Tales From Asheville Chapter 4

“Pass me that spatula, Margret.” Bethany said, extending her hand out toward the girl.

“Ugh, I told you I didn’t want to help.” Margret said, grabbing the utensil off the table. She walked sluggishly back, one arm folded into her chest, the other halfheartedly extending the spatula to her mother. Bethany rotated her head to the side to get a look at the Millers sitting in their lawn chairs. She shot them a smile before quickly snapping back, she leaned in close to Margret.

“Hey, what did I tell you this morning!? These are our neighbors, and you will treat them with respect.” Bethany said, her voice lowering to a harsh whisper. Margret rolled her eyes and scoffed.

“Mom, you know I hate hanging out with these people! Chloe is lame,” Margret said, nodding her head toward the girl sitting in a lawn chair opposite her mother’s. “Ms. Miller is the snooty stuck-up type, it’s like I’m hanging out with a wannabe Ellen DeGeneres and her mute daughter.” She said, frustrated. Her mother looked far from sympathetic.

“I don’t care, you be nice around them, or it’s no car for a week.” Bethany said, turning back to the grill. Margret’s neck recoiled and flashed a shocked expression.

“It’s so great when the husbands are away, am I right? They go out and fish all day, while we can stay here and drink! What’s better than that?” Leslie Miller said from her lawn chair. She held up her glass of vodka cranberry in a toast before taking a long sip.

“It sure is!” Bethany said while flipping a burger. She saw Margret shake her head out of the corner of her eye.

“And how is um…. college, Chloe?” Bethany yelled out awkwardly to the quiet girl sitting next to Leslie. Chloe barely shrugged.

“Uh yeah it’s, um, alright I guess.” Chloe said, looking away to end the conversation before it could begin. Everyone cringed through the following awkward silence.

It happened. The switch flipped. The lights whirled to life.

Bethany dropped her voice to a whisper.

“Margret, I think the best way you can help is by checking Chloe’s diaper over there. I think she might have pooped it; she’s being shy and bashful.” Bethany said quietly.

“But what about my diaper?” Margret said, motioning toward the exposed pair she was wearing below. The padding sagged and had a discolored mix of grey and yellow at the bottom. Bethany peered at the diaper to get a closer look.

“Meh.” She said, turning her head back to the condiments. “At the very least it looks like you can wet one or two more times.” Bethany said, before raising her head back up with a concerned look. “Actually.” She said, running a hand back down her groin. Her palm gripped a warm soddened mass. “I think my diaper might need a change too. I mean I’m only a little over half, but we’re relaxing, right? Why not change my diaper anyways? I won’t have to worry about Leslie, or even worse Chloe, pointing out the fact I’m leaking in my chair. I can drink as much as I want too!” Bethany reasoned to herself, she looked back down at Margret. “Well hurry up! We don’t want her to develop a rash!” She said, waving her hand in the direction of Chloe. Margret dropped her shoulders and accepted her defeat.

“Hey.” Margret said a moment later to Chloe. Chloe looked up with a strained look on her face. She didn’t want to engage in a one-on-one conversation. “Did you poop yourself? My mommy wanted to check because you’re acting weird. Maybe your mommy could change you if you are?” Margret looked up to Leslie with a shrug. She nodded before raising her index finger.

“But just so you girls know, if we’re getting diaper changes, that means we all need to watch like 30 hours of cartoons. Even when you get as old and smart as me, you realize that watching a good cartoon show for as long as you want is the most fun you can ever have!!” Leslie said trying to hold back her excitement. The idea of watching cartoons sounded like a lot more fun than just laying around outside. They each basked in that warm melting thought.

“So yeah, did you poop yourself or what Chloe?” Leslie asked a couple of seconds later.

“Fine! You’re right. I pooped myself. Whatever… I didn’t know it was happening until it was too late.” Chloe said, burrowing her head into her arms in embarrassment. “If I can’t see them…. They can’t see me…” Chloe reasoned.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Margret said, placing a reassuring hand on Chloe’s shoulder, “I understand why you’re upset. But you’re normal! We all poop in our diapers. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve pooped myself without knowing. It’s not that big of a deal, buddy. I think I pooped myself this morning. I’m not super sure about that one, but I think my Mommy made a comment about it when she was changing me. I don’t remember, I was sucking my pacifier, it was hard to pay attention. Anyways. The point is, we all poop ourselves. I do it. You do it. Your mom does it. My Mom does it.” Margret said, turning to the side and extending an arm out into the direction of Bethany.

