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

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Time Change by Nomdreserv


Part 7

As Karen calmed down and managed to refocus her thoughts, she realized how
ridiculous, if exhilarating, the fight had been, especially given the seriousness of their
situation. Here she was, 8 years old and still regressing, about to shrink out of her
clothes, and possibly her marriage, and she was still mad at the only person who could
help her. She worked at calming the last of her childish agitation.

Lisa, on the other hand, was thinking along entirely different lines.

Her mind had been affected more strongly than any of them knew, and she had almost
entirely lost her ability to recover the mature focus Karen struggled to regain. Worse, she
didn't realize what she had lost. She felt (with all the certainty of youth) that her thinking
was as reasoned and flawless as ever, and that made her very dangerous.

Like many children, she felt every grievance or slight as a mortal blow, and plans of
retaliation or "making them sorry" came naturally. Not only was she still nursing her
anger towards Karen (now that she thought of it, this was ALL Karen's fault), but it was
spurred by her increasing jealousy about Bob's attention. Anger and jealousy are very
dangerous emotions to stir in a witch, and Karen wasn't the only one who could yield to
the dark side.

She still couldn't control or even activate the time power within her. She had tried while
Karen was crying into Bob's shoulder. Karen had also tried to "spark" him back to
normal without result. It was obvious the power could only be activated when she and
Karen touched, though so far their control still left much to be desired. The medallion,
however, was the natural focus for that power. If she used it when they touched, she bet
she could control their aging, probably not as well as the medallion normally did, but well
enough to regress Karen without ill effect to herself.

Then there was Bob. She watched enviously as he held and comforted Karen. Lisa had
been affected just as much - why didn't he hug her like that? He liked Karen a lot - even
better than her, which wasn't fair, she thought, her eyes stinging. If only he liked her
better.

She smiled again, still singing her song innocently, as she imagined regressing Karen
further - maybe make her the baby she was acting like. Yeah, that would be neat. Then
Bob would pay attention to her..... if he didn't get mad. She was sure he would. Maybe if
she could make him young again first, he would be so grateful he would forget about
Karen. Or....

She stopped singing as another thought came to her. If her adult self could only be heard,
it would have screamed. Instead, her smile became a grinchy grin as she remembered her
potions.

Love potions, for example, and some that influenced the mind, making the subject more
"suggestible." That Lisa had such mind altering magic at all perhaps testifies to the dark
side of her nature, but their temptation is almost overwhelming to a young magic user.
That she had never used them (at least on an unwilling subject, but more of that another
time), even when she had so longed to rekindle the passionate aspect of her relationship
with Karen for example, confirmed the control and propriety normal to her character.
Unfortunately, these traits are sorely lacking in an angry 8 year old.

As Lisa sank into her baneful mood, Karen took a deep sigh, working out the last of her
own fear and anger - she hoped. Her childish thoughts had been much more difficult to
clear this time, but seeing Lisa smiling gave her an unfounded sense of relief. Under the
circumstances, she had no problem making the first move for amity.

"Lisa?" she began, wiping her small hand across her tear-stained, freckled face.

"Yeah?" Lisa jumped unexpectedly, looking tense, and her foot stopped rocking.

"I'm sorry."

A sigh of relief, not for the apology but that her dark thoughts weren't obvious. "Me too,
Karen." A weak and somewhat forced smile. "I guess we just lost it."

Karen nodded and tried to return the rather unconvincing smile with more feeling.

"Acting like a couple of kids," she summed, sitting up on the couch and just now noticing
how big everything had gotten. She glanced up at Bob's face, trying not to look shocked
at how old he appeared close up. His hair was half gray now, and the lines had deepened
and spread further on his face.

He just smiled ruefully. "Glad you said it and not me," he said, rubbing an aching
shoulder. "You two sure make a guy feel old."

