✅ Potty Genius [NaNoWriMo 2022]

Five (Day Two)

¿Can you get rid of the hypnosis?

That was the first thing on the mind. I searched the Internet, and found a lot of articles saying that you can't be hypnotised to do something you don't want, so you should be able to just ignore it. But that's not how it seemed to work for me. I tried ignoring it. I tried forcing myself to pee normally when I had to go again. But it didn't work. I just couldn't remember what I was supposed to do. It's like when there's a word on the tip of your tongue, and you just can't remember what it is.

I decided that first thing in the morning, I'd search for hypnotherapy practises in the local area, and see if any of them could help me get rid of some unwanted suggestions. Or maybe it would all be normal in the morning.

I woke up with a teddy bear in my arms. That was unexpected, but I could rationalise it quickly enough. I'd put them on my bed last night, hadn't I? Taking some photos, like all the childhood memories I was planning to leave behind when I went off to university. And if they were on my bed, it would have been easy for them to end up all around me as I rolled over in my sleep. It didn't mean anything; it was just some old muscle memory activating automatically while I was asleep, and that was certainly nothing to be ashamed of. I wasn't a baby.

I slowly extricated myself from the furry menagerie, and headed to the bathroom. Until I glanced over my shoulder, and noticed that the teddies looked a little sad scattered around the bed like that. So I helped them all to sit up and then tucked the edge of the blanket in around them. I knew that was silly, but it made them more æsthetically pleasing. They deserved to be comfortable anyway, because tomorrow they'd be back in their cupboard again.

Then I went to the bathroom, determined to prove to myself that I could pee by myself, without the interference of some stupid game. I closed the door, hiked up my nightie, and pulled my underpants down. I sat down on the toilet, and tapped all the relevant buttons on the potty tracker. It was only when I came to select a time for the Potty Timer that I realised I'd picked up the tablet without thinking. It was like it had insinuated itself into my routine, become a habit so that I did it without even thinking. I sighed, and selected the same times as yesterday. I felt a second of relief when it said 'success', even though I didn't know what the alternative could be.

This time I tried playing a colour matching game while I waited for the timer. It was better than just sitting on the potty waiting for something to happen. And before I even managed to clear one level of red bubbles, there was a chime and a little box of coloured swirls appeared in front of the game. It said exactly what I had expected, and as I started to pee I was glad of the relief; even as I struggled not to panic over the realisation that I still needed to use the app.

I grumbled, but at least there wasn't anything else that I needed to do today. I could go into town, see if there were any hypnotists' offices that might be able to help me, and then shut myself away in my room for the rest of the day. That was there would be no embarrassment, and nobody wondering why I was suddenly taking longer in the bathroom, or anything like that. If nothing else, it would encourage me to get more of my stuff sorted out ready for university.

I was feeling less confident going to a new place with this little problem, but at least it seemed to be manageable. I just had to remember not to press the 'accident' button, and to allow myself a couple of minutes extra for any bathroom breaks. And I was sure that sooner or later, I would be able to stop this thing from influencing me. And I was feeling a lot more positive about my chances after I'd gotten all dressed up for the day ahead.

Of course, dressed up for me didn't mean as fancy as some of the girls in town. The tee had been a present from some aunt or other a few years back, a picture that showed a piece of chalk pointing into a prism and a rainbow of crayons coming out the other side. I thought that was kind of cute. And then, as close as I ever come to matching colours, I put a black hoodie with rainbow stripes down the arms over it. A knee-length denim skirt completed the outfit – best not to get too hot while it was still summer – and I picked out a shiny pair of boots today, for a confidence boost. I actually tried on a few pairs from the big pile at the bottom of my closet, and eventually picked a pastel pink pair with half-inch soles. Sometimes I felt like the symbols picked out in sequins were a bit ostentatious, but they were a nice style, and I thought it would make me a little more confident if I stood out a bit today.

The last thing I thought about before I set off on a quest for a cure was the tablet. Should I take it with me in case the hypnotists wanted to see more about where the hypnosis had come from? Would I need to show them the terms and conditions document that had apparently brainwashed me? I didn't know, but then I also thought about what I would do if I needed to pee while I was out. If I didn't have the tablet with me, then I wouldn't be able to go. And that could lead to health problems, couldn't it?

I decided that I wasn't going to take it. Because in those movies where the hero gets hypnotised or mind controlled by something evil, their chance to resist often comes when it puts them in some kind of danger. So I thought that if I really needed to pee when I couldn't get the tablet, perhaps that would let me break through the conditioning. It was easier to believe in hypnosis that could make me do something embarrassing or inconvenient while I was home alone; but something that could force me to endure serious discomfort or jeopardise my health seemed a lot less realistic. If it came to that, I was sure that my instincts would be able to fight back against whatever that thing had done to me. And then maybe, I hoped, I would find that it was easier to resist even when I got back.

I looked at myself in the mirror, trying to convince myself that I was ready to face the world, and that I could do anything I put my mind to. That confidence took a little knock when I realised that I was carrying a backpack slung over one shoulder; a PVC one styled to look like the cute animal mascot from some kids TV show a while back. It was kind of cute, and probably more retro than childish. But it was also exactly the right size to hold a tablet, and I hadn't decided to take it with me.

I went back to my room, and put the bag down, transferring my other essentials to a sensible bag which certainly wasn't big enough to contain the tablet. This time, I could look at myself in the mirror and be proud of how I looked. Like a serious young adult who could handle whatever life threw at her.

I smiled and waved to Mum and Dad as I went out; they were in the lounge reading the newspapers, like every morning. Neither of them asked what I was dressed up for, and in a way I doubted that they had even noticed. They just told me to have a nice day, and then I was outside and walking down to the corner of Marill Street and Bayleef Avenue, where the number 420 bus to Ellisberg would be stopping every ten minutes.