A Few Changes
By allie elle

Part One

Steve sat in his favourite tree looking out over the fields; he swung
his legs idly as he watched the dusk sun. He was happy with himself; he
had managed to avoid the fallout from his latest escapade. He had
managed to lock most of the doors to the Martin's farm house and make
it so only one door opened. He sat there laughing to himself as he
tossed stones from his pocket into the stream that flowed under the
tree. He was not a bad boy just liked to mess around and pull a few
jokes now and then to show he was a boy.

You see he had a secret and sometimes it showed on the outside. Inside
he was a girl but he did not want to give away the fact to the other
boys at the local school. He was sometimes called a sissy because he
looked girly as he kept his hair long. Back home under his bed in the
mess there he had hidden one of his older sisters old Barbie's and at
night he would play with it. As he sat in the branches of the old oak
he planned his next operation as he called them. There was an old house
at the end of the village that had stood vacant for as long as he could
remember.

Slowly night fell and he climbed out of the tree and headed home, he
checked the old church clock and he saw that the time was still fairly
early. His mother and sister would not be home for about another hour.
He hated the fact that his mother and sister had to work the hours they
did but his father had walked out when he was born. His mother never
blamed him but tried the best that she could. There were times that his
mother despaired at her son and his behaviour. She would shake her head
as she heard about his latest pranks. His sister was the tough one and
she would grab hold of his ear and march him to apologise to the
victims.

He reached the door of the cottage where he lived with his family and
he reached under the stone by the door and let himself in. He made his
way to the kitchen and opened the fridge and helped himself to a large
swallow of milk. His school bag was still on the kitchen table where he
had thrown it when he had got in that afternoon. He wondered if it was
worth trying to do some of his homework but he decided against it and
walked up into his bedroom. He closed his door and reached under his
bed for his stash. He pulled Barbie out from her hiding place and the
few sets of clothes he had for the doll.

He played for about an hour happily and he looked at his alarm clock
and saw it was about half an hour after his mother was due back from
work. Also he could not hear his big sister in the house and he started
to get worried where they were. He went to his window and peered down
the street to see if he could see his mother car and he saw it was in
the driveway. He wondered why he could not hear anything and he went to
his door and opened it. He heard at last the sound of someone softly
crying and he walked down stairs to the lounge.

His mother was sat on the sofa with his sister and Maria looked up at
him her face hard. He saw a rather official letter in his moms hand and
he slowly walked over to her and tried to read it upside down. It was
from the landlord and a development company, it looked as though mom
was in trouble and he started to regret all his jokes and his
behaviour.

"Steve sit down mom wants a word with you." Maria told him sternly. His
eighteen years old sister could be quite harsh when she spoke but he
knew that she did love him.

"What is it?" He snarled making out that he really was not worried.

Surprisingly Maria reached forward and pushed him onto the floor and
pulled his hair. She looked over at her mother and saw that she was
getting her tears under control.

"Steve what is it with you!" His mom asked softly but firmly.

"What ya mean mom?" His voice broke as he asked.

"Thanks to you we could loose our home because people have complained
to the landlord and the company that owns the houses."

Maria looked at him and her face clouded as she left the room and went
upstairs. There came the sounds of big sister moving around in his room
and he tried to remember if he had hid Barbie. Finally there came a
shout from upstairs and Maria came down with a smile on her face as she
held something behind her back. She smiled at Steve and winked as she
walked to mom and whispered into her ear. His mom also smiled and took
the object and hiding it from him examined it. She also looked at Steve
closely and she nodded as if coming to a decision, she placed the
object in her skirt and stood up and left the room with a gentle laugh.

teve started to get worried what had they found and what were they
planning. He felt bad about the position he had put them in and he
wondered if there was a way he could undo it. With out thinking he
headed for the door and out into the village streets and headed to the
old house. He walked past it and out into the dark night. He was
disgusted with himself, how could he of been so bad that they could be
evicted. He walked blindly walking further into the dark; he could hear
his mom and sister calling him. He ignored their shouts and blundered
into the overgrown garden of the old house. He reached the wall of the
house and due to the lack of light had to feel his way around.

