Unfair-Chapter 135: A Matter of Time (Patreon)

Chapter 135: A Matter of Time

The world isn’t fair.

This is the first morbid thought that creeps into my head these days, as the alarm buzzes me awake from the black abyss of unconsciousness moments before.

“Snooze,” Cassie says, her groggy tone a hybrid of a plea and a demand. Almost reflexively, I roll over and slap the snooze button, silencing the alarm.  “Thankoooo,” Cassie slurs before rolling over and resuming her light session of snoring.

After I go to work, she’s likely going right back to sleep. Damn, I still love the sound of her snoring. Cassie still doesn’t leave the house that often.  Good.  It’s not safe out there.  Just because I’ve changed, doesn’t mean the world has.

Nine minutes later, I’m up again and doing a controlled fall out of bed.  It feels good to have my feet hit the floor at full impact.  I’d be lying to say I don’t miss being picked up first thing; but you gotta take the bad with the good.  I practically slosh my way to the bathroom and brush my teeth.  There’s no point climbing up to the giant toilet.  I’m wet.  I’ve been wet.

I brush my hair with a comb and gel it down to prevent any lingering curls from making themselves known.  My teeth are next, and I’m glad that my eyes are still blurry so I can’t look at myself overmuch.

My pants are extra baggy to hold additional mass of the swollen nighttime Monkeez and stuffer.  Janet still puts me in one before going back home every day.  My button up shirt and collar now also fastens between my legs, only with proper buttons and not immovable Amazon strength snaps. That also helps.

From the counter, I grab a used wrapper from training chocolate candy that I “just ate”, and shove it into my pocket. An excellent way to disguise the crinkling in my pants.  On the bright side, at least I don’t have to shave anymore, so my morning routine is more efficient.

The game plan is simple and routine:  Go to work. Hop up on Beouf’s changing table.  Get taken out of my diaper and swap it out for a Pull-Up.  Sit on the toilet for five minutes and try to poop for the day.  Greet Tracy at the reception desk as I check in.  Grin and bear being Jessica’s aide and use her baby crazy to let me take plenty of bathroom breaks so I can get my potty training back.  Then hang out and drink coffee with Beouf, making sure to go to the bathroom one last time before Janet pops in, takes me to her house, showers with me, and then diapers me for the night before I go back home.

Cassie refuses to let me bring home any spare diapers, so after work it’s time to cut fluids and keep food to a minimum so I don’t leak. On the bright side, I’m losing weight.  Then I go home, try to sell my house and look for a new job, and wait for Cassie to fall asleep before I can finally take my pants off, do my laundry, watch a little Muffets on UsBox, and fall asleep for a few hours before I climb and crawl back into bed with my wife so that I can hit the snooze button all over again.

It’s not ideal. It’s not fair.  But it’s becoming normal.  Blessedly normal.

As usual, Cassie’s already waiting for me by the door.  She’s got one of my usual breakfast shakes.  “Here you go,” she says.  Giving me a kiss, before I knock back the chocolatey goodness, suckling it through the special rubber nipple she’s attached for me.

“I love you,” I tell her.

“I know you do,” she says back. “Now drink your bottle and go to work.”

I have to poop.  That’s a good thing. If I can hold it until I get to school, I won’t be in danger of messing my pants.  Bad things happen when I mess my pants. Lives fall apart. “Yes M-....Yes dear.  Promise you’ll be here when I get back?”

“As long as it’s before dark,” she says flatly.

I stare down at my ring finger.  I remember that Clark Grange isn’t technically married, and the gold band fades from view.  “Promise?”  

Cassie twists her own wedding ring, annoyed. “Just dri-”
*****************************************************************************************
I sat up in my crib, completely disoriented and looked around in the dark.  Where was Amy?  Where was Ivy?  The last thing I remembered was the three of us guzzling down milk while Jessica read us a bedtime story.  

I’d meant to ask her what she’d seen on my tablet and whether she was going to tell anybody about it, but with Ivy there my only option was to feign sleep until Ivy passed out.  Amy might tell one of the Amazons and thwart my shot to freedom; Ivy definitely would.

The crib was empty save for me and Lion.  Stress, Janet’s milk, and my own overwhelming fatigue conspired against me.  I’d passed out and my two broken companions had been taken away from me before a proper interrogation and debriefing could occur.

