The next morning I woke up to the sun shining through the curtains and I noticed that everything was exactly as it was from the night before. I went to the bottom drawer and took out the notebook. I turned it to the page and all I found was some strange writing in a language that seemed vaguely familiar, but was still at the edge of my mind. The necklace was still the same and clothes I was wearing did not seem to be any tighter than they were the night before. I put on my pink robe and slippers and went to the kitchen to start breakfast. Mom was apparently stirring around getting ready for a shower. I took some eggs out and started cutting up veggies along with the meat and cheese for omelets. We were a tea drinking family so I started a kettle boiling. I had just finished the first omelet when Mom appeared. We talked about what we were doing today. She had to go in to work for four hours and then she would be home. I told her that I was going to hang out with Kara and she told me to BEHAVE, with a wink and a giggle! I laughed and said I would. It seemed like the reality had adjusted fully for her. Lyndsey would be home from her sleepover at around noon, so Mom told me to stay around the house until she got home from work. I told her we would. Mom got up to leave and said we would go out for Pizza tonight. I told her that that sounded fun.
Five minutes later, the doorbell rang and I went to answer it. I was prepared for the change in our reality, but when I opened the door Kara greeted me with one of the most sensuous kisses I have ever experienced in my memory which was admittedly very short in this reality. Kara pulled back from the kiss and looked at me in a way she had never done before. She told me that we needed to talk about a few things. We went to my room and sat down on the bed. She opened by saying that she still remembered our dual reality and was here to help me learn what I needed to know about makeup and deportment. She then broke down in tears and started asking me for forgiveness. I asked her to tell why I needed to forgive her and then a story came out that was totally shocking! She told me that she was a part of an ancient clan tied to the Druids. They had come to the New World a few centuries before to escape the numerous bounty hunters who wanted to kill them for their beliefs and customs. The church tried to charge her ancestors with Heresy because they didn't convert and give up their rituals and powers.
They made their escape and bought passage on ships bound for America where they settled along the Eastern Seaboard. They settled here and were instrumental in making our country what it is today. She told me that the women passed their powers and abilities down to the next generations for hundreds of years. They had some bad experiences when the Puritans came to settle Massachusetts because they were really rigid in their beliefs. They accused so many innocent people of Witchcraft that people with actual powers couldn't use them for fear of being put to death. They did use some of their skills behind the scenes to help put an end to the madness. The women vowed to never allow men to ever possess those powers through marrying a woman of the clan. They established that the clan would become a complete matriarchy where no members would ever be allowed to marry a man, but if they found a man who possessed a feminine soul then they would use their powers to change them into women. They also developed spells that would allow them to temporarily have male organs long enough to impregnate their partners. Once the pregnancy was confirmed, they would wake up the next morning as complete women again. She told me that her "Aunt" Melissa was actually the one who donated half of her DNA. I just sat there spellbound(Pun intended) as Kara told her story. I finally asked her how I figured into the equation? She told me that she had placed the enchanted Shell necklace there for me to find because her elders told her that she could not love me as a man so if she wanted me to be her lover, I had to pass a little test.
She asked me if I remembered the day when she had left her best skirt and blouse on the back clothesline? I was stunned because I didn't think she knew I had borrowed them from line that day. I had been secretly crossdressing in my mother and sister's clothes for years. She told me that Lyndsey had confided in her that she knew something was going on. Kara told me that she had felt a strong connection to me for a long time. I had always wondered why a gorgeous girl like her wanted to be friends with me? Now I knew that she really did love me. She hatched the plan with Lyndsey where she would go to her friend's house for the night because Kara was worried how it would affect the reality shift. Kara had actually done her homework on me too because she used a spell to read the part of my subconscious where my true desires resided. She found out that I truly longed to be a girl. Once she determined that, she put her plan into motion and watched as I picked up the necklace.
She had timed it just right because the moon was full and that was what powered the change. The moon was a huge part of the rituals in all Clan ceremonies. I asked her why my hair was red and she told me that all the clans traced their bloodlines through what is now known as Ireland and my hair and eyes are a very common trait. Then she said another thing that blew me away! She said my family was descended from one of the clans that had emigrated here along with her clan. Because I was now female, I was now in possession of the same powers. The necklace that was around my neck when I awoke was an actual piece of my clan jewelry that was given to all young women when they came of age. If I hadn't been an actual clan descendant, the necklace would have just been shells. Kara was surprised, but very pleased when she saw it and it confirmed that we truly do belong together.
Just when I thought that I had heard enough surprises for one day she said "Sweetheart, there is something else you need to know. Your mother and Lyndsey now have their powers just like you do. Somewhere along the line in your Clan history, someone decided to conceal their powers and they went dormant for a few hundred years. One of your ancestors threw that necklace into the sea and it is the same one you have on now. We need to go down to the water where your transformation occurred. We went down there and dug around in the sand on the very same spot. There were two new necklaces there each with a different symbol on them. I could suddenly recognize the symbol as the ones for mother and sister. Each of them had Mom and Lyndsey's names inscribed on the back. No one else could wear these necklaces. When Lyndsey became a mother one day the symbol would change to that of "Mother".
