Life is hard, let’s face it. A dead end job, a junky old car, taxes, angry neighbors. Don’t you want to get away from it all? I certainly do. That’s why I made a wish.

“I don’t want to deal with this anymore,” I said to the shimmering light before me. Around me, insects buzzed. Not in the annoying way they often do, but almost in a musical way. “I don’t care what you do, and I don’t care what consequences there are: just change everything. I can’t take it anymore…”

I passed out. I wake up confused some hours later, as light shines in through the canopy of trees above me. Built between two grand oak trees is a shrine, and upon it, an idol to some kind of god or something. I had left a sacrifice on the table – some jewelry I had lying around as well as some food – which is now gone. I stand up, dizzy. I feel disoriented, as if I were lost. My body does not grow to its full size. Instead, it stops maybe halfway there, as I stand up straight.

“Hmm?” I mumble, voice high. I look down at my tiny hands and naked brown body. “Oh, I got a tan… wait. Where is my–”

One frantic pat down later, I confirm that I am, in fact, no longer an adult asian man. I am now a young black girl. And I’m naked in a forest, all alone. So this is what the god – or whatever it was – did to me, huh? Well, I’ll take it if it means that I don’t have to go into work tomorrow. But there’s still a question regarding exactly what I’m supposed to do now. With nothing else to do, I wander back out the forest, homebound.

I stumble out of the forest with dirty feet and matted hair, wearing nothing at all. Thankfully, this area of town is rather desolate. I can only imagine if I had made this pact with what I’m deciding to call my patron in the middle of the city.

Careful not to be seen, I make my way down the dirt roads of rural Hognose, Florida. Whenever a car (or tractor) passes by, I dive out of the way to not be seen. I hide in bushes, in drainage ditches, whatever happens to be around for me to hide in.

Not too long now until I get to my house. It’s just on the other side of the hill, past the creek. As I crest the hill, my legs ache, accustomed to such hard work even in my adult body. My poor new young body isn’t made for long distance walking. I freeze as I look out at the unfamiliar scene before me.

What was once a trailer home filled with slummy trailers and angry rednecks is now a sprawling walled in estate with gardens, a pool, and a mansion fit for a king. I stop at the top of the hill, and just stare down at the mansion.

A car behind me beeps, and I jump in surprise, and run to hide in a nearby bush off the side of the road. The car – a really nice, fancy looking white car – pulls over, and a well dressed black woman steps out.

“Myra! What are you doing out here? And why are you not wearing any clothes?”

I poke my head out from the bushes. “Uhh. I lost them.”

“You lost your clothes?”

“...Yes.”

“How on earth did that happen?”

I consider this for a moment. It isn’t like I can tell her that I was transformed from a man to a girl.

“I, uh. Went skinny dipping, but forgot where I put the clothes.”

“Skinny dipping? In the creek? That isn’t safe! Let’s get back home!”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I don’t know who this woman is, but she gives me a towel to sit on, and I sit down in the passenger’s seat of her car. She starts laughing once we’re in the car.

“Skinny dipping? Seriously? That’s the best you could come up with?”

“You knew I was lying?”

“Of course! Oh, let me introduce myself. I am Erin, your caretaker. I suppose you can call me your mother – or mom, mommy, etcetera. I’ve been tasked with taking care of you while you are in this form.”

“Oh, then you know about the,” I wave my hands around vaguely.

“Yes, the fae contract. Honestly, do you even know what you got yourself into?”

“No, but I don’t care. After the life I’ve had, I’ll take anything.”

She looks me up and down, considering. “Poor thing. Well, so long as I’m your caretaker, I’ll be taking good care of you. Let’s go get you dressed, and then I can start explaining some things.”

Erin drives down the hill, towards the gate of the manor. It opens as we approach, and Erin parks the car next to two other fancy cars in a garage. She smiles as I stare at the two cars, each of which must be easily north of $100k.

“You won’t be the only one living good,” she chuckles. “Now stop gawking, let’s go get you dressed, kid.”

I follow Erin to a room on the first floor of the estate. There, she opens up the door to a huge walk in closet. Inside, hundreds of outfits, as well as countless shoes and accessories.

