The Crawlspace (Patreon)

Thank you for bearing with me for so long this month, guys. I hope you enjoy this year's holiday special. Merry Christmas!

Drip. Drip. Drip.

“Can you please send someone over? It's driving me nuts!” complained Kara Espinoza. On the other end of the line was her property management company rep, Susanne. She maintained a tone of professional courtesy in her voice, but it came across as a little insincere over the sound of a Christmas party in the background.

“Let's see...I can have someone out to take a look on...Tuesday. I'm sorry, but it is the holidays.”

Kara winced. “Three days? O have to put up with all through Christmas! It'll be swamp down there by then! Don't even care about the foundation of this place?”

Susanne chuckled. Sympathetically, of course. “Ma'am, a drip isn't going to do the foundation any real harm, certainly not over the course of a weekend. If you're really so bothered by the sound, play some music or put on headphones or something. I'm sorry, but most plumbers will charge double or more to go on Christmas Eve.”

Kara rubbed between her eyes. “Fucking tightwad cheapskates...”

“Ma'am, that is really uncalled for. On a completely unrelated note, we're still waiting on your rent check for December. How is that coming along?”

Kara's shoulders sagged. “Yeah, I uh...it might be a little while...”

“Well, I can give give you a little more time, but please, make this a priority. I understand that the place isn't perfect, and a little give and take is the foundation of a good relationship, but you're really starting to make me look bad. A lot of managers would already have the eviction notice posted. You understand the position I'm in, don't you?”

“...yes, I understand.” said Kara, feeling a little sick.

“Okay. I'll book an appointment for Tuesday afternoon. You have a nice day. Merry Christmas.”

Kara seethed as the line went dead. The dripping sound coming from below her apartment's floorboards hadn't started recently, but it had gotten on her nerves more and more in the last few days. She had spent most of the night before tossing and turning and trying to stuff her pillow into her ears.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Maybe it was just the time of year that was getting to her. She had more or less decided to just skip Christmas this year. She had just finished her Political Science degree, and after five tears of telling herself that she would know what she wanted to do with her life by the time she graduated, that hadn't turned out to be the case. Her family were reasonably loving and supportive, but she hated the thought of spending time with them without having a clearer idea of how she was going to pay the bills in the near future. Being behind on the rent felt like an illness she was suffering from. Her stomach felt like it was full of acid (it was, but it wasn't supposed to feel like it) which all but made it impossible to press harder on her plumbing issues. She had no money to celebrate with, and frankly, she felt that there was little to celebrate right now. She was getting worried that her landlord would lose patience and simply have her evicted. Nothing about the house felt secure. Nothing in her life felt secure. The dripping sound just seemed to underline that fact.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Kara tried to ignore the sound. Even with her headphones in, the constant dripping seemed to always be sitting just on the edge of her consciousness. It dripped as she prepared her dinner (fried potatoes with ketchup packets she had judiciously saved). It dripped as she watched Youtube videos (Netflix was a luxury she could no longer justify) It dripped as she finally climbed into bed, set aside her phone, and tried to sleep.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

And tried to sleep.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

And tried to sleep.

Drip. Drip. Drippity-drip.

Kara threw aside her blankets in rage. She really needed a good night's sleep. She couldn't solve any of her problems if it felt like she was lost in an itchy haze. Clearly, ignoring this problem was not a workable option. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she decided to do something truly drastic. Something that she never normally think of as an option. She refused to allow the dripping sound to burrow any further into her brain than it already had. She decided, with a deep steadying breath, to brave the crawlspace and see what she could do for herself.

The entrance to the crawlspace was in her bedroom closet under a heavy wooden panel covered in carpet. Kara had to move her shoes and several boxes of old books, then find a thick butter knife to pry it up. She decided to put on some of her older clothes with holes and tears, so that she wouldn't ruin any of her nice clothing. She found an old flashlight to help her navigate underneath (although she was by no means certain of the batteries), but she found a bare light-bulb with a pull-chain near the entrance, so there was little need for it. It wasn't quite as cramped as she had imagined it might be, but her concerns regarding spiders proved much more valid. She couldn't move more than a few feet without disturbing one of the dozens of cobwebs that were strung up all around her. The floor was covered in black plastic covers that were torn or pulled aside in places, showing the sandy earth underneath. A white powder had been scattered around, for what purpose Kara couldn't guess, she could only hope that it wasn't something dangerous. The drip was coming from a little ways off, although she couldn't see exactly where, as the branching assemblage of ventilation ducts coming off the furnace were in the way. Plucking up her courage, Kara began hunting for a way to reach it.

She only recognized some of what was in the way. At first, it all looked intimidatingly complicated, but gradually, she began to piece together which plumbing connected to each of the amenities above. “Let's see...” she muttered under her breath as she crawled under a piece of string that was stretching between two support pillars for seemingly no reason. “Those go to the kitchen faucet, there's the bathtub drain, there's a rat that snuck in and died, ewww...there's the connections to the water heater in the closet...” There was a kind of weird fascination that began to build as she picked her way through the cramped spaces between obstacles. This was the other half of her home, the place where all the stuff that made it work was kept. It was oddly comforting to see it, even it was kind of gross and scary. It made the place feel more...complete somehow.

She had to press herself against the dirty floor to wedge herself under one of the larger ducts. She tried to ignore all the cobwebs that were getting in her hair as she did. Once free, she had to stop and clean her glasses, as the dust and cobwebs had rendered them virtually opaque. Finally, she spotted a thin, rusty old pipe that was steadily dripping down onto chunk of lose brick. She searched around for a valve to turn, but there wasn't one nearby, and anyway, she now recognized that this was the line that refilled her toilet, so she could hardly afford to shut it off. Best to just try to muffle the sound. She moved the brick out of the path of the drip, and found that this greatly reduced the harshness of the dripping noise. She grabbed a few handfuls of loose foam insulation and piled them at the spot, and found that this rendered the sound nearly inaudible, even down here at close range.

She sighed with relief. Sure, the water line was rusted to hell and back and would almost certainly need to replaced, but she felt a sense of accomplishment for having overcome her fears. She took a deep, dusty breath to steady herself for the crawl back to the entrance.

Then, she spotted the door.

The door was small, perhaps two and a half feet in height. It was neatly carved, with beveled edges and an intricate knot design around the trim and a heart-shaped opening above the center. It reminded her of a birdhouse from one of those cutesy arts-and-crafts magazines. It had a tiny little knob made of shiny brass. Despite every other surface in the crawlspace being covered in a fine layer of dust, the little knob looked like it had been polished this morning. It was so completely out of place among the sawdust and cobwebs and furnace ducting that it immediately captured all of Kara's attention. It looked like a door intended for some kind of pixie or gnome. The patch of old-fashioned brickwork that surrounded it cut through the very concrete foundation of the house. Kara immediately wanted to know how such a door could have gotten there, and where it might lead. She blinked hard a few times to see if it would disappear from her vision. She thought that it must exit the house out into the back yard, but she had gotten so turned around crawling among all the ductwork and other obstacles that she could not really be certain.

