Introduction: There are many people in the universe of The Wizard and Spells R Us who are not very happy with what he’s done to them. One transformee decides to take steps necessary to eliminate The Wizard once and for all. She gathers a group of equally disgruntled victims of The Wizard’s magic, and they try to put together a plan. Will they succeed?

Alice Gräber finally finds a satisfactory solution to her problem. Our tale finally comes to a close.

This story is another addition to The Cynthia Chronicles, Volume II. Cynthia (Cindy) Brewer has graduated from medical school. Randi Lewis at age 18 is starting work on her Master of Science in Chemistry, and Charli Brewer is a freshman in pre-med at UConn. Bobbie Anderson is setting the golf world on fire having now won tournaments on the PGA in addition to her many victories on the LPGA. This story takes place several years before Bobbie and the Glass Ceiling. If you are not familiar with the stories that make up the Cynthia Chronicles, you might want to go back to the beginning with An Incremental Journey

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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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Cynthia and the Queen of the Knight
 

Chapter 18

“Mr. and Mrs. Gräber, please make yourselves at home. I’ll be right with you.”

“David, this is Wolf. In spite of his ferocious appearance and size, he is really quite gentle.

“Aren’t you, Wolf?”

“Thank you Alice, may I call you Alice?”

“Certainly.”

“The children and wife are in Antarctica. Otherwise I’d have you meet them. Padrona’s trying to explain the difference between the North and South Pole to them. The easiest thing is to go there.”

“David, Alice, let’s go to my sitting area so we may talk about things. When Alice came to me a few days ago, she told me that you had a lot of things on your mind and needed to talk to a professional about them. Well, when it comes to problems like yours, I’m as about professional as they come and I’m sure I can help you.”

“David, what in the world are you doing?” Alice had been able to catch an earlier flight from DFW. She hadn’t been able to contact her husband, so there was no one to greet her at the airport. It wasn’t that much of a cab drive to their spacious “starter castle” just outside Bentonville in the little community of Centerton. The Gräbers always said they lived in Bentonville just because it was easier to locate. Besides, it didn’t really matter. But, back to the problem at hand.

David was wearing one of her ankle length dresses; however, it came to mid-calf on him. He was made up, and judging from his appearance, he’d had a lot of practice. Other than the short hair, he didn’t look too bad.

“Well, well, this is a surprise. Do you want to talk about it?”

“I’m sorry, Alice, it’s not what you think it is.”

“What is it? Are you dressing for a role in a play? I thought the only role you had was to keep me pregnant. I’ll have to admit you’re pretty good at that. If it wasn’t for that TV show we’d be starving to death and be on welfare. I forgot, you don’t believe in welfare for the unfortunate.

“You’ve been living a lie, haven’t you? Here you are a spokesperson for your intolerant church, it’s not my church and never has been, and yet, you can’t personally abide by its teachings. I just wish you’d had the courage to tell me how you felt. Just so you know, I’m not very disturbed by this. Had I known, about your interests a bit earlier, we might have been able to break away from that church a bit sooner than we are. And believe me, we are.

“Do the children know about this?”

“I don’t think so,”

“You might be surprised. Regardless, you’re going to come out to them. That should rock your church to the roots. You do realize that three of our children are gay. They’ve been afraid to tell you because they are afraid of you.

“Is this outfit a bit of wishful thinking on your part or just a turn on for you?”

“It makes me comfortable.”

“Alice, I’ll be honest with you.”

“It’s about time.”

“I jealous of you. I stick my penis in you and I ejaculate a few minutes later. I know most of the time you don’t get anything in return but another pregnancy. You get to bear the baby, or babies. You get to nurse them. I don’t get to do anything.”

“I’ve had three, even four babies in diapers at one time, and you never once offered to help me change them.”

“That’s not a man’s place. That’s the wife’s job. If I ever stepped across that line, I would be ostracized.”

“The church doesn’t have a fucking thing to do with it!”

“Alice, please.”

