Allie's adventure in the land of wonder.

Chapter 4
Curiouser and curiouser

Chapter Description: Allie's cousin Edie comes to visit and they have an "adventure".

Another hot day, dry and cloudless with an azure sky overhead. Allie and her cousin Edie, who was visiting for the week, played in the yard and explored the small forest in the back of grandma’s house.

They giggled at bad puns, played in the small dry creek bed, and generally killed time the way that young children do.

Edie was a whole year older than Allie, she flaunted that fact at every chance as she was very proud of the fact that she was older than someone else.

“...and that, of course, is why this dragonfly is green, you know!” said Edie with an air of authority.

To an adult, it would have been silly to see a child acting like Rachel Carlson, but to Allie, who was inexperienced with such matters, it was quite believable.

“Wow, I didn’t know that!” she said amazed at her cousin’s supposed knowledge, “Why is this one blue then?” She pointed at another dragonfly that had stopped to visit the first.

“Um, I’ll tell you later,” said Edie, as she didn’t have a ready answer.

The two grew thirsty and hungry as they played in the forest. They went back to grandma’s house to get something to drink and see if it was lunchtime.

“In a few minutes,” was the reply from grandma, as she put the finishing touches on some open-faced sandwiches and grabbed a ladle to scoop out cream of chicken soup out of a warmed pot.

Allie spotted the creamy texture of the soup and asked with some trepidation, “That’s not mushroom soup, is it granny?”

“No mushrooms are in this soup, my dear. You needn’t worry about that!” assured grandma.

“Phew!” said Allie with palpable relief.

Edie had been filled in on the large mushroom and was cautioned on the dangers of its partaking. She was happy enough to listen to the two who had experienced its properties firsthand.

But, still, she was a typically curious little girl and had tried a piece from the “downside”. (The caterpillar had encouraged her). She experienced a small toddler adventure and Allie came to her rescue. They both agreed not to tell grandma, and let it be at that.

After lunch, grandma went to clean up the bathroom and the pair were off to continue their forest exploration.

Eventually, after growing bored with the forest and finding things to explore about it, the two lay in an open field, watching jets fly overhead, leaving their vapor trails. The talk went from lunchroom antics and icky boys with cooties to Edie’s experience with the mushroom.

“The thing is, I don’t remember any of it,” said Edie, “I mean, I remember coming to all naked and you standing over me with my clothes, but that’s pretty much it.”

“The mushroom makes you into what you were,” said Allie with mock sobriety, “You don’t remember because you were a baby then.”

“It’s kind of a shame,” said Edie, “It would be cool if you could be a baby and still be a grownup kid, you know?”

“Hmm, what if we asked the caterpillar if that’s possible?”

“Why not?”

Why not, indeed? The two sprang up from their resting place and ran with childish enthusiasm to ask the caterpillar just that.

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“Say what now?” said the dumbstruck caterpillar, “You want to be babies with children’s minds? Is that it?”

“Yeah, we wanna know what it’s like!” said Allie.

“Is it bad or something?” asked Edie.

“No, baby. The mushroom makes you into what you were or what you’re gonna be. I think it has something to do with trauma. Something like that, anyway.”

“What’s ‘trauma’?” asked Allie. She looked to Edie, expecting her to have the answer, but Edie hadn’t heard that word either. She shrugged her shoulders.

“Bad feelings,” answered the caterpillar.

“So, it’d be bad if we were to try it?”

“I don’t know. I can set you up a special piece of mushroom to do that, though. You wanna try it?”

“Um, maybe we should talk to granny first,” suggested Allie.

“No! She’d be against it, anyway,” said Edie. Edie wanted to try it but was afraid of what might happen if grandma found out.

Just then, grandma came out of the house.

“Girls! I have to get some things at the store. I think I can trust you two to stay out of trouble, and stick to the house, while I’m gone?”

“Okay, granny! Will you be long?” asked Allie.

Edie began to bounce up and down with excitement. She couldn’t help it; this was her chance!

“Not too long, and stay away from that mushroom! You got it?”

“Okay!” chimed both girls automatically.

“Now, about that piece of mushroom…” said Edie, rubbing her hands conspiratorially, as she pretended to be an actor from a movie she saw once about international spying.

“Granny said no mushroom!” said Allie

“I can give it to you in a vial,” suggested the caterpillar. He held out a small red tinted bottle that said “drink me!” on its label.

“Granny said no mushroom, not this!” she said as she grabbed the vial and ran into the house.

Allie ran after her, “Wait!”

The Caterpillar smiled with a mischievous grin while blowing a few technicolor bubbles from his vape as they left.

Edie ran into the bedroom and pulled out some baby things, a onesie and a diaper with baby powder were put on the changing table. She pulled off her clothes with reckless abandon, almost tearing her shirt in the process.

Allie rushed into the room as Edie was hopping around on one foot while pulling off her remaining sock.

“Edie! STOP!” said Allie as she came into the room.

“Allie, I’m gonna do it and you can’t stop me!”

“But, I, um, you... Oh, fine! Just do it, then!” said a grumpy Allie. She crossed her arms and stared at Edie.

Edie opened the bottle and drank its contents, “Tastes like cherries!” she said as the effects began to take hold.

She shrank from age nine down to age two in less than a minute. Allie just watched her, she’d seen the transformation enough times to not be shocked about it.