Having seen the door, Kara knew with certainty that she had no choice but to open it and see where it could possibly lead. If a persistent drip had been enough to keep her up at night, there was no chance whatsoever that she could fall asleep with something like this below her. This thing had zero business existing at all, and yet it sat there, quietly waiting for her.

She approached the little door and turned the handle. She had expected the handle to be entirely decorative, but it twisted smoothly, and with a faint metallic click, the door opened. A warm, gentle breeze wafted over her as it swung silently on its hinges. Her heart picked up speed. Right away, she was conscious of the fact that a large area had just opened up. The light from behind her did not reach into the dark, narrow passageway, but she saw a dim light far up ahead. She stopped for a moment to sniff the fragrant air. It stirred memories of long ago. The smoke of a fire, the light scent of pine, tinged with the sweetness of freshly-baked cookies. A deliciously comforting medley of scents, and yet down here, it seemed vaguely threatening.

She knew that it was a big risk to enter the little passage. She knew that something like this could not and should not really be here. This was something totally unlike anything she had experienced before, it was like a hole in the edge of the world as she understood it. But to close the door and turn back now would be unthinkable, a slap in the face to all the wonder and curiosity that was bubbling up inside her. She wasn't the sort of girl to throw away her letter from Hogwarts. She wiped glasses again, dipped her head down, and slipped inside.

The passage was so narrow that she had to step carefully to stop her shoulders from scraping against the sides. The floor was cold and hard under her hands and knees, but at least it was smooth, like brick or tile. Her glasses slipped down over her mouth, and it took her a few tries to get enough elbow room to adjust them. As she went on, she noticed that the floor was also gradually growing warmer. It also seemed to grow softer and more yielding as she went, going from brick to rubber to cushion, until it felt like she was crawling through a giant sponge cake.

The light at the far end was coming from another door, almost identical to the first, but painted in very bright white. The heart-shaped window was beaming a faint yellow glow into the tunnel, illuminating the walls. The walls didn't even look like walls at this end, more like vague outlines of silvery smoke. The floor beneath her was like what she had once imagined walking on a cloud would be like. If she were not so intensely curious, she might have laid down to sleep on the warm cushioning.

The handle on this side turned just as easily, and then door opened smoothly to reveal a polished tile floor with a green and white checkerboard pattern, coated with a patchwork of light and shadows. The scent of smoke, pine, and freshly-baked desserts was overpoweringly strong now. A fire was crackling away somewhere. Kara crawled out and looked around in awe.

As she had guessed, the area on this side was wide open. She found herself in a long hallway, decorated with huge landscape paintings and long stretches of sparkling tinsel. The walls were of gleaming white with elegant wainscoting. Marble pillars and antique vases were scattered tastefully along the hall's incredible length, making the place feel like Buckingham or Versailles. Several bright green doors were space along the hallway, all decorated with festive wreaths and all at least ten feet from top to bottom. The ceiling was vaulted, and there were glowing glass chandeliers hanging from the ceiling every few yards, covering everything in dim, uneven light. The ceiling, she now saw, was easily fifteen feet above her. This wasn't merely a house, but a mansion. Maybe even a palace, and one clearly intended for residents considerably larger than Kara.

Kara was no fool. She didn't know where she was exactly, but she was wary of the hall as soon as she saw it. This was clearly some kind of otherworldly place. It made her think of the castle that Jack had found at the top of the beanstock, or the shimmering golden palace that Hades had brought Persephone to. Those were the kind of places that were often tough to get out of for the curious heroes who found them. The fact that the place was so warm and beautiful and inviting made Kara even more wary of it. She turned around to make sure the little door was still there. It was. She tried the handle. It turned easily. She tried the hinges. They showed no sign of preparing to snap closed behind her. She reached into her pocket for her wallet. It wasn't like there was much cash in it, after all, and she would feel better about the door if she could wedge something in to stop it closing.

Her wallet was not there. Nor was the pocket that had held it. Kara's probing fingers encountered only a smooth bulge of plastic material as she patted her sides.

She looked down, and gave little squeak of fright at what she saw. Her worn, faded hoodie was gone. Her threadbare jeans with one knee hanging open and the other not far behind were also gone. She was now wearing a tight pink tank top with a picture of a sleepy cartoon koala sitting on a cloud and holding a bunch of balloons. Even in childhood, Kara doubted that she had ever worn anything so cutesy and saccharine. Below her waist, she wore nothing except an absolutely massive disposable diaper. It was easily three inches thick at the rear, making her butt seem enormous. The front panel showed the outlines of two unicorns, their slender horns meeting at a shining star. The glossy backing actually sparkled faintly in the shifting lights of the chandeliers. She wondered when it could possibly have materialized without her noticing. She concluded that it must have been so soft and fluffy that she had simply missed it in the cloud-like tunnel behind her.

She glanced warily from side to side. She definitely didn't want to be seen in such a ludicrous outfit. It seemed to be some kind of cruel joke, intended to humiliate her. But there was no one around, and the massive hallway was eerily silent, save for the distant crackling of a fire.

She looked back at the diaper. She pressed a finger into the padding. She drew in a sharp breath. How could anything be this soft? She squeezed her legs together, and was shocked at how the material bunched up between her legs. She bit her bottom lip. It felt shockingly comfortable.

Still, she had her pride to consider. However ridiculously comfy it was, she couldn't just waddle around in a big diaper. Even nudity would be more dignified. Feeling conflicted, she dug a fingernail under one of the enormous tapes that held the silly thing on, and gently tugged. She dug another fingernail under, and tugged again. She grabbed the waistband-like leak guards, and pulled. She pulled harder. She struggled with all her strength. The diaper barely responded to her efforts, snapping gently back into place with a crinkling noise and a puff of scented baby powder the instant she relented, wholly unaltered by any of her wrenching and pulling. She lay in the hallway struggling ferociously with the strange garment, although her desire to get it off was quickly eclipsed by her fascination with its clearly unnatural properties. With a mix of fright and a very guilty kind of excitement, Kara gradually came to accept that she had been magically forced to wear a diaper, and that for the time being at least, there was little she could do about it. She wasn't sure how to feel about that.

Well, she thought, if she had to be diapered in this strange place, there was no point in dwelling on it. It certainly wouldn't prevent her from exploring further. She decided to try the nearest door. The diaper felt funny between her legs as she crawled along the glassy tile floor.

She stopped. She looked around herself again, confused. There was plenty of headroom here. If anything, the hallway was so spacious that it made her feel a little agoraphobic. So why had she been crawling? Could she really have gotten used to it so quickly in the crawlspace? Shaking her head at herself, she pushed herself off the ground, wondering why the simple act of standing up felt so awkward and unnatural. The floor was weirdly smooth under her bare feet, like a sheet of polished glass. Her knees wobbled. She held up her arms to try to regain her balance. The floor looked almost threatening at this distance. She felt like she was walking on stilts. Then, all at once, her knees buckled under her and her legs gave way. She waved her arms wildly, but she fell backward, squarely onto her rear. She was surprised that she felt no pain, as the ridiculously thick padding readily absorbed the force of the fall. If anything, tumbling onto her butt felt kinda nice.

