Chapter 1
By Portia Bennett
Alfred Gontarski had the misfortune to have been born into the wrong body. That’s all been fixed now; however if you are not familiar with how things were corrected, you should go back and read “An Incremental Journey” and “Cynthia and the Reluctant Girlfriend” before you read this little adventure. Now we continue with the adventures of Cindy Lewis, her best friend Bobbie Schmedlap, and Maddy, Cindy’s precocious kitten and familiar.
Randal Mantooth, Randy, has a secret he has never shared with anyone. Don’t we all? Randy, being the good and honorable citizen that he is, joins the US Air Force and is sent to Afghanistan to help support what he feels is an honorable cause. What he experiences there affects him deeply and when he returns to the US, he is suffering from PTSD. Unknown to anyone is the fact he is also seriously ill, and this is contributing greatly to his mental problems. Randy is lost. He suddenly finds that he is in a world similar to, but not the world he grew up in. Then he sees his ‘angels’. Maybe they can help him figure out what’s wrong. Then there is Kinky Friedman. He beat whom to become a US Senator!
I have researched the Spell’s—R-Us Universe diligently and cannot find anything that violates it, other than that The Wizard is a bit kinder and gentler than sometimes reported. Don’t get me wrong. Given an opening and The Wizard could resort to some of his more ironic and nasty transformations. I’m sure that could happen at any time.
My thanks must go to Holly H. Hart for taking time once again from her harried life to correct the multitude of errors made while creating this story. She is a dear.
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.
I saw her again today and she smiled at me. No one smiles at me, but she did. I think she is an angel. She has to be. She wasn’t alone like she has been before. I think she was alone before. Sometimes I can’t be too sure about things. Her friend has to be an angel, too, because she smiled. Almost no one else ever smiles at me. They just look the other way.
I have to walk. It’s the only way to keep them from getting to me. I know they are out there. They tried to kill me before. They killed Andrioli. They blew most of his head off. I got hurt a little bit, but most of the blood was his. The Captain and the Chief saved us. They drove through the mortar blasts and got to us just in time. The Warthogs got the Taliban, but it was too late for Andrioli. They came back and got him later.
They have to be angels. I think they are looking out for me. That’s nice. They don’t follow me ‘cause I know the others are out there and they might go after them, too. I hope that there’s some good food at the Outback. Sometimes they leave stuff for me. I think I’ll stay under the bridge tonight. It won’t get too cold. They told me that earlier; or was that last night?
Damn! They almost killed the Chief. If it hadn’t been for the Captain he’d’a died. They’re coming after me. I know it. I’m sure glad those angels are looking out for me. The little brown-haired one smiled at me and waved. Her friend did too. She’s a pretty little redhead. I’ve got to keep walking. If I stop too long they’re goin’ ta find me. They killed Andrioli.
I guess I don’t understand what’s going on. A cop talked to me the other day. He wasn’t mean or anything. He just wanted to know what I was doing. I told him that the Taliban were out to kill me. That was real funny. He didn’t know what I was talking about. I told him I had been in the war in Afghanistan and Iraq. He looked at me real funny-like and said what war? I told him “The war we been fighting over there since 9-11.”
That’s when it got real strange. He said, “9-11, what’s that?”
I said, “You know; when those Arabs flew the planes into the twin towers and the Pentagon.”
I think that’s when he was going to run me in. He started talking on his radio. I think he was going to cuff me but that car ran the light and hit that other car and he got real busy. I just walked down the alley. There’s a restaurant a few blocks over and they leave me some food sometimes.
I’ve seen him a couple of times since then, but I just steer clear of him. He looks at me like I might be crazy. Maybe I am. I know things haven’t been right since before I got out. I guess I’m lucky in a way. My enlistment was up and they just let me go, not like those poor bastards in the Guard that gotta keep going back. I don’t understand it. That cop acted like he never heard of the war.
Then there is this other thing. Maybe it is me. I mean everything is the same, but it isn’t. When I got back, nothing was right. It’s been the nightmares when I can sleep, which isn’t very often. Then my folks were always yelling at me, “Get a job.” “Cut your hair.” “Go to school.”
I never really wanted to cut my hair, but I felt the military was a way I could do something worthwhile, and I was right. The Air Force was the right place for me. Basic Training was tough. It had to be. But they were decent about it. My TI, that’s for Technical Instructor, was one big guy. He’d been a cop before he went to Lackland as an instructor. I think that’s why I ended up where I did. Anyway, Staff Sergeant Sanders, always ‘Sir’, was a guy that got the message across very quickly. No one gave him trouble about anything. Well, there was this one kid who mouthed off during the first week of training. SSgt Sanders grabbed him by the front of his shirt and picked him up with one hand so that his face was directly in front of his. “Now, Robinson, I don’t think you really want me to get mad at you, do you? I’m going to hold you up here and let you think about it for a minute.”
SSgt Sanders proceeded to continue to talk about what he was saying, the whole time holding Robinson up in the air using only his right arm. Finally, he put him down. “OK, Robinson, you get back in formation and behave yourself. When you get back to the dorm, change your pants. They seem to have gotten a bit wet.”
Robinson never did give him or anyone else any trouble again. I never had any trouble with him either. SSgt Sanders had made me Flight Leader. I had two years of college and was almost as big as he was. I didn’t want to be flight leader, but you didn’t refuse SSgt Sanders anything. I was athletic enough and didn’t have any trouble with leading the flight to where they were supposed to go. The marching was easy enough and unlike some of the guys in the flight, I knew the difference between my left and right feet.
I knew about other differences, too, and I kept my mouth shut. We had all the lectures both in class and from SSgt Sanders about being gay, not that we had to say anything about it. It was just that if someone was gay and decided that being in close confines with a bunch of other young guys was more than he could take, it was alright to say so in private and they would get you back into civilian life. I’m pretty sure one of the guys was gay, but he never let on. Me? I’m not gay: if it were only so simple.
I gotta keep thinking about this stuff. It keeps me from getting nightmares. I just go over everything that happened in Basic and Tech School. I got most of it figured out. I can just about account for every minute. Now I’m working on college. If I keep thinking about the good stuff, then I won’t think about that other stuff: like when they blew off the Chief’s leg. There I go thinking about it again. I gotta stop doing that. I think I will try to determine prime numbers in my head. Sometimes that helps. I gotta be careful, though. Sometimes I forget to pay attention to where I am going. I think that’s how I got here. Either that or it was getting hit by lightning that time. At least, that’s what I think it was.
That was really strange. I think it was lightning. I mean there was this flash of light and I was almost knocked out. I think I lay there for a long time and the rain was coming down real hard. When I could finally get up, nothing was right. I mean the big picture was about the same, but the details were different. I knew where I was but it wasn’t the same. I think the lightning fucked up my memory. I know I went to Afghanistan and Iraq, but everyone I talk to around here doesn’t know anything about the wars. I can’t be making this stuff up. I mean it’s so real. I remember getting a Purple Heart. I remember Andrioli getting killed. I remember the Captain saving the Chief. I remember when he got the Air Force Cross and I remember that he got The Medal of Honor after he got out. He shoulda got it the first time but he got screwed. The trouble is nobody around here knows anything about the war. I know it happened. I was there. I know the Captain and the Chief got the Silver Star. I know that the Captain got the Air Force Cross and the Medal of Honor. He should have, but nobody here knows anything about it. I mean the war and everything. It had to happen. I was there, dammit. I was there.
