The start of the school year and the beginning of my little brother Troy’s Experiment.

Week 1, Monday, Sept. 19

It’s kind of weird for me to be sitting here at my computer desk tonight writing in this diary, but since Troy says it’s part of his Experiment, I guess there is no getting around it. Troy, he’s my 18-year-old younger baby brother who’s still a senior this year in high school. He came to me the other day begging for my help with his new science project. The Experiment he explained to me is to see if a person’s learning ability can be increased through the use of hypnosis, of course he used enhanced. I guess he had trouble finding people in his own class at high school who were willing to help given that the school year has just started on Friday the 16th, and everybody is rushed for time right now.

Initially, I was I admit hesitant at first, after all this was going to be an ongoing long-term, well several times a week for several months anyway, science project. It also involved hypnosis, but after some explanations by Troy, and then some begging and pleading on his part I finally agreed to help him out with his new school science project. It seems he wants to test whether with the help of hypnosis, a person’s learning ability can be increased ... well “enhanced” is what he calls it.

Hey, I might be blond, ha, ha, but I wasn’t so naive, or dumb, as to take Troy’s word on all this hypnosis stuff. I think everyone has seen at least one TV show or movie where the evil Vampire, or Hypnotist Villain, manages to get control of the beautiful female heroine with those corny lines, “You Are Under My Power Now”, or “You are Under My Control Now”, tee, he, he. (Yes, I admit I giggled to myself at those corny over-the-top melodramatic lines).

I did my due diligence about hypnosis. I already had some psychology from my elective college classes so I knew a little bit about hypnosis already. I’m a science major myself, studying Ecology, the relationship between organisms and their environments. So now I read up on hypnosis on the good old reliable Internet before I agreed to Troy’s Experiment.

I was a little apprehensive and don’t think I would have agreed to be hypnotized by him, or anybody else, no matter what he said, if all the Internet experts hadn’t assured me that a hypnotized person can’t be made to violate their own personal value system. You may be surprised to know that the experts say that when you are in a trance, you go into a state of super awareness rather than sleep. All that the hypnotist is doing is focusing you on a specific idea. When in a trance, you are able to make choices and refuse to accept suggestions. In fact, if the suggestions are too outlandish you will bring yourself out of the trance and find yourself fully awake. These were all psychiatrists and psychologists who were noted experts in the field of clinical hypnosis so they should know what they are talking about right.

I consider myself to be a very strong-willed intelligent independent young woman so there is no chance of any man ever controlling me with hypnosis, ha, ha, ha. Though I’m in the top 10 percent of my college classes in standings, it’s still an everyday uphill grind to keep up with everything in my college classes. Those same experts all agreed that hypnosis can help with anxiety, concentration, and other things, ha, ha. Hey, I’ll be the first to admit I could sometimes use a little help with pre-exam anxiety, my study habits, and my concentration in class, so I agreed to be my little brother’s first experimental guinea pig. I just hope this works like Troy advertised.

Troy in his sales pitch to me about the benefits of hypnosis and self-hypnosis also used the fact that it can be used for weight control, not that I have any weight issues. My weight stays right at that ideal 100 pound mark plus or minus a pound or two either way. Girls ... women ... have problems boys ... men ... aren’t aware of. Every girl likes to look her best and these bodies, contrary to what most males seem to believe, do require lots of maintenance.

According to Troy, and those same experts, hypnosis may even affect certain hormones in the female menstrual cycle, hormones that cause those wild mood swings and cravings that men never have to worry about. It seems that hypnosis is a method that may influence the mind to change habits like what you eat and/or are overeating. Research in fact shows that hypnosis may increase weight loss, especially when combined with diet and exercise. So it appeared there are all kinds of positive health benefits to hypnosis.

Just before we left for our different schools this morning, Troy gave me this Diary I’m writing this in now. It’s one of those red My Diary things with cute little pink hearts on the cover and the leather strap that locks it with the little key. He asked me to keep a Diary of my observations as well as my feelings about it throughout the Experiment. Stressing that the Diary will be confidential, and nobody will be reading it except me and him at the end of the Experiment. The main purpose of the Diary he says will be to help me with the summary I need to give him at the end of everything for his own reference.

