It would happen on a rare occasion that Peter would be asked to work during the night shift at his new job at the grocery store. He didn’t mind it as long as it didn’t interfere with his classes and his homework.
He bagged groceries for a few customers, who were more than happy to give him a little money, since it was on a school night. Peter enjoyed earning the extra cash, for he could use it for going to the movie or grabbing something to eat, without always having to ask others for some money.
Peter’s friend Brian had begun his shift a few hours before Peter began his, so he was about to go home, when Peter needed to use the mop and the bucket.
“Hey Brian! Frank asked me to mop the floor, but I can’t seem to find the mop. Wasn’t it supposed to be in the break room?” Peter asked him.
“Oh, no it’s in the warehouse. Somebody spilled some milk all over the floor and I had to mop it up and I think I left it there! I’ll show you, okay?” Brian said. Brian led Peter to the warehouse, which was a large, separate section of the grocery store, which was located behind the main section and the freezer.
“It’s all the way in the back!” Brian pointed out to Peter. “Make sure you don’t close this door, because you can’t open it from within the warehouse unless you have the key to it! So be careful!” Brian showed Peter a large, metal door which was at least 10 feet tall and 4 feet wide. There was one small keyhole, and an air vent located above it.
“Thanks Brian. I’ll get the mop. Are you staying around?” Peter asked him.
“No, I’m going home. But just take it easy, and do the work. You may make a few extra dollars in tips! See you tomorrow, Peter!” Brian said. He turned around and walked out, leaving the main door ajar so that Peter could get out later.
Peter then walked through the warehouse until he came to the large freezer door. It was there that he found the mop and the bucket.
In the meantime, Daniel, one of the other baggers, was just walking by the warehouse when he noticed that the door was left open. Daniel just peered through the opening, but when he didn’t see anyone in the warehouse, he decided to close the door.
Peter had just grabbed the mop and the bucket and was walking back towards the supermarket entrance, when he heard the large metal door slam shut. When he heard that, his heart sank through his throat. Was that the steel door that someone had closed shut, while he was still inside?
Peter walked up the big, steel door and noticed that it had indeed been closed shut. He decided to walk up to it anyway and tried to open it by pushing down on the handle, but the large, heavy door wouldn’t budge. Then he set the mop and the bucket down and walked around the parameter of the warehouse wall, but he quickly found out that there were no other doors that led to the outside. When he had walked around the entire room, it began to dawn on him that he was trapped inside of the warehouse.
For a moment Peter felt a slight panic. He hated the feeling of being trapped. But then he realized that he could only escape through the use of his transformation powers. The main question for him was: How could he get out, the quickest and the easiest way possible?
He looked up at the door that was in front of him, and he noticed that there was an air vent, which was blocked by a metal wire grill, and was located just a foot above the metallic door. That was it! Peter thought it over and concluded that the easiest way out for him was to make him elastic, or stretchy.
He set the mop and bucket down and decided that he would try to get out of there first. He could always come back and get the bucket later. The main thing was trying to get out without being seen by any of the other employees at the grocery store. He hated the fact that already so many people knew about his powers, and he tried his hardest to keep it a secret as long as possible.
First, he wished for his body to become very stretchy, like rubber. Then he stretched his legs to over 10 feet long. When he was able to reach the vent, he looked through the air duct and estimated how narrow it was. Then he examined the grill that was blocking the entrance to the vent, and tried to remove it using his hands, but couldn’t. The grill was soldered on to the vent, so the only way in the vent would be to make his body small enough to fit through the small, square openings in the grill.
Peter first extended his right hand fully, making his hand and arm only an inch wide and an inch tall. When he noticed that his arm was now small enough to fit through one of the holes in the grill, he gradually allowed his legs to grow a few inches longer, allowing him to reduce the size of his arms, shoulders, head, and torso so he could gently slide his body through the grill. Then he made his legs ultra thin and small, so they could all slide through the grill as Peter tried to slowly pull his legs through the vent. When all his body had now slid through the grill, he could enlarge his body to the point where he was almost full size again. But since the air duct was only a little over a foot wide and a foot tall, he had to stretch his body a little bit.
Peter quietly crawled through the duct until he came to an opening on the bottom of the duct, just a few feet in front of him. He saw there was light coming through a small grill that was on the floor of the duct, and he figured that he could probably get out of the duct that way and resume his normal form.
When he finally reached the grill, he placed his face over it and tried to see where he was. He smiled when he recognized the location: It was the break room! There was light on in the room, and he couldn’t see that there was anyone there. So he estimated the size of the largest hole in the grill, and repeated the process of making his arms, shoulders, head, torso and legs so thin, that he could easily slide down through the grill and land inside of the break room. When he was absolutely sure that nobody was watching, he decided to begin the transformation and gradually allowed his elongated body to slide down the duct’s grill.
Unfortunately, there was a large mirror on the wall in the break room. The mirror was blocking a hidden window, which was located in Frank’s office. Frank was Peter’s supervisor, and he could see who was in the break room, by looking through the window in his office. Peter didn’t know it, and thought that he was sliding back into the break room without being seen.
