An Incremental Journey
Chapter 1
By Portia Bennett
Alfred Gontarski has had the misfortune to have been born into the wrong body. It wasn’t Al’s fault he was born in the wrong body; however, he hasn’t handled it very well. Al has stumbled upon Spells ‘R’ Us and the Wizard. What Al doesn’t realize is that maybe he didn’t stumble at all. Maybe there is a reason for him being there. Whatever the reason is, Al is going to have an interesting ride.

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Introduction:

Suppose the Wizard of Spells ‘R’ Us is only a small part of a big picture. Suppose there are many wizards working among many universes. Maybe they are like sub-contractors hired to do special tasks; however, much of what they do may be due to their own perversities. I think the Wizard has been wrongly maligned. He is old and tired and sometimes he lets his sense of irony get out of hand. Still most of his clients benefit from his spells even if they don’t realize it right away. For those who attempt to cheat the wizard or trick him, that is a completely different matter. It’s no holds barred. If he wants to turn axe murderers into vacuous bimbos, that is just fine. There are many politicians and lawyers out there who would provide far better service as call girls and escorts as long as they were disease free.

Let’s take the case of Alfred Gontarski who has had the misfortune to have been born into the wrong body. Circumstances may have had something to do with it, but basically he is a misanthropic clod who feels sorry for himself and little for anyone else. It wasn’t Al’s fault he was born in the wrong body; however, he hasn’t handled it very well. Well, Al has stumbled upon Spells ‘R’ Us and the Wizard. What Al doesn’t realize is that maybe he didn’t stumble at all. Maybe there is a reason for him being there, a reason that may take more than this tale for him to find out. Whatever the reason is, Al is going to have an interesting ride.

Hopefully, there haven’t been too many violations of the universe created by Bill Hart perpetrated in the revelations in this story. Robert A. Heinlein proposed that each time an author takes to the pen, a new universe is created and I guess I will beg the number of the beast that this universe is just a variation of SRU.

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

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.

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Chapter 1
 
Alfred Gontarski, Al to his friends, though no one called him Al, stood in front of the rather quaint looking shop. He’d been wandering through the mall to select some meaningless but obligatory gifts for his office staff and not been paying much attention to anything. Suddenly he realized he was staring at something that he thought existed only in the imagination of a number of writers inhabiting some of the websites he frequented while filling the spaces of his empty life. Yet, there it was and the implications were overwhelming.
~*~
Al knew his small staff disliked him; however, they were loyal to his business needs and he did pay them well. He wasn’t too nasty to them (only indifferent) and they would be getting the usual fruit, hors d’oeuvres baskets (with their inedible salami and cheeses) and fruit cakes.

He was basically an insensitive, self-centered clod, and it was a bit strange for him to be out shopping like this. In years past he’d handed a catalogue to his personal secretary and had her order gifts for everyone. The gifts would be presented at the austere pre-Christmas party and probably many would be re-gifted later on.

Al wasn’t much for parties, and after greeting his employees he usually scuttled back to his inner sanctum where he would lose himself in his internet wanderings.

So what was he doing out shopping in a mall like this? Susan could have done it on the internet like she did before. In fact, earlier that morning he’d had the catalog in hand and was going to give it to her. Suddenly he found himself putting on his coat. “Susan, I am going to be out for a while. If I don’t get back, make sure no one leaves early. Stan Lewis is in charge if anything comes up.”

“Stan isn’t here. He’s at the hospital sitting with his daughter. Don’t you remember? He and his wife have been there almost constantly since their little girl almost drowned. She’s still in a coma and they say there have been no signs of improvement.”

“Okay, then, tell Arnold Goldman he’s in charge until I get back. You don’t need me around here anyway.

That’s right, he had forgotten. Hadn’t he sent some flowers or didn’t he have Susan send some? What was the little girl’s name anyway? It was Cynthia. He was pretty sure of it. Now he remembered. She had fallen through some ice and it had taken the rescuers more than 30 minutes to recover her near lifeless form. That was a real shame. The Lewis’s seemed like real nice people and Stan had been with the firm for a long time. He was going to have to follow up.

He had driven to a local mall that had seen better days and found the specialty shop. He ordered the gifts for his employees and made sure they would be delivered in time for the party.

~*~
We probably need to go back in time a bit and give you some background information. Al runs the commercial real estate business that he’d inherited from his parents. To say that he ran it’s probably a bit of an overstatement. His parents had established the business when Al was a young boy. For years they ran it on their own with the help of an administrative specialist/receptionist. Because they were good, the business grew and by the time Al was in his early teens it had become necessary to bring other associates into the business. His parents had been very selective about whom they hired and while they’d a few misfires, by the time Al was going to college, the company had grown to its present size of six sales associates and six administrative personnel.