There’s a grocery store and they have free coffee. I go there some mornings; especially in the winter. The coffee warms me up. I set on a park bench up near the bus stop. It’s not really a park, just a few trees. They’re Bradford Pears. They’re real pretty in the spring and fall. Some people talk to me. There’s this real nice lady who talks to me some times. I think her name is Tracy.
I think she lives close to the store as I see her jogging. It was a couple of months ago that she sat down on the bench. Not many people do that. I don’t get to bathe very often and the only clothes I have are the ones that I wear and a few that I have hidden under a bridge down by the river. She’s real pretty. She’s tall and has red hair. Anyway, she sat next to me. It couldn’t have been pleasant for her but she didn’t let on.
“Why do you do this, what you are doing?”
“What?”
“I mean you are always walking. I see you all over this town and sometimes you are over in the next county.”
“I guess I’m trying not to think about it. When I walk I can see ahead and I think about how many steps it will take me to get to a certain spot. Sometimes try to find prime numbers. I have to try dividing in my head. I think I’ve figured out almost a thousand of them.”
She looked at me with a sad smile. “What is it that you are trying not to think about?”
“The war: I lost a lot of friends over there and sometimes I have dreams about it. Sometimes I think they are still after me. I can hear them at night looking for me.”
“What war was that? We haven’t had any war since we rescued Kuwait and went in and deposed Saddam Hussein. Thank God they have him locked away.”
“Locked away? We captured him in 2003 and his people hung him. It wasn’t pretty.
“I went to Afghanistan after 9-11. We’re still fighting that war and the one in Iraq.”
She looked at me with a look that told me she was trying to figure out what I was talking about. “What is 9-11? I’ve never heard of it.”
“You know: when those Arabs hijacked those airplanes and flew them into the World Trade Center and Pentagon killing all those people. We went after Osama Bin Laden, but we have never been able to find him.”
“What are you talking about? Osama Bin Laden was killed in 1990 by the Pakistan army. The Taliban leadership was essentially wiped out. There have been several attempts to hijack airliners, but they were always stopped. The World Trade Center is fine and no one has ever attacked the Pentagon.
“President Clinton did some outstanding diplomatic work and Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan have been pretty friendly and quiet. President Gore picked up where Clinton left off. Now Hillary is in the White House and Vice President Obama is really going to strengthen things with our world relationships when he gets elected.”
That’s when I realized that I wasn’t in my world any more. Where was I?”
So that’s Randy Mantooth. He is modeled after a homeless man who I see frequently in the area where I live. The problem is going to be what Cindy and Bobby can do for him, if anything. The Wizard is lurking out there, but it will be a little while before we meet him. Thank you for reading and thank you for your comments. Constructive comments are always fuel for future stories.
Portia
Cindy and Bobbie are growing up and loving it. There is a problem though. They have been seeing the homeless man, sometimes known as ‘The Walker’ and less frequently as ‘Dirtman’, and he has seen them. They have even talked a bit with him before one of the school officials chased him off. Cindy senses something about him and is startled to find that Bobbie also has ‘seen’ something about him. Cindy can detect the essence of a girl. That is not as disturbing as what Bobbie senses. She senses Randy is dying.
I have researched the Spell’s—R-Us Universe diligently and cannot find anything that violates it, other than that The Wizard is a bit kinder and gentler than sometimes reported. Don’t get me wrong. Given an opening and The Wizard could resort to some of his more ironic and nasty transformations. I’m sure that could happen at any time.
My thanks must go to Holly H. Hart for taking time once again from her harried life to correct the multitude of errors made while creating this story. She is a dear.
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.
“Cindy, here he comes again.”
It was the lunch hour recess and the two best friends were walking across the grass of the athletic field; Cindy to play kick ball and Bobbie to play softball. Bobbie was one of only two girls in fifth grade that joined in with the boys on a regular basis in some of the team sports. Bobbie, at ten years old, was a vivacious, tall and slender redhead who happened to love sports and athletic competition. She also loved being a girl and was looking forward to puberty and all the mysteries it entailed. She had all the normal crushes of girls her age. There were the entertainers, the heartthrob brothers singing group and others.
Her best friend, Cindy was a bit shorter than Bobbie. She had light brown hair and sparkling blue eyes that stood out as did Bobbie’s bright blue-green eyes. Cindy was not particularly athletic, but with Bobbie’s encouragement was becoming more involved in sports. Cindy, like Bobbie, was all girl when it came to her attitude about life. She, too, was eagerly awaiting the onset of puberty and was already noticing some of the subtle changes in her body that were normal for a ten-year old. In fact, just the previous weekend she and her mother had gone shopping with Bobbie and her mother, and had purchased their first training bras. Physiologically speaking it probably wasn’t necessary for either of them, yet; psychologically, it was very comforting. Cindy’s little nipples and area around them were starting to change visibly and she was certain she could feel a little tingle once in a while.
After they had returned from shopping, they raced upstairs to Cindy’s bedroom to try on their prizes. Maddy, Cindy’s cat had been napping on the foot of Cindy’s bed when the two girls bounded up the stairs. She watched with a somewhat bored expression as the two girls stripped down to their panties and struggled to get their ‘dainties’ on.
“Awwnother good reeeson to be a cat,” she muttered rather loudly as she watched the two awkwardly twist their hands behind them while attempting to get the new hooks to catch. “I have eight of them, but they will never change until I have kittens.”
“Maddy, you’re just jealous,” Bobbie laughed.
“Don’t be silly. I’m a cat and I have no reason to be jealous of a human. I happen to be a particularly attractive cat and when it is time for me I will have the pick of the best toms in the area; just as you two will always be able to choose whom you mate with. That is one advantage I have over most cats. I will be able to choose.
“Now, I hate to ask, but since I can’t open the can, would you please fix my dinner, unless, of course, you’ll let me go outside to catch dinner. There’s a particularly plump wood rat out in that field, and I think I would like some nice fresh meat for a change.”
“Yuck!” screeched Cindy. “Let me get my clothes on and I’ll fix your dinner.”
The girls realized that their new lingerie was a bit stiff and prickly and should be washed before they wore it; however, they wanted to show off to their mothers that they knew how to put them on.
“Ta da,” they proclaimed as they pirouetted in front of their mothers who were having a cup of coffee in the late afternoon. “We did them ourselves,” Cindy proclaimed, “and didn’t help each other. They are a bit scratchy and I think I’ll wash them tonight so I can wear them to school next week. A lot of the other girls are already wearing them.
“We’re going to feed Maddy. She threatened to go out and catch a wood rat if I didn’t.”
