The voice returned, “Sarah is the only one that knows about you being trapped in her body. Sarah is the only one that can reverse this situation, Sarah is the only one that can save you from permanent babyhood, Sarah is the one that persuaded mother to put the rings in the safe. Sarah will NEVER let you get your hands on them ever again,” the voice echoed the facts.
The stark facts were put before me, I needed two things to happen if I was to get my life back, the first one was I needed the box containing the rings, the second one was I needed Sarah’s co-operation in putting them on hers and my fingers. Both these things were either out of my capability or out of my influence. I couldn’t reach the safe, even if I could I didn’t have the combination to open it so getting the rings was totally out of the question, Sarah had no intention of taking her rightful place in her body, she was determined to enjoy her new found status and freedom at my expense. I had absolutely no hope of getting her to put the rings on our fingers to transfer us back to our original states.
“THERE IS NO HOPE, I AM TRAPPED,” I sobbed.
I looked up at mother as she pushed me along. If only I could talk. “MOTHER, MOTHER PLEASE SAVE ME,” I mumbled from behind the pacifier.
“Oh what’s the matter Sarah?” a little girls voice broke my reverie.
Caroline and Samantha came running up to me, their mother Mrs. West strode up behind them. They were our neighbours, Caroline and Samantha were twins, they were six years old.
“Sarah seems upset Sharon,” Mrs. West said looking down at my red eyes and tear stained cheeks.
“Yes I don’t know what’s wrong with her today. She was fine when I popped to the mall, when I got back she had been sick all over her clothes and cot, she was not the happy little baby I left Daniel in charge of,” Mother informed her.
“Poor little thing,” Mrs. West said sympathetically.
“Do you know Daniel cleaned her up, he even put all the dirty clothes in the washer for me,” Mother carried on, glad of someone to talk to. “I know it’s hard to believe, usually Daniel will not pick up his own clothes, never mind Sarah’s.”
“He’s growing up that boy of your’s, I hear he did particularly well at school,” Mrs. West commented.
“Yes we’re very proud of him, he passed the entrance exam for the University too, he’s going to study Archaeology,” mother told her proudly.
“Like father like son,” Mrs. West nodded.
“Frank say’s he’s going to take him to Egypt during the summer holidays, get him into an archaeology dig,” mother announced something that was even news to me.
Ever since I can remember I have wanted to follow in Dad’s footsteps, my bedroom is full of artefacts that he has brought back, for years he has been promising to take me to Egypt with him, When your old enough son he would say. Now I was old enough, only it wouldn’t be me flying to foreign lands with him, it would be Sarah.
“IT’S NOT FAIR, IT’S NOT FAIR I WANT TO GO TO EGYPT I WANT TO GO TO EGYPT,” I screamed erupting into another fit of self pity my shoes hammering on my buggy in utter frustration at being totally helpless to prevent this course of events that I myself had started.
“Awwww. Don’t cry Sarah,” Caroline cooeed.
“Do you want to come and play house with us Sarah?” Samantha asked brightly. “You can be our baby, you’d like that wouldn’t you?”
The last thing in the world I would like is to be the real life baby doll of two six year old little girls, but I knew if I wasn’t turned back into my real body by tomorrow that’s one of the fates that awaited me. I felt like a condemned prisoner whose execution was tomorrow afternoon, with no chance of clemency. Tomorrow I would be executed, cut off from my real life for ever, with no chance of reversing the life sentence I had condemned myself too.
“I’m afraid Sarah is far too cranky to play today girls, perhaps later in the week when she’s calmed down, besides she has a dirty nappy and needs changing,” mother informed them.
A paroxysm of shame ran through me as the girls looked at me and grimaced.
“YUK!!!” Samantha grimaced. “I’m glad I don’t have to wear nappies like Sarah.”
“Sarah is just a baby,” their mother smiled, “she can’t help herself. Come on girls, let Sarah go and get her nappy changed.”
“Byeeee Sarah,” they called as mother set off again.
