The problems about Randy’s origin are beginning to surface. The doctors feel he may have ingested some anti-freeze and that is the cause of his kidney failure. His liver problem has yet to be diagnosed. Cindy, Bobbie and Maddy know they have to talk to The Wizard. The connection is quick; however, The Wizard has to take care of a couple of shoplifters before he can address the problem the girls are bringing to him. I wonder what’s in store for them?

I have researched the Spell’s—R-Us Universe diligently and cannot find anything that violates it, other than that The Wizard is a bit kinder and gentler than sometimes reported. Don’t get me wrong. Given an opening and The Wizard could resort to some of his more ironic and nasty transformations. I’m sure that could happen at any time.

My thanks must go to Holly H. Hart for taking time once again from her harried life to correct the multitude of errors made while creating this story. She is a dear.

This work is copyrighted by the author and any publication or distribution without the written consent of the author is strictly prohibited. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of the characters to persons living or dead is coincidental.

Stan Lewis had been on the phone for a long time. The VA Hospital called the Lewis’s shortly after the neighborhood families had headed for their homes after the cleanup of the barbecue’s remains. He had taken the phone into the office and closed the door. There was no question that there was a serious discussion going on. The Schmedlaps had remained because they had a good idea that there were some things going on that went beyond the ordinary. Bobbie had told her parents, out of earshot of the other guests, that there was something strange going on about the homeless man that had been taken off in an ambulance earlier that day. There was magic involved, and that meant that The Wizard might have to be involved.

They could hear Stan ending the conversation with someone they thought was a doctor from the hospital. Stan returned to face the inquisitive looks from the group that didn’t include Bobbie and Cindy’s brothers who were outside capturing fireflies. They weren’t that interested in magic and the other goings on; however, that would change in future years.

“I’m afraid the news isn’t very good. Randy is very, very sick. His kidneys are barely functioning and he will probably need a transplant. His liver is also on the verge of failing. If they can keep the liver going, it might recover; however, there is not much optimism at the moment.

“They think he drank some bad booze. He shows all the symptoms of having ingested antifreeze. That stuff kills dogs, and cats, and other animals all the time. It has a very sweet taste and it destroys kidney function.”

Maddy, who had been curled up in Sally Schmedlap’s lap while getting her head scratched, perked up at that revelation. “Wowlrr, I’m going to have to make sure my babies know all about that.” Maddy then proceeded to roll over on her back and offered her chest and tummy to be scratched. Sally happily obliged.

“There’s another problem which we anticipated. They say his ID card appears to be genuine; however, there is no record of him in the military system. They’re treating him right now as if he was a veteran, but that may end. Something else is going to be a problem. His Social Security number doesn’t fit either. His number was issued to someone else. The bottom line is this. He doesn’t exist in this world. I’m sure it won’t be long before the Feds get seriously involved. I guess you could say that not only is he a man without a country, he’s a man without a world.

“They have him on dialysis at the moment and that should stabilize things for a while. The problem is that his whole existence is going to be questioned. I don’t know what we can do for him. It may be taken out of our hands before we can even try to do something.

“I think we’re just going to have to wait and see. I imagine you girls,” he said including Maddy with a nod, “are going to have to contact The Wizard about this. Just be careful, OK.”

The girls had already made plans for Bobbie to spend the night and they had the OK from their parents to stay up past their normal bedtime. Their parents knew the girls were going to try to contact The Wizard. They were uneasy about it, but knew at the same time, there was nothing they should do about it if there was any chance for Randy to survive. As Cindy had explained several times, it was best not to upset His Wisdom, although there hadn’t been any reason to be concerned as of yet.

The three girls, two of them humans and one a kitten, gathered around the computer screen. As it was most of the time, they didn’t need to turn the computer on to contact The Wizard. If he needed to contact Maddy or Cindy, it just came on. In this case the computer was on, so they just called for the Wizard and waited. Soon enough, the screen did a few flip flops and they were looking into the back room of the Spells-R-Us shop. Bobbie hadn’t actually been in the shop yet, but she knew she would get there some day.

“Cindy,” The Wizard’s voice came over the speakers, “I’ll be with you in a moment. I have a little problem to address here.”

The ‘camera’ backed up a bit and changed direction. Soon it was focused over The Wizard’s shoulder. There was a young couple standing in front of him. It was easy to tell by their expressions that they were terrified. It was also obvious that they couldn’t move. The two were rather Goth, with many tattoos and piercings. Several of the latter seemed to be inflamed or infected.

“What am I going to do with you? I know you can’t answer unless I let you, so I just want you to think about it for a while.

“David, in spite of all the good advice, you’ve had from your parents and school counselors, you seem to think the world owes you everything. You don’t want to put the least effort into earning an honest living. Instead you want to steal a bunch of worthless trinkets from an old man’s business so that you can take them to a pawn shop and sell them for ten cents on the dollar if you are lucky.

“Pamela, you have the same problem David does. You think you are smarter than all the rest. You think because David gives you reasonably good sex and drugs, you don’t need to do anything else worthwhile. You just follow his lead and get yourself deeper and deeper into trouble.

“I should turn both of you into door stops; however, that wouldn’t be fair to the lives you have created. It seems, Pamela, that you have carelessly, considering your situation, allowed yourself to get pregnant: not that David isn’t to blame, too. Well I can’t let your drug habit affect your unborn children. So, you no longer have any of your desires for drugs. After your children are born, you might have a glass of wine or two, but not until you have finished nursing.

