This is really just sort of a rough draft of a story idea that I've been kicking around in my mind. It's about a !2 year old boy wakes up one morning and finds himself in a strange new reality. It's deep into Science Fiction which is sort of a departure for me. If you'd like to give it a quick read and let me know what you think I'd appreciate it.

Atreyu

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Frantically I hit the speed dial on my smartphone and was relieved when Kip picked up after only two rings. "Kipling something really weird is happening," I said holding the phone to my ear and trying to keep the panic out of my voice.

"Yeah I know. Don't freak out on me Jett, you're not going crazy if that's what you think," was Kip's calm and reassuring reply.

"You know?" I asked in amazement.

"I know enough that was expecting you'd to call. I'll bet you have lots of questions."

"Do you have lots of answers?" I asked.

"I do. It may not seem like it Jett, but there's a rational explanation. What exactly has happened so far? Have you seen your mom yet?"

"No, you're the first person I've talked to. When I discovered things were weird I phoned you first."

"Good," he said. "Listen to me Jett and I'll tell you how we're going to play this. First of all your mom might seem a bit odd, sort of like one of the pod people from that old movie we saw on late night TV. Don't worry, she's okay and you're perfectly safe. Just go along with her like everything is normal. I'll be over in an hour and we'll ride our bikes to our special place and I'll fill you in on what's happening."

"Okay," I managed to say. "Please don't be late."

"I won't. One other thing you should know. When you see me I might look just a little bit different but don't worry. It's me."

"What?" I asked.

"You'll see. And Jett...." Kip let his words trail off.

"What is it Kip? I asked.

"I'm glad you're back," he sounding like he was choking back tears.

"But I was never gone," I replied. I don't know if Kip heard me. The phone line went dead.

Moments ago (before I had called Kip) I had awoken to find the early morning summer sunshine streaming through my bedroom window. There was only one problem. It wasn't suppose to be summer at all. The last I remembered it was the dead of winter. Could I be wrong about something so basic as what season it was? To check I jumped to my feet and quickly pulled off my pajamas. As I did so I noticed that the pajamas were new and that I didn't recognize them. Once I was completely undressed I stood before the mirror to look at my reflection. My customary summer tan, I'm a surfer, was no where to be seen. My skin was winter pale all over with no tan lines to show the outline of my swimsuit. Summer outside and winter skin, how could that be? As I glanced around the room I noticed that ever so slightly thing were different. The San Jose Sharks poster on my wall had been updated with a newer version. Some of my comic books were gone and other I hadn't yet read were in their place. I went to the closet. My clothes looked like the ones I owned but they were all new, never worn before. It was like someone, or something, had recreated my room hoping to fool me into thinking I was home. It was like everything had been set up for me.

That was when I called Kip. That he said he could explain it made me feel better but I still didn't understand. What explanation could there be? Suddenly the door opened and in stepped my mom, or at least someone who looked like my mom. "You're awake sweetheart," she said cheerfully. "How do you feel?"

"Kind of weird actually," I replied as I sat down on the edge of my bed.

Mom didn't pick up on this. Instead she said, "I hope you're hungry. I've made you your favorite breakfast, big apple pancakes and they're waiting for you on the table."

"What's the date?" I asked.

"July 20th," she replied.

"Have a look at me," I said still quite naked. "Do you notice anything odd?"

With a puzzled expression she looked me up and down and then replied, "Everything seems to be in place," she said. "You look wonderful as always."

"I have no tan," I replied. "It's July and I look like December."

"You just need a little more sun is all sweetheart and your tan will return."

"Kipling is coming by in an hour," I said. "We'er going out bike riding."

"Are yo sure that's a good idea to go out so soon after?"

"So soon after what? I asked feigning innocence.

"Just so soon after," she replied a bit uncertain.

"Kip and I have been riding before. We'll be okay,"

"All right dear. But be careful and be sure to stay close to Kip at all times and do what he says. He'll take good care of you."

This was odd. Kip was three months younger than I was and an inch shorter. Why would I need him to take care of me? He was my friend not my babysitter. It didn't make sense.

An hour later Kip arrived at my house and I was stunned to see that he was a full inch, maybe two inches, taller than me. He seemed to know what I was thinking. "Oh you noticed that I've been experiencing a growth spurt," he said. "It's like a shot up three overnight."

"Yeah, sort of," I replied.

"Ready to go?"

"Sure."

We road out bikes the two miles to the beach and sat down on the sand to look at the surf. It was still early and no one else was around.

"Kip what's going on? Please tell me," I said.

"What's the last think you remember before waking up this morning?" he asked.

"I remember that it was December and only a week until christmas. The weather was very cold. My mom was going to take me to the clinic so the doctors could run some medical tests. I was undressed and they needed to put me in some sort of large machine. The space inside the machine was really small, like being put inside a torpedo tube. The nurse gave me a shot to calm me down and make my drowsy for the procedure. She said that the tests might cause some short term memory loss but not to worry. And that's really all I remember. The next thing I knew was when I woke up in my room a few hours ago. Have I been asleep since last July?"