Bethany crouched down onto her knees. She bent her butt out, and her face flushed red. Her eyes dulled to a thousand-mile stare. Her lips quivered as feeble grunts slipped between her lips.

“P-p……P-ooo-pie. Pooping. I am…… wet…. wetting too….feels warm and good. Feels good to wet and poop. I like to wet and poop.” Is what Bethany thought she was saying in her head but was actually uttering loudly enough for everyone to hear. Margret and Leslie couldn’t help but instantly agree with every word she was saying. Even Chloe came around to it.

“Yeah, alright. I did. I did poop myself.” Chloe said, her body quickly jumping to her feet. She planted and puffed out her chest before continuing, “And you know what? I peed a little bit when I did it too. I’m proud of that.” She said, looking her mother in the eyes. Leslie couldn’t help the proud tears of joy streaming down her face. Chloe turned to Margert and continued, “You is right, Maggie. What’s wrong with the fact that I peed myself uncontrollably while I couldn’t stop myself from pooping either? That’s why I wearing a diaper! Literally! That is why I am wearing a diaper. The. Potty. Does. Not. Matter! Why would I use it in first place when I’ve been wearing a diaper my entire life?” Chloe said in triumph. Leslie began whipping tears from her eyes.

“I am always so proud of being your Mommy. All grown up knowing she can poop in her diapers whenever she wants! Oh, I’ve been waiting for this!” Leslie said as she gathered herself.

Margret was putt-off by Leslie’s response. She was acting like a big kid, but she didn’t look like one. She was naked, except for her diaper, just like everyone else. Sure, hers didn’t sag as much in the front compared to the others, and she hadn’t gained that smelly aura one has when they’re in a messy diaper. The same couldn’t be said for Bethany, Chloe, and even Margret to an extent. She may have the least used diaper of the group, but that didn’t make her queen.

“You’re not her Mommy.” Margret blurted out.

“What are you talking about? I’m certainly-“ Leslie said, looking toward Chloe. The moment she saw her, her mind felt Chloe was her daughter, just like she was since the day she brought her into this world. In that same flash of time, Leslie suddenly realized how ridiculous of an idea that was. Leslie wasn’t a Mommy. She was a dumb baby just like everyone else around her.

That didn’t mean she couldn’t keep the pecking order alive though. There still needs to be someone at the top telling all the other babies what to do. Leslie stood up and reaffirmed her stance. She looked down at Margret and asked her the smartest question she could think of, but still knew the answer to.

“So when you add five to eight, and you subtract that by three. What do you get?” Leslie asked with the smuggest look she ever twisted in her life.

“Um, seven? Duh. Try telling me something I didn’t just do yesterday at school.” Margret said, responding with a ‘screw you’ face of her own. She folded her hands and popped her sagging diaper out to the side.

“Hah! Nope! It’s NINE! Ha! You stupid baby! You don’t even know that you’re so stupid because you’re such a BABY! Bay-bie.. Bay-bie, Baaayyy-bieee!” Leslie said in a mocking sing-song tone. She dug her face into Margret’s and stuck out her tongue. Margret didn’t want to feel hurt by Leslie’s words, but it was hard not to.

“She’s saying it over and over again…” She thought, looking away in tears. She brought her hands up to her eyes. “… That means she must be right! Ugh! I’m not a baby?! Right?!! Uhhh that’s so mean of her to so sayyy!” Margret thought, unable to stop the hot angry tears from rushing out of her face. The strong emotional response had shockwaves across her body. She let a torrid of pee out in anger. “If they THINK I’m such a baby then…” She thought, hate peeing herself.

“GIRLS!” Chloe said, suddenly pushing the two of them apart from one another. “You’re both wrong!” Chloe said, throwing her hands up into the air in shock. “It’s actually… si-siii… six with a one in front of it!!!” She yelled out.

