The Kiddy Pool Sea

Thomas has to babysit his younger cousin, much to his annoyance. But things get strange when suddenly a magical tower rises out of the kiddy pool his cousin was playing in.

 

The Kiddy Pool Sea

By CalexTheNeko

 

Thomas was sitting at the table on the backyard patio. It was a hot summer day, and he he was dressed very simply in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt to help stay cool. He had even recently cut his brown hair shorter to deal with the heat. Right now, his brown eyes were glued to the screen of his laptop sitting on the table. He would have much rather  been inside with the luxury of A/C, but unfortunately he had let himself get roped into a real chore.

 

And said chore was currently sitting about five feet away from him in the middle of a small blue and green kiddie pool. It was his younger cousin, a three year old toddler named Billie. Right now, the sandy haired youth was dressed in just a pair of blue swim trunks as he stomped around in the kiddie pool. Like most pools of this size, the water shallow enough that even for a toddler the water barely went up past his knees. Toy boats and a few rubber ducks were floating around within the pool. Meanwhile, Brownie, the family cat who had been asleep in the yard let out a scream as a splash of water landed on the tabby and he ran directly beneath the table Thomas was at.

 

“Toooooooommmmmmmmmmyyyyyyyyyyy!” Billie called. “Come play with me! I’m trying to build a magic tower!” Indeed, there was the basis of a tower in the middle of the pool now. It was made of ABC blocks stacked atop each other. Billie had knocked as many over into the water as had stacked them, leading to him to splash around more as he searched for the missing blocks. It was a slow process, but eventually more blocks were joining the tower rather than being lost among the water.

 

“It’s Thomas.” The teen growled in an annoyed tone. He knew that his cousin was young, but he could at least try to get his name right. “And I’m too busy. I have to finish this paper before Monday. Besides…” Thomas fixed the cousin with an annoyed look. “I’m far too old to play in a kiddie pool.”

 

“Be that way.” Billie huffed. “Like you know anything about magic anyway. Bet Brownie will play with me.”

 

“Mrooow.” Brownie reacted to his name and crept slowly out from beneath the table. He returned to laying in the grass, but slightly further away from the pool.

 

“Abra Kadabra!” Billie began to shout magic words as he finally put the final block on top of the tower. “Alakazam! Hocus Pocus! Magicalzam!”

 

“Heh.” Thomas couldn’t help but chuckle. Little kids had such weird imaginations. He had no idea what game his little cousin was playing… But at least if he was just going to stay around the kiddy pool it’d make the babysitting easier. Honestly, access to that little pool almost made Thomas a little envious. Not that he’d want to be in an actual pool like that, but with as hot as it was… A dip in a full sized one sounded really nice about now.

 

“AND PRESTO!” Billie added one last piece to the tower as he shouted the last word. It was a crystal, but one that was obviously some kind of plastic toy. Thomas figured it was probably some kind of costume jewelry piece. However, upon the crystal being placed atop the ground began to rumble.

 

“What!?” Thomas barely managed to grab his laptop before it fell off the table. “Is this an earthquake?” Remembering his cousin, he stood up quickly intending to grab the toddler and get to safety. However, Billie was a lot further away than he was moments ago. He was still in the pool, but the pool was suddenly much larger than it had been just a few seconds earlier. It was as big as a lake! And yet, the borders of it were still the same colorful plastic material as before. It was just bigger! And in the center of the pool… An enormous tower of blocks, each block as big as a one story house, and at the very top of that, the plastic crystal glowing with a blue light. Billie wasn’t far from the tower. He was floating on a small raft as he looked around the pool with amusement on his face.

 

More had changed than just the size of the pool and tower. The toy boats were now full sized pirate ships, the rubber ducks were enormous beasts! They moved on their own, making loud deep quacking noises as they swam around the pool. A dolphin… No, a stuffed animal in the shape of a dolphin leaped out from the center of the pool before doing a flip and landing in the water again, vanishing beneath the waves.

