Codependency.

Sam woke up with unpleasant feelings. Even before he opened his eyes he felt that something changed once again. He needed some time to remember what has been going on for the last few days with him and his girlfriend, he reminisced about the strange glow from the neighbor’s house. Then a wave of realization hit him: he had to tell Vanessa about everything! With this thought he finally opened his eyes and sprung on his bed, feeling quite awakened already and even a bit panicky.

And he was goddamn right… there was a lot of things that changed once again since yesterday!

Sam looked around to see the radical shift in surrounding: the walls painted in baby boy-blue, new furniture in the room, which now was filled with different toys for kids of a very small age – plushies, blocks, stacking rings, etc. Then Sam saw wooden bars and rail in front of him, that meant he is in the crib. Everything looked so large! This was enough to comprehend what become of him, but Sam didn’t want to believe it!

His worst fear at the moment – the fear of looking at himself, so he could see how his body changed, but Sam was able to finally overcome it and checked the damage. Despite the feelings he got, tactile sensations which exposed him to the frightening novelty of his new life and the changed surroundings he seen, Sam still needed to consider the image of his new body to realize, that the worst scenario he thought of before, has already become reality.

He looked down and saw a pair of pudgy legs with teeny-weeny toes, pudgy belly with cute belly button, his tiny arms and hands. All those parts of his body were stuffed with baby fat, with no hint of muscle mass, which used to be visible and pronounced – attribute Sam was proud of once and which Vanessa used to like about his body, which provided her with feeling of being secure when Sam was around and she touched his arm or hugged him, feeling and adoring his athletic build. Also Sam found his skin to be especially smooth, soft and sensitive with a creamy color and a bit of light pink – the colors associated with innocence and fragility of an early childhood he now will have to re-experience again.

Sam touched the top of his head, then face to feel a wispy and silky soft short hair, chubby soft cheeks and small button like nose.

That’s how he looked now, any hint of adult looking features was completely erased, Sam was stripped of any pronounced, any angular, any masculine trait he used to have with his whole body turned into a soft, malleable, weak, harshly diminished and the most emasculated version of itself exposed to now seemingly a lot larger world around him.

That’s why Sam was feeling how fear, insecurity and anxiety built up inside of him.

Another thing that was the shouting evidence of his current age and status in new reality was the crinkly plastic and pillowy soft garment around his loins and buttocks.

A diaper – thing used as a transportable alternative to toilet, a sign of not being able to control bodily functions completely, of not being able to take care of basic needs, of being dependent on others.

It was the only part of clothing Sam currently wore.

He stood up. His small feet touched the mattress, its soft surface which sagged slightly under Sam’s meagre weight resembled some sort of a mat more than bedding, due to how large it seemed to him now.

When Sam finally took vertical position, he noticed how his diaper was sagging between his legs, tugging him down. It was a bit unforeseen for him, so he almost lost balance, because his legs were a bit unsteady just after waking up and the softness of mattress wasn’t helping, and Sam had to grab the wooden bar with his small hand, so he won’t have to fall down on his rump.

The garment he wore was clammy and squishy and, how it was mentioned before, a bit of heavy, Sam thought for a second that it would just slide down, exposing his buttocks and privates, if the tabs didn’t hold it so well.

Peeved by uncomfortable feelings and the shift in surroundings and his body, Sam shouted, trying to get attention: “Van-neees-sa! Ne-eee-essa!”

It was expected that he sounded babyish, but Sam hasn’t foreseen that the act of speech itself would be harder, it now has become more though for him to make his tongue pronounce the right sounds, frustrating him even more.

The door to his sun-drenched room opened. Sam saw a figure, he started speaking: “Van-etha?!”

Vanessa opened her eyes, then closed them again. She wanted to sleep a little longer before doing anything today, but she felt a strange anxiety inside of her building up. Vanessa didn’t know what have caused it and her mind, still foggy from awakening, started reminiscing the events of the last two days. She realized, that she need to see if anything changed again, begrudgingly she opened her eyes once more and sat on her bedding, looking around.

Vanessa couldn’t tell that there were any noticeable changes, despite the older looking furniture and maybe some new things and rimmed photos placed somewhere.

Her vision was a bit blurry. Vanessa remembered that she bought herself glasses yesterday and started looking for them. She found a pair near her bed and she could easily tell they became different, unlike the cheap “cat eye” type she had before, those had thin lenses and were even somewhat nice looking.