Leslie and Margret gasped in unison. They were utterly flabbergasted. Chloe was dead right. And in all that moment of shock, not a single one of the girls out there had a chance at holding back another wave of pee from trickling into their diapers. News that shocking simply overpowered whatever faint idea of control they had in their minds. The warming sensations in their diapers garnered the same level of attention of the changing sun angle. Completely oblivious.

The shock also shook the foundation of their cognitive functions. Maintaining thoughts in an orderly fashion was something their brains couldn’t do anymore. They had to build every concept from the ground up, every time they gained a new idea. Which, they only received through touch, taste, sight, feel, and smell. Otherwise, they couldn't generate independent ideas on their own.

“Oof! Dudn ad nah!” Margret babbled outwardly when her diaper landed on the ground with a squish. She heard and felt the other two collapse onto the ground around her. It was natural for them. Walking was a little above their level now. Most ideas were.

“Hrnnn-n unuhhh…” Chloe gargled, feeling one last wave of mess helplessly gush into her backside. She found it easier sticking her butt up in the air. It made the whole process go by faster, and the mess felt better too.

Just another lazy afternoon for all of them in Asheville.

***

“Again. We are urging all residents if you have any reports of you or any loved ones are experiencing spontaneous mental breakdowns, including episodes of severe mental regression, please contact the authorities immediately. City leaders emphasize again, the public is NOT in any risk or danger at this time.”

Peyton didn’t need to hear the broadcast again. She had already read every new article she could find about what’s been going on in Asheville. The moment he caught a whiff of it in her online forums, she scoured the internet. But above all that, she simply couldn’t pull her eyes away from the window if she wanted to.

“Oh…. Oh my god….” Peyton whispered to herself. She instantly popped up out of her chair. She couldn’t feel her body. It was numb from the adrenaline.

Her ponytail bobbed while she walked to her closet. In a flash, she gripped the door’s handle and flung it open. She pierced her hands into the wrack of clothes and pushed them to the side.

There, hidden in the back, were her diapers, pacifiers, and little space clothes.

“I may never have this chance again…” Peyton whispered to herself. She looked down at her waist. “They wouldn’t know. If I acted like one of them.” She said, looking back outside. Her mother, sister, and neighbors were rocking aimlessly back and forth on their backs.

“I could do it…” She said, looking back at her clothes. She didn’t finish the words; she grabbed a diaper and immediately started to unfold it.

Peyton was an expert at putting on diapers. She had been doing it for decades now. She tore off her jeans and panties and quickly replaced them with a thick adult baby diaper. Complete with prints of zoo animals. Her feet rushed down the wooden staircase.

“I’m doing it. I’m going to do it. They won’t know….” Peyton thought, rushing into her kitchen. She made it halfway to the outside door before suddenly stopping her tracks.

“But what if I have to stay like that forever.” She said, finally feeling the full weight of her decision. She considered the cons. “I won’t be able to drive. I’ll be stuck in baby mode forever. I’ll never have a say in what food I want to eat, which will be bland mush forever now. I’ll never get married, have my own house, kids… life. I’ll be someone’s, mindless baby. Mindless because I'll go crazy from doing it for so long…” She thought, understanding now the consequences.

She looked back out of the window. Her mom was crawling on all fours. Not a single section of her diaper was white anymore. It was a mesmerizing mix of brown and yellow.

“… Wait that actually... all sounds incredible.” She thought, before looking at her mom’s cellphone on the kitchen table. She grabbed it instantly. She clicked it open, and pulled up the emergency tab.

“911 what’s your emergency?...... Hello?...... 911 what’s your emergency……….?” The phone speaker whispered out into the room. No one could hear it. There wasn’t anyone in there anymore. The last person in that room had just slipped outside. Babbling and getting her diaper up to speed with everyone else’s.

She didn’t say anything to the police when they showed up ten minutes later. That is, Peyton didn’t say anything of substance. To them, it was all the same gibberish the other four were spewing. She was a helpless diapered victim just like the rest of them.

“I’m going home.” Peyton thought while they strapped her into the ambulance.

“I’m finally home” She whispered, looking down at her droopy diaper.