IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL DAY, A PERFECT DAY FOR MRS. JOAN GREENE. SHE WAS SITTING OUTSIDE HAVING A GLASS OF TEA AND WATCHING HER TWO DOGS PLAYING IN THE SUN ,SHE HAD NO IDEA THAT SHE WAS ABOUT TO GO INTO...THE TWILIGHT ZONE.

It was a gentle breeze blowing, Joan was watching her schnauzer puppies playing in the yard . She was sipping on a tall glass of ice tea when she heard the wooden gate open, she looked around and saw a young man coming to her; she smiled and said,

"Nathan ! It's so good to see my favorite nephew ."

A huge grin came on his face then when he got to her, he bent down to kiss her then he said,

"I'm your only nephew Aunt Joan."

She smiled and a twinkle jumped in her eye then she said in a teasing voice,

"That's why your my favorite, my sister knew enough to have the best first."

He sat in the green metal chair opposite her then he said,

"Aunt Joan, I've done it...my invention is all ready for you."

She put down the glass of tea on the table, stood up and walked around in a semi-circle then she turned to her nephew then asked,

"You really think it will work Nathan?"

He smiled and nodded he head then said,

"I"m sure, I've already tried it out on several specimens...there's just one thing..."

She interrupted him then with so much excitement and joy in her voice, she said;

"Oh, it doesn't matter, it's probably just a little thing you can fix..."

She danced around the room then spread her arms then said,

"Oh, to be able to do all the things I used to do ! WHEN can we do it?!"

He put both his hands on her arms on either side of her then said,

"How about tomorrow?"

She looked at him in shock then asked,

"Tomorrow? Oh ! YES! I just never dreamed that it would be so soon !"

A HUGE grin came on his face then he said,

"I have to go Auntie, there's some last minute things I have to put together."

She gave him a big kiss on his cheek then she said,

"You go on, I have some things to do also, I want to look my best for this in the morning."

He gives her a wave then runs out then she clasps her hands together then she went to go pick up the glass of tea off her little round patio table then she said to the puppies,

"Bon ! Bates ! Let's go in !"

The pups look at her and race in then she walked in the house, she put the tea on a coaster on a glass table then she went over to the fireplace and pulled down a picture of a rather handsome elderly man then she said,

"Oh my darling ! Oh James , it's really going to happen !"

She put the picture back up on the fireplace then continued to dance happily around the room.

(((oOo)))

The next morning, Joan stepped up to her nephew's house just as dawn was cracking. Her entire body shook with nerves as she moved her finger toward the doorbell, she pressed the button then as she waited, she looked down the long porch with a white swing at the end. In her mind, she went back in time...a time when she was younger...she was sitting on a porch much like this one except it was screened in. She was sitting on the swing in a pretty 1950's pink dress and she had a white sweater over her shoulders and a gold chain clasped at the neck. Her brown hair was in a bun and a pretty blue and white dragonfly hairpin next to the bun. She had on white gloves as all ladies did back in those days, she looked shyly down at her feet, she had on white bobby socks with her leather panent shoes. She was sitting next to the love of her life, James who was so handsome in his Army uniform. She loved his Army crew cut...somehow, she thought it even made him more handsome than before they cut his hair.

The front porch light began to flicker and they knew that was her silent signal for her to come in so James knew he had to speak up before she went in so...he did a nervous fake cough then he pulled out a small velvet box then he said;

"Joan?"

She turned her head to him and asked,

"Yes?"

She saw the nervous look in her eyes and she wondered but she didn't say a word, just listened,

"W-w-ww-w-would you marry...me?"

She looked down at the box then she smiled and asked him,

"Aren't you supposed to get on your knee to ask me?"

He looked down then he stood up, got down on one knee then asked the same question...her smile just widened and she said, "Yes!"

James shot up and grabbed her in a bear hug and they kissed.

Just then, back in reality, Nathan asked,

"Aunt Joan?"

She turned to him and smiled then said,

"I'm sorry, I was just remembering things of the past."

