The Retrogression

Sarah will turn forty in less than a year.  Her body was starting to sag.  The skin around her eyes was loosening; she supposed that would be the first to degenerate.  She developed saddlebags on the outside of her thighs, and her breasts were beginning to hang.  She had no time for aerobics, although she habitually jogged on weekends.  But she guessed that wasn’t enough at this stage of the game.

Sarah recalled seeing her mom naked once, when she mindlessly entered the bathroom while her mother was getting into her bath.  They both felt embarrassed by the incident, but what bothered Sarah most was her mother’s sagging body.  She felt guilty being repulsed by it.  Now, her own reflection showed a similar body.  She made up her mind that once and for all she would do something about it.  She would not give up that easily, nor risk losing her husband.  Starting next week, she will join a gym and work out exuberantly.  She will look young again - even if it kills her.

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Amy’s appearance was hideous.  Sarah first noticed her large hairless head, bulging eyes and wizened face.  She was very thin, and short for a seven year old.  She had a pear-shaped torso and slumped stance, which made her look like she might tip over.  Her spotty skin was a livid blue around her nose and upper lip areas.  She had protruding ears with no lobes.  Her unsightly prominent scalp veins and sculptured nose horrified Sarah.  She concealed her emotions and greeted Amy with a warm smile.

“Hi, I’m Dr. Peterson.  You can call me Sarah.”

Amy’s eyes lit up.  She expected Sarah’s reaction to her appearance to be like everyone else’s - sheer terror.

“My name is Amy,” the girl responded with an extremely high-pitched voice that quivered.  “I was a little nervous about meeting you, but you seem nice.”  She was very warm and Sarah knew from the start that they’d be friends.

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Treatment commenced at Amy’s house a few days later, after extensive testing was done.  Dr. Rogers and Sarah watched her closely for an entire week to make sure there were no side effects from the serum.  There were none.

Three months later, they retested Amy and found her heart arteries were beginning to heal and she began to develop fat under her skin.  She also looked noticeably younger, yet there were no cognitive changes.  Every three months thereafter Amy was tested.  By twelve months, she improved remarkably, even her arthritis had become nonexistent.  Things were looking up.

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With her mind clearer now, Sarah rested her head against the seat of the train and fantasized what it would be like to be young again.  Since Dr. Rogers’ serum was generated, she was sure there wasn’t one staff member who didn’t wish he or she could sneak a little just to eliminate the growth process by a few years.  She thought about it a lot, but today was she brave enough to actually try it?  It would have to be a strategic seizer.  The lab is guarded at all times.  But with her being Dr. Rogers’ assistant, who would suspect foul play?

Sarah made preliminary preparations and then she waited for lunchtime when the lab would be relatively empty.  Dr. Rogers and other affiliates left.  Two remained besides the guard.  Sarah said she was hungry and was going to lunch hoping they would do the same.  She waited in the hallway spying the lab.  After only five minutes, which seemed like an hour, she spotted the two lab technicians leaving.  She then returned to the lab and told the guard she forgot her lab pass, which she previously and conveniently planted next to the DNA serum.  When the guard’s attention seemed averted, she swiftly and surreptitiously seized one of the tubes she knew no one would miss, since she had filled that one herself and hid it behind the others.  Suddenly, the guard turned around and she almost dropped the tube, but her reflexes were quick and she managed to hold onto it.  Sarah then threw the test tube into her pocketbook.

 “Goodbye, Sam.  I found my pass.  As my mother always said, 'Luckily your head is attached.’“

He laughed heartily and said, “Mine has been hanging by a thread for years.  Have a good lunch, Dr. Peterson.”

Sarah walked into the rest room, making sure the coast was clear.  She entered the stall a