© September 2007-2011
Synopsis:

This story starts in the distant past, when magic was in common use. Wizards, Witches, and Genies all walked the Earth, some were helpful, while others did more harm than good.

Story:

Chapter One

Prologue

    Sheana was a Genie, a very powerful one; but she did not always cast her spells properly. Frequently, she caused great mischief through her carelessness. Finally she committed an offence which required intervention. A tribunal of her genie peers sentenced her to be held captive, powerless in the stone of an enchanted ring. She was to remain imprisoned there until she would be set free by a person of good character, with a heart in pain from need. She was to spend her time in confinement learning how she could better use her extraordinary powers.

    The punishment was harsh. She could see the world from inside the ring; but she could only watch. Hundreds of years passed, and passed again, and again. Many people had hearts that were in pain; but their hearts had been corrupted, their motives treacherous. The prospect of her release did not look good for her. She started to believe that she would never get out.

Modern Day

    The ring had become part of a collection from a museum in America. It was currently on loan for display in a museum in a small British town. The museum was just closing for the night, when there was a knock on the front door. Fred had been a guard at this museum for most of his life. He had gotten accustomed to people stopping in at closing time. The extra time was unimportant, a satisfied visitor was. So, it was nothing unusual for him to open the door to allow a late arrival take a look at the displays. When he opened it this time; however, he found a pistol being pushed in to his face, and two large men who forced their way into the museum.

     “What do you want? We don’t have any money here.” Fred informed, trying to discourage the two from any further hostile action.

    The one with the gun snarled threateningly, “Look, old man, just do as you’re told and you will live though this. OKAY?”

    With that warning on his life, Fred gave up trying to stop them.

    The men knew exactly what they were after, and went to work right away.

    They secured Fred’s hands and feet together. Then they started to load all the jewellery from the display cases into a black gym bag. When they had all their selected pieces stuffed into the bag, they rushed back out the front door securing it behind them.

    Fred had been tied up with some rope from one of the displays; but, he had been trained to get out of this sort of restraint. He was free in less than a minute after the men left. He hurried to the phone and called the police, informing them of the robbery.

    As part of what was taken was on loan from an overseas collector, the police acted promptly to the call. If word got out that they had lost any of the display, it would cause the museum to close, and the small town would then lose the only attraction drawing tourists and helping to keep the town alive.

    The robbers were making their way out of town in a black BMW when they saw the roadblock. They screeched their car to a halt and jumped out. As they did so, a police officer, hearing the commotion, spotted them and began to approach at a rapid pace..

    As the men started to run, they heard shouting. “Police!… Stop!”

    Taking no notice of the orders, the robbers ran into a wooded area to the side of the road. But now, they could see some more lights, moving in front of them. They knew that it was the police coming from the other direction.

    The man with the bag stopped, and looked for some place to hide it. Seeing a big dense evergreen bush, he went over and chucked the bag in. He did not notice that something fell out of the bag and rolled down the embankment.

    When the men started to run again, they were both tackled from behind and immediately put under arrest. One of the police officers had seen the thief stash the bag. He went to the bush and retrieved it.

    With the two men in custody, the police started to trickle back to the station, to begin the dreaded long task of filling out reports.

*****

    At the other end of the town, a fourteen year old girl was lying on her bed watching television. She was wearing a lemon coloured T-shirt with a short tan coloured skirt, a pair of flesh coloured tights and a pair of sandals. She was watching ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’, her favourite program. She had all of the episodes on DVD; and she would sit and watch them whenever she could.

    As the episode came to an end, there was a knock on her door. It was her mum. “Simon,” she inquired, “Have you seen the news, honey? Somebody has robbed the museum.”

    At this point, you may be thinking that Simon is not a proper name for a girl. Well, you see, Simon is a boy. Well, physically anyway. She has always been a girl on the inside. She would like so much, to be just like Buffy, or more to the point, like Sarah Michelle Gellar. But, of course, he knew that would never happen.

    Simon’s physique was too much like a boy’s to pass as a girl; he was built much too big around the shoulders and too thin in the hips. He stood out like a sore thumb in a dress. So, short of a miracle, he would always be, a girl in a boy’s body. Simon had spent most of the past fourteen years wishing and praying he’d wake up a girl, but wishes never came true.

    He had a lock on the bedroom door, so there was no fear of mum coming in on him, or more correctly, ‘her.’

     “And you said moving to this town was going to be boring Simon” she taunted.

     “Well mum, we all make mistakes.” he called back.

     “Dinner will be ready in ten minutes, so get washed up and come down. Okay?”

     “Yes, mum. What are we having?”

     “I’ve cooked some chicken and some, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots.”

     “Oh! That sounds great mum. I will be down right away.”

    This is the part of the night that she hated, when ‘she’ had to become ‘him’ again. But, she had to eat, and mum’s cooking was not to be missed, at any cost.

    While Simon was changing clothes, he was thinking about the move to this town, and the fact that he didn’t know anyone here yet. Being fourteen, and moving to a new school, was hard on him. He didn’t have any friends to speak of. He had always kept to himself. He was hoping to change that when he started school next week.

    When he got downstairs, mum was just starting to dish up the food, so he got a drink from the fridge for himself and for mum and sat down.

     “What were you doing in your room honey? Watching Buffy again?” She inquired.

     “What else would I be doing mum?” was his nervous response.

     “I have no idea, but youngsters these days, do all sorts of things.”

    Simon was starting to get worried that maybe his mum knew what he did in his room; but, if she did, she was really being cool about it all.

    It was just Simon and his mum now. His dad had left some years ago. His older sister had not moved with them as she had a job in their old town. She didn’t want to try to find a job in this town; but, she did say that she would come and visit regularly. Simon got on well with his sister. She always treated him like a little sister and not a little brother. They would sit and talk for hours about mutual things, which made him, feel more like the girl inside.

    When dinner was over, Simon went back to his room, to work on his computer; and to change into something that was more ‘her real self.’ When she was ‘properly’ dressed, she used the name Sara. It was a nice name.

    As Sara, she spent the night doing some artwork on her PC, and trying to find out some stuff on the net about the robbery at the museum. She found that the police had caught both men and had gotten back all the stolen relics. Thinking of the excitement of the museum robbery, Sara said to herself, “Maybe this town will have some cool stuff to do after all.”

    The clock on her PC was telling her it was five past ten, and so she got ready for bed. She always went to bed in a nightgown, this one was a pale pink colour and it felt so good wearing it.

    With sleep comes dreams, and Sara always had nice dreams. Tonight was no exception and she was having an enjoyable dream, when she got this annoying buzzing sound in her ear that just wouldn’t stop. After finally realising that it was her alarm clock. She had set it last night for an eight o’clock awakening; she sleepily fumbled over to silence it.

    Sara intended to start looking around the town, to see if there was anything worth investigating.

    When she was dressed, or, more accurately, ‘he’ was dressed, he went down for some breakfast. Mum had left for work. So, he had some toast, a bowl of cornflakes, and a glass of orange juice.

    When he had finished his breakfast, it was time to go. He was curious to see what was taken from the museum and if any one was hurt. Getting his bike from the garage, he made his way towards the other side of town. It was not as small a town as you might think, and it took Simon a good twenty minutes to pedal up to the museum entrance.

    The museum was an odd looking building. It looked like an old church. But, it was much bigger than a church, and there was no graveyard that he could see. When he got inside, there were only a couple of people wandering around observing the exhibits.

    Simon went up to the guard and said, “I heard about your robbery last night, was anyone hurt? looked on the internet to find out, but all it said was both men were caught.”

     “My name is Fred, I was the only one here last night. They tied me up and took all the pieces from the display over there, but the police caught them and got it all back. Well most of it, there is a ring still missing. I feel like it’s my fault. I should have stopped them”

     “What could you have done to have stopped them?”

     “I don’t know, but I just feel like I should have tried harder.”

    Simon changed the subject, “What does the ring look like?”

     “It is a bulky looking ring with a large blue stone in the middle, I don’t know what the stone is made of, that is one of the reasons it’s in a museum. No one knows what it is.”

     “You seem to know a lot about this particular ring. I thought most guards just sat around and read news papers or magazines?”

     “I love working here, these artefacts have a real life to them, not like the stuff you see around today. All these mass produced things have no distinctiveness of their own.”

     “Where do you think they might have put it?”

     “The police said that they were caught in the woods down by the lake. They had hidden the bag in a large evergreen bush.”

     “I’ll tell you what. I have nothing better to do today. So I will go and have a look, to see if I can find that ring.”

     “You would do that for me?”

     “Yes! Sure!. I don’t want to see you lose your job, not if I can find that old ring.”

    Simon said his goodbyes, and was off towards the woods, to start his hunt for the ring. The woods were much bigger than he had thought they would be; but, he said he would look, and that’s what he would do.

    He looked for about three hour’s and found nothing. Then, he thought he heard a noise coming from behind a bush. As he got to the bush his foot caught on a tree root and he tripped over into the bush. He fell over onto his rump sliding down the embankment to the other side.

     “Ouch! Where in hell did that come from?”

    Simon was seated at the bottom of the embankment looking up, the fall hadn’t hurt much.. It was more the surprise of it.

