Baby Factory

Nursery

Clair's eyes slowly opened. The first thing she noticed was a lullaby playing above her. It sounded vaguely familiar in a way, but she couldn't place it. Her eyes began to open, and she saw she was lying down somewhere. Something that looked like stars circled above her. Her half-asleep mind told her to reach for it, so she did. She reached up but then her eyes noticed her hand was wrapped in a soft pink glove with no fingers, not even thumbs.

Clair sat up and rubbed her eyes. Her eyes blinked as she looked around and saw bars around her. She looked over her hand and wriggled her fingers. They were still there, just underneath the glove. Her other hand was wrapped too.

Then, Clair snapped awake. Her thoughts returned and she remembered where she was.

"That... wasn't a dream? Does that mean I'm still here? And-"

She looked down and saw it. There was a white, fluffy diaper wrapped around her waist. She hadn't looked at it that much before, and now she could see the texture and the prints of baby blocks. The diaper made her blush and she couldn't help running her hand across causing a cacophony of crinkles.

"Oh God, I'm still here."

Clair looked around her. Now she could see where she was. She was inside an oak-wood crib that was simple with no carvings. Where her head was a simple pillow, and next to her was a unicorn plushie that matched her T-shirt. Her head drooped when she realized where she was.

"This is so embarrassing... why did it have to be me..."

Clair shook her head a little. "Come on. Stay calm..."

Clair took a deep breath and exhaled, and it made her feel a little better. "Okay. Now, let's see where I am. Maybe I can climb out and figure out where I am."

Clair got on her knees and looked around where she was. The walls around her were a pastel wallpaper of rolling green hills, with trees and animals decorating it. The ground was lined with soft multicolored mats, which all connected with puzzle piece patterns.

A few shelves and cubbyholes filled with kid's books, stuffed animals, and toys lined the walls. She saw toys like building blocks, train sets and a few more she couldn't see clearly. A table, presumably a changing table was put in a corner with multicolored little things put in

Clair looked to her sides and noticed more cribs in a long line. It seemed this place was meant to house a lot of toddlers... and yet here she was...

"Well, nothing special... I wonder if that door leads any- OH!"

Clair's eyes found something. On a nearby shelf, connected to a charger was her phone. I just need to get to it...

Clair got on her legs, but then she wobbled and fell because of her padding. Not to be deterred, she steadily got on her legs, using the crib bars as support. The crib bars weren't that tall since they were designed for toddlers and she got out. She got one leg over, then the other, and jumped out.

"Ow! Okay that hurt a bit..."

She tried to walk but came off more as a waddle due to the padding between her legs. She fell a few times when she tried to walk and told herself to slow down. She took one step, and then another, and reached the table. She struggled a bit with her gloves, but being designed for babies they weren't secured that much. She managed to bite off the ribbons and finally, she opened her phone.

"Yes! I'm going to be free!" She cried out loud.

But then a thought struck her. What do I tell Mom? That I broke into a facility like this? What would she say? What's she going to do?

Clair only hesitated for a moment, but that moment was enough for the robot nurse, alerted by the baby camera, to come into the room.

"Baby! What are you doing?"

Clair jumped. "I... uh..."

Clair's mind wasn't thinking straight, she stood there and stammered, but then she willed herself and ran with her phone in hand, and tried to run from the nurse and run away. Anywhere but here. But then she tripped up, and her phone hit the floor before skidding away.

"Baby! Come back here!" The robot nurse cried.

But Clair wasn't listening. She immediately crawled to her phone and her heart dropped. She saw a bunch of cracks in the corner where the phone fell. She took it and pressed the start button. Nothing.

She pressed it again. Nothing. It was probably from the fall down the tube plus her dropping her phone. It was broken. Clair stared at the broken smartphone and felt tears well up in her eyes. Her phone was broken and so was her spirit.