When Sara was growing up, her "magic crayons" helped her escape the pain. Now as an adult and the world famous Art Angel, can they help her to find the life she's always dreamed of?

Sara's eyes went wide. Just when she thought the magic was over, it seems as though the wizard still had a trick up his sleeve, and with his last words she knew it was a big one. She settled herself in and once again the wizard began.

"Sara, as you know, women don't become women overnight. It's a long, beautiful, exciting, and sometimes painful journey from being a little girl to a teenager and then into a young woman. Like your recent experience Sara, the journey to womanhood is as important as achieving it. Sadly, transsexuals often miss that journey and have to start their lives as grown women, with none of the learned lessons genetic girls have to draw on. I liken this to building a house and trying to start construction on the second floor. Without a proper foundation below you, it's bound to fall."

Sara nodded her agreement and offered her own opinion. "You are right. Most transsexuals aren't able to start living their lives as female until their twenties or thirties and for many it's even older. We miss so much. We spend the rest of our life trying to play catch up with our genetic sisters and mourning what we've never had and never will have, while we try to make the most of what we got. There's not a one of us who wouldn't die to have had the chance to get to womanhood the old fashion way."

The wizard smiled as Sara had left him the opening he was looking for. "Sara what if I told you that you could get to womanhood as you put it, "the old fashion way" and you really wouldn't have to die to get there, or then again I guess maybe you would?"

Sara did her best impression of a deer caught in the headlights, as she had no idea of what the wizard was talking about, let alone being able to answer him intelligently.

The wizard seeing her doe-eyed helplessness smiled warmly and offered her his hand and with it the promise of clarification. "Come with me Sara, these old bones don't take to sitting so long. Let's you and I take a little walk around the store and I'll explain."

Sara took his hand as she rose from her seat and then released it to take the arm he had so gallantly offered. The pair stepped out from behind the counter and then began walking down the aisles, passing by shelves filled with anything from bubble gum cards to bazookas. Sara browsed a bit as they walked but stayed silent and waited for the wizard's lead. It didn't take long for him to give it.

"Sara, all women have a little girl within them, just as all men have a little boy, and it's staying touch with that part of their personality that is the true secret to staying young."

Sara smiled and nodded her understanding, but still not sure where the wizard was leading her, but nonetheless she continued walking and listening.

"But...since most transsexuals have a child within them that never got to live or at least live the life of a child in their correct gender, that part of their personality is often more dynamic than someone born without that defect. It's why a recently transitioned 40-year-old TS woman might go through a stage where she tries to dress and act like she's 16. Sure she was 16 once, but she was never a 16-year-old girl and that part of her still wants to go to the junior prom."

Sara stopped as they reached the end of one aisle and reflected on the wizard's words. "That makes sense. It kind of goes back to what you said earlier about trying to build a house and starting with the second floor. It's pretty hard to do without going back to lay the foundation."

The wizard winked and then smiled, as he directed her around the corner and up the next aisle. "That's spot on Sara! And it's exactly what I'd like to offer you, a chance to lay a proper foundation."

"Proper foundation?" Sara queried.

The wizard nodded and then continued as they walked. "Sara the child within you is stronger than the one within most transsexuals. I believe that's because you weren't only denied a girlhood, you were denied a childhood. Sara, I want you to think back to when you were five and your father came home from work early. He found you in your dress with your dolly and coloring books and he went over the edge. He hurt you physically as he drug you down those steps, but then he hurt you emotionally as he made you watch while he burned your clothes, your coloring book, even your dolly. What life the little girl had in the outside world ended that day and she retreated deep within you. From that point on she only came forth through first your colorings and then later your drawings and paintings. You were nearly twenty before you were really able to embrace being a girl, and by then you were stepping into a young woman's world, but that little five-year- old girl within you hadn't aged a day. She wanted out, and you wanted to let her out, but there was no mummy there to love and protect her or no other children to play with. You were living a lonely life barely safe for a young woman let alone a small child, so she stayed five and she stayed within you and continued to do the only thing she could do."

"Color with magic crayons?" Sara finished for him, finally picking up where the wizard had been slowly leading her.

"Yes child, color with magic crayons. The young woman met Jenna and went on to art school. She met Prue, eventually became the world famous Art Angel, and having her SRS. The little girl tagged along with the young woman, and she too connected with Jenna and Prue but instead of being their sister as the young woman had, she was more like a niece to Jenna and..."

"And a daughter to Prue." Again Sara finished the wizard's sentence.

It was as if he was reading the very feelings from her heart and tears welled in her eyes as she said Prue's name. Memories of their tearful goodbye the day she left New Zealand as fresh in her mind as it was then.

