Forgotten Memories

Forgotten Memories

By: AgeUnknown404

(AR, Altered Reality)

James lifted his feet over another boulder to reach the rest of the plants that needed to be trimmed. James was on summer break before his senior year of college. He had gotten a job working for the university as a grounds crew member. He wanted to take the summer to process the waves of papers and homework he had been drowning under for the past fifteen weeks. He figured fresh air and some hard work might be good for his mind and wallet. Graduation grew closer. James felt like he was being dragged over the edge of a waterfall, not knowing if he would get the job he wanted or would be hunting for low-paid jobs like the philosophy majors. 

He was working on one of the older parts of campus that were remodeled a few years back and turned into a small gathering area. Decorative sculptures littered the small quad. Near the building stood a tall hand-carved statue of the university mascot, a wolf.  James cut back the trees and the grass so faculty and summer students could enjoy campus without being whacked in the face by a branch or wade through decorative grass that had toppled over during the winter. It was hard work and hurt like hell as he moved through the quad. 

His boss Sara, a tall young woman in her mid-thirties, yelled down to him from the hill encompassing the park,

 “Hey! It’s 1:45; it is time for your fifteen-minute break. Once that is over, finish picking up, then trim back the ornamental grass.”

 James let out a sigh, “got it,” he replied. 

“I will be back.” 

Sara walked away, probably to another part of campus, to make sure others were taking their breaks as well. 

James planted himself on a bench under the sculpture of the wolf. He was scrolling through his phone to see what was going on in the world. Twitter offers nothing new except more drama about the world and everything going on in it. His friends were posting about their trip to the Bahamas, and others were backpacking through Nepal. In contrast, he was stuck working his ass off just to make sure that he had the experience to get the job that he really wanted. Buried in his adulthood, James breathed heavily as he let out as much stress as he could.

“God, I wish I knew everything is going to be ok and I didn’t have to worry about anything?”

As he inhaled the fresh air, the scent of something familiar moved past his nose. A scent he could not place. Was it flowers from the nearby garden? Or was it the freshly cut grass? He breathed deeply once again, trying to get another whiff of the familiar scent. He closed his eyes, trying to dig through his memories to find where he recognized this scent. He opened his eyes and stood up, walking around to pinpoint the source of the smell. On the other side of the statue was a concrete wall. Smudged into the concrete were paint marks left behind by children.

Brushing his fingertips across the paint, James could see that it was older than the renovation. The brushstrokes seem so happy and innocent. It made James almost envious. A thought formed in his mind wondering why these old paintings were here. He thought back to what this area used to be. The scent became stronger as he closed his eyes and inhaled one more time. The smell of nostalgia spurred a new thought, a thought of childhood and innocence. The sound of children playing rang through his ear like pounding drums. The quad felt more familiar to him now than it had just a few seconds ago. He had been there before, but he does not remember when. A long time ago, maybe? Long before this was ever a quad, he had been here. Perhaps a field trip when he was a kid or even hanging out here with his friends. This memory is older than any of that. James continues to think; the sound of children playing soon disappeared twinkle-twinkle little star began to play slowly. At that moment, James realized that this used to be a daycare, his daycare! 

“I remember I painted this,” James muttered to himself.

His fingertips brushed along the wall once again. He pulls his hand back as the wall felt wet.

He looked at his hand and saw it covered in blue paint. Looking back at the wall, the paint marks grew darker; they looked fresh. 

“What the hell” James yelled

From over the hill, James heard a response from what sounded like Sara.

“Is everything ok? What’s wrong, James?”

Before he could respond, a new smell made its way up to his nose. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply to pinpoint the scent. It was different, and it smelled like baby powder.

His eyes open as a strong gust of wind carrying the scent of nostalgia grew. He felt his skin crawl and the trees shake. He felt paralyzed as the earth shifted around him. All landscaping was pulled into the ground. Along the edge of the quad, a fence began to rise from the ground. In the center of the quad where the statue stood sprouted a swing set, and scattered along the pathways were toys, small rolling cars, and plastic slides. 