    As he put his hands down, to push him self up, he felt something hard under his left hand. Looking down at it, he was amazed to see a ring. A ring with a large blue stone mounted, it was all covered in mud and dirt, but he could still make out the mysterious blue stone.

    He rubbed the ring on his trousers to get some of the dirt off. As he did so, the ring started glowing as if it had a light in it; and, then a mist started to come from it. As Simon was trying to work out what was going on, a form started to appear in the mist. Simon was taken aback. He stood there, looking with his mouth open, as the figure of a girl formed in front of him.

    Simon didn’t know what to say or what to do. The girl stood there, in front of him, stretching, and looking at the place around her.

    The girl was clad in what could only be described as a pair of baggy blue silk pants, and a matching halter type top. Simon, still not recovered, had not moved except to rub his eyes.

    The girl began to speak, first in some strange language, then in English. “My name is Sheana! And yes, you freed me from the enchanted ring. What can I do for you as a reward?”

     “You came from the ring? I must be dreaming! This is not real! It can’t be!.” Simon barely stuttered in utter astonishment and no small amount of panic.

     “It is real, Master, and I did come from the ring. You were able to free me; your heart must be troubled. What can I do to help you?” sang the melodious notes of her voice.

     “What are you, some sort of a Genie?” his voice still squeaking.

     “Yes, I am a Genie, you know of us?” she asked?

     “Yes, but I didn’t think you were real. I thought Genies were a fairy tale, a childhood myth.” his voice gaining some strength.

     “No Master, we are very real, but I don’t know how many of us are left. It’s been a long time since I was free.”

    As Sheana said this she sounded sad, and looked like she could have started crying; but she shook her self out of it and then said, “You are now my master. So what is your wish?”

     “I get a wish? Well the first thing you can do is stop calling me Master, my name is Simon.”

     “You will permit me to call you Simon, Master?”

     “Yes I will. I am not your Master; I’m just someone who set you free. Now what is this about me getting a wish?”

     “You don’t get one wish. You get three wishes.”

     “Three wishes? You must be kidding me. How do I know your telling the truth?”

     “Make a wish and find out. If I am telling a lie, what have you got to lose?”

    Simon thought about this for some time, he couldn’t see a down side to it. If she was a Genie she could give him what he wanted. If not, she would be the one to look like a fool, and he would be no worse off than he ever was..

     “So I can wish for anything, and you will do it for me?”

     “Well there are some things that I can’t do. Like, I can’t bring the dead back to life, and I can’t give you all the money in the world, as that would make the rest of the world poor, and I can’t kill for you.”

     “I would never want anyone dead in the first place.”

    Simon stood there thinking what he could wish for. Then it hit him; he could wish to be a girl. He could be just like Sarah Michelle Gellar,”

     “Sheana, I wish to be a girl, I want to be just like Buffy.”

     “You want to be a girl? Are you joking?”

     “No! I want to be a girl more than anything in the world. Since as far back as I can remember, I have always wanted to be a girl. Every day when I look in the mirror, I don’t know the person I see there. I see the boys at school. I am not like them. So, if you are a Genie, I wish to be a girl.”

     “I am a Genie, and I can make you a girl. I just don’t know why you would want to be one.”

     “It’s okay for you. You have always been a girl. You should try being a boy, and then you can tell me, you don’t know why I want to be a girl.”

    At this point, Sheana started to laugh. Simon didn’t know why she found it so funny.

     “Look, if you think I am being silly, fine! But, you don’t need to treat me like a joke!”

    With this said, Simon turned to leave, he threw the ring down at the feet of Sheana, and started to walk off; but as he did, Sheana stopped him. And I do mean stopped him. Simon could not move.

     “Look Simon, I am not laughing at you. I am laughing at the way fate plays with us all.”

    What do you mean? What has fate got to do with this?” the edge of anger still apparent in his tone.

     “I wasn’t always a Genie, and I wasn’t always a girl. You see, I was born a boy just as you were born a boy. I was a fool, and I wanted to live for a long time. So when I found this ring, I made a deal with the Genie that was in it. She traded places with me. I suppose even a Genie needs to die in the end. And, after I have spent so much time in that ring, I know how she felt.”

     “You want to die?”

     “No. I just need to be free from the ring, to live a full life, and to be with people I can grow old around.”

     “Have you ever asked any of your masters if they would set you free?”

     “I can’t ask. It is forbidden to ask anything of a Master. It was that more than any other act, which got me imprisoned in the ring for so long.”

     “What? You were trapped in the ring for asking for your freedom? If all you wanted was to be free, and then they trapped you in that ring for all that time, that was wrong. How come you are free now?”

     “Your heart is in pain in need of something. They said the curse would be lifted when I found a person of good character whose heart was in pain with need of something great. I just never expected it to be this.”

     “I will set you free, but I don’t want to be trapped in the ring.”

     “I could never do that to anyone. The Genie that did this to me was not a nice person, she tricked me into becoming her.”

     “Can’t you make yourself male again?”

     “No, the magic she used can never be undone. I can’t even appear as a boy, the spell won’t let me.”

     “Is it really that bad being a girl? You look stunning.”

     “Why, thank you kind sir.”

    As Sheana said this she curtsied to Simon. This broke the ice and made Simon laugh, which in turn made Sheana laugh. When they both stopped Simon said, “Sheana, will you grant my wish then?”

     “Yes I will grant your wish. I just find it odd that you would want to be a girl, when I have been cursed with being one for so long.”

     “It’s not a curse for me, it will be a dream come true. One more thing though, before you do it, will everyone remember me always being a girl?”

     “No, I am sorry, but that would mean changing every ones mind who ever met you and that is not possible.”

     “How will I tell my mum that I am a girl when you are done?”

     “I don’t think it will take much “telling” her anything, she will be able to see it.”

    Simon had to laugh at what Sheana pointed out, as it was true, that when she got home mum would certainly notice.

     “Simon I must tell you one thing, once you have had your wish I can’t undo it. You have to live with what you desire.”

     “I won’t want to. This is what I have wanted all my life.”

     “Well, make your wish, and I will for fill it.”

     “I wish I were a girl.”

     “What kind of girl do you wish to be?”

     “I wish to be like Sarah Michelle Gellar”

     “I can’t picture this girl, can you form an image of her in your mind for me to work with?”

    Simon started to form an image in his mind of what Sarah Michelle Gellar looked like in the Buffy series. Sheana put her hand to his head and started to get the images from his mind, then asked, “So you want to be just like this girl then?”

     “I don’t want to be her double, but I would like to be a lot like her though.”

    Sheana just said, “Your wish will be so.”

    She started to move her hand around in some strange way, and talking in an odd language that he didn’t know. Then some lights started to emanate from her hands, and engulfed Simon. He looked down as he started to change, looking at his hands they were getting smaller, his chest started to swell and his waist was getting much smaller, his hips swelling. The oddest thing was his clothes were changing with him; there was no pain though, just a tingling all over. The lights started to get brighter, then there was a flash and he passed out.

    When he came to, he was lying on his side with something covering his face. He brought his hand up to his face to move what ever it was covering it. When he moved it, he realised it was his hair, but instead of it being a dark brown it was a mousy blond colour. This made Simon look down at the rest of his new form, or now more accurately, her new form.

    It had worked! She was a girl, for real. She looked at her hands. She now sported nicely shaped nails with pink nail polish on them. Her build was much smaller than it used to be, but she didn’t feel any weaker, if anything, she felt much stronger. She put it down to being so excited about the change. Looking at her new shape, she could see that she had a much smaller waist and a shapely bottom, her chest was a bit bigger than she thought it would be, but she could cope with that just fine. Putting her hand down to where his male organs used to be was strange; all she could feel was a smooth front that scooped under and between her legs. She knew she would have to look more closely, when she was at home, and alone.

    Putting her hands up to her face, she could feel how smooth her face felt now. She looked at Sheana and smiled

     “Thank you Sheana, I am so happy now.”

    Sheana had even made Simon’s clothes look more like a girls, the jeans were much tighter in the right places, she now had a form fitting jumper top, and a girls leather jacket.

     “Sheana, if I wish for your freedom, what will happen to the ring?”

     “Nothing, it will just be a ring. Why do you ask?”

     “I need to return it to the museum, or some poor guard will worry him self to death.”

     “You really do care for the well being of others don’t you?”

     “I don’t want to see some one worry, if I can stop it. Given the chance, wouldn’t you do the same, Sheana?”

     “I am accustomed to doing what I am told, but given the chance, yes, I would. I am glad that it was you that found me. It is so nice to see some one willing to look out for the interests of others.”

     “You said I get three wishes, right?”

     “Yes, you get three wishes. You will have to make all three before you put the ring back.”

    Sara stood thinking what she could wish for next, she didn’t want to sound silly by asking for something small or something that Sheana couldn’t give her. She put her hand up to her face then it hit her, she had no ID, and no birth certificate. “Sheana, I know you can’t make people remember me being a girl; but, can you make me some Identification, so I can still go to school and things like that?”

     “That, I can do. All you have to do is wish for it.”

     “Ok; I wish to have identification and documentation for Sara Anne Read, please.”

