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Beauty and the Vial
The Original Short Story
Will Perseus, with Helen's help, find a way to enter
Aphrodite's presence and gain beauty for his mother?
A Lost Story Returns to its Author
Imagine my surprise when a story I posted to a BBS and lost in a hard drive crash was found on Usenet. The story migrated from where I posted it on The Sierra Connection BBS to Usenet where Frank found it and posted it to BCTS. When I told Erin I was the author, she agreed and assigned the story to me. I have made spelling and grammatical corrections and replaced the old pen name with my current one.to the short story which appears below.
Exploring the impossibilities,
Jo Dora Webster
BEAUTY1.TXT
Beauty and the Vial
By Jo Dora Webster
Chapter 1
Penelope and Helen
The Grecian plain glistened with the clinging droplets everywhere from the blessing that had been received from the heavens. A poor Grecian boy stood as a guest in the home of his friend, a poor Grecian girl. Perseus listened intently to Helen as she told him about the field that Aphrodite visited each year close to the village.
"I discovered this myself and I have told no one till telling you now. Tomorrow is the day, Perseus!", Helen spoke in a whisper.
"My mother is so lonely. If only she could have the beauty that age, and hard work have robbed from her then someone would fall in love with her, and she would have all she needs. I know that she won't ask for beauty for herself. She thinks of everyone but herself.", whispered Perseus.
"Only your mother or her daughter could petition Aphrodite for beauty. You don't have any sisters, Perseus. You could be the daughter that asks Aphrodite for your mother." explained Helen.
Helen dressed Perseus up as a girl. Perseus looked at the reflection in a mirror and admired Helen's skill. Perseus could pass as a girl before anyone. The only exception was the goddess herself who could see beyond the exterior to the soul. Would the goddess ignore the deception to see beyond to his motives for his mother?
Perseus told Helen," I think that Aphrodite would listen to a boy rather than one who tried to deceive her. Would you please go to the shrine to Aphrodite and give an offering for my mother and me? Thank you for your help. Seeing myself as a girl makes me wish I were my mother's daughter. Nevertheless, I go in truth and in love for my mother."
Helen replied, "I had not thought of that Perseus. I even had a girl's name picked out for you, Penelope. I will do as you ask and may you have favor with the Goddess."
Helen helped Perseus remove the disguise and he left dressed as he entered.
"Perhaps someday there will be a Penelope.", Perseus whispered to Helen as he left.
Perseus ran to the field and spied a beautiful maiden in the field. Perseus thought, "This is the goddess herself just as Helen had told me."
He came and knelt at her feet. She touched him and told him, "Arise. Why do you come here to me? "
"Lady I come here to bring a petition for my mother."
"You did well to come before me in truth even though as a man you are not worthy to come before me. The girl, Helen who thought that I could be deceived by her handiwork should be taught a lesson."
"I beg mercy for her, Lady. Her judgement was clouded with her great desire to help me."
"Mercy shall be granted to her. Come be with me this day and help me harvest the seeds and fluid from these plants. After the work is done, I will answer your petition, Perseus."
The Goddess handed Perseus a vial and pouch identical to hers to hold the fluid and seeds and after she showed him the method where no fluid would be lost, and no seed missed.
The pair worked in the field thru the noonday. The goddess told stories of women who had loved and, in each story, portrayed a different hue of a many-colored love. When the Sun hung overhead past its full strength the two had finished the field. Perseus gave the Goddess the fluid filled vial and the pouch that contained the seeds.
"You have done well Perseus. Come eat supper with me."
They both retired to a grassy spot underneath the shade of a tree with a pond just beyond. They dined sitting on a cover of fine linen partaking of delicacies only known on Olympus. Following the meal Perseus was overcome with drowsiness.
He spoke," My lady, I beg your forgiveness, but I can scarce keep my eyes open."
"Sleep now, Perseus. You have my blessing."
Perseus surrendered and fell asleep wondering thankful for the Goddess's understanding.
About an hour later the child awoke to find the Goddess smiling and saying, "Now you are worthy dear Penelope. You have wondered why a Goddess would disguise herself as a maiden and labor herself to gather the fluid and seeds. The fluid is blessed by the Gods to bring beauty. To be exposed as much a mortal woman could not contain the beauty and any man would be transformed. You will find yourself precocious having matured as much as a 18 yr old even though you are only twelve."