The two girls headed to the rear of the house while their mothers watched. Sally Schmedlap, Bobbie’s mother, watched her daughter as she accompanied Cindy to feed Maddy. There was a happy tear running down her cheek.
“It’s hard to believe that that was an unhappy little boy last year. She is so happy now. We will never be able to thank Cindy enough for what she did. What a treasure she is.”
“Sally, you have to remember that Bobbie was always a girl. What Cindy and The Wizard did was just make the physical correction.”
“I do know that, Marissa. The psychologist explained it all to us. It’s just that she was so miserable as a physical boy and she hid her unhappiness so well. We knew early on that things were not right. I think when she was about four and asked me if I could put some makeup on her that I realized it wasn’t a phase. When she asked for a doll for Christmas it just confirmed what we already were pretty sure about.
“Amos was so good about it. We had both wanted a daughter, but that had nothing to do about it. Our children’s happiness was always so important. When Bobbie insisted she was a girl, we took her to our family practice doctor and got a referral for a psychologist. The psychologist was so sweet and Bobbie loved her. She outlined very clearly what the possible routes of treatment were, and we all agreed on what we were going to do. Then Amos got hurt and everything changed. Then Bobby met Cindy.
“Sometimes I forget about all the changes that had to happen. I know what His Wisdom said, but it is easy to forget. I know now that the spell affected how we behave. As far as everyone is concerned, Bobbie has always been the beautiful, athletic girl we see today. However, sometimes I forget. We were shopping a couple of months ago and ran into her psychologist at the mall. I said ‘Hello’ and got a blank look response. I was going to say something else, but Bobbie pulled me away. ‘Mom, she doesn’t know us. All that never happened, remember?’
“I think that it was the spell that caused Bobbie to intervene. I am pretty sure that anyone outside the immediate family doesn’t know what happened. There is one exception, though. I think my mother knows. We were having dinner and Mom and I were cleaning up. She said, ‘Bobbie’s a lot happier now, isn’t she.’ She gave me a knowing smile and a nod. I haven’t tried to tell her anything, so I don’t really know. Still, I think she knows.”
Sally knew she had been running on a bit, and stopped to sip on her coffee. Much had happened over the last year and most of it she knew was due to the sweet little girl who was her daughter’s best friend. At first she had thought that Cindy was a ‘nut case’ who had found out about Bobbie’s transgendered state and was tormenting her with a ‘magic gift certificate’ that would allow her to become a real girl. The amazing thing was that it was all true.
The two families had met The Wizard who seemed to specialize in gender transformations. He seemed to be a kindly person and what he had done for Bobbie was beyond any expectations they might have had. They had not seen him since; however, Cindy assured them that there would be future meetings. It was just that he never showed up anywhere unless there was something to be done. She also warned everyone that in spite of The Wizard’s kindness, there was another side to him: that he sometimes performed rather extreme transformations on some ‘deserving’ individuals. There were also times that he allowed transformations that seemed to please his rather ironic sense of humor. Cindy couldn’t confirm it; however, she told the two families about reports that some selfish and criminal individuals were transformed into rather vacuous bimbos who became nothing more than sex objects in a less than savory part of society. She told them, too, about some of the transformations she had witnessed where some individuals were given a new lease on life. She was a prime example, she happily stated.
The adults of both families expressed some concern that the memories of some of the transformees were erased or artificially altered to fit their new reality. Cindy felt that there were times that this was necessary to avoid serious conflicts or trauma; however, it was important to realize that the basic ‘spirit’ or soul of the person could not be changed, and that when they were in the in between world there would be an opportunity to review their past lives before they moved on. In her case and Bobbie’s, retaining their old memories was going to be important. Cindy wasn’t sure how important, but she was sure it was.
Okay, we’ve done a bit of catching up about Cindy, Bobbie and their families; however, we need to deal with some current problems. Who is this person that Bobbie is bringing to Cindy’s attention?
“Look at him. He is so dirty. He just walks and walks. He hardly ever stops. He must be hurting. Look at how he holds his back. We used to see him under the highway bridge down by the industrial park when we lived there. There has to be something wrong with him,” Bobbie said sadly.
The walker stopped; then turned their way for a moment. Cindy, for want of anything else to do, smiled and waved at him as she had done before. He smiled and waved back. Then he approached, stopping about ten feet away on the other side of the chain link fence.
“Are you angels? I think you are. You are so pretty. You waved at me before. What’s your name?” he said looking at Cindy.
“I’m Cindy and this is Bobbie. What’s your name?”
He paused for a moment as if he were searching his memory. “Uh, Randal, Randal Mantooth: I think most people just called me Randy before. I can’t find anybody who knows me in this town. I know I am from here, but it’s different. Some people are the same, but they don’t know me.
“Then there is this other thing. No one knows about the war: except the ones who are trying to kill me.”
“Hey you, get out of here before I call the cops!”
Startled, the girls turned to see the vice-principal hurriedly approaching.
“He didn’t do anything nasty, did he? He shouldn’t be around children. They ought to lock him up. He’s crazier than a coot; always talking about wars that didn’t happen.
“You girls need to stay away from him. He’s some sort of pervert. Go on now or they will start playing without you.” He shooed the girls towards the others who were getting ready to play. The girls looked back over their shoulders and saw Randy disappearing toward the industrial park. He was holding the small of his back and was taking short, almost staggering steps.
Neither girl played particularly well that day, and Bobbie, heaven forbid, actually dropped a fly ball. There was something bothering each of them, and it wasn’t exactly the same thing. But, in both cases, it was about Randy.
There was a warm wind blowing from the southwest when they got off the bus in front of Cindy’s home. This was pretty much routine, getting off the bus that is. The wind was something else. It was carrying the haze of a million automobiles and the thousands of factories in New York and New Jersey. It was a precursor to what would prove to be a stormy night. Neither of them was particularly disturbed by thunderstorms. In fact, thunderstorms brought back some very special memories.
“Cindy, he’s very sick. He’s dying and he doesn’t know it. There’s something wrong with his, er, his …. Crap, what do you call them? They’re in his back. You know, they make pee.”
“Do you mean kidneys?”
“Yes, that’s what they are. They’re failing and he is dying. There is something wrong with that other thing; that big thing that’s up by his stomach.”
“That would be his liver. How do you know there’s something wrong with him?”
“I don’t know. I could sort of see it in my mind. That is really weird.”
“Bobbie, I think we need to talk to The Wizard about this. You might have some sort of ability.
“There’s something else. I felt something, too. He’s like we were. It’s not as strong, but it is there.
Cindy and Bobby know a lot more about Randy than they did before. There’s also this apparent power that Bobbie is demonstrating. What could it mean? Obviously, they are going to have to contact The Wizard. Thank you for reading and thank you for your comments. Constructive comments are always fuel for future stories.
Portia
Randy’s wanderings have taken him to the well house near Cindy’s home and the place where she almost drowned. Randy is seriously ill and the girls get Cindy’s father to donate some clothing to Randy. The seriousness of Randy’s illness is very apparent and Stan calls for an ambulance. In the aftermath, Stan discovers that more than likely Randy really was in a war and it was a war that had never happened. Randy has a Purple Heart and the certificate is signed by George W. Bush, President, a man who never was president. The Wizard lurks.