She was disturbed by what she had discovered. She could not walk here. She was diapered, and she could only crawl. What sort of place was this?

She decided to keep searching and find out. Crawling long distance wasn't something she had done much of until today, but she found that the tile wasn't too hard on her knees. She approached one of the huge doors, sitting just a few yards from the tiny one she had entered by. The silvery knob was about five feet off the ground, and as big around as a cantaloupe. She struggled to reach it for a few minutes, but with her legs betraying her again and again, it was all but impossible to get a grip on it. After much struggle, she finally managed to get her hands around it. Hanging onto it for support and unable to put any weight on her feet, she struggled desperately to swing her body to turn the knob. It barely even jiggled before she lost her grip, and went sprawling on the floor, knocking over a decorative vase that had been sitting in a bronze stand nearby. Over the giant thing went, shattering across the floor with a crash that reverberated through the cavernous hallway.

Kara looked at the broken ceramic pieces in horror. She hid herself behind one of the huge marble columns and waited. Anyone who was in the house would surely come running at such a noise, wouldn't they? But after several minutes, neither the sounds of opening doors nor the stomping of gigantic feet could be heard. She sighed with relief. If that sound had attracted no attention, perhaps this place was actually deserted, although she knew better than to lean too heavily on such a conclusion. Finally, she abandoned her cover and crawled toward the other end of the hallway, hoping to find something in this weird place that wasn't sealed behind a giant door.

She soon reached the end of the hallway and turned a corner under an ornate arch. The polished tile gave way to fleecy white carpeting under her knees. She had to pause to take in what lay beyond. Calling the grotto that opened up in front of her a living room would hardly be doing its scale and sheer grandeur justice, although that was obviously its intended function. A long couch hugged the wall beside her, upholstered in royal blue and big enough to comfortably seat an entire football team. Another door lay just beyond it, next to the fireplace. The red-brick fireplace was almost big enough to be a bedroom in its own right. The fire inside would have been a serious hazard in any regular-sized house, but here it passed for a modest, cheerful blaze, much smaller than what the hearth could accommodate. Above the flames hung a heavy iron grating, on which a collection of shiny brown shells were steadily roasting. Kara wondered if they were actually chestnuts. She had never seen actual chestnuts actually roasting on an open fire before. It would have seemed charmingly quaint, and a little trite, if it weren't surrounded by such overblown opulence.

Another elegant arch opened on an equally gigantic kitchen, and it was immediately obvious that this was the source of the delicious smells that permeated the house.

The source of the alpine scent was even more obvious. The tree was so beautiful, Kara found that she was staring at it for quite a while before she really came to grips with just how ludicrously large it was. No wonder the scent of its needles hung in the air all through the house. Kara had thought that the ceiling was absurdly high in the rest of the house, but the Christmas tree needed an alcove in the ceiling all to itself. The opening shot up at least sixty feet, terminating in a skylight from which a soft, white glow was streaming down. If it had been the centerpiece of a mall or town square's Christmas display, it would have been considered a little much. The ornaments that covered it ranged from three to six feet in height, and the strings of lights that coated every available branch could have been impressive if they had been spread over an entire neighborhood. At the foot of the aromatic monstrosity sat a collection of huge wrapped gift-boxes, all glistening in different colors and tied with elegant white bows.

Kara listened carefully, but the house was still perfectly silent. She weighed her options. Like Jack in the fairy tale, she rather hoped that there might be something in here that she could carry back with her to her apartment through the little door. Maybe even something valuable enough to help her out of her financial troubles. The ornaments on the tree alone looked pretty valuable, some even looked like they might be actual gold, but even if she could somehow get one down, even the smallest would be much too big to fit through the little door. She tried to explore the kitchen, but the table and countertops were much too high for her to reach in her current state. She knew there were cookies in there somewhere, but even if she could have reached them, she was much too savvy to eat anything from this place. She remembered what had become of Persephone.

That left the presents under the tree. Some of them were clearly too big as well, but even that was just the boxes, not the contents. There were plenty of boxes of a more manageable size. The only thing that held her back was her sense of propriety. Swiping gold decorations or food would only be wrong in a vague, abstract kind of way. Whatever giants inhabited this strange place, they clearly weren't impoverished, and probably wouldn't even notice if some of their finery disappeared in the night. Opening Christmas gifts intended for someone else, though, was on another level from mere larceny. It was more like sacrilege, the violation of a sacred trust.

Still, the crisp, shiny wrapping paper called out to Kara with a familiar siren call. The temptation gripped Kara, making her purse her lips and grit her teeth to hold herself back. Foolhardy thoughts trickled unbidden into mind. Surely, when there were so many, no one would miss just one?

She crawled slowly toward the glittering heap. Her eyes kept darting over to the door in the corner of the room. It certainly didn't seem like anyone was around. The footsteps of someone who lived in a house like this would surely be audible from a long way off, wouldn't they? She would have plenty of warning, wouldn't she? Her heart raced. She picked up one of the smallest presents. It was heavy in her hands. She lifted the tag (on which a smiling Santa Clause was dashing merrily across a rooftop) curious and yet dreading what she might find.

To: Kara Espinoza

From: Your Nanny

Every vertebra in her spine proceeded to carefully fuse together into a single piece. “It could just be a coincidence” she thought, not really convincing even herself. She looked at the other tags as well. The pictures that decorated them were all different, but the same words were handwritten in an elegant sweeping hand on each one. Kara could keep the thought out of her head no more. These were all for her. The thought was both wonderful and frightening. It meant she was expected. It meant that whoever owned this absurd palace knew she would be here, and had wanted her to come.

The thought made her heart rush even more. What did this mean? Who was this “Nanny” who had apparently laid out a truckload of presents just for her?

By the time she had decided to open the present, her finger had already begun to tear through the wrapping paper of it's own volition. The sound of tearing paper was viscerally exciting. She could remember how it had felt tearing apart the paper as a child, how profoundly liberating it was to be given permission to rip apart something so beautiful, to deliberately destroy something in front of her family without any fear of rebuke. That strange sense that she finally had permission to step across the sacred threshold. She realized, with the paper already halfway off the box, that it would not be Christmas for many hours yet, so it was premature to open the gifts now, even if they were for her. The fact that it was a technical transgression just made it even sweeter.

Inside the box, nestled in a bed of lavender-colored crepe paper, was a golden tiara studded with iridescent gemstones. Kara held it up to the light to admire its beauty. She was no expert in such matters, but the weight of it at least suggested that it was no mere toy. Everything about it looked both fanciful and absolutely genuine. Kara immediately wanted to try it on, but stopped herself with the heavy band mere inches above her hair. She wondered if casually putting something like this on her head might be a mistake, given where she was. She settled for securing it around her arm at the shoulder as a safer alternative. Emboldened, she grabbed a larger box and began to tear into the paper with relish.

