ART BY:
 skyebluephoenix

[i]Lizzie belong to  skyebluephoenix

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"Here you go, Lizzie," stated her mother as she opened the little door leading into the mall's courtesy, daycare center.
Lizzie stood in place and watched all the other children jumping, running, and screaming about.
"Can't I go with you, mommy?" she asked meakly.
"You'll be fine, Lizzie," stated her mother. "Now go and have fun."
"But," Lizzie tried to say. However, her mother had already taken off and was out of sight.

Lizzie sighed as she looked about the playground-like scene before her. It was swarming with kids. Most of which were quite obviously older than her.
Lizzie lowered her head and slowly made her way over to where she typically hid herself while her mom was off shopping.

Lizzie watched as other children and their parents walked past the daycare area. She noticed how happy the kids were and how some even got piggy-back rides as their mommies and daddies made their rounds within the mall.
Tears began to form in Lizzie's eyes as she thought of how often she was left by herself. Even at home, her parents seemed to barely notice her and, when they did, it was often just long enough to change her diapers before telling her to go play in her room again.
"Whatcha' doin'?" asked a little boy who had taken notice of Lizzie. "Whatcha' see?"

The boy surprised Lizzie to the point that she tripped forward. This made her dress flip up from behind and reveal how she was wearing a rather thick diaper.
"You still in diapers?" the boy asked. "Not me!"
Lizzie blushed as she picked herself up and hurried to pull her dress back down.
"Why you still in diapers?" the boy asked. "You scared of the potty?"

Lizzie didn't know what to say. She was three years old and quickly going on four. The boy before her appeared to be just a bit younger than three and clearly had no diaper bulge showing from within his pants.
Other kids began to gather as they took notice of the two youngsters in the far-off corner of the daycare.
"Hey?" asked a five year old. "What are you two doing?"
"Little skunk girl still wears diapers!" exclaimed the little boy as he pointed towards Lizzie. "Not me! I'm a big boy!!"

Lizzie felt very uncomfortable as more and more children gathered to where she had once thought was her safe haven.
"Still in diapers?" asked another kid. "How old are you?"
"I bet she likes wearing diapers," teased another.
Lizzie's face grew red with embarrassment as the children continue to gather and make their remarks.

"Hey!" cried a boy from behind the crowd.
Some members of the crowd turned to address the boy.
"Big skunk girl still wears diapers!" exclaimed one of the children.
"Funny, huh?" asked another who was of ptty-training age. "My mommy and daddy bought me real underwear to wear and I can't wait to not be like that girl!"

Lizzie felt tears stream down her face as all the children made a spectacle of how she was still in diapers. It wasn't her fault. Her parents never took any interest in showing her how to use the potty. They seemed content to just change her and let her do her own thing. She even remembered how her mom commented on how much easier roadtrips were knowing that they didn't have to stop for bathroom breaks so often like other parents had to with kids Lizzie's age.

"Look!" cried an older kid. "The baby's crying!"
"Did baby wet her diapers?" teased another of the older children.
A chorus of laughter filled the daycare.
"Maybe she needs her bottle?" joked the kid who had first discovered her.

Lizzie felt horrible. She was trapped and there was no escape.
"Looks like someone needs their mommy," one of the kids teased.
The statement reminded Lizzie of how her mommy wasn't anywhere for her to go to. And, if she was, she wouldn't do anything except tell Lizzie to just ignore the other children while she played with her cell phone.
"HEY!" the boy from the back cried as he pushed his way through the crowd. "THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Lizzie looked up and noticed a green dinosaur with a duck beak standing in front of her.
"Can't you see your hurting her feelings?" he asked the crowd.
"Who are you?" asked one of the older kids.
"My name's Yosh and I think you all owe this girl an apology for making her cry!"

"An apology?" asked the one.
"She shouldn't still be in diapers," stated another. "She needs to grow up."
Yosh growled as he took off his shirt, kicked off his shoes, and pulled down his pants.
"What?" the crowd gasped as they noticed how Yosh was clearly wearing a diaper covered in cartoon ducks.