“It would be very difficult for Pamela to raise one child let alone two, so, David, or should I say Daphne, you are going to share totally in this child rearing business.”

The three watchers knew what was going to happen. They weren’t exactly sure of the details, but they knew the gist of it.

“We don’t need either of you to be distracted by members of the opposite sex, so for a while the only interest you will have is making sure that your unborn children are given the best opportunity for good health and a good future.

“Ok, it’s time for some adjustments. Gad! all that metal.” He gave a little wave and there was a rattling clatter of small objects hitting the floor. He made a few more motions and suddenly there was a small ingot of metal. “Wait a few weeks before you cash that in. Silver will go up a few dollars.

“Now Daphne, you are going to be a very good mother. So are you Pamela, for that matter. It’s just that Daphne doesn’t have much to work with yet. Let’s see what we can do here. We certainly don’t want childbirth to be difficult, so we need to do several adjustments. Male pelvises just can’t hack it.”

The Wizard pointed his wand at the hapless boy’s, soon to be a girl’s waist, and gave it a few subtle flicks. What had been narrow boys hips expanded and reshaped into a very nice female pelvis. The clothing shifted appropriately at the same time. The girls could see the boy/girl wince as some of the changes took place. There had to be other less visible changes taking place, too. It wasn’t pain, but more or less an acknowledgment of what was taking place.

“There must be some other changes to make things work correctly. Both of you young ladies are going to have hungry, healthy babies, so we need to take care of things in the feeding department. Size isn’t that important, but we want to make sure everything is working correctly.”

Pamela had been wearing a scoop necked garment that displayed her smallish breasts rather nicely. She gradually expanded a couple of cup sizes. Her companion was gradually becoming equally endowed. “You will grow a bit more as your pregnancies progress, but should shrink back to just about this size when you stop nursing. This might help you attract good husbands later on.

“Pamela, since, for the moment you are carrying both babies, would you rather continue with the boy or girl? You may speak.”

“Sir, I didn’t know I was pregnant. I would never want to hurt my babies.”

“What you have been doing has been rather reckless and thoughtless. Now you get to make a decision about your child and your sister’s. Now who shall it be?”

“I would like to have a little boy. Maybe I could raise him to be better than I have been.”

“Then that’s the way it shall be. This will take a little adjustment with the continuum, as Daphne is now four weeks pregnant, too. There’re all sorts of physiological and hormonal things that have to be changed.

“Is there something wrong Daphne? You may speak.”

“Yes sir, I think I am going to throw up,” she said with a rather sweet but shaky voice.

“Not on my clean floor you don’t. The restroom is behind those skeletons. I could keep you from doing it, but you need to know what it’s all about. We’ll be right here when you get back.”

The Wizard turned to face the girls. “Sorry to keep you waiting. These two decided to remove a few of my possessions from the shop. I can’t allow that sort of thing to happen. This will take a little longer. Sometimes slow transformations are the better way to go and these two are going to be able to think things over for a long time.

The wizard turned back as a rather shaken young woman left the small water closet. She was wiping her face off with a tissue and there were some tear streaks on her cheeks.

“Ladies, this is the way it is. Daphne, you would have left Pamela as soon as you discovered her pregnancy. Now, you are going to have to rely on each other. You are both intelligent young women and that will do well for you. Daphne, you are now a pharmaceutical assistant at the grocery store down the street from where you live. Pamela, you are an assistant to the librarian. Both of you are working on your degrees and have about 60 hours each to complete. You will use your minds instead of wasting them.

“When your parents find out about your conditions, they will support you to a certain extent; however, until you can demonstrate your changes in attitude, they will pretty much leave you alone. Their new grandchildren will help ease you back into their arms. Daphne, you now share Pamela’s memories about growing up as well as her DNA, but you will never forget that you were once David. Unfortunately, David has been killed this evening trying to break into someone’s house. I think you will realize after a while that was the best thing for you. You had no future had I not intervened.

“As I said, David would have left you when he found out that he had impregnated twin sisters on that drunken night. Your babies carry his genes, but not his proclivities.

“Let me look at you. I need to see what other adjustments need to be made.” The dyed black hair was gone and both young women now had mid-length, efficient hair styles. Their light brown hair was clean and shiny. Their faces remolded slightly into identical features. Their eyes were a rich brown, their teeth straight and white. “Neither of you are beauties, but you will learn how to accentuate your best attributes. You are going to be good parents, and some day, loving wives. You will also do well in your chosen professions. Never forget the chance you have been given. Make the most of it. Now go home to your nice little apartment and take care of yourselves. Both of you have appointments with your doctor, tomorrow. Don’t miss them. I don’t ask for it, but some day you will thank me.

“Now go.”

The two nearly identical, rather plainly dressed young ladies turned and parted the beaded curtain to go. They were holding hands. Daphne still had a rather stunned expression on her face. Pamela stopped and turned back toward The Wizard.

“Sir.”

“Yes.”

“Thank you. We both thank you.”

“I know you do, even Daphne. I’m a wizard and I know these things.”

Next: The girls are going to have to find out more about Randy and The Wizard is going to be away for a while. One of the things the girls find out is devastating.

Portia