Dan plopped down in the playpen and stared at the test results. Sure enough, the test indicted he had scored a zero on the test, far lower than even kindergarten kids! But that was just not possible - he was sure he had known most of the questions and answered them correctly. He had to concentrate to read the first question. The right answer was block B, and he had not filled in the block. No answer at all. But he was so sure... then he dropped his eyes down and saw 'B' filled in for Question 2. But the correct answer was D - which was selected for the block below.
Scanning down the list, he discovered that he had put the right answer down for most of the questions, but in the block below! No wonder he had done so badly. He waved and shouted until the woman came over. "Look! I gots most of the qwest.. qweschuns right! I jus put the mark in the wrong place!" Why was he having trouble talking?
The woman frowned and looked over the answer sheet. "Oh! Well, that is certainly a silly mistake. Too bad for you."
Dan's mouth fell open. "I got most of them right! Make me big again!"
"No, sweetie." The woman held up the test. "You got them all wrong. Maybe you knew the answers, but you filled out the test wrong. But don't worry. You're already starting to adjust. Being 2 years old will feel perfectly natural to you very soon."
"Two!?" Danny felt tears well up in his eyes. "Me big boy! Not wittle!"
"Tell you what." The woman held out the paper. "Read the top line for me and I'll see if we can do something."
Dan grabbed the paper, sure he could do as asked. But the marks and symbols on the page made no sense to him. He had just read the questions, but now nothing looked familiar. He began to cry for real now. "Not wittle!" Being upset created even more problems, for he soiled and wet his new diaper.
"Of course not." The woman leaned over and picked him up, patting his back as she held him up to her shoulder. "It's OK, Danny. You're a big boy. You're a big two year-old, walking and even talking some. It's OK."
Danny hiccupped and wiped his eyes and his running nose, confused. The woman holding him was rubbing his back now, soothing him and hugging him close. It felt nice, and he couldn't quite remember why he had been upset. Something about being a big boy? He felt suddenly very sleepy, and dropped his head back on the woman's shoulder. So hard to think. Maybe if he took a nap...