(Content warning: mascot costumes, reality change, mind alteration/regression, diaper use, diaper change, foul language.)

It was almost 11 AM when Cody approached the gates of Mega Wonderland. As always, the entrance was crowded with people waiting in line to buy a ticket. But Cody wasn’t a guest, he was part of the staff. He approached a little door on the side of the main gate, flashed his badge to the guard and passed through, unhindered.

Mega Wonderland was one of the many successful Wonderland Resort parks, along with the original Wonderland, Mini Wonderland, Adventure Wonderland, Hollywood SuperStar Wonderland, and Wonderland: Sydney. For millions of people, Wonderland was a yearly trip that brought them back to the joy and excitement of their childhood.

There, they could meet their favorite cartoon characters, experience the rides themed after their favorite movies, and eat the (gorgeous yet overpriced) food only before seen on the little screen. After decades of activity, the park’s reputation of being a nostalgic dreamland was firmly established. At any point of the day, if you looked into the eyes of one of its many guests, there was about 80% chance you’d notice the glimmer of youthful excitement. (The remaining 20% were probably tired, impatient or hungry.)

Cody had been working at the park for a couple of years now, and he couldn’t help but grow jaded over time. For visitors, it was a magical trip in the land of wonders; for him, it was an average job with an average pay. At least, he could hide his boredom behind the colorful mask of a mascot ever since he joined the cast of costumed entertainers.

Speaking of which, as he threaded the colorful pavement of Nostalgia Town, he saw one of his coworkers already hard on the job. On the main plaza, Roscoe, the lovely blue coyote rapscallion, was jumping and dancing around to the delight of many guests. Under the costume, he recognized the body language of his coworker Avery. Avery always liked to do a bit of cardio while wearing his suit, and as a result, had been assigned to the most energetic character in the park.

As Cody passed by, the blue mascot waved his hand at him. He heard a muffled “Hey Cody!” coming from inside the coyote’s head, and he returned the salute with a smile. ‘Always be friendly and enthusiastic, even when you’re not in service’, one of the worker’s commandments of Mega Wonderland.

Cody let the bouncy canine to his frantic dance and slipped into one of the many maintenance doors, hidden in plain sight so cleverly that no guests ever noticed them.

After a few minutes of walking in the network of hallways hidden beneath the park, Cody arrived at his designated locker room and clocked in. As he started his shift so late today, there weren’t any coworkers hanging around. Which suited him just as well.

On the team schedule, words had been scribbled next to his name by his manager: “Baxter, am M&G (ff), pm treehouse, herd at 6, closing”. Nothing on this short list came as a surprise for Cody, who walked towards the costume section of the locker room to grab his outfit.

‘Baxter’ was the name of a pear-shaped, chocolate-milk colored bunny with floppy ears, Cody’s designated character for the last year or so. Ever since his first appearance in 1950’s cartoons, Baxter had taken the role of the “big guy” in the cartoon crew, the obese rabbit who was never loud, always content, and wise beyond his years. The mascot outfit reflected that, being overstuffed to the point of being almost as wide as it was tall.

Playing the role of the rabbit wasn’t as demanding as Roscoe was. Cody never had to do anything physical while wearing the suit other than casually strolling around. His stated mission as Baxter was to be big, soft, have a deep voice, and let kids grab him and pet his fur if they wanted to cuddle.

To be honest, Cody wasn’t a fan of the last part.

He started to strip off his civilian clothes while reviewing the program for the day.

“am M&G (ff)” meant he was on ‘Meet & Greet’ duty in costume in the Friendly Forest this morning; “pm treehouse” required him to be acting and singing at the Treehouse Theater in the afternoon.

“Herd at 6” meant that he would miss being part of the Goodbye Parade in favor of moving guests to their ‘designated gawking positions’ (DGP, as they were known colloquially).

And “closing”, well, meant helping with the closure of the park once the fireworks were over. He didn’t enjoy closing much, but it made it so his shift began at 11 and he could work in the park without the usual crowd running everywhere.

He was now down to t-shirt and underwear, ready to hop in the large rabbit suit. Well… almost ready.

Double-checking to see if there wasn’t anyone around, he picked up a plastic bag hidden in his locker. From it, he silently pulled an adult incontinence brief, something that looked like a fusion of a Pull-Up and granny panties. As stealthily as he could, he removed his trunks and slipped the briefs on.

