“I can’t handle a screamer all the way back, Trisha,” Clyde complains. Trisha nods, fishes around in a diaper bag, and then unbuckles her seatbelt. She reaches back to pop something into Laura’s mouth. Laura quiets, instinctively sucking on the object. She realizes that it’s a pacifier, but isn’t bothered by this as much as she normally would be. After all, she’s two and sitting in a soiled diaper. Of course she would need a pacifier.
Sucking on the pacifier is enough to calm Laura into sleeping. She dozes off halfway to the daycare, and only wakes up as she’s being carried in. Inside the daycare, Trisha brings Laura over to a changing table and changes her. Laura quickly grabs the dice case before Trisha can spot it.
“All clean!” Trisha chirps at her. Laura sucks her pacifier in response. Trisha brings Laura over to a play area, where the other toddlers from the van have already been gathered. “Play nice, Laura!” Trisha leaves.
Laura looks at her fellow daycare attendees. They’re all bigger than her. She puts the dice case into her romper again. She has the dice and a clean diaper. She could try to escape now. Her stomach rumbles. Or she could wait until they all get fed.