|
20-08-2008
|
#21 (permalink) |
|
Regular
|
The Addict -- Chapter 4
Ok, the long awaited (I hope) Chapter 4. But first to summarize Chapter 3 -- Toby awakes to find that he has REALLY been regressed physically into a toddler's body, at first it seems like a dream, but then he awakens totally! and is shocked. A woman named Melissa becomes his 'care giver', and explains she had nothing to do with it and only wants to help. Toby is (perhaps understandably) rude to her, commanding her to go away.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Addict - Chapter 4 The next two days Toby spent in a kind of solitary confinement. Melissa would bring him food and changes of clothing and each time Toby would ask, “Are they letting me go?” She would lower her head, “No,” and he would order her out again. The door was locked from the outside, and the windows in his room were inaccessibly high. He was confined to a nursery room with no way out, and no one to talk to – it was driving him crazy! Melissa was also delivering something other than clothing – changes of bedding. To Toby’s unbelieving disgust, he had become a bed wetter. He woke up EVERY morning soaking wet. Each morning he would immediately take a bath, while Melissa would change his bedding and leave dry cloths without saying a word. By the third day, Toby had reached his limit – the boredom, the loneliness, the wet beds – so he vowed to talk to Melissa instead of kicking her out. As she entered the nursery, Toby started right away. “Listen, Melissa, we have to talk—“ He stopped in mid sentence. She was not alone today. Trailing her was a small boy, a toddler, about Toby’s same height. “Who is that?” Melissa turned to the boy at her side. “This is Frank, your new roommate.” Toby was shaking his head. “What the hell?! I don’t want a roommate, especially not a baby.” The child piped in, “I’m a toddler, A—hole, not a baby. And I’m not exactly thrilled about you either.” Toby was stunned to hear those words issuing from such a small ba…toddler. “You talk?” “Frank is another client having problems regressing, just like you,” Melissa explained. “They thought you two might get along.” Toby walked up to Frank, still unbelieving. “You’re like me? You know, an adult trapped in a—“ “—a toddler’s body. Yeah, I’m like you, pal.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m sure we’ll have loads in common.” Toby ignored Frank’s sarcasm. He was just so relieved to see someone else in his situation, someone to talk to, perhaps someone to help plan an escape. Frank was perhaps an inch shorter than Toby with wispy brown hair, and innocent looking eyes that belied his adult attitude. The name, Frank, sounded somehow familiar to Toby. He had heard that name somewhere before. “Frank…” he thought for a moment. “Wasn’t there a ‘Frank’ in that rehab group?” Frank nodded. “Yeah, A—hole, that would be me.” Toby still found it hard to accept. “You mean you’re the Frank who spent all that time in prison?” The boy-Frank nodded with a kind of pride. “More-n thirty years.” Yes, Toby remembered now. Frank had been in prison longer than Toby had been alive. It was hard to imagine such a sordid past belonging to this innocent looking child with a voice just as soft and high pitched as his own. Frank walked past Toby to examine their room. “So this is it,” he sounded disgusted, “another nursery room…GREAT! I guess it beats a cinder block cell.” “I’ll let you two get to know each other while get the rest of Frank’s stuff.” Melissa returned about ten minutes later pushing Frank’s crib through the door. As with Toby, Frank ordered the mattress removed from the crib and placed on the floor. Also, as with Toby, Frank had become a hopeless bedwetter, so for the next few days while Toby and Frank tried to plan their escape, Melissa had to bring TWO sets of bedding and TWO changes of cloths everyday along with their meals. One morning after their usual routine of baths and Melissa changing Toby and Frank’s bedding, Melissa motioned for them to have a seat with her on the floor. Toby, still feeling his usual humiliation from waking in a wet bed, sat dejected on the floor next to her. Frank, who didn’t seem to care anymore, joined them as well. Melissa lowered her voice. “I learned something new from the girls in the daycare. I think I can get you out of here.” Toby perked up his head. “How? When?” “One of the girls, Tanya, was telling me about how she gets to take one of the kids home on the weekend. Of course she takes Mary, her favorite. I started talking with the other girls, and it turns out that most of them get to take their favorites home on the weekend.” Melissa compared Toby and Frank’s expressions. Toby looked confused, he didn’t seem to get it. Frank, on the other hand, the experienced prisoner, immediately understood. “Well,” she said, “what