"...okay," I said, after a moment's deliberation. "Let's do it."
Dylan exhaled as though he had been waiting for my answer with bated breath. For a second he simply sat there, open-mouthed; and then he jumped to his feet and let out a whoop, seemingly unable to restrain his exuberance any longer.
"Oh man." He beamed down at me. "Thank you so much. You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this. Rare enough that I find someone who has the same fantasy, and when I do they're always too freaked out by the whole thing to let me in."
I, admittedly, still harbored some of the reservations that must've been too much for Dylan's former potential playmates to reconcile. But the idea of getting to share this world with another person - another toddler at heart - was far too tempting to pass up, and the sheer joy that Dylan exhibited at his dream coming true helped me to shoo away the last of those lingering worries.
"Alright then," he breathed. There was a touch of a tremor to his voice, as though he had just realized what he was about to do to himself. "No time like the present, right?"
Before I could say a word, Dylan held up a finger...then another, and another, as though he were counting off. The transformation was at first so subtle that I didn't realize he was losing a year with each raised digit. He counted off so quickly, though, that it wasn't long at all before the shift became more apparent, before he plunged into his teendom and started undoing all the changes of those tumultuous times. In a matter of seconds he went from stubbly to pimply to smooth-cheeked; from built to gangly to skinny; from handsome to awkward to adorable. When his pants slipped from his waist and puddled at his ankles, Dylan made no effort to hold them up; when his grown-up shoes became too roomy for his shrinking feet, he simply kicked them and the socks off with a triumphant giggle. It was one thing to go through this myself - it was something else entirely to watch a grown man willingly and gleefully himself of his maturity, to look on as he willed himself younger, younger, younger. I was mesmerized. Astonished. Completely enchanted and awestruck.
The smile on Dylan's face only grew wider and more exuberant as he plunged through his childhood and towards the blissful innocence of his earliest years. Finally - with fingers much stubbier than they'd been a moment prior - Dylan counted twenty-five. He lowered his hands, shrugged off his oversized shirt, and stood before me in complete and seemingly unashamed nudity. As a man, Dylan had been strikingly handsome; as a toddler, he was almost too cute for words. The boy was a touch pudgier than I was, but that pudginess nicely complimented his rosy apple cheeks, big green eyes and simple blond shag cut.
"Pehr-fekt," Dylan grinned as he looked down at himself, no doubt amused - as I was - by the chirpiness of his little voice. "'Cept for one fing..."
He bent over to touch both his tiny feet at once, and in the next instant he was wearing a pair of itty-bitty sneakers that matched mine perfectly - save for the fact that his were blue and mine were red. When he raised his eyes he caught me staring, and the two of us shared a giggle as he stepped to my side.
"I gotta see what we wook wike," he declared as he drew a rectangular shape in front of him with his stubby fingers. The most luminous and perfectly polished mirror I had ever seen suddenly appeared before us, its glass showing us an image of two naked, jubilant little toddlers. That's us, I thought in awe. We're those pudgy three-year-olds wearing nothing but tiny Velcro sneakers. Somehow that seemed even sillier than being totally nude, as though whoever had put us in those shoes knew that we wouldn't care - that no one would care - if our bouncy pee-pees and chubby tushies were out in the open for anyone to see.
"Dis is da betht," Dylan exclaimed as he wrapped a pudgy arm around my shoulders. I flinched a little in surprise before smiling and returning the gesture, feeling my heart swell at the sight of the closeness displayed between the two toddlers in the mirror. Memories rushed back to me of the uninhibited friendships of childhood, of how deep and pure my affection for my playmates had been. When I looked at Dylan - at his button nose and round chin and big bright babyteeth smile - I felt like I was looking at my best friend.
"Da betht," I echoed, sighing and snuggling up against him. We stood like that for a moment before Dylan withdrew and took new stock of me, crossing his arms and meeting my eyes in sudden, precocious, adorable seriousness.
"Dere's jutht one fing we gotta do 'fore we go any furthah," he whispered.
"What?" I peeped, eyes widening at the thought of what other magic my new friend might have to offer. Dylan held up the front for another moment before he suddenly reached out and gave my bottom a playful smack.
"TAG!" Dylan cried as he squealed in laughter and streaked out of the store. I was frozen in surprise for only a moment before I let loose with my own squeal and took off after him, determined to not let my playmate get the better of me. Our cries and giggles filled the mall as we chased each other up and down walkways, as we hid and sought, as we wrestled right in the middle of the food court. Nobody came to stop our fun. Nobody shamed us for our silliness. All we heard was good-natured laughter and encouragement. The world wanted us to be joyous, naked little toddlers; and we were more than happy to fulfill that request.