The nightmare I’d just had surfaced to the forefront of my mind.  “I’ve got to get out of here,” I muttered to myself and tried to roll over and fall back into dark oblivion.   Regrettably, the mild uncomfortable cramping I felt- like a boulder in my bowels- was not something separate from my dream.  I really did have to poop.

Feeling too tired and overwhelmed to bother standing up, I laid back down, closed my eyes, lifted my knees up to my stomach, and took a deep breath.  At least I wasn’t pooping in my sleep, yet. Short of sickness, or some Amazon concoction interfering with things, control of when a load dropped into my pants was still more or less my discretion.  

I’d been pooping a lot more lately, it felt like.  At least once a day. Sometimes more. If I missed a day, I was sure to “make it up” and then some the following day.  Or had I?  It’s strange what you don’t pay attention to until it becomes someone else’s problem to deal with.  

I almost fell back asleep, my body hitting its personal snooze alarm when my shame and sense of self kicked in.  “MOMMY!” I called.  “MOMMY!  I NEED CHANGED!”  I waited a second. “JANET WAKE UP! DON’T MAKE ME GO BACK TO SLEEP STEWING IN MY OWN SHIT!”

Eyes still closed, I counted to ten and listened for the sounds of footsteps.  When nothing came, I sat up and rubbed my eyes, peering at the baby monitor.  As I’d hoped, the monitor light was blinking, indicating that it was transmitting.  It would have been mortifying to have to say the M-word for nothing.   “JANET? JAAAAAAANET?”

Finally, crisp rapid footsteps signaled through the hallway.  The door to my nursery opened, blinding hallway light burst in burning my eyes,  making me wish I’d kept them shut.

“Hey, baby boy.” Janet said, her voice still quiet and sleepy, her form still a backlit silhouette. “Sorry that took a minute.  You called when I was in the middle of getting dressed.”

Well fuck. So much for going back to sleep.  “Change me, please,” my voice was total deadpan. There are benefits for being too tired to be existentially terrified.

The lights blasted on and I covered my face with a moan.  “Sure, baby.”

“Clark,” I groaned. “My name is Clark.”

My eyes stayed closed as I was lifted up and transported to the changing table.  “I know,” Janet whispered. “I’m sorry, Clark.  I wasn’t meaning to hurt your feelings.”  She hummed tunelessly herself, stripping me naked.  Did she know?  Had Amy already told on me?  Unintentionally or otherwise?  It wouldn’t be hard for her to mention it as her Mommy lifted her out of the crib.  

I inhaled and caught the scent of my leavings mingling with her freshly applied perfume.  “How was your girls’ night?”  I asked, blocking out everything that was going on from the waist down.

“It was good.  I love being your Mommy, but it can be nice to just be ‘Janet’ every now and then.” She took her time cleaning me up, neither talking nor humming.  “Did you have fun playing with your friends?”

I listened for some sort of edge or implied threat; a follow up of ‘because it’s the last time you’ll be getting for a while.’  When none came, I answered as truthfully as I dared.  “It wasn’t boring,” a yawn escaped me. “And I got chicken.”
The new Monkeez slipped beneath me. “But you had fun?”

“I’m glad it happened.”  A noncommittal answer was better than no answer in this instance.

“Auntie Jessica says you were a big help.”  The day’s first diaper made its way snugly over my hips. “She said you were ‘very good’ about helping her figure out Amy.”

A bigger yawn rocketed out of me and I had the urge to roll over on the changing table and doze off.  I could’ve too.  Janet hadn’t thought to restrain me.  How about that?  “Amy is an acquired dialect,” I grumbled.

Janet laughed quietly to herself. “Yeah,” she agreed. “That she is, that she is. Her developmental plateau is definitely lower than yours.”

A single eye opened up. That might have been the first time since my ‘diagnosis’ that I’d indirectly been called ‘bigger’ than another Little.  “Are we still going to Little Voices tomorrow?” I asked, trying not to tip my hand.

Janet lifted me up, but made no effort to dress me.  “I was planning to.  Why?”

Still far too groggy, I made no objections, and asked no further questions.  “Just wanted to know.”

The nursery moved around me.  “Somebody misses his friend,” she whispered. “I miss mine, too.”

Drowning in her warmth, I had to force myself to lift my head, being cradled in her arms.  “What time is it?”