He smiled then said, "That's okay...come on let's go in the house then down to the basement."

She eagerly took his arm, they went inside and as they went down the steps; she said,

"I hope you don't mind me coming so early...I was just so excited that I went to bed early to get a good night's sleep !"

He laughed then said, "No, not at all ! I didn't even go to sleep, I wanted to get everything right for this morning."

They went to the other end of the room where all she saw was a long...something under white sheet then she asked,

"Well, where is it?"

He let go of her arm then went over to the sheet, yanked it off then said,

"Here it is !"

She looked down at it then she said,

"Why, it looks like a tanning bed!"

He laughed a little then he said,

"That's because it is ! When I saw this for sale in the papers, I had to have it ! The tubes that the UV RAYS go thorough are just perfect for my invention."

She looked puzzled then asked, "Do you use UV Rays for this?"

He laughed again then said, "No Auntie...it's an entirely new thing. And don't worry, no danger goes through here."

She smiled then said,

"Well, I trust you...what do I do now?"

He went to a room the size of a broom closet, got something then walked back to his aunt then asked;

"Please put these on."

She looked down in his right hand, a teeny, tiny purple bikini and a white robe in the other then she looked at him in shock then exclaimed:

"I can't wear those !"

He looked at her with sad eyes then said,

"I'm sorry but you have to for this to work. I need almost every inch of your body exposed."

She just sighed then went to the bathroom to change. She came back out and he lead her to the bed, she laid down and he closed the lid over her. He then went to the other side of the room where there was a wall like there is in x-ray rooms with a small window, he worked like a demon then lights filled the room like a rainbow and a peaceful sound came out like waves of the ocean. A few hours later, he opened the lid. He looked astonished at his work...he said,

"Aunt Joan?"

His words were like they were saying them for the first time...Joan's eyelids fluttered, she looked around then saw her handsome nephew then she asked, "Did it work?"

He smiled then took her hand then said, "Come see."

He took her over to a full length mirror then she looked at herself in total amazement ! She didn't have any wrinkles ! Her legs were long and shapely, like a supermodel ! Her wait was tiny and narrow like it was before she had any children ! Her stomach was flat with NO flab anywhere ! Her breasts were perfectly round like she remembered, her neck was long...her skin was soft as a newborn . Her face ! She could not get over her face ! Her lips were a soft and looked like a pink rose just opening to bloom, her nose was perky! Her eyes , she looked in them and saw a soft velvet brown pillow ! Her hair, soft and shiny !

She turned to her nephew and said, "I can't believe it ! I'm 21 again !"

He walked around her in amazement then he said, "I'm just in shock, mom always said you were a splitting image of a young Mary Tyler Moore and I saw pictures but I just never thought...how close you do look like her !"

She smiled, turned back to the mirror and said, "Oh, I just can't thank you Nathan ! You have given me back my life !"

She hugged him then said, "I feel so energized ! Like I have been asleep for hours !"

He smiled, proud of himself then said,

"You have Auntie, you 've been asleep for 5 hours ! It's nearly noon ! That's why I had the sounds in the room, you needed to be asleep for this."

She turned back to the mirror then said, "Oh, thank you Nathan ! You have given me my life back ! "

She hugged him then she ran to go change her clothes to go back into the day.

(((oOo)))

A few hours later, she came into her house full of packages and bags ! She put them down on the couch then she threw herself down beside them then she heard growling...she looked around and saw that it was her dogs, Bon and Bates !

She said, "Silly,it's me ! Your mom !"

They kept growling then she stuck out her hand for them to smell then they jumped on her, licking her ! Full of doggie love and excitement ! She laughed and threw air kisses at them then she said,

"Okay boys, whew! That's enough !"

She stood up and straightened her new yellow sundress then she went over to the picture of James on the fireplace mantel then said,

"Oh James, everything's finally coming true !"

She danced around the room with the picture with only the humming of her voice for music.

(((oOo)))

Over the next few weeks,she did things she hadn't done in ages ! She ran, she jumped, she went water skiing ! She enjoyed herself.

