Moving out to the country had been quite the change for twenty-three-year-old Kevin, an aspiring young author. Sure, out here he was free from all the hustle and bustle of the city, a change that had directly translated to more productivity, though the small-country town he now resided in was certainly lacking in a few areas: for one, convenience was an issue; having a supermarket half-an-hour’s drive from his new home was hardly the biggest issue he’d ever faced, though it was still a big change from having half-a-dozen stores, all within two-minute’s walk from his apartment building. Worse, was the lack of company: the town’s population wasn’t especially high, and given that his neighbours to the right were a couple in their eighties; and his neighbour to the left was an older man who worked night-shift at a local glass-factory, it had led to a fairly isolated existence. Thankfully, the loneliness had eased considerably as of late. Tom, a long-time friend of Kevin’s, and a former resident of the area had reached out over social-media following the discovery that Kevin had relocated, and now the pair were in the habit of sharing weekly phone-calls that often lasted over an hour; more noteworthy, was how Rosemary, Kevin’s neighbour from across the way had introduced herself, and begun to pay visits on a very-regular basis.

Rosemary was in her mid-fifties, had a figure that had crossed the ‘curvy’ line a full two-decades ago, and was showing her age just a tad; still, while she wasn’t his kind of woman, and it was hard to forget the age-gap, Kevin had to admit that he enjoyed the company. Rosemary regularly dropped by with a dessert, or even a pre-made dinner; was always willing to lend a hand with anything Kevin needed, and several times a week, the pair would settle down to watch television together, something that embarrassingly-ended with Kevin falling asleep on the sofa beside her, almost every time. At times, it felt as if Rosemary was perhaps getting just a ‘little’ sweet on him, though Kevin was quick to remind himself that the older woman didn’t have much at all, these days: she worked at a feed-store on the edge of town, didn’t have many friends, if any at all, and had on one occasion explained how her husband had nearly taken her heart too, when he left with her sons. Still, Kevin knew he’d soon need to push things back, just a ‘teeny’ bit, especially after the dreams he’d been having recently: odd-dreams, where he lay clothed in nothing but his underpants, atop Rose’s lap, feeling too-exhausted to move an inch, as she babbled nothing but the sweetest things at him; of course, whilst the dreams were vivid, Kevin always awoke without a shred of evidence. He could recall the woman spooning strained fruit into his drooling mouth at a glacial pace, bestowing praise upon him with every mouthful, yet as morning came, there hadn’t been the slightest sign of stickiness on his chest which had been positively slathered in fruit by the end of his feeding; there hadn’t been a used spoon in the sink either, any dirty rags in the laundry, and certainly not a jar of pureed peaches in the trash, it was simply a very-odd fantasy. Similarly, Kevin could vividly recall Rosemary reacting with the absolute height of glee, as he had weakly dribbled warm urine into his tighty-whities, and all over the carpet: an action that was met by all the praise in the world, for ‘being the best boy in the whole, wide world!’, and followed by her crudely pinning him into a bath-towel, to prevent any further damage to the furniture, yet once again, there had been no evidence of it: no stains on the carpet, no wet undies to speak of, and no evidence of any clean-up at all. Evidently, the occasional conversation from Rosemary about how much she missed the joys of motherhood was wreaking havoc on the youth’s mind, in a downright weird manner.

Tonight, Kevin lay stretched-out on his sofa, as he waited for Rosemary to return from the restroom, so they could continue tonight’s movie, a light-hearted comedy flick. As his phone came to life, the young man spared little time in answering it, and hastily explaining to Tom that someone had unfortunately booked-up tonight. Tom had reacted positively initially, albeit with a few jokes about his friend being ‘Mr Popular’ though, the mention of Rosemary saw the conversation taking a turn for the worse. Having the phone on hands-free had seemed innocuous enough, given how mild chats with Tom usually were, though tonight’s conversation was making Kevin regret the decision.

“She’s lying to you.” Tom had bluntly explained. “She doesn’t work at the feed-store, she’s a vet. Do you even know what she did?” Following an uncomfortable pause, Tom had continued. “She straight-up kidnapped a bunch of guys!” The young man explained. “Drugged them up to the freaking eyeballs, and dragged them into bed with her! I thought she’d moved away after that! Listen, if she’s there, you need to get her the hell out, before she has a chance to do anything! Honestly, she’s nuts man! Look, just give me your address now, just in case! I’m freaking scared!”

For his part, Kevin would have loved to share his address, tell Tom about the odd dreams he’d been having ever since Rosemary started to pay her little visits, call the police, or even make a weak cry for help, yet he found himself unable. Instead, he could only weakly dribble down his chin, and manage a few especially-pathetic tears as the pain from the prick of a needle receded, and Rose reached down to switch off his phone.

“They have it all wrong…” Sighed the woman. “They all do… I didn’t do anything ‘indecent’ to those boys. We were just cuddling… Just like me and you do.” She’d explained. “Everyone wants to make little, ol me the villain, but I’m not sweetness… I’m just a mom, who needs someone to love: you understand it, it’s why you’ve never said no to me…. “

Kevin could only watch as Rosemary stripped away his trousers, and handily pinned him into a bath-towel for what he suspected was the second time. “The dosage is tricky.” The woman had mused. “But, I think I’ve got it down-pat now, sugar. I don’t want you sleeping all day and all night, but I can’t have you leaving me, my poor heart just can’t take anyone else leaving…”

With his new underwear now tightly-secured, Rosemary had hoisted Kevin across her shoulder, and made a brazen walk right across the street to her own house, complete with the half-naked young man in full-view, not that there was anyone to see it. Upon entering the living room, even with his mind feeling mildly-hazy, several oddly-specific details had stood out to Kevin instantly: details like the bright-orange stain marring the woman’s cheap sofa, and a nasty-stain on the carpet directly in front of her television.

Noticing the young man’s tears, Rose leaned in, and planted a kiss on her charge’s forehead, as she momentarily placed him beside her on the sofa. “Don’t worry sugar, I’ve got ya.” She reassured. “I didn’t want you moving in for good until I had it all sorted, but now I’m sure I do.” The woman explained. “You have your nice, fresh diaper, so we can snuggle without you getting everything wet… Clever Momma’s figured out your medicine, so you can stay like this, without falling asleep on her…” As Rose spoke, she unbuttoned her flannel shirt, revealing a sagging, especially-veiny breast, that was presently dripping thick, white liquid. “And Momma’s finally figured out her medicine too, so she can give you even more love…” Kevin was pulled into the older woman’s lap, and his face was slowly drawn closer to her chest. “Don’t worry hon, you’re the best boy in the world; now, I just need to show you I’m the best mom in the world…”