Karen smiled and Lisa giggled, both glad to have his remarkable imperturbability to fall
back on. Bob had born their failed attempts to rejuvenate him as equably as ever, and
Lisa couldn't help thinking that he was the perfect subject for magical experimentation -
calm and adaptable, as proved so far through shrinking (Karen's and his own), and now
age changing. It gave her ideas for later (some of which might have even given Bob
pause).

The two girls also looked shyly at each other, each noting with calmer eye how small the
other had become, and how silly her adult clothes looked.

To be honest, Karen felt another reason to smile, seeing how young Lisa had become.
She had actually gotten an unexpected thrill during the fight. She, Kari O'Mall....oops,
Karen Rhodes, had actually used magic. She had felt the charge in herself, the release
when she made contact, and watching Lisa shrink each time she touched her had given
her a real rush. She could understand the incredible attraction to magic that Lisa had tried
to explain to her, and doubted she could ever forget it again.

Of course, right now she had to deal with the consequences, and she had no idea how
extensive those were.

"Are you OK?" Karen asked. "Can we still do this?"

"I think so," Lisa decided after a moment's hesitation. "A little harder to 'member stuff,
and, you know, cossin....contren.... think right." That was true enough.

Karen nodded. She could feel it, too. Her ability to shift focus and see her adult self was
fading. If she slipped all the way to infancy? She gulped and slid off the couch, her
shorts barely maintaining a hold on her narrow hips while they hung to her knees. Her
shirt slid down past mid thigh, and she felt the now useless bra slip across her flat chest.

"We gotta try it, Lisa. Now." She added with quiet urgency, walking towards her friend,
her sandals slipping on her feet.

"Uh huh. Sure." Lisa looked a little nervous, whether at Karen's approach or something
else bothering her was hard to tell. She climbed out of her own chair, grabbing at her
slipping shorts with one hand as she stood, and was annoyed to find Karen a little taller
than her. She had been taller ever since she had known Karen, and decided she must
have regressed a bit more during their fight. Well, soon she could even the score.

"Uh.... could you guys give me a little time alone to get things ready? My pep...
prap...preparations are all messed up after our fight." This was a lie, but she didn't care.
She needed an opportunity to set up her revenge.

Karen was clearly disappointed.

"I....guess so. If we gotta. What should we do?"

"There's the mega mall a couple of miles away." She preferred to be alone in the house
while she prepared.

"Go out? I....I...don't think...."

Lisa allowed her shorts to fall to the floor and gestured dramatically.

"Maybe you could get us some clothes that fit. This is getting ric...ridl... silly."

Karen giggled. Lisa was beginning to sound like Porky Pig when she tried to use grown
up words.

Bob, however, spoke in exasperation. "More clothes? You're right - this is getting
ridiculous." Lisa felt the sting at how easily the word rolled off his tongue. "Not only is
it a waste of time." And money, he thought, his masculine indifference to fashion
showing through. "But there has got to be something more useful for us to do." Even
Karen looked at Lisa doubtfully.

Lisa remained unperturbed. She needed some time, and this would be perfect.

"Sorry, Bob, there's nothing much you can do to help me get ready. In fact, you'd
probably just get in the way. Besides, I think we may need some really LITTLE kid's
clothes." She glanced at Karen. "In case this doesn't work. Maybe even diapers."

"Diapers?" Karen wailed.

"Sorry, Karen. Just bein' realst... realtic........ just thinkin' ahead." For you, she added to
herself. Her total lack of remorse at the thought confirmed the extent of her character
regression.

"'kay," Karen agreed reluctantly, her lip pouting.

Bob looked at her sadly, then forgot her problems as he struggled to his feet, groaning
and stretching an aching back. Growing old was hell, he decided, especially when you
did it in a day. He held out a hand.

"Let's go, honey. We'll let Lisa work."

Karen took a step, nearly losing her own shorts along the way.

"Maybe clothes aren't such a bad idea," she mused.

