“Two years you have walked this Earth, now this number is but one. Each roll of the dice returns more of what you have lost.” Laura wakes to the voice of the spirit of the dice. She shrinks yet again, from a young toddler to a baby. She lets out a loud wail. The employee and Mason both look over. The employee swears under his breath and goes into a backroom, presumably to get some new supplies for Laura.
Mason watches Laura’s meltdown with horror, evidently terrified about the possibility of something like that happening to him. Eventually, the employee returns with a baby onesie and diaper that is both smaller and thicker than the one Laura is currently wearing. He comes over to Laura, removes her from the playpen, and changes her into the diaper and onesie. Laura continues to cry until the employee pops her pacifier into her mouth. She eagerly sucks on it.
“Well, I was going to take you to my place for the night, but I don’t have the stuff to take care of a baby,” the employee says. “I don’t even really have that here. At your age, you shouldn’t be unsupervised in a playpen.”
“Ga boo ga!” Laura babbles around her pacifier. She bursts into tears, realizing that she can no longer speak.
“Okay, um…” The employee thinks for a moment. “All right. Here are your options. To tell me which one you want, just hold up the right number of fingers. Got it?” Laura nods. “Good. Option number one, I call a guy who runs a daycare nearby. He got screwed over by the dice before, so the boss has him look over regressed kids that want to go to daycare while their cure is being made. With this option, you’d spend the rest of the day and the night with him. In the morning, the boss would decide the next step.”
“Option number two, I take you to the boss’ place right now. He’s outta town until tomorrow, but his wife is at home, and she loves taking care of any regressed kids that need a place to stay. You’d stay there for the rest of the day and overnight, and the boss would decide the next step in the morning.”
“Option number three, I take you to the daycare for the rest of the day, but the boss’ wife picks you up at the end of the day and you spend the night at her place. Again, the boss will decide the next stop in the morning. Do you understand your options?” Laura nods.
“So. Which one do you want?”