Til Death Do Us Part?

Chapter 2
Chapter 2

Joanne shivered as she felt a tingle . She wondered if it could

actually be working. She looked at her hands. ’Do they look

different?’ she thought. Everything in the room seemed distant. Almost

as if she was looking at things through another’s eyes. She felt

dizzy. Her head turned as she looked at Stan and Linda. They were both

watching attentively.

"Jo?.... Are you Ok?" Stan asked with a smile on his face.

"Uhhh Yeah.... I feel a little funny though..... Is it working?"

"I think it’s started, Jo!"

Joanne smiled "Great!". Soon she felt another shiver. This one was

more intense. She looked at her hands again. This time she was sure

they looked different!

"Joanne! You look atleast 5 years younger!" Linda told her.

Joanne ran her hands down the sides of her blouse. She could tell that

it was a tad loose on her now. She wondered why she would wear

something that fit so poorly! She adjusted her shorts and smoothed out

her blouse. Before she could ask what was happening, the dizziness

seemed to reappear. Another chill passed through her and she visibly

shivered.

"You two look the same age, Linda!" Stan said sounding a bit proud.

Joanne looked at Linda and wondered what Stan was talking about! ’Why

wouldn’t I look the same age as that girl?’ she thought to herself.

She wondered why they were staring at her. As she thought about what

was happening, her vision began to blur. The voices in the room

sounded distant again. The room seemed to spin. Another tingle ran

down her spine.

"Jo....Do you know what’s happening? How old are you?" Stan asked.

She shook her head to try and clear the cobwebs. "Uhhhhh.... Thirty...

uhhh errrrr I mean ummm twenty ummmm.... twenty-four" she answered

sounding almost unsure of her own age. She could see Stan shaking his

head as if he was pleased with her answer. She knew something wasn’t

right but she couldn’t figure out what it was. She again looked down

at her clothing and tried to adjust the waist band of her shorts. Even

with the draw-string pulled tighter they still seemed too loose.

Linda watched in amazement.

Joanne’s eyes darted around the room hoping for a clue as to what was

happening. She started feeling distant again. Stan and Linda watched

as she quickly wrapped her arms around her chest and let out a breath

of air as she felt another chill run down her spine. This time it was

she seemed to have passed out for a moment. As she opened her eyes she

could see Stan looking directly into them....as if he was trying to

see into her mind! She averted her eyes only to catch Linda also

examining her closely. ’What are these people doing?’ she wondered

’Have they drugged me or something?’ Although the two older people

looked familiar, she couldn’t think of where she had met them. "What’s

going on? Are you going to hurt me?" she asked.

Stan smiled a comforting smile and replied "No, you’re OK. You’ll be

alright. The confusion is normal at first.... Do you know how old you

are?"

"Sure.... I’m like nineteen...." she answered as she tied her

shirt-tails together revealing her flat stomach. She again tugged on

the draw-string of her shorts trying to make them fit properly. Her

thinner thighs and smaller waist were almost swallowed by the baggy

shorts. As she looked downward her long hair fell down across her

face. She stopped as another wave of confusion began to cloud her

mind. She could hear the man telling the woman something about ’mental

regression’. Before she could hear the rest of the conversation

another chill came over her.

In a few moments she again opened her eyes. She was sitting a bit

lower in the seat and struggled to straighten up. She pulled her hair

back out of her eyes and put it behind her ears. Her clothes were now

much too loose. The draw-string in her shorts was as tight as

possible, yet still not enough. Her shoes slipped on her feet as she

slid them along the floor trying to push herself up.

"Jo? You look so young..... " Linda said.

"I’m FOURTEEN! Like, I’m in high school, ya know! You make me sound

like a little kid or something!" Joanne protested. She wasn’t sure

what was happening but she didn’t like the older woman’s tone of

voice! She started to get up out of the chair when another chill swept

through her body. Her whole body quivered this time. Once again her

eyes closed.

Stan and Linda watched as her legs slowly shortened and appeared to

draw up inside the large shorts. Her heels lifted out of her shoes and

then both feet slowly rose into the air. Her feet were no longer able

to reach the floor. The large blouse threatened to swallow her. When

she finally came to, her head barely stuck out of the collar of her

shirt!

"Hey! I’m too big to play dress up! Where are MY clothes?" The little

girl yelled out.

"Shhhhhhh.... You’ve got to be good now, Jo!" Stan said trying to

comfort the girl.

"Look how cute she is!" Linda said as she brushed the girl’s hair back

with her hand " She can’t be more than 9 years old!" Linda took the

young girl’s hand and noted how much smaller it was than her own hand.

Joanne started to protest but couldn’t as she again felt even another

chill come over her. She squeezed tightly on Linda’s hand as the

tingle ran down her spine. Linda could feel the child’s hand shrinking

as she held it! She had to lean closer to hold Jo’s hand as the

child’s arms shrank.

When the small child opened her eyes this time she could see that the

table-top was barely below her eye-level. Her feet couldn’t reach the

floor no matter how much she slid down in the seat. Her hands could

only just barely reach the table now! The older woman let go of her

hand and walked over to the man in the room. Jo picked up a spoon from

the table and began playing with it like an airplane. As she did she

could see the older woman touch the man’s hand. Little Jo listened to

the big lady talk.

"Is it finished? She can’t be any more than 4. Will she get even MORE

younger?"

"It’s pretty much finished...maybe a couple or so more years as it

winds down"

Little Jo wondered what the two grownups were talking about.

"Stan, one thing bothers me.... you told her it was ’temporary’?"

"Oh it’s ’temporary’ alright!.... In a year she’ll get a year

older.... then in two years she’ll be two years older... three years

and she’ll be three years older.... and so on!" he answered as he

grabbed Linda and kissed her deeply.

"A cute little girl like that should bring us a pretty penny in the

black market adoption racket!" He said as he broke away from their

passionate kiss for a moment.

"I love you soooo much, Stan!"

"I love you too, Linda..... and ’now’ we don’t have to keep our a love

a secret anymore!"

Little Jo watched as the two big grownups embraced.....and then Little

Jo felt another chill....

 

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