“Alright, girlie, try not to get too intricate on the first day. Just throw something on so I can give you a tour of the property.”

The outfits are all girl’s outfits, tailored to fit me perfectly. I find my eyes wandering as I take in the sight, but Erin coughs, and I go ahead and pull a dress off of a hanger and throw it on. It’s a knee length white dress with pink flowers on it, and a ribbon that ties around the back. Erin then pulls open a drawer with underwear and socks, and I pull on some white panties with hearts on them, and some pink frilly ankle length socks. I then put on a pair of white shoes with a small heel on them.

“Alright, looking good. Now follow me.”

I follow Erin out of the closet into my room. She gestures around.

“This is your room. There’s a walk in closet, a private bathroom, a big bed, lots of toys, a desk, a TV, a couch, some video game consoles and games, a computer, a laptop, and if you need anything else, just ask. Moreover, the entire first floor is yours. Let’s keep walking.”

She takes me on a tour of the first floor, which includes a giant kitchen, a fantastic dining room, multiple bathrooms, a large living room, a library, a greenhouse, and an indoor pool. All of these are my personal quarters, and I’m free to remodel them as I like. We could even add rooms if needed.

“We’ll head outside next, but first, let me quickly tell you that the entire second floor is mine. If you ever need me, or if you feel lonely, feel free to come on up. It has essentially the same floorplan as your floor. The third floor is restricted. Do not go up there under any circumstances.”

“What? Why?”

“Do not question fae rules. I don’t. It’s best that we don’t know. Just hammer that into your head, okay? Do not go to the third floor for any reason.”

“Okay… well, I’m happy to follow strange rules if it means I get to live in this mansion.”

“Great. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you and all that. Speaking of which, you’re free to cook for yourself, or I can cook for you. We can also hire a special chef for you. We’ll also have maids come in to do some cleaning. If there’s anywhere you don’t want them to clean – for instance, if you want your bedroom to be your private sanctum – just say so. Are we ready to move outside?”

“Yeah, sure. Let’s see what this mansion has to offer.”

Erin nods her head, and beckons for me to follow her. We walk outside onto a nice patio area, furnished with a large table and chairs, as well as plants and statues. As we continue walking the property, I’m also shown a tennis court, several gardens which Erin tends to, a gigantic pool, an open lawn area for outside playing, a pond with fish, and a small wooded area so we can be near nature.

“The property is beautiful,” I tell her.

“I know. I modeled it myself. And starting today, it is your new home! Of course, you can’t just stay on this property forever. You’re a kid now, so you’ll be starting 5th grade tomorrow.”

“Oh. Great… so how old am I? 10?”

“Yes, 10.”

“This fae couldn’t have made me an adult?”

“You didn’t ask for that. It completely changed you, as requested.”

“I guess I can’t complain. It gave me what I asked for. Fine. I don’t love having to go back to school, but I can handle it!”

“Good, because plans have been made, and they can’t be changed now. At least, not by you or I. With that said, you have today free, at the very least. Feel free to spend it as you like.”

Honestly, i never had free time as an adult. I’m somewhat unsure what to do. I spend several hours wandering about the property, checking things out. The plants are al kept in immaculate shape. Either Erin is an excellent gardener, or some kind of magic is at play.

While checking things out around here, I find that the movies and video games included within my floor of the mansion are all of my favorites. It’s as if this fae could see into my mind, which I’m sure it can. It looks like boredom likely won’t be an issue. I play one of my favorite games for an hour or so, but while it is fun, I’m still curious about the property, and return to wandering.

I’m walking past the main gate, checking out how it works, when a girl goes running past with a stick. She pauses, and walks back towards me. She stares at me. I stare back.

“Hi?” I ask.

“Hi! Did you just move here?”

“Uh. Yeah, I guess so?”

“You guess so?”

“Long story. Are you a neighbor?”

“Yes! I’m Jenny, and I live down the street a bit in that yellow house! How old are you? What grade are you in?”

“Uh… I’m 10, and in 5th grade.”

She gasps. “What? Me too! Oh, yay! It’ll be nice to have someone around my age to play with! Do you wanna go play right now?”

