Sleep Teacher

The sharp-eyed reader may notice a slight similarity between one of the players in this drama and a rather well-known character created by another author. This likeness is not entirely coincidental, and is intended as a loving tribute to that series (which sounds so much better than blatant rip-off). The first person who can PM me with the name of character will win a (non) fabulous prize, with special bonus if you can name the movie the sleep teacher was featured in, as well as the warm fuzzy feeling of knowing that one is smarter than the average bear. Enjoy!

“I know you are a busy … person. I am grateful you would take the time for me. I really need your help. It’s about my brother, and it’s all my fault.

Start at the beginning? Fine. See, my brother was a pain. Not that I want to justify what happened, but he took the role of the annoying little brother of a big sister to the extreme.

My breaking point was one spring day, when I was taking a shower, and got out, to find my clothes were missing. And so were all the towels. So dripping and naked, I decided my best bet was to run to my room.

Except he had locked my door, and even worse, he had put some kind of glue on the handle, so when I went to open it, I was stuck. He came around the corner with a camera, and took a couple of shots of me trying to cover myself with my other hand, and then disappeared.

I was yanking on my hand to try and get free so hard I thought I would leave my hand behind, when he came back and slid a bottle toward me, and told me it would let me get free. He also slid me a key so I could unlock my door.

Inside he had left me the towels, so I dried off, and put my clothes on, and stormed to the kitchen to kill the little brat, but he was sitting calmly at the table and told me if I touched him, the pictures he took would go viral.

I fumed, but I had no choice but to let him live.

I told this to a friend at school, and she showed me this odd ad.
It was for a device apparently designed by a college professor to help the local football team pass their classes by teaching them while they slept.

The company that sold it had taken that idea, and turned it into the ideal revenge for a sister who wanted to get back at her little brother…

I sent away for the machine, all the time smiling at the brat and treating him extra nice. I figured that would confuse him, make him wonder when I would strike. Be good for him if he got a few sleepless nights while waiting for me to get him back…

When the “Sleep Teacher” arrived, I programmed the commands I wanted him to learn. I wanted him to wear my clothes, and be unable to change out of them until I caught him. I snuck it into his room, and waited.

For a couple of days, nothing happened. Then one day, I came home, and he was wearing my clothes…

He looked cute, and I laughed as he said

‘IamsorryIcouldn’tstopmyselfpleasedonttellMom’

Just like that.

I took a camera I had been carrying in my purse for the last couple of days and snapped a couple of pics of him, and told him I would swap them for the pictures he had taken of me.

We swapped cameras, and I figured I had evened the scales, and he went back into his own clothes.

I figured that the thing had done it’s job, and wouldn’t do any more, but I decided to remove it from his room anyway the next day. That’s when things started to go wrong…

I was late getting home, and I saw Mom’s car in the driveway, and went inside to see her looking at her son in shock as he was dressed up again.
I thought she would get after him, but she acted totally strange.

She hugged him, said she wasn’t mad at him, and if he was more comfy that way he could do it as often as he wanted.

I was totally surprised, and said ‘But Mom, he is wearing my dress!’

‘Well, yes, he should have asked before he borrowed from your closet. But if he wants, I have some old stuff that might fit him.’

I pulled her aside, and said ‘Mom, why aren’t you freaking out?’

‘Well sweetie, I guess I have to tell you a story. You see, I had a brother once.’

‘A brother? Nobody has ever mentioned him before, Mom’

‘Well, you see, your grandfather caught him wearing some of my clothes, and beat him, and threw him out. I found out later that he committed suicide that very night.’

‘My goodness Mom.’

‘So, no matter what, I will not lose my child. No matter what they wear, or who they want to be, I am going to be in their corner.

And Sara, I want you to promise me you wont do anything to hurt him either.’

I felt guilty, and promised, and took him to my room, and even apologised for treating him so bad the other day, and actually hugged him. He went to the bathroom, and I took advantage of that to take out the machine, and I figured it was over, but he kept dressing up.

Days went by, and he still kept dressing up, and I started to worry. I couldn’t understand why he was still being affected by the machine even after it was turned off. But he would literally race home from school, get out of his boy clothes as fast as he possibly could, and put on the clothes Mom gave him, and stay that way until bedtime.

