✅ The Last New Start [NaNoWriMo2021]

40. The Final Countdown

Tess raced out of the house and quickly chased Gabby down. She couldn't walk anymore, now she couldn't hold onto the shelves and door handles the whole way like she had in the house. But they both had the same problems, and Tess didn't mind rolling across the flower beds, at least while the changing seasons had stripped them of their colours and they were just filled with brittle stalks. She managed to tackle Gabby at the back of the garage, laughing all the time. This time, Ffrances was out in the garden, folding out what looked like some kind of blanket on the ground. Tess thought this was probably the last time she would catch her cousin today, so she decided to be just a little mean. Gabby had been having so much fun, tickling Tess more and more every time until a grown-up told them to stop. And maybe that was what Gabby wanted.

Tess didn't know. But she wanted Gabby to have fun, and to have an excuse to be mean if that was what she was hoping for. So she held Gabby down and tickled her mercilessly, under the arms and everywhere else she could think of. It didn't take too long; she wasn't really the kind of girl who would do that. But it lasted long enough.

"You can't win, baby," Gabby said, trying to do her evil grin. And that just made Tess nervous, because she'd already told Gabby that this was as little as she was willing to go.

"I'm not a baby," she reminded her. She'd always said that she would put up with being a bit littler, but only a few years. Besides, she didn't know what Gabby would try next. It seemed like the only way to make her clumsier would be to stop her moving at all, and that would take all the fun out of the game. Not knowing what Gabby was planning was a little scary, even more so than taking one more step along the same path. But it was exciting too, wondering if there was anything Gabby could have planned other than making her smaller.

"Yes you are! Tess! You're two now, and you're just a little baby. You can't hold it when you need to potty."

"That's not fair, you're being mean," Tess answered and turned towards where Ffrances was preparing for dinner. She thought for a second, and realised that the magic words really could do that. She tried to feel if she needed to make tinkles, and she couldn't tell at all. It was completely numb, and the only reason she knew she was safe was that she'd only gone to the potty a few minutes before. She stumbled again, she still couldn't walk, but she called out towards Ffrances.

"Auntie Ffrances!" she yelled, and amusement from noticing herself talking like a little kid tempered her annoyance just a little. It was still funny that she was calling Ffrances 'Auntie' without thinking, even if she was desperate to grow up again before that last instruction made a difference. "She said I'm two! That's not nice!"

She still felt bad for calling a grown up, but she knew that she had warned Gabby before, so it wasn't really unfair to do that. Still, her guilt wanted her to say sorry. And then she saw that Gabby was kneeling on the grass, where she'd fallen over too, and had a big damp patch on her jeans, slowly growing. She looked like she was about to cry, just like a real toddler.

When Ffrances came running over, Tess did her best to explain what had happened. But the adult could work it out on her own quickly enough.

"It looks like somebody had an accident," she said, wagging her finger in Gabby's face. This was what a grown-up looked like when she was really serious, and it was clear that Ffrances wasn't going to tolerate any more messing about. Even while she tried to soften the blow, teasing about putting the girl back in diapers. But Gabby, it seemed, was far too young to get the point.

"I didn't!" she protested, almost yelling despite how close Ffrances was. She started making fanciful denials, claiming that it was Tess's fault for tickling her until she wet herself. Tess felt bad even though she knew that wasn't true. And the more Gabby said, the wilder it got. Tess was bullying her, she was being mean because she was older, and this was all her fault. She sounded so desperate that it would have been easy to sympathise, and to believe her. But Ffrances just stepped a little closer, repeated her question, and demanded that Gabby tell the truth.

And she did. She said that she'd wet herself because she was too little to hold it, and admitted that she needed to be put in diapers like a little baby. She was blushing crimson by that point, probably even more embarrassed than Tess had been about wetting her bed over the last couple of months. And Tess could imagine why; Gabby had said she wanted to be little again, but she hadn't said how little. Could this be what she had wanted all along, and she was finally saying what she'd thought she had to keep to herself?

But Gabby wasn't quite done yet. She acted like she was still trying to defend herself, and insisted that Tess should be in diapers too. She didn't even try to deny that it was her fault, just admitted telling Tess that she wouldn't be able to hold it.

"Tess, is this true?" Ffrances asked, and waited for the faintest hint of a nod before she continued. "She told you to be younger and wet yourself, after you'd already said you didn't want to be any littler? Yes? Well, I don't think that's very fair. In the circumstances, I think I'm going to keep her in diapers until bedtime, to make sure she understands what she's talking about, and how it feels. Do you think that's fair? Good. Now, I know you didn't ask for this, but you're in this situation now. You probably have some idea of whether or not her words will affect you as strongly as she hoped. Things like that can vary, and might not work if you can't imagine it well. But I feel like I should ask, would you like to go through a little humiliation with your baby sister? For solidarity, if you want to think of it that way, or so that you can know how it feels to be so completely helpless?"

Tess was starting to shake her head, but hesitated. She didn't want to be a baby, that had always been a nightmare for her. But at the same time, she couldn't help wondering how it would feel to have so much of her control taken away. It was still breathtaking to realise just how much hypnosis could do. But she could surely discover that some other time. When Ffrances had an idea that wasn't so gross and needed a volunteer; or if Tess could think of something she could ask to be made to do.

"Not now," she mumbled, and finished shaking her head.

"Okay Tess, you're seven again, and Gabby is your baby sister. You're still carefree and excitable, but you no longer have trouble doing the things that Gabby took away as you got younger, and you feel proud every time you do something by yourself."

Tess nodded and smiled, feeling all her confidence coming back. It was still younger than she was happy being, but perhaps it was a good compromise between the hypnosis she was so eager to learn more about, and the littleness that she wanted to avoid. But then she saw Gabby again, sobbing to herself, and felt guilty. Tess felt like she'd interrupted something that Gabby really wanted, and that seemed selfish.

"And you, Gabby?" Ffrances continued. "You're one and a half years old. You can't stand up without help. You can't hold something without dropping it." And as she continued listing things Gabby couldn't do, Tess felt a wave of relief. Even if she was too embarrassed to ask, after her performance this afternoon it was pretty clear what Gabby wanted; and she would get it anyway.