The bus was carrying only two passengers, and they were not together. The young woman, Payton, was twenty-three, tall and fit, and projected a commanding but grouchy, “stay away from me” exterior. She was heading east to make a new start.

The other passenger was an eighteen-year-old boy, Arden, who was small and slender, unsure of himself, and was fleeing an unhappy home situation.

A heavy thunderstorm was pounding the bus as it navigated up a steep and winding lane in the mountains. Mud had seeped onto the road, and the bus slipped sideways a few times, causing the driver and passengers to gasp and wonder when they would finally hit level ground. All they could see was tall trees on either side, crowding the road. They looked scary in the darkness, at least to Arden they did. He was just wondering what he was going to do with himself when they got to the town when the bus slid again, and then, horrifyingly, plummeted over the side.

The bus hurtled down about fifty feet, slipping back and forth and knocking saplings over, before being stopped with an ugly crash by a giant of a tree. Fortunately for the passengers the bus stayed upright, but both were thrown out of their seats, with the front of the bus pointing sharply down. There was relative silence for a minute or two as the bus groaned and hissed. No one said a word. Payton, unhurt, was the first to get to her feet. She carefully inched forward to see if the driver was unharmed, as Arden watched anxiously. As she got close she could see he was bent over the steering wheel, not moving. She nervously felt his neck for a pulse, and finding none, quickly withdrew her hand. Now she could see blood on the wheel. He must have cracked his head on the steering wheel when they hit the tree, or maybe on the window frame to his left.

Arden was holding on to the bar on the seat in front of him, wild-eyed, looking at what Payton had been doing.

“Is he okay?”

“No,” she said curtly.

She turned back to the driver to see what condition the driver’s radio was in. She pressed the Talk button on the microphone and said hello. There was a bit of static, which quickly died. Shaking her head, she pulled her cell phone out of her jeans.

“No signal,” she muttered. “You have a phone?” she asked Arden.

“Um, no.” He’d left home in such a hurry that he had no time to grab it.

Rolling her eyes, she said, “We should get out of here.”

“Why?” he asked. “I thought you were supposed to stay at the scene until they rescued you.”

“There’s nobody who knows where we are, and we can’t contact anyone to tell them. But, you know, if you want to just sit here and wait, fine with me,” she said in a dismissive way, and went back to her seat to get her bag. Then she went to try and figure out how to open the bus door while Arden sat there and watched her. When he realized she really was leaving, he jumped up and followed her. He didn’t want to be left all alone with a dead bus driver.

It turned out to be fairly simple to get the door open, although she had to force it a bit. She saw Arden was coming, went back and reached past the driver to turn the key off, plunging the bus into darkness.
Shrugging her shoulders over the prospect of getting wet, she stepped off the bus and into the rain. Arden followed a moment later. He was in some shock from getting thrown around, and from the fact that the crash had killed the driver. Slipping and sliding they made their way back up to the road. He slid back more than she did, and she had to give him a hand and pull. In the dark he couldn’t see the distaste on her face, but he could easily feel dislike radiating from her.

Once they reached the road they followed it up to the top of the rise. There was and had been no traffic at all. In spite of the dark, they could see enough to navigate, but barely.

Slogging along and getting increasingly wet, Payton was wondering why she had to get stuck with an annoying, useless boy. Why couldn’t the other passenger have been a pretty girl? A girl who would have been really helpful and compatible with her? Sighing, she kept on trudging. Her last three relationships had ended badly. All three thought she was angry all the time—she didn’t think she was—and it made them uncomfortable. She felt she needed to find somewhere else to start over. And now this!

After a half hour they reached the top of the rise and the road leveled out, then started down again five hundred yards further on. Unseen by the two walkers a narrow trail melted into view ahead. Soon Payton felt an inner nudge to look to the right, and saw a dirt path leading into the woods.

“Let’s see if this leads to a house,” she said.

Arden wasn’t going to argue with her about it. She seemed to have more of a handle on this disaster than he did.

