A Friend for Peter

Part 3

Melissa gulped before answering. Cynthia's voice -- undoubtedly like the rest of them - was painfully high. It was like the whiney little voice that her ten year-old sister had. "We... look just like kids again."

"That's fucking crazy, Lissa." Only problem was, whether Kathy liked it or not, her shrill voice was on the side of Melissa and her insane theory. "People just don't get younger!"

Melissa regarded her own budding bosom with wonder...and perhaps with a little pride in knowing that she still had some semblance of sexual maturity, unlike her hormone-impaired friends. It was not too difficult to see the hostile jealousy brewing in the eyes of her brat-sized rival. She brought her eyes back to meet the trembling child - Kathy. "Alright, brainiac... Tell me why you look like a pedophile carpenter's dream girl then?"

"What the fuck you mean by that?" Kathy took a step forward with a fist raised.

"A pedophile carpenter's dream girl, I said. Flat as a board and hasn't been screwed." Melissa grinned devilishly at piercing Kathy's armor. Bizarre curse or not, passing up such a moment to put that bitch-princess in her place was unthinkable.

"FUCK YOU - YOU GODDAMNED SLUT!" Kathy lunged for Melissa, but Britney and Cynthia managed to separate the two before juvenile homicide could transpire. Kathy was sporting a slight laceration on her cheek from Lissa's nails, but she held a considerable portion of hair that suspiciously matched her rival's.

"LISSA! KATHY! Just stop it both of you! We've gotta get some help or something!" Britney screamed. Cynthia, lacking the benefit of clothing - not to mention puberty, nodded in agreement.

"And what, Britney?" Kathy verbally lashed out. "What the hell is anyone in this school gonna do for us? We're freaks now! We'll be prodded and stuck by doctors till we're old enough for ninth grade again, when they find us."

"And that's after we're laughed out of the school by everyone who recognizes us," Melissa added, rubbing the portion of her head where hair had been ripped.

All the girls shuddered at the image of being escorted out of school by their parents, the school nurse, the gym coach, The Principal, and why not the entire faculty. But, there would be all the boys they had ever dated and dumped watching them leave as well. All of their present boyfriends would be fawning over the new successors to the female ninth grade social clique. The new girls would be smiling triumphantly. The boys would be laughing out of embarrassment for dating such freaks to begin with. Fat Betty would be laughing too. Seventh and eighth graders would even be standing by to watch and jeer. They... would... all... be... laughing.

I don't think I would be flaunting so little if I were them, the girl's voice echoed in Kathy's mind. "We can't let anyone see us like this!"

"Well...what in the hell are we supposed to do?" Cynthia squeeked. Being removed of her sexual maturity, and still lacking any clothes made her feel the tiniest in the group, although she was probably an inch taller than Kathy.

Kathy tried to think - to regain control of her ability to reason. What were they supposed to do?

They did not know who caused the horrible curse to begin with. It could be anyone. A lot of people certainly hated them. Kathy momentarily envisioned several faculty members looking at their pathetically reduced forms from a magic crystal ball in The Principal's office. She envisioned a jealous classmate, with a penchant for witchcraft, cackling maniacally. She even wondered if God was punishing them.

That last bit frightened her most. Had God set an example by taking swift and punitive action against the girls? They had certainly been rather cruel to various people. Kathy's little brother, for one thing. How many times had she held him down and spat on his face? How many times had she made him cry? How many-

"I wanna go home," Britney whined. She was the baby of her family - an only child. Her mother still groomed the poor girl, for Christ's sake. When things came down to the crunch, it was almost natural that she would look to Mommy and Daddy. Somehow, they would resolve the effect. Even if they did not, they would protect her from the laughter of others.

"Oh for crying out loud, Britney." Kathy snapped. "You're such a damned baby...you can't wipe yourself without running to Mommy."