“It’s not quite five in the morning,” Janet whispered. “Mommy got up early this morning. Do you want to go back to sleep for a bit?”

I shook my head, but felt my eyes close. “Nuh-uh.”  

“Okay,” she shushed.  “Then how about you just keep me company for a little bit.”

Clean diaper. No constraining pajamas. Being held in the Amazon’s arms with her talking in soft, gentle tones, each note a lullabye.  It was too easy to drift back off.  “Mhm”

Like the snooze button on my old alarm clock, a short eternity passed and time lost meaning to my slumbering mind. The next thing I was aware of was being cradled sideways and held up to Janet’s breasts to suckle.  I did so reflexively and without thinking much about it.  Realistically,  the time between closing my eyes and nursing was probably less than a minute; no longer than the time it took for Janet to open her blouse and uncup her nursing bra.  But the gap in those seconds was a serene lake.

Likewise, the all consuming glow coming from inside her and dribbling into my mouth likely only lasted a few minutes.  Yet during that time, I was afloat and at peace; a majestic whale swimming in the ocean and surrounded by krill and plankton. There were no predators; I was too big to harm.  Everything around me made way.  And in turn, I attacked nothing.  I just drifted along swimming, doing my own thing.   All I needed to do to eat was open my mouth.  No fear. No aggression. No hunger.  

Lovely.  It was a few minutes that went on for years.

I jerked as if from a falling dream when Janet switched me over to the other breast.  “Sorry,” Janet apologized.

Sleepily, I accepted the apology and latched back on. A bit of milk dribbled out of the corner of my mouth. This is why I wasn’t dressed yet. No sense in risking stains first thing in the morning.  

Risk.

An intrusive thought broke into my brain before I could become a whale again:  Had I remembered to exit out of the tablet and turn it off?

Yes. Of course I had. I’d done it as soon as I’d discovered Amy’s intrusion.  Hadn’t I?  I was sure about it. And yet…  

My skin bubbled and boiled with anxiety. It was the feeling of leaving home and wondering if I’d forgotten to lock the door dialed up to ‘Did I remember to disarm the time bomb?’.

“Ouch!”  Janet yelped and my world jerked around for a second “Easy with the teeth!”  My mouth as full as it was, I didn’t apologize as much as I forced my jaw to relax.  “Thank you.”  

Another terrible thought:  Maybe that’s how Amy lost her two front teeth.  She’d gotten too comfortable and Helena had had them extracted to spare her nipples.  Amy just didn’t care anymore because something had broken inside her.

I pushed that and other awful notions outside of my head.  Everything was going to be fine.  I hadn’t been caught.  Subversion of this nature wasn’t Janet’s style. I wouldn’t be caught.  Amy didn’t know what she’d been looking at.  Or if she did, she had no interest in telling on me.  I remembered enough from the night before to know that she hadn’t told Jessica.  Even if she did tell on me I hadn’t given enough away for her to prove anything

All she saw was a website with me on a burner account talking about escape to another burner account.  She didn’t see the secret menu with Tracy’s password.  She didn’t know how the tablet operated. The messages didn’t have enough information to stop me. They didn’t even lead back to my original post.  Even if she somehow spilled the beans there’d be no way to prove her claim

Because I did exit out of everything at the end.  I was positive. Janet didn’t have the password.  Right?

Ri-

The next time I opened my eyes, I was in the car seat and Janet was pulling into the school parking lot.  “Morning!” Janet chirped.  “You really must have needed that sleep,” she said. “Playing with the girls really wore you out, didn’t it?”  

I looked down at myself as though I were an alien.  Green shirt. Pacifier clipped on and in my mouth. Loose fitting jeans and sneakers.  My brain tried to replay the sequence of events as they’d happened, but the most recent memory had been me guzzling down Amazon milk and blacking out.  I’d been dressed and transported while practically comatose.   Adrenaline surged. Heart rate skyrocketed  “Yeah…”  I said.  “Yeah…”  I did not yawn. Didn’t need to.  The lost time was a bucket of ice water. I was fully awake.

Janet walked around to the back of the car and set me down on my feet.  “Ready?”

