Big Ed and Big Lewis woke up to the sound of bugles over the loudspeakers in the camp. Camp counselors were rousing the various youngsters who had swapped bodies with their respective adults. The permanent tents hosted four men each. A few of the new men were acting like petulant boys, however, and Mark Badham was having none of it. This was always the first lesson. To make examples in front of others.
Mark Badham was ex-military and had formed much of the rules of the camp, as well as done most of the work in putting together its formidable training program. The owner of the camp, Sid Ward, was now in a little boys body and was barely as tall as the now giant Mark's legs. The two came in and inspected a New Man who was refusing to get up. Big Ed and Big Lewis watched with apprehension.
"Time to get up, Shaw. Now. Rise and shine. We told you last night everyone up at 6." Mark threw the blanket off of Big Tom Shaw, who was currently occupying his father's 37 year-old body. He blinked and put a hand up over his eyes.
"Awww, I wanna sleep in. It's summer! This was supposed to be fun," the New Man pouted.
"Men don't complain about having to get up early. Welcome to your first lesson. Now get the fuck out of bed."
His harsh cursing was surprising for Tom, who was not used to bad language. He was a rather sheltered and innocent boy, even for 9 years old.
Begrudgingly, he got up and yawned. Big Ed let out a sigh of relief. His own body felt like it really needed something to wake up. Luckily, everyone was having their first cup of coffee in the center of camp, where a large table had been set up.
"Come and get your coffee, men! Men drink coffee to wake up in the morning and now so do you!" one of the counselors barked out. He, like everyone else that worked for the camp, was dressed in a paramilitary uniform.
Big Ed and Big Lewis looked at each other.
"It's so weird looking at my dad's face and knowing he's not in there," Big Ed told his new friend.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. Like, I know you're not my dad but I keep thinking you're him!" Big Lewis was more excitable than his new bud, but that could be chalked up to the fact that he was only a 7 year old boy under that classically handsome, beautiful middle aged male exterior. As it turned out, the boys enjoyed coffee quite a bit, or at least their new bodies did.
Uniforms were the next order of business. Each New Man got five identical uniforms. Tan uniforms were handed out to each man based on his new size. Many boys had to be told what size they now were from a clipboard with all their father's information on it, and along with dress sizes they were told to remember their new height and weight. Other items were issued, such as wife beater shirts, boxer shorts, T-shirts, jackets, and boots. It was alright to change out of uniforms at 6 PM when training for the day ended.
Big Ed felt his body bulge against the fabric of the uniform. His long blond unkempt biker hair clashed with such an image, which was usually associated with someone like...well, Mark Badham, he thought. Badham was in his early 30s, and with his prematurely bald/shaved head, youthful looks, height, size and deep voice, he was the absolute pinnacle of military strength. Big Ed was feeling disorientated. He was now well over six feet tall and he found himself stumbling around a lot. He noticed other New Men were having the same problem. It was strange to have a complete lack of balance with legs this long and a body this strong. This body didn't move the way his old one did. Before, he was flexible and fast. But now, he felt heavy and a bit slower...but it was a completely foreign sensation to be able to feel his leg muscles fill out a pair of pants, or have 19 inch biceps fill out a shirt sleeve! His new tattoos were equally strange to look at, amazing curlicue designs highlighting his pecs and arms. He still felt a little self-conscious. Big Lewis, on the other hand, was just enjoying himself and had a big smile plastered on his face as he enjoyed skipping around in a fashion that looked very out of place in his new body, twisting and turning around in circles, dancing as he went.
Finally, the New Men were all gathered together in this side of camp's ampitheater. the seats were roughly-hewn sawed up wooden logs, and the stage provided Mark to address all his new recruits.
"Alright, boys. Welcome to Grown Up Boot Camp! Are you ready to become MEN?" he asked sternly. A few cheers came out of his audience. "I SAID ARE YOU READY TO BECOME MEEEEEN! SAY YES, SIR!"
A few more cheered.
"EVERYONE! SAY YES, SIR!"
"Yes, Sir!" the boys screamed, getting into it.
"Now say 'I AM READY TO BE A MAN!'"
"I am ready to be a man!" Big Ed shouted out along with the rest.