    Sara watched as Sheana started to move her hands again, and talking in the same strange language as she worked. This time, as the light got brighter in her hands, a strong wind started building up; then, all of a sudden, the light shot out in a circular wave.

    Sara said, “Is that it. I don’t feel any different.”

     “All I did was change all of the ID that had your name on it to your new female name.”

     “So every bit of paper with my name on now has my female name?”

     “Yes all of it says Sara Anne Read, but people will still remember Simon so you will have to be very careful what you tell people.”

    Sara just giggled and clapped her hands together. She was so happy! She ran to Sheana and gave her a hug. Sheana was not ready for the grip of this girl.

     “Thank you Sheana. This is great. I get to live as a girl for the rest of my life.”

    When Sara let go, she could see the odd look on Sheana’s Face. “What’s wrong? You look worried.”

     “I’m not use to getting thanked for granting a wish. Most people just expect it.”

    Sara looked at her watch and realised it was getting late. “Oh god! We had better get this ring back to the museum before it’s too late.”

    Sara could see the look of sadness on Sheana’s face, she then said, “But before we do that I better make my last wish hadn’t I?”

    Sheana knew it was too good to be true, to think that she would get her freedom. She waited for Sara to have her last wish, and then she would be back in the ring for who knows how long. Sara looked deep in thought, and then she said,

     “I wish for, you to be free of the ring.”

    Sheana’s head shot up when she heard these words. She couldn’t believe some one had said the words to free her.

    Sara was waiting for the light show: but the only thing that happened was that the bracelets on Sheana’s wrists fell to the floor.

    Sara said, “Is that it? I thought it would be a bit more exciting than that?”

     “It is exciting! It’s exciting to me! I’m free!”

    This time it was Sheana’s turn to hug Sara. When Sheana pulled away she had tears in her eyes.

     “I don’t know how to thank you for this Sara. I was not expecting you to grant me my freedom. Most people get greedy, and never think about me, or the other genies.”

     “Well, I said I would; and, I couldn’t think of anything better than to give you your freedom.”

    Sara picked up the ring; and then took Sheana’s hand; and started walking back to the museum. Then, she stopped,

     “My bike! I’d better not forget that. I think my mum is going to have enough to deal with, without me losing my bike.”

    When she had her bike again, she walked back to where Sheana was standing. Sheana looked at the bike and then said, “Do you really want to be pushing that bike?”

     “I told you that my mum will kill me if I don’t go home with it.”

    Sheana just giggled, then she pointed her finger at the bike and it vanished. Sara just looked in shock as she saw her bike disappear.

     “What have you just done to my bike?” she demanded.

     “I used magic to send it home, that way you don’t have to walk with it.”

     “You still have the use of magic, then. I thought you would just be a normal girl like me?”

     “I retained some powers, but I’m not as powerful as I was as a genie.”

     “Sheana, I just wondered, what are you going to do for somewhere to live? You don’t look much older than me. So you can’t even get a job.”

    Sara could tell by the look on Sheana’s face that she hadn’t considered that.

     “I was so busy thinking about being free of the ring, that I never thought of what to do for a place to stay. You are right though. I will have a hard time getting a job. I look too young.”

    Sara was deep in thought. Then she offered, “I know, you can come and live with me. Mum won’t mind; and it will be great to have some one to talk to, and share my things with.”

     “Are you sure your mum won’t mind? I mean, I have just turned you into a girl. She is not going to be full of love for me now, is she?”

     “Mum will be ok about your living with us; and, having a genie in the house could come in handy.” Sara had grin on her face as she said it.

     “I can’t be called a genie, anymore. I’m what you would call a witch now. Genies are more powerful; but they have to do what others want. I am now free to use my magic for anything I want.”

     “If you are a witch, then why don’t you make yourself a boy? After all, you said you didn’t want to be a girl in the first place?”

     “I told you that spells cast by one genie, can not be undone by another. And, I no longer have the power to undo it, even if I wanted to. So I will make the best of what I have, and I do have someone to call a friend now.” Sara thought for a minute. Sheana was right. She did have some one to talk to, and to relate to.

    Sara looked at her watch. It was getting late and the museum would be closing very soon. “Come on Sheana, we have to get moving if we’re going to get the ring back to the museum before is closes for the day.”

    Sheana agreed, and they started to walk toward the museum. As they were just about to leave the wooded area, Sara stopped, then said, “Sheana, I think you should change your clothing into something a bit more modern, you look like you’re off to a fancy dress party.”

    Sheana looked at Sara with a look that said, ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about’. Sara then explained what a fancy dress party was. After she’d finished explaining, Sheana started waving her finger around; then, in a blink of an eye, she was dressed similar to Sara, but in different colours. Sara could not get used to seeing her do magic. Sheana then enquired, “Is this better? I hope you don’t think I look too much like you?”

     “No, you look fine. I wish I could do that, just think of all the time and money I could save on clothes shopping.”

    Both girls started to laugh, and then they resumed walking to the museum. The route back to the Museum took them up the main street in the town. As they started to walk up the street, Sara noticed that she was getting some looks. She was starting to worry that people might discover she wasn’t a real girl, or guessed that she wasn’t born a girl. Just as she was about to lose it, she heard someone wolf whistle. She turned to see where it had come from. There were two boys standing outside the Burger king. When Sara looked straight at them, both boys tried to look the other way. This was a give away to both Sara and Sheana that they were responsible for the whistle. Sara giggled, and Sheana muttered mirthfully, “Boys will be boys.” Then she giggled as well.

    Sara became conscious then, that she had no idea what she looked like. So she turned to Sheana and said, “I need to find a mirror so I can see what I look like.”

    Sara saw a clothes shop, and dragged Sheana into it. Part way down the shop, was a full-length mirror set on the wall. Sara looked at the mirror, and looking back at her was a girl with mousy blond hair and looks to die for. If she were a normal boy, she would really want to date this girl. She could see why she was getting looks. She had a nice figure, her chest was very noticeable and it made her look older than she was. She didn’t look much like Sarah Michelle Gellar, but she was a girl, and a good-looking one. So she didn’t worry any more about it.

     “Thanks Sheana, you did a great job.”

    Now that she knew what she looked like, they walked confidently, the rest of the way to the Museum. Without thinking, she walked in and started looking for Fred the guard. The two girls walked around the corner. Sara could see him sitting at his desk writing on a piece of paper. He didn’t look very happy. She walked up to the desk and said, “Here you go Fred, I found the ring for you.”

    Fred just looked at the girl as if to say, ‘Should I know you?’ Sara realised at this point, that Fred had met Simon this morning. So thinking fast, she said, “A friend of mine asked if I would drop this in with you. He said that you were worried about the theft and the loss of the ring.”

    Fred said, “I was just writing out my resignation. I didn’t think he would find it.”

     “I know he wouldn’t feel very good if he knew you were going to give up your job over this. You did what anyone would have done in that situation. You were overpowered.”

     “I really would like to contact him, to thank him. Can you give me his phone number?”

     “He doesn’t live here in town; and he had to get home. He knows you’re grateful though.”

     “Tell him when you see him again, that if I can ever do anything for him, I would like to repay his kindness, that goes for you too.”

     “Thanks Fred, I will bear that in mind.”

    With the ring back in the museum, Sara and Sheana made their way to the exit of the museum. As they came outside, they saw the two boys that had wolf whistled. The two girls tried to walk past them without taking much notice.

    How boys looked, hadn’t been something that interested Sara; but, if she were still a boy she would have liked to look like them. They didn’t look like your macho sports type, but they were not over weight. As Sara and Sheana made their way past, one of the boys spoke. “I’m sorry for whistling at you, it was very rude of me.”

    Sara looked to see which one of the boys had spoken. She was going to just ignore him, but she wanted to make them feel sorry, so she asked why he did it? The boy barely whispered, “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

    This is when the other boy spoke for the first time. “Mike, tell them the truth. He was dared to do it, by two guys from the school we go to. We didn’t mean anything by it. That is why we came to find you and to say we’re sorry.”

    Sara said, “Is this right?”

     “Yes it is, I don’t make a habit of whistling at beautiful girls.” As he said it, he realised what he said and went bright red, and started to look at the floor. This made Sara and Sheana laugh, which made the boy start to walk off: but his friend stopped him. This is when he spoke, “Hi my name is Jo, and this red faced boy is called Mike. We really don’t do this sort of thing.”

    Sheana spoke at this point. “I bet you say that to all the girls you meet?”

    Mike spoke again; “Look! We just wanted to say sorry. I hope you don’t hold it against us.”

    Sara said, “To tell you the truth Mike, I take it as a complement, and the fact that you thought it was wrong, and that you came to find us to apologise, shows a strength of character.”

    Jo asked where the girls came from. So Sara told him the part of town she lived in, and said that Sheana was her cousin, who was living with her now. Jo said that he and Mike lived over on that side of town, but he had never seen them at school.

     “We only just moved here, and we haven’t started school, yet.”

     “That would explain a lot then. I don’t want you to get the wrong idea, but as we seem to be heading in the same direction, can we walk you home?”

    Sara looked at Sheana; she nodded yes, so Sara responded “Sure!”. As they walked, Jo and Mike started to tell the two girls about the town, and in turn, Sara and Sheana told the boys about themselves. On the way, Sara asked the boys some questions. “What do you two do for fun around here?”