“Please; fucking bull shit. I have been a prisoner of this hypocrisy for twenty years, and I deserved every year of it. For some reason, a few months ago I was set free. You’d better sit down, because you’re going to have trouble believing this. I was just as much a hypocrite as those your church turns out by the thousands.”

“Alice, it’s our church.”

“Not by a long shot, it never was my church. I was forced through some interesting processes to assume the role of a virgin bride. As hard as you may find it to believe, twenty-four hours before you married me I was a twenty-one year old roué. I had impregnated close to two dozen women and girls. Well, He put a stop to that. Here I am the mother of twenty-three, soon to be twenty-five, children, and there’s no end in sight. At least there isn’t if you keep sticking that thing inside me. You see, He made it impossible for me to refuse having intercourse with you.

“Who is this ‘He’ you keep referring to?”

“The Wizard, of course. That’s right, even if you knew about him, you wouldn’t believe in him. Your church says his kind doesn’t exist, and if he did, he would be in league with the devil. I’ll tell you this, if the devil existed, and I doubt he does, The Wizard would give him a run for his money.

“I got exactly what I deserved. I have twenty-three children whom I love dearly. I would never do anything to harm them. I am stuck in this existence, but I intend to make the most of it.

“Where are the children, by the way?”

“In school or at the day care. We’ve run out of breast milk.”

“We had back up formula.”

“I’ve never fed any of the babies, remember. The folks at the daycare take care of them until the older children pick them up after school. Then the girls take care of them. I have to work on the scripts for the next show.”

“This is ridiculous. If you only knew what I have to go through.” That was when the idea hit her.

“That’s pretty much it in a nutshell, Your Wisdom”

“David, is that correct; you’ve had a hidden desire to be a woman all this time?”

“Yes sir, but it’s so much against God’s Will.”

“As difficult as it will be for you to believe, God doesn’t have the time or interest to deal with the minutia of this miserable little planet. There are nearly a million planets in this galaxy alone with some form of sentient being. Some are more advanced than we are; many are not. There are billions of galaxies with plus or minus a few hundred million planets similar to the number in this galaxy. God allowed this universe to develop along what some physical parameters allow. We have a choice. We can either enjoy the wealth he has given us, or we can screw it up. On this planet we’re pretty much on our way to doing the latter. I’m trying to help turn things around.”

“You’re Jesus?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m just a very old man who can do some things many others cannot. I will have a helper in the not too distant future; however, that’s of no concern here. What is of concern is what to do about your problem.

“You know, you’re pretty much an open book to me. I mean that in the literal sense. I can read your mind. Would it be acceptable if I made some of your innermost desires come true?”

“What do you have in mind, Your Wisdom?” Alice asked.

“I think the first thing is to have a meeting with your children. Both of you need to be honest with them. What’s discussed there will never become public knowledge.

“Think of your reality TV show. Suppose you made a public announcement that you and your family were leaving your church. I imagine some of them would stay although I don’t know why. I think by last count that might have been three. That would be an opening for two of your boys and one daughter to come out as gay. Of course the youngest are a bit too young to understand; however, they would in time.

“I think we all agree that the old David has to go.”

“You don’t mean kill me, do you?” David was beginning to wonder if things were going a bit too far too fast.

“Of course not, well not as far as you’re concerned. It will have to be some sort of spectacular exit. Suicide is out. That just wouldn’t look right, and it might hurt your ratings. After all neither of you is prepared to earn a living any other way. You will need to do something to bring in a larger, more eclectic audience,” The Wizard said.

ENTERTAINMENT TV: “Well it has been shock after shock out of northwest Arkansas. The notorious Gräber family announced just last week they were resigning from the church organization they’ve represented for the last ten years with their hit television show “Is Twenty Three Enough?” It seems the title had increased by one or two every year since its beginning, and now they are expecting numbers twenty-four and twenty-five.

“If that wasn’t enough, three of the Gräber children have come out as gay, and only three have decided to remain with their church.

“Then, this afternoon the family had gathered in front of their spacious 30-room mansion to announce a new contract for the upcoming year for their TV show. There was talk that they would be traveling across country to visit migrant worker housing facilities and homes for estranged Rainbow Children.