"I know you are. That's why you're here. This is a very special place. We are going to train your minds. We are going to train your bodies. You are going to be given access to some advanced training facilities. You boys have no idea how lucky you are. We're going to start with a little pep talk. Now, it's your job to make sure your dads really feel like sons when you get back to them. That means, you don't get to act like little kids, but they will. You will have to lead, and they will be discouraged from doing so. So that you get the experience you need. Now we've told you that there are benefits to completing this camp. We know some high brass in the military and they look favorably on resumes of boys that completed our program. But now for something you probably don't know. Most of your dads, now your sons, didn't pay for this. They all received special scholarships."
Big Ed frowned. His dad hadn't said anything about this before.
"In fact," Mark continued. "Most of them qualified because they met our criteria. This is one of the MOST exclusive body swap camps in the world. We have had alumni go on to achieve great things, including becoming West Point graduates, decorated military veterans, police officers, and even very high corporate positions of power, and even...a few Senators. Now that's an impressive list, boys. I don't need to tell you that coming to Camp Tradeheart means you are part of an elite group."
Sid Ward, now in his new little kid body, tugged on Mark's pant leg to get his attention, asking for the microphone. It sounded strange for a little boy to be giving instructions up on stage with a much larger man.
"My microphone broke. Hey, guys. I just wanted to let you know that all the training that you receive here is very confidential and never to be discussed outside of the camp. You have all signed non-disclosure agreements, which means hush hush. Don't tell people details. Just say you went to this camp and enjoyed it. That's all. Loose lips sink ships. We can legally sue anyone who discusses our trade secrets with other companies or the public press. But that's only because we really are the best and we have rich donors who really care about this place."
Mark Badham looked like he was getting annoyed and he motioned with his hand a little too impatiently for his boss to return the microphone. He grabbed it swiftly and turned back to his new recruits.
"Alright, now I'm going to go over a few key things with you. Rule Number ONE. There is NO crying! Men DON'T cry. You do not cry unless it's really severe. When someone dies, you can cry. When you're here with us, you are MEN. Men are TOUGH. Men are BRAVE. And most of all, men do NOT complain! Men do not cry! Now...repeat after me. Men are TOUGH!"
Big Ed repeated the words, sentence by sentence, seeing that the group was really getting into it. Finally, a counselor found a microphone for Little Sid.
"Rule 2," Sid said. "When you are around your New Sons, you will be expected to take the lead. Do not wait for them to tell you what to do. We are going to practice with you how you can do this. You want to make sure that you are never asking them what to do next. If you have a problem, you come to us."
"Rule 3," Mark continued "You will take care of your new bodies. That means no getting fat, and daily exercise 6 days a week. Failure to comply with this will mean expulsion from the program, and a ban for life, unless there is a medical excuse that prevents you from joining the rest."
"Rule 4," Sid said "Whatever happens at Grown Up Camp stays at Grown Up Camp. Don't talk about your training experiences here, even to your fathers, who are now...your sons. You can tell them about the exercise program, but as for the rest, we'd like you to keep that under wraps. We want the New Kids in the camp to really get into their roles, too. And we don't want them to think about how you've been trained to be new dads. We want them to simply respond to your new maturity, your new dadness, as it were."
"That's right," Mark stated. "There are some other minor rules. No leaving the camp without permission is a BIG rule. No leaving without permission. No sneaking across the lake to talk to your New Son. Smoking is allowed. You don't need your New Son's permission. We have a small store that sells necessities, including cigars, cigarettes and pipe tobacco, and pipes. We have stationery, snacks, little souvenirs. You do not need your dads permission to buy anything. Their bank accounts are now yours. But alcohol is not available at the store. Alcohol is only served with dinner. There are drink limits per recruit. You will respect these limits. And now, for the mental training. We have two segments each day. Mental Training and Physical Endurance Training.
"So what is Mental Training? We want you to crash course on manhood and we have techniques on how you can behave differently. You will pay attention carefully and closely. You will be graded on this. No, I'm not kidding. We will grade you every week and if we are not satisfied with your progress, we will swap you back into your original bodies," Mark told them. "And from here on, I'm going to call those kids across on the other side of the lake your SONS. They are your sons from now on. Try to remember that at all times. You're the dad, he's the son. That's how it is."
"So," Sid began. "Let's start with roleplay. Mark and I are going to act out the kinds of scenarios that you will encounter as a father. We want you to pay close attention because after this, you'll be asked to come up and practice with our counselors. We just had two more arrivals this morning and we have more counselors on their way later today and tomorrow. We have a full staff ready to guide you on your way to being Grown Ups. Now, this first exercise is about whining."