    Jo answered, “We hang out at each other’s house and play video games. We also go for long bike rides. Do you two have bikes?”

    Sara looked at Sheana then said, “Yes we both love riding our bikes.” Just after she said it she leaned over and whispered to Sheana, “I do still have a bike don’t I?”

    Sheana smiled at Sara then reassured her by announcing, “I told you, your bike is in the house, right next to mine.” And then, she smiled again.

    Sara glanced secretly at Sheana, then smiled back, as it clicked what she was talking about. Sara started examining the two boys. They were not unfit, that was cool. And they were both very polite. At first, Sara thought that they were on the pull, but their continued behaviour was not at all suggestive of that. She realised that they were just being nice to them. Jo was taller than Mike and was chattier as well. He had short brown hair and nice looks. Mike, the shorter of the two, had blond hair, which was really quite long; it went half way down his back being tied back in a ponytail. He had a nice way about him. He was very shy as well. Sara could see something in him, which made her feel like she could trust him. It was something that she could not quite put her finger on. She just put it down to his shy nature, and kept on walking.

    When they got to the end of the road where Sara lived, she tried to get the boys to part company. They didn’t want to go away. Sara was already worried about what her mum was going to say; but to turn up with a boy in tow would not be good. That was why; Sara was trying to convince them not to walk them to the front door.

    Meanwhile, Sheana was working some Magic. All of a sudden, the heavens opened up and it started to rain, really hard. Jo and Mike decided to get home as fast as they could, so as not to get too wet. Just before Jo left, he gave Sara his phone number and said, “This is my number. Give me a ring if you feel like getting out and seeing some more of the town. It’s been nice meeting the two of you.” And with that, he ran to catch up with Mike.

    Sara watched Jo run down the road. She could see the rain moving with them. She turned to Sheana and sniggered, “Your handiwork I gather?” Sheana chuckled, and nodded her head. Sara started to laugh, then said; “We had better get home and get dry before we both get colds.”

     “I can fix that right now.” came back, and before Sara could say anything, she was bone dry again.

     “You’re one handy girl to have around.”

    They walked down the road arm in arm. As they got to the house, Sara was beginning to have second thoughts about what she had done. She knew, there was no way back. She could feel the fear in the pit of her stomach. Sheana could tell that Sara was getting scared. She tried to relax her with out using magic.

     “Sara, take a deep breath, walk up to the front door, and just tell your mum what you have done.”

     “Gee Sheana, why didn’t I think of that?”

     “I am only trying to help. There is no need for sarcasm.”

     “Sorry Sheana. I really am scared of what my mum will say when she sees me. What if I can’t make her believe me, that I am who I say I am?”

     “It’s up to you to make her believe. Now get on up those steps and ring the doorbell.”

    Sara took a deep breath and walked up the steps to the front door. As she reached for the doorbell, her hand was shaking so badly, she had trouble hitting the button. She hit the button, and waited for her mum to answer it. Time seemed to slow to a stop. Just has she was about to ring the bell again, the door opened. Sara found herself, face to face, with her mum.

    Her mum spoke, “Hello dear. Can I help you? If you’re looking for Simon, he’s out somewhere.”

     “Well Simon is one of the reasons I am here. Can I come in and talk to you, please?”

     “Yes, please come in. He is ok? I mean, he’s not been hurt has he?”

     “Nothing bad has happened. I just need to tell you something; and I think you will need to sit down to hear it.”

    Mrs. Read led Sara and Sheana into the living room. She invited them to sit down. Then she asked, “Can I get you something to drink?”

     “No thanks. I think I had better tell you everything before we go any further. What I am about to say will come as a shock, it may seem unbelievable, but it is all true.” Taking a deep breath, Sara started to relate her tale to her mum. “It’s me mum. I’m Simon, or I was anyway.”

    Sara’s mum just sat there for some time. She didn’t say anything, just looked for some sign that this was a joke of some kind. Finally she said, “Do you really expect me to believe that you are my son? How stupid and gullible do you think I am? I don’t think this is very funny, and I am telling you to leave. Now!”

     “Mum it’s really me. I’ll prove it to you. Remember when dad walked out on us? Just before he left, you were arguing with him in your bedroom. When you told him what a waste he was, he then hit you, and left. You told me, that day, that you would never let anyone hurt my sister or me ever again. How would I know that, if I wasn’t Simon?”

    Mrs. Read was in shock. How could this girl know that? She had never told anyone. She even told Simon never to say a word to anyone. Sara could see her thinking about it. She could tell, it was going to take more than that to make her believe. Sheana had just come in and remained sitting down. She had not said anything. So Sara turned to her and said, “Sheana can you help me out here? I need for you to do some magic to prove I’m not lying.”

     “What would you like me to do? Something big, or something small?”

    Sara was getting disturbed by the lack of help from Sheana. “Just show her that you can do magic. Make something appear.” she ordered frantically.

    Sheana turned to Mrs. Read and asked her what she would like. Mrs Read looked at her as if she was out of her mind. Indeed, that was what she thought. Then said, “So anything I wish for, theoretically, you will give me. Right? What are you supposed to be, some sort of genie?”

     “I used to be, but now you would probably call me a witch.”

     “Have you two escaped from the local funny farm? I mean do you really expect me to believe any of this?”

     “Please mum. Wish for something. You’ll see we’re telling the truth.” Sara begged.

     “Ok then, make it snow, in here, right now.” As she said it, she had a very sarcastic tone to her voice, as if to say, ‘Try and do that!’ Sheana calmly waved her finger in the air, and all of a sudden, it started to snow in the living room. Sara was convinced that if it had been a cartoon, her mum’s jaw would have hit the floor. As it was, she sat there looking at Sara. She quietly said, “Ok! I believe you. Now, can you make it stop?”

    Sheana waved her finger in the air again, and the snow stopped. Then she waved it another time, and all signs of the snow were gone.

    Mrs Read sat looking at Sara, trying to see some trace of her son. She began asking the first of many questions. Before she started to answer too many of them, Sara ran through the tale of finding the ring, and making the wish, and explaining that she had wanted to be a girl for as long as she can remember. Her mum took it better than she thought she would.

     “I’m sorry mum, for springing this on you; but it is what I want. I just hope you can still love me as your daughter?”

    Mrs Read sat there with tears running down her face. She got up and walked over to where Sara was seated, sat next to her and said, “Honey, I will always love you. If this is what you want, then we will deal with it, but I don’t know what we are going to do about all your ID, your school work, our relatives, neighbours, and the authorities.”

     “I sorted all that. With my first wish I was made a girl. With the second one I had all things with my male name changed to my female name.”

     “So you got two wishes then?”

     “No. I got three. With the third wish, I freed Sheana from the ring. That is how she is able to do magic. But mum there is something else I need to ask you.”

     “What is it honey? Erm. What name are you going to use? Simon no longer seems appropriate, and I can’t keep calling you honey all the time, can I?”

     “My new name is Sara. I’ve always liked it. So, that is what I had Sheana put on all my paperwork. If you get my birth certificate out, you will see.”

    She got up, and walked over to the drawer, where she kept the birth certificates with the other important papers and opened it. Sara couldn’t see what she was doing. All she could hear, were papers being shuffled. When Mrs Read turned around she said, “Sara Anne Read, that is a nice name. I hope you realise, that there is more to being a girl, than just wearing nice clothes. Before we start going through all that, what was it you wanted to ask?”

    Sara went on to explain about Sheana being trapped in the ring for the past, god knows how many years. When she had finished her explanation, she asked her mum if Sheana could live with them. Sara’s mum said nothing. She sat there, reflecting for a few minutes, got up and walked over to where Sheana was sitting, put out her hand, pulled her up to her feet and smiled.

     “Welcome to the family.” Then she gave Sheana a hug, and when she pulled back from her, she could see the tears cascading down her face. She grabbed a tissue and gave it to Sheana. Who wiped her eyes, then began to cry in deep, wrenching, soul moving sobs,

     “I never thought I would be part of a family again. Thank you. Thank you, so much.”

    Mrs Read told Sheana, that as she looked about the same age as Sara, she would be required to go to school. Sheana was not too happy with this prospect, but if she were to be part of the family, she would have to do what was expected. The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea of living a normal life. The only part that would be hard for her to deal with, was being a girl. Sara would have to learn all the things necessary. She could watch and learn from Sara’s experiences. Sheana was pulled away from her thoughts when Mrs Read resumed talking.

     “Right now, young ladies, you can both get cleaned up. Then I expect you both to help me with dinner preparation.”

    Sheana was about to do some magic to get cleaned up, but Mrs Read stopped her. She said, “If you want to live in this house, you will learn to do things like any other normal girl. I want your promise not to use your magic in this house, unless I give you permission, or it’s a matter of life or death. Okay?”

    Sheana pouted at this, which made Sara and her mum giggle. Of course Sheana agreed, “Okay. It is going to be hard to not use it. For hundreds of years, magic has been my way of life and I know nothing about being a girl in the general public.”

    Sara’s mum walked up to her, then soothed her with, “I will teach you both how to be girls. All I ask is for you to try your best. I won’t ask more of you than that.”

