Key: FD, MF, MC,
Description: Marissa opens the door late at night to discover that her neighbor's little boy is all grown up, and in need of her help.
(Author’s Note: This was a request, one that I sat on for WAY too long. Sorry!)
The knock at the door was subtle but impossible to miss despite the heavy rainfall outside. Marissa slowly moved towards the door, a little nervous. She didn’t live in a bad neighborhood, but a random knock at the door late at night, in the middle of a storm, was the start of too many horror movies.
She made her way to the door and looked through the peep hole. On the other side was a young man, maybe 20 at the oldest. His hair was wet and she had to admit he looked rather pathetic in the rain, but there was something familiar about him. Against her better judgement she cracked the door open, leaving the chain in place to prevent him from entering, should the horror film scenario pan out.
The young man watched as the door opened and the woman looked through the crack. “Can I help you?” she said in a tone that seemed authoritative, but concerned.
“Sorry to bother you, Miss Schlummer,” the young man started, “but my key is bent and I can’t get back in the front door.” He said casually pointing to the house across the street where her friend Karen lived.
Marissa looked at the house across the street then back at the young man. Ethan?!” she asked in surprise. “Is that you? I haven’t seen you in years!”
“Yeah, I’ve been away at college. I came home to surprise Mom, but she doesn’t seem to be home. I was gonna call her but I didn’t want to spoil the surprise if I didn't have to.” Ethan shrugged in defeat, making him look more pathetic. “You wouldn’t happen to know when she’ll be back? Or have a spare key, would you Miss Schlummer?”
Marissa relaxed for the first time. “Ethan, you scared the hell out of me!” she said with a smile that was becoming warmer now that she knew she wasn’t in a horror film. “Hang on a sec.” she said as she closed the door and undid the chain before fully opening it. “Come in out of the rain, your mother will kill me if I let you catch a cold.” she said, stepping aside to let him in.
Ethan stepped inside but tried not to get any part of his Mom’s friend's house dirty. Marissa…Miss Schlummer to him, had been friends with his mom for as long as he could remember. She would come over and gossip with his Mom late at night after one of them had been out on a date, or after a twist in whatever show they were both watching together had occurred. He didn’t really know her that well, but he knew his Mom knew her. He barely thought of her as anything more than an authority figure from his childhood.
For her part Marissa had only ever seen Ethan as the little kid across the street, who would break into her and her friends’ late night conversations, pretending to shoot aliens or transforming into a truck before screaming about Decepticons or something. His mother had been a friend of hers for many years, they shared a lot of interests, and since both of them were single they were good outlets for each other’s frustrations. Both women were now 45 and had known one another for nearly twenty years.
“Well, Ethan,” Marissa said as she took his wet coat to hang it up, “I’m afraid your Mom is out of town on a business trip. She isn’t due back until sometime tomorrow night. And I don’t have a key for her place. She might have one hidden outside the house, but if she does I don’t know where.”
“Damn it.” Ethan said with a sigh of frustration as his shoulders sank in disappointment, then quickly he looked at Marissa like a child that had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Sorry Miss Schlummer, I didn’t mean to swear!”
Marissa laughed and shook her head “By my count, young man, you’re no longer a child. I think you are allowed to swear, just a bit.” she said, inviting him into the kitchen where she started to make some tea.
The conversation was friendly enough but also awkward. Ethan couldn’t help but think of Marissa as one of his mom’s friends. Someone older and wiser than him who needed to be respected, and to some extent feared. Whereas Marissa, on the other hand, couldn’t get over how much Ethan had not only grown, but matured. Gone was the innocent looking little boy with messy hair, dirt on his face, and a high pitched voice. In his place was a tall, well kept and surprisingly handsome young man, with a deeper, more soothing voice. Although he seemed to refuse to use it around her.
As Ethan was explaining his major in college, computer programming, Marissa found herself slipping into her usual ‘date night’ posture. Her long, wavy red hair was a bit messy since she wasn’t expecting company, but at least the sweatshirt she had thrown on was fitted to show off her chest. She found herself leaning in and smiling a bit more, almost unconsciously, until she realized what she was doing. What are you doing, Marissa!?” she scolded herself in her mind. “That’s Ethan! Karen’s little boy!”
She tried to look away and maintain her interest, but her gaze continued to drift back to Ethan. He was handsome. Dressed in a button up shirt and what was probably a t-shirt underneath, and his once messy and dirty blonde hair was now neatly kept and almost professional looking.
Marissa wasn’t really paying attention to what Ethan was saying, more just…scanning out of the corner of her eye, until a word caught her attention. Hypnosis. “I’m sorry, Ethan.” Marissa said, perking up again. “I got distracted by the dishwasher.” she lied, “What were you saying about hypnosis?”
“Oh.” Ethan said with a laugh, “Just that my friends and I went to a stage hypnosis show on campus a few weeks back. Just the usual stuff, bark like a dog, cluck like a chicken, think your shoe is a telephone. That sort of thing.” he said, looking a bit embarrassed. “It took me half an hour to find where my shoe went after I “answered” it and heard Abe Lincoln on the other end, then chucked it into the audience at my friend who’s a history major. I don’t remember what I said, but it was something like “Hey Tom, I think this is for you!”’” Ethan finished, blushing at the memory.