Mascot design had greatly improved in the last decade or so. It used to be so hot and cramped inside that, legally, entertainers couldn’t work more than 15 minutes before they needed to take a break. Nowadays, the suits were lighter, much better ventilated and had built-in water pouches for hydration. You could basically spend hours in them and only stop for lunch or a coffee break. All in all, it was great for most costumed employees.

But it was still a pain to remove the suit every time you needed to go to the bathroom.

Enter the adult diapers, Cody’s life hack for being a perfect mascot entertainer. He didn’t need to bother his manager every hour for a ‘Remove & Expel’ emergency. Sure, the thing could only hold so much, but it was enough to double or triple the time spent in the suit. Being an entertainer that could stay in the public’s eye for long periods of time, without breaks and without complaining, probably helped Cody to land his cozy job as the park’s official Baxter mascot.

He had been ashamed of it for the first couple of weeks. By now, he had gotten used to the feeling of wearing and using them. He was still anxious about being found out, in case he was violating some kind of health code, hence why he never told his dirty little secret to any coworker.

Still, he put a pair of light shorts over the briefs to complete his “under clothes”, stepped into the Baxter suit, and got himself ready to entertain children and grown-ups alike in the whimsical world of Mega Wonderland…

Another suit improvement that made his life easier: he could see well through his mask’s eyes and didn’t need a retainer to help him move around. As he waddled in the underground hallways, he heard a voice behind him.

“Baxter! ... No! Uuh, Cody!”

He turned around to see his manager Silvia running towards him, out of breath.

“Heeyyy, boss!” he replied, using his character’s deep and drawling voice as a joke. “What’s up?”

“Change of plans, Cody, you need to head to Kid’s Cove right now,” she replied, pointing to a different hallway in the opposite direction.

“I thought I was supposed to be in the Friendly Forest this morning?”

“Yes, but there’s a buttload of people in Kid’s Cove today, I’ve never seen anything like this! Anna is playing Owlie there, and she’s completely swamped right now. We need a second meet and greet there for a better spread. Now go and pronto!”

She swatted on Baxter’s bottom to get him to move, which got a chuckle out of Cody.

“Hey, I can’t exactly sprint in this thing! I’ll be there in five, don’t worry,” he assured her as he shuffled his way to Kid’s Cove.

He walked in relative silence for about five minutes, then reached the Kid’s Cove hidden stage door, pushed on it with his big paw, and…

Chaos.

The kindergartner-friendly zone, where parents were dragged against their will by their younger children, was usually sparsely populated. But today, Kid’s Cove was bursting with people, three or four times what Cody expected. He noticed a lot of adult guests running around on the playing grounds alongside the children.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Owlie, the book-smart barn owl mascot. Guests were swarming around her like piranhas around a fresh piece of beef. If her mascot face couldn’t express any kind of panic, he had no doubt that inside the suit, Anna was awfully distressed.

Time for him to make his big entrance. Cody walked on the designated meet and greet scene and hollered Baxter’s patented “Heeeyyy fellaaaaahs!” to get everyone’s attention. A chorus of cheers answered him, and half the people jumping around Owlie turned towards him like a single man.

That was a lot more attention than he expected. Still, he let out a trademarked hearty laugh and waddled to his designated position while the other employees tried to arrange guests in a single line. ‘Keep calm in the presence of guests and always pretend that everything is under control’, as the employee’s handbook so handily laid out. Of course, having his face hidden behind Baxter’s smiley mask gave Cody an easy way to conceal his worries.

Soon a line was formed, and from that point, it was business as usual. He greeted a couple of little girls first, who hugged him real tight for about a minute; then a 40-something man just wanted to take a selfie with the round rabbit. But the third encounter was different.

A couple of young women, probably just over 20 years old. While one of them was having the time of her life, the other was blushing and trying to stay behind her friend. Like a child hiding in her mother’s petticoats.

“Come on, he’s not going to eat you!” said the confident one as she pulled the shy one from behind her back. Forced to confront Baxter, the shrinking violet hid her face behind her hands, red as a beet. This prompted her friend to laugh: “I’m sorry, she’s a bit shy today, give her a minute.”

