Jenny felt her body start to grow just as Emily reached her.
"Give me that," said Emily as she took the remote out of her still weak hands. "How did you get out of your play pen?"
Ignoring the question, Jenny smiled as she could feel her body growing taller and her baby legs becoming stronger and more steady. She just hoped that Emily would still be unaware of the changes.
Then, Jenny felt a wave of distortion hit as the world seemed to shift around her. She looked over at where the playpen had been to see that the fence was gone now. She looked at Emily who seemed just a little older than she was a minute ago, maybe in her mid-twenties now.
And, as suddenly as the change had begun, it stopped, leaving Jenny still a little girl not even waist high to Jenny. She looked down at her pink dress and guessed that she was probably just barely 4 years old now.
"Noooo," she wailed in her little girl voice.
"Nope," said Emily holding up the Chronivac remote. "This is not a toy."
"But..." said Jenny, who was just getting used to being able to speak again. "I, uh, I wasn't going to break it. I just wanted to, uh, look at it is all."
Emily shook her head. "Sorry, Sweetie. I don't think Grandpa wants you playing with his stuff. Why don't you go grab your Barbies? Hmm?"
Realizing that she could not get the remote back just then, Jenny decided that it was best to retreat for now and try to get the remote again when Emily put it down.
Jenny started down the seemingly much larger hallway to her room, and then it hit her.
"The Chronivac!" she said and ran to her room to use the computer. But, when she got there, the door was closed and locked.
"Noooo," she wailed again as she yanked on the immovable door knob.
Jenny noticed that her former little sister's room across the hall was still painted pink and full of toys. She realized that this must have been her room now... and her toys. She entered her new room, but could not see a computer anywhere.
"Of course," she said. "Who would put a computer in a 4-year-old's room?" She looked back at the locked door. "It must still be in there."
Feeling defeated, Jenny sat down on the floor. Surrounded by dolls and pink walls, she felt so small and hopeless. She was happy not to be a little baby anymore, but being a little girl was not much better. Once more, she felt tears in her eyes. Being as young as she was, her emotions seemed much more volatile now. And, as much as she wanted to stop crying and to act more mature, she could not. It was a terrible situation, but the worst part of the whole mess for her was that she had done it to herself. If she had not been messing around so carelessly with the Chronivac, she would still be a teenaged boy and not her own little sister's toddler girl. And now, she might be stuck this way.
She cried for a few minutes, until she felt exhausted and stopped.
"No," Jenny said summoning her focus and wiping her eyes. "I'm not giving up. I'll figure out a way to get the remote back."
She heard footsteps in the hallway.
"Jenny? Are you OK in there, Dear?" asked Emily.
"Fine," she piped. "Uh, Mommy."
"Come on back here with your Barbies so I can keep an eye on you while I iron. OK, Sweetie?"
Even though playing with dolls was the last thing Jenny wanted to do just then, she felt it was best to pretend to be a little girl for now, until she found an opportunity to get the remote back.
"Coming!" she said.
She grabbed the nearest Barbies she could find and headed back for the living room. For now, she would have to do her best at being a good little girl.