Marissa smiled and laughed with Ethan. “So, you were hypnotized on stage?” she asked, perking up a bit.
“Oh yeah!” Ethan smiled looking away again “My friend Jenny volunteered me, apparently I’m a super good subject. I just kind of went right out!” he said, hiding his face in his hands. “It was super embarrassing.”
Marissa’s mind was spinning in ways she didn’t like. Not that she was going to stop it, she was just going to feel guilty about it later. “Interesting.” she said with a smile. “I used to work for a hypnotist when I was in college. I was an assistant on stage, you know, going around and gathering people up, making sure no one threw their shoe into the audience, that sort of thing.” she teased playfully. “I assume they did an induction on you first, then woke you up once you were under…and then put you back down to sleep again, right?” She was leading the conversation as skillfully as she had 25 years ago.
“Yeah!” Ethan said proudly. “Did the whole focus on the candle thing, and you are getting sleepy…sleepy…sleepy….” he trailed off and made a fake snoring sound with a laugh.
“Sounds right!” Marissa said with a smile. “Then wake up before they led you back down.” She led again. “Was that a simple ‘one, two, three, wide awake’ and then ‘sleep’ to put you back under, or did they do something more original?”
Ethan thought for a moment, finding it funny that his Mom’s friend was a stage hypnotist’s assistant long before he was even born. “More or less, yeah.” he admitted. “The sleep part was a count as well, except backwards. Three, two, one, then sleep and then everyone fell on top of one another.” he laughed, still a bit embarrassed. “You were an assistant? Did you ever hypnotize anyone?” he asked curiously.
“Bingo!” Marissa thought to herself, attempting to hide a devious smile. “Oh yes!” she said confidently, making it sound like it was more of her job than it actually was. “I was there as a distraction, you know.” she said with a playful wink as she took on a mock sexy pose that was clearly for laughs. “The attractive young woman that walks along the stage, keeping the young men's attention while the hypnotist would work on the young ladies.”
Ethan laughed. “I find it hard to imagine you being distracting to men like that, you know given your age and stuff.” Ethan said with that naive tone that all college kids have when talking to an older adult.
“Listen here you little shit!” Marissa screamed in her head, although fortunately her face remained calm as she laughed it off. “I was a babe back in the day.” she said with a smile. “My strength, however, was my voice.” she said as her voice shifted to something lower and more sultry. “I’d walk back and forth along the stage, and then I was to pick one person, one of the boys…and just…draw them in.” She stared at Ethan with an intensity she hadn’t used in a long time.
To Ethan, however, the tone and motion didn’t come across as sultry, they came across as authoritative. Here was an adult, one of his Mom’s friends, speaking to him in a tone that implied he should listen. That he should focus, or else he might get in trouble. “I…I see…” he stammered nervously.
Marissa’s smile grew as she stood up from her chair, still staring at Ethan. Although he was now taller than she was, she easily towered over him while he was sitting and she was standing. The added height of the situation gave her a bit more authority…after all, where do you think the term “looking up” to someone came from? We naturally assume someone we ‘look up to’ is someone of authority, and Marissa knew that. “You see, young men, such as yourself Ethan, are so easy to guide. You only need a firm hand, a firm tone, and you will simply follow and do as you're told. Don’t you agree now, Ethan?” She said in a sultry yet commanding tone.
Ethan swallowed nervously. “Ye…yeah, I guess so?” he stuttered as his voice cracked for the first time in years. For some reason he felt like a child right now, staring up at the older woman who was moving closer to him with an almost predatory look.
“I thought so…young man.” Marissa said, moving closer to him. She was now standing just off to his side as he was stuck looking up at her with a look of shock and confusion on his face. “I know exactly how this works, I know exactly how every single part of this little skit runs. And I know just how to put you back down into a nice, deep, sleep Ethan. You’d like to sleep, like to take a little nap for me…wouldn’t you, Ethan?”
Ethan’s mouth moved as if he was trying to reply, but no sound came out. Finally, he swallowed and just nodded up at Marissa, letting out a soft sigh.
“I thought you might, Ethan.” Marissa said with a smile. “So why don’t we help you to simply…three…two…one…and…sleep!” Marissa said as she snapped her fingers, A moment later Ethan’s head fell helplessly down to his chest, completely asleep and hypnotized.
Marissa smiled down at the young man and walked back to her chair. “Given my age, indeed.” she whispered to herself. “Showed you, didn’t I, you little shit!” She moved with a renewed purpose. Ethan may have been cuter as an adult, but he needed a little lesson in manners, like all children do. “Why don’t we do a little stage show ourselves, Ethan.” she said deviously. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you Ethan?”
The only response that came out was a slow gentle “Yes.” and that was all that Marissa needed.
To be continued…
Curious what might have happened had Ethan turned the tables on Marissa, and she had ended up in a trance instead of Ethan? There is an alternate ending covering that topic that you can find here: Not a Kid Anymore - Part 1 Alt Ending.
Thanks to Sleepygirl for doing the editing for me.
Cover Image made by HeroineArtAI.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this! If you have any comments I would love to hear them! You can follow more adventures at Spirals Nightclub! You can also find bonus content on my Patreon page!
Not a Kid Anymore - Part 1
Not a Kid Anymore - Part 2
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