do you think?” “But they obviously bring the kids back,” said Toby. “What difference does that make.” Frank punched Toby in the arm. “Hey stupid, it’s a pass, a weekend pass. Don’t you get it. We can escape.” Toby frowned, “Escape…like this,” he pointed to his body. “Where do you think you could go?” “It doesn’t matter,” Frank spat, “anywhere but here. When do we go?” he said to Melissa. “Well, soon,” she paused a moment, “but there is a little catch.” “What?” they both said in unison. “They’re only going to let you go if they think you are completely regressed. Mary, for instance, there’s no question her adult memories are gone.” Frank shrugged his shoulders. “So, we give them a show. Shouldn’t be too hard.” Frank was prepared to do anything to escape, years of prison had taught him that. Toby still wasn’t on board with the plan. “I still don’t see the point. We’ll still be babies even if we get out of here. What are you going to do with us? Go to a mall and show us to your friends?” Melissa frowned. “Look, I’m sorry. It’s the best I can do for now. At least you’ll get away from Director Miles. And I WON’T show you off to my friends. You can stay in my spare bedroom, an adult room by the way, NOT a nursery.” Frank’s mind was working the possibilities, “And she can still bring us back on Mondays,” he explained to Toby. “We’ll keep coming back until she figures out how to get our adult bodies back.” Melissa nodded. “Nobody talks about the time device, but I keep fishing for information.” That part about getting away from Director Miles did sound attractive to Toby. Also, the promise of sleeping in a regular room that WASN’T a nursery sounded even more attractive. He had to admit, it was a start. “Ok,” Toby conceded. “I guess it’s better than nothing. I’d like to get out of this place, too.” “It’s decided then,” said Frank. “When do we start?” “Well, today is Tuesday,” Melissa started. “I could take you to the daycare room with the other children. You have to go there eventually, might as well be now.” Toby objected. “But…I don’t know how to act like…one of them…you know, a toddler.” Frank chimed in. “Can’t be too hard. Just play with toys and babble like an idiot.” Melissa nodded in agreement. “He’s right, just do what the other kids are doing. And they’re not idiots, they’re little children,” she said defensively. Toby imagined he could give it a try. “Ok, I’ll give it a try.” His awful parents used to accuse him of acting like a baby. This would be his chance to do it for REAL. It couldn’t be that difficult. Melissa cleared her throat. “Ummm, there’s one more detail.” She stood up, walked over to the changing table and returned to the floor with them. She was holding two diapers in her hands. “These,” she said. “NO WAY!” Toby shouted. “NEVER!” On this point, Frank also agreed. “Then it’s off,” Melissa said finally. “They’ll never believe you are regressed. They’ll never let me take you to out of this place.” She stood back up to put the diapers away. Frank spoke when she was half way to the table. “Hold on, come back for a second. Let’s talk about this.” Toby looked to Frank, unbelieving. “Talk about what? There’s nothing to talk about. I’m not wearing that thing.” Frank was clearly willing to compromise. “Ok, this is all an act, right? This is part of that act, right? Like a costume, right? When I was in prison I learned you do whatever they tell you to do, say whatever they tell you to say. When you get out, then you do whatever you please. If all I have to do is wear a goddamn diaper for a month to spring this place, I’ll do it.” He marched over to the changing table. “Give me your best shot.” Melissa walked back to the table, lifted Frank easily onto the table, and under a minute the deed was done. He strutted over to Toby, taunting him. “Does this make my ass look fat,” he grinned ear to ear. Toby rolled his eyes. “You look stupid. You’re crazy, and I’m not wearing one.” Frank stared him directly in the eyes. “In one month, while you’re still sleeping in that crib over there wetting the bed every night, I’ll be kicking back drinking a beer and watching porn at Ms. Melissa’s place. We’ll see who’s stupid then.” He marched over to the door. “Lead the way, Melissa. Take me to the playground.” Toby thought a moment longer. A beer sounded great right now. If this old man could do it, why couldn’t he? With exaggerated slowness, he stood and moved his feet step by painful step over to the changing table. “All right. I’ll give it a try. But Frank, cover your eyes, don’t watch!” he commanded. “You too, Melissa.” “I have to see what I’m doing, Toby.” She laid him on the table and began to undress him. “Maybe you should cover your eyes.” Toby did just that, covered his face with both hands. His face was beat red. In moments, it was over and he was standing on the floor again. He took a few cautious steps. YUCK! He could feel the thickness of the diaper between his legs with every step. It made him walk funny. “All right, let’s go,” he said, walking tenderly to the door. How he would face a room full of children looking like this, he had no idea. Toby had never felt more self conscious. |
