Kelly sighed; she knew she had to swallow her pride and call her mom. The shrunken teen took a deep breath before running to the daycare attendant and pulling on her pant leg. “Lady,” Kelly called, doing her best to play the part of an upset toddler.
“Yes, Sweetie?” The attendant responded.
“I borrow phone?” The teenager inquired. “I wanna call my mommy.”
“Now, Sweetie,” The attendant brushed Kelly’s blonde hair. “Your mommy’s going to be here to pick you up very soon. Can’t you be a good girl and be patient?”
“No!” Kelly shouted. Between her sister, cousin, and niece, the high-schooler had seen enough temper tantrums to know how to act. “I wanna talk to Mommy now, now, now!”
“Young lady,” The attendant warned. “If you keep this up, you’ll end up in the playpen again!”
“Now, now, now!” Kelly continued to chant angrily. The attendant tried to pick the teenager up, but Kelly was struggling like a captured animal, and the woman was less rested now that it was the end of the day.
“Alright, alright!” The attendant surrendered as she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. “Don’t think your mother will hear about this, young lady.”
Kelly quickly dialed her mother’s cell, and after three rings, she heard the voice of her mom, Eloise, “Who is this?”
“Mom!” Kelly said, causing the attendant to eye her suspiciously. The high-schooler quickly shifted gears, “Hi, Mommy!”
“Kelly, is that you? Where the Hell have you been?” Eloise demanded.
Kelly had to think quickly to get a message to her mother and not raise suspicion. “I gots a story to tell you, Mommy,” The teen told her mother.
“You’d better,” Kelly’s mom responded. “And why are you talking like that?”
“I tell you my whole story, Mommy,” Kelly continued. “After you pick me up from daycare?”
“What the Hell are talking about?”
“Come pick me up,” The high-schooler explained. “From the daycare on Main Street, so I can tell you my story.”
“If this is some kind of joke!”
“No!”
Kelly hung up the phone and hoped her mother had understood her message. “Tank you,” The teenager thanked as she gave the phone back to the attendant.
Soon enough, toddlers started to disappear, and the high-schooler started worrying as the attendants whispered while looking in her direction. “Excuse me!” A familiar voice called from the reception area. Eloise walked into the classroom, “I heard that my daughter might…” she paused when she spotted Kelly.
“Hi, Mommy,” The shrunken teenager greeted and ran to hug her mother’s leg.
“Kelly?” Eloise asked unbelievingly.
“Kelly?” Another voice echoed in excitement as the high schooler had to fight the urge to run. Sure enough, Kelly’s sister Megan came from behind Eloise. “Is that really you?”
“Is this your big sister, Kelly?” One of the attendants inquired.
“Yeah,” Kelly tried to act excited as she hid her blush. “That Megan.”
“Ma’am, we need to talk,” The attendant pulled Eloise aside. “We’ve had some behavioral issues with your daughter.”
“In daycare?” Kelly’s mom inquired, clearly still recovering from the shock.
“Wow, Kelly,” Megan proclaimed as she examined her sister. “You could share clothes with Katie or even Sara!”
“Uh-huh,” The shrunken teenager mumbled.
“And you look so cute in your wittle uniform,” Megan cooed.
“Megan…” Kelly wanted to argue but soon herself the victim of a tickling.
“Cootchie, cootchie, coo!” The second-grader sang.
“Be careful,” The receptionist warned. “She might have an accident in her diaper.”
Megan did stop tickling Kelly, but only out of shock, “Her what?”
“Stop that!” Kelly demanded as her younger sister patted her lower section and giggled at the crinkle the high-schooler's undergarments made.
“So ummm…” Eloise emerged from the other room. “Thank you for caring for my ummm… little Kelly today.”
“That’s what you pay us for, Ma’am,” The attendant pointed out.
“Right,” Eloise slowly responded. “I suppose it is. I’m sorry that she was a bit of a handful.”
“It’s fine,” The attendant responded. “A lot of kids are like that on their first day.”
“Right,” Eloise agreed as she spotted Megan cuddling Kelly. “She gets so cranky when she’s away from her big sister.”
“Yeah,” Megan jumped in and brought her sister in for a death hug. “We love each other a whole bunch.”
“Isn’t that adorable?” The attendant remarked.
“You know, Ma’am,” The receptionist chimed in and offered Eloise a pamphlet that pictured a grade-schooler reading to a toddler. “We offer an after-school program for the older kids; we let them help out, and it teaches responsibility.”
“Can I, Mommy?” Megan asked as her grip on the shrunken teenager somehow became tighter.
“We’ll talk about it,” Eloise promised.
“Talk about it?” Kelly demanded as her mother led her and Megan to the car.
“Young lady,” Eloise remarked. “You have a lot of explaining to do!”
“I know,” The shrunken teen responded.
“Do you have any idea how worried I was?”
“It wasn’t my fault,” Kelly insisted as she was strapped into the car seat Eloise had for Katie or Sara. “I was just minding my own business when…”
By the time Kelly finished explaining the day's events the shrunken teenager, they were already on the road. “So,” Eloise inquired. “Where is this shrinking ray?”
“Oh my God!” Kelly declared. “It’s still in the park!”
“The park?” Eloise asked.
“It could be gone forever,” The high-schooler realized. “I could be stuck like this!”
“Well,” Eloise turned on her turn signal. “Let’s go find out.”