The company’s presence in the community was not ostentatious. That is, they were not flashy, they didn’t have to be. They were just very, very good at what they did. Sales consistently ran around 100 million dollars a year. One didn’t see large billboards with grinning agents advertising their prowess. They didn’t have to as their reputation for being among the best was out there.

So, how had Al ended up with a multi-million dollar commercial real estate business? He’d graduated from college with a BA and MBA and specialized in real estate law. He’d sleepwalked through his courses and still managed to do very well. The fact was the only life he’d had, in spite of his parent’s encouragement to get out and mix with others, was real estate. No, that wasn’t right at all. The only life he enjoyed was the one going on in his imagination.

His parents loved him almost to excess. A product of a late in life pregnancy, he would be an only child. It was very obvious early on that he would be a large boy. It was easy for his parents to take him to work, as years before they had converted some extra office space into a nursery area and any of the employees with small children could take advantage of it if they wished. Over the years, several employees had. Other than the few children who stayed in the nursery, none of whom were Al’s age, Al never mixed with other children until he went to public school.

Even in kindergarten Al was much bigger than the other children. If you saw his class pictures, he was the one who was nearly a head taller than the others. He was large boned and by the time he reached junior high school, the coaches were drooling over the prospect of having this giant anchor the defensive and offensive lines on the football team. But Al could have cared less about football or any other testosterone driven athletic competition.

Several problems arose during his junior high and high school years. Because of his lack of desire for competitive sports either as a participant or supporter, many found his company undesirable. He became even more withdrawn as the company he really sought, the young female students, found him unattractive as a prospective boyfriend. The truth was, he just wanted female companionship.

Al became more and more withdrawn and found solace in the internet and food. By his sophomore year in high school he became known as ‘pear body’. He was 6’ 5” and weighed 320 pounds. Had he been in any sort of physical condition he might have been able to carry close to that weight; however, the bulk of his weight settled around his lower belly, hips and thighs.

He had no friends and sought no friends. He had walled himself away from any interpersonal relationships. He loved his parents but had withdrawn so much that he became almost like a roomer in his own home. He would show up for meals, do his homework and retreat to the world he found on the internet.

As good parents, they were obviously concerned about their withdrawn and possibly depressed son and after much protesting, Al agreed to see a counselor. His indifferent attitude toward the counselor wasn’t much help, however. The only thing the counselor could come up with was that Al was depressed about something he wouldn’t reveal. The counselor felt that Al was probably gay, and couldn’t come to terms with it; however, because of Al’s unwillingness to open up, it was only an educated guess.

After college, Al worked full time at the real estate firm. He easily passed the requirements for a real estate license, but due to his lack of desire for sales, he never ventured into that arena. Still, he knew what was going on, and he gradually took over the management aspects of the business from his parents. This amounted to tracking what the associates were doing, keeping the master files, and making sure that the salaries and bonuses were paid. He also collected a very tidy sum from every transaction. The percentage was small, but the number of dollars was very large.

His parents, although they had complete ownership of the company, had left the company’s operation to Al, though in truth, things pretty much ran themselves.

Tragedy struck when Al was 30. His parents had been deeply involved with Habitat for Humanity and while being flown to a remote site in central Africa the plane disappeared from the radar. The wreckage had never been found. Al was left on his own.

~*~
Al had trouble believing what he was seeing; however, there it was. The dirty window had a gold leaf sign in a rainbow arc. Some of the leaf had disappeared over the years but the sign was very clear: “SPELLS ‘R’ US” and in slightly smaller letters “Spells, Potions and Special Gifts”. A plank sign over the wood frame door appeared to have been made out of several joined together parallel, weathered and worm eaten planks. The letters had been carved in a primitive style and stated simply, “SPELLS R US”.

As he stood there, a rather plain looking woman in her late 20’s to early 30’s exited. He heard the tinkle of the bell over the door but it was the woman who caught his attention. She might have been a bit over-endowed; however, it was the expression on her face that he had focused on. She appeared a bit confused as she stopped a few feet outside the door and looked around. Her hands wandered up her blouse to her face and hair. She looked at her left hand and seemed to stare at the two rings.

Suddenly there were cries of “Mommy, Mommy” and three small children about three, five and eight rushed up to her. They were followed by a man (her husband?) who had a bright smile.
She hesitated for a moment and suddenly an equally bright smile formed on her face. The children were jumping around her excitedly talking about the movie they had just seen with their father.

