She could see on old lady in mismatched sweats shambling up the driveway, looking totally exhausted and out of breath.
"Betty, you made it!" Judy declared. "Great!"
Betty limped her way into the house and immediately sat down on the stairs, panting and wheezing. She let a brown bag full of clinking bottles rest on her lap. Judy picked up the bag excitedly and walked it into the living room. The other women hopped up and made for the bag.
"Oh," Cathy said. "What'd she get?"
"Nice," Amy said as she pulled out bottles. "Vodka, Rum, Wine... What, no hard cider?"
Betty said, "Too... heavy..." as her breathing calmed down.
"That's fine," said Judy. "This should be enough. Let's get some glasses." The three of them let out a cheer and walked to the kitchen to get glasses, leaving Betty alone with Jim. He felt a bit concerned about the old woman and a bit resentful at the other girls as well. Not one of them had thanked her, he realized.
When the three returned to the living room with their glasses, Betty said, "Hey, what happened to you two?" She had finally recovered enough to look at her friends closely.
The girls stopped and looked over at her, as if they had forgotten she was there.
"You like?" Cathy asked striking another sexy pose, cocking her broad hips to the side.
"You guys started playing with the balloon without me?" Betty said in disbelief as she gazed at Amy's absurd breasts. "I nearly killed myself getting our drinks, and you guys were having fun here without me?"
"Well," Amy said, sounding faintly guilty under Cathy's stare. "You never said we had to wait."
"I didn't think I had to."
"Ladies," Judy said stepping between them all. "Everything is fine. Betty is back safely and with the drinks. Now, it's her turn to be changed. In fact, she can have two changes just to make up for being away while we started. Clearly, she's earned it."
"That's right," Amy said.
"Totally earned it," Cathy added.
Betty frowned as she carefully stood up on her shaky legs, leaning a hand on the wall for support. "Fine," she said. "Can you start by making me younger again?"
Judy blew up the balloon and said, "Control Betty's age." She let it deflate slowly as they all watched Betty grow younger. Her hair darkened again and the wrinkles faded away. She stood up straighter as her weight decreased and her face took on a fresher appearance. The years continued to reverse, and soon she looked like a young woman again. She smiled momentarily as she felt her youth return, but the smile faded as she felt herself start to shrink dramatically. She flew backwards through her teenage years, looking more girlish by the second."Um, Judy," she said. "That's enough." The last word cracked up an octave as she hit a growth spurt in reverse, leaving her on the smaller side of puberty. Still, she shrank, her clothes growing looser and baggier on her with each passing second as she dwindled away into early childhood, getting even younger than she had been just earlier that day. The balloon emptied out completely.
Betty stood there, looking ridiculous in an oversized sweat shirt, her hands and arms lost up its long sleeves. The sweat pants were pooled at the bottom of her skinny little legs.
"Ooh," Amy said. "You look adorable."
"You look like my little sister," Cathy cooed at her. "So cute. You could be in her Kindergarten class."
Betty stared up at them in disbelief. "What the hell?" she said. She had meant the question to sound outraged, but it came out sounding cute and pouty in her little girl voice.
"Oops, sorry," Judy said in an unconvincingly apologetic tone. "I think I let it go a bit too far." She chuckled to herself, as Amy eyed her suspiciously. Judy added, "But, you have to admit that you do look very cute now."
"I don't have to admit anything," Betty said through gritted baby teeth. "Just make me older again."
"Are you sure?" Judy asked. "I hear that you get drunker faster if you're smaller. Care to try it?"