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Early Diagnosis By: Pent Ghelsburg

Disclaimer: The characters in this story are portrayed as underage and are purely fictional. Any resemblance to real life persons is purely coincidental. They are the original and rightful intellectual property of their creators. I use them with permission and respect. Furthermore, there is a prominent micro/macro theme presented in this story.

"Be not afraid of growing slowly but instead only of standing still"

-Chinese Proverb

There are times in our lives when there are more questions than answers. Events where we are not certain what to do. Occasions where confusion often replaces certainty and one is often left to drift in a fog of confusion. But such is the way of life and triumphing in such circumstances often leaders to greater strength than otherwise would be possible. This is very often the underlying pretense of prepubescence.

Childhood is a confusing time for many as the most drastic changes in one's life occurs when one is naïve to most of them. The insecurity that comes with the lack of knowledge is often spurred on by the fact that many kids are reminded that they are different by their pairs. Of course, the parents must do their best to remind them that every kid develops differently. However there often those ignorant children who think they know best.

James was a 10-year-old boy who lived in the outskirts of Springfield. His town was very much your typical Middle American suburb with a diverse and somewhat spread out populace which lived in your atypical cookie cutter style of home. Each house identical to the next one. The boy lived in the furry side of town in a division known as the burrow. It was given that name because its primary inhabitants were of the Lapine variety and the boy's family was no different.

The cub was of your typical domestic rabbit breed and his fur was almost entirely white. It was late into spring so the boy's fur coat was short and well-kept to make sure he didn't overheat when he decided to go outside. His parents were often to make sure that James didn't spend too much time inside. The boy didn't mind much since he was very much your typical boy who enjoyed a combination of physical activity and gaming. Though his preference very much lied within hanging out with his friends and playing Pokemon cards.

However, this didn't mean he was completely anti-social even if he did prefer being alone more than being with other kids his own age. Today he didn't have that option since he was being pulled out of school early. His mother had scheduled him his annual physical today and in order to make it on time, she had to pick him up shortly after his usual lunchtime. Once mealtime rolled around he was called into the office and signed out by his mother.

"Time for the doctor, sweety." The tall and lanky woman led their way out of the school and to her car.

His mother's vehicle was nothing special, just your typical two four-door sedan since the family needed the extra back seat when all of the members of the family were inside. His kin was a nuclear family and James was the youngest of two children with his sister being 3 years older than himself and already in junior high. As such being the youngest meant he was often given more attention, a fact his older sister was rather sour about.

The pediatric clinic wasn't far from the school and it was used by most of the local families since the place was large and had several examination rooms on top of two surgery hubs and a single x-ray station. When they arrived they were greeted by the front desk who knew his mother by name since she had been coming there since his sister James was old enough to need checkups. This time it was Sammy's turn for a physical.

After registering for the front desk, it was time for the pair to wait. There wasn't many other people around and looking around most of them were humans. This meant that James and his mother didn't have to wait as long since the two species saw different types of doctors. Within about 10 minutes a nurse who happened to be a squirrel decked out in a white lab coat appeared from behind a door.

"James Paws, Come on back." The male nurse beckoned to the boy and his mother waved him off.

The cub headed towards the nurse who was waiting for him and followed him into the corridor. The long hallway had doors jutting out into the breezeway with some of them being shut, though most of them were open since the place wasn't super busy. Eventually, they arrived at the room where the boy would receive his checkup. The squirrel stopped and head out his left paw as a gesture for James to go inside. The rabbit looked around and immediately noticed the medical bed.

"Here, let me help you up and then you can wait for the doctor." The man stepped in and gripped the boy by the waist lifting him up to the bed.

"Thanks, Mister!" The boy smiled happily at the assistant.

"The doctor will be with you in a moment." The squirrel stepped out and shut the door behind him.

James shuffled and kicked his feet against the metal plating of the base of the bed while waiting. It was a few moments before the doctor came in and looked over the rabbit. The woman had a clipboard with his chart of data that had been collected over the years and looked at it after a second of glancing him over.