When Vanessa wore glasses, her sleepiness was wearing off, so she could notice some changes that happened to her body.

She stood up and found, that her body became even heavier than yesterday. Under the pajamas she wore, Vanessa had a huge stomach, large ass, flabby and creased from age, fat and cellulite-ridden “cottage cheese” thighs and legs had varicose veins on them. She used to be bottom-heavy before, but now it couldn’t be even more obvious that her body lacked some balance between her lower and upper parts, because Vanessa became overall shorter and her rump even wider.

Underneath the shirt of her pajama her breasts hanged like two pendulums without the support of bra.

“God! I’m a whale!” – Vanessa said, thinking aloud.

The next thing she noticed was the fact that she didn’t feel the hair touching her neck or shoulders and she didn’t assemble them before going to bed. Her hand brushed her head and realized that she now had a short cut.

Vanessa grabbed a small mirror and looked at herself. A senior lady looked back at her from the reflective surface. At least, she wasn’t as wrinkly as she feared, but the oval of her face was deformed, it looked more plump and gravity force was pulling the flesh of it down and hair was almost completely gray.

After all, it seems Vanessa’s body overall now had less muscles and more fat. She hoped that she would age more graceful that it appears now, but there was another thing, that bothered her.

Vanessa thought: “All the time I used to gain 10 years, that mean I’m about 62. Yeah, it seems the world changed too. Wait! That mean Sam has become about… No! If he was 7 years old yesterday and he loses 5 years for every 10 I gain, so he should be like... only 2 years old!”. She needs to check on him, the sooner the better, Vanessa decided.

Then a pair of photos in the rim attracted her attention. Vanessa looked at them.

The first one was showing a girl, not any random girl, but a Vanessa, only 40 years younger than her current age, like she used to be before strange serious of changes happened, a far cry from her new self.

She wore acid wash jeans, a tube top, vibrant pink blush, bright pink lip-gloss, thick eyeliner and smokey eye also were on her face. Her chestnut hair was straight with bangs and came up to her shoulders.

The photo looked old and the color washed off a bit. It’s obvious, that in new reality Vanessa’s youth was in the 80’s.

“Oh, those were the days…” - she thought.

Then she looked at another photo, at first she was pretty much puzzled.

Vanessa saw herself, but this time she appeared to be older, than on the previous picture, seems about 40-ty or so, like she was 2 days ago, the first time reality changed along with her and Sam’s age. But it wasn’t the thing that captivated her attention: Vanessa wasn’t alone, there also stood a girl about 12 or 13 years old.

The girl had a pair of bright blue eyes, a pointed chin, fair skin and chestnut hair, she was smiling and because of it, her cute dimples and braces on her teeth were showing. Despite some nuances, resemblance to Vanessa was obvious.

“There’s my Rina. How long ago it used to be? I remember how we went to the amusement park after she got her braces. Poor child, she was so anxious about it and I wanted to help her to overcome it, so I decided we need some fun together… That’s when this photo was taken. Yes, should have spent more time with my baby after all… Should’ve raising her better, than I did…” – Vanessa thought.

She felt, that something was just wrong about her thoughts, about her mind, but she couldn’t point her finger at what exactly is off…

Wait! She doesn’t even know this kid!

Then a strange felling passed through her whole body, a sensation close to migraine pierced her brain.

That’s the point, when everything changed for Vanessa. She started to remember. She could state it clear now! Clear as a light of the day! How real it now started to look!

The new reality brought a lot novelty into her fate that Vanessa will have to live with from now on.

The knowledge and experience of about 60 years were flowing right into her mind in a matter of seconds.

She was born in the first part of 60-ies, grew up in a loving family, pretty much like the one she grew up with the first time around. The faces of her parents, their attitude almost the same, despite that Vanessa remembered her Dad sitting on the couch with a cigar and mumbling something like: “Damned Soviets!” as he read his paper and her Mom criticizing Vanessa’s peers for being “immodest youngsters, listening to an unendurable music”, or something like that. In the end of the day, Vanessa still loved them and she realizes it even more now, when they are dead.

Looking forward to be like her Mommy someday, kindergarten, playground, school, friends, learning to ride a bike and grazing her knee, teachers, first bra, zits, coping with bullies, envy to bustier girls, entering high school, first part-time work, learning to drive, preparing for exams, prom dress, college, first boyfriend and first breakup – nothing really changed about the first 20 years of her existence, even if everything was going in a slightly earlier time period.

