Chapter 1
Sarah parked her car in her
Auntie’s driveway and rolled her eyes at the sight of the decorations adorning
the front of the house. Multicoloured streamers were draped over the hedges,
and a large pink banner hung over the doorway – the words Happy Birthday Penny,
written in sparkly silver letters, were flanked by a pair of cartoon unicorns.
It was so embarrassingly girly that Sarah couldn’t help but cringe. She wasn’t
a tomboy exactly, but she’d long since abandoned anything quite so pink and
cutesy.
She got out of the car and huffed.
She was twenty-one years old for God’s sake! She had better things to do than
spend a whole afternoon at some stupid baby’s birthday party, but her mother
had been insistent. Sure, Penny was her cousin, but Sarah hardly even knew her.
She’d been away at university when Penny had been born, and Sarah had only seen
her a handful of times. She didn’t like babies. Most of her friends thought
they were adorable, but Sarah couldn’t get the thought of dirty diapers out of
her head. Babies were so disgusting!
Sarah opened the front door and
heard the loud laughter and shrieking of a little girl’s birthday party happening
inside. How old was Penny anyway? Sarah looked up and noticed several pink
balloons bobbing about on the hallway ceiling, emblazoned with the large number
“3”. Surely she’d be out of nappies by now at least. If Sarah was asked to go
anywhere near a used diaper, she was going to storm out straight away.
She walked down the hall,
following the noise, and entered a spacious kitchen that was adjoined to the
living room. The place was covered in streamers and balloons and confetti, and
there was an enormous chocolate cake sitting in the middle of the table. Her
little cousin was wearing a bright pink dress and a plastic tiara, running
around the living room playing a game of musical chairs with her friends.
“There you are, Sarah!” came a
voice, and Sarah looked around to see her Auntie marching towards her, smiling.
“I was worried you weren’t coming!”
“Oh, yeah…” Sarah said vaguely.
“There was a lot of traffic.”
Her Auntie’s smile became rather
fixed, but she didn’t contest the lie. “Why don’t you have some cake?” she
asked sweetly.
“No thanks,” Sarah said, glancing
at the chocolate cake with distaste. Just imagine how many calories were in
that! Her Auntie wasn’t exactly fat, but she was a lot plumper than Sarah’s own
model-thin physique. She might be happy to risk her figure, but Sarah
certainly wasn’t.
At that moment, the game of
musical chairs ended, and Penny was left jumping up and down, squealing
excitedly at her victory. Her mother went over to congratulate her, leaving
Sarah to help herself to a drink.
She looked around hopefully for a
sign of something alcoholic, but there was nothing. Already wishing she’d made
up some excuse not to come, never mind how furious her mother and Auntie might
have been with her, she poured herself a plastic cup of lemonade and lounged
against the kitchen counter, examining the other guests. There was no-one else
even close to her age. Everyone was either a brat or a parent.
Then a man strolled over and
leant against the counter next to her. He was dressed very peculiarly in a
tailed coat and bowtie, like a stage magician.
“Hello,” said Sarah, uncertainly.
“Nice to meet you, sweetie!” the
man said cheerfully. “Are you enjoying the party?”
Sarah was about to lie and say
that she was, but there was something about his overly bright tone that annoyed
her. “No,” she said bluntly, sounding much more like a pouty child than she’d
intended. She felt her face going red.
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” the
man said kindly. “It’s a shame you weren’t here earlier. I’m a hypnotist, you
see. I’m very good with suggestions. I go around deciding what all the boys and
girls should become, then I tell them how to act accordingly. There’s always at
least one person who’s not enjoying themselves, but after a session with me,
they’ll be running around and giggling as happily as anyone else.”
He smiled at her, and Sarah felt
a chill run down her spine. The man was quite handsome, even if he was almost
twice her age, but there was something a little unsettling about his
expression. He was probably hoping to get into her pants, Sarah thought. But
no… that wasn’t it. His expression wasn’t predatory. Not exactly. It was more
amused, or condescending. He was looking at her in the same way all the parents
were looking at their shrieking three-year-olds, and Sarah didn’t like it at
all.
“Well anyway,” she said, thinking
hard for an excuse to get away, but at that moment her Auntie reappeared, holding
Penny’s hand. The girl was fidgeting with the hem of her pink dress and staring
shyly at her shoes.
“Sarah,” said her Auntie in a
whisper, “could I have your help? I’m afraid Penny’s had a little accident, and
I could do with someone to help me clean her up.”
“She had a…” Sarah began, looking
down at Penny’s waist. No pee-stained socks. No puddle on the floor. “An
accident?” she asked. Surely this couldn’t be happening. Surely she wasn’t
really being asked to do this.
“In her pull-ups,” her Auntie clarified.
Sarah looked at her in disgust. “She’s
pissed herself and you want me to help change her fucking nappy?” she demanded,
disbelieving.
“Sarah!” her Auntie exclaimed in
a shocked voice.
“No way,” Sarah said firmly, “I’m
not doing that.”
Penny started to cry.
“Now look what you’ve done!” her
Auntie snapped. She turned to her daughter. “It’s okay, sweetheart. It’s okay.
It’s not your fault.”
“Oh come on,” Sarah sneered. “Can
she really not use a toilet at three years old?” She felt a little guilty about
making her cousin cry, but she was too angry to care. Her Auntie was acting
like she was the one who’d done something wrong! Just because she didn’t want
to change a disgusting, pissy diaper! “Maybe I should have brought some nappies
for her as a birthday present.”
Her Auntie glared at her
furiously. She’d just opened her mouth to say something when the hypnotist cut
in. “I’ll take care of Sarah,” he said mildly. He exchanged a meaningful look
with her Auntie, and Sarah was shocked to see a smile flash across the woman’s
face. She nodded and led her crying daughter away by the hand, throwing Sarah one
last furious look over her shoulder.
Sarah rounded on the ridiculous
man. “What do you mean you’ll take care of me?” she demanded, raising
her eyebrow in a superior way. “I’m not a… not a… What are you… doing…?”
Her voice faltered. The hypnotist
had taken out a shining silver pocket watch, and was swinging it in front of
her face. Sarah wanted to laugh, but something stopped her. Her thoughts felt
slow and sluggish. The hypnotist was saying something, but she wasn’t sure
what. The watch was glittering brightly. So, so brightly…
The hypnotist took her by the
hand and started leading her further into the house. She tried to stop, but it
was as if her body was out of her control. Her feet wouldn’t obey her! She felt
a knot of anxiety tighten in her stomach. What was going on?!
The man smiled at her over his
shoulder. “Like I told you before, I’m very good with suggestions. I always
have been! I know you’re scared, Sarah, but there’s nothing to be frightened
about. I’m just going to help you have a lovely time at Penny’s party, and
after that…” He paused, smirking. “Well, after that I suppose it will be up to
your Auntie.”
Sarah tried to say something,
anything, but no words would come out. Before she knew it, she was sitting in a
comfy chair in the spare bedroom, the noise of the party echoing distantly. The
hypnotist was sat directly across from her, his shiny silver pocket watch back
in his hand.
He swung it gently before her
eyes, and Sarah couldn’t tear her eyes away. So shiny, she thought. So pretty.
Pretty pocket watch…
“That’s it, Sarah,” the hypnotist
cooed. “That’s a good girl. Now, we’re going to have a little talk, that’s all,
and see if we can make your behaviour match your attitude.”