She jumped when the box popped in her hands like a tiny firework once she had pulled off the paper. A puff of white smoke briefly blinded her. When she had fanned away the smoke, the box in her hands was empty. She glanced around, and gasped. Lying face-up on the floor beside her was the body of a woman. She looked to be in her early thirties, and was dressed in a set of loose-fitting blue overalls, a red-and-white striped top, and red sneakers. Her dark brown hair was tied with red ribbons into a set of pigtails, her cheeks were dotted with painted freckles, and she had a bulbous red clown nose. Kara had only a horrible second to speculate just what sort of horrible trick was being played on her, when the figure opened her bright blue eyes and jumped up from the floor, grinning like a maniac.

“Ohmagawd, ohmagawd,ohmagawd! You're here! You're finally here! Wooooooo!”

The strangely-dressed woman jumped up and down and grabbed the confused Kara by the hands, seemingly overwhelmed with excitement. Kara stared at her, goggle-eyed.

“This is sooo awesome! I can't believe I finally get to meet you! Eeeeeee! I can't wait to get started!”

Kara sputtered. “What...can't wait to get what started? Who are you?”

The strange woman took a step back. She looked shocked, as though Kara had said something horribly offensive. Then, just as quickly, she rolled her eyes and she shifted into a lecturing tone.

“What? I can't wait to get started on potty-training, stupid! I'm Polly Potty-Trainer! Didn't you even look at my instruction booklet?”

Kara felt a headache coming on. The confusion was getting to her. “I...no, I didn't! What is this? What's going on! Where are we?”

“Polly” cocked an eyebrow at Kara. “Do you really not recognize me? You're the one who wanted me for Christmas!”

Kara looked at the woman skeptically. “I wanted...you...for Christmas?”

Polly bent forward and mockingly imitated Kara's halting voice. “And now...you get....me...for Christmas!”

“Whooo exactly do you think I am?” asked Kara, still extremely confused.

Polly blew out a breath of exasperation before answering. “You're Kara? My new owner? Ring any bells?”

Kara sat back on her heels and tried to steady herself. “Look, there's obviously been some mistake. I'm not your owner! You can't own people.”

Polly scoffed. “'course not! Who said anything about people? Look at me! I'm a dolly!”

Kara did look, and her conclusions did not change. “You're...alive.” she said slowly, feeling odd for having to state something so obvious. “You're a woman...not a doll.”

Polly crossed her arms and looked away dramatically. “Whatever. I shouldn't have expected you to understand complicated stuff like this, anyway.”

Kara was getting annoyed. “What exactly does that mean?”

“You're a baby. Of course you're not gonna understand what's going on.”

“I'm n...”

The words “I'm not a baby” crowded into Kara's mouth, but she managed to catch herself in time. Sitting on the floor in a comically massive diaper would really undermine such an assertion. She sucked in a long, exasperated sigh.

“Okaaaay. So, since I'm just a baby, how about you explain exactly what you think is going on here? And use small little words that my little brain can handle.”

Polly rolled her eyes. “Jeez. What am I, a Polly-Explains-It-All? Look, it's really very simple. I am your dolly. Nanny put me in that box for you. Now that you've opened the box, you get to play with me as much as you want! Why do you have to make this hard? ”

Kara crossed her arms. “And who is this Nanny? It's the first I've heard of her. Does she own this house? What is she, exactly?”

Polly sat on the floor and crossed her own arms in a sulk. “Come on, quit asking silly questions! I wanna play! I've been waiting forever for you to play with me!”

“And...what would that consist of, exactly?”

Polly's lips curled downward. “You're supposed to potty train me, stupid! Y'know, sit me on my training potty and pull my pull-ups down so I can go, and mark my progress on my little chart and...dammit, where's all my stuff?”

Kara's face flushed at the strange woman's words. If she had met this person on the street or at a party, she probably would have just assumed that she was on drugs. What kind of demented place was this that put a big diaper on her and then wanted her to toilet-train some bizarre doll woman? She sighed. “What are you talking about? What stuff?”

Polly jumped up from the floor with surprising agility. “My playset! It has my training potty, an my extra pull-ups, my instruction booklet, my paddle, and my training chart with all the stickers! It must be in one of these other boxes.”

Polly began picking up gift-boxes from the massive heap, holding them to her ear, and shaking them roughly.

“Stupid 'sold-separately' bullshit!”

“H-hey! Those are mine!” said Kara, crawling over to stop Polly as fast as she could. She was getting annoyed that this alleged “dolly” could walk around just fine while she couldn't.

Polly cupped a hand to her ear. “What's that? Yours? Cuz it doesn't seem like you like them so much once they're out of the box!” spat Polly bitterly, sticking out her tongue at her floor-bound alleged owner. She tossed the box she was holding carelessly over her shoulder. Kara reached up to grab it, fumbled with it a few times, then caught it by a corner. A long rip, a loud pop, and a burst of white smoke followed.

“Did somebody say 'Huggy-Time'!” cheered an unfamiliar woman's voice. She sounded vaguely Mid-Western, but Kara couldn't place it. Kara had no time to respond before she was yanked off the floor and surrounded by a warm, fluffy cushion. She attempted to inform whoever this latest demented apparition was that, in fact, no one had said anything remotely of the kind. Unfortunately, she was having some difficulty getting a decent lungful of air.

“Ooooh, I just love you! Could we be bestest best besties?” said her assailant. As the smoke cleared, Kara found that she was being enthusiastically squeezed by another oddly-dressed woman. This one was fuller-figured, seemed to be in her early forties, and was a bit shorter than Kara herself, at least if she were standing. As it was, Kara's bare feet trailed on the ground as the hug stretched on. Initially, Kara tried to push her off, but when this turned out to futile, she found that the hug was almost astonishingly pleasant, so much so that she soon felt compelled to return it. The woman's large breasts pressed pleasingly against Kara's own. Kara squeezed, and the woman's body compacted, as though she had no bones at all. It was like hugging a giant pillow that had been in the dryer. By the time she finally let go and allowed Kara to flop back onto her diapered rear, Kara was surprised at her own disappointment. As long as the hug had been, it seemed to end too soon.

Once back on the ground, Kara surveyed her “present”. She was wearing a very thick set of footie pajamas of white, fuzzy material. The outfit's hood framed the woman's beaming face, the only part of her that suggested that she was anything except a giant teddy-bear. Tiny tufts of blond hair escaped the hood at the corners. The outfit had little round ears sticking up from the hood, and a red satin heart sewn into the center of her round belly proudly announced “Free Hugs!”. A white cloth diaper that easily dwarfed Kara's own was tied around the outfit's rear with a pair of over-sized plastic safety pins. Since it was outside the costume, Kara had to assume that it was decorative rather than functional.

“Th...thanks.” said Kara guardedly.