Trudging through the woods it was darker and more difficult to see the way. Arden slipped and fell several times, and once walked into a tree. Payton didn’t help him up or ask if he was okay.

‘Why does she hate me? I never did anything to her. We don’t even know each other!’ he thought. But he was used to people disliking him. What was one more?

After twenty or so minutes in the woods the path suddenly widened, revealing a cute, inviting-looking house situated in a circular yard. It brought warm feelings to her mind of Payton’s grandmother’s house. There was a friendly light on, visible through the leaded glass of the front door. Payton confidently strode up the porch steps to knock, and found the door ajar. Knocking anyway, she waited for an answer.

Arden knelt down in front of the porch and started trying to scrape some of the mud off himself and his shoes. He found a stick and used that as a scraper. Payton was a little awe-inspiring, the way she took charge, and seemed to know what to do. She had short black hair and an attractive face, although he had observed while in the bus there was no trace of humor in it.

Payton decided no one was coming, so she opened the door and walked in. After she removed her muddy shoes, the first thing that met her eye was a sign on a small table in the entryway, which read, in flowery script: “Welcome. Make yourself comfortable. All your needs will be met.” Under that was the line “The House in the Woods.”

What did that mean? Who was it for? Were the owners expecting a guest to arrive while they were out?

She yelled out a hello, but there was only silence. She explored further. The house was very comfy-looking, with a kind of grandmother vibe, which made her feel more at ease. It had a center hallway with the dining room on the right and a living room on the left. There were some nice Persian-type carpets as well as some beautiful wood trim and hardwood floors. Restful paintings of landscapes hung on several wallpapered walls. She felt some of her tension melt away. This would be a good place to ride out the storm. She climbed the steps and explored the second floor, which had two bedrooms, each with its own en suite. The beds were made and looked inviting. Everything looked clean, and not dusty. Where were the owners? They had left the light on, and it seemed as if someone had just stepped out. But that note...

Why did she have to get stuck here with this dumb boy!? An image flashed into her mind of a pretty girl in a French braid, wearing an old-fashioned dress, looking up at her adoringly. She always went for the short, girly girls. Shaking her head at this fantasy she started back down the stairs. She’d have to make the best of things with the boy. She didn’t have to like it, but they wouldn’t be here long, and she’d be rid of him.

Arden was just coming in. He saw her shoes sitting there and took his off.

“Is anybody here?” he asked her.

She shook her head no, and was going to point to the welcome sign, but it was nowhere to be seen. That was odd. She looked around, in case it had blown off onto the floor.

“There was a sign here a few minutes ago saying welcome and telling us to make ourselves comfortable. It’s like we were expected…or someone was.”

His eyes widened. “That’s weird.”

She shrugged. “I’m going upstairs for a shower and to get out of these wet clothes. There’s a second bathroom up there you can use if you want one. Use the bedroom on the left,” she ordered. Turning she started back up the stairs.

Arden briefly looked around from where he stood, but the wet clothes really did feel kind of gross. A shower would feel pretty good, so he carefully went up the stairs, trying to drip as little as possible. He entered the bedroom, glancing around quickly on his way to the bathroom door. It was a lot more cheery and comfortable-looking than his own bedroom.

Stripping out of the sopping, muddy clothing and leaving it on the bathroom floor, he started the water in the shower stall, which was instantly warm, and stepped in. Aahhh. That felt so good, and he sensed tension leaving his shoulders, maybe for the first time that day. He looked down at himself and saw some bruising from the bus crash. It hurt if he pressed on it, but didn’t look terribly serious. And there was one large, fist-shaped bruise on his right side, which had happened before he was able to get out of the family home. He didn’t want to think about that one. He found body wash, shampoo and conditioner in the shower, and used all three without a thought. At home he had never used conditioner, and hadn’t even heard of body wash.

When he finally stepped out of the shower he felt squeaky clean and almost like a new person. There was a thick terrycloth robe hanging on the wall, which he put on. It seemed to be his size and felt nice and soft. Once it was on he suddenly noticed his clothes had gone. Had the woman come in and taken his clothes away? Why would she do that? Especially if she didn’t even like him.

