"Eat your brussel sprouts, Jimmy," his mother said. "They'll make you grow big and strong, just like the Hulk."

Jimmy frowned and pecked his brussel sprouts. He didn't like how they tasted, but he knew his mother was right. Mother was always right.

He put one into his mouth and bit down. Yuck. "Eat them and you'll be big and strong. They're good for you." Jimmy grimaced and carefully chewed.

After dinner, Jimmy marched upstairs and for bed. He put on his Hulk pajamas—his favorite. Then he slid into bed.

His stomach rumbled. Deep inside, there was a throbbing dull pain. Must be the dumb brussel sprouts, he though. But it didn't feel like the usual stomach ache. This pain felt different, somehow.

His mother came into the room and knelt besides his bed. "Now go to sleep."

"Mommy," he whimpered. "My stomach hurts."

"Do you have to go potty?"

He shook his head. "No. But it hurts."

"Either you stop complaining or you go potty."

Jimmy nodded. He got out of bed and walked over to the bathroom. His mother watched him go in, then shut the door.

Jimmy wrinkled his brow and perched on the toilet. The cool porcelain kissed his buttocks. He looked down at his pajamas. The Hulk stared back up at him. Jimmy curled his lips and scowled like the Hulk. "Grrr!"

The pain in his stomach continued to throb. He rubbed his tummy, but that didn't help. He clenched his butt cheeks and pushed, but that didn't help either. Jimmy sighed.

Suddenly, the pain EXPLODED!

It radiated throughout his body. Fiery spears shot out from his stomach and into his limbs. Jimmy fell to the floor with the pajamas wrapped around his ankles. He tried to cry out. Only a soft whisper dripped from his lips. "Mommy…"

An intense heat burned under his skin. Tears welled in his eyes and mucus trickled from his nose. He rolled onto his side and curled into a fetal position, as the pain reminded his body of the primal shock it experienced during childbirth.

And then, as suddenly as it started—it stopped.

Jimmy huddled and twitched in the fetal position. His heart beat was thundering. Though the pain subsided, the memory of it lingered.

He opened his eyes and saw the cobwebs under the bathroom counter. A spider hung there, staring at him as if it had just seen a monster. Then he looked at his hands and his life changed forever.

His hands were green. And large.

Very large.

So were his arms. And his legs. Muscles rippled under his skin. His pajamas lay torn to shreds on the floor. Except for a convenient strip which held onto his waist and covered his family jewels. Pajama elastic band technology is apparently quite a wonder these days.

Jimmy stood up and looked at himself in the mirror. He grinned.

"I'm the Hulk!" he shouted. "Yes! I'm the Hulk!!" He pumped his arms into the air and jumped. Each time he landed, the house shook. The booming vibrations sent his mother right back into the bathroom.

"Jimmy, what is going on…"

"Hi Mommy!" Jimmy shouted. "Look, I'm the Hulk!"

At that split second, two forces struggled to dominate his mother. The first was the urge to scream until ever molecule of air leapt out of her lungs. The other was the urge to pass-the-hell-out. The second urge won and she crumpled to the floor.

"Mommy?" Jimmy nudged his mother. "Mommy, are you okay?" She moaned but remained unconscious. Satisfied that she was okay, he returned to the mirror. "Oh wow! Wow wow wow wow WOW!"

Suddenly, a chill ran through his spine. The chill poured through his veins like a cold shower. His teeth chattered. In the mirror, Jimmy watched his body begin to shrink.

"No! No no no no NO!"

But he couldn't stop it. Just as heat had exploded throughout his body, cold now radiated through his limbs. The chill was unnerving. He dropped to the floor again and felt his entire body shriveling.

No, Jimmy thought. Don't want to change back. No no no no NO.

And just like that, he reverted back to a little boy. His pajamas miraculously adjusted to fit his new waist size, but the rest of his Hulk pajamas were in shreds.

Jimmy climbed back up and looked in the mirror. A little boy started back at him. No more great big green Hulk. Just a little boy. Jimmy retired to the toilet bowl and sighed.
A few moments passed. Then his mother woke up. She rubbed her eyes and blinked. "Jimmy? Jimmy?"

"Yes Mommy?"

She blinked again and looked at him. "What happened?"

"Nothing Mommy. I'm done with the potty now."

She rubbed her temples. "What happened to… your pajamas?"

He looked down at the shreds. "Oh. Um. I ripped them."

"Ripped them… how?"

"I'm done going potty now Mommy. I'm going to bed." He stood up, gathered up the shreds, and cast one last glance at the scowling Hulk in his pajamas. Then he walked past his mother and back to bed.

"Oh, and Mommy?" he called from his room.

His mother slowly climbed to her feet and to examine her face in the mirror. "Yes?"

"Can we have brussel sprouts for dinner tomorrow too?"

. . .

Do you like brussel sprouts?