“No problem! My pleasure! Anytime!” the strange woman giggled happily. “Seriously, though. I mean it! Want another one? Or two? All you want, all day every day! I never get tired of hugs! Come on! Bring it in!”

Kara drew in a breath through her nose. The woman smelled strongly of baby powder. “Well...alright, one more won't hurt.” she conceded finally.

“Yayyyy! You're the best!” she said, and proceeded to scoop Kara up and press her against her pillowy bulk once again. Now that she had had the chance to prepare herself properly, Kara found that this hug was even more pleasant than the first.

“Sooo not fair! You get to hug her, and I don't even get scolded for wetting my panties? Where's the justice?” whined Polly.

When she was finally released, Kara settled back down in a cross-legged position and patted the carpet across from her. The woman in the bear outfit immediately seated herself where she had indicated.

“Okay...we've been introduced your way, now we do it my way, okay?”

“Yooou're the boss!” said the woman, shaking her arm to emphasize the point.

Kara extended a hand and spoke very slowly, as though addressing someone with limited English skills. “Hi. My name is Kara. What is your name?”

The woman extended a hand, or rather an arm. The costume she wore ended in a shapeless, stumpy paws at the hands and feet. Kara wondered how it could grab or hold anything as she squeezed and shook it gently. “I'm Huggy! Huggy by name, Huggy by nature! At your service!”

Kara chuckled inwardly. This was all really too absurd. “Okay...now, that might sound like a weird question, but just hear me out here, cuz I'm having a really weird night...do I, like, own you now?”

“You betcha! I'm all yours, Kara. Every inch of me!” she replied, clearly pleased by the question.

“And...you're okay with that?”

“Well of course! Why wouldn't I want to belong to someone as awesome as you?” said Huggy, patting Kara's knee reassuringly.

“But like...where did you come from?” asked Kara.

Huggy looked confused for a moment, then pointed over at the empty box where it lay discarded on the floor. “Right there. I came from in there! Didn't you see?”

“There was a lot of smoke.” commented Polly distantly. She was tugging at the wrapping of one of the boxes, but didn't seem to be having any luck.

“I mean, before that.” said Kara.

“I was...in the box?” said Huggy uncertainly.

“Uh-huh...so, you don't remember anything that happened before that?”

Huggy looked like she had just been asked what the number fourteen smelled like. “Before...the box?”

“...right...look, it's alright. Don't strain yourself. I'm just trying to get a grip on things here.”

Polly let out a sigh of exasperation. “Why? What's the big deal? Look at all this stuff! All for you! Everything your heart could want, and you'd rather ask a bunch of silly philosophical questions?”

Kara looked sidelong at Polly, “Look, you can't expect me to just accept the idea of owning another person. It's weird.”

“You own a person?” asked Huggy, looking around as though she expected to see someone else in the room.”

“I told you already!” whined Polly. “You're a baby, and we're your toys. That's just how it is. Being all analytical about it isn't any fun!” she stamped her foot in frustration. “Come one! Just find my play-set so I can go potty!”

Kara gritted her teeth. “Huggy, one more question: Do you think I'm a baby?”

Huggy pursed her lips and pressed her paws together uncomfortably. “Pr-romise you won't get mad?”

Kara sighed. “You're wearing a diaper too, you know!”

“Yeah.” said Polly mockingly. “Cuz she's a baaby toy, for a little baaaaby.”

Huggy blushed, but nodded her reluctant agreement with this assessment.

Kara groaned and crawled back over to the pile of waiting presents. “I'm starting to think you two aren't the best information sources in the world. Don't worry, not your fault. Maybe things will be clearer once I've seen what all is in here.”

Polly scoffed. “Sure. Maybe there's an Existential Crisis Barbie in here somewhere. Why not?”

Polly sat on the floor and shifted her position uncomfortably as Kara went to work. Huggy merely watched with cheerful interest as her owner ripped open one package after another. Most were accompanied by small explosions and bursts of white smoke.

A rip, a pop, and an entire swingset stood nearby. It was gigantic relative to Kara, but the bright primary colors and smiling cartoon frogs and bunnies that decorated the supports suggested that it was a mere toy, like something Fisher-Price might turn out from its innumerable injection molds.

Next came a living, breathing unicorn. It had soft aquamarine fur, large expressive eyes with violet irises, and a polished blue horn. She tried speaking to it, but it's only response was to whinny happily at her. Kara spent a few moments stroking its silky white mane and breathing deep its light scent before continuing to open her presents. The unicorn became distracted by the shreds of wrapping paper that were beginning to accumulate on the ground.

The next package revealed thick fleece blanket that was constantly warm like an electric blanket, but had no plug or net of wires inside. When Kara unfurled it, she found that the material seemed to grow and shrink to suit her body, so that it did not drag loosely or leave he feet uncovered.  Kara wrapped herself in it and inhaled deeply, noting it was also perfumed with a light floral scent. She added this to her mental “take home pile”. She could think of more than one cold winter night when she would have loved to have it.

The next box dropped a bright pink training potty, a paddle with a heart-shaped hole cut through it, two packages labeled “Big Girl Pants” and “Big Baby Diapers”, a calendar with a set of stickers attached, and a thin magazine entitled “Potty-Training Monthly” with Polly standing proudly on the cover. Polly squealed with delight when she saw her long-awaited playset emerge and ran over, shaking her hands in the air with excitement.

“Yessssss! Now I can go potty! Now I can go pooootty!” she chanted happily.

Kara winced and averted her eyes. The idea of a grown woman pissing in a little tub in the middle of the living room did not interest her at all. After a moment of total silence, however, she risked a look, and saw that Polly was still standing next to the over-sized toy, bottom lip quivering.

“I...I didn't make it in time!” whined Polly, starting to bawl. Kara saw that the crotch of her overalls were indeed slightly damp, although it looked like her training panties has managed the worst of it. As much as Kara felt like smirking at the ridiculous sight, the look of utter mortification on Polly's face tugged at her heartstrings. She crawled over and patted the alleged dolly on the knee to comfort her.

“Hey! Hey, it's okay. I just didn't find the stupid thing in time. Don't cry.”

“Waaaaahhhaa! Mommy's gonna spank me an make me wear baby diaperrrrs!” bawled Polly.

Kara couldn't help but chuckle at this, but she kept patting Polly's knee to calm her. “Shhhh. No...no one is gonna do that.”

Polly instantly dropped her “inconsolable” act and looked down at Kara in annoyance. “Ahem! I said: Mommy is going to spank me and make me wear baby diapers!”

Kara returned Polly's look of annoyance. “Screw you. I'm not doing that.”

“Oh come on! You're not playing right!” complained Polly.

“Excuse me. Who's the toy here? You or me?” asked Kara.

Polly fumed. “Grrrrrr. I'm the...toy.”

Kara nodded. “Exactly. So you don't decide what the game is, do you?

Polly was clearly unhappy with this pronouncement. “Couldn't you at least make fun of me for wetting myself? Pleaaase?”