James felt great pain in his body; James held his hands in front of his face and watched as they slowly began to soften and shrink. The blue paint continued to run down his shrinking hands. He brought his hands to his cheeks, smearing the paint across his face, and did not feel his usual stubble. His skin is smooth, like when he was a kid. The world around him seems to grow larger by the second. His clothes felt loose as he began to grow younger. His belt disappeared as an elastic waistband formed. The legs of his jeans began to recede up his leg, stopping just above his knee. His shoes turned blue, and the laces were replaced with a Velcro strap; they looked like the cookie monster. His boxer worked their way up to his leg and began to swell. The area between his legs and waist was cushioned by something thick. The swelling pushed his legs apart, causing him to lose his balance. He fell backward, expecting the fall to be more prolonged and painful. He was surprised when his rear met the ground; he didn’t feel a thing. His new puffier underwear cushioned him. With his now infantile hand, he tugged on the elastic waistband of his new shorts; James was confronted by the Cookie Monster again. It was a diaper, and his body was lifted further off the ground as it filled out. The rest of his clothes finally adjusted around his tiny body. The world around him had finally stopped shaking. 

His eyes grew wide as he examined the world around him; the quad that was once there was now gone, replaced with a playground and a fence enclosing it. Inside the nearby building, he saw children playing. He looked at his hands and was suddenly horrified to realize what happened to him, His maturity was sucked away, and his body was left small and pudgy. He tried to rise to his feet but fell back on his belly with a tiny grunt.

A tall woman approached from the distance “Sawuh,” James said 

“What are you doing over here, little one? 

“ Wu hapen, why me taalk lik thith” 

“ It looks like you have been painting again, James.” 

Before he could respond, she pulled out a packet of wipes and took one out of the pack. She crouched down. James was now facing Sara. She grabbed his hands and started wiping the paint off his hands. 

 “Let’s get you all cleaned up,” she said 

James watched as her massive hands wrapped around his now tiny fingers. 

She finished wiping his hands and face. She threw the dirty towel into what was once an ordinary trash can but was now a  trash can shaped like a frog with its mouth open.

“All done, now let’s get you inside.” 

In one smooth motion, in one smooth motion to the air by Sara and cradled him in her arms. He was stuck; he had no control. He was at the mercy of Sara. he wriggled and writhed until he caught a glance of the ground. It was so far away, and he knew there was no point in trying anymore. His emotions began to build to the point he could not control them anymore. He began to wail loudly as Sara entered the daycare. 

“Somebody is cranky,” She said as she walks through a sea of toddlers running around playing. 

“Maybe you should go play with the others.”

Sara made a sharp turn down a colorful hallway. She passed by many doors, all with strange symbols on them. She stopped at the door at the end of the hallway. She opened the door and carried him in. His eyes tried to lock on to the symbols on the door, but he could not understand what they meant.

    The room was bright and colorful, with white clouds painted on them. The floor was carpeted with foam mats scattered around the room. Toddlers playing with various toys, their laughter and screaming filled the room. They seemed gigantic. When his brother Parker was a toddler, he wasn’t nearly that big. A playpen was set up in one corner of the room, and a few babies and toddlers played inside. James sniffed the air. The smell of baby powder was stronger than ever. Sara carried him past a changing table and mirror. 

As she walked across the room toward the playpen. James was able to catch a glimpse of himself in the mirror. Reflecting back at him was a face that he had not seen in a very long time. He recognized it not from his memories but the photos that hang on his parent’s walls from years ago, but now look like they could have been taken yesterday. 

She brought James over to the playpen and stepped over the wall. She gently set him down inside.

“Now, James,” she said with a firm tone grasping his attention. “Play nice with the others.”

With those few words, she stepped over the playpen walls and walked away. James surveyed the playpen for a second before he started to process everything. How did this happen? I need to get out of here! James began to look around the room for anything that would help him escape. In the corner of his eye, he could see a recognizable shape. 

“A Sewlphone!” James said in his childish voice 

James became very excited when he saw the cell phone. He began to move his body forward, trying to stand on his feet. He put his hands on the ground and firmly placed his legs behind him. He began to lift his upper body, but his legs became too shaky and unstable. He fell back onto the floor with his knees pressing into the foam padding. He couldn’t walk. Why couldn’t he walk? He knew that the only option was to crawl, but it seemed so demeaning. Crawling across the playpen, James could see another toddler walking quickly to the cell phone. He was moving much faster than James as he could walk, and James tried to move faster. By the time James reached the phone, the toddler boy already had it. He had opened it up and held it to his ear.

“ Me Nwed fone,” James said

“Stupid baby,” the toddler said, throwing the phone at his chest.

The toddler ran off to the other corner of the playpen.

 James flipped open the phone as quickly as he could down the number of his girlfriend. As fast as he could, he didn’t even look at the numbers. He just dialed as quickly as he could. He held the phone to his ear and a voice on the other end answered.