 

And then, the shaking stopped, and all Thomas could do was stand there and stare.

 

“Tommy! Did you see that! It was awesome!” Billie had a paddle aboard his raft, and moved it close to the edge of the pool.

 

“What… How?” Thomas was flabbergasted to correct his name.

 

“The crystal made the tower magic!” Billie pointed at it. “So now I can have a big adventure.”

 

“That…” Thomas wouldn’t believe it if he hadn’t seen it himself. “Can the tower do other magic?” There was a sudden hunger in his eyes.

 

“All kinds.” Billie nodded.

 

“All kinds?” Thomas was having a hard time understanding what he was seeing, but apparently magic was real. And there were ‘all kinds’ of things it could do. Could it make him rich? Not have to go to school anymore? There were so many possibilities and he soon found himself hungering for the opportunity. He walked towards the pool, approaching Billie’s raft intending to get on it with his cousin.

 

“Nuh uh!” Billie held up paddle blocking Thomas from getting on. “You said you were too old. So you can’t come.”

 

“Then why did you even bother coming over here?” Thomas sighed. He was considering just grabbing the oar from his cousin’s hands. He didn’t want to hurt the little guy, but actual magic was going on and he was going to be petty now?

 

“To pick up my first mate!” Billie smiled.

 

“Who the heck are you even-“ Thomas didn’t get to finish asking, before he noticed someone else, someone he knew.

 

It was Brownie, their tabby cat. Except, he was standing upright on two legs walking like a person, and had a paper hat atop his head. He held a second hat in his paws, which Thomas could not even began to imagine how he folded without thumbs.

 

“First Mate Brownie reporting for duty!” The tabby cat saluted. “Eh, what’s he doing here?” He gestured towards Thomas.

 

“Wants to go to the tower.” Billie explained.

 

“Well he’s much too old for that! It’s impossible.” Brownie crossed his legs… or arms, careful not to ruin the hat. “Sorry chap, but I’m sure you can find something on your computer to entertain you.” Brownie quickly leaped onto the raft before placing the spare paper cap on Billie’s head. “Orders captain?”

 

“I think we’ll go for a treasure hunt!” Billie grinned. “Bound to be chest full of doubloons around here somewhere.”

 

“There are gold coins too!?” Thomas was taking everything at face value now. “Billie let me on the raft right now, or I’ll force you back inside.”

 

“You picking a fight with the captain?” Brownie asked. “Cause you’re gonna regret it if you are.”

 

“It’s alright Brownie, just ignore him, he’s just jealous.” Billie moved his paddle to push the boat away. “Besides, I wanted him to play with me but he’s too old anyway.” He stuck his tongue out at Thomas.

 

“That so?” Brownie leaped off the raft right before it floated away. “I’ll catch up later captain… I think he needs to understand a few things.”

 

“Okay see you later First Mate Brownie!” Billie saluted as he pushed off further, taking his raft to the center of the pool.

 

“Listen Brownie you can’t stop me from-“ Thomas started.

 

“You really do need to learn to think more before you speak.” Brownie interrupted him. “Did I say I was going to stop you?”

 

“You just did!” Thomas threw his hands up.

 

“No. I said you needed to understand a few things.” Brownie grinned. “You need to learn to listen and not just hear. I said there were things you need to understand.” Brownie waved a paw. “You really want to get to the tower?”

 

“Well yeah that’s why we’re having this conversation!” Thomas felt exasperated.

 

“Then just trick your cousin.” Brownie shrugged. “If the only problem is that you’re too old, if you convince him you’re a little kid too he’ll have to let you on his raft so you can get to the tower.”

 

“I don’t exactly think that’s possible.” Thomas growled.

 

“He’s three years old and you’re pushing seventeen!” Brownie snapped.  “Are you really telling me you can’t outwit a toddler! A few tricks, a few illusions, and a little bit of misdirection, and you’ll be at the tower before you know it.”