“As all this was going on, storm clouds gathered over the area, and just as David Gräber was going to make a final statement, lightning struck him. The blast was caught on the video, and as you can see, nothing was left other than a few sparkling embers.

“The Widow Gräber was heard to remark that if one had to go that was the way to do it. Then before returning to the house she said, “One must get on with her life.”

“Word came out of Virginia Beach that God had missed his chance to get rid of the lot of them. Surely lighting should strike the house he was heard to say.”

“Will Daddy still sleep with you now that that nice wizard turned him into a girl,” little Ramona asked.

“Yes Dear, Dahlia, remember that’s her new name, has a lot to learn about being a new mommy. I have to teach her many things.”

“Will she be able to have babies?

“Yes, she wants very much to have babies. We know that she will be having a baby girl in nine months.”

“Who is the daddy? You can’t be a daddy, can you?

“No I can’t. I can only be a mommy. You know what being pro-life means, don’t you?”

“Yes Mommy, we don’t want to hurt unborn babies.”

“Well, The Wizard is saving those tiny little embryos that no one wants, and Dahlia and I will be their new mommies. That’s where Dahlia’s new baby came from.”

“Will Dahlia be able to nurse her babies like you do?”

“Certainly, that was something she asked for.”

“Is that why her boobies are so big?”

“No, that was just something extra The Wizard gave her.”

Chapter 19

“I can’t think of anything else to do other than go to that area where Aurora and I played around forever until we ‘died’” Tom said.

“We’re not going to die this this time. I won’t allow it,” Pappy said. “Maybe there is more to this place; however, from what Tom and Aurora said, this cave doesn’t fit the more complicated versions they’ve played. It has to be something simple, but easy to overlook. All we can do is try.

“Everyone ready?”

They held hands, and Tom said, “Plugh.”

He turned on the light. They were at Y-2. From there it was the tedious walk and crawl they’d done several times before: south to the north/south passage, down to the Dirty Broken Passage, west to the Dusty Rocks Room, down to Complex Junction, and then finally to the Anteroom that Tom and Aurora had referred to several times.

“See, there are the magazines, Spelunkers’ Journal, I believe,” Tom said.

“They’re addressed to T. Witt. Who’s that?”

“I don’t know,” Aurora said.

“What’s down there,” Pappy said pointing to the east.

“It’s quite a ways down there. There’s a room with some chairs, end tables, and some lamps that don’t work,” Aurora said. “How’s the lamp holding up, by the way?”

“I think we have enough power for today. That’s it.”

“Did that place down there have a name?” Pappy asked.

“I think it was Witt’s end,” Aurora said.

“Shit,” Pappy said. “I think we need to deliver some magazines.”

After walking a considerable distance the passage turned south, and as Tom and Aurora had said, there was what looked like a waiting room. Pappy placed the magazines on and end table. Paula and Aurora felt it at the same time. A shiver ran from their tail bones to the nape of their necks. Paula gave Aurora a thumps up.

“I think we’re through here,” Paula said. “I think we need to go back to where we found the magazines. Aurora and I just felt something. I think we did what we were supposed to, and now we need to find out where we go next.”

For want of anything else to do, they headed for the Anteroom. As they arrived, a voice boomed out as if it were coming from unseen loudspeakers, “The cave will be closing in fifteen minutes. Please be prepared to leave.”

“Well, we’re either finished or finished,” Pappy said while looking around for the speakers.

“So, what do we do now? I don’t think we’re supposed to go out the way we came in.”

Suddenly, lights throughout started to flicker on. They buzzed like mercury vapor lamps.

“The Cave is now closed. Please proceed to the nearest exit.”

A loud rumbling came from the wall opposite where they stood. A rather stylized crack appeared, and two halves of the wall slid open revealing a huge, well-lit cavern that according to Paula’s CAD drawings shouldn’t be there. That was a moot point. It was there.

“I think we need to explore a bit,” Tom said, “but we need to stick together regardless of the light.