"How are you feeling, James my boy?" The large moose of a man began reading the paperwork in front of him.

"I've been feeling okay." The cub looked over at him and watched the moose closely.

The cervine was muscular and stout which was not typical for his line of work but the doctor was a lacrosse enthusiast and kept rather active.

"I'm going to be taking some blood, urine, your heartbeat, among other things. Alright, buddy? I promise it won't hurt." The doctor had already gotten a syringe ready

The doctor stuck the medical utensil in the boy's arm. James flinched a little but was able to deal with the pain for the most part.

"Alright let's take your height and weight." The moose easily picked up the bunny and set him on the floor with very little effort.

The cub knew what to do and shuffled his shoes off without being told. After he went onto the dual-purposed weighing and measuring machine.

"Hmm, you're pretty small for your age." The man remarked before making a small mark on the paper in front of him.

"Go pee in this. While you do that, I will talk to your mother." The moose handed him a small clear cup.

James did as he was told and the Moose went to talk to his mother who was still in the waiting room.

"He checks out just fine. I'll call you with the blood and urine test results when we get them back from the lab.

However, I do think he should be put on growth hormone for a while." The doctor recommended to the boy's mother who seemed a bit surprised.

"How come? He's still pretty young isn't for that he?" The mother folded her arms and awaited his answer.

"Well, yes but he's still pretty behind the curve and puberty is right around the corner. He can just take a small dose and we'll see how his body responds." The man overlooked his paperwork and handed the woman a small vial of pills.

"Alright. I will trust your judgment." As she said that she took the small orange jar from him.

Soon after that, the boy appeared from the same door that the doctor did. He had handed off his urine sample to the nurse and was given a lollipop for his troubles.

"Alright champ. See you next time." The moose ruffled the boys headfur and went about the rest of his day like normal.

"All done? Well, let's go home." The mother got up from her chair and led her way out of the clinic with the small jar in her right paw.

She decided to start his regimen for tonight during dinner so he didn't suspect anything. The label on the bottle said 1 pill per night but she wondered how he might react to it and decided to start with half instead.

The drive home was a little longer than usual, even know the usual school traffic hadn't yet hit the road. There was a wreck on the highway and that single addition to the two's traveled to an hour total on the road. By the time they arrived home the mother was frustrated and fed up but did her best not to show it in front of her kid. James had some homework to do when he got home and decided it was best to focus on that until he finished it so that he could spend the rest of the night doing whatever he wanted.

The homework he had wasn't very hard but it did take some time. He had to write a story for English and for math he had a few practice lessons. His sister wasn't due home for a few more hours as the older child often had softball practice on after school. James was a diligent child and worked hard, even without help. Within a few hours, he was able to finish his work. By the time he did, he was summoned for dinner.

The cub was surprised to find Sammy home already, though he hadn't yet changed out of her softball uniform. The older girl was much more sporty than he was and the younger cub somewhat idolized his sister. Much to Sammy's chagrin, Sammy didn't pay much attention to him and when the older girl did it was usually at the cost of his own esteem.

"Alright guys, eat up your dinner and then it's time for a shower, Sammy." The mother made sure to remind her oldest of her duties as a clean boy.

"Yes, mom." The older cub knew better than to anger her mother.

James looked over at his sister and smiled then began to eat his food without saying a word. Sammy began to kick him and eventually, the younger cub grew tired of it."

"Mom....Sammy is kicking me." James whined and moaned as his mother sighed in dejection.

"Sammy, stop kicking your brother or you will have no free time tonight." She warned her sternly while staring at him.

Nothing else was said between the two and of course, the older one did stop. The meal made the younger one feel a bit queasy, causing him to cause to be excused.

"Mom, I don't feel well. Can I go to bed early?" James asked as he rubbed his stomach.

"Sure...Sammy and I can do the dishes tonight." The woman didn't think twice about it as she figured it was the medicine she had added to his meal.

