Ye Olde Magic --

After her surprise 18th birthday luncheon celebration at TGIF with her many friends and family, Michelle was on cloud nine. She came home and wandered down to a clearing in the woods behind her house to reflect on her life's journey. It could have been so much worse, she thought as she sat there in a small little pocket that had become overgrown. What had happened to this special spot that had been her little refuge and the source of her happiness?

Some ten years earlier, frequent visits to the what was then a nice well kept clearing started out as desperation for a child that didn't have a place to express themselves. That is when she found her wonderful woodland nymph. Back then, her mother was embarrassed and humiliated to find out that what she thought was some sort of epileptic seizure was in fact her little child engaged in masturbation. She forbade her son to do it anymore. Yes, her son. She would open his door unexpectedly and find him lying down next to his bed grinding his pelvis on to the floor and force him to stop. He didn't think what he was doing was wrong, she did. That was all that mattered to her. That fact that it produced pleasurable feelings was enough for him. Neither of them were handling it right.

Barred from doing it in his room now, eight year old Mike found a place where he could in the woodlands a little ways behind their house. A place he had found a year or so earlier and liked to visit feeling no one would see him at all. He would steal away into them before coming officially home from school and find his relief in a secluded clearing. He thought himself clever thinking no one would could catch him doing it there. He often giggled as he did it too feeling like he was fooling his mom.

One day, as he was grinding in the woods, he heard a voice from the surrounding bushes. "Don't be afraid. What are you doing?" Mike got up an looked around with fear that he was being watched. Maybe by his mom. He couldn't tell where the voice was coming from and couldn't see anyone.

Blushing, he called out to the voice, "Who are you?"

Coming from different bushes and in different directions, a choppy response came back to him, "A Friend," heard from the north, "Don't worry," heard from the south, and "I am just curious," heard from the east.

Mike looked around himself for any movement. "Where are you? I can't see you." Whoever it was, they were fast.

A gentle and calming voice put him at ease from the west and east at the same time. "I'm a very tiny woodland nymph. Normally, I won't talk to humans. I won't let them see me either because they are big and can hurt me."

"Oh. So you aren't going to hurt me like the boys do at school are you?"

From the north came, "Never. I am a good nymph." Then from the south, "I am sorry to hear that you have been hurt. Is that why you lie down on the ground and shimmy like you do?"

"Yes. If I shimmy enough, it makes me feel real good. My mother and my doctor made me stop. They say boys don't do it that way."

A puzzled voice came back from the east and asked, "Why did they make you stop?"

In a voice that betrayed how deeply hurt he felt, he replied, "They said it was some sort of sex thing that caused an organ to happen. And then they said it is unhealthy at my age." He put on his best pout figuring the nymph would respond and feel sorry for him.

Mike was relaxing though. He didn't know where the voice was coming from, but it seemed interested in him and his problem.

His pout failed and he heard from many different angles around him, "You humans are so strange. Well, I will leave you alone now. But know this. You may come here and know you are safe when I am watching over you. Otherwise, be very careful. Nasty humans sometimes come in here and I wouldn't want you to be hurt."

"Who are you again?" Mike asked. There was no answer. He thought about telling his mother, but, then, he would have to tell her what he was doing in the woods. He ran back home full of questions, but no answers.

A couple of weeks later he returned to the clearing in the woods satisfied that the woodland nymph would leave him alone or at least have forgotten about him. Hearing no voices, he felt free to shimmy like he wanted. However, the voice returned after he had a shimmy that gave him multiple pleasures in a row within seconds of each other.

"You were shimming again. Did you have a good shimmy?"

"Yes. I felt it three times." Mike got up and brushed off his pants. At least, he thought, the nymph was tiny and wouldn't hurt him.

"Three times. It must have been a bad day at school?"

"It was!" he said as he let his body rest up against a log. "I was picked on as being a sissy. I was pushed and hit when the teacher wasn't looking too."

"When you start growing into a man, you will only be able get one jolt of pleasure to each shimmy. The extra pleasures will stop."

What did that have to do with his problem, he wondered. "How do you know this?" Once again, Mike tried to follow the voice, but couldn't. It came from one side. Then another.

"A human friend told me. I asked him about what you were doing. You must know I watch these woods by now and you fascinate me. Let's just say that you are unusual in that you shimmy with your clothes on too." That last remark seemed to fly by him.