Sid, playing the son started to pretend to play with his blocks. Mark, playing the Dad came in.
"Son. It's time to go. We're leaving for the store."
"I don't wanna go!" Sid whined. "I wanna stay home and play. The store is boring!"
"You're going," Mark said firmly. "Get your coat on. Now. We're leaving. Come on!" Sid finally got up and walked behind his father figure. They turned back to the crowd. "Now let's bring someone up to try." Many hands were raised. A New Man came up and when confronted with whining, he didn't do too well.
"Um...okay...could you please just come with us? Because we are going to the store now."
"Nope," Sid replied, happily playing with his blocks. "I don't want to. I want to play here."
"Come on! We uh...we have to go now," the New Man tried ushering him with his hands, and it looked futile. Sid ignored him.
"Be firmer with him. Repeat after me. Everyone. Get up."
"Get up!" the crowd responded.
"We're going to the store. Get your coat." The boys repeated each phrase. "We're leaving. Now!" The boys repeated. "See what I did there? I only raised my voice a tiny bit to my son know that I meant it. You don't always have to scream and shout. You always want to start off being patient, and then if he ignores you, let your son know that you mean business.
They brought up several New Dads to try this exercise out and some stayed on the ground floor lining up to practice with counselors. They moved on to the next exercise, in which Sid was wanting a box of cereal at the grocery store.
"But I want Lucky Charms! Dad, please!"
"No, that's got no nutritional value in it. We'll choose this cereal. It's healthy for you."
"I don't want that! I want THIS cereal!" Sid stomped his foot.
"Put it back. PUT IT BACK. NOW! Before I get angry," Mark warned. Sid hesitated, and then complied, putting his cereal back on the piece of stage furniture.
"You never want to back down from conflict when your son refutes you. In other words, if your son disobeys you, especially in public, and tries to control you, you have to be strict. You have to resist the urge to give in. Now, how about we bring someone up. Ed. You." Big Ed gulped and came up on stage. He realized with shock that he was almost as big a man as the giant on stage.
Sid pretended to be the son and Ed the father. Ed wasn't given a microphone so that he could get into the role more easily.
"Daddy, I want this cereal. Can I please have it, pleeeeease?"
"Um...no?"
"Weak!" Mark commented. "Tell him no."
"No, you can't have that. It's got too much sugar," Ed told the boy. His heart was racing. He'd never been in any position of authority before.
"But Daddy! I want it! I like Lucky Charms!"
"No..I..."
"I want my Lucky Charms! I want my Lucky Charms! I WANT MY LUCKY CHARMS!" Sid yelled, simulating a little boy having a tantrum.
"PUT IT BACK NOW! I SAID NOW!" Ed grabbed the cereal out of the boy's hands, and then got afraid he went too far.
"That was better. You don't want to get too angry too quickly, though. Remember that, everyone. You will keep your cool, but be firm. Try it again. This time, tell him to keep HIS voice down. Tell him no. Tell him to put it back. Tell him it's because you said so. Tell him he might get grounded if he throws a tantrum in public. Ask him if he wants that." Mark prompted.
Sid got ready with his cereal box. "I want my Lucky Charms! Please, they're my favorite! I WANT LUCKY CHARMS! I WANT MY LUCKY CHAAARMS!"
"I said NO. Put it back right now."
"Why?" Sid asked, playing his part.
"Because I said so. Because I make the decisions in this family. Don't act that way again or I'll ground you. Is that what you want?"
"No," Sid said, quietly.
"Alright, then." Big Ed put the cereal box back and Mark prompted everyone to give him a round of applause.
"That was excellent, Ed! Good job! Now, let's all practice with your kid counselors. They're going to throw tantrums and you're going to handle them. They'll tell you if you're going too far and coach you on how to say no to them..."
Big Ed didn't know how to feel about these exercises. On one hand, he felt weird about the thought of telling his dad what to do. On the other hand, he felt good that he was doing well. Each counselor that he practiced with did something a little different, presenting a new twist on the situation, and Ed had to think about how to react as the adult. He was getting really encouraging remarks, whereas he overheard some of the New Men screaming and going too far, or being really ineffective and meek, not really taking advantage of their new deeper authority-capable voices.