 

“Accepting that’s even possible…” Thomas rubbed his chin. “Why are you helping me?”

 

“Obviously because he splashed me with water.” The cat grinned. “So it’s only fair I play a little prank on him.

 

“I guess that makes sense…” Thomas muttered. “So what do you have in mind?”

 

“First…. We’re going to have to get him willing to play with you in general, and that means making you look just a bit younger!” The cat jumped up and batted Thomas’ chin. “And little kids don’t have stubbles. So going to need to get some hair removal cream and take care of that.”

 

“But I was planning to grow a bear!” Thomas objected.

 

“You want to get to the tower or not?” The cat tapped a paw against the ground while holding a tube of cream with his paw.

 

“Okay, fine… I can regrow it later.” Thomas took the cream and applied it to his face, his precious ‘beard’ coming right now. That wasn’t the only change,, but the other was almost impossible to notice. Thomas had lost about an inch in height, as he was now the same size he had been back when he was fifteen.

 

“Ok good start, but that’s not going to be enough on its own.” Brownie paced back and forth trying to think. “Ah! I got it! Get rid of your laptop!”

 

“WHAT!?” Thomas objected. “That’s expensive!”

 

“And not very entertaining to a toddler.” Brownie sighed. “I’m not saying break it or throw it in the trash, but get rid of it somehow in a way he can see.”

 

“Fine… Fine…” Thomas growled as he quickly walked over to the table and picked up the laptop. Then he spoke very loudly. “Ugh, this thing is so boring! It’s not shiny at all!” He spared a look across the pool to see that his cousin was watching, then he quickly opened the sliding door and tossed the laptop inside. He was careful to aim for the couch so it wouldn’t break, but Billie wouldn’t see that, only that he had tossed it. As Thomas shut the door and walked away he had to pull his shorts up a bit as they had started to sag. He last lost a couple more inches and was down to fourteen.

 

“Now we’re getting places.” Brownie nodded. “I do think you have his attention. But… Next is the hard part, you’re going to have to get him to play with you.”

 

“Isn’t that the entire goal!?” Thomas demanded.

 

“True, but he won’t let you anywhere near the island, because you said you were too old.” Brownie shrugged. “Of course, if you were playing elsewhere in the yard and looked like you were having a lot of fun, he’d see and he’d want to join in.”

 

“So, what do you suggest?” Thomas asked.

 

“Roll around in the grass! Find a ball to play with! Run around and giggle a lot! Just think like a little kid.” The cat grinned.

 

“That sounds ridiculous.” Thomas replied.

 

“So like a kid?” Brownie swished his tail. “But I do see a problem. You don’t sound like a kid. We need a way to make your voice higher! AH!” The cat ran behind a tree and then came out from the other side holding a balloon. “Suck this in?”

 

“What?” Thomas asked flatly.

 

“It’s full of helium.” Brownie rolled his eyes as if he had to explain everything. “You breathe it in, your voice gets higher, you sound like a younger kid.”

 

“Ohhhh.” Thomas felt stupid for not realizing it. He untied the balloon and quickly inhaled it. “Testing, one two three.” His voice sounded higher. At first it was just squeaky, but by three it started to sound younger. It must have been a short dosage of helium. He had to pull up on his shorts again to keep them from falling off, they were really loose, likely due to the fact he was twelve years old. However, he just assumed it was because of the humidity.

 

“You think it’s bad for you, try having fur.” Brownie held a paw over his mouth to conceal a giggle. “Alright now, you gotta get his attention somehow. So start playing!”

 

“Start playing yeah…” Thomas growled. He held his hands out like an airplane and began to run around making zooming noises. He felt ridiculous.

 

“Ok, a bit awkward… But it’s a start… I’ll get something to help! You keep trying!” Brownie ran off.

