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fertilizer. Rated mature for minor nudity but mostly clean.", "description_bbcode_parsed": "Pent finds himself in a little bit of a predicament when he has a reaction to some fertilizer. Rated mature for minor nudity but mostly clean.", "writing": "Little big brother by Pent Ghelsburg\n\nDisclaimer: All characters in this story are fictional. They are my creation and intellectual property. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely a coincidence. This piece contains underaged characters as well as micro/macro interactions. Some details have been fictionalized for simplicity sakes. You have been warned. \n\nA project lays before you on an untended table. Stuff is everywhere with very little sense of organization. It’s been a while since the project had been worked on. Long enough that some dust had gathered as the project had since fallen to the back burner. The lights are off in the room where it is kept, seeming completely forgotten. It is in times of forgotten bliss that we can often risk the most. After all, when things are not tended to…accidents can happen where neglect and curiosity often collide.\n\n\tPent and Samaliel were two young brothers who lived with each other outside of the big city of Montreal. City life was far enough away that neither of them had to deal with the usual problems of living in the thick of things. At 12 years of age, Pent was the elder of the two and took great responsibility for taking care of his younger brother who was not yet 9 years himself. The two lived in a small apartment along the river that ran right to the major city itself, serving as an artery that connected the English parts of town with the French ones.\n\n\tPent had grown up knowing two homes while his brother wasn’t quite old enough to remember their biological one. They now lived with their foster mother who did very little to care for them. The woman went about her daily duties, only really caring for herself, leaving Pent responsible for the two’s well-being. The older fox was glad they at least had a roof over their head and figured it could be worse. Very rarely did the two brothers deal with her and Pent often tried to convince his brother to maintain a low profile.\n\n\tFortunately, the two boys were allowed to keep up most of their hobbies. They had very little to their names but what they did have, they cherished between the two of them. Pent had taken a part-time job, which paid him under the table since he was too young for any sort of formal work. The fox used whatever he earned to buy him and Samaliel the things they wanted. Though more often than not, Pent spent the money he was given on his younger brother more than on himself.\n\n\tPent’s so-called job was something that he took up of his own volition. Essentially he had been hired as a tutor by one of his friend's mother. The first job he was offered, he took without hesitation. The word of how gifted he was had gotten around and led to other opportunities that were becoming a somewhat lucrative task for him. Every job he took only increased his reputation and every person who hired him insisted he took more money than he asked for.\n\n\tAs time passed, the boy's foster mother had become suspicious as to why the older boy was coming home later than usual. When she inspected their room, she found they had more personal items than she recalled. Upon questioning Pent, he shrugged it off as gifts from friends but she still found it strange how much their personal property had increased. As a result Pent had to come up with a way to hide the money and keep it from her. He insisted that Samaliel kept the hiding place a secret and the younger boy wasn’t about to disobey his brother.\n\n\tPent had been saving up for a new project he had been coming up with school. The idea was a plant growth enhancement. He had been tinkering with various fertilizers and the results he had seen up to this point hadn’t been the most productive. The plants had been developing normally and the rate of maturation hadn’t produced the results that the boy was looking for. He had developed a theory that the right combination of fertilizer, soil, and nutrient-enhanced water could lead to greater product yield.\n\nSo far the various mixes he had been using had produced similar results. Nothing stood out as extraordinary and as a perfectionist Pent wanted nothing more than to work towards what he thought would win him first place. After all, he never settled for anything less, especially when it came to Science fairs. Pent had set up in his room since he no longer had an established area where he could do his work.\n\nAs such Samaliel had gotten to see much of his work in progress. The younger cub was a curious boy who usually checked in on his brother, even if he took no interest in the field. Pent always warned him to be careful around the equipment. The older fox knew his younger brother was clumsy and always remembered to keep glassware and other fragile items in safe compartments, usually out of the sight of the naked eye.\n\nOne day Samaliel was in the room alone. Pent was doing his usual stint of helping one of his friend's families with tutoring and was late as often happened. The younger cub usually busied himself by playing games when he was alone but this particular day he wasn’t really in the mood. The salt and pepper-colored arctic fox wandered about the room, contemplating if he wanted to go outside.\n\nUpon looking out the window he saw that it was raining outside. He couldn’t help but frown as it was almost the weekend and he didn’t want the weather to continue onto his free days. Samaliel had always been one of those kids who lived for the weekend and went from week to week only going through the motions. It was only when the weekend came around that he blossomed into his true self, becoming nothing short of a ball of energy that bounced outside the home.\n\nSamaliel peered around the room and looked at his brother's bookshelf. Most of the books were way outside of his reading level but he couldn’t help but a cursory glance at them. He approached the shelf and touched some of the spines, guiding his finger across them. He was bored and he didn’t know what to do with himself. As he was looking around the room, he discovered a plastic case with some plants and a table underneath it.\n\nSamaliel had seen the thing before but had never really examined it before. He approached it and lifted the plastic cube that enclosed a few plants underneath. The scent of the plants was quite pungent and it didn’t take long for the aroma to waft towards the fox’s snout, making him sneeze. The cub wiped his nose with his sleeve and began to examine the plant again. It didn’t look like anything different and lacked any sort of blooms to indicate it was a flower.\n\nThe boy noticed a small spray bottle of water nearby. He wondered why Pent would enclose something as simple as water and looked at it. From simply looking at it, the container appeared to have nothing other than water. He shrugged and placed the container back on the tabletop where it came from. Just as he was bottle was leaving his hand, it tipped over causing the contents inside to spill out everywhere.\n\nSamaliel panicked as the liquid spread out from the opening at the top. It was apparent the thing hadn’t been screwed on very tightly. It wasn’t long before it pooled onto the carpet. A moment later and Samaliel heard his name being called from somewhere in the house. What’s more, the voice sounded much like Pent’s. He knew he didn’t have much of a chance to clean up and came up with what he thought would be the quickest solution to his problem.\n\nHe closed the lid on the biome and quickly ran out to the hall. The younger cub could see his brother walking down the hall, seeming to wait for him. The smaller boy wasn’t about to keep him waiting and immediately rushed down the hall and hugged him tightly. Pent ruffled his brother's head fur before kneeling to return the hug. Pent wasn’t the biggest cub for his age but he was still a bit bigger than Samaliel, who was a bit behind his growth curve.\n\n“How did tutoring go, big bro?” Samaliel asked looking up at the taller boy.\n\nPent smiled and released him from the hug. “Good. Did you need help with homework?”\n\n“Nope! We didn’t get any.” Samaliel’s face lit up with glee upon saying that.\n\nThe bigger boy put his hand behind the smaller one. “Alright well, we can just do whatever then.”\n\n“Your project in the room spilled today.” Samaliel tried to upend the issue before his brother realized what had happened.\n\nThe white fox cocked an eyebrow. “Oh? How’s that? I don’t recall leaving anything near the ledge.”\n\n“Uh…I was playing with a ball and it hit the side of the case.” It was the best white lie the younger boy could come up with.\n\nPent patted the other boy on the back. “That’s alright. I’m sure it can’t be that bad.”\n\nSamaliel led back towards their room, making sure he was the first one back inside. Once they were in it, he pointed at the mess. The water was still dripping off the table edge and the carpet underneath was visibly soaked now. The younger boy looked up at the older one, who didn’t appear to be very upset. Pent was a pretty calm kid who very rarely lost his cool, even when things didn’t go according to plan.\n\nPent walked over to the container and lifted it. The plants were untouched, except for the base of them which was submerged in the small pool of water. Some of the liquid was still pouring onto the floor. The older fox knew he had to clean up before their foster mother discovered the mess. \n\n“Go grab some hand towels and paper towels so I can clean this up,” Pent said looking back to his brother.\n\nSamaliel retreated from the room and returned with the two items. “You don’t want help?”\n\n“No, it will be fine. I will take care of it.” The white fox collected the items from his brother.\n\nThe younger boy looked at his brother with a frown, feeling a bit guilty but letting it go. Samaliel bounced softly on the bed and watched his brother work. Pent wasted no time in cleaning up. The carpet was soaked, which was evident by the darker color of the otherwise light carpet fabric. The cub examined the accident and decided that starting at the top would probably be the best course of action. He removed the plants and water bottle from the table before wiping them down.\n\nSome of the water that wasn’t soaked by the towel fell to the floor, adding to the already soaked carpet. Pent lifted the table as it wasn’t\n exactly a big one, causing some of the droplets of water to drop down on his head. He placed the towel underneath and patted it down a few times. The carpet was wet enough that it easily soaked through the small towel that he was given.\n\n“Can you get me another towel?” Pent looked back and asked Samaliel who was now staring through the window.\n\nThe younger boy jumped off the bottom level of the bed and went to the bathroom to retrieve a towel. Once inside he looked at the rack which had two larger towels unfurled along a single pole. They were the same ones the two boys used for showers at the end of the night and they looked the same. He plucked one from the rack and returned with it to Pent. He handed the length of fabric over to his brother who looked at it for a second before laying it on the floor.\n\nPent patted it a few more times before standing up and placing the small table back where it was. He kept the stuff off the table for the time being. The older fox looked back at his brother who was still eying what he was doing.\n\n“If she asked what happens, just tell her we spilled water. Did you want to go outside? It might be a bit dark but the rain has stopped.” Pent asked because he figured the younger boy had been cooped up since he got home from school.\n\nSamaliel hopped off the bottom bunk again seeming to jump in place. Pent left the towel behind and made his way to move down the hall with his brother. The two cubs made their way outside passing right by their foster mother who had just arrived home from work. The woman wasn’t exactly the most involved guardian. She did as little as possible to provide for them, leaving Pent and Samaliel to fend for themselves.\n\nThe woman didn’t often venture into their room except to periodically check that no mischief was going on. Hearing the front door shut behind her meant that she could do this without the older boy giving her grief. She quickly made her way down the hall into their room. Peering inside, she made sure that she was not mistaken that they were gone. Sure enough, the room was empty so she let herself in.\n\nLooking around, nothing seemed to be amiss. She walked inside and checked the closet to verify nothing new had shown up. Pent did what he could to hide stuff from her but sometimes she discovered it anyways. On this particular day, she spotted nothing that seemed to be alien to her and closed the door back to not alert the cubs that she was there. She continued looking around the room until she spotted the small table with nothing on top of it.\n\nShe approached the table and noticed that there was a towel underneath. The woman assumed that something must have spilled and kneeled to take a look at it. The wolf angled the small table enough that she could pull out the towel from within. Once it was withdrawn, she saw no evident signs of staining and decided just to put the towel back. She recognized it as one of the boy's towels so she returned it to the rack where Pent had gotten it earlier.\n\nPent and Samaliel remained outside for some time playing together by just passing a ball between each other with some hockey sticks. The two were fairly active and kept up with sports despite only being allowed to join at school. When they had grown tired of it, they returned inside after storing their equipment in the shed outside. The foster mother heard their entry when the door was shut behind them.\n\n“Make sure you two don’t track any dirt inside. I don’t need any more of a mess than you already created.” The woman warned them without actually confronting them. ‘\n\nPent wasn’t one to like cleaning so he kicked off his shoes and motioned for his brother to do the same.\n\n“I’ll make us dinner in a few. I’m going to take a shower first, then you can go.” Pent said as he took the lead, feeling like he was more than likely the smellier of the two.\n\nThe white fox retreated to the bathroom without getting a change of clothes. He didn’t want to waste any time as he was certain Samaliel was likely hungry and he had no desire to keep him waiting. Once he was in the bathroom, he immediately closed the door and stripped his clothing. Turning on the water, it didn’t take very long for the temperature to be one that he was alright with. The idea of cold water didn’t phase him and he didn’t need to wait for warm water to heat up.\n\nPent tried to keep it as clean as he could. They were not provided much soap or shampoo so he had to buy the goods himself. Fortunately, he had biked to the store the other day and so their stock had been refilled for the time being. The cub stepped into the shower and worked his way through his hygiene routine, spending the extra time that was needed to clean his thick fur. It was getting close to winter and so his coat was becoming thicker and required more maintenance than it had recently.\n\nAfter Pent cleaned and shampooed himself, he allowed the water to wash off the suds that had accumulated over his body. It didn’t take long before his body was free of most of them but getting rid of all of them was not something he ever waited for. Once he finished, he stepped out and grabbed a towel without looking. He draped the thing over his body and began rubbing his fur with it.\n\nThe fox began to dry himself with the towel but the towel already seemed damp. He looked at the rack and saw only one other towel. Deciding that he didn’t want to take the only towel that was left, he decided to deal with it. Wrapping the thing around his waist, he grabbed his clothing and made his way out of the bathroom. Pent popped his head back in the room to let Samaliel know that it was his turn but didn’t bother to change just yet.\n\nPent was hungry and wanted to make sure that they both had something to eat by the time his brother got out of the shower. The fox made his way to the kitchen, not seeming bothered by the fact he was walking around half naked. Once he was inside the kitchen he looked at the clock and realized it was later normal for dinner. Prying open the freezer, he rifled through it to find something simple to make. \n\nPent found a could have frozen meals, something he didn’t usually make but it was easier than preparing something from scrap. He knew Samaliel didn’t take long to shower and wanted the food to be ready by the time he returned from the shower. The fox popped the thing into the microwave and waited the required amount of time before they were ready to be taken out. Just as he thought, the moment it beeped he heard the shower stop.\n\nThe fox pulled out the meals and handed them out to the two spots next to each other at the table. Pent knew he had a minute or two more since Samaliel had to change into his pajamas. The cub continued working on preparing the table, dishing out two glasses of milk, and then proceeded to wait for his brother. It wasn’t much longer before his brother showed up who looked at him a second. \n\n“You didn’t get dressed?” Samaliel noticed the other cub was in only a towel.\n\nPent shrugged. “Nah, I wanted to make sure that dinner was ready. Besides my towel was already damp so it was pretty hard to dry off anyways.”\n\nSamaliel sat down without thinking much more about it. It wasn’t the first time he had seen Pent this way and so it didn’t phase him. The older boy joined him at the table and the two proceeded to eat dinner. Neither cub was a fast eater and both took longer than other kids their age. They enjoyed each other’s company and tonight was no different. Samaliel began sharing details of his day and Pent was more than happy to hear about it.\n\nOnce they were done, both boys helped with cleaning up. Samaliel still felt guilty about earlier and wanted to make sure his brother wasn’t left responsible for everything. Pent smiled at his brother and the two were able to finish the chore in half the time. After everything was cleaned up, Pent looked in the freezer to see if anything was hiding there for sweets. He saw what he thought was a single package containing ice cream.\n\nHe withdrew the thing from the freezer before closing it. Opening the package, he realized it was a pretty small treat and handed it over to Samaliel. Pent wasn’t one to be greedy and he wanted the younger boy to be happy. The younger cub smiled at him and grabbed the treat from his brother's hand. Pent watched on as the smaller boy consumed the treat in mere seconds, then followed by licking his hand.\n\nPent reached over and wiped Samaliel’s face with a finger and licked off the residue that he had collected. The smaller cub threw away the packaging before bolting out of the kitchen. Pent chuckled and turned off the light before following him. The older fox casually walked down the hall and made his way to their room. Samaliel was waiting for him with a set of pajamas and underwear for him to change into.\n\n“Thanks, bro.” Pent took the offering and made his way back into the bathroom. \n\nThe fox got rid of the still damp towel and ran his hand across himself. He was still a little wet but he supposed it was too late to worry about it at this point. Pent placed it back on the rack before sitting down on the toilet to put his underwear and pajamas on. It didn’t take very long since the two-piece pajama set was designed to be loose and was just about the perfect size for him. After buttoning the top portion of the shirt, he stretched in front of the mirror and yawned.\n\nOnce everything was fastened, he made his way out of the bathroom. As he was walking down the hall, the cub noticed the bottom of his pajama pants were dragging a bit. Enough that he was stepping on the sides of it when he was walking. He shrugged it off as no big ordeal and returned to his room. Pent saw that the light was off and carefully crept in so he didn’t wake the other cub. Before retiring to the bottom bunk, he stepped over it to Samaliel’s and pulled up the covers.\n\nThe boy kissed his\n brother on the forehead and finally stepped over to his bed. Pent looked out the window at the stars above, gazing for a bit. He yawned again before tossing it onto his back and attempting to relax. It had been a long day and he was tired. He got up under his sheets and it wasn’t long before sleep took over his tired mind. \n\nThe next morning, Samaliel was the first one up as he often was. The younger cub sprang out of bed rather early as it was the weekend and he didn’t want to waste any time. The salt and pepper fox padded down from the top bunk and peered underneath. It was apparent Pent was still sleeping but he wasn’t about to let that stop him from waking him up. Samaliel hopped down and leaned over Pent before abruptly shaking him.