So let me introduce myself first, I’m Alice Ann Addams, since there are several other Alice’s in my classes at school I get called Alice Ann all the time. I guess that’s better than being Alice 1, or Alice 2, or That Other Alice, ha, ha. Of course, Troy just likes to call me Alice. I’m 20 almost 21 and currently a second-year Sophomore at UAH, that’s in Huston. Well, I guess since this is going to be confidential, there is no need for me to hide anything, so I will try to be as honest and straightforward as much as possible in my Diary, ha, ha, ha.

I know most people, my peers anyway, consider me beautiful. I’ve let my hair, blonde naturally, grow down past my shoulders, I don’t usually tie it up or braid it unless I’m playing sports. I evidently also have, from what my girlfriends tell me, an “angelic” face, and natural “pouty” lips that go well with my violet-colored eyes. Yes, like Elizabeth Taylor, the famous movie star, I have violet-colored blue eyes.

The irises of blue-eyed people have no blue tint in them believe it or not. Blue, it turns out, is in the eye of the beholder, ha, ha, ha. You see it for the same reason the sky looks blue. Light waves get scattered in the earth’s atmosphere and in the irises of some humans like me. This makes the sky and some people’s eyes appear blue. Violet is an actual but rare eye color that is a form of blue eyes. It requires a very specific type of structure to the iris to produce the type of light scattering of melanin pigment to create the violet appearance. Blue eyes have only appeared recently in human history. Some scientists believe all blue-eyed people trace their genetic heritage back to a single mutation that happened perhaps 10,000 years ago.

All this would be great except that even when I’m angry people still find me “cute” and won’t take me seriously, which is a constant irritant. I also have to admit I’ve done well in the complexion department too. My only complaint is my naturally smooth white skin burns and won’t tan worth a darn. My girlfriends tell me I look something like the Russian social media influencer and Instagram model Mary Nabokova.

I’ve also noticed and gotten used to the “knife-in-the-back looks” I get from the other girls in my classes because of my 38 DDD breasts and my long legs. I’m a petite 5 foot 3, and just under a 100 pounds. My actual measurements are 38-24-32, with a bra/cup size of Triple D. DDD cup breasts are full-bust sizes, but of the smaller type. Therefore, with DDD, or Euro F cup bras, you only need some small tweaks for support rather than a full underwired bra.

Thank God I don’t have to go for one of those heavy-duty underwired custom corset monster bras to hold the girls up, ha, ha, ha.

Personality-wise, I’m very sociable, with lots of good friends in high school and college now. Many people come to me for advice and help with their problems. I’m good with my studies too, being in the top 10 percent of my class. Yet, despite all of this, I’m not really into long-term relationships with any of the guys I’ve dated so far. Hence in high school, I was known as a stuck-up “ice princess”. It’s not like I want to be like this, but in my 20 almost 21 years I have only been in 5 relationships with guys, all of which crashed and burned in less than two months tops.

It seems to me that most guys, well immature boys really, are not into serious mature relationships while they are in high school. High school boys, well the immature high school boys I’ve dated anyway, only seem interested in one thing ... SEX ... SEX ... SEX. They were just hoping to add me to their list as another one of their “conquests”. Well, despite all of this, I still get invitations to go out on dates from guys, well college men now, tee, hee, hee, every couple of days. but naturally, I have rejected all of them recently. I guess I’m just not ready to be in a steady relationship right now, preferring to focus all my energy right now on my college studies and club activities more right now.

Hmmm, what else to write ... Oh yes, like I said, I like sports, especially tennis, but only on a leisure level usually playing with my close group of friends, Chloe, Samantha and the twins Anna and Anne. I also do ballet, yoga, and even a little Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Generally, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu places more of an emphasis on ground fighting and grappling and is a bit faster-paced and a little more aggressive than the classic Japanese Jiu Jitsu. Japanese Jiu Jitsu often includes standup striking in addition to weapons and is a bit slower and more methodical. OH, I’m also currently the vice president of the astronomy club in college here. Seems like from what I’ve written so far that I’m a perfect person, ha, ha, ha.