She withdrew a fluid filled small vial from around her neck and continued, "I will ask you to bring this vial to your mother later and have her use it as I show you to place 2 drops under her tongue."
Aphrodite demonstrated by placing a drop under her tongue then she continued, "When she does it that will give her back her beauty during the next time she sleeps. Both of you will need only one drop each year to renew your beauty. I'm also going to give you a few seeds and before the vial is exhausted you should be able to use the plants to refill it. I'm also going to give you a scroll that gives the dosage, effects and warns of the danger."
Penelope replied in a sweet feminine voice, "Thank you my lady for granting my petition and my wish and for caring for me this day. Now that I may offer my own offering to you, I will be faithful."
Aphrodite gave her a hug and said, "Come, you will attend me as handmaiden as I bathe then I will send my gifts home with you to your mother. Bathe yourself so that you may serve me."
Penelope joyfully when she reached the pond removed her old male clothes and entered the pond and bathed herself. She then helped the goddess to undress and bathed her in the waters of the pond. When finished they turned back to the shore and robes and towels had been provided. Drying herself and the Goddess she helped the Goddess dress and found provided a wonderful dress for her to wear.
Penelope gratefully said, "Thank you so much for the beautiful clothing, my Lady. Your blessing has surely been poured out on me."
Aphrodite smiled and said, "You must keep the secret of the plants safe because unknowing souls would trample this sacred plain, and their greed would bring death. Say no more than you have been blessed by Aphrodite. This that I give you is mine only to give so use it only for your family and its descendants. Penelope, you will always remain a woman to reward your acts toward me this day. If your family betray this trust, I will take away these added gifts of my blessing to your mother for her and your family."
Aphrodite sensed that Helen was nearing the plain in despair for the fate of Perseus whom she had expected back with a answer long ago and she feared something had happened to him.
"Helen is coming to the plain. Go meet her and bring her to me." commanded the Goddess.
"Yes, my lady." Penelope replied and she ran to meet Helen.
When she finally caught up, she gave Helen a big hug and said, "I am now Penelope but this morning I was Perseus. The Goddess granted my wish and now she commands me to bring you to her."
Helen took her hand without a word and the two ran to meet the Goddess. Helen after questioning Penelope became convinced that she had been Perseus and was truly struck with Penelope's beauty and that she had passed from girlhood to womanhood while retaining the age of a child. When they arrived, Helen knelt at the feet of Aphrodite.
"Arise, my child. You have done well in keeping the secret of this plain and the day of my visits till this day. This day you also planned to deceive me, but you repented of it. You offered gifts to my shrine for Penelope and her mother and for you and your mother. You have my mercy for your transgressions colored for the love of your friend and wanting to help her mother. To reward you for your keeping of the secret of the plain and in exchange for your continued silence I will give you for your family a vial of the fluid and a few of the seeds to replenish it. You must keep the secret of the plants safe because unknowing souls would trample this sacred plain, and their greed would bring death. Say no more than you have been blessed by Aphrodite. This that I give you is mine only to give so use it only for your family and its descendants. If your family betray this trust, I will take away these gifts of my blessing to you for you and your family."
Helen replied, "Thank you my lady and I will be faithful to your instructions and in serving you."
"Penelope can instruct you in these gifts as I have instructed her, Helen."
Aphrodite took her vial and placed it around Penelope's neck. She filled another one and placed it around Helen's neck. The Goddess took 2 small pouches that contained a few seeds and gave it to each girl and then gave each girl a instruction scroll.
"Penelope, I have revealed your identity to the priestess in the village and I have a necklace to give you to show that you have been my handmaiden and are under my protection."
Aphrodite placed a necklace terminating in a ruby stone on Penelope.
"Thank you, my lady for your grace toward me.", Penelope said as she looked at the necklace.
"I must go now and so you both are free to return to your homes. I know that you both will want to help but I ask you not to return here for it would mean your death to help in the harvest. I will always hear your petitions thru the shrine and will give you answers thru the priestess. If we do need to speak face to face, I will come to you. I wish it were not so but all you can do by meeting me here in the future is to lead someone to the secret place. ", she commanded.
