May's Spider Tale

Chapter 1
It begins

Chapter Description: May is feeling out of sorts these days...

After finishing his latest mission of defeating Doctor Octopus for the umpteenth time, Spiderman needed to get back to his room at aunt May’s house for some rest, a shower, and to check his financial situation. He quickly entered through the upstairs window and took off his spider suit before getting ready for a quick shower to wash off the sweat and grime from his arduous morning with Doc Ock.

“Peter? Are you in the shower?” called aunt May through the bathroom door. (Why she would check on the house’s only other occupant to see if he was doing what he obviously was doing is anyone’s guess).

“Yes, Aunt May, I’ll be out shortly!” replied Peter. “Hmm, her voice sounded a bit high-pitched. Could just be the door muffling it or the ringing in my ears from Doc’s sonic weapon?” he wondered.

Showered and dressed, he made his way downstairs for something to eat before tackling his daily life chores. While making a sandwich and pouring a glass of milk, aunt May stepped into the kitchen.

“Now then, Peter, I hope you don’t have too much planned for today, there are a few chores that need to be done around the house and I hope to have them finished by this afternoon.”

Groaning inwardly, Peter talked around his sandwich as he ate it and took a swallow from the glass of milk. “Yes, aunt May!” It took a few more bites before he realized it, but he noticed that yes, her voice was definitely higher-pitched for some reason.

“What chores do you want to accomplish first, I have some fin-”, he said as he turned to address his aunt and what he saw stopped him in mid-sentence, “ances that…”, he stopped talking entirely as he got a good look at her and began to stare as his mind worked overtime to process what he was seeing.

Aunt May stood at 5 foot 2, this was normal as she wasn’t a tall woman, she had dark chestnut hair which would normally be done in a bun, but today she wore it down about her shoulders, the glossy lustrous full-bodied hair that wasn’t streaked with gray isn’t what surprised Peter, rather it was that she was a quite beautiful young girl in her teens wearing a frumpy dress that looked a size too big for her.

“Aunt May, did you get younger?” asked Peter. “You look stunning!”

“Oh, Peter, you flatter me! I’m still the same old aunt May, wrinkles and all. I did wash my hair with a new shampoo, however. I take it that it’s delivered acceptable results?” said aunt May as she held up a lock of it and looked at it as if she were seeing it for what it was for the first time.

“Why, whatever did that shampoo do to my hair? It looks as lustrous as it did when I was but a young maid being courted by your uncle Ben!” She felt the lock of hair in wonder, admiring the silkiness of it.

“Um, that’s not all,” said Peter as he guided her to a full-length mirror at the entrance to their house, “it would appear that your physical appearance has become younger as well,” he said from behind her as he stared incredulously at her mirror image.

“Pon my stars! I look like a young girl, how has this happened?” she said in a subdued voice as she examined her face and touched it with her hands. She then noticed that her hands were young and supple, with no age spots or wrinkles, glowing with the health and vigor of youth, and held them out to examine them with an equal amount of credulity.

Peter’s mind raced. What could have caused this to happen? “Aunt May, where did you get the shampoo? Could it have something to do with this?”

“Oh! Yes, the shampoo. I received a sample from a traveling salesman last week. I just used it this morning as I had forgotten about it and decided to try it. There’s still some left in the downstairs bathroom.”

“If nothing else, I should be able to run an analysis on it at the college lab,” opined Peter “I’d do it immediately except that I’m worried that you might need some time and help to adjust to your new condition.”

“Yes, it’s been so long since I was this age that I can’t remember what it’s like.” worried May. “Would you have any suggestions as to what I should do first?”

“Let me check with MJ.” Peter took out his phone and called Mary Jane. He explained that he had a cousin in town that needed some help with a few female issues and asked for her help. MJ came over immediately.

“So, Peter, this is your cousin May from the country?” asked MJ as she was introduced to the teenaged Aunt May. Peter and May used a cover story to prevent the explanation from getting too complicated. If MJ suspected anything, she kept it to herself and cheerfully took May under her wing to take care of her feminine needs. Peter thanked MJ and took the remaining shampoo sample with him to the college lab.