Riddy was quite happy. It was a Friday evening, the start of Memorial Day weekend. The forecast called for perfect weather and the homework cycle had synced up so the twelve-year-old fox could get everything done early.
After dinner and the news, the TV was his for a bit. Unfortunately, there wasn't much on that caught his interest. He scrolled through the channels until he landed on Harold, a slice of life cartoon about an anteater boy living in modern suburbia. He'd often found the show boring, but it had been around since he was a little kid and the familiarity was pleasant.
This episode centered on a minor character, Johnny. At school his friend Fred invited him and another friend, Bucky over to a sleepover. He accepted the invitation, not wanting to disappoint his friend, but was visibly upset as his friend departed. The next scene revealed the reason: Johnny was a bedwetter. He told is dad he was embarrassed about having to wear a "diaper'' to bed and worried that his friends would think of him as a baby. The correction that it was a pullup did little to reassure him, but he was put somewhat at ease when his dad said that true friends would not make fun of him. Johnny went to bed and the show cut to a commercial.
Showing and mentioning the pullup caught Riddy's attention. The young fox had himself been a bedwetter and had only stopped wearing DryJams, a brand of nighttime pullups, a few months ago. When his parents decided he was too old to keep wearing them, he initially resisted saying he was afraid he couldn't stay dry. But there was another reason that he didn't even fully admit to himself. Regardless, after some mornings with a dry pullup, he was in regular underwear at night and had been dry ever since. He had given little thought to his bedwetting or pullups these past few months. But now he felt a twinge of envy for Johnny as he remembered his DryJams.
The episode continued. Johnny went to the sleepover despite his fears, hoping he could keep his pullup concealed. His anxieties subsided as they did various sleepover activities with his two friends, such as building a pillow fort, playing board games, watching a movie, and having a pillow fight. Eventually, though, Johnny's pullup was accidentally revealed. He was mortified and worried that his friends would tease him or not want to be friends anymore. Seeing his fear, Fred nervously confessed that he had his own bedwetting problem and also wore pullups. Bucky piped in and said that he had stopped wetting the bed less than a year ago. The boys went to bed soon after this conversation. The episode ended the next morning with them congratulating each other on a dry night, and agree to have another sleepover soon.
This ending left Riddy a bit disappointed that nobody had wet his pullup. It then occurred to him that this was a strange thought to have. Still, he couldn't shake that bit of envy he had for the kids in the show. He found himself oddly missing his pullups. He tried to brush off these thoughts and distract himself as an episode of DigiAdventures came on. It was an educational show about a group of kids exploring a digital world, with each episode containing a thinly veiled math lesson. Riddy watched as the kids had to work their way out of a puzzle maze that worked with fractions and division. While the episode really was not interesting, it got Riddy's mind off of things for the moment.
Then a commercial break came. It advertised the usual: toys, movies, other TV shows. But then there was an ad for Tug-Ups training pants. It showed a cute little border collie pup, who looked to be about three years old, cheerfully running around in nothing but a T-shirt and pullup. The camera focused on the PowerPups-themed pullup while a narrator talked about little ones growing up and potty training, but needing help with accidents. There was a shot of him pulling up his "underwear'' and another showing the fade-when wet designs. The ad ended with their jingle, "I'm a big kid now!'' The thoughts and envy came rushing back. Riddy wanted to be that little kid in pullups.
The show came back and Riddy tried to occupy himself with that, but the desire that had come up was hard to banish from his mind now that it had taken hold. He still managed to pay attention to the plot as it wrapped up. The characters managed to solve the final division problem to get their way out of the maze and stop the villain. As the credits rolled and a preview of the next show began, Riddy's mom came into the room.
"Riddy, it's just about time to go to bed.''
The young fox was silent, trying to process his thoughts.
"Riddy?'' his mom prompted him.
He snapped to attention. "Yes, mom, I'm heading up now.''