“Don’t worry”, answered Cody in his usual Baxter baritone, “we have all the time in the world. And your friend is right, you know?” he added as he looked at the girl directly. “I’m not a rabbit who bites. Unless you’re a carrot, hee hee!”

The sound of his voice must have piqued her curiosity, as she slowly spread her fingers, just enough to peek through them. Their eyes locked up and Cody saw that as an opportunity to break the ice. He bent his knees slightly to make himself shorter and waved her hello with his big paw.

“What’s your name, lil’ fellah?”

She stared at him blankly for a second, then her face scrunched up in an ugly grimace and she began to cry. Not just a quiet sob or a sniffle, but a full-on wail, a childish bawl, the screams of a scared toddler. She went from silent to a blaring siren in the span of two seconds.

A sudden panic gripped Cody’s mind. “Oh God. Oh fuck. Shit, I fucked up! Is she special needs? I should have noticed that! Oh fuck fuck fuck fuck…”

He stretched his paws towards her in a gesture of appeasement, but before he could apologize for anything, her friend had already taken her away. As she squeezed her sobbing friend close, she shrugged at the bunny, as if to say: “Sorry… That happened!”

Cody watched them walk away, still unsure about what just happened. The poor woman was doing everything to calm her down, rubbing her back, kissing her forehead, pulling something out of her pocket to present it to her lips…

“Wait. Was it a... ? No. No way. They don’t make them this big…”

Before he could gather his thoughts, he got interrupted by a shock. Somebody had jumped on him and wrapped themself around his padded body, in what he imagined was a very intense hug. He lowered his head to discover an impressive mane of curly red hair obscuring his view.

From below that mass emerged a face, beaming the biggest smile he had seen all day. The girl looked about as old as the crybaby that had left a moment ago, but the twinkle in her eyes and her obvious glee made her look a lot younger.

“Hi Baxter!” she yelped in a happy high-pitched voice.

Cody could feel her squeezing him through all of his costume’s padding. Unfortunately, he had to stay friendly, no matter how many boundaries she was overstepping right now.

“Why hello there, lil’ fellah! What’s your name?”

“I’m Suzy!” she replied, her voice shaking with excitement. “You’re my favorite bunny, Baxter!” she added, her eyes lost in the details of the rabbit’s face.

“Oh, is that so? Thank you, that’s so kind of you!” replied Cody, wondering how long she was going to squeeze him like a lemon. The excited redhead nodded her head vigorously and her smile got wider - if this was even possible.

“Ooooh yes yes yes! I’ve seen all your cartoons an’ I got all your toys an’ everything! All the other aminals are great, but you Baxter, you’re the best best best best best best…”

She buried her face on his furry chest, rubbing her nose and continuing her long list of compliments. Cody couldn’t hear her muffled words, but the rhythmic vibrations he perceived told him she was going on with her litany of “best best best”...

This continued until she ran out of air, launching her head backwards with a big gasp, after which she concluded: “... best best best bestest aminal of all! I love you so much!”

Not knowing how to deal with so much love, Cody elected to pat her on the back as he thanked her once again. He thought to himself: “‘Aminals’? Seriously? What have I gotten myself into…”

“Why, you’re quite the special one, Suzy!” he continued in his character’s baritone voice. “I’ve never met a girl quite like you. I think you might be my biggest fan after all!”

Suzy’s eyebrows lifted up and her mouth formed an O shape. “Really??”

“For real!”

She immediately plunged her head back into his chest’s fur, giggling. Cody waited patiently for her to get her fill of hugs, patting her on the back with his big furry mittens. “All in a day’s work.”

When Suzy finally unclenched her tiny frame from his padded body, satisfied, he saw what she looked like in full. And his eyes went wide with shock.

Her outfit looked like something out of a kid’s clothing section. She wore a pinkish shirt with highlights of pastel colors and Baxter’s friendly face embroidered on the front. Attached to the shirt was a length of fabric, at the end of which - Cody’s eyes went even wider - dangled a pacifier that would be too big for any young child.

He had seen a pacifier like this a few moments ago: when the responsible woman had slipped one into between her crybaby friend’s lips.

And as Suzy waved him goodbye and turned away, he couldn’t help but notice what was poking a good two inches out of her baby blue shorts. Her white underwear had a plastic hem with stretchy elastic band, and a sprinkle of rainbows and unicorns motifs.

