The Scorching Embrace

Chapter 2
The Lingering Dark

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Chapter Description: The flames roar in the attic once more.

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[img align=left; footer=’’; border=0; showfooter=1;]http://i.imgur.com/PDuIR.jpg[/img]

She had to think. She had to. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be happening! Yet, there she was.

Jennifer was laid down on a pink changing table by her mother for the first time in twenty-four years. She was nearly thirty, she knew, but now she was trapped again in a baby body. Her baby body. She realized what had happened only too quickly. She was herself, she knew, but it seemed like only Ben realized that it WAS her, not this new baby “Sarah” that everyone thought she was. She had never had a baby sister, but now she was one.

All because of the fire. The consuming flames that waited in the attic. If she could get to them, maybe she could wish it back. In the back of her head, though, she knew she couldn’t. The flames said it could never be undone. Did that mean she couldn’t wish herself older? Or was that not allowed either?

It didn’t matter. She couldn’t speak.

“Mmmmaaa! Pthaaa!” she squealed, unable to control her mouth or volume of her voice.

“Yes! Yes, you’re a little nakie girl, aren’t you, sweetie?” her mother said, blowing kisses on her stomach and watching her squirm on the childish diaper pad, “Who’s my little girl? You are!”

She laughed despite how she felt inside. She felt so stupid, so utterly, utterly stupid and embarrassed. Two weeks ago, she had bought this stupid house. Now? She was sleeping in a crib in it. Unable to even use the bathrooms that she had meticulously decorated, forced to poop her pants like the little baby she was, forced to suckle from a bottle like an infant in her plastic high chair instead of eat, dignified, at her new oak dining room table!

“Let’s powder those widdle cheeks, shall we?” her mother said, picking up her heels easily in one hand and lifting her bottom clear of the changing pad while sprinkling her with baby powder. She finished by tucking a new disposable Pampers diaper underneath her and pulling it up between her legs, as she taped it down, she kissed her lovingly on the head. She then pulled a white onesie over her head and pushed the snaps together at the crotch over her diaper. She felt ridiculous at the bulge between her legs. She should be in a dress and heels, not this. It made her want to scream, it made her want to cry.

As her mother finished diapering her, Ben came slowly into the room looking aghast. He had to know that she was still in there. If not, then he had to hope that she was. Ben looked as if he hadn’t slept at all last night.

“Oh, hi, Ben, what’s up?” her mother asked him, picking her up easily in her arms, “I was just changing Sarah.”

“Uh, er…nothing, I—“ he began, completely unable to form coherency, but their mother didn’t seem to be listening.

“Great! Hey, would you mind watching Sarah for me for a minute? I need to prep some stuff for dinner tonight.”

Her mother handed her over to Ben who nearly fumbled her like a football. She knew he had never had experience with babies and being thrown in a situation like this probably wasn’t helping. Ben walked her into the living room and sat her down on the floor. Even though she was in a diaper and onesie, the lack of other clothes made her feel naked in front of her brother. Her heels dug into the soft carpet and she was turned to face the television which was blaring Sesame Street. She was amazed that it was even on the air anymore; she hadn’t seen or thought about this show in years. The colors were mesmerizing on the show, but she felt even more a baby to think that Ben was only watching the show because of her. Because he thought she was stupid now. Just a little baby girl.

She had to let him know she was still in here, that her adult mind was still present. She rolled onto her flabby, baby stomach and tried to push herself up with her hands. She was so weak now, her pudgy fingers digging into the carpet as she tried to stand unsteadily on her wobbling legs. She managed a step toward her brother before her knees buckled and she fell to the ground, cushioned by the baby fat on her legs.

As she landed on her hands and knees, crawling, she felt her stomach drop. A wave of cold went through her whole body as she moved, unable to stop what was happening next. She shuddered in a mixture of ecstasy and humiliation as she involuntarily pushed a soft load of baby poop into the seat of her diaper. The mess pushed out the seat of her diaper and ballooned out the onesie she wore visibly. She felt the hot curds push against the back of her legs as she tried feebly to control herself, but it was to no avail. She couldn’t stop it, nor could she stop the flood of baby pee that followed, soaking her diaper and completing its ruin.

