From Shackles to Diapers

Stories Board Member Stories
#1

--Prologue--

“Case number 113498976, please approach gate 6,” a booming voice came over the speakers. I stood, my shackles shaking as i waddled towards the correct gate. A guard approached and did a quick pat down, then opened the door to the courtroom. It was just like in the tv shows, large and official looking, but dated. I was pushed towards a chair and was sat next to a sweaty man in his late fifties, wearing an old, ill fitting suit. ‘Looks like they went all out for my attorney’ I thought.

The Judge walked up and and banged his gavel and the room fell silent, “Please be seated, Mr. Veroa vs The City of Houston, everybody seems to be here, lets begin,” he barked out. I sighed, looking around the room I was looking out at a bunch of official looking men and women giving me an angry look. I looked at the sodden carpet and zoned out for most of the time, I was in the wrong, I knew that, but I was hoping for a reduced sentence, or a sympathetic vote from the jury acquitting me.

Several people took the stand, a security officer in a sling and a cop with a broken nose were there the longest. I didn’t need to listen, I knew what they were saying, that I was a dangerous, violent homeless man who posed a threat to society and should be made an example of. I started to think of prison. It was where I would inevitably be. The cell here would be luxury compared to what a state prison would be.

I was thrown out of my thoughts when my lawyer elbowed me softly, “I’m sorry, what was the question?” I asked the Judge. “Do you want to give your side?” he asked with an annoyed look on his face.

“Yes sir, I would,” I stood up and walked to the stand. The chair was heavy wood and uncomfortable. “On January 12th, I took food that was not mine from the store. I ran from their security, and pushed a cop at the exit leaving the unpaid merchandise outside the door. I then ran from the police and was caught later. I did try to resist arrest and I did state that I would make sure the arresting officer got what was coming for him, but it was in the heat of the moment, and I was not intending to follow up with the threat, I was just upset.” I finished looking around the room. There were a lot of shocked faces, angry faces, some I couldn’t read, but I hoped that since I gave an honest testimony, they’d be more forgiving.

“Alright, please return to your seat sir,” he directed at me then turned towards the lawyers, “any other witnesses?” he asked. Both my lawyer and the opposing lawyer just shook their heads and the lawyer banged his gavel, “Jury will meet and decide the fate of Mr. Veroa and this case will resume when they’re ready” I was once again pushed around and back into the cell I was already acquainted with.

It felt like a long while before the officer returned, but definitely not enough time for the jury to be ready. “Up.” was all he said as I was once again pushed into the courtroom. My lawyer had ketchup on his suit and looked like he was already looking forward to his next meal, not even acknowledging my existence. “Jury have you made your decision?” the Judge queried. A lady in the closest seat to the Judge stood up with a paper in her hand. “Yes your Honor, we the Jury find the Defendant, George Veroa, guilty on all counts and recommend the maximum sentence of 10 years in addition to his pending charges in prison.”

The room was spinning. What had just happened? I pinched myself, ‘Ow’ i was unfortunately awake. I wasn’t listening to what was going on in the room, I was pushed back out and into my cell. I could spend my life in jail?

“George!” I snapped my head to the voice. The Judge was standing there, his usual annoyed look was once again staring at me. “I’m sorry, it’s just a lot to take in,” I gave a half smile more for myself than him. “I’m able to give you an option, we’re doing a new program, and I feel you would be a good candidate for it. I gave you the option in the courtroom and you didn’t respond, so I figured you were thinking about it.” He signaled the guard over and he opened the cell. He walked in and the guard locked it behind him. “Listen,” he says as he sits on the bench next to me, “This program will get you out of a prison, but it is a prison of itself. I am not able to get you any details, as that’s a part of the program, the surprise element anyways. It is part of a new program the state is trying to alleviate the inmate population. With your other pending charges, you’re looking at a lot of hard time, and I for one don’t think prison is gonna ‘reform’ ya for the better.” He pauses and hands me a piece of gum.

