Chapter 8: Friendships continue to be solidified. Cindy, Randi, Bobbie, Andy, and Derrick (Andy’s brother) go to the mall to see Santa. They find out why The Wizard had kept reminding them to go. This chapter has a bit of a different look at a story presented as a stand alone story (“Cynthia and the Christmas Gift”).

Chapter 9: Winter turns out to be rather nasty, but the friends make the best of it. Maddy has a plan, and brings in the neighborhood cats, both domestic and feral, to help her with its execution. Cindy has known for a while that she feels very strongly about Donna, but it takes the catalyst of a major early spring snowstorm to encourage Cindy to take the final steps. Strangely, Cindy’s mother knew all along.

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If you haven’t read the previous stories about Cindy and how she arrived where she is now, you should probably read them. Start with “An Incremental Journey”, “Cynthia and the Reluctant Girlfriend”, “Cynthia and the Dumpster Diver”, and “Cynthia and the Moment of Truth.” “Cynthia and the Christmas Gift” is looked at from a slightly different perspective in this posting.

This story is a bit longer than the previous ones in this series. It is 13 chapters and 34,000 words long. The High School Years, Part 2 is partly written, but nowhere near ready to post. Chapter 10 will be posted alone soon.

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, The Wizard could resort to some of his more ironic and nasty transformations.

Once again, Holly has taken time out of her busy and hectic schedule to correct my many and grievous errors. Thank you so much!

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.

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Cynthia and the High School Years, Part 1 — Chapters 8 & 9
 

The winter had been particularly cold and a number of the lakes and ponds had frozen over, including the beaver pond below the house. The group went ice skating frequently; however, it was always on a manmade rink, whether indoors or outside. Cindy never would venture out on the ice of a frozen lake or pond.

Christmas was just around the corner and Cindy and Bobbie remembered The Wizard’s request that they take Randi to see Santa Claus. As far as Randi was concerned, Santa Claus was real, and who were they to argue. They knew there were many areas of magic that they had yet to explore.

Andy maneuvered his car around the huge piles of snow at the far reaches of the mall parking lot and felt fortunate to even found a place to park the car. Randi, and Derrick, Andy’s little brother, were excitedly bouncing up and down in their special seats in the rear of the car. Donna had stayed at home to help Mrs. Anderson prepare some care packages that their church was going to distribute at the local shelter.

The temperature was in the lower 20’s and there were a few flakes drifting down as the three teenagers and two kindergarteners headed for the warmer interior of the mall. Randi and Derrick had some shopping to do; however, the highlight of the day as far as they were concerned was going to be the visit to the department store Santa in Dillard’s.

The shopping scene was typical of the season. There were the harried clerks trying to complete as many sales as possible. There were pleasant shoppers and not so pleasant shoppers who thought their needs were more important than anyone else’s.

One little drama unfolded in front of them that brought back some memories that hadn’t surfaced in many years. A young mother was trying to corral a four year old, carry an infant in a sling, and shop at the same time. The four year old was probably shopped out and running on vapors. The mother was near to tears.

Cindy thought back to that day when she’d flung her arthritic body in the path of a retirement home van to knock a child of similar age out of its path. The body she had been in had been killed instantly, and Cindy, not yet Cindy, started her multidimensional journey with the spirit. This time, Cindy had no intention of throwing herself in front of a bus.

“Ma’am, we can watch your son for you while you finish your shopping, and we’ll help you take your things to your car.”

The harried mother never even thought to question the group about anything. Randi and Derrick entertained the little boy, who was maybe a year younger than they, while the three near adults watched closely.

After a while, Cindy looked up to see the young mother returning. “Jimmy, I want you to be very nice to your mother and do what she tells you. There will be no more running around and carrying on. This is a very tiring time, and your mother needs all the help she can get. Now, until you get in your car, you will stay right with me. Do you understand?”

Jimmy looked up, somewhat in awe of the near adult who was quietly talking to him. He didn’t really understand what was going on, but he knew he had to do exactly what the pretty lady was telling him.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you; little Samantha got hungry and I had to nurse her. It would have been impossible with him running around and screaming like he was. I would have ended up with two screaming children.

“All the shopping I had to do is done, but I have to go back to the gift wrapping counters and pick up the packages. Could you possibly help me get the packages to the car? I feel awful; I just didn’t plan this trip very well.”