|
|
|
31-08-2008
|
#23 (permalink) |
|
Regular
|
The Addict - Chapter 5
Ok, here it is, the next installation in my story. If you aren't interested in the story by now, rest assured, it becomes VERY interesting from this point on. To summarize the last chapter 4 - Toby spends a few days in solitary confinement in his nursery room, hardly believing that he now has the body of a toddler. He already is wetting the bed every night, but refused to but on a diaper. Then, he gets a new roommate, Frank - the ex-con who attended the group therapy session that Toby walked out of. Frank and Toby conspire to pretend to be regressed as toddlers in order to get weekend passes away from Forever Safe. So, Toby finally agrees to wear toddler clothes, to include a diaper, as part of the disguise.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Addict - Chapter 4 Melissa stood at the entrance to the daycare with Toby and Frank at each side. It was a nursery room with about fifteen one- and two-year-old girls and boys. No one had noticed them yet, standing at the door. Toby was in full panic now. He couldn’t do this. He had no idea how to act like these kids. He felt like all eyes were on him. The fact that he was wearing a diaper at the moment only made it worse, never mind all of them were in diapers, too. “Melissa, I can’t do this,” he whispered. “You have to take me back.” Melissa squeezed his hand to shut him up. “Don’t talk,” she mumbled urgently. Frank whispered next. “You can do this, Toby. Just stick with me. We’ll act like we’re playmates.” Melissa walked the two boys to an older woman named Ann. “Hello Ms. Ann,” Melissa said in a sing-song tone as if she, too, were a child. “These are our newest clients, Toby, and Frank.” Ann was both taller, grayer, and heavier set than Melissa. She leaned menacingly over the boys. “New clients, ay.” She was scrutinizing them. “Are they totally—“ “Ready for daycare,” Melissa interrupted, “absolutely so. I’ve been caring for them myself. Believe me, they are ready.” Ann turned away from the boys. “Very well, they can go play. We’ll be serving lunch soon.” Melissa released their hands. “Go on boys, go play.” She shooed them in a motherly way. Frank led Toby to a corner where there were no other children playing. They began stacking plastic blocks without enthusiasm. Frank kept catching glimpses of the other children, already trying to learn the act. Toby tried to avoid looking anyone, hoping not to attract attention. He just wanted to be invisible. And invisible he remained for a short while at least. As if walking into a child daycare AS a child hadn’t been traumatic enough, Toby had his first climactic crisis shortly after lunch. They had eaten very bland spaghetti and meat sauce with milk from a sippy cup. When Toby had tried to unscrew the top, Frank stopped him with a grunt. “Just do it like they are,” he said under his breath. So, Toby drank his milk from the sippy cup. About an hour after lunch, Toby had a new urgency. He had to use the bathroom, and not just a piss this time. He could see the restroom that the teachers used, but the door was always closed. He waited for it to be left open, in ever growing urgency. “Damn it,” he muttered, “leave the door open. I really have to go.” His stomach was beginning to cramp. At last, Toby couldn’t hold it any longer, so he went to the door hoping it wasn’t locked. As he reached for the handle, he was abruptly lifted high into the air. “Woah, kiddo.” Linda, another teacher in his room had picked him up and turned him around. “You’re not allowed to play in here.” “Please, I really have to go! It’s urgent!” He couldn’t help it. He had to talk. The woman’s eyes widened. “What did you say?” She put him back on the ground. “You’ve got to let me in there. I have to go NOW!” She shook her head. “I don’t think you belong in this room.” At that moment, Toby felt his arm being grabbed. Frank was pulling him away and led him out of sight behind a bookshelf. “Damn it, Toby, stop talking. You’re giving us away.” Toby jerked his arm away. “Let me go. I have to take a crap and I have to go now.” His stomach was aching desperately. “Look, I think you know what you have to do,” he spat. “It’s part of the act. Believe me, I’ve been humiliated more than this. When you’re on your second prison sentence then you’ll understand.” Toby pushed Frank away. “I’m not going to prison, you loser. I’m going in there,” he pointed to the restroom door, “to take a crap and you can’t stop me.” “You’re on your