This is a work of fiction intended for mature readers. 18 and over please.

All rights reserved by author.

Time Bomb by Nomdreserv

Part 3


Karen hurried into the house after a harrowing ride home. Twice, she had felt a sudden
sense of disorientation and near panic as routine driving had suddenly seemed
overwhelming and confusing, but each time she had recovered without significant
incident, though once her foot had slipped while misjudging the distance to the brake
pedal. She had also needed to constantly readjust her rearview mirror in both directions,
never quite getting it right for long. She had been worried she was experiencing age
changes herself, but each glance in the mirror had returned a normal appearing reflection.

She sighed in relief as she reached the house, almost shivering as she stepped in the door.
Another cautious peek in the mirror revealed an unchanged appearance: a pretty girl
wearing too much makeup and slightly baggy clothes. She breathed another sigh and
sank into a chair in the family room, kicking off her loose shoes, then jumped as the
phone rang. She fumbled it in her eagerness to pick up, finally gasping into the
mouthpiece.

"Lisa?"

"No, honey, it's me," Bob answered.

"Oh."

"What's wrong? I called your office, and Gina said you went home sick."

"A long story," Karen answered, then cleared her high sounding voice. "I ... we still
have problems." She gave a condensed version of her harrowing morning at work.

"Yow."

"Exactly."

"How you doing now?"

"I'm fine," she squeaked, again clearing her throat.

"You sure? You sound ..."

"What? I had a couple of bad moments during the drive where I got, like, worried, but
thank God nothing happened. It seems to have stopped now that I'm home. I checked
first thing in the door, and I'm like totally fine."

Silence as Bob thought.

"OK," he said. "Now bear with me. Describe your clothes and how they fit."

"You're being silly," she retorted. "I am, like, double A OK." She was getting annoyed
at being doubted, but a growing uneasiness contributed to her impatient tone.

"Please."

Sigh. "OK. I'm like dressed in a regular work skirt and jacket, you know, that sorta gray
blue shade you like.”

“Uh huh. Fits OK?”

“Yup,” she answered triumphantly. “Big and loose like always."

"Like always?"

"Yeah. You know, I really should get some suits in a smaller size. This skirt is like
almost ... " she trailed off in realization.

"Ready to fall off?" he finished. "I was afraid of that. Karen, how old are you?"

Flash of indignation.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she snorted, her worry forgotten at such a silly question.

His silence still begged a reply.

“Oh, all right. If it'll make you happy. I’m ... uh ... let me think ...” her embarrassment
temporarily precluded panic “... three... no ... twenty three ... um ... twenty ...” OK, time
to panic. “Oh my god, Bob! What’s happening?”

“Side effects,” he said grimly. “By the way, you’re 27. Remember?”

“27?” Her body tingled, and her clothes literally filled in before her eyes. “Yeah. Of
course. I can’t believe ...”

“I’m coming home.”

“No!” she yelled, then calmed herself. “Not yet. I’m fine now.” She lied, afraid what
might happen to Bob if he were nearby. “Besides, you’d better stay clear ‘til we now
what’s going on. One of us needs to be clear headed.” This was true enough, and she
spoke with conviction. “Let’s wait to hear from Lisa.”

“OK,” he agreed uncertainly. “But any more problems, and I’m coming home.”

“You’re my knight in shining armor,” she assured him, wishing she felt that confidence.
“But right now I need a rest. I’ve got a splitting headache.”

“All right to call?”

“You know it. In fact, it’s probably a good idea under the circumstances. Frequently.”
She added this without feeling real concern. It wasn’t like she was going to forget she
was, um, twenty ... six. Yeah, 26, 26, 26.

“Right. I’ll try Lisa while you rest.”

“Thanks. Love you.” She hung up and rubbed her temples. Maybe some TV would
relax her and take her mind off yet another predicament. As she turned on the set, she
reassured herself once more with her mantra.

“25, 25, 25. No problem.”

She started to channel surf, but then paused. What channel was Cartoon Network again?
All toons all the time. What a neat idea. A minute later, she was smiling happily.

....................................................................................................................

