You looked at your brother, almost giving him a double take. "Really?" you asked. "You feel like playing basketball after eating all that much? You're not sluggish or anything?"
"Nah," Kyle said. "I feel like I have tons of energy! Like I'm about to explode or something!" As you drove, you examined him out of the corner of your eye, and you noticed him fidget in his seat a bit, adjusting his shorts, which were tenting up. You realized that something was going on, somehow, to get him excited. You didn't know if it was the hormones or the food, or something else, but you started to worry a bit for your brother.
As you got to the park, you grabbed a basketball you kept in the trunk for situations like this and walked over with Kyle to the courts. They were mostly deserted, so you started playing a game of one on one with him.
"First one to ten wins!" he yelled. You always let him take the ball first, since he was younger, and you were accustomed to going easy on him to keep it competitive and let him win sometimes. But as he started playing, he seemed to burst forth with energy, driving right around you faster than you could defend and going straight for the basket, scoring an easy layup. As you got the ball back, you started dribbling, but then as quick as lighting, Kyle was able to steal the ball away from you and run back down the court, laying it in again.
"All right!" he called out. "Two - Zip!"
You decided to step up your game, realizing you might be dealing with more than you could handle. You were able to get a couple of jump shots, but each time you missed, Kyle would jump above you and grab the rebound, and he ran down the court way too fast for you to catch up. After ten minutes, Kyle won - no, he crushed you, at a score of 10-3.
"Wooohooo!" he yelled, raising his hands into the air in victory! He looked up at you and saw a certain level of concern in your face. "Oh, I'm sorry, big bro," he said, as his smile faded away. "I didn't mean to make you feel bad or nothing."
"No, that's alright," you said. "I'm glad for you. You were playing in a different gear or something today."
His face lit up again, and he stepped towards you and hugged you tight. As he did, you noticed that he was now inching closer to your height - the growth had started again. You sighed and cursed silently to yourself. Still, it was comforting, you realized, to know that no matter what would happen with Kyle, you could still depend on him to admire and love you as your little bro. You hoped that would never change.
When you got home, it was nearly eight o'clock at night. You were afraid that Kyle would be hungry again, but as he stepped in the house, he let out a huge yawn.
"Boy, big bro, today's been a long one. I think I'm ready for bed."
"That's a good idea," you said, though in the back of your mind you knew that it meant he might experience another growth spurt in his sleep.
"Hey, bro," Kyle looked at you, his eyes big and innocent. "Would you mind sleeping with me in my bed tonight?"
The question took you aback. He hadn't asked you to do that in years. "Well, sure, Kyle," you said, "but why would you want me to do that?"
Kyle shrugged. "I dunno," he said. "After all that we've gone through today, I think I'd feel better if you did."
"Of course," you said as you patted him on the shoulder.
Thirty minutes later, after showers for both of you and changing into your sleep clothes (which for Kyle consisted of one of your white shirts and mesh shorts, and for you was just your boxers), you climbed in bed with him. He wrapped his arms around you tight, and as he closed his eyes he said, "Good night, big bro. I love you."
"I love you too, Kyle," you said, smiling. "Don't ever forget that."
You slept as soundly as you had ever done before, and only the sunlight seeping in through the blinds would wake you in the morning. Well, that, and a large knee hitting you in the back.
You opened your eyes and turned over to face Kyle. Sure enough, he had grown significantly during the night again, and was lying in a fetal position. You compared your body to his. He was now bigger than you, and substantially so. Looking at his face, you saw that he was still sleeping.
Quietly crawling out of bed, you gently rolled Kyle over until he was lying straight on his back, being careful not to wake him. Your shirt was now starting to rip on his chest, and the elastic band on the mesh shorts was cutting into his waist, and they revealed a lot of thigh.
You needed to figure out something. You quietly walked downstairs and grabbed the tape measure from where you left it on the kitchen table, then went back up to the bedroom. Stretching it out, you measured Kyle from head to toe. Even though you expected it to be big, you weren't really prepared for the number you got.
Seventy-seven and a half inches. That was six feet five and a half. In one day, your brother had grown almost 17 inches, and in the past two, he had grown thirty! You weren't sure how to deal with this.
Your thoughts drifted to your parents, and you realized they were still going to be gone for another twelve days. You had to figure something out. Sitting down at your desk, you grabbed a pencil and a sheet of paper and wrote down some numbers. If Kyle had grown thirty inches in two days (even though it hadn't actually been a full two days), then he was averaging fifteen inches a day. If that kept up, then by the time your parents got back, he would be… you did a few quick multiplication and addition problems, then nearly broke the lead of your pencil when you wrote down the number. Two hundred and fifty-nine inches. That was over twenty-one feet tall! You shuddered as you thought of how he would fit into the house, what he would wear, and, perhaps worse of all, how much food he would need at that size. Of course, the growth could and probably would slow down before then… but it could also get worse…
As you tried to wrap your mind around the situation, you turned and saw your brother sitting up in his bead. Yawning, he stretched his arms up high, then smacked his lips as he looked at you. Smiling, he said, "Good morning, bro!"
"Good morning, Kyle," you returned. "How're you feeling?"
He tilted his head from side to side, then looked like he was thinking, before finally answering...