Penelope answered for the both of them, "We will do as you command."
Aphrodite smiled, "Go now my children. Farewell till I come to you again."
Each girl replied " Farewell, my lady" and they joyfully started the journey to the village.
Helen turned back to look at the plain and saw it empty. Aphrodite had returned to Olympus.
"These sure changes things. Until today I thought that you would one day become my lover and wife, Helen.", said Penelope excitedly
"Now we will be best friends for always, Penelope. I guess that makes both of us looking for boyfriends." replied Helen.
"Just don't rush me with the boys. I'm going to have to get used to being a girl."
"With a body like that once they get beyond you having been a boy you are going to be rushed by them."
"Then I'll deal with it. How are you going to deal with your family with the gift? My mother, sister and I will take it tonight then we will all be beautiful in the morning."
"As will my mother. We both are so lucky."
Helen and Penelope came to Penelope's house first so that Helen could help explain the transformation. Daphne, Penelope's mother met them at the door and greeted them, "Welcome, Helen who is your friend and where is my son?"
"This is Penelope who was your son, Perseus. Perseus found out from me where Aphrodite would be today, and he asked the Goddess to grant you beauty so that you would find a husband and no longer be lonely. Perseus helped Aphrodite harvest the beauty fluid and after a nap was transformed to Penelope."
"I can see that she is my daughter now. Welcome home Penelope!"
Mother and daughter embraced.
"Mother, I have a gift to you from Aphrodite."
Penelope took the vial and placed 2 drops under her tongue. Penelope handed the vial, seeds and scroll to Daphne.
"I will explain all to you but the most important is that these are to be secret and kept in the family. When you wake from your next sleep, Mother, the goddess's blessing of beauty will have happened. "
"That's wonderful, Penelope! How will we explain to the village that you are my daughter that used to be my son?"
"The priestess can tell them if we ask her to. Aphrodite revealed my transformation to her."
"I'm going to place all of the blessing from Aphrodite in this box for safe keeping till we need them again."
"We only need a drop each year on this day to keep the beauty fresh and new."
Helen said, "Well I'm going to go tell my family of the gift that Aphrodite gave me for my family. Bye!"
Both Penelope and Daphne told her goodbye then they both went to their rooms to go to sleep.
Chapter 2 Gail and Montine
It was a replica of the original box that had contained the items in ancient Greece as was the pouch that held the seeds inside and the scroll that contained the instructions. Etched into the cover of the box was the name Daphne in Greek letters. This was all I, Alex, knew about the box that had been willed to me from my great Aunt Montine which appeared in the description of the box from the will.
Great Aunt Montine had always been beautiful and even ageless externally though eventually she had died of congestive heart failure when she had reached the age of 120. Even then just before her death she had looked good enough to appear in a swimsuit issue of a magazine looking about 30 years old. She had been the Dick Clark of our family but as sweet as she was no one made Dorian Grey jokes.
I had been the closest to her in our family too because they thought her not surrendering to age to be uncomforting. I had learned to treat her as the matriarch of the family which she was in public while in our times together a contemporary. She knew that I savored the paradox eager to hear of times gone by and having her eagerly speak of the now.
Little did they know that she possessed some unexplainable magic and even now I am unable to decide whether it was real or a dream. I spent a summer when I was 13 with Great Aunt Montine and I had decided that I had no idea what motivated that unknowable species, the teenaged girl.
Wonder of wonders on the block where Great Aunt Montine lived that summer all the children were daughters. That had motivated them to form a sorority which was the main social group for the children there. Being the only male teen should have been great but I was shy and uncertain of myself and there were no social gatherings that I would be invited to so I could not get to know them individually.
Seeing my discomfort and knowing that I wanted to learn my great aunt asked me if I would like to participate in an experiment. She wanted me to pose as a girl for a while and join the sorority. I agreed on the condition that my disguise would be flawless. Thinking that was the same as saying no I slept and, in the morning, I found that I appeared to be a teenaged girl. Great Aunt Montine told me that it was all an illusion that would fade in time but everyone on the block would accept me as what I now appeared to be for that time period. How long would I be this way I questioned. She told me that she thought it would be only a month.
