The Third Wish

Chapter 2
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Tom had a night of restless sleep, he tossed and turned in bed, unsettled by a series of disturbing dreams. When he woke up in the morning he felt groggy, as though he was hungover, but he couldn't recall having anything to drink the prior evening.

When he opened his eyes his vision was blurry, so he rolled over onto his back and rubbed his eyes with his fingers. His vision quickly cleared and his surroundings looked familiar, but something felt out of place.

Then it occurred to him that the bedding felt thick and heavy, as though somebody had added an extra layer of covers whilst he had been sleeping. He dismissed the thought, assuming that his mind had been playing tricks on him and decided to check the time.

He rolled over on to his side and reached towards the nightstand in order to pick up his phone. But as he stretched out his left arm he was surprised to discover that the nightstand was not within his reach, his hand had stopped before it had reached the side of the bed.

He assumed that he had rolled onto the other side of the bed whilst he was as sleep, so he shuffled closer to the edge of the bed and made another attempt to grab his phone. This time he could reach it, but when his hand touched the glass screen he gasped, something was very wrong.

He remember being able to pick the phone up with one hand, but now his entire hand could fit within the width of the phone screen. Had he misplaced his phone? He wondered whether he might have inadvertently grabbed a tablet computer instead, but his concern for his missing phone vanished when he realized that his own hand appeared unfamiliar to him. His hand...wasn't his hand.

He couldn't articulate why exactly, his hand somehow seemed smoother than he had remembered it, less worn. He stared at his forearm and realized that it too appeared foreign to him, but it took him a few moments to realize why. Then he noticed that the arm was no longer hairy.

He rolled onto his back and then sat bolt upright in bed, eager to check the rest of his body for any irregularities. He checked at his right arm and realized that it too was hairless, then he caught sight of his chest in his peripheral vision. He pulled back the covers and gaped at his torso, seeing his smooth chest and small pink nipples.

He started to panic and threw back the bed covers, but when he tried to get out of bed he almost fell over the edge. Now in shock, he realized that his legs were dangling over the side, his feet didn't even touch the floor. He gasped in surprise, then felt momentary relief when it occurred to him that he might still be dreaming.

Time to wake up, just wake up, he thought. But he was still perched on the edge of the bed.

He glanced around the room and saw a full length freestanding mirror positioned against the far wall. That will settle it he thought, if he really was dreaming would his mind be able to conjure a reflection?

He hopped down to the floor and for a few moments he felt unsteady on his feet. He placed one hand on the nightstand, which he realized was now at chest height, in order to help him balance. Then he gazed up at the ceiling, which seemed to be so far above him that it made him feel dizzy. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths. This can't be happening he thought, this can't be happening.

He opened his eyes again and stood still until he felt that he had regained his balance, then he started walking gingerly towards the mirror. With each step the soft carpet tickled his feet and as he approached the mirror he realized that it towered over him.

Then the reflection of a small boy came into view, the boy was very young, perhaps two or three years old. Tom noticed the look of fear on the boy's face, which was exactly how Tom felt in that moment. Tom stopped in front of the mirror and gawked at the reflection.

This can't be happening, it's just a dream, he thought.

But when Tom raised his right hand in the air and the boy matched his movements, he knew that he was staring at his own reflection. He noticed that his hair, which had been light brown, had lightened further and was now blonde. His nose, which had been strong and masculine, was now small and slightly upturned. His face was now smooth and cherub like, his features soft and delicate.

He rubbed his cheeks with his hands, feeling the soft unblemished skin, then ran his fingers through his hair. It was his reflection, but the rational part of his mind told him that what he was experiencing was impossible.

He flexed his muscles and realized that his arms were thin and untoned. His body, which had been thin and muscular, was now skinny, with the exception of a small potbelly. The nub of a tiny penis protruded from his hairless groin.

He felt a sudden urge to scream and thought that he would for a moment, but he managed to suppress it and all that came out of his throat was a stifled whimper.

Had he gone insane? Was he hallucinating? He didn't know, but he decided that he needed someone else to validate what he was seeing.

"Help," he shrieked, almost involuntarily.

He gasped again, surprised by the sound of his own voice. It was shrill and high pitched, like a child's voice.

"I need help," squeaked Tom.

He backed away from the mirror slowly, then turned away from it, before looking back again to check that the reflection was still there. It was. Then he heard the sound of footsteps in the hallway, so he turned to face the door and started to walk towards it.

When the door opened a colossal figure stepped into the room, causing him to recoil in fright. The person, who he had not yet identified, towered over him and his eyes were level with their waist. But seeing that they were wearing a familiar light pink shirt, he had an inkling of who it might be.