\n\nPent awoke rather suddenly to the sensation of his body being rattled. Though Samaliel didn’t do it long enough to harm him.\n\n“Come on lazy butt. It’s Saturday!” Samaliel tugged on Pent who eased his body into a sitting position.\n\nThe older fox rubbed his eyes before yawning and stretching. He had a good night's rest without any dream that he could recall. The cub slowly got up and crawled out of bed, being careful to not hit his head on the top bars of the upper bunk. Pent stood up a moment later and stretched again and allowed his eyes to adjust for a moment. He looked at his brother whose head seemed higher than he remembered. He could barely see over it.\n\n“Oh, hey bud. Looks like you're getting bigger.” The older fox said ruffling his fur.\n\nSamaliel jumped in place. “Really? You think so?”\n\n“Yeah, want to go check out on the height chart?” Pent said patting the other boy's head and ruffling his fur.\n\nThe smaller cub pistoned his arm. “Heck, yeah.”\n\nThe two walked over to the wall. Their so-called height chart was nothing more than some marks on the frame of the door. The older fox guided his brother so his back was square against the wall. Pent walked over to his desk and grabbed a pencil before returning to the wall where Samaliel was standing.\n\n“Alright, no cheating. Flat paws. Promise?” The older fox knew his brother liked to joke around and Pent wanted to be precise.\n\nSamaliel nodded and stood straight against the wall while his brother drew the pencil across the top of his head. Pent was still able to manage it without much of an issue but Samaliel seemed bigger from his perspective.\n\n“All done. You can step away so we can compare.” Pent backed away and allowed his brother to ease off the wall. \n\nPent examined the wall more closely to look at the last two marks. At a cursory glance, the thing looked many an mm or two apart but it was hard enough to merit what he thought was a growth spurt. \n\nPent looked back at his brother. “Yeah, you grew a little bit.”\n\n“Cool!” Samaliel chirped happily as he moved back over towards the best to look outside.\n\nPent thought to himself a moment. It didn't make sense to him why Samaliel seemed bigger and yet only had that minor difference on the wall.\n\n“Are we gonna go outside today? It’s not raining anymore.” The cub asked while still focusing his stare out the window.\n\nPent shrugged. “Yeah, sure. We can do that. Go ahead and change and I’ll make breakfast.”\n\nThe older fox decided he would go ahead and change into his street clothes as well. Pent waited for Samaliel to grab his stuff before he went and got his own. The white fox grabbed the first thing he found in his drawer. A simple t-shirt and some jeans shorts. He looked down at his legs to take off the bottom of his pajama set off. Some of the cloth pooled around his feet, an odd sight to be sure.\n\nPent recalled the set fitting so well too…Perhaps it had stretched? He thought to himself. \n\nSamaliel stepped behind him and playfully shoved the other cub. “Come on…hurry up.”\n\nThe older fox stopped hesitating and kicked off the bottom portion of his pajamas before sliding into his jean shorts. Pent did the same with the top half, simply ignoring the fact that it now sagged a bit on his upper form. He put on his shirt and then returned to the dresser to grab his socks. He looked over at Samaliel who was already over by the door to the hall waiting for him. The two walked out the door together and into the hall towards the front door.\n\nAs they walked down the hall, Pent noticed that there were no signs of their foster mother. It wasn’t uncommon for the woman to disappear for the weekend as she often went to do her own thing when she didn’t have work to worry about. He assumed they would have the house to themselves, which didn’t bother him much since he didn’t like her anyways. Once they were at the front door, they stopped to grab their shoes.\n\nBoth boys had digitigrade paws, so changing into their shoes was always a chore. After they were ready, Samaliel bolted out the door. Pent grabbed the keys from the rack and locked the door behind them. The older fox continued to follow the younger one until they were out at the shack near the back side of the building. There were several small structures there, each of them with a number that matched the unit of the house to which it belonged.\n\nPent and Samaliel made their way to the shed and the older fox turned the dial on the padlock. Once it was open the bigger boy peered his head inside and pulled out the two sticks and a ball to go along with them. He handed one to Samaliel before stepping back out into the open. Pent closed the door since their foster mother kept stuff in there as well and he didn’t want to incur her wrath any more than was necessary.\n\nThe two brothers made their way to the front of the building complex where the grass transitioned to the pavement. They began passing the ball back and forth, occasionally shooting the ball towards a tree that was off in the distance. Samaliel had a better shot than Pent did so the older fox ended up playing defense which was his preference. The younger fox had never been able to keep up with him due to his brother's athleticism.\n\nThe two brothers played for a couple of hours. Pent was struggling today, more than usual to maintain a close guard on Samaliel. Though he was able to keep him in check, for the most part, he didn’t find himself able to move quite as quickly and the younger fox was able to get past him a few times.\n\n“Stop playing easy, Pent.” Samaliel said, expecting some fishy business at play.\n\nThe older fox knew he wasn’t but wanted to play along anyways. “Fine…”\n\nStill, Pent kept up at the same pace. Samaliel was even able to score on the tree which was something he hadn’t done before. The younger fox celebrated and pumped his fist in place.\n\n“Good job, bro.” Pent wasn’t a sour sport and always maintained his cool.\n\nSamaliel smiled back at him. “Thanks.”\n\n“Shall we stop for a snack now? My treat.” Pent wanted to stop playing before he made any more a fool of himself.\n\nThe younger fox nodded. “Sure, should we put back out sticks?”\n\n“Nah, we won’t be gone long. We can put them back when we return.” The older fox suggested before offering to take the other boy's stick and carry both of them.\n\nSamaliel kicked the ball to the grass before they started walking together, next to each other as they casually strode down the street and towards the main part of town. Pent knew exactly where there was a stand that offered ice cream, at least until the winter months. Since it was still fall, he hoped that they would be selling their wares that day. As they were talking, Pent couldn’t help but notice that his shoes were slipping a bit, though since he had to keep up with Samaliel he had to occasionally kick his shoes into the pavement to keep them from slipping.\n\nIt took them a bit to arrive at the small metallic stand which fronted an ice cream truck.\nThey approached the stand, realizing there was a small queue in front. Once it was within sight, Samaliel wasted no time in racing toward the stand. Pent continued his casual stride toward the back of the line, knowing full well that rushing wouldn’t help the wait that much. The younger cub waved his brother over and Pent filed in behind the other boy, patiently waiting his turn. As he was standing there, Pent realized he could see the back of Samaliel’s head fur.\n\nThis was odd to be sure. Pent had always been able to see clearly over his brother's head. Now it was apparent that he was the same size…if not close to it. Just what was going on? He thought to himself as he stood there for a moment idly. Samaliel made his way forward as the line progressed. The younger fox looked back at his brother who seemed bothered by something. Yet, Samaliel’s mind was only on one thing.\n\n“Come on…it’s our turn.” The younger fox didn’t take the time to realize just what was happening.\n\nPent snapped out of it. He figured his little…problem could wait. It couldn’t get any worse right? The older fox treaded forward and reached into his pocket to grab some money. The hem of his shorts pulled down a bit as he stretched into it to reach the wallet. He pulled it out and waited for his brother to order for both of them, as it was something he always gave him the privilege of as flavor didn’t matter much to him and they often shared in one another's orders anyway.\n\nSamaliel ordered a single scoop for each of them. The younger cub treated himself to a cone while he made no such request for Pent. The younger fox stepped away from the counter. Pent watched as the boy walked past him. He still couldn’t get over how much bigger he looked now.\n\n“Gonna pay, kid?” The woman at the stand asked impatiently at the distracted cub in front of her.\n\nThe older fox snapped out of it. “Oh, sure…sorry about that.”\n\nPent pulled the necessary money out and gave it to her. The woman handed him back the change and he pocketed it back along with his wallet. He walked back over to where Samaliel had sat down. A small stone ledge underneath a tree. The younger fox held out the small cardboard\n container that held the flavor he had chosen for Pent. The white fox made his way over and joined his brother. The older fox placed down the two hockey sticks before joining him.\n\nSamaliel had picked out strawberry for himself and vanilla for the older fox. Pent’s favorite flavor and he couldn’t help but smile that the younger boy had thought about it when ordering.\nHe gazed over at Samaliel. Pent realized he could look into Samaliel’s eyes, had the other cub been looking at him. The older fox slowly took the treat from his brother who had already started diving into his own. \n\nThe two continued to eat, though Pent was much more slow and methodical about it. Samaliel was never one to lick the treat and instead bit through it. The cub making a creamy white mess around his snout. Pent was still mulling through his own slowly and was barely halfway through it by the time Samaliel had munched through both the ice cream at the top and the cone at the bottom. The younger fox looked over at his brother who still seemed rather distant and distracted.\n\n“Something wrong?” The younger cub asked looking over at his brother with a smile.\n\nPent swirled the treat in the carton with his finger and looked back at him. “Do I look different to you?”\n\n“No? Why?” Samaliel raised his eyebrow in suspicion of the odd question.\n\nPent stood up and held out his free paw to the other cub. “Stand up.”\n\nSamaliel stood up right in front of his brother. The two looked eye to eye.\n\n“See?” Pent had confirmed his suspicions and looked down at himself.\n\nWhile his pants were only just sagging a bit he could see that his shirt had draped a little longer over his waist.\n\nSamaliel patted his brother on the shoulder. “So what? You said I was getting bigger.”\n\n“But…you didn’t get that much bigger, Sama. I think…I’m getting smaller.” Pent made sure to emphasize the word smaller.\n\nSamaliel hesitated a moment before answering. “Haha…very funny…”\n\n“Dude, seriously. Look.” Pent put a finger down his pants and held out the waistline with his finger.\n\nSamaliel. “I didn’t wanna see your undies…ew…”\n\n“Come on…please believe me?” Pent said grabbing Samaliel’s shoulder.\n\nSamaliel looked away and then back. “I wanna go to the park.”\n\n“Fine…if I take you to the park then can we go back home so I can figure out my problem?” Pent was still a sucker for letting Samaliel have his way regardless of the situation.\n\nSamaliel nodded before darting away towards the park. Pent grabbed their hockey sticks and rolled his eyes. It seemed his little issue would have to wait. It couldn’t get that much worse…could it? He thought to himself as he followed his brother over towards the park. The two made their way over to the park which was right next to where they were. The younger cub had rushed over towards the swings and was already rocking himself back and forth.\n\n“Can you push me, Pent? Please? I wanna go high!” Samaliel asked, bringing the swing back to a slow stop.\n\nPent placed the hockey sticks on the grass before walking over to where the swings were. He noticed the only other people around were a smaller child and her mother, who were over at the slide. The white fox stepped behind the younger boy and began pushing him, stepping to the side so that it wouldn’t knock into him on the way back. Despite his now smaller size, he still didn’t have any issue pushing the other cub back and forth.\n\nSamaliel swung until he got bored. He hopped off the swing and landed square on his feet. Immediately he ran over to the climbing area where an igloo-shaped metallic structure lay untouched. The cub wasted no time in mounting the small building and made his way to the top. Once he was at the top, he sat on the small platform of metal that connected all the bars.\n\n“Come on, Pent!” The younger cub called to his brother who looked on from below.\n\nPent gazed up at him and nodded. He wasn’t one to be outdone, regardless of the situation. It had been a while since he’d climbed anything, but he figured he could do it all the same. The white fox started to climb, taking it one bar at a time. Each time he lifted his feet, the shoes he was wearing slipped a little more. The fox kit was certain they would fall before long, yet he tarried on even still.\n\nJust as he finished scaling the jungle gym, his right shoe fell from his foot. Samaliel couldn’t help but giggle.\n\n“It’s not funny, Sama. I wanna go home so I can figure this out before it gets any worse.” Pent said as he sat next to his brother and tried to fix the remaining shoe.\n\nSamaliel placed his arm behind the older boy. “Don’t worry.”\n\n“What’s not to worry about?” Pent looked at his brother, wanting his support.\n\nSamaliel’s stomach growled. “Don’t you want to get lunch first?”\n\n“But we just had ice cream…” The older fox protested but then his stomach rumbled.\n\nThe younger fox lowered himself under the bars and picked up Pent’s shoe holding it up. “Hurry up, slow poke.”\n\n“Fine…but we’re going home after.” Pent was much more slow and methodical about getting down, making sure he didn’t lose his other shoe as well.\n\nOnce he was at ground level, he walked over to his brother. Pent grabbed the shoe, looking up at his brother's eyes. Was his brother taller than him now? Pent couldn’t be certain but it felt like that was the case. The white fox put the shoe on and began walking, figuring they would just go to the park's picnic area. The park normally provided food for kids at afterschool and weekend camps. He knew they always had extra and usually had no issue sharing it.\n\nPent led to a communal area in the park. The entire time having to hold up his pants as he was certain they would fall. His shoes too continued to be an issue, constantly had to kick his feet into the ground to make sure they stayed on. Fortunately, it wasn’t a far walk. The boy could see that the picnic area was busy. People were all around and the weekend camp counselors eyed them as they made their approach.\n\n“You two needing a snack?” One of the women saw them and assumed they must have been campers.\n\nThe older fox approached her and nodded. “Yeah, can we have one?”\n\n“Sure, you and your big brother can help yourself to whatever you want.” She moved to the side, to take care of a crying cub who was throwing a fit.\n\nPent stopped in his tracks upon hearing those words.\n\n“Oh, come on. It’s not that bad, is it? I could be a good big brother for you.” Samaliel patted Pent on the back, trying to comfort him.\n\nThe smaller fox turned around, looking up into Samaliel’s eyes. “I’m not that much smaller…”\n\n“Oh, I know. You’re a big boy, after all.” The younger cub stuck his tongue out playfully.\n\nPent rolled his eyes. “Whatever… let's just get lunch and go home.”\n\nThe white fox took the lead over to a table where food had been placed inside the paper wrapping, free for the taking. Looking at it, it appeared to be sandwiches and chips. Pent looked for the veggie option, while Samaliel just took whatever. Once they both had found something, they each took a bag of chips. The same woman from before came walking back up to them and offered them a juice box.\n\nPent and Samaliel smiled at her before chiming in unison. “Thanks.” \n\nThe two cubs sat down at a free area at the end of a picnic table. It was louder than the rest of the park with younger kids screaming and laughing. Pent watched as the various counselors scurried around to make sure each of the kids had lunch. He couldn’t help but feel bad for them as there wasn’t nearly enough of them to keep up with the sheer number of kids that were running around. \n\nPent unwrapped the sandwich and began nibbling at it. Samaliel was already halfway done with his own and wasted no time in chowing down on the bag of chips. The older fox’s mind was still distracted by his issue. He knew he needed to put his foot down and go home before it got worse but he didn’t want to upset Samaliel. He could only hope the younger boy wouldn’t mind going home after lunch.\n\n“Where are the hockey sticks?” Samaliel asked realizing that Pent was no longer carrying them.\n\nThe older fox snapped out of his train of inner thought. “Um…I think I left it at the climbing gym. We can go back and get them after.”\n\n“Hey, Pent?” Samaliel had been waiting to ask a question for some time, especially after realizing his brother's plight.\n\nPent looked over at his brother. “Hmm?”\n\n“Do you think…I could be a big brother for a little bit longer. It’s…so cool!” Samaliel burst out of his seat, seeming rather excited by the notion.\n\nThe white fox nearly spits out the juice he was drinking. “What?”\n\n“Just for a little bit…I wanna be like you!” The younger fox got on his knees, begging his brother to play along for a bit longer.\n\nPent hesitated a second before answering. “Fine…but only for a little bit.”\n\n“Yay, thanks!” Samaliel picked himself up and hugged the younger boy.\n\nThe smaller cub huffed. “Let’s go get the sticks.”\n\nThe white fox stood up next to his brother, holding up his pants once again. The two walked side by side back towards the jungle gym. As they approached it, Pent could see some older kids who appeared to be picking up the sticks.\n\n“Hey, those are ours.” Pent protested, forgetting all about his plight.\n\nIn front of them stood two teens who looked back at them. Looking at the two foxes, they appeared to be the younger. They knew they had the upper hand.\n\n“And? What are you going to do about it?” The boar puffed out her chest, stepping closer to the two foxes who were much smaller than herself.\n\nPent murmured to himself as he was sized up. The older fox tried racing around her but she was quick to catch him.\n\n“No, you don’t.” The girl shoved him, causing Pent to fall on his butt.\n\nSamaliel too tried to dart past her as she was distracted, picked up by the bigger of the two girls. Now helpless in her grasp.\n\n“Now what, little hero? Just give up.” The girl crossed her arms defensively.\n\nSamaliel\n continued to squirm in the older girl's arms, making no progress. Pent knew he was just as hopeless and looked around for options. He saw no adults around to ask for help.\n\n“Just put him down and you can have the sticks…just don’t hurt us.” Pent hated to admit defeat but he knew he had little other option.\n\nThe older girl dropped Samaliel to the ground. “Good boy. Now go away.”\n\nSamaliel retreated to help Pent up. The two stood together once more. \n\n“You alright?” Pent asked, making sure the younger boy hadn’t been hurt.\n\nA tear welled up in Samaliel’s eyes as he stood there. “Yeah…”\n\nThe older girl took each of the sticks snapping them in half over her knee. She beckoned to her partner in crime and let the two cubs be. They were alone once more.\n\n“It will be alright, I promise. You have to be strong…you wanted to be the big brother right?” Pent asked hugging his brother, still feeling awkward about him being bigger now.\n\nSamaliel nodded. “Yeah…let’s go home.”\n\n“Wait 1 second…” Pent took off the shoes and socks from his feet as they had been bothering him and he no longer wanted to deal with it.\n\nThe salt and pepper fox cocked an eyebrow. “You’re going to talk barefoot? Isn’t that going to hurt?”\n\n“We’ll stay off the roads. Come on…” Pent put the socks inside of his shoes and began walking with his brother.