Jennifer awoke with a stretch, her arms stretched as far as she could, imagining she was once again eighteen, that this week was just a bad dream. She opened her eyes to feel a crinkle of plastic under her. Curious she sat up to look around her, normal sheets. She put her hand to the sheet again, she suddenly knew what it was, a plastic liner for her mattress. They used them for kids who'd wet the bed, she got up to the side of her bed and looked around. Her bedroom was no longer a tweenies bridge from childhood to teenager, this was just a kids room, and a young kids room at that. Toys laid scattered around haphazardly, not even an attempted to be picked up. Random stickers were on everything she had, she stood up and felt weird. She had a hard time walking normal as she left her room, she took several steps to make it into the bathroom and looked for her stool, but couldn't find it, she looked around in horror, what was going on? She looked around the bathroom for anything else, she could barely even reach the toilet by herself!
Jennifer finally got the idea to use the tub's edge to stand on the toilet, finally allowing her to get on top of the sinks counter, a feat she'd normally achieve with a single knee. What she saw nearly made her fall off the sink. She was a baby! No, not a baby, absolutely a toddler, she had a short messy head of hair and was certainly tiny. The most glaring fact though was the pull-up now wrapped around her bottom. She never remember when she was fully potty trained, but in the face of reality she guessed it was when she was older than now. She climbed down, spotting the scale, it was brand new, not a good sign. Standing on the scale she saw her weight, not even thirty pounds. She stepped off in fear, walking back to her bedroom she saw her growth chart, only three marks remained. She couldn't have stood up at one she guessed, that meant, she was only four! She was only two and a half feet! Jennifer fell backwards, she started to cry. Her body was so small she looked even younger, if she was four that means she wouldn't even be in Kindergarten, technically that would be Pre-K, the last grade. Jennifer was officially on thin ice, this called for desperate measures, though that line of thought melted away once she saw her mom.
As the door opened, Jennifer could have swore she was looking at herself at first, but it wasn't her mom had aged back considerably, now only 23, a university logo was on her shirt. "Aw, you're up early Jen. Have a bad dream baby?" Her mom scooped her up so easily, she felt so helpless, nothing she did worked, every day she had been growing younger and younger, and now this was it, the final straw. She buried her face in her moms shoulder. Maybe the voice from the call was right, maybe she was irredeemable.
Her mom sat her down "Ok dear, let's get you dressed." Jennifer was still reeling from her mind, she barely registered her pullup being taken off and her being wiped down, and unfortunately being replaced. "All right baby, I think you're all ready!" her mom said with a smooch. Jennifer had very little independence left in her, her mom never left her out of sight, holding her hand even down the steps outside her house. Jennifer noticed Tex was sitting in the corner in his bed, now only a puppy just a few years old as she was towards the car. Gone was the booster seat, that was a full babyseat. Jennifer couldn't even protest before she was picked up again, her mom making a "whoosh!" sound as she did, and buckling Jennifer up before getting the car herself. She looked back at Jennifer through the mirror, her daughter was usually so happy, she must have been getting a cold.
Driving up to Kindergarten building, Jennifer looked outside the car's window, the kids ranged from five to infants, and while she was only four, she could easily tell she was no taller than any of the two year old in the playground. Her mom picked Jennifer up out of the car, and carried her inside. Jennifer could hear her mom talking to a caretaker, no doubt about how moody she was acting, after all, how could be cheery if you knew that this was the last day on earth?
Jennifer sat stewing all day, she couldn't play, what if she knocked over a kid's toy, or was just a bit too rough with another, the caretakers tried to cheer her up with some toys, they even tried to let her pick the movie. The only part of the day she liked was the nap time, the one time she knew she could fall asleep without the risk of disappearing. She woke up as a figure stood over her, one of the caretakers?
"I didn't think I'd find you here so soon." Kyle said, "How are you doin' little sis?" he lied. Jennifer was puzzled "Who are you?" Kyle sat down next to her "It's Kyle, I was seeing how you were doing, you know, since all the time travel stuff you've been going through."
Jennifer's jaw dropped, how did he know about her curse? Was he the voice? No. Her mind immediately and forcibly answered. "How do you know?" She asked. Kyle gestured to himself, "Well because I am the one who cursed you, and it looks like you're nowhere close to changing your ways. What's your plan, are you going to make a difference, or is this good-bye?" Jennifer couldn't understand the first part of the sentence, but she was left with the question. She looked around hesitantly before making her answer.