Praneel was going to the attic when he noticed Danny's room was open. Praneel didn't have any siblings, so he usually saw Danny as the closest thing to a brother to him, even though Danny didn't like to hang out with him very often. Taking advantage that Danny wasn't around and that his little cousin was downstairs trying to fit in his loose clothes, Praneel quickly snuck inside and started to admire the big boy stuff that Danny had in his place.
After looking at several photo albums and school trophies, he discovered an odd device that he had recognized from advertising on the internet - the Pubertaway. Like many people, Praneel didn't believe that thing can turn a person younger. He remembered that the young cousin named exactly like his neighbor, and realized that maybe that kid was his 16 year old neighbor who he used to admire.
Meanwhile, Danny tried to open the attic door so that Praneel can get the box. However, he was unable to reach the door even though the boy was standing on his toes. Realizing how short he had become, Danny headed to his bedroom to fetch a computer chair. It was then that he saw his neighbor looking at the Pubertaway. Praneel made a little jump and almost broke the device which Danny noticed and got upset about it.
“You’re Danny, my neighbor, aren't you?” Praneel asked while he held the Pubertaway in his hands. “This thing made you younger, right? How old are you now?”
Ashamed, Danny answered honestly, "Yes, I'm the same Danny, and that thing made me younger. I'm 8 years old now, just like you. I've just got it for my birthday because I wanted to live at a younger age again. Well, I got a bit younger than I wanted, but that was my fault."
Danny blushed as soon as he was finished. He was still a little bit upset that Praneel had gone in his room. “To be honest, I was wishing this because I'm the oldest out of my cousins, and one of the oldest in the neighborhood that isn't a parent. Some of my cousins are changing with certain body parts getting bigger, and it reminded me of when my body was still growing, so I wanted to go down to their level and see what that was like again. Looking at me now, that won't be happening for at least a few years. Oh well. I could use a break from being grown anyway."
“So... How long do you want to stay like that?” Praneel asked while he looked at his neighbor's younger self.
“This weekend. I can't skip school.” Danny said while he smiled and put his arms behind his head, something that he hadn't done for years. Praneel was excited at the idea of hanging out with an 8 year old Danny.
“I've heard this device takes age from people and turns it into a gel. If you want to get older, you only put that gel on your skin and you grow back.” Praneel said while he opened the Pubertaway where the gel with Danny's age was stored.
“Yeah, those are 8 eight years of my life.” Danny blushed a little once again. “I went through a lot of changes in those 8 years. Puberty was intense!”
“I know, I can barely recognize you.” Praneel said, he stopped for a second and continued. Danny can see some embarrassment in his look. "I was wondering... Since you're gonna be my age for a while, and you never make time for me as it is, I was wondering if...maybe..."
"You want to spend the day with me, right?" Danny said with a sly grin on his face.
"Yes! It's really lonely at home, and I don't have any friends at school, but maybe we can be friends? Please! Please!"
"Ok, but there are some conditions," Danny said.
"Anything you want!"
“Ok, the first one is that I want you to give me some of your clothes for the weekend. I feel silly with wearing this loose shirt and this underpants are from my cousin and I suspect they're not very clean.” Danny said and Praneel immediately nodded in agreement. "Also, you're gonna have to carry that box of junk with me to your place. I would've carried it alone at 16, but it's probably too heavy for me now."
Danny was about to finish when he observed the excited look on his neighbor's face. He then looked over at the contents of the Pubertaway whoch gave him another idea.
"One last thing. Can I trust you to hold on to the Pubertaway for the weekend? It's so that I won't bail on you early, but you gotta keep it safe."
"I promise I'll be extra careful with it, Danny. After all, we're friends now, right?" Praneel offered Danny a handshake, which he promptly accepted. The two neighbors, now friends, headed back to the hallway to obtain the box that Praneel came to the house for.
Moving the box proved to be a bigger effort than either had expected. Danny still needed the chair to reach and open the door. Both boys had to go up to the attic where Danny had to watch his steps as he was barefoot and was due for a tetanus shot the following week. They had to be mindful of where their feet were going due to the flights of stairs they had to go down, as well as the loose shirt that Danny still had on.
Eventually, Danny and Praneel arrived at the house and dropped off the box. Praneel remembered to retrieve the Pubertaway that Danny let him take, which he did while waiting for Danny to get changed into Praneel's clothes. The two met outside afterwards and headed to the park. What Danny failed to realize was that the note that his dad left behind said for him not to leave the house should he end up young enough to not leave the house unsupervised.