He used another towel to dry his long hair, which fell to his shoulders. Without thinking much about it, he picked up a hairbrush he found on the counter and brushed his hair into a middle part, again something he had never done. He had always parted it on the side.

Going back into the bedroom he again seemed to be operating on autopilot as he pulled open a dresser drawer and picked up a pair of panties, which he put on, and which fit perfectly. Next he opened another drawer, picked up a padded bra, and put that on. At the back of his mind he wondered why he was doing this, and how he knew where to look, but that thought wasn’t very strong. It was just a bit like watching someone else perform these actions.

Heading for the closet, he opened it, finding nothing but skirts, blouses, dresses and shoes. The part of his mind that was still clear ordered him to go back to the dresser and see if there were any pants there. There were not. There were sweaters, chemises, sleepwear, camisoles, but no pants or shorts.

Allowing himself a little sigh, he went back to the closet and picked out a rather old-fashioned white print dress with little flowers all over it, short, puffed sleeves, and a little ribbon tie at the throat, and slipped it on. Zipping it up wasn’t as hard as he thought it might be, and it was a good fit, coming down just past his knees. There was a matching belt with it, which he also put on. Picking some ankle socks out of a drawer he found a pair of black T-bar shoes in the closet, and sitting down on the bed, put both on. By some miracle the shoes also fit perfectly. Once that was accomplished he stood up, smoothing the dress, and took a quick look in the big mirror on the dresser. He thought he looked pretty good, although something about the picture didn’t seem quite right. Not sure what that might be, he shrugged and put it out of his mind.

Going to the door he opened it, and saw that Payton was just opening her door at the same moment. They stared at each other, although Payton’s stare was much more intense than his. She looked him up and down with a little bit of lust, and her mouth hanging open. Then her expression grew hard.

“Are you trying to make fun of women?”

He blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Why are you wearing a dress?”

“There were no other clothes,” he shrugged, and started down the stairs.

Payton followed, very confused. That seemed like a rather relaxed reaction from a boy. She hated to admit it, but she really liked the way he looked. He even seemed to have small breasts, and she could see bra straps outlined against the fabric on his back. From the back she couldn’t tell this wasn’t a girl.

“Why did you put on a bra?”

He stopped on a stair, floored. “I did?”

She reached out and stroked the fabric where the strap was.

“Yes, definitely.”

“I…I don’t remember doing that.”

He continued down and she followed, very puzzled. How could a person who didn’t normally wear a bra not remember putting on a bra minutes earlier?

They entered the dining room, and found a delicious-looking hot dinner waiting for them. He looked at her with a question in his eyes.

“I don’t know where it came from. When I first came inside I looked to see if anyone was here.”

“There has to be someone else here. Where else would the food come from?”

“How do I know?” she snapped. “I’ve been here just as long as you have.”

He flinched from the harsh tone. She noticed and tried to tone it down.

“Let’s just eat it and enjoy it, okay?”

“Okay.” He thought for a moment. “You didn’t…pick up my wet clothes, did you?”

She made a face. “Hell no. Why?”

“It’s just that when I got out of the shower, they were gone. I didn’t think you would have taken them…”

“Huh. Now that you mention it, mine were gone too. I found these in the closet,” she said, indicating her tasteful blouse and trousers, which appeared to fit her perfectly. The closet had been full of her favorite sorts of clothes——all in her size. Where had those wet clothes gone? Who took them? As she looked at him she realized the dress fit very well. Interesting.

They ate silently, with Payton stealing glances at him whenever she could. It was difficult for her to see any trace of boy across the table in the demure-looking girl sitting there. She even ate like a girl. What was going on here? Objects appearing and disappearing, clothes that fit both of them and freshly made food…

The note had said all your needs will be met. But HOW? Magic? She laughed to herself. There must be a logical explanation.

When they were finished, Arden got up and started to clear the table. It was simply something he was expected to do at home. Payton looked at him, bemused by this. In a magic house, you probably wouldn’t need to clear the table. But she didn’t stop him. It was kind of nice that he didn’t think of that as women’s work.

