I wrote this story as a serial on several clubs over a period of a few
months, originally calling it the Meteorite, though I decided to change
the name to something more appropriate. Or at least to a name that had
a little more to do with the main story. As I wrote this story, I had
no real direction planned but did use suggestions and comments from
some of the readers.
The Voice Within (previously the Meteorite)
By Morpheus
Part 1
It was after dark and the moonlight gleamed brightly through the thin
material of the tent that was spread out in a back yard. Several
giggles could faintly be heard from within.
"And they found a hook... hanging from the door handle," 10 year old
Richie Conner finished in his scariest voice.
After just a moment, Dale, the other 10 year old boy in the tent
snorted. "My story was scarier."
"Was not!" Richie protested emphatically, however it was followed by a
"Was too..." Soon they were arguing back and forth, repeating their
claims as they bashed each other with pillows.
Suddenly the walls of the tent seemed to glow brighter, causing both
boys to suddenly freeze and look up. Then, burning with curiosity, they
scrambled out the door, eager to see what was causing the light.
"Oh shit..." Dale gasped, staring up at the bright small sun that
seemed to be flying close overhead.
"You said a swear word," Richie teased, climbing the rest of the way
out of the tend and looking up, just as he was saying, "I'm gonna
tell..."
However a moment later, Richie was froze, staring the glowing ball of
fire that shot right overhead, even lower than the helicopter that had
flown by several weeks earlier.
A moment later, the ball of fire was gone... followed by a big boom...
and a flash of light.
Dale and Richie turned and gave each other a look of amazement, though
it only took Richie a moment to grin.
"Let's go see what it is," Richie suggested, already running out of the
yard and leaving Dale little choice but to follow.
It only took the boys several minutes to run down the street, seeing
that the glow was coming from the big empty lot that they played
baseball in. A strange orange glow came from the far end, making both
boys nervous.
"I think it's a fire," Richie gasped. Then he glanced at Dale before
asking, "Maybe we should tell someone."
Dale just nodded, already moving towards the glow. They quickly saw
that it was coming from a big hole in the ground, a hole that hadn't
been there the day before.
"That's not a fire," Dale gasped, slowly peaking over the edge of the
hole.
"You sure?" Richie asked nervously, gathering up his courage before
peaking over the edge as well.
As they stared, the glow seemed to go down, showing that there was no
fire. Just a puddle of orange goo at the bottom of the hole. Goo that
seemed to be sort of shrinking... not glowing as much as before.
"Cool," Richie whispered, wondering what it was.
Suddenly Dale grinned at Richie, a mischievous look in his eyes. "Touch
it."
Richie cringed back in disgust. "Oooh, gross." Then he shook his head
emphatically, glaring at the other boy. "No way. You touch it."
"No, you," Dale taunted.
"You," Richie insisted, immediately getting the same response from
Dale, followed by a series of "You" from each of them.
Finally, Dale stood up and crossed his arms. "I dare you."
Richie stood up as well, backing away, "No way."
"Yes way," Dale grinned, "Or are you chicken?"
"I'm not a chicken," Richie spat out, quickly going on the defense.
Dale just grinned at that, obviously having Richie where he wanted him.
It only took a few more words of coaxing before Richie let out a sigh
and started into the hole.
Part 2
Richie slowly made his way into the hole, trying hard to keep his
balance in the loose dirt and rubble. And almost to his surprise, the
ground was a little warm, though cooling off very quickly.
"Okay," Richie called out once he was near the bottom, glancing up at
Dale who stood at the top, "I made it." He grinned proudly, having
completed his dare so that he could no longer be called a chicken.
"Your turn."
Dale bent over and shook his head, "No way."
"What?" Richie asked in frustration.
"I'm not going down there," Dale insisted, crossing his arms and giving
a determined look.
Grimacing Richie looked back down at the puddle of glowing orange goo
that sat at the bottom, slowly getting smaller. For a moment he just
stared at it in curiosity.
Then Richie bent down, announcing, "It's slimy." He laughed, wondering
where it came from.
After nearly a minute of just staring at the ooze, Richie heard Dale
hiss impatiently, "Come on. Hurry up."
Richie glared at Dale, however he didn't say anything. Instead he just
bent over again and stared at the slimy goo, deciding that he was going
to take his time... just to mess with Dale.
Then, with a curious grin, Richie reached out and poked the slime,
grimacing faintly at the warm oozing around his finger.
"Gross," Richie announced, grinning in spite of that fact.
Suddenly the orange goo started flowing right up Richie's hand, doing
so before he'd even realized what had happened. By the time he was able
to scream, the stuff had covered his entire arm, quickly flowing over
the rest of his body.
"RICHIE!" Dale screamed from above, obviously terrified of the sight.
He jumped up and down, staring at Richie and yelling, "What's
happening?"
Though Richie tried yelling out again, he was unable to. His whole body
was covered with the orange slime, making him feel extremely strange.
All warm and tingly.
After a minute, Richie blinked and shook his head, staring down at his
hands and realizing that they weren't covered with slime anymore. He
quickly looked over the rest of his body, seeing that there was no
trace of it. But at the same time, he could almost still feel that
strange warm tingling.
"It's..." Richie started, looking up at Dale in confusion, as if his
friend might have some answers, "It's gone."
Dale just stood back a little and nodded. "Uh huh."
After taking a deep breath, Richie looked around the hole, not seeing
any of that orange slime left. Then he wasted no time before climbing
out of the hole.
As soon as Richie was out of the hole, Dale grimaced. "That looked
gross."
Richie just nodded. "It felt like snot." Both boys shuddered at that.
"Come on snot face," Dale told Richie, "I don't want to get in
trouble."
Richie nodded again, knowing that they would definitely be in trouble
if they were caught running around at night. Especially when they were
both supposed to be sleeping in the tent.
Suddenly Dale called out, "Race you..." after he was already running
across the empty lot.
"Wait up..." Richie yelled back, determined not to let Dale beat him
back to the tent.
By the time that they'd returned to the tent a few minutes later, the
slime was almost forgotten about.
Dale just kept smugly announcing, "You're a rotten egg, you're a rotten
egg." At the same time, Richie kept protesting that it hadn't been
fair, though that didn't stop Dale from adding in a sing-song voice,
"You are a loser, you are a loser."
Several minutes later though, and both boys had climbed into their
sleeping bags. They made a half hearted attempt to start another ghost
story, but it was interrupted with numerous yawns.
Finally, as Richie curled up in his sleeping bag, absently noticing
that he still felt just a little funny... he slowly drifted off to
sleep.
Part 3
Several days after the loud crashing into the empty lot and their
exploration of the hole, Richie and Dale had nearly forgotten about it.
They might have forgotten about it entirely if it hadn't been for the
police and men in vans looking at the hole the next morning. And after
seeing that, the two boys decided not to tell anyone that they were
there, afraid that they might get in trouble.