Great Aunt Montine and I had a great time buying a small but versatile teen wardrobe for me. She introduced me around as her great niece. Gail Landers and I was soon tapped for initiation into the sorority. That initiation was the second scariest thing that I had gone thru. (The first was my period beginning on the first day. Even though great aunt Montine had prepared me for it I felt so scared and then relieved knowing if she were right, I would have to go thru it at most only one time more.) I was supposed to for the initiation pose for a life study class at a nearby college art department.
Rather than having to get around my parents since Great Aunt Montine had thought to obtain temporary guardianship of me, she could and was willing to sign the releases so I could pose. It was quite a character builder, but I became less conscious of my new body, so it helped me adjust.
One very talented female art student gave me a painting that she had made from her sketches. She told me that every young woman should have a nude done of her in her teens so she could have a reminder of where she had come from. I gratefully accepted her loving gift.
I was in and for the next month I learned so much about teenaged girls. I knew that I had overcome my shyness for in a great many respects they were no different than I as a boy had been. They just had a few different experiences and the effects of those made the real differences.
I also learned the secret that I had missed on boys mixing with them socially. They of necessity went as a group to social events outside the community. This caused my greatest agitation since as the newest initiate they wanted me to reflect well on them and also to learn not to be shy and enjoy the company of boys.
I had already on that first day of shopping had gone to see a gynecologist and had an exam and since we both agreed that I might not tolerate birth control pills. Since I exhibited the same chemistry as great aunt Montine that could not tolerate it, we opted for a 4-pronged defense. Rhythm, rubber baby buggy bumper (diaphragm), spermicide and a male or female condom or both. At the time I did not see any way that I would allow myself in a consensual situation.
One day after I had confided in great aunt Montine my problem relating as a girl to boys it was gone. Mind and body were in unison and I found myself having romantic fantasies and for the first time I was only Gail and a girl, and the former life was so fuzzy that I felt it was only a dream that I had. From that time on I had lost my shyness with boys. Then I started to go thru the cycle of emotions that came from being in love and out of love.
Shortly after that I found that all my clothes became snug in the chest and hips, and I had to get some D cup bras when before a b cup fit me fine. This was a blessing because it enabled me to start borrowing from great aunt Montine’s closet and the dresses that I found there that fit me gave me everything that I needed to wear to support the social life that I had gained beyond the mixers that the sorority attended and the sorority itself. I dated boys and enjoyed myself.
There was one boy in particular, Dennis, who I deeply loved and was in heaven when I was with him. Finally, we decided that the most natural way to express our love was to do it physically. But knowing how important it was to avoid that fertile time of the month we decided to wait till afterward.
I knew that my time was coming to a close and I started to tell Dennis that I would soon have to go far away, and it would be impossible to stay in touch. In fact, it would be as though I had died. He used that quote quoted in Beauty and the Beast. “Though Lovers be lost, Love shall not, and Death shall have no dominion.” I told him that if he still felt that way knowing it would be our last then I would consent, but I did not want to hurt him more since I would be leaving.
I let all this out on great aunt Montine, and she told me that she had miscalculated and that I would have a brief reprieve after my second period but would not remain to have a third. Two weeks more she guessed.
We waited and hoped and finally my time had passed, and we picked out a romantic setting for our union. It was glorious and I have not experienced anything like it since then. The last days were wonderful for we lived each as though it were our last. After one night’s sleep I found my body was back to the teen proportions that it started out as and knew that the end was near.
I said goodbye to everyone as Gail that next day and had the last day of last days with Dennis that had become a part of me. We parted in the joy of our relationship leaving the Grieving for later when I told him that this was it. That during the night I would have to leave and never return.
I was right three nights later because when I woke the next morning, I had returned to be a teenaged boy.
Until that time even though my body seemed to be undergoing a reverse puberty yet still I was Gail and I grieved for the loss of Dennis till I woke on that third day as a teenaged boy again. I was convinced that Gail indeed had died when I brought out the portrait of her and lusted for her.
All was normal, yet I remembered vividly my experiences as Gail and understood her emotions and desires then even though the ones I had now were different.
I thanked my great aunt for the wonderful 6 weeks that she had given me and wondered still how the magic had been performed but she never gave me any clue.
