Two teenagers walked into the shop, a girl and a boy, presumably a couple. Mr. Chesterton could only groan. He hated working with teenagers. Whiny, indecisive, small-minded. Adults were more craven and willing to take risks.
The youths were wearing prep school uniforms. The girl, who looked to be of Spanish origin, stood about 5'3 with long black hair down to her waist. The boy was a few inches taller at 5'8, pasty white and with a brown bowl cut.
Mr. Chesterton sighed and began the intake process.
"What are your names, and what is your desire?"
"Daniella," the girl said. "My name is Daniella, and this is my boyfriend Tom. What we want is....is...what we want you to do is"
"Make us adults." Tom blurted. "We're tired of school, our overbearing parents, not being able to do fun stuff...we just want freedom."
Oh that's original, Mr. Chesterton thought. A bunch of dumb kids asking for things they cannot possibly handle. Well, he's not one to be picky. Mr. Chesterton let them ramble on for a few minutes. Oh, we've been together for two years. Oh, we want to embark on our lives. Humans and their endless need to talk. Talk, talk, talk. When they were done, Mr. Chesterton responded firmly.
"I can give you what you want. I can make you any age you wish...with a price."
"We can give you $50,000. That's our combined savings for our college fund."
Mr. Chesterton stopped Tom in his tracks. Money was never accepted at his shop. There would be no fun to any of this if the participants could just buy what they wanted. No, if they wanted something, they were going to have to PAY for it.
With a voice barely above a whisper, he laid out his options for the two teens.
1. Make them adults, but turn Daniella into a man and Tom into a woman.
"What?!?!?!?" I'm not becoming a guy" Daniella cried.
2. Make them adults, but each one will lose a parent.
"Are you insane" Tom shouted. "I'm not killing my stepmom or dad for this"
3. Make them adults, but senior citizens rather than young adults.
Neither responded well to this either, with Daniella faking a gagging noise.
Mr. Chesterton responded angrily. "So you want gifts from me, but for no cost??? That is not how this works. Either choose one of my conditions or leave my shop immediately."
Daniella and Tom thought it over briefly and walked out. They would just have to wait to be adults.
As he closed the door behind them, Mr. Chesterton could only smile. They would come back, very soon he predicted. No one else on Earth could give them what they wanted and they knew it.