Ric thought about asking Mr. Mendes about the changes that were coming with growing up, changes that were becoming increasingly obvious in his own, and now even his brother's, bodies. But the more drastic physical changes Ric had just experienced made them seem fairly innocuous.
Perhaps after he had more fully adjusted to his altered life, his attention would turn back to those thoughts, but at that moment, his newly-created memories were forming a far more pressing desire:
"Let's go play soccer!"
"Yeah!" Josh concurred, jumping up and down beside the towering Mr. Mendes.
Mr. Mendes smiled. "All right, boys. I'll go get the ball, and we'll go to the park. We can have lunch there too."
"All right!" Josh cried, and started galloping around the room.
Ric felt excited too, although he wasn't sure why at first. But then his new memories came flooding in: how he'd loved kicking around a ball ever since he was able to trot, and how good he'd gotten at it, winning over skeptical friends on the field, friends who might have shied away from his unusual body otherwise. And then how some other kids and parents, bitter at his continued success, lobbied the school to block him from the team, due to his "unfair advantage." Mr. Mendes had fought long and hard for him, but in the end the others won and Ric was off the team.
His mother commiserated, but was probably glad she didn't have to keep buying shoes.
In the end, Ric didn't mind so much about the team, but he really wanted to play. So he quickly slid the Book of Transformation onto a shelf behind some other books, and galloped off to follow Josh and Mr. Mendes out of the house.