"Shut up Kathy!" Britney burst into tears. It had been building for some time, but being attacked for just wanting to get the hell out of that place was the last straw. "I don't know what's happening to us and I...just...wanna...go...home!" Lissa came over and wrapped an arm around Britney and gave a venomous stare in Kathy's direction. If she's such a bitch, what are we doing around her?

Cynthia had left the other three and was in the process of getting dressed. Her pants were way too large for her, so all that was left were her gym shorts. All she had to do with them was tighten the drawstring. "Guys, I'm with Britney. We need to get some help, and our parents are probably the only ones."

"I'm not going home...not like this!" Kathy practically hissed.

"Yeah, your brother would just love you," Melissa smirked. She knew how sadistic Kathy was to the boy. He would definitely be looking for some payback. Kathy turned to resume the attack on Melissa, before deciding that maybe discretion would be the better part of valor. Unfortunately, Lissa was right.

"We can come over to my house," Britney suggested.

"And pway wid yuh dowwies, Bwitnee?" Kathy mocked.

Ignoring Kathy, Cynthia rejoined the other three and said: "Britney's got a good point, her parents are nice, unlike some people. We could show ourselves to them and have them break the news to our other parents. We need to stick together."

Kathy wanted to say something hateful yet again, but she instead held back. She was losing control. If their curse could not be remedied, her popularity would go down the drain. Even if she could integrate with fourth graders or something, they would hear rumors that she was a ninth grader and part of some freakish accident. They would fear her in a way that would not work in her benefit.

Future concerns aside, her present position as the leader of the group was rapidly deteriorating. The other girls saw that she was way out of control in dealing with the crisis at hand. Cynthia was ignoring her and taking control, Melissa was against her as usual, and Britney was looked at as a valuable team member because she had parents who gave a fuck.

Kathy truly hoped things would work out in the end, for she could not handle being physically - maybe even mentally - immature, being the shortest of the group, and having her position as leader usurped by Cynthia (!!!) of all people.

She felt so lost and...well...insignificant.

Melissa looked down at her chest, and her heart sank a little more. Her slightly existent breasts had completely vanished. Remembering when she had first started developing, Lissa estimated that she was ten years old again. She looked at the other girls and noticed that they appeared to be a wee bit younger as well.

"Alright, I think I have a plan." Said Cynthia. "Since we don't need to be seen between here and Britney's, we ought to just take the Trail." The Trail was a secret rout through a small forest and several people's yards between Argood school and Britney's subdivision. Boys had originally established the trail, for it was the quickest rout to the football field behind the school. The girls had taken the path several times when they were fifth grade cheerleaders, and now it appeared that the Trail had a practical use again.

"Great," Melissa scoffed. "Cursed and lost in the woods. It's Sesame Street meets the Blair Witch."

***

Peter and Julie discreetly observed the dwindling children as they became confused, then panicked, then squabbled, then bickered, and finally decide to sneak out of school. Peter was fascinated by the regression process, for it was different from when David had been shrunk. Peter was amused by how they had reacted to their large clothing, and how Kathy and Melissa had almost killed each other.

Even though both of the two invisible watchers had seen Cynthia wet herself and scream in panic when she noticed her pussy hair had vanished, they also noticed how she came to terms with the predicament and took charge. "The best leaders are the ones who have the situation forced upon them," Julie commented from her and Peter's etheric vantage point. "I believe I'll leave her somewhat mobile when we're through having our fun with them."

"That's fine with me," Peter responded in their form of communication that was and at the same time was not talking. "She's never really been mean to me."

"Very well... She's a cutie, isn't she?" Julie cocked a thoughtful eyebrow.

"Umm... well... I... I wouldn't kick her out of bed... well...I mean... when she was older." Peter blushed at saying that in front of an already beautiful nude. Julie chuckled a little.

"Don't be shy, Peter." Cooed Julie as she gently lifted his chin up to where he would look her in the eyes.