 

“Keep trying he says.” Thomas growled. “This is ridiculous. What do kids do? Find something stupid to play with.” He looked around the yard, looking for anything, eventually finding a stick. Picking it up, he began to swish it through the air, pretending it was a sword and striking at invisiible foes. The movements caused his shorts to fall right off him though. “What the…”

 

“What’s wrong?” Brownie had returned carrying a bag, or more accurately a bedsheet wrapped around several objects.

 

“My shorts.” The now ten year old Thomas complained.

 

“You have bigger issues right now Tommy! And do you think your cousin would freak out over it! Just act like he would.” Brownie grinned.

 

“It’s Thomas!” He stamped a foot. “No one’s called me Tommy since I was a little-“ His eyed widened. “Oh.”

 

“He can be taught!” Brownie couldn’t hide his grin as Tommy went down to nine years in age.

 

“I brought toys!” Brownie let go of the bedsheets, spilling open a number of items. A toy lawnmower, small balls and plastic bats, a baseball and two mitts, toy swords. “I think one of these might be an upgrade to your stick.”

 

“Ha ha.” Tommy laughed as he looked around the toys.

 

“Pick out one you think will get Billie’s attention.” Brownie explained. “Once he comes over and wants to play with you, it’ll be easy to convince him you’re a little kid. It’s all psychology.”

 

“Right…” Tommy eyed the swords. He suspected Billie would be up for a game of pirates on his little raft, but that’d require getting on the raft first. Most of the other items required other people. Then again, it was about time that fleabag started carrying his weight. “Brownie grab a glove.” Tommy picked up the bat and a ball.

 

“Hey now, I’m a cat I don’t fetch!” Brownie objected.

 

“Well I’m only asking you to catch.” Tommy tried.

 

“Hmmmm.” Brownie tilted his head back and forth. “Alright fair.” He accepted the logic as he picked up the glove.

 

“Good.” Tommy tossed the ball up in the air, then smacked it with the bat. It didn’t go very far, and Brownie was easily able to jump over and catch it. “No fair! That was just a warm up!”

 

“Then try again.” Brownie tossed the ball back at Tommy. He swung the bat again, this time the ball went a little further, and Tommy jumped up and down excited, causing his underwear to fall off.

 

Or at least Brownie let Tommy think it was a good hit, as he chased after the ball on all fours.

 

“Yeaaaah!” Tommy lost himself in the moment! He was down to seven years of age now, dressed in only an oversized shirt. “Showed you.”

 

“You certainly did.” Brownie replied as he returned with the ball in the glove. “I shall have to remember to think twice before challenging you physically or mentally.”

 

“Darn right!” Tommy looked over at the pool. It seemed that Billie was paying attention now, and bringing his raft closer to the edge.

 

“Keep it up, you’ve almost got him where you want him! Keep playing! Just like a little kid!” Brownie encouraged.

 

“R-right!” Tommy nodded. He looked around the toys, and this time grabbed the toy lawnmower. He began to run around in circles, acting as if he was mowing the yard as small plastic balls bounced around inside the toy. Strangely enough, he somehow found himself actually having fun. But he kept nearly tripping over his shirt as he went. He was really going to have to buy tighter fitting clothes for the summer.

 

“What are you doing?” Billie had finally brought the raft all the way over to the very edge and was watching Tommy.

 

“Just playing! Cause I’m a little kid!” The five-year-old Tommy replied having no idea how right he was. “So I can go to the to-“

 

“MROWL!” Brownie slapped a paw over Tommy’s mouth, which was weird. Even if the cat was talking on two legs, he was still cat sized, he should have been too short. “Don’t ruin it now. Make it his idea. Invite him to play with you… A simple game, when he gets bored, he’ll suggest another game… And invite you right onto the raft.”

 

“I see.” Tommy understood the cat’s full plan. He was quite clever for a cat. Almost as clever as Tommy. He turned his attention to Billie and called him over. “Would you like to play catch with me? I’ve got two gloves.”

 

“Hmmmm.” Billie stared at Tommy with suspicion, but he got off the raft and came over, grabbing one of the gloves. Tommy took the other from Brownie. Then the two started to toss the ball back and forth.

 

Neither one was able to toss the ball very far or very fast at their current ages. But they made their efforts. At one point, Billie threw the ball to the left of Tommy. Tommy dove for it, sliding right out of his shirt, leaving him naked, but he caught the ball. He was so focused on the game, he hadn’t noticed the loss of clothing or the fact that he was only slightly bigger than his cousin.

 

“This is boring.” Billie complained after awhile and threw his glove aside. He looked at the toy swords and picked one up. “Let’s play pirates instead!” He ran for the raft.

 

“So I can come on the raft?” Tommy smiled. The plan had actually worked! Soon he’d be at the tower. But it was best to keep up appearances. He grabbed the other sword and followed.

 

“Hang on!” Billie stopped just short of the pool. “Mom would be mad if we went in without our water wings.”

 

“You weren’t wearing them earlier!” Tommy protested.

 

“The pool was smaller earlier.” Billie retorted.

 

“Hey!” Brownie whispered to Tommy. “You really want to risk blowing it when you’re this close.” Strangely enough, Brownie had managed to fetch a pair of water wings for each toddler. Red ones for Billie and blue for Tommy.

 

“Fiiiiiiine.” Tommy replied as he slipped a pair on and Billie slipped the others on. Tommy approached the raft but froze when he saw his reflection in the water. “I’m completely naked!” He blushed hard realizing this fact and tries to cover himself up.

 

“And?” Brownie seemed confused as  to why that was an issue.

 

“But it’s not appropriate! I should at least have trunks like Billie!” Tommy objected.

 

“I’m really not understanding what the problem is.” Brownie of course as a cat saw no purpose in clothing.

 

“YEAH!” Billie shouted getting excited. “We don’t need trunks! We’re pirates! We do what we want!” He pulled his trunks off and tossed them aside so that now both toddlers were naked except for the water wings.

 

The two looked quite similar. Now that Tommy was three years old, the same as Billie, his hair had gotten a lot lighter in color. It was closer to the same sandy color as Billie’s instead of the dark brown it had been. While the two had plenty of physical differences, it was obvious they were related. Anyone who saw them might have guessed them brothers.

 

Tommy quickly got onto the raft after Billie. Brownie jumped on after.

 

“Permission to shove off captain?” Brownie asked.

 

“Granted First Mate Brownie!” Billie replied.

 

“Hey why can’t I be first mate?”  Tommy whined.

 

“Brownie has seniority.” Billie replied. “Nothing to be done.”

 

“Right, off we go!” Brownie shouted. “Any destination in particular?”

 

“The tower!” Tommy seized his chance.

 

“I’ve already been there…” Billie disagreed.

 

“But I haven’t, and it looks like uh…” Tommy tried to think. “I bet that’s the kind of place with secret rooms full of treasure.”

 

“Well I built it so I would know about any secret rooms.” Billie glanced up at the crystal atop the tower. “But it’s not impossible. Alright, first mate Brownie! Set us off!”

 

“Aye aye captain!” Brownie replied as he pushed the raft away from the edge. “But we’ll be expecting rough waters today. Lots of pirate activity, and we’ve heard rumors of the dreaded Quackens! These waters are of course teaming with life, so who knows what else we’ll encounter.” Brownie began to use his the paddle to row the raft along as they moved forward.

 

A second dolphin, or at least the second Tommy had seen leaped from the water before diving in again. Looking at it, he was sure it was a stuffed animal. But every part of its body moved like the real thing. He wondered why the thing didn’t look soaked. As the raft moved, Tommy stuck his hand down into the water to feel the water temperature, and felt something that shocked him. He could feel the bottom. The pool had gotten bigger, it had gotten much wider, but it was still just as shallow! The water was just less clear so Tommy hadn’t noticed. All of this was pointless. He could have walked across the entire time.

 

“I wouldn’t stick your hands in the water. There are sharks in these oceans.” Billie warned.

 

“How can there be sharks? It’s so shallow?” Yet, he had seen the dolphins jump in and out. That wasn’t possible with water this shallow, something was going on. And as he looked around, he saw a shark fin approaching the raft. The fin like the dolphin looked like a stuffed animal but… Tommy decided not to take the risk. He quickly pulled his hand from the water and moved closer to the center of the raft.

 

“Look alive! We’ve got pirates!” Brownie shouted. He was referring to the ships that had been a small toy before Billie built the tower. Now it was a full sized ship with actual cannons sticking out of the side.

 

“Prepare for battle!” Billie shouted and held his sword up. “Everyone at their stations!”

 

“Stations? This is a raft!” Tommy was freaking out. “There are no weap-“

 

“Ready!” Brownie interrupted, as he was standing behind a cannon mounted on the raft. There were two others next to it.

 

“Okay, I’m starting to think here’s something weird about this cat…” Tommy muttered. “Beyond the walking and talking part.”

 

“Who me-ow?” The cat smiled devilishly.

 

“There’s no time! Open fire with your cannons!” Billie shouted. “If they sink us we’ll be shark food!”

 

“I don’t even know how to fire this thing!” Tommy shouted he looked around it. There was no place to put in cannon balls. No actual fuse. There was a small rope that looked like it was for dragging the cannon around. Tommy tugged on that, and a colorful plastic ball fired out missing the other ship. “And I just wasted my ammo.”

 

“Don’t worry, we’ve got plenty!” Brownie began to open fire on the other ship. “As first mate, I make sure our ship is always stocked and ready to go.”

 

“He’s really good at his job.” Billie nodded.

 

“Huh…” Tommy pulled the rope again. Again a plastic cannonball fired out. It made no sense, but neither did anything else. This entire magical place was just pure nonsense… But that was because these were the dreams of a toddler! But once he got to that tower, he could make some of his own dreams come true. “Hey does this have rapid fire?” Tommy pulled the rope several times in a row finding out that the cannon did indeed have rapid fire. It fired as fast as he could pull on the rope

 

The enemy ship was not simply standing by. It opened fire on the small raft. Cannonballs splashed into the water on either side, soaking both children and the cat.

 

“MROOOWL!” Brownie yelled. “I’ll get you for that!”

 

“Just keep firing we almost got them!” Billie yelled.

 

“They don’t stand a chance!” Tommy let himself get completely into the game as he fired his cannon. The giant toy boat was now full of holes and that only made them stranger. The broken parts looked like lego bricks falling out of the ship, but at least it had begun to sink. Considering that the water was only a foot in depth Tommy would have questioned that, but he had already seen the dolphins and sharks.

 

“Alright mates let’s see what treasure we got!” Billie grabbed a rope that Tommy was certain had not been on the raft moments ago, but had also stopped caring, and watched as Tommy threw the net into the water. “Ooof it’s heavy. Someone help.”

 

Tommy got behind Billie, grabbing part of the net. The two began to pull, whatever they had was heavy. Or it might have just been that toddlers aren’t very strong.

 

“Heave! Ho! Heave! Ho!” They shouted in unison.  Then finally, a large chest made of iron with a skull on the front was pulled from the water.

 

“Alright pirate booty!” Billie shouted.  He opened the chest up and… The inside was full of actual gold coins! Ancient looking doubloons! Gemstones as big as Tommy’s first.

 

“That’s got to be worth a fortune!” Tommy exclaimed.

 

“Piracy has its merits. Continue onward first mate!” Billie pointed his sword towards the tower.

 

“Doing so but… We might need extra power… A quacken has taken notice of us!” Brownie pointed behind the raft, where one of the giant rubber duckies was slowly approaching them.

 

“All hands on deck!” Billie picked up additional paddles tossing one to Tommy. “Roll as fast as you can!”

 

“Why don’t we just fire on it?” Tommy asked. “We have cannons.”

