Lisa glanced over as her youngest daughter smiled impishly, she could see the girl was holding something and now feared the worst. Ducking out of the way she looked to see her mother and sister turn towards Lynne a look of shock on their face. “Trust me you’ll thank me later,” Lynne grinned as she let the powder fly.
Ann and Marilyn stood stunned as the powder flew at them, before either one could react though Gloria dived in front of them, covering herself in the powder. As the trio crashed to the floor Lynne could only look on in shock. Slowly Gloria stood up coughing as she tried to brush the powder off her body.
“Gloria are you okay,” Lisa asked.
“I think so mom,” she said. “How about everyone else. No one else got hit did they?”
Lisa, Marilyn and Ann examined themselves noticing the powder was not on them. As they examined themselves Stephanie and Jackie approached. “What is that stuff,” Stephanie asked as she bent down. Lynne tried to give the woman a warning as she now brushed her fingers over the powder examining it on her finger. “This is quite odd. What exactly is this stuff?”
“Um I wouldn’t touch that,” Lynne said sheepishly. “It’s still active so it can affect you as well.”
Stephanie gasped as she now tried to brush the powder of her hands. Lisa now angrily glared at her daughter furious she would try something so foolish. “Young lady what were you thinking,” she yelled. “You could of hurt someone.”
“Mom it’s more of a practical joke than anything else,” she groaned.
“So what does it do,” Lisa questioned, glaring at her daughter.
“Whoa I feel...weird.”
Lisa and the others turned as Gloria swooned slightly. As they watched the girl they could see her begin to glow. Gloria looked at her hands, puzzled as to what was happening. As she watched her hands she became alarmed as they appeared smaller. “What’s happening to me,” she whispered, her voice rising an octave.
Lynne rubbed her neck sheepishly as she stared at Gloria. “Ummm your getting younger,” she replied. “Your about to become 5 years old, sooo umm my bad.”
“Five,” Gloria exclaimed as she became a preteen of 12 once more. Looking down at her ring she now tried to focus on preventing the change. As she concentrated she was surprised as she continued to grow younger. A now 10 year old Gloria looked up at the others, frowning. “Hey how come my rings not working?”
“About that,” Lynne said nervously. “The Umm powder can’t be affected by the ring. It’s a special blend I had Merlin show me how to make. Basically your going to be stuck as a 6 year old for a couple of days.”
Gloria frowned as she tried to keep her increasingly large clothing from slipping off her shrinking body. “Well that just stinks,” she grumbled. She paused as she now tried to think, for some reason her head felt foggy, like she was forgetting something. “How come I feel fuzzy,” she asked as she became 8.
“Yeah that’s the other problem,” Lynne said quietly. “The powder makes you feel more like a kid. Basically your going to be a kid mentally. You still remember things from before but you kind of...lose your maturity.”
Gloria groaned as she continued to shrink back further. Looking herself over she could see she was now 6. Not only was she younger she could feel her maturity sslowly vanishing from her. Things that seemed important only moments ago now appeared trivial. The desire to play, have fun and just be a kid we’re now almost overwhelming.
“You big meanie,” Gloria grumbled. “Make me big again.”
“I wish I could,” Lynne shrugged. “I don’t have a antidote for the spell with me. I need to get the ingredients from the Magic Shop. It will probably take a day to make the antidote.”
Gloria now looked up at her mother, desperately trying to keep her clothing from falling off her childish body. “Mommy,” she whined. “My clothes don’t fit and Lynne is being a big meany. You should punish her...she’s bad.”
Lisa scooped up the now childish Gloria. Making sure the girl maintained some modesty. “I know sweetly but your going to have to give me a moment. First let’s get you something to wear.” Lisa glared one last time at Lynne before ascending the stairs. Hopefully Jason kept some of Gloria’s old clothing in the attic. As they left the others now stared daggers at Lynne. “What,” she replied. “It was just a joke, lighten up a bit.”
“That is not a very funny joke young lady,” Marilyn frowned.
“Wait is that going to happen to me,” Stephanie said, panic beginning to constrict her voice. Lynne looked the woman over, seeing a small amount of powder still stuck to her fingers. “Probably,” Lynne shrugged. “I told you not to touch the powder. It’s probably just going to take longer since you were only exposed to a small amount.”
“So how long does she have,” Ann asked in concern.
“A few hours,” Lynne stated. “She will probably start getting younger in a few hours. To be honest I don’t know why everyone is freaking out, Christmas is so much more fun when your a kid.”
Stephanie groaned in frustration as she now sat on the couch. “Ugh I’m going to be freaking 6 in a few hours,” she moaned. “Ann, what am I going to do. I don’t want to be some kid while everyone else is an adult. What the hell am I going to do.”
Annsighed as she now sat next to her friend. “Stephanie it will be okay,” she soothed. “We’ll figure this out.”
“You can always join her Aunt Ann,” Lynne said causing Ann to frown in Lynne’s direction. “What I’m just saying,” Lynne whined. “In my timeline you, Jackie and Stephanie always like having fun at different ages. You say it’s kind of a stress relief. You guys become kids and don’t worry about being adults for a little while.”
Ann groaned as she looked at her friend. She had wanted to introduce Stephanie and Jackie (and possibly spend some alone time with Jackie). Instead her new friend was about to become a 6 year old girl for a couple of days. Ann now weighed her options, join Stephanie in childhood for a while or remain an adult. Hopefully whatever her decision was, she hoped Jackie would join her.