Well, Myrna rather quickly deduced that Don and Donna were the same person, and she realizes that the magic she has learned about must be responsible. With The Wizard’s help, they explain how the transformation took place. It was very complicated, as we know. Myrna also finds out more about Cindy and Bobbie’s origins. The cats welcome Myrna into the group.

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”, “Cynthia and the Moment of Truth”, and “Cynthia and the High School Years — Part 1.” This story completes the Cynthia Chronicles, Volume 1.

Part 2 is almost as long as part 1. It is 12 chapters and 27,500 words long. There are many more stories out there, and bits and pieces are being discovered almost every day.

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. I’m sure that could happen at any time.

Holly really took me to task this time due to my poor sentence structure and punctuation. She wields a firm ruler and isn’t afraid to use it; my poor knuckles. Thank you so much, Holly, for making this more readable!

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.

Chapter 2 — Myrna learns a lot

“Your Wisdom, we have a little situation here, and need some advice.” They were sitting around Cindy’s computer, and the scene on the screen was one that was familiar to everyone. It was the back room in The Wizard’s shop. He was puttering around, doing something they were not sure about. There was a cup of what they presumed to be coffee on the counter. A spoon was gently stirring the contents.

“I’ll be with you in a moment. Things are a mess. We had a bit of an earthquake a while ago, and I had to put up a family of mongooses until the water receded after the tidal wave.

“Now, I guess there might be a bit of a problem, but it’s nothing that’s going to do any damage. You have to understand something. There is no such thing as an accident. ‘Accidents’ are just things that occur at the far end of the probability scale. There are no such things as miracles either. It is easy to ascribe the term miracle to something when the science isn’t understood, or if an event has just been fabricated. It’s all about probabilities and science.”

“Your Wisdom, I think we can discuss those things later. Right now we have to deal with some things that to most appear to be miracles.” Cindy did not want to go into the philosophical area at the moment. She just wanted to know how to deal with the revelation that Don had been Donna, but really hadn’t been.

“Certainly: hello, Myrna, it’s amazing how you took just a residual bit of information left over from a universe that doesn’t exist any longer, and you came to the right conclusion. I think the best way to look at it is to imagine a zipper.

“There was a timeline where Donna existed. We took that zipper apart back at the time where Donna was conceived, and created one where the embryo was as biologically close to Donna as possible, with the exception it was Don. There was one other thing going on. At the same time we started eliminating the time line that Donna grew up in. That may not be the best description. You know how sometimes a zipper comes apart and you have to get it started by putting it together manually? Well, that’s what we did here. This is really an over simplification at best.

"Donna and Don were raised by the same family in each time line. We did quite a bit of manipulation so that the two universes were virtually identical. In Donna’s universe, there were a series of tragic events that led to Donna being sent to the children’s home, and eventually living with the Andersons and meeting all of you at school.

“Now, we have to deal with Don’s universe. Because of just a few differences, the tragic events that occurred in Donna’s universe never happened in Don’s Universe. Don’s family continues to thrive right up to the present.

“You might ask how come Don and Cindy are getting along so well, and I can certainly understand why you might ask that question. After all, they have known each other for only a few weeks. The answer is yes and no. Myrna, Don is Donna, as you figured out. Several weeks ago, Don’s family was in Reston, Virginia with Don. At the same time, Donna was up here. We had stitched, or zipped the two universes back together. Donna came to me and we terminated her universe and her physical being. We reconnected the two universes, and Donna’s spirit was taken back some seventeen years and inserted in Don’s embryo.

“Don grew up as Don; however, all of Donna’s memories were in a compartment in his mind just waiting to be released. Of course it wouldn’t do to release those memories too soon, because if we did, we would have an extremely frustrated Don wanting to get back with the woman he loved when he was Donna. We couldn’t have Don appear until after Donna’s time line had been reconnected with this one. He did that a week after the termination of Donna’s time line. Needless to say, Cindy knew who he was immediately.

“When the timeline with Donna was closed out, it was absolutely essential that a number of people in this universe knew about Donna. The seaming of the two universes wouldn’t accomplish what had to be done unless this small group, including you, Myrna, knew about the dual existence of Don/Donna.”

Myrna contemplated what she had been hearing The Wizard saying. Something going on that was far bigger than any of them realized was going on. She decided she wasn’t going to pursue that for a while. She realized one thing for sure. Cindy and Don were the central characters in this thing, whatever it was.

“So, do you have any questions?”

“Only five or six thousand, but they’ll have to wait. I do have something to say, though.”

“And what is that?”

“I want to thank you for that little present of lingerie. I know it was a gift from Bobbie and Cindy, but I know you made it possible. It means a lot to me. I know that it was somewhat selfish of me, but your gift has given me confidence to do more important things. I will be thankful to you forever. I am sure over the years I will be thankful for many things, but I just want to thank you for the opportunities you have given me, whatever, they might be.”

There was a bit of silence, and Bobbie, Cindy, and Don realized they had a true and valuable friend.

Maddy, Silky, and Chloe had been sitting back, listening to The Wizard explain what had happened. It was no big deal to Maddy, who had known all along what was going on. She had accepted it as just what had to be done.

Although Myrna had been aware of the magic possessed by Cindy, Randi, and Bobbie, she was not aware of the roles played by Maddy and the two kittens under her tutelage. They had been sitting back while listening to The Wizard trying to put into simple terms what had been going on with Don/Donna and the rest of them.

Maddy jumped to the computer desk took a few steps and gently descended to Myrna’s lap. She gently kneaded Myrna’s thighs, and then pushed up against her breasts. “Myrna, we are so happy you are here. Even though you don’t have the magic some of us have, you have your own special magic. You are part of us.”