One day, she was in the house with her dogs and planning her next big adventure when the telephone rang, she went to go pick it up and said,

"Hello?...Oh, doctor Langston ! Has there been any news?..."

Her eyes just get wide and more wide as the doctor talks then she finally said,

"Oh doctor ! That is the best news ! Are you sure? Oh yes, thank you ! I'll be over there as soon as I can !"

She looked around the room , jumped with excitement then she got the phone again and called somebody:

"Oh Nathan ! It's happened! Get to the hospital now !"

She looked around the room and started to cry.

(((oOo)))

As Joan was running down the hall, she saw her nephew standing in front of a door to a room in the ICU unit, she was out of breath but she managed to get to him and she said,

"I'm sorry I was late getting here Nathan but traffic was terrible ! Where's the doctor? What did he say? Is my husband really going to wake up?"

Nathan waved his hand in front then he said,

"The doctor is in there with him right now, he's not entirely awake yet Joan, he keeps coming and and out of consciousness but the doctor says he is showing every sign that he'll be awake soon ."

She covers her mouth with her hands then walks back a little ways then she removes her hands then she said:

"Do you know what this means James? Oh my gosh! He'll be awake and he'll see me !"

They hug then Joan said, "Oh Nathan ! When he finally is able to walk out of this hospital, we can go over to your house and you can do...this..."

She runs her hands up and down her body on her own body then she finished her sentence,

"You can do this...age regression on him...he can be young again and we can live our lives ! Oh !"

He drops the smile on his face as she starts to twirl around then he yelled to make her stop,

"Joan !"

She stopped and looked at him confused then she asked,

"What's wrong Nathan? We will be able to...won't we?"

He turned and walked slowly back to the nearest end of the hall, looked out the window at the children playing in the park then he turned back to his aunt and said,

"No, you can't Aunt Joan, that's what I was trying to tell you that day...you can but Uncle James can't...my age regression machine won't work on him. There's something...in the male DNA that won't let men ...turn young...I'm sorry auntie...I'm sorry."

She looked at him in horror then she asked,

"But all your testing...specimens..."

He looked down at the floor then said,

"They were all female."

Tears begin to swell up in her eyes then she said with her voice raised,

"You told me it was a success !"

He ran his hand through his hair and he said, "It was." Joan turned and looked at him with accusation in her eyes then she said, "It's not when it only does half of what it's supposed to do ! Oh Nathan ! I trusted you !"

She looked at the door to the room where her husband laid in a coma then she said with a sob in her voice;

"James can't ever..."

Nathan sadly shook his head 'No' then a few minutes later, Joan ran over to him and grabbed his arm then down the hall.

(((OoO)))

The next day, Joan is back looking old...but happy. She walked arm in arm to her husband's room with Nathan. He looked at his aunt and he asked,

"Are you sure Aunt Joan?"

She looked up at her nephew then she said,

"I"m sure Nathan, I can't grow old or become young without him...I promised him 50 years ago that I would grow old with him, I can't break that promise."

He smiled and kissed his aunt on the head then a man in a doctor's lab coat came out and when he saw her, he smiled then said,

"He's been asking for you Mrs. Greene."

Joan smiled then said, "Oh, thank you doctor, is everything all right?"

The doctor smiled then put his pen in his lab coat pocket then said, "Everything is perfect, he has his memory, everything is fine...it's just like the accident never happened but where were you yesterday? I expected you to come when I called."

Joan looked up at Nathan then said, "Oh, I did but...an emergency came up and I had to go reverse something."

Nathan smiled in knowing then the doctor said, "Well, you're welcome to go in."

The door swung wide open and Joan went in the room with her arms wide open.

The doctor looked up at Nathan and asked, "How long have they been married?"

A tear came to Nathan's eye and he said, " Since July 3rd, 1955."

The doctor whistled then said, "True love"

Nathan nodded his head then said "Yeah."

Sand n' Sable

I know this is a sappy "The Twilight Zone" but it was by request from the show 'Trade in's' and I thought that episode was a bit of a love story myself.

Please read and review.