Tears welled up in her eyes and she felt more frustrated than she ever had in her life. How could this be her life?! She had everything and was going places! A steady career, a nice car, everything. She had dreamed once of a future husband moving in with her and building a life together. As she squatted on her hands and knees, her diaper full of baby poop pressing against her legs, now her most achievable dream was one day using the potty like a big girl. Would she ever grow up? She couldn’t take it anymore. She bawled like the baby she was.

“Aww, what’s the matter?” her brother cooed, trying to sound the big brother he wasn’t, scooping her off the ground before quickly noticing the problem.

She squealed, completely ashamed to be held by her little brother like this. She reeked like a real baby. She was a real baby. Her mind raced as she cried pitifully for any kind of help. And then it seemed to come.

“We have to fix this. I…I think we have to fix this, Jennifer, and I don’t like doing this, but it might be the only way,” he said grimly, and then, they were off, walking towards the stairwell that led to the attic.

Ben pulled down the cord that dropped the stairs down and climbed up the musty staircase that they had both climbed only a night ago. It felt so long ago to her, she realized. Would this work?

Just like before, Ben pulled the bottle and paper from the ancient chest as they had done. He placed the parchment on the floor and waited.

Nothing.

They waited for what felt like an eternity. She squirmed in his arms, the mess in her diaper pressing against her and making her uncomfortable, but still, she waited.

“Fuck!” he said, “What the fuck am I supposed to?!”

Ben stepped back, frustrated, and kicked the bottle as it sat on the ground, sending it careening into the side wall where it burst into a thousand glittering pieces. Both their eyes widened as the parchment burst into flame just as it had yesterday and the bottle slowly began dragging itself back together, scraping deep grooves in the floor as the jagged chunks rearranged themselves back into the familiar shape.

“What is gone may never go,” whispered voices that seemed to issue from the fire itself, “speak your will, young ones. Speak twice and reorder the fates.”

Looking up at her brother, he seemed to be in utter concentration. Was he trying to figure out what she had thought about? Would wishing for me to be older work? Is that the same as unwishing what I wished for? It couldn’t be. Maybe there was a chance.

“Mmmaa! Babababaa!” she exclaimed, trying to communicate, reaching for the heatless fire that blazed before them.

“I know, Jennifer. I know,” Ben replied, frowning again at the growling, crackling thing before them.

He shifted her in his arms, holding her with one strong hand cupped under her diapered bottom as he spoke aloud to the blaze.

“I want my sister to be bigger again,” he said, finally.

A whirl of October wind issued from outside, whipping dried leaves against the window to sound like rain. As the winds finally died down, a whisper trailed through the attic as if riding the breeze outside. A voice distant and sad.

“It is done,” it said, as the flame glowed and then dimmed down to embers once more.

It felt immediate. The hair on her arms stood up as if she was electrified. She felt as if she were having the best stretch of her life. Her muscles felt warm as Ben lowered her to the floor on her hands and knees. She felt the floor falling away from her as she became taller and taller, bigger and bigger.

The flames shimmered again and a choir of deep voices rumbled in the dark, “You may speak once more. Speak one last time to reorder the fates.”

Oh my god, she thought, it’s working! I’m going to be okay! She couldn’t help herself from smiling and grinning like a madman as she looked at her hands as they grew from a chubby toddler’s hands to a preteen girl. She cupped those hands to her chest and felt the buds of her breasts expanding, growing and growing as she grew bigger still, her bosom swelling to that of an eighteen year old’s.

She laughed now, feeling better than she had in her whole life, relief washing over her body as she stood, uneasily on her legs once again. She had some trouble standing, but figured it must just be an adjustment to returning to her old adult size. This was great! Maybe things were going to be okay after all, she thought as she smiled broadly at Ben who watched on in amazement.

She had to thank Ben for everything he had done. She knew he would help her. She knew it.

“Gaaaaa! Mama…daaa!” she exclaimed before she realized what she had said. Or, perhaps, what she had not said.

“Oh no,” Ben said, “Jennifer? Are…are you there?”

“Mamama, da-da!” she gurgled at her brother, completely confused by her own voice.