\n\nThe two made their way out of the park. Pent made sure to maintain his pants while keeping his feet on the grassy area of the park. Once they had exited it, the older fox hoped the sidewalk wouldn’t be super hot. Taking one step at a time, he tested it. The other boy patiently waited as his brother took more time than usual to catch up to him. After Pent got used to the feeling of the gravel on his paw pads, he was able to keep up with Samaliel.\n\nThey made their way back to the house, taking a little bit longer than normal to get there. Once they had returned Pent thought to himself about something the younger cub had said earlier. The two stopped outside on the front lawn.\n\n“Do you like being the bigger brother?” The older fox had always envisioned himself as the caretaker of the younger boy.\n\nSamaliel turned his head. “Yeah, it’s neat. Stand still…”\n\n“Hmm? Okay.” Pent let his pants go as they fell to the floor and he slipped out of them.\n\nThe younger fox chucked as he stood next to his brother. “I can see over your head now…hehe.”\n\n“I should get a change of clothes before I end up naked. Come on…before the neighbors complain about a streaking cub.” Pent began walking towards the house again.\n\nSamaliel tugged on him. “Can’t we play a little bit? I wanna wrestle…”\n\n“Can I get a change of clothes first? I don’t wanna end up naked…” Pent whined, trying to put his foot down for a change.\n\nThe younger boy sighed. “Fine…but after I wanna wrestle.”\n\nPent made his way back towards the house and pulled the keys out of his pants pocket. He could feel the breeze on his mostly naked legs and it made him feel awkward. Samaliel followed him into the living room as they made their way to their room.\n\n“I’m going to borrow your stuff because mine is way too big now.” Pent pulled open the younger cub's drawer and began to rifle through it.\n\nSamaliel plopped down on the lower bunk and took his shoes off, waiting for his brother to find whatever suited him. The white fox pulled out a simple gray t-shirt, nylon shorts, and a pair of briefs. \n\n“Turn around or do I have to leave the room?” Pent asked as he didn’t always like to change in front of Samaliel.\n\nSamaliel shrugged and said nothing. Pent quickly slid out of his old clothes, as they were much too big on him now. Changing into Sama’s stuff, he realized even that was a bit baggy on him but it was better than nothing.\n\n“Alright, big bro…if I win…then we try to fix my situation. If you win…then you can be big brother until tomorrow.” Pent trailed off as he said the second part of that statement, unsure how much worse his situation would get.\n\nSamaliel smirked, thinking to himself. “You’re on.”\n\nPent changed into a pair of Samaliel’s socks, not worried about the fact that his feet were still dirty. \n\n“Alright, let’s go.” Pent felt ready now that he was dressed again.\n\nThe younger boy hopped off the bed and positioned himself opposite Pent. “Any rules?”\n\n“The usual. The first one to be pinned for 3 seconds wins.” Pent felt relatively confident he could win, even despite his smaller size.\n\nSamaliel crouched. “Ready…”\n\n“One…two…three…go.” Pent lurched forward and locked his hands into the other cubs.\n\nThe older fox stood his ground, using his legs to maintain his position as Samaliel continued to try to push him to the ground. Pent was an athletic kid and Samaliel wasn’t nearly as active as he was. The white fox got the first upper hand, sweeping his leg underneath the bigger boy and causing him to fall onto the floor. \n\nPent patted his hand on the floor…”One…two…”\n\nJust as Pent was about to say three. Samaliel was able to free himself, remaining on the floor a short distance away from the other cub. The younger cub made the first move this time attempting to tackle Pent who tried his best to remain free of the bigger boy's grasp. The two remained in a deadlock for a few seconds. Then Samaliel got an idea…he knew just how to get Pent to lose his focus.\n\nSamaliel kicked forward, trying to get some space between himself and Pent. Pent maintained him close enough that he wasn’t able to get free of Pent’s grip. The cub realized the idea wasn’t as realistic to pull off as he thought. The older fox tried to tackle him again, squaring him against the ground once again.\n\n“One…two…” Yet again the younger boy freed himself.\n\nNow Samaliel had the space he needed, standing up he looked over Pent with a sneering glare in his eye. However, Pent didn’t let him act and instead lurched forward into Samaliel causing him to collapse flat on his back. Fortunately, the younger boy hit his head on a beanbag chair. However, the younger cub started to cry. Pent overheard the sniffling and immediately became concerned as he stood over the younger cub.\n\n“You alright?” He kneeled to aid the bigger boy in his moment of distress.\n\nSamaliel wiped his eye. “Yeah, I guess you win. You’re too strong for me…”\n\n“It’s not over yet…but if you want you can be big brother tonight. But…I need to resolve my problem before I get too small to handle it.” Pent stood up and offered his paw to the younger cub.\n\nThe salt and pepper fox took his paw and tugged him down on top of Samaliel. “Can we finish first…? I promise I won’t cry again.”\n\n“One…” Pent realized he was in control of the moment again and tried to close his deal.\n\nSamaliel rotated him around, placing Pent on the bottom. The white fox still felt bad about making him cry and decided to just let him win. “One…two…three.”\n\nThe younger cub stood up and pistoned his arm victoriously. \n\n“Good job, big bro.” Pent said with a smirk, hoping he wouldn’t realize his ploy to appease him.\n\nSamaliel hugged his brother tightly before letting him go. “Thanks!”\n\n“Now, do you want to help me figure out my little problem?” Pent asked as he made his way over to the side of the room where his chemicals were.\n\nSamaliel huffed. “But I like you being smaller.”\n\n“Uhuh…but I’m older. I’m supposed to be bigger. Don’t you’ll grow up soon too.” Pent always acted older than he was.\n\nThe younger boy sighed. “Fine…”\n\n“How would you like to help me? I still promise I will let you be the big brother tonight…and big brothers always help little bro.” Pent said realizing he would likely need help with whatever was going on with his body.\n\nSamaliel’s tail wagged behind him. “Okay!”\n\nPent smiled, glad that he would finally be able to undertake his issue. He made his way over to his workstation and pulled up the chair. However, the thing wasn’t quite high enough for him to see the screen.\n\n“Can you pop the chair higher, please?” He asked his brother.\n\nSamaliel did as he asked and Pent began toiling away. He wondered how fast his body was changing and hoped he had time before he got…too small. The younger fox continued to watch over his shoulder. Samaliel couldn’t help but ruffle his head fur, a playful gesture that Pent had done to him many times in the past. However, it didn’t deter the hyper-focused fox who was wholly intent on returning to normal.\n\nEventually, he happened onto a sight regarding a rare adverse reaction to some plant fertilizers. Looking into it further, he saw the same name of the very fertilizer that he had been using for his project. Recalling the other day, he remembered that Samaliel had spilled the mixture on the floor and that he had cleaned it up using a towel. It all began to make sense to him, except that the reaction still didn’t match what the article was referring to.\n\nStill, he saw a simple enough solution. The article claimed that any person suffering from the side effects of the fertilizer would have to rid of the project naturally. The medical recommendations were to flush the system out with water in an attempt to cycle it through the system. Pent huffed, realizing he would have to deal with the issue for a while unless he came up with a way to flush it out of his system quicker.\n\nPent thought to himself a moment. He knew he didn’t have much longer than a day because their foster mother would return at some point tomorrow. He didn’t want to risk her finding out what happened and still felt responsible for taking care of Samaliel.\n\n“So, what did you figure out?” Samaliel asked.\n\nPent spun around in the chair and looked at Samaliel. “My body has to flush it out naturally. We don’t have that long so I will need to expedite it.”\n\n“So what does that mean?” The younger cub scratched his head.\n\nPent stood up right next to Samaliel, realizing he could not only see the middle of Samaliel’s neck. “It means….I need to drink a lot of water.”\n\n“Okay, little bro. You can have all\n the water you want.” The younger cub rubbed the older boy's head again.\n\nThe white fox rolled his eyes. “Wanna grab me a glass or water bottle or something?”\n\n“Sure! I’ll be back.” Samaliel bolted out of the room and left Pent alone for a moment.\n\nPent sat down again, thinking to himself. He wondered if this would work. He continued with another search on the computer but didn’t find anything else that seemed to stand out. The only thing he found was a fantasy website and this was all too real for him. Samaliel returned before long with a water bottle that he had fixed up for the older boy. \n\nThe younger fox placed it on the desk and continued to stand behind his brother. \n\n“Thanks, dude. So what did you want to do before I return to normal?” Pent was hopeful he could resolve this and began drinking water immediately.\n\nSamaliel hummed to himself. “Uh…”\n\n“Nothing then?” Pent continued to sip on the water, wanting to get as much of it into his system as possible.\n\nThe salt and pepper fox shook his head. “Do you want to play horsey?”\n\n“Horsey…? Aren’t you a little old for that? Besides…I’m not big enough to carry you anyways…” Pent spun around on his brother.\n\nSamaliel got on his knees in front of the other cub. “I wanna be the horsey.”\n\n“You…? Is that what you want?” Pent’s face turned flush red as he had never been treated to the activity himself.\n\nThe younger cub nodded. “Uh-huh, please?”\n\n“Fine but no one at school hears about this, alright?” Pent got down from the chair arranging the sagging clothing he was wearing so it didn’t hang as much.\n\nSamaliel nodded again and got on all fours. “Giddy up, cowboy.”\n\nPent slowly approached the other cub before climbing on his back. He was careful about it as he was certain he would still be too heavy for Samaliel to handle. Once the bigger cub felt the weight on his back, he began to prance around the room. The younger cub even neighed every so often. The smaller boy felt awkward about the whole thing but it was apparent that his brother was enjoying it so he wasn’t about to stop it.\n\nHe went around the room a few times before Samaliel stopped. The cub lowered himself, easing Pent off as he stood up to stretch. It was harder than he thought it would be. The older fox stood there in a moment of awkward silence.\n\n“Wanna play games now?” The white fox asked as he knew it would be something they both liked.\n\nSamaliel shrugged. “Sure.”\n\nPent grabbed his water bottle and joined his brother over by the television. The two played games for some time until their stomachs reminded them that it was time for dinner once again. The older fox wondered how he would make food now, figuring he would have to use the stepping stool for everything.\n\n“I’ll go make food. What do you want?” The smaller boy asked as he stood up, the pants he was wearing completely fell off.\n\nSamaliel chuckled. “Maybe I could make it…?”\n\n“It will be fine…I can handle it.” Pent didn’t want to give the younger cub too much freedom.\n\nThe younger cub put on his best puppy face. “Please…I’ll do whatever you want.”\n\n“Fine...I guess I did say you could be the big brother tonight.” The older fox felt silly about having made that promise now.\n\nSamaliel jumped in place. “I promise I’ll make a good meal.”\n\n“Just let me…” But before he was able to finish the statement Samaliel had bolted out of the room's door into the hallway.\n\nPent was left alone again and he veered over to the height chart they had made. He looked at the marks made for Samaliel with the dates on them. He squared himself up against it, just as he had done with his brother before, and used his hand to mark his height. Stepping away he looked at the mark closest to where his head was. Doing the math in his head, he figured he was about the same size as Samaliel at 7 years old.\n\nThe white fox knew his situation hadn’t gotten any better but this made him even more aware of the issue. He walked over to the computer again and continued sipping on the water. Pent hadn’t been as consistent as he liked about it but he needed clarity and so far the resolution had borne no fruit. The cub began to search again, browsing through whatever he could find until Samaliel called from down the hall.\n\nPent hopped down from the chair, feeling awkward that he wasn’t the one making food. But he supposed he wasn’t in a condition to help with it. The older boy made his way down the hall and into the kitchen. He looked over the table and saw that two microwave dinners were wafting fumes of heat from the surface. The fox smiled, glad that Samaliel hadn’t tried anything that required preparation.\n\nThe older fox sat down, at his usual chair. His feet dangling a bit, the sensation of his paws just grazing against the floor was an awkward one to be sure. Samaliel joined him and the two began eating without delay. The salt and pepper fox worked through his meal rather quickly but as always he waited for Pent.\n\n“Is it good?” He asked to be certain he had done a good job.\n\nPent looked up from his plate. “Yeah, sorry. Just distracted.”\n\n“Still, worried? I can take care of you .” Samaliel said with a confident smile on his face.\nPent smiled and continued eating, speaking between bites. “It’s not that it's just…”\n\n“Just what?” Samaliel asked as he cared about his brother just as much as Pent did for him.\n\nThe white fox huffed. “I just want to fix this. I’m going to go to the bathroom…be right back.”\n\nIt had been a while since Pent had to go and he had been drinking water pretty heavily. Nature finally called and he rushed toward the bathroom to take care of it. After relieving himself, he felt a bit better. His body felt warmer, which he hoped was a sign of things for the better. The fox returned to his brother who was already cleaning the table. Pent sat down again to finish his meal.\n\n“Thanks for your help, I appreciate it.” Pent finished his meal even know his appetite wasn’t that strong.\n\nOnce he was done, Pent hopped off his chair to help Samaliel with the cleanup. They had to share the stepping stool, with Pent struggling to reach the dishes counter but managing all the same. He didn’t want the younger boy to be left to do all the chores regardless of the situation. Pent looked at Samaliel. The younger boy reminded him so much of himself and he was glad he was a chip off the old block. \n\nThe two didn’t take that long to finish up. Pent got an idea to treat the younger cub since he was being so helpful. The fox opened up the fridge and looked up. He found he could touch the upper shelf, but finding the ice cream was proving to be difficult. \n\nSamaliel chuckled. “Here, let me help.” \n\nThe bigger cub made his way in and delivered out the small carton of ice cream and handed it to Pent. \n\n“Well, it’s for you…I know we don’t normally do big deserts but you can have it since it’s almost empty.” Pent held the small carton in his paw for the other cub to take out.\n\nSamaliel shook his head. “Nuh-uh, I wanna share!”\n\nThe salt and pepper fox retreated to the drawer where the family kept the utensils. He withdrew two spoons and held them out proudly. He walked with Pent out to the living room, a place they weren’t allowed to eat with their foster mother at home. Samaliel wasted no time in hopping over the sofa to the other side but Pent had to go around the long way. The white fox eased himself up on the seat next to his brother and put the carton of ice cream down on the cushion spacer between them.\n\nSamaliel offered his brother the other spoon in his paw before opening the cardboard covering it. The younger boy was always the more eager to eat sweets and tonight was no different, taking three bites before Pent even took one.\n\n“Hey, Pent…I know you are worried but don’t be. I can take care of you, I promise…” Samaliel tried to reassure his brother who was still bothered by the whole situation.\n\nPent leaned into his brother’s shoulder enjoying the warmth. “I think this stuff is too big now…think you have anything smaller.”\n\n“I can go look if you want. Be right back.” The younger fox pulled away and withdrew from the living room, leaving Pent alone.\n\nPent eased himself off the chair as he had to go to the bathroom again. He was glad the water was finally working its way through his system, though he hadn’t seen the results he was hoping for. The white fox relieved himself again, feeling a little bit better but no different. Once he was done, he returned shortly after and Samaliel was there waiting for him, holding something in his paws.\n\n“Uh…this is the smallest thing I have right now. Do you want to try it on?” He showed off a pair of paw patrol-themed footy pajamas and the same themed white briefs.\n\nThe older fox blushed. “Are you serious…that’s it?”\n\n“Well yeah…you’re not a big boy anymore are you?” Samaliel smirked at making that joke.\n\nPent stomped his foot down. “Sama, enough is enough. It’s not like I’m getting younger here…just smaller.”\n\n“Sorry…just having a bit of fun. Do you want it or not?” The younger boy held it out in his paws for the older boy to take it.\n\nThe white fox looked down at himself. Already the shirt he was borrowing from Samaliel was sagging on him. He couldn’t be certain if he had gotten smaller but it certainly felt that way. He approached the younger fox, barely coming up half his torso now.\n\n“Gee…you’ve gotten small, bro. Maybe this is serious?” Samaliel said resisting the desire to pat his head again.\n\nThe smaller boy huffed. “I figured. I need to find a solution before foster mom gets home tomorrow.”\n\n“I just hope it stops…I feel like it’s just gotten worse as time has gone on.” Pent held his paws up to grab the pajamas from his brother.\n\nSamaliel held them just out of his reach, chuckling a bit.\n\n“Come on, Sama…please. I just want to go do some more research on the computer before I can’t reach that anymore either.” Pent jumped a few times, but it wasn’t enough to\n reach the pajamas.\n\n“Hehe, just having a bit of fun.” The salt and pepper fox lowered his grasp to the level of the other cub, handing it off to him.\n\nPent rolled his eyes and took the pajamas. He slipped out of Samaliel’s clothes and into the pajamas, still feeling that they were a bit baggy on him. But he figured it was better than nothing.\n\n“I’ll get you a cushion for the chair…” Samaliel suggested, trying to be helpful once more.\n\nThe white fox nodded as he made his way back to their room, eager to get back on the computer to look again. Pent looked at the bottle and contemplated drinking it again, however, figured it wasn’t worth worrying about since he hadn’t noticed anything change as of yet. Samaliel placed the cushion in the chair and helped his brother on top of it.\n\n“Thanks, you can turn off the lights and I will try to be quiet,” Pent said as he began tapping away once the chair was pushed in.\n\nSamaliel nodded. “Are you sure you don’t want any help?”\n\n“No, you’ve done a good job today.” Pent began furiously searching the internet again.\n\nSamaliel figured it was time to take a shower and took some clothes out of his dresser drawer, leaving Pent to his own devices. The older cub heard the door opening and looked back behind him. He leaned back in the chair and took a deep breath. It had been a long and stressful day and he didn’t have any hope for relief from his issue. Pent spun back around and continued working, figuring he could probably do without a shower tonight.\n\nSamaliel returned to the room before long. The younger fox stretched and yawned as he disposed of the dirty clothes he had brought back with him from the bathroom. He flicked off the lights before retiring to the bunk bed. He looked over at Pent and couldn’t see him over the chair which hid most of his body. Samaliel couldn’t help but feel bad even if he was partially enjoying it. But he also wanted the older boy to be happy. Once he was on top of his bunk, he looked outside and gazed at the stars wondering if he would catch any glimpse of a shooting one.\n\nSamaliel yawned as fatigue was beginning to take him. Yet his eyes remained ever open, determined to find one. About half an hour passed and his eyes were growing weary from being over-focused. Yet, he remained ever vigilant even when his eyes were closing for longer periods. Falling in and out of consciousness the cub tried to snap out of it. Finally spotting what he was looking for, he closed his eyes and made a wish.