own, then,” Frank spat again. “We’ll never get out of here this way.” And, he walked away, leaving Toby alone behind the bookshelf. Toby started to walk back to the restroom. Linda blocked the way with her arms crossed. He wasn’t going to get through. Toby was desperate, he couldn’t hold it much longer. He didn’t know why he had to go so bad, why he couldn’t hold it longer. He broke into a sweat. He was about to explode. At that moment, Toby was the most humiliated he had ever been in his life. It couldn’t wait, he had to go now. He was GOING now! In one instant, he both let his bowels loose and started to cry. He just couldn’t hold it back, the tears or his bowels. Linda could see what he had done. She “humpfed” and picked him up, carrying him at arm’s length to the changing table. Toby didn’t resist. He could only cover his tear streaked face in shame. The woman efficiently cleaned him up, re-diapered him, and unceremoniously sat him back on the floor. She clearly did not approve of his speaking ability and would report this to her supervisor, Ann. Toby immediately ran back behind the book shelf and hid for the rest of the day. He didn’t want to be seen by anyone. His shame was excruciating. That evening, when Melissa returned Frank and Toby back to their room, Toby ran to the bathroom, slammed the door, removed his diaper, and remained in the restroom until bedtime. “What’s going on,” Melissa kept knocking on the door. “Are you ok in there?” “Go away!” he yelled back. “Leave me alone!” Melissa looked to Frank, next. “What happened today?” Frank, who was famished and wolfing down his dinner, spoke thru a mouthful of food. “He crapped his pants,” he said matter-of-factly. “I think it upset him.” Melissa understood. “He’s really having a hard time pretending, isn’t he. I’ll see if I can smooth things over with the girls tomorrow. What about you? How are you doing with the act?” Frank swallowed, then took a gulp of milk. “Same thing happened to me. It’s pretty disgusting, but I’ve been thru worse.” He didn’t sound troubled at all. Melissa smiled, “Sounds like you have experience…fooling people. You should give Toby some help.” “Doesn’t want it,” he shrugged. “I tried to talk some sense into him. He thinks he’s too good for an old ex-con like me.” Later that evening when Toby emerged from the restroom, he went straight for his mattress on the floor hoping to dive under the covers and hide. Unfortunately, it had been returned to the crib. Melissa was busy cleaning up the room, Frank was already in his crib snoring. “What happened to my mattress?” he whispered to her. “Why is it back in the crib?” Melissa came over to him and kneeled. She tried to give him the most compassionate look she could. “Toby, I know you had a hard day. I’m really sorry. But we have to keep the act going in this room, too. If Director Miles comes into the room – and he might after what happened today – he needs to see you in your crib, not sleeping on the floor. You really shouldn’t have talked to Linda like that today. Everyone will be suspicious.” “I don’t care. I had to go. I don’t know if I can go on with this baby stuff.” “But you still want to get out of here, don’t you?” Toby hung his head. Yes, he did want to get out, more than anything. “I know you want out. And I want to get you out. It’s terrible what they do to our clients. I hate it just as much as you do. That’s why I want to help you out of here. I just don’t know any other way to get you out unless you act like a real baby.” She lifted him up over the rail and into the crib. “You probably should be in a diaper…in case Director Miles—“ “No, not tonight,” Toby began to sniff back tears. “I can’t bear it.” He pulled the cover over his head. “Just go away.” Melissa patted his back thru the covers. “You think it over. It’s your decision. I can do my part, but I can’t make you do yours.” She turned the lights out as she left Toby alone with his shame. |
|
|
|
|
13-09-2008
|
#25 (permalink) |
|
Regular
|
The Addict: Chapter 6
Hey everybody, sorry it's taken so long to post another chapter - been kinda' busy. So, here we go with the next chapter, but first - as always - a summary of Chapter 5. Toby experienced his first day of daycare and it didn't go so well. He does not want to interact with any of the other children. He also has his first diaper emergency - number 2! - because he can't get into the bathroom that the adult caretakers use. Frank, on the other hand, seems willing to do anything, no matter how humiliating, in order to escape.