New York City Boy

Chapter 4
Reality

Jack and the boy played in the park until the sun went down, throwing snowballs, playing hide and seek, and building a veritable company of snowmen. Darren, however, was unable to share in the pure unadulterated joy the child was experiencing. Unable to do anything but watch as his possessor had the time of his life, Darren was given plenty of time to contemplate his position and what he needed to do to escape it.

He thought about how he had treated Jack over the past few days, and, in retrospect, how he had been treating those close to him. It had never before occurred to Darren just how his actions affected other people - how a teenage girl might have felt the morning after he took advantage of her, or the disappointment his mother must have experienced at realizing that her son had become a mooching, shiftless sot.

Lost in his thoughts, Darren found himself and Jack leaving the park and walking back towards the apartment, surrounded by the city in twilight. Fat flakes of frost continued to fall from the sky, illuminated by the brilliant lights that were gradually being switched on in every part of the city. Both Darren and the child regarded the scene with awe, struck by the unique beauty of New York in winter.

I love this city, Darren thought to himself. And I’ve been pissing away my opportunity to make a life for myself here. It’s time for me to stop acting like a spoiled, entitled child, actually work for a change, and take a little responsibility for myself. And with that thought, Darren actually felt like smiling for the first time that day. He knew what he would tell Jack once he was able to speak again. Darren was sure that he had learned the lesson Jack had set out to teach him, and that he would be back to normal by the end of the night.

Encouraged by this thought, Darren grew patient, content to relax until he regained control of his body. He listened in on the conversation between Jack and the boy, actually able to take a little enjoyment out of listening to the child breathlessly describe his favorite parts of the day to his big brother. He was in the middle of rambling on about how cool it was to see everything covered in snow when they reached the apartment, where Jack gently removed the boy’s snow boots and listened to his little brother’s chattering with an amused smile on his face.

“Looks like the snow soaked right through your pants, buddy.” Jack observed when he could get a word in edgewise. “You get those wet clothes off and I’ll run you a nice warm bath, okay?”

“Aww, I don’t wanna take a bath.”

“Not even a [I]bubble[/I] bath?.” Jack tempted.

The boy’s eyes lit up. “Okay!”

He began to strip himself of the winter clothing as Jack headed off to get the water running. Darren became a little uncomfortable as the clothes grew in a pile on the floor - the boy might not have minded being naked, but Darren was plenty embarrassed of the childish little body that had replaced his masculine teenage form. Still, he had no say in the matter, and within a matter of seconds, the boy had relieved himself of his last bit of clothing and began to wander around the living room totally nude.

As though that wasn’t humiliating enough, the boy had moved over to the full-length window, pressing his hands and nose against the glass to get a better view of the fluttering snow and the cityscape below. Mortified, Darren attempted to think of something else, trying his best to take his mind off the fact that he was a naked little boy unintentionally putting himself on display for anyone on the busy street below to see.

“Whatcha doing, you little exhibitionist?” Jack came up from behind the boy, his voice amused.

“What’s that mean?” the child asked, looking back at his big brother but keeping his hands pressed on the glass.

Jack grinned, clearly more at Darren than at the boy. Yeah, yeah, very funny. Darren simmered.

“It means you like people seeing you naked, you scamp. Upsy daisy!” Jack announced as he grabbed the boy by the shoulders and legs and whisked him into the air. The child laughed and struggled playfully as Jack carried him into the bathroom like a groom carrying his bride across the threshold. Upon reaching the filled tub, Jack acted as though he were going to simply throw the boy into the water, causing the boy to scream in mock terror as held on tightly to his big brother’s arm.

Would you just get on with it?, Darren snapped, annoyed at Jack’s enjoyment of his abject humiliation. As though responding to Darren’s demands, Jack stopped playing and gently slid the boy into the bubbly water. He smiled as he was immersed, enjoying the feel of the warm bath against his chilled skin. Even though he wasn’t exactly thrilled with the situation, it had been a long time since Darren had taken a bath and he had to admit that it [I]did[/I] feel really good. Jack reached for the soapy rag he had prepared but the boy snatched it away from him indignantly.

“I can wash myself.” He insisted. Jack put on an impressed face and backed away from the tub.

“Okay, kiddo.” Jack conceded. “I’m going to leave the door open, just call me when you’re done, all right?”

“’Kay.” The child responded, already busy playing with the mounds of bubbles on the surface of the water. Jack chuckled as he left, and Darren couldn’t help but wonder how much of the laughter was at his expense. Still, both he and the child were enjoying the bath, Darren relaxing under the flowing warmth of the water and the boy creating great mountains of soapy foam with unbridled enthusiasm.