Down in the physical world, Britney, Melissa and Kathy were in the process of getting dressed. Melissa's formerly skin-tight T-shirt now fit her quite comfortably, and her cut-off jogging pants only needed to be tightened. Kathy's T-shirt was large, but manageable. Her shorts, on the other hand, were a different story: the elastic band on them was a little too loose, which meant she had to keep pulling them up. Britney had to settle for wearing her large sweater, a pair of loose panties, and - like the other girls - her now cloppy-clunky shoes.

Peter and Julie silently floated behind the girls as they snuck out of the school, by the football field, and through the shrubby entrance to the Trail. Peter had heard of the path many times, but had never walked it. He had no doubt that it would be entertaining at the least.

***

With Cynthia in front, the other three followed. Britney was directly behind her, followed by Melissa, and with Kathy miserably bringing up the rear. Kathy wanted to wake up from whatever nightmare she had waltzed into. It had to be a nightmare, or some sort of hallucination.

Had someone slipped them some LSD? Could that just be it, Kathy wondered? She found herself clinging to that possibility like a drowning victim to a floating piece of wood. Never mind that all three would had to have ingested the chemical in some form or another. Never mind that they were all three having the exact same hallucination. And, never mind that the effect of the drug was possibly the most intricate sensory distortion ever created.

Speaking of "sensory distortions," Kathy had neglected to pull up her gym shorts for the umpteen-millionth time, which meant they slid down her legs and caused her to stumble forward. Lissa was within reaching distance, which gave Kathy someone to grab on to before falling on her face. "Would you watch it! You nearly made me fall!" Melissa protested.

"Sorry," Kathy said, blushing. When was the last time she had ever apologized? Of course, she knew that answer: several years prior to being a ninth grade icon of popularity.

Her shorts were completely hopeless. They simply no longer clung to her hips. She had to bunch up a little of its elastic in her hand to keep them from falling down again. She looked down at them, puzzled, for they seemed to have grown or something.

She looked up at the other girls, about to squawk in annoyance, but was frustrated by the fact that she could not seem to keep up with them. She quickened her pace to match their longer strides, when she found herself at eye level with the back of Melissa's neck. Is she growing? The curse must be running out of juice or...something?

Kathy's right shoe slipped off her foot, causing her to trip. And this time, she was not in reaching distance of anyone. She fell flat on her face, knocking the breath out of her. She looked up at the other girls who didn't even notice! Kathy spat dirt and tiny twig-bits out of her mouth and tried to breathe again. When air did finally begin to fill her lungs, she started to weep. Her crying was in a pitch that seemed too young to even belong to a ten year-old's.

Unescapable truth caught up to Kathy as she realized why her shorts were even looser than they had been when she left the school, why the sound of her voice was even more girlish, and why Melissa was half a foot taller. Kathy was shrinking again...getting even younger...becoming smaller than any of the other girls.

Her weeping picked up volume until it had graduated into a full blown wail of panic and despair. The other girls finally turned around in shock, and were further astonished at the six or seven year-old girl Kathy had become. They looked at each other and realized that they had not regressed any younger

Melissa, smiling with triumph, took a few steps forward and extended a helping hand in an obviously deliberate manner. "The mighty has fallen, huh Kathy?" Kathy had no energy to argue, she simply took the big girl's hand and got to her feet. Her shorts were at her ankles yet again, but this time she did not even notice. "Did you loose something? Your shorts? Your shoe? Your height? Huh?"

Cynthia grabbed Melissa by the shoulder and spun her around. "What the hell's your problem, Lissa?"

Melissa laughed and took a couple of steps back, momentarily daunted by Cynthia's glare. Melissa was a little taller than Cynthia, but something in her friend's eyes blazed with fire. She quickly regained her composure. "My problem, bitch? Maybe you should ask squirt, here!"

Cynthia did look at the younger Kathy for a moment. Ever since their regression process

had begun, Cynthia truly realized how much of a bitch Kathy was. But, being cruel was only lowering Melissa to Kat's level. Maybe she was already as low as Kathy. Maybe they were all fairly low on the inside. Cynthia found herself almost actually glad this had happened to them. For once in life she was starting to have a moment of clarity about who she was and who she was associating with.

