Regenesis

Katie - a new look

When the door opened, Katie was still fast asleep, and Miss Anderson's footsteps could not be heard on the carpeted floor of her bedroom. The early afternoon sunlight however brought a stir to Katie's body as the curtains were opened and she lifted herself up quickly expecting to hold onto the bars of her cot. Her surroundings confused her for a second, but she smiled when she remembered that she had come to live with Miss Anderson and that she was now a primary girl.

Her happiness melted somewhat as she remembered the circumstances of her first lunch outside the Nursery, and the dreaded soup. She also missed her nanny. Nanny Green had been a constant companion during her time in Nursery, with her during every waking moment, except for her days off. Although responsible for enforcing the many rules and routines of the establishment, and the discipline which necessarily accompanied it, Nanny Green had a motherly side to her which Katie had loved and clung on to. This was, of course, a necessary part of the Programme, creating a bond between care-giver and charge. By carefully measuring how much love and attention was drip-fed to her charge, Nanny Green, and all the nannies engendered a clinginess which helped reinforce both the lessons the girls were being taught, and the sense of disappointment each girl felt personally if they had let her nanny down by any act of defiance, bad behaviour or disobedience. This also made each girl compete with other girls for praise for good behaviour or going that extra mile, standing straighter in line, lifting her legs higher to have her nappy changed, or smiling more broadly when her hair had been brushed. All this perfect behaviour had now become second nature to Katie, and her natural eagerness to please extended to anyone she met, as 'just good manners'. This was the box which had finally been ticked before she was ready to depart the Nursery and ascend the ladder of the board game which was "the Programme" at Iuvenham. And just like the famous board game, for every ladder, there was a corresponding "snake" for the counter of her life to land on. Although there were no dice involve in this game, there was a certain level of luck involved in a girl's progress.

Anxious to make up for her first impression, Katie smiled broadly at Miss Anderson as she approached the bed where her new charge sat up, waiting to be given instructions. Conditioned by her time in the dormitory, she made no sound as Miss Anderson helped her up off the bed and onto her feet. Her nappy sagged, weighed down by its contents, but again there seemed to be no sign of annoyance on Miss Anderson's face as she lifted Katie's nightie over her head and inspected her. "Let's get you cleaned up and changed quickly, ready for our appointment at the outfitters." Katie's smile could not have been broader, the seemingly mundane task of going shopping now a huge departure from what she had grown accustomed to. Once her nappy had been changed and fastened securely under fresh plastic pants, Katie was delighted to see the door of the wardrobe open and a wide array of dresses overwhelm her. Each dress was different in style from the other. There were pinafore dresses with frills at the shoulders, dresses with full skirts and embroidered bodices, more formal dresses such as a little girl might wear to a party or even a treat like a concert, some dresses which were deliberately plain, most likely for play or anywhere where Katie might be prone to soil it. To the right hung three petticoats in various levels of fullness. Katie's reaction was exactly as Miss Anderson, or even Nanny Green might have predicted. Her hands went to her cheeks, her mouth in a protracted O shape and she bounced on her toes as she turned to confirm her hopes with Miss Anderson. "Oh Miss! Are these for me?"

"Yes, Katie, they are. As long as you deserve them, then these are what you will be wearing when you are not at school. However, we will keep the dress you arrived in as a reminder of how things were and how things might be again if your behaviour dips or you become disobedient again." Katie's face dropped as she processed this warning. "Yes, Miss Anderson"

Miss Anderson reached up and took a light blue dress off the rail and held it against her charge, before taking it back to the changing table and from a chest of drawers she removed a pair of gleaming white knee socks and a white vest. She helped her on with both before bunching the dress up for Katie to poke her arms through. Again the dress fastened up the back with buttons and Katie stood straight-backed as the white waist sash was tied behind her in a bow. Blue shoes in the same style replaced her old ones, which were put at the back of the cupboard, but still within view. Miss Anderson seemed happy with the look so far and led Katie to a dressing table with what looked like a round wooden picture frame set at the back. Once Katie was seated on the stool, Miss Anderson lightly touched the small of Katie's back prompting an immediate change in posture, shoulders back and spine ramrod straight. "That's better. Now let's do something different with your hair shall we?" Miss Anderson picked up the fearsome looking hairbrush Katie had noticed on the dressing table, but had chosen to ignore, and began to brush Katie's bob with careful strokes, working her way around her head, and finishing with the fringe all girls had to wear in Nursery. Taking a comb from the table and passing two elastic bands over her wrist, Miss Anderson carefully parted Katie's hair accurately down the middle creating two identical swathes of soft hair. She gathered one and brushed it together into her hand from all sides so that there were no stray wisps, and expertly twisted an elastic around it, leaving about 12 cm below the elastic. Katie sat patiently as this was repeated on the other side, enjoying the attention and looking forward to her trip into town with her new "guardian". Next Miss Anderson opened a drawer in which lay an array of silk ribbons, of all widths, colours and textures, rolled up and ready to use. She selected two powder blue ribbons which exactly matched the dress she was wearing and with great tenderness she tied them in perfect bows just behind each of Samantha's ears.

Miss Anderson reached over Katie's shoulder and flipped the wooden circle on its pivot and Katie saw herself for the first time in three months. It was a particular policy at the Nursery that girls were never to have access to mirrors. This was in part a feature of the Programme to remove both a girl's sense of self and her sense of self-consciousness. Without the constant need to preen and show off, a characteristic which most of the girls on the Programme had previously suffered, attention might be diverted into seeing the beautiful in others and in other things.

Katie was stunned by what she saw. Since arriving three months ago, her hair had been cut and thinned into the regulation bob, which she had only seen on her fellow sisters' hair. She had had no access to makeup of any sort. What greeted her so unexpectedly as she sat was a beautiful but very plain looking Katie. Her face showed no emotion for a full three seconds while she took in this strange and almost forgotten memory. A smile began to emerge at the edge of her mouth, which in turn reflected back to her, and grew and grew.

Taking her by the hand she brought her to a long mirror on a wall and held it against her once again so Katie could see. Katie's eyes sparkled in glee and she did a little jump in celebration.