I have researched the Spell’s—R-Us Universe diligently and cannot find anything that violates it, other than that The Wizard is a bit kinder and gentler than sometimes reported. Don’t get me wrong. Given an opening and The Wizard could resort to some of his more ironic and nasty transformations. I’m sure that could happen at any time.
My thanks must go to Holly H. Hart for taking time once again from her harried life to correct the multitude of errors made while creating this story. She is a dear.
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.
3371, 3373, 3389, 3391: some of those a real close together. I double checked. I’m pretty sure they are prime numbers. I noticed something. I seem to be peeing a lot more than I used to, and I get real thirsty. I was sleeping out by the turnpike the other day and I was dreaming about peeing. I woke up and discovered I had pissed myself. That’s real awkward. There wasn’t anyone else around and I washed my clothes out in the creek. I hid under the bridge and it took all day for my clothes to dry. I realized that I had been able to sleep that night. I didn’t dream about the Taliban.
I saw the angels again and they waved at me. They even talked to me for a while until someone at the school chased me away. He was real nasty. I’ve never hurt anyone. Well, I think I killed some people in Afghanistan, but that’s different. There’s something about them, the angels. I think they know about me. I think I want to talk to them, but I can’t do it at the school. They don’t understand there.
I didn’t used to hurt like I do now. I’m not sure what the problem is. I think it started, the pain, after a bunch of us got together down by the river. One of the guys had got a road kill deer. He said he saw it get killed. He dressed it and a bunch of us had a feast. Old Ned had fixed up something to drink. I think he had collected a bunch of stuff from God knows where. He said most of it was alcohol, but it was real sweet. He found some stuff behind a store. He said it was fuel for tiki torches and was pretty good stuff. He said the other stuff was some sort of alcohol, too. He said he remembered that from school. He had a couple of jugs of it. I didn’t recognize what it was. That’s a problem I’ve had over the last few months. Ever since I got hit by lightning, things aren’t the same.
Some things are just like I remembered, but then there are these real weird things. Take the cars. Sure they got Chevrolets and Fords. They look OK, but here’s the weird stuff. There’s Edsels and they’re new. The designs are new. The grills have that toilet bowl shape. Shit, they stopped making Edsels before I was born. At least I thought they did. Then there’s this thing about the presidents. George W. Bush owns a part of a baseball team in Texas. He tried to run for a senate seat, but was beaten by this real strange guy named Kinky Friedman. The guy’s some sort of nut, but apparently he has done some real neat stuff. At least that’s what Ned told me. I never heard of Kinky Friedman.
3691, 3697, 3701, 3709, 3719: those are real close together. I think they might get further apart as I go along. I think I’ve been through these numbers before. I don’t have anything to write them down with, and sometimes I forget where I left off. I think I’m going to wash off in that creek down there by that old well house. I got some food saved up there and maybe they won’t find me there.
“Look, Bobbie, there he is. I think he was swimming down there behind those willows. I think he’s been sleeping in that old well house. He had a fire down there this morning. Let’s go talk to him.”
“Do you think that’s a good idea? I mean two ten-year old girls shouldn’t just go down and visit some homeless guy who is kinda weird.”
Cindy pondered what should have been obvious to her; however, her eagerness to help someone had probably made her a bit careless. “You’re right. Let’s go talk to mom. That guy’s been wearing the same clothes for months. I bet we’ve got some of Dad’s old clothes we can give him.”
The two best ‘buds’ had been playing at the Schmedlap’s new home. They had been watching television, and had been concentrating on some of the programs targeting young girls. Outsiders would have been intrigued with the conversation between the two. Bobbie had been soaking up the young female culture long before her transformation the year before. Her parents had long before accepted the fact that in spite of what appeared to be a young boy, Bobbie was actually a girl. What it boiled down to was that Bobbie was much more in tune with being a young girl than Cindy, who had actually been a physical girl longer than Bobbie.
They learned from each other. Cindy was considerably worldlier than Bobbie, having lived 35 years as a male in the business world, and she could point out the methods used by advertisers to influence young people and their choices. Bobbie, in turn could educate Cindy about what was culturally important as far as being a young girl in modern society. Their genders were strongly female, and subconsciously they were already thinking about the cultural mating dance that would permeate their lives over the years ahead of them.
Marissa and Stan were working on some food preparation for the barbecue they were hosting for some of their neighbors later in the day. The Schmedlaps would be joining them as would the other families on their shared driveway.
“Hi, girls,” Stan Lewis greeted his daughter and her friend with a hug and kiss, “how did your morning go?”
“Great, Daddy. We watched a bunch of those Saturday morning programs. They advertise some neat stuff and I explained to Bobbie how they work on young people’s minds. It is educational, too. I still have a lot to learn.”
“Cindy, I think you and Bobbie are doing very well. I think The Wizard was right about not changing things too much and letting both of you learn on your own,” Cindy’s mom added, wiping her hands on her apron. “How would you girls like to help preparing the food? We need someone to work on the salad.”
“We’d love to, Mommy, but we have a bit of a problem. You know that homeless guy we see walking all over the place? He’s been staying down in the old abandoned well house down by the pond. We think he could use some of Daddy’s old clothes. I think you put some things in a bag for the charity to pick up and Bobbie and I would like to take some things to him.”
“Well, I’m not too sure that would be a very good idea, Stan said with a concerned expression. “Often, these homeless people are a bit unbalanced. I don’t think it would be a very good idea for you to go down there.”
“Daddy, Bobbie and I talked to him the other day. He was walking by the school. He thinks Bobbie and I are angels. His name is Randal Mantooth and he says he’s from here. I think he is confused about a lot of things. He says he was in the war, but I don’t think he’s old enough.
“You know how I can detect certain things? Well, I think I felt it about him, but it’s different. I’m not sure how. Bobbie says he real sick. She says his kidneys and liver are failing,” she added while looking at Bobbie who nodded her head in agreement.
“How do you know that,” Stan asked rather incredulously.
“I don’t know. It was almost like I could see under his skin. Most everything was OK, but those two kidneys and liver. I think he’s dying. We’re going to ask The Wizard how I can do that.”
“Speaking of His Wisdom, I haven’t heard much about him lately. Are you girls still talking to him? He hasn’t set up his shop around here lately, has he?” Stan, as were the Schmedlaps, was very grateful for what The Wizard and others had done for the two girls; however, Stan wasn’t that sure that he trusted him. As they learned more about The Wizard’s powers, they realized they had little control over what he might do.
“I think Maddy has talked to him once in a while, and he has installed some lessons on the computer for me and he’s been teaching me about my powers of observation and how to strengthen them.
“Daddy, could we give him some of your old clothes, please? He’s not a bad person. He’s sick and needs help. Let’s go talk to him and see if there is anything we can do.”
“Alright, sweety, pick out some things from the bag in the laundry room and we’ll take them down to him. If he is as sick as you say, he might need to go to the hospital.”