“Hey, um, I’m Payton. What’s your name,” she asked, deciding to be a little more friendly.

He looked at her, surprised she would ask him something innocent and pleasant.

“It’s Arden,” he said, and continued clearing the dishes. He made another trip for the rest, and then brought in two small bowls of ice cream, setting one in front of her.

“They appeared on the counter,” he explained. “They weren’t there the first time I went in.”

“Thank you,” she said. It was nice of him to bring it to her. He was acting nicer to her than she was to him. She took a spoonful. Rocky Road, her favorite! She wanted to discuss all this impossible stuff that was happening, but was starting to have confusing feelings about this person. He looked cute, and had what she thought of as a girl’s name. But he was a HE!

As for Arden, he was trying to avoid any unpleasantness from her, and stayed quiet. But something did occur to him and he had to find out.

He looked at her and asked, “Have you tried your phone inside here?”

She shook her head yes. “Nothing.”

He acknowledged with a small nod of his head.

When they were done Arden again cleared up. He was tired and thought he would wash the dishes later. Together they walked into the living room and found a fifty-five inch flatscreen television, and a collection of DVDs. Arden sat down in an easy chair while Payton looked through the movies and selected Enchanted. After the day they’d had, she figured some mindless fun entertainment might be a good way to end the day. She put the DVD into the player and sat on the sofa, right across from the screen, starting the movie.

As the animated segment of the show began, she looked over at Arden, sitting there like a little lady with his ankles nicely crossed and hands clasped in his lap, and said, “You can come sit here. There’s plenty of room, and it’ll be easier to see.”

He looked a little apprehensive, but did get up and move, sitting as far from her as he could. She noticed he automatically smoothed the skirt before sitting. Had he worn skirts before? Her mind was more on him than on the movie. There was something…calming about him.

Long before the movie was over he was asleep, and Payton was very tired. She stopped the movie and reached over to shake his shoulder.

“Hey.” She looked at him sleeping, looking like an angel. Was it her imagination or was his hair longer than it had been a couple hours ago? She shook him again.

“Hey, Arden.”

His eyelids fluttered, and opened. “Huh?”

“Let’s go to bed. We’re both too tired to watch this.”

He looked around and realized he’d missed a good portion of the movie. “You’re right.” He stood up—pretty gracefully, she thought—and stretched. The two of them went upstairs. She paused at her door, looked again at him in his pretty dress, and said, “Goodnight.”

“Good night.”

Arden got himself out of the dress and hung it up, looked in the dresser again and found a pretty nightie, which he put on without a thought. He went into the bathroom, finding everything he needed to clean his teeth, and then went back and got into bed. It was nice that she was treating him a little better. He slept like a log.

-o0o-

In the morning Arden woke and stretched. He hadn’t slept so well in a long time. He got out of bed and looked out the window. It was still very overcast and raining. He took care of his ablutions, and then again mindlessly picked out panties, a bra and another nice dress. This bra wasn’t as padded as the one he wore yesterday, but he failed to notice that there had been a little breast growth overnight, so it fit well.

When he got downstairs Payton was there already, and having breakfast. There was a plate with plenty of pancakes, sausages, bacon. Orange juice and coffee were both on the table. He looked at Payton with his eyebrows raised.

She shrugged. “It was all here, ready to eat. You look nice.”

Surprised, he blushed and said thanks.

“Where do you think all this is coming from?”

She looked at him, considering what to say. Her mind went off on a little tangent, thinking of attractive ways she could do his hair…maybe braids?? Shaking her head, she said, “I don’t know, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s magic.”

Raising an eyebrow at her, he just said, “Really?”

“I don’t know how else to explain it. I thought there was a logical explanation, but things just vanish and appear, always when we need them. Those dishes you put in the kitchen last night were all clean and put away this morning. I think if anyone was doing all this we would have caught sight of them. So it’s either magic or The Shoemaker’s Elves.”

