University X [CHAPTER 07 (26/08/2023)]

[markfrangioni]

Hello everyone, this is a new story I'm writing, picking some suggestions from a previous topic I made and of course some personal details. I want to try to do something new and try writing with Points of View characters, I want to check out if I'm capable of giving different inner voices to different personalities. I'll be starting with two, might add more in the future.
 

Some details.

1 - My stories feature Mini-Giantess and  extremely short men, so if you don't like that please feel free to ignore this thread.
2 - This story is set in a world similar to Earth but just not it, just to avoid me the struggle of being consistent with education laws of a specific country. I know nobody would care about that but I would

ENJOY!
 

NOEMI I

She couldn't believe she was finally out of that stinkhole of a place its inhabitants call a town. She was entering University, and in a large city at that! Finally no more meeting the same 3 people everyday, finally she could go dancing, she could go to the theatre, she could go to concerts, ANYTHING. Hell, if she wanted she cou- THOMPH! 
"Wa-was I hit by a truck?" Noemi wasn't a small gal. Not even for girls standards. Yes, women were indeed usually a 2 or 3  feet taller than men, but standing at 7'9 she was ESPECIALLY tall, even more so for someone who was 18. Most women don't stop growing until they are 30, but have a severe deceleration at 25; doctors have however predicted her probably not to stop before reaching 9 feet at the very least, making her one of the tallest women in the world. She looked down at the man who she hit. He was probably around her age or a bit older. It was always hard to say with men, considering their facial features don't change much after reaching the age of 20 and keep being basically the same until their late 40s. She helped him getting up, he was quite chubby and about average in height, not taller than 3'7. "I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention, I was just marveling at this place! It's huge!" he scraffled the dust away from his own body and then talked. "No worries, mate. It was my fault to pass in the women's corridor, I was kinda in a hurry and well..." "Noemi."  she said firmly, shaking his hand. "George!" "Nice to meet you George! You said a WOMEN's corridor?" "Ay! It's for men's safe to have them separated, to avoid specifically what has just happened to us ahah!" "Yes. That's correct. And you should have known better, Mister." a deep womanly voice came from behind's Noemi's shoulders. It was an older woman, probably around 28 or 30, quite short for a gal, around 6'8, but the authoritative composure, the way she was dressed, accompanied by her frowning made her look twice as large. Noemi had seen her face when online when she was applying to the University. She was one of the assistant of one of her professors. "S-sorry Mrs. Flennigan, it-it won't happen anymore." he excused himself sheepishly, looking down. "I'm sure it won't. Or else." <Quite stern.> Noemi thought, but realized that probably men had been trampled over before this ruling was established. <Poor George.> "So... I'm going to my place. See you around I guess. Try not to die?" she said as she was leaving. Why the hell did she say that!? It was so unnecessary! Well, what was done was done. She walked off throughout the immense chambers of the University. What George said was true. She noticed there were a dark red path, burgundy coloured and a baby blue one, each going to different directions, but both reaching the various classes. The burgundy one was the one that was made for women, and it was noticeable. While the classrooms were common for everyone, there was no necessity for men's roofs to be as tall as those for women, so the baby blue corridors were much less high in order to save money to construct the building. Noemi had read that many Universities were built like that ever since they started allowing both men and women studying together. She kinda wanted to sneak in into the baby blue corridor, seeing all the little guys together was kinda cute and she wanted to steal them, but it was not something you want to do on your first day. Eventually, she reached her room.

As she entered, she saw her roommate. And more. "Hey gal! Woah you're gorgeous! You must be my new sister in arms, uh? Welcome to my coven, babe! How tall are you? Woah!" this woman was already way more energetic than she expected to find, but she didn't mind. In fact, she liked it. If there was one thing that Noemi didn't like in people was unfriendliness, and at least on a surface level this woman didn't seem to have that in her. "I'm tall... a lot ahah! I'm 7'9, but I'm aiming for the stars! I'm Noemi! Nice to meet you and... your friends?" she had three men sleeping in her bed with her. All cozed up around her body, they looked like puppies trying to heat themselves up around their mama-dog. "Laura, and yeah, those are my friends. I swear nothing indecent happened here. We just were watching a film together and they fell asleep, aren't they the cutest?" "I wouldn't have minded, y'all adults and free to do what you please." "Nono, we are just friends, I swear, but hey! I feel the same!" "Good, 'cause I'm planning to get some for myself ahahah!" Noemi wasn't the shiest person herself. She wasn't a nymphomaniac by any means, but she liked having erotic activities. Especially lactation. Ever since she started lactating it had become a huge kink for her. Her breasts were immense even for someone her size, and became even more engorged now that they were filled with milk. "Won't they get mad if you take men in your room though?" "Nah, as long as you're the one carrying them around, people don't really mind. So..." Laura gently got up and tidied her friends under the sheets, making sure not to wake them up. Now that she was standing, Noemi noticed that she was pretty big herself. She was 7'3 at the very least, but also very bulky; she definitely was in a fighting sport. "Let's get out of here; I wanna show you around."

