Madison’s World Redux: Season Two: Episode Sixteen

“I learned this from the Serendipity streams,” Madison said to Krysi, snapping herself out of her thoughts as she set her hand down on the desk with a deliberate motion. She held it there, palm up, waiting. Cindy stared at the giant hand before her, confusion evident in her expression. Madison’s patience wore thin as she watched her mother hesitate, clearly not understanding the most basic of concepts. Madison rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Ugh, she’s so old sometimes,” she thought to herself, annoyed by her mother’s slowness.

“That means you’re supposed to climb into my hand,” Madison explained, her tone dripping with condescension. She spoke as if she were instructing a small child or a young pet, using a sugar-sweet and slow speech pattern. “If you see McKenzie, Krysi, or me put our hand down like this, it means you climb onto it. That way, we don’t have to constantly tell you to get on. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing—hand down means you climb on. Got it?”

Cindy felt a wave of humiliation wash over her as Madison broke down the concept into such simple terms. It was clear her daughter was trying to make this as easy as possible, almost as if she believed Cindy was incapable of understanding without this kind of infantilizing explanation. The shame of being treated like a child, or worse, like a pet, was almost too much to bear.

Madison, on the other hand, was trying to balance her growing frustration with a sense of duty. She could see her mother was overwhelmed by everything that had happened, and she hoped that introducing simple, clear instructions like this would help. If she could teach her mother these basic concepts, maybe Cindy wouldn’t spend so much time thinking about everything she had lost. Madison hated having to be so stern, but this was exactly what her mother had always preached about Littles—they needed a firm hand to guide them.

Cindy had always said that Littles were slow to understand things that should be obvious, that they required the patience and guidance of their guardians but could be taught practical skills. Never in her wildest dreams did Madison think that everything her mother had taught her would be used against her. For a brief moment, Madison wondered if that was why her mother had been so hard on her growing up—if, deep down, Cindy had known she was a Little all along and had been trying to prepare Madison to be strong enough to do what was necessary. Strong enough to guide her mother down the path of being a proper Little.

The thought made Madison pause, but she quickly pushed it aside. Whatever the reason, she knew she had to be firm. “This is what you wanted, Mom,” Madison thought, her resolve hardening as she looked at her mother, who was slowly beginning to climb into her hand. “You said Littles needed structure and guidance, and that’s exactly what I’m giving you.”

As Cindy reluctantly climbed into Madison’s hand, she couldn’t help but feel the crushing weight of her new reality. Every lesson she had ever taught, every belief she had ever held about Littles, was now being turned against her. And no matter how much she wanted to resist, to fight back, she knew she was powerless in the face of her daughter’s authority. The world had turned upside down, and all she could do was try to survive in this new, humiliating reality.

As Cindy finally climbed fully onto Madison’s hand, she realized she was completely unprepared for what it would actually feel like. The sharp ascent made her stomach drop, and fear gripped her more intensely than she had anticipated. The fact that this was her fourteen-year-old daughter’s hand—the same hand she used to pick up everyday objects with ease—now cradling her entire existence, was a jarring reality she couldn’t quite wrap her head around.

“You’re doing really good, Cindy. We’re here for you,” Krysi said, her tone laced with a mix of sympathy and condescension that made Cindy’s stomach turn. “Everyone’s super sorry about you not being human and all. We never knew. You had us all fooled. We thought it would be overwhelming if we all came over, so they stayed away, but they wanted me to make sure you knew that we’re all thinking of you and will be here to help you on your journey to being a proper Little. As we all know, it’s what you would want. Your conviction and beliefs about a Little’s place had such an impact on us all. We don’t want to dishonor the memories and teachings you left us.”

“Everyone?” Cindy questioned.

“Yeah, you know, the usual crew. Evan, Brooklyn, Emma, Ava, and Abby,” Krysi replied casually, as if it were the most natural thing in the world to list off the names of people who were now privy to Cindy’s new reality.

The candidness of Krysi’s words made Cindy’s skin crawl. She could tell it wasn’t easy for Krysi to say those things, but hearing them made Cindy want to scream. The irony of being praised for teachings she now realized were deeply misguided was almost unbearable. She wanted to shout that she had been wrong, that everything she had believed and taught about Littles was a mistake. But the weight of her reality pressed down on her, silencing any protest.

Madison’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “Make sure you teach Dad the skills you learned today. It would be super helpful if I didn’t have to repeat these teachings over and over again. Plus, it’ll reinforce everything Krysi and I taught you today. You always said the best way to practice something is to teach it, right?” Madison said, a gentle pat on Cindy’s head accompanying her words as she walked over to the habitat.

The condescension in Madison’s tone was unmistakable, and Cindy shuddered at her daughter’s last statement. She had indeed told Madison countless times that teaching a skill or concept would reinforce one’s own understanding, but never had she seen any evidence that Madison truly listened. Whenever she had tried to pass on wisdom or advice, Madison’s usual response had been a dismissive “What?” or “Huh?”—a demonstration of her lack of comprehension or interest. Yet now, with the power dynamic reversed, every lesson, every word, every sentence Cindy had ever spoken seemed to be at the forefront of Madison’s mind, ready to be thrown back in her face.

Krysi removed the lid from the habitat as Madison carefully set her mother back inside. The familiar warmth of the habitat enveloped Cindy’s body like a blanket, a small comfort in an otherwise terrifying existence. As soon as the lid was back on, Greg rushed over to her, his concern palpable.

Cindy’s mind raced as she tried to process everything that had just happened. The humiliation of being taught like a child, the twisted echoes of her own teachings now being used against her, and the horrifying reality that this was her life now—it all threatened to overwhelm her. But there was no escape, no way to turn back time. She was trapped in this nightmare, and every step she took only seemed to confirm her new reality as a Little, under the control of her daughter and her daughter’s friends.

Yet even in her despair, a small part of her clung to the hope that this was all temporary, that somehow, some way, things could go back to the way they were. But for now, all she could do was survive—and try to teach Greg the lessons she had been forced to learn, hoping it would spare him some of the humiliation she had just endured.

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