"Thanks, Mom. The meal was really good." The cub got up from the table and headed towards his room hoping that sleep would get rid of the feeling in his stomach.

The boy returned to his room while the rest of his family worked on cleaning the table. James made sure to wash his mouth out and even spent extra time cleaning his teeth, half expecting it to get the foul taste out of his mouth. To no avail, he had no such luck. Once he figured out that didn't work he wasted no time in flopping on his bed, not even bothering to change into his bedclothes. Luckily for him, his body was strangely weary for no apparent reason.

The youngest rabbit was able to sleep pretty easily throughout the night. Throughout his life, he had always tossed and turned before sleeping but tonight James was able to rest with ease for a change. Morning came before long and since it was the beginning of the weekend there was no alarm to wake the boy up. The sun was rose high into against the horizon and beamed into the cub's room through the window. The blinds were no match for the freshly born beams of light from the morning sun.

Eventually, the blinding gaze of the sun roused him from his slumber. The cub rolled around in his bed and tried to reverse his position. However, it was too late. His body had enough of sleep and was restless and ready to get up. Sammy stretched and yawned. His young body was still rather groggy and it took a moment for him to gather himself. The rabbit gradually came around once he rubbed his eyes and tried to kick the stupor of sleep from his demeanor. It was always a prolonged task, especially on the weekend.

After rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and pulling the sheets off his body, he was ready to start the day. James shuffled himself off to the side of the bed. Once at the edge, the rabbit noticed something was off. The floor seemed much further away then he recalled. Not only that but his legs didn't stretch that far off the bed. Sammy pinched himself on his right arm to make sure he wasn't sleeping. Sure enough, there was a small shock of pain in the area where his fingers had applied pressure.

It was apparent that he wasn't asleep, though he wasn't entirely sure what was going on. Looking around nothing seemed really different about his room except that everything just seemed off. He couldn't put his finger on it but he could swear that everything seemed bigger. Though he was still sitting, the cub couldn't help but look at himself. Just his shirt enough was evidence that clearly something was wrong with him. The piece of clothing now sagged over much of his entire form and even covered down to his knees. He couldn't even see his shorts.

Pulling up his shirt, the cub found his pants were nowhere to be seen. His undies were there though, even though they were briefs, they were quite loose on him now. Looking back at his bundled up sheets, he saw his shorts laying astray underneath the covers. He was almost certain...he was smaller. The only saving grace was that the stomach ache he had experienced last night had faded away. He needed answers and now...figuring that his mother of all people would have the guidance he desperately needed.

James hopped off the bed with ease, though his perspective was off. Looking back at the bed, he was almost eye level with the thing. This only confirmed the already obvious issue at hand but it sent him into a panic. He began to rush but as soon as his legs were sent into a frenzy, his body tripped over his now longer shirt which prevented him any elongated pace. The boy tried to shake it off as he picked himself from the floor. Now was not the time to worry about such a trivial injury, he thought to himself.

The cub began walking much slower, noticing his strides were much shorter. It took him much longer than he recalled to reach the kitchen where he assumed his mother would be.

"Mom! I'm getting smaller." The cub saw no signs of his mother and instead saw Sammy instead.

"Mom isn't here...Don't be ridiculous you can't get smaller." The teen sighed as she heard the ridiculous claim uttered by her brother.

"But...I swear...just look at me!" The boy desperately wanted some sort of comfort to his condition.

The girl rolled her eyes and looked behind her because she knew he wouldn't be quiet unless she gave in. Looking at the boy, he seemed pretty much the same except that his shirts size resembled one similar to one handed down to him by his father.

There was something off about it, the garment looked like Sammy's school uniform which was only made more obvious by the school logo on the front pocket.

"What the...are you playing a joke on me? Did you get that shirt from one of your older friends or something?" His sister asked him even more confused than before.

"No...this is mine. I'm telling you I've gotten smaller since yesterday!" The boy squeaked out in fear trying to get her to understand.