A diaper. That girl was wearing a diaper, there were no other words for it. You couldn’t pretend it was some kind of adult incontinence product: those don’t have unicorn stamps, Cody would know. And now that he had seen it, he couldn’t un-see it.

Cody was slack-jawed behind Baxter’s smiling face. “Is this some kind of happening? An internet joke that got out of control?” he wondered. “How many people are running around in a fucking diaper today?”

The irony of his own undergarment was not lost on him. But at least, within the suit, no-one would be able to see the hemline peeking through his shorts.

The meet and greet continued after the incident. As he met and hugged more guests, Cody noticed many odd things about the strange people that came to him. The 40-something woman with pigtails. The burly man who wore overalls with crotch-snaps. The babyish dialect used by many people. The overall barely-contained joy of everyone.

It’s like everyone was into some strange roleplaying where they would act like kindergartners. If anything, the actual kindergartners in the park felt more mature by comparison.

After about an hour, the queue was short enough that they could close it to newcomers. He met a few more guests and then he was done. Instinctively, he tried to look at the time on his wrist, but of course, Baxter didn’t wear a watch.

He heard someone calling: “Hey, Baxter!”. It was one of the coworkers who helped organize the queue, whose name he forgot. “What’s on your afternoon schedule? We’re running a little late here.”

“Treehouse Theater” answered Cody. “I’ll be going through the tunnels right now.”

“What? That’s just next door!” objected the man. “Come with me, I’ll help you walk around, it’ll be faster and guests will be able to see you.”

“Well… alright.” While walking alone was safe enough as he could see through Baxter’s eyes, a retainer would be helpful to avoid bumping into guests. Cody extended Baxter’s arm and the employee grabbed him, leading the two outside the Cove.

Something was… off about Mega Wonderland today.

Cody saw a lot more strollers of various sizes parked near the attractions’ entrance. The hot dog carts had been replaced with candy and ice-cream parlors - and each of them attracted a queue of its own. He didn’t remember the Cornucopia Carrousel being this glittery. He swore the Shoot-And-Loot Pirate gallery had been replaced by some game with teddy bears and Wonderland-branded tennis balls.

And all around, people seemed a lot more… excited. There was more running, more screaming, and a lot more colorful outfits than usual. Several people who couldn’t be asked to look in front of them ran straight into him before the bunny reached his destination.

As they arrived, Cody had to do a double take. The odd changes he had noticed during his stroll were nothing compared to this.

The Treehouse Theater was completely unrecognizable.

It used to be your classic theater house: a scene bordered by curtains, and seats for the audience in front of it. It was well decorated and had some impressive engineering backstage, but aside from its theme-park-appropriate size, it wasn’t anything new.

Now, the Theater had become a wide open area where people walked around freely, missing the scene entirely. There were no seats anymore, but plenty of cushions and beanbags spread around at random. The ground was bouncy under Cody’s feet, as if it was made of a particularly thick and colorful rug.

Peppered everywhere in the room were small groups of guests, sitting around a crew member, each of them a mascot. Cody recognized Bernard the Bear, Alfie the Dolphin, Harry the Highland Bull, and even Anatole the Tadpole - a rather unpopular character usually saved for special events. Some were standing, some were sitting, and Alfie was laying on their belly, flippers flopping freely in the air.

All mascots held books, huge prop books with leathery covers and pages so perfectly torn and yellowed that it must have been done artificially. They had a picture of Richard the Library Rat on the front - another character seldom seen these days, as his educational show was canceled in the 70’s. Each crew member was reading from these books to their own little circle of guests, who all looked captivated by the experience.

Cody had not paid attention to where he was walking, and snapped back to reality when his retainer stopped him. He had been brought in front of a huge comfy chair, decorated with tassels and embroidery. To be frank, Cody would have been embarrassed if his own grandma was sitting in such a gaudy chair.

But gently, the retainer invited him to sit. Only then did Cody realize the chair was fitted to Baxter’s size - and ample posterior. He barely had time to make himself comfortable before his fellow crewman gave him a book, identical to the other ones. Instinctively, he grabbed it in his furry paws.

Right as he picked up the book, something clicked in Cody’s mind. A thought that wasn’t there a second ago. It felt like remembering something he hadn’t thought about for twenty years.

“Oh, of course. It’s story time.”