The next exercises were even more intimidating. Sid as the son wanted to go to an R rated movie, but his Dad wanted to take him to see a family film. The New Men were coached on how to react, and tell their New Sons that they should do as they were told. That they were in charge, and it was either the movie THEY wanted to see or they wouldn't see anything at all.
Another exercise involved Sid as the son asking to drink some of his dad's beer or smoke one of his cigarettes. Once again, Ed was brought on stage.
"Now, I want you to ad lib here. We're going to see if you can do this without a prompt, Ed. You ready for that?"
"Sure," Ed told him.
"Alright. Action!" Mark bellowed, as if he were the director of a movie. Sid went into little kid mode.
"Daddy?"
"Yes, son?" Ed ad-libbed.
"I was just wondering. One of my friends, his dad let him have a sip of his beer the other day. He said it tasted really awesome. Can you give me a sip? I won't tell anyone."
"Uh...no. Beer is for grown ups. Sorry."
"Come on, Dad! Just let me try one sip. Pleeeeease? Please? I just want to be like you, Dad! You drink beer!"
"Beer is for grown ups. Don't make me say it again. Do you want to be grounded?"
"No," Sid replied, looking down.
"Good. Now don't bother me again asking that question. Little boys are not allowed to drink beer. Did you know that?"
"Yes."
"Then why ask me that?"
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay." Ed smiled sheepishly.
"Not bad!" Mark concluded. "That was actually handled really well! That was good! You want to respond with this situation in a few ways. You want to remind the child that he already knows the rules. That's first. You want to remind him that he's the child and not the grown up. You want to make the child feel like asking that question was NOT appropriate. And bringing up grounding was good. But you want to tell them why it's inappropriate. I would say something like 'Beer is for grownups because children can't handle it and it could make them sick or put them in danger if they fall down, or throw up. You want to remind them their bodies are different. That goes double for smoking. You want to tell them their new bodies will get sick if they try it, and you also want to say something like you think that story about his friend's dad allowing him beer is BULLSHIT. That was a bullshit story guys. How many of you bought it?"
A few of the New Dads begrudgingly raised their hands.
"It's almost never true. And then turn it back on them. Ask them if they think most dads give their little boys beer, and what people would think of them if they did that. You want to make them think about how other adults would view you for taking an inappropriate action. You are the adults, which means other adults will hold you accountable for raising your children decently, and NOT letting them do whatever they want. Your sons NEED your discipline. Now, let's bring some new people up..."
Lunch break was next. Big Ed saw several boys trying cigarettes and lighting them up for the first time. He realized he really wanted to smoke. He got one of the cigars that Little Russ had handed over to him. He sniffed it. It smells like heaven, he thought. But it took a long time to smoke one of these, so he tried a cigarette for the first time. He found a bunch of New Men looking ridiculously overexcited and proud of themselves for being able to take their first smoke break. The cigarette taste made his mouth feel much more tingly. It was strange and familiar, just like his new body. He enjoyed the rush he had afterwards, flowing through his body. He felt...better when he smoked, he realized. Refreshed.
It felt exciting. It felt real. It felt like it made the entire "being a grown up man" thing solid as his new reality.
When Mental Training ended, Physical Training began. The new recruits jumped through tires, did pull ups, push ups, ran in formation shouting "ONE TWO THREE FOUR! I'M A GROWN MAN NOW FOR SURE!" They did jumping jacks.
"Now, for a little surprise," Mark told them. "We have a special concoction straight from the US Army. It's a little boost. Now most of your bodies are in good shape. We are selective in this camp. We don't accept men who are too overweight due to the nature of this program. But some of you are in your 40s and your metabolism isn't the same as some of you in your early 30s. We have here," Mark said, holding up a syringe. "An incredible new discovery. One of the reasons this camp gets funded is we do research on chemicals that are currently only being used with elite special forces. This drug is known as Gromaxum. Now for years, steroids have been a problem because they harm the organs so you don't want to take anabolics. You also have a problem with myostatin. It's the chemical responsible for inhibiting muscle growth. But if you stop myostatin, the organs will grow really large along with the muscles. So how to stop that? Gromaxum essentially tells your body to respond to exercise TEN to TWENTY times faster than that of the average man. That means you are all, if you play your cards right, going to look like Sylvester Stallone or Arnold Schwarzenegger. You will be lean muscle machines. It will require three injections over the next two weeks. Do NOT repeat any of this to your SONS. This is just between us," Mark said with a flourish and a wide grin. "Now who's going to be first? Who wants to look like THIS? I mean a few of you do. Ed here has a huge body and a few of you have your dad's football frames but most of you are gonna grow at least 50 pounds of muscle by the end of next month! 25 pounds a month."