~He reached the front door and for some reason it was standing open and
the garden around him was changing. He went into the hallway of the old
house and it seemed as though it was still lived in. The furniture was
old and heavy and well polished, he could hear someone moving around
and he got scared. He remembered what he was planning to do here
earlier in the day now all he wanted to do was make it better for his
mom. He wished that there was a way he could turn back the clock a few
years. He had acted up when his body started changing and he seemed to
want to be one of the boys.

It was remembered in the village that he was a kind boy as he used to
be always happy to play with the smaller kids. He would play house with
the little girls and kick a ball about with the smaller boys. He used
to be a caring boy and he knew that the reason why he changed was
wanting to be accepted in his peer group. He thought back to his first
prank and he frowned as he remembered he had reduced a ten year old
girl to tears. His face dropped as a deep depression filled him and he
sat on the stair case of the house with his head in his hands. Tears
streamed down his face as he sat there and he looked through the tears
at his hands and the way they were so fine.

Part Two

He must have sat like that for an hour just crying and staring at his
hands, he was totally absorbed in his own world of grief. He started to
think maybe it would be better if he ran away to save his mother and
big sister being thrown onto the streets. He started to really think
about it and his mind became made up. That was what he was going to do
he was going to run away from the village and his mom and sister would
be out of trouble.

He stood up and headed back out of the door and out into the night,
there was now plenty of light as the moon was full. He followed the
road out of where he was raised and he walked with a heavy step and he
was hungry. He realised the last time he had eaten was at school during
the lunch break. He ignored it and squared his shoulders and continued.

Back in the village Maria and Sarah Steve's mom were starting to get
frantic. It was ten in the evening and there was no sign of the boy and
Sarah was beginning pace up and down the village road. Maria was
getting scared about her younger brother and she walked towards the old
house. For some reason there were lights in the upstairs windows of the
property that everyone though was abandoned. As she reached the door a
middle aged woman met her at the door with a smile. She led the young
woman inside without a word and sat her in a sofa in the lounge. The
older woman smiled and sat in a huge stuffed chair, settling herself to
look at her unexpected guest. She smiled and looked over the top of her
half moon glasses.

"Hello Maria, I see you have a problem tonight." The woman said gently.

"Yes Ma'am it's my brother Steve, just a family problem."

"I see and that made you be out this time of night."

"Yes"

The woman smiled and she gently looked at what was going on the girls
face and she stopped to look closely at her. She considered what she
got from the girls mind and she reached out with hers. As she spread
her awareness she could feel Steve's mind out there on the road. She
also knew that Steve had been in the house but had not seen her. This
woman was a witch but not the wicked kind but a white witch. She used
her gift to help people and too heal most people now days did not
believe in the magic but when she was a young girl she had been
respected in the village.

She decided as she reached out to trace where the boy was, she could
feel him getting further away from the village. She could also see his
future and it caused her to go white at what she saw. The boy had
reached the city in her vision and was reduced to selling himself on
the streets to survive. She was not willing to let that happen and she
bent her powers to the task, she reached out with her mind harder and
latched on to the boys sorrow full thoughts and using a little twist
headed him back to the village. She smiled as she reached forward and
with a quick gesture pulled a hair from Maria's head.

"I'm sorry dear but I need this."

Steve was getting cold and his stomach was really starting to growl and
twinge with pain and with a shrug just carried on. Suddenly he stopped
and turned around and headed back to the village. He was not heading
back to the cottage but to the old house, there was something drawing
him back to the house. He could not work out what was drawing him back
there because he knew that if he returned his mom would find him then
they would be thrown out. No matter what he did, he was heading back to
the old house. He shook his head and continued on and his pace
increased. His mind was becoming easier the closer he got to the old
house, it came to the last few yards and he was almost running to the
door.

Outlined in the light he saw his sister and he stopped and dived into
the hedge that bordered the garden. His sister did not see him and he
breathed a sigh of relief, once Maria had left he walked slowly up to
the door. A woman was waiting for him in the hall and she smiled a
gentle smile. Steve had the feeling he knew her from somewhere, he
could not figure out where he knew her from. She took his hand and led
him up the staircase where he had previously sat crying. Her walk was
slow and stately as she led him down the hallway towards a room at the
end.