She reached for Bob's hand, and looked way, way up into his face. It reminded her of
when her daddy used to take her out for a trip. Strangely, her first instinct at the
realization was to sink further into character and ask him to carry her - it would be safe
and snug and comforting. And childish, she realized, retaining enough of her adult sense
to fight against anything that reinforced her apparent age, and trying to avoid making Bob
even more of a father figure than he was already becoming.

Nonetheless, she took his hand.

"I'll only need about 40 minutes," Lisa told them, following them to the door. "Don't
take too long, or, well, you know."

"We do, and we won't," Bob assured her.

At the car, Karen started to open the passenger front door. Bob looked embarrassed.

"Um, honey," he started apologetically. "You know, the front air bag is supposed to be
dangerous for, um, kids."

Karen felt an irrational surge of anger and reflexively stamped her foot (and had to
immediately grab her falling shorts).

"Wanna ride up front. I'm NOT a kid." Her shorts slipped again, revealing legs that
contradicted her.

"Um, well..."

"Up front! Up front! Up front!" A small part of her mind was horrified at her tantrum,
but she couldn't control it. She opened the door and plopped down defiantly into the seat,
her feet sticking straight out from the deep bucket seat, sandals threatening to drop off.

Bob sighed and decided to drive extra carefully.



Inside the house, Lisa had to pull a chair over to reach into her storage cupboards. Had
she been thinking clearly, she would have been terrified to note that she couldn't read all
of the labels and instructions on her supplies, but since she knew which potions were
which by their bottles, this didn't bother her.

She pulled out a small red bottle and smiled. This would make Bob like her extra good,
she thought. She knew it was supposed to do something else, but couldn't remember
what. She did remember that they both had to drink some - it only worked when used in
pairs or more. But she would only give it to Bob and herself. That would show Karen.

Lisa looked for another bottle for the second part of her plan. Karen and Bob might
figure out something was wrong when Karen got younger, and Bob would certainly cause
trouble if he thought Karen was in danger. Lisa decided to get down her mes.... mesmer....
hypono.... make-people-do-what-you-want powder. She stretched on tiptoes. What
stupid idiot had put it so high and far back? Oh yeah, she had, when she was big. Now
why had she done that? This stuff was great - she should be using it all the time. You
could get anybody to do anything you wanted. At least she hoped so; she had never used
it outside of "classroom." This had been the most potent magic potion she had ever made,
and she had been proud of her accomplishment since it had proved she was capable of
higher levels of power in her training. Since then, she had concentrated on her preferred
areas of size and age control, and she had almost disposed of this, but her pride wouldn't
let her. Also, even then, a whisper from the dark side had helped persuade her to hold
onto it.

She carefully clambered back down with her treasures, her bare feet and skinny legs
exposed as her dress-like shirt rode up. She had abandoned her shorts because of
annoying slippage, and amused herself imagining Karen's remaining clothes falling away
from her shrinking form. A momentary pang of doubt and guilt made her pause, then she
remembered the image of little Karen sticking her tongue out at her. Humming a cheerful
Disney tune, she started to prepare for her friends' return.



Bob and Karen entered the mall, Karen feeling overwhelming embarrassment at the stares
and strange looks her clothing drew. Some people muttered to each other that the little
girl's grandfather must be crazy to dress her like that. She could barely keep her shoes or
shorts on as he pulled her along by the hand. She was frightened and humiliated by the
giants around her, some laughing, some scowling at her appearance. She clutched Bob's
hand tighter as she stumbled, ashamed to admit she was having trouble keeping up with
him.

They passed a coin operated kiddie ride area, and Karen's heart jumped. A race car! A
horsie! She started to dig in her heels and pulled on Bob's arm eagerly.

"Oh, Bob. Can I? Can I?"

Bob looked right through the ride area, almost invisible to adult eyes, and thought she
was pointing to a lingerie store.

"Certainly not!" he exclaimed, pulling her along. "I'm surprised you could even think
about it under these circumstances. It would be embarrassing and ridiculous."

