When morning broke, Matt was the first to wake. He stretched his arms and stood out of bed. He noticed the
room was smaller, then remembered the events of yesterday. Looking down, he had definitely gotten younger. He
was probably 15 years old again. His broken back was a thing of the past, now as good as new. He would of
jumped for joy if he hadn't turned around to wake Jake. His friend was still an old man, peacefully slumbering
on his back with drool in his white beard. He nudged Jake awake, who swatted at him with his hands, saying he
wanted 5 more minutes. Matt pulled on his beard, which certainly woke the man with a yelp. "Ow! What did you
do that for? It's attached to my face!". He rubbed his sore cheeks, then saw his friend was young again. He
hopefully looked down at his own body, only to be saddened to see his fat body coated with white hair. He laid
back down in bed, hoping it was a dream, but Matt's continued attempts to keep him awake proved it wasn't. "I
knew whatever that man said was too good to be true. Of course I'd be unlucky enough to be stuck at 60. Oh
man, I'm the oldest person in my family now!" He put his head into his hands, ready to cry.
Matt rubbed his friend's furry back and tried to comfort him. "Well look on the bright side, you don't have to
go to school. I think you might even be old enough to be retired. Plus you're still pretty attractive for your
age".
Jake smiled at his friend's comments. "Figures you'd be into older men. But I don't want to be retired. I want
to be a kid. School wasn't that bad". He twisted his body to get out of bed, groaning as he stood up and felt
that pain in his knee again. "Well I can't mope about in sadness. I have to go back to that man to see if he's
found anything in his research that could make me younger again".
Matt stopped him and said "First, I think we should get ready and have something to eat. It's only 6 in the
morning, I doubt he'd even be awake".
Jake nodded, his belly growling. "OK, I'll go make us breakfast. You go and find some clothes to wear. I think
my dad has a pile of his old clothing that he's been saving for me for when I was old enough, but I don't
think they'll be of use to me now. They should be under the bed". Jake made his way downstairs, hoping it
would be over soon. He'd left the clothes he'd borrow from his neighbour on the armchair, thinking he wouldn't
need them again. He put them on, a little tighter than they should be, and almost threw his back out as he
yanked his pants on. He was starting to get used to his weird body quirks, and wondered whether he wanted to
get younger. The stray thought scared him. Of course he wanted to be younger! He didn't want to be fat and
hairy for the rest of his shortened life. But maybe being old wasn't too bad. He certainly liked his beard,
and he was getting used to his bare scalp. And as his friend said, he was still attractive, in a faded beauty
type of way. Even if he could get younger, maybe he'd only stop at 45 so he could continue his friendship with
Graham next door. The clock man did mention something about a token that could change reality to make him fit
at whatever age. He opened the fridge door and grabbed some bacon, fishing out a frying pan to put it in.
Matt found the clothes his friend was talking about, and while going through them, his hand felt something
hard. It was the clock! He thought Jake had left it at the clock shop. He knew he shouldn't tamper with it,
but he didn't want to be a teenager again, not with all those awkward growing phases. He wanted to be on the
other side of puberty where he was tall and hirsute. He remembered once using a timer in the home when he and
Jake would make cakes. He dug through the drawers until he found it. He always wondered why it was kept in his
parents' room instead of the kitchen. He set it for 10 minutes, then turned on the clock, still set at its
position at 1 year a minute. He left them next to each other, knowing he'll turn the clock off once the timer
stopped. He stuffed the second-hand clothes back under the bed and started looking through the wardrobe,
trying to find something suitable for his potential adult body, as he went through another growth spurt.
Jake had cooked a large breakfast with all the works. He left some aside for Matt to have when he came
downstairs and dug into his own meal. It wasn't long until his hunger had been satisfied. Rubbing his belly,
he started to wonder why he wanted to be a kid again. He had a nice body, big and round but not soft. He was
bald, but the amount of body hair he had more than made up for it. He did have that pain in his knee, one that
he'd probably need to get a cane for so it didn't hurt as much when he walked, but it built up character and
he'd look classy with a cane. And maybe a pair of glasses would be nice, his vision slightly blurry. He was
stirred from his weird thoughts by a loud buzzing from upstairs, followed by loud thumping as Matt ran to turn
off the noise. He wondered what was going on, trying to keep his unwanted desire to stay old at bay, then he
heard footsteps come down the stairs. He turned in his seat to greet Matt and to tell him food was on the
side, but he was shocked when a man came in, wearing his dad's clothes. He had a short beard covering his
handsome face and he stood much taller than Jake, and definitely more toned. His shirt barely reached the band
of his jeans, and the top buttons were undone to show off the hair coating his chest. "Hey dude, check me
out!".
"Oh my god Matt, you made yourself older again? Haven't you already learnt we shouldn't be doing that?".
Matt laughed and said "Chill out, I found a timer in one of the drawers. I didn't want to be a teenager, so I
set the timer for 10 minutes and forced myself to turn off the clock once it went off, and it worked. I'm 25
years old now. Look at my beard! And my chest hair! I didn't get to experience being a young adult yesterday
because I went straight to elderly, so this is just awesome".
Jake was disappointed in Matt. But he could see why he wanted to be older, given his own worrying thoughts. He
just put his hand to his face and slid it down, mumbling "OK, there's some food on the side. I'm going to find
out where this guy lives so we're ready to leave straight away". He got up from his seat while Matt greedily
grabbed his food, and went to find his computer. He may be old, but he certainly hadn't forgotten how to use
the machine, getting directions to the man's house in minutes. It was all the way on the other side of town.
How were they going to get over there? He didn't know how to drive, and besides his parents had taken the car
with them. They could of used public transportation, but a quick search found the buses didn't run on Sundays.
There was no way they could walk there because it would take hours. He could call a taxi, but he had no idea
where his parents kept the spare money. He rubbed his forehead in thought. Surely there was a way to get to
the man's place otherwise he wouldn't of told them to meet there.
Matt had come into the room now, scraps of food stuck in his beard. He looked cheerful and walked up to his
old friend. "What's up? You getting too old to understand how the internet works?"
"Ugh, no. I found the guy's place, but he's close to where that bowling place is. It's ages away. I can't
drive, there are no buses, and I have no money for a cab. Can you think of any ideas?".
Matt stroked his chin, realising how messily he'd eaten, then said "Maybe we could use my dad's car. He's
shown me what different things do in there".
Jake thought about this, then realised something "Dude, your parents haven't left for the weekend like mine
right? Why haven't they tried contacting you about where you are?"
"I dunno man, we never really talk anyway. Hey, what about that guy next door? Grant? He could give us a lift
if we explained our situation".
"Graham, and that's an option I guess". Jake glanced at the address again, then noticed the paper it was
written on had a phone number on the back with 'CALL NUMBER IF STUCK' next to it. Maybe it was the clock man's
phone number. He could come to them with the solution instead.