Catches And Choices

Chapter 1
Catches And Choices

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Chapter Description: Everything has a catch

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Everything has a catch

*

Follow the groove in the wood, let your finger nail trace the line that catches your eye. Note how it feels to the tender skin on the tip of your finger, now sigh in boredom.

Like so:

“Boring-ring-ring!” The words themselves aren’t spoken loudly, more muttered as the person saying them traces a worn groove in the fake wooden desk in front of her with a finger, the nail exploring.

Another sigh follows.

“Boring-ring-ring!” The finger stops moving and the nail exits the groove it was exploring. Yet another sigh of boredom can be heard.

“One more sigh and you can sigh in the unemployment line” A voice remarks sharply. Jessica Dawn, 29 years old, stops what she’s doing and sits up as straight as possible in her uncomfortable office chair.

“I’m bored, can’t help sighing from how bored I am” Jessica replies after a quick look at the clock.

“I know you’re bored, but if our lord and master on high hears you then he’ll fire you just to brighten your day” Looking up slightly to see if her friend is maybe warning her that her boss was close, Jessica sighs in relief when she sees that her boss is nowhere within hearing range.

Another glance at the clock tells her that she still has another two hours to go before it was the end of another dull day at work. As she tries to focus on her work, which is pretty much done for the day, she wonders what to do for Halloween tonight.

A party was tempting but she wasn’t all that fond of drunken crowds and her distaste for alcohol itself made it hard for her to enjoy herself around so any who did drink. There was always some horror movie marathon, but she had already watched all the horror movies she enjoyed the most several times over. And she was a tad old to be dressing up for trick or treating.

“Any plans in mind for tonight?” She asks over to her friend, a woman called Katie Kat Karalee who is also 29. Katie’s mother had been a little doped up on pain meds when Katie had been born and poor Katie was lumped with a name with three K’s, the middle one made fun of a lot when she had been a child.

Katie shakes her head as she works.

“None, looks like a quiet night in I guess” Jessica risks a peek around and notices that others are looking pretty bored as well.

“I wonder if the powers that be should consider playing some music or maybe have one of the stuffed suits who call the shots into stripping and running around. It might cheer people up around here” Smirking at her friend’s comment, Katie finishes what she’s typing and saves it.

“It would most likely give some heart attacks from the shock of the change, and from seeing anyone doing anything that isn’t tedious and dull” Katie remarks. Nodding in agreement, and knowing that it would probably cause a shock to most who worked in this place, Jessica tries to focus on her work while watching the time pass by slowly.

*

About half an hour before the end of the work day, Jessica gets up to answer the call of nature, since that kind of call has even worst timing than tele-marketers, and head to the bathroom.

Once done she heads back to her desk and stops when she hears someone calling to her. Looking around for whoever it is calling her, she sees someone near to the cafeteria.

The person beckons to her. Curious about what the person could want, Jessica heads over to the person who turns out to be a woman in her mid forties or thereabouts.

“Is something wrong?” She asks when she reaches the woman.

“I noticed you were bored, it sounds like you and your friend are in for a quiet night” Nodding towards Katie who is still working, the woman beckons Jessica to follow her.

“Aye, but I doubt it’s any of your business to be honest. And that sounded right rude, sorry” The woman just smiles, not bothered by Jessica’s rudeness. Sitting down at a table and inviting Jessica to join her, the woman takes out what looks like two bracelets and places them on the table.

“How would you and your friend like to trick or treating? You must miss doing that” The bracelets seems to sparkle in the soft artificial light of the cafeteria’s overhead lights, various colours seem to form and mix together.

“We’re both a tad too old to do that, we aren’t exactly kids anymore. Who are you anyway? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around here” Jessica’s eyes are still fixed on the bracelets and she fights the urge to pick one of them up for examination.

“I’m just someone you don’t really need to know. As for your age, well these will make sure that your age isn’t a problem. Slip one on and give the other to your friend and you will see for yourselves. However there are two catches to wearing them, the first you choose and it will happen by the time you finish work today. The second will take place later” Jessica just nods, the bracelets are so hard to look away from.

“Tell me what the catch is” Jessica mummers.

*

“Long piss break, must have been a waterfall” Katie remarks when Jessica returns to her desk. Jessica doesn’t answer her at first, just sits down. As she does Katie catches a glimpse of what she finds impossible – a thick looking nappy and she hears the sounds linked to that. Something else also catches Katie’s eye, something sparkling on her friend’s right wrist.

“What is that?” She asks, before asking her friend about the change in underwear that was casually peeking from above her skirt’s waistband. Jessica hands her the other bracelet.

“Just a gift, here, try it on” Taking the bracelet and examining it, Katie finds that she can’t stop looking at it. The way the colours seemed to form and mix together was oddly captivating.