No, she thought. It couldn’t be. She looked down at herself and saw how she looked. She was still wearing the onesie and diaper, now fitted to her adult body. Her legs wobbled beneath her as she attempted to remain standing, until they eventually buckled beneath her, causing her to crash down, the soft curds of baby poop still in the seat of her diaper mashing against her bottom as she plopped down on her butt on the floor of the attic. Tears sprang up behind her eyes as if by instinct. No. She couldn’t be stuck like this. He hadn’t wished her to be an adult again, just bigger. She felt so stupid, so completely stupid. She wailed, not knowing what else to do.

“I guess you really were gone,” Ben said, looking down at his big sister in her diaper and baby clothes, screaming like any other infant would, drumming her heels against the floor, tears streaming down her face, the smell of a dirty diaper emanating from he, “I’m sorry, Jennifer.”

No! I’m still in here! She screamed that fact again and again in her mind, but it was no use. She was trapped in her old body again, this time feeling even more of a baby than she did before somehow. The squealing sounds she made drew her mother up the stairwell once again, her heels clicking on the stairs as she ascended.

“Ben! What did I tell you the other day about bringing Sarah up here? She’s just a baby!” she lectured, pulling him aside to get a better look at her daughter squirming on the floor.

“Sorry, mom, I thought she…uh…wanted to come up here, I…I guess I was wrong,” he said sheepishly, looking at the parchment and bottle which laid still in the corner, not moving.

“Why would a little baby like her want to come up here? It’s dark and scary up here!” she said promptly, pulling her into her arms as easily as when she was a baby the day before, “Come on, sweetheart, let’s get you downstairs.”

Soon, she found herself back on the changing table again, but this time, it was much larger. Her mother acted like the gigantic babyish furniture around the house was completely normal. Inside her head, she felt like torture, no one able to hear her thoughts but herself, forever. Even Ben, the one person who could’ve helped her, completely giving up on the idea that she was still an adult somewhere.

Her mother stripped her quickly of her onesie, leaving her in just her soggy diaper on the changing table. She squirmed involuntarily, unable to finely control her adult arms and legs which kicked aimlessly at the mobile above her pink changing table. As her diaper was whisked away, she felt cool air on her thighs and then a cold wipe as her mother cleaned the brown clumps off of her nude behind.

“Who’s a poopy girl? Who made such a good poopy for mommy today?” her mother asked, not expecting an answer.

Her cheeks burned red with embarrassment. An embarrassment that will haunt me for the rest of my life, she realized. This was her life now, a life of diaper changes and Sesame Street. Now there was no chance of growing up. What would she grow up into? She was already an adult. She felt like crying again. She did.

“Aww, whassa matter, honey? I just changed you!” her mother said, taping up her new diaper as she finished the job, “What could be bothering you?”

Her mother sat her up on the changing table and tickled her under her arms, but it was no use. Jennifer didn’t feel like laughing this time. She wept profusely, just like a little girl would.

“Oh, I know what’s wrong, you must be hungry!” her mother said, picking her up and sitting with her across her lap in the soft armchair in the corner of her adult-sized nursery.

Great, she thought. Now I get to drink my milk from a bottle, just like I—she stopped. There was no bottle, she realized, as her mother pulled up her sweater to reveal a nursing bra. Her heart was racing. Her mother undid a strap on the bra and revealed her nipple, glistening with breastmilk at the tip. She tried to resist, to pull her head away but her mother guided the breast to her mouth and stroked her cheek and then, just as panic set in, her body betrayed her, taking the nipple into her mouth and beginning to suckle.

Warm milk pulsed into her mouth as she involuntarily suckled at her mother’s breast, gulping down the sweet thin milk as quickly as she could, the swell of her mother’s pale breast blocking her vision as she laid in the oversized arm chair in just her disposable diaper which crinkled noisily as she squirmed. As she sucked and sucked, she saw her brother come in and look at her from the corner of the room. The teat still in her mouth, she watched as he leaned against the door frame, watching her nurse.

After it was over, and she was placed in her crib, her mother walked out, leaving her with Ben. She stood at the rails of the crib, her diaper sagging. She could speak to him! She could tell him that she was an adult. This was her chance! She tried to say something, but it came out as babble. He leaned in close and kissed her on the forehead.

“I’m sorry I thought you were still in there, Jen. You’re just a little baby now, but it’ll be okay. Goodnight, sweetheart,” he said as he flicked out the lights, plunging her into darkness.

 

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