Karen was stung by his abrupt reply, and her lip trembled. He never let her have any fun.
As they hurried along, Karen looked about curiously, finding her view of the mall very
different. She ignored the clothing stores that would have ordinarily caught her attention
(Boring!), but her eyes nearly jumped out at the toy store. What neat stuff, she thought,
again dragging her feet - how come she hadn't noticed it before? Again, Bob was
unwilling to stop. Why was he in such a hurry?

Oh, yeah. She had to shake her head to clear it. At least one of them was thinking
straight. She resolved to maintain focus and resolutely turned her back on the toys.
Unfortunately, that brought the food court into view. OH! She stopped dead. Ice cream,
pretzels, cookies - it was all so wonderful, she completely forgot her new resolution.
What should she have? It took another jerk from Bob's hand to get her moving again.

They entered a department store and went straight to children's clothes. A saleswoman
noticed the odd couple and moved in to intercept.

"May I help you?"

"Yes, thank you," Bob answered in real relief as he blinked uncertainly at the unfamiliar
merchandise, suddenly aware that he had no idea what children's sizes were. "My,
ummm..." he looked at Karen, still holding tightly to his hand, and tried to concoct a
cover story.

Karen recognized his discomfiture and decided to pay him back for skipping the rides.

"Tell her, GRAMPA," she suggested sweetly.

Bob glared. He had planned to present himself as an older father.

"My GRANDDAUGHTER," he squeezed her hand hard, "is visiting and, um, messed up
her clothes. We need to buy new ones."

"Of course," the saleswoman agreed uncertainly. "Did you have anything in mind?"

"Well, ummm..."

"MOMMY said we need lots of clothes," Karen chirped in helpfully. "I want a pretty
dress, and shoes, and a jacket, and..."

"Just get us some basics," Bob interrupted wearily. "Pants, shirts, whatever."

"Certainly, sir. Do you know the size?"

Bob's expression answered for him.

"Let me take care of it, sir. Perhaps you'd like to sit while I pick some things out?"

"Sounds good," Bob agreed, realizing how good a rest sounded despite only a short walk.
He sank into a chair.

"Don't forget LITTLE Lisa," Karen enjoined.

The clerk's eyebrows went up quizzically.

"Her...sister," he added after appearing to think a few moments.

"And her age?"

"Three?"

"If you're not sure, perhaps I could pick a couple of sizes for you to check."

"Just throw them all in," he said wearily. "We'll probably be able to use them."

"If you say so." Well, this certainly qualified as her strangest but potentially largest sale
of the day.

"Do you sell diapers?" he asked suddenly.

"For a three year old?"

"Um, another sister," he added lamely.

"I'll put some in. The baby's size?"

"Medium?" He glared at Karen again as she laughed silently at him, her face hidden from
the bewildered woman.

"Of...course, sir. I'll take care of it."

A couple of hundred dollars later, Bob maneuvered his way back through the store
awkwardly while holding several large bags. Karen skipped happily next to him, smartly
dressed in a bright cotton sweatshirt and pants. She still wore her oversized sandals, but
the saleswoman had managed to tighten the straps enough to keep them from threatening
to fall off with every step. She had directed Bob to the shoe section, much to Karen's
delight, but he had drawn the line there.

"No, Kari," he had insisted. "Yours and Lisa's shoes are fine."

The clerk shook her head watching them leave. If he thought those shoes were fine... Oh
well, never argue with a free spending customer. She paused, wondering at a couple of
oddities. She had initially sized the girl at a seven, but by the time they had actually tried
the clothes on her, she was closer to a six. And she could have sworn her grandfather had
more gray in his hair by the time he had left. She knew some men hated shopping, but
that was ridiculous.


They pulled back into Lisa's driveway, and Karen couldn't wait to show off her new
clothes. Lisa would be SO jealous.

Of course, Lisa already was, but Karen wouldn't have been at all pleased to learn why.
The small black haired girl showed no trace of it as she waved and smiled at them from
the door.

"'Bout time, slowpokes. I'm all ready and can't wait to get started."


End part 7

Copyright 1998 by Nomdreserv


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