Peter’s arm first came, hanging down from the grill, on the ceiling of the break room. Then his shoulder came through, followed by his ultra thin head. He maintained the skin color throughout his entire form, while he temporarily made his clothes disappear. Then the other arm made it through. Peter was then hanging upside down from the vent, looking like a thin strip or rubber. Then his head, shoulders, arms and torso began to inflate until they were his original form again. Peter then bent forward, grabbing the grill with his hands, so he could allow his legs to slide through the grill.
Just at that moment, Frank walked into his office. He sat down, and read through some papers. He didn’t notice Peter coming down the grill at first, bet when Peter’s legs made it all the way through, he saw something move in the break room. He then turned and gasped when he saw a human form come down from the grill on the air duct on the ceiling. Not only did he see the human come from the ceiling, but he also saw Peter stretch out his legs, until his feet touched the floor. Then he let go of the grill with his hands, allowing his body to shrink back to its normal size. Frank didn’t know who it was, because he was looking at the back side of the figure. But then he got up and quietly opened the door between his office and the break room so that he could see what was going on.
Peter was relieved. He was standing on his own two feet again. He took a deep breath, and quietly said to himself “Thank goodness for my stretchy powers!” He then quickly wished for his clothing to appear on his body again. He was glad he was alone, or at least that’s what he thought, until he heard a familiar voice.
“That’s incredible!” Frank said, with his jaw wide open.
Peter was startled beyond belief when he turned around and saw his supervisor standing in the break room door, looking at him in disbelief.
“FRANK!” Peter shouted. His heart sank all the way down; when it dawned on him that his supervisor had probably seen him come from the air vent in the ceiling, in his stretchy form! He had been caught in the act of using his powers!
“I wouldn’t believe it had I not seen what you did with my very own eyes…” Frank said calmly, with his eyes bugging wide and his jaw dropped open.
“Oh no… You saw me using my powers…” Peter said, feeling terrified, as he placed his hand over his mouth.
“Peter… What were you doing up there? Where did you come from? How did you do that?” Frank said calmly. Peter removed his hand and began to plead for his job, as he became afraid that he would get fired from his job again.
“Please don’t fire me, Frank! The door to the warehouse got closed and I was trapped in there and this seemed to be the only way out of there. I went there to grab the mop and the bucket, which Brian had left there! That’s all… I’m sorry…” Peter said, almost to the point of tears, while Frank kept on staring at him with his mouth wide open.
“I saw you… you were all stretched out, like elastic… Can you reach anywhere?” Frank asked him, still feeling completely in awe of Peter. Peter was more worried about his job, and at first, he wasn’t quite sure what to say. He just nodded his head.
“Peter, can you stretch your arm from where you’re standing, and tap me on my shoulder?” Frank asked him cautiously. Peter wasn’t quite sure what Frank wanted or why he wanted him to demonstrate his stretchy abilities, but at this point he decided it was better to obey than to ask any questions. Peter remained standing where he was and extended his right arm. Then he stretched out his arm until he tapped Frank on his left shoulder, even though he was standing about ten feet away from him. Frank gently grabbed hold of Peter’s hand and felt it with his fingers.
“Your skin feels just like rubber…” Frank observed, while looking at Peter’s stretched out hand. “Show me how you stretch your legs! Stretch them until you touch the ceiling!”
Peter allowed his legs to get longer, until his hair just brushed the ceiling. Peter was now as tall as the height of the room, and he was about ten feet.
“You are awesome! How do you do this?” Frank asked, as he began to chuckle.
“I have transformation powers and I can change my body any way I want to” Peter said, showing a smile on his face for the first time. Then Peter decided to allow his arms and legs to snap back to normal, and he wished himself to be in his normal, human form again.
“Do I… Do I still have a job?” he asked Frank, with a sad look in his eyes.
“Why, of course, Peter! I think it’s absolutely wonderful, having a guy like you working here. You can reach anywhere, grab anything… You don’t even need a ladder!” Frank chuckled.
“Thank you, Frank.” Peter said, breathing a deep sigh of relief.
“Hey, Frank… Can I ask you for a big favor?” Peter asked him cautiously.
Frank just looked at Peter with a wide grin on his face.
“Sure, Peter. What is it?” he asked.
“Please, let’s just keep this between us, is that okay? Please don’t tell anybody…” Peter replied.
“Alright…” Frank replied.
“May I use my powers at work?” Peter then asked him, almost in a whisper.
“Yes, you may. As long as you don’t get yourself, - or our customers - in trouble. Now go and take care of that dirty floor!” Frank ordered.
“Yes, Sir!” Peter said, with a military salute. He then dashed out of the break room and headed towards the door to the warehouse. When he opened the steel door, he saw the bucket and the mop standing there, waiting to be retrieved. He filled the bucket with water and immediately headed towards the front of the store where he began to mop the floor by the front entrance.
In a way, Peter was happy that this had happened. He felt relieved, now that his supervisor knew who he was and what he was capable of doing. He didn’t have to try to cover up his powers anymore for Frank, and he could use them at work as long as the customers didn’t see him in action. He felt great about his job now, and he decided to give his all to this little, part-time job. And most of all, he was grateful for his stretchy ability. Without that, he would have still been trapped inside the supermarket warehouse. It was a great evening at work for Peter!