I became good friends with the Dennis that Gail had fallen in love with, and it seemed that my company eased his grief. I had switched from grieving for Dennis to grieving with him over Gail. I became integrated into the social scene there and dated several of Gail’s former sorority sisters. After a week of grieving, Dennis accepted my offer of double dating a pair of wonderful girls from the sorority and after that Dennis seemed to enjoy other girls' company again and led a pretty full social life. I was glad for Dennis and in turn he helped me over some of my hurdles as well, but I never was to come to the same place with any of the girls that I had dated. At least I reasoned that if I had not brought any of them that happiness at least I would not bring them the grief. And I knew that even though we might be separated at the end of the summer at least neither would be entirely impossible to reach.
I attended one more meeting of the sorority just before I left to go back home. When the sorority had become convinced that Gail had indeed disappeared from the face of the earth due in part to a rumor that persisted that she had entered the witness protection program and further attempts to find her could put her in danger they planned a meeting to celebrate their memories of her.
They had permission to hold it in the local Baptist church and even though it was open to the public the only people that had been invited besides the sorority were me, great aunt Montine, Dennis, and Gerald who had dated Gail the most before she had met Dennis.
They held it as a meeting of the sorority and even though they did not give away any secrets it followed the format familiar to me which meant that they were comfortable including us in on it. When the memory portion came up, they went around the circle giving warm moments or anecdotes from Gail’s time with them. I knew that I wanted to convey to them again Gail’s feelings toward them all so when the invitation came for those who were not sorority members to speak, I waited to the end and read the entry that Gail had made in her diary that last evening before the change from pre-adolescent girl to boy had taken place as though it were a personal letter to me from her.
This day was my most important memory of Gail that was not from Gail.
It also was what convinced me that Dennis had once and for all turned loose of Gail and that was the best for his wellbeing and my conscience though at the time I knew Gail had resisted all the way for that reason and now I knew that Dennis subscribed to the idea that it was better to love and lost than not to have loved at all. It was merciful that Gail’s grieving had been cut off after 3 days. If she were still living in the present, I would not be able to be as certain that she would have put this behind her.
If anything this summer brought great aunt Montine and I as close as sisters. I thanked her with all my heart for all she had done for and meant to me during this summer and especially for her gift of Gail’s summer. She smiled and hugged me and promised that one day that I would know the secret of the magic that she had used. I spent other summers with her but even though we talked of Gail the magic never was repeated and we both knew that it would cause more problems than joy for her to arrive again because I knew that it would be cruel to resurrect her if she were not back to stay.
Chapter 3 Great Aunt Montine’s Legacy
Well I decided to look at the scroll and try to decipher it and I saw a picture of the vial held so that it dropped 2 drops under the tongue. Well, I reasoned if 2 drops worked good then 8 drops would work great. So, I took the vial and was going to let 8 drops fall under my tongue. After the first drop though I stopped and reconsidered. It had been so impulsive of me to want to experience the vial’s contents to the max. Fortunately, the voice of reason won out and I hoped that the one drop that I had taken would not be enough to do anything to me.
I really wanted to know what the writing on the scroll said so I went back to the box that the replica box had been packed in. As I suspected I had left something behind hidden in the packing. I found a sealed large blank envelope which I opened and found inside an envelope in Great Aunt Montine’s handwriting addressed to me. I began to read parts of the letter.
Dearest Alexander, I want you to know that first last and always I love you and I have felt your love and to know you has given me and I have seen in you great joy. I have treasured the times that we have spent together and know that each time brought us closer. Only you in our family could appreciate my uniqueness and see not only the beauty of the body but also of the soul. I thank you for that and despite our ages I have felt we are kindred spirits. It has been hard knowing that with my not having daughters or children at all when my parents had only a son and a daughter.
The son married and had 3 sons one of whom was your father. They all combined to have 7 sons with you being the only son of your father. I had nothing against the wives, but they had joined the family by marriage instead of being born into it as I had been so my condition was especially alien to them and none of them could relate to me as woman to woman.