“Uh…” I hesitate. Am I allowed to? I mean, I guess I’m the same age as her now, so it’s fine? “Sure. let me open the gate, one second.”

I look around for a button or such, but don’t find anything. Instead, the gate simply opens, as if by my command. The girl looks in awe as the giant gates swing open.

“My name is Myra, what’s yours?” I ask.

“Jenny!” she says, offering her hand. I shake it. Jenny has pale skin and brown hair, and is wearing a blue puffy skirt and a green t-shirt. No shoes. She takes me by the hand, and drags me along with her.

“What exactly are we doing?” I ask, practically tripping over my own feet as I’m dragged along with the girl.

“The forest! Where else?”

I suppose there isn’t much of interest out here save for the forest. There’s the stream, and some crappy neighborhoods. The forest may not be super safe, I guess, but kids have no fear, it seems.

As we walk through the forest, Jenny bats away spider webs with her stick, and we crawl through the underbrush until we’re finally in an open clearing.

“I didn’t know there was somewhere like this out here,” I say.

“Well you just moved here, right? Of course not! It’s my secret hideout!”

I look around. There’s a small wooden table and some seats here. They look like they’ve seen better days, having been left out in the weather for weeks or months on end.

“Follow me!” she says, dragging me towards a tree. She starts climbing, and beckons for me to follow. I follow close behind, careful not to look up her skirt.

We go about halfway up the tree, and Jenny pulls herself up onto a crook between two branches, and signals for me to sit in another nearby crook. I do so, wedging myself between the two branches. It’s kind of uncomfortable, but there’s at least enough space to keep my small body held.

“Isn’t this nice?” she asks. “The view from here is great! Look, you can see the creek! And if you squint really hard, you can see your house from here! Just between those leaves!”

I squint, and see the mansion. Something as big as that can be tough to hide. The rest of the view is also pretty nice, though really it’s mostly just trees.

Jenny is hyper and doesn’t want to stay in the tree for long, so she starts climbing down, and I follow behind her. She then grabs another stick off of the ground, and we start swinging them at one another like swords. I’m laughing as I’m hit lightly by the thin twig. Of course, I’m going easy on her because I can’t just smack a small girl around, but even if I did, we would be evenly matched.

I’m chased around the clearing by Jenny, who is howling like a madwoman, trying to smack me with the stick. I try to climb a tree, but I’m not very adept at it, and end up falling on my butt. Jenny jump on top of me, and pins me down.

“I win!” she shouts.

“Yeah, yeah! Can you get off of me now?” I ask.

She sticks her tongue out, and crosses her arms. “No!”

“What? Why?”

Jenny looks around, and then whispers to me, “Hey, do you wanna know what I heard from my mom recently?”

“Okay?”

“Did you know that two girls can get married like a boy and a girl can? I didn’t know that! Boys are so gross!”

“You’ll get used to them when you’re an adult.”

A look of disgust washes over her face. “No way! You’re starting to sound like my mom! I told her, I hate boys! When I get married, I want to marry a cute girl like you!”

“Like me?”

“Yeah! You’re really cute, you know!”

“Oh, thanks. You too.”

Jenny leans down, and plants a kiss on my mouth.

“What are you doing?” I gasp, trying to buck her off of me.

“What? We both think that the other is cute! What’s wrong with that?”

“I’m –” I pause. I can’t tell her I’m a guy or an adult. Besides, neither of those is true anymore. “I’m a girl… we can’t…”

“Didn’t I just go over this? Yes, we can! What’s wrong? Am I not cute enough?”

“No! You’re plenty cute! I just… can’t.”

She pouts, and climbs off of me. “Fine! I’m going home!”

“Jenny! Wait!” I shout, reaching out to her. But she’s already running.

I’m kind of lost, so it takes me a moment to get back home. Erin gives me a look as if she’s questioning me, but doesn’t say anything. It’s getting dark now, so I head to my room, and crawl into my bed.

“Hold on,” Erin says, walking in. “You can’t sleep in those clothes! Firstly, they’re dirty! Secondly, they’re not for sleeping! Go take a bath and then change into pajamas!”

