Martin Hanson sat back in his deck chair and stared at the swimming pool in front of him, though he had no intention of climbing into it at the moment, even if he was wearing his swum trunks. Instead, he looked into the water and wished that he was at the beach instead, or just about anywhere else.

At sixteen years old, Martin had his license and was old enough to make his own vacation plans, or at least, he thought he was. His parents, however, disagreed. As a result, he was forced to come along on the family vacation. The family vacation, which was at the exact same location every year, on the first week of August. They’d come to this place every year, like clockwork, for the last twelve years, ever since his dad had bought the time share condo.

Martin smiled faintly, remembering that at one time, he’d looked forward to coming here. At one time, this place had been a lot of fun. However, that had been a long time ago. Now, it was boring, just like his family and life.

“I wish we could do something different,” Martin muttered.

“What?” his sister asked from beside him.

Sarah was fourteen, and was spread out on her own deck chair, trying to get a tan. However, Martin knew from past experience that she’d end up burning first, and would then spend the rest of the vacation complaining about it.

“Just feeling a little bored,” Martin admitted, knowing that Sarah fully understood. She hadn’t wanted to come on the family vacation this year either.

“Can we go somewhere else next year?” Sarah called out.

Martin’s eyes went to their parents, Samantha and Ryan, who were sitting at a small table and playing a game of cards. It was obvious that they were both bored too, though neither of them would admit it.

“We’ll see,” their father responded, not bothering to look up.

Martin knew that this meant ‘no,’ since it was the same response that his dad gave every year. Their annual vacation had already been paid for, and his father wasn’t one to spend money he didn’t have to.

To Martin’s surprise, his mom said, “Maybe we should try something different next year. I think we’ve gotten into a rut…”

“You can say that again,” Martin commented, earning a nod of agreement from Sarah.

“Excuse me,” a new voice said. “I couldn’t help but overhearing…”

Martin quickly turned to the speaker, startled to see him there because he hadn’t noticed anyone else in the pool area, besides his family. The man was tall and slender, wearing a suit that wasn’t appropriate for lounging beside the pool. The pants and jacket were a rich dark purple, though Martin could see a black shirt and a purple tie beneath.

“I don’t mean to eavesdrop,” the man said with a pleasant smile. “But I think that I might have the solution to your problems.”

“Who are you?” Martin’s dad asked.

At the same time, his mom asked, “Problem?”

“My name isn’t important,” the man in purple responded. “What is important is my profession. I’m a dealer.”

“We’re not interested in any drugs,” Martin’s dad exclaimed firmly.

The man in purple quickly replied, “Oh no, not that kind of a dealer.”

He pulled a deck of cards out of his jacket and made a show of shuffling them, in that fancy way that took a lot of practice. Then, he flipped the cards, spraying them up into the air into an arch, where they landed in his other hand.

At that display, Martin’s dad smiled. “Well, I wouldn’t mind a good game of poker…”

“I do enjoy a good game of poker,” the dealer said in an easy tone. “But that isn’t what I was offering.” He paused to look each of them over, his eyes settling on Martin for several seconds before moving on to Sarah. “I heard you talking about how you were…not satisfied.”

“We were talking about being bored with our vacation,” Martin offered, gesturing around. “We come here every year…”

The dealer nodded at that. “But I also heard a greater meaning behind your words, which is why I am here. Fate deals each of us a different hand, but sometimes, you may not be happy with the hand you’ve been dealt. That is where I come in. If you’re interested, I can shuffle the deck and deal you an entirely new hand. I can’t guarantee what the results will be, only that your lives will be different.”

That caught Martin’s attention, along with his interest. After the way he’d handled those cards, Martin was pretty sure that this guy was some kind of magician, and was offering to put on a small show for them. He was already in character and everything, which made his whole presentation more exciting.

“Sure, why not,” Martin’s dad grudgingly agreed while the others all gave their own agreement.

