Vacation From Yourself Part 4 End (Patreon)

John found himself on his back staring at the ceiling. He tried to sit up but was gently pushed back onto his back.

“One-second sweetheart, Mommy is almost done.”

John couldn't understand all the words, but he knew what Mommy meant so he laid back.

His legs were splayed wide as the front of the diaper was patted into place. He had heard the word diaper before, but he thought of it as a dypee. It felt soft and pretty comfortable. Mommy was securing it into place, not that John knew exactly how she was doing it. There were so many concepts that John took for granted without knowing or caring how they worked. John couldn't possibly put a diaper on himself. He in general couldn't dress himself in most ways. If he attempted to put on a shirt, he might do it, but he didn't care which was the front of the back, top, or bottom. How to get his arms through the sleeves was almost out of his mental grasp.

“All done!” Mommy announced.

John was helped to a sitting condition He saw his Mommy's face. He recognized it. John felt good seeing her.

Looking around the room, John could see many things. They all looked familiar. He liked seeing familiar things, even if he didn't know what they all did. He didn't care about such things anymore. He felt relaxed. More relaxed than he had in a long time. He didn't even know what he should feel anxious about.

Helped to his feet, the dress he was wearing fell into place, mostly covering the diaper. He didn't care. He didn't have any sense of modesty. He didn't even know he was supposed to have a sense of modesty. Except for causing his Mommy to give him a disappointed look or a warning shout, John didn't feel anything like shame. But he didn't want to make his Mommy mad. Not that in most cases he knew what to do that would make her mad. That was above his understanding. John didn't worry about any of those things.

Once standing on the floor, John looked around to inspect his room. He was attracted to some plush animals. There was one he liked in particular. He picked it up and then toddled around the room. He looked at everything. As far as he could tell everything was where it should be. Which was strange since he didn't know where anything belong. If he didn't see a thing, he didn't think of it. There might be times when he would wonder with his favorite plush toy was, but in general, it didn't matter.

There was something playing on the TV monitor. Not that he knew what a TV monitor was or anything about it. The sight and sound of it attracted him. He had seen this cartoon before, he liked things he had seen before Mommy left the room, but John didn't notice.

Inside John's head, there was a vague idea that he had to do something, but he didn't know what. Most of the time he didn't care, his thoughts were infantile.

On the screen, something familiar was playing. It went, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,...” John mimics what he heard.

It repeated again. This second time, John was distracted by something on the floor. John walked to it and picked it up. He liked how it felt in his hands. It was smooth.

Thus was the first ten minutes of John's life as a toddler who hadn't reached two yet. His mind was empty but he seemed to know all of what he needed. All his needs were taken care of by someone else, usually Mommy. He was living in the moment, not worried about anything. She could be diverted from any of his 'intense' thoughts with a small distraction like a high-pitched voice calling her name, “Missy.”

Days, weeks, or months later, Missy didn't have any conception of time or numbers in general. Missy was sitting on the floor in her bedroom. It was clearly a bedroom full of stuff for toddlers. Shelves were filled with all sorts of plastic toys and bins were filled with plush animals. She was dressed in a footie pajama jumpsuit. The print on the jumpsuit was flowers and stars in feminine colors. Her legs were splayed out in front of her with a wooden toddler puzzle in her lap. Next to her were puzzle pieces in the shape of barnyard animals. She fetched one and placed it into the puzzle board. When the piece fit into place, it made a “MOO” sound. Missy mooed back at the puzzle. Then she fetched another piece from the floor. Missy said, “A duckie” A moment later she said, Where duckie go?” When she found the right shape and placed it in, the piece made a “Quack Quack” sound. Next, she found the lamb and placed it into the board. “BAA” was heard instantly. One by one, Missy put the pieces in. Next was a pig. Then she said “Cluck, Cluck.”

There was only one piece left, but instead of putting it in, she dumped all the pieces onto the floor.

On the wall, there was a big-screen TV. It was on. Missy looked up and saw herself sitting on the floor from the back. She got up and moved to the image. She pointed at herself on the screen, noticing the image of herself pointing at the screen too. Then she pantomimed to see herself do the identical moves on the screen. She smiled and stuck out her tongue.

The scene changed to another room. A woman was watching the goings-on in Missy's bedroom. She enjoyed John acting like a toddler.

A moment later, the woman saw herself enter the room. But it wasn't herself, it was a virtual image of herself.

“Time to take a nap,” the woman said.

“Wanna play some more,” John/Missy said.

“OK, ten minutes and then nap time.”

John didn't know how long ten minutes was. But he knew what his/her 'Mommy' meant.

John walked away from the monitor and went to a plastic box that was filled with balls of different sizes and styles.

Missy/John picks up a ball and random, declares it a 'blue ball' takes it two or three steps towards Mommy, and throws it away.

Missy fetches another ball and then brings it towards Mommy. “What color is it?” Mommy asks.

“Purp, purp.”

“What color is it?”

Missy won't say the complete word.

“Mommy said 'Purple ball.'”

Then Missy throws that one too.”

She fetches two balls. Missy holds out one towards Mommy. Mommy said, “Football.” Then Missy holds the second one out. Mommy says “Blue ball.”

This goes on for ten minutes. “Time to take a nap,” Mommy reminds Missy.