"I still wear diapers, too!" he stated firmly. "I still have accidents and I think it is not nice to make fun of anyone who still needs them!"
Their was a pause before the crowd burst out into laughter.
"Only a big baby would say something like that!" stated an older kid.
"Yeah!" agreed other members of the crowd.
"Well, then," stated Yosh. "We don't need you as friends, then!"
"Why would I want to be friends with a couple of babies?" asked one of the kids.
"Especially a freak like you!" teased another.
"FINE!" exclaimed Yosh as he stomped his foot. "WE DON'T NEED YOU EITHER!"

Lizzie had stopped crying as she watched and listened to the dinosaur-duck face down the crowd.
"WE'RE LEAVING!" he cried as he turned to face her.
"Uh," she gasped.
"Hey," he said while extending his hand. "Want to go play on the slide with me?"
"Umm, sure," she replied while hesitantly taking his hand.

"The slide!" cried an older boy. "We don't need diaper messing babies playing on our slide!"
Yosh faced the kid and stated, "Then you can just stay away from the slide, because that's where were going!"
"You can't!" cried another kid.
"Watch us!" stated Yosh. He then took in a deep breath before letting out the loudest quack anyone had probably ever heard.

As the kids were all distracted by the loud noise Yosh had made, the dinosaur-duck lead Lizzie away from the mob and towards the ball pit that was at the bottom of the slide.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
Lizzie was still in shock from all that happened.
"My name's Yosh," the dinosaur-duck greeted. "Yosh O'Ducky! What's yours?"
"I'm," the skunk girl said shyly. "I'm Lizzie."
"Happy to meet you, Lizzie," greeted Yosh with a smile. "Would you like to go first on the slide?"

Lizzie had never tried to play on any of the recreational equipment within the daycare before. She was too afraid of the other kids and how they might tease her.
"Are you sure it's okay?" she asked.
"I'm positive," replied Yosh.
"Hey!" cried a group of kids as they came towards the slide. "We don't want your pee pants on our slide!"
Lizzie hid in the ball pit as Yosh waddled up the slide's ladder and sat his padded rump in position to make his way down towards the ball pit.
"Here I go!" he cried as he held onto the bars and slid his bottom back-and-forth along the slides top.
"Eww!" the kids cried. "You two babies can have it!"

Yosh gently slid down the slide and sat himself beside Lizzie.
"Your turn," he said.
"I'm," she said bashfully. "Afraid."
"Oh," said Yosh. "There's nothing to be afraid of."

Yosh offered his hand to Lizzie and helped walk her to the slide's stairs.
"Go on," he said. "I'm right behind you so you don't fall."
"Okay she said nervously. She knew her diaper would show as she made her way up the stairs. However, Yosh didn't say a word about it. This surprised her.
"Okay," he said. "Now just sit down and slide! It's fun!"

Lizzie felt a sense of comfort come over her as she allowed herself to go down the slide and into the ball pit.
"This is fun," she said.
"I know," replied Yosh. "And it's even more fun with a friend."
"A friend?" asked Lizzie.
"Yeah," said Yosh with a smile. "We're friends now, right?"

Lizzie was not used to the word friend ever being associated with her.
"I'm your friend?" she asked with hopeful optimism.
"Of course!" Yosh said with a gleeful quack. "Maybe, after our parents are done shopping, we can ask if we can have a play date sometime?"
"A play date?" asked Lizzie with disbelief.
"Yeah!" proclaimed Yosh. "I have lots of friends who I'm sure would love to get to know you!"

Lizzie didn't know what to say. She was so used to being ignred and here this dinosaur-duck was asking to have a play date with her.
"I suppose so," she said nervously.
"Great!" cried Yosh as he gave Lizzie a big hug. "We're going to have such fun!"

Yosh and Lizzie played together until Yosh's mom came by to check on him. She was happy to see her son had made a new friend. Sadly, though, it was time for Yosh to go.
"Lizzie," said Yosh's mom as she pulled out a piece of paper, wrote on it, and handed it to the skunk girl. "Here's our number. Give this to your mom and dad and tell them to give us a call about scheduling a play date."
"I will!" she replied while taking a strong hold upon the paper.
"See you soon, Lizzie!" cried Yosh as he and his mom left the mall's daycare.

Lizzie laughed as she watched Yosh be told to run back in and get his clothes. She then looked at the paper in her hands and smiled.
"I have a friend," she said with a smile. "A real, true friend."
Lizzie thought of Yosh and the times they had as she continued to wait for her mother's eventual return. It was a longshot, but perhaps this Yosh kid would help her feel as she had never felt before. Wanted.