 

 

 

[Eagle0769]

Very nice start. I like this type of story. I like that you describe everyone. But not sure where they are now don't really know how to explain it I'm a little confused. :-)

[markfrangioni]

22 hours ago, Eagle0769 said:

Very nice start. I like this type of story. I like that you describe everyone. But not sure where they are now don't really know how to explain it I'm a little confused. :-)

Hi, thanks for the reply, I'm not sure what you are asking though!

[markfrangioni]

WILLIAM I

<Holy Gods, I swear those girls grow larger each year.> William found himself thinking, upon seeing the new class sitting in the room. At the age of 32, he had been a professor at University X for 5 years now, but still couldn't help but find himself feeling unnerved when talking to his female students. Thankfully, this year he had finally got enough years of teaching to be assigned an Assistant, Mrs. Katerina Flennigan, an intelligent but brutish brunette who could hopefully mediate the conversation between him and them. He felt pretty prideful teaching at University X. Not only it was the same University where he once was matriculated, it was also the first University in the world to approve the joint existence of men and women; this had its downsides, of course, since most men were afraid of teaching to people so much larger than them, he was the only teacher who was a male as of now. But whenever he felt frightened by it, he thought <This is what Merken and Glimpse dreamed of.> Sir Francis Merken and  Lady June Glimpse, his idols. They fought their whole lives against the conservative government, asserting that since there was no proof for academic differences between men and women, there should be no reason for them to be segregated from one another. They didn't live long enough to see their fight won, but their word moved the world, and eventually, their dream became a reality. That's why there's a marble statue of both of them holding hands and pointing to the sky in the entrance hall of UX. 

"Welcome students. My name is William Plotter, and I shall be your Contemporary History professor. I know for many of you this is the first class in UX and I know students need times to adapt to it, but fret not." He nodded to Katerina to move next to him before continuing. Katerina wasn't exactly the tallest woman on Earth, but William was very short too. Most men reach the height of 3'9, with some getting as tall as 4'4, but at just 3'1 William was no athlete at all, and having a woman standing next to him made him feel even smaller. "Professor Flenning. She is just as if not more capable than me, so while I'll try to be as present as possible, feel free to contact her in case I'm missing for whatever reason." 

The first lesson started and went on for two hours straight without interruptions. Every now and then he had to stop talking to drink some water, so eventually at the end of the lesson he went to the bathroom and couldn't help but to overhear the conversation happening between two women, since the walls were very thin. 

"-lly cute, right?" "He's such a puppy!" "Yeah, too bad he's married, I would have wanted to adopt him." "Are you insane?" "Why? Lots of people do that!" "That's illegal Mary! And immoral!" "I know, I was kidding, relax." 

William knew what they were talking about. Although they were just joshing around, men contraband was a very real thing. Lots of men had been reported recently been found drugged to the point of not understanding reality anymore, all for being exploited as sex slaves sold by criminal gangs to women. He was disgusted knowing some people could be so unempathetic.

[markfrangioni]

NOEMI II

She was absolutely flabbergasted by the novelty. The classrooms were not at all built as she expected them to be, as she was used to having extremely tall areas with various rows of seats going upstairs; however she had learnt that this was deemed an unfair solution for women in a joint ambient, since they were forced to be in the last rows of the class, often ruining their hearing, not to mention inevitably reducing their attention span. It was proven that when the classes were still built in the old fashioned way, women would underperform exactly because of that. 

The class she was in instead only had three rows, but was large and built similarly to a globe theatre, with the desks surrounding circularly the professor. It was kinda funny to watch, to be honest, seeing the small figure of Mr. Plotter jumping around the centre of the room, to try to talk to everyone at once; she had stood next to Mrs. Flennigan before, she is a very short woman, but looks like a Colossus when sitting next to her mentor. Noemi couldn't help herself from thinking what Professor Plotter would have felt like in her arms... she always had a thing for both cultured men and scrawny teeny tiny ones, this guy seemed to be taking both seats at her table. <Funny analogy, since he looks like he needs NO sits, except for maybe a high chair.> she found herself giggling. 