“A gift? Where did you get it?” Katie asks as she feels the impulse to slip the bracelet on tug at her.

“I’m not sure, just someone gave them to me. One for me, one for you” A part of her tries to fight the urge to slip the bracelet on, and loses. As the bracelet rests against her skin, Katie feels something change and is shocked at first. Then the shock melts away.

A small voice in the back of her mind asks why the underwear between her legs has thickened and Katie wonders why as well, then the small voice seems to become distant and the knowledge that she is now wearing a thick nappy, just like Jessica, goes from shock to casual knowledge.

“It’s pretty” Katie whispers.

“Aye”

*

The work day ended and every one but a few off home for the night, the changes continue for Katie and Jessica.

Throwing her keys back in her handbag, Katie closes the front door and shrugs her coat off. Another dull day of dull work completed, the thrill of it all.

As she kicks her shoes off and waddles through to her bedroom, her nappy crinkling away as she walks, Katie wonders what she could do for the night.

As she does though however, things begin to change.

At the same time just next door, Jessica examines her bracelet and the woman’s words come to her thoughts. One night, that was all. Just one night, and at the end of it she and Katie would have to make a choice.

And exactly as promised by the mysterious woman, the rest of the changes begin.

*

At first there is confusion and disorientation, then acceptance. Jessica examines her hands and smiles, the woman had been right. And Katie has likely noticed the changes as well by now.

“Jessica, supper time!” That voice, oh how wonderful it was to hear that voice again.

“Okay, mum!” Jessica replies. Feeling her now six year old body surge with the energy of youth, Jessica yelps happily and runs downstairs to see her mum again for the first time in two decades.

Next door Katie stares at herself in the mirror. This wasn’t right, she was sure of it. Hadn’t she just been an adult seconds ago?

Yet as that thought comes to her mind, she wonders if that was really just her imagination. But something felt off, she was certain she had been a grown up just now, but she wasn’t a grown up. She was only six years old, not exactly as grown up as her mum.

The thought still continues to tug at her though, as if what the child in the mirror is a shadow of the past, not the present.

“Katie, grub’s up!” Her mum, but that wasn’t right, her mum had died two decades ago at the same time as Jessica’s mum. She was certain of it.

“Are you a shadow?” She asks to her reflection. No reply. She reaches out then stops, this had to be real, it felt real. So maybe the thoughts of her being a grown up were just something silly.

“On my way, mum!” Katie calls out. She would try to solve the mystery of her unusual thoughts later after supper.

*

After supper is done, Katie heads over to Jessica’s house next door and finds Jessica sitting outside with her Halloween costume on, an angel or fairy princess or something, it was hard to tell.

“This is going to sound really weird, but why are we kids? I was sure we were adults, a small voice in the back of my mind keeps saying that we are both grown up” She asks as she sits down beside her friend. Katie’s mum was sorting out her daughter’s Halloween costume back in the house.

“Don’t you like being a kid again? Our mums are alive! And we get to go trick or treating!” Jessica replies happily.

“But we aren’t kids! We’re adults! How did we become kids again? And why are we wearing nappies? Aren’t we potty trained by now? And why are we still being like adults?” Jessica shows her bracelet, the same as the one Katie is wearing.

“A wish, of sorts. I wished that we could be kids again so that we could enjoy tonight as kids, it was granted. However there’s a catch, two of them” Katie frowns and tries to take her bracelet off, only to find that it refuses to move.

“What kind of catches?” She asks.

“Well you may have noticed the first one” Katie nods.

“The nappies? Why are we wearing them?” Jessica shifts on the step and Katie sees a glimpse of her friend’s infantile garment as her skirt falls away a little.

“To be kids again for tonight, I had to choose what grown up thing to sacrifice. I chose our potty training, we’re nappy dependent now and can never be potty trained anymore” Katie jumps up from the step, surprise in her expression.

“And you didn’t bother to ask me? Jess, we’re six years old and in nappies! I’ve already wet myself while I was eating supper! You made this choice without asking me, without even telling me when you gave me the bracelet! And what’s worse is that I don’t mind wearing them, I feel safe and secure and that feeling is even stronger with mum being alive!” Jessica hops up and hugs her friend in an effort to calm her down.

“I made the choice that I felt was best, I didn’t want to sacrifice any of our knowledge or anything else important. Besides that are really comfortable” Katie tries to tear herself from her friend’s hug, her anger making her want to lash out, then the anger melts away and she realises that the infantile garment really wasn’t all that bad after all.

“You have a point there. But we’re still kids, kids who are talking to one another as adults while talking to our mums like kids would” Jessica nods as she steps back from her friend.