\n\n“I wish for Pent to return to normal…” He smiled as sleep finally consumed his young mind.\n\nThe older cub remained hard at work as he scanned through websites. Going back to the same recall website, proved no additional information. Yet he could find nothing else and scanned the same article again and again. Pent squinted and pressed through the night with several hours passing but no such progress was made. Nature called again. All the liquid in his system was not helping with the situation.\n\nPent hopped off the chair. The pajamas he had borrowed from Samaliel sagged off him and dragged him on the floor a bit. He approached the door, which Samaliel had shut earlier, and looked over at the height chart. Truthfully he was petrified of checking again. He didn’t want to know…but he knew in his mind that it had gotten worse. Now within a personal distance of the doorknob, he struggled to reach it.\n\nHe huffed…he felt so helpless. Pent knew he couldn’t wake up Samaliel. He figured he was likely the size of a toddler now…and the fact he couldn’t reach the door only confirmed his fears. The white fox looked around for something to pop open the door and saw a small pickup stick that he kept for when his scout troop went on community clean-ups.\n\nHe figured it would have to do. Grabbing the thing, he returned the door and used it to pop open the knob. Pent was glad it worked…and rushed down the hall to do his business again. The fox was glad the lid was open and made quick work of his needs. Leaving the little stick in the bathroom, he returned to his room when he was done. The fox realizes that the chair might have been too difficult for him to climb without it moving.\n\nIt seemed he would have to retire to bed despite his desire to continue doing work. Yawning, he knew he was tired and yet his mind was rampant with concern. The fox decided to use the bottom rung of the ladder to climb up rather than struggle onto the bottom bunk. Once he was flat on top of it, he stared at the underside of the top bunk. His mind still wondered how much worse this could get before it stopped.\n\nHe knew he had less than one day to figure this out. Pent pulled the sheets over himself and closed his eyes, to rest them. His thoughts still running at full capacity. The cub had a headache but he knew he couldn’t reach the medicine cabinet without significant effort. He didn’t want to risk hurting himself either and figured that was probably much easier than he was used to. Instead, he tried to relax, tossing and turning a bit before finally, sleep took him.\n\nPent had no dreams that night, his mind was much too tired to produce anything that he would remember the next day. The younger fox was the first one up as he always was and peered his eyes over the chair. Samaliel figured the older fox must have become too tired to continue. The cub hopped off the top bunk with a muffled thud and looked into the lower-level bed. Sure enough, a small bundle of sheets and Pent’s head were barely visible.\n\nSamaliel reached in and shook the other boy. Pent felt his body being shaken again and was woken up with a relinquished groan. \n\n“Come on…maybe you got better overnight?” Samaliel was hopeful his wish came to fruition.\n\nPent huddled up, fearing the worst, and shook his head. “Nuh…I don’t wanna know.”\n\n“So, what? You’ve given up? That’s not the Pent, I remember. Come on Pent, you can do it. I know you can.” The younger fox tried to console his brother who was defeated.\n\nPent tossed in his bed. “I’m just going to shrink away into nothing. It’s not going to get better.”\n\n“Pent…please? Get up? I’ll do anything!” The younger fox was desperate to get his brother in a better mood.\n\nThe older fox rotated back around again. “Fine…but you’re making breakfast.”\n\n“That a boy, come on. I’ll help you out if you need it.” Samaliel moved to the side to allow Pent some space to come off the bed.\n\nPent eased the sheets off and looked down at himself. The pajamas he had been borrowing now pooled around him. As he moved they snaked around him but remained on his form. The older fox sighed and pushed his way to the edge of the bed.\n\n“Gee…you got small. I’m not sure I have anything that fits you now.” Samaliel said making note of the obvious.\n\nThe white fox took a deep breath. “I know. I guess I’ll just accept what’s happening and just let it run its course. It can’t last forever…right?”\n\n“Don’t worry, I will take care of you until you get big again.” Samaliel smiled at the fact he would still be the one in control of everything.\n\nThe smaller boy hopped off the bed, right next to Samaliel. Looking up at the younger cub was an odd sight to be seen. He could visibly see the cub's knee cap above his eye level now. Samaliel eased himself down and picked Pent up without saying a word.\n\n“Hey, I can handle myself. Stop!” Pent complained.\n\nSamaliel chucked. “Oh hush, just have some fun for once with it. Ride on my shoulders and we can go quicker.”\n\nThe salt and pepper fox had no issue adjusting the smaller boy around his neck. Pent found he could fit around it without much fuss. \n\n“See? Much easier, right?” Samaliel said starting to walk.\n\nPent rolled his eyes and clutched Samaliel’s neck so he didn’t move around as much. The two walked to the kitchen and with each step the younger boy took, Pent’s body shook a bit. \n\n“Waffles sound alright?” The younger cub asked since sticking them into the toaster was simple enough.\n\nPent shrugged. “Sure, that sounds fine.”\n\nSamaliel busied himself while carrying the other cub around his neck, managing to make do without much of an issue. Pent wasn’t very heavy in his current state and Samaliel didn’t notice the difference that much. The older fox couldn’t help but feel silly about the whole situation but even still Samaliel was taking it all in stride. The younger fox seemed much more independent than he previously realized.\n\nThe salt and pepper fox went about making waffles for the two of them, not worried if Pent could finish it or not. Pulling out his old jar of vitamins, a colorful representation of the multi supplement for kids. He took one for himself and offered one to Pent on his shoulder while he waited for the meal to cook. Pent cocked his eye at the vitamin and figured it wouldn’t hurt taking it. \n\nThe white fox reached and took the thing from his brother before swallowing it whole. It didn’t take long for the waffles to be finished. Of course, Samaliel doused both of them were some maple syrup he found in the fridge. After serving it to the table the younger fox kneeled so Pent could hop onto the chair and eat on his own. The older fox has to stand up to reach the top of the table. As was usual he sat right next to the smaller boy and began chowing down.\n\nPent found himself eagerly plowing through the food with ease, his appetite seemed to have returned to him. It was the first time since early yesterday that he was able to finish his meal. Perhaps a sign of a recovery? He could only hope. \n\n“Glad you liked it.” Samaliel chirped happily as he was glad his brother liked the meal he had prepared.\n\nPent nodded and hiccupped. “Oh, yeah…it was super good. You did great.”\n\nThe fox felt himself rise steadily as his line of sight increased over the table. It didn’t last very long and was barely noticeable but Pent couldn’t help but feel like something was off.\n\n“Something wrong?” Samaliel asked as he watched\n his brother look around him.\n\nPent shook his head. “I dunno. I feel weird. It’s hard to explain.”\n\n“You’re not getting smaller again, are you? You’re already pretty small.” Samaliel picked himself up and looked closer at the other fox.\n\nThe white fox shrugged. “I don’t think so but I’m not sure. Can you get me some fruit? I’m still kind of hungry.”\n\n“Sure.” The salt and pepper fox retreated to the pantry where the family kept the fruit and pulled out an orange before setting it on the table.\n\nSamaliel wasn’t allowed to use knives so he didn’t cut them. Pent reached forward and tried pulling the thing apart but it was proving to be problematic. The white fox tried to bear through it using all his might to tear it apart and eventually made a bit of progress. As he did…he hiccuped a second time. Feeling a sensation of warmth course through his body as he stood there on the chair his line of sight increased ever upward.\n\n“Hey, Pent…I think you’re getting bigger?” Samaliel thought he noticed the boy creeping steadily above the table and he now stood well above it, though he was still standing on the chair.\n\nPent looked back over at his brother, the feeling had left him. “Huh? You’re not playing around with me are you?”\n\n“No, grab your orange and hop down from the chair.” Samaliel moved the chair so his brother had the space to do just that.\n\nThe white fox did as his brother requested and jumped down. Samaliel moved closer to the older boy, finding he was back up to the height of his knee now.\n\n“Heck yeah, dude. You grew a little bit. Maybe it’s over?” The younger fox chirped happily to see his brother's ordeal coming to a close finally.\n\nPent pistoned his arm. “Maybe…but I’m still pretty small.”\n\n“But bigger than before….haha.” Samaliel tried to remain upbeat.\n\nPent munched tore apart the orange and munched through it, finding himself to eat about half of it before he finally got full.\n\n“That was a good breakfast, thanks…” Pent said with a smile, looking up at the still much bigger boy.\n\nSamaliel nodded. “Sure, I promised to be a good big brother after all.”\n\n“Cool, well what do you want to do?” Pent said as he wasn’t certain if he would continue growing or not.\n\nThe bigger boy shrugged. “I dunno but you’re still too little to go outside so maybe should hang here today.”\n\n“I promise to make it up to you when I’m big again.” Pent puffed his chest out proudly.\n\nSamaliel chuckled. “That’s the Pent I remember. I’ll go ahead and clean up. Meet you back in the room.”\n\n“Alright. Are you sure you don’t want help?” Pent still felt obligated to be in charge but was feeling more confident in his brother now.\n\nThe younger boy nodded and Pent showed himself out. The older fox figured he could probably do with a shower now since he didn’t take one last night. Looking at his body the footy pajamas he was wearing were still dragging, so he had to hope he would grow into it…eventually. The fox made his way back to their room, realizing it took longer than he thought it might have. Still, he managed \n\nUpon arriving at the door he found he could reach the knob again. This made him happy…Samaliel’s reassurances were one thing but seeing proof firsthand was all the more evidence for him. He let himself into the bathroom and turned on the spicket. Getting out of the pajamas was simple enough as they slid off him rather easily. Standing there naked, he let the water warm up.\n\nAs he was standing there…he felt another build-up of air leave his diaphragm. Why was he hiccupping so much? While he was thinking about it he realized his body was steadily rising again. The warmth he had felt earlier now coursed through his body, returning some of his strength to him. Looking down he watched as the floor descended further and further below him. Pent smirked but the sensation did not last as his little spurt came to an end.\n\nThe cub stepped into the shower, feeling that his muscles were a little achy. The warm water on his body was relaxing, to say the least. He felt much more relaxed now than he had in the two days. The stress of it all finally eased from his mind. Pent closed his eyes and let his worries slide away. Happy that Samaliel had helped him through the situation but also that it was coming full circle,\n\nAfter he cleaned himself, he looked at the rack of towels. Pent considered taking one but decided they probably needed to be clean. Instead, he shook his body of whatever water had collected on his fur. Putting back on the same pajamas, he found the bed wear to fit him rather well now. Pent looked at himself in the mirror. He looked silly to be sure…but he couldn’t be prouder that he was wearing clothes that fit once more.\n\nThe fox grabbed the two towels and quickly placed them in the laundry hamper before picking Them up. The thing was still hard for him to handle but he managed it all of the same. Pent made his way out of the bathroom once more. His body was still soaked but the pajamas had absorbed…some of it. The remainder of the water dripped off him. Luckily the cold didn’t bother him. The white fox made his way down the hall with the basket of linens.\n\nUpon arriving in the laundry room, he disposed of it on the floor. The relief of the weight off his chest allowed him to stretch a bit. He looked at the laundry machine. It still looked pretty big to him but luckily the thing was a front loader. Pent popped the thing open and realized that the soap powder was on top of the machine. After considering calling Samaliel, he decided he wanted to take things into his own hands.\n\nPent took a deep breath before hopping up and trying to climb up the side of the machine. One paw at a time he scaled the metal surface. The cool sheet of plastic on the top rubbed against him as he brought himself to sit on the edge of its tip. The fox reached to grab the soapy powder and reached inside to pull out a single scoop of it. The cub reeled his body over and threw it inside once he opened the little port door in front of it.\n\nPent sat there proud of himself for a moment, envisioning that he was tall enough to do this without issue. After fantasizing a bit, he closed the door before turning on the machine. The thing buzzed and vibrated beneath him. His body rumbled a bit as he struggled there for a second. The fox hopped off before long, glad he didn’t have to deal with the turbulence anymore.\n\n“Pent, where are you?” Samaliel called to him from somewhere in the house.\n\nThe older cub got an idea at the question. “Let’s play hide and seek…I’ll hide and you seek?”\n\n“Oh sure…you’re on little boy.” The salt and pepper fox considered himself an expert in the game. \n\nThe white fox stashed the little laundry basket back into the side of the room, right next to the full laundry basket, and quickly stepped inside it. The cub found he was still small enough to fit inside it once he bundled up. Pent tried to keep quiet as he fought with the fact that his nose was being tingled by the pungent scent of the washer powder that had collected on his paw. Before long a familiar warmth began to build up inside him, letting out a gentle sneeze as he tried to cover his snout to mute the sound.\n\nSamaliel overheard the sound and the intermittent muffled thud of plastic from nearby. He was already in the kitchen so he was only the next room over. The younger cub hurried into the laundry room to find Pent splayed out on his back with the pajamas barely containing his body and showing visible signs of tearing.\n\n“Hey, I found you and uh….I think you outgrew the pajamas I gave you.” Samaliel helped the other boy up off the floor.\n\nPent stood up, realizing he could see the bottom of Samaliel’s armpit now. “Oh hey yeah. I’m catching up to you…again…haha…”\n\n“Uh-huh happy now?” The younger boy asked, reaching behind his brother to pick up the fallen-over laundry basket.\n\nThe older fox nodded. “Well, yeah. You can’t take care of me forever. I have a job to do after all.”\n\n“Mhm, what do you want to do now?” Pent asked since he had come up with the idea for the last game and wanted to give Samaliel a chance to pick.\n\nSamaliel chuckled. “Well, maybe we should put you back in some of my stuff so you can uh…grow into it?”\n\n“Sure, that sounds good.” Pent plopped himself on the floor and struggled for a few moments to fight out of the pajama set.\n\nWhile Pent was changing, Samaliel went back to retrieve some clothing. The same set he had given him yesterday since his brother seemed to be alright with it. The younger fox had to deal with the older one's apparent nudity but didn’t let it bother him. \n\n“Here…before the neighbors complain about you being nakie.” He handed off the set to the other cub. \n\nPent began changing and Samaliel disposed of the pajama set since it was now ripped anyways. He returned to Pent and helped him up.\n\n“So what about a board game…?” Samaliel suggested since he didn’t have any better ideas for an indoor activity. \n\nThe older fox nodded. “Sure, bro. I’m game for whatever you want.”\n\n“Cool, I’ll grab sorry.” The bigger fox retreated to a pantry where the family kept the board games and returned to his brother, who had moved to the living room.\n\nSamaliel joined his brother on the floor and poured out the pieces of the board game.\n\n“Too bad you can’t stay the same size, we could share stuff.” The younger cub reached over and patted the other cub's head again.\n\nPent forced a laugh. “Ha-ha, very funny. I think this has gone on long enough…”\n\n“You don’t think it would be fun?” Samaliel asked seeming rather serious about it.\n\nThe white fox hesitated before answering. “Samaliel, I want to be able to take care of you. I promise I will let you be a big brother again. Just not in the same way. You did a great job…alright?”\n\n“Okay…” Samaliel smiled at his brother before beginning to move the pieces into the proper area.\n\nThe older fox and younger fox began to play the game two enjoying\n each other game for some time. When they finished, Samaliel was proud to announce that he was the victor. Of course, Pent had allowed him to win but he wasn’t about to admit it.\n\n“Lunchtime then?” The younger fox asked certain his brother would be up for it.\n\nPent shrugged. “Sure. You can make it if you want.”\n\nThe two stood up, Pent realizing he could see Samaliel’s neck now. He was getting closer to his brother's size now and it made him happy. Samaliel ruffled his head fur again and made his way back to the kitchen to make them something to eat. The white fox contemplated what he would do while waiting and started cleaning up the board game. He was hungry, glad to have his appetite back again.\n\nSamaliel called him back into the kitchen for lunch, having made some peanut butter and jelly. The white fox smiled at his brother and climbed into the chair, the feeling of his feet hitting the floor made him happy. The younger fox served up the food and placed a huge bag of chips at the center of the table. However, he had forgotten the drinks. Pent picked himself off the chair and decided to do it himself, taking back a bit of the responsibility.\n\nHe made two glasses of milk before returning to join his brother at the table. The fox rather loved milk, no matter the time of day. Samaliel had already started eating, but it didn’t bother him. The two continued to eat, switching between a sandwich, drink, and chips as they worked through the meal. As Pent finished his drink, he felt the familiar sensation of warmth course through his body.\n\n“Hic!” The fox felt energy spike through him…his body feeling sore once again as it stretched upward.\n\nSamaliel turned to his brother as he heard the sound, watching as his head crept steadily higher. Pent felt his muscles becoming tenser as his body stressed itself. Aches and pains surged through him as his body stretched. The younger cub watched as his brother crept to eye level and even a bit above it, though his brother's eyes remain closed trying to deal with the strain of the moment. The white fox opened his eyes as the fit dissipated and he felt a bit better.\n\n“You okay? You had another bit of a spurt there…hehe.” Samaliel said as he rubbed his brother's back.\n\nPent nodded and opened his eyes. “Looks like you got what you wanted…at least for now.” \n\n“Yeah….for now….” Samaliel leaned in and hugged the older boy.\n\nPent smiled and threw his arm over the other cub. The two sat there for a moment, enjoying each other's warmth but saying nothing. Throughout the rest of the day, Pent returned to normal. His frame remained much the same as it was before the ordeal. The older fox was glad that things were back the way was supposed to be. The younger was happy to see his brother content again after he was not selfish regardless of what he thought he wanted.\n\nThe older fox made sure to rid his workstation of the fertilizer so such things didn’t happen. After all, he didn’t need another accident to happen. When Pent finally returned to slumber that night, It was Samaliel who poked his head up out of bed to check on the older boy. The white fox was already asleep and the younger cub couldn’t help but kiss him on the forehead before returning to his bed and allowing slumber to take him once more.", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "Little big brother by Pent Ghelsburg