“You’re not a bad guy, you’ve had some bad luck, made some wrong decisions, but you’re smart, and that’s why I’m giving you an option, instead of just throwing you in some jail to rot. This is the best of a bad situation. You’re 24, George, you shouldn’t be in a cement 10 foot by 10 foot room for eternity. Please let me help you.” His eyes were caring, ‘he doesn’t seem to be fibbing, but what does he mean, not a prison, but still a sort of prison’ I pondered for less than ten seconds before saying, “How is it not a prison?” I figured he would just ask for a yes or no, but he gave an actual response. “You won’t be in a prison, jail, or anything like that, there’s no manual labor or prison guards, it’ll be some… partial freedom.” He flashed a quick smile and stood up. “Well?” I looked at him, stood and offered my hand. “I’m in. Thank you sir,” I said as we shook on it.

#2

Interesting beginning! It’s good premise

#3

Thanks, I wanted to try an original concept, and I think this is the one I came up with that had the most potential. <3

#4

- - Chapter 1 - -

I woke with a daze in my head, and my eyes blinded by bright white fluorescent lights. I could hear what sounded like traffic in the near distance. A familiar, if not beloved sound. It not only meant I was near society, but that I was in the hum of the city, my city. But where? I sat up, only to find my hands and legs restrained to the bed posts. ‘Right, I’m still fucked.’ I thought to myself. My orange jumpsuit had been replaced with a white, long sleeve top, and white sweatpants.

“Good morning,” said a sweet feminine voice. I jumped, not seeing or hearing her prior to this. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. I’m Jeanne Claude, your case manager for the duration of your stay here. I’m going to unlock your hands, don’t try anything, okay?” she said as she sauntered over to the bed from above my headboard. “No problem,” I said with a dry throat, “I don’t want to go to jail, so trust me, I’ll be on my best behavior.” I said with a chuckle. She cracked a smile as the cuff clicked open and handed me a glass of water.

I drank as she wandered back to her chair and came back producing a document and a pen. “I need you to fill these out and I trust you aren’t gonna use that pen for evil.” she said with a wink, exchanging the glass for the paper and pen. A few items were already filled out and I skipped ahead to the first available prompt:

Name: George Paul Veroa

DOB: 04/20/1995

Reason for Departure: Refer to Case number 113498976 HPD

Next of Kin: None

Duration of Stay: Life

Allergies: No known allergies

Medical Conditions: Doctor will inspect upon boarding

Height: 5 Foot 9 inches

Weight: 190 Lbs.

I signed the bottom of the form, along with 3 other blank forms and held the form up for Jeanne to take back, “is that it? It doesn’t seem like a lot of information.” She took the forms and smiled, “The rest of your forms are already filled out due to your… situation. I’m required to cuff you back until your exams are due. Arms up please.” I complied and made her job easy. No use in putting up a fight if I’m being given a favor. “Where is this place? Where am I going?” I asked looking forward. “I am unfortunately not able to say anything more than a better place than you would have been sent to. Trust me.” She added emphasis to the last words. ‘Why the mystery?’ Jeanne bustled out the door and I listened to the traffic, so distant, yet so close, pulsing like a heartbeat of the city.

I laid in the bed for a few hours, mostly in my head, but trying to decipher the riddle these people were giving me. ‘Where the hell am I going!’ I was getting frustrated in my thoughts. Just then a different nurse opened the door and wheeled in a wheelchair. He assisted me in getting me in, and making chitchat all the while. I learned his name was Michael, but other than that it was just normal conversation. I mainly just listened as he navigated the blank white corridors. We finally ended our adventure in a room with normal dentistry materials. Michael and I again did the dance of securing me to the chair. I was looking at the posters when a sharp jab went into my arm. As I whipped my head to see what happened, Michael was disposing of a syringe in the hazmat bin. “You fucking as…” I started before my vision faded to darkness.

“Mr. Veroa, you there?” a voice called out. My eyes were heavy and struggled to open. When they finally opened and adjusted to the brilliant white lights, I saw Michael standing next to me. “Hello! Sorry about that, you have had a violent past, and we needed to make sure you didn’t bite your dentist. You have a couple issues that we will need to get corrected enroute, but other than that you’re ready!” He said with a smile. “Whatever,” I replied, ‘how long is this goddamn trip that they’ll have all this done?!’ I pondered. “When do we leave?” I asked, hoping for a few days to rest, the bed was comfy, and not having to do menial tasks was nice. “In two hours, but we need to get you prepped to go.” He tossed a medical looking outfit at me, and continued, “put that on and knock twice on your door.” he stated as he waltzed out and slammed the door. “My cuffs…” I trailed off as I realized I had free motion again.