“Paula, based on what you have in the CAD program, approximately where are we in relation to the spring house?”

“I would say somewhere to the west, about where that first knoll is.”

“That makes sense. That stream is probably the source of the spring. What we have to do is figure out how to get through that wall.

“The Wizard said you must keep your lips sealed until you know the time and place are right. Say nothing. Seek and find a noble gift.”

They turned to see the three little girls sitting on a swing suspended from the ceiling.

When they finished delivering their message, the swing was pulled up out of sight; probably out of the immense cavern.

“So what the hell does that mean?” Pappy asked.

“Shhhhhh,” Aurora admonished.

“Oops.”

The cavern was immense, probably covering a half dozen acres. Even though it was well lit, they stayed close together as they had no assurance that the lighting would stay on. After searching for a bit more than an hour, not knowing what they were searching for, they found evidence that someone had been there before them. A wooden box lay up against the far wall. The side panels were tightly dovetailed. The top that had been nailed on lay to one side. The box was empty other than some powdery substance that looked like sawdust. More sawdust was piled around, evidence there had been other boxes in the past.

Tom motioned for Pappy to assist him, and also putting his finger to his lips to remind Pappy to maintain silence. They gently picked up the box and set it aside. Against the back wall, partially buried in some old sawdust was what Tom had been looking for. The eight inch waxy cylinder looked relatively harmless, but Pappy knew what it was immediately.

Tom pointed to the tablet and Paula brought up the latest image. Tom indicated the four of them before pointing to the diagram. Paula indicated one end. Tom spelled O-U-T with his fingers, and Paula indicated the far wall.

They took the stick to where Paula had indicated. Tom placed it against the wall, and motioned for everyone to go back where they’d found the stick. He had them sit behind a large rock.

“Now, Pappy, tell us what you were thinking when Paula indicated that the way out might be through that wall,” Tom said pointing to the far wall where they had just placed the stick.

“I was thinking we might be able to blast ….” He was never able to finish his sentence. A bright flash followed almost instantly by an ear stunning explosion finished the sentence for him.

“And that was why we had to maintain silence,” Aurora said rather pointedly. “Any word remotely sounding like ‘blast’ or its synonyms would have set off the dynamite. We might have set it off when we were holding it. Just as bad, we might have set it off prematurely as Pappy’s unfinished sentence would have had he said that when we first got in here.

“I guess it’s time to see if that little explosion did any good.”

Light was coming through what appeared to be a passage. To where it led, they were not sure. They quickly moved some rocks and debris and the next thing they knew, they were outside. Quite a few people and other oddities were waiting for them. All of them were cheering loudly. Two dozen elves carrying a large banner saying “CONGRATULATIONS” were on one side. A large dragon, a huge snake with a Bird of Paradise sitting on his head were next to the dragon. Next to them was the troll and a rather large bear. In the middle were the Papandreous, Isaacsons, Lois Papadopoulos, and Sandra Knight. Holding Sandra’s hand was Bob Temple. It was 5:06 PM.

Paula and Aurora were immediately rushed by their mothers. For a while there were just hugs and tears.

“As long as you’re happy, I’ll be happy,” Sandra said holding her daughter at an arm’s length. “Are you okay with this? I mean it happened so fast.”

“Mom, for us it’s been five days. When the changes started to happen it just gave all of us more incentive to get to this point.

“I love him, Mom. I want you to understand that. This is not one of those teenage romance things. Reality has shifted a bit, and it seems I’ve been on the pill for a while. I’m a woman, Mom. I’m complete, and one of these days we’re going to make you a grandmother, but that won’t be until I’ve completed medical school.”

“You mean you and Tom …?”

“Yes, Mother, we made love, and it was wonderful. The Wizard made things very accommodating while we were down there. We didn’t want for anything.

Paula could see Aurora and her mother going through a similar discussion. She could also see Mr. Temple politely standing a few feet away.

“Mom, when we first came out of the cave I could swear I saw you holding Mr. Temple’s hand.”

