Chapter 3 Youth

A man in his thirties and a woman clearly over sixty walked arm in arm into a beauty and rejuvenation clinic. Photographs of before and after covered the walls, and the old woman stood admiring them for a long time.

A young doctor stopped to speak with a girl of about fifteen who was manning the reception, and the couple approached them. Recognizing the man, the doctor smiled broadly and extended a firm hand to greet him. Seeing the woman, he raised his eyebrows and nodded.

"I told you: soon you´ll want it too."

"And you were right," said the woman, staring at the girl thoughtfully. "Excuse me, kiddo; but... aren't you too young to work here?"

The girl smiled and looked at the doctor.

"She is a sample... of what we can offer you" said that one.

"It's incredible" said the old woman, surprised; and her husband was amazed.

"Can you rejuvenate someone that much?"

The receptionist's laugh confused them.

"That much?" said the doctor. "We can make them look like children."

The potential client laughed long as she spoke:

"Oh my God. Let's not exaggerate. I don't think my husband will be attracted to me if I look puberty."

"Well, I..." the husband hesitated as he admired the portraits on the walls, until he fixed his gaze on the portrait of a very old woman next to the portrait of a pre-adolescent.

The professional spotted the photo right away.

"Oh yeah. This was one of our greatest achievements," he said, pointing to the portrait. This woman wanted to relive her youth... the age when she was happiest. She left here with a smile."

The customer looked expectantly at his wife.

"Do you remember... when we were kids... when I met you?"

"Yes, of course," she responded with tenderness. "Of course I remember."

"You were so beautiful... It was a magical moment. I always remember that day. I would like to see that freckled girl again who made me fall in love with her smile."

"But... I thought you wanted... Hadn't we agreed to rejuvenate until thirty?"

"Yes! But we didn't know they could do this! Don't you see it? It´s the opportunity to live our lives again... with the experience that age has given us!"

"Oh... But I don't think so. You look very handsome just the way you are. Just like when we got married. This is how I prefer you."

The man was disappointed, and she noticed.

"What if... if only I did? I mean... if only I went back to that age..."

He looked at her hopefully.

"Only you?"

"Would you still desire me... as a woman?" she whispered sadly.

The man took a long sigh and smiled triumphantly.

"Yes of course. Don't even doubt about it."

Moments later, while the doctor ushered the couple in to agree on the details of the treatment, a five-year-old girl admitted for an allergic reaction drew hearts and marks at random on the sheet of the medical report she found at the foot of the bed; and the moved doctor who was beginning her shift could not distinguish between the Xs marked by the girl's parents on the paper and the marks made by the girl. When her parents arrived to take her home, the little girl was unconscious in one of the transformation chambers. They worried that the reaction had been much worse than expected.

"Don't worry," said the doctor to tranquilize them. "The therapy will be complete in about forty minutes."

"But Susan is... Is she feeling pain?" asked the mother nervously.

"Pain? Of course not. She is not feeling any discomfort."

The couple hugged and sighed happily, and thirty-five minutes later they were reunited with the doctor. They were preparing for the awakening of the girl.

"Then she will be fine."

"She will be more than fine. Everything you asked for was fulfilled in detail."

"We thank you so much..."

"Although I must say that I was surprised by the request. She is the first of her kind."

"Surprised? What else could we do?"

"What do you mean? It's not like you guys are obligated."

"My daughter almost died from a damn seed she ate by mistake!" Exclaimed the mother. "How we weren't obliged?!"

"No. I didn´t mean that."

A low, rhythmic alarm announced the end of therapy, and the capsule gate was slowly opening. The doctor stepped forward to hold the impressive woman Susan had become by the hand.

"Here she is: little Susan."

A sleepy and voluptuous six-foot-tall girl with no clothes on was rubbing her eyes, walked slowly, and yawned. Her parents recognized her, but didn't understand it.

"Mom? Dad? Can we go home?"

As "little Susan" played in the nursery room, her parents yelled at the doctor.

"Are you serious?! A misunderstanding?!"

"In the registry it says that...!"

"That she is allergic!"

"And that you wanted the maturation therapy! It's all here!" The doctor defended herself holding the paper. "You even specified details such as body measurements, height, eye color..."

"What are you talking about?" asked the man taking the report in disbelief, only to recognize the traces of his daughter all over the page. "This is... Susan..."

She had been learning to read and write, and practiced whenever she could. He began to laugh and handed the page to his wife. Seeing the hearts, marks, numbers and misspelled words in her daughter's handwriting, the woman closed her eyes and sighed. At first she did not want to believe it, but she was finally convinced when her husband opened his arms and the girl ran towards him to jump on top of him; just like she always did.

The doctor felt somewhat uncomfortable seeing the way the man and the girl were embracing each other. The girl hugged her father with arms and legs. Soon the father noticed the way they were looking at him and his face reddened. But he would have wanted that hug not to end.

"Do you want to go home, my love?" he asked Susan.

She nodded.

"Okay. You want to walk?"

"No" she sentenced.

He smiled, but his wife's penetrating gaze was enough for him to understand.

"Let's go my love. Walk a little bit, we are going home."

"Not!" She insisted, hugging him tighter.

He felt like heaven, but the gazes of the other two pierced his neck like needles.

"Su... Susan," said the mother with difficulty, "get down at once. Go.

"Nooo!" She yelled, eliciting more laughter from her father.

"I imagine you are not going to charge us for this," Susan's mother said, and the doctor hesitated before answering.

"It's just... it's a very expensive therapy. And that report... it wasn't our fault."

"Neither is ours! How do you let my daughter play with those things?! We should report you for this!"

"Hey, it was your daughter who...!"

"Can you relax, please?" asked the man, who was still carrying his daughter. "She fell asleep. Save that yelling for later."

They fell silent when they saw the tremendous girl drooling with her eyes closed.

"Antoine, you're going to break your back carrying her all the way" the mother whispered as they descended in the elevator; but he felt his strength being renewed.

"Do not worry. I'm good. I'm more than fine," he said with enormous satisfaction.

On the way home, the woman caressed the face of the sleepy Susan, who settled on her shoulder.

The woman was worrying about all the things the girl would have to learn now, things inappropriate for the mind of a five-year-old girl. Her husband looked at them with that in mind, but with a strange smile on his face.

They had reached an agreement with the clinic: since the mistake was not made by the parents and not by the doctors, they would not be charged for the cost of the therapy that would have easily drained the family's bank account; but in exchange they agreed to be official promoters of the clinic, an arrangement that would prove much more profitable in the long run than they thought.

When they put Susan to bed, the doctor's words echoed until they finally fell asleep:

"From now on, she will experience everything a woman's body experiences: menstrual cramps, ovulation, mood swings... You will have to teach her to use panty liners, tampons..."

"Tampons?" asked the father. "Are you crazy? She is five! She doesn't need that thing stuck in her...! God!"

"No offense, sir; but your wife will know what to do better than you in that area."

"Fine. Okay," he said in a bad mood.

"Finally... this is a sensitive issue... Your daughter is now a woman..."

"What is the problem?" the woman wanted to know.

"It´s nothing. Well... It's just a recommendation... She is also a child, after all..."

"Can you say it at once?" he said.

"I just don't know... Just... take care of her. There will be many men who want to take advantage of her innocence, and she won´t know what to do. Take care of her all the time."