“Huh? Shoemaker?”

“You never heard the kids’ fairy tale? Oh, never mind. It’s not important.”

“Well, I guess the magic makes sense then,” he said, after a pause. “If magic exists. But if all our needs are met, how come there aren’t any boy’s clothes for me?”

She shrugged again. She had no answer, and he looked good in dresses, and that was fine with her. She didn’t really want to be reminded he was a boy.

He sat down and started on his meal. She ate and kept looking at him. Was his hair even longer today? He really looked cute in this dress, and very young. Aside from that conversation just now, it was getting harder for her to remember he was a boy. He had the manner of an abused dog, and she realized she’d maybe been rather hard on him yesterday. Maybe he wasn’t so bad.

“Uh, how’d you sleep?” she asked.

He smiled and perked up. “Great! I can’t remember the last time I slept so well.”

She nodded. “Me too.” She—no, he—had a nice smile.

“It’s still raining, so we’ll have to figure out something to do today. Did you need to be somewhere at a certain time?”

His eyebrows rose. “No, I was more, um, getting away from somewhere than going to somewhere.”

She didn’t feel comfortable asking about the details, at least not yet.

-o0o-

After breakfast they both wandered into the living room. Aside from the television, there was a CD player and a selection of CDs, but no other electronics. There were walls full of books, a few board games, and something that looked like a craft center in one corner.

Arden turned on a lamp and picked out a book. He sat down and arranged his skirts in a very natural way, then opened it up. Payton wasn’t used to this relaxed atmosphere; she was used to doing something every minute, so this would take some getting used to. She felt too antsy to read, so she wandered around the first floor. It wasn’t until she was poking around in the kitchen that she happened to look through the back door glass and noticed the weather looked beautiful outside. She cocked her head to the side and thought—she was sure it was still raining out front. She slowly opened the door and looked out through the wooden screen door. The view was restful and beautiful and looked out over what seemed like several mountains, with nothing but trees. The air smelled clean and fresh. The sky was a gorgeous morning sky, full of pinks, oranges and yellows.

Leaving the door open, she walked back to the front entry. Sure enough, the storm continued out there. This was very odd, not to mention impossible. Heading back to the kitchen she stopped long enough to speak to Arden.

“Hey, Arden. Come here; I want you to see something.”

He glanced up at her, put the book down and got up to follow her into the kitchen. Together they stood at the screen door, looking out. He looked up at her. She shook her head and shrugged.

“It’s still raining out in the front.”

They looked at the scene a bit longer.

“Let’s go outside,” he said, and they opened the door and walked through. It was a beautiful morning on this side of the house. There was a nice back porch with a roof over it, and a comfortable-looking glider. The weather conundrum was beyond their understanding. Although neither of them realized it, they were being discouraged from looking along the side toward the front of the house. What they would have seen would not have made any sense to them.

Arden walked down the wooden steps into the backyard, put out his arms and twirled, with a huge smile on his face. The skirt flew up as he spun, and he actually laughed.

“It’s so nice out!!” he said.

Payton observed him, and thought, ‘Is this actually a boy?’ She smiled at his behavior.

“Hey look!” he said, pointing to the woods. “There are a few trails,” he indicated the semi-circle of trees. There were some well-cleared paths, covered with wood chips and leading into the forest.

“Feel like walking on one of them?” she asked, surprising herself with the offer to do something with him.

He looked back at her with a smile, happy she asked, and was treating him nicer. “Sure.”

She looked down at his shiny T-bar shoes. “I think you should find something more suitable to walk in.” She didn’t mention the dress; she liked the way he looked in a dress.

“Okay!” he said excitedly, and ran back to the house and up to his room. Looking at the shoe selection he found a pair of women’s rugged-looking hiking shoes. ‘which were certainly not here before,’ he said to himself. Putting them on he went back outside and joined her.

The trail was well marked, and took about a half hour to complete. It ended up back at the house. The sound was quite different in the forest—almost echoey, and the birds were easy to hear. It was also several degrees cooler. When Arden stumbled once, this time Payton did reach out and keep him from falling. He looked up at her and smiled. That smile was really starting to get to her and crumble what defenses she had left.