“That’s true, after your football game last night, Bob asked me to have a drink with him. Several things came to light last night, and I was a bit upset. We had lunch again today, and got to know each other a bit better. It seems we went to the same high school in Milpitas.

“Bob, come here. I think we need to explain some things to our daughter.”

“Mom!”

“All will be explained. It’s complicated.

“Look, here comes The Wizard, now. He has a lot of things to discuss.”

Paula turned to see The Wizard followed by Wolf and his family exiting the Spring House.

At just under a mile away, Myrtle was putting the cross hairs on The Wizard’s head. This was going to be so easy. She squeezed off the shot like she’d done hundreds of times before; however, the results were not what she expected. The Wizard made a swatting motion with his right hand. Looked at something, then turned and looked directly at Myrtle. He winked at her. That was when she knew it was over.

“We have to get out of here or we’re done for.”

“It’s already over, ladies,” a voice said.

Myrtle, Agnes and Glynnis turned to four rather attractive ladies standing there. The speaker was the oldest of the four. She was a stunning blonde, and had Myrtle had time to think about it, she would have realized that she was the mother of two of the other three. It didn’t really matter. It took her a few seconds to realize that the gun was gone.

“We’re going to meet His Wisdom in his office. So,” she said gesturing to the terrified three, “please come with us.” The seven disappeared with an audible ‘pop’.

“Thank you for the warning, Sandra. This was what Myrtle had in store for us,” he said as he handed the half-inch in diameter, inch and a half long copper jacketed slug to her. She quickly passed it to Bob who looked at it appreciatively.

“Marissa and the girls have been with them since early afternoon. They wanted to make sure that they didn’t do anything else stupid before it came to the showdown. When Ted and Sherri got a text from Pappy’s phone, they alerted us that those three were getting ready, and they’ve been with them ever since. They’ve taken them back to the office. I’ll deal with them later.”

Turning to the group that had gathered in front of the Spring House, he said, “I want to thank everyone for their help in making this project possible.

“Dragon, you were really a good sport about all this. I put your rug back in your lair. I had it cleaned.”

“Thank you.”

“Snake and Bird, you were really great. You both deserve best acting awards.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

“Elves, we couldn’t have done it without you. I’ve had all your knives sharpened and axe handles repaired. I also told the Grue to stick to his own cave or I’d turn him into a newt. Additionally, as part of our bargain I’ve installed those bathrooms in your residential areas. Perpetual hot water is part of the contract, plus I installed a state of the art sewage treatment plant and lift station. All of your hydroponic greenhouses have been upgraded, too.

“Once again, thanks to everyone for their help.”

With the dragon leading the way, the group marched, flew and crawled through the opening in the hill. The opening closed up behind them.

“The treasures with a few exceptions have been returned to the cave. We’ll worry about the rest, later.

“Now, we need to go our separate ways until this evening. Sandra has graciously offered her house for a little get together. I believe the caterers are already setting things up. Meanwhile, I have three problem children to take care of.

“I haven’t killed anyone in centuries, although a bit more than ten years ago I condemned a murderous pedophile to the life of a steer. At least he ate well while he lived.

“I guess the question is what do I do with you three? I gave you every opportunity to make something worthwhile of your lives, and you blew it.”

“Go ahead and kill me. I don’t give a shit,” Myrtle spat.

“The thing is, I think you do. The mistake I made with all of you was not taking you back to an earlier age. This time I’m taking you back all the way. I’m going to find a good home for you where you will be brought up in a loving atmosphere. I should have known you wouldn’t change as adults. This time we’ll make sure it works.”

And with that, the three women disappeared.

“Where are they,” Charli asked.

“Right now they are in stasis, they’re embryos and their spirits are being held elsewhere. After they’ve been implanted and developed enough, their spirits will be reinstalled. It will be a few years but they will grow up in a large loving family. Actually, I did a little time adjustment. Myrtle is already implanted, and things look very good. Glynnis and Agnes will be joining her in a few years. I know things will be a lot better this time.

Chapter 20

“How in the world did you come up with a name like Aurora,” her mother asked.

