Daily Free-Write July 25, 2021: Hot Spring of Youth Pt. 2

Edit: 7/27/21 I have an alternate ending for this chapter (version 1.0) with the ending age being a little older. Differences start once they leave the hotspring. Which do you prefer? Comment below and let me know why!

Continuation of September 18, 2020, Hot Spring of Youth 

Note: By special request, here's part two of a story from last year.

Alex quietly slid the paper door of the guest room behind him and quietly stepped down into the moonlit garden, hurrying to catch up to Chad.

"Chad," he whispered, looking back toward the darkened guest rooms of the old inn. "Come on man, this is such a bad idea."

"Don't be a baby," whispered Chad hurrying on ahead. "Or be a baby, I don't care. I'm going for a dip to wash off all this piss." Alex looked back once more to see that no one was alerted to their presence, then hurried ahead.

"Wait for me," he whisper-called to his friend. He would keep an eye on Chad, just to make sure he didn't do anything too crazy.

They quickly made their way through the cool, quiet grass, following the elevated wooden walkway past the cherry trees and over to the low squat building which housed the changing rooms and showers. Their path led them around the buildings to the natural rocky formation that held the healing baths for which the inn was so well-known.

"Aren't you even going to shower first?" asked Alex, shocked.

"Nah," said Chad, squinting to see through the haze that rose off of the springs. "The water'll wash the piss off."

"That's so not allowed," said Alex, but Chad had already walked ahead toward the outlines of the natural boulders that lined the water's edge. "Hey, where are you?"

"Over here. The water's just fine," came Chad's voice through the mist. The area around the hotsprings was even harder to see in the moonlit night. And everything around it was reduced to hazy outlines reflecting the moon's weak light.

Alex stood there in just his pajamas, rubbing his arms in the cool night air. "Okay man," he called softly. "You've had your dip. You can come out now."

Chad said nothing.

"And besides, It's dangerous to be out swimming in the dark like this. What if you slip?"

Chad said nothing and Alex was getting antsy.

"Come on, how long does it take to wash off? You know the old man said never to go in there longer than an hour and we already broke that rule."

"Just get in here already," said Chad. "I'm not leaving any time soon."

Alex shook his head. "You're impossible." Still, it was pretty cold. If he was going to have to supervise his friend, he might as well be close enough to tell what he was doing instead of shivering in the damp air.

Slowly, carefully so as not to slip, he lowered himself down into the warm inviting water. He immediately yelped as a hand slapped his ass.

"Don't do that!" Alex said in a harsh whisper, whipping around to see the murky figure in front of him shake with quiet laughter.

"Hss hss hss. And you warned me about waking people up. You're such a girl."

"Shut up." said Alex, beyond annoyed.

"Hey, relax, man. That's what this place is supposed to be about, remember? Healing? Relaxation? All that yoga shit?"

"That's from India, man. Do you even know what country you're in right now?"

"Asia. Duh."

"No, you lunkhead."

"Eh, it's all the same to me." Chad's bored voice told Alex he was already over the subject. "Just chill out and don't piss your panties. We're here now, so we might as well just enjoy ourselves. We've already broken your precious rules."

"Fffine," Alex relented.

As the warm waters worked their heat into the two boys' muscles, Alex began to relax, feeling all his worries begin to soften and recede.

"I have to admit, this is pretty relaxing," said Alex.

"Mmm hmmm..."

"I guess even you can be right sometimes."

"Less talky more soaky."

"Hmm..." Alex closed his eyes and smiled. That sounded like a good idea to him.

The natural surroundings they found themselves in had a timeless quality and the two boys didn't know how long they were there. When they got out they felt strange.

"Something's off, bro," said Chad, his voice much higher than it usually was.

"Yeah. Your whole world view is off, man. But yeah, I know what you mean. I feel a little funny too... Probably just the numbing effect of being in the hot water for too long." Alex poked chad in the chest, and found it to be remarkably bonier than he remembered. "Hey, Alex. When did you-"

"Wait, why do you sound like a chipmunk?" asked Chad.

"Me? Why do you-"

"Hello?" came a voice from outside of the mist.

"Oh no. It's the old man!" said Alex, whispering harshly.

The light of a lantern soon appeared through the fog and the old man called out. "Come on out. Come out where I can see you."

"Hey old man, it's just us," called Chad, then he lowered his voice to tell Alex, "Don't worry. I got this." The two boys stepped out of the mist to see the old man, who was looking surprisingly unsurprised to see them. And he also seemed strangely taller than before.

"Well, well. Didn't take my advice, eh? And now look at you. You must have lost.... Oh, I'd say at least ten more years at least!"

They stared at each other wide-eyed. Then down at themselves. Was it the haze? Were their eyes playing tricks on them? Chad had lost all of his muscle definition and looked like a wiry little boy, and Alex hadn't had that much to begin with but he was certainly shorter. They looked like young boys. Not even a trace of body hair left to prove otherwise.

"N-n-n-no this is impossible it's..."

"A trick of the light."

"Yeah! That!"

"Oh you think so do you? Well, it doesn't matter either way. Go ahead and put on your pajamas and follow me. I see you left them right over there."

It's true that the light of the moon can play tricks on you, but when the two of them tried to put on their clothes, it was clear that something wasn't normal.

"Somebody must be pranking us, dude," said Chad. "These clothes are huge!"

"Uh... I... don't think it's a prank," said Alex. Then he shrugged as Chad balked at him. "He did say there would be side effects, bro."

"Come on you two. I'm not waiting all night for you to come along, so don't make me grab you by the ears."

The old man brought them to the front of the inn and held open the shop door. The lights were already on inside, and the two sheepish boys walked in. In the bright electric light, they could easily see what they had lost. Back at the hot springs they looked like little kids. Now, they looked like they were barely out of pre-school. The old man handed them a couple towels.

"I told you you'd be rejuvenated. Now do you believe me? Now hurry up and dry off before you lose any more age." The old man did his best to answer their questions, the foremost of which was could they grow up again.

"Sure you can! In 15 to 20 years," the old man laughed.

"Hey," said Chad, his face burning. "If that's the case, then how can you work here and still be 88 years old?"

"I mean... it's a young 88," said Alex, looking at the man. "But yeah, actually. How come?"

"Oh, did I say 88?" said the old man, smiling and stroking his beard. "I meant I'm 888 years old."

"Oh, that makes sense," said Chad, throwing his little hands up and rolling his eyes.

"Well, let's get you some clothes that will fit at least," said the old man. The two boys looked at each other doubtfully as the man grabbed some traditional clothes for them to wear.

"Here, you go," said the man handing them two adorable little yellow kimono robe-rompers.

"What are these?" asked Chad. "Some kind of weird baby clothes?"

"These are for tourists." said Alex. "And let me guess, they're going on our bill too, aren't they?"

"Ooh, that reminds me," said the old man, hurrying over to the shelves and returning with a pack of thick diapers for the two boys. "It's one of the side effects of spending too long in the springs. Believe me you're not the first ones to do so. Why do you think we have so many diapers here?"

"No way!" Said Chad, appalled at the idea of wearing baby diapers.

"If you wet the futon, you pay for the futon," said the old man, shrugging and picking up his calculator. "Let's see, that would come out to..."

"We'll take them," said Alex, grabbing the pack of diapers with both arms and turning to glare at Chad. "That's what you get for spending too long in the hot springs"

"You too!" said Chad, crossing his arms and huffing.

"Trust me, you're gonna need them," said the old man, smiling and rubbing his hands. "They can be added to your bill. We accept cash or credit."