“The pig goes oink,” a squeaky voice said.

“wha” James replied

He pulled a phone from his ear, and he took a better look at it. He realized that there were no numbers, only the strange symbols again and pictures of animals. There was no hope he realized that he was stuck there. He couldn’t even walk. What was he supposed to do?

There was nothing he can do, so the only thing he could do is wait and see what will happen later. If someone was going to come to pick him up from the daycare? Or will things change back in time? The only way this could’ve happened was magic, and it doesn’t exist, James thought. He thought back to how this could’ve happened, and he remembered his wish. I wished that he didn’t have to worry about anything. His heart sank, knowing that if that was true, he could be stuck like this forever. But James chose to be more of an optimist. He thought that maybe he just need to have to play this role, and things will change.

James crawled over to look like wooden blocks with the strange symbols on them with his newfound optimism. He began to stack them as tall as he could to “play” his role. Time soon began to fly by. What was once “play” became actual enjoyment. He built many buildings and shapes out of the strange little cubes. He felt so in control and had so much fun. He felt pressure in his stomach. He then felt it go away as something warm and mushy slid past his butt cheeks and fell onto the seat of his diaper. he continued to play without even noticing.

“Smells like Jamesy needs a diaper change?” her voice seemed to rise in pitch with each syllable.

James turned to look at Sara. 

“do you enjoy playing with the alphabet blocks, James?” she asked.

Alphabet blocks, what alphabet blocks? he thought., Then it struck him the weird symbols were letters. He forgot how to read!! That’s why he didn’t understand the symbols on the door.  He screamed internally as he realized he was mentally regressing into a baby.

 She picked him up with ease and placed James on a changing table, taking his shoes off with ease. She tugged his pants down, revealing the thick Cookie Monster diaper hiding underneath. He started to cry, his voice high-pitched like the actual baby he was, and fully aware of the situation.

    "There, there, calm down, " Sara reassured him. She placed a pacifier into his mouth, and he began to suck on it instinctively; with her hand wrapped around the bottom of his diaper, she squeezed lightly, checking to see if it was wet. The feeling sent a shiver up James’s spine.

“You’re not wet yet, but you are stinky.”

Sara untapped the diaper and wrapped it up, exposing James to the world, but he didn’t care as he continued to suck on his pacifier. She threw it away in the trashcan and grabbed some baby wipes. She began wiping James’s bottom. She finished up and threw out the wipes. She then grabbed the bottle of baby lotion, squirted some into her hands, and rubbed them together. She rubbed her cream-covered hands up and down his bottom and groin until everything was covered. She grabbed a bottle of baby powder and sprinkled some on his bottom.  The Smell filled his nose, and he felt at peace. She then grabbed a fresh disposable diaper and unwrapped it. she held the diaper up in front of him

“Look, it’s Chase,” she said

“ I know you like Skye more, but this is all I have.”

She tickled James’s sides and instinctively giggled. He knew that he shouldn’t be enjoying this and acting like a baby, but it just felt right.

She slowly lifted James up and slide the diaper underneath him. She then brought the two sides up and folded them together. With one final step, she taped the diaper together. He tried to get his legs together, but they couldn’t, with the bulk of the diaper preventing it. At this rate, he will never walk again, he thought.

“Maybe we should put you down for a nap. Before Parker picks you up, how about that?”

“Pawkar,” James mutter behind his pacifier

She couldn’t mean Parker, his 8-year-old brother. He was just a kid. That same morning James watched Parker pick his nose and eat cereal at the same time. There is no way he is going to pick him up from this daycare. Unable to spit the pacifier out, James flailed his arms and legs around in protest. He was not a child; he didn’t need a nap; he wanted to be a big boy again, no wait, an adult.

As if he had done nothing at all, She slipped her hands underneath his arms and held him up in the air.

His head rested over her shoulder. She carried him into another room. The clothes sitting on the changing table slowly shrank from sight as she walked further and further away. This left him with the baby blue shirt, Paw Patrol diaper, and the pacifier he sucks on between his lips.

He stretches his arm out, reaching for the clothes that  moved further and further away from him as Sara caught a glimpse and said:

 “oh, you don’t need to worry about those silly. You don’t need them for your nap.”

  He felt naked yet free as Sarah made her way into the nursery. The room was dark, and rows of cribs were scattered across the room. The faint sound of lullabies played in the air as Sara placed James in a crib.