As he watched, Al realized that the young mother wasn’t plain at all but rather attractive. She embraced her husband and hugged and kissed the two girls and small boy who rather reluctantly accepted the sign of affection. The family turned and the five walked hand in hand toward the mall exit.

That was all that Al needed to see. He walked quickly to the door and pushed it open. The mall fire inspectors obviously had not been doing their job, as inward opening doors were against the fire and life safety codes. He was greeted by the tinkling bell and stopped a few feet inside to take in the ambience of the shop.

It was like stepping out of a time machine. The floor to ceiling shelves along each wall were packed with who knows what. It was a cross of an old apothecary, hardware, toy shop and antique store. It could probably, no, no probably about it, it needed a good dusting.
He worked his way toward the counter at the rear, carefully avoiding the large, nearly black wolf stretched out on the floor. When the wolf slightly raised his head and curled his upper lip, exposing two large canines and other large teeth Al almost turned and fled. Had he known more about dogs and wolves, he would have realized that what he took as hostility was actually a friendly acknowledgment.

As near as he could tell no one was present in the front of the store but before he could reach the bell on the counter a voice came from behind the curtain. “I’ll be with you in a moment Al. I’ve some paper work coming in on the FAX, and the crystal ball is clanging for attention.”

The remarks sent shivers down Al’s spine. It was exactly as he had read. The wizard always knew who was coming into the store. There was another thing and that was that the store never appeared unless there was a reason for it to be there.

The beaded curtain parted and the wizened and a slightly bent man of undetermined age in a wizard’s robe that had seen better days appeared. “Yes, I know. The robe looks like hell. Look, I am flitting from one universe to another and flipping back and forth in various time continua, and I just don’t have time to get it replaced. The dry cleaners in this world do an awful job. The last time I was here, they broke three buttons and didn’t replace them. Well that clerk doesn’t have to worry about his acne any more. She’s making a lot more money as a cocktail waitress, and is a lot happier. Besides, a nice sugar daddy is going to sweep her off her feet and if I remember correctly, they will have a nice family.

“Now, Al, what should we do about your problem?” he said as he peered over the top of his wire rimmed glasses.

“Your Wisdom, I’m not sure what you mean by a problem.”

“Al, Al, Al, you had better think before you say anything like that again. You know where you are. You are standing in my shop, that to most, other than a 2:00 PM appointment, looks like a GNC store. I know a lot about you. I know your deepest desire, the desire to be the woman/girl you have believed you have been all your life.”

The wizard turned and walked from behind the counter over to the wolf where he tickled his side and chuckled as the wolf automatically tried to scratch the itch. “Al, I was getting some updates on you over the fax when you came in. My memory isn’t what it used to be 500 years ago, and I wanted to be sure about a few things before I took any action concerning your problem or should I say problems.”

“You say I have problems? I know of only one issue. I am in the wrong body, and my life is totally fucked up because of it.”

“I’m sorry Al, but that is not the case at all. Oh, your soul is female without a doubt. Unfortunately, you have never taken any time to learn what it is to be a human being. There are many people out there who have had the misfortune to be born in conflict with their body. It’s a difficult thing to have to deal with at best; however, most get on with their lives, have friends and make positive contributions to society. Unfortunately, there are too many universes, and too few of us to make all the corrections we wish we could make. There are universes we’ll never get to, and I am so sad about it.”

“Wait a minute,” Al fired back, “Are you telling me you do all these transformations out of the goodness of your heart? I’ve read about some of the stuff you do, turning guys into over inflated, mindless bimbos.”

“Al, most of what you read about me are urban myths generated by the overactive imaginations of some of the incompetent writers at some of those internet sites. We have no way of sorting through all the trash that’s out there. Yes, we have transformed some criminal elements into vacuous bimbos; however, they have been far more productive to society in that form than they had been in their previous forms. I guess I have once in a while allowed my sense of irony to allow some transitions go a way the persons involved hadn’t intended. I remember one where a fellow wanted to be the ideal lover for the girl whose attention he couldn’t get. He didn’t realize what he was asking for and ended up being her identical twin. They love and enjoy each other very much now.”

The wizard’s tone turned a bit more serious. “Now in your case there are some problems. First of all, Al, you’re not equipped to be a woman in this society. If I changed that little Y chromosome into an X chromosome, you would still be the same unsociable clod you are today, and that would be a terrible waste of some very good magic. Frankly, I don’t think you deserve to be a woman; however, I have my instructions.”

