Bobby strolled through the local park, his new ring firmly grasped around his right index finger. He was very sceptical that the ring could perform magic of any kind. As if a small piece of jewellery could mystically speed up a person's aging process. And why could it only make someone older? It seemed to be a huge design flaw to only alter a person's age in one direction. And while there was a corresponding ring that could make a person younger, it was a buttload more expensive. It made sense that a ring of youth would cost more than a ring of age, more people would want a way to keep themselves young than to rapidly get older after all, but a hundred thousand dollars? The eccentric shop keeper, there's no way that old guy was really Merlin, had to be exaggerating the price. Despite all that, the ring did have a neat, ornate design to it. And it seemed to be made with real gold and rubies. At $90, it was a steal!
Yet despite his doubts, Bobby was still bubbling with excitement at the thought of being able to change a person's age at will. He couldn't wait to test out the ring's powers, and there were potential test subjects everywhere he looked. A young child playing around the park's decorative fountain. A group of teens mocking an elderly woman taking a nap on a bench. A mother and daughter deep in an argument. Even as he walked, he overheard a pre-teen complaining to his friends about his overbearing parents, wishing he could just grow up.
And Bobby almost granted that kid his wish for adulthood until he realised just how many people were in the park that day. If that kid were to magically grow older in the middle of the park, his friends would surely panic at the sight of their aging comrade. Then their screams of terror would be picked up on by passer-bys who would also panic, which lead to mass hysteria. Maybe there was a way to change him without anyone noticing, that could somehow alter reality to match his new age, but Bobby didn't even know how the ring worked in the first place. Which led into his next issue, what if something went wrong and he made the kid too old? It's not like he could fix the problem without also having the ring of youth, which he can't afford. No, it was too dangerous to use the ring in such a public setting. He needed somewhere more private, and someone he could trust wouldn't panic if the ring really worked. Luckily, he knew just the place and test subject.
Bobby unlocked his house door and called out to see if anyone was home. Both of his parents should still be at work at this hour, and hopefully wouldn't be home until later that night. His brother had also moved back to his dorms at college to start the new term. Just to be sure, Bobby poked his head into every room in the house. He ended his search in his own bedroom, pleased to know that he was truly alone. He stood in front of the mirror hanging above his desk and took several deep breaths. His paranoia from earlier at the park came back. Was he really going to use a magic ring to make himself older? He had often wondered what he would be like when he was older, to have a peek at what his future held, but this wasn't really the best way to go about it. For one thing, it was a permanent change unless he could convince ol' Merlin to swap for the Ring of Youth. Secondly, he had no idea how the ring was supposed to work. In hindsight, he probably should have asked for a demonstration before buying it. Was there an incantation he had to say or was it as simple as making a wish? The old man mentioned something about it reading thoughts, however none of his careless thoughts seemed to have affected anybody. At this stage, there only seemed one option. Bobby closed his eyes and thought about what he should say. Finally, he uttered his wish.
"I wish that I would age by one year"
Maybe it was his imagination but the ring around his finger felt like it had gotten warmer, plus there was a peculiar tingle through his body. Yet nothing seemed to happen as he looked at his reflection. Bobby frowned and mumbled "I knew it wouldn't work" before jumping onto his bed and turning on his games console. The tingling in his body persisted for a while, but he managed to ignore the feeling while he gunned down other players in his first-person shooter. Bobby was transfixed to his game for well over an hour until his stomach growled in need of food. He stood up and stretched out his back, he'd been sat in one position for much too long, and his shirt slid up his torso. He yanked it down, finding it a bit too short. He grumbled and pulled down harder. It still rested just above the waistband of his jeans. "It fit perfectly fine this morning!" he moaned, trying his best to keep it below his waistband "I can't have just grown in an afternoon! Unless...".
Bobby rushed back to his bedroom mirror and gasped on reflex. He looked pretty much the same as he did the last time he looked, at least at first glance. He began to pick up on the subtlest of changes. His face looked a bit slimmer, his cheekbones slightly more pronounced. His jaw looked sharper, and there were pinpricks of black haphazardly coating his chin, looking like freshly shaved facial hair. He had grown an extra inch, his head clipping the top of his mirror's reflection. Bobby took off his bothersome shirt and marvelled at his bare torso. It looked more or less the same, except there were a couple dozen hairs spread between the middle of his chest. There was no denying it, the ring had definitely made him a year older.
