Jacob hadn't been around for months and Shelly began to miss his little brother. Sure, the little snot could be a pain sometimes, but he was adorable and he looked up to Shelly. But, unfortunately, Jacob got into too much trouble at school one too many times and the school board had sent him off to a re-education camp even before Jacob's parents could have time to make it to the school to find out why or how Jacob got into trouble. The re-education laws that passed a few years ago meant that any person under age eighteen could be sent to these camps either by the school board, parents, or the government for any reason what-so-ever. And the kids that went to these camps never came back as the same person as who left. From what Shelly could research the camp did gender reassignment surgery, brain surgery, hypnosis, psychiatric manipulation, and growth attenuation therapy which is a type of therapy that uses female hormones to keep children as short and small as they were when they started therapy for the rest of their lives. In addition to being injected with female hormones, growth attenuation therapy also included breast bud removal in both boys and girls and removal of the ovaries or testicles as well so that the kids will remain looking young for life. For the past month, Shelly noticed his parents had a spaced out look when ever they got back from parenting classes. Shelly had started to ask them when he was going to see his brother again, but his parents always told him the same thing in a spacey monotone voice, "Your......baby.......sibling will be back when.....they're......finished with.......therapy." This really bothered Shelly, but Shelly knew not to press the issue too much. After all, he'd seen what happened to his next door neighbor who went to school with him. For years, John, Shelly's neighbor, had gone through school with him and would normally let Shelly ride in his car to go to high school, but one day, John stopped showing up at Shelly's door to pick him up for class. Months went by without Shelly seeing John at home or at school until one day, he saw a doctor-type person walk with John, who was wearing a harness that was attached to a leash the doctor was holding, through the hallway toward the special education wing of the school. John was wearing a special needs helmet while laughing and drooling onto a mint green bib around his neck. When Shelly noticed the top of John's plastic backed diaper peaking out above the waistband of his pants, he ran to the bathroom to throw up. He knew that he'd lost his friend to the system. Shelly, too, had lost his girlfriend. She'd just disappeared one day and when she returned, she was wearing a boy's hair style, and a boy's 4th grade school uniform and making farting noises with actual ten year old boys and laughing with them at the elementary school across from the high school on the other side of the road. She, like the rest of the elementary students was clearly waiting to board her bus to go home. When Shelly saw her, he'd gone to student council to advocate that trees be planted between the two schools along the road that went through the middle to "make the place more beautiful". Eventually, even Shelly wouldn't escape the fate of attending a re-education camp. One day, while at school, the principle knocked on the door of Shelly's first period English class and had the teacher escort him out of the room and into the hall. Once outside in the hall, two men dressed like orderlies handcuffed him, walked him out of the school and onto a bus that had no windows except for the driver's window. He was forced onto the bus into a small "room" before passing through another metal door into the bus cabin where he was strapped into a seat belt next to a kid who looked to be about fourteen. Shelly tried to find a way to undo the seat belt, but it was secured in such a way that required a key to unlock it. Looking around, Shelly found that he appeared to be only one of two highschoolers on the bus and probably the oldest kid on the bus since he was a senior and he was going to graduate in three months time. And so, with nothing to do, Shelly fell asleep to the banging, crying, and screaming of kids much younger than him. He'd have to wait to plan his escape when he got to his destination.....if he could even escape, then. He'd heard what they did to escapees who got caught and it didn't sound like a pleasant life. Once the bus pulled into the sallyport which was effectively a large secured garage with no windows to the outside world to let the new students on the bus get off the bus without escaping, the kids on the bus stepped down off the bus and were arranged into a group. There were multiple buses there each with its own group. And so, the director of the camp called out names so that kids could join their correct group, therapist, caretakers, and counselor. Some kids were forced to be strapped into wheelchairs. Some kids were forced to be strapped into strollers. Some kids simply had to stand in single file lines while others were forced to hold onto the rings of juvenile looking walking ropes that are typically associated with toddlers. Yet, others still, and most embarrassingly, were forced to wear a harness with a leash similar to one you'd find on a small toddler. When Shelly Long's name got called, he had to make a choice. Should he try to escape or should he go along with the program for now. Either way it was risky and he knew that if he either stayed or got caught running, he wouldn't be the same person ever again. What ever they had in store for him, he'd suffer the fate of identity death. Meanwhile, at home, Shelly and Jacob's parents were happy that they were going to have their family a long while longer. Shelly and Jacob were going to become much "closer in age" and their new ages and personalities "permanently locked" so that they would never have to worry about growing up ever again or having their personality change over time. They'd always be the same kids that the re-education camps programed them to be. Plus the parents were pleased that the growth attenuation therapy was working on Jacob. Too bad they couldn't do it for Shelly, but they'd simply waited too long for the therapy to be of any value. There were a couple of more details to hash out like what gender should one or both children be. Having two boys was nice, but they often wondered what it was like to have a girl instead. The thought of having a special needs child also interested them, but they weren't sure if they were up to the task of the extra work. They were sure that parenting class would help them figure out what path was best for their family. The people teaching parenting class ALWAYS knew what was best for the children.