Then, Vanessa’s mind finally came to the main dividing point – her life after finishing college: a start of new job and climbing up the societal ladder, saving for her own place to live and meeting her husband… her first husband.

They broke up soon after the birth of her baby – a girl, whom Vanessa named Regina. A delight of giving the new life and joy of watching her grow slowly was darkened with divorce and worry about her and Regina’s future. Even after moving out and becoming a parent herself, Vanessa still needed to be protected and cared for, maybe, that’s what every woman wish for, at some point, but that was the reason she hadn’t ended her unhealthy relationship with her first husband earlier and used a baby as a chance to stop him from leaving her. Now with baby Rin’s life in her hands she felt fear of being responsible for her.

So, that’s how return to dating scene started, even if that meant leaving Rina alone a search for a new partner meant finding a chance of being able to feel herself as a weaker one, in need of being patronized, even if that meant submitting, that was better for Vanessa, than needing to find the inner strength to calm down and reassure a crying small kid.

That doesn’t mean Vanessa didn’t like Rina, after all she was the being she carried inside of her, the one she delivered in pain and the one she fed with her milk. She liked to see her pass her little milestones and teach her about birds’n’bees. But Regina was becoming less dependent, harder to control and it also scared Vanessa. She still remembers the day her daughter said: “Mom, stop calling me Rina! My name is Regina!”. A girl was only 6 or 7 years old, when it happened. The emotional cord, developed through painful act of childbirth, the sleepless nights and fear of being burdened with a small human’s life being dependent on Vanessa, grew thinner. And new men in their lie didn’t help it at all.

Of course, Vanessa used to think of it as a “search for a new daddy for Rina” or “finding a new man of the house” as if she tried to earn forgiveness from the other, hidden part of her personality. That ended in second husband, third husband and even her boss as a lover and protector at her job. Eventually, Vanessa was able to find some caring for herself and feeling of being hidden from the difficulties of some troubles and responsibilities, but it all just had to come to an end, sometime Vanessa simply ignored how it affected her child, because relationship with “new man of the house” was hard to create from blank for a kid.

Vanessa had to stop her attempts, she was growing older and fatter, which mean soon she won’t be able to try anymore, as she thought.

She had to provide for Regina’s future, so she began to spend more time at work, so the distance only grew. Of course, sometimes Vanessa would rush to help Regina with the things growing girl was concerned with. It used to be moments, that brought joy and happiness to Rina, but as she became older it turned into irritation from her personal world, her own troubles, being invaded.

Regina gave Vanessa hard time as a teen, starting to hang with the crowd Vanessa disliked the most, smoking and disrupting her mother’s rules.

When the girl became old enough to move out and live by herself, she used the first opportunity and visited her mother begrudgingly, feeling resentment, which she hid under the mask of neglect.

It was a hard thing to take for Vanessa, that she wasn’t able to treat her child right, to guide her, so she enjoyed working with young interns at her job. It felt easier for her and watching them improve helped her to heal her broken heart.

Samantha that started to work here during Vanessa’s struggles with teenage daughter, really bonded with her and never forgot to check her aging mentor.

That kid, Regina’s peer, Audrey – one of the most aspiring youngsters she used to teach about her job, also had her place in Vanessa’s heart, even though it would be better if the girl learnt to be nicer to others.

Everything was changing as the time kept flowing, Vanessa’s former boss retired and his son took his position. And just as the autumn leaves have to step back so the snow could reign every year, Vanessa ‘s hair was getting more grey and she was getting wearier succumbing to her shift into the next part of life.

Then it happened. Her daughter arrived and left the kid she gave birth to, saying she couldn’t raise him. Vanessa had to retire early to take care of him. Baby’s name is Sam.

“G… gwanny?” – mumbled a toddler, standing up in his crib and looking at Vanessa, who still stood in the doorway, because she didn’t know what she should do better and how should she react.

A small boy around 2 years old was gazing at Vanessa with his small mouth opened. He was chubby from baby fat and wore only a diaper with nothing else on. She was shocked, even though it was expected, but the other part of her current self, her granny’s heart, warmed up at the sight of her little Sammy standing in his crib and grabbing a wooden bar with his tiny and pudgy palm.