With that, the dealer went to the table, which was already covered with cards from the game that Martin’s parents had been playing. The dealer didn’t wait for permission, before sweeping the cards up and into the deck, which he carefully set aside. Then, he held out his own deck and made a show of shuffling it again. He spread the cards out on the table, then swept his hand over them, causing the cards to flip over in a demonstration of what he could do with them. This was the kind of show that Martin had been expecting, though he wondered what would come next.

Once the man in purple had finished demonstrating his skills, he spread the cards out in his hands like a big fan. “Each of you take one card, and without looking at it, place it face down on the table in front of you.”

Each of them did as the dealer asked, though they were all curious about how this trick was going to go. Martin was pretty sure that the dealer would somehow ‘guess’ which cards they each had, even though none of them knew which cards they’d drawn. As soon as this was done, the dealer took the remaining cards and put them back into a stack, which he put into his pocket. Then, he pulled two more decks out of his other pocket. Each deck had different colors and designs on the back, making it easy to tell which card belonged in each deck.

“The first card you drew,” the dealer explained as he set one of the decks down on the table, and a little off to the side, “represents your new identity. We’ll keep that a bit of a mystery for the moment.”

The dealer shuffled the deck in his hand, giving it a bit of flair, though not quite as much as he’d done with the first deck. He set it down on the table and had Sarah cut the deck, before having Martin cut it a second time. As soon as that was done, he held the deck up and spread it out like a fan, just like he’d done with the previous deck.

“Again,” the dealer said, “each of you draw one card, then place it down in front of you without looking at it. The first card represented your new base identity. These cards represent your assets. These are various skills, talents, or professions, which can range from something as simple as being a master of the kazoo, to being an Olympic athlete.”

“Whatever,” Sarah said as she drew her card.

Martin nodded and took his own, placing it face down without looking at what he’d drawn. He was curious about where this was all leading, though he suspected that he’d find out soon enough. After all, the dealer was putting enough into his act, that it had to have some kind of cool payoff.

“In that case,” Martin’s mother commented, “I hope that I get something good.”

“I have no control over what you may have drawn,” the dealer told her with an amused smile. “And you shall discover what card you picked soon enough. But for now...” He pulled out a six-sided die and set it down onto the table. “We are going to do something a little different. If you don’t mind, each of you roll the die, and let everyone see what number you get.”

“And what is this for?” Martin asked curiously. He picked up the die and rolled it, getting a four.

Martin’s mom took the die and rolled it next. “A one. I don’t know if that’s good or bad.”

“A three for me,” Sarah said a few seconds later.

Last was Martin’s dad, who rolled a two. “Okay, so what is this for?”

“Most of you rolled on the lower side,” the man in purple commented.

“Is that good or bad?” Sarah asked curiously.

The dealer looked amused by the question. “That depends on what you draw, and on whether or not you like the results.”

Martin chuckled at that. “So, what next?”

At this point, the dealer had already put away the second deck, and was in the process of shuffling the third. He had Martin’s dad split it, with his mom splitting it a second time. This time, instead of fanning the cards out, the dealer just held the stack in his hand.

“These are modifiers,” the dealer explained. “They represent various traits that can make your new lives more interesting, for good or ill. You will each be dealt one modifier for each number you rolled.” He looked at Martin, still smiling pleasantly. “Young man, you rolled a four, so you get four modifier cards.” He dealt four cards from the top of the deck, placing them face down in front of Martin. “Don’t look at those quite yet.”

It only took a few more seconds for the dealer to hand out the remaining cards, placing each of them face down in front of the players. As soon as the last card was dealt, he carefully put this deck into his pocket along with the other two.

“Now, we get to the truly interesting part,” the dealer announced with a gleam in his eyes. “Each of you, please reveal the first card that you drew.”