Disclaimer: All characters in this story are fictional.  They are my creation and intellectual property. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely a coincidence. This piece contains underaged characters as well as micro/macro interactions. Some details have been fictionalized for simplicity sakes. You have been warned.

A project lays before you on an untended table. Stuff is everywhere with very little sense of organization. It’s been a while since the project had been worked on. Long enough that some dust had gathered as the project had since fallen to the back burner. The lights are off in the room where it is kept, seeming completely forgotten. It is in times of forgotten bliss that we can often risk the most. After all, when things are not tended to…accidents can happen where neglect and curiosity often collide.

\tPent and Samaliel were two young brothers who lived with each other outside of the big city of Montreal. City life was far enough away that neither of them had to deal with the usual problems of living in the thick of things. At 12 years of age, Pent was the elder of the two and took great responsibility for taking care of his younger brother who was not yet 9 years himself. The two lived in a small apartment along the river that ran right to the major city itself, serving as an artery that connected the English parts of town with the French ones.

\tPent had grown up knowing two homes while his brother wasn’t quite old enough to remember their biological one. They now lived with their foster mother who did very little to care for them. The woman went about her daily duties, only really caring for herself, leaving Pent responsible for the two’s well-being. The older fox was glad they at least had a roof over their head and figured it could be worse. Very rarely did the two brothers deal with her and Pent often tried to convince his brother to maintain a low profile.

\tFortunately, the two boys were allowed to keep up most of their hobbies. They had very little to their names but what they did have, they cherished between the two of them. Pent had taken a part-time job, which paid him under the table since he was too young for any sort of formal work. The fox used whatever he earned to buy him and Samaliel the things they wanted. Though more often than not, Pent spent the money he was given on his younger brother more than on himself.

\tPent’s so-called job was something that he took up of his own volition. Essentially he had been hired as a tutor by one of his friend's mother. The first job he was offered, he took without hesitation. The word of how gifted he was had gotten around and led to other opportunities that were becoming a somewhat lucrative task for him. Every job he took only increased his reputation and every person who hired him insisted he took more money than he asked for.

\tAs time passed, the boy's foster mother had become suspicious as to why the older boy was coming home later than usual. When she inspected their room, she found they had more personal items than she recalled. Upon questioning Pent, he shrugged it off as gifts from friends but she still found it strange how much their personal property had increased. As a result Pent had to come up with a way to hide the money and keep it from her. He insisted that Samaliel kept the hiding place a secret and the younger boy wasn’t about to disobey his brother.

\tPent had been saving up for a new project he had been coming up with school. The idea was a plant growth enhancement. He had been tinkering with various fertilizers and the results he had seen up to this point hadn’t been the most productive. The plants had been developing normally and the rate of maturation hadn’t produced the results that the boy was looking for. He had developed a theory that the right combination of fertilizer, soil, and nutrient-enhanced water could lead to greater product yield.

So far the various mixes he had been using had produced similar results. Nothing stood out as extraordinary and as a perfectionist Pent wanted nothing more than to work towards what he thought would win him first place. After all, he never settled for anything less, especially when it came to Science fairs. Pent had set up in his room since he no longer had an established area where he could do his work.

As such Samaliel had gotten to see much of his work in progress. The younger cub was a curious boy who usually checked in on his brother, even if he took no interest in the field. Pent always warned him to be careful around the equipment. The older fox knew his younger brother was clumsy and always remembered to keep glassware and other fragile items in safe compartments, usually out of the sight of the naked eye.

One day Samaliel was in the room alone. Pent was doing his usual stint of helping one of his friend's families with tutoring and was late as often happened. The younger cub usually busied himself by playing games when he was alone but this particular day he wasn’t really in the mood. The salt and pepper-colored arctic fox wandered about the room, contemplating if he wanted to go outside.

Upon looking out the window he saw that it was raining outside. He couldn’t help but frown as it was almost the weekend and he didn’t want the weather to continue onto his free days. Samaliel had always been one of those kids who lived for the weekend and went from week to week only going through the motions. It was only when the weekend came around that he blossomed into his true self, becoming nothing short of a ball of energy that bounced outside the home.

Samaliel peered around the room and looked at his brother's bookshelf. Most of the books were way outside of his reading level but he couldn’t help but a cursory glance at them. He approached the shelf and touched some of the spines, guiding his finger across them. He was bored and he didn’t know what to do with himself. As he was looking around the room, he discovered a plastic case with some plants and a table underneath it.

Samaliel had seen the thing before but had never really examined it before. He approached it and lifted the plastic cube that enclosed a few plants underneath. The scent of the plants was quite pungent and it didn’t take long for the aroma to waft towards the fox’s snout, making him sneeze. The cub wiped his nose with his sleeve and began to examine the plant again. It didn’t look like anything different and lacked any sort of blooms to indicate it was a flower.

The boy noticed a small spray bottle of water nearby. He wondered why Pent would enclose something as simple as water and looked at it. From simply looking at it, the container appeared to have nothing other than water. He shrugged and placed the container back on the tabletop where it came from. Just as he was bottle was leaving his hand, it tipped over causing the contents inside to spill out everywhere.

Samaliel panicked as the liquid spread out from the opening at the top. It was apparent the thing hadn’t been screwed on very tightly. It wasn’t long before it pooled onto the carpet. A moment later and Samaliel heard his name being called from somewhere in the house. What’s more, the voice sounded much like Pent’s. He knew he didn’t have much of a chance to clean up and came up with what he thought would be the quickest solution to his problem.

He closed the lid on the biome and quickly ran out to the hall. The younger cub could see his brother walking down the hall, seeming to wait for him. The smaller boy wasn’t about to keep him waiting and immediately rushed down the hall and hugged him tightly. Pent ruffled his brother's head fur before kneeling to return the hug. Pent wasn’t the biggest cub for his age but he was still a bit bigger than Samaliel, who was a bit behind his growth curve.

“How did tutoring go, big bro?” Samaliel asked looking up at the taller boy.

Pent smiled and released him from the hug. “Good. Did you need help with homework?”

“Nope! We didn’t get any.” Samaliel’s face lit up with glee upon saying that.

The bigger boy put his hand behind the smaller one. “Alright well, we can just do whatever then.”

“Your project in the room spilled today.” Samaliel tried to upend the issue before his brother realized what had happened.

The white fox cocked an eyebrow. “Oh? How’s that? I don’t recall leaving anything near the ledge.”

“Uh…I was playing with a ball and it hit the side of the case.” It was the best white lie the younger boy could come up with.

Pent patted the other boy on the back. “That’s alright. I’m sure it can’t be that bad.”

Samaliel led back towards their room, making sure he was the first one back inside. Once they were in it, he pointed at the mess. The water was still dripping off the table edge and the carpet underneath was visibly soaked now. The younger boy looked up at the older one, who didn’t appear to be very upset. Pent was a pretty calm kid who very rarely lost his cool, even when things didn’t go according to plan.

Pent walked over to the container and lifted it. The plants were untouched, except for the base of them which was submerged in the small pool of water. Some of the liquid was still pouring onto the floor. The older fox knew he had to clean up before their foster mother discovered the mess.

“Go grab some hand towels and paper towels so I can clean this up,” Pent said looking back to his brother.

Samaliel retreated from the room and returned with the two items. “You don’t want help?”

“No, it will be fine. I will take care of it.” The white fox collected the items from his brother.

The younger boy looked at his brother with a frown, feeling a bit guilty but letting it go. Samaliel bounced softly on the bed and watched his brother work. Pent wasted no time in cleaning up. The carpet was soaked, which was evident by the darker color of the otherwise light carpet fabric. The cub examined the accident and decided that starting at the top would probably be the best course of action. He removed the plants and water bottle from the table before wiping them down.

Some of the water that wasn’t soaked by the towel fell to the floor, adding to the already soaked carpet. Pent lifted the table as it wasn’t
 exactly a big one, causing some of the droplets of water to drop down on his head. He placed the towel underneath and patted it down a few times. The carpet was wet enough that it easily soaked through the small towel that he was given.

“Can you get me another towel?” Pent looked back and asked Samaliel who was now staring through the window.

The younger boy jumped off the bottom level of the bed and went to the bathroom to retrieve a towel. Once inside he looked at the rack which had two larger towels unfurled along a single pole. They were the same ones the two boys used for showers at the end of the night and they looked the same. He plucked one from the rack and returned with it to Pent. He handed the length of fabric over to his brother who looked at it for a second before laying it on the floor.

Pent patted it a few more times before standing up and placing the small table back where it was. He kept the stuff off the table for the time being. The older fox looked back at his brother who was still eying what he was doing.

“If she asked what happens, just tell her we spilled water. Did you want to go outside? It might be a bit dark but the rain has stopped.” Pent asked because he figured the younger boy had been cooped up since he got home from school.

Samaliel hopped off the bottom bunk again seeming to jump in place. Pent left the towel behind and made his way to move down the hall with his brother. The two cubs made their way outside passing right by their foster mother who had just arrived home from work. The woman wasn’t exactly the most involved guardian. She did as little as possible to provide for them, leaving Pent and Samaliel to fend for themselves.

The woman didn’t often venture into their room except to periodically check that no mischief was going on. Hearing the front door shut behind her meant that she could do this without the older boy giving her grief. She quickly made her way down the hall into their room. Peering inside, she made sure that she was not mistaken that they were gone. Sure enough, the room was empty so she let herself in.

Looking around, nothing seemed to be amiss. She walked inside and checked the closet to verify nothing new had shown up. Pent did what he could to hide stuff from her but sometimes she discovered it anyways. On this particular day, she spotted nothing that seemed to be alien to her and closed the door back to not alert the cubs that she was there. She continued looking around the room until she spotted the small table with nothing on top of it.

She approached the table and noticed that there was a towel underneath. The woman assumed that something must have spilled and kneeled to take a look at it. The wolf angled the small table enough that she could pull out the towel from within. Once it was withdrawn, she saw no evident signs of staining and decided just to put the towel back. She recognized it as one of the boy's towels so she returned it to the rack where Pent had gotten it earlier.

Pent and Samaliel remained outside for some time playing together by just passing a ball between each other with some hockey sticks. The two were fairly active and kept up with sports despite only being allowed to join at school. When they had grown tired of it, they returned inside after storing their equipment in the shed outside. The foster mother heard their entry when the door was shut behind them.

“Make sure you two don’t track any dirt inside. I don’t need any more of a mess than you already created.” The woman warned them without actually confronting them. ‘

Pent wasn’t one to like cleaning so he kicked off his shoes and motioned for his brother to do the same.

“I’ll make us dinner in a few. I’m going to take a shower first, then you can go.” Pent said as he took the lead, feeling like he was more than likely the smellier of the two.

The white fox retreated to the bathroom without getting a change of clothes. He didn’t want to waste any time as he was certain Samaliel was likely hungry and he had no desire to keep him waiting. Once he was in the bathroom, he immediately closed the door and stripped his clothing. Turning on the water, it didn’t take very long for the temperature to be one that he was alright with. The idea of cold water didn’t phase him and he didn’t need to wait for warm water to heat up.

Pent tried to keep it as clean as he could. They were not provided much soap or shampoo so he had to buy the goods himself. Fortunately, he had biked to the store the other day and so their stock had been refilled for the time being. The cub stepped into the shower and worked his way through his hygiene routine, spending the extra time that was needed to clean his thick fur. It was getting close to winter and so his coat was becoming thicker and required more maintenance than it had recently.

After Pent cleaned and shampooed himself, he allowed the water to wash off the suds that had accumulated over his body. It didn’t take long before his body was free of most of them but getting rid of all of them was not something he ever waited for. Once he finished, he stepped out and grabbed a towel without looking. He draped the thing over his body and began rubbing his fur with it.

The fox began to dry himself with the towel but the towel already seemed damp. He looked at the rack and saw only one other towel. Deciding that he didn’t want to take the only towel that was left, he decided to deal with it. Wrapping the thing around his waist, he grabbed his clothing and made his way out of the bathroom. Pent popped his head back in the room to let Samaliel know that it was his turn but didn’t bother to change just yet.

Pent was hungry and wanted to make sure that they both had something to eat by the time his brother got out of the shower. The fox made his way to the kitchen, not seeming bothered by the fact he was walking around half naked. Once he was inside the kitchen he looked at the clock and realized it was later normal for dinner. Prying open the freezer, he rifled through it to find something simple to make.

Pent found a could have frozen meals, something he didn’t usually make but it was easier than preparing something from scrap. He knew Samaliel didn’t take long to shower and wanted the food to be ready by the time he returned from the shower. The fox popped the thing into the microwave and waited the required amount of time before they were ready to be taken out. Just as he thought, the moment it beeped he heard the shower stop.

The fox pulled out the meals and handed them out to the two spots next to each other at the table. Pent knew he had a minute or two more since Samaliel had to change into his pajamas. The cub continued working on preparing the table, dishing out two glasses of milk, and then proceeded to wait for his brother. It wasn’t much longer before his brother showed up who looked at him a second.

“You didn’t get dressed?” Samaliel noticed the other cub was in only a towel.

Pent shrugged. “Nah, I wanted to make sure that dinner was ready. Besides my towel was already damp so it was pretty hard to dry off anyways.”

Samaliel sat down without thinking much more about it. It wasn’t the first time he had seen Pent this way and so it didn’t phase him. The older boy joined him at the table and the two proceeded to eat dinner. Neither cub was a fast eater and both took longer than other kids their age. They enjoyed each other’s company and tonight was no different. Samaliel began sharing details of his day and Pent was more than happy to hear about it.

Once they were done, both boys helped with cleaning up. Samaliel still felt guilty about earlier and wanted to make sure his brother wasn’t left responsible for everything. Pent smiled at his brother and the two were able to finish the chore in half the time. After everything was cleaned up, Pent looked in the freezer to see if anything was hiding there for sweets. He saw what he thought was a single package containing ice cream.

He withdrew the thing from the freezer before closing it. Opening the package, he realized it was a pretty small treat and handed it over to Samaliel. Pent wasn’t one to be greedy and he wanted the younger boy to be happy. The younger cub smiled at him and grabbed the treat from his brother's hand. Pent watched on as the smaller boy consumed the treat in mere seconds, then followed by licking his hand.

Pent reached over and wiped Samaliel’s face with a finger and licked off the residue that he had collected. The smaller cub threw away the packaging before bolting out of the kitchen. Pent chuckled and turned off the light before following him. The older fox casually walked down the hall and made his way to their room. Samaliel was waiting for him with a set of pajamas and underwear for him to change into.

“Thanks, bro.” Pent took the offering and made his way back into the bathroom.

The fox got rid of the still damp towel and ran his hand across himself. He was still a little wet but he supposed it was too late to worry about it at this point. Pent placed it back on the rack before sitting down on the toilet to put his underwear and pajamas on. It didn’t take very long since the two-piece pajama set was designed to be loose and was just about the perfect size for him. After buttoning the top portion of the shirt, he stretched in front of the mirror and yawned.

Once everything was fastened, he made his way out of the bathroom. As he was walking down the hall, the cub noticed the bottom of his pajama pants were dragging a bit. Enough that he was stepping on the sides of it when he was walking. He shrugged it off as no big ordeal and returned to his room. Pent saw that the light was off and carefully crept in so he didn’t wake the other cub. Before retiring to the bottom bunk, he stepped over it to Samaliel’s and pulled up the covers.

The boy kissed his
 brother on the forehead and finally stepped over to his bed. Pent looked out the window at the stars above, gazing for a bit. He yawned again before tossing it onto his back and attempting to relax. It had been a long day and he was tired. He got up under his sheets and it wasn’t long before sleep took over his tired mind.

The next morning, Samaliel was the first one up as he often was. The younger cub sprang out of bed rather early as it was the weekend and he didn’t want to waste any time. The salt and pepper fox padded down from the top bunk and peered underneath. It was apparent Pent was still sleeping but he wasn’t about to let that stop him from waking him up. Samaliel hopped down and leaned over Pent before abruptly shaking him.

