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On The List
by Homeless
Contact the author at chabot@phuze.com
Other Stories by J P Chabot
Jeremy sat alone at the computer inside the Computer Room of his college. He was enjoying himself immensely as he looked over the TSA-Talk mail list. It was just like a chat room, only time-delayed, so that responses and comments were thought out, and the stories were interesting.
He saw one that was written by an author he had never seen before. Bemused, he opened it up (getting a static shock, ow!), and to his delight, it looked pretty good.
Before he had gotten a third of the way into it, his arms got cramped. "Darn it! Who keeps lowering this seat?" he muttered to himself. He pulled the lever under the seat and the seat sprang up a few inches. Much better. He wiggled around for a moment, and tightened his belt, because his pants were getting a little loose, and unlike so many grungy teenagers, he did NOT like the "give me a wedgie" look.
He returned his attention to the story, hardly moving as he was transfixed by the plot. Just a bare tap on the mouse to keep scrolling down, hardly blinking. Halfway through and it was still entertaining.
"Darn it twice!" he thought. The seat was too low again! "Crummy junior college chairs!" he grumbled out loud, but there was no one to hear him complain. He got up off the chair and looked around for another one. He almost tripped walking when his shoes came off, too loosely tied. In frustration, he furiously yanked at the laces, forcing the shoe to contract. He tried to tie the knot, but he was holding far too much lace! And the shoe was still too big!
"Heck with it," he said, and kicked them off. No one was there, so no one would care. He got another chair and rolled it to the computer. "Now, back to the action."
There was only a third of the story to go when he noticed the sleeves of his shirt were not pulling at his arms the way they used to. In fact, his whole shirt seemed too big!
"What the--!?!" His exclamation stopped itself when he glanced at the mailing list story again. He read a paragraph, then was really amazed when he saw that his socks were dangling on his feet, and his pants were undeniably looser than they had been before. His shirt was down past his waistline, and the too-long sleeves almost came to the base of his thumbs.
He looked at himself in the reflection of the window. The nineteen-year-old Jeremy wasn't there, but there was a reflection of fourteen-year-old kid instead, wearing a shirt and pants two or three sizes too large, perched on the chair.
"What's the deal?" he said, in a clearly higher voice. He looked all around the room, and his eyes alighted on the computer screen once again. Before he could think about it, he had read another paragraph of the captivating story, and consciously felt his clothes getting larger on him.
"Oh, no!" the kid cried as he saw himself in the window, slowly youthening to a twelve-year-old. "I'm getting younger!" The shirt was too big now, clearly, as were his other clothes. He slid off the chair, and his pants fell down around his knees without resistance, taking his underwear with them. He didn't need them now, because his shirt was down to his thighs. He stepped out of the pile, losing his socks to the mess, and scrambled back onto the chair.
"There has to be a way to stop this!" he said, but before he could even close the message box, his eyes locked yet again on the next captivating paragraph. The boy youthened again. He felt himself dwidling, as did his private parts, and his shirt began to dangle on him. Far too shocked by the change, he didn't think about the computer. He was youthening more now, and the shirt became big enough for him to let it just slide off him without unbuttoning it. A pink, naked child of six stood on the chair in the reflection, with short hair, and lineless features. The little boy was confused, scared, and had a hard time figuring out what to do.
He looked at the screen again, and the last paragraph of the story caught the child's attention. He read it, he had always been a good reader, and was proud to have finished it without any problems. His smile became toothless as his height diminished, and his arms became chubby. He was happy.
The janitor was surprised when he found the little baby inside the computer room. Hadn't Jeremy been there? He tickled the infant, and the infant grabbed his finger, giggling. The janitor looked around for Jeremy, wondering why he had left this baby here, and glanced at the computer screen.
The dean was greatly surprised when he was greeted by a boy of twelve in janitor's clothes at his office. The boy was holding a floppy disc, and grinning ear to ear.
"Mr. Jones, I think I have a surprise for you," the boy said.
The End
Contact the author at chabot@phuze.com
Other Stories by J P Chabot
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