“We will be glad to. I think the next time you do something like this it might be a good idea to get a baby sitter so at least you can leave Jimmy at home.”

How the woman thought she was going to get all her purchases and children in the car was beyond them. They helped her load the SUV, and she thanked them profusely for their help. “I should pay you something for your help.”

“That isn’t necessary, we were glad to help.”

“Here, take this and buy something nice.” The woman thrust some bills into Cindy’s hand. The children were secured, and she backed the car out of the slot, and made her way through the parking lot to her home, wherever it was.

“She doesn’t have a clue, does she?” Bobbie remarked. “Cindy, I have a feeling you were involved in this for a reason.”

“Yes, something like this happened a long time ago. I will tell you about it some day. Right now, we need to get in and see Santa before he closes up shop.” As they re-entered the mall, Cindy reached over and dropped the bills into the Salvation Army Bell Ringer’s bucket.

The line to see Santa was rather long, but as they neared Santa, Cindy started feeling something.

“Oh, look,” said Bobbie, “that’s the same Santa that was here when I was a little girl. I haven’t been up here to see Santa for ten years or more. I guess he did grant my wish, though.”

“Uh, Bobbie, do you sense anything? Andy, would you watch the two Munchkins for a minute? Bobbie and I have to make a phone call.”

“Sure.” Andy had a feeling they were calling The Wizard about something.

Cindy and Bobbie stepped out of the line and found a spot out of the way. “Did you feel anything? I’m sure it’s Santa, and the feeling was very strong.”

“I felt it just as you said something. He’s very sick. It’s his heart. He’s going to die very soon. What do you think we should do?”

“I think that’s why The Wizard wanted us to see Santa. He kept making a point of it every time we’ve seen him lately.” Cindy retrieved her cell phone and hit the automatic dial for The Wizard.

“Yes, Cindy, what do you think?” The Wizard responded immediately.

“I’ll let Bobbie tell you what she thinks; however, I don’t have any question about his inner gender. If you knew about him, why did we wait until now to do anything?”

“It’s all a matter of timing. He has no family, no relatives. It creates problems with the continuum if we have to make too many changes. We had to have a place to put him. Of course he might just die and we could hope that the next time there would be gender compatibility; however, some things have recently happened, and I think I’ve found an ideal place for her to be.

“Let me talk to Bobbie, for a second.”

Bobbie took the phone. “Yes, Your Wisdom?”

“Bobbie, what do you think his chances are? I want to see if what you read coincides with what I have here.”

“It’s his heart, along with a whole lot of other things, but it will be his heart that gets him. Several arteries are almost totally blocked. I think he will have a minor attack followed by a major one. My best guess is sometime around Christmas Eve. There isn’t anything that can be done, unless you want to repair things in the way you are able. Even if you could cure his heart problems, his diabetes and other things will eventually kill him. His quality of life is really going downhill.”

“I think your assessment is right on. Good work as usual, Bobbie. Let me talk to Cindy. Do you have much planned for the next week?”

“Not really, we’ve done most of our shopping. Here’s Cindy.”

Cindy took back her phone. “Yes, sir?”

“Cindy, you and Bobbie have jobs as Santa’s helpers until Christmas Eve. The store is expecting you to show up tomorrow. I will be up there in a little while to take a look. Meet me at the store entrance. Andy can watch Randi and Derrick for a few minutes.”

The girls returned to Andy who was just about ready to call for help. Derrick was first to sit on Santa’s lap. He was a bit nervous, but Santa put him at ease very quickly. There were several toys that he wanted, and he managed to tell Santa about a couple of them.
Randi, assured as usual, hopped on Santa’s lap. Her light blonde hair made a halo as it escaped from around the edges of her woolen cap. “Hi Santa, I just wanted to say hello. I have everything I want, but if you want to bring me anything, that’s okay. Right now, you need to get well so I can see you next year.”

“Well, thank you, sweetheart. Santa is getting a bit old, but I will get to rest after Christmas Eve.” She gave Santa a hug, hopped down, and ran back to her sister and friends.

The group sat down outside the entrance to Dillard’s and waited for The Wizard to show up. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before an elderly blind man with a guide dog (make that guide wolf) showed up.

“Excuse me, could someone help an old man? I get so confused in this mall, and I’m afraid my dog isn’t much help.”

“Thanks a lot,” Wolf muttered. The others were a bit surprised because they couldn’t recall ever having heard the wolf say anything before.