“At least Sam woke up already,” – Vanessa thought: “so, that means, he already realized his state. Don’t need to gush at the fact that he’s, well, a toddler”.

“Yes, Sammy. In some way. But I remember that’s not like it always used to be. Do you remember who you are?” – said Vanessa. She was a bit concerned about his sudden change of attitude and decided to check if his mind is still intact, better safe, than sorry.

“Yes, ‘membew, you used to be ma giwwend” – said Sam, he still wasn’t used to his low skill of speech, so he blushed at how babyish it sounded.

He looked at the woman of senior citizen age, she still resembled Vanessa he used to know, but her youth was long gone with her beauty, her body and face deformed with age too. Sam understood that there’s no need to remind her about it, despite any humiliation and helplessness today’s change brought to him he became younger and couldn’t imagine how it felt to Vanessa, a young woman previously, that has been shown what life got in store for her in the next decades to come and was stripped off those things, that made her being viewed as attractive.

Vanessa was dressed in a sweatpants and large T-shirt she wore, when she was preparing for the day a couple of minutes earlier, and had her gray hair in a pixie cut. Her eyes, that looked at Sam through the thin elegant glasses seemed to be a little tired, but a slight, not so noticeable at first sight, sparkle in them still reminded of the lost youth, she’s completely aware off, as it seems. It helped Sam to fight his anxiety, because it meant they could figure it out and find a way to return to their normal state with her help, as Sam really wasn’t able to do much in his new body.

-          Sam, the reality changed… it seems, now all the world is not as it used to be… so, yes, in some way we are now a grandma and grandson, – Vanessa said as calm as she could.

-          Unners’and. Me membew some of it too, – Sam started to talk slowly, but then his speech became fast and illegible, as if some regular overexcited toddler spoke: “I membew dat I big boy too, but me baby and you gwanny too, dat’s fwuth… fwuss- twatin’!

-          I understand, the same goes with me, - Vanessa spoke as she leaned closer to Sam over the railing of the crib.

-          You know how owld we become? – asked Sam.

-          Every time, when it happened earlier, I aged 10 years and you lost 5 years, that means I’m 62 and you’re about 2. Wait, you couldn’t count yourself, aren’t you?

-          Weww, I know me wittwe, so you should be weal big, oh, I mwean owd, but dat’s hawd to count now.

-          I see. Okey, enough of it. Let’s get ready for the day and then we may decide what to do. Since Christina said, that person, responsible for the curse, is somewhere nearby, we just need to sat together, think who it may be and then come to him and make him undo it, right?

-          Gwa… sowwy, ‘Essa, can you hewp me get outta cwib? – asked Sam, looking up at Vanessa. It seems that’s what bothered him more now. His eyes looked almost pleading.

-          Of course… - she answered, then said: Come to me. Upsy-daisy!

Being lifted out of his crib, was, at some point, quite a humiliating and unpleasant experience for Sam, because it reminded him once again about his current position. Obstacle, that should be easy to get over even for a kid of the age of 7, like he was yesterday, especially for adult he should be, if not the damned curse. Now he needed someone to help him to get out of it.

When Vanessa lifted Sam out of the crib, she placed his small bottom on her arm with his legs dangling at the side, so it would be easier to hold him.

Such a babyish position in the arms of his former girlfriend made Sam feel uncomfortable at first, but then his memories about new reality kicked in, and he calmed down and even put his thumb inside his mouth. Being carried aside Vanessa’s flabby arm and close to her warm and soft body, helped Sam to forget his worries and his anxiousness slowly started to wear off.

Sam’s demeanor towards Vanessa changed and he noticed it. Not only he had to submit and resign himself to position of the lesser one between the two of them, due to his new limitations, but his perception of Vanessa changed too.

It was hard for him to see her as his girlfriend, even though he was aware, at least, she used to be. He lost any attraction to her before: when the change in reality made her his “mother” and him into kid, that only had to go through puberty yet. But there was something else, Sam was feeling safe in the hands of Vanessa, because she now, strangely, seemed like the most dependable person in the world, though usually he was the one to take the lead. He buried his face into old woman’s skin, at the moment he enjoyed being cared for.

Vanessa looked at Sam as he sat on her forearm. Smooth baby skin touched hers and she understood, that she’d better hide her newfound excitement over her little “grandson” who just woke up. She really had to resist the urge to blow a raspberry into his pudgy belly.