Not only did having no women in the family except by marriage add to the prejudice against me but also it gave me no one in the family that I felt comfortable confiding in till you turned 6 with your precocious high IQ and your understanding and unconditional acceptance of me. When you gave your permission to become Gail that summer, I told myself it was for your good so that you would overcome your shyness and relate to girls your age as you had related to me, but I knew that I wanted a daughter and Gail was my daughter for that brief time. I came to learn the lesson after you returned, Alexander, that I was as guilty as others of prejudice judging a having a daughter or niece or grandniece to be better than having a kindred spirit. Though you are a very masculine person in body and soul you also embrace the feminine and are richer for it.
There was not a lot of property and though as doting a great aunt I have been concerning you I knew that you had no need for the material substance of my estate. Nevertheless I wished for you to have something of mine as a remembrance of me and of all the time we spent together. I had a difficult task but an easy decision regarding a special object that had been passed down from mother to daughter or at least from aunt to niece or grandniece in our family that truly dated back to ancient times. To look at our family now you would never guess that we were all descendants from a Greek woman’s daughter, but we were. The Greek blood in our veins has been diluted to make it almost nonexistent yet it is there. Let me tell you the story of how the box came to be and of a poor boy named Perseus and his friend Helen.
As you can tell things work out well for Daphne, Penelope and Helen thanks to the favor of the Goddess Aphrodite in providing the miracle liquid. I as inheritor of the ancient blessing had to decide who would be my successor so that it might be passed on to succeeding generations. Though I willingly would have shared the secret with the wives in the family their rejection of my condition made it likely that they might betray the secret, so I withheld it from them and also the box as an inheritance. I was confronted with giving it to one of my seven great nephews in trust for the next generation. Fortunately, you made the decision easy by being a kindred spirit I knew I could count on you to see the true value and to keep the secret and pass it on to the right person in the next generation.
I caution you, Alexander, as my mother cautioned me and so on since Penelope and Helen were warned by the goddess herself. The Goddess Aphrodite has given you for your family a vial of the fluid, a few of the seeds to replenish it, and a scroll to explain it. You must keep the secret of the plants safe because unknowing souls would trample the plants and their greed would bring death. Say no more than you have been blessed by Aphrodite. This that is given to you is only Aphrodite’s to give so use it only for your family and its descendants. If your family betrays this trust Aphrodite will take away these gifts of her blessing to you for you and your family. So that you may know all I will now give you the translation of the scroll.
As you can see now my magic in changing you to Gail was none other than the beauty fluid. That first evening I used 2 drops under your tongue to transform you which was a temporary dose that made you a girl for a month. I began to realize that you were still bound by your male self-image and for you to really experience being a girl I had to intensify your transformation while keeping it well below the 6 drops that would cause a permanent change. The third drop caused you to finish female puberty and feminized your sex drive so that along with a woman’s body and emotions you had a woman’s desires. I told you that in time I would reveal to you the secret and if you had ever asked again for the magic to be performed on you, I would have told you all before proceeding.
Let me make my personal recommendations on how you should use it. Using it on females is covered well in the scroll and in all the centuries not one of our ancestors have passed on any recommendation to conflict with the scroll’s 2 drop for first application and 1 drop per year thereafter. There is an oral tradition on using it on males since the scrolls do not say it and we do not know how much absorbed thru the hands by Perseus is equivalent to how much sublingually administered.
Should you desire to become a woman temporarily now I would recommend up to a maximum of 4 drops to become a stunningly beautiful woman. Should you decide to become a woman permanently use 6 drops for a permanent transformation and a maximum of 2 additional drops to become stunningly beautiful. The fifth drop administered to a male is in unknown territory.
It may intensify and prolong a temporary transformation but more likely it may start a permanent transformation to a pre-pubescent girl - like state.
Since you have already been transformed by the drops in your childhood then your transformation will be immediate to the degree of beauty you obtained then. In other words, you will become a “grown up Gail”. The number of drops will determine how long you will stay as “Gail”. You will have to experiment and see how long each dose will work for you.
Remember that as long as a dose is in effect, and another is administered then the result is the same as though both were given at the same time.
I do not know of by my own experience or by oral tradition any substance to counter or weaken the effects of the liquid. If you by accident or design take an overdose your only hope is that for you uniquely the limits may really be higher but please do not bet your life on it. There is an oral tradition of only deaths resulting from females overdosing. (A big enough overdose by a male is equivalent for a portion of the dosage will result in transformation to female and thereafter the same conditions apply.) If you find someone in an overdose situation this is different from the action waiting until sleep. The best method is to not interrupt the sleep cycle and one will either wake extremely beautiful or dead. Not sleeping causes a chain reaction that consumes the body and results in a horrible death so one can’t avoid the consequences by not sleeping.
