Chapter 12
Two days had passed since the Bradys' chaotic Saturday. Once again, it was time for the Brady kids to return to school – and for Mike to return to work. As usual, the family had gathered in the kitchen for breakfast. The last few mealtimes had been fairly awkward for the family – given the recent excitement, but things were beginning to stabilize. The family was smiling and laughing more than during the past few mealtimes, and Peter seemed particularly energetic.
"I'm George Washington," he said – puffing out his chest and making a deep, booming voice to the best of his ability. Bobby and Cindy giggled while the other kids shook their heads and rolled their eyes.
"You don't sound anything like him," Greg said – shaking his head while taking a sip of orange juice.
"How do you know?" challenged Peter. "You weren't around back then."
"Yeah, that's right, Greg!" Bobby agreed.
Peter then slung back his shaggy hair, held his fork like a microphone, and said in another deep voice, "Thank you very much!"
"Elvis?" Alice asked as she walked past the table.
Peter smiled. "You got it, Alice!"
"Do Mickey Mouse again!" Cindy said.
Peter then smiled broadly and said in a high-pitched, squeaky voice, "Hello, Cindy! I'm not Peter Brady! I'm Mickey Mouse!"
"Mickey, I don't think that you can replace our son," Mike said – taking a bite out of his bacon. He then grinned slightly and said, "Mrs. Brady here doesn't care for mice." The remark caused Carol to laugh a little.
"Besides, you don't need a new personality, Pete," Greg said.
Peter shrugged. "Well, I figure that it's a good idea to reinvent your image every once in a while."
"Only if it makes you happy," Carol said – taking a sip of coffee.
"Greg likes reinventing his image," Peter said. "After all, he cut his hair shorter. Also, Dad's wearing turtlenecks, and his hair is straighter. Plus, Jan's hair is wavier, and she isn't wearing glasses anymore."
Jan smiled and said, "Thank goodness my vision is getting better."
Carol frowned. "We don't know that, Jan. You still need to see an optometrist to check your eyes."
"It seems like we've all reinvented our images lately," Bobby said – hitching up his pants.
"Okay, Bob, this had better not be about that meteorite again," Mike warned. Bobby looked down at his plate to finish eating his bacon.
A short while later, the Brady kids left for school. Similarly, Mike walked up the brick steps toward one of the green double doors – stopping when Carol called him. The architect turned around and saw his wife approaching him.
"They're showing the 1936 picture Romeo and Juliet with Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer on TV tonight," Carol said. "We've been so in love with each other lately that I can't help but think of them – not to mention the time when I helped with Marcia's play a few years ago. The picture might be interesting to see."
Mike placed a hand on his chin. "You know what? It might!" He then smiled broadly and said, "It's a date, Mrs. Brady!" He then opened one of the green double doors and started to leave the house.
"Romeo? You're not going to kiss your Juliet?" Carol asked playfully.
Mike walked back and declared with a big grin, "Here's Romeo!" Mike then pulled Carol in for a hug and kiss. He then started to walk away. "Romeo's got to go now. Bye, Juliet."
"Bye! Have a good day!" Carol said as Mike closed the door behind him. She then playfully sighed, "Parting is such sweet sorrow!"
Later that day, Greg walked into the family room after opening the sliding glass doors. There, he saw Peter sitting in a chair watching TV. Surprisingly, rather than smiling or laughing, the fifteen-year-old just stared glumly at the TV.
"Is something wrong, Pete?" Greg asked as he put his books on the red table. Peter just shook his head – not taking his eyes off the TV. "Come on, Pete, just tell me," Greg said.
Peter finally jerked his head right and glared at Greg. "You're just going to laugh at me!" he snapped in a squeaky voice.
"Pete, cut it out, and tell me what's wrong," Greg said. "Someone must have called you dull again. Otherwise, you probably wouldn't be trying to get another personality."
"I'm not trying to get a new personality now!" croaked Peter as tears started forming in his eyes. "My voice is cracking again!"
"You're not going to blame this on the meteorite, are you?" Greg asked as Carol entered the room. He then looked at her and noticed the rather solemn look on her face. "What's wrong, Mom?"
"Greg, Mr. Schmidt and Mr. Caldwell called an hour ago," Carol said. "They want to meet us this evening and tell us what they've learned about the meteorite. They say that it's really serious." Greg frowned as he started to feel the tension in the air.
That evening, Mr. Schmidt and Mr. Caldwell came into the Bradys' living room and sat on the sofa as they had done before. Similarly, the Bradys and Alice stood around the furniture – though Bobby and Cindy were strangely absent. Mike and Carol exchanged worried and frustrated glances as they looked around the living room.
Mike called out, "Bobby? Cindy?" He then grumbled under his breath, "Where are those kids?"
"Actually, Mr. Brady, it might be best that we have this conversation without them," Mr. Caldwell suggested.
"Yes," Mr. Schmidt agreed. "It turns out that our examination of the evidence strongly supports our hypothesis that the meteorite has age-reversing cosmic rays."
Mike scoffed and shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I just can't believe – "
At that moment, Bobby and Cindy ran downstairs. Carol's eyes bulged as she saw the two of them. Bobby was wearing a blue shirt with white stripes while Cindy was wearing a purple shirt with white stripes.
