Chuck pulled down one of the blinds and saw those damned Jenkinses from the other side of Michael's house yelling at the boy.
"-out here in fronta Chucks house dressed like a freak." Chuck heard the Jenkins man, Arnold he saw as he looked on the Chronivac's screen. His wife, a withered crone of a woman clutched the leash of their yappy little dog as both of them looked disapprovingly at the young Jacob who was wiping the sweat he had worked up from doing what Chuck wanted in the yard.
Chuck didn't like that couple. In their old age, they had been there in the neighborhood before Chuck had gotten there eight years ago. Chuck had waved to them when he had been out front and they had been walking by but they had always said rude things like, "Mow your yard, and "your house is bringing down the whole neighborhood."
Chuck highlighted the couple and saw that they were named Richard and Margie Jenkins. Chuck pulled the slider and saw that Richard had been relatively good looking at about the time he was in the Vietnam war. He typed away as the couple continued to interrogate Jacob, making changes with ease now that he knew the program.
Richard Jenkins was halfway through a tirade on the neighbor boy when he felt his wife go still. She let out a groans and said suddenly, "Dick, something's wrong." He turned to her and saw that she was staring at him wide eyed. Of course something had gone wrong because instead of seeing his wife of 45 years, he saw staring back at him a version of himself in her clothes, her, or his hand still manicured and still clutching the handle of a leash that no longer held their dog Mittens. Instead of being connected to mittens, the leash ran over to Dick's collar.
They had both gone silent. Eyes wide with horror as Margie and he went through alarming changes. Now instead of Richard and Margie, there were two Dick's standing there. Both watched in horror as age began to recede from their faces. They watched as lines and wrinkles vanished in a matter of seconds and Margie thought to herself, "He looks just like he did the day I married him." Of course, Dick was more focused on the fact that his wife had become a rapidly youthening version of himself. But that wasn't all. Dick found himself unable to form words. He tried to saw, "What's going on?" but all that came out of his mouth was a muffled whine.
Dick gasped as Margie's clothes became a copy of the fatigues he had worn as a young enlisted man in Vietnam. Before him stood an exact copy of himself as a young Private.
Margie still didn't say anything but Dick watched as her, now his clothes became less like the standard Vietnam-era uniform and more like a caricature. The pants became shorts the fatigue jacket opened to reveal nothing underneath. The dog tags now on display reading, "Private Dick."
When his wife spoke again in his younger voice, Dick had expected her to question what was going on but instead he heard him say, "Hurry up and piss."
Richard might have said something more but he'd found he couldn't.
He felt his former wife yank the leash a bit and he dropped to all fours. Dick looked down at himself and realized he was completely naked except for the collar and leash Private Dick was now holding.