Martin immediately flipped over his card, expecting to see something like a King of Clubs or an Ace of Spades. However, what he had wasn’t a playing card, but was more like a tarot card. There was a picture of a young woman with red hair. The woman in the picture was slender and pretty, though certainly not gorgeous or especially well-endowed.

Suddenly, Martin felt a strange warmth spread through his body. He let out a gasp of surprise at the odd sensation, then another one when he felt his flesh and bones beginning to move. Martin could feel his body changing, though it didn’t really hurt. In fact, it actually felt sort of pleasant.

“What’s happening to me?” Martin asked, though he didn’t really feel shocked or horrified, merely curious.

“This is totally freaky,” Sarah gasped from beside Martin, while his parents made similar comments. However, he was too distracted by his own changes to spare them more than a glance.

Martin moaned as the pleasurable warmth seemed to focus on his chest and groin, as did the changes. His chest began to swell and push out against his shirt, distracting him with the sensations, though that was nothing compared to the intensely pleasurable pulling sensation he felt down below. When it finally stopped, several seconds later, Martin was almost disappointed.

“Wow,” Martin said, pausing to shake it off and regain his senses, before he looked down at himself and gasped in surprise.

A single glance was enough for Martin to see how his body had changed. He had two mounds pushing out from his chest, a pair of perky breasts that he instinctively knew were B cups. The rest of his body followed the same theme, being slender, female, and attractive. In fact, he was even wearing women’s clothes now. There were a pair of pumps with a low modest heel, a pair of slacks, and a nice green blouse. It took him a moment to realize that these were the same clothes that the woman in the picture had been wearing.

“Of course they are,” Martina exclaimed, with the sudden realization that her clothes weren’t the only things that had come from the picture on her card.

Martina had a strange certainty that she now looked exactly like the woman on her card, but this didn’t shock her. In fact, she felt oddly comfortable, almost like this was who she was meant to be, or who she had always been.

After taking a few seconds to consider this, Martina looked at the rest of her family, and wasn’t at all surprised to see that each of them had changed as well. In fact, each had changed so much, that she never would have recognized who they were, if it hadn’t been for where they were standing, and which face up cards were sitting on the table.

Where Sarah had been standing, there was a beautiful woman with long blonde hair. She looked like she was in her mid-twenties, about the same age as Martina.

“Sarah,” Martina started to say.

However, the blonde woman shook her head. “My name is Sabrina…” She paused at that, looking a little surprised. “My name is Sabrina now…”

Martina nodded at that. “My name is Martina now… Not quite as much change…at least for my name.”

Then, Martina looked at the other two people. Where her father had been standing, was a teenage girl. A petite Asian girl of about seventeen or eighteen, who was looking herself over with an expression of surprise, though not shock.

Finally, Martina turned her attention to the person who was standing where her mother had been. There was a rugged looking man, with blonde hair and a bit of stubble. Martina took note of the fact that he was rather handsome.

“Ryan?” this man asked the teenage girl. “Is that you?”

“My name is Rae now,” the girl responded, looking up at the man who towered over her. “Samantha?”

“Sam,” he responded with a wry smile.

Martina looked at the dealer, who remained where he had been, watching the exchange with a patient expression. “You changed us,” she stated, not sure if she should be angry about this or not. It wasn’t like she was bothered by her changes.

“I told you that the cards would change you,” the dealer responded in a calm tone. Something about his demeanor suggested that this was a familiar conversation for him. “You are all being given new lives, and hopefully, you will find these ones much more satisfying than the last. Now, please turn over your asset cards. I’m sure that you’ll find these ones to be interesting.”

“You said that these ones would give us some kind of skill or talent,” Sam said, giving the dealer a steady look, as though trying to intimidate him. However, man in purple was clearly not intimidated. “The hell with it.”

Sam turned over his card, revealing a picture of a football player in some team uniform that Martina didn’t recognize. Suddenly, Sam seemed to grow a little larger, swelling up as his muscles bulged more prominently than before. He blinked, looked down at himself, then smirked before flexing one of his biceps.