    Sheana smiled, then Sara grabbed her by the hand and led her off to the bathroom, where they could get cleaned up for dinner.

    As they went up the stairs Sheana said, “Your mum is really nice. Now I can see where you get your attitude. Are you sure your mum isn’t going to mind my staying here? I don’t want to get in the way.”

     “Don’t be silly! Mum loves having people under foot. She likes giving orders.” This set both girls of with a giggling fit.

    When Sara got to her bedroom door, she took Sheana in, showed her what Buffy looked like, and let her see some of the books she had on that popular television series.

    Sara felt the need to go to the bathroom. She said, “Sheana, will you be okay here while I use the bathroom?”

     “Yes. I’ll be fine, thank you. Do you mind if I read some of your books on Buffy while you are gone?”

     “Yes, be my guest. Can you read very fast?”

    Sheana looked at the bookshelf. There were seven books about Buffy there, so she said, “It will take me about two hours to read these books.”

     “Wow! That is fast. I’m not a very fast reader. It takes me weeks to read one of those books.”

     “The same spell could make you faster at reading, if you want me to?”

    Sara thought about it for a bit. She sighed, “I would like that, but I will need to ask mum before you use your magic. You heard what she said.”

     “Okay, but if she says it’s alright, I will fix it so you can read as fast as I can.”

     “Thanks Sheana. That would be great.”

    Both girls hugged. Then Sara observed, “I had better get back to the bathroom, before there is a puddle on the floor.” As she said it, she let out a little giggle. Sheana giggled as well.

    Sara made her way to the bathroom. When she got there, the first thing she did, was use the toilet. It felt very different to her, peeing as a girl. It came out in a gush and when she was done, she had to wipe herself with some paper to remove the moisture down there. She was starting to see what her mum meant by, ‘there was more to being a girl than clothes.’

    When she was dry, she started to take a closer look at what changes had taken place. There was a little neat patch of hair down there and when she ran her finger over the lips of her vagina, it sent a shiver through her whole body. She had to make herself stop before she got carried away. Moving up her body to her chest, she removed her top, she then looked down at her chest and the new additions to it. Looking in the mirror they weren’t as big as she first thought. It must have just been the shock of going from having none, to having them, which made them feel so big.

    She looked at the way the breasts were poking over the top of the lace trim on the pink bra she was wearing. The bra matched the panty’s she had on, she had to give Sheana some credit she did a really great job.

    Sara washed her hands and dried them, then looked at her new self in the mirror once again, smiled, and left the bathroom.

    When Sara got back to the bedroom, Sheana was reading the second of the books.

     “You’ve read one already?”

     “Yes, I have. I can see why you like this girl so much. She is really clever, and strong, and the way she deals with the night demons is fantastic.”

    Sara thought it an odd name for vampires, but just put it down to being a name they must have used in the first or the second book.

     “You had better get washed up now, dinner will be ready soon.”

     “Okay, I just want to finish this book. I only have ten more pages to read.”

    Sara stood and watched as Sheana ran her finger down the page. It appeared as though she was feeling the texture of the paper more than she was reading. Sara just hoped that her mum would let Sheana use magic to give her the ability to read that fast as well.

    With both girls washed, they went back down to the kitchen to get some food. When they got there, mum was just dishing up the dinner. Sheana was the first to speak, “Mmmmmm that smells really great. What is it?”

     “It is nothing special, just some chicken in a white wine, and some wild rice.”

    Sara just laughed and said, “Sounds special to me. Sheana, you will learn to love mums cooking. She is really good at it. Her stew and dumplings are to die for.”

     “You would die for a meal?. Don’t you think that is going a bit too far?” asked a confused Sheana

    Sara and her mum started to laugh; Sheana looked at them, trying to work out what she had said that was so funny. When Sara got her breath back she clarified, “It’s a figure of speech. It means you really like the taste of it. Not that you will die to eat it.”

    Sheana felt embarrassed for not understanding; and it showed on her face. Sara felt sorry for her. So she gave her a hug, and said she was sorry for making fun of her. Sheana hugged her back. Then she requested, “Sara can you help me learn this new way of talking?” Sara looked at her funny. At that moment it hit her, Sheana wanted to learn. No. She needed to learn how people talk today.

     “You will learn as we go along,” Sara reassured,” It is way too complicated, and too time consuming, to try to teach you all of it in one go. You will pick up a lot as you continue to read more in our current books”

     “Come on you two. Sit down and eat your dinner while it’s still hot. You can talk all you want after dinner.”

    The two girls sat obediently, eating the meal. Sheana loved it. She wasn’t at all apprehensive about letting them know how she felt.

     “This is really great Mrs Read, I haven’t tasted anything this good in a long time. Come to think of it, I haven’t eaten in a long time.”

     “Sheana, please don’t call me Mrs Read. You make me sound so old. If you don’t mind, I would like you to call me Mum.”

    Sheana sat motionless, looking at her, then a tear started to trickle down her face. Sara’s mum soothed, “I’m sorry Sheana. I didn’t mean to upset you. I just thought it would be nice for you to call me mum, like Sara does. Just forget I said anything. Call me Karen.”

     “Please”, sobbed Sheana, “don’t mistake my crying to mean I don’t want to call you mum, I would love to be able to call you mum.”

    Sheana reached out, took hold of Sara’s hand and her new mum’s hand and said, “I am so glad I found you both. I only hope I can live up to your class of standards.”

    Sara added, “Just be yourself. I would love to call you my sister.”

    After the meal, Mum took both girls into the living room to sort out what they were going to do about clothes. Sara said that she had a few clothes of her own, but not near enough to keep her and Sheana looking good for very long.

    Mum sat there tapping her lip with her finger, then offered, “We will have to go through all of your old clothes and sort out what you can still wear. We can look in the things we brought with us that belong to your sister as well.”

    With all that had happened today, Sara had completely forgotten all about her sister.

     “Mum, what will Sandy say when she finds out she has two sisters now, and no brother? Do you think she will still want to talk to me?”

     “I think you should know your sister well enough by now. You know that she would talk to you, no matter what you looked like.”

    Sara knew that Sandy would still talk to her, but she felt bad for not letting her know, a long time ago, that she wanted to be a girl.

    Mum took both girls up to Sandy’s bedroom. That is, the room that will be Sandy’s room when they decorate it. They walked into the room and immediately got engrossed in a mass of boxes. Karen started to look for the boxes marked with the words “Sandy’s clothes”. She found them at the bottom of some other boxes. She went to move the box on top, but it was far too heavy for her to move. She had to enlist Sheana’s help to move it. Sara had gone in to her room to sort out what she had in the way of female clothes; and what she could still wear of her male clothes.

    When Sara got back to mum and Sheana, they had gotten to the boxes with Sandy’s clothes. To get to the part of the room that they were in, Sara had to move the box that her mum and Sheana had to move together. Sheana looked over to where Sara was. She was just about to say that the box was heavy, when she saw Sara slide it to one side as if it were merely an empty box. Sheana was starting to get concerned that she may have made some sort of mistake with the spell. Lucky for her, Sara’s mum did not see it. Sheana said nothing. She didn’t want to worry Sara, at least until she had a chance to find out what was wrong.

    They spent the two hours looking through all the clothes in the boxes; sorting out some stuff that was just so far out of date it was scary. Sara had to laugh at some of the things. She had remembered Sandy wearing them, but now, she would just look silly in them. By the time they had gone through all the clothes, they had quite a pile to go at. Karen was surprised to see how much they had, and it all seemed to be close enough to what was in fashion by today’s standard.

    After the clothes were sorted, it was too late to make up another bed. Karen concluded that Sheana would have to spend the night in Sara’s bed, sleeping with her. At first both Sara and Sheana was not sure about sharing a bed. Their mum could see this and clarified, “Look you two. You are both girls now: and girls do this sort of thing, all the time. What will you do when you get asked to a sleep over at a friends house, after you start school?”

    Both girls looked at each other and shrugged, as if to say ‘she’s right’.

     “Now come on, both of you get ready for bed. I want you both in the bathroom so you can wash up and brush your teeth. I will sort out your night clothes and leave them on the bed for you.” Both girls said ‘thanks mum’ and they went to the bathroom to wash up and to brush their teeth. As they went up the hallway, their mum smiled. A tear ran down her face, as she thought about the fact that she would never get to see Simon again. Now she had three daughters to care for, even though Sandy was a long way from home.

    After Sara and Sheana got washed up and brushed, they walked back to Sara’s room. Sheana was amazed at the variety of things in the room. She had never seen anything like the stuff in this room. Sara said she would show her what it all was, tomorrow. It was too late tonight to show her.

    Looking at the bed, their mum had laid out two sets of matching nightgowns for the girls to wear. One was in a lemon yellow, and the other was in a pale pink. They looked a bit like oversized T-shirts. They both put them on, Sara had the pale pink, and Sheana had the lemon yellow one. They climbed into bed, and as they were pulling the covers up, mum walked in. She made sure both girls got settled in. She kissed them both on the forehead and said, “Sleep tight you two. Do you want me to get the light for you honey?”

     “No mum. I will turn it off when we are ready to get some sleep; but for now I want to just lie here and talk. Is that okay?”

