The Scorching Embrace

Chapter 3
Embers Erased

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Chapter Description: Ben contemplates making the final wish to reverse what has been done.

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What was there left to do? Ben wracked his mind trying to think of a way out of this nightmare. His sister was a baby, completely mindless and stuck in her adult body. His wish hadn’t worked, and now he had one more left.

He couldn’t waste it on wishing to be older, he couldn’t undo that wish directly, and being bigger didn’t work either. He felt clueless as what to do. Should he just leave things as they are? Could he live knowing that he ruined his sister’s life? Jennifer wouldn’t have stopped. He knew it. She would have pressed on for him, but what did that matter now? She was a little baby again. His mature sister, who he had watched graduate college, walking proudly across that stage in her gown, her hair up professionally, was now toddling around downstairs barefoot in just a wet diaper. Last night, he had been forced to watch her in the bathtub, rooting around in her oversized bassinet, scrubbing her clean where she had gotten applesauce on her bare breasts. He couldn’t let her live like that, even if she wasn’t aware of the condition. He still remembered what she was.

That was it then. He had to use his final wish. His final wish. He hated the way that sounded in his head. Nothing was going right, but this had to work. It had to.

He made his way up into the attic, staring at the bottle standing upright on the ground next to the sheet of parchment.

“Hopefully you’ll work this time, without too much fuss?” he asked, as if the paper would respond so easily.

With a quick kick, he sent the bottle flying across the room where it hit the corner of the attic and shattered at the neck. After the din of the glass had died down, he stared intently at the bottle, knowing what was next.

Like clockwork, the neck of the bottle began to roll under its own power, scraping along the dry wood of the attic. The glass clinked softly as the neck of the bottle came into contact with the body of the bottle once more and sealed itself shut before rolling towards Ben’s shoes, quicker and quicker, faster and faster before immediately coming to a halt before him.

With a small woosh, the parchment was ablaze. Ben stared at it intently, knowing this was the last chance. He needed a backup plan, though. If his wish went wrong, who would know? Who would even know he had made a wish in the first place? He furrowed his brow. If there was a witness, maybe that person could reverse the wish with THEIR three new wishes.

Suddenly, it clicked.

“Mom! Can you come up here a second?!” he yelled from the attic.

“What is it?” his mother yelled back, “I’m getting Sarah dressed!”

“Just come here, quick!”

Perfect, he thought. This way, his mother would realize what had happened once she saw and she would try to help if something went wrong. He felt a little better about this now. If something went wrong, he had a safety net.

He heard his mother coming down the hallway, now up the stairs to the attic.

“What is it, Ben? I have Sarah with me, and she’s being fussy, so this better be good,” he heard his mother say, walking up the stairwell with his sister hoisted up on her hip.

Jennifer was, predictably, in just her diaper, her bare feet dangling off of her mother’s hip. Ben averted her eyes from her bare breasts which were on complete display, catching the rivulets of drool that ran from his sister’s chin and open mouth as she gummed on her fist and buried her face in her mother’s hair.

He waited until he saw his mother look at the fire before he spoke, but he did so quickly so nothing could stop him.

“I wish things were back the way they were before Jennifer and I found that chest!” he said, sternly. Confidently.

He felt his heart beating in his chest, the room completely silent as his mother looked on and Jennifer whirled her head around to look, too. The leaves outside whirled fast against the windows on the far side of the attic, pattering against them like hail. Through the soft rustling, a voice issued from the darkness.

“It is done,” it said, as the flames went out.

Jennifer whipped her head about and whined uncomfortably. Ben looked to see what the matter was. Was it working?

“Ben, what are you trying to do up here?” his mother asked, bouncing his sister lightly.

Jennifer kicked her legs anxiously, and suddenly, Ben realized what was happening: she was getting smaller.

He watched as her large adult feet became less and less shapely, her legs shortening drastically as she became lighter and lighter.

At first he was horrified, but, maybe, he thought, things were simply reversing. She was baby-sized before, so maybe she’s just going back through the stages! He felt relieved as he realized that. He had done it!

Jennifer’s arms shrank alongside her legs, her long arms morphing back into the arms of a teenager as she slipped younger and younger, then a pre-teen, the muscle receding, and then a toddler, ballooning with baby fat. Soon, Jennifer looked no older than two years old. Their mother hefted her up easily now, the diaper readjusted to her new babyish size. She barely seemed to notice, Ben realized.

“You have no idea how happy you’ve made me, Ben,” his mother said, smiling at him, his sister in hand.

He paused for a second, “what do you mean, mom?”

“Your wish! I’m just happy you made the same one I did,” she said at once.

“Your…wish? I…I’m trying to fix—“

“I know, you’re trying to fix our family. That’s what I wished for, too. Well, I specifically wished to have you both back in my life, like how it used to be when you both were little.”

“I…I—“ Ben stammered. He couldn’t get the words out, he stared at her in disbelief. She had known about the chest?

“It was my great grandmothers, we’ve had it in the family for as long as I could remember,” she gestured at her necklace, and then pulled a small brass key from inside her blouse, “this was my last wish, though, and I’m glad that you made it, too. I wasn’t sure if you felt the same way, but I’m so happy you do, Ben! And Jennifer, too!”

“You remember her name?”

“Of course, how could I forget? I had to keep up appearances so I knew the wish you would make would be true, and it was! Ben, you have no idea how proud I am of you. Look, it’s already starting to come true!” she said, smiling broadly.

Ben looked down in horror at his belt, which now hung far too loosely off his waist. No. Not this, it couldn’t be this. Jennifer wasn’t aging back, he realized. Things weren’t going back to the way they were. The god damned things hadn’t listened to his wish at all!

“What’s wrong, sweetie? This is just what you asked for. For things to be like how they were before. Back when you two were sweet, innocent angels!”

His heart was pounding in his chest now, his pants completely loose as he became younger. This couldn’t be happening. The belt clattered to the wooden floor as he attempted to think of what to do next. He stood in front of his mother, his boxers hanging loosely off of his hips, the cuffs of his shirt coming past his wrist to cover his palms.

No, no, no! He couldn’t go back! He wouldn’t be a baby like Jennifer, not like her!

“I wish to be older!”

Silence.

He kicked the bottle on the ground and watched it clatter against the wall, unbroken. He kicked it again and again, to no avail. His shoes, now comically big for his feet, flew off in the process and he slipped on the bottle, crashing to the ground.

“This will be wonderful, Ben,” his mother said, “Don’t you see? You don’t have to work anymore! My other wishes took care of any worries you could possibly have.”

He watched as his legs seemed to retreat towards him, his pants bunching up as his feet came rushing towards him. His arms were hairless again.

“You can just relax with your sister, I know how stressed out you both were, and just be children again! I’ll tend to your every need. Oh, and don’t be embarrassed! There’s nothing I haven’t seen before, remember?” she laughed.

He probed his mouth with his tongue to feel his teeth receding into his gumline, being replaced with scattered baby teeth which protruded childishly from where his straight adult teeth had been.

“I wanna be twenty-fwee!” he screamed, as he became a three-year old again for the first time in over two decades.

He crawled desperately away from the chest, as if it would help. No more girlfriends, no more cars, no more beer. He’d be stuck with his mother, forced to grow up all over again, suffering through diaper changes and bottle feedings. He couldn’t keep thinking. He kicked through his shirt and crawled out, naked, from the now-enormous collar of the shirt.

“Aww, lookit you! I could just eat you up, honey! Soon you can sit down in your playpen with Jenny and not have to worry about a thing! If you don’t feel like getting dressed, you don’t have to! You can stay in your comfy diapees and suck your ba-bas and I’ll take care of everything, doesn’t that sound nice?” she smiled broadly, but Ben didn’t notice.

Ben felt the cool wood under his chubby feet, hands and knees as he crawled along the floor of the attic. He felt so stupid. So childish. He was completely naked in front of his mother. He tried to speak another wish again, but all that came out was the wail of the infant he was. He must be younger than a year old, he thought, his mind racing.