Cindy and Bobbie gathered some clothing, and they followed close behind Cindy’s dad down the long driveway, across the road and down to the old well house. They could see some smoke rising from the other side of the stone building; however, Randy was not in view. There was an old pathway where the grass didn’t grow as tall, and they followed it toward the house. As they neared it they could hear a sound that they all knew, but didn’t like. Randy was throwing up.
“Girls, wait here while I check on things.” Stan rounded the corner of the house to see the disheveled homeless man on his hands and knees. He was no longer throwing up; however, he was still poised over what little he had earlier ejected from his stomach. As ragged and tattered the man was, Stan realized he was quite young, maybe in his early 30’s. He had seen him many times; however, had never looked at him closely. Rather, like many, he had turned away whenever he saw him.
“Are you alright? Is there anything we can do for you?”
Randy turned to see who was talking to him and fell back on his haunches. He stared at the man he had never seen before; however, when he looked past him, he saw the two girls, his ‘angels’, whom he had seen several times.
“Uh, no sir, I think I’m sick. My stomach hurts real bad. I think I may have been poisoned by something.
“Hi Cindy, hi Bobbie, is this your father?”
“He’s my father,” Cindy replied. “We brought you some clean clothes. We live in that house up on the hill.”
“Which one? I used to live up there.”
“The salt box: the one with the rear garage.”
“I used to live in that house before I went to the war. My parents lived in it when I got back. I’ve been looking for them, but nobody knows who they are.”
“What war are you talking about? We haven’t had a war since the Gulf War. You’re too young to have been in that.”
“That’s what everyone tells me, but I know there were two more. One is in Afghanistan and there’s another one in Iraq and they’re still going.
“Look, I can prove I was in the Air Force. I still got my ID. I’m in the reserves, or I was.” He reached into his tattered trousers and fished out an equally tattered wallet. He sorted through some cards and other items until he found what looked like a military ID card. He struggled to stand in order to hand the card to Stan, but collapsed to the ground. He held the card, waving it for Stan to come and get it. Stan took a few steps forward. That’s when he saw the blood.
“We need to get you to the hospital. I’m calling for an ambulance.”
“I can’t afford any doctor. They’ll just kick me out.”
“Any hospital will have to take you; however, you’re a veteran and they can take you to the VA Hospital.”
Stan called 911 and they waited for the ambulance.
While they waited, Stan asked him some questions about the war. He heard the same tale that Randy had told many others. The real strange thing was about the house. Randy knew the house. He knew every room. He knew about the wet bar in the cellar. He knew where the attic door was. He said his family had moved into the house right after it had been constructed. That had been twelve years ago when he was seventeen. He lived there after he got out of the Air Force. That is until they found him and tried to kill him. He had to get away. He couldn’t stay anywhere very long or they would find him.
It took the ambulance almost 30 minutes to get there. Randy was able to talk coherently about his version of the world while they waited, and Cindy wasn’t paying detailed attention until he started talking about the unit he had been with in Afghanistan.
“The Captain and the Chief were two of the best people I ever knew. They are real heroes. They came after me and a bunch of other guys. Andrioli was already dead, but they got the rest of us out of there. That’s when I got my Purple Heart. See, I got it right here.” He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out the medal with the likeness of George Washington on it. The medal was attached to the pocket flap and had definitely seen better days.
Cindy could see that her father was going to say something, and then thought better of it. She knew what he was thinking. Anyone could buy a Purple Heart at a flea market.
“I even got the citation here. I keep it in this bag.” He pulled a zipper locked plastic bag out of the same pocket, carefully opened it, and extracted a folded document. “See, they gave this to me after I got out of the hospital. I wasn’t in very long. The General gave it to me, but Captain O’Donnell and Chief Stephens were there too. The Captain was a sharp cookie and there were a bunch of gals around the base who would have loved to jump into the sack with him.
“I’m sorry; I guess I shouldn’t have said that. He was real handsome; about six-two, dark hair and almost black eyes. There was only one girl for him, but she broke his heart. I think they had some sort of fight. Her name was, was ….”
“Her name is Jo, Josephine Beebe. It’s OK, everything worked out and they got married. They are very happy.”
Randy was shocked. “How did you know? It did happen! I’m not crazy. It did happen!”
That was when the ambulance showed up. The next few minutes were spent securing Randy to a stretcher. The terrain was too rough to get the wheeled stretcher down there and Randy was `too weak to stand on his own. The medics had hooked him up to an IV and determined that they would take him to the VA Hospital in town.
“Daddy, after the barbecue, would you take me down to the hospital to visit him. Bobbie and I need to talk to him about some things.”
“Cindy, how did you know who he was talking about? This is crazy. How could you possibly know?”
“I know because I was sort of there. Remember, before I got into this body, the spirit and I took many trips to many places; and many of them were not in this world. I think what I am saying will make more sense when you read that certificate he left with you.”
Stan unfolded the soiled certificate and scanned it. Although he had not been in the military, he was familiar with this sort of thing. One of the partners in the company had been in the Army and had several military awards on the wall of his office. Everything looked very legitimate until he got to the bottom. There were several signatures, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Air Force, and the President of the United States. The signatures may have been reproduced; however, that was not what caught his attention. The first thing was the date. It was only a few years previous. He wasn’t sure about who the Secretary of the Air Force was, and he thought he knew who Donald Rumsfeld was. But this was screwy. George Bush had been President many years before. He couldn’t have been president when this medal was presented.
Then he looked at the President’s signature in more detail. It was signed by George W. Bush, not George H. W. Bush. How could that be? He wasn’t even a senator.
“Cindy this is crazy. George W. Bush was never President.”
“I know Daddy. Randy is not from this world. He’s from a different world; one that I visited for a while; one where this country is still fighting two wars; one where George W. Bush was elected President.”
“Bobbie, we need to talk to The Wizard right away. There is something really strange going on, and I think he needs to know about it.”
Bobbie had been taking it all in and had avoided any comments up to this point. “Cindy, all that stuff you’ve been telling me really is true isn’t it?”
“I don’t think you have to look any further than yourself to know that it is. We need to talk to Randy and find out what he knows. Maybe there is a special reason he made the crossing. I know The Wizard and his kind can do it, and I know the spirits can do it, but Randy is not a wizard, nor is he a spirit, at least not yet.”
“Cindy, you’re talking like a grown-up again. I wish you would stop it,” Bobbie said with mock seriousness.
Next: Now Randy is in the hospital; however, he is a man without a world. His SSN won’t match and there won’t be any service records about him. He might be seen as an imposter and could be in serious trouble if the government gets wind of him. At last we meet The Wizard.
Portia
The problems about Randy’s origin are beginning to surface. The doctors feel he may have ingested some anti-freeze and that is the cause of his kidney failure. His liver problem has yet to be diagnosed. Cindy, Bobbie and Maddy know they have to talk to The Wizard. The connection is quick; however, The Wizard has to take care of a couple of shoplifters before he can address the problem the girls are bringing to him. I wonder what’s in store for them?