"Get off her fucking case, Lissa." Cynthia warned. Melissa took a couple of steps forward and shoved her former friend down on the ground, hoping her taller physical presence would cull Cynthia into submission. Cynthia sat up from the forest floor, still glaring at Melissa.

Lissa, feeling that she had put Cynthia in her place, proceeded to have a some more fun with little Kathy, who seemed to have shrunk even more! She couldn't be more than five years old. Melissa stepped over to the trembling girl and grabbed her by the left ear.

"Ouh ouh ouh no ouh stop!" Kathy squealed tearfully. Melissa ignored her, and yanked the huge T-shirt off the little girl's reduced frame, exposing Kathy's childishly nude form. "MELISSA NO!! GIVE IT BACK FUCK YOU GIVE IT! IT'S MINE PLEASE PLEASE PLEEE-HE-EESE!" Kathy's meager struggle and endless tears did no good. Melissa was holding the T-shirt over her head defiantly and laughing. Kathy tried to reach it, but Melissa was an uncomfortable foot taller, at least. Kathy, feeling the hopelessness completely envelope her, fell to her knees and sobbed into her hands.

Melissa was loving ever minute of this. Kathy was still regressing. If the little girl sobbing before her was three years old, she must have just blown out the birthday candles. But that couldn't be right, she had to be younger than that, even. Her youthening was in overdrive, for Kathy had become little more than a diaper age toddler.

"Wow Kathy, I hope Marty will enjoy your alluring fragance of Powder des Enfant and diaper de shit." Melissa, failing French, did not really care that she was driving both the European language and baby Kathy into the ground. Kathy wailed even louder still, at that comment. She passed into infancy, and then to newborn, when the regression process finally stopped.

Melissa was about to reach down, pick up the infant, and give her one hell of a spanking to make up for all the shit that Kathy had ever caused her, when the bunched up Smashing Pumpkins T-shirt was snatched from her hand. Melissa spun around ready to give (Cynthia, that cunt, she wants more, I'll damned well give her more) someone an ass kicking when she was slapped harder than she had ever remembered being slapped.

When the stars cleared, she found herself looking up (?!) at Cynthia. Lissa truly hoped she was just standing in a hole. Still rubbing her red cheek, she looked down at her feet. Nope, she wasn't standing in a hole, but her shorts were down there, concealing her no doubt humongous shoes. She said nothing, nor did she even attempt to pull them up.

Cynthia, ignoring her shorter enemy, walked past the girl to the crying infant. She quietly spread out Kathy's huge T-shirt beside her and gently began wrapping the naked baby up in it. Kathy's cries turned into sobs as Cynthia lifted the beautiful baby girl up from the dirt and began rocking her. She kissed the tears off the helpless little one, and continued comforting the newborn until Kathy's heavy eyes closed.

Britney, having watched the entire drama unfold to its conclusion, took a few timid steps toward the others. "Cynthia, what are we going to do?" Cynthia turned back around to Melissa and her old friend.

"Wrap up the other baby and lets' get to your house while we're still old enough to walk.." Britney, obviously shaken up but still in control of herself, delicately walked over to Baby Lissa and removed the big shirt from her. Given other circumstances, Melissa's infantile expression of utter shame would have been a Kodak moment.

Britney, blushing a little, took off her sweater. Cynthia was puzzled for a moment before Britney said: "My sweater can keep her warmer, I don't wanna get it ripped and snagged on the way home...and besides, her old tight shirt will fit me better."

Cynthia nodded and walked over to where Britney, wearing only her loose panties and big shoes, was bundling up Lissa. She sat Kathy's sleeping, bundled form next to the other baby and managed a smile. "You two be nice for a minute, okay?"

"What are you gonna do, Cynthie?" Britney asked with a little alarm as she pulled Melissa's shirt over her head. Melissa, walking over to some bushes laughed a little.

"I've really gotta pee again."

To be continued...

Máire Flynn (mailto:(maireflynn@cs.com))