I groan, but follow her command. I strip off my clothes, and throw them in a basket in my room, then head over to the bathroom, and step into a bath that has already been filled. I soak for a while, then start inspecting my body. I’m about 4’8”, maybe 70 pounds. Black hair goes down to my waist. No other body hair to speak of.

After washing my body off, I wrap my body in a towel, and blow dry my hair. It takes quite some time. I then return to my room, where a pair of pajamas has been left on the bed for me. It’s a pink and blue striped pair of shorts and a matching fluffy shirt. I change into them, then crawl into bed, eager to sleep after such a weird day.

My dreams are weird and chaotic. I just see colors, with no real images. I wake up several times in the night to a splitting headache. I’m not even close to well rested when Erin walks into my room in the morning, telling me to start getting ready for school. I sweat out about a gallon of sweat overnight, so I take another bath, then change into a pink pleated skirt and a white t-shirt with butterflies on it. As Erin ushers me out of the house to her car, I slip on a pair of white sneakers.

The school is one that I’ve driven past dozens of times. Annoyed parents sit in their cars, honking, waiting to try and turn into the school, then waiting in line to let their students out. It seems as if it might be more stressful than just walking or taking the bus. I was always poor, and my parents were always working, so I rode the bus to school way back when.

Finally, I’m let out of the car, and one of the teachers there, Mrs. Wilson, as she introduces herself, walks me over to my classroom

“Are you excited to be starting in a new school?” she asks.

“Oh, yes! I hope I can get along with everyone!”

“I’m sure you will! Everyone here is super nice! Just let one of us teachers know if you need anything! We’ll be sure to lend a hand.”

“Thank you,” I bow to her as she waves at the door that will be my new classroom for the rest of the year. She excuses herself, leaving me alone now to face my new classmates.

I gulp, and step through the door into the classroom. There are maybe 30 students in there, along with one frazzled woman dealing with them all. She looks to be in her late 20’s, and is quite the looker. If I were single and still an adult, she would be the perfect woman for me. Strangely enough, I don’t feel anything now. I guess it comes with the new body.

Suddenly, I’m swarmed by kids.

“What’s your name?”

“Where are you from?”

“What color panties are you wearing? Ah, pink? Cute!”

“Help,” I mumble.

I expect the teacher to scold them, but instead, a much higher voice shouts out at the students.

“Hey!” she shouts. “Leave her alone! Can’t you see that you’re bothering her!”

All eyes, including mine, turn to look at the source of the voice. Standing on a desk, with her hands on her hips, is Jenny, the girl I met yesterday. Today, she’s wearing a denim jumper skirt with a long sleeve green and white striped shirt beneath it. She jumps off the desk, and marches towards me. I wonder if she’s mad about yesterday.

She grabs my hand, and drags me to a desk near the front of the room.

“This is your new desk!” she tells me. “I sit next to you. If there are any questions, I’ll help.”

I nod my head. “Thanks,” I mutter.

She scowls at me, but the angry face breaks easily. “You’re welcome. We can just forget about yesterday.”

“No, that was my fault…” I say, although it wasn’t. It was just weird. But she’s helping me, so I want to be nice.”

Jenny puts her fingers to her bottom lip, and looks me up and down. “We can talk later, at recess. Meet me under the playset.”

“Uh… okay?”

The bell rings to signal the start of class. I’m brought up to the front of the room, and made to introduce myself.

“My name is Myra… uh…” I hesitate as I figure out my last name. “Evergreen,” I say, finally. Images of trees flash through my head.

The teacher nods her head. “Everyone be sure to treat her with kindness, alright? Please go have a seat.”

The lessons that the teacher is teaching the students are rather simple. I mean, I may be dumb, but even I can get most of this without even trying. I admit it has been a few years since I learned most of this, but at least I know now that 5th grade math isn’t too complicated for me. I do hold back a little bit and make sure not to look too smart, for fears that they might put me in smart kid classes. I want to just coast by and have fun.

One thing the teacher is big on is group activities. She encourages us to work together to solve questions that we might not understand on our own, which also doubles to work on our personal relationships. In short, kids should learn to rely on one another and learn how to ask for help.

Lunch comes by eventually, and it tastes like rubber. Thankfully, I’m used to eating rubbery TV dinners, so I’m just about breaking even here. The one thing I can’t stand is the kids yelling in my ears as they scream to their friends on the far end of the table. I do my best to keep in the conversations, but I don’t know half of what they’re talking about.

