The Third Wish

Chapter 8
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When Camila returned to the living room she saw that Tom was still sat on the couch, but he was now staring at the potty as though he was in a trance.

"What were you guys talking about?" asked Camila.

"Oh nothing really, Tom needs to pee but he won't sit on the potty," Evelyn answered.

"Maybe he's not ready," Camila suggested, "my little brother wore diapers until he was three," she added.

He grimaced at the suggestion that wasn't 'ready' to use the potty. No Camila, he thought, I'd happily use the toilet if my idiot sister would let me. He would have to climb onto the toilet of course, but he thought that he would still be able to use it, or would he?

It suddenly occurred to him that the rim of the toilet seat would seem wider to him than it used to be and that he would have to perch on the edge of it, what if he fell in? Then there was that loud flushing sound, he recalled that it startled him sometimes.

"Do you wanna finish the story Tom? Or do you need to wee first?" Evelyn asked.

Had he really been startled by the sound of a flushing toilet? That didn't sound right to him, but the thought of being so near to the flush made him feel...uneasy. He could remember the time when his mom had tried to cajole him into sitting on the toilet, he had been so upset that he had almost started crying. Did he really want to put himself through that again?

"Tom? Hello?" Evelyn said.

He didn't want to use the potty in front of Evelyn, but when he considered the alternatives, they were all worse. Was he going to carry on wetting his diaper like a little baby? Didn't he want to stop wearing diapers?

Evelyn had promised to turn him back into an adult if he defeated the 'final boss', as she called it. So he wondered why he was so reluctant to use the potty, was he secretly afraid of using the toilet again?

If he didn't want to use the toilet and he didn't want to wear diapers, then the potty was the only reasonable alternative, was it not? Then why hadn't he understood that before?

"Tom? Are you okay?" Camila queried.

He climbed down from the couch and then walked gingerly towards the corner of the room, where his nemesis waited for him.

"Oh my god, I think he's actually gonna do it," Camila exclaimed.

"Go on Tommy, you can do it," Evelyn encouraged.

Tom peered down at the plastic potty, the final obstacle that stood between him and adulthood. Then he turned around, took a deep breath and pulled his pajama bottoms down to his ankles.

"You can do it," chorused Levi.

Tom grabbed the waistband of his diaper and pulled it down to his ankles, before lowering himself onto the potty. Then that sinking feeling returned and he was sure that something was very wrong, why would he remember his mom attempting to persuade him to use the toilet?

"Well done," cheered Camila.

He glanced around the room and saw that all eyes were on him, which made him blush furiously. Then his bladder started to empty and he could hear a steady trickle of urine splash into the potty.  After what seemed like an eternity, but in reality was no more than ten seconds, he stopped urinating. Then he rose to his feet and quickly pulled his diaper up to his waist.

"Wow, what a clever boy you are," Camila beamed.

He stared at the floor in shame, before stooping down to pull up his pajama bottoms. He suspected that even if Evelyn did turn him back into an adult, the memory of using the potty would haunt him forever.

Then he saw Levi walking towards him, the boy was no longer distracted by his Nintendo, his demeanor seemed to mirror Camila's as though he had absorbed the energy in the room. When Levi was within touching distance, he held up his right hand and said "high five,".

Evelyn giggled and then covered her mouth with her hands in a half hearted attempt to suppress the laughter. Tom glared at her, then he sighed and gave Levi a high five. He didn't blame Levi for what was happening to him and despite the embarrassment, he still loved his little brother.

Tom recalled attending Levi's sixth birthday party, the boy had been sat at the dining table in front of a superhero themed birthday cake, with several of his friends sat beside him. Tom had been stood...no sat, watching them. He remembered being sat in a...high chair?

He had that feeling again, like something was inside of his mind, screwing around with it. He suddenly felt afraid, he was almost certain that he was losing control of the situation and he had the desperate urge to run away.

"Is it the first time he's used it?" Camila asked.

"Yeah," Evelyn answered.

Tom marched out of the living room and into the hallway, he wasn't sure where he was fleeing to, but he knew that he needed to get away.

"Tom?" Camila called out.

"I'll go get him," Evelyn said.

When he reached the bathroom he sat down on the floor with his back against the wall and took deep breaths. He decided that he needed to clear his mind and come up with a plan.

Evelyn followed him into the bathroom and closed the door behind her, "it was just a joke, stop being so dramatic," she whispered.

"You made another wish, didn't you," he said in an accusatory tone.

Evelyn frowned, "what are you even talking about?" she asked.

Tom stared at her, she seemed genuinely perplexed.

"There's something happening to my memories...they're being changed, I can remember things that never happened," he explained.

She hesitated and bit her lip, then stammered "I thought...I thought I was just imagining it,".

"What do you mean?" Tom quizzed.

"Keep your voice down," she urged, "when I was reading that book to you, I thought I could remember reading to you before," she continued.

"What did you remember?" he asked.

She thought about it for a moment, then replied "I was reading you a bedtime story, I think it was...".

"Goodnight Moon?" Tom interjected.

Evelyn nodded and her eyes widened, then she whispered "yeah".

It occurred to him that genies were notorious tricksters, at least in popular fiction anyway. If real genies behaved in the same manner then any wish granted by them would likely have unexpected consequences.

He didn't know precisely what Evelyn had said to the genie and he wondered whether the alterations to his memory might actually be an unintended result of a badly worded second wish.

"Evelyn, when you made your second wish, what were the exact words that you used?" he inquired.

Evelyn thought for a moment, opened her mouth to speak and then stopped herself.

"What is it?" he asked, he was trying to remain calm but there was now a sense of urgency in his voice.

"I don't...I don't remember," she replied.

"You must remember, it was only yesterday," he countered.

"Something about turning you into a toddler, but I don't remember exactly what I said," she maintained.

He considered the possibility that she was lying again, but this time it was different. She remembered Goodnight Moon, how could that be? Unless her memories were also being altered.

"Evelyn, use your third wish to turn me back," he urged, "you need to use it right now, before this gets any worse," he added.

She fell silent and Tom noticed the look of bewilderment on her face, "I can't right now, I told Camila we'd get a takeaway," she protested.

"Forget about the takeaway, we need to fix this right now," Tom squeaked.

As Tom watched Evelyn he thought that he could almost see her wrestling with her own thoughts, she appeared agitated and flustered.

"But you keep changing your mind," she countered, "you said you wanted to wait until after the takeaway," she continued.

"I didn't say that, that's what you said," Tom rebutted.

"We both did, we both agreed to wait until after dinner," she insisted.

Tom sensed that an outside force was acting upon both of them, he could almost feel it now, he was sure of it. If they didn't stop it soon, it would be too late. Yes, if she turned him back into an adult, it would be too late to teach her a lesson. She was still irresponsible, she cared more about her takeaway than looking after her siblings. If she turned him back now, she'd never learn.

Snap out of it, he thought, snap out of it and stay focused.

"Listen, something is happening to both of us and we need to stop it now," implored Tom.

"I can't, the wishes only work when I make them in the evening," she replied.

"You never mentioned that before," he objected.

"I did, I must have done," sputtered Evelyn.