“Aaron Ross Parker!” Aaron heard a woman yell his name. Aaron much like many fifteen year old boys his age had discovered the differences between boy and girls and consumed with the thoughts of seeing the unclothed female body, had climbed the tree in his backyard in hopes of getting a good view of his next door neighbor’s granddaughter. Mrs. Haynes, the old lady who lived next door, had known Aaron since his parents brought him home from the hospital, quite often babysitting him for his parents when he was younger.

Dawn, her seventeen year old granddaughter, had opted to spend the summer with her grandmother instead of going with her parents and younger brothers on a cross country, go see the sights, tour in an RV her parents had rented. While Dawn would not have minded seeing the Grand Canyon or the St. Louis Arch and some of the other planned stops her parents would be making, spending two months trapped in an RV with her younger brothers was too high a price to pay for the adventure.

Looking down from his perch on the tree limb Aaron attempted to fabricate an explanation of what and why he was in the tree, “Hi Mrs. Haynes,” Looking around he spotted a bird’s nest above him that he pointed at while trying not to fall, “I was trying to see if the birds had hatched in that nest yet.” Aaron knew it was a mistake as soon as he said it. While he might get away with a little lie to his mom or dad once in a while, somehow Mrs. Haynes always knew when he was telling the truth or not.

“Aaron!” Mrs. Haynes glared from where she stood in her own backyard, “Your parents nor I have ever tolerated you lying. You are up in that tree trying to catch a glimpse of my granddaughter undressed!” Mrs. Haynes waved a short stick menacingly at him, that she was holding in her hand, “You were always a good little boy! I helped raise you Aaron, I have watched and over the past few years you have changed and has not been a good change. You run around with those hoodlum friends of yours, take things from stores without paying, tease and bully smaller children and now you’ve become a peeping tom!”

“I’m, I’m sorry Mrs. Haynes,” Aaron began scooting back toward the trunk of the tree so he could climb down.

“Not so fast young man!” Mrs. Haynes pointed the stick at him, “I love you as if you were one of my own child, but I’ll not having you continuing to act this way. I’ll purge this wickedness out of you child.” The next words she spoke Aaron could not understand, then he suddenly felt as if ants were crawling all over his body. Suddenly the crawling sensation turned into white hot pain, Aaron fell from his perch on the tree limb as spasms wracked his body.

Aaron opened his eyes to see his mother gazing back toward him with tear stained cheeks. “I’m sorry…” Aaron began to apologize, that is until he heard his own voice, or what should have been his voice but the pitch was too high. Aaron realized he was inside his living room. He was laying on the couch with his head in his mother’s lap, “Mom I…” Aaron raised his left hand up to his throat as he heard the strange very feminine voice again.

“It’s alright sweetie,” Tears began flowing down his mother’s face. Aaron could see her his mother running her hand though some long coppery colored hair near his own face, out of the corner of his eye. Aaron could even feel the slight pull as his mother’s fingers drew through the hair. Aaron’s mother looked up, Aaron followed his mother’s eyes to see Mrs. Haynes standing there, along with her granddaughter Dawn and his own father. “I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done Elizabeth,” His mother choked back the sobs or happiness.

“How did you see through it to remove it?” Aaron’s father looked over at Mrs. Haynes.

Mrs. Haynes looked from Aaron’s father back to his mother, “Honestly I didn’t see it as the curse it was, I saw a darkness that was spreading. Had I known it to be a curse I wouldn’t have used such a brute force attack on it as whoever cursed your daughter will know the curse has been broken now.”

“Mom?” Aaron’s eyes widened when he heard that.

“Shh,” Removing her hand from the coppery hair, Aaron’s mother caressed his cheek, “it’s okay baby. You’re back to yourself now, everything’s going to be fine now Erin.”

“We won’t need to worry about the caster,” Aaron’s father dropped his large shoulders as he looked down toward his feet. “My mother was so angry when she found out what he had done to her first granddaughter she stripped my father of all magic. “

“Your father cursed her?” Dawn gasped.

Aaron’s father nodded, “I’m half ogre. It is custom that the first born grandchild take over as chieftain when the time comes for the leader to step aside and let new blood take command. My father believed being both half blood and female, our daughter would not have to strength to lead. He couldn’t do anything about her being a weak half faerie, so he cursed her to become male. The curse wouldn’t allow anyone to speak of the curse either, so we couldn’t ask for any help.”

“Come on cutie,” Dawn reached down grasping one of Erin’s hands to pull her up from her mother’s lap, “Let’s go get you out of those ugly boy clothes you have on.”

Erin looked down as she felt the weight shift on her chest when she stood. Looking down at her breasts, “holy shit I’ve got tits!”

“Erin!” her mother scolded, “They’re breasts and all women have them.”

“But, but I like girls!” Erin sputtered.

Dawn pulled the girl away from the adults and down the hallway toward the bedrooms. Leaning over giggling as she whispered in Erin’s ear, “I like girls too.”