     “Yes honey. Just don’t talk too long, we have a lot to get done tomorrow.”

     “Yes mum. Mum?”

     “Yes dear?”

     “Thanks for accepting me as your daughter, I was so worried that you would hate me for lying to you about all this.”

     “Honey, I knew you were different from the first day you started school. You never fit in with the other kids. And now I won’t have to worry about you turning out like your father. Not that you were anything like him to start with. You were always like me. Now I can see why.” And as she said that she chuckled quietly.

    Mum left the room: and Sara and Sheana lay there talking. Sheana looked at the large picture on the bedroom door. It was a picture of the girl Sara wanted to be like, and a man.

     “Who is that man in the big picture with the girl you call Buffy?”

    Sara looked at the picture, and said, “It’s called a poster, and the man is a character called Angel. He was in the first three seasons of “Buffy.”

     “You use such strange words. I don’t understand them most the time. The spell which tapped into your mind to allow me to understand the language of the ring bearer must have been too limited.”

     “You will learn their meaning, given time, you have only been out of the ring for half a day. I will put Buffy on for you tomorrow and you will learn all about it.”

     “Put Buffy on, what do you mean?”

    Sara pointed at the telly and then said, “On the telly, we have a way of copying real life and saving it for all time.”

     “This sounds like magic, is it a form of magic?”

    Sara laughed, “No, it’s a different form of science. It’s a creation of technology we call an invention.”

     “Oh, I see what you mean now. I would like to see this very much.”

    The girls talked for another ten minutes. Then Sara turned off the lights so they could get some sleep.

    When Sara woke in the morning she could hardly move. She looked over at Sheana. She was lying right next to her with her arms and legs wrapped around her. Sara tried to move without waking her, but as she tried, Sheana moved her head, opened one eye, and looked over at her.

    She realised that she was wrapped around Sara. She untangled her limbs, and moved away apologizing. “Sorry for that. It’s been so long since I spent time outside the ring, that I got scared during the night and I just naturally snuggled up to you. I hope you didn’t mind?”

     “No. I don’t mind. How did you sleep?”

     “Better than I have slept in a long time. In the ring I didn’t sleep, I was awake all the time and aware of everything that was going on around me.” As she spoke, she sounded so sad.

     “You mean that you have been trapped in the ring, aware of everything that went on around you? That must have been a nightmare for you?”

     “Yes, it was a nightmare. One that I thought would never end. But then you found me and now I am free, with a loving family I get to share my life with.”

     “Oh well, we had better get up and see what needs doing today?”

    Sara and Sheana both got out of bed and headed for the bathroom to take care of their morning duties. Sara let Sheana go in first, then she replaced her as she came out. While Sara was in there, Sheana went back to the bedroom to wait for her return.

    Sara walked into the bedroom. Sheana was looking at the stereo. “What is this Sara? Is it the telly you spoke of last night?”

     “No. That’s a stereo. It makes music come out those speakers over there.” She said, pointing at the speakers.

     “You have some wonderful inventions. How did you make them?”

    Sara giggled, and explained, “I didn’t make them. You buy them from shops, or trading markets. Do you understand?”

     “Yes I understand what a shop is, a lot of the museums had these things you call a shop. So they are like trading markets then?”

     “Yes. That’s right. These shops make and sell all sorts of things. Like the place I went in to yesterday, to look in the mirror. That was a clothing shop.”

     “The world has changed so much since I was last out of the ring. I hope I can learn enough to fit in.”

     “You will do fine, I will help you fit in and mum will be there as well.” Sara gave her a hug to make her feel better. When she let go Sheana had tears running down her face. Sara grabbed a tissue from the dresser and gave it to Sheana to wipe her face. When it was dry again, she grabbed the two dressing gowns from the chair near the computer; she gave one to Sheana and put the other one on herself. Then she said, “I’m hungry, let’s go and get some breakfast.”

    When they got down to the kitchen, mum was already there. “Good morning sleepy heads. Do you want some breakfast?” Both girls replied yes at the same time, this made Karen laugh.

     “What would you like? Toast and juice, or bacon and eggs?”

     “Can we have all of it mum? I am really hungry today.”

     “Okay, but don’t expect it everyday. If you want to keep that nice shape of yours, you will need to be careful of what you eat from now on.”

    Sara just agreed with her, but was thinking why does she have to be so smart. Then she giggled. This made Mum and Sheana look at her funny.

    When they had eaten the breakfast, and helped mum clean up in the kitchen, they all went up to get dressed. Mum told them to put some old clothes on, as they would be sorting out the spare room.

    It was hard work, sorting it out to make it look good enough for some one to live in. But they got the task completed, just in time for lunch. Mum went down and made some sandwiches, while Sara and Sheana were finishing up in the room.

    Sara and Sheana cleaned themselves up and changed into some fresh clothes. They wanted to go out for a walk after they had eaten lunch.

    Sara was looking for something nice to wear. She thought how nice it was, she could wear female clothing without anyone thinking she was a freak. Looking in the drawer she found a black skirt that came half way between the top of her legs and her knees. She found a white, female-cut T-shirt to go with it and she found her sisters black boots. She had loved those boots, but she had never been able to get them on before. She slipped the boots on, looked in the mirror, and she absolutely adored the look. So did Sheana and she whistled her approval. This made Sara laugh and give Sheana a slap in a playful way.

    Sheana looked for something a bit more tomboyish to wear. She found a pair of black leggings, a blue blouse, and a pair of trainers. Both girls checked each other over. Deciding that they each looked good, they headed down to get some lunch. The sandwiches were on the table when they arrived,

     “You two look smart. Are you going out?”

     “Yes, if that’s okay mum. We thought we would go for a walk and get some fresh air.”

     “That’s fine with me honey. Just remember to be careful. You’re a girl now, and I don’t want you doing anything that might have people thinking your something your not. Okay?”

     “Yes mum, I will be a good little girl.” As she spoke, she put on a fake pout, which made her mum laugh and Sheana giggle.

     “Okay, finish your lunch. While you’re out having your walk, I am going out to do some shopping.”

    With lunch out of the way, the girls washed and dried the plates and other bits for their mum. She was able to get off and do the shopping.

    When the chore was done, Sara grabbed her jacket and put it on. She was about to leave the house when she put her hand in the pocket and found a piece of paper. Pulling it out, she saw a number on it. Then it hit her; it was Jo’s phone number.

     “Sheana shall I call up Mike and Jo and see if they want to go for a walk?”

     “Are you sure you want to lead them on? I am not thinking of getting into a relationship with a boy anytime soon.”

     “I didn’t mean it like that. We can all just be friends. They seemed really nice. And Mike seems too shy to ask you out, even if you wanted him to.”

     “Ok then. Give him a call. See if they want to go for a walk; but, if you try to set me up to be his girlfriend, I will do some magic on you. Deal?” “I’m hurt that you would think I would do that to you.” As she said it, she had a grin on her face; and Sheana just folded her arms and looked distrustfully at her.

    Sara went to the phone and rang the number on the piece of paper. She waited for some time for someone to pick it up. She was just about to tell Sheana that there was no one in, when she heard a voice at the other end saying hello and reciting the number.

     “Hello, is Jo there please?”

    It was a girl’s voice on the other end of the phone. Sara was wondering if Jo had given her the right number, when the girl responded, “Hold on. I’ll get him for you.”

    Sara waited for the girl to go and fetch him. As she listened on the phone, she could hear the girl shouting for him. As the voices got closer to the phone she heard the girl say, “Why would a girl be calling you?”

     “Hello, Jo speaking.”

     “Hi Jo, it’s Sara, we met in town yesterday.”

     “Hi Sara. How are you?”

     “I’m fine thank you. Sheana and I are going to take a walk and see some more of the town. I was wondering if you and Mike would like to come with us.”

     “I would really like that. How long before you’re ready to leave the house?”

     “We’re just about to leave the house now. Give me your address, and we will come to your house, and wait for you to get ready.” Jo said okay and gave Sara the address.

    The girls made sure the house was all locked up and made their way to Jo’s house. Being new to the area, it took some time to find the street, but once they did, locating the house number was easy.

    Sara walked up to the front door and rang the bell. It wasn’t long before a young girl opened it, and the two were asked what they wanted. Sara replied, “Hello, we’re looking for Jo. Does he live here?” The girl just stood still, staring at Sara and Sheana as though they should not be calling for her brother. Sara had a wicked thought just as Jo appeared at the door.

     “Hi Sara. Hi Sheana. Sorry to keep you waiting; but my mum needed me to do some things before I could leave the house.”

     “That’s okay. We only just got here, anyway.”

    All the time they stood talking at the front door, Jo’s sister was still there, watching. Sara decided to put her wicked thought into play. She grabbed Jo by the arm and giggled,

     “Come on Lover, you said you would show us a good time.” As she was saying it, she made sure that his sister wouldn’t see the wink she gave him. Jo picked up on what she was trying to do, and played a long. It didn’t take much for Sheana to work out what Sara was trying to do, so she went to the other side of Jo and they started to walk down the road.

    They stayed arm in arm till they got around the corner, where they all started laughing.

     “Thanks for that Sara. She can be a real pain sometimes.”