After a few minutes, the boy seemed to remember that he actually had to get some washing done. He grabbed the rag and quickly scoured his upper body, humming happily as he did so. Darren was enjoying the sensation somewhat and not paying it much mind until the boy stood up in the tub to wash the parts of him that had been underwater, which immediately snapped him to uneasy attention. The child had looked down to scrub his legs and knees, giving Darren full view of his pint-sized pee-pee and tiny taut testicles.

Okay, that’s enough washing, Darren urged the child, having seen enough of the remnants of his manhood for one day. However, much to Darren’s horror, the boy appeared to have been taught to wash his private parts thoroughly, as he stretched out the rubbery shaft with one hand while rubbing the rag over it and his little sack with the other. Oh God, Darren cried. He was overcome with shame, partly out of unadulterated humiliation and partly because he was actually taking pleasure out of the small tickling feelings emanating from the contact.

Both of those conflicting feelings only grew when the boy sprouted an adorable miniature erection, straining into the air against his smooth, hairless groin. Darren was mortified as the child dropped the washrag and manipulated his little toy with both hands, giggling mischievously as he reveled in the tiny electric sensations traveling up and down his spine. Stopstopstopstopstopstop, Darren muttered over and over, the experience of being clumsily masturbated by hands that belonged to him but were out of his control too strange to bear.

“Darren?” Jack called from the other room. “You doing okay in there?”

The boy immediately took his hands away from his groin and splashed back into the tub, snapped back to attention out of fear of being caught doing something naughty.

“Fiiiiine.” He responded. Thank you Jack, Darren breathed, forgiving him for the moment for putting him in that situation to begin with. Darren tried his best to get over the potentially scarring experience as the boy continued to play in the water, doing so until it grew cold and unpleasant.

“Jaaaaaaaack!” The child shouted. “I’m dooooone!”

Jack strode into the bathroom a few seconds later, a large fluffy towel, a set of child’s pajamas, and a pair of dinosaur-covered briefs piled up in his hands. He set them down on the counter before reaching into the tub, grabbing the boy under his armpits, and heaving him out of the tub. Darren already wasn’t looking forward to being naked in front of Jack again, but his apprehension turned to complete paralyzing terror when he saw that has diminutive penis was still standing at attention. Looking somewhat surprised, Jack held the child aloft in the air as he examined the stiffy for a moment before looking up at the boy, who was blushing and averting his eyes.

Jack smirked for the briefest of moments before setting the boy’s feet down on the bath rag and drying him off, chuckling to himself as he did so. Lousy fucker, Darren cursed. I don’t care if you turn me into a baby; first thing I’m doing when I return to normal is bashing you square in the nose. As Darren detailed the horrible things he planned to do to Jack, the object of his hatred finishing drying the boy off, giving him a playful slap on his round little rump as he did so. The child squealed and laughed, apparently having gotten over his embarrassment. Grinning from ear-to-ear, Jack helped his little brother into his briefs and then into his baby blue, one-piece footy pajamas. Jack stepped back and mused at the child as Darren groaned. God, he thought, could you have picked a more humiliating set of nightwear?

“Jeez, you are just too cute.” Jack laughed, reaching down and tweaking the boy’s nose.

“Am not!” he cried, slapping Jack’s hand away and smiling sheepishly.

“Are too.” Jack countered. “C’mon, we’ll watch a movie before bed.”

“Yay!” the child exclaimed, blowing past Jack and into the living room. He looked around excitedly for a DVD of some sort, but, finding none, turned and looked up at Jack, who had just come up behind him.

“Where’s the mov - ” the boy started when Jack tapped him on the back of the head. Darren was caught off guard by the move, and, after being rushed back to the forefront of his mind, stood there blinking for several seconds. After adjusting to being given complete control of his facilities once more, Darren stood with his eyes planted squarely on the ground, trying to gather his thoughts.

What Darren [I]really[/I] wanted to do was throw a knee into Jack’s groin and call him every dirty name in the book, but he knew that was a bad idea even in his incensed state. Darren took a moment to compose himself, breathing deeply and going over in his mind the speech he would give Jack about the lesson he had learned today.

“I’m really sorry about embarrassing you today.” Jake suddenly apologized before Darren could say anything. Surprised, Darren looked up and locked eyes with his roommate, who seemed sincerely remorseful. “My intention was just to show you how childish you had been acting, that’s all.”

Jake paused for a moment, as though thinking about how to phrase what he needed to say.

“But to be honest,” he shrugged, “I really don’t care about helping you anymore.”

Darren went pale. He didn’t know where Jack was going with this, but he didn’t like the sound of it one bit.

“I never had any siblings of my own.” Jack explained. “And so I never realized how much fun a little brother could be. And, frankly, I’d like to keep him. I only brought you back because it’d be downright cruel to not allow you a final moment of cognizance before permanently banishing your consciousness.”

