✅ My Sister's Problem

127. Easy Choices

"So what do you want to do this afternoon?" Mum asked, while she was washing my hair. I felt just a little guilty, thinking that I was still capable of washing myself, but feeling so happy that Mum would do it for me.

"I can choose?" I asked. "I mean... I don't know. It's been weird, just doing what you picked all week. It's kind of like I didn't have to think so much. What's still on the itinerary?"

"Well, I wasn't sure what you'd prefer," she said. "It's been a weird trip this year, and I'd understand if you want to wrap it up sooner. Get some more time back to normal so that you and Hugo can sort out how you felt about all this. So I think I've got three options for you. We could go to Jungle Adventures, and see if you and your sister will have fun in the trees."

I thought about that for a moment. We'd seen signs for that place before. As far as I understood, it was like a big park in the treetops, with nets to crawl across, rope ladders, ziplines, climbing walls, and all other kinds of outdoor pursuits that you could explore with instructors. I guessed that it would be a lot of fun, but I wasn't so sure that Lindy would enjoy it. It was the kind of place where the posters in town were split between advertising it to kids, and to adults who wanted to feel young and adventurous again; though I suspected that there were different parts of the treetop adventure depending on your age and size.

"Could be fun," I said with a smile.

"I thought you might like it," Mum said as she started to rinse the suds out of my hair, still treating me like a little kid. "Or if you'd like to keep up with being a baby, it might be a good idea to watch your hypnosis video again. I'm not sure how quickly the effects would wear off if you don't keep doing it."

"Mmmhmm," I said, still thinking deeply. "I'm not so sure about that. I mean, it's kind of fun not having so much control. But I'm not sure if I like that thing. I mean... there's something that's not quite right. It's fun, but I think I'd rather let that fade. Or maybe find a different one. I mean, I never knew there were things like that. But there's parts to it that I think I'm not quite comfortable with. And I'd rather make an end to that. I mean, I'm so glad I got to try it, but when you see the words and I just start feeling like a little kid? When it takes a couple of minutes before I remember how old I really am? I don't think I like that."

"I'm sure there's more options," she said. "If that's something you really want to continue with. But I do want to ask... This isn't just something you're doing to make Lindy feel better about her punishment, is it? That shows how much you care, but I don't think it would be healthy to keep up such a dramatic change to your lifestyle over a long period. Or something you're doing as an excuse to be close to Hugo, or because you know it makes me smile to play with my baby? Because no mater how thoughtful you are, as time goes on, you would grow to resent us for causing that embarrassment."

"No," I said, before pausing to analyse my own thoughts for a few minutes more. Then I could say: "No, this is something I enjoy. I like... I think it's the helplessness of not being able to help myself. It's kind of fun. Or just being treated like a baby. I don't know, but I know it's something I want. Is that too weird?" I wanted to reassure her that this had been what I wanted from the start; before Lindy even started wetting the bed again. But after everything that had happened, I didn't want Mum to think that this had been my business all along. If Lundy's actions had been revenge for something I actually did, I couldn't imagine the kind of punishment I could be facing.

"It's unusual. But that's not a bad thing. Normal is just a uniform, being the same as everybody else, and so long as it's not hurting anybody, I think you should be able to do whatever makes you happy. In any case, if you want to try finding a different hypnosis thing, I'm happy to help you with that. But I will ask that you don't go searching by yourself. So many of those things include elements which... Well, I'm sure they aren't something you would be interested in. And as mature as you are, I think there are still some things that you wouldn't want to know about."