The crowd stood considering the offer, which now seemed a lot more appealing than before. At last, Margret’s hand went up. Frank turned to her in shock. “Margret!?”
She gave him an apologetic smile. “I’m not getting any younger, Frank. And I’m tired of just waiting around while our children put themselves in danger. I’m taking my stand.”
“Wonderful,” Dr. Grant said, beckoning the woman forward. Amy took her hand and guided her away towards the barn. “Anyone else?”
Much to everyone’s surprise, Samuel came forward. Both Frank and Daisy reacted with disbelief, but he just shrugged. “I don’t really have a choice. I never had any other opportunities around here. No job. No girlfriend. Now, none of those things are even important anymore. This is the only thing left.” Then, he grinned, gaze flickering over to Cally. “And besides, now I’m curious.”
With that, he went off to join his mother.
Frank and Daisy looked at each other before the daughter sighed. “Well, pa, I can’t just let them go off by themselves, and I reckon you feel the same. I know you still love this farm, but maybe we’d do a better job defending her over there instead of bunkering down here. Whaddya say?” She held out her hand.
Her father scratched his head and chuckled. “Ah, hell. Who’re we kidding? You never cared about this ol’ farm.”
“And I know you’ll just take the farm with you wherever you go,” Daisy laughed. “Let’s do it, pa. They’re waiting for us.”
The old farmer took his daughter’s hand, and the two of them went off to the barn. Seeing the leader of their community along with his entire family accepting the offer had an effect on the crowd, and more people began to come forward. Many of the older ones went first, of course, taking this chance to regain their youth, albeit a far different youth than they once knew. Others went along having grown restless out here in the deserted countryside and needing a change of pace.
Soon, Margret and Samuel reemerged, looking very much like sisters rather than mother and son. Like Amy, they had been given one-pieces to replace their old clothing, thus leaving nothing of their new proportions to the imagination. Margret had, as promised, regained her youth and much more. Graying hair had become a brilliant blonde mane that hung past her lush rear, and curves long forgotten over the years had returned with a vengeance. Samuel, meanwhile, had kept her previous height, though more of it had been reallocated to her legs. Her hair had lightened a bit from its old brown color but had stopped at a warm caramel.
“Margret, Samuel, how are you feeling?” Cally asked.
The mother smiled. “Call me Maggie now, okay? I’m doing fine, thank you.”
“And call me Sammi,” added the former son with a giggle. She seemed surprised at making such a bubbly sound but shrugged it off. “Hm, I guess I’ll get used to that.”
As the two went off to find a mirror, Cally turned to Ron. “What about you, Ron? Any plans?”