Kara rolled  her eyes, then pointed at Polly and stated matter-of-factly: “Ha ha ha, look at the little puddlepants. Happy? I'll play with you later, Polly. I want to see what else I have here.”

Polly sat and sulked while Kara returned to the heap of gifts.

The joyful ritual of unwrapping continued. Kara's thoughts of dragging her loot with her through the tiny door began to evaporate as the astonishing presents continued to pop into being one after another. A magic wand that could produce rainbows, lightning bolts, fireworks, or streams of glitter depending on how it was waved.  A living baby elephant, complete with diaper and bonnet. A full length mirror that made Kara's face look like a glamour photo from a beauty magazine. A set of edible lipsticks and nail polishes in all different flavors. A machine that could churn out any candy that Kara specified on the intricate control panel. A set of angel's wings that could actually lift her a few feet off the ground. An entire wardrobe of fleece pajamas in all different colors. A partridge roosting comfortably in a tiny pear tree, the roots wrapped in red cloth and tied with a ribbon. A large barrel rolled out of a box that couldn't possibly have held it, and after pressing her ear to the lid and hearing the simian chattering and shrieking, she thought it better to leave the lid where it was.

Kara was having so much fun opening gifts, she very nearly missed the sound of a doorknob turning in the hallway behind her.

Kara froze like a rabbit as she heard the door slide open. The footsteps were loud, but not nearly as loud as she had been expecting. These were not the crushing stomps of some ogre. They were the dainty clicks of high heels, stepping with measured elegance and effortless grace, magnified to double the volume by their size and the acoustics of the hallway. The footsteps advanced up the hall, pausing for a brief moment about a third of the way down. Kara realized that the massive stranger was examining the shards that had once been a no-doubt priceless vase. She had no thoughts in her mind but to conceal herself as quickly as humanly possible. Ignoring the collection of magical toys, she scrambled across the carpet, crawling faster than she would have thought possible. She barely had time to think about how ridiculously babyish she must look, scrambling on hands and knees with her white beach-ball of an ass waving behind her. The gap under the couch could easily fit her. If anything, it was too roomy to make a decent hiding spot. She crawled to the very back where the couch pressed against the wall, and tried desperately to get her breathing under control. Her heart pounded, and her legs ached from the exertion. Crawling might be easy, but it's far from efficient.

The smooth clicks of the heels approached, growing louder and louder. Kara watched as the giant stepped out onto the carpet. Her shoes were white and open-toed. Her feet were slender and dainty, despite their size. The hem of her dress was swishing about just above the ankles, tangerine in color with creamy, frilly white at the front. An apron. It was her. The Nanny. Kara knew it immediately. Beyond the two feet, Kara saw that Polly, Huggy, the baby elephant, and the unicorn were all lying lifeless on the ground. Of course they were. A grown-up had just walked in. Make-believe time was over. They almost really looked like toys now, relative the gigantic stranger.

Slowly, the enormous figure dropped to one knee. Her dress had puffed sleeves. A rope of pearls was around her neck, and she had shimmering earrings. The face was younger than Kara had expected. Huggy could have been her older sister. Her breasts were large and firm, making the otherwise modestly-cut dress seem faintly suggestive. Her lips were bright red, her cheeks touched with rouge. She was wearing just enough makeup to show that she was wearing some. Her eyes were an impossibly bright green. They almost seemed to glow, they were so vibrant and full of life. She smiled when she spotted Kara. She drew in a breathe of exhilaration and pressed a white-gloved hand to her breast. It was a good smile, full of sincere joy and compassion.

“Whatever's the matter, sweet thing?” asked the giantess. Her voice had a touch of the upper-class Brit in it, warm, good-nurtured and only a touch prim. “Don't you like your toys? I chose each of them special, just for you!”

Kara stared at the giantess from the back of the couch, too terrified to move an inch. The face was so beautiful and kindly, it was very nearly possible to forget that the woman behind it was at least seven solid feet in height.

“Oooh, I see. You're worried that Nanny will be angry with you because you broke a vase. No honey, no! Nanny could never be angry with you! Everything you do is just precious in my eyes! Look, I'll make it all better.”

The huge woman drew a circle in the air with one fingertip, tracing golden sparks as she did. From the hallway, the pieces of the broken urn drifted into the room like snowflakes caught in a breeze. Before Kara's eyes, the pieces reassembled themselves until the vase was standing among the piles of other loot, completely restored and without a crack showing.

“There. No one is angry with you dear. Won't you come out and talk to Nanny? Please?”

Kara drew in a long, slow breath. Whatever this woman's intentions were, she couldn't stay down here forever, and she knew that the couch couldn't really protect her from anyone who was capable of something like that. This was obviously the supernatural being who was in control of this place. There was nothing to be done but to crawl out and find out what she intended.

Nanny clasped her hands together and beamed a gleaming smile as Kara emerged. “Good girl! Oh, Nanny is so glad you're here, sweetness! Come here, honeybunch! I won't ever harm one hair on your sweet head, I promise. Here, why don't you knock over the vase again? I know it was only an accident the first time, but go on, anyway. Give it a good shove!”

Kara's heart was still jackhammering away. She struggled to get her tongue under control enough to address the kneeling giantess. “Th-th-that's...okay! I..I...”

“No, no. It's really perfectly alright Kara. Nanny wants you to. Go right ahead. Show that bit of crockery who's boss!”

Kara slowly crawled up to the massive urn and gave it a little shove. It bobbed backward, then righted itself. She looked at Nanny, who as still watching her expectantly.  She tried again, pushing with more force this time. The urn toppled over and struck the carpeted ground. It broke, although only into a few pieces this time.

“Good Girl!” Nanny said, again pointing at the abused ceramic and magically restoring it with a gesture. The completed earn lifted into the air and floated back toward its original place in the hallway like a balloon. Kara looked back at Nanny, her face clouded with utter bafflement.

“Oh, you look so confused! Here, come sit with your Nanny and let me explain, Kara.” The towering woman seated herself demurely on the couch and patted a spot beside her. Kara felt too lost and confused to disobey. There was a brief struggle to get up on the couch without the full use of her legs, so Nanny simply gripped her under the arms and effortlessly lifted her up into place. Kara felt her diapered rear sink into the equally soft cushions. “I just wanted to make a point. You aren't in trouble, Kara. More than that, you'll never be in trouble, ever! Nothing in this house is off limits to you, baby. There aren't going to be any rules, or punishments or consequences any more. You're well and truly home free. “

She reached over and gave Kara's thickly-padded rear an affectionate pat. Kara's face flushed bright red. “You're in diapers now, Kara! Don't you see? There's no need for rules when you're in diapers. All your little accidents are taken care of. This whole house is just like your diapers. It's a special, magical place where you can make a big mess and break all the rules, and Nanny will always be happy to clean you all up and make it all better! I see you already opened all your presents. Were you worried that I would be upset with you for that? Not even a little bit! Say, I suppose I shall just have to get you some brand new presents! We can't have you waking up on Christmas morning with nothing to unwrap! I'm not here to discipline you, Kara. I'm not here to teach you lessons, or help you to grow up. I'm your Nanny, and all I want is to make you a happy girl! No matter what you do, I'll always be overjoyed to sort it all out for you. Oh dear, you aren't wearing your crown! No wonder you're so frightened! Here, let Nanny get that for you.”