Myrna gently stroked Maddy, then stopped. She looked down to the pretty little cat, as it suddenly dawned on her what she was doing. “Holy shit, you can talk. I wonder what other surprises are in store for me?”

“Well, Chloe and Silky can talk, too, but they’re just learning. They’ll get better.” Myrna would never be able to ‘mind speak’ with the cats, but she never had any trouble understanding their spoken words.

“Myrna,” The Wizard added, “before I go, I want to let you know that there are a number of other things that you will be learning about this group. There are some restrictions on what you will be able to discuss outside this group, but I am sure you understand why.

“All of you are so young, and you have so much to learn and experience. There will be some wonderful experiences over the years, but the most important thing for all of you is to enjoy life and each other. Myrna, you will be able to bring Avery into this circle. He will understand as Andy does now. Have fun, go to school, help each other, and don’t be afraid to explore. If you have a question about something, don’t be afraid to ask. I will always be reachable.

“There is one other thing, well, three, actually. Cindy, Bobbie, and Randi have some interesting stories to tell you. I think you will find them very enlightening.

“I will talk to all of you later."

The screen blinked out, and they sat quietly for a few minutes.

“Did I open up a can of worms, or what?” Myrna exclaimed.

“You have to realize something, Myrna. If we can talk about it, we are supposed to. The Wizard is very powerful; however, he is just the tip of an iceberg,” Bobbie commented.

“The thing that got me wondering about the Don/Donna thing was that physically it didn’t make sense. I know about these sex change operations; however, there is nothing in medical science that could take that beautiful, five foot, six inch Donna and turn her into this six-one handsome hunk that Don is.”

Don was a bit embarrassed about all the attention he was receiving. “In spite of The Wizard’s assurances, I was scared to death that Cindy wouldn’t like me. I mean we were pretty serious about each other as women. We had a very special relationship, and after all the misery I went through, Cindy was the most beautiful bright ray of hope that I could ever have wished for.

“I did a horrible thing leaving her like I did, but I had to. Thank God, she forgave me.”

Cindy grabbed Don, and put him in a lip-lock that probably curled his toes. “There was nothing to forgive. How could I be mad about having the person I love come back to me? I didn’t know the details at that time, but when I realized this beautiful person was the same person I thought I had lost, everything else was immaterial. I learned a long time ago not to question some of the things I’ve been privy to. If we ever find out one tenth of what’s going on, I’ll be surprised.

“I never told Donna about my origin; however, The Wizard did. He had to. Have you ever heard of ‘Spells ‘R’ Us’?”

“I can’t say that I have.”

“That’s not surprising. There are generally two types of individuals who find out about the shop. That’s the name of his shop: ‘Spells ‘R’ Us’. It’s a magic shop, loaded with all sorts of real magic. You’ve seen the inside of his back room over our computers. The shop is notorious in transgender lore. Transgendered individuals hope to find the shop, and use the magic to correct their gender problems. Most of the time, these changes are for the better. Sometimes, they backfire. The Wizard has little use for criminals, pedophiles, wife abusers and the like. He also has little use for boys who come into the shop looking for a potion to change their girlfriends into sex crazed bimbos. There have been a number of occasions where the boy or man found himself ending up in the girl’s shoes — literally.

“Over the years, I have seen him perform literally dozens of transformations. I haven’t seen one where I didn’t think the outcome was justified. He does have a strong sense of irony, and sometimes his solutions are rather severe; however, he is not an evil person.”

“You keep talking about transformations. Do you mean he turns dogs into cats, and things like that?”

“Yeah, things like that. You know what happened to Don. That was a transfer of the soul or spirit. Most of what he does is turning boys or men into girls or women. He does have a bit of a breast fetish. In the area of actual transformations, I’m only aware of one female to male transformation. That involved a couple who exchanged genders. They didn’t know what going to happen, but it worked out for the better. I checked on that one a couple of years ago, and it really did work out well.

“He does many of what I would call ‘new start’ transformations. Bobbie and I have been witness to several of those. Some of them have been especially nice.”

“I may be sticking my neck out here, but I guess you are one of The Wizard’s ‘victims’. May I ask what happened?”

“It’s a long story, but my change was similar to Don’s. My spirit was put in this body after the original spirit had to leave. This body almost died, but with the help of some magic and time, it was healed, and I was allowed to move in. The original spirit who helped Don’s spirit move in helped me, too.”

“Do your …?”

“Do my parents know? Yes they do. I have had a more wonderful life than I could have ever imagined. I brought Cindy back to Mom and Dad. They couldn’t be happier about the outcome.”

Myrna looked at Bobbie. “So, Bobbie is one, too, isn’t she? You two share too many knowing glances, and are just too close not to have shared in this sort of thing.”

“Yeah, I was Cindy’s first project. I had known for years that I was a girl trapped in a boy’s body. My family knew, and they were very supportive. A lot went on that we don’t need to go into now, but Cindy gave me a gift similar to what we gave you. Mine did involve a complete sex change. I was nine years old, and my life really began then. There hasn’t been one thing about it that I haven’t been thankful for.”

“Including Andy, I imagine.”

Bobbie’s pale freckled complexion turned quite red. “Especially Andy; I don’t think I need to say anything else.”

Next time: Marissa and Cindy have a ‘mother-daughter’ conversation. Marissa proves to be much wiser about things than was first indicated. Cindy comes to the conclusion that her mother is a witch, and just like Bobbie’s mother, Sally, something has happened to prevent her magic from developing. There are some problems at school. Three of the students are particularly bigoted, and don’t hold back about revealing their displeasure with Don’s racial origin. This is a project for The Wizard.