The Tree (Patreon)

A short story commission from an anonymous Patron.

"I'm not finding anything," Flynn said, glancing up from his phone. "The only places I'm seeing are ones from last year that aren't open yet."

"Seriously?" Carole sighed. "There has to be somewhere!"

"I mean..." Flynn gave a tiny shrug. "It is a little..."

"It's not early!" his girlfriend snapped. "Halloween is over! Thanksgiving is in just a few days! It's right on time!"

"Sorry, sorry," he held up his hands in surrender; he should have expected that. Carole loved Christmas... He did, too, really, although he didn't think he was on quite the same level as her. Even if he had been, he felt a little weirder about letting it show, about being too enthusiastic. He was a man in his twenties... It was kind of weird to be too excited about something that was mostly for kids. "They have them at, like, Target or whatever..."

Carole shot him a dirty look. He'd known better than that, too, but it was worth a try. "That might be the best we can do for now."

"I don't want a fake tree," she told him, in case her expression hadn't adequately conveyed that. "It has to be real."

"I'm sure the tree lots will open after Thanksgiving," he said. "If we wait until next week..."

"I don't wanna wait!" Carole pouted. "It's already snowed twice, the radio is playing Christmas music... Christmas season has started! And Thanksgiving is so late this year... We won't get to enjoy it for nearly as long..."

He hadn't thought of that, although, now, he realized it was true. Christmas never moved, but Thanksgiving did, and this year was the latest he thought he'd ever seen it, perhaps the latest it could be. It wasn't really a huge difference, yet it did mean a few less days to do Christmas shopping, or go carolling... Or, as his girlfriend had pointed out, get to look at the tree, all decked out and beautiful in front of the big window of the living room, twinkling, greeting them whenever they pulled in from a late night out...

And this was the first year they were living together, maybe the first time he'd get to help her decorate it. In his old apartment, there hadn't been room for a full size tree, so, on the tiny one he'd had, he could hang at most a handful of ornaments before it started to sag like Charlie Brown's. He'd asked Carole to let him help with hers in the past, but she always got too excited and had it all done by the time he got to her place.

Inconspicuously, he saved the addresses of the Christmas tree lots from the year before, saving them for that night, after Carole had fallen asleep. He didn't want to steal... He was hoping there would be a building, or at least a mailbox or something, where he could leave money... He just wanted to surprise Carole. And, to be honest, he did want one, too.

The first few he drove to were empty, with no trace of trees yet. He really had no idea how these places operated... He'd hoped they'd be set up already, and were waiting for the holiday season to officially begin to open up, though it seemed they waited to do that, so the trees would still be fresh when they did start selling them. He was just beginning to think his errand was going to be fruitless when he approached the final address.

And there they were, lined up, just waiting for him. He didn't see any lights on, so he got out of the car, turning on the flashlight on his phone as he approached the fence. He'd seen a sign there he couldn't read from the vehicle, one that he wanted to believe would tell him they were already open, and he could come back in the morning with Carole and do this the proper way.

'Open the day after Thanksgiving,' the sign told him instead.

He looked around the lot, where he did, indeed, spot a little building, a mailbox mounted next to the front door. There were no lights on, no signs of life... The fence wasn't terribly high, either, so he was sure he could climb over, although getting the tree out might be a bit trickier. This seemed like his only option, however, and, other than that, it was about as perfect as he could hope for.

Sure enough, he hopped the fence, no problem, and started to walk towards the trees, immediately getting hit with the soft, sweet, clean scent of pine, instantly taking him back to Christmases past. He could have sworn he smelled not only the pine needles, but hot chocolate, and the cinnamon rolls his mother baked every Christmas morning...

He was so caught up in it, he didn't notice the lights in the building switch on, or see the door open. "Who's out there?" a female voice shouted.

For a moment, he froze. Perhaps he could explain this, tell the truth, get this person to sell him a tree legitimately, and open the gate so he could get it to the car more easily. He knew he wasn't supposed to be here, though, so he panicked. The trees were closer than the fence, and he took off towards them, dousing the light on his phone.

"I see you!" the woman called. "Don't think you're getting away!"

What was he doing?! If he just talked it out, she might understand... This wasn't going to look good for him, however. And it was already too late... From the outside, the lot hadn't looked that big, and even approaching it, he hadn't expected it to take long to stroll through and find the perfect tree... Yet, now, as he got closer, they seemed to stretch out, rows and rows of them in what was almost a labyrinth of Christmas trees.

"We're not open yet!" the woman yelled from behind him, as he scrambled through the first opening he could find, discovering more trees there. "I'm sure you saw the sign... And, if you're out this late, I assume you can read. Then again, if you're this eager to get Christmas started now, before Thanksgiving... Well, maybe you're just a child after all."

If he could have, he would have defended himself, pointed out this wasn't for him - not completely - and that he was a fully grown man, in his twenties. It was better, in the moment, to keep running, though.

Or so he'd thought. He found another opening and steered himself toward it, only to see a shadowy figure pop out from it, the woman having, somehow, got ahead of him. He turned, going back the way he'd come. "Is that what it is, little boy?" she teased, not sounding like she was moving too fast, or nearly as tired out from the chase as he was already.

He felt a strange tingling sensation, and then a warmth, trickling down his legs. He didn't know, at first, what it was, what was happening, if he'd caught himself on a branch, perhaps, and cut himself, until the woman spoke up again, after he turned the corner back to the first row.

"Aww, how sweet," she said. "Are you watering the trees for us, sweetie? You know they're already cut, don't you? Although, I guess I shouldn't expect someone your age to understand how that works..."