But, in some way, seeing the transformation seemed to excite her in some way, she couldn’t put a name to it, but after the feeling passed, she picked up her cousin and placed her on the changing table.

“Whoa! This is so-o-o cool!” Squeaked Edie. The room was enormous to her now. Allie towered over her like a giant.

A thought occurred to Allie. “If she wants to play baby, we’ll play baby!” and a not-very-wholesome grin appeared on her face.

She pulled the restraining strap up from the side of the changing table and snugged it tight over Edie.

Before Edie could protest, Allie said, “Can’t have the baby falling off the table, now, can we?”

Taking a moist baby wipe from its container, she fanned it in the air to make certain that it was as cool as possible. She wiped Edie’s nether down thoroughly.

“Wow! That’s cold!” said a shivering Edie.

Allie lifted her legs and slid a diaper under her cousin’s butt. She smeared some A&D ointment over her, then powdered her butt with a toss of baby powder.

Edie was loving the treatment. She felt as if she were in an Arabian castle being tended by her retainers. The smell of the ointment and baby powder tickled her nostrils, and she felt happy.

Long-lost memories started to come back of her experiencing being diapered before.

She put her thumb in her mouth and sucked on it as Allie did up the tapes on her diaper. She was happy and contented as Allie undid the strap, sat her up, and told her to raise her arms.

“Huh?” said Edie perplexed, “What do you mean, ‘raise my arms’?”

“Like this!” said Allie as she put her arms straight up above her head. Edie copied her and felt the soft fabric of a onesie as it was pulled over her arms and head.

Allie laid her back down and did the snaps on her legs and crotch. She picked her up and carried her to the living room, where she pulled a few baby toys out of the play box and told her to play. Allie left the room.

Edie looked at the toys. A telephone with bug eyes stared at her; a console with various brightly colored beads and a teddy bear just her size with open arms invited her to hug it.

She was playing with the “ring-a-ting” sounds coming out of the telephone when Allie came back with a portable play pen.

She set it up and scooped up Edie in mid “ting” placing her in the play pen.

“Hey! I was playing with that!” said Edie. She needn’t have bothered as Allie scooped up the toys and dumped them unceremoniously in the play pen with her.

For the next few hours, Edie felt the softness of her onesie as it caressed her skin. She lay on her back and moved her legs, making the diaper rub up against her body. She played with the toys and then got used to the whole "baby" thing and was immediately bored.

Allie was watching the TV, totally oblivious to what Edie was doing. She was treating her cousin to the full “ignore the baby” routine that most babysitters do.

Edie grabbed the rail on her playpen and pulled herself up. “Hey! Allie!” she squeaked. Allie ignored her. She tried again.

After several attempts, Allie came over.

“What is it? Are you thirsty or do you need a diaper change?”

“A drink would be nice. But I’m bored!”

“One drink coming up!” said Allie ignoring the latter half of Edie’s statement. She came back with a baby bottle of apple juice, handed it to Edie, and went back to the couch.

Edie sucked on the bottle. The juice tasted good and she went through half of it. It filled up her tiny stomach to full before she realized she was bored again.

“Hey, Allie!” she yelled. Allie ignored her.

“Hey! Allie! Allie! HEY!” She yelled again and again.

Finally, Allie got up with an impatient look on her face and came over.

“What?” she asked.

“I’m bored! Let’s do something!”

“Like what? Patty-cake? Maybe sing some songs? What?” asked Allie with strong dislike in her voice.

“I dunno, I’m just a baby!” said Edie with a mock-innocent look on her face.

“Besides, I, unh!, I, unnnnh!” said Edie as she bent over and her bowels emptied.

Allie should have watered down the apple juice before giving it to Edie and now she had the runs.

“PEE-YOU!” said Allie as the smell hit her nose, “You stink!”

“I don’t smell nothing!” said Edie in embarrassment.

Well, it’s time for a clean-up! Said Allie as she picked her up holding her at her arm's reach, and moved to the bathroom.

Edie was stripped and a bath was drawn. She was scrubbed from head to toe, then put in a new diaper and onesie. (The old one had a little brown stain on the legs)

Allie put her back in the play pen.

“Are you ready to grow up again? I’m already tired of babysitting!”

“Not really. I, unnnnh!” said Edie as she squirted more hot stench into her fresh diaper, “Um, I think I might need another change, Allie.”

“And another bath.”

After several episodes of the “trots”, Edie was ready to throw in the towel. The two went out to the mushroom and asked for the antidote.

“There isn’t one, baby! That magic will wear off in a day or two,” said the caterpillar with a genuine smile of delight on his face.

“A day or two!” squeaked Edie, “I wanna grow up now! Unnnnnh!”

“Not again!” wailed Allie.

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After grandma got home from the supermarket, Allie and Edie had to explain to her what they’d done.

“Well, that serves you right, young lady! It’s fitting that it’ll wear off in a day or two! Allie! Guess who gets to take care of her until then?”

“Yes, grammy!” said a very sad Allie.

After Edie experienced diaper rash and a whole two days of being taken care of. She also found out that helpless babies had to be watched at all times, and that their range of activities was very limited.

Still, after the adventure had concluded, Allie and Edie were watching TV when Allie could have sworn she heard a crinkling sound coming from her cousin as she sat down...