He knew what he had to do, like he had trained for this event rigorously - even if he didn’t remember ever doing so. He opened the book, flipped a few empty pages for theatricals, and stopped on the first story contained within. *

(For children age 2-5)

My Friends from the Forest

Cody lifted his eyes from the book. Around him, three dozen guests had already assembled around his chair. None of them were kids. Very late teens at the youngest, grey-haired for the eldest. This story wasn’t for them. They would be bored to tears in a minute flat. And yet, they were all waiting in silence with eagerness in their eyes, ready for the rabbit to begin his tale.

And so, he started reading.

“At the end of my backyard, there’s a magical forest where all my friends live. Every day after school, I pay them a visit.”

“To get my friends to come out, we have a little secret song.”

The audience was eating every one of Baxter’s words. You could hear a pin drop on the carpet.

“So I walk to the magic trunk and I use my hands to play the song!”

As prompted by the book, Baxter looked up from the page and asked the audience: “Do you know the magic song, fellas?”

A chorus of excited “Yes!” answered him.

“Will you sing it with me?”

“YYAAAYYYY!!” screamed the crowd.

“Alright, all together now!”

Baxter lifted his paws and began to sing.

“I strike on the trunk like boom-boom-paaah! Boom-boom-paaah!”

With each “boom”, Baxter struck his knees; with each “paaah”, he clapped his hands. They didn’t make a lot of noise on their own, since they were padded enough to muffle every percussion. What made noise was three dozen other people slapping and clapping in unison.

“I call on my friends like boom-boom-paaah! Boom-boom-paaah!”

“And when I struck the trunk, my friend the bear came and saw me!”

He did a little ‘jazz hands’ motion, and the circle reacted with cheers. Shakespeare himself would be jealous of such a perfect audience.

Baxter took his book and turned a page with affection. He read aloud:

“We hugged and kissed and played together. But then my friend the bear asked me: ‘Have you seen our friend the deer?’. And I said ‘No, but I know how we can find him!’”

Baxter lifted his eyes up. Everyone knew what was coming, their hands and knees ready. They sang along with him:

“So I strike the trunk like boom-boom-paaah! Boom-boom-paaah!...”

As they were all calling their friend the deer by clapping their hands, Cody noticed something at the corner of his eyes: a woman had tugged her male friend’s waistband and peeked at whatever was inside.

She then pulled the man’s trousers down, exposing his underwear. His crinkly, plastic, elephant-themed underwear. Even in the semi-obscurity of the Theater, Cody could see that his diaper was completely discolored.

“... Boom-boom-paaah!...”

She pushed him gently on the floor gently and ripped the diaper open. The man promptly plopped his thumb inside his mouth, apparently used to this. Nobody in the audience seemed to mind.

But Cody witnessed every moment of it.

“... And he said: ‘Have you seen our friend the otter?’...”

He was mortified as she produced wet wipes from her bag and began to wipe his butt. The man had gone number two in his diaper, that much was obvious. As Baxter continued the sing-along, the woman took all the time in the world to clean his bottom as thoroughly as she would have with an infant.

“... So I strike the trunk like boom-boom-paaah!...”

Cody was mesmerized and horrified. He couldn’t look away as she unwrapped a new diaper under the guy’s bottom. There were still three friends to summon with the magic trunk, and the diaper change wouldn’t be done until she had carefully spread lotion on his loins.

“... So we hugged and kissed and played together…”

By the time the song was over, she had cleaned, powdered, and clad him into a fresh adult-sized diaper. The man drooled around his thumb, apparently satisfied. The audience was too enthralled to notice anything.

“... And that’s how all my friends from the forest came and played with meeee!”

A wave of applause erupted from the crowd. The newly-diapered man and his caretaker clapped along. Cody cursed under his breath. “What the fuck is going on?!”

The story book had other tales of rhythmic percussion in store for him. There was “The Little Tambourine” (sounding like “parrrapapa-pa-pa-pa!”), “The Bouncy Trampoline” (which goes “boing-boing-heeeyyy!”) and “Where Are All My Friends?” (with its cries of “ooh-ooh-where-are-you?”).

Obviously, all variations on a similar theme. And with every song, Cody felt his mind slipping just a bit more.

By the time he had reached the last page of the prop book, his audience was fully spent. A few had started to wander off on their own, others were getting restless. The man who had been diapered in public had fallen asleep on the soft floor, balled up and sucking his thumb with bliss.