James now sat in the crib staring up at Sara. He wanted so much to cry and scream, but he knew it would make no difference. He had to find a way to change back. He had already grown up once, and he didn’t want to do it again.

The sound of the lullabies swung past his ears, and his eyelids became so heavy. It was like he had no control; his body was acting on its own. He knew that he could not fall asleep because if he fell to sleep, this wasn’t a dream. 

His back fell onto the soft mattress. He continues to suck on the pacifier between his lips. Sara handed him something. He clutched it in his tiny hands, pulling it towards his face. He could see it was a tiny little teddy bear. Its black guys stared back at him, and he knew that teddy was his friend. His eyes closed, and he drifted off to sleep.

James awoke. The room was still dark, and the lullaby still played in the background, but he was no longer tired. He felt cold dampness between his legs. His hand let go of Teddy and slid down his body, squeezing his diaper. It felt like Play-Doh each time he squeezed it. He felt the gel move along his body. He looked down and saw his diaper was bigger and rounder. Deep down, he kind of liked it.

Suddenly the lights came back on. Sarah walked into the room, making a beeline for James.

“Uh ooh, does someone need a diaper change?”

 James shook his head in denial.

Sara ignored his denial and stuck her fingers down the front of his diaper.

“Well, you’re wet, but it’s almost time to go, so there is no reason to change you.”

Sara picked James back up and brought him back into the playroom. His head once again rested on her shoulder, looking back at the crib he was just in. His arm hung down his side as he clutched onto teddy with one hand and held onto Sara with the other. He held on tight, afraid to lose either. He didn’t know why he felt this way. He just knew that he could not let go. If he lost teddy or Sara, he would probably cry.

“Is that my buddy?” a voice said behind James’s back. He recognized that voice; It sounded so familiar. Sarah turned him around in her arms, facing him forward. His mouth opened wide from shock. The pacifier and Teddy fell to the ground.

“Pawkar,” James said in shock.

“Hey buddy, how was your day?” Parker said

James was shocked because he was an eight-year-old boy with jet black hair who love Transformers and video games when he left Parker this morning. But standing in front of him now stood a grown-up. He looks like he had to be in his late teens. He still had his jet black hair, but his face had a slight stubble that James once had. He was tall and slender, looked so confident and worry-free, and looked like he could take on the world. He knew it was Parker not just because of the voice but because of the boyish charm that Parker exhibited as a child that James knew he would not outgrow.

Sarah dipped down to pick up Teddy and the pacifier off the ground bringing James with her, she whispered in his ear.

“Just relax, James, but there is no reason to worry.”

This only confused James more. His brother was now his older brother. It seems like the whole world saw him as a baby. 

Sara raised back up, handing the pacifier and Teddy to Parker. In one hand, Parker held Teddy and James’s paci. The other reached out to grab James.

“How was he today?” Parker inquired

“He was a little fussy today but nothing to worry about,” Sara replied.

James could only watch as the two grown-ups talked about him as if he wasn’t even there. Sarah hands James over to Parker. Parker then slips both hands under James, cradling him in his arms. His hand wraps around James’s diaper.

“Looks like someone’s wet.”

“Sorry, we didn’t get a chance to change him before you showed up.”

“No worries, he seems fine; I will change it when we get home.”

Home! Who’s at home. James had begun to really wonder where home is. Is he still with his mother? Is heParker’ss kid now? His whole reality has been changed, and now he knows nothing; he thought that not knowing if he was going to have a job after college was scary. But now he knew nothing about the world that he lives in, and that’s even scarier.

Parker sees the frustration and the coming tears on James’s face and places the pacifier between his lips once again, and tucks teddy into his arms. Within less than a second, the worries that were running rampant through James’s mind disappeared; he was calm, and everything felt good. Cradled in his brother’s or his father’s arms, James didn’t know which, but he didn’t care. He felt safe. It didn’t matter what Sara knew. He was content. Before he knew it, James was being carried out to a car. Parker, with one hand, unlocks the vehicle and places James in the car seat. Clipping him in, Parker looks directly at James and says

“are you ready to go, buddy?”

James, for whatever reason, smiled behind his pacifier.

“I take that as a yes” Parker smiles.

James let out a muffled whined through the pacifier as he felt a more significant problem moving its way through his stomach.

Parker started the car and said, “don’t worry, buddy, we’re going home.”

In the corner of his eye, James could see a college student cutting the grass around the daycare fence. A job that was once his, but he didn’t have to worry about that anymore.

An absolute breeze blew through the playground drying James’s painting on the wall for good. 

Fin