Mabel decided the time had come to take a chance. If her calculations were correct, their minds were adjusting with the changes, as were the minds of the people outside the art room. Mabel gambled she could take the kids off premises without raising suspicions.
“C’mon, guys,” she said to the now 13-year-olds. “I’m sorry your clothes got wrecked but I’m going to take you to the mall to buy new clothes.” To the kids’ still adjusting minds, this made sense so they of course followed Mabel. Annie FINALLY had two small growths pushing out her shirt slightly, and she had continued to grow taller and lankier. Jeremy hit his growth spurt finally and was now matching Lori in height, and beginning to rise slightly above her. Lori was definitely a curvy girl with wider hips and C-cup breasts; Annie was still a smaller than average sized 13-year-old.
As they arrived outside they encountered Elaine Norriss, the 12-year-old in a 52-year-old’s body, still sitting on the bench sobbing. In fact, it was almost like she was in shock, and she was nearly catatonic. Mabel hadn’t counted on the fact that, by regressing Elaine’s mind to childhood, she was now dealing with basically a child thrust into a middle aged body with no frame of reference. The child Elaine was having trouble coping with her situation.
Despite the glowing purple aura of the ring, Mabel had no intention of destroying Elaine, she just wanted her to “grow up again” with a better understanding. She wondered briefly if she could alter Elaine some more while continuing the changes to Lori, Beth, Jeremy and Annie, and somehow the ring informed her mind that she could.
Mabel wished to herself: “I wish Elaine would physically grow younger over time until her body matched her mental age.” The ring glowed again in response.
“Hey Elaine,” Mabel said, “I’m taking these four to the mall to get clothes. You want to come along?”
Elaine nodded, and soon the 12-year-old in the now 50-year-old body joined Mabel and the now 14-year-olds in Mabel’s SUV. Jeremy’s voice had finally cracked as well, making him sound like a teenage boy.
“This trip will be fun,” Mabel thought to herself …