"It really did it, I'm actually seventeen years old... This is wild!" Bobby cried aloud. He threw his hands to his forehead and paced his bedroom, thinking of all the possibilities. He could make himself a couple of years older and be done with high school forever. He could skip a decade and give himself a comfortable, stable life. He could make himself older than his brother, his parents, even his grandparents if he were so inclined. And not just himself, he could age all his friends into college students and throw a huge party. He could send that bastard school bully Frank Malone straight to a retirement home. Or turn those snooty cheerleaders into soccer moms. He was the master of time itself. The realisation of such power made Bobby feel woozy. He sat down on his bed and straightened out his thoughts. Before he started aging others all willy nilly, he had to first gain control over it. His last wish took too long to perform, taking an hour to make him a year older. it did beat the natural route by a wide margin but it was still too slow for him. He thought about the wording of his next wish.
"OK, I wish that I would age an additional four years over the span of two minutes"
That tingling feeling came back and this time, the results were almost instantaneous. Bobby rushed to his mirror to see he'd already grown another inch in height, now having to duck to see his full head in the reflection. More pinpricks of stubble showed up across his jaw and cheeks, rapidly increasing in density as he aged. His slim torso slightly bulked up with muscle to give him a more toned appearance. His pectorals were more shapely and noticeable, while his stomach showed a hint at what could be if he trained more. More hair began to crop up across his body, quickly dusting his chest with an adequate amount of wiry strands. An inch-wide strip slid down the middle of his torso, connecting to an equally adequate amount of hair that thinly coated his stomach. As the changes slowed to a halt, the stubble coating his chin increased in length until he had a short goatee. Two minutes had passed and Bobby was now staring at a twenty-one year old man, eyes wide and mouth agape. "Holy shit..." he muttered under his breath.
He was very similar in appearance to his brother except with his own facial features. There were other differences too like his little beard, and the fact he had a full head of messy hair instead of a fauxhawk. He also noticed a small tattoo on his hip, a stylistic message in foreign letters. He ran his fingers over the blue letters, wondering what the hell it meant. While his body was older, he didn't seem to have gained any new memories in the process. While he pondered on that conundrum for a bit, his hand slid down and undid his jeans. He pulled back the waistband of his underwear to take a peek inside. He smiled and nodded with approval, he'd definitely gotten bigger down there! But just as he was about to pull his improved package out, there was a sudden ringing of the doorbell followed by a series of frantic knocks. Bobby didn't want to answer the door in his current state, would anyone even recognize him now? But whoever it was sounded like they needed help immediately. He sighed and left his bedroom, hastily grabbing a shirt from the laundry basket in his brother's room. He was surprised and a bit pleased to find that the shirt was a bit too small for him, just showing a peek of his hairy stomach whenever he moved his upper body.
Once reaching the front door, he tugged down on his shirt hard and kept his arms tucked close to his body. He opened the door. On the other side was a very stressed out woman, whom Bobby recognized as his next door neighbour. She was a petite woman with bleached blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and an inpatient look on her face. She smiled widely at his presence. "Aha, so there is someone home! Are you the only one here?"
Bobby nodded his head. "Yup, I doubt anyone will be back home soon either. Why, is something wrong?"
She sighed loudly. "A lot is wrong. I had an urg... Wait, didn't you go back to college last week?". Bobby groaned indecisively and scratched at his chin-fluff. He did look quite a bit like his brother now. But luckily for him, she didn't press any further. "Eh, it doesn't matter. Anyway, I've just had an urgent call to head upstate asap, something about a bridge collapsing. But the problem is, I can't take Ricky with me. I can't leave him all alone and I'll never find a babysitter at this late an hour. It would be really helpful if you could keep him company for me over the next day or two"
"Sure, it wouldn't be a problem at all! I'll need to leave a message for my parents but I can definitely stay with him"
She beamed, looking very relieved, and said "Great! Here's the spare keys to get into the house, I really have to go right now so just look after him, OK?". She didn't even wait for a response as she shoved the keys into Bobby's hands and quickly ran off to her car. Bobby waited until he saw her speed off the driveway, then pumped his fist in achievement. Now he had another person he could use the ring on! That was assuming Ricky wanted to get older anyway. However, Bobby was very familiar with his neighbour's son and knew there was no way he was going to pass up such an opportunity. He ran into the kitchen and hastily wrote up a note for his parents to let them know where he was, stuck it to the fridge, and left the house. Bobby strolled to his neighbour's house and opened the door, calling out Ricky's name.