I have researched the Spell’s—R-Us Universe diligently and cannot find anything that violates it, other than that The Wizard is a bit kinder and gentler than sometimes reported. Don’t get me wrong. Given an opening and The Wizard could resort to some of his more ironic and nasty transformations. I’m sure that could happen at any time.
My thanks must go to Holly H. Hart for taking time once again from her harried life to correct the multitude of errors made while creating this story. She is a dear.
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.
Stan Lewis had been on the phone for a long time. The VA Hospital called the Lewis’s shortly after the neighborhood families had headed for their homes after the cleanup of the barbecue’s remains. He had taken the phone into the office and closed the door. There was no question that there was a serious discussion going on. The Schmedlaps had remained because they had a good idea that there were some things going on that went beyond the ordinary. Bobbie had told her parents, out of earshot of the other guests, that there was something strange going on about the homeless man that had been taken off in an ambulance earlier that day. There was magic involved, and that meant that The Wizard might have to be involved.
They could hear Stan ending the conversation with someone they thought was a doctor from the hospital. Stan returned to face the inquisitive looks from the group that didn’t include Bobbie and Cindy’s brothers who were outside capturing fireflies. They weren’t that interested in magic and the other goings on; however, that would change in future years.
“I’m afraid the news isn’t very good. Randy is very, very sick. His kidneys are barely functioning and he will probably need a transplant. His liver is also on the verge of failing. If they can keep the liver going, it might recover; however, there is not much optimism at the moment.
“They think he drank some bad booze. He shows all the symptoms of having ingested antifreeze. That stuff kills dogs, and cats, and other animals all the time. It has a very sweet taste and it destroys kidney function.”
Maddy, who had been curled up in Sally Schmedlap’s lap while getting her head scratched, perked up at that revelation. “Wowlrr, I’m going to have to make sure my babies know all about that.” Maddy then proceeded to roll over on her back and offered her chest and tummy to be scratched. Sally happily obliged.
“There’s another problem which we anticipated. They say his ID card appears to be genuine; however, there is no record of him in the military system. They’re treating him right now as if he was a veteran, but that may end. Something else is going to be a problem. His Social Security number doesn’t fit either. His number was issued to someone else. The bottom line is this. He doesn’t exist in this world. I’m sure it won’t be long before the Feds get seriously involved. I guess you could say that not only is he a man without a country, he’s a man without a world.
“They have him on dialysis at the moment and that should stabilize things for a while. The problem is that his whole existence is going to be questioned. I don’t know what we can do for him. It may be taken out of our hands before we can even try to do something.
“I think we’re just going to have to wait and see. I imagine you girls,” he said including Maddy with a nod, “are going to have to contact The Wizard about this. Just be careful, OK.”
The girls had already made plans for Bobbie to spend the night and they had the OK from their parents to stay up past their normal bedtime. Their parents knew the girls were going to try to contact The Wizard. They were uneasy about it, but knew at the same time, there was nothing they should do about it if there was any chance for Randy to survive. As Cindy had explained several times, it was best not to upset His Wisdom, although there hadn’t been any reason to be concerned as of yet.
The three girls, two of them humans and one a kitten, gathered around the computer screen. As it was most of the time, they didn’t need to turn the computer on to contact The Wizard. If he needed to contact Maddy or Cindy, it just came on. In this case the computer was on, so they just called for the Wizard and waited. Soon enough, the screen did a few flip flops and they were looking into the back room of the Spells-R-Us shop. Bobbie hadn’t actually been in the shop yet, but she knew she would get there some day.
“Cindy,” The Wizard’s voice came over the speakers, “I’ll be with you in a moment. I have a little problem to address here.”
The ‘camera’ backed up a bit and changed direction. Soon it was focused over The Wizard’s shoulder. There was a young couple standing in front of him. It was easy to tell by their expressions that they were terrified. It was also obvious that they couldn’t move. The two were rather Goth, with many tattoos and piercings. Several of the latter seemed to be inflamed or infected.
“What am I going to do with you? I know you can’t answer unless I let you, so I just want you to think about it for a while.
“David, in spite of all the good advice, you’ve had from your parents and school counselors, you seem to think the world owes you everything. You don’t want to put the least effort into earning an honest living. Instead you want to steal a bunch of worthless trinkets from an old man’s business so that you can take them to a pawn shop and sell them for ten cents on the dollar if you are lucky.
“Pamela, you have the same problem David does. You think you are smarter than all the rest. You think because David gives you reasonably good sex and drugs, you don’t need to do anything else worthwhile. You just follow his lead and get yourself deeper and deeper into trouble.
“I should turn both of you into door stops; however, that wouldn’t be fair to the lives you have created. It seems, Pamela, that you have carelessly, considering your situation, allowed yourself to get pregnant: not that David isn’t to blame, too. Well I can’t let your drug habit affect your unborn children. So, you no longer have any of your desires for drugs. After your children are born, you might have a glass of wine or two, but not until you have finished nursing.
“It would be very difficult for Pamela to raise one child let alone two, so, David, or should I say Daphne, you are going to share totally in this child rearing business.”
The three watchers knew what was going to happen. They weren’t exactly sure of the details, but they knew the gist of it.
“We don’t need either of you to be distracted by members of the opposite sex, so for a while the only interest you will have is making sure that your unborn children are given the best opportunity for good health and a good future.
“Ok, it’s time for some adjustments. Gad! all that metal.” He gave a little wave and there was a rattling clatter of small objects hitting the floor. He made a few more motions and suddenly there was a small ingot of metal. “Wait a few weeks before you cash that in. Silver will go up a few dollars.
“Now Daphne, you are going to be a very good mother. So are you Pamela, for that matter. It’s just that Daphne doesn’t have much to work with yet. Let’s see what we can do here. We certainly don’t want childbirth to be difficult, so we need to do several adjustments. Male pelvises just can’t hack it.”
The Wizard pointed his wand at the hapless boy’s, soon to be a girl’s waist, and gave it a few subtle flicks. What had been narrow boys hips expanded and reshaped into a very nice female pelvis. The clothing shifted appropriately at the same time. The girls could see the boy/girl wince as some of the changes took place. There had to be other less visible changes taking place, too. It wasn’t pain, but more or less an acknowledgment of what was taking place.
“There must be some other changes to make things work correctly. Both of you young ladies are going to have hungry, healthy babies, so we need to take care of things in the feeding department. Size isn’t that important, but we want to make sure everything is working correctly.”
Pamela had been wearing a scoop necked garment that displayed her smallish breasts rather nicely. She gradually expanded a couple of cup sizes. Her companion was gradually becoming equally endowed. “You will grow a bit more as your pregnancies progress, but should shrink back to just about this size when you stop nursing. This might help you attract good husbands later on.
“Pamela, since, for the moment you are carrying both babies, would you rather continue with the boy or girl? You may speak.”
“Sir, I didn’t know I was pregnant. I would never want to hurt my babies.”
“What you have been doing has been rather reckless and thoughtless. Now you get to make a decision about your child and your sister’s. Now who shall it be?”