I spit the pacifier out and let it dangle at my collar.  “Yeah…”  I took a few tentative steps forward and stopped.  The t-shirt was tucked into my pants and my crinkling underwear was too snug between my legs for it to just be the blue jeans.  I gave it a tug up around my belly button and feel the whole thing stop lest I give myself a wedgie.   Great; t-shirt was a onesie.

“Don’t worry,” Janet teased, “I won’t tell anybody.”

I looked up, bewildered, and afraid.   “Tell what?”

She winked at me. “How sleepy you were this morning.”

“Oh.” I said.  Then much quieter, I mouthed, “I really gotta get out of here.”

*******************************************************************************************

I sat up in my crib that night; my whole body trembling. All but the nightlight was out. My back against the headboard I pulled my knees as close to me as the nighttime Monkeez would allow, staring at the tablet in my lap.  It had been simple- shockingly so- to smuggle it away into my crib.  I’d slipped it under my pillow and then paid it zero attention until after I’d been put to bed and gotten my goodnight kiss for Janet.

It had all been so simple.  I hadn’t played into Janet’s madness too much so that she’d suspect anything. I hadn’t been terribly withdrawn either, making her clingy.  Outside of my head it was any other day of the week post capture.  I’d asked Janet about her day, helped her grade some papers before dinner, watched some television on her lap, ate dinner, and bathed with her just in time for bed.  Post shower relaxation and gorging myself on heavy pasta was enough of an excuse to keep from nursing without suspicion or hurt feelings.  It also meant Janet would be busy with the pump.

It had all been so simple.  Too simple.  I looked at the time on the tablet:  8:10

That day at school had been a meat grinder on my nerves. Every time Beouf’s telephone rang, or a door opened, my body went into fight or flight. I just kept waiting for Janet to come in and need to have ‘a talk’ with me or for Beouf or Zoge to corner me and ask me what I’d been doing on MistuhGwiffin.  One of the giants reaching out to touch me made me want to recoil from capture

Every time it was something else:  The front office reminding Beouf that she’d forgotten to submit attendance numbers.  Tracy asking to borrow some yarn for an  impromptu project Jessica had started with the kids.  One of the therapists coming to usher us away for more mundane forms of conditioning and brainwashing.  The only time an Amazon laid their hands on me, it was in a way that would be considered ‘appropriate’ for an adult to handle a child.

Scarily enough, no one commented or noted my mounting anxiety.  No calls of ‘Are you okay?’ or ‘What’s on your mind?’ or ‘Are you constipated or something?’.  It made sense. In years past, I’d made an artform out of masking my fear.  A snake handler who loses a finger or an arm to one of the deadly reptiles still has years of experience facing them down and nimbly dodging strikes with a grin or a determined gaze.  

This was no different, in principle.  There was a nub where my continence had been, and my adulthood was in danger of rotting away with serious signs of infection if left untreated.  Didn’t mean I’d completely lost my nerve.

There’d been no phone call from Helena. No text or email to tattle. I was effectively in the clear.  Everything just felt so…off.

8:15

Now or never.  I’d given Janet enough time to plant herself somewhere and start pumping.  Socko wouldn’t wait forever.   One more time I typed in the code and logged into MistuhGwiffin.  I took a deep breath, pulled up the keyboard, and typed:

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:16

Hey. Sorry I’m late. Are you there?

Sixty whole seconds passed. As compared to this morning, this was a different kind of eternity. One of tiny fingernails picking at scabs on my soul.

MistuhSocko9583158

8:17

Yeah.
You alone?

Instant relief!  My would-be savior was still out there!

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:17

Yeah

MistuhSocko9583158

8:17

Good.
Let’s talk.

Finally! A real life, non-mindfucked Little! It’d be so long! A true ally! Someone on the outside and not just a fellow inmate. A true malcontent and willing to do something about it!  However, I was still feeling incredibly uneasy. It was like finding a magic lamp with a genie in it.  Everybody thinks they know what they’re three wishes are going to be until someone with the power to actually grant them asks.  What if there were limits? What if I was asking for too much?

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:18

Where do we start? Where do we go from here? How can you help me?

MistuhSocko9583158

8:18

How are we communicating right now?

Stole a phone?

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:18

Kind of hacked a tablet. Got around parental lock

MistuhSocko9583158

8:19

You sure?

I certainly had been before reading that question…

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:19

Yeah

MistuhSocko9583158

8:19

Tablet got a camera?