He was glad of his mom's reminder. Maybe he'd forget about this matter after a good night's sleep. He went upstairs to his room and undressed for his bath. As he disposed of this clothes in the hamper, though, something caught his eye. A half-empty package of DryJams sat in his closet, leftover ones that had not yet been thrown out. He picked up the pack and looked it with a sense of longing. Even the design of the pack brought a sort of comforting familiarity. He put the pack back in the closet and shook his head. Perhaps he should throw it away tomorrow to remove any temptation. He grabbed a towel and headed off to the bathroom.
He drew a nice warm bath and let the water sooth him for a bit before he set to work washing his fur. As he washed he thought about what he might do tomorrow. Maybe he'd ride his bike over to his friend Ian's house. Yeah. He had a nice above ground pool where they could go for a swim, and maybe they'd shoot some cans with his BB gun. He thought about the subject of a sleepover, which he could now do without fear. Riddy continued thinking of these plans as he dried himself off and returned to his room.
Once there, however, that intrusive thought returned once again. He went back to his closet and retrieved the pack of DryJams. Holding it again with a mix of desire and trepidation, he tugged at the opening and pulled out a DryJam. Putting the pack down, he held the pullup in both hands and gave the elastic sides a little tug. The design and feel in his paws captivated him. Unable to resist any longer, he stepped into the DryJam and pulled it up, fastening the tail tape. The soft, puffy sensation was at the same time soothing and exciting. It felt like this was the way things should be. He put on his pajamas, which consisted of an oversized T-shirt and a pair of boxers to conceal his pullup.
Climbing into bed and turning out the light, he wished this could go on for longer, but he knew it couldn't last with his limited supply. He lay in bed for a while with his eyes open. As his vision adjusted to the darkness he could see the stars through his window. Struck by a strange idea, he knelt on his bed, looked out, picked a star and said:
Star light, star bright
First star I see tonight;
I wish I may, I wish I might
Have the wish I make tonight.
"I wish for my life back in pullups again.''
He knew wishing wouldn't make it so, but still it felt good to get that wish out. As he lay back down, it was like some tension had been released. Gradually sleep claimed him, and he drifted off.
It wasn't long before Riddy's dreams came. It was his birthday. He had friends around as they had pizza and played laser tag. He stood in front of his cake and blew out his candles, which formed the number "10.'' The dream shifted. He was seven years old and back at the cottage his family used to rent in the summer. He wandered into the kitchen for breakfast. His mom made a comment about changing out of his nighttime pullup before eating. There was a blur, and he was out at a creek with his dad, trying to catch a frog. The dream shifted again. He was five years old at the playplace at Mr. Burger, climbing through the tunnels and diving into the ballpit. He laughed and played with a blue skunk there. It shifted once more. Riddy was standing in the back yard, three years old, jumping and stomping his feet as he watched the red lights in his shoes blink. The dream faded away from there.
Riddy woke and stretched in his bed. He found himself buried and partially tangled in his sheets, something which hadn't happened in a while. As he shifted, he felt the familiar squishy thickness. His thoughts started racing. He had wet the pullup he put on last night! On the one hand, he was excited; he still apparently needed his pullups and could keep on wearing them. At the same time he wondered on the coincidence of how he just happened to wet again the night he put a pullup on. A bigger concern was letting his parents know about this. He imagined they would be disappointed that he hadn't kicked his bedwetting issues. Worse still, he would have to explain to them why he had been wearing a pullup. All these thoughts had taken place in the time it took for him to untangle his sheets and push himself into a sitting position.
But as he sat up, he realized his room was completely different. Not only did it appear bigger, but the curtains, the toys and books on the shelves, and even his bedsheets looked more appropriate for a preschooler than a middle schooler. The sheets, which now looked huge as well, had a WonderWolf motif. A familiar-looking stuffed dog that appeared almost half as big as he was lay in the corner of his bed. All this drove Riddy to take stock of his own body; his arms, legs, and fingers had become stubbier, and his fur was softer. Then he threw back his sheets. The boxers were gone, so all he had on his lower half was a pullup. But instead of a DryJam it was a pair of Tug-Ups nighttime training pants, showing Ziggy from PowerPups curled up asleep. Only a faint smudge remained of the fade-when-wet design. He pressed on the pullup a bit. It was quite wet; soaked even. The only other thing Riddy had on was a blue t-shirt also featuring Ziggy.