The wizard stopped now as they'd came full circle and were once again in front of the counter. He turned to face Sara and then took her hands in his. "Sara, that little girl continued to live within you only making her presence known in your art work until you went to Jenna and Rick's house and met Becky. The little girl within you had a chance for the first time in her life to play with another little girl and she wasn't about to pass it up. Now think child, think how much fun you had playing with Becky. You were in a safe, loving environment for the first time since you were five and with your mother. Your true spirit had a chance to come out and it wasn't a 28-year-old woman trying to amuse her niece by playing hopscotch or dolly's with her, it was one five year old connecting with another. And when you returned to New Zealand with Prue, it was the little girl who held her mummy's hand on the plane, and cuddled with her while they watched videos. Yes the young woman was there and she found some inner peace by having SRS, but it was the girl who found something even more precious. She found a mummy to love her after being without one for almost 25 years, but when this mummy offered her a home, the young woman took the little girl away because she couldn't accept that either of them was worthy of such love. Well she was wrong then and now you know it."

The pain and the truth in the wizard's words were too much for Sara. The tears that had started to well earlier in her eyes now fell in sobs and the wizard wrapped his arms around her and rocked the "little girl" in his arms.

The wizard held her until the worst of it passed and she was finally able to speak. "I'm sorry...forgive me... I've no reason to carry on so. What you said is true...all of it, but...but... what difference does it make now? It's over and done. Prue and her husband are finally trying to adopt. They deserve a REAL little girl to call their own."

The wizard smiled and winked. "I couldn't agree more Sara. So... how would you like to be that REAL little girl?"

Sara's eye went wide and suddenly the room started to spin, as she felt her knees buckle. The wizard showed incredible speed and agility for a man his apparent age as he caught Sara and then held her until she came back round.

He sighed and shook his head. "I've got to remember to be sure I have them sitting down when I spring the big one on them. If you knew the number of women I've had faint on me, you'd understand."

Sara smiled and nodded but she was still lost in the wizard's last question. Almost afraid to ask him to repeat his question for fear she would find out she'd misunderstood, she meekly offered, "Did you ask me if I'd like to be a real little girl?"

The wizard chuckled lightly. "Yes child I did, although as I see it you're already a real little girl and always have been. It's just the body that's been a miss and I can fix that straight away."

Before Sara could say another word, the wizard put up his finger and asked her patience for just a moment while he secured something for her from inside the glass counter. When Sara gazed down she was shocked to see that the original displays she'd seen before had now changed and the wizard was pulling out a box gift wrapped in pink paper with little angels on it.

He smiled as he pushed it toward her. "This is a little gift from your mother and I."

Sara's fingers trembled as she removed the bow and tore back the paper to reveal more pink, only this time on a gift box. Smiling nervously at the wizard she then lifted the top off and her eyes went wide as there before her were three old friends: a box of crayons, her favorite coloring book and Maggie, the only dolly she ever had.

Tears welled in Sara's eyes as she ran her fingers across the cover of her coloring book, and then they fell freely as she lifted Maggie out of the box and held her to chest, rocking the doll in her arms just as she had so long ago.

The wizard gave Sara time for her tearful reunion; waiting for her to ask the questions he knew would come.

Sara clutched Maggie in her arm and wiped the tears away with the handkerchief the wizard had given her. "How...how is this possible? I watched them burn as my father threw them into fire. How?"

The wizard smiled softly and then pointed to the same sign above the door he'd shown Sara earlier. Sara turned and looked up at the sign and its message still applied. "Because I'm The Wizard, That's How".

Sara giggled and held Maggie tightly. She really didn't care how he'd done it. She was just glad to have her prized possessions back in her possession once again.

The wizard smiled noting he could really see the little girl with the young woman when she held Maggie in her arms. He waited for Sara's next question and she didn't disappoint him. "Thank you so much for bringing these things back to me, no matter how you did it, but I keep thinking about well... what you said earlier, about being a REAL little girl and I was wondering exactly what you meant."

The wizard reached into the box and pulled out the coloring book and crayons. "Sara I meant exactly what I said. I have the power to give you a real little girl's body and it's a package deal because with that body I'm going to throw in a wonderful home in New Zealand, complete with the best mummy and daddy a little girl could ever want, AND it's absolutely free of charge. As I said before Sara, I have a debt to you and I intend to make good on it."