“Well, you’ve just blown your cover, now everyone will want to talk to you.

“Hi, Mr. Wizard, are you going shopping?” Randi wasn’t fooled a bit.

“Actually, Cindy, Bobbie and I are going to see Santa for a minute. You need to wait here with Andy.”

Derrick seemed oblivious to the conversation, and the girls were sure that The Wizard had put a zone of silence around them.

The two grown up girls escorted the elderly man through the store to Santa’s workshop. They stood to one side as he assessed the situation.

“Yes, it is exactly as you said. These things are much more accurate in person than reading them through a crystal ball. I want you to watch him closely. Everything should come together late in the afternoon on Christmas Eve.”

Things worked exactly as he said it would right up to that afternoon before Christmas. Bobbie kept a close monitor on the condition of Santa, his name was Virgil Stankowski, and reported to The Wizard about every half hour. Cindy and Bobbie watched as a mother and dad with their son approached Santa during the mid afternoon. The boy had to be about ten, which was at the upper limit for visitors to Santa.

“Well, young man, what’s your name and what do you want for Christmas?” he said, thinking all the time that the boy was much too old to be sitting on his lap.

The boy spoke softly as if he didn’t want his parents, who were standing a few feet away, to hear him. “I’m Barry, and I don’t want anything for me. It’s just that Mom and Dad are so sad, and I wanted to get them something to make them a bit happier.”

“That’s very nice of you. What did you have in mind?”

“I don’t know, and that’s why I’m here. I need some help. You see, my little sister died last month. She got the swine flu. I got it, too, but it wasn’t too bad. All mom does is cry at night, and dad is so sad. I guess I am, too.”

Virgil didn’t know what to say. “Barry, I’m not sure there is anything I can do. I would sure like to.” Then he said something, and he wasn’t certain why he did. “Why don’t you and your parents come back after a while? Maybe I can come up with something.”

“Thank you, Santa. I know you’re not really Santa, but I thought you might have some connections.” He slid off of Santa’s lap and rejoined his parents, who gave Virgil a sad little smile as they turned to go to somewhere else. As they were making their way towards the store exit, an older man bumped into the mother. He apologized profusely before wobbling down the aisle.

“I think he may have had some Christmas cheer a bit early,” she remarked. She noticed that the clasp on her purse was open, and made a quick check of the contents. Everything was there.”

Bobbie’s phone rang shortly after that. “Everything is ready,” advised The Wizard. “There is a portal in the dressing area which leads directly to the rear of the shop. Just bring him through. It’s time.”

Virgil noticed that the elves had put up the barrier and a sign saying Santa would be back in 15 minutes. He could use the break. His arm ached from holding the children and he was becoming short of breath. He realized that Cindy and Bobbie were holding his arms as he hobbled to the break area. It was really strange, though, because when he sat down he realized he was not in the usual place. In fact, he was sure he had never been in this place before. It had to be in the back of one of the connecting stores.

“Where is this? I don’t think this is part of Dillard’s.”

“No it’s not, Virgil. You are in the back of my shop.”

Virgil looked up to see a gangly man dressed in what appeared to be a tatty robe decorated with stars and crescents. He was wearing wire-rimmed glasses, and he had a rather scraggly beard. A large dog next to him was wearing a guide dog harness. The man looked familiar to him and it took a few seconds for him to realize that this was the elderly blind man he had seen with Bobbie and Cindy the week before; except he wasn’t blind.

“What’s going on? I don’t feel very well.”

“You are having a heart attack. It’s a mild one at the moment, but tonight you will have a severe one, and it will be fatal,” Bobbie said rather sadly.

“How do you know that? You are only a sixteen year old girl. You’re not a doctor.”

“No, I’m not. I am a witch, and Cindy’s a witch; and His Wisdom is a very powerful wizard. We know some things about you and want to help you, if you will let us, before it is too late.”

“First of all, we know something that only your late wife knew about you,” Cindy had entered the conversation.

“What would that be?”

“That you have always felt that you were a girl. I sensed that last week when we were in line with my little sister and Bobbie’s boyfriend and his little brother. That’s one of my powers. Bobbie’s power is that she can sense what’s physically wrong with someone who is like you are.”

“That’s the silliest thing I have ever heard,” Virgil said, his voice expressing his exhaustion. “Have you been spying on me? Did you break into my house and look in my computer?” He slumped, too tired to care anymore. “Since you know what you know, I guess there’s nothing I can do about it. What do you want — money? I can assure you I have none.”