“To one another we’re still grown up, to everyone else we are both six years old in appearance, behaviour and more. Well aside from the whole nappy dependency thing, but that’s a minor detail. But we don’t have to be bored tonight, our mums will take us trick or treating, or our dads will. Isn’t that worth the nappy changes?” It was a good point, Katie thought, both her parents and Jessica’s parents had died almost twenty years ago when a crazed man with a gun had opened fire on a picnic gathering when she and Jessica had been nine years old.

Both their parents had shielded their children with their bodies, and had died in doing so when the crazed man had opened fire on them. She and Jessica had survived due to the sacrifice of their parents and were raised by older relatives.

Now seeing her parents alive and whole again was both a shock and a delight.

“I guess so. How long does this last for? And what’s the second catch?” Before Jessica can answer though, Katie’s mum steps outside and calls Katie inside so that she could help her daughter into her Halloween costume.

“I’ll tell you later, promise” Jessica says.

*

It was cute, tacky and hard to like. Yet as she looks at herself in the mirror, she finds that she doesn’t mind wearing such a cute outfit.

“It’s great, mum!” Katie says happily as she twirls, her mix of princess and angel outfit moving with her actions. It was pink with a little purple and red added in, and silver bands on the bottom of the skirt and the cuffs.

It was a childish outfit which she found herself liking.

“I think asking you not to get it dirty would just be asking for a miracle, so try not to get it too damaged. Some of the material is a little fragile” Giving her mum a hug, and enjoying the warmth of the action as her mum hugs her in return, Katie bounces on her feet and giggles.

This wasn’t going to be so bad.

Jessica waits outside with her mum for Katie and Katie’s mum to join them, it was getting dark and the street lights were coming on. She could feel the chill of the night air on her arms and the plastic wings on her back flutter a little in the night breeze.

After a few minutes Katie joins them, her mum holding her hand.

“Looks like our two angels are ready for a night of being cute for sweets” Katie’s mum remarks. Jessica and Katie both nod in agreement, their plastic halos bobbing up and down.

“Sweeties!” The two girls call out happily, losing themselves in the moment.

“Then let’s go get those sweets” Jessica’s mum says with a smile, and holding their daughter’s hands, the two mothers head out with their kids to begin trick or treating.

*

An hour in and their bags are getting heavy with various sweets, some fruit and the usual staple of trick or treating – peanuts.

As they head to the next house, both of them holding tightly to their mum’s hands, Katie looks over to her friend who is skipping happily.

“You didn’t tell me how long this lasts for” She says and Jessica nods.

“It will last until midnight, after that we’ll be adults again and our parents will be…gone. Are you so eager to be a grown up again? Can’t you enjoy being a kid again and having our parents back? This is the only chance we’re ever going to have” Katie looks up to her mum, it really was wonderful to have her back again, but it felt so strange to be so small and young.

She looks back to her friend and notes that her nappy is wet again.

“It is nice, although I’ve just wet myself again” Jessica smiles, her eyes twinkling with youth innocence.

“Me too, and I don’t mind. I’m just happy to be having fun. Don’t focus on being a grown up, just be a kid and enjoy this one off chance” Katie looks up at her mum again, then back to her friend who is happily skipping along.

“Why not” She whispers as she starts to skip.

*

As they head home an hour later, their bags filled with all kinds of sweets and more, Katie remembers that Jessica didn’t explain the second catch.

Begging her mum to let her and Jessica have a sleepover at Jessica’s house, which both mum’s agree to, Katie waits until after she and Jessica’s nappies have been changed and they’ve been dressed for bed before asking.

By now both of them are feeling pretty tired.

“You didn’t tell me what the second catch was” Katie remarks as she cuddles with her favourite soft toy that she had long since lost around the time her and Jessica’s parents had died.

“I know” Jessica says as she also cuddles her own favourite soft toy.

“Are you going to tell me?” Jessica thinks for a moment, as if debating on if she should. Then she nods.

“The second catch requires both of us to make a choice” She replies.

“What kind of choice?” The mix of cuddling her soft toy, her thick nappy and the warmth of the bed make her feel sleepy and she curls up happily.

“If we want to be adults again, or even younger with differences to our second childhoods” Katie sits up, that was a hard choice after the past few hours. Being a child again was wonderful, though scary due to her knowledge of being a grown up.

“How do we choose?” She asks quietly.

“If we fall asleep before midnight, then we will wake up as infants or toddlers, either way we’ll be very young and we’ll be a blank slate. If we fall asleep after midnight we’ll wake up as the adults we are, we’ll still have to wear nappies and we won’t be able to enjoy a night like this again since this is a one off wish” Katie looks over to the My Little Pony alarm clock next to the bed, it was just turning half past nine.