"No," Kip said. "Your visit to the clinic wasn't seven months ago, it was 19 months ago, a little more than a year and a half. And you haven't been asleep."

"Then what's happened?"

"At the clinic you were given a complete body scan at the clinic. Everything about your mind and body was recorded and stored onto a computer. Even your memories were recorded."

"Why?" I asked. "What was the point?"

"Insurance, Just in case anything bad happened they could use the recording to bring you back."

"Bring me back from where?"

"I don't know," Kip said. "Just bring you back from wherever you've been."

"Do I go somewhere?"

"You disappeared a year ago."

"Disappeared?"

"You were coming back from school and you never made it home. It was like you just vanished into thin air. They looked for you but couldn't find you. After you'd been gone a year they decided they could risk bringing you back."

"Risk bringing me back?"

"There can be only one of you alive at a time and they figured that after a year missing the old you was probably not coming back. So they used the data gathered from your scan to put you back together again. Once your resurrection was complete they dressed you in a fresh pair of pajamas and deposited you in your bed so you could wake up in your own home none the wiser. The plan was that you'll never know that you were once a missing child and just pick up your life like nothing happened. So here you are, back from the great beyond. With a little help from science you've cheated death and could even do so again."

"There were no clues at all about my disappearance?"

"Jett, maybe you'd be happier if you didn't ask any more questions about any of this. In fact I'm sure you would be. You're here, I'm here, you have your home and your life back so why ask more? Just enjoy it."

"Kip I have to know," I said, "tell me!"

"Okay, if that's how you want it. After you went missing all the cops could do was ask questions and speculate. Actually I don't think they gave your disappearance a super high priority. They knew that if they couldn't find you the medical people would bring you back. At worst your disappearance would only be temporary, a year or maybe two tops. But from the questions they asked I could tell what they thought happened to you."

"I don't understand any of this. First of all what did the cops think happened to me?"

"The Five-Oh thought that someone with ill intent might have been interested in you. They thought you might have fallen in with the wrong crowd and been taken by a pervert. I didn't give them any help at all with their investigation"

"You didn't help the police find me? You didn't tell them what you knew."

"The questions they were asking were of a very personal nature. I knew you wouldn't want me sharing that information with them or with your mom that matter. If the cops knew your mom would have been sure to have found out. The cops suspected that you might have been engaged in some unusual activity and that that activity might have gotten you into trouble."

"What do you mean I was involved in unusual activity?"

"Six weeks after your scan you and I went to see a man. It was very scary and all but we both wanted it. We wanted what the man had to offer. This man preformed some body modifications on us. He castrated us, full sexual nullification."

"No just hold on a second. I'm not nullified. I'm a fully intact male and so are you!"

"You may be all boy now but that's only because you were one during your body scan. You were a eunuch when you disappeared."

"You lie," I said. Kip didn't say a word. Instead he stood up, unbuckled his belt, unzipped his fly and dropped his pants. It had been a strange day and I thought it couldn't possibly get any stranger. But I was wrong. This was the pièce de résistance. This was the icing on the cake Kip was indeed a full eunuch. His crotch was empty. It was as smooth as a baby's butt. It was horrible but at the same time it was awesome. I didn't want to look away. And a part of me knew I needed to be castrated the same as Kip. "I was like that before I went away?" I asked.

"You were and you loved being a eunuch just as much as I do."

"I don't believe you," I said.

"See for yourself," Kip said and handed me his smartphone. "Check out these photos." My hands shook as I took the phone from him afraid of what I might see. The first photo showed me standing on a stage in what looked like a beauty pageant. There were three other kids on the stage standing besides me and like me they were all naked and castrated. But then I realized that the other kids and I weren't in a beauty pageant. It was more like a mock slave slave auction.

"Where was this picture taken?" I asked.

"It was at a private party," Kip

"What sort of private party?" I asked.

"It was a secret party attended by men and boys who are interested in tween eunuchs. A party where young eunuchs are the entertainment."

"Did my mom know about any of this?"

"Of course not, the parties were secret. Not even the cops knew. Now do you understand why I didn't tell them what I knew."

"How much happened?"

"Some of the other kids did tricks but not you. However if there was a guy who you liked you might spend time together in one of the bedrooms and there were often gifts afterwards."

"How is that not a trick?" I asked.

"It wasn't like you were willing to roll over and open up your butt for just any guy who happened along and was willing to pay 50 dollars."

"Perhaps someone from one of these parties took me."

"It doesn't matter anymore Jett. You don't get it do you. As far as everyone is concerned you're the original Jett Hunter. You have his legal rights and his place in the world. It's your life now. Whatever happened to that other you is like alternate time line. It's forgotten, it doesn't matter."

"You're wrong Kip," I said. "Whoever took the other me is still out there and he might be coming back for seconds."

(To be Continued)