I put down the letter at that point and considered my ill-conceived attempted administration of the eight drops of the liquid. Had I followed through with taking all eight drops, after I slept next, I would have become a woman permanently. I would have been a strikingly beautiful woman this year and if I administered one drop each year, I would retain undiminished that striking beauty.
Now I would have to live with the consequences of my action of taking the one drop. A rush of excitement filled me over the prospect of the transformation that would take place while sleeping this very night. I wondered how long the one drop would last for me now that I was quite grown up.
And I would be one with the persona of ‘Gail’ who I remembered but everything was second hand now. It would be glorious to be Gail not only for what I experienced as her then but also what I could experience through her now.
I considered the extreme luck that had prevented me from impulsively taking the 8 drops or more. I now was the guardian of this treasure, and I made a mental note to see if I could avoid my near mishap with the person that I would pass the box to when my time came. I know that Great Aunt Montine was waiting in case a niece was born but I was determined to try to pass it on while I lived and could make the recipient listen before they had been given this fluid which was both medical miracle and poison.
The lateness of the hour began to catch up with me and I began to yawn. I caught myself and realized that I was going to have to make do with what was in the house to get started with tomorrow. I knew that the rest of Great Aunt Montine’s letter would be touching and valuable, but I put it aside to go to the cedar chest at the foot of my bed. I removed the contents and a false bottom to reveal a number of keepsakes carefully enclosed in boxes of a variety of shapes sizes and colors.
I found just what I wanted, a baby doll nightie and a pair of matching panties that Great Aunt Montine had been so sweet to give me. Prior to that I had been content to sleep in an oversized T-shirt, but she told me that when girls become women lingerie is such a treat for the body and soul.
I changed that night in more than one way for having the experience. I put them on and turned to the mirror. I seemed a bit ridiculous in appearance but I felt nice, and I knew that when I woke up that I would look as nice as I felt now.
I looked thru the chest and found a few more items, peeking inside the boxes, that I thought that I could use tomorrow. I replaced the false bottom and filled the chest with its former contents and closed it cherishing the aroma that had wafted from inside. I could no longer fight sleep so I climbed snug into bed wondering what tomorrow would bring.
To Be Continued...
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My First Attempt to Extend the Short Story
The book, "Beauty and the Vial Revealed," is the final result of my taking the short story contents and telling the rest of the story. In the book, I augmented the short story's chapter one and made it the book's prolog. The short stories' chapter two and three's content is mostly followed in the body of the book but is altered to make another ending and additional elements possible.
What follows is my first attempt to extend the original short story. You may read this as an addendum to the short story which appears above.
Exploring the impossibilities,
Jo Dora Webster
Chapter 4 Awakening and an Audience
I fell asleep a 60-year-old Alexander and woke very much a thirty something voluptuously mature Gail. My female mind had returned, and I cursed my male alter ego for being so unthinking in playing with the gift of the vial. Fortunately, with my enhanced wisdom also came a woman's emotions. With the grief I was allowed release as I collapsed face down on the bed and erupt into tears. I gave voice with a loud shriek to the sadness that overwhelmed me with Greek words which must have manifest from some genetic memory which I could mentally translate into English.
"Oh my Goddess! I have failed you! Thy handmaiden seeketh thy wisdom and beauty. "
Before I could wonder at my outburst, I felt a hand touch and comfort me.
"Be well my daughter. I have come."
Just the sound of her voice calmed me in spite of the sense of awe that enveloped me. I stopped crying and got up to face her. Before me was the maiden from the field that Perseus met before becoming Penelope. It was Aphrodite herself. I prostrated myself at her feet.
"My Lady! Thy servant listens eager to obey!"
"Child your wisdom does you credit. I bid you rise, and we must talk woman to woman, Gail"
I did as she commanded and looking into her eyes, I found peace. All of the many questions fled from my mind and my thoughts were uncluttered as I listened for her next words.
