Ty woke up Sunday morning with a smile on his face. Last night, he had dreamt that he had magical powers. Naturally, in the dream he had used those powers to get a little revenge on his awful foster brother.
"Oh, if only I could really put Dustin in his place like that..." he muttered.
Just then, there was a knock on his bedroom door.
"Come in," Ty said. Mentally, he prepared himself to deal with his foster family. It was always an ordeal.
The door swung open, revealing his foster brother, Dustin. Only, he looked different. In fact, he looked 3 years younger.
"Ty," Dustin squeaked in a childish voice. "You gotta turn me back to normal. Please, man!"
Ty's eyes went wide as the realization hit him: It was real! The magic was real! It was no dream! He really had powers!
Dustin approached his bed, and Ty noticed how badly his 16-year-old clothes fit his 13-year-old body. The mismatch made Dustin look even smaller. "I promise I'll be good," Dustin pleaded. "I'll be a good big brother to you from now on. I swear. Please, just turn me back."
Dustin looked so pathetic and helpless. Ty smiled. Finally, the tables had turned. "Why should I?" Ty said. "I think it's my turn to be the big brother, and you look so cute now. It's adorable, really."
Rage flashed across Dustin's young face. He was not one to take being mocked without a fight. In an instant, he leapt up onto Ty's bed, straddled Ty's body, and gripped Ty's T-shirt in his fists. He yanked Ty's face up to him roughly. "You wipe that smile off your face, you little shit, right now, or I'll smack it off."
Ty cringed away instinctively. Then, he relaxed as he remembered that he had nothing to fear from Dustin now. "Oh, will you?" Ty asked. He concentrated on his magic and made Dustin a year younger.
Dustin shrank slightly, but he took no notice. "I don't care if you're bigger than me. I don't care if you've got some power or something," Dustin said. "I'll always be tougher than a girly little wimp like you."
"Is that so?" Ty asked. Again, he made Dustin another year younger. He could feel the weight of his foster brother lighten on his abdomen.
Dustin was too focused on Ty to notice that he was just barely old enough for middle school now. He raised a little fist. "Turn me back now, or I beat you up."
Ty stifled a laugh. Dustin sounded like a bratty little kid now. Ty made him another year younger. "Will you?"
Dustin swung his fist at Ty's face. Ty reacted in two ways. He wished another year away from Dustin and pushed the boy off of him with both hands. Dustin shrieked as he flew off of Ty and landed on the floor at the foot of the bed. Ty was amused at how easy it was to throw his foster brother around now.
Curiously, Ty crawled to the foot of his bed and looked down at the groaning 9-year-old boy lying there. "Well, then," Ty said. "It looks to me like you won't be beating up anyone, now, not unless they happen to be in grade school."
Dustin stood up, and his shorts and underwear fell to his ankles. Fortunately, his oversized T-shirt covered him almost to his knees now. He held up his little boy hands and gazed at them in amazement, and then looked down at his little feet. Fearfully, he looked back at Ty. Seeing Ty's smile, Dustin backed into Ty's dresser. "Don't hurt me!" he squealed.
"Why do you think I would hurt you?" Ty said as he slipped off his bed to stand in front of Dustin. The boy literally cowered beneath him.
"Please, don't hurt me," Dustin said, covering his head defensively.
"I mean," Ty said, enjoying his new power over Dustin. "How could I hurt you? You said yourself, you would always be... What was it? '...tougher than a girly little wimp like me?' Right?"
"No. Please, no," Dustin whimpered.
"Do you still feel tough?"
"No."
"No, I bet you don't. I bet you feel like a little wimp right now. Right?"
"Oh, Ty. I-I'm sorry. Please. I'm sorry," The boy was crying now.
"I guess only one thing is missing then," Ty said. He focused on Dustin once more. The boy's hair began to grow, and an nearly imperceptible softness crept into his features. "There," Ty said when the change was done. "Now, you really are a 'girly little wimp.'"
"What?" Dustin said as he realized his hair was now hanging down over his face. He touched it. "Oh, no!" A hand shot down to his crotch and felt what had changed between his legs. "No!"
"That's right, Dustin. It's gone. Or, should I call you Dusty now?" Ty said. "You do make an adorable little sister."
"This can't be happening," Dusty whimpered.
"It is happening," Ty assured the girl. "Now, let's go show off your cute little body to Mommy. I'm sure she'll be thrilled to have such a sweet little girl like you for a daughter."
Dusty immediately bolted for Ty's door, squealing "Noooo!" all the way out into the hall.
Ty chased her into the hall and focused on her body again. This time, he imagined her shrinking.
As Dusty ran, the hallway seemed to recede away from her as her already large T-shirt seemed to grow around her to trip her up. She fell to the floor in a pile of fabric. The ground shook beneath her as a pair of enormous footsteps approached her. Desperately, she crawled for an opening in the cloth that covered her. Once she was out in the open, she sprinted for the stairs, but they seemed a hundred feet away now. She peeked behind her shoulder as she ran to see a giant chasing her down the cavernous hallway, causing her to squeal at the top of her tiny lungs. She sprinted with all of her might to escape the monster, but before she reached the stairs, giant fingers encircled her entire naked body and lifted her high into the air.
The fingers relaxed around her, and she found herself sitting on a giant palm. She looked above her to see Ty's face smiling down at her, and she shrieked. His head had to be at least 10 feet tall now compared to her.
"Got you," Ty said. "You can't run away from this, Dusty."
Dusty stared up at Ty, focusing mainly on his mouth and the enormous teeth in it. Ty could easily eat her now, she realized. He could swallow her whole. Tears welled up in her eyes again.
"Now," Ty said. "Let's go see Mommy."
The wind blew through Dusty's long hair as the giant began to walk down the stairs. She shivered both at the cool air on her bare skin and at the horror she was experiencing. She felt so weak and helpless. She wanted her Mommy.