-o0o-

Days passed in the house. The storm on the front side never let up, but the back continued to be perfect weather. Once Payton tried opening the front door, but it wouldn’t budge—not that she actually wanted to go out in the storm. Maybe the wood was swollen. She had tried her cell phone in the back, but there was still no signal and she had stopped carrying it. They were provided with delicious food whenever they wanted it, not to mention the clothes. Sometimes the two of them would sit on the glider together and read. Arden had tried some of the crafts, but felt too inept. Since the thaw in Payton, they even played the board games now and then and started to have conversations. They took daily walks together on the trails.

Payton was getting used to this slower pace of life. She still wanted to get out and do things, accomplish things, but the storm in front had continued unabated, and, honestly, she wasn’t unhappy here with Arden. It felt a lot like living with a girl. She was startled at just how girlish he was, and it was all completely unself-conscious, as far as she could tell. He wore dresses every day, seemed to move and gesture like a girl, all apparently without realizing it.

They were sitting next to each other on the glider, just enjoying the peace on this particular day, almost two weeks after arriving, and she finally asked the question that she had wondered about ever since they got here.

“Arden, what did you mean when you said you were getting away from something?”

He looked sad for the first time in days, making her almost sorry she’d asked.

“Things were…bad at my house. My parents argued all the time. My dad was like a tyrant, and my mom wasn’t a whole lot better. She finally had it with him and just walked out, leaving me alone with him. So now I was the target. He started to get on me about everything from my hair to my lack of height and muscles.” He gulped before continuing, remembering that last day.

“The day I took the bus started out with him yelling at me, expecting me to make him breakfast. When I wasn’t fast enough to suit him he punched me in the ribs, and I just took off out the door.” He stopped for a moment, remembering. “That’s why I didn’t have anything with me; there was no time to pack anything.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. And she was. “So where were you going?”

“I don’t even know. I just wanted to be far away from him. He’s a bully, and it didn’t matter who he picked on as long as there was someone available.”

He thought about his mother. She was no prize either, and he was pretty sure she didn’t really like him. She never showed him much in the way of affection. And why else would she just leave him alone with the bully? Well, he didn’t want to think about that. He’d been… very happy here. Payton was treating him so much better, and he was liking her very much. Under that hard exterior she seemed like a very nice person. He thought the clothes were kind of nice. He was rarely conscious now of what he was wearing, or about looking like a girl. It all just felt pleasant and natural.

Payton thought about how, on the bus, the only thing she judged him on was his appearance, and his maleness. Everyone had his or her own story, she thought, and you just never knew. She looked him over, as she often did. He was gazing out into the forest, his mind probably on his unhappy past. Her eyes dropped down a bit and…was his bust bigger now? Was there a larger bra in the dresser he was using? She knew he wore a bra every day. His brown hair was certainly longer, and in the sun it had very becoming coppery highlights. When they first met it was to his shoulders. Now it was at least six or seven inches longer. Hair did not grow that fast. To her eye his features seemed somewhat softer, making him that much cuter. His voice seemed sweeter. And she was sure he had more of a girl’s figure. But every time she mentioned something to him about his appearance, he was always surprised. Then he’d appear to forget about it.

When she thought more about this, she realized she had no trouble remembering any of it. It was as if he was changing into a girl, yet not realizing any of the changes. Why would she know and not him? She pondered this for a while. Could it be just because she had entered the house first? The house was granting her wishes? She suddenly remembered that flash of an image of a pretty girl looking up at her adoringly. Looking back, that girl hadn’t looked all that different from Arden now. So if this hypothesis was true, then him changing was on her. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be responsible for such a dramatic change in anyone’s life.

She reached a hand out and laid it on his shoulder. He turned his face to her and smiled a contented smile.

“What are you thinking, Arden?”

“I was just thinking how much nicer it is here than where I came from. It’s so peaceful and lovely here, and I’m enjoying your company… now that you seem to like me.”