Later, Mother picked me off the changing table and lowered me into the cot.
“Let’s see if a good sleep can straighten you out young lady,” she smiled pushing my dummy into my quivering lips. She raised the cot side surrounding me with bars, she picked one of Sarah’s dolls from the playpen and pushed her into my arms and without another word left the room and closed the door after her.
So here I was back in the cot where my nightmare started just a few short hours ago. Looking through the bars that I knew to my cost were strong enough and high enough to keep me safely within their confines, my mind started to drift back to when I first saw the rings that father had brought home with him. I recalled the excitement I felt when I spied on my unsuspecting parents as they slipped the rings on their fingers and transferred minds. I heard my father telling my mother in her voice the origins of the rings and how only a handful of people knew the real power that they possessed. I slipped away as they held each other and began to make love in each others body, and as they continued their lovemaking, I lay in my bed formulating the plans that were going to condemn me to a lifetime of babyhood, although I didn’t know that at the time.
The feeling I got as I realised I now had the means to try Sarah’s clothes to see how I looked in them and how it felt to wear them was a distant memory,
I remembered clearly the plans I set for my experience of a lifetime, which has now turned out to be an experience for a lifetime, I picked the clothes Sarah would wear today,
“What if something goes wrong, what if Sarah wakes up while she is in your body, what will happen?”
“You could end up as Sarah for the rest of your life,” caution warned, “that’s what could happen.”
“Impossible,” Libido laughed. “Sarah will be asleep, nothing can happen, oh just think how you will look in that pretty dress. Go on Daniel go and get the rings,” Libido urged. “Nothing will happen go on hurry, your mother will be back and you’ll never get the chance again.”
“Go on Daniel take the risk you know you really want to,” Libido urged as I set off on course to my own destruction. I could see myself now, searching desperately for those rings, as if I was in a hurry to ruin my life, I could see myself sneaking into the nursery, looking down into this very cot, slipping the rings on my own and little Sarah’s fingers. The change from boy to baby girl was fresh in my mind, as was the horror of feeling the ring slip from my finger. I could clearly see the ring slipping down in slow motion, the instinctive reaction to try to catch it, the flash of gold as the ring spun in the air as it flipped off my tiny hand, through the bars and onto the floor.
The fear of losing that precious ring still laid heavily on me, the panic I felt as I realised the implications of not getting that ring back on my finger welled up inside me again as I laid there. The look on my former face as I stood before the cot will be with me for the rest of my life. My former eyes lit up as Sarah realised she was no longer surrounded by bars, she was no longer wearing a dress or nappy, she was now a boy, me, and the only thing that could make her go back to her former life was in her possession.
It was the look of someone who had been given a life sentence in severely restricted babyhood then being released 70 years early. I knew then that my fate was sealed, I knew then that Sarah would ever swap our minds back, the unthinkable had happened I was a baby for the rest of my life.
“I DON’T WANT TO BE A BABY,” I sobbed loudly in my baby talk.
“NOTHING CAN SAVE YOU NOW, IT’S YOUR OWN FAULT YOU SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO ME!!!” Caution was back his voice loud and clear. “THERE IS NO WAY OUT, YOU ARE TRAPPED AS A BABY GIRL FOREVER,” it scoffed. “I WARNED YOU, NOW LOOK AT YOURSELF,” it sneered. “I HOPE THAT WEARING THESE DRESSES IS WORTH GIVING YOUR LIFE UP FOR,” it sniggered.
I shut my eyes tightly forcing the tears to run onto my pillow. Sleep was the only escape from these mocking voices. The sedative that mother had put in my bottle was working, I felt myself drifting off to sleep.
Sometime later mother entered the room, she was all ready for her night out with father, she looked curiously at me.
“Daniel?” she said. As I began to wake up I realised she called me by my real name. “Daniel, why are you in Sarah’s cot? Why are you wearing Sarah’s clothes?” she asked with a concerned look on her face.