Riddy felt a mix of fear and excitement. Of course, suddenly regressing into a little kid would worry just about anyone. He worried about losing the independence he had as a 12-year-old, and losing access to big kid privileges and activities. He also didn't know exactly how old he was. How much of a toddler treatment would he be getting? Would he have to eat baby food? But on the other hand, his wish had come true! He had shrunk down to an age where it would be much more normal to still be in pullups at night. And, however young he was now, it seemed he would be in them for quite a while yet.
The now-little fox slid out of bed, feeling the familiar weight of a sodden pullup as he stood. He set about exploring his room. The books on the shelf all seemed aimed at younger kids. Most had cutesy pictures on the front. Flipping through, they were all picture books with, at most, a few lines of text on each page telling simple stories. One book, The Blueberry Snatcher had no words at all and told the story through pictures alone. Some books were educational, teaching about numbers, letters, or simple lessons about nature. Riddy found that he could still read at least, and was thankful for that.
He turned his attention to another shelf, this one full of toys. A few larger toys and boxes stood on their own, while smaller ones were sorted into colorful bins that could slide out. Different bins had plastic dinosaurs, animals, toy cars, and a buildable wooden train set. Standing on their own were play sets that included furs in various jobs. He actually remembered having some of these toys when he was younger. Riddy pulled out the train set and started assembling the track segments. With a little work he managed to build a closed loop several feet across. Soon he was occupied with running the train back and forth along the tracks as he sat on the floor, pretending he was the conductor and making train noises. At one point he changed the track to add a turntable. And then "Oh no, it derailed!'' followed by crashing noises.
After some time, Riddy couldn't say how much, there was a gentle knock at his bedroom door and his mom entered the room.
"Oh good morning. I thought I heard someone playing in here,'' she said.
Riddy turned to her. "Good morning, Mommy.'' Mommy? Riddy thought. Where did that come from?
"Do you remember what day it is?'' she asked warmly?
"What day is it?'' Riddy asked, back, his ears perking up.
"Why, it's your half birthday, silly. You're three-and-a-half today!''
"Oh wow!'' Part of this was real enthusiasm, since he finally had the answer to how old he was. "Is Daddy gonna be here for it?''
"He'll be home from work later,'' Liz replied. "Now, cutie pie, it's time to get ready. Let me see your pullup,'' Riddy's mom said in a soft but authoritative tone.
"Yes, mommy.'' Riddy trotted over to her as she knelt down.
"Oh, you did a number on this one,'' she gently teased him. "Let's get you changed.''
She walked with him over to his dresser and opened the bottom drawer. There was no underwear in there; just packages of Tug-Ups, some meant for night like the one he was wearing, as well as regular ones. Riddy felt a bit of excitement. He was in pullups full-time, just like the kid in that commercial!
"Now, get that wet pullup off your butt,'' his mom said playfully.
Riddy was embarrassed about getting undressed in front of his mom like this, but he complied, undoing the tail tape and tugging down on the waistband until the training pants slid to the floor with a plop. Liz fished a daytime pullup, this one featuring Bash, a different PowerPups character, out of an open bag and a box of wet wipes that had been stashed behind it. She wiped him clean and then offered the fresh pullup for him to step into,. He stepped in and pulled it up to his waist. Liz then helped fasten the tail tape.
"Oh, there's my big boy.'' She ruffled his headfur, eliciting a blush. "Now let's get you dressed.'' She pulled a pair of elastic waistband shorts and a t-shirt decorated with a cartoon stegosaurus from the dresser. Riddy stared at the childish garb for a moment before putting it on. He went over to admire himself in the mirror. It was still a bit hard to believe that was him. He truly looked the three-year-old (well, three-and-a-half-year-old) he had become.
"You like that shirt? It's cool isn't it?'' his mother said behind him.
"Yes. I like it.''
"Now, before we go downstairs, do you have to go potty?''