I quickly stripped and redressed, then gave two solid braps on the steel door and waited back. A security officer swung it open and stood by the door. “Umm, where should I place the sweats?” I asked him. “Toss them on the bed and let’s go,” he said firmly. I followed orders and stood just outside the door. “All the way down the hall, last door on your left,” he pushed my back as he finished his sentence. I didn’t say anything, holding back my tongue in fear of what I might say. Instead I just moved at a swift pace and kept moving. The hallway seemed to stretch for over a mile, but took 5 minutes to traverse. The guard unlocked the door and ushered me through locking it once I crossed the threshold.

The lights were once again brilliant, but the glossy white walls and scuffles white tiles amplified the rooms’ brilliance tenfold. The room was segregated by a thick curtain, leaving how big the actual room was to my imagination. There were several pieces of medical equipment and chairs, monitors that were turned off, and a couple people in average medical attire moving about. I had a million thoughts racing through my mind, but Michael and Jeanne were there to break my wonderous thoughts. “Lie here George, and we’ll get you hooked up to your IV and gurney,” Jeanne said softly. I did as I was told and was quickly secured to the gurney. Michael performed the medial side of the preparation, IV, catheter, charts, etc. were all good for the departure. “Alright, George. I need you to count down from 10 for me please.” Michael said with a smile. I saw another syringe in his hand. “Ten, nine, eight, seve…” and the world faded to black.

#5

That’s a really harsh sentence for one count of robbery! But anyway, like the set up, can’t wait to see where this goes.

Why does the writing look like that? Was this copied and pasted from another site?

#6

If I had to guess, I’d say it was written in Google Docs. That has a really bad habit of formatting everything as bold.

#7

makes sense

#8

It is brought over from google docs, I’ll edit it when I post the next part soon!

#9

Thanks for the chapters so far, though I agree that is quite a harsh sentence for stealing food and assaulting someone.

#10

It’s a good start for a story and I concur with the other posters. twenty five years for a mere robbery and assault?

#11

I made an edit, to hopefully fix some issues, sorry for the delayed posts, its been a rough year, as I’ve returned to college and have been sick more this year than i have in the last decade! Hopefully adding the next chapter soon! I do read all the comments, any and all constructive criticism is appreciated, as I am new to this style of writing :slight_smile:

#12

--Chapter 2--

“Taylor…” a voice called out. I opened my eyes briefly, but the lights were too harsh, and quickly shut them, bringing my arms up to rub the sleep from my eyes. Only, my arms were bound, this time I found they weren’t bound in the cold, metal, cuffs I had been in, but a warm, cotton fabric. A solid hand wiped my face with a damp towel as the lights were dimmed, “is that better?” a voice sang out. I tried opening my eyes, blinking them into focus. As the fog lifted from my vision, I made out a woman standing over me, smiling. “What the…” I couldn’t find the words, “fudge.” I finished with the only word that came to my mind.

“Hi there,” I looked around trying to find where I was. The lady blocked a bit of the view, but I could make out a massive room, painted in a light blue, with a yellow patterned chair rail wallpaper. There were framed pictures I couldn’t place, and some light colored wood furniture. I looked back at the smiling lady. She was pretty, in a way that was hard for me to state, but there was something off. She wasn’t hot, just pretty, with long cinnamon colored hair, and plain face. She was average build, and it took a few seconds to realize what I was missing. She was tall, no, massive, she had to be at least twice my height. I tried to wiggle to the corner of the cell, but her arms swooped down and pulled me up. “No no no no no!” I yelled as she grappled me up to her chest.

“It’s ok hon, Momma’s got you,” she said softly while patting my back. “Wha…” I started, before I made the mistake of looking down, my feet being nearly 10 feet off the ground. I tried to grab her shirt through the cotton binding, as I’d much rather risk being in the arms of something that could crush me in an instant, than fall this far from the ground, as this giant was trying to call herself my mom. I figured that as an indication that until she realized her mistake, I’d at least not get hurt.