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Addict: Chapter 6 The next day began just as shamefully. Toby’s clothes and sheets were soaked. He was becoming a chronic bed wetter. Toby went into the bathroom and stripped off his wet PJs. Next, he climbed the toilette as a step-ladder up to the sink counter top where there was the full wall mirror. Toby stared at his infantile body, naked from head to toe, in disbelief. He had been like this for – how many days?, three or four, maybe a week. It was starting to sink in that it wasn’t going away. Surely he would have awoken from a dream by now. Toby sighed heavily, “Is this really me?” he spoke watching the baby’s mouth in the mirror say the words. “Is this what I really am?” He ran his fingers through his hair then squeezed and tugged on the skin of his face. All of his senses told him it was real. He no longer felt panic, more like crushing reality. “If this is really me, what am I going to do?” He felt despair closing in. Toby had no memories from when he was this young, only a few pictures to know what he had looked like. But, he knew the circumstances of his birth, and what was in store for this little toddler in the mirror. Toby had been an accident, a most unwanted accident. His parents had done their time, miserably, raising an older brother and sister. Both had put them through hell, and both had finally moved away when Toby came along. His parents had so looked forward to having this time in their lives for themselves, to see the world, to do all the things they had earned from the years of deprivation and misery raising their two children. Toby would be an anchor around their necks – or would have been. They ended up doing all of the things they wanted, anyway. Toby spent much of those early days in the care of…a cousin…a neighbor…a barely known acquaintance..just about anyone who would watch him while his parents went on another cruise around the world. Oddly, Toby managed to thrive during this period. He never learned to miss his parents, and the odds-and-ends people watching him weren’t all that bad. He may have actually have been better off this way had his parents not run out of money by the time he was four. Four was when his memories did begin – they were not good ones. Toby’s only advantage was that during those early years he had not grown attached to his parents. Therefore, he learned to be independent to the greatest extent possible. By the time he was six he could cook his own meals, by eight he was buying his own cloths (with his parents money that they literally threw at him as he was going out the door), and by ten he had his first income, meager as it was, delivering newspapers. He remembered taking himself to the hospital after crashing his bike while delivering those papers and breaking his arm. Oh, he had gone home first, hoping for a ride. His parents were ‘too busy,’ surely it’s ‘just a bruise,’ they told him as his wrist hung at an unnatural angle. So, back on his bike, he rode single handed to the hospital. Children’s Protective Services should have taken him away then, but they didn’t. So the years toiled on. College was the first moment of happiness in his life. He was finally free from his parents and paying for it himself. Like his parents had once done, he looked forward to a burden free future. Then, like an anchor, he was thrown back in the water. After a mere taste of freedom and a glimpse at the clear sky, he sank to the bottom of the ocean. The clock had been reset. He was staring at a baby in the mirror, waiting for his life to replay. Toby leaned his head against the mirror. “I can’t do it this time. I can’t bear it.” Tears started to roll down his cheek. He forced himself not to cry out loud. Next, he heard a soft throat clearing. Melissa stood at the door, her eyes averted from Toby standing naked in front of the mirror. “What?” Toby said. “Do you mind giving me some privacy?” “Sorry,” she still looked away. “I overheard you talking and just wanted to see if you were ok.” “I’m fine,” Toby’s shaky voice betrayed his emotion. “Look, I’m just guessing, but maybe things will turn out different this time.” Toby gave up trying to make her leave. “I don’t get what you mean.” “I mean, what ever happened before doesn’t have to happen again. Things could be better this time through.” “But, I’m getting out of here, right?” Toby didn’t like the sound of where she was going. Melissa thought a little too long before answering. “Yes…of course…in a few weeks, I’m sure of it. It’s just…” “Just what? You don’t sound so sure.” “Well, I still don’t know anything about the time machine. Even if – When – I take you home you will still be in that body.” Toby rolled his eyes. “I think I already pointed that out. Frank only cares about getting out of here so that became the plan. I knew we would still be like this, but he doesn’t want to think about it.” “I promise I’ll keep digging for information. But, if I can’t…I mean, while I’m looking, you’re going to be like this.” Now she turned her eyes up to him. “I just wanted to say that maybe this time things won’t be so bad.” “You have no idea what my