What do you do when you look seven years old but you’re actually a college student in your late teens? For Kathleen’s entire life, she had fought against people treating her much younger than her actual age. Feeling obligated to grow up fast to show people she wasn’t the age of her size, Kathleen never let her inner child out. Tired of fighting against the world, she explores the adult submissive world. What she finds, however, is an enjoyment of regression. Had she made a mistake? Would life be better if she just let people treat her the way she looks at seven years old?

Edited October 2023 & January 2024 to fix grammar issues.

“Kathleen, you have a phone call from an Allison,” her mother yelled from the kitchen, which caused Kathleen to run to the phone.

“Hello Allison, nice to hear from you,” she answered.

…

“Yes, I will be there sometime in the afternoon on the Thirteenth.”

…

“Good to hear.”

…

“Yes, I was in the same hall last year. The Whitlatter is a cluster-style girls' dorm with eight to ten rooms around a central common room. Our particular cluster is ten rooms.”

…

“No, each room has its own bathroom, and each room has two of everything: a closet, a desk, a dresser, and, of course, a bed for each girl.”

…

“Yes, the desks have internet connections, and there is WiFi in the dorm.”

…

“The common sitting rooms have a small kitchenette, and television, through the channels, leaves a lot to be desired.”

…

“Where did you transfer from?”

…

“Nice to know. It was nice to talk to you, talk to you on the thirteenth.”

…

“You too,” Kathleen replied before hanging up the phone.

Wandering back to her laptop in her bedroom, she noticed that she had about three messages from Master, one that quizzed her if she was ready for bed, and two that asked, “Are you actually there?” with a buzz. She answered Master with, “Master, Buttercup, sorry about the interruption. Her college roommate called her. Buttercup will get ready for bed now.”

She didn’t have to wait long for Master’s reply, “Master will excuse Buttercup this time.” The message was followed by a winking smile.

She ran to get ready for bed, just in the silly case Master was omnipresent. She had already left him in mid-conversation to talk to her roommate on the phone. She didn’t want to upset him more.

Coming back from the bathroom, she typed on the computer, “Buttercup is ready for bed.”

“*patting Buttercup on the head* Very good behaving Buttercup. Does my girl have any plans for tomorrow?”

“I will do my normal five hours of volunteering tomorrow.”

“What time do you start, and often do you do that?”

“I usually start at the zoo opening at nine a.m. Usually Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and sometimes Sundays.”

“Since you volunteer, what does Buttercup do for income?”

“Buttercup has a nice allowance from her parents. Not many places want to hire someone who looks like a grade school student.”

“What does Girl want to do for a living after college?”

“A veterinarian or a zookeeper.”

“Thanks for the information, Buttercup. Master believes it is Buttercup’s nine-thirty bedtime.”

With a quiet squeak, almost like a mouse, she quickly looked at the time before replying, “Yes, Sir.” With that, she logged off her laptop and crawled in bed, feeling loved.

Walking into the volunteer office, she greeted Mr. Cooper, “Sorry, I am late. I was pulled over for underage driving.” Sighing, she continued, “What would you like me to display?”

“Calm down, Kathleen, you don’t have any assigned hours, or for that matter, assigned days. That being said, I will gladly take any hours you can give me,” Mr. Cooper answered. Continuing, he said, “It's supposed to be nice today, so the zoo should be busy today. You could either make a selection of furs and display them near the Polar Bear exhibit, preferably in view of the gift shop.” After breathing, he suggested, “The other idea is to hand out brushes and sell goat food in the petting zoo.”

Thinking to herself, Kathleen thought about how much fun the goats could be and how heavy a table would be to drag to the polar bear area. She was a submissive. She didn’t like making choices, so she asked, “Is a table already set up at the Polar Bear area?”

“No, but if you choose that option, I arrange it to be set up for you, so you don’t have to do it.”

“Darn, there goes the easy out option. Now I actually have to decide,” Kathleen thought to herself. “I guess I will go pet the goats,” Kathleen finally said with a smirk.

Shaking his finger, he said, “You are supposed to work, not cuddle the animals, young lady,” Mark chuckled. Picking up a two-way radio, he said, “V1 to KK1, over.”

“KK1 answering,” squelched the radio.

Mark replied, “Expect Kathleen. She is going to help with the brushes and feed in the goat area for a few hours.”

“Roger,” Kathleen heard as she started her walk towards the Kids' Korner. Once she got to the booth that supplied brushes and feed, she let herself in.

The red-headed teenage girl in the booth inquired, “So you are the famous Kathleen I have heard about.”