Darren’s mouth went agape, small choking sounds escaping his throat as his shock-addled mind unsuccessfully tried to make some sort of dissenting noise.

“I doubt you’ll be missed that much.” Jack smiled. “Oh, I’m sure your parents will at least feign sadness for a while, but I imagine they’d eventually realize they’re a lot better off without a mooching ingrate latched onto them.”

“You bastard.” Darren finally croaked. Jack laughed and kneeled in front of his small roommate, who took a step back but couldn’t find the will to flee.

“I’m certainly not going to miss that filthy mouth of yours.” Jack declared, his crimson eyes slowly growing more and more brilliant. “Say good night, Darren.”

Darren squeezed his eyes tightly and began to pray furiously, knowing that a miracle was needed to escape this desperate situation. He braced himself for the permanent loss of his adult mind as he felt Jack bring his hand in front his forehead and...

BRRRRRRRRRRZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

...quickly withdrew it, startled by the sudden interruption from the door buzzer. Jack released an exasperated sigh and headed for the two-way radio as Darren slowly creaked his eyes open, not entirely sure what had just happened. He seemed to still be in control, however, and he profusely thanked whoever was on the other side of the radio for that.

“Yes?” Jack sharply said.

“Jack? Is that you?” came a stern female voice from the other end.

For the first time, Jack seemed almost afraid, the color draining from his face as the words came over the speaker and resonated between his ears.

“H-hi, Mom.” Jack timidly replied, his voice trembling.

“Jack David Fitzgerald, you let me into this building right now!” the woman commanded, her tone strict and unforgiving.

“O...okay.” Jack stammered.

He buzzed the downstairs door open and began to pace back in forth in the foyer, muttering excitedly to himself. Darren regarded this spectacle with both amusement and concern - he was happy to finally see Jack distressed, but at the same time, could only imagine what kind of creature his mother was. Darren pictured an Elvira-esque demonness, her features dark and sharp with evil. His thoughts were interrupted by a sharp rapping at the door that caused Jack to jump and let out a small, fearful cry. With a pronounced gulp and a trembling hand, Jack slowly opened the door as Darren looked on, his eyes wide with anxious curiosity.

The door swung open and there in the hallway stood a petite middle-aged woman, her coat folded neatly over her arm and her body draped from neck to toe in a perfectly white, cascading kitchen dress. Her face was brightened by all manner of makeup and a set of glittering green eyes, shining in beautiful contrast to the perfectly constructed nest of blonde curls set atop her head. Darren’s jaw fell somewhere in the vicinity of his chest as he stared dumbfounded at the woman, who looked the part of a fifties sitcom housewife in every way.

“Hi-hiya, mom.” Jack sputtered, a weak smile on his face.

“Don’t you ?hiya’ me, young man.” The woman chided as she strode into the apartment, shoving her coat into Jack’s arms as she did so. “I have turned this crazy city upside down looking for you and all I get is a ?hiya’?”

“Well - ”

“Don’t interrupt.” She lectured. Jack immediately clamed up and cast his eyes downward as his mother went on. “This is the second time you’ve run away from home, and I am sick and [I]tired[/I] of chasing you down. You are going to march right out of here, and - ”

The woman suddenly stopped, having noticed Darren staring at her out of the corner of her eye. In an instant, her demeanor switched from demeaning and severe to warm and gracious. She turned towards Darren and smiled sweetly at him, which somehow managed to freak Darren out even more.

“Well, hello there, my dear!” the woman chirped. “Jack, aren’t you going to introduce me to your little friend?”

“Oh, er...” Jack scrambled. “Mom, this is Darren. Darren, this is my mom, Evelyn.”

Evelyn leaned down and extended a soft, delicate hand.

“Uh, I’ll pass.” Darren insisted, taking a step backwards from the strangely intimidating woman. “Thanks just the same, June Cleaver.”

She stared blankly at Darren for a moment before standing bolt upright and whirling on Jack, her eyes sharp with anger.

“I can’t believe this!” Evelyn cried as Jack cowered, looking more miserable and less intimidating by the second. “You’ve turned another one of your roommates into a child, haven’t you!”

“...yes, ma’am.” Jack squeaked.

“If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a million times!” Evelyn declared. “You are forbidden to use that spell! This young man is just lucky I showed up before you made it permanent!”

Her son squirmed and looked away, his mouth clamped shut.

Evelyn sighed and placed her hands on her hips. “I swear, Jack, you are such a child. I suppose I’m going to have to teach you a lesson.”

Jack snapped his neck upwards to look at his mother, his eyes large with fear and his lower lip trembling.

“No! Please, mom!” Jack begged, holding his hands out as though repelling an attacker. “I’m sorry! Please!”