“Aurora is the Roman goddess of the dawn. These last few days have been my dawning.”

“It’s a lovely name, if not a bit of a mouthful; however; you’re Greek.”

“I know, but Eos just didn’t sound very feminine to me. And, believe me, I feel very feminine. Besides, Pappy and I have picked out a nickname for me.”

“What might that be?”

“Poppy. It just seemed right.”

“Poppy and Pappy, that is a bit unusual.

“Tell me about this ring you’re wearing. If that were real, it would be worth a fortune.”

“He gave it to me when he proposed. As far as we can tell, it’s exactly the same as the one Tom gave Paula. They were part of the treasures we found; however, we’ve been allowed to keep them.

“Yes, it’s real, by the way. We’ll have to get it insured.”

“Proposed! The next thing you’ll be telling me is that you’ve had sex with him.”

“I wouldn’t call it having sex; it was more like making love.”

“Oh my God, you’ve been a woman for two days, and you jump into the sack with the first man, er boy available.”

“He’s the only one, Mom. I teased him a lot, but I knew it was right. I knew it a long time ago. Under that hokey veneer is a man with a kind and gentle heart. He’s real intelligent, if not a bit off the wall, and that’s fine with me. Another thing is that he will never lie to me, not that I would ever have to worry about it.

“I’m going to have to rely on you to teach me many things. Apparently, I’ve been on birth control pills for quite a while. The first time we made love was the first time for both of us – me obviously. But there’s all this other stuff. You’re going to have to teach me about makeup and periods and stuff.”

Lois turned away as the tears started to flow.

“Shit, I’m sorry, Mom. That was stupid of me.”

“I didn’t mean to do that, but I seem to be getting emotional for no reason over the last few days. My stomach’s been upset. I feel bloated. Then on top of everything, my son is turned into my daughter, and it’s right. I know it is. I’m so damn happy for you.”

“Mom, I haven’t told you about everything I know about The Wizard. I’m making a guess here, but I think I know what your problem is. This will take about 30 seconds. I’ll give you a clue. That first night Pappy and I made love, I found a package of birth control pills in my personal items. I found something else, too. Let’s check your bathroom.”

Aurora led her mother to her bathroom. She opened up a drawer that was between the sink and the toilet and pulled out a package.

“I thought so,” she said as she handed the package to her mother. “Your period’s starting. As soon as you figure out how to use them, you’ll need to teach me.

“Mom, he fixed you, The Wizard fixed you. You can have babies. Now, we’re just going to have to find a husband for you.

Things were not going quite as smoothly at the Isaacson home. Tom’s sisters could tell that their parents were not very happy about something that had happened between him and his girlfriend. They liked Paula, and were very happy when they found out that Paula lived only a few blocks away. Maybe they could stay here for a while.

“Do you mean to tell us that as soon as Paula had completed this magical transition that you jumped into the sack with her?” his father shouted.

“Well it wasn’t that immediate, and she invited me. You need to realize something. Everything we did down there was tied to Paula’s and Aurora’s changes. I mean everything.

“I’ve known Paula for a long time, and I know how much this means to her. I told her I would stand by her regardless of how successful our adventure was. You see, I’ve loved Paula for quite a while. If the only way she could have transitioned was through surgery and hormone treatment, I still would marry her. We don’t have to worry about that, now.

“We will get married in three or four years.

“If I remember, correctly. You were the same age as we are now when you took that same step. So I’m not really sure what the problem is.

“I think a more important thing is to see how The Wizard is going to fix your ‘little’ problem. I bet he will; just this time, read the instructions.”

The party was more like a house warming, and The Wizard made sure that all the right people were invited. He had acquired the services of a catering company, and strangely, all of the servers closely resembled the elves. They were very efficient.