That’s when a young woman clad in Mega Wonderland’s colors came between the audience and the performer. “Alright everyone, I think it’s time to leave y’all seats so other children can come in! Say thank you and goodbye to Baxter for being such a nice host!”

A cacophony of happy sounds and thanks erupted from the crowd, while Baxter waved goodbye and blew imaginary kisses as they slowly left the place. Already, a new group of guests were waiting for their turn to sit in the big rabbit’s story circle.

The lady who had so professionally shooed them away came closer to Cody, and whispered in Baxter’s floppy ear: “Yo, doin’ alright in there?”

“Yeah, I think”, he replied. The madness he had witnessed was starting to weigh on his mind, and having such a normal interaction with a coworker was a relief.

“You need to get a ‘R&E’ going on, or can we get the next group in already?”

Cody blinked in confusion. That’s usually something only managers would acknowledge, and even then, only reluctantly. Then, he realized that he did, in fact, need to ‘expel’, but he wouldn’t need a break for that.

Blessing for the umpteenth time today that his face was hidden beneath a mask, he relaxed, gave a little internal push in his midsection, and soon felt a warm liquid flow in his underpants.

“Nah, I’m good, thanks for asking,” he cheekily answered as he wet himself right in front of her.

“Gucci, make sure to keep hydrated, the Theater is effing hot today.” She gestured to another cast member to open the metaphorical gates - as there were no doors in this open space anyway - and soon, another group of guests was forming a story circle.

“Hey, quick question!” asked Cody before his helper could move away. “Is there another book on the rotation that I could use? I feel like this one, uh, might not be the most suited for the audience we’re getting today?”

She looked at him, puzzled. “Watchu talkin’ about? The kids love it! You got them in the palm of your hand! And that’s the only book we use in the Theater, ‘member?”

It dawned on Cody that she was right, and he knew it. How could he forget? ‘Provide the right entertainment for every age’ proudly proclaimed the Wonderland handbook. This was apparently appropriate for his audience, even if none of them looked like actual toddlers.

And so he read, for hours on end. The same four stories, the same nursery rhymes, the same clapping and singing together. The dullness of it was driving him mad. Around him, the world was seemingly getting crazier as well.

Cody thought he had seen everything when he witnessed a full-grown adult getting his butt wiped in public. He had yet to see a group of college-aged girls all wear footed pajamas and proudly hugging their plush toys. He was surprised to catch adults wearing only a t-shirt and a soaked diaper, with nothing to cover the latter. He couldn’t conceive he’d later watch a woman breastfeed her husband in public so brazenly.

But the show must go on. Boom-boom-paaah! Boom-boom-paaah!

When his coworker came to ask him again about a ‘Remove & Expel’, Cody yelped “YES!” and jumped out of his chair, making a beeline for the door. He barely heard his coworker apologize to the next group of “children” waiting for their turn in the story circle.

His mind was on fire. He couldn’t handle this madness anymore. He needed to run away. Right now.

But right as he reached the door, a silhouette with a mane of curly red hairs stopped him in his tracks. “Hi Baxter!” she yelled excitedly.

The girl from this morning had found him again.

“Hi, Suzy,” said Cody, forgetting for a moment to use his deep voice. “Look, this isn’t really the right time…”

“I listened to aaaaallll your stories, Baxter!” she replied, ignoring him. “I was right out of the circle, an’ I sang along an’ clapped my hands an’ it was the best thing EVER!”

Cody’s heartbeat kept rising. He wanted out, as far away from the crazies as he could. “Look, I really have to go now…”

“Oooh, where are you going Baxter? Can I come? I will follow you everyw-”

“NO!”

The silence that followed his shout was deafening. Everyone around turned toward them to listen.

“Leave me the FUCK alone! You’re CRAZY! Everyone is CRAZY today! Go back with the other fucking BABIES and leave me alone!”

And he stomped out the Treehouse Theater, right as a couple of guests inside started to cry.

After an outburst like this in front of everyone, he would probably be fired. He didn’t care. He wanted to get away from this place, this job, this baby-themed madness. He rushed straight towards the nearest maintenance door, ignoring the crazy world around him.

