James started searching the racks and shelves of children’s section. He had a couple things in mind to find. For one thing, he wanted shoes. Going barefoot was both uncomfortable and suspicious if he ran into anyone. But all the children’s shoes seemed to be somewhere else. He figured he could at least get socks, but he didn’t want to open any of the packages. He was glad that at least now he was in a part of the store with carpeting.
He was also half heartedly looking for his phone, on the off chance it was nearby. But what he really wanted was to find was pictures of teen guys or older. That way he could get his wallet. James new he should venture out of the children’s section and probably head straight back to men’s but he was feeling self-conscious about his current appearance. He still didn’t want to be spotted as a child without an adult. At least in the children’s section, it wouldn’t be too odd to spot a kid looking through everything.
James felt lucky that the children’s department featured far fewer pictures of real people than the men’s section. He started looking up more. In a rack of clothes, he found the shirt had had entered the store with. He left it where it was. Getting careless, James rounded a corner and almost walked into the teenage employee scanning barcodes.
James backpedaled, heading back the way he had come.
“Who was that?” James heard the employee say. “Uh, can I help you?”
James wove through the clothes, trying to get away from the teen quickly. Unfortunately, he still wasn’t paying quite enough attention and found himself facing a wall covered packages of underwear. Boys smiling faces and brief clad torsos were all he could see. He shut his eyes tight, but it was too late.
The pajama bottoms and t-shirt vanished. Cool air caressed his bare skin. James felt his body changing. He turned around and bent his head before he opened his eyes.
On the plus side, his tummy had slimmed down and he had underwear. He was now built and dressed like an elementary school underwear model. He wasn’t enthused to see power rangers on the briefs. James tried to take stock of his current age. He was definitely shorter. He guessed he had lost maybe two years.
“Six, great,” James mumbled to himself. He rubbed his throat, trying to rub the deepness back into his voice. “The exact opposite of what I wanted.”