"Don't worry Steve I won't hurt you sweetie." She talked to him as
though he was a small child.

"What do you mean?" His voice was cracking with fear.

"You are unhappy with what has happened and your mother and sister are
worried about you because you ran away."

"Why are you treating me like a kid I'm thirteen hardly a kid!"

"But you break things and run away like a child would." The woman's
voice became stern.

Steve flinched away from the censure in the voice and he finally
stopped to look around the room. On a bench were sets of test tubes and
glass things filled with liquids that bubbled and steamed. The room had
the smell of lavender and other sweet flowers and he found himself
relaxing. He breathed deeply and smiled and looked at the woman, his
eyes widened as she had become younger until she was only two years
older than him. She smiled and winked and then changed again until she
looked as though she was in her mid twenties.

"That's better now I have the energy to do what must be done." She
said.

"Wha... what are you going to do to me?" Steve had started to shake in
fear after watching what the woman had just done.

"Call me Grace dear and I promise you that I won't do anything to hurt
you."

"Okay Grace but what are you going to do?"

"Why all I'm going to do is give you your wish."

She picked up a wand from the bench and she waved it in the air and a
mirror appeared from thin air. It was an old looking mirror with a dark
oak frame and had some sort of carving around it. Steve felt himself
drawn to the mirror and he stared into silvered surface. It appeared
misty and hard to see anything in it he was drawn to looking deeply
into the mirror. The mirror started to clear and an image formed in the
surface. Steve was seeing a younger version of him self playing with
the local toddlers keeping them safe and he smiled.

The image changed again and it showed his first prank and his
expression turned to a frown. Then it turned again and he saw an older
version of himself standing on a street corner, he was thin and
obviously ill with something. A car pulled up and the older him got
into it and the image clouded again and Steve looked over at Grace. She
nodded as if to confirm he had just seen his future as a runaway, his
mind chewed the facts and he realised that he had to work on the
streets to live. He started to cry with his whole body shaking with the
force of his sorrow, he covered his face to break the spell of the
mirror.

He wanted to deny what he had seen and the sorrow that he felt at what
he had seen. Grace watched as the boy cried out his pain and she
watched closely and deeply at the boy.

"Steve you can change it" She said gently.

"How if I go home mom gets thrown out because of me."

"That's if Steve goes home."

"Well I ain't no one else so that don t matter."

"Steve you remember when you were little how you played."

Steve thought hard and a smile spread over his face, he remembered that
he and his sister would play dress up and he would wear her clothes
from when she was younger. He remembered being accepted by his sister
and they would play dolls and tea parties. The smile spread and he
sighed happily and he started to turn back to the mirror. It started to
clear again and images were playing again over the surface, it showed a
little girl playing with her older sister and her mother. The girl was
about six years old and was as cute as a girl that age could be. She
was a happy girl and enjoyed her play.

As Steve watched and he recognised his sister and mother as the adults
in the image. The girl was giggling over something and she hugged her
mommy and big sister. The image changed again and the girl was in a
pretty dress obviously ready for a party. There were load of presents
and a kind looking man helped the child open a few. As Steve watched it
became clear that the man was his father as he knew the face from
pictures that mom had kept. The man was tickling the girl getting her
to laugh and Steve found himself laughing alone with the girl.

"Who is she Grace she looks so happy." He asked his gaze locked onto
the mirror.

"She is what you wish to be Steve; your body knows your wish because of
how you look."

"Naah am not a sissy that's why I get in trouble because I'm a boy."

Grace laughed and gently touched the boys shoulder and told him to look
inside himself. He listened to the woman as she spoke and found himself
looking deep into his mind for the first ever time. He found his
memories of his younger years and examined them, the fun with Maria.
Also he remembered the reaction of his mom when she saw him dressed up
by his older sister and the love she had for him. She had even taken
him to a party dressed as the little girl and he was given hug after
hug by the women there. He also re lived the pretty feeling that he'd
had at that point in his life. He remembered his sister and mom had
called him Steffie and had treated him just like a pretty little girl.

