When You Wish Upon A Star...

by J. R. Anthony

 

Chapter III

Costu-matic

 

The next day Jordan and Karen both returned to the shop, and were both confronted by the old man, who told them both to wait in the room containing the large crates while he prepared for the procedure at hand. Both exchanged worried looks. He had, after all said, procedure.

"What do you think he meant by that?" Jordan asked.

"I'm not sure,...but I really hope whatever he has in mind works." Karen replied, gulping at the thought of what the old shopkeeper had in store for them.

"All right you two," he said, stepping into the room, and closing the door behind him ,"I need you both to drink this." he said, handing each a bottle of what looked like blue beer. They both obliged, Jordan lightly sipping his, and Karen chugging every last drop. The old man was busy breaking the crates open. One contained a large machine that looked like a pressure-washer, and the other was filled with various articles of clothing.

"Now, will one of you come forward please?" he asked. Neither complied, so it was settled with a quick 'Rock, Paper, Scissors'. Jordan walked towards the old man, fearful of what might come next. "Jordan, I need you to step into this machine." he said, unlatching a large hole in the top. "You see, it's a costu-matic. It turns people into bodysuits."

"What!? You mean, Karen's going to wear me as a bodysuit?" Jordan gasped.

"Heavens no! That's why I had you drink that soul extract. It makes it possible for the soul to live outside the body for short periods of time. So, after you've both been through the costu-matic, you can return to your usual bodies." he explained quickly, motioning for Jordan to step into the machine.

 

Jordan stepped one foot into the machine and instantly felt something tug at him. He eventually got used to the feeling, but it was awkward to not have any feeling below his knees, then his waist, then his neck, as his body slowly piled up in folds at the other end of the costu-matic. He then felt another tug as his soul was extracted from his body, via his mouth, and he stood there. Both the old man and Karen could see the smokey outline of Jordan.

"You next Karen. Don't be afraid, it doesn't hurt." he told her, as she gently placed her foot into the machine. Jordan looked on as Karen's face snaked out of the hole on the machine.

"All right, now quickly, you've got but 3 minutes to get back into your bodies." the old shopkeep exclaimed, and with that, both Jordan and Karen picked up their respective bodies, or rather bodysuits, off the cold, stone floor. Simlutaneously they stepped into the mouth, and then pulled the skin up over themselves, checking to make sure they had gotten their head through the mouth.

"Well, that experience was kinda cool." Jordan said, feeling his body over, making sure everything was there.

"Cool? You mean disgusting! I can't believe you wished to switch places with me!" she said, slapping him again.

"I got us back though, didn't I?" Jordan asked, waving his forefinger at her in a warning way.

"Oh, quit it you two!" the old man shouted, pushing them apart with his skinny arms. "Besides, you're not quite back to normal yet. We still have a lot to cover." Both teenagers raised an eyebrow at this, wondering what could possibly be left to do.

The old man explained that through the duration of their time in each other's bodies, they inhabited certain mannurisms that needed re-taming into their old selves. That being said, he told them to meet at the back door the next day, and said he'd have the door unlocked for them.

"I must say, I've never been happier to look at that body of yours and not seem like a lesbian." Jordan said, giving Karen a look up and down.

"Oh, you ego-eccentric pig! Grow up a little!" she shrieked, although she had to admit, it was good to have her old body back. Being able to cross her legs and not feel restraint from the added weight between her legs. Jordan grasped her hand, and they were born again, cuddling every now and then as he walked her home. As he watched her turn to the door, he couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of what had taken place in his very spot four days ago.

"Well,...that's one experience that I'm glad I had. I guess I can better understand her now." he said, turning back towards the street, and making a slow, and somewhat lost, walk back to his own house for once.

 

He had to admit walking up the gravel driveway, that it looked different from the last time he had seen it. The shingles were fixed, the shutters re-attatched, and there was a small windmill in the front garden. The tail sparkled in the sunlight, and the pins bobbed back and forth as the breezes puffed across the lake.Karen heartfeltedly re-discovered her house, what with the stairway missing a banister, and the basment with the back wall peeled away revealing blue insulation behind an unused air hockey table. The shelf in the corner with her favourite childhood books, most of which with brown pages and taped spines from the repetition of reading them day in and day out. She sighed as she sat down heavily in an Elmo bean-bag chair with the tear in the side from her old cat, Tiger.

 

They met, as promised at the back entrance to Murray's Mystics at around 2:46. The old man opened the door for them, and directed them into not the last room, but the second door on the right from the front counter. The room was laden with many shining objects, and an unused telescope sat on top of a shelf piled to the brim with small cassette tapes. He retrieved a walkman from his pants pocket, and handed it to Karen.

"Since yours was the first body turned nto a suit, you will be the first to re-enter yourself. I've programmed a tape with all the female mannurisms for you to listen to." he said, climbing a small step-ladder to get to the fifth shelf up. He took a ragged looking tape from it's spot, third from the left, and popped it into the tape player for her.

"What about me? What am I supposed to do?" Jordan asked.

"You, my dear boy, can help me clean up the front windows of the shop. It shouldn't take long before the tape is over. It's only about an hour and a half long." He did as told, sweeping the floors behind the display case in the front window, and dusting every item in the shop with a small feather-duster. He then sprayed the inside of the display case and wiped it clean with a sponge, and declared himself done, until the shopkeep told him that inventory needed to be taken.

 

The stock room was very strange. The very dust in the air tingled with stictness, and a creepy blue glow seemed to coat the walls, as Jordan looked over various jars and botles filled with God-knows-what. He saw a jar of what looked like pig insides, and a bottle of a thick orange liquid which looked like Tylenol.