“I wouldn’t say famous,” Kathleen mentioned with a blush, looking at the nametag on her blue shirt, “Heather. What would you like me to do?”

“We are getting low on premade doses of feed. Could you make some?”

“Sure,” was her reply as she started to do the task she was asked to do. She switched over to handing out brushes after the feed was restocked.

“How much for a brush?” a guest asked her.

“Free, with a non-monetary collateral deposit,” was Kathleen's, by now, well-rehearsed answer. Which rewarded her with a set of car keys in exchange for a brush. “Please put your name on this paper so we can make sure you get them back.”

After five hours in the booth, she stepped out of the booth with a brush in her hand. Going up to April, the goat, she started to brush it. After about three minutes of brushing, she heard a giggle from the booth.

“You've been wanting to do that for hours, admit it,” Heather chuckled between her giggles.

Embarrassed, she handed the brush back to Heather and then started her journey to Mr. Cooper’s office.

“Five hours and fifteen minutes today, Kathleen?” Mark asked.

Kathleen replied, “Better make it ten minutes,” thinking of the time she spent brushing the goat.

“Still twenty minutes both ways?”

Kathleen nodded as she started to head to the parking lot.

“Dinner,” came the call from the dining room.

Meandering her way to the table, she noticed that dinner today was Beef and Noodles with Brussels sprouts. Her mother was already scooping a small portion of each for her. Setting her partial glass of Peach Tea down, she sat down at the table.

“Are you volunteering tomorrow and Saturday?” her father, George, asked.

She replied, “Tomorrow is my last day for this year. I figured Saturday would be good for loading the two cars. I should say goodbye to Zoe and Ann, too. I might see if they want to see that new Pirates of the Caribbean movie tomorrow night.”

“When do we have to be in Mountain?” her mother, Marlene, asked.

“We can pick up the room keys from noon to five.”

Returning to her bedroom, she sent messages to Ann and Zoe, suggesting the movie tomorrow. She also sent a one to Master that she was back from dinner, which was met with silence.

“Sounds good with me. Johnny Depp is dreamy. I am assuming I am driving,” was Zoe’s reply.

Kathleen replied, “Unless you want to experience being pulled over for underage driving, though it has already happened this week, so I’m not due for it.”

A frown was the reply Kathleen received.

Ann’s answer came about five minutes later, “Sure, make sure you bring your ID,” with a smirking face.

After online conversations were done, she returned to her current book, ‘Fablehaven.’ After about thirty minutes of reading, her laptop buzzed. Opening the lid, she saw a message from Master, “Buttercup, sorry I missed your message. I had to run to the post office before they closed for the day.”

“Buttercup will excuse it this time,” with a tongue sticking out face was Kathleen’s reply. After she sent it, she immediately regretted it.

“Cheeky little submissive!” was Master’s scolding answer, “Turn that webcam on, Buttercup.”

Kathleen eepped and turned the requested webcam on, then knelt in front of the laptop.

“Aim the camera at the corner and locate yourself there. Master will buzz when you can get out of it.”

Doing the requested aiming, she went to the corner, placing her nose squarely in the corner. After what seemed to her to be like fifteen minutes, her laptop buzzed. Looking at the time, she noticed it was only about five minutes. Kneeling, with her hands behind her back in front of the computer, she waited for Master’s message.

“What was Buttercup doing before she got herself in trouble?”

“Reading Fablehaven.”

Master proceeded to quiz what Buttercup’s plans were for Friday through Sunday and when college classes started. When she told him about the Friday movie plans, he asked when the movie would be finished. “We are going to the eight P.M. showing, it is a two-and-a-half hour movie, so ten-thirty.”

“So Buttercup will be up past her bedtime by almost two hours?”

Gulping, Buttercup replied, “Yes, Sir.”

“Buttercup will come straight home and send Master a text to let him know when Buttercup is crawling in bed.” The message concluded with his phone number.

The next message she got made her yelp loudly and have a lump in her throat. “Buttercup has fifteen minutes to get ready for bed. Don’t close the webcam. We will talk after Girl is dressed for bed.”

Grabbing her pajamas, she headed for the bathroom to do her before-bed routine. Walking back into the room and kneeling in front of the computer, she saw it took her fourteen minutes. Breathing a sigh of relief, she waited for Master’s reply.

“Very good, my Buttercup. Master is interested in why Girl left her online game and went looking for an online/offline?”

With that questioning, Kathleen started a long discussion about Baron, the game, and the lost account. She was being so long-winded with it that she didn’t notice when it hit nine-thirty, and Master didn’t actually send her to bed until nine-forty-five.