And you must be Valerie’s mom.”
“I am.” she says statically.
“Hmmm...”
He turns to you and awakens you from trance. Your head hurts so bad as you come to and see your mom in a trance.
“Ugh...my head really hurts...” you say, quickly noticing the man and your entranced mother. “S-Sir, what’s wrong with my mother?” You ask politely.
“Nothing dear,” he says, not looking at you. “Now mom, first name and age, please.”
“Audrey. 46.”
He pauses for just a moment.
“Audrey, you’re 36.”
You gasp. Is he trying to make your mom...think...she’s younger?
“That’s not-I’m, uh, 46...” she stutters, aware that such a statement is not quite right.
Your mom looks so overwhelmed, as if she needs to defend a fact as simple as her age. You start feeling funny again. Your mom was indeed 46...right? And why was the man saying 36? Hypnosis is just changing what you believe and not what is actually true...right?
“Sir, what’s going on? Stop doing that to my mom!”
“You are 36, Audrey.”
“I am...36...” says your mother slowly, her features losing their age as she speaks. Her skin is now a lot smoother, and her dress is a little less matronly and more showy. Her hair is longer and has a darker blonde color. Her expression is more...vibrant and zestful. You, of course, don’t notice the change because reality changed with it, but you are a bit puzzled. Your mom was certainly young for a mom with a kid your age, but 36 just seemed almost too young. When did she meet your father and subsequently have you? Something isn’t right.
“Mom! S-snap out of it!”
“You’re 36, Audrey.”
“I am...I am 36,” your young mother repeats again. Your bewilderment, within an instant, fades: mom, at 36, has always been so young, but she always said marrying young was the best decision she ever made (and you want to do it too). She was only 20 when she gave birth, but that hasn’t stopped her from being the best mom other. Plus it was cool having a hip, young mother. Whenever you two went out, you could pass as sisters.
As your confusion over her age leaves at last, your mother stands in trance quietly while the man smiles at her with a sinister grin.