We walked back to the house and began to get my makeup and hair in order for the day. After that, we got started on lunch and had it almost ready when Lyndsey came home. She greeted us with a big hug and asked how our day was going. We sat her down and told her about her new powers and about the necklace. I presented her with the necklace and Kara and I, made like we had to get up to get something in my room. We left and came back five minutes later and the realities had blended together for Lyndsey. She never remembered me as being anything else besides her sister and she believed she had always had powers. We also noticed that her hair and eyes had changed to the point that she looked like a younger version of me. Mom came home a few minutes later and didn't notice anything different about Lyndsey. Lyndsey didn't notice anything about her either. We sat Mom down and told her the same thing we had told Lyndsey earlier and gave her the necklace. This time, three of us got up to go in the living room and came back five minutes later to find that she was now an older version of me and Lyndsey. I guess we definitely had our clan's genes. Mom was now talking about getting together with Kara's mother and the rest the ladies in our magical community for an Ice Cream Social the next afternoon. We talked for a while longer and went to get ready to go out for Pizza. It was going to be really interesting the next day.
Comments
That Summer 2
Boy, things are happening rapidly!
Portia
Portia
You said it.
I agree.
That Summer I Found Her ! Part 2 of 3
I like the explanation on how the change happened.
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
Jengrl, what can I say,
Jengrl, what can I say, "where is this beach?, and please sign me up" Hugs, Jan
Lots of Exposition Here...
...but certainly not too painful for the reader, and that previous chapter did require a lot of explanation.
Only thing I don't understand is why they wouldn't let Lyndsey and Mom recall their two lives the way Kara and Jeff/Jessica did. If they now think they had powers all along, it's going to be awfully hard for them to understand why they've done so little with them. And since apparently they all will be "getting together with...our magical community" in the future, we seem to have the problem that either the other adepts, despite their own powers, have been "fixed" to be unaware of the change, or else they're always going to have to stay on their figurative toes so as not to let Mom and Lyndsey know they're newcomers to the clan.
Also, doesn't the change in appearance for all three mean that the men who sired Mom and her two kids have somehow retroactively been excised from reality? Seems somewhat extreme, even if neither of them was still alive to object.
Eric
It depends
I think the decision to exclude the male of the species was not a right decision, but that's me. Same for the not knowing. But perhaps the bloodline of Jessica did not implement the 'female only' rule - they chose to conseal themselves instead.
Also, the 'female only' rule - how did the males of the clans met it at the time? That is also a question to consider. They may have even formed a splinter 'male only' group.
Faraway
Big Closet Top Shelf
Where you can fool around like you want to and most you get is some bemused good ribbing!
Faraway
Big Closet Top Shelf
Where you can fool around like you want to and most you get is some bemused good ribbing!
I Should Have Clarified The Reasons
I should have clarified the reasons for them excluding men. After what happened with the male dominated societies of the time(i.e the Pope and the Puritans) they did not want to chance having their beliefs and powers stamped out by an overbearing male who would convince everyone that it was evil the way they did in Salem. As I mentioned, they feared for their lives and didn't want to chance men abusing that power like they had in other periods of history. Let's face it, male ego and lust for power has led to a lot of human misery in the world over thousands of years. There have been a few women through the ages too, but it has largely been men in control of governments.
A matter of opportunity, mostly
While traditional societies were known for being heavily male dominant, the women of the time, who were at the positions of power, were no less ruthless and prone to abusing their power than were their male contemporaries.
Cases in point - Semiramis the Assyrian Queen, who asked her husband to relinquish control of the country to her for a day. By the end of the day (I wanted to say - her first order was to, but found a Google Books Ref) she ordered him executed. And Lucrezia Borgia, too.
What they did, in effect, was exactly of the same nature as what the witch hunters were doing. Destroying people just because they can wield otherworldly powers, and declining the male of the people a possibility to wield magic, going so far to completely shift their very nature.
That said, I just say I do not approve of the actions taken in the story, but the story itself is to my liking.
Faraway
Big Closet Top Shelf
Where you can fool around like you want to and most you get is some bemused good ribbing!
Faraway
Big Closet Top Shelf
Where you can fool around like you want to and most you get is some bemused good ribbing!
Celtic Connections.
I love Jessica's celtic connections, being a Celt myself, though a Welsh (Brithonic Celt) and therefore a close cousin to the Irish (Gaelic celts).
I wonder if Jessica's ancestors crossed over 'Y Mor Fawr' during earlier celtic times, perhaps even pre Roman. 'Y Mor Fawr,' is Welsh for 'The Great Sea'and there are ancient Celtic myths of St Brendan having done this in the dark ages, 400 to 900 AD; that is long before the vikings.
St brendan was certainly a real person for his records are still to be found in Ireland and he was made a saint for his extensive traveling and his Christian pre-catholic missionary work. He was an ancient Celto-Christian monk. He travelled extensively around Western Europe mainly by sea and he would have to have been a skilled seaman and navigator. He was certainly literate!
We still speak a modern version of the ancient Celtic Brithonic language in Wales, though the Irish nearly lost their Celtic Gaelic.
Now stalwart efforts are being made to return the language to common usage in Ireland and we celts share common cultural festivals called Eisteddfods. These culture festivals (Music, dance, poetry and narration,) serve to strengthen the languages and even the Gaelic Scots are returning to the ancestorial celtic fold. (In their hearts, they never really left it.)
I love this celtic connection and I am currently putting together a story along the lines of Alfeidra but it concerns a Celtic girl and boy who are driven out of their shoreside homes by the Norse raiders.
There are two versions, One TG and one 'hetro'. The TG one will eventually appear on BC but not for a year or so. The celtic children are excellent seamen and their adventures take them all around Europe through the remains of the Roman empire in it's death throws to eventually come full circle (Via the Danube,)and avenge their family's slaughter by the Vikings.
I really love Jessica's celtic roots.
keep writing Jengrl.
I'm loving it,
OXOXOX
Beverly Taff.
PS, Taff is a slang term for a Welsh Man like Paddy is slang for an Irish man and Jock is slang for a Scot, (not to mention Yank for a U.S. Man or Limey for an English man.)