Well, I admit I do have weaknesses just like Superman and Supergirl, even Wonder Woman. I can be impatient at times, even overly demanding, and can even get frustrated too. Did I mention about getting angry? Due to my failed personal relationships with boys ... men ... in the past, I do sometimes get a bit depressed at times, but luckily, I usually bounce back in short order. I know that someday I’ll meet Mister Right just like Mom did.

Maybe a short summary of my family is in order now. Our parents, Norman and Freda, were high school sweethearts who married once they graduated high school and had Isabel my older sister when they were both still 19. Dad is a 41-year-old captain in the Army. It seems like he’s always away from home. He’s currently serving a 4-year tour in Iraq.

Mom is a regional manager at Megacorp Secure Technologies, Ltd. Mom can be very busy with her work at times, it’s a tough demanding job and the hours are brutal and requires her to travel a lot, but the pay is super great. Maybe at this point, I should explain that at 41 Mom is often mistaken for my older sister Isabel at the high school and college functions we attend every year. Mom maybe a couple of inches taller, but even that might be because of the classic high heel work pumps she insists on wearing all the time, ha, ha, they are 4.5 inches tall after all.

We’ve never had any money worries, but because of Dad and Mom’s jobs, us siblings, well me, my older sister Isabel who’s 23, and my baby brother Troy who’s 18 almost 19 now, grew up to be very independent. I guess that is partially true because we were really raised by a series of nannies until we were judged old enough to take care of ourselves. Sure, we look after one another whenever we can, but we’re learned to be as independent as possible.

Isabel, my older sister, is a knockout too just like me. I guess we get our good looks from Mom who is still beautiful despite her age. Isabel is more of an athlete than me, and it seems to me that there is no sport she can’t play. Currently, she’s on a gymnastic cheerleader scholarship with me here at UAH College, that’s as well as being active on the soccer and beach volleyball teams. She stays in the college dorms with the other cheerleaders while I still live at home with Troy who’s still a senior in high school this year.

Troy is 18 and attractive enough in his own way I guess at 6 foot 2 and 180 pounds. Of course, I guess, a sister probably isn’t the best judge of that. He does play soccer. In fact, he’s the center back or sweeper on the senior high school soccer team this year. Come to think of it, all our whole family is rather athletic. I guess that comes from our dad who used to be a star quarterback when he was younger in college.

Where Troy really excels though is in the brains department. We are all smart but he’s something of a child prodigy and a member of Mensa. Of course, our Mom, Freda, is also a member of Mensa too so I guess it sort of runs in the family. Mensa is the largest and oldest high-IQ society in the world. Most IQ tests today are designed to yield a mean score of 100 with a standard deviation of 15; the 98th percentile score under these conditions is 131, assuming a normal distribution. Anyway, Troy and Mom are super smart, and Troy has a background in psychology, and something called the neurosciences. Well, he says the cognitive neurosciences to be exact.

Cognitive neuroscience according to Troy and Mom quote unquote is a subfield of neuroscience that studies the biological processes that underlie human cognition, especially regarding the relation between brain structures, activity, and cognitive functions. The purpose is to determine how the brain functions and achieves performance. Cognitive neuroscience is considered as a branch of both psychology and neuroscience, because it combines the biological sciences with the behavioral sciences, such as psychiatry and psychology. It uses technologies that measure brain activity, like functional neuroimaging, and can provide insight into behavioral observations when behavioral data is insufficient. Decision-making is an example of a biological process that influences cognition.

Some of Troy’s science projects have even been displayed at our state science fairs, some even nationwide. They’ve won major awards and been written up in science digests anyway. I can’t personally say that I find training small green carnivorous Geckos lizards not to eat meat, or raising icky large creepy spiders to see how certain chemicals affect the way they weave their webs, is first on my list of impressive scientific feats, ha, ha. He’s been interviewed and offered scholarships to various big universities and even big corporations from around the country, well really from around the world. Though he hasn’t accepted any offers yet, preferring to take his time before coming to a final decision about which college and where.