Al realized that if the wizard had instructions, the instructions had to be about his possible transformation. “It sounds to me as if your higher ups have told you what to do.” His confidence bolstered, he began to think it was out of the wizards hands. He was going to get what he wanted. “I know what I want and I think you have to do it,” he gloated.

“Al, you had better watch it. This attitude of yours needs to improve. I could turn you into a female toad and have you in a pond being amplexed by another toad in ten seconds. I always have the final say in these things, and I have a lot, let me repeat, a lot of latitude. I could have you walk out the front door with a sack of vitamins and you wouldn’t remember a thing about being here. There’s another thing, and that is the cost. These things aren’t cheap. We’re allowed to do some pro bono cases, but not very often.”

“Pro bono,” exclaimed Al, “You do pro bono work?”

“Certainly, it’s good PR. That woman who just left is an example. When she came in here he was a single father of two girls. His wife had been killed in an auto accident and he was very, very despondent. Tonight he was going to commit suicide and take the two little girls with him. His best friend since high school is a single dad, too. His wife left him saying motherhood wasn’t for her.

His friend volunteered to take the children to a movie and while they were there it was relatively easy to get him in here while they were at the show. Now, in this world, they have been married a little over a year and she is going to get pregnant tonight.” The wizard paused for a moment pulling a large linen hanky from a pocket that Al swore hadn’t been there before, dabbed his eyes and blew his nose. As soon as he replaced the hanky, the pocket disappeared.

“We had another one not too long ago that was almost as good. A Hell’s Angel biker is now a second grade teacher near here. She’s been married several years now. We did that one in the city park during a thunderstorm. It was a lot of fun.

"Now your case is different. There is much bad karma to overcome.” The wizard began shuffling through some papers that Al would have sworn weren’t on the countertop a moment before.

“We need to make sure everything is on the up and up. I have some paperwork here, the usual disclaimers and such. Let’s see, where is that invoice? Ah here it is. We are going to have to do a lot of temporal adjustments to make this work correctly. I hate it when I have to go back and eliminate paradoxes.

“These twenty-six pages describe the adjustments that have to be made. Initial each page at the bottom right in that blank and sign each copy on the last page. You do realize you will no longer operate the real estate company? This document lets us make the adjustments so that the company will continue to operate as a partnership with the current employees. This is the last document and it just says you are initiating the changes of your own free will. We don’t want you coming back and saying you were coerced in any way. The amount due is $1,075,000, though that does include sales tax.”

“Wow! Isn’t that a bit steep?” Al asked, protesting rather strongly.

“Al, you know what you want, and you can afford it, and after my appointment later this afternoon I am not sure if I will be back in this universe anytime soon. We do many of these changes at a loss, and have to rely on our wealthier patrons to keep the cash flow going in the right direction. I’m sure you can understand how that works.”

Al had always been a fairly logical person when it came to business; however, his desire to be a woman, to correct the physical anomaly he had been saddled with his entire life, overrode any semblance of logical thought, and for sure, Al hadn’t thought things out very well at all. He knew one thing, and one thing only. The wizard was real…and he was standing in his shop. He was going to get his gender problem straightened out at last. He quickly initialed the papers where indicated, and signed them on the appropriate lines. Getting out his check book, he asked, “Who do I make this out to?”

“Make that out to ‘Spells ‘R’ Us’.”

“You may have a problem with this going through. I don’t write checks for this amount very often.”

“There won’t be any problem at all. I just run it through this check machine,” he said, indicating a device next to the old brass cash register. He inserted the check in a slot, entered an amount and the check was drawn through and then released. “See? The amount has been deducted from your account and all is in order. Nothing to it, I just tweaked a few circuits and it went right through. Here, you can have the check as a receipt.”

“So what do you do now, wave that magic wand of yours and say some mumbo jumbo?”

“Al, you’re starting to get on my nerves. Things will happen when they’re supposed to happen. Don’t question how we do things. I suggest you leave now. Here, take this shawl. It’s getting cold, and you should keep your shoulders warm.” The wizard draped a woolen shawl over Al’s shoulders. Al never considered the fact the wizard didn’t have to reach up to do it.

As Al walked out the door and listened to the bell tinkle as he opened and closed the door, he suddenly realized something. He had just written a check for over a million dollars without giving it much thought. What about all the rest of his money, his funds, condominium, car?

Suddenly, he had a lot of questions. He turned and looked into the bright lights of the wide open GNC store. ‘Spells ‘R’ Us’ was gone.