Evelyn shook her head, her expression callous and unfeeling. She reached up with one hand and placed it on the top of Jack’s head, his entire body now shaking.

“This is for your own good, son.”

Without another word, Evelyn began to apply gentle pressure to her son’s dome. Before Darren’s astonished eyes, Jack began to shrink, as though his body were being contracted by his mother’s touch. Tears now streaming freely down his eyes, Jack continued to passionately plead for his mother’s forgiveness. Evelyn maintained an even keel, though, her face blank as her son regressed.

Jack’s clothes began to grow baggy on him, the development of his high school years being reversed in a matter of seconds. Having not seen his own transformation, Darren watched his roommate’s change with abject fascination, too entranced to even take enjoyment in the spectacle. Having apparently given up on persuading his mother to stop, Jack sniffled and looked down on himself. He started observing his transformation just to see his body start the backwards march through puberty, marked by his pants slipping completely off of his waist and crumpling to the ground.

The regression seemed to accelerate as Jack approached boyhood, his masculine traits rapidly abandoning his body one by one. His face’s hardened features melted away, replaced by rounded, flushed cheeks and a charming little button nose that belied the intensity of his scarlet eyes. His height plunged below five feet as his muscles deflated and the remaining body hair he possessed vanished. All vestiges of manhood gone, Jack now fully resembled a young boy, maybe a year or two older than Darren.

However, Marilyn wasn’t finished. Now having to kneel, she pressed down harder on Jack’s head and suddenly the boy was even younger than Darren and rapidly approaching preschool. His shirt abruptly became too big for his slim narrow shoulders, falling off of the boy’s body and living him completely naked. Jack darted his hands over his minute boyhood, looking ready to break down crying at any moment as his shrinking body began to grow chubby with baby fat. Arms and legs became pudgy as fingers and toes contracted into stubby, powerless little appendages. The hair on the top of Jack’s head grew wispy and lightened several shades to a soft oak brown as his cheeks and belly puffed out, becoming round and plump to the touch.

Marilyn slowly removed her hand and crossed her arms, examining her handiwork with a small smile on her face. Jack stared at her for a second with heartbroken eyes before looking down at himself, already knowing what he was going to see. His eyes roamed over the adorable, tiny body of a toddler no more than two years old. Jack’s brain took a second to process this information before he screwed up his face and began to bawl, plopping right onto his soft little bottom and pounding his fists and feet on the floor in a full blown temper tantrum. Darren covered his ears and turned to Marilyn, having to practically shout over the baby to be heard.

“Is he, y’know...still in there?” he asked.

“Hahaha, oh my, yes.” Marilyn laughed as she bent down, scooped up her ill-tempered toddler son, and held him close to her body. “He’s just a bit of a crybaby, is all.”

Darren managed a smile and cleared his throat. “Well, uh...thanks for saving me. I was beginning to think I’d be stuck like this forever.”

“Perfectly all right, my dear.” Marilyn beamed. “I’m terribly sorry for the inconvenience my son has caused you.”

“No, it’s fine.” Darren insisted. “If nothing else, it gave me some time to think. So...would you mind returning me to normal?”

Marilyn frowned. “I’m sorry, dear, but I’m not able to break his spell.”

Darren heart plunged into his stomach. Each word Marilyn had just spoke felt like a shot to the gut from a championship boxer wearing brass knuckles. Seeing the boy’s despair, Marilyn quickly explained herself.

“But don’t worry, it’ll wear off soon.” Marilyn elaborated. “My son didn’t manage to make it permanent, so it’ll last until tomorrow morning at the latest.”

Darren exhaled and smiled, his heart lighter than it had been all day.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me,” Marilyn began, “I’ve got to get my child home and teach him a little something about personal responsibility. Pleasure meeting you. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas.” Darren grinned. He watched as Marilyn turned and left the apartment with Jack over her shoulder. Darren gave him a little wave as the despondent baby stuck his thumb in his mouth, sucking on it furiously as he and his mother turned the corner and disappeared from sight. Not wasting a moment, Darren immediately closed the door behind them and locked it, wanting to put this little chapter of his life behind him as soon as possible.

Darren leaned against the door for a few moments, trying to sort out the day’s events in his mind. After a few seconds of trying, he gave up and laughed at the ridiculousness of it all, knowing that he could never tell anyone what had happened unless he wanted to spend the rest of his life in a mental facility.

Still chuckling and shaking his head in disbelief, Darren padded over to the computer desk, hoisted himself into a chair and started up his Internet browser. With a couple of clicks, Darren brought up his e-mail service. He stared at the screen for a few seconds in deep thought before smiling brightly and starting to type.

To: Mom

Subject: How are you?

 

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