So when he craned his neck to look at the persons face, he wasn't entirely surprised to see Evelyn gawking down at him. So it was true, somehow, he was now a small child.

"Oh...my...god," Evelyn exclaimed.

Remembering that he was naked, he made an attempt to cover his genitals with his hands.

"Evelyn it's me," he said, before pausing for a moment to cringe at the sound of his own voice, "it's me, it's Tom," he added.

"It...it...actually worked," she stuttered.

He wondered how we would be able to explain what had happened to him or whether she would even believe him.

"Something's wrong with me, I woke up like this," he explained, "you need to get help," he added.

She continued to stare at him for a few moments and then he suddenly realized what she had just said.

"Tom, do...do you remember how...how old you are?" Evelyn stammered.

"I'm twenty," he replied.

"Oh...my...god," she repeated.

Evelyn continued to gape at him, but he thought that he saw a glimmer of something else in her eyes, excitement perhaps.

"You said it worked," he gulped, "what worked?" he asked.

"It's kind of...hard to explain," she replied

The idea that his sister might have something to do with his sudden and bizarre transformation was almost inconceivable to him. She was twelve, how could she be involved?

"Do you know how this happened?" inquired Tom.

"Well, about that money you found," she said, before trailing off and hesitating for for a few seconds, "well, I wished for money," she added.

"What are you talking about?" he quizzed.

"Well, I found this crappy old lamp," she explained, before biting her lip and hesitating again, "then it started talking to me...I guess it was a genie," she went on.

He frowned and fell silent for a few moments whilst he revisited the possibility that he might be dreaming.

"This isn't funny, what's going on?" he questioned.

"I'm not lying," she asserted, "a genie gave me three wishes, so I wished for a million dollars," she continued.

He fell silent again and pondered what she had told him. Lamps? Genies? It was beyond belief.

"I don't...it can't be," he stuttered.

"I didn't think it would work, but when I woke up the next day there was a briefcase in my room and I found money in it," she explained.

He studied her face, hoping to detect signs that she was playing an elaborate prank on him, but she looked as though she was being deadly serious. He considered the possibility that she was telling the truth, it would explain where she had got the wad of cash from and magic would also account for his current predicament.

"Are you saying you did this to me?" asked Tom.

"Kind of," she admitted, before pausing again, "after we argued, I wished that you were a toddler, so you'd know it feels to be bossed around," she continued.

Despite his reluctance to believe in magic, he was having difficulty coming up with an alternative explanation that would account for why he had woken up in the body of a child. He reasoned that if Evelyn had not been involved then she would have been frightened or unsettled by the transformation. She appeared surprised and giddy, but not disturbed. He realized that if she was telling the truth then she could use her third and final wish to return him to his adult body.

His shock was turning into anger, he had argued with her before, but this was by far the worst thing Evelyn had ever done to him.

"Turn me back right now," he ordered, "or you're gonna be in so much trouble when mom gets home," he threatened.

Had he been nine inches taller than her, as he was the previous day, his threat would have carried weight. But as he looked up at her and scowled, he realized that his shrill and childish voice had failed to intimidate her.

"I don't think so, they're my wishes, I can use them however I want," she replied, crossing her arms.

"Look, if you turn me back now I won't tell mom about any of this," he vowed.

"Maybe I won't turn you back at all," she threatened, "maybe I'll use my final wish to make everyone believe that you're a baby,".

For a brief moment the threat seemed preposterous to him, as though he had returned to outright disbelief in the power of magic. But if she really did have the power to turn him back into an adult, did she also have the power to keep him trapped in infancy? He suspected that she might be able to carry out her threat.

"But...you can't do that," he whimpered.

"It's my wish, I can use it how I want," she reiterated.

His heart sank as he realized for the first time that he truly was powerless. He couldn't make her turn him back into an adult, so what could he do? Plead? Was that what she wanted?

"Just please...please don't do this," Tom begged.

Evelyn tilted her head and thought for a moment, he sensed hesitation. Then her confidence seemed to return and she grinned, revealing a row of gleaming white teeth and metallic dental braces. He saw that mischievous glint in her eyes again.

"If you behave then I might turn you back before mom gets home," she said.

"Evelyn, please this isn't funny," he whined.

He hoped that his pleas might elicit some sympathy from her, but instead she seemed to growing in confidence, drunk on her newfound power.

"I've got an idea," she announced, "some of Levi's old clothes are still in the closet, they might fit you," she added.

Evelyn walked over to the nightstand and picked up Tom's phone, then she skipped out of the room and slammed the door behind her.