Heather dove for the panties, crying in relief. She must have kicked them under her bed when she took them off and somehow they had escaped whatever had changed her room. She scrambled across the pink carpet. The diaper kept getting in her way, its bulk pushing her thighs apart causing her to move in an unsteady crawl.
She reached the side of the crib and stretched her hand out to grasp her prize.
"There you are!" A familiar voice said, halting Heather in her tracks.
She turned in horror. Her best friend, Mel, was standing in the doorway. Heather swore she had locked the door, but a quick glance at the knob showed her that the lock had disappeared when her room had transformed. She looked back at Mel's face, fearful of what she would find there, but Mel just had her usual placid smile.
"I thought you would be ready by now." She said, striding into the room. "Did you sleep in or something?"
"Mel? Wha-" Heather stammered.
"Come on, lets get you dressed." Mel said, "I want to get to the park before the daycare kids get out and take all the swings."
Mel walked over to the dresser and pulled out a drawer. Heather was confused. Did whatever changed her her room also effect Mel in some way? What about everyone else, her family, school? She turned back to the crib. Her underwear was about halfway under it, she could just about reach it. Somehow she just knew that it was the key to fixing all of this. As her fingers closed on the soft cotton she felt hands grip her sides and she was pulled into the air. She let out a shocked squeak.
"Come on Heather. We don't have all day you know."
Mel was quite tall, a lot taller than Heather was, but she was also rail thin. Rather than lift weights, Mel could substitute as the bar. There was no way that she could have lifted Heather more than half an inch before giving up. Yet Heather found herself being handled by her friend as easily as if she were nothing more than a small child. As she was carried across the room she kept a death grip on her panties, the one piece of evidence that proved she wasn't a baby. As she glanced at them to make sure they really were there she noticed a small pamphlet fall out of them, like one of those that you get with a new pair of headphones. It fluttered to the floor unnoticed by Mel who sat Heather down on top of the dresser.
"I'll take that." She said, and plucked the underwear from Heather's hand. "You can play with your toys later. Right now we have to get you dressed so we can leave."
To Heather's horror, Mel took the panties and put them into the toy box. She didn't seem to realize what they were at all. Heather looked down at the paper booklet now sitting in the middle of her new pink floor. As Mel stepped back in front of her she pointed down at it.
"Mel," she said desperately, a bit of a sob slipping into her voice. "Please. I need that paper. Could you please hand it to me?"
Mel looked around, confused. Several times her gaze swept right past the booklet but either she didn't see it or was pretending not to.
"What paper?" she asked, turning back to Heather. "Oh! I get it now! You're playing pretend today, aren't you? I was wondering why you hadn't dressed yourself. Okay, I'll play your babysitter again but really you picked a bad day to spring this on me. You should have let me know ahead of time so I could have gotten here earlier to help."
Heather just stared at her friend. Playing pretend today? Did Mel think this was some kind of act? She looked down at the booklet again. It must have the answers. She moved to push herself off of the dresser so she could get it herself but Mel caught her and held her still.
"Woah, easy there." Mel laughed, "I know you're eager to get to the park but we have to get you dressed first. Since today is obviously a pretending day for you I guess I should get you a different outfit huh?"
Mel took the clothes she had picked out, a t-shirt and a pair of shorts that were almost, but not quite, fit for a teenager, and put them back into their drawers. Instead she pulled out a much pinker shirt and a pair of denim shortalls. As she did this, Heather made another bid for freedom but Mel's iron grip stopped her again. Heather was confused. Was this part of the change? Mel was never this strong. She would get knocked sideways in a stiff breeze if she wasn't careful. But in the last five minutes she had performed feats of strength well beyond her thin frame. Did Mel change, or did Heather?
"Arms up!"
Startled out of her thoughts, Heather lifted her arms up without thinking. The pink shirt was pulled over her head expertly. Mel then gently pushed Heather down onto her back and pulled at the bottom of the shirt around Heather's diaper. Heather heard several quiet clicks and then she was pulled upright again. She looked down. It wasn't a shirt, it was a onesie. She looked up at Mel in confusion. Mel must have misread the look.
"Yeah, I know." she said, raising her hands. "I should have realized you were wearing your thick play diapers from the start. No way was that other outfit going to fit over it. Arms up again!"
Again Heather was caught by surprise and obeyed. This time the denim shortalls were pulled over her head and once again she was pushed back so the fasteners in the crotch could be done up. Before Mel pulled her up though she grabbed Heather's feet and pulled some thick socks onto them. Then she slid a pair of sparkly pink sneakers over the socks and pulled the velcro straps tight. She then picked Heather up again, but instead of setting her on the floor she planted her firmly on her hip like a small child. With Heather held securely, Mel started walking out the bedroom door.
Heather stared back through the door at the pamphlet still sitting on her carpet as she was carried down the hall. She let out a small inarticulate cry.
"It's okay babe," Mel soothed, "We'll be back from the park in a few hours and then you can play with your toys again."
"No! Mel, I need-" Heather began to whine, but Mel interrupted her.
"No, no." She chided. "You know the rules. Toys stay at home so we don't lose them at the park. You remember when you lost your favorite dolly?"
Heather did remember. She had been five at the time and had left it under a bush so the fairies could watch it while she ate lunch. Then it had rained and everyone had to rush home. They did find the doll a couple of days later, right where she had left it, a little soggy but still in one piece. She had been absolutely distraught the whole time. This was a memory from her real life though. What Mel remembered could be entirely different. Or the same. Heather clutched her head. This was all wrong.
"Oh good, your mommy got the stroller ready for us. I guess she knew you were pretending today. Wish she could have warned me."
Heather turned and gaped in horror at the stroller. It was one of those simple folding ones, the kind that toy companies like to make in miniature for little girls to play with their dollies. It didn't look much bigger than an ordinary one, but the seat looked like it was scaled differently from the rest of the unit. Mel placed her into it and secured the straps, holding her in place.
"Sit tight." She said. "I need to go and make sure your diaper bag is properly packed for a pretending day instead of a normal day."
As soon as Mel walked out of sight Heather grabbed at the buckles holding the straps in place. They were the standard plastic buckles you would find on any baby stroller but for some reason Heather's fingers couldn't get them to release. She squeezed and pulled with all of her strength but nothing was budging. Had she become weaker, like Mel was suddenly stronger? Mel soon returned with a big pink bag that had 'Heather' written on it in big purple letters.
"Looks like your mommy didn't know if you were going to be pretending or not." She said as she secured the bag to the back of the stroller. "She packed your bag with everything. Oh well, that just means we'll be extra prepared today. Let's get a move on!"
Mel opened the front door and pushed the stroller through, out into the warm sunny weather and off to the park.