Richie was sitting in his room, staring out the window and wishing that
it wasn't raining. He gave a quick glance back towards the video game
that was sitting on pause before returning his attention to the rain,
wishing that he and Dale could play outside. However not only did the
weather prevent this, but so did the fact that Dale had to spend the
day with his aunt and uncle.
With a sigh Richie turned away from the window and slowly made his way
back to the video game, a smile beginning to form as he made his plans
to beat the next level.
Suddenly Richie froze, a warm tingling feeling going up and down his
spine. It was the same feeling that he'd had every once in a while over
the last few days... ever since going into that hole.
This time however, it was different. Richie was surprised to find
himself walking towards his bedroom door, without even meaning to. Then
he started walking out the hall, taking his time and staring at
absolutely everything. All without trying to move at all. He even tried
not to move, but it didn't work.
"Stop it!" Richie told his legs, beginning to get scared. "I don't
wanna go."
However Richie's legs didn't pay any attention to him as they continued
to move into the bathroom where he again started to stare at
everything, even digging through all of the drawers and looking at what
was inside.
Richie was nearly on the verge of crying, though somehow he managed not
to. "Oh, please stop..." Richie begged his legs, then his hands as they
opened the medicine cabinet.
Once his legs, hands, and eyes seemed to be done looking around the
bathroom, Richie found himself continuing to look at other rooms in the
house with the same frustrating lack of control.
When Richie was in the living room, looking into the video cabinet, he
heard something behind him and turned around, smiling as he saw his
father standing there.
Richie's dad was huge, or at least seemed so to the 10 year old boy.
"Looking for something to watch?" his dad chuckled. "I guess you're
bored with it raining outside."
Richie just nodded, wanting to ask his dad to help him, but he couldn't
quite bring himself to for some reason.
Once his dad had left the room, Richie returned to looking around,
slowly examining every detail of his house.
Feeling frustrated, Richie cried out, "What are you doing?"
Then, to his surprise, Richie could hear a faint answer whispering
inside head. "Mission... explore."
Part 4
Richie felt a chill go down his spine as he heard the words echo inside
his head. He was suddenly even more scared than before, though still
unable to do anything.
"Host under stress..." the voice stated inside of Richie's head.
"Ceasing exploration."
Suddenly Richie found that he could move again. He jumped up and down,
just to prove to himself that he could. Then in relief, he ran for his
dad.
"Daddy," Richie cried out, running towards his father in the other room
as fast as he could
"What's up?" Richie's dad asked in surprise.
Richie barely stopped running before he blurted out, "Somebody in my
head made me walk around and look at stuff."
For a moment, his dad just stared at him in confusion, then shook his
head. "Why don't you go on and play?"
After trying again, Richie saw that his dad just didn't understand.
Then he finally gave up, deciding that he might as well go back to
playing.
However several hours later, Richie once again found himself walking
around without meaning to. He tried fighting it again, but again it
didn't do any good.
"What are you doing?" Richie demanded of his legs, wishing that they'd
do what he wanted again
A moment later, he heard it again. "Continuing exploration..." the
voice stated inside Richie's head.
With that Richie found himself walking straight towards the front door,
opening it and then going outside... right into the rain. For a moment
he just stood there, slowly looking around, unable to stop doing so.
Suddenly Richie felt a hand grab him, yanking him back inside the
house.
"Just what do you think you're doing?" his mom demanded, standing over
him and glaring down, her hands placed firmly on her hips.
"What..." Richie started, pleased to realize that he was in control
again.
"You know better than to do out in the rain without a coat," his mom
scolded. "You'll get sick. Now get back inside and stay there." She
gave him a quick swat on his butt, pushing him further inside.
"But it wasn't me..." Richie protested weakly. "Someone else made me do
it."
However his mom just glared at him before sending him back to his room,
frustrated, confused and a little scared.
---
Over the next two days, it happened several more times. For no apparent
reason, Richie suddenly lost control over his body and started walking
around, looking at everything.
And the voice inside and only said that it was exploring, which didn't
give Richie any answers. It only left him more confused than before.
Exploring what?
Finally Richie had just come inside after playing in the backyard,
trying not to think about how come he'd started acting all weird again
just a little while earlier. If his dad hadn't stopped him from
climbing on the roof...
Then he froze as he heard his parent's voices coming from the kitchen.
Without even giving it conscious thought, he bent forward and listened,
curious about what was going on.
"I don't like it!" Richie's dad stated, sounding just a little angry.
"Boys his age shouldn't have imaginary friends."
A moment later, Richie heard his mom, "I know. He just keeps insisting
that someone is making him do things." She sounded just a little
scared. "Maybe we should take him to a doctor."
"No," Richie's dad growled, "I'm sure that it's just a phase."
"It's your fault," his mom snapped, sounding almost as if she was about
to cry. "He probably heard one of your horror movies through the walls
and got scared."
They argued for several more minutes, but Richie didn't pay much more
attention to what was said, already knowing that it was about him.
"Oh no," he whispered, realizing that he was in trouble and it wasn't
even his fault. He just grew even more scared and frustrated at that.
Then on a quick inspiration, Richie yelled out, "I'm going to Dale's
house." Then before his parents could object, Richie ran out of the
house.
Dale only lived several houses down, so it took Richie just a minute to
get there. As he knocked on the door, he tried not to think about that
strange voice, deciding that maybe if he pretended that it wasn't
there, it would go away. That sometimes worked with kids at school that
he didn't like.
A moment later, the door opened up and Richie looked up at Dale's mom,
thinking as he frequently did how pretty she looked. He felt a little
envious at that wishing his own mom was as pretty. Not that he'd ever
admit it though. Richie couldn't help wondering why she wasn't married.
"Oh Richie," Dale's mom smiled, "come on in. He's in his room."
"Thank you," Richie told her, smiling as he ran inside to see Dale.
Once Richie had burst into Dale's room and saw the other 10 year old
sitting there, he blurted out, "It happened again."
Dale sat up from his computer, leaving the game running as he gasped,
"Really?" There was a faint hint of skepticism in his voice.
"Yeah," Richie went on, forgetting about his determination to pretend
it never happened. "I was just out practicing on my skateboard when it
made me go and climb into the roof." Then Richie looked down in
embarrassment. "But my dad caught me."
Dale just grinned. "Sounds cool."
Richie just sighed, suspecting that his friend didn't believe him. Not
that it really changed anything, but it did make him feel a little more
alone.
After this, the subject was dropped and they both started playing on
the game together, quickly losing track of time.
Eventually Richie announced, "I've gotta pee," and with that started
for the bathroom, knowing that Dale probably hadn't even heard him.
But almost as soon as Richie was in the hall, he felt the warm tingle
through his body that indicated that he was no longer in control. Then
he started walking down the hall in the opposite direction from the
bathroom.