She pointed at Kara's arm, and a stream of sparks poured from her fingertip. Kara instinctively rolled away to avoid it, but the stream turned in midair to follow her. When she sat buck up, she found that the crown was now perched neatly on her head. She immediately tried to take it off, but it had acquired the same unaccountable permanence as her diaper. Slowly, Kara began to understand how right she had been to suspect the tiara when she had first seen it. She already felt the room growing less clear around her. The lines in her vision were losing their sharpness. The muscles in her back relaxed against her will. Her belly loosened. Whatever the crown was doing to her, it felt like the kind of thing that shouldn't be taken with alcohol. Kara leaned back into the silky blue cushions. Her arms and legs felt heavy. She suddenly felt like it took all her effort just to hold her eyes open. Nanny's smiling face looked like it was coming through a soft-focus lens. As she struggled to concentrate, Nanny's soothing voice trickled gently into her mind.

“There she is! There's Nanny's little princess! Oh, we are going to have so many good times, you and I. I've been watching you a long time, Kara. I've seen how stressed you are out there, how overwhelmed the world out there makes you. You've spent so much time and effort trying to learn how to be a grown-up, but all that does is tire you out and make you miserable. But I've finally figured how I can help you. I'm ready to give you the perfect Christmas present! A way out of all your stressful big-girl responsibilities! You can just relax and play from now on. Nanny is here to look after you now. You won't have to worry about a thing ever again!”

Kara shook her head in a vain effort to clear it. “There's...there's a catch to this. There has to be. There's always a catch. There's no such thing as a free ride.”

The gigantic woman chuckled. “Oh my, how absurd! Where did you learn such nonsense? Did you have to buy your arms and your legs at some high street shop? Does the ground under your feet charge you an annual subscription fee? Does the wind wait for you to drop a quarter down a slot before it blows the gentle snow drifts across your path? Most things in life cost nothing at all, sweetie. There are things you have to work and struggle for, there are things you pine after but can never have, and then there are things you are permitted to simply take for granted. I give you permission to take me for granted, sweetheart. Consider me your birthright. You don't need to earn me, or deserve me. You can just enjoy me! I'm your Christmas present, sweetheart. I exist to make your life wonderful. I'll gladly clean up all your messes. I'll never make you pick up your toys, or do any chores, or go to school. I'll never ever punish you for misbehaving, or make you obey any silly rules. I'm here to take care of your every need and make you the happiest little princess you can possibly be! I'm so glad you're finally here with me sweetie! You're going to have so much fun being my little Diaper Princess!”

Kara felt very confused. The gigantic woman's eyes were so bright, so full of love and enthusiasm, that she felt unable to look away from them. Her thoughts felt thick and hazy as she struggled to get a grip on them. “But I...I don't...uh....why, why do I have to wear diapers? I don't...I don't even have accidents...do I?”

“Sweetheart! No, no, no no no. Here. Sit down.” she patted her lap. Kara looked at her for a moment, then slowly crawled over and settled into her lap. It felt amazing. She was so big and soft and warm. Kara immediately wanted to fall right to sleep on Nanny's lap.

“Of course you don't have 'accidents', honey. That's silly! Only big people who have learned to use the potty have accidents. Your silly little dolly with the overalls has 'accidents'. You don't have that problem, baby. You'll never have that problem.” She leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially. “ You...are...in...diapers. For good. No big girl panties for you, ever. Your cute little tush will be permanently swaddled from now on! And you're definitely going to be using them, too! You'll be playing with your toys, and all of the sudden, boom! Full, stinky diaper! You won't be going in your diapers because you lost control or forgot to go to the bathroom.  No no no. You'll go in your diapers because that's what they're there for! You belong in your diapers, and they belong on you. You won't have “control issues”. It's not going to be a 'continence problem', or any kind of problem. You'll wear diapers because that's how things are supposed to be.  Your diapers need to be nice and bulky too, so that we won't have to worry about any nasty leaks or rashes. And it'll be awfully hard to keep pretending that you're a big, mature, responsible adult when you have to crawl around on your hands and knees with your big, bulging diapers waving in the air behind you, won't it? Every time you try to bring your legs together, and you feel that cushy padding squeezing between them, it'll remind you that you're in a diaper. And what makes these diapers so very special, is that you'll never have to grow out of them. These are your Forever Diapers, honey.”

“F...forever?” the word bounced around in Kara's mind. She knew there was something about this that should upset her, but she felt so sleepy and relaxed that it was hard to remember what.

“You got it, Kara. You'll never have to grow up, honeybunch. You'll never get a job, you'll never have to worry about money, you'll never have to clean up after yourself, and you'll never ever use the potty. You're going to stay in your diapers. You're going to make your diapers all soggy and stinky, over and over, and Nanny is going to keep running you over to the changing table to clean you up and put you in nice, clean pampers, again and again and again. I'm going to keep wiping you, and powdering you, and hugging you, and loving you! Forever. Okay? So, let's hear no more talk about accidents, or potties, or working, or any of that stupid big girl stuff. Just accept yourself for who you are and be happy, sweetheart. Can you do that for me, babygirl?”

Kara swallowed hard. A tear rolled down her cheek as she felt her head nod up and down.

“That's my good little girl! I love you so, so much sweetheart! Now, tell me, are you ever going to get a job?”

Kara thought for a moment. She thought of interviews, and making phonecalls, and filling out forms. She thought of long years of stress and worry, of pretending to be busy and working for people she didn't even like. Had she ever really wanted any of that? She wasn't greedy or selfish enough to find the idea of climbing a corporate ladder compelling. All she really wanted out of work was to meet her basic needs, to have a roof over head and food in the fridge. No, more than that. All she really wanted was to be seen as someone useful. To have people look at her with respect. To be accepted. She looked around at the cavernous living room, the cheery fire, the collection of toys pretending to be inanimate. She looked up at Nanny's face, shining with unreserved love and happiness. Didn't she have everything she needed right here? As she slowly shook her head, she felt the change wash over her once more, not in her clothing but in her heart. She felt herself soften inside as her ambitions melted away into comfort and relaxation.

“That's right baby. My little diaper girl is going to be sitting around the house all day, just playing with her toys, filling up her baby pants, crawling around on the rug, and being nice and lazy! From now on, your only job will be being sweet and adorable. Now tell me, does a sweet little diaper princess need to go to school? Does she need to fill her head with any of that silly information?”

