✅ The Baby Makers

Only in Dreams

Just as Ana saw it coming, the hypnotist was asking her to imagine being a child. Imagine a child, whose imagination is so powerful they don't easily see the difference between their dreams and reality. A girl whose imaginary friend really matters to her, who doesn't draw such a strong boundary between imagination and reality. Imagine a girl who imagines things so vividly, that everything Phil describes seems completely real to her. Imagine that girl imagining being younger still, becoming more innocent, more imaginative, less critical every time she imagines how it would feel to be a little younger.

Ana let herself keep on nodding, and let the suggestions sink into her mind. She let Phil's voice become a background drone, a part of the dream so natural that she wouldn't even wonder where it was coming from. She accepted all the changes he wanted to make to her thought patterns, after considering each one. And, of course, after making sure that she would be back to her normal state of free will by noon tomorrow. Even as she found herself relaxed and drifting, her imagination floating through three or four worlds at once, she still knew how her mind was being directed. When Phil told her she wouldn't know what was real, between his voice, and the dots on the ceiling, and the scenes he was asking her to imagine that the little girl was imagining, she accepted that suggestion and then she really didn't know. She was alone in her room, playing with dolls. She was walking in the woods. She was dancing on the beach under the stars. She was imagining herself imagining herself imagining herself, and she didn't know which one was real any more, or which of these worlds was the origin of the voice on the wind. But still, her senses warned her about every change he was trying to make to her thought process, and she had to approve each one.

Somewhere inside her mind, she found herself wondering if he was ready to start making her older again soon. She was sure that he'd made her younger so that she wouldn't feel guilty about the game she was here to play. She'd grow up without learning to worry about it, but that was a little harder to imagine right now. She couldn't remember what that game was, she wasn't old enough to know. She wasn't old enough to even think about it, so she was sure that she wouldn't feel bad about it at all. But the voice told her she needed to be a little younger still, and she just nodded, or felt like she was nodding, and agreed. He told her that when he told her how to feel littler and younger, she would feel it automatically. And she knew that was safe, not something anyone could hurt her with. Because it felt so good to feel young, and all those words would do was help her think like the little girl she was. She allowed that change.

Ana had to push a few times. She had to play along, and give herself permission to forget the things that the voice said she didn't need to remember. Still, her natural resistance kept on alerting her. Not to what he was saying to her; she couldn't make out the words any more. Or the emotions conveyed in them, or which of the many worlds in her imagination right now came from his words. But she could still sense the ways in which he was changing her mind. And she could still accept them.

Until finally, she opened her eyes and realised that she didn't remember closing them. She could remember that Doctor Phil had told her to look at the dots on the ceiling and listen to him, and she knew that he'd said some special words to change her mind. She didn't know what those words were anymore, just that she'd nodded happily. This was something she'd agreed to, something she knew she'd enjoy even if she didn't know what it was going to be.

As she dug deeper in her memories, she could remember being young again. So young that she didn't know what she should be embarrassed about. That sounded like fun. And she still couldn't remember what she'd been embarrassed about, so it had worked. She also felt a little younger than she had been before, but she couldn't quite remember her age, so it probably didn't matter that much.

"Are you okay, dear?" Doctor Phil asked. Ana nodded, and turned her head to one side. The chair rocked a bit more and she found herself giggling.

"Yeah. Umm... I feel younger? Was that a part of it? I thought I was going to get little so I can unlearn what I'm supposed to be embarrassed about. I thought I was going to be grown up again by now?"

"I don't think anyone particularly enjoys being grown-up," the doctor shrugged. "I didn't bring you back all the way, just old enough to see the changes and enjoy what's happening to you. If my guess is right, you're probably feeling like a late teen girl now, maybe with a few childish impulses. Right?"

"Yeah, I guess. Do I have to get older again? Before..." and there Ana's voice trailed off, as she remembered that she didn't even know what she was here for. She had some kind of idea that she needed to be grown up for it, but that was true about a lot of things. She'd just have to wait and see.

She remembered thinking it was funny that they offered her the option of not remembering what she was here for. She'd laughed, because she really didn't know. She'd had guesses, she was sure, but having them tease her with it under the belief that the knowledge was in her subconscious mind somewhere had seemed the easiest way to find out for sure. Now, she couldn't even find those guesses. Did that mean she'd guessed right? She couldn't know, and she couldn't even guess at what those guesses had been.

"Maybe," Phil grinned, and Ana found herself getting excited again, feeling like the treat she'd been waiting for was almost here. She couldn't wait to rediscover what she had agreed to.