I squinted in the darkness. I minimized the browser and went back to the tablet’s settings.  I didn’t know where the lens was, but there was definitely a camera icon. I opened the browser again.

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:20

Think so. Why?

MistuhSocko9583158

8:20

Take a picture of yourself.
Give me the middle finger and stick out your tongue.

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:20

Why?

MistuhSocko9583158

8:20

Just do it.

No choice.I fumbled through the tablet’s main menu and opened up the camera. The dark shadows of my nursery filled up the screen. It was like a cell phone.  A tap in the corner mirrored the image. Stuck in footie pajamas and surrounded by crib bars, I flipped the camera off and gave it a raspberry, hoping the glow of the screen would illuminate me enough.

The sudden bright white flash made spots appear in front of my eyes.  A deer in the headlights, I froze, stupidly clutching the tablet to my chest.  

Janet wasn’t coming. No one could hear light.  There’d been no sounds of her movement. Were she just outside the door and watching through the crack underneath, she might have (might have) been able to see the flash. She was still pumping. Even so, I held my breath, listened, and watched the door to the nursery as though a tiger might break it down in an instant.

Once I started breathing again, I uploaded and posted the awful and silly looking selfy.

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:22

Here

MistuhSocko9583158

8:23

Good.

Had to make sure you were real.
No catfish allowed.

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:23

Okay. I get it.

Precautions made sense.  You never knew who you were talking to online and I wanted to discuss what would legally be considered kidnapping.  It was natural that my new friend’s paranoia was up.

I just didn’t anticipate how paranoid…

MistuhSocko9583158

8:23

Now show me your penis.

I did a double take, looking for a typo or some other meaning behind the words.  I waited for the ellipses to start bobbing up and down; a sign that a correction was imminent.  None came.  Only stillness.

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:23

???

MistuhSocko9583158

8:24

Dick pick.
Now.  
Make a little ring with your index finger and thumb right next to it.
Do it or I walk.

From behind the screen, my brows knitted together and lip curled into a snarl.  Maybe my savior was just a troll, trying to drag responses out of the poor dumb Little for yuks.

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:24

If I could take these clothes off why would I need your help?

MistuhSocko9583158

8:24

Do it or I walk.

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:26

Fuck you too, then. You’re just a goddamn fucking troll and I hope someone comes for you, zaps your eyebrows off and melts your teeth away.

MistuhSocko9583158

8:26

Okay.

Good.

That was a test.

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:27

WTF?

MistuhSocko9583158

8:27

I needed to make sure you were really alone.
Gotta be careful.

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:27

So I strip?

MistuhSocko9583158

8:28

If there was an Amazon looking over your shoulder, they’d have blocked me.
Or forced you to undress.

Always check for traps.

My jaw unclenched and my nostrils unflared. It was conceivable that an Amazon might use a Little to bait another one.  Turn a supposed rescue mission into an Adoption ambush.  Stranger things had happened.

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:29

I think I get it

MistuhSocko9583158

8:29

Sorry.

Had to be sure.

How can I help?

Again, there was the question that I wasn’t sure how best to answer. I thought I heard a noise; possibly Janet switching the television on. Shit! Already?  Time to rip the band-aid off.

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:29

I need a ride out of town.

MistuhSocko9583158

8:29

Where?


The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:30

Anywhere

I sure as hell wasn’t going to give this guy a concrete address.  He had his precautions. I had mine.
 
MistuhSocko9583158

8:30

What city are you being held in?

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:30

Oakshire

Typing it out made my teeth want to click. This could still be some kind of trap.  But no. I was overcomplicating things.  Saying where I lived wouldn’t narrow things down enough for doxxing, stalking, or tattling.  I knew just enough about computers to know that magical tracing viruses didn’t just pop up out of nowhere. They had to be let in.

I pushed those thoughts aside when I saw the bubbles dancing.

MistuhSocko9583158

8:31

Ok.

I think I can help.

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:31

Really?

MistuhSocko9583158

8:31

One thing at a time, but yeah.

Holy shit!

Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!  I’d asked and somehow received. The cosmic law of averages had somehow finally paid out!  A flurry of quick, fast pace replies popped up while I was in the middle turning my knuckles white and risking cracking the screen.

MistuhSocko9583158

8:32

First question.

Do you need diapers?

Like really need them?

Are you unpotty trained at all?