Right as he was about to slam the door shut behind him, he caught a glimpse of the red-haired girl. She was standing in place, her lips quivering, her eyes full of tears. It was like she had just dropped her ice-cream on the ground. The look of utter betrayal on her face was tough to watch.

As Cody closed the door, leaving the public space behind him, he felt a twinge of guilt.

Waddle waddle waddle. Cody ran into the service hallways as fast as the suit allowed him. He was sweating like a horse in there, but it didn’t matter to him. The only thing he wanted was to leave these clothes behind and never come back to this park again.

“This is freaky! Everyone is completely off their minds! I need to get out before… I don’t know, I need to get out!”

As he was nearing the locker room, another friendly furry face surprised him in the hallway. Roscoe, the always bouncy blue coyote, was beaming his stitched-on smile at him, and from under the blue fur, his friend Avery’s voice perked up.

“Oh hello Cody! Freshening up before the parade, you too?”

Cody stopped so brutally that he swore it made cartoon tire-screeching noise.

“Errrr, no, I, uh,” he tried to answer while catching his breath, “I’m off-schedule. No parade for me. Right, just, uh, just leaving now.”

Roscoe tilted his head to the side in confusion. “Ya sure?”

“Uh, yeah, I have, like, a doctor’s appointment,” lied Cody. “Can’t be late. Booked half a shift today to save time.” His heart racing, he was this close to push his friend away to finish his rush to the locker room…

But Avery didn’t need any more explanations. “Well, that’s just too bad! I like it when you’re around for the parade. Oh well!” He waved his big paw at him. “See you tomorrow then!”

Cody waited the two seconds it took the coyote to free the hallway of his presence, and rushed again towards the locker room.

The room was empty, fortunately. Cody ripped Baxter’s head off and threw it on the ground, where it bounced softly. He knew how to safely remove the suit without damaging it, but couldn’t care less right now. He ripped the fluffy mittens from his hands with his teeth, and pulled so harshly on the release zipper that it almost broke down.

“I’m out. I’m out I’m out I’m out. I’m leaving and I’m never coming back to this fucking place!”

He pulled down the body of the suit, extracting himself from its layers of fluff, feeling the rancid smell of sweat rising up. But there was another smell mixed with it. Freed from his plushy prison, he looked down at his body…

And that’s when he finally noticed.

His shorts were gone, and so were his adult incontinence briefs. In their place, there was a much thicker, much soggier and much more childish diaper. Not unlike the ones he had seen the guests wear at the Theater, and nothing like what he had put on this morning.

Cody couldn’t believe his eyes. Hands shaking, he touched and probed the surface. The white plastic was covered in purple lines and little stars, replacing the dry medical look in favor of nursery fashion. It was embarrassingly padded, almost an inch thick, and so wide that it forced his legs to spread apart.

No way he could walk with this, it would obviously force him into a waddle. He hadn’t noticed until now because the Baxter suit forced him to waddle anyway.

His fingers left a dent in the plastic when he pressed it: a testament to how soaked the garment was. The spongy, squishy sap contained within had done its job. He could only remember wetting once, in the Treehouse Theater; how many times had he been filling it without noticing? This alone should have been enough to get him to freak out a second time.

And yet…

He caressed the surface of his garment, listening to the sleek sounds it produced, feeling the soft plastic under his hands. He gave a slight squish to his crotch, cupping the ball of soft material within his palms. He let the tip of his fingers course on the shinier surface of the landing zone, slipping all over the tapes and contouring the stars and rainbows as he moved over them.

His heart stopped beating like a drum. He felt his worries melt away.

“Damn,” he thought, “I’m glad these hold up so well. I never have to leave my costume when I’m wearing these.”

He felt a shiver down his spine. He knew this was an intrusive thought. He had never enjoyed wearing his briefs… his diapers before. He should be angry. He should be fighting these feelings. But he couldn’t muster the energy to do it. Like something had sprinkled fresh water on his brain, killing the heat that had accumulated there all day.

Again and again, in the silence of the locker room, he cupped and squished and stroked the diaper between his legs. And as he did, he remembered the commandments of the employee’s handbook that covered this topic.

‘You can wear whatever you like under your work clothes, as long as it isn’t obvious to our guests. We at Wonderland do not promote any brand of personal protection over another, and you’re welcome to choose what fits you without advertising it to our guests.’

