Cindy and Bobbie are growing up and loving it. There is a problem though. They have been seeing the homeless man, sometimes known as ‘The Walker’ and less frequently as ‘Dirtman’, and he has seen them. They have even talked a bit with him before one of the school officials chased him off. Cindy senses something about him and is startled to find that Bobbie also has ‘seen’ something about him. Cindy can detect the essence of a girl. That is not as disturbing as what Bobbie senses. She senses Randy is dying.

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

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

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

“Cindy, here he comes again.”

It was the lunch hour recess and the two best friends were walking across the grass of the athletic field; Cindy to play kick ball and Bobbie to play softball. Bobbie was one of only two girls in fifth grade that joined in with the boys on a regular basis in some of the team sports. Bobbie, at ten years old, was a vivacious, tall and slender redhead who happened to love sports and athletic competition. She also loved being a girl and was looking forward to puberty and all the mysteries it entailed. She had all the normal crushes of girls her age. There were the entertainers, the heartthrob brothers singing group and others.

Her best friend, Cindy was a bit shorter than Bobbie. She had light brown hair and sparkling blue eyes that stood out as did Bobbie’s bright blue-green eyes. Cindy was not particularly athletic, but with Bobbie’s encouragement was becoming more involved in sports. Cindy, like Bobbie, was all girl when it came to her attitude about life. She, too, was eagerly awaiting the onset of puberty and was already noticing some of the subtle changes in her body that were normal for a ten-year old. In fact, just the previous weekend she and her mother had gone shopping with Bobbie and her mother, and had purchased their first training bras. Physiologically speaking it probably wasn’t necessary for either of them, yet; psychologically, it was very comforting. Cindy’s little nipples and area around them were starting to change visibly and she was certain she could feel a little tingle once in a while.

After they had returned from shopping, they raced upstairs to Cindy’s bedroom to try on their prizes. Maddy, Cindy’s cat had been napping on the foot of Cindy’s bed when the two girls bounded up the stairs. She watched with a somewhat bored expression as the two girls stripped down to their panties and struggled to get their ‘dainties’ on.

“Awwnother good reeeson to be a cat,” she muttered rather loudly as she watched the two awkwardly twist their hands behind them while attempting to get the new hooks to catch. “I have eight of them, but they will never change until I have kittens.”

“Maddy, you’re just jealous,” Bobbie laughed.

“Don’t be silly. I’m a cat and I have no reason to be jealous of a human. I happen to be a particularly attractive cat and when it is time for me I will have the pick of the best toms in the area; just as you two will always be able to choose whom you mate with. That is one advantage I have over most cats. I will be able to choose.

“Now, I hate to ask, but since I can’t open the can, would you please fix my dinner, unless, of course, you’ll let me go outside to catch dinner. There’s a particularly plump wood rat out in that field, and I think I would like some nice fresh meat for a change.”

“Yuck!” screeched Cindy. “Let me get my clothes on and I’ll fix your dinner.”

The girls realized that their new lingerie was a bit stiff and prickly and should be washed before they wore it; however, they wanted to show off to their mothers that they knew how to put them on.

“Ta da,” they proclaimed as they pirouetted in front of their mothers who were having a cup of coffee in the late afternoon. “We did them ourselves,” Cindy proclaimed, “and didn’t help each other. They are a bit scratchy and I think I’ll wash them tonight so I can wear them to school next week. A lot of the other girls are already wearing them.

“We’re going to feed Maddy. She threatened to go out and catch a wood rat if I didn’t.”

The two girls headed to the rear of the house while their mothers watched. Sally Schmedlap, Bobbie’s mother, watched her daughter as she accompanied Cindy to feed Maddy. There was a happy tear running down her cheek.

“It’s hard to believe that that was an unhappy little boy last year. She is so happy now. We will never be able to thank Cindy enough for what she did. What a treasure she is.”

“Sally, you have to remember that Bobbie was always a girl. What Cindy and The Wizard did was just make the physical correction.”

“I do know that, Marissa. The psychologist explained it all to us. It’s just that she was so miserable as a physical boy and she hid her unhappiness so well. We knew early on that things were not right. I think when she was about four and asked me if I could put some makeup on her that I realized it wasn’t a phase. When she asked for a doll for Christmas it just confirmed what we already were pretty sure about.

“Amos was so good about it. We had both wanted a daughter, but that had nothing to do about it. Our children’s happiness was always so important. When Bobbie insisted she was a girl, we took her to our family practice doctor and got a referral for a psychologist. The psychologist was so sweet and Bobbie loved her. She outlined very clearly what the possible routes of treatment were, and we all agreed on what we were going to do. Then Amos got hurt and everything changed. Then Bobby met Cindy.

“Sometimes I forget about all the changes that had to happen. I know what His Wisdom said, but it is easy to forget. I know now that the spell affected how we behave. As far as everyone is concerned, Bobbie has always been the beautiful, athletic girl we see today. However, sometimes I forget. We were shopping a couple of months ago and ran into her psychologist at the mall. I said ‘Hello’ and got a blank look response. I was going to say something else, but Bobbie pulled me away. ‘Mom, she doesn’t know us. All that never happened, remember?’