“No, the only thing we want is for you to trust us. You deserve a better fate than to die in your home on Christmas Eve without a family at your side. You lost the only family you ever had when your wife died, and now we want to give you a chance to have the family you never had.”

Virgil realized that the diagnosis of his having a heart attack was probably correct. There was pain in the collar bone area of his left shoulder and it was radiating down his left arm. He was beginning to feel slightly nauseated and a bit cold and clammy.

“I think you need to call an ambulance.”

“That won’t be necessary if you let us help you.”

“I mean, what are you going to do? You aren’t doctors. You already told me that. And, this magic stuff you are spouting is ridiculous.”

“You don’t have to believe any of this,” Cindy said a bit too strongly, “but seven years ago I was a thirty-five year old man and Bobbie was a nine year old boy. His Wisdom helped both of us become the girls you see.

“Your Wisdom, we don’t have much time. Show him something.”

“How about this?” He started morphing as Virgil watched. His clothing changed from a tattered robe into an ermine decorated, red Santa Claus suit. The Wizard lost a few inches and gained a few pounds. In a matter of a few seconds there was a very acceptable image of a Santa Claus standing before them.

“Ho, ho, ho,” he rasped in a rather high tenor. “That won’t do at all.” He stretched and rotated his neck a bit. “Ho, ho, ho,” he said in a much more pleasant and lower voice. “That’s much better.

“What do you think, Virgil? Will I pass?”

“I think you will. That was amazing. That still doesn’t mean you can do anything for me.”

“Here, take these aspirin. They’ll help for now.” The Wizard handed him two 325 mg tablets and a glass of water. “We already know that you are a girl inside. Why don’t you let me fix that while I can? I can only do it while you are alive. I can fix your heart, if you want, and you could live a few more years with bad knees, a bad hip, diabetes, and emphysema. However, there is something you could do that will make a family whole again. You can grow up as the girl you know you are, and when you reach a certain point a few years from now you will remember what you want to about your previous life and what happened. If you feel up to it, you could give me an endorsement. I can always use good publicity.

“What do you say? Would you be willing to try it? I think you will find it exceeds all your expectations.”

“You know, I have nothing to lose. If you can’t do this, there’s always the heart attack and dying. Go for it.”

“It’s already done, Ginny. How old are you?”

“I’m five, Mr. Wizard” she looked down at her warm woolen outfit and little inclement weather boots. “I’m really five, aren’t I? I want my Mommy.”

“She will be here in a moment. So will your father and brother. You shouldn’t wander away like that. You stick with them from now on.”

The bell at the front door tinkled. “What a strange little shop. I thought this was a Hallmark Shop.

“Ginny, are you back there?” her mother called.

“I’m back here, Mommy. These nice people gave me some hot chocolate. I got losted.”

“Young lady, am I going to have to put a leash on you?”

Barry followed by his parents came through the beaded curtain to the rear of the shop.

“Thank you so much for looking after our little girl. She does this all the time. She’s there one moment, and then she’s gone. The folks next door said they thought they saw her come in here.

“Ginny, there’s a Santa Claus next door in Dillard’s. Do you want to see him?”

“Mommy, is that the same Santa we saw at Penny’s last week?”

“No, this is a different Santa. Remember what we said about Santa having helpers? He can’t be in all these places without helpers.” Ginny’s mom looked up and smiled at The Wizard, who was now in his familiar attire. “Thank you again. I guess we are going to go see another Santa.”

The family turned and left the shop to the sound of the little bell. Cindy and Bobbie burst into tears and cried on each others’ shoulder while The Wizard pulled a linen hanky out of his previously non-existent pocket and dabbed at his eyes. The wolf wagged his tail.

“Oh, my God, we have to get back to the store. The break’s over,” shouted Bobbie. “Wait, there’s no Santa. What are we going to do?”

“That’s not a problem at all.” They turned to see The Wizard as he had been before. The only difference was that he was wearing dark glasses and the wolf was once again in his guide dog harness. “We have a few minutes: are there any questions?”

“Your Wisdom, that was the fastest transformation I never saw,” exclaimed Cindy. “I mean, it was instantaneous.”

