Chapter 1

“Van, for the last time, quit fooling around with Jake’s little hypnosis kit! I wish that Brock hadn’t bought it for him, but it is his!” Reba snapped at her son-in-law a bit from sheer frustration.

Once again, Brock Hart, her rather vain and shallow ex-husband, had purchased something in order to be “cool” or “hip” with his kids. This time it was for their youngest pride and joy, Jake, their son. Well, he was the youngest from both of them. Brock had a new son, Henry, by his second wife and former dental hygienist, Barbara Jean, but that was an old wound best left scabbed. Van and their elder daughter, Cheyenne, had a daughter named Elizabeth, of course, which was why they married so young and lived with Reba.

Van secretly enjoyed the idea of hypnosis, even if he thought that it was silly. It was just a gag, right? He wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but he knew that it was just a kid’s game. Still, some juvenile part of him loved the idea behind it. He could pull pranks on Cheyenne or Reba or Barbara Jean, for instance, maybe make one of them bark like a dog. Hell, he could even pull one over on Kyra in theory, which would bring him real satisfaction to outfox someone that smart.

For that matter, Van could even hypnotize himself to be a masseur for one of the ladies or rub their feet. Part of Van was very attracted to Kyra’s feet. He didn’t know what it was, but he liked them. He laughed as he even considered the prospect of making Kyra dominate him. She would be fun to submit to at least a little, pretending to be hypnotized or something. That would be funny as an excuse that he could sell to Cheyenne to do things with Kyra and not have her consider it cheating.

“I was just having fun with it. See? It’s just a gag. It could never hypnotize anyone, right? I mean, really, this old-fashioned timepiece is supposed to make me sleepy and go under hypnosis? These instructions are supposed to work? See what I mean? It’s a gag gift, Mrs. Hart,” Van tried to hide how hard he got when he said the words “Mrs. Hart.”

“Oh, really? Okay, prove it to me! Hypnotize me, Mr. Goofy!” Reba drawled in her deep Southern accent.

She privately agreed with Van, but wanted to see if she could have fun at his expense and make him believe that he was hypnotized to teach him a lesson. Maybe if he thought that it worked, he would realize that there could be consequences to “borrowing” Jake’s stuff, or others’ stuff, just for lulz. That kind of juvenile behavior had to stop. Maybe this would scare Van enough to make him grow up a bit more. Besides, he needed to know that he shouldn’t piss off a redhead, least of all one from the South.

“Okay, lie down, Mrs. Hart,” Van told Reba, not taking this seriously at all ... she just wanted to prove her point, didn’t she?

Reba lay down on the sofa and Van hovered over her with the timepiece, waving it in her face.

“Look at the timepiece, Mrs. Hart. You’re getting very sleepy. You’re falling deeper into sleep,” Van, not being original in his thinking, simply followed the script.

“Yes, I’m very sleepy,” Reba thought, though part of her subconscious mind panicked as she realized, “oh, fuck, this works!”

It was too late. Her eyelids grew heavy. Van’s voice, annoying as it was, proved surprisingly soothing right now. He never meant any real harm, after all. He was just a dimwitted jock without that many brain cells to spare, often full of very immature notions like this. He was no threat, wouldn’t actually hurt anybody. If she could give him a scare, maybe it would teach him...

Reba’s thinking began to get muddled. She couldn’t reason this out anymore. She was too tired. She was rather exhausted of late, too much stress, truth be told. You try being a single, working mom with not only a teenager and a preteen, but a grandchild nowadays, right? This was nice and relaxing, wasn’t it? Very comfortable ... just giving into the hypnotic effect of Van’s gentle voice, to the deep trance into which he sent her.

“Okay, now. You’re sound asleep, Mrs. Hart. Now, from now on, whenever someone says, ‘sweet Jesus,’ you’ll bark like a dog! Whenever anyone says, ‘praise the Lord,’ you’ll kiss the closest person to you on the mouth. Whenever anyone says, ‘Jesus Christ,’ you’ll take off your shoes and socks, walking around barefoot or put them back when they’re off. And whenever anyone says, ‘Hallelujah,’ you’ll moon us all. Now, when I snap my fingers, you’ll be wide awake and not remember any of these instructions. There you go!” Van snapped his fingers, laughing at even the thought of Reba doing any of this stuff.

There was no way that would happen, right? She was just trying to teach him some kind of lesson, so he would play along with it. He stood up and even helped Reba stand up, as she seemed a bit dizzy. She had this strange look on her face, perhaps more relaxed and less stressed than before. Well, she did try to rest, right, so maybe that part worked. Van wasn’t sure, not being all that smart.

That was when Barbara Jean walked into the living room, along with Brock and Cheyenne behind her. She had a very excited look on her face as she saw how much happier or less strained Reba was. Her friend was so much less worn down or tense. Barbara Jean wasn’t quite as dumb as Van, so she could really see signs that Reba was not as burdened by stress and fatigue. Clearly, the Lord had brought her some peace, hadn’t he?

“Well, I see my bestie Reba is much happier now! Van, did you bring her some kind of blessing from the Lord? Sweet Jesus!” Barbara Jean declared, causing Reba to instantly bark like a dog.