The Slide

Part 1

Margaret watched her 5 year old daughter at the top of the big slide with a touch of nervousness. The Sasha was no longer a toddler, but Margaret wondered if the huge slide would be too much for her. Last year, it was out of the question, though Sasha had pleaded with her to go down it. It was an odd thing: metal, but with a red plastic tube-like portal halfway down. It seemed like an odd mix of two slide designs. Sasha sat down carefully and pushed off. Margaret watched her daughter shoot out of the tube, surprised at how much speed she had gained. She intercepted the little girl at the bottom, picking her up and swinging her around to enhance the experience. Sasha erupted in laughter—the kind of little-girl-laughter that warms the soul.

"Now YOU go down, Mommy!" Sasha said excitedly, pointing up at the slide.

"Oh, I don't know sweety, we have to go now... it's almost supper time." Said Margaret in a grown-up tone. Sasha was pulling on her arm.

"Come on Mommy, be a kid again... please?" Margaret sighed. It wouldn't hurt, would it? She looked around at the other families in the small park. They might have a good laugh, but who cares? Life is too short, she thought. She climbed the steps of the slide and sat down at the top. She looked down the length of the slide. It wasn't much of a distance for her. She secretly wished she was young enough to really get a bang out of the ride. She shoved off and yelled "Wheeee!" really loudly as she whooshed downwards.

Instead of flying off the end of the slide, she slowed down and came to stop at the bottom, a shocked look on her face. It was an incredible knowledge, a horrible realization that hit her as she came to a stop. Her mind reeled with the implications—it couldn't be possible.

When she slid down, she felt her adulthood being stripped from her.

She looked down at her body in panic. It was still the same 30 year old self she was observing. She must be losing her mind. She tried to push away the image of herself as a little girl. This must be some sort of irrational panic attack, she told herself, wishing it were. Her hands gripped the sides of the slide. It was as though her body were artificially inflated with age. It didn't feel "right" to be an adult. She knew deep inside of her that her body would have to shrink to accommodate her new mental reality. She resisted, closing her eyes and bowing her head. The image was too strong, and as she sat there gripping the slide with her eyes clamped shut, she felt a "shift" in her body position. She panicked, opening her eyes, afraid to see but desperate to know.

She WAS younger, it was obvious by the change in her breast size. Her T-shirt easily revealed that her breasts had become "perky" and teenage-like. She knew she was sixteen, even though the idea was ludicrous. She also knew she would not be sixteen for long, as she felt another "adjustment" coming on. She whined and squeezed her legs together. Why was this happening to her? She unconsciously pushed her bum into the slide and rocked forward. She tensed up every muscle in her body and arched her back. As the tension became unbearable, she let go, and felt her body relax into the regression, puberty reversing its course. She shuddered and shrunk, passing the age of fifteen, and losing more of her breasts as she paused at 14. She knew her pubic hairs had lost their "wiry" quality, and were now wispy and childlike. Her organs had rearranged themselves to fit her smaller body, and her stomach felt tingly and warm.

Still the process continued. She screamed as she felt another wave coming on.