"You are?" Plotter asked inquisitvely, obviously staring at Noemi. Her laughter must have been louder than she anticipated. "I am... sorry?" the class laughed at her joke, and Mr. Plotter giggled with them. Mrs. Flennigan shook her head disappointed instead. "Well well, Mrs. Flennigan, you didn't mention we were having improve class today. Here I thought I was supposed to be teaching today!" Nevermind all she was thinking, seconds ago. Now all she could came with was <Asshole.> "Please Mrs. Sorry" <Okay funny, still an asshole though.> "Please come here and tell the rest of the class what is in particular that you find so hilarious about the Grand Marystone Lynchings." That was going to be gold. Very slowly, Noemi stood up and descended the stairs, keeping on walking very leisurely, reaching Mr. Plotter and pumping her chest. Her bosom was so vast that she couldn't see his face while standing so close, but she had no doubt his expression must have been speechless. And his astonishment wouldn't have stopped there. For the next 5 minutes, she would have kept on talking about how the anarchist David Fragger would have started a movement followed by thousands of followers based on the Men's Rights Ideology, for which many men and women were hanged alongside with him. The only thing which had stopped her was Mrs. Flennigan informing her that the time for the lesson was over. 

Once everyone was gone, only Mrs. Flennigan, Mr. Plotter were left in the room with her while she was tidying her bag. "Mrs, please come here at our desk." the assistant ordered. "You clearly are already in possetion of quite some knowledge regarding these arguments, so we understand our class might be a little boring at first for someone like yourself." the tone of her voice felt contradictory. She was being complimented, but it also sounded like an ammonition. "But this gives you no rights to interrupt the lession for everyone else." There it was, the "but". Then Mr. Plotter continued. "Look, I was a loud kid too, back when I was sitting on the other side of the desk." <You look more like a kid than I do to this day.> she would have loved to remark, but refrained from doing so. She didn't like being called "kid", she has always felt way more mature than most, and it was especially frustrating when it came from someone whose whole body was shorter than her arm. "And that's why I won't be stern about it. But some others will. You seem like a smart young woman, try not to waste it. Go ahead now." She waved and left the room, however, while she was walking to the garden where she had set a picnic with Laura and some other friends, she couldn't help but thinking about the cold stare Mrs. Flennigan was giving to Mr. Plotter while he was saying her he was not going to be a strict teacher. Was Noemi being scolded or was him?

[markfrangioni]

NOEMI III

Her first couple of weeks as a student went pretty straightforwardly, she mostly attended her lessons and tried to socialize with her classmates. Noemi enjoyed getting to know lots of people and getting acquaintance with them fast, so she decided to do something that Saturday night. Alongside with Laura they booked a table in a pub nearby, were they agreed to meet with some other people to share some time together. It was a cozy little place, focused on board games and craft beer. According to Noemi, it’s the perfect social interaction, especially for people who don’t really know each other that well, since it forces you to talk in a group, so even the shiest can have a word in the mix.

Once they arrived, it was 10 people in total, everyone was a woman, except for Jennifer had brought her boyfriend with her. It’s not like Noemi didn’t invite guys, but it’s no secret that they are not keen to go out like that in groups; there are exceptions, but they are rare. Jennifer and Johnny were a cute couple. He was a total puppy, with his large eyes, small but round frame and bushy beard, he totally reminded Noemi of a baby Yorkshire [Note from the Author: I know it doesn’t make sense for the word to be associated to a dog in this world, since the County of York doesn’t exist, but good luck describing a dog breed with a made-up name!], she was a thin yet stunning redhead with enviable long hair that curl down on the end, plump lips ad squared large glasses; contrary to most times, he was the most talkative of the two in the couple. “Yeah. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t wish there would be more boys, but I’m rather used to it. I guess that’s why I developed an outgoing personality, in a way. It’s either this or never talk to anyone, which would be boring.” During the evening, they revealed they had been a couple ever since elementary school, but regardless of that he was all night on her leg being lovey-dovey to one-another; most people might have found that irritating, but Noemi found that having such a long relationship and still being a blossoming love was a gift from the gods.