Pent awoke rather suddenly to the sensation of his body being rattled. Though Samaliel didn’t do it long enough to harm him.

“Come on lazy butt. It’s Saturday!” Samaliel tugged on Pent who eased his body into a sitting position.

The older fox rubbed his eyes before yawning and stretching. He had a good night's rest without any dream that he could recall. The cub slowly got up and crawled out of bed, being careful to not hit his head on the top bars of the upper bunk. Pent stood up a moment later and stretched again and allowed his eyes to adjust for a moment. He looked at his brother whose head seemed higher than he remembered. He could barely see over it.

“Oh, hey bud. Looks like you're getting bigger.” The older fox said ruffling his fur.

Samaliel jumped in place. “Really? You think so?”

“Yeah, want to go check out on the height chart?” Pent said patting the other boy's head and ruffling his fur.

The smaller cub pistoned his arm. “Heck, yeah.”

The two walked over to the wall. Their so-called height chart was nothing more than some marks on the frame of the door. The older fox guided his brother so his back was square against the wall. Pent walked over to his desk and grabbed a pencil before returning to the wall where Samaliel was standing.

“Alright, no cheating. Flat paws. Promise?” The older fox knew his brother liked to joke around and Pent wanted to be precise.

Samaliel nodded and stood straight against the wall while his brother drew the pencil across the top of his head. Pent was still able to manage it without much of an issue but Samaliel seemed bigger from his perspective.

“All done. You can step away so we can compare.” Pent backed away and allowed his brother to ease off the wall.

Pent examined the wall more closely to look at the last two marks. At a cursory glance, the thing looked many an mm or two apart but it was hard enough to merit what he thought was a growth spurt.

Pent looked back at his brother. “Yeah, you grew a little bit.”

“Cool!” Samaliel chirped happily as he moved back over towards the best to look outside.

Pent thought to himself a moment. It didn't make sense to him why Samaliel seemed bigger and yet only had that minor difference on the wall.

“Are we gonna go outside today? It’s not raining anymore.” The cub asked while still focusing his stare out the window.

Pent shrugged. “Yeah, sure. We can do that. Go ahead and change and I’ll make breakfast.”

The older fox decided he would go ahead and change into his street clothes as well. Pent waited for Samaliel to grab his stuff before he went and got his own. The white fox grabbed the first thing he found in his drawer. A simple t-shirt and some jeans shorts. He looked down at his legs to take off the bottom of his pajama set off. Some of the cloth pooled around his feet, an odd sight to be sure.

Pent recalled the set fitting so well too…Perhaps it had stretched? He thought to himself.

Samaliel stepped behind him and playfully shoved the other cub. “Come on…hurry up.”

The older fox stopped hesitating and kicked off the bottom portion of his pajamas before sliding into his jean shorts. Pent did the same with the top half, simply ignoring the fact that it now sagged a bit on his upper form. He put on his shirt and then returned to the dresser to grab his socks. He looked over at Samaliel who was already over by the door to the hall waiting for him. The two walked out the door together and into the hall towards the front door.

As they walked down the hall, Pent noticed that there were no signs of their foster mother. It wasn’t uncommon for the woman to disappear for the weekend as she often went to do her own thing when she didn’t have work to worry about. He assumed they would have the house to themselves, which didn’t bother him much since he didn’t like her anyways. Once they were at the front door, they stopped to grab their shoes.

Both boys had digitigrade paws, so changing into their shoes was always a chore. After they were ready, Samaliel bolted out the door. Pent grabbed the keys from the rack and locked the door behind them. The older fox continued to follow the younger one until they were out at the shack near the back side of the building. There were several small structures there, each of them with a number that matched the unit of the house to which it belonged.

Pent and Samaliel made their way to the shed and the older fox turned the dial on the padlock. Once it was open the bigger boy peered his head inside and pulled out the two sticks and a ball to go along with them. He handed one to Samaliel before stepping back out into the open. Pent closed the door since their foster mother kept stuff in there as well and he didn’t want to incur her wrath any more than was necessary.

The two brothers made their way to the front of the building complex where the grass transitioned to the pavement. They began passing the ball back and forth, occasionally shooting the ball towards a tree that was off in the distance. Samaliel had a better shot than Pent did so the older fox ended up playing defense which was his preference. The younger fox had never been able to keep up with him due to his brother's athleticism.

The two brothers played for a couple of hours. Pent was struggling today, more than usual to maintain a close guard on Samaliel. Though he was able to keep him in check, for the most part, he didn’t find himself able to move quite as quickly and the younger fox was able to get past him a few times.

“Stop playing easy, Pent.” Samaliel said, expecting some fishy business at play.

The older fox knew he wasn’t but wanted to play along anyways. “Fine…”

Still, Pent kept up at the same pace. Samaliel was even able to score on the tree which was something he hadn’t done before. The younger fox celebrated and pumped his fist in place.

“Good job, bro.” Pent wasn’t a sour sport and always maintained his cool.

Samaliel smiled back at him. “Thanks.”

“Shall we stop for a snack now? My treat.” Pent wanted to stop playing before he made any more a fool of himself.

The younger fox nodded. “Sure, should we put back out sticks?”

“Nah, we won’t be gone long. We can put them back when we return.” The older fox suggested before offering to take the other boy's stick and carry both of them.

Samaliel kicked the ball to the grass before they started walking together, next to each other as they casually strode down the street and towards the main part of town. Pent knew exactly where there was a stand that offered ice cream, at least until the winter months. Since it was still fall, he hoped that they would be selling their wares that day. As they were talking, Pent couldn’t help but notice that his shoes were slipping a bit, though since he had to keep up with Samaliel he had to occasionally kick his shoes into the pavement to keep them from slipping.

It took them a bit to arrive at the small metallic stand which fronted an ice cream truck.
They approached the stand, realizing there was a small queue in front. Once it was within sight, Samaliel wasted no time in racing toward the stand. Pent continued his casual stride toward the back of the line, knowing full well that rushing wouldn’t help the wait that much. The younger cub waved his brother over and Pent filed in behind the other boy, patiently waiting his turn. As he was standing there, Pent realized he could see the back of Samaliel’s head fur.

This was odd to be sure. Pent had always been able to see clearly over his brother's head. Now it was apparent that he was the same size…if not close to it. Just what was going on? He thought to himself as he stood there for a moment idly. Samaliel made his way forward as the line progressed. The younger fox looked back at his brother who seemed bothered by something. Yet, Samaliel’s mind was only on one thing.

“Come on…it’s our turn.” The younger fox didn’t take the time to realize just what was happening.

Pent snapped out of it. He figured his little…problem could wait. It couldn’t get any worse right? The older fox treaded forward and reached into his pocket to grab some money. The hem of his shorts pulled down a bit as he stretched into it to reach the wallet. He pulled it out and waited for his brother to order for both of them, as it was something he always gave him the privilege of as flavor didn’t matter much to him and they often shared in one another's orders anyway.

Samaliel ordered a single scoop for each of them. The younger cub treated himself to a cone while he made no such request for Pent. The younger fox stepped away from the counter. Pent watched as the boy walked past him. He still couldn’t get over how much bigger he looked now.

“Gonna pay, kid?” The woman at the stand asked impatiently at the distracted cub in front of her.

The older fox snapped out of it. “Oh, sure…sorry about that.”

Pent pulled the necessary money out and gave it to her. The woman handed him back the change and he pocketed it back along with his wallet. He walked back over to where Samaliel had sat down. A small stone ledge underneath a tree. The younger fox held out the small cardboard
 container that held the flavor he had chosen for Pent. The white fox made his way over and joined his brother. The older fox placed down the two hockey sticks before joining him.

Samaliel had picked out strawberry for himself and vanilla for the older fox. Pent’s favorite flavor and he couldn’t help but smile that the younger boy had thought about it when ordering.
He gazed over at Samaliel. Pent realized he could look into Samaliel’s eyes, had the other cub been looking at him. The older fox slowly took the treat from his brother who had already started diving into his own.

The two continued to eat, though Pent was much more slow and methodical about it. Samaliel was never one to lick the treat and instead bit through it. The cub making a creamy white mess around his snout. Pent was still mulling through his own slowly and was barely halfway through it by the time Samaliel had munched through both the ice cream at the top and the cone at the bottom. The younger fox looked over at his brother who still seemed rather distant and distracted.

“Something wrong?” The younger cub asked looking over at his brother with a smile.

Pent swirled the treat in the carton with his finger and looked back at him. “Do I look different to you?”

“No? Why?” Samaliel raised his eyebrow in suspicion of the odd question.

Pent stood up and held out his free paw to the other cub. “Stand up.”

Samaliel stood up right in front of his brother. The two looked eye to eye.

“See?” Pent had confirmed his suspicions and looked down at himself.

While his pants were only just sagging a bit he could see that his shirt had draped a little longer over his waist.

Samaliel patted his brother on the shoulder. “So what? You said I was getting bigger.”

“But…you didn’t get that much bigger, Sama. I think…I’m getting smaller.” Pent made sure to emphasize the word smaller.

Samaliel hesitated a moment before answering. “Haha…very funny…”

“Dude, seriously. Look.” Pent put a finger down his pants and held out the waistline with his finger.

Samaliel. “I didn’t wanna see your undies…ew…”

“Come on…please believe me?” Pent said grabbing Samaliel’s shoulder.

Samaliel looked away and then back. “I wanna go to the park.”

“Fine…if I take you to the park then can we go back home so I can figure out my problem?” Pent was still a sucker for letting Samaliel have his way regardless of the situation.

Samaliel nodded before darting away towards the park. Pent grabbed their hockey sticks and rolled his eyes. It seemed his little issue would have to wait. It couldn’t get that much worse…could it? He thought to himself as he followed his brother over towards the park. The two made their way over to the park which was right next to where they were. The younger cub had rushed over towards the swings and was already rocking himself back and forth.

“Can you push me, Pent? Please? I wanna go high!” Samaliel asked, bringing the swing back to a slow stop.

Pent placed the hockey sticks on the grass before walking over to where the swings were. He noticed the only other people around were a smaller child and her mother, who were over at the slide. The white fox stepped behind the younger boy and began pushing him, stepping to the side so that it wouldn’t knock into him on the way back. Despite his now smaller size, he still didn’t have any issue pushing the other cub back and forth.

Samaliel swung until he got bored. He hopped off the swing and landed square on his feet. Immediately he ran over to the climbing area where an igloo-shaped metallic structure lay untouched. The cub wasted no time in mounting the small building and made his way to the top. Once he was at the top, he sat on the small platform of metal that connected all the bars.

“Come on, Pent!” The younger cub called to his brother who looked on from below.

Pent gazed up at him and nodded. He wasn’t one to be outdone, regardless of the situation. It had been a while since he’d climbed anything, but he figured he could do it all the same. The white fox started to climb, taking it one bar at a time. Each time he lifted his feet, the shoes he was wearing slipped a little more. The fox kit was certain they would fall before long, yet he tarried on even still.

Just as he finished scaling the jungle gym, his right shoe fell from his foot. Samaliel couldn’t help but giggle.

“It’s not funny, Sama. I wanna go home so I can figure this out before it gets any worse.” Pent said as he sat next to his brother and tried to fix the remaining shoe.

Samaliel placed his arm behind the older boy. “Don’t worry.”

“What’s not to worry about?” Pent looked at his brother, wanting his support.

Samaliel’s stomach growled. “Don’t you want to get lunch first?”

“But we just had ice cream…” The older fox protested but then his stomach rumbled.

The younger fox lowered himself under the bars and picked up Pent’s shoe holding it up. “Hurry up, slow poke.”

“Fine…but we’re going home after.” Pent was much more slow and methodical about getting down, making sure he didn’t lose his other shoe as well.

Once he was at ground level, he walked over to his brother. Pent grabbed the shoe, looking up at his brother's eyes. Was his brother taller than him now? Pent couldn’t be certain but it felt like that was the case. The white fox put the shoe on and began walking, figuring they would just go to the park's picnic area. The park normally provided food for kids at afterschool and weekend camps. He knew they always had extra and usually had no issue sharing it.

Pent led to a communal area in the park. The entire time having to hold up his pants as he was certain they would fall. His shoes too continued to be an issue, constantly had to kick his feet into the ground to make sure they stayed on. Fortunately, it wasn’t a far walk. The boy could see that the picnic area was busy. People were all around and the weekend camp counselors eyed them as they made their approach.

“You two needing a snack?” One of the women saw them and assumed they must have been campers.

The older fox approached her and nodded. “Yeah, can we have one?”

“Sure, you and your big brother can help yourself to whatever you want.” She moved to the side, to take care of a crying cub who was throwing a fit.

Pent stopped in his tracks upon hearing those words.

“Oh, come on. It’s not that bad, is it? I could be a good big brother for you.” Samaliel patted Pent on the back, trying to comfort him.

The smaller fox turned around, looking up into Samaliel’s eyes. “I’m not that much smaller…”

“Oh, I know. You’re a big boy, after all.” The younger cub stuck his tongue out playfully.

Pent rolled his eyes. “Whatever… let's just get lunch and go home.”

The white fox took the lead over to a table where food had been placed inside the paper wrapping, free for the taking. Looking at it, it appeared to be sandwiches and chips. Pent looked for the veggie option, while Samaliel just took whatever. Once they both had found something, they each took a bag of chips. The same woman from before came walking back up to them and offered them a juice box.

Pent and Samaliel smiled at her before chiming in unison. “Thanks.”

The two cubs sat down at a free area at the end of a picnic table. It was louder than the rest of the park with younger kids screaming and laughing. Pent watched as the various counselors scurried around to make sure each of the kids had lunch. He couldn’t help but feel bad for them as there wasn’t nearly enough of them to keep up with the sheer number of kids that were running around.

Pent unwrapped the sandwich and began nibbling at it. Samaliel was already halfway done with his own and wasted no time in chowing down on the bag of chips. The older fox’s mind was still distracted by his issue. He knew he needed to put his foot down and go home before it got worse but he didn’t want to upset Samaliel. He could only hope the younger boy wouldn’t mind going home after lunch.

“Where are the hockey sticks?” Samaliel asked realizing that Pent was no longer carrying them.

The older fox snapped out of his train of inner thought. “Um…I think I left it at the climbing gym. We can go back and get them after.”

“Hey, Pent?” Samaliel had been waiting to ask a question for some time, especially after realizing his brother's plight.

Pent looked over at his brother. “Hmm?”

“Do you think…I could be a big brother for a little bit longer. It’s…so cool!” Samaliel burst out of his seat, seeming rather excited by the notion.

The white fox nearly spits out the juice he was drinking. “What?”

“Just for a little bit…I wanna be like you!” The younger fox got on his knees, begging his brother to play along for a bit longer.

Pent hesitated a second before answering. “Fine…but only for a little bit.”

“Yay, thanks!” Samaliel picked himself up and hugged the younger boy.

The smaller cub huffed. “Let’s go get the sticks.”

The white fox stood up next to his brother, holding up his pants once again. The two walked side by side back towards the jungle gym. As they approached it, Pent could see some older kids who appeared to be picking up the sticks.

“Hey, those are ours.” Pent protested, forgetting all about his plight.

In front of them stood two teens who looked back at them. Looking at the two foxes, they appeared to be the younger. They knew they had the upper hand.

“And? What are you going to do about it?” The boar puffed out her chest, stepping closer to the two foxes who were much smaller than herself.

Pent murmured to himself as he was sized up. The older fox tried racing around her but she was quick to catch him.

“No, you don’t.” The girl shoved him, causing Pent to fall on his butt.

Samaliel too tried to dart past her as she was distracted, picked up by the bigger of the two girls. Now helpless in her grasp.

“Now what, little hero? Just give up.” The girl crossed her arms defensively.

Samaliel
 continued to squirm in the older girl's arms, making no progress. Pent knew he was just as hopeless and looked around for options. He saw no adults around to ask for help.

“Just put him down and you can have the sticks…just don’t hurt us.” Pent hated to admit defeat but he knew he had little other option.

The older girl dropped Samaliel to the ground. “Good boy. Now go away.”

Samaliel retreated to help Pent up. The two stood together once more.

“You alright?” Pent asked, making sure the younger boy hadn’t been hurt.

A tear welled up in Samaliel’s eyes as he stood there. “Yeah…”

The older girl took each of the sticks snapping them in half over her knee. She beckoned to her partner in crime and let the two cubs be. They were alone once more.

“It will be alright, I promise. You have to be strong…you wanted to be the big brother right?” Pent asked hugging his brother, still feeling awkward about him being bigger now.

Samaliel nodded. “Yeah…let’s go home.”

“Wait 1 second…” Pent took off the shoes and socks from his feet as they had been bothering him and he no longer wanted to deal with it.

The salt and pepper fox cocked an eyebrow. “You’re going to talk barefoot? Isn’t that going to hurt?”

“We’ll stay off the roads. Come on…” Pent put the socks inside of his shoes and began walking with his brother.

The two made their way out of the park. Pent made sure to maintain his pants while keeping his feet on the grassy area of the park. Once they had exited it, the older fox hoped the sidewalk wouldn’t be super hot. Taking one step at a time, he tested it. The other boy patiently waited as his brother took more time than usual to catch up to him. After Pent got used to the feeling of the gravel on his paw pads, he was able to keep up with Samaliel.