Troy is a quiet reserved person, not really a loner like he appears to be, ha, ha. He does have a small circle of friends. He’s also extremely shy around girls. I know this because I’ve had some of his female classmates come to me for help trying to hook up with him over the last few years. As a big sister, I guess it was sort of my official big sisterly duty to try to hook him up with a nice girl, and I did try, but it seems personal relationship troubles sort of run in our family, ha, ha. So far, he hasn’t steady dated any of the girls I tried to hook him up with. When I talk to him about it he just says that he knows the girl he wants and is willing to wait to have her.

Well, I guess that’s enough for now, it’s late already and time for me to go to bed.

Week 1, Tuesday, Sept. 20

What a long day today has turned out to be. Had a showdown with the college’s student union president over our club funds. Seriously, that guy is such a male chauvinist pig, trying to reduce the astronomy club’s funding just because its leaders are all females. Went down to his office together with the club president Brenda and gave him a piece of our minds. No way he’s going to get his way and order us around and shortchange us on our funding. I can’t wait for his term to end.

Tonight is the first time Troy will try to hypnotize me for his Experiment. We finally wound up in our living room with me lying on the sofa. I was tired and frustrated after all that had happened today at college. Troy wanted me to be as comfortable as I could be before he ... we started. I was a bit anxious because I didn’t know what to expect. I guess Troy sensed my worries, so instead of starting immediately, he chatted with me for a while first.

As I lay there on my back on the super soft sofa cushions my head resting on the sofa arm and a throw pillow, we talked about things at college. What had happened today, and other small stuff. Chatting with him like this makes me wonder once again why he is so shy around other girls. As a matter of fact, if he could talk to other girls like this normally, I’m sure he could easily be more popular in school. While I was thinking about that he started to dim the lights in the living room, just leaving one small bright light in the ceiling directly over the sofa I’m laying on. He then moved his chair closer to me and began speaking to me in a low firm voice.

“Well let’s get started, Alice.” And with that Troy started off his first hypnotic induction of me.

Troy started off by asking me to focus my attention on the light above me in the ceiling while he talked to me in a low calm steady voice. He was telling me he will help me to relax. He directed me several times to not close my eyes no matter how tired I became. Not to close them until he says to. While he’s telling me that, I suddenly realize that focusing my attention on the ceiling light above me is tiring my eyes. With that, I started to feel my eyelids getting heavier as my eyes strained to look up. He kept repeating his words to me, telling me to keep my eyes open no matter how tired I am or how heavy my eyelids are getting. I tried to reply “OK” to him, but he put his finger sorta near my lips, telling me that I didn’t need to speak, just nod my head if I understand his instructions and I nodded back.

He started off by telling me how relaxed I’m getting. Then how tired I’m getting, and I really started to feel tired and sleepy. I felt like I was sinking into the couch I was laying on, getting more and more relaxed while his voice started to get far away. Keeping my eyes open was getting harder as my eyelids felt heavier and heavier. I just wanted to close my tired aching eyes and fall into a deep relaxed sleep, but Troy had requested me to wait until he told me to, so I can only listen to his voice and try to follow his instructions.

While he continued to tell me how relaxed, tired, and sleepy I was getting his voice was making me even sleepier. By that time I was feeling very relaxed, and my eyelids were so heavy. I felt tired and heavy all over, and it was as though my whole body was sinking further and further into the soft couch I was lying on. I felt my tired aching eyes burning and I kept blinking to keep them open. It got harder and harder for me to focus on the light above me.

All the while I’m trying to focus on the light, the feeling of wanting to close my eyes got stronger and stronger. I already couldn’t really catch much of what Troy was saying. The only thought I had now was how much I wanted to close my eyes, my tired eyes, and just sleep. I was silently screaming in my own mind, “Please!!! Please, Troy!!! Just let me close my eyes and sleep, Troy! I’ll do anything you idiot just to be able to close my eyes and sleep!”