Payton blushed and smiled at the same time. She was unable to see a boy next to her. “Oh, come here, you!” She reached for his waist and pulled him next to her. He actually giggled at that. She put her arm around him and he laid his head on her shoulder. She leaned her head against his. It felt so natural. They remained like that for some time, without talking. His hand was resting on her thigh, but she had no qualms about it. It was just as if a girlfriend’s hand was there. In fact, looking at it, it looked a lot like a girl’s hand. That reminded her about his breasts. She moved her hand so she could feel the left one. She expected to feel a padded bra, but by god, that was a real breast! At least a nice B cup. How could he not be aware of this? She gently moved her hand back and forth over the nipple and he moaned with pleasure, pressing into her side, stirring something deep within her.

This was kind of crazy. Here she was, canoodling with a boy. But…was he still a boy? With all the magic that went on this place, did he still even have his male equipment? There was never going to be a polite way to ask that. He might even have seen it—or, make that the lack of it, and thought it was normal, the way things had been going. She felt a little guilty if she was the one causing these changes, but he didn’t seem unhappy about it…

The house reached out and soothed her mind about this. She somehow got the sense that this change was not all that unwelcome to Arden.

He gave a contented little sigh.

“What was that sigh for?”

“It was just…thanks for being nice to me. I’m not used to this.”

That went right to her heart. She knew she had a hard exterior under normal conditions, but here at the house in the woods she was starting to relax. She could feel the tight and semi-angry person unclenching day by day. Arden was very easy to live with, and she found herself enjoying his company a lot more than she would have expected.

Almost without thinking she lifted his chin to her and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips.

-o0o-

That night she could hear noise coming from Arden’s room, a sort of groaning. It went on long enough that she got out of bed, walked over and knocked softly. There was no answer, and she opened the door. He was thrashing around on the bed, half asleep. She didn’t know why, but it surprised her that he was in a nightie, even though he wore girls clothes every day, and the scene just looked like a normal girl in a nightie. She went over and shook him.

“Arden, what’s the matter?”

His eyes flew open.

“Oh. I’m sorry, but I have a sort of stomach ache. I hope I didn’t wake you.”

“No, you didn’t. Do you want me to see if there’s some antacid tablets or something?”

“It doesn’t feel like that kind of stomach ache. Thank you anyway. I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ll try to be quieter.”

“Okay, if you’re sure. Don’t worry about the noise.”

She laid a hand on his soft cheek. He half-smiled at her, and she returned to her room, wondering what was up with him. If it was something serious how would they get to a doctor?

-o0o-

In the morning Arden was later than usual getting downstairs, and didn’t seem his normal chipper self. But she did see that he was wearing a beautiful French braid. How did he learn how to do that? Usually his hair was loose or in one ponytail. And she was sure there was lipstick on. Then she noticed he had a bracelet on his now-dainty wrist. He looked very pretty.

“Are you okay, Arden? You don’t look like you got a lot of sleep.”

“Oh, my period started this morning,” she (apparently he was now she) replied, very matter-of-factly. “Sometimes they start out kind of, um, intense, you know?”

To say Payton was staggered would be to put it mildly. The boy had become a girl and either didn’t realize it, or didn’t seem to find it odd, just…mundane. Did he even remember he had been a boy? Once he—she had started picking at her breakfast, Payton wondered if his—no, her memories were affected, and asked, as a kind of test, “Would you tell me about your last day at home again?”

She swallowed, wiped her mouth, and said, “Ah, sure. My mom had left us, leaving my horrible father alone with me. He expected me to do all the housework she had done, and that morning I wasn’t making his breakfast fast enough to suit him. He hit me, and then got that look in his eye that told me he was after something more…carnal. He chased me around the kitchen, and I don’t even know how I did it, but I grabbed a frying pan and hit him on the head with it! That slowed him down enough so that I was able to run out the door, caught the bus, and here we are.”

She finished the story, trying to tell it in a light-hearted way, like a story that had happened to someone else, but her eyes were brimming with tears.