“Actually, it took 43 nanoseconds. I extracted her DNA from some hair that was in her mother’s purse, so I didn’t have to be too creative. I did boost her immunity factor a bit, so the flu thing shouldn’t happen again. Fix your makeup. We have a couple of hours before the store closes.

Cindy and Bobbie felt it was one of the best Christmases ever. For that matter, The Wizard was pretty proud of how well things had gone, too. Try as they may, no one could coax the wolf to say anything. He might some day; however, he just didn’t feel he had much to say.

After the Christmas break, Randi went back to kindergarten with her friends. She got home at her usual time and told her mother, who was working on the company’s books, that she was going to work on her computer. She bounded up the stairs and found Maddy, Chloe, and Silky engrossed in a conversation with The Wizard. The kittens weren’t very magical yet; they were just able to ‘push’ some light objects; however, Maddy felt they were coming along quite well.

The Wizard looked past the cats as Randi entered the room. “Hi, Randi, how was it getting back to school after that long break?”

“It was neat. Ginny was there; I suppose you knew that. Nobody remembers that she died. She’s a little confused sometimes, she doesn’t remember some things, but she is very happy. I missed her a lot. I’m glad she’s back, even if she’s not the same Ginny.

Winter lingered to the point of being tiresome. But finally the massive piles of snow accumulated by the snow removal equipment started melting in earnest. The acres of soil exposed to the warming sun were sooty and muddy, and the oily water in the parking lots and along the highways left a dingy coat on everything. Then a couple of warmer rains cleaned things up a bit as the crocuses opened up on their short stems.

The golf courses were finally playable and Bobbie and Andy could extend their golf practice to the fairways. Their friendship and romance was solidifying, and most had written them off to be together for the rest of their lives.

A romance blossomed in Cindy’s life as well, but not where she expected it. She dated infrequently, and as had Bobbie, received her driver’s license. As she neared her seventeenth birthday, her beauty continued to grow. She was the object of desire of many of the most popular boys on campus. The trouble was they were boys in her mind and in fact.

Bobbie had her boyfriend in Andy, and he truly adored her. No longer restricted to double dating, they were often alone together. Bobbie was on the pill; however, she maintained that she and Andy had not done ‘the deed’ yet, though they’d had, according to her, some pretty intense make out sessions. Andy wasn’t talking.

The thing that bothered Cindy about dating was that it always seemed to boil down to sex. To every boy in high school, she was a goal. Unquestionably, she and Bobbie were probably among the ten most beautiful young women in the school. Probably half of those ten were no longer virgins. Neither Cindy nor Bobbie was a member of that half. Cindy’s solution was simple, if a boy became too aggressive or amorous, she would let him have his orgasm — in his pants. That usually cooled his ardor on the spot.

Cindy had another problem, and that was her feelings about Donna Brewer; feelings she felt were reciprocated. She was confused about them. When asked years later, she wouldn’t say exactly when it happened, although she was pretty sure when it had.

Donna was a bit of an enigma. On the surface, she was tough. There was a bit of bravado about her, especially when she scored a goal, or finished well in a cross country race. Beneath that bravado was a fragile shell that she did her best to protect. Below that, there was another layer and that was her spirit. In spite of losing her brother and parents, and having had to kill her mother’s murderer, she had survived. She was bruised, but the bruises were slowly healing.

She had made few friends beyond the circle that Cindy and Bobbie belonged. A few boys had asked her out; however, she refused. It was widely assumed that she was a lesbian or asexual. No one in the school but Cindy, Bobbie and Andy knew about her having been raped and killing her mother’s murderer. By the spring semester of their junior year, many assumed that Cindy was probably a lesbian, too. Cindy wasn’t sure.

Cindy knew better than to question The Wizard about things. He had a huge picture of events to assimilate and manipulate, and the little bit occupied by Cindy and her friends couldn’t really be that important. Still, she often wondered why His Wisdom had been so free with letting Andy and Donna in on the magical activities going on with the Lewis and Schmedlap families. She knew there had to be many anti-disclosure controls in place; however, Donna and Andy never came close to even slipping up about the fact that there were three young witches living in the local community. There were a number of times that the group sat around Cindy’s computer as a conference on some matter magical, or maybe a little lesson in magic was going on.

