Dark Terrors and Desperation in Diapers (private)

[Rye]

"Maybe you're right , haven't seen a single farm hand though. That's weird too" he said , having the distinctive feeling he was going a little crazy and seeing things and trying to cover his madness with plausible explanations "de ja vu maybe , thought I saw it but haven't. A simple explanation is often the right one" he said confidently as he moved further and further away from them. He followed at her heel , not really complaining at being called like a dog , as long as he was away from those things. It was better under the trees , humid but at least the sun wasn't upping the temperature as much as if they were out of cover.

[R682]

Hayley surged ahead, bringing her brother with her. The orchard and the paradise beyond was ahead, and the darkness and threat behind. She wanted to be out of this hinterland and towards a place of relative safety and security. After all, once they were in the water, what could get them there? It wasn't sharks that they were worried about, after all.

Already, the softer greener grass was underfoot, promising more pleasant conditions ahead. She began to take comfort in Luke's own rationalisations, once again beginning to convince herself that her imaginings had all been in her head, and able to relax a little and look forward to the day.

"Where do you want to change?" she asked Luke, as the edge of the woodlands came into view. Here might be the last shelter before the lake bank, though it was still a little way to walk. If they planned to be uninhibited, perhaps they did ought to just change on the shores. Though if that were the case, why bother with swimming costumes at all?

[Rye]

Luke scuttled after her as she went though the wooded area ,following the water and listening to it's fain musical trickle as he went. As they hit the grass he breathed a sigh , thankful to be away from the brooding atmosphere of the scarecrows. "Well we can change here , not like anyone can see us. Now that you mention it , we haven;t see anyone really apart from grandma and the shopkeep. Shouldn't there be farm hands or something?" he said shrugging , hardly the least of their fears sitting just behind their concious thought.

They soon came to the shore front. It still looked just as clean and pretty as last time. So peaceful and tranquil. He folded his towel over a low baring branch and started to drip out of his clothes. The humidity made them stick so it was a effort to get them off. He laid them on the ground in the sunlight to dry off and changed into his bathing suit "So, any other ideas on what we should do?" he asked as he sat by the banks waiting for his sister to change.

[R682]

Hayley glanced towards the fields, noting that Luke's observation was an interesting thought. She'd assumed their grandmother lived here by herself, and the 'farm' such as it was must be largely abandoned. But the surrounding area seemed surprisingly well kept and productive to be the work of one old lady.

"Perhaps it's the scarecrows who do it," she mused wryly, almost to herself, though not without a genuine shudder at the thought. There was definitely something strange about all this; though the logical part of her brain still insisted there must be some rational explanation. Maybe any farm hands only came in when it was time to plant or harvest; or maybe the process was all heavily automated, and their grandmother simply had access to a whole range of machinery to amplify her farming efforts.

Hayley was surprised to note that Luke was already changed by the time her thoughts had run this course; unnoticed, in response to her earlier suggestion, even as she'd stared out to the distance for a moment and let her mind wander. Hurriedly, she stepped out of her shoes and made to follow suit, glancing quickly around them one last time before beginning to undress, and opening up her rucksack to extract the swimming costume. It took her longer than Luke, given she had to squeeze her way into a one-piece female version of his much simpler costume. Boys had everything easier. It felt very strange to be naked out here, and hopping on one foot as she tried to feed the other through the tight garment. She put a hand on Luke's shoulder to steady herself as she did so, smiling at how he still felt the need to look away from her nudity; the one person with whom she really didn't care in the slightest.

"Well, let's see what the potential is here first," Hayley prompted, rolling her eyes at Luke already leaping ahead to the next thing. She was sure exploring the fields held some potential; but personally, she simply had to get this out of her system, first. "Just look at that rock, and that waterfall! Who knows what secrets they might hide, once we get over there!" The good kind, for once, surely. Not to mention what fun they might have, simply climbing up, exploring around and jumping off. Never mind the pristine clear beauty of the water itself; no fear of overheating today, once they were in there.

Maternally, however, once her changing was complete Hayley clucked around collecting both their shed clothes, rather than wading straight in, however much the water called to her.

"And you ought to try and water that tree, first," she directed her brother bossily; taking him by the shoulders and turning him towards it before either of them got into the crystalline water. She wasn't the only one here with occasional bladder issues, after all. "I don't want you despoiling this beautiful lake as soon as we get in, you know."

Was she, perhaps, secretly, a little disappointed that their grandmother hadn't put the boy in diapers full time? That would have made swimming difficult. Not to mention, Hayley had to remind herself, if she had, the way things had played out, Hayley herself would probably be in one by now. Or was she, actually, a little disappointed about that, too?

[Rye]

Luck smirked a little "next you'll be saying they'll change our diapers. They're just straw and rotted veg. They cant do work. We just probably don't see any of them." he said , not thinking anything of it. Now firmly on the denial side of things. The blond looked away for her and to give her some level of privacy , they might be brother and sister but they both still had their modesty and Luke was quickly regenerating his pride after his childish nightmares last night. "true , but I think we should stay on this side of the waterfall for now. I mean I don;t want to go wandering about barefoot , that's how you end up with all kinds of cuts and scrapes from stepping on thorns and such, but he had to admit , it was pretty. He took a deep breath of reash air.

He rolled his eye "you're one to talk , just cause you'd pee your pants. I can hold it during the day you know" he retorted , folding his arms and huffing a little. He saw her weakness and ceased it as a defence, even if he was just as bad as her on a dark night , piddling his own pampers. He ignored her and went to the side and kind of half jumped in , making a splash and ruining the perfect reflection. He emerged a little later , his wet hair dragged down over his face, he dragged it the way and sighed , floating on his back and staring up as he was cooled back down to a reasonable temperature , the pool wasn't too cold either.