They weren’t the only people in the place, and it was rather small, so after a couple of hours the night was abruptly interrupted by some drunk woman aggressively talking to a man, while he was blocked with his back on the wall. “You know… it’s risky to get out on your own… you might have the bad luck of getting to meet someone bad… someone like me… come on, give me a kiss, sugarballs!” “Release me before I call the authorities!” the man answered in a quivering manner. He was trying his best to sound intimidating, but he was very obviously frightened. Rightfully so. Also, she recognized that voice and got up, rushing to her back and placing a hand to her shoulder. Noemi was a good head taller than this cunt, so raising her voice was sufficient to make her live. “Haven’t heard the man? He’s not interested. Get out of our sight and never come back to this place, I like it and I don’t like you.” She lowered herself to her knees and helped the boy tenderly. “Is everything alright, Professor?” “Thanks to you it is. Noemi, isn’t it? I must admit being saved by a student of mine is rather humiliating, but I am very grateful. SOMEONE ELSE should have handled the situation, but clearly they didn’t.” he didn’t specified who he was referring to, but he gave an atrocious look at the woman behind the bar. “I think I’ll help myself home, this was quite the eventful night already. Thank you again.” “I’d like to accomp-“ “Non-sense. My apartment is upstairs in this very same building, I don’t even have to leave outside to get there. I’m grateful for your help, but go ahead having fun with you and your young friends.” And with that, he left. <Peculiar guy.> she thought.

The rest of the night went pretty normally, however Noemi couldn’t really enjoyed cause she was too focused thinking on what had happened. She wondered if the reason he was here was just straight out safety. He said he was upstairs, maybe the whole reason why he chose this specific bar amongst all the others was exactly that, he didn’t need to leave so there were lesser risks to be taken. Or maybe it was just commodity by proximity. “You want to go, uh?” Laura said, while Noemi was focused on her own thoughts. “Uh? No it’s early still, and we can wake at any time we please tomorrow. Are you tired?” her blond roommate giggled. “Don’t play dumb with me with me, you know I’m not talking going home. You want to go upstairs to check on him.” “That would be a total invasion of privacy! … but yes… I would like that very much.” Laura caressed her arm gently and gave a kiss on her hand. “Those big beautiful green eyes of yours can’t lie… then just go! Worst case scenario he is not going to open the door!” “But-“ “No buts. If you don’t I’m going to hear you talking to yourself while I’m trying to sleep AAAAAAALL night.” She got up and took Noemi’s hand. “Come on, I’ll come with you.”

[dyperaby]

♥♥♥♥♥

[BabyLock]

?????

What was the story title before the change ?

If NOEMI I represents Chapter 1

And the latest update is Chapter 4 

I am not finding NOEMI IV ?

Also note that I can change the Italic font but wished that you would publish your story in the standard Daily Diaper font/format - just saying - - -

[markfrangioni]

4 hours ago, BabyLock said:

 

What was the story title before the change ?

If NOEMI I represents Chapter 1

I am not finding NOEMI IV ?

 

The title was never changed, it was and is University X. You can't find Noemi IV cause it has not been published yet.

Chapter 1 = Noemi I
Chapter 2 = William I
Chapter 3 = Noemi II
Chapter 4 = Noemi III

It's a POV type of story where the POV characters are eponymous to the title of the chapter itself.

[markfrangioni]

WIILIAM II

He was still drowning on his red leather couch, with a bottle of whiskey on his coffee table. AN OPENED bottle of whiskey. While most women require over a litre of that before even starting to get tipsy at all, the average boy would be totally wasted even just sticking his tongue in such strong booze, and William’s metabolism was rather weak even compared to most men… plus he had drink half a shot of it. He was beyond shitfaced… shitfaced and absorbed in the drunken false-intelligence, depressive state. Then, a sudden acute sound startled him. *RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING* He went for the door and opened it, two gigantic figures were standing there, but he was too drunk to understand what they even looked like, he couldn’t stop moving his own eyes, every image his eyes could conceived looked fluid… in that moment, he was seeing demons.
“E-Egads!? The Heralds of the Unspeakable Mistress, have you come to take me?” the figures looked at each other then came down to him, grabbed him and started speaking unintelligible languages. Rationally, he knew that it just was the alcohol to distort what he could hear and see, but in that very same moment, emotions took over causing him to faint.

 

He didn’t know how long it had passed, his head was spinning like crazy, but he eventually found the strength to open his eyes. He was in his room, in his bed. Had he gone there? Did he have a nightmare? Wait… there were some noises coming from his living room. Who was there?  Was he being robbed? He was too scared to get up, but he needed to know. What to do? There, his feet, were moving on their own, getting further away from his alcove. Lights were on. Careful. He was hiding beyond a wall. It was two women… Gods, his head… he wanted to vomit… they were just… sitting. Well, trying to, his apartment was cut for a man, each one of them would have needed a couch to use as a sofa. They were… yes, those two. The students, Noemi and her friend… Laura…What were they doing there? How did they enter?

