Spring Cleaning

Chapter 6
Snuggles

Chapter Description: The nine-year-old was suddenly eight, then seven. The years continued to melt away. Her hair pulled itself up from a short cut into precocious pigtails; her body traded height for shortness, and lankiness for pudginess. Baby fat became more and more prominent as Angie regressed. Her face began to lose its childlike qualities, taking on instead the characteristics of toddlerhood. She hit six years old, then fell back from first grade to kindergarten as she youthened to five. And the changes weren't stopping.

It was now nearly 5:30, and young Angie didn’t have much work left to do. The floor was visible in most places now, having only small piles of things left to deal with. Textbooks from grades 1 through 3 which had been scattered randomly around the room were now assembled somewhat neatly on a bookshelf. Coloring books from kindergarten days had just been placed in a cardboard box and tucked away under the bed. Building blocks leftover from preschool had been gathered near a plastic tub and would soon be chucked inside.

Aside from that, all that remained on the floor of Angie’s room were some toddler toys she hardly remembered using.

Weird...why’re these even out? Oh well, I guess I gotta find somewhere to put ’em now. I’m getting kinda sleepy.

Angie was indeed fatigued, and the fatigue grew stronger as she picked up the toddler toys and tucked them under her bed. Tiredness wasn’t the only thought on her mind, however. Though she would never admit it, as the ambiguous music box played "Toyland" Angie was experiencing feelings of warm remembrance for the babyish playthings she was collecting. She smiled upon finding an old mini-xylophone, each key in one of the primary colors, along with the plastic sticks (covered in bite marks) needed to play it.

Hmm...Rock, a-bye ba...by...

She tinkered with the instrument for a few minutes, trying to recall the right way to play the tune. She was about to give up when suddenly the music box stopped playing "Toyland" and shifted gears, now slowly playing "Rock-a-Bye Baby". Angie yawned happily and continued to put the toddler toys away.

Some of these are...were fun, but the one I really miss is...

She looked up after sliding the xylophone under her mattress to see exactly what she had been thinking of:

My teddy bear!

There among the other stuffed animals sitting on her barbie-themed bed was Snuggles, the teddy she’d been so very fond of as a baby.

Without hesitating, Angie grabbed him out of the other animals and squeezed him tightly.

"Oh Snuggles, I missed you..." she whispered.

As she cuddled the comforting cub, rejuvenating warmth spread through Angie’s body. She began to go backwards once more.

The nine-year-old was suddenly eight, then seven. The years continued to melt away. Her hair pulled itself up from a short cut into precocious pigtails; her body traded height for shortness, and lankiness for pudginess. Baby fat became more and more prominent as Angie regressed. Her face began to lose its childlike qualities, taking on instead the characteristics of toddlerhood. She hit six years old, then fell back from first grade to kindergarten as she youthened to five. And the changes weren’t stopping.

"Me sweepy," mumbled the preschooler. "Snuggwes, wet’s take a nap, otay?" Groggily, Angie climbed onto her bed -- which, like the rest of her room, had now adapted to match her diminishing age. Barbie had been replaced with Barney, or Baby Bop to be precise. The wallpaper, bedsheets, pillowcase, and other aspects of the room all spoke to the fact that Angie loved Baby Bop.

And naturally, her clothing was not an exception. The children’s tee which had borne Princess Belle when Angie was nine had become a fleecy pajama shirt, with Baby Bop posing on front. Her feet were now bare, leaving her tiny toes exposed. The pink cotton shorts had melted away completely, exposing the final aspect of her clothing’s transformation: what had been Barbie panties were now a protectively-padded pair of Barney-themed Pull-Ups.

Angie, who was still about four-and-a-half, wriggled uncomfortably on her bed. She was sleepy, but something wasn’t right. Her clothes seemed a little too small for her. Confusion was setting in when she noticed a pause in the air -- the music box had stopped playing. She opened her eyes and saw it right there on her bed, tucked away under some animals.

Feeling that a lullaby would help, Angie turned the little knob and then released it, and the music box began to play again.

Rock-a-bye baby,

The cradle will rock...

Angie closed her eyes and curled up close to Snuggles, smiling as she continued to regress...the clothes fit her much better now that she was three again.

When the bow breaks,

Cradle and all.

Warm and cozy in her crib, and not a single day older than three, Angie nodded off, sucking her thumb blissfully.