“Yes,” Anna said reluctantly. “Reverse the years.”
“All right.” The man snapped his fingers. Laura and Kaitlin suddenly appeared in the store. Laura was sucking on her thumb, while Kaitlin looked around in confusion. He snapped his fingers again. Anna blinked, and she was back to her normal age, as were Laura and Kaitlin, who were thankfully clothed. “There you go.”
“Finally,” Kaitlin sighed in relief. Laura removed her thumb from her mouth slowly. “I’m glad to be done with training pants and ballet class. Aren’t you, Laura?”
“…Yeah,” Laura mumbled reluctantly. “I’ll, uh, I’ll talk to you later, Kaitlin.”
“All right.” Kaitlin thanked Anna and the man, then ran out of the store.
“So, uh, you made us big again,” Laura said to Anna. Anna nodded. “Huh.”
“Did you…not want to be big?” the man asked. Laura looked down at her feet. “It’s okay if that’s the case, Laura. You’d be surprised how frequently that happens.”
“I liked being little,” Laura confessed. “I understand that Kaitlin didn’t, but part of me was hoping Anna wouldn’t undo the dice. The stress of being an adult is too much. I have an ex-boyfriend that cheated on me, bills to take care of, and a job I hate. Being a toddler was so much easier and fun. I didn’t need to do anything! I didn’t even need to use the toilet!”
“What would you say if I told you I had a way to make you little again?” the man asked. Laura looked up at him eagerly.
“I’d be very interested.”
“Good. Because I can do that for you.” The man disappeared into a back room. Laura looked at Anna.
“Anna, could you take care of me when I’m little again?” she asked. Anna shook her head.
“I’m too old.”
“What if he could make you younger, too?” Laura asked. Anna thought for a moment.
“I’d consider it,” she said. The man reappeared. He handed Laura what looked like a chewable vitamin.
“Eat this,” he instructed. Laura eagerly popped the vitamin into her mouth and swallowed. A puff of smoke obscured her. When it cleared, she was a toddler again, dressed in only a diaper. Laura giggled happily and clapped her hands.
“I wittew!” she cheered. The man chuckled.
“Yes, you are,” he said. Laura got to her feet and bent her knees into a squat. She began to grunt. “It’s a good thing I had you wearing a diaper right off the bat.”
“I want poopoo,” Laura said between grunts. “Wike my diapy.”
“In that case…” The man waved his hand. “Congratulations, Laura, you’ll be in diapers for quite a while. Your parents won’t even begin to try to potty train you until kindergarten.” Laura beamed at him.
“Fank oo!” she chirped.
“Speaking of your parents, who do you want them to be?” the man asked. Laura grunted one last time, sighed, and then sat down. There was a soft hiss. Her white diaper slowly turned yellow. Laura popped her thumb into her mouth to suck on it.
“No know dada,” she said. “But know mama.”
“Well, if you know who you want your mother to be, I can handle the father from there,” the man said. Laura nodded. “Who would you like your mother to be?”