Riddy was just about to say "no'' when he realized, he did have to go. He was somewhat startled that he hadn't noticed until asked. He realized that without this reminder, he might not have noticed until it was too late. So his honest reply came "yes.''
"Okay, go on then.''
He half ran to the bathroom and closed the door. The toilet before him was now, proportionately, much bigger. Trying to use it standing up might be problematic. So he pulled himself up with the aid of a stepstool, pulled down his pants and pullup, and did a sitting tinkle. As he pulled his pullup back on, he realized he felt just like the little kid in the commercial. He washed his hands and his mother congratulated him on both accomplishments, calling him a "big boy.'' He legitimately felt the praise, but there was also an odd feeling now that using the toilet was considered an accomplishment.
He headed down to breakfast where his mom poured him a bowl of cereal, mixing sugar puffs with shredded wheat for a combination that wasn't too sweet. He ate quietly, idly swinging his legs which were now too short to reach the floor from the chair. As he finished he asked, "Mommy, can I go outside?''
"Sure, honey,'' she replied. "Just stay in the yard. I thought I would do some gardening anyway.''
They put on their sandals to go outside and Liz put on a straw hat. Riddy accompanied her to the garage where she retrieved some gardening tools and seeds. Back in the yard Riddy looked around and spotted his sandbox from days of yore, complete with toy trucks, shovels, and buckets. He ran over and started looking over these familiar toys. He settled on a dump truck and shovel. Pretending his arm was an excavator, he started to load sand into the back of the dump truck, making machine noises as he did. Once it was full, he wheeled the dump truck to the other side of the sand box, sounding out the engine and backup beeper. Then he dumped the sand out, wheeled the truck back, and repeated the process. He went on like this for a bit, completely losing himself in the simple little game. Without even fully realizing it, he had moved about half the sand in the sandbox.
Riddy suddenly came back to reality when he realized he was peeing. He felt it spreading through his pullup. He paused in his play, but was unable to stop his bladder from emptying. He hadn't even felt the need to go, or at least he had been so preoccupied that he didn't notice. Strangely, though it wasn't that upsetting. Something about it just felt normal. For a moment he considered telling his mom and asking for a change, but he decided to let it slide and keep playing. Having broken out of his rhythm with the sand, though, Riddy decided on a different game. He crawled across the lawn to make the dump truck race a bulldozer across the lawn, making racing engine noises.
Once again, Riddy had lost complete track of time until his mom called to him, telling him it was time for some water and maybe a snack. As Riddy stood up, his mom looked him over.
"Oh, look at those grass stains. I'll have to wash those pants. Come on, let's go inside'' she said cheerfully. He followed her inside and she had him take off his shorts.
"While we're in, do you have to go potty?'' she asked.
"No.'' Riddy shook his head.
"Did you keep your pullup dry?''
Riddy looked down at his pullup, remembering his accident. The paw icon that had been there earlier had faded. "No.'' He looked back up. "I'm sorry, mommy.''
"That's okay. I know you'll get it some day. Just try to pay attention next time, okay?''
"I'll try.'' He pepped up.
"Now,'' his mom said, "let's get you a new pullup.''
They headed back up to Riddy's room, where his mom opened his drawer and pulled out the wet wipes and another fresh pullup. Once more, Riddy removed the wet one and his mom gave him another wipe down. Riddy still felt a bit embarrassed, though not as much as before. There was once again something soothing as he pulled up his new pullup and fastened the tail tape with his mom's help.
His mom then took his dirty pants and put them over the edge of his hamper. "I think it's about time you get your wash done anyway. Think you can stay out of trouble while you play by yourself?''
"Uh uh!'' He nodded.
She carried the hamper out of the room, leaving the young fox on his own. Only then did it occur to him that she had not given him a new pair of pants. For a moment he thought about getting a pair of shorts out of the drawer himself. But then he saw himself in the mirror, standing there in just a dinosaur t-shirt and pullup. He liked the image; he looked like the kid from that commercial, like a true three-year-old. He wanted nothing more, in this moment, than to stay like this. A big grin grew on his face and he dashed over to pick out the toys for his next game.
