"I'd like to be a ginger! You know, a kid with copper red hair and freckles, and bright blue eyes." He thought for a minute. "Sort of like the kid who played Ronald Weasley in the Harry Potter movies."
Hebe looked puzzled. "Harry Potter? I have not seen these movies. But I think I know what you want. A Scottish boy, perhaps? Growing up lean and muscled on a rustic farm, Highland cattle and Clydesdale horses, with no doubt what is under your kilt?"
Derrick flushed, but grinned. That sure sounded like an improvement over his usual self. Strutting around the Spa as a Scottish Stud? Way cool! "Sure! That sounds great!" He expected her to start aging him up again, but after her hands washed over him a few more times, he was obviously even younger. That bothered him some, but he was more interested in watching his old self get rinsed away like it was a water color. His brown hair took on a reddish cast, his skin got paler, and when he blinked to clear water from his eyes, the brown coloring dribbled down his face leaving startling bright blue irises. Hebe stopped and grinned down at the reflection he was starting at. Copper-red curls hung around his face, cascading down to his shoulders. A spattering of freckles appeared on a pug nose, and his face elongated somewhat. His features seemed a little coarser, which helped keep the long tangle of hair from making him look like a girl. He was anxious to see himself as a muscle-bound teen, though.
Hebe began bathing him again, making more changes as he dropped to about 8. Even odder. he looked dirty! His teeth looked too big now, and seemed scummy. Derrick was surprised to see his feet darken and toughen as if he had never worn shoes, and his skin become splotches with ingrained dirt. The shining locks of copper-red hair grew matted and greasy, and dried mucus crusted around his nostrils. It was curious, but he didn't really mind. Somehow, being filthy felt right. The child reflected back at him looked like he might come from one of those old hippie commune pictures, or some rural place from a hundred years ago.
The woman chuckled. "Ready to grow up into that big, strong muscular Scottish farmboy?"
Derrick nodded and braced himself for a reversal of age, hoping she didn't forget to keep his enlarged sexual equipment proportional. Then he gasped as she shoved him suddenly down into the pool! He struggled and kicked as his head went under water, the bottom of the pool suddenly softer and the water cloudier. He was released just as suddenly, and came up spluttering.
"Angus!" A woman's heavily accented voice shouted from behind him. "Leave your brother alone!"
As Derrick blinked his eyes to clear them, he found himself staring up at a shaggy-haired, filthy boy that looked to be a ten year-old version of his red-haired self. Looking down, he saw he was still the 6 or 7 year-old, also filthy. "What?" He looked past the grinning boy to see a stone hut with a lean, red haired woman in a ragged dress that looked older than her probable age of 30 or so. Some huge horses and cattle were wandering round, as were chickens and goats. Everything looked huge to him - he was six years old.
Angus, his older brother, smirked and tousled Derrick's matted hair. "He'll not be minding a bit more mud."
Derrick slogged out of the pool, which was actually a large mud puddle. It was a warm day out, and the air was filled with a tremendous variety of odors - animals, excrement, mud, soil, his own sweat, his brother's stink. The smells should offend him, but they were all normal. Everything was normal, even though he knew he should be a 15 year-old American in a Greek Spa.
Hebe had asked him if he was ready to grow up. She had been literal - it looked like he was starting over as a small Scottish boy, destined to grow up into that lean, muscled farm boy. In another ten years!