Thoughts of betrayal resurfaced instantly.  This entire thing could be screenshot and posted elsewhere. Another monument to the proverbial Wall of Shame.  Another Little who’d trusted too deeply and paid the price, this one AFTER he’d been thoroughly diapered and double-crossed.

‘Ha-ha! Look at all the babyish things I got this Little to confess to!’ That’s what the caption and comments would read.

I took a deep breath and forced myself to focus.  No use in getting upset when there wasn’t any evidence to justify.

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:32

Why does that matter?

MistuhSocko9583158

8:33

Need to know if pull-ups are needed.

Keep furniture dry until you’ve got your control back.
No shame.

Case in point.  I grit my teeth and chided myself.  This guy wasn’t Clark levels of asshole. He was just Cassie levels of careful.

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:33

Yes. Can’t hold it in unless I really think about it

MistuhSocko9583158

8:34

Ok.

No shame.

It is what it is.

Can you walk?

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:34

Yes

MistuhSocko9583158

8:34

Good.

Teeth?

Hair?

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:35

Teeth accounted for.  No more hair besides my head

MistuhSocko9583158

8:35

Figured.

Sorry.
That sucks.

My breathing slowed and my senses attuned back to the stillness of the night. All clear so far.  Socko was trying to figure out what I’d need post escape and/or how hard it would be for me to escape. That’s all.

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:35

Yeah.  It is what it is

MistuhSocko9583158

8:36

Cartoons?
Any compulsions or triggers?
Can you still talk?
Guessing you still read pretty good.

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:36

No toons.  My Amazon goes to Little Voices

MistuhSocko9583158

8:37

Ok.

How many Amazons are holding you?

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:37

Just the one

MistuhSocko9583158

8:37

Good.

Any other mindfucked?

Littles or Tweeners?

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:38

Just at school, etc.

MistuhSocko9583158

8:38

School???

Panic! What if I’d just slipped up? What if he thought I wasn’t who I said I was? Or if I was too far gone to bother with?  What self-respecting adult would ever call Beouf’s room and curriculum ‘school’?  My thumbs blurred to correct my error.

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:38

Long story. It’s not technically a daycare, but it’s a daycare

MistuhSocko9583158

8:38

…

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:39

Not important. I don’t have any “siblings” or whatever. Just “friends” and “playgroups”

A quiet prayer, thought but not spoken: Please let me be the only one in this conversation sweating the small stuff.

MistuhSocko9583158

8:39

Good.

Playgroups are good.  
Easy to get lost in.  
Does your Amazon trust you?

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:39

Yeah. I think so

As much as any Amazon would trust a Little.

MistuhSocko9583158

8:40

If it’s not too personal, how’d you get got?

Finally! A question I could answer unabashedly.

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:41

Coworker thought she’d make a better Mommy than a friend.

MistuhSocko9583158

8:41

Damn.  
Hate when that happens.
Sorry.

I was about to type ‘Typical’, but my new friend was already fast at work and back to business.

MistuhSocko9583158

8:42

What about…
Leashes?

Bouncers?

Strollers?

Playpens?

Carriers?

Anything that would make it harder for you to get away in public?

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:42

Strollers sometimes. She likes to hold me a lot, but lets me walk around if she thinks a place is safe

It was real! It was getting really real!

MistuhSocko9583158

8:42

Ok.
Still good odds.

‘Still good odds’?  That was an odd choice of phrasing, even for something such as this.

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:43

Why are you asking all this?

MistuhSocko9583158

8:43

Trying to figure out if you’re worth it.
No offense.
I want to help.
But if I get caught I’m fucked.

This made entirely too much sense. Far too much. This person had way more to lose than me.  They couldn’t rescue me if I’d been turned into a paperweight.

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:44

Ok. What now?

MistuhSocko9583158

8:45

You tell me everything you know about your Amazon’s routines, habits, etc.

Then we figure out a time and place to meet.  
You find me and I get you out.
Then I take you somewhere safe.
Then you and me never talked.  
Deal?

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:45

Deal

MistuhSocko9583158

8:45

You still need to get to me.

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:46

I know

There was the creaking of footsteps. Janet was shuffling around the house again.  Or maybe she wasn’t.  Maybe I didn’t even hear the television. Oh for the days when it seemed Janet actively avoided me after locking me in my crib.