‘If you ever find yourself in the need of a Refresh & Enjoy (R&E) break, make sure to warn a fellow cast member so they are aware of the reason for your absence.’

‘R&E breaks can be done alone, or with a fellow cast member if you require help cleaning.’

‘Remember: happiness is contagious. If you feel good, our guests will also feel good. Your enjoyment is part of your employment.’

And just like that, something finally fell into place inside Cody’s mind.

“What was I thinking? Why was I stressed up? I need to be happy to make other people happy! That’s what Baxter does! That’s what I do!”

But as he thought this, the picture of a red-headed girl popped up in his mind. Suzy. The girl who wanted nothing more than to spend time with her big friend Baxter.

And he disappointed her. He left her alone in front of Treehouse Theater and made her smile disappear. He remembered her tearful eyes as he ran away from her.

He had been rude.

He had been mean.

He had been a poor host to a loving guest.

And he felt awful.

But he could fix it.

With a single tug, he ripped the tapes off his diaper and let it fall on the ground with a wet splat. No time to drop it into the employee’s pail. He slammed open the door of his locker, whose lower half was filled with two packs of spare disposable diapers, wipes and changing supplies. There was also a pacifier and a few toys, but those were only for his time offs and ‘R&E’ breaks.

He needed to change. He needed to change as well.

He still had time to fix this.

In Nostalgia Town, the Goodbye Parade was slowly rolling down Happyness Boulevard. It was the big event to cap off a day of excitement for everyone. Dancers were gracefully and energetically prancing around the luminous parade floats, where all the Wonderland characters waved hello and danced along. There were colorful lights, upbeat music that remixed all of Wonderland’s greatest hits, and fireworks to punctuate their slow stroll through the Town.

On the sides of the street, the crowd was going wild. They were laughing, singing, some were even jumping in place out of sheer excitement. Oh, for sure, there were the odd ones who teared up because the noises were overwhelming, but those tears were quickly wiped away when they saw their favorite character pointing a finger towards them (yes, them!) and blowing them a kiss.

Further back, more than a few guests were staying away from the excitement, but still enjoying the enlightened parade. Their little ones had fallen asleep, completely pooped after a whole day at the park. These sleepy ones were held tight in their caretakers’ arms, or snoozing in giant strollers. Sure, they were missing the show, but they could always come back tomorrow - and most of them will.

Roscoe was jumping and cartwheeling on top of his parade float, only stopping to show his dance moves to the guests who tried to get his attention. The guy inside the suit had more pep than an aerobic teacher high on energy drinks. Dancing, twirling, waving towards the crowd who cheered at every jump!

But as he reached the part of Happyness Boulevard set aside for VIPs - they had their own balcony where they could get a perfect look on the floats from above the crowd - he noticed one of his coworkers was hanging there. A round chocolate-colored bunny that he had met in the underground hallways not an hour ago.

Lounging on a pile of cushions big enough to be mattresses, Baxter was talking to a girl with a wild mane of red hair sitting on his lap. He was right behind her, his two fluffy arms wrapped around her waist, but she kept turning back to look at him. Her pacifier wasn’t big enough to hide the smile she beamed at him.

Roscoe jumped excitedly in place as he saw them, and frantically waved his furry paw in their direction. “Hey! Hey Cody! Hey! … Baxter! Hello Baxter!”

Baxter turned his head towards the float, and the girl followed suit. The mascot grabbed the girl’s hand into his own and waved them together at Roscoe. It felt so natural, like a parent waving their baby’s hand when they were too young to do it on their own. Still, she let out a gasp of surprise and delight, dropping her pacifier that was fortunately clipped to her shirt. She let out the purest laugh anyone had ever laughed; Roscoe couldn’t hear them over the parade, but Baxter certainly did.

The parade float turned a corner, and the coyote went back to perform dance moves for his own audience.

Baxter squeezed his charge between his arms and nuzzled her with his pink little nose. She kissed him back on the nose and giggled. These two were in their own little world. They didn’t care for the parade, enjoying this moment together. It had been a long and frustrating day for the both of them, but in the end? It all worked out.

That’s the magic of Wonderland, my friends.

Join us and leave your worries behind. Let the child inside of you enjoy the day. Our cast of characters will welcome you and make you feel at home. They will always find the time to make you feel unique and special, no matter how many children are present in the park today.

Because if you’re happy, they’re happy too.