"You are so like that first Penelope so many years ago. It grieved me that there were none found worth in the female line to carry on my purpose for giving her the vial and the seeds so many years ago. I warned of my displeasure if the sacred trust was endangered and so I revealed to her that it was again time to start over. I cursed all the males including Alexander with sterility knowing that you, Gail would come from him."
"My lady, thy handmaiden awaits to do thy bidding."
"I call you to be my priestess and to bring my worship to this present age that has forgotten me. I leave you my gift of the vial and seeds for the female line which you join."
"I have much to learn, My Lady, both of your worship and the ways of women and a life half gone to accomplish such a task.".
"Gail, I know it would cause you grief to reveal yourself to those who grieved you so long ago. You have known too much grief in your life, like the day when you discovered you could not give your beloved, Jenna a child and you adopted your daughter Helen. And the grief that you both suffered when a drunk driver killed Jenna."
"Thank you, My Lady. Beyond the grief there was joy. Alexander was able to be both a father and a mother to Helen. There was the joy of her growing into a woman and her marriage to a good man, Newton who has given her the child she carries within her. "
"Helen and Newton have received my favor. While I must take Helen's father, Alexander from her, I give to her another older daughter and sister to the daughter she carries within her. When you fulfill what I command, Gail, you shall become Helen's daughter, Penelope.”
"My Lady, in becoming the child, Penelope, will I lose both Gail and Alexander?"
" It is not my will for you to lose yourself, for you will need your lives as Alexander and Gail to help give you the wisdom to do my bidding. Doing as I instruct; you shall become a six-year-old girl and I will use the time of your childhood for you to learn a girl's ways as well as study my ways so you can be my priestess and factor in this world."
"Be it unto me according to thy will. What is your bidding, My Lady?"
"First, read the remaining part of your Great Aunt Montine's Letter. It reveals the resources that the sisterhood has accumulated for my bidding from ancient times as well as the records of all which you must know to be my priestess. Second, after you have returned to being Alexander, go to your daughter, Helen and reveal to her that both you and her family has been blessed by Aphrodite. You may reveal and let her experience the blessing of beauty that the seeds and vial provide as a way of proving to her that you will at my direction becomes her daughter. Third, Alexander must put his affairs in order including leaving your Great Aunt Montine's house to Helen in trust for her daughter Penelope till she comes of age. Before he leaves Alexander must bring Helen and her family to this house to live and Fourth, Alexander must take five drops and when she wakes in the morning after, she will be Penelope, Helen's six-year-old daughter."
"I hear, and I will obey all that thou hast said, My Lady."
"I leave you now my daughter, knowing that you will serve me well for many years. Go in my good pleasure!"
For the first time since she appeared with me in the house, I felt compelled to take my eyes off her and glance in the mirror. Instead of my image bringing me sadness for what I had lost those many years ago, it brought me joy to think that Aphrodite had blessed and chosen me for such an important undertaking. I quickly turned back to where she had been seconds before and she had vanished.
All I really knew that I had some interesting days as Gail ahead of me to find out the secrets hidden within this house as commanded by Aphrodite. I had faith to know that I could face Helen when I told her the story which most would dismiss as fantasy that my daughter would soon become my mother. No time like the present to be at it so I looked where I left Great Aunt Montine's Letter. I held it and read it from the beginning to make sure I hadn’t missed anything in the light of today's revelations. I should have been too mind blown to read anything after coming face to face with Aphrodite but the peace the Goddess bestowed remained with me enabling me to read.
Comments
Beauty and the Vial
I am guessing that the drop's blessings include immunity to health problems associated with womanhood as well as a long life, but does it also give the blessed one the blessings of other goddesses such as : Artemis-animal lore, Athena-wisdom, Demeter-plant lore, Hera-authority, Hestia, home and hearth lore?
May Your Light Forever Shine
Beauty and the Vial Revealed
Hi Stan,
The story of Penelope, in the original, does not deal with how she lives past being accepted home. I have integrated the retelling of this story in "Beauty and the Vial Revealed" with the Lamur, GA USA setting. Your ideas have merit and may be realized in future stories in the Agape Duro region near Lamur, GA. Thank you, my friend.
Exploring the impossibilities,
Jo Dora Webster on YouTube