Jeff's little little sister looked up at him hopefully, unaware that he was the cause of her predicament. Jeff smiled reassuringly as he mentally planned his next move.
"Let me think a minute, Em," said Jeff. He started to pace around behind her chair. He really was thinking, but not about helping her, the opposite actually. He realized that he wanted to try out some of the other settings on the Chronivac. Seeing how Emily was already small, he might as well keep her that size, but make her the right age for her height. With his back turned to her he programmed the remote to change her age to 18 months old. He turned around to find her staring at her stubby fingers in silent horror. Smirking, he fired the remote at her.
"Oh," she cried. "It's happening again. I feel it. Oh no! What now?"
This time the changes were more subtle. Her body rapidly slimmed down as her face started to look younger. Her nose shrank, and her cheeks grew fuller and rounder. Soon, she looked more like a chubby little girl than a dwarf. She watched wide-eyed as her hands shrank down to toddler proportions and her shrinking feet slipped out of her shoes. A few seconds later, there was an innocent looking toddler sitting on the chair wearing the over-sized clothes of a 10-year-old girl.
"What happened?" she asked and then gasped as she heard her own squeaky little voice. "I sound like a baby!"
"Wow," said Jeff, trying to hide his delight. "That's amazing. You look just like a toddler now."
Holding the back of the chair and the table for balance, Emily climbed out of her pants and underwear and stood up as tall as she could, which was still 2'8". Her T-shirt draped over her whole body like a dress.
"Why is this happening to me?" she wailed as she looked at her diminished body.
"Maybe we should get you out of the room altogether," Jeff suggested.
Emily nodded and moved toward the edge of the chair. She could walk more easily now that her limbs and feet were the right size for her height, but it still looked like a long drop to the floor. She knelt down then lay down on her belly on top of her discarded clothes and let her feet dangle off he edge of the chair. She then slipped off of the chair and onto the floor. For a second she tottered on her feet, but then she lost her balance and fell back onto her butt. Jeff stifled a laugh. She looked like a newborn deer trying to walk for the first time.
"Can I help you up?" he offered. She held out a hand to him, her face red with embarrassment. He lifted her up, noting how she weighed almost nothing now. Still leaning over and holding her hand, he led her to the front room. It was a slow walk as she still toddled along unsteadily on her weak little legs. When they reached the couch Jeff lifted her up holding her under the arms and set her down on the couch.
"Oof," she said as she landed. "Thank you."
"No problem," said Jeff as he gently sat down next to her. "I'm here for you no matter what."
She smiled at him. "Thank you."
Jeff marveled at how she looked now. She still looked like his sister, there was no mistaking her face, only it was a version of his sister that he had not seen for years. His admiration for the powers of the Chronivac grew even more. He could only imagine how awful it must be for her to be 10 years old mentally in the body of a toddler.
"It's magic," she said, staring off into space. "This has to be some kind of magic or something. How else could this be possible?"
Jeff remained silent.
"I mean, a person doesn't just grow and shrink and turn into a baby out of nowhere," she said and turned her eyes towards his. Jeff hoped that she couldn't read his thoughts on his face, because he was already formulating his next change for her.
"Well," he said. "If it's magic, then what do we do to stop it?"
Emily looked deep in thought, which was an adorable expression on her baby face. "Well," she said. "It seems like someone is playing a trick on me. Maybe if I let them know that they've won or that I give up, then they'll turn me back."
Jeff nodded. "Could work."
Emily shouted, "Did you hear that? I said you won. I give up. Please turn me back to normal." She waited, silently expecting some sort of response whether it be a voice replying to her or some new transformation. Meanwhile, Jeff held the Chronivac remote at his side, out of her view. He peaked at it as he typed in her next change.
When Jeff finished preparing, he knew that he needed a diversion. He said, "Did you hear that?"
"What?"
"Over there," he said and pointed at the corner of the room. As she looked over at the corner expectantly, Jeff fired the remote at her again.