Looking around, nothing looked right. He realized it had to be his dirty glasses. Glasses! He didn’t wear glasses. His hands reached up and removed the dowdy frames. ‘Jesus! My hands, what’s wrong with my hands?’ The fingers were boney and the joints seemed disproportionally large. His skin was pale and the blue veins stood out. The nails were painted with bright red enamel and they were certainly longer than he normally wore them.

He turned to the window next to the opening at GNC, looking futilely for his reflection. All he could see was the usual mass of shoppers and one elderly lady staring open mouthed at him. He brought his hand up to his face, a motion mimicked by the lady reflected in the window. She had to be in her 70’s.

‘What sort of rip off is this? This isn’t right.’ He looked downward over two obvious but somewhat unevenly sagging breasts. He was wearing a fashionless dress, and below that he could see some opaque hose and walking shoes. ‘What did the wizard do to me?’

One shock piled on another. His hands dropped from his face to his breasts. There was a serious problem. His hands could feel the two mounds but the mounds felt nothing. ‘What is this? Am I just a short man in a dress?’

His thoughts were short circuited by some loud voices.

“Here she is! I found her.”

Al turned to see a woman with a name tag on her breast approaching. “Maddy, Maddy, how many times have I told you to stay with the group? If you keep doing this, we won’t be able to bring you to the mall to shop. You’re going to have to stay at the home.”
The next thing she knew was being escorted to a group of elderly men and women and herded onto a small bus. Al found a seat at the rear. The bus departed for an unknown destination. Al knew no one on the bus.

Apparently she was supposed to be hard of hearing, because Al could overhear everything the two escorts were saying and they were talking rather loudly about Maddy, whoever she was.

“I don’t think we can let Maddy go on these trips with us anymore. She’s showing all the signs of Stage II Alzheimer’s. I don’t think she knows who we are, and I’m not sure she knows who she is. When I found her it was almost as if she was in a trance. We need to get an evaluation before we take any further chances with her.”

“I agree, Ethel. The home can’t stand to have another case like we had a couple of years ago when ‘Old Man Dawson’ wandered off and froze to death before we could find him. We may have to have Maddy transferred to a nursing home where they can keep closer watch on her.”

Well one thing for sure was that Maddy/Al didn’t have a clue who she was. A quick investigation had already proven to her (dis)satisfaction that the equipment she used to carry between her legs was no longer there. Instead, there was a fleshy area with the appropriate opening. Inside her panties there was also an absorbent pad. Maddy was slightly incontinent.

She realized she was carrying a small purse and opened it to find a little makeup, a wallet and a coin purse. Inside the wallet, along with some credit cards, were several forms of identification: a Social Security card, Medicare identification and an old driver’s license. Her name was Madeline Franken. She was 82 years old. She also found a key to what she assumed was her room.

The small bus finally arrived at an attractive facility that Maddy assumed was her home. There seemed to be some subconscious guidance going on as the group entered the lobby area. She looked around and then headed for one of the halls where she found her room on the left, about half way down the hall. Beyond the door she found a small efficiency apartment with a small but complete kitchenette and a small dining table. Beyond was a sitting area with a wide screen TV. An open door revealed a nicely furnished bedroom with a small closet and full bath. The closet contained a small wardrobe of fashionless clothing and equally undistinguished shoes.

A strange sensation suddenly awakened Maddy to the fact she needed to go to the bathroom. Again, a subtle automatic pilot took over. She raised her dress and lowered her panties and sat on the ring. Urination came naturally, and she reached over to a plastic bag that contained underwear pads. She discarded the pad from her panties and replaced it with a dry one. After cleaning up and flushing, curiosity got the better of her.

She stood in front of the bathroom mirror, unbuttoned her dress and hung it on a hook behind the door. She was fairly erect, and osteoporosis did not seem to be a problem; however, something did not seem right. She pulled her slip off and then she could see it. Her breasts were not right and then she saw the edges of the scars. Beneath the padded cups there were no breasts, only scars left from a double mastectomy done many years before.

Maddy was devastated. What had that wizard done to her? What had she done to deserve this? She sat on the toilet seat and sobbed.

~*~
Author's Note: So ends Chapter 1. What is going to happen to Al? Why would The Wizard do what he did to her? Certainly, for a million dollars, Al should have expected better than this. Maybe not all is lost. We have five more chapters to see what Al's fate might be. Do you wish to see a chapter a day or maybe a posting at longer intervals? Each chapter is about the same length. Let me know. This novella is already completed. It just needs to be posted.

Thanks again to Holly H. Hart for her very professional assistance.

Portia Bennett