Summer had come at last, bringing long, sticky humid days, the constant din of cicadas, the tinkle of the ice cream truck through the air and the sounds of playing children. Neil always enjoyed the summer. He liked enjoying a cool drink on a hot summer’s evening, heading to the beach for a swim. But for his flat-mate Tony it was an awful time of the year.
“Another night with no sleep,” he’d announce every morning, always a bright way to start the day. Later in the afternoon he’d arrive home from university sweating like a pig and looking exhausted.
Neil’s classes finished earlier in the afternoon, so he would already be home, resting on the veranda, when Tony arrived. On this particular afternoon Tony appeared to be in an unusually foul mood. “Another paper, two-thousand words!” he declared as he stepped up onto the veranda and fell into a chair.
“Yeah, that does kind of suck,” Neil agreed. “But you did choose to major in English Literature. I knew when I chose chemistry that there’d be a lot of lab work, you knew there’d be writing,” he reminded him.
Tony gave him a sour look but said nothing. Instead he was looking across the street. The neighbour’s kids were out playing in the yard again. Neil rolled his eyes, knowing this would be good. Tony really disliked those kids. He thought they were trash, always running wild with no adult supervision, riding their bikes in the street with no helmets on, barefoot and the boys usually shirtless to boot.
“What are the feral little urchins up to now?” he spat.
Neil shrugged. “Just making their own fun. Didn’t you ever have fun, as a kid?”
Tony gave him a dirty look. “Course I did. I had every gaming system they had on the market.”
Neil shook his head sadly. “What about playing outside? Y’know getting dirt on your knees, grass stains on your feet, air in your lungs.”
Tony didn’t look interested. “I had plenty of fun, don’t you worry. I didn’t need to run around screaming my lungs out, rolling around in the dirt to have a good time.”
Neil felt bad for Tony. It was clear he had no idea what a natural childhood was like.
“Ugh! Would you look at that!” Tony demanded, pointing across the road.
Neil looked at the source of his scorn and saw that the neighbour children had taken to playing in a small paddling pool in their yard. The older ones raced about in their swim togs, but the littlest two, who were probably three and five years old, were enjoying the pool and playing in the yard around it, completely in the buff.
“They’re very little kids,” Neil replied, unconcerned.
Tony was not appeased. “I’d call their parents and tell them their kids are giving the whole neighbourhood and any passing car a show, but I know the useless bastards wouldn’t care.”
“I think their innocence is cute. I mean, don’t you ever miss having that kind of freedom?”
“I was raised to have a little decency,” Tony answered with a tone of superiority.
Neil had just about had it. And yet, he wasn’t really angry at Tony, just saddened by his attitude. He had no idea what he was missing out on. And that made Neil wonder if he might be able to change that. His supervisor, Professor Hurley, was working on a compound with just the kind of properties that might help Tony.
Two days later Tony arrived home from another long and hot day studying and writing his paper at the library. The filthy neighbour kids were once again streaking around their yard and squealing at high pitch while plunging in and out of their silly little pool while the older children chased them with super soakers.
Turning his back to the urchins he went inside the flat, which was unusually humid. It was like someone had turned on the shower and left it running with the door open.
“Neil! Is the water running?” he called.
Neil popped out of the kitchen with a smile on his face, carrying what appeared to be a big squirt gun. Tony didn’t like the look of this at all. Just as a precaution he slipped off his shoes and peeled away his socks before proceeding.
“What have you got there?” he demanded. “You better not be planning to get me all wet with that.”
Neil chuckled. “Don’t worry about it Tony, you have to come have a look,” he urged.
Warily Tony followed the eager flat-mate into the lounge, which to his shock had been stripped of furniture and replaced with a paddling pool just like the one the kids next door were playing in. Neil swished his hand through the water. “It’s just perfect Tony, we can cool off in here,” he declared.
“I don’t think so mate, I’m not keen to get all wet, I told you that. And besides, I don’t even have any togs.”
Neil gave him a wicked looking smile. “No worries Tony, you don’t need togs anyway. You can just go like the little ones across the street, in your birthday suit.”
Tony was sick of this joke already. “Look Neil, you know that’s not going to happen. I’m not a stupid little three year old, and even when I was one I had more modesty and sense than those brats.”
“Do you hear yourself Tony?” Neil asked. “It’s clear you need a break buddy, and I’m going to help you have it, whether you want it or not.”
And with that he pointed the squirt gun at Tony and pulled the trigger.
“Damn you!” Tony snapped as the liquid hit him right in the face, then sprayed down his front side, soaking his shirt. When it was over Tony angrily pulled the wet shirt off, standing there fuming in just his shorts. “That’s enough Neil!”
Neil nodded, looking satisfied. “Yeah, it should be,” he agreed.
It was an odd answer. And there was something else. It seemed to echo, distort. In fact everything seemed to be moving slower, like the world went to half speed. Tony shook his head, his arms and legs seeming to grow very heavy, muscles relaxing.
“Wha… What is this?” he slurred.
Neil moved forward. “Don’t worry Tony, there’s nothing to be afraid of. The effects only last a couple minutes.”
Tony didn’t understand. The effects of what? And yet, he did feel less worried, his heart rate came down, he was more relaxed.
“This isn’t just water. It’s a new drug, absorbed through the skin,” Neil explained. “And you’re covered in it.”
Tony should have been terrified. He wasn’t. There was nothing to be afraid of. He absolutely knew that.
“What’s it do?” he asked instead.
“It makes everything I say true, no matter what you may have thought before.”
“Everything you say is true?” Tony repeated, confused.
Neil nodded. “Yes, totally true. You know it.”
“I know it,” Tony echoed, eyes going glassy.
“We’re going to give your mind a holiday Tony. We’re going to turn it off for a bit. And not just the adult part, but all the inhibited behaviours you’ve had since you were a tot.”
Now Tony began to feel worried again. That didn’t sound like a good thing at all, even if it was the truth. He liked being who he was. The last thing he wanted was to be like the brats across the street.
“I don’t want to be a feral brat,” he insisted, understanding what Neil was getting at.
But Neil wasn’t put off. “Don’t worry Tony, you won’t think of yourself like that. You won’t even know the words.”
Tony started to back away, forcing his concrete legs to move, but Neil was still talking. He had his hand on Tony’s shoulder, holding him in place.
“Tony, you need to look at me and listen carefully,” he instructed.
Tony stopped trying to back away. He’d never felt such a strong need to listen in his life. He locked his eyes on Neil, waiting.
“Tony, you don’t have to go to uni tomorrow. In fact you never have to go again. Because you aren’t a uni student. You’re still in kindy Tony. You’ve never even been to big boy school. You’re just a little three-year old boy after all. How on Earth could you go to uni? You don’t know how to read or write yet. You only just learnt your shapes and colours. You’re so proud to know them, it’s such an accomplishment! You couldn’t tie your shoelaces, if you had any to tie that is. Of course as you don’t have any shoes yet that doesn’t even matter.”
Tony could feel the words becoming true. He felt so small and insignificant, so dependent and empty-headed. It was a scary feeling, to be so helpless and little. He wanted to curl up in a little ball and suck his thumb. Yes, thumby would make it better. And blankie. Yes, he needed his blankie to cuddle, and Mr Floppy his stuffed bunny rabbit! Suddenly all his memories and thoughts from when he was three were so clear, like he’d never grown up at all. But Neil was still talking.
“But you don’t mind any of this Tony, because you are excited to be a three-year old boy. You love being little and you don’t want to grow up at all. You just want to have lots of fun! You want to play and be free! And as a little three year old you are so lucky to have no sense of modesty at all, no concern for your privacy, for what you wear. You’re so lucky that you enjoy getting dirty, that you have no concept of social etiquette, that you simply have never, ever been taught what is appropriate in public. You can pick your nose, make silly faces, chew with your mouth wide open and run around buck naked without feeling an inkling of self-awareness. You’re just a silly, happy, dumb little boy.”
Just like that Mr Floppy was no longer important. Clear memories of toddlerhood, of his childhood, faded away. He didn’t want to curl up and hide. The feeling of helplessness was gone. He was still helpless of course, but he just didn’t know it anymore. He didn’t know much of anything, and it felt so, so good.
Tony’s glassy eyes came back into focus, the short window the drug created closing already. But that was okay, the changes were made. The young man smiled a big dumb grin and jammed a finger up his nose.
“I’m hot!” he suddenly declared.
Neil giggled at how childish and whiny he sounded. “Oh yeah? Would you like to go in the pool?” he asked.
Tony nodded with excitement. “Uh-huh! Wanna go in da pool!” he declared, actually hopping up and down.
“Okay, okay. But we can’t get your shorts all wet. Do you have some togs?” Neil asked.
Tony shook his head. “Dun got togs,” he told him. “But I don’ need ‘em!” he insisted, grabbing his shorts with both thumbs and yanking them and his boxers down to reveal a soft jiggling penis. “I c’n go nakey!” he yelled, kicking the clothes away and racing over to the pool, leaping in with a splash.
Neil couldn’t help but snap some photos on his phone as the naked young man splashed and giggled in the paddling pool, getting the squirt gun, this one loaded only with water, and playing lots of silly games with it. Yes these photos would do well to keep Tony in line if he ever decided to fully restore him. But at the moment Neil wasn’t planning to do any such thing.
Muscle Tf Lover 