Compelled by a strange childlike impulse, Tanner decided he wanted to go to the playground.
He eagerly nodded his assent. "Yeah!" he squeaked, just before Derrick picked him up.
He blushed as he saw a few kids point to his pull-ups and giggle. But the promise of horsing around in the playplace's maze of tunnels and slides
He crawled into the entrance of the playplace, and found himself in another world. A world of crazy purple plastic tubes, twisting turns, and the squeals of hyperactive children racing around for a chance to slide down into the ball pit.
Forced into an awkward crawl by the narrow tunnel, Tanner realized how he looked more like a baby than a toddler. His sole attire--a pair of white plastic Peter Pan pull-ups--made the comparison even easier.
"Look at the diaper baby!" a small blond boy, maybe around five years old, chuckled as he squeezed past him. Tanner's face went red, and he fought back tears.
"Notta baby," he spat. "I can get to the slide before you can."
The boy laughed. "No way, diaper baby!"
And with their verbal sparring concluded, the race was on. Tanner worked his little arms and legs into overdrive, looking a bit like a wind-up toy in the process. His coordination was out of whack, but he compensated with sheer ferocity.
Yet the larger boy had longer arms and legs, and Tanner had almost given up hope until his rival ran into a kid heading the opposite direction. The two squabbled and squirmed, and in the confusion Tanner was able to squeeze just barely past them.
Maybe being little isn't so bad, he thought to himself with a toddler's trademark glee. He was right at the entrance to the slide, with the older boy just barely behind him. "I win!" he gloated.
But he knew the big kid wasn't going to be a graceful loser. With no time to lose, Tanner decided to go down the slide headfirst--if that was against the rules, he didn't know and didn't care. But just before he could do so, he felt the big kid's hand desperately latch onto him, trying to pull him away from the slide.
"No you don't, you cheating diaper baby!" the boy yelled. Tanner squirmed furiously. The boy's hands finally found purchase on Tanner's crinkly Peter Pan pull up, just as Tanner kicked his legs out and shoved his tormentor back. As he did so, he grabbed onto handholds by the slide's entrance, pulling himself forward.
It was successful, though extremely poorly timed move. For as the other kid was pushed backward, he didn't let go of Tanner's only garment. While this happened, Tanner was boosting himself ahead.
The result was that Tanner's pull-ups were transformed into pull-downs.
His training pants were quickly yanked past his bottom, then his thighs, his knees, his ankles, and finally clear off his feet. By the time Tanner realized what had happened, he was zipping headfirst down the slide just as naked as the day he was born. His chest, tummy and tiny bare nub of a penis felt an uncomfortable warmth from the friction, making him whimper.
He landed in the ball pit in a confusing blur of plastic. When he got reoriented, he was waist-deep in the pit--just enough to hide his nudity. His stomach churned as he thought about his predicament. He couldn't stay here forever. Already kids were giving sour looks for lingering in the ball pit rather than climbing back up.
Could he get Derrick? Derrick was on the other side of the seating area, distracted chatting with someone who looked like an old high school buddy...plus, the place was so noisy he doubted he'd be able to call Derrick over discreetly. Maybe he could get the bully to give him his diaper--er, pull ups back?
He glanced back up the tube slide and saw his tormentor laughing and holding up his training pants mockingly.
"Want it back, diaper baby? Too bad!" With that, the bully squirmed out of sight. Tanner cursed the opaque tunnels of the playplace--if only the grown-ups could just see how bad of a kid this was!
In the dollar store, he at least didn't have to deal with any onlookers except for one person. But here, he was going to be seen as a bare-bottomed little toddler by dozens of people. With the blush rising furiously in his cheeks, Tanner thought about his options.