When recess eventually comes around, the kids go running out onto the playground screaming their lungs out. The excitement almost overtakes me, and I want to go out screaming, too. But I remember that Jenny had asked to meet up with me, so I make my way to the playset where kids are running around, screaming, and sliding down the slide. Below it, Jenny is waiting for me.

“So what did you want to ask about?” I ask. I have to stand right beside her, as the noise from the other students drowns out everything else. I notice that she’s blushing a bit with me so close to her.

“We can talk openly here, since the others can’t hear us over their screams,” she tells me. “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry about yesterday. I can’t expect you to fall in love when we just met. I have to give it time… but I do think that you’re really cute, and I want you to be my girlfriend.”

“You’re only 10, I don’t think you can be falling in love at this age.”

“I absolutely can! And I’ll make you fall for me! I swear!”

“Okay, okay! Relax. I didn’t mean to insult you. I just… I’ve never been in love before.”

“Neither have I! This is my first time. But you’re really cute, and I would love it if you would at least consider things.”

“I’ll consider things if you really insist on it, but I can’t promise anything.”

She takes my hands, and squeezes them tight. “I’ll make you fall for me! You don’t have to do anything, just be open to the idea!”

“Alright. I’ll be open to it.”

“Yay!” she drops my hands and then pulls me into a tight hug. “Let’s go play now! They’ll think it’s weird if we’re not playing with them!”

We climb up the stairs of the playset, where a boy classmate is standing atop, acting like a pirate, and warning other boys who is coming. When we approach, they stand before the slide, and say that we cannot pass unless we pay them a gold piece.

“And where are we supposed to get gold?” I ask.

“That’s your problem, not ours!” a boy shouts, sticking his tongue out.

“Forget them!” Jenny says, grabbing my arm, and trying to drag me down the slide as the kids try to block her. It’s a wild mess as we tangle ourselves up in one another, four or five of us in a knot. Eventually, she manages to get past them, with me behind her. She slides down the slide head-first, with me following, also head first. All the boys up above get a good glimpse up our skirts as I land on top of her at the bottom of the slide.

We decide that the playset is probably a lost cause, so we join a different group that is playing tag. A bit further off, I notice several kids tumbling around, trying to do handstands and cartwheels. They’re certainly clumsy and awkward, so theres lots of falling over and even a girl scraping her knee and crying. As I’m watching, a kid runs up and tags me. I then wear myself out completely trying to chase after the other students.

As I’m getting a drink of water at a water fountain, try to cool off after so much physical exertion that I’m not used to, Jenny grabs my arm, and drags me over to the bathrooms. Once inside, she looks me up and down.

“Were you looking at those other girls out there?”

“What? No!”

“Really? It sure looked like that to me… So the question isn’t if you’re into girls or not, just if you’re into me.”

“It isn’t like that! I was just watching them!”

“Why? Your focus should be on me, or at least on playing!”

“Well, the one girl hurt herself…”

“That’s normal on a playground.”

“Right, I was just worried about her.”

She tilts her head, and looks at me. It’s almost like she can tell that something is off.

“I’m sorry!” I tell her. “I don’t really know what I did wrong, but I’ll make it up to you, somehow!”

“Can I request something, then?”

“Anything!”

“Anything? Don’t go offering that to the boys. Anyhoe, I just want to visit your house todaY! I saw it from outside, but I can only imagine how amazing the inside looks!”

“Really? Is that all?”

“Yeah! Did you want me to ask for something else?”

“No, no, that’s fine.”

“I’ll see you at your house then!”

We return to class soon after. The kids are all exhausted, and don’t really pay much attention to the teacher. She takes it easy, and starts off with some light review. She then launches into play-teaching, using toys to teach math.

I find the lessons boring, but bearable compared to my job back when I was an adult. I go home with a bit of homework, but it looks like it’s easy and shouldn’t take too long. I should be able to stay on top of this. Of course, if I do eventually do middle and later high school with this body, then I’m sure I’ll start having issues. But that won’t be for another 8 months or so for middle school, and several years for high school!