At first Richie opened the closet door and started to look inside,
reaching for all the towels and wash clothes, wishing that he could
stop doing so.
Suddenly Richie heard Dale's mom from behind him, asking, "What are you
looking for?" Her voice was a little stern, though patient as well.
Richie answered, "I don't know," but before he'd even finished saying
it, he was already walking across the hall into one of the other rooms.
"RICHIE!" Dale's mom gasped, beginning to sound annoyed. "What do you
think you're doing in my bedroom?"
Richie looked around and in spite of himself, continued moving inside.
At least until Richie's mom grabbed him by the shoulder and started to
push him out.
"You don't belong in here," she told him firmly. "I don't want to have
to send you home, but I will if you make me."
With a grimace Richie knew that his legs had gotten him in trouble
again. His own parents had stopped him from walking around and
exploring several times, threatening to ground him if he kept it up,
and now this...
Suddenly the warm tingling got stronger and Richie gasped as he heard
the voice again. "Exploration interfered with again."
"What?" Richie blurted out, startled at the voice.
"Social role of host limits options," the voice stated again, this time
a little more firmly, followed by a slower, "Solution... change role."
Then without warning, Richie turned around and grabbed at Dale's mom's
arm. As soon as his hand had grabbed hers, he felt the strong warm
tingling, stronger then any time since he'd been in that hole.
"What's happening..." Richie demanded as panic threatened to overwhelm
him, or would have if the voice that controlled him allowed it.
Then Richie saw his hand and tried to scream, seeing that it was...
melted into the arm of Dale's mom and stuck stronger than super glue.
"Richie!" she yelled, trying to pull her own arm away but unable to, a
look of confusion beginning to form on her face. "I feel so..."
It was at that very moment that Richie suddenly felt even stranger than
before. The warm tingling grew stronger and washed through his entire
body, but that wasn't all. There was something more. Much more.
Part 5
Richie was completely stunned as he stood there, his hand stuck to
Dale's mom. He stared at his hand in amazement, shocked to see that
it... melted right into her arm. As if there was no separation in their
skin.
"I..." Dale's mom started, "feel..." her voice coming out slow,
"strange..."
Suddenly the strange feelings that were running through Richie's body
intensified. His whole body tingled even more than before and felt
extremely warm. There was even an extremely faint orange glow around
his skin... and hers.
Then Richie's clothes started to get tighter, pinching him painfully in
several spots. And just when he thought that it couldn't get any
worse... it did.
"Ooooh," Richie moaned under the strange sensations.
Just then Dale came into the hallway and froze, staring in amazement at
Richie and his mom. His eyes went wide as a curious expression filled
his face.
"What's going on?" Dale asked, his voice shaking slightly.
However Richie couldn't answer. Not only did he not know, but his mouth
didn't seem to want to work right.
It was then that Richie suddenly noticed that Dale's mom didn't look as
tall as normal, quickly followed by the realization that her clothes
were hanging on her loosely.
"MOM?" Dale gasped. "Richie?"
Richie barely paid any attention to Dale though, too focused on how
weird everything suddenly was.
And at that he heard the voice in his head again. "Removing obstacles."
Then the pain suddenly stopped and all of Richie's clothes seemed to
crumble around him, falling to the ground and leaving him naked.
Richie gasped, shocked to be standing naked in front of Dale's mom...
and even more shocked to be staring her straight in the eyes. And as he
continued to stare at her, she seemed to get smaller... as did Dale
from the corner of his eyes.
As unbelievable as it was, Richie could feel his body changing...
moving around as if it was Playdough that someone was playing with. It
felt extremely strange, though fortunately not painful.
Dale slowly came up, standing next to Richie and his mom, revealing for
the first time just how much smaller he seemed to Richie. He called out
to both of them, but neither responded with more than a groan.
Then Richie blinked several times, feeling a strange pushing from his
chest, and at the same time, a pulling in his crotch.
"Oooh," Richie moaned weakly, blinking again before staring back at
Dale's mom, who was definitely shorter than him now, and looking
extremely different.
Her hair was much shorter, and her boobies were gone. All of her
clothes hung loose on her, making her look like a kid, even more so
when she looked up and gasped in shock. She did look like a kid. Almost
about Richie and Dale's age.
Finally Richie felt the tingling stop and he was suddenly able to pull
his hand away from Dale's mom, though he could only stare at her on
shock and confusion. She didn't look anything like a mom anymore.
Instead she looked like a 10 year old boy.
"Mom?" Dale asked in confusion, then looked up at Adam, a stunned look
of disbelief on his face, "Richie?"
Richie just stood there stunned, realizing not only was he standing
there naked, but that he felt extremely strange at the same time.
Just then the voice in his head stated, "Role exchange complete."
Part 6
Richie stood there, feeling shocked and confused. For a moment, all he
could do was stare down at the little boy wearing Dale's mom's clothes,
and then down at Dale, who had been about the same height but was now
much shorter.
"You shrunk," Richie gasped at Dale, realizing even as he said it that
it was wrong.
"Richie..." Dale squeaked, a look of complete shock on his face.
At the same time, Dale's mom was staring at Richie in complete shock,
her mouth hanging open. Then she slowly looked down at herself and let
out a howling scream.
"MY BODY!" Dale's mom yelled out. "What did you do to me?"
She frantically patted at her body, especially her chest and between
her legs. Then she stared at her hands for a moment, a look of horror
on her face before she looked back up at Richie.
"What did you do to me?" she demanded insistently. "Turn me back now!"
Richie was just confused. "I... I didn't do anything." He was startled
as he realized that his voice sounded different for the first time.
"Um... it was the voice."
Then Richie slowly looked down, knowing that something was SERIOUSLY
wrong, but not sure exactly what. He let out a gasp as he noticed two
big bumps pushing out of his chest. It took him a moment to realize
what they were, and he still wasn't sure about that.
"Boobies?" Richie squeaked, thinking that they had to be boobs like
what his mom had, though he'd never seen hers without clothes on them.
"No way..."
"Change me back!" Dale's mom screamed again.
Richie just ignored her, too stunned by the strange things on his
chest... and their odd feeling weight. He gulped and touched them, then
looked at the rest of his body and gasped, realizing that it was all
different as well. And his privates were gone.
"Where are they?" Richie demanded, grabbing between his legs and
gasping.
Dale just looked up at Richie and squeaked, "You look like mom."
That suddenly sunk in and Richie cried out, "What? No way!"
With that Richie took another look at Dale's mom, who was obviously
confused, then down at Richie before staring at his own body. He felt
extremely uncomfortable looking at it and seeing everything so
different.
Richie just stood there, his own mouth hanging open. None of that made
any sense, even the ground looked further away to him.
"What did the voice do to me?" Richie squeaked quietly, just on the
verge of bursting into tears. If it hadn't been for the shock, he
probably would have. "Dale..."