They made their way back to the house, taking a little bit longer than normal to get there. Once they had returned Pent thought to himself about something the younger cub had said earlier. The two stopped outside on the front lawn.

“Do you like being the bigger brother?” The older fox had always envisioned himself as the caretaker of the younger boy.

Samaliel turned his head. “Yeah, it’s neat. Stand still…”

“Hmm? Okay.” Pent let his pants go as they fell to the floor and he slipped out of them.

The younger fox chucked as he stood next to his brother. “I can see over your head now…hehe.”

“I should get a change of clothes before I end up naked. Come on…before the neighbors complain about a streaking cub.” Pent began walking towards the house again.

Samaliel tugged on him. “Can’t we play a little bit? I wanna wrestle…”

“Can I get a change of clothes first? I don’t wanna end up naked…” Pent whined, trying to put his foot down for a change.

The younger boy sighed. “Fine…but after I wanna wrestle.”

Pent made his way back towards the house and pulled the keys out of his pants pocket. He could feel the breeze on his mostly naked legs and it made him feel awkward. Samaliel followed him into the living room as they made their way to their room.

“I’m going to borrow your stuff because mine is way too big now.” Pent pulled open the younger cub's drawer and began to rifle through it.

Samaliel plopped down on the lower bunk and took his shoes off, waiting for his brother to find whatever suited him. The white fox pulled out a simple gray t-shirt, nylon shorts, and a pair of briefs.

“Turn around or do I have to leave the room?” Pent asked as he didn’t always like to change in front of Samaliel.

Samaliel shrugged and said nothing. Pent quickly slid out of his old clothes, as they were much too big on him now. Changing into Sama’s stuff, he realized even that was a bit baggy on him but it was better than nothing.

“Alright, big bro…if I win…then we try to fix my situation. If you win…then you can be big brother until tomorrow.” Pent trailed off as he said the second part of that statement, unsure how much worse his situation would get.

Samaliel smirked, thinking to himself. “You’re on.”

Pent changed into a pair of Samaliel’s socks, not worried about the fact that his feet were still dirty.

“Alright, let’s go.” Pent felt ready now that he was dressed again.

The younger boy hopped off the bed and positioned himself opposite Pent. “Any rules?”

“The usual. The first one to be pinned for 3 seconds wins.” Pent felt relatively confident he could win, even despite his smaller size.

Samaliel crouched. “Ready…”

“One…two…three…go.” Pent lurched forward and locked his hands into the other cubs.

The older fox stood his ground, using his legs to maintain his position as Samaliel continued to try to push him to the ground. Pent was an athletic kid and Samaliel wasn’t nearly as active as he was. The white fox got the first upper hand, sweeping his leg underneath the bigger boy and causing him to fall onto the floor.

Pent patted his hand on the floor…”One…two…”

Just as Pent was about to say three. Samaliel was able to free himself, remaining on the floor a short distance away from the other cub. The younger cub made the first move this time attempting to tackle Pent who tried his best to remain free of the bigger boy's grasp. The two remained in a deadlock for a few seconds. Then Samaliel got an idea…he knew just how to get Pent to lose his focus.

Samaliel kicked forward, trying to get some space between himself and Pent. Pent maintained him close enough that he wasn’t able to get free of Pent’s grip. The cub realized the idea wasn’t as realistic to pull off as he thought. The older fox tried to tackle him again, squaring him against the ground once again.

“One…two…” Yet again the younger boy freed himself.

Now Samaliel had the space he needed, standing up he looked over Pent with a sneering glare in his eye. However, Pent didn’t let him act and instead lurched forward into Samaliel causing him to collapse flat on his back. Fortunately, the younger boy hit his head on a beanbag chair. However, the younger cub started to cry. Pent overheard the sniffling and immediately became concerned as he stood over the younger cub.

“You alright?” He kneeled to aid the bigger boy in his moment of distress.

Samaliel wiped his eye. “Yeah, I guess you win. You’re too strong for me…”

“It’s not over yet…but if you want you can be big brother tonight. But…I need to resolve my problem before I get too small to handle it.” Pent stood up and offered his paw to the younger cub.

The salt and pepper fox took his paw and tugged him down on top of Samaliel. “Can we finish first…? I promise I won’t cry again.”

“One…” Pent realized he was in control of the moment again and tried to close his deal.

Samaliel rotated him around, placing Pent on the bottom. The white fox still felt bad about making him cry and decided to just let him win. “One…two…three.”

The younger cub stood up and pistoned his arm victoriously.

“Good job, big bro.” Pent said with a smirk, hoping he wouldn’t realize his ploy to appease him.

Samaliel hugged his brother tightly before letting him go. “Thanks!”

“Now, do you want to help me figure out my little problem?” Pent asked as he made his way over to the side of the room where his chemicals were.

Samaliel huffed. “But I like you being smaller.”

“Uhuh…but I’m older. I’m supposed to be bigger. Don’t you’ll grow up soon too.” Pent always acted older than he was.

The younger boy sighed. “Fine…”

“How would you like to help me? I still promise I will let you be the big brother tonight…and big brothers always help little bro.” Pent said realizing he would likely need help with whatever was going on with his body.

Samaliel’s tail wagged behind him. “Okay!”

Pent smiled, glad that he would finally be able to undertake his issue. He made his way over to his workstation and pulled up the chair. However, the thing wasn’t quite high enough for him to see the screen.

“Can you pop the chair higher, please?” He asked his brother.

Samaliel did as he asked and Pent began toiling away. He wondered how fast his body was changing and hoped he had time before he got…too small. The younger fox continued to watch over his shoulder. Samaliel couldn’t help but ruffle his head fur, a playful gesture that Pent had done to him many times in the past. However, it didn’t deter the hyper-focused fox who was wholly intent on returning to normal.

Eventually, he happened onto a sight regarding a rare adverse reaction to some plant fertilizers. Looking into it further, he saw the same name of the very fertilizer that he had been using for his project. Recalling the other day, he remembered that Samaliel had spilled the mixture on the floor and that he had cleaned it up using a towel. It all began to make sense to him, except that the reaction still didn’t match what the article was referring to.

Still, he saw a simple enough solution. The article claimed that any person suffering from the side effects of the fertilizer would have to rid of the project naturally. The medical recommendations were to flush the system out with water in an attempt to cycle it through the system. Pent huffed, realizing he would have to deal with the issue for a while unless he came up with a way to flush it out of his system quicker.

Pent thought to himself a moment. He knew he didn’t have much longer than a day because their foster mother would return at some point tomorrow. He didn’t want to risk her finding out what happened and still felt responsible for taking care of Samaliel.

“So, what did you figure out?” Samaliel asked.

Pent spun around in the chair and looked at Samaliel. “My body has to flush it out naturally. We don’t have that long so I will need to expedite it.”

“So what does that mean?” The younger cub scratched his head.

Pent stood up right next to Samaliel, realizing he could not only see the middle of Samaliel’s neck. “It means….I need to drink a lot of water.”

“Okay, little bro. You can have all
 the water you want.” The younger cub rubbed the older boy's head again.

The white fox rolled his eyes. “Wanna grab me a glass or water bottle or something?”

“Sure! I’ll be back.” Samaliel bolted out of the room and left Pent alone for a moment.

Pent sat down again, thinking to himself. He wondered if this would work. He continued with another search on the computer but didn’t find anything else that seemed to stand out. The only thing he found was a fantasy website and this was all too real for him. Samaliel returned before long with a water bottle that he had fixed up for the older boy.

The younger fox placed it on the desk and continued to stand behind his brother.

“Thanks, dude. So what did you want to do before I return to normal?” Pent was hopeful he could resolve this and began drinking water immediately.

Samaliel hummed to himself. “Uh…”

“Nothing then?” Pent continued to sip on the water, wanting to get as much of it into his system as possible.

The salt and pepper fox shook his head. “Do you want to play horsey?”

“Horsey…? Aren’t you a little old for that? Besides…I’m not big enough to carry you anyways…” Pent spun around on his brother.

Samaliel got on his knees in front of the other cub. “I wanna be the horsey.”

“You…? Is that what you want?” Pent’s face turned flush red as he had never been treated to the activity himself.

The younger cub nodded. “Uh-huh, please?”

“Fine but no one at school hears about this, alright?” Pent got down from the chair arranging the sagging clothing he was wearing so it didn’t hang as much.

Samaliel nodded again and got on all fours. “Giddy up, cowboy.”

Pent slowly approached the other cub before climbing on his back. He was careful about it as he was certain he would still be too heavy for Samaliel to handle. Once the bigger cub felt the weight on his back, he began to prance around the room. The younger cub even neighed every so often. The smaller boy felt awkward about the whole thing but it was apparent that his brother was enjoying it so he wasn’t about to stop it.

He went around the room a few times before Samaliel stopped. The cub lowered himself, easing Pent off as he stood up to stretch. It was harder than he thought it would be. The older fox stood there in a moment of awkward silence.

“Wanna play games now?” The white fox asked as he knew it would be something they both liked.

Samaliel shrugged. “Sure.”

Pent grabbed his water bottle and joined his brother over by the television. The two played games for some time until their stomachs reminded them that it was time for dinner once again. The older fox wondered how he would make food now, figuring he would have to use the stepping stool for everything.

“I’ll go make food. What do you want?” The smaller boy asked as he stood up, the pants he was wearing completely fell off.

Samaliel chuckled. “Maybe I could make it…?”

“It will be fine…I can handle it.” Pent didn’t want to give the younger cub too much freedom.

The younger cub put on his best puppy face. “Please…I’ll do whatever you want.”

“Fine...I guess I did say you could be the big brother tonight.” The older fox felt silly about having made that promise now.

Samaliel jumped in place. “I promise I’ll make a good meal.”

“Just let me…” But before he was able to finish the statement Samaliel had bolted out of the room's door into the hallway.

Pent was left alone again and he veered over to the height chart they had made. He looked at the marks made for Samaliel with the dates on them. He squared himself up against it, just as he had done with his brother before, and used his hand to mark his height. Stepping away he looked at the mark closest to where his head was. Doing the math in his head, he figured he was about the same size as Samaliel at 7 years old.

The white fox knew his situation hadn’t gotten any better but this made him even more aware of the issue. He walked over to the computer again and continued sipping on the water. Pent hadn’t been as consistent as he liked about it but he needed clarity and so far the resolution had borne no fruit. The cub began to search again, browsing through whatever he could find until Samaliel called from down the hall.

Pent hopped down from the chair, feeling awkward that he wasn’t the one making food. But he supposed he wasn’t in a condition to help with it. The older boy made his way down the hall and into the kitchen. He looked over the table and saw that two microwave dinners were wafting fumes of heat from the surface. The fox smiled, glad that Samaliel hadn’t tried anything that required preparation.

The older fox sat down, at his usual chair. His feet dangling a bit, the sensation of his paws just grazing against the floor was an awkward one to be sure. Samaliel joined him and the two began eating without delay. The salt and pepper fox worked through his meal rather quickly but as always he waited for Pent.

“Is it good?” He asked to be certain he had done a good job.

Pent looked up from his plate. “Yeah, sorry. Just distracted.”

“Still, worried? I can take care of you .” Samaliel said with a confident smile on his face.
Pent smiled and continued eating, speaking between bites. “It’s not that it's just…”

“Just what?” Samaliel asked as he cared about his brother just as much as Pent did for him.

The white fox huffed. “I just want to fix this. I’m going to go to the bathroom…be right back.”

It had been a while since Pent had to go and he had been drinking water pretty heavily. Nature finally called and he rushed toward the bathroom to take care of it. After relieving himself, he felt a bit better. His body felt warmer, which he hoped was a sign of things for the better. The fox returned to his brother who was already cleaning the table. Pent sat down again to finish his meal.

“Thanks for your help, I appreciate it.” Pent finished his meal even know his appetite wasn’t that strong.

Once he was done, Pent hopped off his chair to help Samaliel with the cleanup. They had to share the stepping stool, with Pent struggling to reach the dishes counter but managing all the same. He didn’t want the younger boy to be left to do all the chores regardless of the situation. Pent looked at Samaliel. The younger boy reminded him so much of himself and he was glad he was a chip off the old block.

The two didn’t take that long to finish up. Pent got an idea to treat the younger cub since he was being so helpful. The fox opened up the fridge and looked up. He found he could touch the upper shelf, but finding the ice cream was proving to be difficult.

Samaliel chuckled. “Here, let me help.”

The bigger cub made his way in and delivered out the small carton of ice cream and handed it to Pent.

“Well, it’s for you…I know we don’t normally do big deserts but you can have it since it’s almost empty.” Pent held the small carton in his paw for the other cub to take out.

Samaliel shook his head. “Nuh-uh, I wanna share!”

The salt and pepper fox retreated to the drawer where the family kept the utensils. He withdrew two spoons and held them out proudly. He walked with Pent out to the living room, a place they weren’t allowed to eat with their foster mother at home. Samaliel wasted no time in hopping over the sofa to the other side but Pent had to go around the long way. The white fox eased himself up on the seat next to his brother and put the carton of ice cream down on the cushion spacer between them.

Samaliel offered his brother the other spoon in his paw before opening the cardboard covering it. The younger boy was always the more eager to eat sweets and tonight was no different, taking three bites before Pent even took one.

“Hey, Pent…I know you are worried but don’t be. I can take care of you, I promise…” Samaliel tried to reassure his brother who was still bothered by the whole situation.

Pent leaned into his brother’s shoulder enjoying the warmth. “I think this stuff is too big now…think you have anything smaller.”

“I can go look if you want. Be right back.” The younger fox pulled away and withdrew from the living room, leaving Pent alone.

Pent eased himself off the chair as he had to go to the bathroom again. He was glad the water was finally working its way through his system, though he hadn’t seen the results he was hoping for. The white fox relieved himself again, feeling a little bit better but no different. Once he was done, he returned shortly after and Samaliel was there waiting for him, holding something in his paws.

“Uh…this is the smallest thing I have right now. Do you want to try it on?” He showed off a pair of paw patrol-themed footy pajamas and the same themed white briefs.

The older fox blushed. “Are you serious…that’s it?”

“Well yeah…you’re not a big boy anymore are you?” Samaliel smirked at making that joke.

Pent stomped his foot down. “Sama, enough is enough. It’s not like I’m getting younger here…just smaller.”

“Sorry…just having a bit of fun. Do you want it or not?” The younger boy held it out in his paws for the older boy to take it.

The white fox looked down at himself. Already the shirt he was borrowing from Samaliel was sagging on him. He couldn’t be certain if he had gotten smaller but it certainly felt that way. He approached the younger fox, barely coming up half his torso now.

“Gee…you’ve gotten small, bro. Maybe this is serious?” Samaliel said resisting the desire to pat his head again.

The smaller boy huffed. “I figured. I need to find a solution before foster mom gets home tomorrow.”

“I just hope it stops…I feel like it’s just gotten worse as time has gone on.” Pent held his paws up to grab the pajamas from his brother.

Samaliel held them just out of his reach, chuckling a bit.

“Come on, Sama…please. I just want to go do some more research on the computer before I can’t reach that anymore either.” Pent jumped a few times, but it wasn’t enough to
 reach the pajamas.

“Hehe, just having a bit of fun.” The salt and pepper fox lowered his grasp to the level of the other cub, handing it off to him.

Pent rolled his eyes and took the pajamas. He slipped out of Samaliel’s clothes and into the pajamas, still feeling that they were a bit baggy on him. But he figured it was better than nothing.

“I’ll get you a cushion for the chair…” Samaliel suggested, trying to be helpful once more.

The white fox nodded as he made his way back to their room, eager to get back on the computer to look again. Pent looked at the bottle and contemplated drinking it again, however, figured it wasn’t worth worrying about since he hadn’t noticed anything change as of yet. Samaliel placed the cushion in the chair and helped his brother on top of it.

“Thanks, you can turn off the lights and I will try to be quiet,” Pent said as he began tapping away once the chair was pushed in.

Samaliel nodded. “Are you sure you don’t want any help?”

“No, you’ve done a good job today.” Pent began furiously searching the internet again.

Samaliel figured it was time to take a shower and took some clothes out of his dresser drawer, leaving Pent to his own devices. The older cub heard the door opening and looked back behind him. He leaned back in the chair and took a deep breath. It had been a long and stressful day and he didn’t have any hope for relief from his issue. Pent spun back around and continued working, figuring he could probably do without a shower tonight.

Samaliel returned to the room before long. The younger fox stretched and yawned as he disposed of the dirty clothes he had brought back with him from the bathroom. He flicked off the lights before retiring to the bunk bed. He looked over at Pent and couldn’t see him over the chair which hid most of his body. Samaliel couldn’t help but feel bad even if he was partially enjoying it. But he also wanted the older boy to be happy. Once he was on top of his bunk, he looked outside and gazed at the stars wondering if he would catch any glimpse of a shooting one.

Samaliel yawned as fatigue was beginning to take him. Yet his eyes remained ever open, determined to find one. About half an hour passed and his eyes were growing weary from being over-focused. Yet, he remained ever vigilant even when his eyes were closing for longer periods. Falling in and out of consciousness the cub tried to snap out of it. Finally spotting what he was looking for, he closed his eyes and made a wish.

“I wish for Pent to return to normal…” He smiled as sleep finally consumed his young mind.

