Lola's Birthday Wish

Chapter 3: The Queen becomes a Princess

Tatiana often had a reoccurring nightmare. It was about the last time she saw her mother and father. In the dream, Tatiana would watch them head towards the little brown cope they always drove and she would always run after them, begging them not to go, and she would always wake up as the car drove away.

Which is why, when the alarm went off Monday morning, the first words out of her mouth were, "Mama?"

Realizing she was awake she reached up to brush the tears from her eyes only to find that they were covered with something. Pressing her hands to her eyes she found it was a sleeping blind. She also felt something fuzzy in her bed. And the alarm going off didn't sound right.

She ripped the blindfold off and was instantly blinded by a sea of pink.

The walls and ceiling and blankets were all pink. There were pink dresses hanging from a blue closet nearby. Next to her was a brown teddy bear. Beyond him was a mountainous pile of stuffed animals.

"What the devil is this?!" She demanded

But what came out was a tiny petulant squeak.

"My voice. What? My teeth. What's happened to me?" Tatiana ran her tongue around her mouth and found a huge gap were her two front teeth used to be.

Across the room was another bed. But it was empty aside from the mattress. There was also a terrarium sitting next to it and a few posters of motor cars.

Tatiana flew off the covers and fell to the floor face first. She looked at her hands and feet in alarm to discover they were now short and stubby. Her mind racing, she left the pink room to find out where she was.

....

Outside she almost collided with a little girl with huge bifocal glasses. Except this girl was only a few inches shorter that Tatiana. The girl looked her over and said.

"Good morning elder sibling."

Tatiana scowled at her. "Good morning...younger sibling?"

The other girl rolled her eyes at the remark. "Yes. Sadly you are still related to the loud family's resident cheapskate. Now if you excuse me, I have some pennies that need pinching." And she turned and walked down the hall in anger.

This simple exchange gave Tatiana a boatload of Data.

She was in someone else's body. Apparently the body of a little girl. This was her home and this girl seemed to be obsessed with pink. The families surname appeared to be loud.

Other doors began to open and more kids came out. Girls of all ages and sizes. For a moment Tatiana wondered if this was some sort of orphanage and "Sibling" was metaphorical but upon closer inspection the girls all had similar features. They were all sisters. Big family.

Behind her came a different voice. "Do you mind?"

She whirled around and found a boy with white hair standing behind her. He looked to be about ten. He obviously lived in the little room at this end of the hall, opposite of the bathroom where the girls were lining up.

"Lola, could you not block the hallway? Some of us have school to go to."

The boy sounded bitter. He passed Tatiana and took his place in line for the bathroom.

The girls name is Lola. Her brother and sisters don't seem to like her.

....

After a while, Tatiana finally made it to the sink and looked at the two tooth brushes remaining. One was pink, the other was blue, and two plus two still equaled four, so Tatiana took the pink one and pretended to brush. After bracing herself, she looked in the mirror and saw the face of a baby faced little toddler with long blond hair and long eyelashes dressed in a bright pink nightgown. She spat in the sink and stared hard at the little girl in the mirror.