It all started Halloween night a year ago. My sister, Lisa, and I were out Trick-or- Treating. We had begged our parents to let us go as Disney Princess characters for our final year, as we had turned 10 and 11 and were getting too old for it. I wanted to be Cinderella and Lisa wanted to be Jasmine. My parents weren't all that thrilled that I wanted to be a girl again, but they had gotten used to the same request since I was 4 years old and Lisa was 5. I knew that I should have been born a girl since I was old enough to talk. Lisa and I would spend hours playing dress up in all the clothes that Grandma had given her for her birthday and we often talked about our wedding days as if it was a foregone conclusion that I would be wearing a white gown instead of a tux when that day came. Anyway, we were walking down Maple Street when we heard loud voices. Three boys were tormenting a black cat and laughing every time they poked it with a stick. It was up in a tree hissing loudly, but it just couldn't climb completely out of their reach.

"Leave that poor cat alone"! We both screamed in unison.

"Who's gonna make us? Sneered the biggest bully. All I see is two little girls"

Just then, our neighbor, Mr. Reynolds, came along with his two daughters. "I'll make you! I know all your parents and I intend to let them know just what you've been doing. Get out of here and get home"!

Mr. Reynolds watched as the three boys fled the scene and then turned to us. "Are you both okay?"

"We're alright. I think the poor cat is in pretty bad shape though". I reached up in the tree and noticed the poor thing was so weak that it barely gave us any resistance. I noticed it was a girl and she had a collar with a name tag that said "Mollie" It also had the name and address of the owner on the back, a Mrs. Viola Winston. Lisa and I immediately recognized the name, as the grandma of her best friend. Olivia. Mollie was nestled in my arms as we hurried down Maple until we got to the corner of Fairmont Drive. Mrs. Winston lived in an old Victorian on the corner of Fairmont and Maple. She was on her porch handing out candy when she saw us coming up the sidewalk, immediate concern on her face as she saw Mollie cradled in my arms.

"What in Heaven's name happened to her? She was inside the house earlier, but she must have slipped out when I came out the door with the candy" Mrs Winston exclaimed.

We explained what happened and noticed a spark of lightning in her eyes for a moment. I can't say as I blame her because Lisa and I were pretty upset too.

"I guess I need to go inside and call Dr. Nelson and see if he will make House calls or if he wants me to bring her to the office. Would you wait with her until I get back"? She was gone for about 30 minutes and came back.

" Doc Nelson will be over in 10 minutes to look at her. I was thinking about how I could thank you for what you did, when I remembered I had two necklaces that belonged to my mother". She took two of the most beautiful necklaces out of the pocket of her apron. "Legend has it that if you put these necklaces on before bed and make a wish for your heart's desire. It will come true. I always thought it was just a story my mother used to tell us to keep us entertained on a rainy day". She explained.

"You don't have to give us anything for saving Mollie. We were just glad we were able to get to her before something worse happened" Momma always said always remember this , Leslie and Lisa,"Doing the right thing is it's own reward! I explained.

"Wonderful words to live by, my dear, but I won't take no for an answer. My granddaughter, Olivia and her mother already have all the heirloom pieces they want. I'm getting ready to move to an Assisted Living facility anyway, so you would be doing me a favor by helping me downsize a bit"

"Thank you Mrs. Winston! We will cherish them! Lisa promised.

"Thank you again for taking such good care of my Mollie. You should take my leftover candy too".

She emptied the rest of her candy bowl into our treat bags and bid us goodnight.

As we walked home, I thought about the legend and knew I was going to see if it really worked. If it did, that would be wonderful, but if it didn't, we would still have some very pretty pieces for our collection We got home and checked out our candy haul and put my necklace on my dresser . We went downstairs to say goodnight to our mom and dad and then went up to bed giggling to ourselves.

I went into my room and got dressed in the nightgown I kept hidden and then put the necklace on. I made my wish and then drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, I heard my mother calling "Leslie! Lisa! Breakfast is ready!

I opened my eyes and immediately noticed long , blonde hair in a sleeping braid. I giddily started examining my body and noticed my sensitive, budding breasts and the void between my legs. I jumped up and ran to the bathroom mirror where I got another surprise! I was a duplicate of Lisa. About that time, Lisa came bursting into my room and we both screamed! She said "You look just like me"!

Before I could respond, Mom came down the hall wanting to know what the commotion was about. She gave Lisa a funny look .She'd overheard Lisa and said " Of course, Leslie looks like you! You're twins for goodness sake! Why would you say something like that?

Lisa stammered " Uh, I had a dream that Leslie was really a boy and it was so real that my foggy brain must have just said the first thing I was thinking"

"I was just startled by Lisa bursting into my room and that's why I screamed" I explained.

"You two need to get moving because we are meeting Olivia, her mother and grandmother for lunch and shopping afterward.

"That should be interesting! We giggled in unison.

Mom just gave us another look and walked on down the hall.

Reality had shifted in other ways as I noticed all our family pictures and school photos on the wall documented each year of me growing up as a girl named Leslie.

When we were alone later on, Lisa explained things from her end:

"I knew what your heart's desire was and I always thought it would be wonderful to have a twin sister, so that's what I wished for"

"All I wished for was just to be a girl" I replied. I didn't know you wanted a twin. The best part is I'm now a year older"!

The stones in the necklaces changed color to match our favorite dresses. Mine was now pink and Lisa's was a deep red color.

Lunch and shopping proved to be really fun and I could swear I saw Mrs. Winston wink at me.

A year later, I often think about that night and how thankful I am for the life I have now. Every time I visit Mrs. Winston, Mollie climbs in my lap and cuddles. I'm pretty sure she remembers that night too!