"Bobby! Cindy! Why are you wearing your old clothes? You haven't worn those in years!" Carol exclaimed.
"They're the only things that fit us now, Mom," Cindy explained.
Mike's eyes popped out. "Us?" He then frantically looked left and right. "Where's the measuring tape?"
A minute later, Mike measured both Bobby and Cindy. Sure enough, Bobby was even shorter, and Cindy was around the same height as her brother. Both of their heights no longer reached Carol's shoulders.
"I-I don't believe this!" Mike cried as he started shaking. "Bobby's gotten even shorter, and Cindy's shrinking, too!" The usually calm, rational architect was starting to panic.
"Mr. Brady, have you not noticed that the plants in your yard have gotten shorter?" Mr. Caldwell asked.
Mike just stared worriedly at the scientists before walking outside. Everyone else followed Mike outside – watching as he looked around the front and backyard for a few seconds – his eyes and mouth slowly opening as he realized that the trees and bushes were, in fact, much shorter and smaller.
Peter and Bobby ran over to a raised bed in the backyard and looked inside. "Dad! The flowers are all gone!" Peter croaked. "There used to be seedlings, but now, there's nothing but dirt!"
Carol herself worriedly looked around at her family before staring at her husband. "Mike, that meteorite has got to be causing this! Just look at us!"
The architect stared at his family. As had been mentioned earlier, Greg's hair was shorter, and he also was wearing a sweater with black and white stripes – something he hadn't worn in years. Marcia looked more petite and was wearing her red and blue dress again, which was something that she similarly hadn't worn in years. Peter was wearing a dark red shirt with white stripes, and Jan was wearing her red pinafore but not wearing glasses. At this point, Peter and Jan were short enough for Carol, now wearing a pink pantsuit for the first time in years, to see over their heads. Of course, Mike himself found that his hair was getting straighter, and he was now wearing a gray turtleneck for the first time in years. Had the meteorite been affecting the family psychologically as well as physically?
Panic was clearly visible on Mike's face. "I-I-I don't believe this…!" was all that the architect managed to stammer. "T-this is impossible!" Despite what he said, however, everyone else realized that Mike was starting to accept that the meteorite was responsible for the strange things that had been happening. In fact, since Peter, Jan, Bobby, and Cindy were now clearly shorter – and since the plants had been shrinking and disappearing, everyone else joined Peter and Bobby in believing that the meteorite was responsible.
"Mike, maybe you'd better sit down," Carol said – guiding her husband back inside with everyone else following. Carol helped her speechless husband sit in one of the green armchairs while she sat in the other one.
As the Brady kids and Alice again gathered around the furniture, Mr. Schmidt and Mr. Caldwell again sat on the sofa. "We know that this must be extremely shocking to you all," Mr. Caldwell said, "but it's real, and it's serious. The meteorite has age-reversing cosmic rays that will make living organisms get younger and younger."
Mike asked, "But…it's just temporary, right? Or maybe organisms just get slightly younger and stay that way." Mike had a slight smile on his face. "If so, that wouldn't be so bad."
"Easy for you to say!" snapped Bobby. "I'll be stuck as a little kid forever!"
"No, you won't," Mr. Caldwell said. "You won't be stuck as a little kid because, in a matter of days or weeks, you won't even exist."
Bobby's eyes bulged in fright. "What?" he cried.
"None of you will," added Mr. Schmidt – shaking his head solemnly. "The longer you are exposed to the meteorite's cosmic rays, the younger you'll become."
Greg's eyes popped out in horror. "Does this mean that I won't be able to drive anymore?" he gasped.
"Assuming that you keep getting shorter, doing so without special equipment would make it difficult," Mr. Caldwell said. "Unless you can get special equipment, I would advise that you not do that."
"Oh, great!" Greg groaned – clenching his fists and staring at the ground.
Alice raised a finger and asked, "Well, couldn't we just stay at a hotel for a while or something until we get rid of the meteorite?"
The scientists shook their heads. "It's too late for that," Mr. Caldwell said. "The meteorite has been here for so long, and you've been in its presence for so long, that you all have already likely absorbed enough cosmic rays to disappear completely."
For the next several seconds, the living room was completely silent – aside from the sniffling from a few of the Bradys. Carol hugged Bobby and Cindy as the two of them cried into her shoulders. Jan and Marcia hugged each other silently as tears streamed down their faces. Peter and Greg just stared ahead of them – tears starting to form in their own eyes.
Mike sighed – finally collecting himself and getting out of his chair. "Okay, okay," he said. "I admit – this is a big problem – one that the meteorite has caused." The architect looked at the scientists and asked, "Isn't there anything that you can do?"
"We're going to do all that we can to help you folks," Mr. Caldwell said. "But we can't promise anything at this point."
After a few more minutes, the scientists left the Brady house. The Bradys themselves remained silent – looking at each other in fear and occasionally hugging and crying.
Late that night, Mike and Carol sat in the family room – watching Romeo and Juliet on TV. However, neither of them could enjoy the movie very much. All they could think about was the possibility of their kids and themselves disappearing.
Carol looked sadly at her husband. "Mike, think about it. We're going to become Romeo and Juliet ourselves…"
Mike just shook his head. "Actually, we're going to be Nomeo and Wholiet," he quipped.