“Your Wisdom,” Paula said prior to the guests’ arrival, “apparently Tom’s sisters don’t remember about me. I think they need to know for several reasons. I was talking to Cindy about this a while ago. I know I’m magic, and I want to thank you for making that possible. Aurora will tell you the same thing. We’re looking forward to getting a lot of instruction. Cindy said that his sisters are carriers of the magic trait, and I feel it’s very important that they know the legacy they carry. They’ve always liked me and I don’t think it’s necessary to hide from them what my origin is. In fact, it might be very important that they know what they might be able to pass on. It could be a great help for what you’re trying to do.”

“How do you know I’m trying to do anything?”

“The evidence all points to it. You’re trying to save magic. It was almost lost a few hundred years ago. The world may not be quite ready for it, just like the world hasn’t been ready for a lot of other things; however, someday we might be more acceptable to the world.”

“You will be a great doctor one of these days,” The Wizard said. "I think there will be a place for you in Cindy and Bobbie’s clinic.”

“Who’s Bobbie?”

“Ah, here’s Tom now.”

Tom put his arm around Paula’s waist before giving her a quick kiss.

“Tom, I have a question for you.” The Wizard asked.

“Yes Sir.”

“Who is that attractive redhead talking to Cindy?”

“Oh my God, that’s Bobbie Anderson. What’s she doing here?”

“She’s Cindy’s best friend, and she wants to take five strokes off your handicap. She says you have great potential.”

“What on earth are you talking about?” Paula asked.

“She’s just the greatest golfer in the history of women’s professional golf. She’s playing on the men’s tour, too, and she’s won there.

“Come on, we need to meet her.”

Unseen by the pair, The Wizard winked at Bobbie.

Margo Chenoweth arrived fairly early, but not too early. She had Donald Epperson with her, and it wasn’t clear who was hanging onto whom. She looked positively radiant. They stayed for about a half an hour before heading off on a dinner date.

Alice and Dahlia had skyped Sandra earlier in the evening. They promised to get with everyone, but perhaps the best thing to do would be to have a get together in Centerton as baby sitters were difficult to come by for their large brood. They asked Sandra to pass on their best wishes and thanks to everyone, and no, Dahlia was not yet experiencing morning sickness.

Ellie Singleton and Lindsay Snider were two very happy ladies. They showed off their wedding rings, and proudly announced their joint pregnancies. They stuck to fruit punch. They wanted to get home to continue with the unpacking as they had permanently moved to Bridgeport. They had purchased a large daycare center, and were eager to get started.

“Jim, Nancy,” The Wizard got their attention before indicating they should talk in private. They retreated to an outside deck. “I wanted to let you know that the original garters were recalled by the manufacturer. I had yours replaced. They should be able to correct your problem. I just ask that you please read the instructions before you do anything.”

“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that,” they said in unison.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was when Charli showed up with a very attractive, wholesome looking young woman. It took Sandra a minute to realize who she was.

“Oh my God, Barbara, it is Barbara isn’t it?” she asked.

Barbara shyly nodded. “I’m Charli’s roommate at UConn. I haven’t picked out a major yet; however, those puppies (indicating Wolf and Padrona’s brood) have convinced me that I might go into veterinary medicine. That’s Charli’s intent; so we could be working together.

Marriage came to Lois Papadopoulos a bit more quickly than she and anyone else had expected. Her literary agent wanted to talk to her about a producer in Hollywood who wanted rights to make a movie of one of her romance novels. This was the first time she’d been close to New York City during their professional relationship. He told her he was going to be in the area, and would like to take her out to dinner to discuss business. He was five years older than she, and the sparks flew. No one would ever accuse either of being a fortune hunter. They were both multi-millionaires.

Lois was pregnant when they married three months later. She hadn’t told him before he proposed. It didn’t matter. Aurora thought her step father was a wonderful man. They took a while breaking him into the magic world. He had no problems with accepting things. He had moved to Bridgeport immediately after he proposed.

The golden flute was returned to Sir James Galway; although he was never aware it had been missing. The music box was returned to the prop room at the Vienna State Opera House.

The ecology project was completely revised, and pertained to the real world. The state park disappeared; however, there was a very nice stream running through some farmland, and the four were able to turn in an exemplary project based on stream ecology.