"Why can't I see you?" he whispered shouted.

"When it is time, you may catch a glimpse of me. Do you know that you shimmy on the ground like some girls do? I am curious. Why don't you let that thing between your legs get stiff like other boys do and make it feel good with your hand?"

"You sound like my doctor and my mom. They say if my wiener gets stiff, I may play with it in private but I am not supposed to shimmy on the ground anymore. They said it would hurt my future wife. Like I am going to get married tomorrow. I’m just a kid."

Mike kicked at the ground with his heel. "Anyway, I hate my thingy getting stiff. I wish it would stop it."

"What happens when you shimmy?"

"I get this very pleasant feeling near where I go pee pee. For some reason, it makes me happy and I can relax. I don't understand why it is such a problem. Do you shimmy?"

"Woodland nymphs don't shimmy, so I don't understand it either. Maybe you could listen to your mom and your doctor and stop it. I don't understand humans. What do you think about when you shimmy?"

"The things that make me feel good. Like cats. Or the smell of roses in our garden. I love the smell of roses. They make me feel soft and dreamy. Like when I wear my sister's clothes."

"Your sister's clothes? Interesting. Do you ever think of friends or some hero when you shimmy?"

"No. I don't have many friends." Mike paused. "Actually, I have no friends."

"How about someone in a movie like Superman or Iron Man or a maybe even a football player or baseball player. A lovely actress."

"No. I go to movies like that only when my brother takes me. He never takes me to the movies I like to watch. And, I don't like watching football. I like to watch ice skaters."

"What movies do you like?"

"I dunno. I like Disney. I don't like violence." Mike sat up on the ground and crossed his legs. "My mom likes these wonderful movies."

He thought for a moment, and added. "Her favorite is The Princess Bride."

"Which movie do you like the most?"

"The Never Ending Story. I love the little childlike empress at the end. She is so beautiful. Her hair is so pretty. And I wish I had her pout."

"Would you like to be that beautiful?"

"Oh yes!" he said excitedly.

During the month that followed, Mike was never able to figure out where the voice was coming from and gave up trying. It seemed to come from everywhere. Sometimes each word came from opposite sides. He would talk to the voice about why he wanted to be a girl. He even stopped his shimmy. He liked to lie down and just talk. He found out the woodland nymph was called Madrigiel.

One day, Mike saw clothes sitting on a log as he came into his secret hiding place. "Hello, little one."

"Um, hi, Madrigiel. What are these clothes doing here?"

"Would you like to try on these clothes?"

"They are girls clothes." he asked apprehensively.

"Yes. I know. It is a girl's dress and panties. And shoes and socks."

Still questioning the woodland nymph's instructions, he stated out loud more to himself than to Madrigiel as he examined the clothes, "My mom says I'm a boy. Boys don't wear girl clothes. That is what she said when she caught me in Stacy's clothes."

"Oh, okay. Sorry." Mike didn't even listen. He took off his clothes as fast as he could and put on the panties and slipped the dress over him. He then sat on the log and put on the shoes and socks.

"Do I look pretty?" she inquired. Her face was beaming.

"I guess so. I just watch the woods. They are what is pretty to a creature like myself. I love watching the birds and animals. To me they are pretty. But, for a human, you do look very nice. Do you like the clothes?"

"Yes. I wish I could wear them all the time. Thank you." She danced and twirled enjoying the feel of the dress plus the freedom to be herself.

"You are welcome. I will leave you alone to shimmy. When you are done, please leave the clothes here."

Mike didn’t feel like shimming. She found that the feel of the dress and the panties made his shimming seem unimportant. She was more relaxed and happy than the boy who needed to shimmy.

After putting his own clothes back on, the voice asked, "Did you like being a girl for a little while?"

He sat down to think. He sighed longingly, "Yes. But my mother would never allow it."

"I know. But, remember, she loves you still."

"She does? Then why is she so mean to me?"

"Oh yes, I am quite sure she does love you. But, she doesn't have a manual telling her how to show you love. When she grew up and played at being a mommy with her dolls, her dolls didn't grow up. Some girls play house so they can practice being a mommy, but the boys and girls in the house game they play are always well behaved or punished with a spanking or put in time out. Then, before they know it, little girls grow up and become boy crazy. They only care about older boys and ignore the ones their age. So, most mothers become an expert in taking care of babies, but know little about raising boys, especially boys like you who are really girls. That is where they need a dad to fill in the bits and pieces. You are a mystery to her as a boy. If she could see you are a girl, then you would be less of a mystery to her."