“Nice,” Sam announced, before admitting, “but strange too.” He looked around at the others and added, “I know how to play football… Hell, I’m a great quarterback.”

“My turn,” Sabrina exclaimed, though Martin and Rae were already flipping their cards.

A moment later, Martina stared down at her card, which had a picture of a stage magician on the front. New knowledge and skills began to flow into her mind, making her blink a few times as she tried to absorb it all.

Martina looked over the cards that were spread out on the table, and she realized that she knew how to shuffle properly, and how to do many of the same card tricks that the dealer had demonstrated. She also knew about sleight of hand, card forces, and quite a few other things. If she could see the dealer working the cards, then she would probably be able to catch any little cheats or tricks that he pulled. However, the cards had already been dealt, and it was too late for that.

“It looks like I’m a musician,” Rae announced proudly. “I can’t wait to get my hands on a guitar…”

“Web site designer,” Sabrina said, not as enthusiastically.

“And now, for your modifiers,” the dealer said, gesturing to the remaining face down cards on the table. “These should add a little more flavor to your new lives.”

“What kind of flavor?” Martina asked skeptically. “Sour is a flavor.”

The dealer merely gestured to the cards. “See for yourselves.”

Sam casually reached for his single card and flipped it over. This time, instead of a picture, there were merely the words ‘A LARGE PENIS’. He immediately grabbed at his crotch with a gasp of surprise, and when he pulled his hands away, Martina noticed a very prominent bulge going down one side of his pants.

“That’s going to make things more interesting, all right,” Sam admitted, looking a little pleased with himself. After taking another glance at that bulge, Martina thought that he definitely had a right to that.

Martina reached for her own cards and flipped them over. As soon as she saw them, her eyes widened a little and she felt the changes rush through her body and mind.

This time, Martina’s changes were much more subtle, though still quite noticeable. Her skin softened, her breasts grew a little larger, and her features altered just enough to improve her appearance. In seconds, she was no longer pretty, but ‘BEAUTIFUL’, just as her first card said.

When she opened her eyes a moment later, it was to reveal that they were now a beautiful green, so bright and clear that they nearly looked like emeralds, courtesy of the card ‘BRILLIANT EYES’.

New interests and desires emerged, and for a moment, Martina thought that when this was all done and over with, she’d have to enjoy a nice glass of quality scotch. As Martin, she’d never even tried the stuff, but now, thanks to the ‘SCOTCH CONNOISSEUR’ modifier, she had a deep appreciation of a good, well-aged scotch.

Martina glanced at her last modifier card, which said ‘AGGRESSIVELY BISEXUAL’, then looked around at the others. Her eyes went to the dealer, who was handsome in an almost metrosexual sort of way, though Sam was a total stud, especially with the meat he was now packing. And then, there was Sabrina, who was definitely a looker. Martina licked her lips as she considered the possibilities.

“Wow,” Sabrina exclaimed, staring at Martina. “Those are some changes.”

She quickly revealed her own cards, turning all three of them face up. ‘LARGE BREASTS, EXHIBITIONIST, and SMOKING HABIT’ were clearly visible.

“Damn,” Sabrina gasped as her breasts began to grow larger, swelling until they were the size of volleyballs. While this was happening, her clothes shimmered and changed, becoming much sexier and more revealing, especially for her generous cleavage. She cupped her breasts and mused, “I think I can get used to this…”

Martina admired Sabrina’s new curves, and the way she was showing them off. “Quite a coincidence,” she commented wryly, “that you get both the large breasts, and the exhibitionist thing.”

“Isn’t it?” Sabrina responded. She pulled a cigarette from her new purse and lit it, taking a deep drag. As she blew the smoke out, she looked to Rae and said, “Your turn, short stuff.”

“Bite me,” Rae responded, flipping Sabrina off.