He started to think hard about what he felt inside and he felt a warm
glow come from his heart as it replaced the feeling of fear. He started
to fidget and without saying anything started to undress as if in a
trance. Grace watched closely and was surprised at the trance like
state that the boy was in. She was not responsible for the state and
she saw that the boy was becoming girlish in his actions as he
undressed. Suddenly the mirror flared and the light from it enveloped
the form standing in front of it.

"OH SHIT!!!" Steve screamed as the light struck him. Grace reacted
quickly and held a small globe in front of the mirror and the light
flowed into the orb.

The orb started to grow warm and glow and pulse as it absorbed the
light from the mirror. Grace quickly checked Steve and found that there
was no change in his body and she sighed a quick sigh. She then looked
into the boy's eyes and saw that he was still in a dream like state and
she decided to question him.

"Steve can you hear me?"

"Yes"

"Okay Steve how old are you?"

"Who is Steve?"

"Okay who are you?"

"I'm Steffie"

"How old are you Steffie?"

"I six and I want mommy and Mari"

"Are you a boy or girl Steffie?"

"Silly lady I a big girl I six" The voice was childish and proud. "I
use ta wet the bed an wear trainin' panties but I growed up. Mommy is
so proud that I a big girl."

For a few seconds Grace looked hard at her wand and considered her next
move. This was the first time the mirror had reacted in this manner and
the orb seemed to be dulling. She wondered if there was something else
here and she reached out with her mind. She came up against
Steve/Steffie's mind and found there was not what she though she would
find. There was no fracture in the soul of the boy but seemed
faultless. She tried to cast her mind back to when she first felt the
child's mind and she remembered that previously she should had been
fractured. The mirror had obviously repaired the soul but she had
stopped it in mid transformation.

She opened her tome of charms and started to chant and she gathered the
power she needed for the change. She felt her body grow and fill as she
became the vessel of the power and flowed through her. She grabbed her
wand and gripped the white rowan tightly and her knuckles showed as her
body became rigid. She bit back a scream and let some of the power flow
from her. It settled on the boys clothes and slowly they changed into a
party dress to match the image in the mirror. Then the underwear
changed from shorts to frilly rhumba panties and the Tee shirt changed
to a shift and petticoats. The shoes and socks changed into ones
suitable for a little girl. She opened the channel further and the
power screamed out of her into the boy standing there. The light took
on a deeper tinge of pink and there came the sound of a heart beat.

Steve/Steffie stood there with the light flowing around her and it grew
until it became too bright to look at. Grace shielded her eyes as the
light grew and the power started to leave her and she slumped slightly
against the bench. She watched in amazement as the boy started to
change. Firstly the body started to shrink and a layer of baby fat
covered the body giving a childish appearance. The hair turned into a
mop of blonde curls with bangs covering the forehead. The face altered
into a soft child's face and between the legs altered into a girl's
slit and the legs became chubby. The hands shrank and slowly a six year
old girl stood there with a huge smile on her angelic face.

"I nekkid mommy will be mads!" the child said with a squeak.

Grace laughed and getting herself in order, she helped the child get
dressed and the little girl hugged her. The child once she was dressed
danced around the room giggling and it was infectious. Grace found
herself laughing again and she felt her body gain energy as she
laughed. There came a knock on the house door and Grace took the
child's hand and led her down stairs to the front door. She could feel
the reality change flowing from the house and she smiled as she felt it
touch on many lives. The touch was a gentle one on the lives and the
traces of Steve from the world but the changes were not harsh ones.

She opened the door and Maria and Sarah, the two woman stood there with
worried expressions on their faces. Sarah looked down and smiled when
she saw the little girl and she held out her arms. The child ran too
her with a giggle and the girl was enveloped in a tight hug. Maria
laughed and hugged the child too, soon laughter filled the hallway.
Grace smiled as she was the only one who remembered the boy who had
come to the house running from the trouble he had caused. Steffie was
giggling as she looked over at the witch woman with a big smile on her
young face.

"Thank yu fow sortin evythin owt." And she tried to execute a clumsy
curtsy.

Part Three

A short while later Steffie holding her mother and big sisters hands
reached the cottage. A car screamed into the driveway and a man jumped
out with a worried expression on his face.