“Jess, how are we supposed to stay up past midnight? Children, especially children at our age, tend to fall asleep quite quickly. As nice as it would be to have a second chance, we have to face the reality that we are grown ups and have our lives to resume with” Jessica looks away, still cuddling her soft toy.

“I don’t intend on staying up, I don’t want to be a grown up again and be miserable. I miss my mum and dad, I miss not having a care in the world but my basic needs and having fun. I don’t want to return to that dismal job and dismal life” Crawling over to her friend, Katie hugs her, Jessica returning the hug.

“But we had our chance the first time round, the second time might end up resulting in something worse happening or making us very different people from who we are. I miss my parents as well and I wish so much to have them back, but a second chance might result in us leading different lives” Jessica begins to whimper, her whimpers turning into sobs.

“But it might be better! Do you really want to return to that miserable life where there’s so little hope and joy? Really?” Jessica asks, her sobbing becoming louder.

“No, but I don’t want to risk our friendship no matter how strong the yearning for a second chance is. We had our time, now we have to give it up” Jessica shakes her head and breaks away from the hug.

“No! We have a chance, we could just go to sleep right now and when we wake up we’ll be able to build new lives! We might even have our parents with us to see us grow into adults! And all we have to do is sleep!” Katie hops up and starts bouncing on the bed in an effort to keep awake.

“No, we need to stay awake just a little longer. So come on, let’s play. And I know that you love bouncing on the bed, you can’t resist it” Jessica watches her friend jump happily and she fights the urge to join in, she was so tired, but that did look like fun.

Too much fun.

*

Yawning heavily, Jessica whimpers a little from fatigue while Katie looks over to the clock. An hour to go, they had managed to keep themselves awake with playing for almost an hour and a half, now just for the final hour.

“Just a little longer, Jess, and then we’ll sleep and return to work when we get up” Jessica cuddles her soft toy close.

“No, don’t want to go to work. I want to be a baby, or a toddler, I don’t want to be an unhappy adult again. Please let me go to sleep so that I can wake up with a new life” Another large yawn, and Katie ends up yawning as well.

“Another hour, Jess, we can’t risk our friendship due to a yearning” Rubbing her eyes tiredly, Katie forces herself to keep awake.

She wanted the second chance so badly, but the thought of things being too different and losing a friend if those changes resulted in that was too painful to consider.

“Another hour, we can manage another hour”

*

Five minutes to midnight. They were almost back to adulthood.

“Going sleepy now” Jessica mummers. A small arm clutches the soft toy close, the bracelet on the arm sparkling.

“No, Jess, five more minutes and then we go to sleep” Katie says tiredly, her whole body was feeling heavy. Jessica just groans and curls up, her nappy peeping from the waistband of her My Little Pony pyjamas.

Katie tries to keep herself awake as best as possible while shaking her friend, but to no avail, Jessica has fallen asleep. Katie looks over to the clock, three minutes left.

“I’m going to miss you, Jess” Katie whispers. “I’m going to miss the laughs we’ve had, the hopes for our futures. I’m going to miss you so much” Reaching out for her friend, Katie hugs her. Jessica snuggles against her.

Two minutes left, Katie tries to keep herself awake as best as possible while her friend sleeps.

“Have to be an adult, but I don’t want to be alone” Katie whispers and she starts to cry.

A minute left. As she cries she holds her friend close.

“Good bye” Midnight comes around and Katie closes her eyes.

*

Waking to a soiled nappy wasn’t exactly what she was used to, but she knew she would adapt to it eventually. Jessica’s wish had prevented her from being able to do anything about it but adapt.

After cleaning herself up and changing into a clean nappy, and making sure to have extras on hand as a just in case, Katie heads to work after her breakfast and thinks about her friend who by now is likely no longer even aware of Katie’s existence, let alone old enough to even be a friend to Katie.

“Miss you, Jess, I’m all alone now” Katie whispers as she waits for the bus. As she waits a mother with a baby stroller sits down beside her, the young child within no older than around a year or older.

Katie smiles at the child who looks at her in the way young children do.

“Beautiful child” Katie remarks, the mother smiles, nodding.

“Aside from the nappy changes and the noise, she is beautiful. Are you a mother?” Katie shakes her head.

“No, not sure if I ever will be. Finding a good man I want to spend my life with and raise a family with is pretty hard to do. What’s your daughter’s name?” Katie reaches out a hand and the baby girl looks at it, babbling in both innocence and curiosity.

“Jessica, Jessica Dawn” Katie fights back her tears at seeing how happy her friend is now. She no longer had to worry about her adult life, not for a fair while anyway.

“A beautiful name for a beautiful little girl”

*

Choices and catches, we all encounter those.

 

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