Then, taking one more look at both Dale and his mom... now looking like
a little boy, Richie panicked and ran towards the bathroom as fast as
he could.
He stopped in front of the large mirror and his eyes shot wide open at
the sight of Dale's mom standing naked in front of him.
A single word somehow managed to escape from Richie's lips. "Shit."
Dale's voice quickly followed with a "You said a swear..."
Part 7
For several minutes, Richie, Dale and Dale's mom all stood in front of
the bathroom mirror in silence. Each of them was completely stunned by
the strange transformation.
Finally Dale's mom looked up at Richie, her eyes filled with tears and
confusion. "Change me back..." she looked down at herself, at the
oversized woman's clothes that clung to her smaller body. "P...
please."
Richie tore his eyes from the reflection and looked down at Dale's mom,
feeling extremely strange as he did so. Not just his body, but by the
fact that he was looking down on a boy who looked just like he did. Or
had.
"I didn't do it," Richie cried, tears beginning to come down his cheek.
"The voice did." He stood there shivering slightly, blurting out, "I
want my mommy!"
With that Richie started running for the door, determined to get home
so that his parents could make everything right again.
Suddenly Dale ran at Richie and jumped right in front of him, gasping,
"But you ain't got any clothes on."
Richie blinked at that then paused to look down at himself, suddenly
feeling embarrassed as well as confused.
"Clothes," Dale's mom muttered weakly, then she stood straighter and
repeated, "Clothes," with more confidence.
"Mom?" Dale asked nervously, not even sure if she still was his mom.
She looked just like Richie.
She gulped and gave them both a determined look, announcing, "We have
to get dressed."
With that she grabbed at her draped clothes and gave a pained wince,
looking as if she was about to burst into tears herself.
Then she shook it off and repeated, "Let's get some," though her voice
wasn't quite as confident or authoritative as she would have liked, and
not just because it was that of a young boy.
Richie nodded at that though he didn't think that his clothes were
going to fit him anymore. Especially since he remembered seeing them in
pieces on the floor.
Several minutes later, Richie's worries were answered as she
reluctantly gave him some of her clothes, and more worries.
"I ain't gonna wear girls clothes!" he blurted out in defense.
Dale giggled at that. "I don't think that mine will fit."
Suddenly Dale's mom glared at him and screamed, "Get out of here!" She
stood in front of Richie and held her arms out in a vain attempt to
hide his naked body... hers... from her son's sight.
And with a faint glare at the clothes, Richie slowly reached for them,
complaining non-stop as he slowly started to put them on, with her
assistance.
Part 8
Richie stared down at himself with a deep frown, feeling extremely
funny being dressed up in Dale's mom's clothes. He had on her pants,
shirt, tennis shoes and even her underwear.
"Gross," Richie muttered, but she'd insisted so he'd eventually put it
on. Even the bra, though it was very uncomfortable. "Now can I go see
my mom?"
Dale's mom shook her head, looking around with wide nervous eyes. "I...
I don't think that would be a good idea."
Though she looked like an ordinary 10 year old, dressed up in Dale's
clothes, she still somehow gave the impression of being a deer caught
in the headlights.
"This is weird," Dale muttered, watching them both curiously. "Can't
you change back?"
Richie frantically shook his head, "Uh huh." Then seeing Dale's mom
looking like she was about to cry again, he pleaded, "Please whoever
you are... turn us back. I don't wanna be old." However there was no
response from the mysterious voice that had caused the strange changes.
"I don't wanna be a girl."
With a pout, Richie shook his head again, while Dale looked around
nervously.
"I can't stand this!" Dale's mom howled, tears coming down her cheeks
again as she frantically grabbed at her chest and crotch. "I can't be a
little boy. This just isn't possible."
Dale gulped. "Mom..."
"It's not possible," she continued, without apparently noticing her
son. "These things just don't happen in real life."
"Um... mom?" Dale tried getting her attention, looking worried.
"It's a dream," she muttered, "It has to be."
Finally, Dale yelled, "MOM!"
She snapped to, blinking and looking confused. "Huh..."
"Um... isn't Richie supposed to go home?" Dale asked, looking worried,
then cringing almost as if he'd done something wrong.
Finally Richie nodded, "Maybe my dad can fix this." Then he puffed up,
confident that his dad could fix things. His dad could fix ANYTHING.
Dale's mom stared at them both for a moment, still looking scared and
uncertain. Then she took a deep breath and somehow regained her
composure.
"I... I'll go explain what happened to your parents," she told Richie,
not looking quite as confident as she tried to sound. "Then we can call
some doctors and see about getting this fixed."
Richie nodded reluctantly, looking down at her and then himself. He
couldn't wait to get it fixed.
"You two wait here," she told them as she started for the door, "I'll
take care of everything."
As soon as she was gone, Dale muttered, "Call the doctor?" He looked up
at Richie and shook his head, "A witch doctor is more like it."
Part 9
For several minutes after Dale's mom was gone, Richie and Dale just
stood there, staring at each other uncomfortably. Neither was exactly
sure how to deal with the strange situation. With the fact that one of
the boys now looked just like the other one's mother.
Richie blinked several times as he stared at Dale, finally bursting
out, "Boy you look short."
"I am not short!" Dale snapped back, standing up to his full height but
still falling quite short of Richie's new size.
For a moment, Richie just continued to stare back, then he grinned
mischievously as he bent down a little and patted his best friend on
top of the head.
With a giggle, Richie replied, "Are too..."
"Are not!" Dale argued defensively.
"Are too..."
"Are not..."
Finally, after several more rounds, both boys froze and suddenly burst
out giggling.
"What's it like?" Dale asked a minute later, once they'd stopped
laughing. His expression had turned serious again, though also curious.
Richie thought about it for a few seconds before slowly responding,
"Weird." He nodded, deciding that 'weird' was definitely the right
word. "I feel really funny and everything looks a lot smaller."
Dale just stared up. "Cool." Then in an envious voice, he exclaimed, "I
wish I got to be big too." But he quickly added with a look of disgust,
"But not a girl." He stuck out his tongue with an emphatic, "YUCK!"
"I didn't ask to be a girl," Richie responded defensively, looking down
at the boobies, which pushed out the front of his shirt in an odd way.
"I don't wanna look like your mom."
"You sound like her too," Dale added, once again getting uncomfortable.
"It's freaky."
Richie nodded in complete agreement, frowning as he stared at his
hands. He even had long fingernails, just like Dale's mom. That was a
fact that he'd already discovered, much to his discomfort, when he'd
tried scratching an itch on his arm and really scratched it.
For several minutes, both boys stood there in silent nervousness again.
Each kept glancing at each other and trying to pretend like they
weren't staring.
Richie was amazed at just how short his friend looked, while Dale could
barely believe that his mom was really his best friend. She looked like
his mom... but acted like Richie. It was a bit confusing.
Finally Dale suddenly grinned, a mischievous grin forming on his face.
"I've got an idea," he exclaimed gleefully.
"Huh?" was Richie's curious response.
As soon as Dale had told him what it was, Richie grinned himself,
deciding that it was definitely a good idea. He was still grinning when
he went into the kitchen with Dale and took the cookie jar from the top
of the refrigerator where it had previously been out of reach.
"Yeah," Dale nearly drooled when Richie handed him the cookie jar. And
as soon as both boys had their hands full of the forbidden cookies,
Dale added, "This is cool."
Not sure that he fully agreed, Richie nodded his head anyway. At least
it was cool being able to get into the cookies. And even better, Dale's
mom wasn't around to yell at them either.
Part 10
Trisha paused just outside of Richie's house, glaring first at the door
and then down at herself. She shuddered at the sight. At the fact that
her breasts were completely gone, that her body was that of a little
boy.
"This is a nightmare..." she whispered, shivering in fear.
She could scarcely believe that her son's little friend had touched
her... and suddenly traded places with her. That he actually looked,
just like she did. If it hadn't been her, she wouldn't have believed
it. In fact, she still wasn't completely sure that it wasn't just some
sort of dream. Or nightmare.
Then she looked at the door again, forcing herself to stand up
straight. She was going to have to explain what had happened to
Richie's parents and convince them not to worry, even when she herself
had no idea what really happened. When she couldn't help but doing
anything BUT worry.
"I can do it," she told herself, lacking the confidence that her shaky
10 year old voice held.
All that she had to do was explain what had happened in logical and
mature way. After all, she was a mature adult, even though she didn't
look like one at the moment.
Once inside, Trisha slowly looked for Richie's parents, preparing
herself for the talk she was going to have to have with them.
Suddenly a voice snapped, "There you are!"
Trisha turned around... then looked up to see a huge man standing
there. She instinctively stepped back, feeling incredibly intimidated,
even after she recognized him as Richie's father.
"You're late," he said, sounding somewhat annoyed. "You're lucky that I
don't ground you."
Trisha just blinked, then took a deep breath, "I'm afraid that I am not
who you think I am."
He stared down at her with a faint scowl, making Trisha feel even more
uncomfortable.
She gulped, then blurted out, "I'm Trisha Marsh... Dale's mother." She
paused for a moment, taking a deep breath before adding, "Richie and I
somehow traded bodies."
"I... I see," Richie's dad responded slowly, an odd expression on his
face. Then he said, "Enough with the games young man. Dinner will be
ready in just a few minutes. Now go wash up."
"But..." Trisha started, realizing that he didn't believe her. "This is
real and I can prove it..."
Richie's dad glared at her, "I said enough. Now get ready for dinner
like I told you." With that he started to turn away.
Trisha was beginning to get annoyed and snapped, "Quit being so pig-
headed and listen to me..."
Richie's dad froze, then slowly turned back, his eyes glaring at her as
if his looks could kill. "What did you say?" he demanded, his voice
filled with anger.
Not caring about that Trisha growled, "I said that I could prove it, so
stop being an idiot and listen to me."
Suddenly, before Trisha had realized what was happening, she felt a
pair of powerful hands grab hold of her, then smash into her ass with
extreme force. She gasped in pain, never imagining that a hand could
hurt so much.
"Don't you ever speak to me like that again," Richie's dad growled
furiously.
"But..." Trisha tried pleading, to no effect.
A moment later, Trisha found herself thrown into a bedroom with the
door slamming shut behind her.
"No dinner!" an angry voice yelled through the door.
Trisha just collapsed to the floor, her hands grasping her butt while
she cried. The tears ran down her cheeks and a minute later, she'd
curled up into a fetal position, unable to believe how wrong things had
suddenly gone.
Part 11
The dining room table was a mess, covered with cookies and cookie
crumbs. Several cans of soda were also sitting on the table, along with
the spills that had been left uncleaned.
Richie sat at the table, frowning as he stared down at the cookies in
front of himself, and then at Dale and his pile. Dale's cookies were
nearly gone while his were still mostly there.
"What's wrong?" Dale asked, giving Richie a curious look, then eyeing
Richie's cookies speculatively.
Finishing off one of his cookies, Richie slowly answered, "These
cookies don't taste right."
He'd eaten several cookies from the same jar just a few days earlier
and they'd been great then. But now... now they just didn't taste as
good. They seemed a little too sweet, which was odd since Richie loved
sweets.
Dale scowled at him for a moment, eating another cookie in a single
bit. "Tastes good to me."
Richie just shrugged then took a sip of his soda, wincing since that
didn't taste quite right either. "Eeew."
Both boys remained at the table, giving each other odd looks while Dale
ate the cookies. Richie ate some more, but it just wasn't the same
anymore.
Finally Richie got up and stretched, marveling again at just how
different everything looked now. How much smaller. And then he looked
down at the bumps on his chest, frowning and thinking how strange it
was to have that weight hanging there.
However it was something else that quickly drew Richie's attention. He
looked down in embarrassment and muttered, "I'll be right back."
With that he rushed to the bathroom, impatient to go relieve himself.
As soon as he'd closed the door behind himself, Richie started to
undress, silently cursing the long fingernails that kept getting in the
way.
Once his pants and girl underwear were down, he stared at his crotch
and muttered, "Why don't girls have the right privates?"
Richie remained frozen for a moment before sighing and sitting down on
the toilet, not sure how to do it without the right equipment, but
knowing that girls always had to sit down to go to the bathroom.
It didn't take more than a few seconds before Riche started to relieve
himself, sighing as it felt a lot better... just weird. And once he was
done, he stared at his strange new privates in curiosity, realizing
that they were all wet.
"Gross," he cringed, feeling as if he'd peed all over himself. He
didn't waste any time in drying himself off with a wad of toilet paper
and then pulling his pants back up.
Then, just as Richie was about to leave the bathroom, he stopped and
stared at himself in the mirror on the medicine cabinet, feeling rather
strange to see Dale's mom looking back.
He was half afraid that his reflection was going to yell at him for
getting in the cookie jar or something, however it did no such thing.
It just stared back silently.
The woman in the mirror was very pretty though, Richie thought, staring
in spite of himself. She had sort of long hair that was reddish blonde
and a really pretty face. It was the same face that he'd developed a
bit of a crush on, though he certainly wouldn't admit that to Dale, or
even himself for that matter.
"Weird," Richie said, watching Dale's mom's lips move. Then he giggled,
"I am a grown up though." Unfortunately though, he added silently, it
was as a girl.
Suddenly Richie felt it... the warm tingling that let him know that he
wasn't alone anymore. And as he turned away from the mirror without any
control, he heard the voice again.
"Mission obstacle removed," the voice stated inside of Richie's head,
"Resuming exploration."
Part 12
For nearly an hour, Richie was moving about Dale's house, looking at
everything without being able to help himself. He hated it, being like
a passenger in his own body... like a puppet.
"What are you doing?" Dale asked after a short time of this, however,
Richie... or the voice that was controlling him did not answer.
"Richie?"
At first Dale just followed behind Richie, obviously nervous, but he
finally stopped, sitting in the living room instead, glancing out the
window.
"Mom should be home soon," Dale called out as a reminder, however it
had been awhile since she'd left and he was beginning to get a bit
worried.
"Why are you doing this?" Richie asked himself... asked the voice
inside of him.
To Richie's surprise, the voice answered, "Fulfilling mission to
explore."
Just then they went back into Dale's mom's room and started looking
around there. Richie tried protesting, telling the voice that they
weren't supposed to be in there, but it didn't listen.
After a few minutes, Richie was pulling open the bottom drawer of the
dresser and paused, staring in surprise at the things that were in
there.
There was a dirty magazine with a naked man on the cover, along with
several things that looked like really big penises... and a couple
plastic tubes.
However as surprised as the objects in the dresser drawer made him,
Richie didn't hesitate to pick them up and look at them, though he
tried not to. A minute later, he was back to his exploring the rest of
the room.
Once Richie had finished looking around the house, he suddenly felt the
warm tingly feeling back off and he was able to control his body again.
Richie ran to Dale's room, staring down at his friend who was so much
smaller now.
"Um... the voice made me do that stuff again," Richie told Dale.
Dale just nodded. "That is weird." Then he gulped, "Richi... I mean mom
hasn't come back yet." He glanced out the window. "She's still over at
your house."
"Probably still telling my folks," Richie suggested, not sure that he
completely believed it.
Dale nodded again, then grabbed at the phone. "I'm gonna call her."
When Dale got off the phone a minute later, he had an odd expression on
his face. He turned and stared at Richie for a moment, obviously still
amazed that his best friend looked like his mom.
"Well?" Richie pushed.
"Um..." Dale started, looking rather surprised, "Richi... I mean mom
got in trouble and sent to her room."
Richie was surprised at that staring at Dale in amazement. "In
trouble?" Then he shook his head.
"I don't think that they believed her," Dale suggested.
"I'll go tell them then," Richie exclaimed, standing up and starting
towards the door.
However before Richie could get there, Dale was suddenly pulling on his
arm. "No way. They'll think you're crazy. Grown ups NEVER believe kids
when things go wrong."
"But I'm a grown up now," Richie answered, almost a little smugly as he
gestured down at himself. "They'll believe me."
Dale just shook his head. "Naw, they'll think you're crazy and lock you
up."
After a few seconds, Richie slowly nodded, reluctantly admitting that
Dale was probably right. Then, after talking about it for a few
minutes, they decided to remain where they were until the next day.
Maybe she'd get everything fixed then.
Part 13
Richie looked out the window, silently staring at the night sky,
remembering the flash of light that they'd seen so much earlier. The
one that he was sure had caused all the strange things that had
happened to him and Dale's mom.
"Why didn't she come back?" Richie asked, thinking about Dale's mom,
the woman whom he now resembled.
He'd already known that she had gotten in trouble while looking like
him, but he'd still half hoped that she'd be able to convince his
parents and come back.
Then with a sigh, Richie slowly started walking down the hallway,
pausing when he got to Dale's room and then looking inside. Dale was
spread out, asleep on his bed. He'd gotten too tired to stay awake a
half hour earlier and had gone to bed, leaving Richie up and alone by
himself.
Richie slowly closed the door, feeling a little surprised to realize
that it was way past his bed time and he didn't even really feel tired.
Not like Dale. A quick feeling of smugness washed through him as he
thought that being a grown up now meant that he didn't have a bedtime
anymore.
"Cool," Richie giggled to himself, throwing himself down in front of
the TV and changing channels until he found a scary movie that his mom
never let him watch at home. With another "Cool," Richie started
watching it.
After a few minutes, Richie changed position, finding it hard to get
comfortable since his whole butt felt big... like he was sitting on a
pillow. Then again, that wasn't quite as odd as the weight on his chest
or the fact that everything looked smaller.
As Richie sat there watching the movie, he kept glancing down at
himself in curiosity, though he always looked away as soon as he
realized what he was doing.
Then he'd look back at the TV, grinning slightly to himself as he
thought about how cool it was being able to stay up as late as he
wanted without anyone telling him to go to bed. And of course there was
being able to watch what he wanted on TV too.
Richie decided that at least there were definitely some cool things
about being a grown-up... even if he was stuck as a yucky girl.
When the movie finally ended, Richie let out a yawn, deciding that
maybe it was time for him to go to bed. With that he turned off the TV
and started towards Dale's bedroom, deciding that he was going to have
to tell Dale all about the movie in the morning. Of course he'd have to
brag a little too, though Richie knew that was a given.
A minute later, Richie was looking into Dale's room again, frowning as
he saw how small his friend's was compared to him now. Then he glanced
at the floor where he usually slept when he stayed over, realizing
suddenly that he didn't have to sleep on the floor. There was an empty
bed in the next room.
Richie was a little nervous when he went into Dale's mom's room, though
he quickly reminded himself that he couldn't get in any more trouble
for being in there than he already was.
"Besides," Richie told himself as he glanced into the makeup stand
mirror, "she belongs in here."
Then Richie frowned, turning away from the mirror and staring down at
himself with mixed disgust and curiosity. He let out a sigh, then
started taking off the clothes, silently wishing that it was still his
own clothes that he was taking off.
Once Richie was completely undressed, he glanced down at his body,
still feeling curious but even more embarrassed. He cringed then jumped
into the bed, trying not to look at his body any more than necessary.
That was made even more difficult when his boobies bounced around.
For some time, Richie just remained where he was in bed, feeling
strange with his body being changed so much. One hand hesitantly
touched the large mounds, which stuck out from his chest though he
quickly snatched it back.
It took some time before Richie finally fell asleep, silently hoping
that they could fix things in the morning.
Part 14
It was the day after Richie had traded places with Dale's mom and he
stood in the middle of her bedroom, frowning as he looked down at
himself, then around the room.
Waking up in that room... and body had been something of a surprise for
him, until he remembered what had happened the day before. However
remembering it hadn't made things any easier.
"Weird," Richie muttered, looking down at his adult female body and
feeling uncomfortable.
He yawned, looking at the clock again and shaking his head, surprised
at how tired he felt. He never felt that tired when he woke up in the
morning. At least not until now.
After a minute, Richie put on the bathrobe that he saw hanging from the
back of the door, remembering that Dale's mom usually wore that in the
morning from the times that he'd slept over. With a shrug he put it on,
then slowly tied the straps at his waist.
A minute later, Richie half staggered out into the living room, seeing
that Dale was already in there, watching TV.
"Hi mom," Dale greeted Richie, barely glancing away from the TV.
Richie just nodded his head numbly, barely paying attention to Dale's
greeting. Then it slowly sank in that Dale had called him 'mom'. Richie
just stared back at him in confusion.
"Um..." Richie started, about to remind Dale who he was.
However before Richie could finish... or even focus on what he was
going to say, Dale jumped up, "You really look like you need your
coffee mom." Then he started running for the kitchen, calling back,
"I'll get it."
A minute later, Dale was back, handing Richie a mug of steaming coffee.
"Just the way you like it," Dale told him. "Cream and sugar."
Richie just stared at the coffee for a moment in confusion, surprised
when he realized that it did smell rather nice. After a confused glance
at Dale, he took a hesitant sip... surprised even more that he liked
it.
Without a word Richie sipped at the coffee, watching the TV with Dale.
He never noticed the mischievous grin that was on the other 10 year
old's face.
Once Richie had finished the cup of coffee, he did feel a little more
awake. And just as he stood up, he started, "Dale..."
"Oh." Dale jumped up and took the cup from Richie's hand. "I'll put
this in the dish washer mom, that way you can take your morning bath."
"But..." Richie tried protesting, wanting to remind Dale that he wasn't
the other boy's mom, however Dale had already rushed off again.
Shaking his head, Richie decided that Dale must have thought that it
was just a dream or something. Then again, he'd more than half thought
it was a dream when he woke up... until he opened his eyes and saw
where he was.
Several minutes later, Richie climbed into the bathtub, feeling very
nice with the warm water against his body. However he was filled again
with mixed emotions at the sight of his naked body. There was the
curiosity and amazement, as well as the incredible embarrassment.
Richie hurried through the bath, wanting to get away from his mixed
emotions as soon as possible. And as soon as he was finished drying
himself off, he returned to the bedroom to get dressed.
Part 15
Richie looked carefully through the closet, frowning as he tried to
figure out what he was going to wear. There were so many clothes, a lot
more than there were in his own closet back home.
Then Richie looked into the mirror and gasped, amazed at the sight of
Dale's mom again. It was so... embarrassing. If she ever caught him
staring at her naked body, then he'd really be in trouble. However
Richie realized at the same time, that she'd already seen him doing
just that and he still hadn't been grounded or anything.
"Boy this is freaky," Richie muttered.
A moment later, he returned his attention to the closet, noticing
several dresses and skirts. For a moment, Richie stared at them,
wondering how Dale's mom would look with that stuff on. He smiled,
feeling embarrassed again, having had a bit of a crush on her before.
She always looked so pretty. A lot prettier than his own mom, though he
certainly wouldn't tell his mom that. Or Dale for that matter.
After a moment, Dale sighed, knowing that he wouldn't dare do something
like that. It was embarrassing enough as it was. With that he reached
for some jeans, deciding that they'd be a lot more comfortable.
A short while later, Dale had finished getting dressed, even putting on
the underwear and uncomfortable bra that Dale's mom had insisted he
wear.
However the pants were a lot tighter than he'd expected and not nearly
as comfortable. But he didn't bother taking them back off, remembering
that he'd seen Dale's mom wearing them lots of times.
Once Richie had finished putting the shoes on, he returned to the
living room, trying to decide how to talk to Dale.
"Hi mom!" Dale called out the minute Richie came close, looking up and
smiling.
"Um... hi," Richie answered, blushing somewhat in embarrassment. It was
bad enough being in Dale's mom's body but he wasn't sure that he liked
being reminded at every moment.
Before Richie could think of what else to say, Dale blurted out,
"Aren't you going to put your makeup on mom?"
Richie's hand automatically went up to his face and brushed his cheek.
He blushed again, not liking the idea of doing that. After all, his mom
spent a whole lot of time putting that junk on and he didn't want any
part of that.
After a few seconds, Richie answered, "Not today."
And as he looked at Dale, he let out a sigh, deciding that he might as
well play along for the moment. At least until he could figure out how
to remind Dale. Then he started to smile faintly, realizing that it
might even be a fun joke to play on his friend.
Then on a sudden impulse, Richie told Dale, "Now why don't you go make
your bed and clean your room."
Dale just stared at Richie for a moment with a look of surprise. For a
moment, he looked as if he was going to argue, then he shook his head.
"Um... okay mom," Dale answered, getting up with a faintly confused
expression.
And as Dale left, Richie shook his head, grinning mischievously to
himself and deciding that it might even be fun. He could really have
fun messing with Dale.
A short distance away, Dale was starting to make his bed, feeling just
a little confused as the situation had suddenly changed. He shook his
head, deciding that he might as well carry on like he had been... just
in case.
Richie went to the kitchen and sighed as he saw all of the dishes
sitting on the counter. And as he was about to turn around, leaving
them to the real Dale's mom, a sudden thought occurred to him.
"Maybe..." Richie started, frowning thoughtfully. It just might be
worth the effort to do the dishes, just to mess with Dale some more.
"Okay then..."
After Richie had finished putting the dishes into the dishwasher, he
went to the living room and stared out the window, in the direction of
his own house. He couldn't help but wondering how Dale's mom was
doing... and hoping that she'd come back soon.
"I don't wanna be a girl," he whispered.
However at that moment, Richie felt a warm tingling run through his
body. He just had time to gasp, "Oh no..." before he started moving
towards the door without any control over himself.
Part 16
Richie walked around Dale's yard, a helpless puppet to the alien force
inside of him. His body moved not at his own will, but at the will of
the strange voice inside of him.
This was no longer a surprise to Richie, just another frustration. A
minor one compared to being stuck in the body of his best friend's mom.
After Richie had finished examining Dale's yard, he heard the voice
state, "Exploration of immediate environment complete. Extending
exploration range."
With that Richie started walking towards the driveway, realizing that
the voice intended for them to go a bit further. That just caused him
to glance briefly at Dale's mom's car, the most that he was able to do.
Suddenly Richie changed directions, moving to the car, though he still
hadn't willed himself to do so. It was as if the voice had read his
thoughts about the car being able to get it where it wanted to go.
"Local transportation located," the voice stated emotionlessly.
Several seconds later, Richie was sitting in the driver's seat,
motionless. Almost as if waiting for something. Then he realized that
the voice couldn't go anywhere... the keys were inside the house,
sitting on the counter. He'd noticed them earlier.
With that thought, Richie's hand opened the car door again and he
started to get out. He was curious about what the voice was doing, and
almost eager for the voice to start driving the car. He didn't know how
to drive himself and decided that if the voice made his body drive, it
would almost be like driving himself.
Suddenly Richie paused, the voice stating, "Local transportation
unusable. Host does not possess necessary skills."
With that Richie helplessly walked away from the car, then down the
sidewalk, beginning to worry that Dale wouldn't be able to find him...
and that he might not be there when Dale's mom returned. However Richie
had little choice except to keep walking.
---
Trisha sat in an oversized chair, feeling incredibly small and helpless
under the gaze of the man in front of her. He frowned at her
thoughtfully, then gave a forced... patronizing smile.
