It was an ordinary evening for Paul, outside of the annoying sounds of brats running around as they demanded treats from strangers. 'Damn holiday.' he thought as he lit a cigarette, walking down the street as he let the sweet nicotine give the illusion of calming his nerves. True, they didn't really get rid of stress for the body, but it sure felt like it. And that was good enough for the workaholic.
I could be in London right now, crushing my competitors and snagging a million dollar deal right now. he thought in irritation. It really wasn't fair. So he had been a bit stressed? He was justified in throwing that office chair out the window. Didn't mean he had some mental breakdown like the doctors claimed. What did they know anyways?
"Now I'm stuck here for a damn holiday I don't want." he muttered to himself, inhaling the toxic stick as he took a more secluded path near the woods. It was then that he head a strange sound. Stopping in his tracks, he looked about, eyes catching glimpses of green. The sound of flapping and growling could be heard, and it puzzled the man. "Some sort of prank?" he wondered quietly to himself. Just as he was about to turn around, a strange green thing flew out from the trees and tackled him to the ground. Crying out in surprise, he lashed out before a hiss of pain left his lips at the feeling of his arm tearing.
He looked down to see his arm bleeding heavily before the strange creature flew away into the night. Gasping in pain, he forced himself to stand up and run back for his house. He started to hear people scream but ignored it, focusing on his goal to reach safety. As he ran, he felt his body grow heavy before things began to change. The distance between his steps felt as if they shortened, and everything began to look a little bigger. He took it as his mind mistaking things out of fear and ran faster to his home. When he reached his neighborhood, he wasted no time in getting to his house. It felt forever until he managed to unlock it, before slamming the door close.
He gave himself time to catch his breath as his mind tried to wrap around what happened. "It- It was just a trick" he muttered, his breathing evening out. "Yeah- just a dumb brat prank. That went too far." With that thought, he began to head upstairs to treat his wound. But as he walked, he felt his pants slipping, and his shirt seemed baggier too. Just my imagination. he thought as he walked into the bathroom. All thoughts of pranks and imagination left his mind as he saw his reflection in a mirror. "What the hell!?" What he saw was his ten year old self.
