As the weeks passed, Jacob’s family felt truly blessed to have the kind, thoughtful son they had always wanted. The house was always spotless, he finished his homework before either of his parents got home from work, and his weekends were spent volunteering for church and school. In short, he was the perfect son, destined to be a perfect adult.
And that’s what bothered Jacob’s parents the most. Sure, they had the perfect son, but they would never get back the years that had been wasted trying to turn bratty Jake into an upstanding member of society. That’s when it hit them! If the magic camera could make their son into a well-behaved and obedient 16 year old, of course it could make him into their perfect little boy again. They immediately booked another appointment, explaining exactly what they were looking for.
Being the obedient son he was, Jacob happily accompanied his parents to the studio. Just as before, the photographer took his place behind the camera and had Jacob smile for his portrait.
“Are you ready to become a new person again, Jacob? Your family truly loves you, but I’m going to help all of you become an even happier family.”
Jacob was confused. The photographer had talked about making a ‘new person’ out of him the last time, but now he was going to do it again? If this was what his mom and dad wanted, he would obey their wishes, but it still felt a bit odd. He considered stepping away and talking with his parents for a moment, but then…
*FLASH*
The camera went off and Jacob was stunned. Just like the last time, he felt like a part of his entire being was leaving him, leaving space to be filled later. Some parts of the perfect 16 year old wouldn’t be needed anymore for the perfect little boy his parents wanted; a little boy didn’t need to worry about being responsible and independent, so those aspects of him simply went away. In their place, thoughts of pure honesty, utter obedience to the adults in his life, love for God and church, and innocence in all things flowed into him. Years of schooling left him; he couldn’t think of how to count higher than ten, every historical event he’d ever learned was meaningless to him, and the ABC’s were just a fun song to sing with mommy.
As his personality was being reshaped into that of a perfect innocent boy, his body was changing to match. His muscular physique melted away, leaving his body soft and wiry, completely unable to harm anyone even if he even wanted to. Jacob swayed with dizziness as he felt like the floor was rushing up, not realizing that he was losing height at an astonishing pace. By the time his dizziness faded, he was exactly the height his parents wanted for his new age. It was then that he saw his mom… his mommy stepping forward with a new outfit for him.
“Oh, sweetie, you’re perfect!” She exclaimed. “Let’s get you out of those big boy clothes and get this on, alright?”
Jacob was scared and felt like he was about to cry. He loved his mommy, but this felt really weird… But, as the seconds passed he became less and less sure as to why it felt weird. He thought that he’d been bigger, but he wasn’t sure exactly what that meant. Mommy wanted him to be a little boy, so he felt like he had to make her happy. He pushed his fear aside as best he could and stepped out of his oversized old clothes toward his mommy.
But what kind of outfit does she have for her little boy, and how old did he finally end up?