Watering...? He paused to catch him breath, looking down, cheeks darkening to see the wet patch on the front of his pants, continuing down the legs, and to a puddle beneath him, the stream trailing behind him. What was going on?! He hadn't wet himself in... Honestly, he didn't even remember how long! Why was it happening now?!

He tried to stop it, feeling it now that he'd realized what was happening, but his bladder was refusing to respond, happy to be free of the shackles of his mind's control. He shook his head, nibbling his bottom lip, ready to give up and wait until after Thanksgiving after all. When he looked in the direction of the fence, however, and his car beyond it... It was gone. He frowned, spinning around, checking the other way, in case he'd gotten turned around. There were just more trees, no matter where he looked.

"I get it, sweetie," the woman's voice echoed in the row behind him, urging him forward, despite knowing he was leaving a path for her to follow as he continued to wet his pants helplessly. "It's hard to wait for Christmas, isn't it? Especially for a little one like you... Don't worry, it's on its way..."

Suddenly, the lot was filled with light. Flynn thought the woman had turned on a spotlight or something, until the light began to shift, to twinkle softly, and he realized the trees had all lit up, that they were, somehow, all already strung with lights, apparently, and plugged in... It was a beautiful sight, though marred by their illumination allowing him to get a better glimpse of himself, to see that something was changing... 

Gone were the jeans he'd slipped into before heading out, and the ratty old shirt... He was in a set of light blue PJs, the pants slipping down just enough to show him the waistband of what was definitely not his underwear. He gulped, pushing his legs together, feeling some resistance there, and squish, the wet spot on his pajama pants growing darker as he squeezed more urine out of the training pants beneath.

"It's all right, honey," the woman assured him. "I'm not mad... Kids your age have accidents, especially at night. Just wait for me, as I'll get you all cleaned up and back into bed..."

There was a part of him that really wanted to be a good boy, and do as he was told, no matter how much he knew this wasn't right, that this wasn't who he was... Was there really anything wrong with it, though? Wouldn't it be nice to just go back to that, to let other people take care of everything for him?

He shook his head, blushing at the thought, forcing himself to go back to running, or, at least, shuffling, his legs feeling weaker, more tired, and certainly more challenged with the padding of his trainers between them. There was another opening on the other side of the row, and he charged through it...

That Christmas-y scent was more powerful, joined with the smell of peppermint and fresh-fallen snow. The trees in this row didn't only have lights, they were decorated, ornaments weighing down nearly every branch, making it so much harder to stay focused on his task, instead of stopping to admire them.

There was one that caught his eye, despite his best efforts, a shiny ball, hung low enough for him to get a good view of it... And his reflection in it. "No," he shook his head, pouting, knowing it couldn't be right, that he'd just seen himself, and that, while his clothes hadn't been what he'd left the house in, they weren't... this.

When he looked away, and at himself, however, the ornament was right. He was in a footed sleeper now, a pacifier clipped to the chest, the bulge of a diaper clearly showing around his waist, pushing his thighs even further apart, giving him a definite waddle to his step.

"How did you get out of your crib, silly boy?" the woman asked, shocking him when he realized she was right behind him. He stumbled, falling onto his padded bottom, and scooted away, struggling to figure out how to get his feet back under him. "I know you want your present," she said, gesturing towards the tree at the end of the row, big and bright, fully lit and decorated, looking absolutely perfect... And, with a big box sitting underneath it, one he was sure had his name written on the tag. "It isn't Christmas, sweetie! It's not even Thanksgiving!"

She shook her head, watching him still trying to get away, or at least stand. "It is a good present, though," she grinned. "I know it's supposed to be a surprise, but... That's your adulthood, cutie. And I'll tell you what... Even though it's so early, I'll let you open it up... If you can get to it before I get to you."

His eyes widened, wanting to tell her that was impossible, that he was an adult already, no matter how he looked, that his maturity couldn't be taken away, wrapped up in a box... Considering everything that had happened, and the wet diaper he was sitting on, it was hard to deny it now. He started to crawl with all his might towards the box, towards his old life, and his job, and bills, and...

It was hard to know if he slowed down on purpose, or if he just got tired... He told himself he didn't stand a chance either way, really, that she would have caught up to him anyway, and scooped him up, tickling his tummy through his sleeper, making him giggle and squirm, and close his eyes...

"Flynn? Are you up?" Carole called sleepily. His eyes widened as he saw her step into the living room, realizing he was back at her place, and not on the tree lot, at the same time. She saw the tree first, the same one he'd been crawling towards before getting caught, and her eyes lit up... Then, she spotted him. "Hi, there, little guy," she knelt down. "Where did you...? Flynn?"

He blushed as she recognized him, wiggling in place as she, finally, caught a glimpse of the single present beneath the tree, a note attached to it. She picked it up, holding it out of his reach as she read the note, a smile forming on her face. "Well," she chuckled, "I think I'd better put this away for now... I'd hate for you to accidentally rip it open early. You know, as much as I've always loved Christmas, I always wanted a younger sibling, or a kid, to share it with, to see it through their eyes... My parents are obviously too old for the former now, and, as long as it took you to agree to move in, I can't imagine how long it will be until I get the latter... So I guess you're just going to have to fill in."

Flynn knew he should be upset by that, that he should want to be big again... But he had always loved Christmas, too, and now... Well, he definitely wasn't too old to feel embarrassed about that anymore.

"And, if you're a good boy, after it's over, I'll let you open this," she showed him the box one more time... "If you want to, of course." In the moment, neither of them was certain if they wanted him to or not... But that was okay. Flynn had all Christmas season to decide if he would; Carole had the whole season to decide if she'd give him the option at all, since she could easily store it away on the top shelf of a closet, out of his reach. And, really, the Christmas season hadn't even started yet... It wasn't even Thanksgiving, after all.