The phone startled her awake. She cursed as she jumped up and tripped over her skirt as
it fell around her ankles. What was she doing dressed up in these clothes? She shrugged
off the baggy jacket and raced in stocking feet (pantyhose also loose and sagging), then
pulled back her too long shirt sleeve to pick up the phone.

“’Lo?”

“Hello ... um, Karen?” Lisa sounded unexpectedly hesitant.

“Lisa! Thank God!” Karen snapped more fully awake. She hadn’t realized she’d fallen
asleep and took quick stock of her body now, worried about what might have happened
unawares. The pantyhose were a puzzlement which she let go. Her oversize shirt hung
reassuringly loose on her nearly flat chest.

Thank goodness she hadn’t changed.

“Karen? What’s wrong? What happened?”

Karen’s memory seemed suddenly foggy.

“Um ... like, let me think.” She concentrated and most of the morning’s events came
slowly back. She recounted them to a shocked Lisa.

“So, like everybody around me was, like, changing, and I couldn’t control it or nuthin,”
she finished. “Lucky it’s not affecting me.” She looked again at her thin, girlish legs.
How did her pantyhose get so wrinkled?

“Uh huh. And how’s Bob?” Lisa asked.

“Oh, he’s fine,” Karen giggled. “He was so funny. You know, worried about me and
everything.” She giggled again. “He was, like, asking me silly questions like what I was
wearing and how old I was and stuff.”

“And how old are you, Karen?” Lisa asked quietly.

“Geez, you too?” She was ready this time. “Like, you know I’m gonna be 3 ...” another
giggle “I mean, 13 next birthday.” Karen hugged her budding, adolescent breasts
happily, only then noticing the ill-fitting bra she had on. Another mystery.

Lisa was shocked again. Her worry had grown throughout the story, but Karen’s
thoroughly altered perception and easy acceptance of her changed body really threw her.
She wasn’t sure how hard to try to persuade her otherwise over the phone, but decided the
chance to work with the adult Karen was worth the shot.

“Karen,” she began slowly. “Don’t you think something might be wrong with you, too?”

“Like, no way,” Karen returned decisively. “I was worried at first, but I’m me. I look
normal.” She paused thoughtfully. “There might be something affecting my clothes,
though,” she admitted.

“Karen, how many 12 year olds are married, work as office managers, and drive
themselves home?”

“Uh ...” Her confidence faltered. She KNEW her age ... but her clothes had fit better
earlier that morning, hadn’t they? And ... work? Car?

“Think, Karen! Remember! How old are you really?”

“Three? ... no.” Why did that number keep coming to mind first? She tried to remember
her conversation with Bob - he had said what her age was. “Twenty ... something.”
Now, panic returned as she recognized the near child state she had assumed. Worse, she
didn’t change back this time when she realized it was wrong. “Oh my God, Lisa! I’m
not changing ... I’m still a girl. Help me, Lisa, please. What’s wrong with me?”

“I don’t know,” her friend answered truthfully, though a mostly suppressed memory
danced fleetingly through her mind. “This wasn’t happening when we were together.
Any problems last night?”

“No.” A pause, then in a hushed voice. “Well, I wet the bed.”

“I call that a problem.”

“Thanks - that helps a lot,” she snapped.

Lisa was unfazed. “Where’s the medallion?”

“Upstairs. I took it off last thing last night.” A flicker. “Hey! Could that have
something to do with it?”

“Go get it,” Lisa suggested. “See if it works.”

Karen ran upstairs, taking the portable phone with her. She opened her jewelry box and
grabbed the artifact. Forcing herself calm, she looked in the mirror and saw a freckled
face girl on the cusp of teen years, slim, with barely defined curves, and long, red hair.
She paused a few moments. THIS was what she was supposed to look like: it felt right.
Making herself older was ... scary.

Her oversize clothes told her otherwise, and she steeled herself. How old was she
supposed to be? 23? That sounded right. She invoked the medallion’s power as Lisa
had taught her. Immediately, she morphed back to an adult, filling her shirt and hose with
strangely unfamiliar curves. For a few seconds, she stared at her reflection in disbelief.
She looked so different, so big. And her breasts and hips. Wow. She smiled uncertainly
at the woman in the mirror, and touched her slightly changed face in amazement. Then,
memory came flooding back, and she saw herself as normal again. Almost shaking, she
picked up the phone again.