By early spring, Chloe and Silky’s ability to talk was improving daily. Maddy would take them out to the nearby fields and teach them things that all cats were hard wired to do. She imposed strict rules, and as far as the girls knew, they were never violated. Non-native species of vermin were the main objects of their hunting. They knew their efforts would probably have little effect on the starling population, and they felt no guilt about exercising their hunting skills on the flocks that descended into the copse down by the creek. The non-native rodent population was something else. The rats were large, intelligent, and nasty. They had pushed the native, less aggressive species into the shadows.

Maddy had an idea, and she with the two half grown kittens in tow, made the rounds of the neighborhood. She held nocturnal meetings with the feral cats, and those domestic cats who were allowed out, and organized them into an anti-rat battalion.

The cats were in awe of her ability to communicate with the humans as well as with the cats, and dogs. The non-feral cats allowed themselves to be fed and pampered by their human associates, but often held them in a bit of disdain for their inability to understand anything but the most rudimentary things about the cat language. Housecats, Felis domesticus, traced their ancestry back to the cats of North Africa and the European Wild Cat, and they were proud of that ancestry.

Even though domestic cats formed loose communities centered around the females, and their human families, they were solitary hunters. Maddy had been watching a show on Nature, the PBS program, about her distant relatives, the African Lion. The males, in her opinion, were chauvinist slugs, who would kill the cubs that were not theirs. The toms would do the same thing to domestic cat kittens if given the chance. What she saw that really interested her was the way the lions did cooperative hunting. The lionesses would separate their intended prey from a herd and drive it toward another lioness lying in ambush. She was amazed at how well it worked.

“So you want us to work together to catch and kill these rats?” said a scruffy tom who had lived in the area for several years. He didn’t think much of humans, as he had been abused, then abandoned. “So, what’s in it for us?”

“I’ll see that there is food put out for you if you want it, and I will get rid of all your fleas, ticks, and other parasites.”

“Sure you will, and you will let me mate with you as often as I want. Right … !”

Maddy scowled mentally at the disbeliever.

“What did you just do? My tummy got all warm and my skin feels funny.”

“You will feel a little digestion discomfort for the next day or so. I just killed all your intestinal parasites. You need to stop eating those dead possums. I also killed all the fleas and ticks on you. They’ll be dropping off shortly.

“I’ll do the same for all of you. I’m sorry, but I can’t do anything for the leukemia a couple of you have. That’s beyond my abilities; however, there are some nice homes around here that don’t have cats, and they might take you in if you let them. They can get you the medical attention you need, and you might have a few comfortable years. It will certainly be a lot better than how you are living now.” She didn’t mention the neutering and spaying; however, she knew that that would result in one less burden for them.

The rat battalion worked well, perhaps too well. Several people observed cats working in what appeared to be in cooperation, and one aspiring animal behaviorist wrote her Masters Degree thesis about the cooperative hunting. In ten years, the phenomenon was being observed in New York City.

Cindy’s parents were out of town for a weekend conference in Miami. They were combining business with pleasure in Miami, and Cindy was the baby sitter. Stan, Jr. was walking, babbling, and getting into everything; however, Cindy enjoyed the domestic duties of taking care of an infant, now toddler. Often times she would let her mind wander a bit, thinking about her own babies that she desired very much to have. She imagined them nursing at her breast, and she thought about the attentions of a loving husband. She didn’t have much trouble imagining the babies; however, the imagined husband was always a blank. Try as she might, she could never bring up a picture of how he looked, much less how he would act. It was just emptiness.

The weather had taken a turn for the worse, and Saturday began to get ugly. There was talk about a late winter/early spring nor’easter forming. Andy, Bobbie, and Donna had spent the late afternoon and evening with Cindy while she was taking care of the children. Tom didn’t need any watching, and he had gone off to play video games with some friends up the street.

They had just finished watching a video, when Tom came stomping in through the service entrance. “Hey, guys, it’s really starting to snow out there. The temperature on the garage thermometer is 25 degrees. I’m going to bed.”

“Randi, it’s probably time for you to hit the sack, too. Maybe we can get some good sledding in tomorrow,” Cindy shooed her little sister up the stairs.

They looked out and confirmed what Tom had said. It was snowing hard and the driving snow was almost horizontal in the wind. Some of the early sprouting plants were definitely going to be nipped in the bud.

“I think I’ll take Bobbie home,” Andy said. “Donna, you might want to leave too.”

“Yeah, I’ll be right along. I’ll help Cindy clean up, and I’ll be right behind you.”

