After the football game was over, the guys decided to go home so they could have some dinner. Since it was summer, the sun didn’t set until way past 8PM at night, so the guys could stay out and play in the park as late as possible.
Dustin and Ty had gone home, but Peter decided to take a shortcut through the park. He hoped to see a few of his friends on the basketball court, so that hey could play a quick two-on-two basketball game.
Unfortunately there were just a few younger kids on the basketball court. None of them were around Peter’s age, for they were all around 10 or 11 years old.
Peter was 17 years old, and at 6 ft 3 inches tall, he was far older, bigger, taller and stronger than these kids. He felt disappointed that none of the four kids who were there were even older than eleven years old. He sat on the wooden bench for a few minutes, and quietly watched the boys play. They were about 5 ft tall so none of them was able to dunk the basketball. He felt too old to play with these, kids, and decided to get up and walk home instead.
Feeling sad and lonely, Peter stood up and turned around, slowly walking off the court. Suddenly, he heard a voice.
“Hey… Don’t you want to play basketball?” the voice said. Peter recognized Allen’s voice, but he couldn’t see him.
“Allen? Is that you?” he asked.
“I thought you liked to play basketball!” Allen continued.
“I do! I do! But… Where are you? I don’t see you anywhere….” Peter asked, as he turned around and looked everywhere in confusion. He could hear Allen’s voice in his ears, but he couldn’t see him anywhere.
“You won’t see me, Peter!” the voice said, with a chuckle.
“Huh? Where are you?”
“I’m inside of you, Peter!” Allen’s voice boomed inside his head. “I’m your body! I’m here to help you and watch over you, and I change you as I see the need arise for you to be changed!”
Peter’s mouth dropped wide open.
“Why aren’t you playing basketball?”
“Uhh… There are just a couple of eleven year-old kids here… None of them are around my age…” Peter answered sadly.
“So what? Don’t you want to play basketball?” Allen responded.
“Sure, I do!”
“Well then. If these kids are eleven years old, don’t let their age keep you from playing basketball! If you want to play with them, then you should also be eleven years old! Get ready… Set… Go!” Allen cheered out loud.
“Hey… What…?” Peter gasped. Suddenly, he felt his body shrinking. No, he wasn’t just shrinking. He was becoming younger, just like Allen said he would!
His hair on his legs disappeared as his legs grew shorter and skinny. His chest, arms and torso began to shrink as well, as Peter slowly began to regress further. As soon as he passed the opposite side of puberty, he suddenly made a steep drop in height, until he reached the same height he had when he was eleven years old!
Peter continued to look down at his body, as Allen quickly allowed his clothes to adjust. In fact, his oversized t-shirt transformed into a jersey and his big shorts turned into a matching pair that went along with his jersey. His size 13 shoes slowly shrunk down until they fit his size 8 feet. He was all dressed up to play basketball! The only difference was, he was now an eleven year-old kid again.
He turned around and walked back on the court. The four boys didn’t seem that small anymore. In fact, they were about the same height as him.
“Hey! We need one more player! Do you want to play?” one of the kids shouted at him.
“Sure!” Peter cheered.
Peter proudly joined the 11 year old boys in their little game of basketball. It seemed a bit tougher at first. The hoop was much higher than he was used to, and the ball seemed a bit bigger and heavier. Not only that, but Peter was no longer the biggest and tallest kid on the court. He was just as big as the other kids.
“Have fun Peter!” Allen whispered into Peter’s ears, as he continued to watch the game through his eyes.
When the boys’ parents arrived, all four of them left, leaving Peter alone. Allen had left him as an 11 year-old boy, so he no longer had anyone to play with. Peter then crossed the street and walked past the high school that he and Ty attended, when he spotted a couple of his classmates on the basketball court. There was just one problem: He was too young to play with them! He looked like an eleven year-old kid!
What was Allen going to do to him now?