childhood was like,” he said bitterly. “You’re right, I don’t. I’m only saying maybe this one will be better.” “There’s not going to be a second time,” Toby said angrily. He had no intention of going through a second childhood. Toby brooded on his thoughts a moment. “I think there needs to be a different plan. You’ve got to help me convince Frank that we need to focus on getting our bodies back, not just escaping.” Melissa placed Toby’s new – dry – cloths on the bathroom floor. “Here, I’ll leave you alone. I only wanted to help.” Toby climbed down from the counter top and examined his cloths. Like his body, they were just as infantile. The shirt had cartoon giraffe prints, the pants as usual had snaps in the crotch for…his unmentionable. ‘Don’t they have ANY other pants!’ He felt that everything he wore directed attention to his diaper. Toby took his time getting into “costume.” When he came out of the bathroom, dressed for the day, he saw Frank already standing at the door in FULL costume, ready for another day in daycare. Toby was dumbfounded. Frank actually appeared eager to go. “You don’t have to start this soon,” he called across the room, annoyed. Frank looked over at him still wide eyed, apparently happy. “Come on! Give it a break! You’re not fooling me.” Toby wanted to discuss their escape plans and his issues with their current plan, when Melissa pointed to her watch. They were out of time. Toby stopped. Gulp! It was time to put the “thing” on again. Reluctantly he lay in the floor while Melissa went to work making use of the shameful snaps in his pants. All ready to go, Toby wasn’t in the mood anymore to talk to Frank. Frank obviously didn’t want to talk, either. He was running ahead, too eager to get to the daycare room. Once in the room, Frank abandoned Toby immediately leaving Toby to sulk and wander cheerlessly into the corner with the bookcase behind which he could hide most of the day. Frank was apparently faking a friendship with two other boys and would play the entire day without once saying a word to Toby. Toby would come out from his corner long enough to eat lunch, then return and wait for the inevitable. Today, the bathroom was either locked or guarded by a teacher. This would set the tone for the rest of his week. Toby would discover that life as a toddler revolved largely around bowel and bladder functions. Someone in his daycare room was always being changed, or needed to be. He watched this continual process from his hiding place behind the book case. It was a disgusting reality that Toby refused to get used to. His only refuge was back in his room when he could rip the thing off. But then it would start again the next day: wet bed sheets; standing in front of the mirror staring at his young body in disbelief; making escape plans then getting into costume again; dealing with Frank’s maddening guise that he never let down. Toby felt his life was spinning out of control. How long could four weeks drag on? |
|
|
|
|
18-09-2008
|
#26 (permalink) |
|
Regular
|
The Addict - Chapter 7
I don't know if anyone is reading or likes my story anymore as I haven't seen any comments. But, here goes with the next chapter. I hope SOMEONE out there likes it.
To summarize Chapter 6: We learn a little about Toby's past life, how he was neglected as a child and learned to be independent at an early age. Melissa tries to comfort him and offers the possibility that 'this time' - 'this childhood' - might not be as bad. Of course Toby has no intention of going thru childhood again. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Addict - Chapter 7 The boy’s name was Jules. He had been aware of Toby in the room the previous week. This morning he came over to Toby and started playing with a plastic boat. Jules was about an inch shorter than Toby, and had strawberry blond hair and bright blue eyes. At first Toby tried to send him away, “leave me alone, kid. Go play somewhere else,” but the boy didn’t seem to understand, or care, and kept playing. He seemed sweet natured, and soon Toby didn’t mind. For the next two days, Toby merely watched as Jules played next to him. Jules would sometimes babble a series of unintelligible two- or three-word phrases, and that’s how Toby learned the child’s name was Jules. “Jules go zoo. Tiger, Jules play tiger. Play tiger.” Jules handed Toby one of the plastic zoo animals, which wasn’t a tiger, it was hippo. Toby couldn’t help smiling, he took the animal. “Thanks Jules. My name’s Toby.” He examined the plastic hippo, then but it back on the floor. “You can have it now.” “Toby. Toby, Toby, Toby.” Jules repeated in a sing-song tone. “Toby play tiger. Jules play tiger.” Toby was in no mood to play anything, but he didn’t mind letting Jules play near him. At least it killed time at daycare, and provided a distraction from the whole ‘toileting problem.’ One day, the lead teacher in the room, Ann, announced they would be going outside to play. The children lined up excitedly at the door. Toby followed, reluctantly. Frank was in line ahead of Toby, but was clearly ignoring him as he had been doing the past several days. He refused to talk to Toby in the classroom at all, and only said a few words now and then in their room. Toby shivered. It was February, or so he thought, and likely freezing cold. Oddly, none of the children were wearing coats, so Toby assumed it would be a quick out-and-in thing. Nevertheless, it would be his fist time outside since he had arrived. Maybe he could find an opening to escape. Stepping outside for the first time since his transformation was like nothing Toby could have imagined. The sun was blinding bright, and the sky startlingly blue. The air was crisp in his lungs, but not cold. The combined effect was like a jolt of electricity to Toby’s young body. He felt invigorated, more alive than he had ever felt. Without realizing it, Toby was running, yelling, practically flying. He hardly noticed that the other kids were acting the same way. ‘What is this?’ he thought as he raced around the fenced playground. ‘Why do I feel so good?’ He breathed the nourishing air like he was hungry for it. ‘This is better than any drug!’ After two complete circuits around the fence, Toby finally stopped to catch his breath. He took a good look at the playground. It was clearly designed for younger children with plastic slides barely three feet tall, and bucket seat swings. There was the obligatory sand box, as well as some bright red, blue, and yellow plastic tunnels the kids could crawl through. Near the back fence was a plastic playhouse that could fit about four children, and a plastic toddler swimming pool that was currently empty. Jules caught up with Toby, also very excited to be outside. “Toby run. House. Toby come.” He wanted Toby to go back to the plastic playhouse. If it involved running, Toby was all for it. He was instantly refreshed and ready to run a marathon. “Jules,” Toby panted at the playhouse. “This is incredible. Why does this feel so good? Do you feel it, too!?” Jules clearly DID feel the same. He was jumping in place. “Outside happy! Jules outside happy!” Toby couldn’t help laughing seeing Jules so bubbly. “Outside! Outside! Outside!” he was singing as he bounced. Toby decided to join him in bouncing. ‘I might as well do something with this energy.’ Yes, being outside was fuel, and Toby felt like a combustion engine. That pretty much described the remainder of their time outside – nonstop motion. Toby compared it to being drunk on sunshine. He had unknowingly discovered the profound effect that the outdoors could have on his young undulled senses. Toby even forgot about his escape plans. The next day, the class went outside again – another unseasonably warm day for February. The air and the sun energized him once more. He ran himself to exhaustion alongside Jules. This was his new addiction. For the brief moments outside everything else seemed bearable, it afforded him a break from the other unpleasantries of his day. It was all he could think about, getting back outside, not as a way to escape, but simply to be in it. Toby noticed that Frank also seemed to be enjoying their outside time just as much, but he stayed away from Toby and Jules. One day Toby happened to run by the play house and noticed Frank inside with another boy, Jimmy. He leaned his head into the door and got Frank’s attention. “Hey, Frank,” he instinctively lowered his voice. “What’s going on with you these days?” Frank looked up at him without saying anything. He didn’t seem annoyed by Toby, just looked at him innocently. “Come on Frank, why can’t we talk? The teachers can’t hear us. They’re sitting on the bench next to the swings.” Still nothing from Frank. “Say something, Frank. I really need to talk about some things.” Frank looked away from Toby and resumed his pretend play with Jimmy. He was copying the same one and two word phrases that Jimmy used, obviously an act. Toby was disgusted. “Fine, be that way, but we need to talk tonight, ok. It’s important. We need to make plans for what to do when we get out of here.” Frank gave no sign of having heard Toby. Infuriated, Toby ran to join up with Jules again near the sandbox. In only a few minutes, though, his anger was forgotten. He just couldn’t stay unhappy outside for long. He sat on the edge of the sandbox watching Jules dig and make caves for his plastic dinosaur. Even such a mundane event, watching toddlers play in the sandbox, didn’t seem to bother him in the outside air. That evening, when Melissa came to escort Frank and Toby back to their room, Frank was nowhere to be seen. “Where’s Frank? Did he go on ahead?” Melissa kept walking without