Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Hugo and Sophie turned forty years old last winter. For them, it was the end of the world and they became sad. Fortunately, they had a planned trip to Rivière-au-Renard, their hometown. This allowed them to think about something else.

At the end of my school year, my parents are gone in Gaspésie. Me, I stayed at my friend Josie's house. A week later, my parents came to pick me up from my friend. I immediately saw that they were very happy.


"What amazing holiday!" said Mom. "This one-week stay gave me energy!"
"We visited all the places we frequented during our youth," Dad told me. When returning home, the headlights came on the other side of the street. A black car with tinted windows.

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It was very early when my father woke me up.

"Arise, Marc-André! Wonderful day ahead!" What had gotten into him? On Saturday, he never got out of bed before 10 o'clock! I looked up and regarded him darkly. Then, surprised by what I saw, I rubbed my eyes.

"What is it? It's like you've never seen me before!"

"Dad! Your beard!"

"I didn't shave for three days. What of it?"

"The hairs are very dark! All! Usually, most are gray!" I looked at the top of his skull. Instead of being totally bald, Hugo had lots of hair.

"The same goes for the hair on your head! Previously, there was gray everywhere! Have you dyed it or what?"

"Go back to sleep! Your brain works best when you're awake completely. I go jogging to wake me up." I must have misheard. I never saw my father exercise.

As he left my room, I noticed another change. His little belly seemed to have disappeared. Sophie was preparing breakfast and humming. She wore a yellow green kimono. She looked thin in this dress. She could pose for a fashion magazine.

"Your kimono, you bought it at Rivière-au-Renard?"

"I wore it when you were little." Doing a dance, she filed the bacon and eggs on my plate.

"Your wrinkles, Mom!"

"Why are you talking about my wrinkles this morning?"

"You have none! None at all!" The arrival of daddy, shirtless, surprised me a lot. His belly disappearing was not an optical illusion. In addition, his pectorals and biceps had hardened. I felt like I was observing a fake photo, with my father's head on the body of another man. Hugo put down his glasses on the table:

"You will not believe me! While I was running, my vision became increasingly bizarre. So I removed my glasses, and you know what I discovered? I can see perfectly without them! I'm not  nearsighted anymore!"

"Hum!" Sophie was watching him. "It's not just your vision that has changed ..."

"Say, but you are also different!"

They looked at themselves and stared at each other. Then Hugo looked down on his stomach, while Sophie touched her own face.

"What happens to us there?" they said it at the same time.

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"Getting younger?" Josie said with astonishment. "You watch too many science fiction TV series, Marc-André!"

"I'm taking you to my house. You could check it out yourself." Upon our arrival, the black car with tinted windows was parked a few metres from the house.

"This car was near your house yesterday. Look! There are two people inside!"

"Surely spies," said Josie. "All the intelligence services of the world are watching you, it is well known!"

My friend laughed at me, but this vehicle really seemed to be there to spy. Then I asked myself why I invent such crazy things. Perhaps I might have too much of an imagination. We found Sophie in the living room, wearing a swimsuit. Standing before a mirror, she examined herself.

"I didn't know your mother was so sexy," whispered Josie.

"Exactly! Usually, she isn't!" We all gasped when we heard a scream coming from upstairs: "My hair! They grew again!"

Dad came down the stairs, then he leaned down to prove that he was telling the truth. Where his hair was normally rare or absent, brown hair grew. He seemed horrified.

"What are you complaining about?" Mom replied.

"You do not understand? Our bodies are undergoing abnormal changes! Monstrous changes!"

"Honestly, do you find me monstrous?"

"It is true that they look younger," admitted Josie. "They look thirty years old." I rushed into the next room. Returning to the living room, I opened an old photo album.

             
Evidence #1: a picture of my mother in bikini with the ocean behind her. Proof #2: Hugo bicycles without glasses and with abundant hair. Apart from a few minor details, this man and this woman were identical to my father and my mother today.

"Rhode Island," Dad recalled. "We spent two unforgettable weeks of vacation. We were twenty-six years old!"

"You're younger than fourteen years since yesterday?" Josie said, amazed.

"That's stupid!" Sophie sighed. "This winter, the being-old idea made ​​us sick. Now that we're young and beautiful, there are still reasons to complain. "

"But who says that this phenomenon is not a symptom of a terrible disease?" Hugo said, impatient.

"Dad was right: your rejuvenation may be dangerous. You should try to remember how it all began ..."

"We spent the last day of our trip in Percé," said Hugo. "At night, I realized that I had no back pain. I, who felt this pain for years!"

"Did something happen there? A strange encounter? An experience out of the ordinary?"

"The anti-aging machine! Gosh! Remember, Sophia, the anti-aging machine?"

"What!" I shouted. A anti-aging machine? "What is this all about?"

"Despite its name, this is not a machine, but a tourist attraction," said my mother. "A sort of museum, common enough elsewhere, dedicated to 60s. You could see clothes of this time, archival footage, photos ... "

"During your visit, did anything special happen?"

"According to the manager, we were visitors numbers 100 and 101, which allowed us to get in for free," said Hugo. "Now, I think that something doesn't seem right; I'm sure our anti-aging was caused during this visit!" He ran to the telephone table.

"Here is the flyer that man has left us ... Well, he's called Leo Lepitre." Then he threw himself on the phone like a tiger on a gazelle.

"A voicemail!" he whispered. "The property is closed until tomorrow morning ... I'm leaving for Percé immediately. He'll see which of us is the strongest!" Dad is out of the room like Superman leaving to save the world. Really, it looked less and less like the writer who spent his time dreaming.

"This is madness!" said Sophie. "Oh, perhaps I'd better go with him."

"I'm with you. With something as bizarre as this, one should  be wary. If you have any problems, I'm here to help you."

"I will accompany you!" Josie added with enthusiasm.