“I’ll go checking on him again…” <CRAP!> She was raising, he needed to go back to this bedroom, quick. Bashing his head against the wall, he went for a goofy run to his bed, covering himself back with the sheet and pretending to sleep. Steps, approaching him. Then a second pair. Then he could feel an enormous finger caressing his right cheek. Everything was moving too fast. He was still hungover. “I think his fever is lowering.” It was Laura’s voice, she was whispering. “Then I think we should wake him up and give him some medicine or something…” He needed to act at that point. He wasn’t a child. “I’m… I’m awake. What are you two doing in my house!?” “Professor... you don’t remember don’t you? We came earlier and you fainted on the floor. Why did you drink so much!? You know boys can’t handle alco-“ “If I want to poison myself to death within the walls of my own apartment, I am allowed to do so, now.” Noemi was too young to remember, but not that long ago men had much more restricted rights. Alongside with them, there was the prohibition to buy alcohol on their own. To prevent them from killing themselves, laws implied that a men, if above the age of 25, could drink alcohol as long as long as he was under the direct supervision of a mother, a wife, a sister, or a daughter. Now the second part has been eliminated, but while women can drink booze at any age, men still require to be 25.

“Now, once again, thank you for your help, but you two do not need to worry about my every move, you’re not my legal guardians.” Noemi sat on his bed, causing basically an earthquake on it, then lowered herself closer to William. “Speaking of which… you don’t have one, do you? Just judging by the size of your apartment… isn’t it dangerous for-“ “Again, young Lady, your concern is appreciated, but I HAVE RIGHTS. You know what University you go to, don’t you? You should understand that someone teaching there has EXTREMELY profound beliefs. Especially a man.” ”I’m sorry Professor, I just… tend to be very protective.” She seemed sincere. “It’s not a bad quality. Now since you two are here anyway… would you mind take me a painkiller in the medicine cabinet? It’s in the bathroom.”

Since his head was on the verge of exploding, he let them stay for a little longer, too weakened to maintain his composure or care about philosophy in the moment. Aside, they weren’t bad people and it wasn’t their fault if society conditioned them into thinking that all men need constant supervision. It was just the way the world worked. Eventually, they finally decided to leave, and he went back to sleep. Thank Gera none of them had to go to class that day.

[keith60]

i hope there is going to be more 

[markfrangioni]

On 7/28/2023 at 7:59 PM, keith60 said:

i hope there is going to be more 

You demanded...

LAURA I

She couldn't fathom how irresponsible her professor had been the previous night. Why would he do such a thing? He was an extraordinarily intelligent boy, nevertheless he had behaved like a mutt. She wasn't just angry that he almost drank himself to an early death, she was also extremely pissed off at how he had the courage to refuse her help; why some boys had to be so prideful? Why can't they just accept their fragility? "If he thinks I'll let him-" "What? What are you going to do?" Noemi had been marching in a circle on the grass for a while now, fuming while spitting all her disdain to Laura and Nico. Nico just looked at Laura and gave her a look, as if to say "Please don't talk and let her vent." She had been friends with the boy since they were in Middle School, so he knew exactly what she would have done in any given moment. He was pretty tall and bulky for a boy; reaching the amazing height of 4'0, he was in the same Boxing Academy as Laura, although in the Boys Section of course, where he absolutely dominated the fight; in fact, he had incredible strenght too, once he was seen curling 10 pounds, that might seem unreasonable for a boy to do, but Nico was an incredible specimen. 
 
"I'll...I'll..." "Yo it ain't easy for us either, you know?" Nico felt the urge to intervene, he was just as much a hot-head as Noemi, and she was about to have her getting even more enraged,despite having tried to stop Laura from doing the very same thing just 2 seconds before. "Or do you think we have fun being pushed around by people who treat us as unequal?" "Treating you as... I WAS TRYING TO HELP HIM! I would have done the same with Laura if-" "We know. " Laura said firmly, stopping them both from getting to each other throats. "Look you both have valid reasons to say what you're saying, but point is, I don't really care. Noemi- " she turnt her head towards her gigantic friend. "He is our professor, not our friend. You wanted to go upstairs, I brought you there and we did good. But that's where it has to end, if he doesn't want us to intervene further. It's within his rights. And Nico -" she stood up from her sitting position and looked at the boy, as if she wanted to impose her figure onto him. "I can't deny that we do often think of you boys as delicate flowers, but it's because in our vision, you are. You know you have to go easy on your opponents cause you're much stronger than most of them. Well, that's how we see ALL boys. A friendly sis-fist between me and Noemi would feel like a mutual caress to us, but would shatter each and every single one of your bones. Yeah, it's not easy for you. But it's not easy for us either." and with that she silenced them both. She didn't like being so stern with her friends, but sometimes it was required. On one side, she had Noemi, gentle-hearted by nature, but with the flaw of taking everything too much at heart, causing her to care too much for things she didn't have power on. 
On the other side, Nico was just too obtuse to realize when he was going too far; he was not that good an acquaintance with Noemi and he shouldn't have taken so much confidence in being so blunt. 