answering. “Frank has been a real ass lately. He never talks to me anymore. He always runs to ‘play’,” Toby used air-quotes with his fingers, “with the other kids. He never talks about our escape plans, or anything. What’s going on?” Melissa stopped in the hall, just outside their room and knelt down to him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know how to tell you this but…don’t get mad at me, they just told me this afternoon…They um…” she paused uncomfortably. “They moved Frank to another room.” “Why? What happened?” Frank was his co-conspirator. Toby needed him. Melissa was dreading this confrontation, but she had no choice. “They moved him to another room because they believe him. They believe that he is regressed.” Toby didn’t catch on right away. “Ok, but why does that change anything? What about me, do they believe me?” “No, Toby, they don’t. They don’t believe you. They believe him, and they want to keep him away from you. They think you’re a bad influence on him.” Toby was aghast. “That’s screwed up! ME a bad influence on HIM? Frank’s been in prison at least three times. He’s the REAL addict, hard core. How can I be a bad influence on him? Melissa shook her head. “None of that matters now. He’s a better actor than you. The point is, THEY believe HIM not YOU.” Toby threw his arms up, exasperated. It wasn’t fair. He was doing the best he could. “But…but…I’m wearing this damn thing,” he indicated his diaper. “And USING it, too,” he added in disgust. “I know, and you obviously get upset by it.” “Yeah? So?! Who wouldn’t?” “The other kids wouldn’t, that’s who. And Frank, he at lease pretends not to mind the diaper.” Toby shook his head. He was tired of hearing about how good Frank was at fooling people. He changed the subject. “That boy, Jules, I’ve been hanging out with him a lot. Don’t they think we’re playmates?” “Hanging, yes, but you don’t play with him. You just sit there, barely noticing him, while he plays and tries to be friendly.” “How do you know all this?” He felt like he was being spied on. “I’m your caretaker, Toby. Your teachers tell me everything you do.” Toby looked betrayed. “I’m doing what I can. I told them you were terribly shy as a child and had a hard time making friends.” Toby threw up his hands again. “What else can I do? I’m trying my hardest.” “Obviously not trying hard enough,” Melissa accused. “Look at Frank, he’s fooling them, and he’s an ‘old man’. “But he can’t help me if he’s not in my room.” Toby felt alone and abandoned. Frank knew what to do, Frank was his colleague. They were in this predicament together. Toby would have to come up with some plan to get him back. He would talk to him tomorrow. Surely Frank wouldn’t ignore him now. “Just watch the other children,” Melissa offered. “Try to act like them.” “They’re just babies. I can’t be like them, I just can’t.” Melissa turned Toby’s face to look directly at her. She spoke seriously, “For your information they are not just babies. All of those kids, ALL of them, are clients.” “What!?” This was absurd. “You heard me, clients. They used to be like you. They were adults like you once, drug addicts like you.” “You mean they were all shrunk like me!?” “Yes.” “And they are all just acting, playing the part!?” He refused to believe it. “No, not anymore. They used to be like you, but then they regressed. Their memories are gone now. They are real children now…and unlike you, they are happy.” A wave of nausea swept over Toby. He felt like he was going to be sick. “You’re lying. It can’t be true.” “Didn’t the Director tell you about it, you know, before he regressed your body?” Toby vaguely remembered Director Miles’ story. He was too busy thinking about escaping to pay much attention. “He said something like that. But he only mentioned a few people, maybe two or three, not EVERYONE here!” “Well, it’s everyone,” she said calmly. “That’s what they do here.” She turned her head and walked away. “It’s why I have to get you out of here…before it happens to you, too.” Toby felt light headed, like he couldn’t catch his breath. “I…I just can’t believe it. You mean Jules, and all the other kids, used to be like me. Like, if I just talk to Jules, like an adult, ask him about his life, he might remember?” Melissa was doubtful. “I don’t know if it’s possible anymore. They’re all pretty regressed. And, don’t try doing it, either. If the girls hear you, they’ll kick you out of the daycare. You’ll be confined to your room again. I’ll never be able to take you home with me.” “Ok, I’ll try harder from now on.” He said this to get Melissa off his back, it was what she wanted to hear. But, Toby now had a plan. He had every intention of interrogating Jules, of trying to wake him up, to learn what had happened to him. Maybe Jules had information that could help him escape. |
|
|
|
MyWorld
Linear Mode
