cindy? Is that you? You're aging! I thought you were going to stay a baby!"
"Yes Phillip, I'm so happy, I've been getting older for a while now."
"This is astounding! We've got to go back to the lab."
"Phillip? Have you seen yourself? Did you give yourself a shot?"
"No, what are you talking about? I," his voice trailed off. While they had been talking, she had been getting bigger. Not only had her breasts been getting admirably larger, her hips were pushing the towel she was wearing out. But what disturbed him the most was she had become taller, much taller than she should have been. With fear in his eyes, he ran for the bathroom and gazed at the 17-year-old boy in the mirror.
"My god! How did this happen? Did my lab become contaminated? But it couldn't have! I was too careful." As he watched in fascination, the sink slowly became higher. With a cry, he ran back into the bedroom. He stopped, staring in shock. Cindy stared right back at him, straight across into his eyes.
The two 16 year olds circled each other slowly. To Cindy, she had seen what she had hoped was her future husband shrink down to her size. His build had become much less and his oversized clothes looked comical on him. His face barely showed peach fuzz on it. To Phillip, Cindy had suddenly become almost a goddess to him. Her breasts were fighting against the towels containment and the towel clung tightly to her hips. Her shining youthful face looked angelic and her brown hair cascaded down to her shoulders. But most stunning was that she was as tall as he. The towel she was wearing had been down to her shins when he first woke up was now just above her knees. It had been YEARS before he could look directly into another woman's eyes. He gulped, becoming slightly excited. But his thoughts turned sour.
He grasped her shoulders, "Did you do this to me? How did you do this?"
"Phillip, what are you talking about? I don't know anything about your work."
"Sure, you watched and pretended, but then you did your own experiments." He shook her slightly, "Didn't you?" He shook her harder, "Didn't you!?" To his horror, he was now looking up at her.
"I don't know what you're talking about." She lowered her head, her voice dropped to a whisper, "I care about you Phillip. I don't want to see anything happen to you." She raised her head to look down into his eyes, "And now that you're restoring my age, I can act on that."
Phillip sneered at her, "You fool!! This isn't my doing! I have done nothing!" He shoved her onto the bed. It took much more effort than it should have. With a wild look in his eyes, he ran from the room, "Enough of your foolishness, my lab, there has to be a solution in my lab!"
Cindy sat on the bed in shock tears in her eyes as she tried to understand his outburst. He didn't know he had succeeded? He hadn't been expecting what was happening to her? And he definitely didn't expect what was happening to him. So what was happen? Would she age forever?
"You don't know? " she screamed as she stood up, "then what are you doing to ME?!"
***********
Moving as fast as he could Phillip pushed the bookcase to his lab open. It took much more effort than he was used to. As he descended the stairs, he realized that he had no idea where to begin. He didn't know how this reduction of age he was experiencing was even possible let alone how it started. Well first he'd have blood sample of himself. Depending on how that turned out he could come up with theory.
Opening some drawers he found a syringe and a needle. Putting them together, he drew a sample. He'd have to hurry. He only looked like was 12 a minute ago. If he got much smaller he'd have trouble operating the machines in his lab. Now he'd take this sample and…and…and what Phillip, he asked himself. The scary thing was he didn't remember. He slammed his fist onto the table knocking over some of the tubes. What do you do with blood after you get it? Blood? Ew, who's blood was he thinking about? He looked at the vial in his hand. His blood?
He dropped the vial and it shattered when it hit the floor. That would mean he had had a needle stuck in him. He clutched his arm imagining the needle going into it. He hated needles!
A noise made him look up. An older lady had come down the stairs and was walking towards him. "Phillip?" she asked.
"Mommy?" Was she his mom? She sort of looked like it. But didn't she have different colored hair? He couldn't remember.
The lady paused for a minute looking startled. Then with a thoughtful nod she answered, "Yes dear, I'm your mommy. Come here."
It almost felt like she was getting taller with every slow step he made towards her. "Mommy? Why am I getting smaller?"
"Shhh, dear, I don't know. There, there, you needn't be afraid."
Clutching her tightly, he buried his head into her stomach, then her hip, then her leg as he got smaller. His shirt got bigger and pooled around him on the ground. She reached down and picked him up, holding him in her arms. With each passing moment it she had an easier time.
"I'm scared, " he cried.
"Don't be, don't worry, mommy will take care of you Phillip."
*********************
Cindy held the shrinking child close as he trembled. When he got small enough, she held him in one arm and swaddled his body with the shirt he had worn just a few minutes before.
This had to of been the strangest day she had ever lived through, she thought as she climbed the stairs. Actually, she barely remembered the last few days until an hour or so ago. In the last hour, she had gone from a skinny little 10 year-old and grown into a, she checked the mirror. The 30-year face she was used to looked back at her. She had grown back into herself. And Phillip, the man she had grown to love, maybe, and hate recently had turned into a tiny 1 year old child who thought she was his mother. Could she be? Or at least act as his mother?
There were so many questions running through her head. The loudest was, what would she do now?