A couple of days passed and it was once again time to go back to lessons. It wasn't long before she noticed that one of her classmates, George, was missing; it wasn't like him not to partecipate to a lesson; while he might have been physically lacking, he was quite the nerd, she was sure he would have been teaching in UX one day. He used to sit right in front of her, so she was assigned to be her Legal Guardian, as most boys don't have one once they enter university, unless they were in a relationship. Once the lesson was over, she called him. The phone ranged. And ranged. And ranged. She started to panick. Then finally he answered. "Hello, this is Laura, isn't it? George has been having lots of fun with us yesterday." it was some woman's voice. It sounded sinister at best. "La-Laura? Please come get me... I'm..." <GEORGE!> "Don't worry... we brought him home. This time. Too bad we'll be already gone when you'll arrive." "WHO ARE YOU!? WHO-" they hanged. 

[markfrangioni]

GEORGE I

George awoke in a haze, his head throbbing as if a construction crew was demolishing his skull. He struggled to make sense of his surroundings, the room swirling around him in a disorienting dance. His body felt like it had been through a wringer - weak and achy, every movement sending shockwaves of pain. Fragments of memories floated in his mind, elusive and disjointed. A sudden ambush from behind, a rough bag being forced over his head, muffled voices that seemed both distant and close. It was a jumbled mess, like trying to assemble a puzzle with missing pieces.

Gingerly touching his forehead, his fingers grazed the edges of what must have been the bag that blindfolded him. Panic gripped his chest as he struggled to recall what had happened. How did he end up here? Where was here, anyway? His room. It was his room, in University X. Gods, his head hurt.

The door swung open suddenly, and Laura burst into the room. Her face was etched with distress, tears streaming down her cheeks. She rushed to his side, wrapping her arms around him in a fierce hug. It was a lifeline, grounding him in the midst of his confusion. "Sacred Gera! George!” Laura's presence was a bittersweet comfort, but his mind was still lost in a labyrinth of fog. He struggled to string together coherent thoughts, to understand why Laura was here and what had transpired. "L-Laura? What's... What's happening?" She held him at arm's length, her reddened eyes searching his face as if making sure he was truly there. "George, you were... taken. They called and said they've brought you back." Taken? The word echoed in his mind, its implications sinking in like heavy stones. He had been abducted, drugged, and now he was back home, with a memory full of holes. "T-taken…?" He muttered, his brows furrowing as he tried to grasp the reality of the situation. But it was like trying to catch smoke with his bare hands, slipping through his fingers every time he thought he had a hold on it. Laura nodded, her grip on him tightening as if she feared he might disappear again. "Yes, George. It’s my fault… I should have never consented to you wonder around alone... I’m sorry baby… but we have found you now. I promise I won’t ever let you be unsupervised again…" "We? Who's we?" George's head was spinning, and his words came out in a jumble. He struggled to connect the dots, to understand why Laura was acting as if he had just returned from the brink of disaster. "Me, Noemi, and some others" Laura said, her voice cracking with emotion. Noemi… he didn’t know her very well, but she was Laura’s friend. Besides, he had runned into her the first day of school. Literal use of run. "George, you have no idea how worried we were. When I received the call… I…" she started crying, and so did he, out of empathy.

Bits of memories floated to the surface - a classroom, faces he knew, routines he followed. But they were fragments, disconnected and vague. Tears welled up in his eyes as he fought to piece everything together. "I... I don't remember. I don't understand. They took me?"Laura nodded, her lips pressed into a thin line. "Yes, George. They did. But you're safe now. You're home. Here…” she took him in her arms and started lullying him. “Just relax okay…”  He clung to her, a lifeline in the storm of his fragmented memories. Eventually, he fell asleep. She always knew how to relax him.