"I wish my dad hadn't left. He doesn't want to see me anymore."

"That is so sad. Would you like me to leave clothes for you again?"

"Yes, please. May I take them home, if it is alright with you?"

"You are a very polite child. So, your mother has done a good job in raising you. Hasn't she! But, what would your mother think if you took those girl clothes home?"

"I don't think she would like it if I did. And then she would find out about you and what I am doing here."

"I understand. You have a good mother, but not a totally understanding one. And, it is not her fault. You will have to be patient with her. She does love you and really cares about you."

A few days later, Mike came into the clearing. He had just gotten comfortable on his belly when the voice said, "Your mother is coming. Better get up and brush yourself off. I would sit down and read a book. Tell your mother you come here to get away from the distractions of home. Be sure to brush yourself off first." Mike scrambled, brushed off his clothes, pulled a book from his backpack, and sat down to read on the ground. The voice then quietly said, "Think of a good reason for you to like reading here. Like a noisy neighbor making it hard to read."

A few minutes later, she came down the path into the woods and found him reading his book, Jonathan Livingston Seagull. "Mike, what are you doing here?"

He reacted with a start. "I am reading Mommy. It is so quiet here and the neighbor is always working in his workshop next to my bedroom. I have to read 30 minutes a day for school."

"Oh, so that is why your clothes are dirty when you get home." He didn't tell her that he read at his bus stop and on the way home everyday. He closed his book, put it in his school backpack, and started to follow her home.

"You really should have told me that you needed to read. I, of all people, would have understood."

"Well, ever since you yelled at me, you haven't given me much privacy so I can read. I like to read where it is quiet and I don't have to be afraid of you yelling at me." he said gruffly. He was half lying and half telling the truth. He wondered if the woodland nymph knew this.

"That is no way to talk to your mother, young man!"

"Yes, Mommy. I's sorry. I won't do it again."

"Well, okay. But, you are right about needing a quiet place. So, you can stop here, but you have to be home by four. And not one minute after."

"Yes Mommy. I promise."

The next day, he asked the woodland nymph, "How did you know my mommy was coming?"

"A wood nymph has to know these things. Especially if I am going to help you."

"Help me what?"

"Become a girl."

"Can't you use your magic? It would make things so much easier."

"Oh, a woodland nymph never uses magic if they can help it. Then everyone would come to the woods and I would never get any peace. Also, my real job is to take care of the animals here. They need my magic. Besides, you have human magic. Doctors can help heal you and fix you when you are broken. Animals don't have that luxury."

"Oh." said Mike whose eyes filled with tears now.

"It is three fifty-five, Mike. You should go home and keep your promise."

"Thank you. Do you have a clock?"

"I use the sun. I was taught by a human how to use it."

Mike said, "Wow! That is cool. Thank you. I really enjoy talking to you."

"I do too."

On another day, Madrigiel asked, "What does your mom do?"

"She is a teacher at a Junior High School. She gets home just before I do."

"That's nice."

On the following Thursday, after Mike gave news to Madrigiel about his mother being asked to volunteer at the local library on Sundays, Mike asked Madrigiel a puzzling question. "What's a docent?"

"I think the best way for a little girl to understand it, Michelle, is a docent is somebody who helps people get the most use out of non-profit, like a library."

"Oh."

"Your mom is going to be helping people at the library get more out of it."

"How did you know about decents?"

"Docent, not decent. You made a joke."

"I did?"

"Yes, it is called a pun."

"But, how did you know about them since it is a human job?"

"A little birdy told me."

"That's right. You take care of birds. Do birds speak English?"

"No, but they sometimes understand it with the right kind of magic. Besides, I speak bird."

"And they understand English with the right kind of magic from you?"

"They sure do. In fact, I have learned, because of a certain section of the library, your mom is going to be reading a story about a bird." Mike could swear the nymph was giggling.

"You mean like Jonathon Livingston Seagull?"

"Something even better. A canary."

A week later, Mike came into the clearing and just sat with a face that showed amazement. He waited for the voice to appear and, maybe, this time he would get a chance to see the nymph. He began to cry as he waited.