Her memories were partly altered, just like Sam. But her case just was different. Sam didn’t remember much about new reality, even though he now discovered some new feelings towards Vanessa and sensations about his body. Vanessa, on the other hand, has gained about 40 years of new experience.

Of course, Vanessa still remembered her and Sam’s original selves, but she had memories about new reality, with 40 years added to her, this period literally lasted longer than her whole previous life. So, seeing Sam as her boyfriend, even if he really used to be, became harder and harder with every passing minute, every second, not only he looked like a regular toddler and she remembered taking care of him as he was slowly growing bigger, stronger and smarter and now she carried him through the room like a baby, which was the stronger evidence, that current situation seemed even more real than any other scenario, for example: Sam as her boyfriend.

When Vanessa first saw Sammy standing in his crib, she noticed the bulge of his swollen diaper. It seems it was filled to its full capacity, so she’ll have to change it immediately. Vanessa hoped it was only wet.

She gently cupped the front side of the boy’s diaper to feel the fullness, then delicately tugged the backside of Sam’s nappy with her index finger.

The boy didn’t mind it at all, as it seemed, he just continued to bury his face into Vanessa’s chonky shoulder and hug her with tiny arms.

“At least, no poopy… yet”, Vanessa sighed at the thought.

-          Sam, I know you’re not going to like it, but I’ll just have to change your… you know… diaper. – said Vanessa as she slowly carried toddler to the changing table.

-          You hafta anyway, ‘Etha. Sowwy for it… - answered Sam.

-          Oh, nothing’s wrong, you don’t have to be sorry. It’s OK for boys your age to get through a lot of changes. You’ve only started to learn to use the potty, aren’t you?

When Vanessa said it, she couldn’t hide her excitement anymore and held the boy closer to her face to blow a raspberry into his tummy, but noticed the somewhat surprised look on Sam’s face, that made her stop.

“Shit, what’s got into me”, thought Vanessa.

After settling Sam on the changing table, Vanessa tore the tapes on the sides of his diaper, leaving it opened and started doing her job, taking care of the toddler’s need to be clean and in a snug and comfy nappy, like if she’s done it thousands times before, just like any routine action.

Sam felt himself humiliated during change, Vanessa wiping his groin and butt, holding his “peenie” between her thumb and index finger to achieve a better reach to all the regions of his body to clean, grabbing his tiny ankles to lift his butt and powdering him, before putting a new diaper on him, was a demeaning experience. But at the same time it felt better to be clean, so he couldn’t blame Vanessa for having him go through this process. Sam even wanted to show his acknowledgment to her for not doing any “cute” comments and cooing at him, so he mustered to mumble “Thank wou” with a shy blush.

“Oh, what a cutie! Can’t help it, though I have to hold myself, after all, I don’t want to make it too tough for Sammie” – Vanessa thought looking at the small boy after she put a diaper with elastic waistband on him.

She carried him downstairs, put on the floor and asked to sit down for 15 minutes, so she could prepare breakfast for them.

Sam was bored even after a minute of doing nothing, so he decided to play with some of the toys scattered around on the carpet. Reluctant at first, he soon noticed how fun it was becoming to roll his toy car around.

Some noise could be heard from the kitchen nearby.

If the breakfast soon is going to be ready, that meant Sam is going to sit in a highchair with a small plate in front of him on the tray, with bib tied around his neck and Vanessa helping him to eat without spilling food on himself, but anyway ending with a dirty mouth for Vanessa to wipe.

Sam cringed at the thought.

After a minute or so, he felt strange pressure building inside his tummy. Realizing what it means, he rushed to Vanessa on the kitchen.

Seeing a worried toddler, she asked, kneeling to be on the same eye level with Sammy:

-          What happened?

-          I need to poop… - he answered, blushing once again.

-          Okay, come with me. You are such a smart boy, for telling me!

Sam thought for a second, how much the level of accomplishment worth of being called “smart” has fallen during the last couple of days!

After finishing his business on the training potty, Sam’s bum was wiped by Vanessa. When she was throwing out the contentment of potty chair and flushing it, Sam remembered there was something important to tell her, but what?

Then it started to become clear: the neighbor’s house, the glowing he saw yesterday and later woke up, like this, he had to tell her!

A woman in her 20-ties sat behind the table made out of black wood. Then a ring was heard.

She grabbed the handset of a black telephone, that looked like it was made in the start of the XX century.

She listened to the voice of the caller, then said: