August Exclusive - Mr Fluffles - Part 3

“Thank you,” says Robert, sitting on a changing mat. He can sit up by himself, one of the few things he can do without help. He could probably make a good effort at crawling, but he hasn’t tried that. He has no interest in crawling, just as he has no interest in playing Peek-a-boo. He wants his old life back, with his old job, old car, and…how about a new girlfriend?

They’re alone in the nurse’s office with the door shut. It’s as close as private as Ashley could make it.

“I’ll say you seemed warm, that I wanted to check your temperature,” she says. And then, sitting facing him, her hands make a helpless gesture, “How did this happen, Bobby?”

“Robert. Please.”

The woman actually blushes. As if she hadn’t just been corrected by a nine-month-old. “Robert.”

He shakes his head. “No idea. One second I’m an adult, and then I’m…” He exhales, looks down at himself. The fuzziest of blue footed pajamas, decorated with a collection of wild animals, with a pair of smiling faces on his feet. Maybe the faces are supposed to be tigers, or lions. Something with whiskers. Robert has had plenty of time to consider the possibilities, Anne has already dressed him in the pajamas a number of times.

And he’s had plenty of time to think of how Anne regressed him. A pill, a magic spell, some kind of futuristic gadget? There’s the what and there’s the when. A procedure the night before in his sleep, or something that took place months ago, to be triggered with a convenient code-word or phrase.

Robert has had a week of asking Anne how, just as he’s asked her why. She hasn’t answered either question, feigning not to hear him, treating his words as baby babble and responding accordingly.

“You want your bubbles, Bobby? You wanna make your splashies? Let’s get you all clean and sweet!”

In the nurse’s office, Ashley asks a big question. “Why would your girlfriend do this?”

Robert laughs, and instead of an adorable giggle, it emerges as a series of coughs.

“We were going to adopt,” he says finally. “Had it all planned out, did the training, passed all the background checks.” He drops his hands into his lap. “Looks like she changed her mind.”

Because now he’s a baby, now instead of working, he’s at Mr. Fluffles daycare.

He looks around the room, or at least as much as he can see from the ground. Everything is out of reach and often out of sight these days. Not much to see, a few cupboards with labels that he can’t read.

How long do they have, before someone comes to check on them?

“I’ll say I wanted to check your temperature.”

Robert clenches his buttocks. He hopes Ashley won’t have to do that for real, at least not the old-fashioned way.

“Well,” says Ashley, and her cheeks go red again. “I feel totally weird saying this but…you said you had a plan?”

“Pretty simple,” he replies. “You get me out of here, and maybe there’s a way to turn me back to my real age. Either way, I get to tell my story, and you get compensation.”

Ashley frowns. “I don’t need you to pay me.”

“I’ve got plenty…well, once I get my life back, anyway. You’ll need a new job after this.” Robert produces his coughing laugh. “I think you’ll deserve a reward for a successful kidnapping.”

Ashley’s laugh is prettier, a tinkling giggle. She’s attractive, her blonde hair pulled back in a functional but charming ponytail.

And then her face grows serious. She reaches for Robert’s little hands and says, “If this is what this place does, if they’re all in on it, it could be dangerous taking you out of here.” She twists her lips. “Honestly, what if they do it to me as well?” She gazes at him with sparkling blue eyes. “How about I call the police instead?”

Robert shakes his head. “I don’t trust anyone in this town. We can go to the police, but once we’re across state lines.”

“Wow,” says Ashley, “I didn’t think of that.” She nods. “You’re lucky you’ve still got your adult thoughts so you can get out of this. A few days in your shoes and I bet I’d lose my mind.” She taps the smiling feet on his pajamas. “Well, not shoes, I guess.” She gets up, goes to the door, opens it a crack, and then closes it again.

“That’s okay.” Robert waits until the woman is sitting by him again and then he says, “Look, the longer I stay here, the harder it is to remember things.” He holds up his hands. “We need to go now.”

Ashley gives his hands the lightest of pats. “I can’t just run out the door with you, Robert. There are procedures.” She looks thought for a moment, and then says, “How about this afternoon, when we have stroller time? I guess I could fall behind, go down a different street.”

Robert groans. “I can’t wait that long. There a…I heard your boss yesterday. She said she had a secret weapon.”

Ashley’s mouth drops open in surprise. “Oh!” And then, “Seriously?”

“What?”

She looks up at one of the cupboards. “Miss Donna said she was going to tell me about that today…”

“So, what is it?” asks Robert impatiently.  “What’s in there?”

Ashley gets to her feet, rushes over to the cupboards. She opens the door and shakes her head. “You’re not going to believe it.”

Robert strains to see. “Come on, show me.”

Ashley takes out a plush yellow teddy bear that matches the illustration on the front of the building. She holds it out for Robert to see. “This is Mr. Fluffles.”