“Oh! My little baby Ben is back!” she said, reaching down and scooping him up under his stomach and pulling him into her arms to be nestled next to his sister. His bare bottom cupped by his mother’s hands, his feet pressed against his sister’s plastic diaper as they were held easily together in their mother’s arms.

“Come on sweethearts, we’re done up here.”

Soon they were downstairs in Jennifer’s nursery, but things were different: the crib was bigger, and there was more shelves. The paint was different, too. It was to accommodate him, he realized with horror.

Soon he was on his back, legs in the air as his mother bustled around his naked body. She smiled down at him motheringly as she lifted his ankles carefully to slip a disposable diaper under his bottom.

“Who’s my little man?!” she asked, not expecting an answer, he realized, “You are! My big, strong baby boy! And don’t be embarrassed, like I said, sweetheart, I don’t mind if you have to use your diapey. You’re my sweet little baby again and there’s no shame in that. One day I’ll teach you how to use the potty again, okay? Until then, you just make your little messes and mommy will clean them right up!”

He closed his eyes in utter shame as she deftly powdered his penis, once a respectable size for a man and now, just a tiny pink nub. She tucked his penis down as she pulled the diaper up over it. She beamed down at him once more before blowing raspberries on his stomach. He had never felt so humiliated in his life.

Soon, he was in a playpen with his sister. His sister looked at him, pleadingly, as if she could understand. Could she? She gurgled at him, and toddled a few steps before falling clumsily down on her diapered behind. She was still older than him, even though they were both babies again. He was still the younger brother. Now he was the younger baby brother. A helpless, stupid little baby. He gurgled up at her, unable to do anything else. He strained to control his baby legs as they kicked ineffectually above him as he lay on his back in the playpen. He strained, as hard as he could, until he felt the warm slush pour into his diaper. His body felt a chill as he realized he had pooped in his diaper. Tears were welling up and he could feel the heat behind his eyes before he even knew what he had done.

He was already bawling by the time his mother rushed into the room. Tears streaming down his chubby face.

“What’s wrong, sweety?” his mother said, sweeping into the room and scooping him up by his armpits. He felt the warm mush fall into the seat of his diaper and he kicked his legs in the air. She held him close to her chest and sat down on the nearby couch, keeping an eye on his sister, too as she lazily clutched a stuffed animal to her bare chest.

“I think I know what’s wrong,” she said, as she laid him face-up in her lap.

Ben burned with embarrassment. He couldn’t stomach to have his diaper changed again. He felt so, so stupid. No more wishes, he realized, as his mother picked up his sister from the playpen, too. Soon they were both lying next to one another in their mother’s lap as she unbuttoned her blouse on both sides, two pale, full breasts spilling out before them.

“You little sweethearts have had a long day, and I knew you’d be hungry! So, shh, relax, relax with mommy, okay?” she cooed, stroking them gently on their chubby bare arms.

He had no time to protest before his head was pressed against the warmth of his mother’s bare breast, his lips brushing her nipple as it entered his mouth and he began to suckle against his will. His sister did the same and their eyes met as they suckled the warm milk together. Together, they saw the ancient bronze key dangling between their mother’s breasts, lying softly against her chest.

The plastic tapes of their diapers rubbed together and crinkled softly as they each greedily worked their nipples, sucking the warm milk and swallowing it, their bodies betraying them both. No more wishes left.

Soon, he was on his back again, legs up in the nursery as his mother wiped the brown clumps from his soft baby behind. He gurgled his complaints, but it didn’t matter anymore. No more school. No college. No friends. Just mommy and having her clean up his messes. Her breastfeeding. His crib. His mother taped the new diaper into place.

As he was laid next to his sister in the crib, he moved to look at her, but found she was already staring at him. As their eyes met, he could see, dimly, that she had tears running from her eyes. No more wishes, they thought.

“It’s everything I’ve ever wanted,” their mother said, flicking out the lights of the nursery, “I love you both.”

Darkness. And not a flame to lead the way.

[img align=left; footer=’’; border=0; showfooter=1;]http://i.imgur.com/OE4Fk.jpg[/img]

 

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