The phone rang five minutes later. It was Andy. “Guys, I almost didn’t make it down your driveway. I couldn’t even start to get up Bobbie’s. She made it up to the house okay. It’s snowing harder than ever.

“Donna, you don’t need to be out in this shit. I’m on the main road now and we are just creeping along.”

“Andy, Donna can stay here for the night. You’re right, there’s no reason to be out there. We’ll just wait until they get the roads cleared.”

They spent the next fifteen minutes cleaning things up before they went upstairs.

“Here’s a nightie for you. Take a shower if you feel like it. I’m going to check on Randi and Stan.”

The phone rang while Donna was in the shower. “Cindy, I’m almost home. There are wrecks everywhere and they are getting ready to shut down some of the roads. At least I don’t have to climb a hill to get to the house. I’ll call back if I have any problems.”

“Okay, we’ll see you as soon as they get things cleared off. Talk to you later.”

Donna had just dried off and was heading for Cindy’s queen sized bed. There had never been any question that she would not be in the same bed with Cindy. Cindy showered and dried off in front of the fogged mirror. For some reason she was shaking in anticipation of something she was not sure she understood. Then she smiled to herself. She took a bottle of her favorite cologne and dabbed a couple of drops in strategic places. Returning to the bedroom, she turned off the lights and slid under the down filled duvet.

“Mmmmmm, you smell nice,” Donna said sleepily.

“So do you, my love.”

Donna froze; then turned slowly to face Cindy. “I didn’t know for sure. I thought I knew, but I was afraid to say anything.”

“Shhhh,” Cindy said, gently touching Donna’s lips with her index finger. Then she leaned forward and gently kissed the lips she had kissed the previous October. Donna’s response was immediate. Cindy gently pulled Donna’s nightie over her head and lost hers quickly afterwards.

“Now, where was I?” Soon their tongues were gently dueling. Their nipples were like hot daggers pressing into each others breasts. The feeling of their breasts pressing into each other was something wonderfully unexpected. Cindy could resist no longer. She let her lips trail down to the base of Donna’s throat, and then on to her breasts, those gravity defying cones she had fallen in love with the previous year. She drew a hard nipple into her mouth and teased the point with her tongue.

“Ohmygod,” Donna gasped as she gently pressed Cindy’s head into her chest. Cindy continued her journey across Donna’s hard belly to her sparsely furred mound. She was playing things by ear, having never ventured this way before. In the back of her mind was one thing. Donna had been brutally raped, and now was the time to make her forget that. She wanted Donna to feel truly loved both spiritually and physically.

“No, not there, you can’t. That’s….”

“Shhhhsh, just relax and let me make you feel good.” Donna tried to push Cindy away, but there wasn’t much resolve in the motion. Cindy gently paid homage to Donna’s pretty folds. She found the right spot and gently teased her. For a while Donna lay still, then Cindy’s ministrations began to elicit a response. She could feel the muscles in Donna’s belly start to twitch and contract. Her hips started to thrust upward meeting Cindy’s gentle probing. Suddenly, she started vibrating and little moans escaped her clenched jaws. It hit Donna very hard. She barely had time to pull a pillow onto her face to stifle her screams. Finally the spasms ceased; then the sobs began.

Cindy cradled Donna to her breasts, gently rocking her back and forth. “It’s okay, my love, it’s okay. I will be here for you forever. I will never let anyone hurt you.”

Donna’s sobs gradually subsided. “I thought I was the strong one,” she sniffed. “I was going to be big, strong and macho for you, and then you went and did this. God, I love you so much. It’s not right. It wasn’t supposed to be this way.”

“I know; but it is. Mom asked me a number of years ago how I felt about men, and how I felt about women. I told her that what was important was the person, what was inside. You are that person. We’ll worry about the details later.”

“I don’t understand. You are always talking about finding the man of your dreams: someone to be the father of your children.”

“Well, I guess plans change. I realized something a while ago: you are important in my life in a way no one else is. Yes, Bobbie is my best friend, but we will never be lovers. I think she knows that. She and Andy are the real thing, and I could never come between them.

“What am I going to do about you? I have a strong feeling that you are already accepted by everyone around here. I don’t think there’s a thing you have to worry about. But are you okay with this? I think I did okay for my first time ever making love to anyone, but for me it was very important that I did it.”

“I have no complaints, but one. This will never be a one sided relationship, and I think I am one up on you. Cindy, do you realize how incredibly beautiful you are; inside and outside?