 

“You can’t fire on a duckie!” Billie replied as if Tommy was an idiot. “The cannonballs will bounce right off and hit our ship! The only option is to run away! Everyone paddle!”

 

All three members of the crew paddled as fast as they could as the giant duck chased after them. As Tommy looked back he could swear the duck had eyebrows and they were slanted angrily. The duck was gaining… But they were close to reaching the island with the tower.

 

“We’re almost there! If we make it to the island! We’re safe!” Billie shouted.  “Row harder!”

 

“I’m rowing as hard as I can!” Tommy replied.  The duck was just a couple feet away, and then their raft crashed into the island. All three leaped from the raft onto the island and moved as far to the center as possible. The quacken stared at them angrily from the water for a bit, before finally turning around and going away.

 

“That… That was close.” Brownie sounded exhausted. “But we’re safe. “Good thing we made it to the tower.” He slapped both Tommy and Billie on the back.

 

“Heh yeah. How are you tall enough to reach my…” Tommy paused, he remembered his reflection earlier. He had freaked out, but didn’t have time to fully comprehend it because he was too busy ‘pretending.’ But now he looked into the water again, and stared at his reflection. He wasn’t pretending to be a toddler, he really was one. Had… Had that cat done that on purpose!

 

Tommy was upset. But it didn’t matter! He had reached the tower. Once he figured out the magic, he could make himself his proper age again and make something actually useful.

 

“I’m climbing the tower!” Tommy said. “Looking for treasure!” The blocks were gigantic, and Tommy had to jump to reach the top of one and pull himself up. Luckily, they were stacked at odd angles, so there was always room to stand on one block before starting up to the next one. He could see the glowing crystal getting closer and closer… Any moment now.

 

“TOMMY!” Billie called up. “I need to warn you! Your mom is coming!”

 

Tommy didn’t register what his cousin had said. Instead he continued on up, closer and closer, and finally! He was at the top. The glowing crystal was right there, he reached out his hand to touch it…

 

And suddenly found himself sitting in a normal sized kiddy pool next to Billie. The tower of blocks was just a normal sized tower. The ducks and boats were back down to toy sized, and Brownie was a normal cat sleeping in a patch of sunlight not far from the pool.

 

But Tommy was still a toddler, and still naked except his water wings.

 

“Who wants snacks?” The sound of Tommy’s mom’s voice sounded as the sliding glass door from the back porch opened. Tommy looked up in horror, trying to figure out how he was going to explain his current state to is mother. She approached the pool and looked down at them. “What do you two jaybirds think you’re doing?” She laughed. “I let my eyes off you for five minutes. Let’s get you inside and dressed, then snacks.”

 

“Mom you don’t understand!” Tommy tried to explain. “There were giant pirate ships! Brownie could talk! And I got younger! There was a magic tower and the pool was as big as a lake! Look I’ll show you!” Tommy took the plastic crystal off the tower and put it back on. “Presto! Abra Kadaraba! Alakazam! SOMETHING!” But nothing happened.

 

“Children have such active imaginations.” His mom giggled. “You can tell me all about the game you two played after you’re dressed.”

 

“What kind of snacks are we having?” Billie meanwhile was acting as if everything was normal.

 

“Well I had made a cake since you two were being so good.” She replied. “But that was before I found you playing outside naked.”

 

“Awwwwww! It was just in the pool!” Billie whined.

 

“Ohhhh alright. You can still have cake.” Tommy’s mom chuckled. “What about you Tommy, you hungry?”

 

“But… the crystal and…” He realized none of it mattered. She wasn’t going to believe anything he said and the crystal wouldn’t respond to him. His mom couldn’t even remember he was supposed to be sixteen. He sighed. “Yeah, I’d like some cake.”

 

It looked like he had some growing up to do… Again… Hopefully this time he’d make it out of his teens. For now, as he found himself laid out on a bed and dressed in a pair of shorts and a cartoon character shirt he consoled himself with his one silver lining. At least he got cake.

 

The End