Soon the big day was here! Friday couldn't go fast enough. Theo rushed home after school.
"Is it time? Can I see it?" Theo excitedly asked.
"Well, it's still a couple of hours before the party, but it will take me a bit of time to get dressed myself. How about you have a shower, and then we'll get you ready first. As excited as you are, I can't wait to see how your costume looks too!" Nancy replied. Theo bounced up to the bathroom, stripped and hopped in. As he began to run the water, he heard his aunt say "And make sure you wash your hair too!". Theo thought that was strange... Wouldn't that make his hair wet under the costume? But at this point he was so excited, he didn't want to upset his aunt and just did what she said. He was irritated to find that his usual soap was gone. His shampoo too. All he could find was the flowery stuff his aunt used. Theo hesitated for a moment. No way he was going to smell like a girl! The familiar rage started to take hold. But the excitement of the costume still won out. As Theo massaged the girly scents onto his skin and into his hair, he imagined how, once Halloween was over, he was going to come back into the bathroom and pour all of the expensive shampoo and body wash down the drain. That would show his aunt!
When he jumped out of the shower, shiny, clean and smelling of flowers, he found his clothes were gone, and in their place was something that looked like a pair of stretchy flesh colored underwear. Looking closer, Theo could see inside there were two plastic pieces in the front and back. One part was concave and the other part convex. He felt them and found they both felt hard, but with a squishy outer cover. By process of elimination, he figured the concave part was where his boy bits would go, so he pulled the shorts up. Right away, Theo was afraid he'd done it wrong. The front seemed to have space, but it was squishing his bits. It was like he was very slowly being kicked in the balls. And the back bit was poking into his butt. It was about this point that he noticed there were wires out the side. Before he could ask any questions, his aunt stepped into the room.
"Good, you found the shorts. But here, you have to pull them all the way up." With that, she grabbed onto the shorts and gave them a swift yank, almost lifting Theo off the floor. Theo immediately felt a 'pop' as things snapped into place. Now his bits were completely enveloped by the front cover. That was good because while they felt a bit squeezed, they no longer hurt. But in the back... something was now tightly between his butt cheeks, pushing uncomfortably. Everything was just a little too tight. Had his aunt got his sizes wrong? How would these shorts be part of the costume? But before Theo could articulate any questions, his aunt had slipped a blindfold over his head.
"I want the unveiling to be a surprise, so I don't want you to see it until we're done." Uncomfortable in the dark, Theo reached up towards the blindfold, but his aunt pushed his hand away. So he sat quietly, occasionally shifting in his shorts trying to find a comfortable position. Theo learned that he was unable to squeeze his knees together, the hard plastic piece in front keeping his legs apart and forcing him into a wide stance. Theo decided he should mention it to his aunt, but then she was at his side, carefully guiding him forward.
"OK, I want you to climb up on this step. Now, can you kneel please? Just sit on your feet." Theo could feel something heavy being slid around his legs. He reached down and felt fur! Bear fur! But his aunt lifted his hand, saying
"Please keep your hands up for now. I want to make sure everything goes on properly.". Theo could feel a slick, satiny wrapper going around his knees, up his thighs. He was gently lifted by his aunt and he could feel his lower body being enveloped. He felt her fish around by his underwear like she was hunting for something. But she must've soon found it because he felt a slight pull and then her hands withdrew.
"Ok, could you now put your arms on your shoulders?" Theo thought that was weird, but he immediately complied. At this his aunt laughed. "No silly. I didn't mean cross your arms and put your hands on opposite shoulders. I meant your left hand on your left shoulder and your right hand on your right shoulder!" Even more perplexed, Theo did it anyways. And soon he felt that smooth satin being slid past his elbows up his arms and wrapping around his shoulders. Quickly it was followed by some snaps, a zip and... Something that sounded like a lock clicking shut? Theo knew these theatre costumes were complicated but... At this point, he had to look. He tried to reach for the blindfold. But something was wrong. He couldn't move his hands from his shoulders.
"I think something is caught. I can't straighten...", Theo started but was interrupted.
"OK, now open your mouth wide" Nancy ordered.
"Oh", said Theo. "Is that so you can put in the bear teeth?" Theo had imagined some kind of fierce fangs for his bear, so he could snarl at people. He was glad to hear it was like his imagination.
"Something like that", his aunt replied noncommittally. Theo opened his mouth wide. Soon he'd be able to gnash his fangs at people. But instead it was like his aunt was shoving a balloon in his mouth. Caught by surprise, she had it shoved in before he could say anything. As he felt something being buckled around the back of his head, he tried to protest. He tried to spit it out. To his surprise, all he could do was make an "Mmmph" noise. At this point, Theo realized something was wrong. This just didn't make any sense. He tried to stand up, but it was like his feet were connected to his butt. He wiggled his arms, but his hands were just as firmly attached to his shoulders and all he could do was wave around his elbows. He could feel his aunt moving around his long hair as something was being attached to his head, but no matter how hard he tried to yell or complain, all he could do was a quiet "Mmmph-mmmph-mmmph" noise. It finally dawned on Theo that his aunt had tricked him. But... What had she done? What was going on? He could hear his aunt giggling as she fiddled with his costume.
"Ok, it's time for the big unveiling. I hope you like it." Theo could hear that his aunt was near to bursting out laughing, and that last sentence had been delivered in a very sarcastic tone. And suddenly the blindfold was whipped off!
It took a moment for Theo's eyes to adjust to the bright light. Theo was looking right into a mirror. At first, he relaxed a bit. It was a bear costume, his aunt hadn't lied. But as his eyes adjusted and he got a better look... SHE HAD MADE HIM A TEDDY BEAR COSTUME! He was a teddy bear! It was absolutely the most humiliating thing that Theo could imagine. Theo was instantly beet red.
Starting from the top, he had a pair of perfectly adorable little bear ears. Below that, he could see his blond hair, still slightly damp, was hanging loose. And those eyes were clearly Theo's baby blues. But wrapped tightly around his lower face was the lower muzzle of a teddy bear. It had the cute little button nose. No matter what expression Theo made with his face, the mask made it look like he was mindlessly smiling. As Theo's eyes drew lower, he understood what happened with his legs and arms. Both had been folded over and padded to look like the arms and legs of a sitting teddy bear. He couldn't bring his arms together (You try touching your elbows with your hands on your shoulders!) And the shorts he'd put on kept his legs splayed apart, keeping his arms and legs exactly in the typical teddy bear position.
Theo had enough. He stood up, screaming in rage. He threw the mirror back, smashing it into a million pieces and tore the bear suit off his body. Or at least that's what he tried to do. Trying to stand, his legs stayed firmly tucked. Screaming in rage made only a little "Mmmmph!". Swinging his arms at the mirror, between the restriction in mobility of his bear suit and the padding in the arms, his most ferocious swing just made a gentle thud. And struggling to get out of the bear suit... He would've had more success trying to struggle out of his skin. All he could do was glare at his aunt. And as he watched her laugh, and laugh, he realized he was completely at her mercy in the most humiliating outfit that anyone could ever imagine. He felt a little chill as he realized that she could pretty much do whatever she wanted to him. And that chill became a full blown panic when his aunt pulled out a pink, little girls dress with 'Wuv Me' clearly embroidered on the front. In her other hand, she had a large, pink hair bow.
"C'mon, Teddy. Time to finish getting you ready for the party" his aunt said, with just a hint of malice. Theo was pulled out of his reverie as he realized he was helpless, nothing but a toy for his aunts amusement. What did his aunt have planned? Theo was sure he didn't want to know.