"Worked," she offered, her voice again a womanly timbre.

"Thank goodness," Lisa affirmed. "And your memory?"

"Back to normal." Pause. "I think. That was, like, totally freaky."

"Still is," Lisa thought, then added aloud, "So, the medallion's still working. That's
good."

"I guess. But then why am I changing? Or the people around me?"

"I don't know. But what scares me is that you're not noticing the changes - didn't you
think anything was wrong the way you were dressed and looked?"

"Sorta. I mean, like, my clothes were too big, but I just kinda thought - hey, those are my
work clothes, so it's OK. And, you know, I knew who I was and everything, so I thought
everything was all right. I never even thought about driving or nothing. It's hard to
explain." Karen was feeling frightened and frustrated. She was beginning to wish Lisa
had kept her magic a secret. This stuff was great when you were in control, but this
recurring helplessness was getting to her.

"So now what?" Karen finally continued.

"I'm not fooling around or trying to work this out myself this time," Lisa answered. "I'm
gonna call Gregor and ask him to come out himself. I'm sure he'll have some answers."
At least Lisa hoped so.

"Answers would be nice for a change. So what 'til then?"

No answer. Karen felt a brief surge of panic again. "This is getting scary, Lisa."

"I know, honey. Listen, I can close the shop. I gonna come over as soon as I talk to
Gregor."

"OK," Karen felt too relieved at the prospect of company to protest this time. "But what
if I can't control this? You might ..."

"You let me worry about that. At least if one of us changes, the other will be there to
notice it, and we can use the medallion to change back."

"Yeah," Karen said in relief. "That makes sense. Thanks, Lisa." Sudden bladder
pressure again. "Uh, I've gotta run before I have another, you know, accident."

"See you soon."

Karen ran to the bathroom, leaving the medallion on the dresser, more important matters
taking priority.

After another close call, she emerged in her underwear, blouse and pantyhose in hand,
deciding she'd had it with her work clothes. She tossed them in a ball on the floor. After
a few seconds hesitation, she decided her bra didn't feel right either (probably twisted
around by all these size changes, she reasoned), and she unfastened it as well, dropping it
along with her other things on the closet floor. Normally, she took care of her good work
clothes, but right now the pile of discarded and wrinkled apparel didn't seem to bother
her. She slipped on an oversize sweatshirt, decided to skip the pants, but did put on a pair
of athletic socks. It reminded her of the clothes she wore to relax in college.

Ignoring the slight tingle at the thought, she glanced in her closet door mirror. The
oversize shirt made her look a little younger, but peering closely, she could tell she was
still her normal 19 years. She examined her profile critically. With her perky breasts, she
hardly needed a bra anyway, and it was only Lisa coming over. Of course, come to think
of it, it was on a rainy day dressed like this that Lisa had made her first move at intimacy
during college. Karen smiled at the memory, and felt a slight tingle below. If she weren't
so worried ... about ... oh, yeah. She was worried wasn't she? Of course she was.
Though right now, things seemed to have finally quieted down.

Just for fun, she tried gathering her red hair into a ponytail, the way she used to. Cute!
But that made her look even younger, and you'd think high school rather than college, and
what self respecting 18 year old wanted that?

She posed a bit in front of the mirror. For some reason, her earlier anxiety seemed to fade
further and further from her mind. What was she so upset about? All the changes in the
others had been temporary - no harm done, and now that she thought about it, they were
actually kind of funny. Especially the older, heavier Kelly waddling in her miniskirt.
Served her right, the arrogant ...

Hey! Was that a zit? Geez. Oh, thank God it wasn't. She examined her slightly freckled
face carefully. Now, what was she thinking about? Oh, yeah, the age changes. They
were cool. As for her own regression earlier, that was probably a fluke. Here she was,
looking every inch the fresh-faced 17 year old she was, and none the worse for wear.

Walking back into the bedroom, the medallion caught her eye, and, on impulse, she
picked it up and put it around her neck. Wouldn't hurt to keep it close.

She couldn't wait for Lisa to show up.


END PART 3

Copyright 1998 by Nomdreserv

All rights reserved by author


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