MistuhSocko9583158

8:47

Let’s talk tactics.
Your best bet is going to be some place with open air and not a lot of security.
What daycare do you go to?
Any playgrounds or parks you frequent?
Is your Amazon’s house close to a major street?  
Any kind of event coming up where you won’t be the center of attention?  

Had she been watching, Janet would have seen my face light up. My time to shine! My turn to impress! My chance to prove I was worthy of rescue!

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

8:47

Actually, I already have an idea about that…

MistuhSocko9583158

8:48

Ok.
What idea?


So I told him. Trembling and shaking, constantly pausing to make sure I wasn’t making some sort of noise, I laid out my plan. Every single step. Including the background and context and the reasons why with his help it was sure to work.  By the time I was done, I felt like I’d written an essay

MistuhSocko9583158

9:01

Wow.
That sounds kind of crazy.

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

9:02

Crazy enough to work?

MistuhSocko9583158

9:02

If you don’t show I leave.

We never talk again.

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

9:02

I know

MistuhSocko9583158

9:03

At least I’ll get a good dinner out of it…

That wasn’t a ‘no’. I’d done more with less. There was just one more detail to attend. Who exactly was my potential rescuer?

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

9:03

Send me a picture of you?

MistuhSocko9583158

9:03

No.  

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

9:03

How am I supposed to recognize you?

MistuhSocko9583158

9:04

I’ll be the Tweener eating ribs as fast as she can and trying not to look suspicious.

A Tweener! Of course! Who else would have both sympathy and the means to actually help but someone caught in the middle of things?  And a woman! Incredibly clever.  The “mistuh” was a simple enough moniker to throw Amazons off the scent.  It was a literal sock puppet account anyways. It’s not like this was who she really was (and thank goodness)

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

9:04

Ok. Makes sense. Do you want to know what to look for with me?

MistuhSocko9583158

9:05

You just sent me your picture, dude.

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

9:05

Oh yeah. Sorry

It felt like my blush was leaking through the screen.

MistuhSocko9583158

9:05

When do you want to try this?

I licked my lips.  Technically it could happen any week. But…

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

9:06

Does tomorrow night work?

MistuhSocko9583158

9:08

Srsly?

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

9:08

Yeah

MistuhSocko9583158

9:08

You really are desperate.  

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

9:08

Yup

A full minute went by.

MistuhSocko9583158

9:09

Ok.

Fine.

This doesn’t work and we’re done.

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

9:09

I understand

MistuhSocko9583158

9:10

Then, it’s a date, handsome.

Yes! One tiny thing was still bothering me…

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

9:10

One last question?

MistuhSocko9583158

9:11

What?

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

9:11

Why were you acting weird in the first message yesterday?

MistuhSocko9583158

9:11

I was trolling you.

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

9:12

Why?

MistuhSocko9583158

9:13

Honestly?

The_Real_Mister_Griffin

9:13

Yeah

MistuhSocko9583158

9:14

I read your post and thought you were an Amazon pretending to be a Little.


I did my best to take that criticism well, said my goodbyes and confirmed the plan. In less than twenty-four hours I’d be on the run and reclaiming my adulthood.  Maybe I’d be on my way to Misty Brook  Maybe hiding in a bigger city like Elizabeton.  Maybe somewhere else, entirely.  Maybe I’d be sleeping at some kind of covert safehouse meant to hide runaway Littles.

I’d found out tomorrow.  All in good time.  All in good time.  

The one problem was how could a body sleep with those stakes?

I turned off the tablet and hid it under my pillow. Like everything else in this room I’d have no use for it come tomorrow.  There was still one last underutilized device I could get something out of.

“Mommy!”

The light on the monitor started blinking.  As usual, Janet’s footsteps made it to the room before she did.  “Yes, Clark?”  

“I can’t sleep, Janet.” I said.

“Do you want some milk?”

This was going to be the last night I’d have to do this. Might as well enjoy it.  “Yes, please.”

“Okie dokie. It’s going to be in a bottle, though.”

Damn.  “That’s fine.”

“Alright. Be right back.”

Her shadow hadn’t quite disappeared when a strange impulse overcame me. “Mommy?”

Janet stopped and poked her head back in.  “Yes, baby?”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too, Clark.”

That would have to do. ‘I’ll miss you’ would have given too much away.