“I would like to have a little boy. Maybe I could raise him to be better than I have been.”
“Then that’s the way it shall be. This will take a little adjustment with the continuum, as Daphne is now four weeks pregnant, too. There’re all sorts of physiological and hormonal things that have to be changed.
“Is there something wrong Daphne? You may speak.”
“Yes sir, I think I am going to throw up,” she said with a rather sweet but shaky voice.
“Not on my clean floor you don’t. The restroom is behind those skeletons. I could keep you from doing it, but you need to know what it’s all about. We’ll be right here when you get back.”
The Wizard turned to face the girls. “Sorry to keep you waiting. These two decided to remove a few of my possessions from the shop. I can’t allow that sort of thing to happen. This will take a little longer. Sometimes slow transformations are the better way to go and these two are going to be able to think things over for a long time.
The wizard turned back as a rather shaken young woman left the small water closet. She was wiping her face off with a tissue and there were some tear streaks on her cheeks.
“Ladies, this is the way it is. Daphne, you would have left Pamela as soon as you discovered her pregnancy. Now, you are going to have to rely on each other. You are both intelligent young women and that will do well for you. Daphne, you are now a pharmaceutical assistant at the grocery store down the street from where you live. Pamela, you are an assistant to the librarian. Both of you are working on your degrees and have about 60 hours each to complete. You will use your minds instead of wasting them.
“When your parents find out about your conditions, they will support you to a certain extent; however, until you can demonstrate your changes in attitude, they will pretty much leave you alone. Their new grandchildren will help ease you back into their arms. Daphne, you now share Pamela’s memories about growing up as well as her DNA, but you will never forget that you were once David. Unfortunately, David has been killed this evening trying to break into someone’s house. I think you will realize after a while that was the best thing for you. You had no future had I not intervened.
“As I said, David would have left you when he found out that he had impregnated twin sisters on that drunken night. Your babies carry his genes, but not his proclivities.
“Let me look at you. I need to see what other adjustments need to be made.” The dyed black hair was gone and both young women now had mid-length, efficient hair styles. Their light brown hair was clean and shiny. Their faces remolded slightly into identical features. Their eyes were a rich brown, their teeth straight and white. “Neither of you are beauties, but you will learn how to accentuate your best attributes. You are going to be good parents, and some day, loving wives. You will also do well in your chosen professions. Never forget the chance you have been given. Make the most of it. Now go home to your nice little apartment and take care of yourselves. Both of you have appointments with your doctor, tomorrow. Don’t miss them. I don’t ask for it, but some day you will thank me.
“Now go.”
The two nearly identical, rather plainly dressed young ladies turned and parted the beaded curtain to go. They were holding hands. Daphne still had a rather stunned expression on her face. Pamela stopped and turned back toward The Wizard.
“Sir.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you. We both thank you.”
“I know you do, even Daphne. I’m a wizard and I know these things.”
Next: The girls are going to have to find out more about Randy and The Wizard is going to be away for a while. One of the things the girls find out is devastating.
Portia
With the shoplifters taken care of, The Wizard can address the problem at hand. The Wizard seems to be somewhat surprised about Bobbie’s apparent ability, but not too surprised. I wonder why? Another thing, who is Naomi? Cindy tells The Wizard she has detected another person who is in the wrong body. The Wizard already knows about her and invites the two girls and their parents to his shop. That might prove to be an interesting visit.
The two families visit Randy in the hospital. The girls have some time alone with Randy and tell him they are aware of his inner dream. They are able to tell him about their transitions. They also learn more about his transfer between worlds. Randy has a relapse, but before the girls go, Bobbie senses one more thing about Randy’s condition.
I am posting these chapters today because I am going to be on the road tomorrow and Friday. I will post Chapter 7 on Saturday.
I have researched the Spell’s—R-Us Universe diligently and cannot find anything that violates it, other than that The Wizard is a bit kinder and gentler than sometimes reported. Don’t get me wrong. Given an opening and The Wizard could resort to some of his more ironic and nasty transformations. I’m sure that could happen at any time.
My thanks must go to Holly H. Hart for taking time once again from her harried life to correct the multitude of errors made while creating this story. She is a dear.
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.
“Bobbie, I guess other than your own transformation this is the first one of these you’ve seen. What do you think?”
“I think I don’t ever want you to get mad at me. Cindy told me you threatened to turn her into a toad, once.”
“I wasn’t really going to do that. I was just making a point. Cindy had a lot to learn back then. Well, she still does, but it is a different type of learning now.
“This must be pretty important for all of you to be gathered around like that.”
“Yes, Your Wisdom, we think it is.” Cindy was taking command. “What do you know about Randal Mantooth? We think something is going on that you need to know about.”
“Randal Mantooth, hmmm? I don’t think I’ve come across anything about a Randal Mantooth. I’ve been ‘Down Under’ for the last few weeks and spent some time in New Zealand, also. As small as the population is down there, there has been plenty to do.”
The scene shifted and they could see The Wizard peering into his crystal ball. “Hmmm, that’s strange. Oh dear, the poor fellow. Goodness, there is hardly anything in here about him. Did you know about this, Cindy?”
“Do you mean that he’s a girl? Yes, sir, I sensed it, but it was different. It was kinda like I wasn’t tuned in, but since then, it has gotten stronger. There’s something else. Bobbie can tell he’s real sick. She says he’s dying. He’s in the hospital now. What they told my dad pretty much says the same thing.”
“Cindy, that’s adult talk again,” Bobbie admonished.
The Wizard turned his head and looked at Bobbie. “How long have you been able to do this?”
“That’s the first time. It was almost like I could see what was not working right. I wasn’t sure about the names, but Cindy told me what they were.”
“That is certainly interesting. I’m going to have to talk to Naomi about that. That certainly explains some things. Oh well, back to this problem with Randy. Let’s see what else we can see.
“This is odd. There’s nothing before about two years ago. Is something wrong with this blasted crystal ball? Well if there is, it’s still under warranty.”
“Your Wisdom,” Cindy piped up, “I can tell you why it’s not working.”
“You can! Have you learned how to do something else?”
“I don’t think so. This was just good detective work. He’s not from this world. He came from a world that is pretty close to this one. I went there before the spirit brought me back here. It’s not as nice a world as this one. There’s still a lot of war and stuff going on.
“Something happened and he was brought or thrown across. He didn’t know what happened. He knows that this world is different and he thought he was hallucinating, or something. He keeps hearing voices and thinks some people are trying to kill him. He’s sick and he’s scared, but he knows he’s not as crazy as he thought he was.”
“No wonder there isn’t anything in here about him; this ball isn’t multidimensional. Where is Glinda’s book when I need it? It isn’t easy for some to go from one world to another. Dorothy is real good at it, but she hasn’t done any moves since about 1910. She’s happy just staying in OZ. You should visit her sometime. You’re about the same age. Maddy would get along real well with the lion and tiger, but Toto can be a bit obnoxious at times. That wizard isn’t half the wizard I am. He’s a Johnny-come-lately. Why ….
“Sir, we need to talk about Randy.”