     “My pleasure, it will give her something to think about. I gather you don’t get on well with your sister?”

     “We get on okay, just the normal brother sister stuff. Do you have any Brothers or sisters?”

     “I have an older sister, and Sheana is like a sister to me now.”

    The three talked, as they made their way to Mike’s house. When they arrived, Jo asked for the girls to wait outside, while he went to see if Mike was ready. It must have been ten or fifteen minutes before they both came out.

    Both girls said “Hi” to Mike, and Mike said “Hi” back to them.

    Sara looked at Mike, and asked if he was okay. It looked as though he had been crying. He had red rings around his eyes.

     “Yes I’m fine. Jo woke me up, and I have just had a wash. I got some soap in my eyes. That’s why they are looking a bit red.”

     “You should consider changing your soap if it does that to your eyes.”

    Mike agreed with Sara. Jo then changed the subject asking what they wanted to do. Sara looked at Sheana, and they both looked at the two boys. Sara suggested, “Jo, Mike and you know this town. Why don’t you show us a good time?”

    Jo looked at Mike, who then walked of to one side with him and they began to talk in a low voice. Sara saw them look in their pockets to see what money they had, then, slowly they walked back to where the girls were standing.

     “Well ladies, Mike and I were wondering if you would like to go and see a film?”

    Sara looked at Sheana. The blank look on her face indicated. She didn’t know what a film was, so she said yes for the both of them.

     “What films are showing?”

    Jo and Mike just shrugged their shoulders, then Jo said, “We will find out when we get there.”

    It was a nice afternoon and the walk to the cinema was very pleasant. Mike was starting to open up to the girls, and he was starting to get on with Sheana. This made Sara happy, she could hear Sheana laugh at something Mike said.

    Sara attempted some small talk.” They seem to be getting on well? How long have you known Mike?”

     “Since birth I think. We’re more like brothers than friends, we look out for each other.”

     “That’s nice to know, you do seem really close to each other.” As she said this, it hit her, what it must have sounded like. She quickly added, “I didn’t mean that, in a way, you’re…. You know?”

    Sara went really red as she tried to back peddle; but all Jo did was laugh. Then he replied, “It’s okay Sara. I know what you mean. And yes, you’re right. Mike’s an easy target for being picked on at school. So I look out for him; and he helps me keep on top of my school work.”

    Sara was starting to feel something for Jo, but she couldn’t quite work out what. After all, she had only been a girl for a day, and the way she felt about a lot of things was very different now. She would have to sit down and talk to her mum about it, and maybe Sandy too, when she came home.

    She was pulled from her daydreaming when Jo said, “Here we are, at the local cinema. Now let’s see what films here are worth seeing.”

    As they looked at the films being advertised, Sara was trying to find one that Sheana could follow with out too much trouble. There were a lot of screens at this cinema, they had a couple of action films, which Jo wanted to see, and they had a film about street racing in America. Sara knew that Sheana would not follow that one, so they ended up with an animated film called ‘Shrek,’ a story about a loveable ogre and a talking donkey, in search of a princess.

    Jo was not really happy with seeing this film, but Mike and Sheana sided with Sara on the selection. So, Jo just went with the crowd. Sara was worried about Sheana following the story, but there was no need to worry as she laughed all the way through the film. There were some parts that she found really funny, like she might have seen it happen. So Sara made a point of asking her when they were alone.

    Jo and Mike were perfect gentlemen. They never once tried to put their arms around the girls; or any other sort of stunt. Jo brought some popcorn; and they all munched on it as they watched the film. Sheana liked the popcorn, a new treat for her, and she ate her way through most of it.

    The film ended and they left the cinema. As the four were walking down the road, Jo turned and asked, “Hey, do you girls want to get something to eat?”

    Sara thought about it for a second or two then said, “I would love to. But I will need to phone my mum and make sure she hasn’t already cooked for us. Do you mind if we find a phone so I can call her?”

     “Sure, there is a phone on the corner down this road. You can call her from there.”

    They continued down the road; and just as Jo had said, there was a pay phone. Sara inserted the coin and punched in the number to ring home. She anxiously counted four rings before her mum answered. Sara immediately asked her mum, “Hi mum. It’s Sara. I was wondering if you had started dinner yet?”

     “Hi honey. How is your afternoon going? No I haven’t, I was just looking to see what I could do. Why do you ask?”

     “Would it be alright if Sheana and I could eat out? You see, we’ve met some friends and they have asked if we wanted to grab a burger or something. Can we?”

     “Okay honey; but don’t go eating too much junk food. You have to watch your figure now, you know?”

     “Yes mum, I know. I had better be going now, as my money is about to run out.”

     “Don’t be late getting in, and…” but, before she could finish, the money ran out.

     “Mum said it was okay. So where do you want to eat, then?” questioned Sara

     “Well you can have a burger, or we can get some pizza. What do you fancy?” enquired Jo

     “Pizza sounds good. I need to keep an eye on my figure.”

     “Now that is a job, I would love to do for you.” Jo suggested, with a big grin on his face.

    Sara gave him a look that said it all, as she playfully hit his shoulder. This made Jo emit a painful “Ouch! Do you work out or something? You really pack a punch you know”

    Sara saw it as merely him joking, but Jo was rubbing his shoulder like it really hurt. Not wanting to look like a wimp in front of Mike or Sheana, he laughed it off and they headed off toward the pizza place.

    When they got to the Pizza place, they selected an empty table and the girls took a seat. Jo and Mike went up to the order station and ordered a meat feast for them all to share. They returned to the table with it; and they all got stuck in. The Pizza was really nice and it didn’t take long for them to eat it all. Sheana, again revelled in the new taste sensations, especially the bubbly cola drink

    As they were finishing their drinks, the doors to the pizza place opened and a group of lads came in. Jo and Mike started to look very nervous when they saw the lads. Sara asked if everything was all right. Jo said it was, but Sara could tell that there was something really wrong.

    Mike was shaking in his skin, then, he moaned. “Can we get going now? I’m not feeling too good.”

    Jo agreed, “Yes. Come on, let’s get going.”

    Sara and Sheana got up. They were about to leave, when the group of lads started making fun of Mike, calling him Jo’s little boyfriend. Sara concluded these must be the town troublemakers.

    Mike tried to take no notice of them, but Sara could tell he was close to crying about it. Sheana looked privately at Sara, in a way that said, ‘can I use some Magic on them?’ but Sara shook her head. Sheana wondered why, but let it go. So they left the pizza place and started on the walk home. They hadn’t got far, when a car came whizzing past them with the horn going.

    Sara questioned, “Were those the lads from the pizza place in that car?”

    Jo responded, “Yes it was. That’s the local misfits for you. They get lots of fun out of picking on people and causing as much trouble as possible.”

     “Is Mike okay? He doesn’t look very good”

     “They pick on him all the time, they even put him in hospital once.”

     “Didn’t anyone get them for it? I mean, there must be someone that can help stop them.”

     “There’s not much anyone can do. They always have an alibi, to say they were some place else, at the time of trouble occurring.”

    Sara thought that she would like to have a word with Sheana about casting a spell on them, and stop them from picking on Mike.

    To get home, they had to cut down an alleyway between two big shops. They had proceeded about half way down, when they saw a car pull into the other end of the alleyway.

    Jo’s only words were “OH Shit!” Sara took this as a bad sign. She went to talk to Sheana; but before she could get to her, the car had come wildly down the alley. Sheana jumped to one side so the car didn’t hit her; but didn’t notice a steel bar sticking out from the wall. She hit her head on the bar and fell to the ground in a heap.

    Mike went to run over to her, but got stopped by one of the lads and pinned up against the wall. Jo tried to stop the lad from hurting Mike; but he got hit in the stomach by one of the guys. Jo was on the floor gasping for breath, Mike was pinned up against the wall, and Sheana was out cold on the pavement. The lad that had hit Jo, was about to kick him on the head, Sara knew she had to stop him somehow. But how was a girl going to stop a guy like this. She ran at the guy and hit him in the side, just as he was about to kick out at Jo. The boy ricocheted side ways and hit the car soundly.

    This was when a large man got out of the car, and looked at the new dent in the car door. The guy looked at the dent and then looked at Sara and said, “You bitch! Look what you did to my car!”

    Sara was scared; this guy must have been well over six feet tall and all muscle. She started to back up, but was stopped by a large skip.

     “Girl, I am going to make you pay for that.”

    Sara looked side ways to find some place to go. When she looked back all she saw was a large fist that hit her in the face. The force of the fist, sent her side ways into a pile of wooden pallets, a lot of them breaking as she hit them.

    Sara didn’t want to move. At first, she thought she must have a broken jaw, and maybe some other broken bones. However, she didn’t seem to be in much pain. The guy that had hit her was now making his way over to Mike. Sara tried to get up, and found she could move easily. She found this to be odd. She shouldn’t be able to walk after an upset like that. Then a thought hit her.

    While Sara was getting back on her feet, this big guy was getting ready to start beating on Mike. “Well, are you ready for your beating, you little fairy?”

     “Bull! Please don’t hurt me. I haven’t done anything to you.”

     “Did I say you could talk to me, you little Fairy? Now shut up and take you medicine like a good little Fairy.”