School lets out, and Erin comes by to pick me up. She’s first in the pickup line today, but tells me that she won’t be every day. As she drives me back to the mansion, she asks how the day was.

“Not too bad, all things considered,” I tell her. “School should be simple. I think that making friends might be hard, but I already have one friend called Jenny.”

“Oh, that’s good!”

“She says that she’ll be over later today. That’s okay, right?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Because I’m… you know…”

“You’re what? You’re a 10 year old girl, and this house is yours. Do as you please.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course! Forget all about your past life, because that you is dead. Figuratively. He never existed, really. This is you, and the only you there ever will be. As far as this world knows, the only you there ever has been.”

“I think… I think this other girl likes me.”

“Oh? Are you a lesbian?”

“No, I’m… straight? I mean, I like girls…”

“So you’re a lesbian?”

“I guess?”

“Cool. Congrats. Be happy you’re living in the modern day USA, even if it is Florida. 50 years ago or in certain backwards countries, you could be killed for that. Anyhow, it doesn’t matter, you’re the same age as her now. Have fun. Don’t let yourself be bogged down by your past, your past doesn’t matter!”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course! I’m something like 500 years old, but that won’t stop me from finding a guy who ISN’T 500 years old. I hope to hook up with some cute 20-something.”

I stay quiet as I think things over. Jenny really is cute. And how many girls my age are there that are into girls and are this open about things? I can’t take her for granted…

When we get home, I get right to doing my homework. It takes maybe an hour, though it would be less if I wan’t so distracted thinking about Jenny. While I wait for Jenny, I decide to take a swim in my indoor pool for a bit, wearing a one piece rainbow bikini with a unicorn on it.

Jenny arrives some time later, and I walk to the gate in my swimsuit, letting her in.

“Oh, were you swimming?” she asks. “I love swimming! I should have brought a swimsuit with me! Why didn’t you tell me!”

“Just bring one next time. For now, how about you come to my room?”

She follows me over to my room, and I tell her to wait on my bed while I get changed in the bathroom. I dry my hair off with the blow dryer, towel my body off a bit, then change into white sundress with various colors of hearts polkadotted around the place.

As I step out of my room, I find Jenny kneeling by the gaming console in my room, inspecting the games.

“Do you play?” I ask.

“No, but my brothers do. You’ve got a lot of games!”

“Yeah, I’m a big gamer, so I have a good collection. Anyhow, I had some things to talk to you about, okay?”

“Hm? What about?”

“I was thinking about your proposal,” I tell her.

“Hmm?”

“About being your girlfriend.”

“Oh! And what did you think?”

“Well… I’m an awkward person, I’m going to be honest. And I don’t know, really, just what a relationship would entail. But you’re cute, and if you’re willing to try along with me, then, yes, I’ll be your girlfriend.”

Her eyes go wide. “Really? Even though you still have the mind of an adult man?”

“Yes, really. We can take things slow, but– huh?”

She laughs. “Did you really think I didn’t know? I didn’t just choose you out of anywhere, you know! Oh, let me explain: I used to know you. The old you, that is. We were neighbors, though not particularly close. My old house was swallowed up by the expansion of your house into a mansion.”

“What?”

“Yeah! I used to have a crush on you, so the fae gave me an opportunity! I actually live up on the third floor, that’s why you’re not supposed to go up there.”

“Why couldn’t you just tell me instead of playing with me like this?”

“Because it’s fun!”

She jumps at me, knocking me to the ground, and plants a kiss on my lips.

“So, what do you say? Still into having me as your girlfriend?”

I groan. It feels like I’ve been played. Still, she is cute, and there’s nobody out there who could understand my situation any better.

“Alright,” I tell her. “But you’ll have to be completely open with me from now on!”

“I will, I promise!”

“Then… want to get back to kissing?”

“Yes, please!”

This is the start of my new life, in a fantastical mansion, with a beautiful girlfriend. I may be a young girl, now, but this is undoubtedly way better than anything I would have done had I stayed as I was. Hell, I might not even be alive if things kept going as they were. For once in my life, I’m truly happy. I don’t know if the fae expects something in return from me one day, but whatever it is, I’ll gladly give it to them.