"What the Hell is up with this guy? He must be a magician of the highest estate." he marveled, looking over jars of pickled beetles and slugs. There was a ringed book on a desk near a shelf with boxes on it. Jordan tip-toes slowly to take a peek. There was something written in small, curvy handwriting:

 

October 29th, 2004 - The two children suspect nothing. I've got them right where I want them. They think I'm one of those frog spawn brained, happily overrated wizards from the stories they read over the internet. Those unsuspecting fools think I'm trying to turn them back into themselves, but they don't clearly see the big picture. It will all come together on Halloween night. The big surprise waits eagerly for them.

 

- Lellwey

 

"Good God!" Jordan hissed.

"What is it boy?" the old man asked in his sweet, high voice filled with sugar.

"Er,...nothing, sir. Nothing at all, I just saw a really gross jar in here, that's all." he replied, carefully tip-toeing back towards the entrance. He knew he had to warn Karen about the approaching danger. But what would he tell her. Would she even believe him? Besides, what would he say when it was his turn to listen to the tapes? 'I can't because I know you're planning something.'? Like that would work, he'd be killed if he said that.

"Karen. Poor Karen. What am I gonna do?" he cried silently, sitting in the corner of the hallway, watching as Karen fell asleep, with the headset still upon her ears. He snuck into the room, and carefully pulled the headphones off, putting them to his own ears. Nothing. The tape was over. It was too late. He quickly dashed to his seat on the spindly stool by the first door, and waited for Lellwey to come for Karen.

"All right, Jordan. Now it's your turn." he said, crooking a finger at him. What would he do? Did Lellwey know about him reading the book? He took a seat in a comfortable chair by the window, and let the old man slide the headset onto his head, pick out another tape, put into the player, and press play. "I'll check on you when the hour and a half is up." he added, sweeping across the floor.

"Hello, and welcome to Transit: Male Mannurisms. First off, you think that every girl is exremely sexy, and that you deserve any woman at first chance." a female voice, no doubt computerized, stated in a monotonous way. Jordan pulled the headphones off and sat there, waiting eagerly until Lellwey's footsteps came. He found many old magazines in the corner, underneath various silver objects, one of which was whirring rapidly. He took out a Rolling Stone magazine from October 2001. Jordan was lazily flipping pages when the sound of heeled boots on stone made him jump. He threw the magazine across the room and replaced the headphones in time to hear: "Transi complete." said by the female voice.

 

He woke Karen, and led her out the door, wondering if he should tell her what he had seen in the storeroom. He nervously took her hand and gripped it tightly. He kept his blank, staring eyes in front of him the whole way, and it started to scare her.

"Jordan, are you all right?" she asked, tapping him on the shoulder. He jumped and stammered with his answer. Something was definately wrong.

"I'm perfectly fine,...but it's you I'm worried about. I found something really scary in the storeroom." he gasped, panting at the very thought of it. He pictured it in his mind, the book, the blue glow of the room, and then an even nastier picture shot across his mind, the old shopkeeper laughing in a cruel, hard cackle as he slashed his arms through the air.

"What was it?" she asked, taken aback by how scared he was.

"That old man is plotting to do something terrible to us. I found a book in the storeroom that proves that he's really quite cruel." Jordan explained, sitting down on the front step of an apartment building.

"Bullshit! He's an od man. How bad could he possibly be?"

"He's heartless! He's been writing about us and some evil plan dealing with those tapes he had us listen to. I think he may be programming us for some kind of cult or something!" he said, choking on the last syllable.

"He is not! He's so sweet! How can you possibly believe what some old, book says? How do you know it's even his?" she asked.

"The entry was dated today! And besides, he talked about his plans involving tapes. And what did we just go in there for? To listen to tapes!"

"But he seemed so nice." she said helplessly.

"Not everything's as it seems. I bet he's got some sicko plan to switch us back, and then stick us that way permanently!" he groaned.

 

They parted solemnly, and both had nightmares of what Halloween night would bring. It was out of their control now. The only thing capable of helping them was fate, and even that seemed to be fighting against them. Both had terrible sleeps, broken up by cold sweats and screams, loud enough to wake the whole town. They both recieved an invitation to a Halloween party at, Murray's Mystics, which made them more and more uneasy. They made plans to go costume shopping together.

"Where should we go? We need costumes that could conceal items we need to help us" she said, bobbing on the balls of her feet as they walked into the costume section of the department store of the Bridge Mall.

"I'll be going as a police officer, and you?" he said, taking the blue and black uniform off the rainbow rack of costumes, ranging from Disney costumes to Adult costumes to completely outrageous costumes.

"I'm not sure. So, what can you suggest that can help us?" she asked, looking through the female costumes.

"I dunno, but whatever we need, it's gonna need concealing. He'll know we're up to something if we carry around a type of weapon. It's like making a deal with the Devil." he said, scratching his scalp as he talked.

"You could go as a genie, besides, You listened to the tape all the way through, it'll kick in when it goes down, so I'll have to do this alone. All right?"

"Fine, but you'd better let me help if you can get me out of this. Hmm?" she said strictly.

"Agreed. But first we need some clues as to what he's going to do, and we've only got 'till tomorrow to figure it out."

"Meet me at my house tomorrow morning and we'll get stright to business. We'll figure out all the possibilities and then we can be prepared for anything. Am I brilliant or what?" she asked.

"It was me who came up with this idea anyways. You didn't even know about it until I told you."

  

  

  

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