“These lips for instance: they are so soft and pouty.”

“Ummmm ….”

“And these breasts; I’ve never seen any more perfect. I mean, look how these beautiful nipples pucker when I do this. They look like little strawberries, and they are just as sweet.”

“Yesss, oh yes. Please do the other one, too. God, you’re making my toes curl.”

“And this delightful little innie navel; my tongue fits in there just like this.”

“(Giggle), that tickles so good.”

“This golden forest is just waiting for me to pass through it. And, look what it leads to. This is so sweet, just like an orchid, dew covered and opening to the sun. I may linger here for a while.”

“Please do.”

The record March snow continued well into the next day. In the little upland area where Cindy lived there was close to 30 inches on the ground and the wind was still howling when Cindy woke up. Donna was snuggled up to her, breast to breast and it was a very comfortable feeling. Donna’s eye’s opened, and a smile spread across her face. “I wasn’t dreaming, was I?”

“Only if we are having the same dream.

“I need to check on Stan. He probably needs changing. I promised to make pancakes for them this morning, so I’d better get up.”

Cindy walked to the window, pulled back the curtains, and opened the blinds. It looked like an arctic scene. It was still snowing at a moderate clip. As far as she could see, it was a winter wonderland. There wasn’t a sign of any human activity, other than clouds of condensing moisture coming rising from the vents on the roofs of the other houses.

“I’ll get you a toothbrush. I have a feeling we may be here for a while.”

Maddy jumped up on the bathroom counter while Cindy brushed her teeth. “I thought it best to leave you two alone for a while. I apologize for Chloe and Silky. They were curious about what was going on. I sent Chloe home, and Silky and I stayed with Randi.

“I think what you and Donna were doing was nice. Am I right?”

“It was very nice, Maddy.”

“That’s what I told Silky and Chloe. I told them that adult humans do things like that. When they are older, I will tell them more.”

“Oh, Maddy, I forgot about you. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

“You didn’t hurt my feelings. You need to do human things, just like I need to do cat things. I like Donna very much. She is right for you.”

Cindy changed Stan Jr.’s nighttime pull-ups and put on his daytime underwear. Stan Jr. wasn’t totally potty trained yet; however, he was beginning to get a pretty good idea what it was all about. Randi was still sleeping, and Cindy decided to let her sleep for a while. Tom was already up and downstairs playing a video game on the big screen.

Things had changed over the years. Cindy used to love the smell of coffee, but hated the taste. Now coffee was a regular thing for her. She doled out the correct number of spoonfuls of grounds into the filter and started the coffee maker on its way. The smell of brewing coffee gradually made its way through the house.

Tom was on his third helping of pancakes when Bobbie showed up at the back door. “Well, I put the clubs away, and got my skis out. It is beautiful out there. Any more pancakes? I wish Randi would make that door bigger so I didn’t have to go through all that snow.

Cindy served up a stack of four, and Bobbie smothered it in butter and maple syrup. She made quick work of them. She kept giggling to herself the whole time.

Bobbie was helping Cindy put the dishes in the, and they were alone together for the first time that morning. “So, you two did it last night. I am so happy for you.”

Cindy’s face felt as if it were on fire. She couldn’t not look at her best friend, but she was at a bit of a loss at what to say. “Er, well, uh….”

Bobbie grabbed her in a bear hug and then kissed her on the lips. “Don’t worry about it. You two are so right for each other.”

Cindy’s parents called later in the morning. All flights into the area had been canceled, and it would be at least two days before they could get back. Schools had already been canceled for the next day, so Cindy was stuck with babysitting for another day.

“Mom, Donna spent the night. It wasn’t safe for her to drive home.”

“Is everything okay?”

“I think everything is wonderful.”

“Do you want to talk about it when we get back?”

“If you want to: it just seems so right. I think Donna needs me, and I think I need her.”

“Well, we were wondering when you were going to figure it out. Just don’t be too flagrant in front of the kids, at least, not yet. Give Donna our love.”

Next: Cindy and Donna’s romance solidifies much to the disappointment of some of their schoolmates who are no longer in the picture; however, the romance is quite easily accepted by the Lewis, Schmedlap, and Anderson families. Myrna realizes Cindy may be responsible for the changes in Dave Growell and his growing affection for her sister. Cindy and Bobbie decide to give Myrna a gift. Myrna undergoes a transformation much to her liking.
Portia