"I uh...I mean I guess it's possible. Didn't Mom set up a chart for you?" Sammy was trying to make sense of the whole situation.

"I think so...why?" The younger sibling wasn't entirely sure what she was getting at.

"Let's measure you and then we'll call Mom..." As she approached him, he barely even came up to her knee.

The teen wasn't really sure what to make of the situation. She had heard of people getting smaller when the boy wasn't even in puberty yet. She was certain this was impossible and yet the evidence was pointing to the contrary.

The younger cub led the way to his room where his mother had taken the progress of his growth throughout the years. They entered into the room and James showed the way to the makeshift chart which was nothing more than little pencil marks on the wall.

"Stand up flat against the wall." Sammy instructed him to do the same thing he had done in the past.

James did as he was told and his sister held her paw out flat against his head to measure him. It was obvious enough that he was well below his last mark.

"Well you're definitely getting smaller...but I wonder why. Do you feel any different?" The teen asked as she was certain something had to be wrong about him.

"No, I feel fine." James looked up at his sister smiling, still chipper and happy as ever.

"Alright, well I'll call mom and we'll go from there. Wait here and I'll go do that." Sammy headed out of the room to call their mother.

Meanwhile, James waited and tried to keep himself busy. His stomach was beginning to bother him again as it had the previous night. The cub gripped his stomach and tried to ease the weird feeling inside of him. It began to build up and eventually brought him to his knees. It was far worse than anything he had experienced last night. The boy couldn't help but close his eyes and try to weather the sensation.

A feeling of weakness soon filled his form as soon the overwhelming sense of queasiness passed. What was even more strange is that not even once did he feel the desire to vomit. His body felt weak and light. James was able to move but there was a heavy weight on top of him suppressing his movement. The boy tried to struggle and opened his eyes. His surroundings were entirely dark and he could see nothing. For a moment he could have sworn he was going blind and began to panic.

Sammy returned soon after to find the younger sibling missing. She began to suspect mischief and immediately called out to him.

"James stop playing games and come out right now! This isn't funny." The teen looked around suspecting the boy to appear at any given moment.

The younger cub overheard a booming noise which rung his ears and made him cover them in an attempt to save himself from the piercing boom of volume. He squirmed a little bit and this small effort of movement revealed his position to his sister.

The girl couldn't believe her eyes and was certain she had to be imagining things. Bending over she slowly peeled away the shirt which was piled on the floor. Sure enough, below it, her brother was revealed. Naked as the day he was born, but luckily he was covering himself.

"What...happened to you?" She picked him up in her hand and looked James over in awe.

The boy was unable to respond as the cub looked at his now giant sister. The light of the room made him squint a bit but he was glad to be out of the stifling dark cavern that was his shirt.

The girl was unsure of what to do as concern began to override her demeanor. The only saving grace was the fact that her brother didn't appear to be hurt.

"This is pretty cool...I bet you could have all sorts of adventures at that size." The teen's sense of reason abandoned her as her more playful side took over.

She placed him down and fetched one of his toy trucks and slid him inside the seat.

"Hey...what are you doing!?" James began to panic but it didn't seem like his sister could hear it.

She began pushing the vehicle along the carpet as the cub tried to grab hold of the steering wheel in an effort to prevent himself from falling out. Gradually the sense of fear was replaced by amusement and he began to laugh.

Sammy took the transport up a small book, pretending as if it were a ramp and the boy's body bounced upward but remained in the driver's seat. Eventually, she grew tired with the activity and snatched him into her hands. She knew the perfect spot for him and was glad her mother had never answered the phone. Though she knew the problem would have to be resolved for later.

She stuck him inside a dollhouse which was more than big enough. James looked around and even the Barby and Ken dolls inside were bigger than he was. He felt better than before, though his situation was by no means ideal. The boy decided he was helpless and knew he had to play along in order to enlist his sister's help. But the question remained. How would he get back to normal? Only time would tell...