The older cub remained hard at work as he scanned through websites. Going back to the same recall website, proved no additional information. Yet he could find nothing else and scanned the same article again and again. Pent squinted and pressed through the night with several hours passing but no such progress was made. Nature called again. All the liquid in his system was not helping with the situation.

Pent hopped off the chair. The pajamas he had borrowed from Samaliel sagged off him and dragged him on the floor a bit. He approached the door, which Samaliel had shut earlier, and looked over at the height chart. Truthfully he was petrified of checking again. He didn’t want to know…but he knew in his mind that it had gotten worse. Now within a personal distance of the doorknob, he struggled to reach it.

He huffed…he felt so helpless. Pent knew he couldn’t wake up Samaliel. He figured he was likely the size of a toddler now…and the fact he couldn’t reach the door only confirmed his fears. The white fox looked around for something to pop open the door and saw a small pickup stick that he kept for when his scout troop went on community clean-ups.

He figured it would have to do. Grabbing the thing, he returned the door and used it to pop open the knob. Pent was glad it worked…and rushed down the hall to do his business again. The fox was glad the lid was open and made quick work of his needs. Leaving the little stick in the bathroom, he returned to his room when he was done. The fox realizes that the chair might have been too difficult for him to climb without it moving.

It seemed he would have to retire to bed despite his desire to continue doing work. Yawning, he knew he was tired and yet his mind was rampant with concern. The fox decided to use the bottom rung of the ladder to climb up rather than struggle onto the bottom bunk. Once he was flat on top of it, he stared at the underside of the top bunk. His mind still wondered how much worse this could get before it stopped.

He knew he had less than one day to figure this out. Pent pulled the sheets over himself and closed his eyes, to rest them. His thoughts still running at full capacity. The cub had a headache but he knew he couldn’t reach the medicine cabinet without significant effort. He didn’t want to risk hurting himself either and figured that was probably much easier than he was used to. Instead, he tried to relax, tossing and turning a bit before finally, sleep took him.

Pent had no dreams that night, his mind was much too tired to produce anything that he would remember the next day. The younger fox was the first one up as he always was and peered his eyes over the chair. Samaliel figured the older fox must have become too tired to continue. The cub hopped off the top bunk with a muffled thud and looked into the lower-level bed. Sure enough, a small bundle of sheets and Pent’s head were barely visible.

Samaliel reached in and shook the other boy. Pent felt his body being shaken again and was woken up with a relinquished groan.

“Come on…maybe you got better overnight?” Samaliel was hopeful his wish came to fruition.

Pent huddled up, fearing the worst, and shook his head. “Nuh…I don’t wanna know.”

“So, what? You’ve given up? That’s not the Pent, I remember. Come on Pent, you can do it. I know you can.” The younger fox tried to console his brother who was defeated.

Pent tossed in his bed. “I’m just going to shrink away into nothing. It’s not going to get better.”

“Pent…please? Get up? I’ll do anything!” The younger fox was desperate to get his brother in a better mood.

The older fox rotated back around again. “Fine…but you’re making breakfast.”

“That a boy, come on. I’ll help you out if you need it.” Samaliel moved to the side to allow Pent some space to come off the bed.

Pent eased the sheets off and looked down at himself. The pajamas he had been borrowing now pooled around him. As he moved they snaked around him but remained on his form. The older fox sighed and pushed his way to the edge of the bed.

“Gee…you got small. I’m not sure I have anything that fits you now.” Samaliel said making note of the obvious.

The white fox took a deep breath. “I know. I guess I’ll just accept what’s happening and just let it run its course. It can’t last forever…right?”

“Don’t worry, I will take care of you until you get big again.” Samaliel smiled at the fact he would still be the one in control of everything.

The smaller boy hopped off the bed, right next to Samaliel. Looking up at the younger cub was an odd sight to be seen. He could visibly see the cub's knee cap above his eye level now. Samaliel eased himself down and picked Pent up without saying a word.

“Hey, I can handle myself. Stop!” Pent complained.

Samaliel chucked. “Oh hush, just have some fun for once with it. Ride on my shoulders and we can go quicker.”

The salt and pepper fox had no issue adjusting the smaller boy around his neck. Pent found he could fit around it without much fuss.

“See? Much easier, right?” Samaliel said starting to walk.

Pent rolled his eyes and clutched Samaliel’s neck so he didn’t move around as much. The two walked to the kitchen and with each step the younger boy took, Pent’s body shook a bit.

“Waffles sound alright?” The younger cub asked since sticking them into the toaster was simple enough.

Pent shrugged. “Sure, that sounds fine.”

Samaliel busied himself while carrying the other cub around his neck, managing to make do without much of an issue. Pent wasn’t very heavy in his current state and Samaliel didn’t notice the difference that much. The older fox couldn’t help but feel silly about the whole situation but even still Samaliel was taking it all in stride. The younger fox seemed much more independent than he previously realized.

The salt and pepper fox went about making waffles for the two of them, not worried if Pent could finish it or not. Pulling out his old jar of vitamins, a colorful representation of the multi supplement for kids. He took one for himself and offered one to Pent on his shoulder while he waited for the meal to cook. Pent cocked his eye at the vitamin and figured it wouldn’t hurt taking it.

The white fox reached and took the thing from his brother before swallowing it whole. It didn’t take long for the waffles to be finished. Of course, Samaliel doused both of them were some maple syrup he found in the fridge. After serving it to the table the younger fox kneeled so Pent could hop onto the chair and eat on his own. The older fox has to stand up to reach the top of the table. As was usual he sat right next to the smaller boy and began chowing down.

Pent found himself eagerly plowing through the food with ease, his appetite seemed to have returned to him. It was the first time since early yesterday that he was able to finish his meal. Perhaps a sign of a recovery? He could only hope.

“Glad you liked it.” Samaliel chirped happily as he was glad his brother liked the meal he had prepared.

Pent nodded and hiccupped. “Oh, yeah…it was super good. You did great.”

The fox felt himself rise steadily as his line of sight increased over the table. It didn’t last very long and was barely noticeable but Pent couldn’t help but feel like something was off.

“Something wrong?” Samaliel asked as he watched
 his brother look around him.

Pent shook his head. “I dunno. I feel weird. It’s hard to explain.”

“You’re not getting smaller again, are you? You’re already pretty small.” Samaliel picked himself up and looked closer at the other fox.

The white fox shrugged. “I don’t think so but I’m not sure. Can you get me some fruit? I’m still kind of hungry.”

“Sure.” The salt and pepper fox retreated to the pantry where the family kept the fruit and pulled out an orange before setting it on the table.

Samaliel wasn’t allowed to use knives so he didn’t cut them. Pent reached forward and tried pulling the thing apart but it was proving to be problematic. The white fox tried to bear through it using all his might to tear it apart and eventually made a bit of progress. As he did…he hiccuped a second time. Feeling a sensation of warmth course through his body as he stood there on the chair his line of sight increased ever upward.

“Hey, Pent…I think you’re getting bigger?” Samaliel thought he noticed the boy creeping steadily above the table and he now stood well above it, though he was still standing on the chair.

Pent looked back over at his brother, the feeling had left him. “Huh? You’re not playing around with me are you?”

“No, grab your orange and hop down from the chair.” Samaliel moved the chair so his brother had the space to do just that.

The white fox did as his brother requested and jumped down. Samaliel moved closer to the older boy, finding he was back up to the height of his knee now.

“Heck yeah, dude. You grew a little bit. Maybe it’s over?” The younger fox chirped happily to see his brother's ordeal coming to a close finally.

Pent pistoned his arm. “Maybe…but I’m still pretty small.”

“But bigger than before….haha.” Samaliel tried to remain upbeat.

Pent munched tore apart the orange and munched through it, finding himself to eat about half of it before he finally got full.

“That was a good breakfast, thanks…” Pent said with a smile, looking up at the still much bigger boy.

Samaliel nodded. “Sure, I promised to be a good big brother after all.”

“Cool, well what do you want to do?” Pent said as he wasn’t certain if he would continue growing or not.

The bigger boy shrugged. “I dunno but you’re still too little to go outside so maybe should hang here today.”

“I promise to make it up to you when I’m big again.” Pent puffed his chest out proudly.

Samaliel chuckled. “That’s the Pent I remember. I’ll go ahead and clean up. Meet you back in the room.”

“Alright. Are you sure you don’t want help?” Pent still felt obligated to be in charge but was feeling more confident in his brother now.

The younger boy nodded and Pent showed himself out. The older fox figured he could probably do with a shower now since he didn’t take one last night. Looking at his body the footy pajamas he was wearing were still dragging, so he had to hope he would grow into it…eventually. The fox made his way back to their room, realizing it took longer than he thought it might have. Still, he managed

Upon arriving at the door he found he could reach the knob again. This made him happy…Samaliel’s reassurances were one thing but seeing proof firsthand was all the more evidence for him. He let himself into the bathroom and turned on the spicket. Getting out of the pajamas was simple enough as they slid off him rather easily. Standing there naked, he let the water warm up.

As he was standing there…he felt another build-up of air leave his diaphragm. Why was he hiccupping so much? While he was thinking about it he realized his body was steadily rising again. The warmth he had felt earlier now coursed through his body, returning some of his strength to him. Looking down he watched as the floor descended further and further below him. Pent smirked but the sensation did not last as his little spurt came to an end.

The cub stepped into the shower, feeling that his muscles were a little achy. The warm water on his body was relaxing, to say the least. He felt much more relaxed now than he had in the two days. The stress of it all finally eased from his mind. Pent closed his eyes and let his worries slide away. Happy that Samaliel had helped him through the situation but also that it was coming full circle,

After he cleaned himself, he looked at the rack of towels. Pent considered taking one but decided they probably needed to be clean. Instead, he shook his body of whatever water had collected on his fur. Putting back on the same pajamas, he found the bed wear to fit him rather well now. Pent looked at himself in the mirror. He looked silly to be sure…but he couldn’t be prouder that he was wearing clothes that fit once more.

The fox grabbed the two towels and quickly placed them in the laundry hamper before picking Them up. The thing was still hard for him to handle but he managed it all of the same. Pent made his way out of the bathroom once more. His body was still soaked but the pajamas had absorbed…some of it. The remainder of the water dripped off him. Luckily the cold didn’t bother him. The white fox made his way down the hall with the basket of linens.

Upon arriving in the laundry room, he disposed of it on the floor. The relief of the weight off his chest allowed him to stretch a bit. He looked at the laundry machine. It still looked pretty big to him but luckily the thing was a front loader. Pent popped the thing open and realized that the soap powder was on top of the machine. After considering calling Samaliel, he decided he wanted to take things into his own hands.

Pent took a deep breath before hopping up and trying to climb up the side of the machine. One paw at a time he scaled the metal surface. The cool sheet of plastic on the top rubbed against him as he brought himself to sit on the edge of its tip. The fox reached to grab the soapy powder and reached inside to pull out a single scoop of it. The cub reeled his body over and threw it inside once he opened the little port door in front of it.

Pent sat there proud of himself for a moment, envisioning that he was tall enough to do this without issue. After fantasizing a bit, he closed the door before turning on the machine. The thing buzzed and vibrated beneath him. His body rumbled a bit as he struggled there for a second. The fox hopped off before long, glad he didn’t have to deal with the turbulence anymore.

“Pent, where are you?” Samaliel called to him from somewhere in the house.

The older cub got an idea at the question. “Let’s play hide and seek…I’ll hide and you seek?”

“Oh sure…you’re on little boy.” The salt and pepper fox considered himself an expert in the game.

The white fox stashed the little laundry basket back into the side of the room, right next to the full laundry basket, and quickly stepped inside it. The cub found he was still small enough to fit inside it once he bundled up. Pent tried to keep quiet as he fought with the fact that his nose was being tingled by the pungent scent of the washer powder that had collected on his paw. Before long a familiar warmth began to build up inside him, letting out a gentle sneeze as he tried to cover his snout to mute the sound.

Samaliel overheard the sound and the intermittent muffled thud of plastic from nearby. He was already in the kitchen so he was only the next room over. The younger cub hurried into the laundry room to find Pent splayed out on his back with the pajamas barely containing his body and showing visible signs of tearing.

“Hey, I found you and uh….I think you outgrew the pajamas I gave you.” Samaliel helped the other boy up off the floor.

Pent stood up, realizing he could see the bottom of Samaliel’s armpit now. “Oh hey yeah. I’m catching up to you…again…haha…”

“Uh-huh happy now?” The younger boy asked, reaching behind his brother to pick up the fallen-over laundry basket.

The older fox nodded. “Well, yeah. You can’t take care of me forever. I have a job to do after all.”

“Mhm, what do you want to do now?” Pent asked since he had come up with the idea for the last game and wanted to give Samaliel a chance to pick.

Samaliel chuckled. “Well, maybe we should put you back in some of my stuff so you can uh…grow into it?”

“Sure, that sounds good.” Pent plopped himself on the floor and struggled for a few moments to fight out of the pajama set.

While Pent was changing, Samaliel went back to retrieve some clothing. The same set he had given him yesterday since his brother seemed to be alright with it. The younger fox had to deal with the older one's apparent nudity but didn’t let it bother him.

“Here…before the neighbors complain about you being nakie.” He handed off the set to the other cub.

Pent began changing and Samaliel disposed of the pajama set since it was now ripped anyways. He returned to Pent and helped him up.

“So what about a board game…?” Samaliel suggested since he didn’t have any better ideas for an indoor activity.

The older fox nodded. “Sure, bro. I’m game for whatever you want.”

“Cool, I’ll grab sorry.” The bigger fox retreated to a pantry where the family kept the board games and returned to his brother, who had moved to the living room.

Samaliel joined his brother on the floor and poured out the pieces of the board game.

“Too bad you can’t stay the same size, we could share stuff.” The younger cub reached over and patted the other cub's head again.

Pent forced a laugh. “Ha-ha, very funny. I think this has gone on long enough…”

“You don’t think it would be fun?” Samaliel asked seeming rather serious about it.

The white fox hesitated before answering. “Samaliel, I want to be able to take care of you. I promise I will let you be a big brother again. Just not in the same way. You did a great job…alright?”

“Okay…” Samaliel smiled at his brother before beginning to move the pieces into the proper area.

The older fox and younger fox began to play the game two enjoying
 each other game for some time. When they finished, Samaliel was proud to announce that he was the victor. Of course, Pent had allowed him to win but he wasn’t about to admit it.

“Lunchtime then?” The younger fox asked certain his brother would be up for it.

Pent shrugged. “Sure. You can make it if you want.”

The two stood up, Pent realizing he could see Samaliel’s neck now. He was getting closer to his brother's size now and it made him happy. Samaliel ruffled his head fur again and made his way back to the kitchen to make them something to eat. The white fox contemplated what he would do while waiting and started cleaning up the board game. He was hungry, glad to have his appetite back again.

Samaliel called him back into the kitchen for lunch, having made some peanut butter and jelly. The white fox smiled at his brother and climbed into the chair, the feeling of his feet hitting the floor made him happy. The younger fox served up the food and placed a huge bag of chips at the center of the table. However, he had forgotten the drinks. Pent picked himself off the chair and decided to do it himself, taking back a bit of the responsibility.

He made two glasses of milk before returning to join his brother at the table. The fox rather loved milk, no matter the time of day. Samaliel had already started eating, but it didn’t bother him. The two continued to eat, switching between a sandwich, drink, and chips as they worked through the meal. As Pent finished his drink, he felt the familiar sensation of warmth course through his body.

“Hic!” The fox felt energy spike through him…his body feeling sore once again as it stretched upward.

Samaliel turned to his brother as he heard the sound, watching as his head crept steadily higher. Pent felt his muscles becoming tenser as his body stressed itself. Aches and pains surged through him as his body stretched. The younger cub watched as his brother crept to eye level and even a bit above it, though his brother's eyes remain closed trying to deal with the strain of the moment. The white fox opened his eyes as the fit dissipated and he felt a bit better.

“You okay? You had another bit of a spurt there…hehe.” Samaliel said as he rubbed his brother's back.

Pent nodded and opened his eyes. “Looks like you got what you wanted…at least for now.”

“Yeah….for now….” Samaliel leaned in and hugged the older boy.

Pent smiled and threw his arm over the other cub. The two sat there for a moment, enjoying each other's warmth but saying nothing. Throughout the rest of the day, Pent returned to normal. His frame remained much the same as it was before the ordeal. The older fox was glad that things were back the way was supposed to be. The younger was happy to see his brother content again after he was not selfish regardless of what he thought he wanted.

The older fox made sure to rid his workstation of the fertilizer so such things didn’t happen. After all, he didn’t need another accident to happen. When Pent finally returned to slumber that night, It was Samaliel who poked his head up out of bed to check on the older boy. The white fox was already asleep and the younger cub couldn’t help but kiss him on the forehead before returning to his bed and allowing slumber to take him once more.", "pools_count": 1, "title": "Little big brother", "deleted": "f", "public": "t", "mimetype": "application/msword", "pagecount": "1", "rating_id": "1", "rating_name": "Mature", "ratings": [ { "content_tag_id": "2", "name": "Nudity", "description": "Nonsexual nudity exposing breasts or genitals (must not show arousal)", "rating_id": "1" } ], "submission_type_id": "12", "type_name": "Writing - Document", "guest_block": "t", "friends_only": "f", "comments_count": "0", "views": "301" }