With a frown Trisha glanced back at the door that Richie's parents had
brought her through. The door to the psychologist's office that she was
now trapped inside.
Apparently Richie had been telling his parents about some imaginary
friend, about what was wrong with him. However they hadn't believed
him, nor had they believed her.
Trisha frowned more deeply, trying to remain calm and mature, though it
wasn't easy at all. Tears were already coming down her cheeks. Tears of
humiliation at the way she'd been treated since going to Richie's home.
Ever since Trisha had told Richie's dad the truth the night before, her
life had gone from being a nightmare... to being a living hell. She'd
tried being mature with him, being reasonable. But that had done little
good.
She'd tried being mature and reasoning with Richie's dad again in the
morning, hoping that by being calm and mature, she could make him
understand. Him and Richie's mom. However instead of being mature and
rational, they'd only reacted by patronizing her... then assuming that
she was delusional.
"I am not making this up," Trisha told the psychologist as calmly as
she could, feeling more frustrated than she'd ever been in her life. "I
really am an adult woman."
The shrink just gave his fake smile, his eyes gleaming with amusement,
showing that he thought she was just as insane as Richie's parents did.
"When did you start thinking this?" he asked gently.
She grimaced, holding back a scream... barely. It was impossible to
reason with them. None of the adults that she'd seen since her
transformation were willing to be the least bit reasonable. To even
give her a chance to explain anything. Instead, they just assumed that
she was a foolish child who didn't know anything, that she was either
playing a game with them... or insane.
Taking a deep breath, Trisha clenched her fists tightly, wondering if
all adults were as dense as these ones. They refused to act mature.
They refused to even consider reason. It was almost as if she wasn't
even a person and certainly not worth taking the least bit seriously.
And even worse, Trisha realized that she had probably been no better at
it herself. If Dale had come home saying that he was someone else, she
certainly wouldn't have believed him, no matter how rational he tried
being or how he explained it.
"I am NOT making this up!" Trisha nearly screamed. "Now why don't you
actually try listing to me?"
The doctor let out a sigh. "I am afraid that this type of behavior
isn't going to help you young man."
At that Trisha jumped up and screamed in frustration. She'd been
spanked, humiliated, called a liar and even insane, just for telling
the truth.
"What the hell is wrong with you people?" she yelled out furiously.
Then, before Trisha realized what was going on, someone had grabbed her
from behind and she felt a stinging in her arm. She snapped around,
seeing a syringe being pulled out.
"That should calm him down doctor," another man said.
Trisha just stared, no longer feeling quite as angry. She quickly
calmed down even more, finding it hard to focus on exactly why she was
angry. Everything seemed so groggy... so distant.
"Poor Richie here really needs help," the shrink told the other man
sadly. "I truly hope that I can help him."
Part 17
Richie was still under the control of the strange voice inside of him
as he walked down the street, a helpless puppet within his own body.
Helpless to do anything except move where the voice wanted him to, just
so that it could look around.
After walking several blocks, staring intently at everything, Richie
found himself walking inside of a store. He was embarrassed at that
especially since there were other people there, people who could see
him looking like Dale's mom.
"Please let me go," Richie begged, to no effect... or answer.
The voice just continued to slowly move Richie's body around the store,
looking at things, much to Richie's further frustration.
"Hey," a young man called out from behind the counter after a few
minutes, "there anything I can help you find?"
Suddenly Richie found that he was in control again. He looked around
nervously, blushing in embarrassment.
"Um..." he gulped, staring at the guy behind the counter. "I... um...
no thank you."
The man just gave Richie a strange look and shook his head. Richie let
out a sigh of relief, but still not feeling too much better.
Richie slowly looked around again, grinning when he noticed that the
candy rack was almost right in front of him. He nearly drooled at the
sight, wishing that his mom or dad were there to buy him some.
"Oh," Richie gasped in realization, looking down at himself and
grinning. He didn't need his mom or dad to buy him candy and stuff. He
was a grown up too now. "Oh boy..."
With that Richie grabbed through the candy, taking half a dozen
different types up to the front counter, feeling almost smug.
"That all ma'am?" the cashier asked, looking at Richie oddly.
"Uh huh," Richie nodded agreement.
However after the cashier had told Richie how much the candy cost,
reached back and realized that he didn't have any money. He'd left all
of that kind of stuff back at Dale's house.
"But I don't have any money," Richie told the man behind the counter,
suddenly remembering something his mom used, "Can I put it on credit?"
"Candy?" the cashier gasped in surprise. Then he quickly shook his
head. "Sure, can I get your card?"
Richie blinked at that. "Card?"
"Um... you know," the cashier repeated slowly, "a credit card."
After a few seconds, Richie looked down in embarrassment, quietly
admitting, "I don't have one."
The cashier glared at her, snapping, "What are you on lady?" Then he
growled, "Why don't you leave now."
With that Richie nearly ran out of the store, feeling extremely
embarrassed. Even with the strange jiggling from the weights on his
chest, he started running home. It was only at the last minute that he
remembered that he had to go to Dale's house instead.
When Richie finally reached Dale's house, he let out a sigh of relief,
wishing once again that the voice would turn him back to normal.
However he had a suspicion that it wasn't ready to do that just yet.
Part 18
Richie sat back on the couch, taking turns between watching TV and
staring down at himself. His whole body felt so different now that he
was a grown-up... and Dale's mom.
Just then Dale ran into the room, calling out, "Hi mom."
"Huh?" Richie turned around and blinked, wondering where Dale's mom was
until he realized that Dale was talking to him.
"What's for dinner?" Dale asked with an exaggerated innocent
expression. Then before Richie could even figure out what to say, Dale
continued, "Can we have macaroni and cheese?"
Richie just nodded slowly, remembering that Dale apparently didn't
remember the day before. He still wasn't sure how to tell Dale what had
happened and that he wasn't really Dale's mom.
Then Dale blurted out, "I'm going to Richie's house. I'll be back
later." And with that Dale ran through the door and was gone in an
instant.
Richie blinked, surprised at how quickly everything had just happened.
One second he was waiting for Dale's mom to come back and trying to
figure out what he should do, and the next second, he'd somehow agreed
to make dinner while Dale went out and played.
"Damn it," Richie growled, then giggled as he realized that he'd just
sweared and wasn't going to get in trouble. "Damn... damn... damn,"
Richie went on in a slightly sing-song voice, giggling to himself
before staring towards the kitchen.
It didn't take Richie too long to find the macaroni and cheese in the
cupboard, though since it wasn't dinnertime yet, he just left the box
on the cupboard and went back to watching TV... and himself.
Over an hour later, Richie noticed that it was getting closer to the
time for dinner, then grinned to himself.
"I'll mess with Dale again before telling him," Richie giggled,
hurrying to the kitchen.
After reading the directions on th