Young Again

Peter’s creaky knees were silent today. He usually dragged himself out of bed about an hour before his wife Janice woke up so he could make her breakfast. It used to be such a romantic thing for him to do, but these days it was simply because she couldn’t do these regular tasks. Their children insisted on taking care of them or putting Janice in a home, but as long as he was physically able, Peter would do anything to care for his wife.

With an unusual feeling of vigor, he strode towards the closet to change out of his pajamas. Something was off. As he pushed around the rack of button downs and sweaters, he noticed how crisp and clear they looked. Patterns he never even realized were on his clothes seemed to jump out at him. In fact, everything around him looked more clear and defined. Peter never had particularly good eyesight and it was getting worse each passing year, but today he looked at the world in an entirely new light. Looking down at his hands, Peter couldn’t believe his eyes. The age spots had disappeared, and paper thin skin once again calloused and revived. He touched his faced to feel smooth skin and his strong jaw instead of the familiar squish of his aged skin. The feelings weren’t entirely foreign. he just hadn’t felt like this since he was a young man.

Peter raced to the bathroom to make sure this was actually happening. The mirror didn’t lie. His reflection looked like it had jumped out of his wedding photos and into the glass. He couldn’t believe it. All the time that aged him into what currently was seemed to have vanished. Before him stood the Peter he once knew, grinning without the ailments that pained him constantly. This was the man who jogged a mile a morning before work, the man who could be as spontaneous as he wished, and the man his wife fell in love with. He couldn’t help but admire himself.
He was interrupted by a scream from down the hall.

“Peter?!” Janice yelled in distress. He raced to their room to see her standing by the side of their bed. Standing. She hadn’t been able to stand on her own for four years. They stared at each other in shock for a couple of minutes, studying each other from head to toe.

“Um,” Janice whispered breaking the silence, “are we dead?”

Speechless, Peter shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. Janice carefully took a few steps forward, stumbling a little with each shaky movement. He rested his hands on her shoulders and guided her to the stairs and used his newfound strength to carry her down. Once they were down, they both frantically checked to make sure this was real. Janice turned on the television and radio to check if the current events and date matched with yesterday’s while Peter opened the door to the same neighborhood they’d lived in for years with nothing out of the ordinary. They faced each other again.

“Well Jan,” he said with a chuckle, “I guess this is actually happening.”

Jan let out a slightly concerned laugh and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. They kissed and embraced as they hadn’t been able to in years. When they finally let go, Jan seemed more relieved.

“Let’s make the best out of this day.”

They decided to do every mundane thing they had missed so much. Eating at a restaurant, going to the store, and even taking the bus seemed exhilarating.

On the ride to their first stop, the local diner, they figured they would get the most out of this day before telling their children just in case it didn’t last. They were a peculiar sight on the half-filled bus. Of all the silent weary faces, they were the only ones who couldn’t seem to stop smiling and talking to each other. Despite their young figures, the only clothes they had were their dated sweaters that were far too loose on them now.

The rest of their day was the happiest they’d had in years. They received a few stares, but they didn’t seem to notice and definitely didn’t care. Peter rode his bike down the sidewalk with as much excitement and joy as a child who had just learned, while Jan confused all the waitresses at the restaurants they went to by accidentally calling them “young lady” or “darling” when they appeared to be the same age. In the department store, Jan tried on the most modest things she could find while Peter approved of each of her choices. Times certainly had changed. The older they got, the more out of place they felt as the world continued to advance without them, but now they were free to roam as they had when they really were that young.

To end their perfect day, they rested on a park bench, similar to the one they had met each other on decades ago. They sat and went over the years they had been together. Jan rested her head on his shoulder holding his hand as he kissed the top of her head.

“I love you Jan,” he whispered when he thought she had fallen asleep.

“I love you Peter,” she whispered back.

Peter smiled and with that, they fell asleep together.

The next morning, a jogger reported the two bodies to the police and they promptly arrived at the scene. It seemed like nothing out of the ordinary, an old couple dying of their ailments, but one thing baffled the authorities who took them. The man was reportedly too frail to be able to lift anything heavier than a textbook, which made them wonder how a wheelchair bound woman could have walked to a park ten miles from her home.