“I’ve got you sweetie, you’re okay,” she said with a chuckle in her voice, hugging me a bit tighter. I peeked out and saw that I hadn’t been in another cell, but a crib. A huge crib, the size of a king bed, along with some childish looking sheets and a stuffed animal I couldn’t immediately place. She smelled nice, not overly perfumed, but she had a nice homely smell to her as well. I tried to ignore the bobbing and tucked my head into her, fearing a fall, or what she could do to me if I were to piss her off.

“Oh, is someone finally up?” I heard a male voice from behind me. “He’s a bit scared, so I kept him swaddled,” she replied in a hushed tone. “Here,” he started as I heard a shuffle, “let’s get him in his chair and see if he wants to talk.” I felt his huge hands grab my torso, and quickly set me down as he removed the cloth wrap, before clipping a belt around my waist.

“Where the frick am I?” I said spitefully. I was pissed, terrified and confused, the massive people and furniture, along with their words made no sense. Giants definitely did not exist, that I was pretty sure of, as it would be pretty easy to spot them in crowds. The couple standing in front of me were easily tall enough to pass for statues, standing at least a dozen feet above me.

“Woah, sport, calm down.” said the man squatting on his knees so we were nearly face to face. He looked tidy, clean shaven with a nice haircut. He looked to be in his mid-thirties, and had the ‘I’m the cool, trendy grown-up that knows the current trends’. “You’re in your new home,” he said, putting his arm up to present the room like a magician that performed an impressive trick.

“Okay… and why are you the biggest creatures I have ever seen?” I sounded uneasier than I meant, but it was still sincere. “We’re your new Bigs,” the woman replied from my side, depositing a cup of water, “and you’re our new Little.” She sounded so matter-of-factly, like it was obvious. She put her hands on the man’s shoulders, and rested her chin atop his head.

“What on Earth do you mean?” I was getting more frustrated, ‘obviously they are big, that’s a no brainer’ I thought to myself. “You’re in Ardenia,” smiled the lady, “and this is your new home. We are called Bigs, because, well… we are rather big,” she chuckled out, “and you’re our little, which means we adopted you to be ours.” I must have looked as confused as I was, as she continued. “Normally people come here on their own terms from your dimension to live a better life here. Where they get adopted into families, and live as a Little.”

“Woah, woah, woah. What do you mean by dimension?” I interrupted. “Our scientists discovered a way to open a portal into your dimension, but it’s an exit, not an entrance. Meaning things can go from your world to ours, but there’s currently no way back.” She paused. “Normally people are sent after an interview and deposit, but your father’s work gave him a jump in the waitlist, if we got you.” he reached up for her hand and rubbed his thumb on hers.

“So I’m not even on Earth?” I looked down as I felt tears welling up, ‘not that i would miss anything or anyone, but leaving a planet is pretty extreme’. I felt a massive finger under my chin, pushing my head to look at them. “Would you honestly want to be there, in a cage? You’d be locked up with bad people, instead of with us.” She said it like it was an obvious choice. “How do I know what it’s like here? For all I know you’re just waiting to grill me and eat me!” They laughed, hard. It took a second before they caught their breath, and she started approaching me. “NO! Don’t touch me!” I yelled trying to get as far into the chair as I could. She froze, wide eyed.

“We’re not going to hurt you Taylor,” she backed up again, “We realize this is not the easiest transition, but do you really take us as Little eaters?” I remained stiff and quiet. “If that were the case, why would we have bought all this stuff for you? You’ve been out for well over a week, why would we take care of you and wait if all we wanted to do was hurt you sweetie?”

“My name isn’t Taylor.” I said. I couldn’t just answer that I didn’t know why they did all they said they had done, nor could I prove they were lying. “We changed it, we wanted to leave the bad behind you, and felt that starting from scratch was the best option. We could have erased your past, and Jack thought that wouldn’t be right, and I agreed. I wouldn’t want to forget my past, it makes you who you are.” She slowly inched her way towards me. I didn’t fight it this time. She unbuckled the belt, and picked me up with ease, heading to a sofa, and sat me on her lap while the guy followed behind, bringing a sippy cup, holding it while he sat on the other side, looking at the woman calling herself my mother.

