The Not-So-Typical Teen

Chapter 4- The Dream Of A Lifetime/A Rude Awakening

Later that night after he falls asleep, he starts to dream. He hasn't dreamed in so long so it is quite abnormal for him. He notices he is it a preschool, where he is in a class chatting with a bunch of toddler girls about dolls. "Odd", he thinks, but then he looks down to notice that not only is he no longer 13, but he is also no longer a "he" anymore. He sees himself as a very cute toddler girl with long blond hair in a braid with a sparkly pink ribbon, and wearing a sparkly pink dress with a rainbow and two clouds on it along with a frilly tutu and leggings. Brendan instantly feels a sense he has never felt before, whether in a dream or in real life. A feeling of what can only be described as pure bliss and euphoria. Then, a pretty young female voice sings through the preschool classroom: "Little princes and princesses who are still wearing diapers and Pull-Ups, come over here and stand in line to be changed. Everyone else- go stand in another line at the bathroom door to go potty"
The kids all start to scatter in two different directions. Some walk into their lines without problem, some walk into the bathroom line and are then redirected to the diaper changing line, others have to be reminded and walked over as they are not paying attention, and one boy starts throwing a toddler tantrum. Brendan walks over to the bathroom line with a 2 or 3 out of the 5 girls he was previously playing with. The teacher then calls out: "Savannah, remember you're not quite ready for the potty yet, silly girl! As Brendan is admiring his girly attributes, Brendan feels a tug at his arm. "Savannah, I know you're new to preschool and don't quite understand the whole routine yet. But that's okay. Come follow me." He is then walked over to the changing line, where she pulls the leggings down tutu up. "Oh my, good thing I brought you over here. You are soaked, Savannah!" Savannah then looks down and sees a very soggy Doc McStuffins Pull-Up on. She then starts to bawl as the teacher picks her up and gives her a cuddle in her arms. "It's okay, Savannah, you'll learn to use the potty in no time! But I got to put you down so I can get everyone, including you my dear, changed. And plus you are starting to leak a little." She then giggles as she is put down and waits to be changed. After the change, she then runs back to the dollhouse where the other girls she was previously playing with greeted her. "Hey Savannah, we were waiting on you. Lets play dress up. I'll be Olaf, Ava will be Anna and you will be Elsa!" Brendan is then suddenly awakened by a fairly loud combination of three semi-long beeps somewhere in the house before total silence resumes. He looks over at the clock, which displays a dim green "4:41 AM", then gets up to investigate the noise. He figures that even if he can't find the source of the beeps, it will at least distract him from the very strange but even strangely beloved dream he just experienced. He walks down the ladder quietly as Jason slightly stirs but stops. No one else but him seems to be awakened by the noise, likely as everyone else in the house are heavy sleepers except for him and Jason, which even he hadn't woken up to the noise. He slowly opens the door and ventures out into the hallway, where only the light coming from the fluorescent light above the kitchen sink that gets left on 24/7 as a nightlight can be seen. All of a sudden, three semi-long beeps start again, this time MUCH louder than he had heard from the closed bedroom. The beeps then stop for a second then starts again. Suddenly, dad quickly opens his parent's bedroom door and comes running out into the hallway as the noise stops again and Jason starts screaming. "Is that a smoke alarm going off!?" dad says. "Sounds like it" says Brendan, as Dad turns the hallway light on and starts searching along the exterior wall. They then spot a old, well forgotten Kidde smoke alarm on the wall right outside Brendan and Kelsey's door, that probably hasn't been checked in at least 10 years or more and is covered in cobwebs, dust and a very yellowed plastic cover. Before his dad can get around Brendan to twist it from the wall, a rapidly flashing red light starts flashing inside the "Test" button and the same loud three beeps start. "That's definitely the culprit!", exclaims dad as he rushes over to the alarm to twist it from its base. About that time, a very annoyed Kelsey opens the door, says "Oh", turns around and closes the door again. Dad finally gets it off the wall after some difficulty, and pulls the battery cover to reveal an acid covered GP branded 9-Volt. The now continuous alarm stops after the battery is ripped out. "Sheesh, no wonder this thing is going crazy, this battery definitely has seen better days. Not to mention I believe I heard you're supposed to replace these things every 10 years, and this is dated April of 1999 as the manufacture date here on the back. Pretty sure I installed this thing back when we first moved in and forgot about it as this looks to have had the original battery too. Or at least I never remember changing it.", said dad. He then had a groggy Brendan walk through the house and check the other two known smoke alarms for batteries and date codes- one in the living room that had no battery or date code, and one in the kitchen with a disconnected Energizer 9-Volt and a date of manufacture sticker of September 1995. "Yeah these need to be replaced immediately, thanks for helping me as I know it's the dead middle of the night but fire safety is very important, Brendan. Kinda funny thing I noticed though, the alarms are all made by different brands though. The one in the living room is branded "Family Gard" and the kitchen one you just checked says "First Alert" on it. How odd." Brendan says "Yeah, that is kinda weird. Anyways, goodnight dad." "Goodnight Brendan, and again thanks for the help. I'm gonna pick some replacement units and batteries up on the way home from work tomorrow."