This was not the same story Arden told the day before. So not only was she now a girl, but her history had been rewritten to match. Payton felt a sudden surge of sympathy and stood up. Holding out her arms, she said, “Come here, girl.”

Arden looked startled, but got up and walked into the hug, relishing the contact. After a couple minutes, she looked up adoringly at Payton. That image she had had flashed into Payton’s mind again. Here was the pretty girl in the old-fashioned dress gazing up at her, just as in the vision. She bent her head and kissed the girl.

Arden was in heaven. It had been such a long time since anyone had shown her any real affection. She had made more of an effort with her appearance this morning, trying to make herself feel better, and also hoping Payton would like it.

There was no doubt that Payton did like it. Breakfast forgotten, she led her to the sofa in the living room and they fell into each other’s arms, consumed with passion. Payton couldn’t believe how attracted she was to this adorable girl. It was as if her wish was granted. Not in the exact way she had expected, but granted nonetheless.

When they had settled down and were just sitting together with their arms wrapped around each other, Payton, for the first time, started to wonder what would happen when they left this house. It sounded as if no one would miss Arden, and Payton didn’t even know where she had been headed; she only knew she wanted Arden to come with her. She wanted to take care of her and love her.

They stayed on the sofa enjoying each other’s company for another hour. When they got up and started back across the hall into the dining room, Payton happened to look at the front door. There was some sunlight visible. The long storm was over! Payton was willing to bet she’d be able to get a signal on her phone now. The question was, did they want to leave?

-o0o-

Later that day, while they were walking hand-in-hand on the trail, Payton told her what had happened.

“Arden, the storm is over in the front of the house.”

Arden looked up at her with an unreadable expression.

“Does this mean we have to leave?”

“I don’t know, but I think we could, if we want.”

Arden looked down, feeling very unsure.

“What’s wrong, honey? Don’t you want to go?”

“I…I don’t know where I’d go, or what I would do. It’s been so wonderful here.”

Payton took a breath. “I’d like if it you would come with me.”

Arden looked up. “Really? You mean it?”

Payton smiled at the girl and said, “Of course I mean it. You’re very special to me.”

Arden smiled back. “I never knew anyone like you before. You’re pretty amazing.”

Payton laughed. “Not I! I’m just a normal woman.”

“No, you’re not at all. You’re strong, smart, attractive, and you have a natural compassion that I think you usually try to hide.”

“That’s enough of that, missy! You’ll give me a swelled head!”

They walked along in silence for a bit.

‘The truth is, Arden, that you brought that compassion out in me. Everyone has always seen me as angry and unapproachable. You did something to me to calm me down and be happier.”

Arden turned red and looked down. She moved closer and put her arm around Payton’s waist.

That night they shared Payton’s bed.

-o0o-

They awoke together, smiling. They both felt like they would be able to face the world now. And when they sat up in bed, Payton noticed an open, empty suitcase on the chair in the room. She looked at Arden.

“Well, it’s apparently time for us to leave!”

Arden giggled. She got out of bed and ran across the hall to her bedroom. Sure enough, an open suitcase was there too, sitting on her bed. It was great that they would be able to take clothes with them. She had arrived with nothing, other than the clothes she was wearing and her purse.

After breakfast they packed. It was a bittersweet moment. So much had happened here, and they were both sorry to be leaving. But it also felt like a place where they had been able to recharge their batteries and change their outlooks. Standing at the foyer they turned and looked back at the place where they’d been so happy, then turned and walked out and closed the door.

The trail to the road was dry and flat enough for them to wheel their suitcases, and when they reached the road Payton used her phone to call in the bus accident.

“Sorry, ma’am, there has been no report of an accident or a missing bus in that area.”

Her eyes wide, she told Arden what had been said, and her expression mirrored Payton’s.

They both turned to look back at the trail into the woods, but there was no trail. Nothing there but trees.

Payton made another call, to have someone come and get them. Then they contentedly held hands and started walking down the road.

The house patiently waited for the next person who was in need.

The End.