“Why do you keep calling yourself Mom?” I asked. She looked puzzled, and looked at her husband, at least that is what I had to assume. “That’s the Big and Little dynamic,” he smiled, “ I know you didn’t know what you were signing up for, that was made clear from the beginning, but your Mother and I are your new parents. We are gonna take it slow to ease you into it, but if you feel the need, we can take a timeout to discuss, like what we’re doing now. Some things are not up for debate though.” I had no response. What was there to say? If I ran, they’d catch me before I could scream stop, and how could I refuse, saying no did not seem at all like a response they would take for everything. On top of all that they were impossibly strong!

“What things are not up for debate?” I asked as calmly as I could muster. “Well, your medicine, your doctors say you need another few days before the pain should be tolerable.” She started, “nap times are going to be necessary as your body isn’t used to our days. You’ll be on a liquid diet for a while, until your stomach is ready for real food. You will have to stay close to us in public, don’t want you getting lost out there.” She poked my belly with that last point. “And his diapers.” the man added.

“My what?”

#13

I did not anticipate a DD story here, but it makes sense. Nice start.

#14

Thank you, tried to keep it suspenseful, thank you for the compliment, it feels like its high praise from you! :smiley:

#15

Yeah, that caught me by surprise too.

It’s an interesting twist and bodes ominously for poor Taylor.

#16

I’m glad it was a surprise, sorry it took 6 months to get there lol! We shall see what the future holds for him!

#17

--Chapter 3--

“All Littles wear diapers silly,” she said, scraping her nails along my back, bringing forth an involuntary shudder. The fact she said it with such knowhow, like it was as obvious as the sun being bright. I realize I never had the chance to look at myself, too terrified and fascinated with the world I’d been thrown in. I looked down at myself, finding a thick diaper secured around my waist, with a print of a childish cartoon printed on it.That wasn’t the only surprising find, as the hair on my legs and arms was replaced with thin blonde hairs. “What the heck,” I said in mostly disbelief. “I can control my functions, you know!”

“We got a funny little, didn’t we Jack!” She giggled out. I tried to wiggle out of her lap,scooching only a few inches before she pulled me back in. “Gah! And what is wrong with my words? Why can’t I say what i want?!” I could feel the anger starting to boil over in me, growing tired of them not giving a straight answer. “Littles don’t need all the words they once knew, so we opted to have the bad words not trouble you,” Jack stated, “along with some other issues we didn’t want you to suffer with.” He said it proudly, as if he himself had to carry this burden like a sack of rocks to the tallest peak.

“Pause!” I said, rubbing my temples. They both froze, not sure what to do. “Can you let me down, please,” I don’t think I could sound more exasperated if I tried. She gently put me down, staying seated in her spot. I paced for a minute, trying to make sure I phrased my questions. The diaper, crinkling with every step, drawing my focus and frustrations. “I don’t need this.” I said pointing at the diaper.
“We know you want to feel some control, but we don’t want you staining the furniture sweetie.” She wasn’t sounding chipper, or like I was dumb. She was serious. ‘Forget it, I am getting nowhere, way too fast with this’ I thought to myself. “Jack,” I pointed at the man, “and you are?” I asked the woman. “Mom,” she laughed,”I’m Anette, but we’d prefer it if you called us Mom and Dad. Other Bigs will find it strange to hear a Little call us by our first names.” I smiled, not at the statement, but that I was finally getting answers!

“How long have I been out?” I asked as I sat down, my body getting tired. “You’ve been here for a little over a week, but you arrived in Ardenia nearly a month ago, you had some procedures that needed to get done, and to let your vaccinations start to kick in.” Jack stated. ‘So its… I don’t even know when I left’

It was silent for a few minutes, I sat along the opposite wall of the two colossals, trying to think. “Would you like a drink?” Jack broke the silence, extending the sippy cup as far as he could, without leaving the couch. I was thirsty, and the stupid sippy cup was better than the thirst I was feeling. I leapt for the cup, trying to twist it open. After a few failed attempts, I submitted to the fate of this loss, tasting the humiliation mixed with the sweet ambrosia of what tasted like caramel and vanilla. It only took half a moment to down the contents, feeling warm and a little more at ease.“Feeling better?” Jack asked with a smile, I nodded, “Thanks,” I handed him the cup and he headed to the kitchen.

