Nearby, four 3-year-old children were playing on the playground equipment. The only boy was a brown-haired child named Jeremy. He was playing with three girls: an average-sized brunette child named Beth, a slightly bigger brunette child named Lori, and a taller blonde child named Annie.
Mabel thought it was time to attempt some physical changes as well as mental changes with the ring. She silently wished that the three children were each on year older in both mind and body. As she watched, Jeremy and Beth grew slightly from 33 inches tall to 37 inches, while Lori and Annie went from 34 inches each to 38 and 40 inches respectively. Mabel was impressed with the ring’s power but noticed that their clothing hadn’t changed sizes with them. She again silently wished for their clothing to match their ages but nothing happened. Mabel realized the ring might be powerful but it did have its limits.
Mabel couldn’t help but also notice some other subtle changes to the children. Lori had had shoulder-length hair before that was now longer, while the part in Jeremy’s hair had changed. All four children’s speech patterns seemed changed as well, as if a year’s worth of vocabulary had entered their brains. They also seemed friendlier, as if they had spent the entire year that “passed” in each other’s company.
“This is so cool,” Mabel thought to herself. “I wonder what would happen if I made them even older?”
Mabel wanted to make the children even older just to see if she could. But now she knew that the ring didn’t affect clothing, just physical and mental ages and people’s perceptions. Then she remembered something that might help.
“Hey kids!” she said to the four 4-year-olds. “Come with me!”
The children followed her inside, into an empty classroom, where Mabel was able to find 4 smocks – really 4 old, adult-sized shirts.
“We’re going to do an art project next!” Mabel said. “Put your smocks on!”
Of course, the children complied happily with their teacher. They loved Miss Mabel. Once they had the smocks on, Mabel thought of a little white lie to tell them.
“I’ll be right back kids, I need to get some supplies,” she said. “Be good for a few minutes.”
What Mabel actually did was sneak around a corner just outside the door, out of sight of the kids but so she could watch them. Then she silently made her wish: that the four 4-year-olds would slowly age in mind and body.
After about a minute, she could see the results beginning. As they transitioned into 5-year-olds, they now looked like the older siblings of the 3-year-olds she had started with a few minutes ago. Jeremy and Beth were now about 39 inches tall, with Beth’s curly hair brushing her shoulders; Jeremy’s hair was largely unchanged. Lori, the slightly bigger and chubbier brunette, was 41 inches tall, and her dark brown hair now reached her middle back. Annie, the blonde, was 42 inches tall, and her baby fat had melted away, leaving her skinny as a rail. Her blonde hair was still in two pigtails.
On their own, the older children grew bored of waiting and pulled crayons and paper from off the shelf and began coloring. As they chatted with each other, Mabel was fascinated as their personalities seemed to develop and fully form in their little group.
Six-year-old Lori was the dominant girl, not bossy but she certainly led the conversation. “Let’s all color dinosaurs and trees and houses!” she declared as they started to color.
Annie had a bouncy, outgoing personality. “I’m colorin’ doggies!” she declared. “This one’s gonna be a beagle like my dog!”
Beth was shyer and wasn’t saying much. And it seemed like Jeremy was becoming protective of her. At one point, she dropped a crayon and he instantly went down to pick it up for her. “Here ya go,” he said. All Beth could do was smile and mumble a “thanks.”
Mabel quickly made her presence known again to the children. “Is everything all right here? Are you kids doing OK so far?”
“We’re fine, Miss Mabel,” said 7-year-old Lori. She was already 45 inches tall; she had to push bangs out of her eyes before her hairstyle changed in the front again to a part. Jeremy was 44 inches and Beth was still about 43 inches tall, with Beth looking around for a hair tie. Annie, still the tallest, was 46 inches tall, and her long hair had changed to shoulder length, losing her pigtails. She absent-mindely passed Beth one of her hair ties.
“OK, I’ll be back soon, Mabel said, returning to her out-of-the-way perch to continue watching the changes.
Mabel ran down the hall, hoping the other caretakers wouldn’t see her as she grabbed several pairs of pants from the “dress up” bin. She knew with the four children aging, even as slow as they were, they wouldn’t have much time until the oversized smocks were simply shirts. She returned to find 4 8-year-old children – Jeremy, now 45 inches tall, was bored with the coloring but he had developed such a close friendship with Beth that he was still engaged in what was going on. His brown hair was starting to get a little shaggier.
The girls were still happily coloring. Lori’s dark brown, almost black hair was still long and now tied into a long ponytail thanks to a rubber band she had found. She had grown to 48 inches tall, or an even 4 feet. She was still bigger in terms of body mass than the other girls, although far from fat. Just an access of baby fat that was about to begin melting off. She was still the leader of the group.
Annie, the stick thin, energetic blonde, was also about 4 feet tall now, maybe just a hair above Lori. Her hair had grown slightly longer as her tastes changed, although it wasn’t as long as before – now it was just slightly below her shoulders.
Beth, the quietest one with the curly, lighter brunette hair, was now 45 inches tall. Her drawings had progressed greatly, and were becoming very elegant for a girl of her age.
Mabel thought she would try something. An instinct emanating from the ring told her that, with the children’s constantly shifting minds, she may be able to pull off a bluff without arousing their suspicions.