“I think that it was the spell that caused Bobbie to intervene. I am pretty sure that anyone outside the immediate family doesn’t know what happened. There is one exception, though. I think my mother knows. We were having dinner and Mom and I were cleaning up. She said, ‘Bobbie’s a lot happier now, isn’t she.’ She gave me a knowing smile and a nod. I haven’t tried to tell her anything, so I don’t really know. Still, I think she knows.”

Sally knew she had been running on a bit, and stopped to sip on her coffee. Much had happened over the last year and most of it she knew was due to the sweet little girl who was her daughter’s best friend. At first she had thought that Cindy was a ‘nut case’ who had found out about Bobbie’s transgendered state and was tormenting her with a ‘magic gift certificate’ that would allow her to become a real girl. The amazing thing was that it was all true.

The two families had met The Wizard who seemed to specialize in gender transformations. He seemed to be a kindly person and what he had done for Bobbie was beyond any expectations they might have had. They had not seen him since; however, Cindy assured them that there would be future meetings. It was just that he never showed up anywhere unless there was something to be done. She also warned everyone that in spite of The Wizard’s kindness, there was another side to him: that he sometimes performed rather extreme transformations on some ‘deserving’ individuals. There were also times that he allowed transformations that seemed to please his rather ironic sense of humor. Cindy couldn’t confirm it; however, she told the two families about reports that some selfish and criminal individuals were transformed into rather vacuous bimbos who became nothing more than sex objects in a less than savory part of society. She told them, too, about some of the transformations she had witnessed where some individuals were given a new lease on life. She was a prime example, she happily stated.

The adults of both families expressed some concern that the memories of some of the transformees were erased or artificially altered to fit their new reality. Cindy felt that there were times that this was necessary to avoid serious conflicts or trauma; however, it was important to realize that the basic ‘spirit’ or soul of the person could not be changed, and that when they were in the in between world there would be an opportunity to review their past lives before they moved on. In her case and Bobbie’s, retaining their old memories was going to be important. Cindy wasn’t sure how important, but she was sure it was.

Okay, we’ve done a bit of catching up about Cindy, Bobbie and their families; however, we need to deal with some current problems. Who is this person that Bobbie is bringing to Cindy’s attention?

“Look at him. He is so dirty. He just walks and walks. He hardly ever stops. He must be hurting. Look at how he holds his back. We used to see him under the highway bridge down by the industrial park when we lived there. There has to be something wrong with him,” Bobbie said sadly.

The walker stopped; then turned their way for a moment. Cindy, for want of anything else to do, smiled and waved at him as she had done before. He smiled and waved back. Then he approached, stopping about ten feet away on the other side of the chain link fence.

“Are you angels? I think you are. You are so pretty. You waved at me before. What’s your name?” he said looking at Cindy.

“I’m Cindy and this is Bobbie. What’s your name?”

He paused for a moment as if he were searching his memory. “Uh, Randal, Randal Mantooth: I think most people just called me Randy before. I can’t find anybody who knows me in this town. I know I am from here, but it’s different. Some people are the same, but they don’t know me.

“Then there is this other thing. No one knows about the war: except the ones who are trying to kill me.”

“Hey you, get out of here before I call the cops!”

Startled, the girls turned to see the vice-principal hurriedly approaching.

“He didn’t do anything nasty, did he? He shouldn’t be around children. They ought to lock him up. He’s crazier than a coot; always talking about wars that didn’t happen.

“You girls need to stay away from him. He’s some sort of pervert. Go on now or they will start playing without you.” He shooed the girls towards the others who were getting ready to play. The girls looked back over their shoulders and saw Randy disappearing toward the industrial park. He was holding the small of his back and was taking short, almost staggering steps.

Neither girl played particularly well that day, and Bobbie, heaven forbid, actually dropped a fly ball. There was something bothering each of them, and it wasn’t exactly the same thing. But, in both cases, it was about Randy.

There was a warm wind blowing from the southwest when they got off the bus in front of Cindy’s home. This was pretty much routine, getting off the bus that is. The wind was something else. It was carrying the haze of a million automobiles and the thousands of factories in New York and New Jersey. It was a precursor to what would prove to be a stormy night. Neither of them was particularly disturbed by thunderstorms. In fact, thunderstorms brought back some very special memories.

“Cindy, he’s very sick. He’s dying and he doesn’t know it. There’s something wrong with his, er, his …. Crap, what do you call them? They’re in his back. You know, they make pee.”

“Do you mean kidneys?”

“Yes, that’s what they are. They’re failing and he is dying. There is something wrong with that other thing; that big thing that’s up by his stomach.”

“That would be his liver. How do you know there’s something wrong with him?”

“I don’t know. I could sort of see it in my mind. That is really weird.”

“Bobbie, I think we need to talk to The Wizard about this. You might have some sort of ability.

“There’s something else. I felt something, too. He’s like we were. It’s not as strong, but it is there.

Cindy and Bobby know a lot more about Randy than they did before. There’s also this apparent power that Bobbie is demonstrating. What could it mean? Obviously, they are going to have to contact The Wizard. Thank you for reading and thank you for your comments. Constructive comments are always fuel for future stories.

Portia