Finally, I heard his voice say, “Now close your eyes Alice and fall into a deep restful sleep Alice.” Ah, the wonderful feeling those words gave me. I immediately closed my eyes feeling so relaxed. Next Troy wanted me to try to open my eyes, but I didn’t want to. My eyes were so tired and so heavy, making me just want to keep my eyes closed like that forever. He wanted me to try harder to open my eyes, and finally, I did try for him, but it seems like now I had forgotten how to open my eyes. No matter how hard I tried, my eyes still remained tightly shut. The best I could do was just a slight quivering movement of my eyelids. I knew I just couldn’t open my eyes no matter how hard I tried. So, when he finally told me I could stop trying to open my eyes and sink 10 times, 100 times, deeper in sleep I heaved a huge sigh of relief, feeling even more relaxed than ever.

My memory of what happened next is fuzzy. Something about walking down a long flight of stairs before reaching the bottom and lying on a soft comfortable bed. I think Troy spoke to me for a long time, asking me questions that I think I answered, and giving me instructions that I followed. What he asked if anything, and what I answered I don’t remember. I just felt like I was floating on clouds with nothing to worry about and feeling so wonderful.

The next thing I really remember is hearing Troy’s voice saying, “3... 2... 1 ... awake Alice”, and I open my eyes. At that instant, I felt disorientated, not knowing where I was or what had happened, but then I remembered everything. I was laying on the couch in our living room with Troy, my younger brother sitting beside me. He had hypnotized me, or ... had he?

‘So did you succeed in hypnotizing me, little brother?” I asked him. Troy nodded and smiled at me, saying. “Yes, and you are a very good subject, Alice. I left you with a post-hypnotic suggestion of feeling refreshed and full of energy. If you don’t believe that I succeeded, just look at the time.” I eyed the clock on the wall. Oh my God! 2 whole hours had passed since we started. Where did the 2 hours go? It just felt like only maybe 10 or 15 minutes at most had passed since we started.

I totally can’t remember much of what happened, but I’m not too worried. I guess I don’t need to remember every little detail, after all, Troy is my younger brother, I’m sure he’ll look after me his big sister. I had a wonderful experience and I feel absolutely great. After fixing the time for the next session tomorrow with him, I left the living room to do my own stuff in my room.

Week 1, Wednesday, Sept. 21

Now that I know what to expect from our sessions, I’m not that afraid anymore. In fact, I’m almost looking forward to it this time. Before we started our second session, Troy told me that for the next few sessions, he would be using different methods to hypnotize me. That made it sound even more interesting as I lay down on the couch again. Today Troy produced a toy contraption, it consisted of a wide base, a windup spring motor, and a 4-inch in diameter disk affixed to the motor’s output shaft. A spiral was painted on the disk. He asked me to look at it.

He then started the spiral to spinning. I felt my eyes being pulled toward the center of the spiral. He started speaking to me, but I only noticed the spiral, feeling myself getting pulled deeper and deeper into the spiral. It seemed like the spiral is not just in front of me, but totally surrounding me, pulling me in deeper and deeper. I experienced such a strange sensation, feeling myself sinking deeper and deeper into the spinning spiral.

I don’t know how much time passed before I heard Troy telling me to close my eyes which I did, but I could still see the spiral spinning in my mind’s eye even with my eyes closed. It just felt so strange. I knew I was getting hypnotized. I could feel it and I found myself fixated on the spinning spiral, feeling myself being pulled into a deeper hypnotic trance.

I listened to Troy’s voice, and he was telling me that I’m going into a much deeper hypnotic trance this time than before. While in the trance, I felt so relaxed, and I found it so easy to listen to his voice and follow the instructions he was giving me. I could hear his voice deep inside my mind, hearing him so clearly, and I wanted more. His voice brought me into a deeper trance. The feeling is indescribable. I’m starting to enjoy the feeling of being in such a deep hypnotic trance, it just felt so wonderful. He told me that this time, when I woke up, I’d remember everything that had occurred, and I would love the feeling of being hypnotized. That sounded wonderful to me.

He spent a long time deepening my trance, letting me imagine myself laying on a wide grassy field, watching the falling leaves from the surrounding trees drifting by. enjoying the cool breeze caressing me as I lay comfortably in the grass. Again and again, he led me to focus on relaxing every part of my body before he let that part become more and more relaxed, and finally, he let my mind relax too. When he finally got through I felt like melted butter, experiencing an indescribable feeling of relaxation.

