Financial Aid

Chapter 3
Cold Sweat

Chapter Description: Ben finds out a caveat about his future that his mother has hidden from him.

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“Good morning, sweet heart!” his mother exclaimed!

Ben shook awake in a sweat. As he stared past his mother’s beaming face, he saw the sun beaming in as well. He reached up to scratch his eyes and caught a glimpse of his face under the blankets in the mirror. A baby-faced kid stared back at him with utmost surprise written on his expression. As he sat up and pulled the blankets down to reveal his chest, he realized that all of his muscles had melted away in the night. He threw the blankets to the edge of the bed and pushed his mom out of the way as he ran to stand naked in front of the mirror.

As he looked at his skinny legs reflected back at himself, he also caught a sad glimpse of his penis which now dwindled to a pathetic size and was completely hairless again. He couldn’t be more than six.

His mother laughed loudly in his brightly lit room.

“Look at your little tushie!” she said grinning, giving it playful swat.

Ben gave the short brown-haired child in the mirror a second glance before bursting into tears in front of his mom.

“Aww, it’s okay, Ben! Look at what your mother got for you!” she said, pointing to a pair of shortalls, a bright yellow t-shirt, Thomas the Tank Engine underwear and matching yellow socks which were draped over his black vintage leather arm chair.

“But, mom...“

“No “butts” mister,” she said, pinching his bottom, “go put these on! They’re not going to fit forever! In fact, I’ll be amazed if they last the rest of the day.”

“Mom, I just wanna be my age again!” he said, sniffling and choking back his tears.

“You ARE your age again, silly! So stop worry about it, and just act it!”

As she leaned over to give him a kiss on the head, Ben noticed how noticeably taut her skin was again, having regained all the vitality of youth. She looked like he remembered back when he first started high school. Oh god, he thought to himself, I won’t be able to start high school for another fourteen years! He started to tear up again.

“Oh, honey, what’s the matter now?”

“I won’t be able to start high school again for fourteen yeaws!” he lisped slightly.

“Well, actually, it’ll be more like twenty years. The enzyme activity, once it peaks, doesn’t decline for about five years, give or take.”

A chill ran down Ben’s spine, “I’m going to be a one-yeaw old for five yeaws!?” he said, crying and streaming tears.

“Well,” she said, putting a warm hand on his cold, naked back, “nine months old to be exact. But don’t get so upset! The more your heart races, the faster the injection is going to take effect!”

Ben tried to stifle his tears and walked toward the humiliating clothes laid out for him. His legs DID feel like jelly, like his mom had warned. As he slipped on the clothes, his left leg gave out, causing him to fall onto his bottom, one leg half slipped into the leg of the shortalls. After his mom helped him into the childish outfit, he couldn’t help but notice how loose it already felt on him. He sniffled as his mom tied his white and blue shoes for him.