A weak voice spoke to him. "Sorry, I am not feeling well. I may have to leave soon. What's the matter? Are you sad?"

"I am happy. But, my mom was crying yesterday. I asked her why. She told me she read a book about a Canary."

"Yes, a woman named Canary Conn. She was a boy just like you who became a girl. Her family wasn’t very understanding."

"You knew her?"

"Yes, I knew of her. The library requires their docents to have read from a reading list in important subjects so they can better help someone searching for special information to better understand someone they are researching. In some cases, boys like you who are really girls."

"Yesterday, she asked me if I wanted to be a girl. And I told her yes, yes, yes."

"What did she say after you said yes, yes, yes?"

"That she would help me if that is what I really wanted."

"Then my magic is done. I have helped the sad girl I met in the woods months ago. I am so happy for you. But, I also have to leave now that my work is done. I might not be back this way for a long time."

"Are you going away for good?" she asked sadly. "I had a feeling that once you got my mom to accept me, you would leave."

"Yes. I am afraid it is time for me to leave you. I talked to you because I first saw a boy that was hurting who needed a friend. Then I found out she was a girl. So, I used the magic of friendship to get someone to help your mom understand you. In my world, the less magic you use, the better the result."

"Is that because my mom magically changed." he smiled at the realization.

"Yes. I love you Michelle. And just because we don't talk again doesn't mean I won't be watching over you or caring about you."

Back in the present, Michelle, now 18, returned to the spot to see if she could talk to Madrigiel again. She wondered if it really happened. Or was it her imagination and no magic at all. She wanted to tell her Madrigiel that in a few weeks, she would become a real girl for the rest of her life. As she stood in that ancient overgrown spot, for the first time, she realized there was a home just on the other side of the overgrown clearing. And, it was in the adjoining neighborhood to hers. Curiosity got to her.

Michelle went back home and climbed into her car. Michelle drove around to the neighborhood next to hers. When she got to the home, she saw an open house sign. It was being sold. Out of curiosity, she stopped and went through the open house talking briefly with the Realtor. Outside, in the backyard, was a nice barbecue with what looked to be a storage box on the back wall with a pipe that extended up from it that was pointed over the wall. She went to examine it and opened it. It had six ovals pipes with a mirror in a box in between.

"My late father built that." Michelle heard someone behind her say. She turned to see a woman in her early forties.

"What are they for?"

"My dad used to tell us there were woodland nymphs behind our house. He said if we would go out into the woods behind our house into a clearing, we could talk to one of them. It was really my dad. Sometimes my mom, who recently passed away. But, I thought it was real for the longest time. Those ovals are pipes that lead to small pipes disguised as rocks in the forest behind the wall here. As he spoke into each one, his voice would come from a different part of the forest. I loved talking to the woodland nymph for years until one day, I realized it was really my dad." She choked up as she said, "He used it to teach me things and help me with my problems. He was such a wise man."

She move closer to the pipes and pointed to the mirror in front of Michelle. "He could watch me through the periscope in the middle. Take a look."

Michelle looked through it. "Wow. I can see a little clearing behind your wall and I can even see my house."

"Your house? So you live in that two story?"

"Yes."

"Oh my! Are you the little boy ..."

"Who wanted to be a girl. Yes. And your dad he was ..."

"Madrigiel!" She came up and hugged Michelle. "Yes, he was. I see you are a girl now. I am so sorry that he isn't alive to meet you. He would be so proud. He was placed in hospice about ten years ago and he couldn't tell a little child he was dying because it would rob her of youth's magic. He wanted you to have magic in your life knowing someone loved you for who you were, not for what you were doing. He got my mother to invite your mom to be a docent at the library knowing it would touch your life."

Michelle gave her a quizzical look. "He made me promise that I would never tell you the truth while you still believed in magic."

"I still do. Even now knowing the truth." She cried as it hit her that her dad was her woodland nymph. "I wish I could tell him thank you." They fell into each others arms crying happy tears over a life well spent.

The day after Michelle returned from Brazil a complete woman, she left a rose on Madrigiel's grave and said thank you with tears of joy. She could almost hear his voice in the trees say as she walked away, "I love you Moon Child. I am so proud of you. I am so happy your story is getting better and better."

Turning back to look at his grave, she whispered, "I love you too." She then danced and twirled for him.

Copyright © 2021 by AuP reviner