December Flash #1 - "Goggles" (Patreon)

This flash tale is inspired by special helper Joseph. You can find their idea at the end of the story. 

“Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be!” The goggles feel heavy on Chloe’s face. This wasn’t what she expected when she arrived with Derek.

Spend an hour or so with the mother-in-law. She might be a bore, she’s certainly disapproving, but hey, it’s Christmas! Just grit your teeth and get through it, and then you’re off to spend the rest of the day with friends. Your fun, lively, non-judgmental friends.

“I’ll turn them on with the remote,” says Derek’s mother. “I can’t wait to see what you both think, they’re the latest thing!”

What kind of Christmas present is this? Normally, it’s socks for Derek and gloves for Chloe. Functional. Sensible. But here they are, each trying on a pair of high-end virtual reality headsets.

Did Derek’s mother win the lottery? When Chloe arrived, she was astonished by the handsome pile of wrapped gifts by the Christmas tree. Who are they all for? After five years of marriage, Chloe has never known her mother-in-law to be overly generous, or to even have a lot of friends.

“Okay, here we go…”

Chloe blinks. There’s nothing, an inky blackness, and then a mess of colors, dim but definitely there, scribbled in the dark like a toddler’s doodle.

And then Chloe is back in the room. The same living room she’d sat down in thirty minutes before. Except when she looks in the direction of her mother-in-law, the woman looks about twenty years younger. No, make that thirty. Derek’s mom looks younger than Chloe.

“Well? What do you think?”

“Wow,” Chloe says, and she feels a blush rise in her cheeks. Does her voice sound higher?

“Is it clear?” Derek’s mother asks. There’s no distortion as the woman talks to her. No flicker, no crackles. This doesn’t look like a videogame; it looks just like real life.

Chloe reaches for her goggles, touches the plastic. They’re still there, of course. But they feel lighter now, less noticeable. She pulls her fingers away from her head, as if electrified, when she touches her hair; the curly brown hair she hasn’t had this long since childhood.

“Wow,” Chloe says again. She turns in the direction of her husband and laughs. “Honey! Is that you? You look…you’re a little boy!”

Derek, looking all of three years old and dressed in red corduroy overalls and a white turtleneck, sticks out his tongue. “Speak for yourself,” and his high-pitched voice makes Chloe laugh again.

“You even sound little,” Chloe says wonderingly. So does she, of course. But how little? She looks down at herself. She’s wearing a white dress with a frilly skirt, complete with a fat, purple bow around her waist. Definitely little, but not as young as Derek. Five or six.

“Do you like your outfit?” asks Derek’s mother with an inquisitive gleam in her eye.

Chloe laughs. “It’s cute!” She laughs again, as much at her squeaky tone as her outfit. “I’m cute.” She swings her feet, sitting on a settee that looks much bigger than it did before. She points at her husband. “And you look adorable.”

“If you say so.” Derek folds his arms, managing to look even sweeter by doing so. “I feel pretty silly.”

Chloe says to her mother-in-law, “This must have cost you a bomb!”

“It wasn’t cheap,” came the reply. “I suppose I wanted to spoil you both. Working so hard, noses to the grindstone and all that. Barely enough time to come and visit.”

“Mum.” Derek rolls his eyes.

His mother winks at Chloe. “I think you both look perfect. My sweet little boy, and a perfect little princess.”

Chloe blushes, but the compliment feels good.

“More a present for you than us,” says Derek sulkily. “Why did you have to make us little kids? You could have made us rock stars, or superheroes…or…” He puts a finger to his mouth, looking thoughtful. His eyes widen and he blurts, “Spacemen!” He looks at Chloe and adds, “Space girl, for you.”

Chloe peers at her husband. “Umm, okay.” She asks her mother-in-law, “So there are other settings?” She bounces lightly on the settee as she imagines the possibilities. “I quite like the idea of being an animal.” She grins. “Like a horse, and I could gallop!”

“Oh yes,” says Derek’s mother, and her voices has changed from her usual downbeat tone, into something far brighter. “You’d make a lovely horsie, wouldn’t you dear.”

Chloe purses her lips. “Yeah. But I…” She reaches for her goggles, and this time she can’t feel them. Because it’s just that realistic. It’s not like a game at all.

“I suppose you’re right, sweetheart,” Derek’s mother says to the boy, picking him up and sitting him on her lap. “This is much more a gift for me than you.” She kisses the top of his head. “But I do think you’ll both have a lovely Christmas.”

Derek emits a protesting yelp. But his expression changes when he looks at the gifts by the Christmas tree. “Are those for me?” he asks eagerly.

“Some of them, yes,” replies his mother, smiling indulgently. “And some are for your sister.”

Chloe frowns. That’s not right. She’s not the sister, she’s the-

“You can play horsies later on,” says Derek’s mother, beaming at Chloe. “But I do think if you’re going to play dress-up as anything, it should be as a fairy princess.” She nods towards the gifts. “You already look as pretty as a princess in your lovely Christmas dress, but I think perhaps Santa has left you something very special under the tree.” She winks at the little girl. “A sparkly tiara, maybe?”

Chloe’s mouth drops open in surprise, and then she claps her hands with sudden, all-consuming delight. She watches as Derek squirms off his mother’s lap and races over to the tree. He crouches by the gifts and looks back at his mother. “Mummy?” he asks, his eyes shining with excitement. “Can we open our presents now? Can we? Please?”

Chloe feels a flicker of surprise at both Derek’s attitude and his speech. Can we opun uh pwesens nuh? Peez? But it’s just a flicker. It’s impossible to concentrate on her little brother’s behaviour when there’s the prospect of finding sparkly, pretty treasures under the tree.

Derek’s mother smiles. “Yes, I think it’s time. Chloe, can you be Mummy’s special helper and read the names on the gifts, so Derek doesn’t open the wrong ones?”

The little girl doesn’t need asking twice. “Yes, Mummy!” She slides off the settee and runs over to the tree, ready to be a good big sister, and definitely ready to be a fairy princess.

THE END

A man and a woman receive several gifts from his mother this year, the most special a pair of vr headsets that seem to make they play through their younger years. - Joseph