He also told me that every time he hypnotized me from now on, I’ll go under much faster and into a much deeper trance than before, feeling even more relaxed, more and more willing to follow his instructions. I can’t imagine myself feeling even more relaxed, but if it’s possible I won’t mind at all. In fact, I’ll be very happy to follow all his instructions. He continued on by telling me how much I love hearing his voice, how much I love listening to the sound of his voice, and how much I love following his instructions. His voice felt so warm, so firm, and I feel so comfortable listening to it. I could continue listening to it forever, and whatever he tells me is so important and true I know deep in my mind.

Hey, I wasn’t so naive as to take Troy’s word on all this hypnosis stuff, I read up a little bit on hypnosis before I agreed to be the subject of Troy’s Experiment. I don’t think I would have agreed to being hypnotized by him no matter what he said if all the Internet experts hadn’t assured me that a hypnotized person can’t be made to violate their own personal value system. From my reading, I’m also thinking he must be giving me post-hypnotic suggestions, but the feelings I have are so much different from what I had expected. I admit I’ve seen a couple of those stupid creepy old hypnosis movies where the evil Hypnotist Villain hypnotizes the beautiful young princess and makes her do things against her will.

Well, haven’t we all I ask you? Well, I had always thought that “post-hypnotic suggestions” would be something horrible that you are compelled to follow or something you’re made to do against your will, tee, he, he. Just like some sort of evil magical spell, or some evil superpower used on you. Something which the victim had no other choice but to follow against their will, right? But these feelings are so much different from any of that, Troy is just telling me what I’m already thinking about doing. Just what I already want to do. It’s almost like he’s agreeing to my own thoughts and letting me continue doing what I intended to do the whole time.

Then he told me he wanted to do some tests on how deep a trance I’m in now. I can also know how deep I’ve gone from the results of these tests too he tells me. It sounded interesting to me. First, he wanted me to try to open my eyes, then he suggested to me that when I wanted to open my eyes, they’ll start feeling heavier than before, making me unable to hold them open. Closing tighter and tighter. How right he was, whatever he said was becoming the total truth, no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get them to open, but when he finally said you can open your eyes now Alice, they just popped open instantly without me even trying.

Next, he had my left arm become stiff as a board, finally becoming unable to bend. I felt the arm become literally as stiff as a wooden board in front of my eyes. I could see my left arm, but I totally couldn’t even bend it. He then counted down from 5, waking me up from my trance. When I woke up, I was astonished my left arm was still as stiff as a board. Without a doubt, I was sure I was fully awake, but my arm still remained as stiff as when I was in a trance. Troy then told me that when he snapped his fingers, my arm would go weak without strength and once my arm touched my leg, I’d fall back into a much deeper trance than before. He snapped his finger, and I felt my arm losing its strength, falling to the side of my body, and when my arm touched my leg, I fell into a deeper trance. I was surprised because I didn’t expect to follow his instruction so swiftly.

Oh, the happiness I felt being in the trance, and this is only my second time being hypnotized by Troy. I can’t even imagine how much deeper I can go over the next few days, or weeks, or over however many more sessions I have with Troy. Troy seems to understand my feelings and has promised me that he’ll teach me how to get even deeper into the trance. He’ll help me to love this feeling even more. Even now, I still cannot imagine this feeling getting any better. I’m experiencing the most wonderful feelings ever in this world, and it’s all thanks to my dear younger brother Troy.

When I woke up this time, I looked at the clock, and just like yesterday, a whole 2 hours had passed. I’m shocked, time passed too fast for such a wonderful experience. This time, I remember everything, well at least I think I do, but I still feel unsatisfied on some level. It’s like watching your favorite serial TV show, you just don’t want it to end that way. I can’t wait for the next session with Troy to start.

Week 1, Saturday, Sept. 24

Yesterday, I had my third session with Troy. I was looking forward to this session so much as I lay on the couch waiting for him to come home from school today. I guess he must have known it too, because when he opened the door he was smiling, and immediately took out a shiny crystal pendant on a long gold chain. He sang the pendent in front of my eyes, telling me to focus my attention on the pendent. The lights in the room were reflecting off the pendant, making it sparkle beautifully.