Hours later Jim was back home. He had spent the day working out his plan and now had a good idea about what they could do to his sister and how to do it.
Tom arrived on schedule just as Jim's parents were heading out to do some shopping for a couple of hours.
"So," Tom said. "What's the plan."
"Well," Jim replied. "You know how my sister has a pretty inflated opinion of herself?"
"Yeah?"
"A real big head about herself?"
"Yeah," Tom said, smiling.
"It's about time we made that literal," Jim said and smiled with him.
***
Judy was walking home a short time later, when a white-haired, old man approached her and stood in her way. He wore ratty, old clothes and leaned on a cane for balance. Judy thought that he looked vaguely familiar somehow.
"Young lady," he said. "Could you please help an old man cross the street?"
Judy kept her distance and started to circle around him. "Why?" she asked, dispassionately.
"I've been walking a long while, and I could use a hand with the curbs. I'm almost home, but I would really appreciate the help getting through the traffic," he said and looked at her hopefully.
"Listen, gramps. I got stuff to do," she said. "No offense, but you shouldn't be walking around if you can't cross the street yourself. It's not my problem if you wear yourself out."
"You would leave me here to cross a dangerous street?"
Judy looked over at the intersection, the road was 4 lanes wide and busy with traffic. She sighed. "Get a wheelchair and stay out of my way, you old creep," Judy said.
The old man grew angry and scowled at her. "Very well," he said, summoning up his breath and pointing a bony finger her way as he leaned forward on his cane. "I curse you, you selfish little girl. I curse you for your pride and your lack of concern for other people. Let that curse be on your head."
Judy just stared at him like he was crazy. "Nut job," she muttered as she turned to walk away. She tried to laugh, but she felt a bit too disturbed by the whole confrontation to really put any feeling in it. After all, no one had ever cursed her before, not like that.
***
Judy turned the corner out of sight and Jim stepped out of some nearby bushes, holding a bag with Tim's clothes in it.
"That was great," Jim said to the old man. "I mean, you really sold it. I think she really believed you were cursing her."
"Thank you, young man," said the old man. "Care to help me out now? I feel like I'm ready to collapse." Then, he added in an incongruously youthful tone, "God, being old sucks."
"I bet," Jim said as he took out the balloon and led the old man into the bushes.
As Jim blew up the balloon, the old man said, "I mean, it's like I'm a rusty old door. All of my joints hurt. I feel so slow. Ugh."
Jim finished blowing up the balloon and said, "Oh, quit complaining. It's almost over. Control Tom's age." He let the balloon deflate slowly and watched as the old man in front of him became a middle-aged man, then a young man, then a more familiar-looking teenager, and finally, his friend Tom was standing in front of him wearing the ratty, too-large clothes of an old man and holding a cane. "Release," Jim said and let the balloon completely deflate.
Tom grasped the cane with both hands and stretched his arms over his head, loosening up his back. "That feels so much better," he said and sighed with relief as he relaxed his arms. "Give me my clothes."
Tom stripped off the old man disguise and started putting on his own clothes from the bag.
"That was perfect," Jim said. "After what we do to her next, she'll think twice about being mean to anyone ever again."
"Yeah, good thing you still had some old clothes and the cane for me in your attic. It was a perfect disguise." Tom finished dressing and slipped on his shoes. "Hey," he said. "They fit perfectly. You've really gotten good at using that thing."
"Thanks." Jim smiled proudly.
Tom held out his hand expectantly and Jim reflexively clutched the balloon a little more tightly. "Come on," Tom said. "You promised if I played the old man, then you would let me use the balloon on your sister."
"I know," Jim said, sounding reluctant. "Are you sure you want to do it, though? It can be a bit tricky to use."
"I'll be fine," Tom said. "I've seen you use it half a dozen times now. And, besides, how hard can it be to say a few words and blow in a balloon? Anyways, you owe me. I played the old man, and, don't forget, I let you use it on my brother. Fair's fair."
Jim handed him the balloon. "Okay, but just be careful," he said.
"Hey," Tom said as he held the balloon up in front of him smiling at it. "You can trust me."