Hide & Seek

Chapter 5
Trouble in the Other Land Down Under

Chapter Description: They've made it all the way to the other side of the world. But not everything has gone according to plan.

V

As soon as the seat-belt sign flicked off Abbie had John by the hand and they were making their way up the aisle and off the plane. For the second time passport control was a breeze. John held his breath as they passed by the sign warning passengers not to bring outside medications into New Zealand without declaring them. The antidote was hidden in his undies, where they reckoned no one would search. Sure enough they passed smoothly through quarantine and headed for the toilets. John thought he looked a little old to be having his mummy go with him to the toilet but nobody gave them a second glance.

Once they were safely locked in the handicapped stall, John pulled the hidden bottle from his undies and handed it to Abbie. She re-read the directions and carefully poured another dose of the medicine into the measuring cup. “Okay John, this is it, this dose should make you about fourteen, then in a couple hours you can take the last dose and you’ll be around your original age,” Abbie assured him, handing him the cup.

John downed the syrupy liquid while Abbie unpacked the larger clothes she had bought for him to change into. John made a face as he swallowed; the stuff tasted bloody awful, if possible worse than the first dose. He handed the cup back to Abbie and waited. Last time it had taken only minutes for him to grow from age three to seven. This time though it was taking longer. One minute passed, then two, then five and nothing had happened to him, nothing at all! John was equal parts nervous and angry. Why the hell wasn’t he growing back up?

“Abbie, did you read the directions right? Maybe I need to take more,” he suggested.

Abbie shook her head, “No, definitely not. I’m certain I gave you the right amount,” she insisted, reading the directions again.

Then Abbie did something that made John’s stomach drop; she gasped and covered her mouth.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” John demanded.

“I’m so sorry John. They put this sticker here covering one of the warnings. It says the drug must be stored in a refrigerator or it will lose its efficacy.”

“Wait, do you mean...”

“Yes John, I’m afraid that for now you’re stuck like this. I’m so sorry.”

John didn’t want to hear it. He didn’t want apologies, he wanted a cure. “Well there’s only one thing for it. You’ll have to go back and get some more.”

Abbie looked at him, incredulous. “John, there’s no way. They know who we are, they know what I look like. I’ll never manage to sneak back without getting caught.”

John nodded; it was a stupid idea. “Well, we have the antidote, even if it doesn’t work. Maybe if we take it to a lab they can duplicate it.”

Abbie’s eyes lit up and she nodded vigorously, “I have some friends studying chemistry at Auckland Uni,they should be able to help. Now, we have to decide what to do with you until we can find a cure.”

“Right.”

Abbie thought for a moment before continuing. “I think we should keep your little transformation a secret for now. We don’t know who’s in on this.”

“But that was in the UK. Surely here we don’t have to worry...”

“No, no, no. I wouldn’t take that risk. We need to lie low for now. We’ll go to my parents house, I’ll tell them you’re here on an exchange programme or something.”

“Okay, so I have to pretend I’m really a seven year old kid. How do I do that without slipping mentally?” John asked.

“I’ll be watching out for you, I’ll make sure no irreversible damage is done. Just remember to stay away from teddy bears, eh.”

“Right,” John agreed.

With those difficult decisions made, Abbie took John by the hand and lead him from the stall. John wasn’t happy about being led along like a little boy who might wander off but he’d have to get used to being treated like a kid for now.

John followed Abbie out through the concourse and onto the footpath. The sticky humidity of Auckland summer hit John hard but the thing that most shocked him was the sun. He’d never felt anything like it, the intensity was what he’d have expected on the equator. Just being in the sun made him feel like he was being burned. Abbie told him to stay put while she found a taxi. As he stood there shading his eyes someone bumped into him and nearly knocked him to the ground.

“Oh sorry bro, I didn’t see you there, eh.”

John recovered to see a huge Polynesian man towering over him. From his new vantage point the man looked like a giant. John was speechless.

“You alright mate?” the man asked.

“Oh, um, yeah I’m fine,” John managed at last.

The large man grinned down at him. “Sweet as bro,” he declared, pushing his trolley up the footpath now that he was sure no harm was done.

John watched the man go. He was wearing a singlet so John could see that his arm was covered in an elaborate tattoo such as he’d never seen before.

“Okay John, taxi’s here, we have to go,” Abbie announced, returning.

John nodded and went with her, still thinking about how large that man had seemed to him. Even at age seven he felt downright tiny next to adults. How would he ever get used to that?

They soon arrived at Abbie’s parents’ house in the sleepy suburb of Mairangi Bay. It was a beautiful tan stucco house with a brown tiled roof sitting on top of one of the many ridge-lines that made up Auckland’s north shore. As he got out of the taxi John actually had to fight the urge to vomit, he was so nervous at the thought of pretending to be a seven-year old and getting away with it. Abbie just patted his back reassuringly and gathered up their belongings. At least once they were inside John could change out of his winter clothes; he was dying in this February heat.

They walked through the open gate down the driveway and up to the front door. Abbie looked both delighted to be home and also apprehensive. Abbie knocked thrice and from inside a voice called, “Coming.”