“Don't wanna.”

“It's time!” Mommy repeats. This time she stares at Missy. Missy goes to the bed and lays down. Missy didn't want to get Mommy angry and her.

Mommy helped Missy under the covers and closes the light. It's still daytime, so there is still some light in the room.

Back in reality, the woman who Missy thinks is Mommy, Erin says. “Wow, it seems so realistic.”

“For John it is real. He thinks he is Missy.  He can't even tell virtual reality like that from real reality. His, I mean her head has been emptied of all but the most basic knowledge. He has the thoughts and knowledge of a toddler about twenty months old.”

“But what about the real John?”

“That is the real John now. She might have a vague notion that she'll be returned to an adult, but doesn't know when. She doesn't care either. She's just a typical happy little girl.”

“How long has she been like this?”

“In real life or virtual life?”

“Is there a difference?”

“Not to her, but in real life, it's been six days. Over that time, she has experienced almost five months. But she hasn't grown five months, she was twenty months when it started and she is still twenty months. She'll never mature mentally or psychologically.”

“Unbelievable.”

“When she wakes from her nap, she won't be in virtual reality anymore. She'll be in an identical room to the one you saw and you can interact with her. No matter how you treat her, she'll act like a normal toddler with you as her Mommy."

Erin opens the door. The room she sees is identical to the virtual reality room that John had been in. John was in the room now. He was sleeping on a full-sized bed as he was a full-sized man. The blanket and pillowcase were in a 'Baby Shark' design. The bedspread that appeared underneath had a 'Paw Patrol' design. There was a Paw Patrol plushie on the bed also. John was asleep cuddling a teddy bear. He seemed peaceful.

Erin looked around the room. It was a typical toddler's room. It wasn't particularly girlie but it looked like a girl's room. Adjacent to the walls were bins and boxes of things for toddlers. There were the aforementioned balls, but there were also boxes of dolls and stuffed animals, and other knick-knacks. There was a play racecar that John could propel with his feet. There was a mat on the floor that would appeal to small children. The walls were in a cream color with cutsie posters and paintings throughout. The window opposite the bed also had a paw patrol theme. There was a large changing table with diapers against one wall right next to drawers filled with clothing. Opposite that was the wall with the large monitor. Except for the scale of some of the things, it looked like a typical toddler's room.

Erin walked over to John/Missy and tapped her on the shoulder. “Time to wake up.”

Missy was a little groggy but came to life quickly.

Erin guided Missy to the closet, she wanted to get her out of the jumpsuit and into a pretty dress. Missy followed along without any fuss.

Erin pulled down the zipper on the front of the jumpsuit and then helped pull Missy's arms out. Then the jumpsuit fell to the floor exposing Missy's diaper. It was also in a Paw Patrol theme. Erin surmised that was one of Missy's favorite programs.

Erin considered changing Missy right then, but Missy didn't seem to be wet. At least she didn't seem to be soaked. She would change her later.

Erin found a casual sleeveless dress. It was in a toddler style of course.

“Raise your hands,” Erin told Missy. Erin didn't know if Missy would respond. But Missy did as requested. Erin then lowered the dress over her head and into place. It descended to his mid-thigh.

Now that Missy was dressed, Erin didn't know whether to initiate play or let Missy choose what she wanted to do. Missy seemed to take her cue from Erin and went to a bin with dolls in them. She took out a few and engaged in her own play. Missy made sure that Mommy saw what she was doing. Erin was delighted. John was gone, there was only Erin.

John/Missy stayed in the real world for several days with Erin. It felt the same as the virtual world. Technically it felt just as real.

After four days, Erin put John back into his former masculine clothing including adult male briefs. Then she called an ambulance, she told them her husband was “acting strangely.”

John was rushed to the hospital. They didn't know why he was acting like a toddler. (He had to be put into diapers, he had soiled himself.)

The hospital ran many tests including an MRI to see what was wrong. There wasn't any indication of a stroke or any physical injury. A psychiatrist was called in.

“Hello John,” Dr. Dean said.

Missy knew who the Dr. was talking to, so she answered back.

“Hello.”

“I'm Dr. Dean.”

“I'm Missy.”

“You're Missy? I thought you were John.”

“No, I'm Missy.”

The doctor carefully quizzed Missy looking for any indication of his old personality, intellect, or identity. Dr. Dean couldn't detect any of those things. John was just a toddler. He was slightly girlie, but not overly so. She knew she was a girl but didn't know what that really meant. His responses were normal for an average toddler. Except that he wasn't a toddler, there wasn't any indication of abnormality.

Erin acted as the supportive wife. She agreed to any recommendation the doctors suggested. More people got involved in Missy's case. A social worker was assigned and a lawyer who would act in Missy's interest. Missy was declared incompetent, and Erin became his legal guardian.

Once in charge, Erin gained control over his assets. He had been a rich man; Erin was in control over all of it as long as she was Missy's guardian.

Missy could sense something was wrong, which upset her sometimes, but on the whole, she was a happy girl.

Almost a decade later, Missy was singing the alphabet song. She enjoyed singing it. But she seemed to get stuck at the same place, she couldn't quite remember what came after the letter Ella Mennow-P. She wasn't too concerned though; it was just fun to sing.

End.

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