“Do you want to see your room?” Anette asked. “Yeah,” I started standing up, when I felt her hands starting to pull me up. “Um, can I walk please?” I tried to hide the annoyance from my voice. “Oh, the stairs are a little scary, are you sure?” she asked as she set me down. “I can do it, I kinda want to stretch my legs.” It was the best excuse I could come up with. I mean, who would want to be picked up all the time?

The stairs were tall. I had to pull myself over each ledge, Anette looking worried, getting ready to catch me at any second. I crawled over the last step out of breath, pushing myself out of the way so Anette could come up securing the locking gate behind her.

“You okay?” she squatted next to me, “I’m good… just tired” I panted out. I stood up, quickly sliding away from the railing. “Would it be okay to hold your hand?” She asked, reaching down, and I obliged, as she let me climb the stairs alone, plus she looked a little sad.

She opened the first door on the right, showing the room I had a brief look at earlier in the day. In one corner there was a rocking chair, in front of it was a green patterned rug. There was a chest, some plushies, and a bookshelf on the opposite side of the room from the crib, adorned with some books I recognized, but most I didn’t. In the center of the room was a plastic table and two chunky plastic chairs, covered in art supplies. Next to the crib was a tall cabinet, with a pad atop it, matching the color scheme of the other furniture in the room.

“Whaddya think?” Anette broke the silence, ‘what does she want me to say? Thanks for the baby stuff, it looks superb!?’ “It’s huge,” I finally manage, “thanks.” She seemed to know I wasn’t enthusiastic, “give it a chance,” she knelt down next to me, holding my shoulders, “I know it is a big change, but I promise, we only want you to be happy.” She examined my face before speaking again, “want to watch a movie with us?” I continued staring at the ground, “actually, can I just take a nap?” I really just wanted to think and be by myself for a while. “Of course,” she empathized as she lifted me into my new wooden prison.

#18

Could use a paragraph break after this - not just convention to start a new one for each speaker, I initially read her words as coming from him.

I’m also confused by

typo - leapt

This is another instance where the formatting/paragraphs meant I had to stop and work out who was asking to hold hands.

The characters are credible (within the story context) and the dialogue works and the reactions are appropriate, so there’s nothing wrong with the story itself. Just the flow of the text getting in the way of readability.

1 Like
#19

Thanks! I made some quick edits, gonna give this a more thorough read-through when I get the time. Let me know if there’s any other issues I can correct :smile:

#20

Quick chapter update!

--Chapter 4--

I waited a few minutes, listening to make sure neither of them were coming to check on me before I sat in a corner of the crib. Then, something I hadn’t felt in years, a tightness in the chest and throat, bringing tears, then quickly turning into a quiet sob. Not a cry of sadness, but all the new overwhelming feelings, humiliation, fear, newness, and tiredness all wreaking havoc on my emotions.

I hated everything about this, the diapers, the being talked down to, the crazy Amazonian-like giants of Greek mythology, massive surroundings and the suddenness of it all were too much to keep bottled up. I hadn’t shed a tear in years, not since my Dad kicked me out. Now here I was, sobbing like the infant they thought I was. I buried my face in the pillow, until sleep took over.

I woke up to a warm cloth rubbing my face. The room was dark, aside from the dim glow of a night light. “Hey buddy, feeling better?” Jacks’ hushed voice asked. I just nodded, my head hurt, but I just wanted to be alone again. “I brought you something to drink if you want,” he offered another sippy cup. My stomach rumbled at the sound, giving me away.

“Thanks,” I said quietly and took the drink from him. This drink was different than the first, it tasted more like heavy cream with a vanilla aftertaste. The warm drink quickly filled my stomach, spreading the warmth through my limbs, then to my head. I felt a hand rest on the front of the diaper I was wearing, but I was too infatuated with my drink to protest.

“Hmm, you’re still dry, hopefully this helps.” Jack said to himself. He kneeled down, watching me finish the drink, smiling. With the last few sips, the warm feeling radiated through my body, providing a happiness I wanted to bask in forever.

“Guess you like that, huh?” He asked as he brushed my cheek. I didn’t reply, lost in the bliss the drink brought to me. “Sleep well buddy, see you in the morning,” he whispered as he stood up and walked out of the room. I tried to focus on the warm, tingly feeling coursing through me, it was like nothing I’d ever felt before, and I wanted to try to make it last as long as possible. Though sleep quickly won that fight and I drifted into a warm cozy restful slumber.