Sandra and Bob were married in a civil ceremony six months later. They’d sent an invitation to Sandra’s parents, but it was never acknowledged. They weren’t missed. They hadn’t waited until after their marriage to make love; however, they hadn’t rushed into it. They might have been a bit hesitant as neither had ever had sex before in their current bodies. It took a little while before they got it right. Their third daughter was also a witch. Their sons along with their daughters carried the magic trait to pass on to another generation.

Pappy and Poppy married in their senior year of college. Tom was Pappy’s best man, and Paula was Poppy’s maid of honor. Two months later the roles were reversed. The brides wore necklaces with a single large teardrop shaped pearl. The giant clam had worked overtime.

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My thanks go to Emanuel Schikaneder for originally putting the story together; although, he may have taken ideas from a work by Karl Ludwig Giesecke. Schikaneder’s story was put to music by an Austrian composer of little importance named Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart. The original story is very racist and sexist. I think I fixed most of that.

The original Adventure Game was designed/created by Willie Crowther. There are at least four other versions of the game out there. The version followed in this story was probably close to the original. I first came across the game around 1985. That version was a bit more complicated. There was another maze with twisty passages all looking different, there was a dictionary, and there were several more treasures and puzzles; some of which I referred to in this story. The trident also had another use, as did the bird.

I took the game back to my office where all of us would play it at lunch on our primitive computer supplied by the Air Force. We learned from each other. Each of us had a saved version we worked from. The Dictionary was tougher than the magazines to figure out as a clue had been removed. I never figured it out, but somehow found the answer in reading something somewhere. The dynamite was a bit easier. I only killed myself once or twice. I had the whole place mapped out with all the steps written down for the best solution. The game was on a floppy disc. I gave it to someone. I threw out all my maps and notes, and soon regretted doing it.

The original and at least one other version are available for downloading or playing on the internet. The solutions and some poorly drawn maps are also available. Beware, there is some randomness built into the game.

Who are the original members of the conspirators?

Barbara Boom-Boom Reynolds, previously Ben Reynolds, bimbo stripper. Became Barbara Marie Reynolds, college student.

Alice Gräber, mother of 25 children, renounces her church, her husband willingly is transitioned by The Wizard. Their family will continue to grow.

Sandra Knight, lawyer and mother of Paul/Paula, discovers love with a version of the former girl, now man, she’d left pregnant 19 years before.

Myrtle Hightower, secretary and ex-Marine sniper; determined to kill The Wizard and others. She will start over.

Ted and Sherri Papandreou, boat designers and decorators, parents of Dimitri (Pappy). They are switched by The Wizard’s magic. They decide to continue to switch.

Margot Chenoweth, bookkeeper, embezzler. She wished she could disappear, and The Wizard obliges.

Ellie Singleton and Lindsay Snider, former chauvinist pigs of the worst order; now lesbian lovers and mothers to be many times thanks to The Wizard’s ‘correction’.

James and Nancy Isaacson, software engineer and importer of small goods, parents of Tom. They didn’t read the instructions.

Agnes di Lammermoor, past hit man for the Irish mafia. She did not learn her lesson. Back to square one.

Glynnis Roberts; past enforcer for the Miami mafia. Same as Agnes.

Lois Papadopoulos, writer and mother of Ivan/Aurora (Poppy). Past alcoholic switched with the little girl she killed. She finds love.

Carol Johannesen was Sanford Knight’s girlfriend. A version of her becomes Bob Temple.

Cast of Characters From the Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte):

Sarastro – The Wizard
Tamino – Tom Isaacson
Pamina – Paul/Paula Knight
The Queen of the Night – Sandra Knight
Papageno – Dmitri (Pappy) Papandreou
Papagena – Ivan/Aurora (Poppy) Papadopoulos
The Three Ladies – Cindy Brewer, Randi Lewis, Charli Brewer
Monostatos – Irving Mefisto
Two Armored Men – Clyde Davis, Melvin Douglas
Three Child Spirits – Iris Mefisto, Cleo Davis, Melanie Douglas
Speaker of the Temple – Bob Temple