He even slept in a nightie, and only with great reluctance put his boy clothes on again in the morning to go back to school. He stopped seeing his friends, and after a weekend of him just hanging around the house in a dress, Mom decided she needed to do something.

Again, she surprised me. The next weekend, she decided to take him shopping. I thought he would resist going out, but he seemed okay with it, and even suggested the closest mall. That scared me, because I knew boys from his school hung around there all the time…

Sure enough, when they came home, he said a couple of boys from his school had seen him, and made a few rude comments. I thought for sure that would cure him of wanting to dress up, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.

My brother seemed relieved that the secret was out, and as far as he was concerned, the worst was over.
The next day, we were all shocked when Richard, one of the boys from school came to our door.

To my brother’s delight, he apologised for the way he acted, and my Mom invited him in. He asked my brother all kinds of questions about dressing up and how it made him feel.

Before he left, he promised my brother that if he chose to wear the clothes to school, he would do everything he could to protect him from any negative comments or actions.

I didn’t pay much attention to the details, but I saw his body language, and after he left, I said to my brother ‘He was flirting with you! I could have sworn he didn’t see you as a boy, but as a cute girl! And if I didn‘t know better, I would have said you were flirting back.’

My brother actually blushed, and fiddled with his hair in a totally feminine gesture, and said, ‘you really think he thought I was cute?’

I screamed, and went to my room, and he went to Mom to ask her what she thought about his going to school dressed. She had to actually fight with him to get him to promise to wait until she had a chance to talk to the administration.

She must have been pretty convincing, because a couple of days later he was going to school dressed like a girl, and I was feeling horrible. I thought for sure he would get shunned, or worse, and it was all my fault.

I wondered if I could reverse the machine and undo it, but checking the machine led me to realize that wasn’t possible.

The disks that I had used to program the machine only could be written once, and couldn’t be re-written.

I also tried to get a hold of the company, but they had gone out of business and disappeared…

I didn’t know what to do. I felt and still feel so guilty. I finally confessed to my brother what I had done.

I even showed him the machine, but he just laughed at me, and said, ‘Good one sis. You really had me going for a second. But you really expect me to think you brainwashed me with this hunk of junk? Besides, everybody knows that subliminal messages don’t work.’

I told my friend who had given me the ad in the first place, and she dug up the name of your business, and so here I am. I understand that usually you are in more of the punishment end of things, but I am begging you.

Do whatever you want to me, but please, save my brother. He has started using a female name, and I think he is dating that boy…

You will look into it? Oh God, thank you so much.”

*****

“Oh thank you for getting back to me so quickly. Yes, I will come to your office right away.”

****

“David? What are you doing here? Okay, I am sorry, I know you prefer to be called Daphne now. Oh, Daphne, I am so sorry…

What’s going on?

Oh my God! That boy, Richard, he has proposed?

You are want to get married as soon as you graduate? And you want me to be your maid of honor?

But I did this! I made you do this! How can you even look at me?

You sure? They checked the machines, and they really never worked? But then you started wearing those clothes…

What? You mean you always felt like a girl? You never said anything! What? You told Mom, that’s why she wasn’t shocked by how you were dressed?

Of course I still love you! We have grown so close the last while, which is why I have been feeling so dam guilty…

Oh Daphne, are you sure? But Daphne, even if the machine didn’t work, I still wanted to hurt you. How can you forgive me?

Oh God sis, if you’re sure, I would love to be there for you! You will make a beautiful bride…

Thank you! Thank you! I am so glad to know I didn’t hurt her. I would understand if you think I need to be punished…

Really?

Oh, I will, I promise. Never, never would I do anything like that again. I will tell my friend to stay away from anything like that too.

And I am glad someone like you is out there. Nobody deserves to be hurt like I wanted to hurt her….

Okay. Daphne, we should go. If I am going to be your maid of honor, I need to go shopping for a dress, and you have better taste than I do now….

Thank you! And God bless you!

I… I don’t suppose you want to come to the wedding? I mean, if that’s okay with you Daphne?

I … I understand. I cannot thank you enough.

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.” Gen: 50:20