User:Duinemerwen/LaMachineÀRajeunir

La Machine A Rajeunir is a Quebecois story featured in the anthology Nouvelles Frontieres: Anthologie 10 by Pearson Education.

Synopsis

The story features a boy named Marc-Andre, who realizes that his parents are becoming younger and younger after their trip to the Machine a Rajeunir in Perce, Quebec. His father, Hugo, is no longer myopic, and his mother, Sophie, has become "sexy." His friend, Josee, is skeptical until Hugo compares their current selves to photographs taken decades ago, when they were 26 instead of 40. Thus Hugo, Sophie, Marc-Andre, and Josee embark on a journey to Perce to reverse their youth.

Sadly, Hugo and Sophie succumb to the urges of youth and become drunk at a convenience store. After destroying their car, they hot-wire a BMW and set off. Marc Andre becomes delusional from the exhaust fumes and believes himself to be the father of Hugo and Sophie. Josee is the only sane character remaining.

However their road trip is brutally interrupted when a helicopter crashes and two men in black climb out of the wreckage. They are referred to as "Wheels" and "Gizmo" throughout the story. Wheels and Gizmo promise to halt the aging of Hugo and Sophie if they cooperate and go with them to a top-secret facility in Sherbrooke, run by a mysterious "Natalie au Quebec." Josee and the family refuse, and attack the men in black by hitting them with car doors. A high-speed chase ensues but ends when Wheels and Gizmo's ferrari are crushed by a falling tree. However the family car is also totalled.

So without a ride, the family hijacks an RV run by Luce, and her father Henri Francios to Perce.

There, Marc-Andre forgets the meaning of his journey with his parents and he elopes with Luce to Alpha Centurai. Hugo and Sophie grow younger and younger and disappear, leaving only poor Josee to tell their story to the psychiatrist at Kingston Penintary.