"Stephanie Kerry Harolds where have you been?" He demanded as he got
down to her level.

"DADDY!!!!!!!" Steffie screamed as she let go of the adult's hands and
ran to her father. The man picked her up and swung her around with a
smile and then set her back on her feet.

"Honey where have you been Daddy has been out looking for you for hours
we thought a bad man had got you sweetie."

"Am sorry Daddy I got lost a nice lady found me an took me back to her
house."

James took his little daughters head in his hands and kissed her
soundly on the forehead. He led the way back into the cottage and
looked over at Sarah with a concerned look. Maria took Steffie into the
kitchen as she could see their parents needed to talk without her
little sister there. Steffie yawn-ed and smiled up at her big sister,
Steve was also there as all his knowledge was held inside her head.
Maria had a set of college work set up on the table and sitting her
little sister started to work on a problem.

The six year old looked at the problem that Maria was working on and
wondered how the family could afford to sent Maria through college. She
also saw that her big sister was struggling with a math problem and she
saw a sheet of blank paper and a pencil. She started at the problem and
found she could see the answer and how to reach it and she started to
write. Maria smiled thinking her kid sister was just playing at school
until she saw the flow of numbers on the paper in a childish scribble.

When she was Steve she had an aptitude for math, Steffie remembered
that math was the only lesson that Steve was ever bored at and now she
worked on the formula. The numbers seemed to dance for her like a
ballet as she worked with them. As she concentrated on the problem she
started to swing her legs back and forth and giggle. She was still
surprised that she looked and sounded like a little girl but she was
happy. Maria watched as the scribble flowed and she looked at the
problem her tutor had set and she thought that it was a bit of a hard
one.

When she was Steve she had an aptitude for math, Steffie remembered
that math was the only lesson that Steve was ever bored at and now she
worked on the formula. The numbers seemed to dance for her like a
ballet as she worked with them. As she concentrated on the problem she
started to swing her legs back and forth and giggle. She was still
surprised that she looked and sounded like a little girl but she was
happy. Maria watched as the scribble flowed and she looked at the
problem her tutor had set and she thought that it was a bit of a hard
one.

Steffie smiled as she finished the problem and looked up from the paper
covered in scrawl and straight into her big sisters shocked face. Maria
said nothing for a few minutes and then hugged Steffie tightly. She
started to babble about what she had just seen and Steffie wondered if
she was going to be in trouble for doing what she had done. Maria set
her mind at rest as she read through the problem and found she could
follow the solution easily. Her face was split in a huge grin as she
shouted for their parents. Sarah and James entered the kitchen and saw
their two daughters hugging and Maria was babbling.

Maria pointed to the paper and the problem and carried on giggling
about what was on the paper. James was a scientist at the local lab and
he looked over the paper closely thinking that Maria was playing a joke
as his eldest daughter had a problem with math. He then looked closely
and recognised the script of his youngest daughter and his face
dropped.

"Honey did Maria show you how to do this?"

"No Daddy I did its all by mesel" Steffie answered with a smile.

"Dad she did i watched her first I just thought she was playing school
and copying me." Maria managed to get herself controlled enough to
answer. James went white when he read through it again and he squeezed
his youngest daughter on the shoulder and wrote out another problem.

"Steffie work this out please?"

"Sure thin Daddy it's easy" Steffie replied with a smile as she
scribbled out the answer without working it out. Her future was certain
now.

Her daddy looked the sheet of paper and he could just make out the
words that were written on it. Slowly he turned the paper back and
forth and he smiled. On the paper was what seemed to be a refinement of
the theory of relativity and he wondered how his six year old daughter
could know so much already. Then he noticed something else his little
girl was crying.

"Honey what is it?"

"Daddy I lost all my dollies"

"Well sweetie we will have to get you new ones"

The next day the family went on a shopping spree to restock the little
girl's toy box and wardrobe and they could not remember why all her
clothes were missing. The little girl was happy and she vaguely
remembered being a troublesome boy in the past but now she was happy.
Her daddy was here and her family loved her with all their hearts even
though she was a little genius.