The water works threaten to start again as Sara was being offered the one thing the little girl within her had went to bed praying for every night of her life. She wanted to scream YES so loud that they heard her all the way back to the Bath and Body Works, but then she realized she was being selfish. She was being her father. She was letting her obsession for what she wanted blind her to how it would affect others. Yes, this is what she wanted but what about Prue? Was it fair to her to have a bundle of joy fall from the sky and into her lap without her consent?

Sara looked at the wizard and shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry but... but it's not fair to Prue. I can't just think of what I want."

The wizard reached across the counter offering his hand to Sara and once again she took it. His words were tougher to Sara but in order for her to understand, they needed to be. "Sara, you ARE only thinking of what you want. You're thinking about how much YOU love Prue, and how much YOU need her and how unfair it is for YOU to just suddenly become her daughter."

The wizard shook his head and sighed. "Child you need to think about what Prue wants, and if you search your heart then you will know that she loves you and needs you every bit as much as you need her. And there would be nothing more unfair to her than if you DIDN'T become her daughter. Sara, don't you realize she has ached to be a mummy for as long as you have ached to have one? The joy, the security, the love you felt as she held you in her arms was wonderful for her to give as it was for you to receive. You fill that void in her life the same as she fills the void in your own. Sara, if you can't trust your own feelings, then trust me. I have done my homework on this. She wants this as much as you do, but you have to decide. You can keep the good life you now have. You're a beautiful young woman who is the world famous Art Angel. You have a lovely home with two wonderful sisters in Prue and Jenna, two cute little nieces to play auntie to, and a bright future ahead of you on the second story of your home. Or... you can lay the foundation and give the little girl the childhood she never got to have. You'll have Jenna for an auntie, Prue for your mother, and two little cousins to play a junior version of the Three Musketeers with. You'll have to go through everything that every other little girl goes through growing up, from scraped knees to first kisses to senior prom's, and they'll be no Art Angel, just a little girl and her magic crayons. Sara when it's all said and done, it really comes down to one thing. You have to determine whose life this is. Is it the young woman's or the little girl's? The choice is yours."

Sara trembled as she looked into the wizard's eyes. "Do I have to make the choice right now? I think I know what I want, but...but... I need a little time and I'd still like to talk to Prue, that is if it's permitted."

The wizard nodded. "No Sara you don't have to make the choice immediately and yes you may talk to Prue about this. Because she has such empathy especially with you, you needn't worry about her not believing you, because she will. She'll sense the truth in your words."

Sara reached across the counter and hugged the old man, who smiled and hugged her back. When she finally released the embrace the wizard drew her attention back to her coloring book and crayons. "Sara, I know you are probably expecting some kind of magic potion to take with you, but you are already in possession of a magic stronger than any I conjure up. These crayons and this coloring book have always been magic in your hands and they will be again. If you want the little girl to have her chance at life then she will find it in the pages of this book."

Sara looked at the coloring book and then back up at the wizard giving him a puzzled stare. "You mean I'm just supposed to color in the book and that's the magic?"

The wizard chuckled. "It's always been your true magic. Why should it be any different now? All you have to do is look through the book and find the picture you want to color. There will be one that stands out, there always is. Just start coloring and the special magic will take care of all the rest; however, as with all wizard wonders there is always that one rule. You have 24 hours to think this over and make your decision. If you decide to be the little girl you will have to color in the book before that time runs out. After the 24 hours, the book and the crayons will no longer have the special magic, just the normal kind that Auntie Sara could still share while coloring with her nieces if she was so inclined. Now child, do you understand everything?"

Sara took a deep breath. "No, I think I could live a thousand years and not understand all of this, but I do understand your directions and the choices that I have."

Sara paused then asked the wizard one final question. "How can I possibly repay you for all that you've done?"

The wizard came round the counter and opened his arms. "I told you already that it is I who owed you, but I would ask you for two things. One, listen to your heart it will help you choose wisely and two, would you have one more hug left for a foolish ol' wizard?"

The young woman smiled and fell into the wizard's arms, giving him his hug and adding a kiss at no extra charge. She held the hug tightly until happy tears ran down her cheeks. Reluctantly the wizard finally broke the embrace, handing her a fresh handkerchief and then with a smile and a wink he said, "Now child, it's time to be off. You've still a long drive ahead of you and a great deal of thinking. Besides, that was my last dry handkerchief. If you start crying again we're both liable to drown."

Sara giggled as she wiped her eyes and then headed for the door. Just as she grabbed the knob she turned back toward the wizard and said thank you. The wizard nodded and acknowledged her responding with, "you're welcome" and then waved as the chime sounded and Sara walked out the door.

The wizard went to his handkerchief and wiped a tear from his eye and looked upward. "You can rest easy now dear. She'll be fine. We've seen to it."