You were about to follow Brad, whose name you just realised used to be George and must of been affected by his
extreme progression, to decide whether to make him younger, when you saw a father and son arguing about
something. The dad, called Devan, was 35 years old, a burly man with a trimmed goatee and his hair having the
slightest touch of grey in it. The boy was called Paul, and was 10 years old, short and a bit scrawny. You
decide to have some fun with them instead. You could always find Brad later, having complete and utter control
over time and all. You stand nearby to listen in on their argument.
"Come on dad, it's not that bad. I bet you did something like this when you were younger".
"Oh no, I never snuck into an R rated movie as a kid. I'm so disappointed in you. You're grounded for a month
young man".
"Oh my God that is so unfair! I wouldn't of snuck in if you actually went with me like you said you would. But
no, you decided taking back that stupid suit was more important than spending time with your son".
"Don't try and pin the blame on me. I said we'd go and see it another day, but you were the impatient one and
disobeyed my orders".
"You always say another day. It was the first time in months that we even went somewhere together and you used
it for your own selfish reasons again!".
"I'm sorry that we don't spend more time together but I can't help having to spend so much time at work.
You'll understand when you're older".
"Oh I understand now. You just don't remember what it's like to be a kid and not having your dad there when
you need him most".
While they got deeper into their argument, you decided to work your magic. You slammed your staff onto the
floor and a ripple travelled through the crowd until it hit the two. The air around them started to vibrate,
yet passer bys didn't seem to notice. But the father and son did. Their vision blurred and neither could talk
to the other. They had no idea what was happening but they could feel themselves changing. Finally, the
vibrating air started to dissipate. Devan was the first to appear. He was no longer 35, but rather 10. He had
shrunk at least 2 feet in height, and was as scrawny as his son. He had reverted back through puberty, no body
hair to his name. His groomed goatee was a thing of the past, or rather future, his chin as smooth as silk.
His clothes had shrunk with him, becoming more child appropriate. He saw his tiny body and screamed loudly,
his voice sounded like it was on helium compared to the smooth baritone he had moments before. He felt his
face, now round and chubby with youth. He looked towards his son who was starting to appear from behind the
vibrating air. It quickly became apparent that Paul wasn't a kid any more. He was now a 35 year old man,
standing well over 6ft in height. He was just as burly as his dad once was, his upper body was impressively
muscular, yet his stomach was solid and was starting to bulge out some. He had a dense stubble coating his
cheeks and a thick, wide circle beard surrounding his lips, stretching a few inches off his chin with a
mixture of grey and black hairs. He had a touch of grey at his temples. His clothes had also changed to fit
him, now wearing a tight white vest, showing off the thick hair that coated his body like an under-shirt. His
bare arms were like bear arms, meaty and coated with hair. Paul looked down to see his much beefier body and
yelled in a deep gravelly voice.
"Oh my God, I'm so big! What happened?".
"I don't know, I think we actually switched lives or something!".
Paul was excited. He lifted up his vest to see his extremely hairy belly. "Wow, I have hair everywhere. This
is so cool! We're definitely going home now".
Devan was less excited "No, we're not leaving until we get this fixed. I don't want to be a kid again. How
will I get back to work looking like this? They wouldn't even let me in through the doors".
Paul ran a hand down his long goatee and replied "No, we're staying this way. I'm the adult now and you have
to do what I say".
"No, you can't stay as an adult. You don't even have a driver's license, how would we get home?".
Paul dug through his tight jeans and found a wallet. Inside was a driver's license showing a younger him with
a shorter beard and no grey hair, along with his work ID, credit cards and other things all in his name. He
showed them to his dad saying "It looks like reality has changed so I'm your dad. Therefore, I so do totally
know how to drive now, and we're going home".
He started pulling on the boy's arm to get him to move, but Devan managed to stand his ground. "This can't be
happening! People are going to notice things are different".
Paul laughed and said "Yeah, but who's ever going to believe we switched ages? You're just a little kid now.
They'll just say you have an active imagination. No, they're going to believe the big, hairy man with the
beard, and that's me". Paul tugged on his "son's" arm again, but Devan stayed put. Peter let out a rough growl
and said "Stop holding us up and come along. You're just going to have to accept that I'm the dad and you're
my son now".
You decide to help Paul out a little. You stomp the staff on the floor again and watch as Devan shrunk
further, getting slightly chubbier as he youthened to 5 years old. Meanwhile, Paul put on more weight, his
stomach swelling out until it hung over his jeans, making an impressive beer belly. His upper body lost its
definition and sagged some. His circle beard grew slightly longer, all the hair below the mouth was now
completely grey, verging on white. His hair rapidly thinned, leaving a steep M shaped hairline and a large
bald spot on the back of his scalp. His face got rounder as a double chin appeared slightly hidden by his
beard, and lines started to spread out around his eyes and mouth. He'd now reached 40 years old. They were
both stunned again, but then Peter saw his opportunity and picked the smaller boy up with no effort at all. He
held a struggling Devan at face level, the kid's feet practically standing on his prominent belly, and broke
into a smile. "Looks like I'm older than you ever were now".
Devan was scared of the older man's grin, his face creased more than it should. But maybe he could convince
him to stay at the mall to try and fix things. "Yeah, you definitely look it. So old. Your beard is white and
your hair is missing. You even look fatter than your uncle Kyle. Do you really want to be some balding,
greying, fat man?".
Peter ran his fingers through his thinning hair with strange glee and said "Yup. I may be middle aged now, but
it's better than being some dumb kid. Besides, there's still some muscle under all this fat. And I don't care
about losing my hair. I can just shave it off. Grey hair just makes you more distinguished. Therefore, we're
leaving now before you end up a baby. It could happen, and you wouldn't want that would you? I mean I don't
mind getting a bit older, but can you face the prospect of having an adult mind in a baby's body, not being
able to talk or walk?".
Devan found the hypothetical prospect terrifying, and realised that there was no way he'd be able to get out
of this. He hung his head down and whispered "I don't... Fine, just take us home Peter." The man gave him a
cold stare until Devan added "I mean dad...". Peter grinned and threw the boy onto his shoulders where Devan
could see the extent of his hair loss, and feel the man's hirsuteness on his hairless legs. Peter then carried
him out of the mall, his belly jiggling with every step. To the normal bystander, they'd see a typical father
and son bonding over their mall time, yet you knew the truth. You followed them out, wondering whether there
was more you could do to them. Maybe change their memories or swap even more years.