Again, the little voice at the back of her mind was nagging at her. This was a bridge too far. She liked to learn new things. She liked thinking and wondering and figuring things out. She liked to read books and pick up new skills. But again, those ideas seemed so abstract and complicated compared the warmth and comfort that surrounded. As she shook her head again, she felt her thoughts melt away like snow. Years of study and practice, building knowledge and understanding of the world she lived in, trickled away from her, leaving her with nothing but the sensations of the moment.

“No, she doesn't. Your little head is going to filled with your toys, and silly cartoons, and cushy diapers, and pretty rainbows. All you need to understand now is that Nanny loves you, Kara. Now, are you going to leave Nanny's house, baby?”

Images flashed through Kara's head. Long stretches of rolling hills covered in trees and boulders. Massive, thundering waterfalls tumbling down jagged mountainsides as the winter snowpack slowly melts in the spring sunshine. The crispness in the air on a winter evening as she walked along the sidewalk, seeing the dim stars beyond the light of the streetlamps and the glowing windows of skyscrapers. There was a world out there, one full of marvelous sights and wonderful experiences that she had hardly begun to explore. Could she really just live here, as beautiful as it was, and never experience any of that? But yet again, she felt her head wag from side to side as the world beyond the warm, beautiful house faded away.

“Very, very good. You understand where you belong now, don't you sweetie?” she leaned in and gave Kara a light kiss on the top of the head. “Now, are you ready to make a big, smelly, mushy, On Purpose for me, baby? Don't you wanna make a big, big mess, and know that you won't ever have to clean it up? Don't you want me to clean up after you forever and ever, Kara?”

She knew it was all wrong. She knew that she couldn't really live like this. She would miss so much. All the varied, strange, intense experiences that she would miss if she stayed in here and acted like a silly little baby forever and ever. All the challenges, achievements, friendships, and real relationships that awaited her outside. Sure, there would be hardships, and times when she was lonely or felt like a failure, but it would be life. What was here was sweet and soft and warm and lovely, like a giant cinnamon bun. But you can't live in a cinnamon bun.

Nevertheless, she felt herself bend forward. She winced and strained. A tiny puff of gas escaped her. It felt so gross, so ridiculous, so shameful. But just like tearing open the wrapping paper, the sense of transgression just made it better. She moaned with pleasure.

“Good girl! Here, let Nanny help you with that honey.” Nanny gently pressed her white-gloved hand into Kara belly and began to rub in a little circle. Tiny golden sparks spread from her fingers as she rubbed and rubbed. Kara felt her stomach gurgle like never before. She sighed with pleasure as the hot mush began to fill her diaper. The glossy white bulk began to expand, pressing against Nanny's massive apron. It just kept coming, far more than seemed physically possible.  Nanny cooed encouragement as sweat began to bead on Kara's forehead. The powerful, twisted pleasure of pooping her pants on Nanny's lap overwhelmed all of Kara's senses.

Time became elastic, pressing together and stretching until it lost all meaning. There was no way to tell how many days or weeks or years were slipping by, and no reason to care. Kara's mind was like warm butter. She remembered only snatches of events as she drifted along. The door opening, revealing her giant nursery, full of soft pink cushions and gleaming white furniture. Sitting on the padded surface of the changing table as Nanny wiped and powdered her and sealed her in diaper after diaper. Huggy's chubby belly pressed against hers, on the carpet, in the crib, all the time and as often as she wanted. Scolding Polly for wetting her pull-ups yet again and playfully taking down her overalls to put her in a Big Baby Diaper, even while giggling at the smelly mess drooping between her own legs. Riding her unicorn up and down the long hallways, squealing with joy as she bounced up and down. Drawing on the wainscoted walls in crayon, then waiting for Nanny to clap and cheer and praise her artistic talents. Watching Nanny slowly unbutton her dress to release her enormous breasts. Long hours of eager suckling, as her limbs grew heavy, her belly full, and her diaper wet. Giggling and rolling around on the soft carpet, feeling the bulk of her diapers from every angle. Naps, bottles, high chairs, bibs, pacifiers, hugs, kisses, games, laughter, wetting and messing and giggling and sucking her thumb. Over and over until it all seemed to run together. There was no day or night, nothing to indicate the passing of time. Nothing to interrupt the stream of naps and feedings and changes. No pause for thought or reflection. Nothing to break the flow of peaceful, infantile bliss.

Nanny lifted the tiara from Kara's head. She felt the haze in her mind began to clear. She was in the hallway, in front of the tiny white door. Nanny was still smiling, but her eyes were shining with tears.

“Well Kara, it's been a privilege taking care of you. Thank you so much for coming into my house. Now, it's time for you to go back home.”

“Wha...?”

“It's Christmas morning, Kara. You need to go and be with your family now. Nanny will miss you, but it would be selfish of me to hog you all to myself.”

Kara rubbed her eyes. She was again wearing a torn and faded pair of jeans. “Wh-wha...but...didn't you say...this was forever?”

“Oh honey, that's just something people say. Nothing lasts forever, and nothing should. “Forever” just isn't a word that really works. It's a fun, playtime word. Now, “Sometimes” is a word that works very well. All kinds of wonderful things can be “Sometimes”. Sometimes things you get to enjoy, but they leave you room to enjoy other Sometimes things. Christmas is made of all sorts of wonderful Sometimes things. I certainly hope you'll decide to come back to my house to play with your toys and let me take care of you Sometimes. But there's too much going on out there in your world that you would miss, and too many people who would miss you if you stayed here Forever. Do you understand, baby?”

Kara felt her throat constrict. Tears welled up in her eyes. She wasn't even sure if she were happy or sad, just that her feelings were to big for her to contain. She nodded.

“Good girl! Now, Nanny promised you a whole new set of presents for Christmas morning, and now, I keep my word.”

Her eyes sparkled, and Kara's gaze sank into them once again. This time, however, instead of a soft, warm haze, Kara was filled with sharp, crisp clarity.

“When you return to your own world, you'll find that your potty training has returned to you, even stronger than before, so that you'll only wet yourself or mess when you really choose to. You'll find that it is much easier to handle your responsibilities. You won't get so depressed when you have setbacks, you''ll be able to go to job interviews and make phonecalls without so much anxiety, and remembering little chores and errands will feel like it comes naturally. You'll have a beautiful, winning smile, so that friends and opportunities alike will find their way to you. Not everything that happens to you will be good, you'll still make mistakes and deal with problems, but you'll always know in your heart that you are lucky, that you're one of life's winners. And no matter what happens, you'll know that Nanny is waiting here to dry your tears and wipe your adorable tushie for you whenever you wish. Go on now, let's not make this a long goodbye.”

Kara stared in wonder as Nanny's gifts settled themselves into her consciousness. Kara felt mature. She felt competent, confident, capable, assertive. She felt ready to handle anything that life could throw at her. Slowly, she stood up on her own feet, and they felt strong and steady beneath her.

She ran to give Nanny one final hug. The huge woman pressed her into her breasts and kissed her lightly on the head. Then, with tears still streaming down her cheeks, Kara stooped down to crawl back through the tiny doorway.