Instead of flipping both of her modification cards at the same time, she turned only one up, revealing the word ‘TATTOOS’. An instant later, color began to spread over her exposed arms, forming into full tattoo sleeves. From the look of them, Martina suspected that the tattoos covered a lot more than just her arms. In fact, she could see some on the girl’s neck.

“This is the last card,” Rae said, turning her remaining card, which read ‘LARGE PENIS’.

Rae let out a loud gasp, and like Sam, grabbed at her groin. Martina watched in fascination as a large bulge formed and ran down her leg. It looked to be about the same size as the one Sam possessed, though on Rae’s much smaller frame, it seemed larger.

“Damn,” Rae gasped. “I was just getting used to the idea of losing my dong, and suddenly I’ve got a new one that’s even bigger.” She paused for a moment and had a thoughtful look on her face. “Actually, I think I have both sets now…” She smirked. “That should be interesting.”

“You did promise that things would be different,” Sam said, looking at the dealer and then everyone else. “I can’t imagine them being any more different…”

Martina nodded agreement. Nobody was anything like what they’d been just a short time ago. In fact, each of them was an entirely different person than who they’d been before.

“Different is right,” Sabrina said, taking a drag from her cigarette and then casually blowing it off to the side. “I don’t think I’ll ever have to worry about getting a date anymore…” She smiled wryly and looked down at her generous breasts.

“What if we don’t like being like this?” Martina asked, more out of curiosity than anything else. “Can we change things again?”

“I’m afraid not,” the dealer answered while adjusting his tie. “Fate allows me to deal you a new hand once, and once only. Now, for good or ill, you have to play the hand you’ve been dealt. I do hope that you all enjoy your new lives.” And with that, the dealer turned and walked away, leaving the four of them to consider their situations.

For several seconds, Martina remained where she was, wondering what she was going to do now. However, a part of her already knew the answer, and the rest quickly came bubbling up to the surface. She was Martina Grace, a successful magician with her own show in Vegas. She was well known for card tricks, clever illusions, and her distinctive green eyes, which most people assumed were due to theatrical contacts. They weren’t. But at the moment, she was taking a brief vacation, relaxing a little before she went to work on creating a new trick for her show.

Martina turned her attention back to the others, and realized that she knew who they were. Sam Thompson was a successful quarterback, with a team that nearly made the Superbowl last year, and probably would have if not for several injuries on the team. However, he was just as well known, at least among women, for the nude centerfold spread that he’d done for a certain magazine.

The beautiful and busty Sabrina Lark was a stripper, who also hosted her own website, where she showed off for the paying viewers. And then, there was Rae Izuki, a young singer and guitarist, who had a bright future ahead of her as a rock star. She had just finished recording her first album, and from the sample that Martina had heard of it, it was very good.

It was strange for Martina to realize that she had an entirely new life and identity, and though she clearly remembered being Martin Hanson, she wasn’t that person anymore. None of them were the people who they used to be. Now, they were no longer a family. They were no longer even related. Now, they were just a group of people, who happened to go on vacation at the same time and place.

Though Martina did feel a little sad for the loss of her family, the emotions weren’t nearly as strong as she would have expected. Then again, her old life and identity now felt kind of distant, and she imagined that it was same for the others. It was hard to think of these people as her sister and parents…because they weren’t.

“I guess this is who we are now,” Sam said.

“I know it’s probably strange,” Rae admitted self-consciously, “but I kind of like being like this…”

“Me too,” Sabrina agreed, puffing her chest up and sticking it out a little more, just for the attention it gained her.

Martina rolled her eyes, though that didn’t stop her from admiring Sabrina’s assets. Then she smiled, realizing that with their new identities, and their lack of any previous relationships, this opened the door to some exciting new opportunities.

“You know,” Martina commented with a smirk, as her eyes went from Sabrina’s chest, to the bulges in Sam and Rae’s pants, “I have a feeling that the rest of our vacation will be much more interesting than the first part.”

The End