[R682]

"I prefer wandering around barefoot," Hayley sighed at her younger brother's awkwardness, setting her shoes aside decisively. "And I don't get hurt much; you just have to be careful, and not step on the thorny bits," she sighed. "But feel free to swim your shoes over, if you can. Just don't blame me if you get them wet." She nodded over to the other side of the pool, where the boulder towered beside the waterfall. "At least come and climb up on the rock, after we've had a swim."

Then she turned curiously back towards her brother at his second comment. Was that his odd little secret? How come he baffled her with his utter resilience and lack of physical needs during the whole day.

"Is that what you do?!" she asked him, quietly, as he headed towards the lake, then calling after him after he leaped. "Hold it in all day, 'till you can't help but have an accident at night?" Goodness, if that was the case, that was even more messed up than her, going every five minutes.

She picked her way daintily into the lake, ironically enough feeling her way carefully to avoid any sharp rocks, before the level was deep enough to submerge herself. Then she sighed and folded into the welcoming clear water, delighting in the fact that it was every bit as welcoming as she'd hoped. Confidently, she struck out swimming, marvelling at the perfect temperature, which cooled her beautifully without the usual icy shock of full immersion in fresh water. Perhaps it was just that the day was just that hot.

Soon enough, however, she found herself making her way across the pool towards the waterfall, attracted by it's steady activity. She wondered if she could get close enough to swim or stand up beneath it's downfall, and how deep the pool was there.

[Rye]

"I'm not , just saying don't go walking about barefoot. We've got woods all around with branches and stuff littering the ground." he said from the water "whatever ,weren't you told not to go further than the waterfall by grandma?" he asked sceptically , fairly happy in the pool here without going any further.

"What? No , that's just stupid. I mean I could , but not in this heat , maybe in winters back home and I don't want to use the school bathroom." he explained "That's not how it works and you know it. I can hold it in because I'm potty trained. I can't hold it in a night sometimes because I'm scared of the dark on occasions." he explained as he drifted along the pool.

Over at the base of the waterfall the earth had been worn away , being a little deeper there than the rest of the pool. The water hardly moved but did seem clear and interesting.

[R682]

Hayley turned back to look at her brother quizzically, treading water and momentarily distracted in her process of drifting ever closer towards the waterfall.

"You're not, what?" she demanded with a sigh, "Walking in the woods without shoes? Don't worry, nobody's asking you to." Sometimes she was exasperated by the neurotic softness of her little brother; he'd never have survived as a caveman. "But who cares what grandma says; she's not here right now, and I think it's pretty clear she doesn't exactly make sense about everything! So I at least want to climb up on that boulder, okay? Come on," she coaxed, "doesn't that look fun to jump off, at least?"

But Luke wasn't done with confounding her yet, and Hayley found that, in the security of the water she was hitting her big-sisterly stride; the confidence coming surging back through her, as if transfused into her limbs by the supporting crystal water.

"Potty trained means sometimes actually using the potty, you know," she lectured him. "Maybe I do have to go all the time..." (well, every few hours... was that really 'all the time', or more just, kind of, normal...) "but I don't think I've seen you potty even once since we got here. Well, except in your diaper, of course... and in your pants. And it's not like I wouldn't notice, what with having to go all the way to that outhouse, and all..."

Not quite sure what kind of response she expected to that, or quite what was going on with her brother, Hayley turned her attention back to the waterfall, and noticed the deepening plunge pool beneath through the clear water. The downfall seemed to somehow slide beneath the surface without even disturbing it, giving the area a strange otherworldly appearance. Abruptly transfixed, Hayley began to swim decisively towards it, only stopping once she was close enough to the sheet of falling water to lean forward and stick her head beneath, which she prepared to do, hardly listening to her brother.

[Rye]

Luke just rolled his eye and continued to swim "I care because she's the one in charge" he replied "She's old , and runs a farm , what do you expect , she doesn't even have a T.V. Last thing national she heard was we won the war with germany." he said cynically. "And shut up. I can go in the potty just fine little mrs diaper pants." he reported before flipping over and diving under like a fish so he didn't have to listen to her.

Over by the waterfall there was something under the rushing current , just visible was a grey plant of wood , or at least it looked like it, Sunken into the still sand at a right angel , it looked like there was more to it. It looked like whatever it was it would take some effort to get it out off the pool since it had it's weight , the sand all around it , and the water on top , just to make it extra heavy.

[R682]

'Mrs diaper pants'? That was rich, coming from him; though Hayley smiled grimly at the irony, rather than being too offended. Perhaps she'd touched on a sensitive issue - she knew her brother could potty, but there was still the fact that so far, she was the only one to have made it there at all, as far as she knew. Even allowing for regrettable incidents involving damp patches and flowerbeds, that still put her ahead as far as she was concerned.

Letting her feet touch the sandy bottom, Hayley surveyed the pool once again, noticing the wooden board almost immediately. She assumed that was all it was; just some driftwood that had plunged over the falls at some point, but nevertheless allowed herself to be distracted from wetting her hair under the downfall. She could dive at least as well as Luke, so there was no harm going down to have a look at whatever it was more closely. And then, maybe she could even come up and surface behind the waterfall - like swimming up into a whole other world: a secret chamber. Luke would wonder what had happened to her.

While he was still underwater, she plunged in herself, inverting her whole body and kicking her feet in the air, thrusting down towards the old grey wood, simply curious.