“Guys,” she said, “you left your pants on the ground. You’d better put them back on.”
“Good idea,” 9-year-old Lori said, sort of confused as to why she wouldn’t be wearing them. Her brain, however, as well as those of the other three, seemed to be adjusting and reasoning not only for that, but for the fact that they had outgrown their other clothes, to the point that they had ripped to shreds underneath the smocks.
“Be good, kids, I’ll be right back!” Mabel said, and ducked around the corner yet again.
Mabel was quite impressed with the ring’s powers so far. The kids had no idea anything was wrong, it was if they were already 9 when they arrived that morning, and the oversized clothes didn’t seem to phase them either.
Lori, the bold one, decided to find out the answer to a question she was wondering.
“Hey Jeremy, do you like Beth?” she asked?
Beth’s face flushed red with embarrassment! You don’t just ask a boy if he likes girls!
“Ew gross!” Jeremy yelled, just as any 10-year-old boy might –whether it was true or not. Startled by the answer, Beth ran into the supply closet, crying.
“You big dope, you hurt her feelings!” Lori yelled at the boy.
Meanwhile, Mabel, from her perch, couldn’t help notice two tiny swellings, barely noticeable, in the front of the 10-year-old’s shirt. Her eyes darted to Annie, but no, she was still completely flat and stick-like.
“It looks like Lori will be the first to hit puberty,” Mabel thought to herself.
Mabel was still hiding around the corner of the art room, just out of sight of the children. The rings magic was still working, and the former 3-year-olds were now 10. Beth was still out of the room, having been “mortally embarrassed” by Jeremy, but Mabel was hoping that her ever growing maturity would cause her to return in short order.
Especially because she knew that puberty was about to kick in and turn the kids into teenagers.
Lori, was already 4’5”, and her thick, dark brunette hair suddenly snapped he hairband off as her hair grew longer and slightly curlier. She still had babyfat throughout her body, which caused her to begin developing breasts first; there were already two small bumps protruding from her chest, but barely.
Annie, for her part, was still taller than Lori. The stick thin blonde was 4’6”, but was still flat and skinny. Her hairstyle changed yet again with her changing tastes, becoming shoulder length –although, since the ring could not cause hair to be cut, her body simply re absorbed the protein briefly and withdrew the hair inward, oddly. No one seemed bothered by this of course.
Annie and Lori were well into a conversation about cute boys on Disney Channel and Nickelodeon shows they enjoyed and were pretty much ignoring Jeremy, now 4’3”. He seemed bored with them, two, and began drawing again, this time superheroes, with their anatomy improving and becoming more realistic.
Then something happened that caused Mabel’s jaw to drop: As the girls rounded the corner from 10 to 11, they both hit growth spurts, and Mabel could actually seem them grow bigger and bigger! Lori was now already 4’9” while Annie was an even 5’ tall! Lori even began to develop acne. Mabel, for her part, thought she heard poor skinny Annie ask Lori about her boobs, and she definitely heard Lori say “B cup” – almost as if it was intentionally whispered loud enough for Jeremy to hear. Lori, always the bold one, was obviously trying to get a rise out of the 4’4” boy.
It was at that moment a much calmer Beth rejoined the group outside. Her emotions had obviously matured along with her. Although at 4’3” she was still the smallest of the group, she had also begun to develop the tiny beginnings of breasts beneath her oversized smock.
Jeremy approached the girl hesitantly as she entered. “Hey. I’m sorry if I embarrassed you. We cool?”
Beth smiled at him shyly. “Yeah, we’re cool,” she said, as pimples began to appear on her forehead. Jeremy got one too on his cheek, at roughly the same moment.
Mabel noticed that she could tell the girls growth was slowing slightly, while both Jeremy and Beth hit a spurt at about the same time. The four kids were now 12 years old, almost 9 years removed from where they started on the playground.
Lori and Annie were now 5’3” and 5’4” respectively. Lori’s chubbiness was melting away, leaving her definitely curvy. Still slightly bigger for her age but also still definitely not fat, she was already almost a full B-cup, but Mabel could see her breasts slowly pushing her shirt further out, and she knew it wouldn’t be long before she was a C-cup – she was definitely going to be the bustiest of the three. Annie, meanwhile, had still not developed breasts, but her hips were beginning to flare outward.
Jeremy had hit a growth spurt and was roughly 4’9”, still short for his age. He was however beginning to show signs of the “bad teenage mustache,” and his voice had dropped – not cracked yet, but he would be easy to confuse for a woman on the phone.
Beth was roughly 4’7”, still the shortest. Her new breast buds were pushing out the smock, she was already either a large A or small B. Her acne was pretty bad, and her curly, light brown hair was starting to get stringy. She was still slightly self-conscious and crossed her arms in front of her chest, as 12-year-olds often do to make their breasts seem invisible.
The conversation had quickly turned to more teen and pre-teen oriented conversations, including pop stars. Jeremy’s affection for Beth was turning into a crush, but like any typical pre-teen, he couldn’t keep his eyes off Lori’s growing boobs.
Mabel giggled to herself as the changes continued, and then she realized she heard this sentence from Annie: “I really like helping these little kids after school.”
With that, Mabel knew for sure just how powerful the ring was.