I looked down at myself, my body was back to normal, I was the same tall youth as I was before I had changed minds with Sarah, but she was right I was wearing Sarah’s dress, frilly knickers and even a nappy.
Mother was lowering the cot side. “Get out of there young man, that is a babies cot, 16 year old boys do not sleep in cots,” she said angrily. “Now tell me why are you wearing Sarah’s clothes?”
“Please mum, I can explain,” I said in surprise at hearing my own voice. I could talk again, the elation at being able to communicate again was indescribable.
“Please do young man,” she spoke sternly.
“Well I just wanted to see how Sarah’s clothes looked on me and how it felt to be surrounded by bars in her cot,” I told her, my face blushing with embarrassment at my confession.
“Is that so Daniel, well come over here,” mother ordered.
She produced a set of Sarah’s baby reins and fitted them to me, but instead of buckling them on she fixed them in place with locks.
“There, now you won’t be able to get your reins off, or your pretty clothes Daniel,” she laughed. “If you want to wear Sarah’s clothes that’s fine by me. Now let’s go downstairs, Jennifer is waiting.”
“NO….MUM,” I shouted. “DON’T LET JENNIFER SEE ME LIKE THIS.”
She took no notice, she just laughed and dragged me downstairs, I obviously hadn’t regained my strength from being Sarah as she easily pulled me into the lounge.
“Look who I found sleeping in Sarah’s cot,” mother laughed holding tightly to my reins.
My father stood in front of me dressed in his suit ready to go out for the evening, Sarah was in her playpen and Jennifer was sat on the sofa.
“Why are you wearing baby girls clothes Daniel?” father asked.
I was too ashamed to tell him, I just hung my head in shame.
“He said he wanted to know what it felt like to wear Sarah’s clothes,” sneered mother. “He said he wanted to sleep in her cot. So I’ve put him in reins and locked them on him, here are the keys Frank, put them in the safe will you.”
“OH NO!!!!” I cried now something else that was trapping me in baby clothes was being locked away.
“Oh yes Daniel,” mother laughed. “If you want to be a baby then a baby you will be.”
“I thought you were growing into a man,” father sneered. “Look at yourself in a baby dress and wearing nappies, you don’t deserve to come to Cairo with me, in fact you won’t be coming now, you can spend the summer holidays in baby clothes instead,” he laughed.
“NO DAD PLEASE DON’T SAY THAT, PLEASE TAKE ME TO EGYPT WITH YOU, I DON’T WANT TO WEAR BABY CLOTHES ALL SUMMER,” I screamed.
“Too late Daniel, my mind is made up,” he laughed.
“It seems you have two babies to mind Jennifer,” mother said picking her coat up.
“Yes it does, doesn’t it,” Jennifer giggled. “Do you think you could lock him into Sarah’s buggy?” she asked father. “I think I’ll take him to the cafe to show him off in his pretty clothes.”
“NO…NO…NO PLEASE DON’T DO THIS TO ME,” I wailed as father forced me into Sarah’s buggy and locked me in with two large padlocks.
“There, now baby is all safe and sound in his buggy,” Jennifer laughed.
“PLEASE DON’T TAKE ME OUTSIDE LIKE THIS JENNIFER,” I begged as she pushed me towards the door, Sarah walking beside us giggling at me in her clothes and in her buggy.
The first people we met were Mrs. West and the twins. How they howled at me as I sat there looking up at them, strapped in like a baby.
“Can we play house with him?” giggled Samantha.
“He can be the baby,” Caroline joined in.
“Yes girls you can, I’ll bring him round tomorrow, don’t forget to tell all your friends to come and play too,” Jennifer howled.
“WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS JENNIFER?” I whined loudly as we approached the café. I could see it was full of all my friends from school.
“Why?” she sneered. “Do you think I want to date a boy that wants to dress up as a baby girl?” she spat the words in my face. “Any 16 year old boy that dresses in baby clothes deserves to be shown off to all his friends in them. And remember Daniel it was you that wanted to wear them.”
“BUT NOT ALL THE TIME!!!” I shouted pathetically.