The boys did not need a lot of convincing, although some of them were still babies when it came to needles and getting injections. Some had to close their eyes as Mark and the kid counselors injected the recruits.
"So am I really going to get bigger? I'm already pretty big." Big Ed flexed his muscles for Mark.
"You're only what, 220? See, your body has big arms but they're beefy. They're not all muscle. They've got some fat on them. Your legs need work and you've got a bit of a beer belly. We're gonna make that fat sizzle off and by the time this is over, between losing about 25 pounds of fat and the muscle growth, I'd say I can get you up to 250 or even 270. You're going to be one of the biggest guys here when I'm through with you."
Big Ed's eyes bulged. He hadn't realized he had that much fat, but he felt both slightly ashamed at his fat content and thrilled that he was going to transform into some kind of superhero muscled freak! He soon forgot thinking about his New Son. He was worried about Sully, and the mental exercises had freaked him out, but now he was just so excited to be a HUGE man!
He smoked a cigar after dinner. It felt different but he was sort of getting used to it. It felt like a relief. A reward after a long day of work. Big Lewis came out in his dad's body and lit up a cigarette, smiling. His father had quit smoking years ago but Big Lewis was really enjoying himself. The 7 year old, now in his 40s, was just so handsome. Big Ed hadn't realized how handsome his father could be. But in the evening light, he realized his father was an incredibly handsome man. And that stubble! He felt his own goatee. It was still unreal he had facial hair! He went to the latrine and posed in front of the mirror, trying to picture what it would be like when he didn't have the fat. He was so excited about being in a big grown up body, he hadn't really thought about the blubber he now had around his waist, but listening to Mark, he was now ready for the next step...
Meanwhile, Mark and Sid, along with Big Tim, who was occupying Sid's body, met alone in their cabin, separate from the camp. Counselors who offered to trade with fatherless boys bunked together with them.
"Well, boy. How do you like your first full day of adulthood?" He offered a cigar to Big Tim (picture mid 90s actor John Wesley Shipp), who accepted it with a big smile plastered all over his face. He bit his lip and nodded his head the way an excited child would. Mark corrected him and told him to maintain his poise, and not to gyrate so much. All those little kid behaviors would be weaned out in the next few weeks, he thought.
When Big Tim was off to bed, Sid who was now a little boy looked up at his partner. Mark was his business partner as well as his romantic partner, though they never told the public that.
"So, that went well. I have an idea, though."
"What's that?" Sid asked.
"I was thinking, maybe this time, you could really get the full experience. Why not bunk over with the New Sons when we finish up training exercises?"
"I don't like to do that. It might diminish me in their eyes if I'm bunking with them. They might start to see me as just a little kid and not listen to me. I've done that before and it didn't work too well. They took me less seriously."
"I want to do this as an experiment," his partner told him, putting fatherly hands on his little boy shoulders. "Try it out. For me. Please. I think we really need more reliable data. The counselors with the Littles get more respect because they are still in adult sized bodies. We need to perfect a way for the Littles to listen to counselors in kids bodies more or we'll have to stop doing it. Otherwise, we can only swap them for the time it takes us to do training. And that means paying willing participants rather than getting paid. You'd be helping us to figure out exactly how to get this formula down. We're still working out kinks and we've been doing this for over 7 years."
Sid thought about it and eventually nodded his head. "If you think it's for the good of the business, I'll bunk with some of the Littles when we get back."
"Attaboy!"
As per their tradition, Mark tucked his partner, how a Little Boy, into bed and kissed him on the forehead. After he went back to his cabin room, he shut the door and made some notes in his journal:
"Sid went for it hook, line and sinker. I can't wait for my real plan to be enacted. I'm going to be in charge of this whole facility by the end of summer. Now, as for the brainwashing devices, they are testing with increasing effectiveness as we tinker with our modeling..."
He wrote a few technical jargon notes that only a professional military expert trained in the art of subliminal messages and brainwashing would truly understand. His research for the military was going to make him a rich man. Much richer than they had been running the outfit so far, he thought with satisfaction.