    The guy he had called Bull was now pinning Mike against the wall. Mike could only watch as Bull pulled his fist back to hit him. Not wanting to look any more though, he closed his eyes, and waited for the pain to start. He felt a breeze pass his face, but no pain. Still not wanting to look; but knowing he had to, Mike opened his eyes to see a hand and an arm making a barrier in front of his face. Mike was shocked to see that it was Sara’s hand. It had caught Bull’s fist in mid swing. And stopped it!

    The expression on Bull’s face, indicated he was trying to make her let go. Bull released Mike and let him fall to the ground, so he could turn all his attention to Sara.

    Bull stood facing Sara, towering over her, and then roared, “You’re strong for such a small thing, but if you think I won’t beat up a girl, you’re so wrong.”

    Sara wasn’t sure how she was going to be able to stop this thug from hurting her, or any of the other’s; but with Sheana out cold, she had to hope she was right about her new gifts.

     “Well Bull, are you going to stand there all night, or are you going to try and hurt me?” she taunted.

    Sara had no idea about how to fight. But when Bull threw his first punches, Sara moved out the way with ease. She found that just by relaxing herself, she went on a sort of autopilot. She could fight, just like Buffy on the TV program.

    Bull was getting out of breath trying to hit her, and then one of is friends came up behind her, and got a punch in the face for his troubles. Two more of bull’s friends came and had a go at her; but they all ended up running off with their tails between their legs. This left Bull to face Sara, alone.

     “I thought you said you was going to hurt me Bull? Your name is Bull isn’t it?”

    Bull puzzled aloud, “What are you? You’re not a normal girl are you?”

    Sara had to laugh at what he said; but not for the reason he was thinking. She replied, “You just caught me at the wrong time of the month. Now do you want to get your ass out of here before I lose my temper and really hurt you?”

    Bull lost his temper at this point and ran at Sara. Just as he grabbed for her, she fell backwards on to the ground, and sent him flying over her into a pile of rubbish. This didn’t stop him though. He was up on his feet and running at her again. Sara jumped up in the air, did a spin, and kicked him in the side of the head. Bull went flying into the wall. This time he was not so quick to get up. When he was able to get up, he just stood, staring at Sara like she was some sort of freak.

    Bull started to back off towards his car, not taking his eyes off Sara for one minute. Just as he was about to get in his car Sara said, “Oh Bull, if I ever see or even hear of you picking on Mike or Jo again, I will hurt you. Do you understand?”

    Bull’s response was to say, “It was getting boring anyway.” Then he got in his car and raced off.

    Sara went to Mike who was still sitting on the floor, looking at what she had just done.

     “Mike! Are you okay? I hope you don’t mind a girl saving your life?”

     “Sara you were fantastic. Where did you learn to do all that? How come when Bull hit you it didn’t leave a mark?”

     “It’s a long story, and I will tell you one day. But for now, you can’t go telling anyone. Please?”

     “Your secret is safe with me. Thanks for helping me.”

    Sara helped Mike stand up; He was still coughing from where Bull had gripped his throat.

     “Are you sure your okay Mike? Your neck is really red and bruised.”

     “Yes. I’m fine. I just had the wind taken out of me.”

    Sara and Mike made their way over to Jo, who had gone to see how Sheana was doing. She was awake now, and starting to get up; but Jo was trying to stop her.

    Sheana asked, “What happened to me? The last thing I remember was moving out of the way of that car. The next thing I saw was Sara fighting with some big man.”

    Mike replied, “Yep. She’s my hero.”

    Sara’s response to this was to say, “Jo would have done the same if he wasn’t being picked on by that other guy.”

     “I seem to remember you taking care of him as well Sara. And, where did you learn those moves?” Jo questioned her.

    Sara didn’t know how to respond. Before she had to reply, Sheana asked if she could get some help. Mike and Jo each took a side and helped to steady her.

    Sara asked solicitously, “Are you all right Sheana? You took a nasty bump to your head. I think we should get you looked at by a doctor, you could have a concussion or something worse.”

     “I will be fine Sara, all I need is my bed and a good nights sleep.”

     “I will see how you are when we get back home. If I don’t think you’re going to be fine, I will get mum to phone the doctor. OKAY?”

    While Sara was making sure Sheana was fine, Jo asked Mike how he was. “Mike, you okay? That’s a nasty mark Bull left on your neck.”

     “Yes, I’m fine. Thanks for asking Jo, but if Sara hadn’t stopped him, I think I would be lying dead now.”

     “Sorry I let you down this time Mike. I would have tried to stop him if I could; but one of his goon friends got to me first.”

     “Jo, I didn’t mean it like that. All I was saying is, she is a fantastic girl; and she saved us both this time. You have always been there for me in the past, and you will be there in the future. So don’t feel bad for one time that you needed help. And anyway, I don’t think she is a normal girl.”

     “You’re right there Mike, she has a strength like I have never seen before. I wouldn’t like to get on the wrong side of her” Both boys started to laugh at this.

    Mike was looking around on the floor for something, so Jo asked, “What are you looking for?”

     “I’ve lost my door key. If I can’t find it, my mum will kill me.”

    Jo started to help him look. Mike was starting to panic, thinking that he would not be able to find it, when Jo shouted out, “Found it!”

    Mike let out a sigh, and went to retrieve the key from Jo.

    While they were so occupied, Sara was double-checking on Sheana. “Are you sure your okay? That was a nasty bump you took to your head.”

     “I’m fine. I don’t get hurt that easily; but I had to make it look like I do for the boys.”

     “Are you telling me that you were awake, all the while I was fighting that thug?”

     “Yes. I needed to see how strong you really are. I hope you’re not too mad with me. I was ready to step in, if I were wrong. I would have healed you, had he hurt you.”

     “How long have you known about this? Why haven’t you said anything to me about it till now?” demanded Sara, more than a little perturbed.

     “I noticed last night in the bedroom when you moved a box that took both your mum and me to move. You came in and moved it like there was nothing in it.”

     “Do you know how this happened?”

     “I think so yes. When you formed the image of this Sarah Michelle Gellar, how did you form the image in your mind? Was it from a photo, or did you use a moving image from this telly device you were telling me about?”

     “I used the image of her from the ‘Buffy’ telly program, why?”

     “That would explain it then. When you formed the image in your mind, it was Buffy not Sarah Michelle Gellar you became like.”

     “You mean to say, I have all the powers of a Vampire slayer?”

     “Yes. I’m afraid you do; and I can’t do any thing to undo it.”

     “Cool! I’m a vampire slayer with no vampires to kill. That is a very easy job to live with.” And she let out a little giggle. Sheana was not giggling with her. Sara asked what was wrong.

     “Sara I am sorry to tell you this; but night demons, or vampires as you call them, are very real indeed.”

    Before she could ask Sheana any more, the boys came over to them. Mike solicited, “Sheana, are you feeling okay? You’re looking much better now, than you did ten minutes ago.”

     “I’m fine. Thank you, Mike. I was just dazed there for a second or two.”

    At this point Jo proposed, “Well Ladies, if you’ve had enough fun for one day, I think we had better be getting home.” No one had much to say for the rest of the trip home. Sara was troubled that Jo and Mike would see her as a freak, and would not want to see her again.

    When they got to the end of the street that Sara and Sheana lived on, they said goodnight to the two boys. Sara was a bit distant when they parted, mainly due to the fact that she was not expecting to see the boys again.

    As the two girls walked down the road to the house Sheana queried, “Sara what’s wrong? You have been very quiet all the way home.”

     “I’m fine. I’m just thinking about what I am going to do if I have to fight a vampire: and if I will ever see Jo or Mike again?”

     “Why would you not see them again? They said they would see us tomorrow. You must need some rest. It’s been a long day, and you have experienced some pretty big shocks.

    I hope you still like me, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

     “I’m not upset with you. I just wish you had said something before now. I would have liked to try out these powers on something a bit more simple.” As she ended the sentence she put out her arms and took Sheana in to her chest and gave her a big hug. Remembering not to hug her too tightly.

    Sheana offered, “You have me. I’ll help you out, with what ever happens. So don’t let it worry you too much. And I promise, never, to keep a secret from you ever again.”

    They hugged once more, before proceeding the rest of the way home. When they got to the front door, Sara turned to Sheana and requested, “What should I do about mum? Do you think I should tell her? Or not?”

     “Not yet. I think we need to see if there is a threat from Vampires or not. The last thing you want, is to worry your mum every time you go out at night, especially if there is no need.”

     “You’re right. Let’s just see if I have anything to fight or not.”

    The two girls went in to the house and said hi to mum, and filled her in on what they had been doing all afternoon. Somehow, they left out the bit with the fight. The girls said good night to their mum and went upstairs to get ready for bed.

    As the girls got to Sara’s room, they heard a noise from the spare room, or Sheana’s room as it was now. They looked at each other, then started to walk down the hallway. When they got to the bedroom door they both paused. Just as Sara was about to kick the door open, it opened itself, and standing in the doorway was a familiar face.

    Sara’s mouth fell open. Then she just voiced, “Sandy.”

     “Hello little sister.”

 

To Be Continued Wednesday  

 

Story by SaraUK

 

Edited and Posted by SamanthaK