Before Laura can hide, someone comes up from behind and grabs her.
“Now, what are you doing in here, little girl?” asks a voice. Laura is turned around to see the face of her captor. It’s a young man, likely an employee at the store. Laura opens her mouth to reply, but before she can, she hears the voice of the dice.
“Five years you have walked this Earth, now this number is but three. Each roll of the die returns more of what you have lost.” Laura’s eyes widen in panic as she shrinks in the employee’s arms, her limbs and cheeks regaining more baby fat. How did the dice roll again? She put them away safely!
“Whoa, you- you shrunk!” the employee says, startled. “How did-” Laura removes the pacifier.
“Magic dice wolled,” she says softly. “Each time they woll, they make me more widdle.” The employee’s eyes widen as well.
“Normally, I wouldn’t believe that, but you did just shrink right in front of me.” The employee carries Laura to the front desk and sets her down. “You talk pretty well for a toddler. How old are you supposed to be?”
“Forty-fwee.”
“Forty-three? Wow.” The employee looks Laura over with interest. “And how old are you right now?”
“Fwee.”
“You lost forty years to the dice?” the employee asks. Laura nods sadly. “Wow. Wow.” The employee shakes his head. “That sucks. Say, um…” The employee clears his throat. “If you want, I could try to help you out a bit. Y’know, keep an eye on you, change your diaper, that sort of thing. And if you have any idea how to fix your problem, I could help you with that after my shift ends.”
“I wike that,” Laura says, relieved. “But I no need diaper.”
“…But you’re wearing one.”
“Only for disguise,” Laura says firmly. Just then, there’s a soft hiss as warmth floods her diaper. “Never mind.”
“One second, let me grab some stuff to change you,” the employee says, getting up and leaving. As she waits on the counter, Laura feels a growing pressure in her bowels. Well, she’s getting a diaper change anyways. She might as well use her diaper again. Laura gets to her feet, squatting on the counter. The employee returns.
“Uh, you’re pooping now,” the employee points out. Laura nods. “You know, I could have just taken you to the bathroom and put you on the toilet.”
“Oh,” Laura says in a small voice.
“But you should probably finish now. In the future, just let me know ahead of time if you need to use the toilet. If you have any warning,” the employee says. Laura nods again. She pushes. Promptly, her diaper is filled with poop. “All right, changing time.”
The employee spreads a changing mat on the floor and lays Laura on her back on it. From there, he removes her dress, diaper cover, and diaper, and proceeds to change her. Laura blushes furiously during the change, but stays quiet and doesn’t squirm. When the employee finishes, he sits her up, wearing only her new diaper, and then leaves.
“Where go?” Laura calls after him.
“When you shrunk, your clothes got a bit too big for you. I’m grabbing something else,” the employee calls back. He returns shortly with a pink, sparkly dress, even girlier than the one Laura was previously wearing, and a pink diaper cover. Laura is dressed again. “There!” The employee picks Laura up and brings her to a nearby mirror. “I think you look pretty cute!” Laura stares at her reflection in dread. Not only is she a toddler, but she’s an exceedingly girly one.
“Yeah,” she mumbles quietly. The employee carries her to a room in the back that must be the staff room, where a playpen is already set up. He grabs the playpen and brings it out to the front desk in the main area of the store. Then, he sets Laura inside.
“My boss sometimes has relatives drop off their kids, so we have things set up for someone your age,” he informs her. “You can stick by me until I get off work, then we’ll figure out our next step. Okay?” Laura nods gratefully. “By the way, I never got your name.”
“Lowa.”
“Laura. I’m Kyle. Nice to meet you.” Kyle grabs Laura’s pacifier off the counter and pops it into her mouth. She sucks on it instinctively. “Now, just remember to act your age. We don’t want anyone to suspect anything.” Laura nods again. Kyle goes to the front door and flips the sign on it from “CLOSED” to “OPEN”. He returns to the counter. Customers begin to filter in.
Laura sucks on her pacifier in the playpen, upset to have sunk this far, but glad to have found an ally. In her current situation, she desperately needs someone to help her get to the magic shop, which Kyle is willing to do. All she needs to do is get through the day.