“Oh yes, we certainly do. It’s just that …. Oh well, never mind. I need to do some research about this young fellow and this might take a while.”
“We don’t think he has much time,” Cindy said with a bit of exasperation. “They can’t identify him and they’re going to think all his identification is forged. He doesn’t have any health care, and they won’t think he’s a citizen of the U.S.”
“Cindy, the reason you had trouble reading Randy is that he is a bit out of phase with this dimension. His aura is not totally synchronized with this universe. It gets easier after a while, but the first time someone goes through, things can get a little discombobulated. Normally, beings that come across are not subject to transformations, and I might have to get an OK on this from the boss. I’ll have to get back to you on this. This isn’t going to be a routine thing no matter what we do.
“I have some things to do now. I want you to visit Randy and see what you can find out about how he got here.
“Maddy, how’s your practice with small things going? Are you able to do any more since we tried that different thought pattern?”
“Mress, sometimes I can keep things up and leave the room. That’s a lot of fun. I pretend they are birds and kill them. I’m going to work on some starlings that are down in that bunch of trees if Cindy will let me out. No one’s going to miss a couple hundred starlings.”
The Wizard chuckled, “There’s no question you’re all cat. It would probably do well for you to get out once in a while and practice your skills — no blue birds or robins, though. We don’t have any problems with starlings. There’re too many of them and they don’t belong on your side of the Atlantic. They are harming many of the native species, too.
“Cindy, have you come across anyone lately that we might be able to advance in the system? Unless there is a major change, the shop will be in the mall next week. I’ve a couple of assignments coming up, and of course there might be some unexpected drop-ins.”
“Daddy and I were looking at a warehouse with Bobbie and her dad. They are thinking about changing it into loft apartment. I started getting a feeling about someone who was in the building next door. I think it’s one of those ‘special’ clubs. Anyway, this rather tall lady came out and I realized she was the one. Some guy picked her up. They hugged and kissed, but it was a brother/sister kind of thing.”
“That would be Sonia Hennie. She’s a famous dancer at the Kandy Kane Klub. Her parents kicked her out of the house years ago, and when her kid brother defended her, they made his life miserable. He ran away and she took him in. She sacrificed the money she’d been making as a dancer to put her brother through college and medical school. That was the money to pay for her surgery. She doesn’t like that life that much and had hopes of finding someone who was understanding and willing to marry her in spite of the fact she couldn’t have children.
“We are going to take care of all of that. She gave up the best part of her life for her brother and she deserves a better outcome.”
“What are you going to do? I think it would be real nice if you let her grow up as a real girl.”
The Wizard could be seen pondering Cindy’s statement. He gave a wry smile as he started to speak, “I think you will just have to find out for yourselves. Why don’t you come to the mall? It might be good for your parents to come too. They might like the shop.
“I’ve got to go. I’m going to be in Kabul for the next week. I have some serious abuse cases to address. There’s nothing in the Koran that says it’s okay to abuse one’s wives. Let me know when you find out more about Randy.”
“Hi, Randy, how’re you feeling?
Randy looked away from the television program he was trying to fathom and saw Cindy and Bobbie standing there and smiling hopefully at him. He recognized Mr. Lewis and assumed the woman next to him was his wife and the other two were Bobbie’s parents.
“At last, my angels have arrived. I’ve been hoping you would. The doctors and nurses here are very nice but they are not like you two.”
Stan introduced Marissa, and Amos and Sally Schmedlap. They said they would be waiting for the girls down in the reception area. They could stay with Randy as long as the doctors and nurses let them. They, Stan for sure would probably come back and talk with him further after a while.
“Randy, are the doctors going to let you go home soon?” a very concerned Bobbie asked and then realized that Randy had no home. “I’m sorry, Randy, that was a stupid question.”
“No, it wasn’t a stupid question. You want me to get out of here and I wish I could, but I don’t think the outlook is very good.
“In some ways, I feel pretty good; better than I have in a while. They put me on dialysis because of my kidneys, and that has helped a lot. They did a bunch of tests including an MRI. I almost couldn’t do that one. If they came after me when I was inside that thing, I wouldn’t be able to get out. It doesn’t look good for my liver, though. They are going to put a drain in my side to see if they can get rid of the infection. They’re going to do a biopsy. Do you know what that is?”
“I do,” said Cindy. “They must think you have cancer.”
“Angels, there are all sorts of things that are wrong with me. They have given me drugs, anti-psy- something or other. They help a little. I don’t think anyone is after me right now, but they could be back. I can hear them talking. I don’t understand what they are saying, but I think they are planning to get me.”
“Randy, Bobbie and I won’t let anyone get you. We have some good connections. There are some things we need to tell you and we need to find out how you got here in the first place.” The girls pulled up their chairs. Bobbie had closed the door a bit and they hoped they could have a little privacy.
“The first thing we need to tell you is that we know something about you that the doctors will never find out unless you tell them.”
“What’s that?”
“You wish you could be called Christine.”
“How, wha…? Who told you that? I’ve never told anyone that. Now they are really going to think I’m crazy.” Tears started running out of the corners of his eyes.
Cindy reached out and tried to cover his hand with hers. That wasn’t possible, but she hopped her warmth and gentle touch she provided would ease his mind a bit. “This world is different than the one you came from in many ways. It’s not just those little things we talked about yesterday. There’s magic here, real magic. Bobbie and I are partially the results of that magic.
“You don’t have to believe me, but this is the truth. A little more than a year ago I was a 35 year old man, a very unhappy man I might add. I found out there really is magic in this world. I was allowed to occupy this body because the original occupant had to leave. I am still learning how to be a girl, and I have never been happier.
“Bobbie, tell Randy about what happened to you.”
“Are you sure I can? I mean, I thought we were restricted.” Bobbie was a bit worried because she had never tried to tell anyone about how she had been blessed. She was still a bit worried that her dream would be snatched from her.”
“If you think about it: you’ll realize it has to be OK because we are talking about it.”
Bobbie tried to put together a short story of her life. “All my life, I knew I was a girl, and the best part was my family believed me. They took me to a psychologist who believed me, too. They were going to get hormones for me and let me live as a girl until I could get the final surgery. Then Daddy got hurt and lost his job. The only thing that saved me was that I could hide how I felt. I love sports and I’m real good at them. Nobody thought I was strange or gay or anything like that.
“Then Cindy came back to school after she almost drowned. We had never been friends before, but when she came back to school, she was different. I mean, she looked the same, but there was something different about her. She started looking at me all the time, and every once in a while would smile and nod. I didn’t understand what she was doing.
“We had birthday parties for the students and we would get cards, no gifts, except Cindy put a gift certificate in mine. It was good for one sexual reassignment at the Spells-R-Us shop. No one but my family could read it that way. Everyone else thought it was a department store gift certificate. How did she know? What business was it of hers that I was a girl in a boy’s body? I thought she was crazy, and so did my parents.
“Cindy didn’t give up. She had the courage to bring her parents and her cat to our house to try to convince the rest of my family that she was legitimate and that the gift card was real. She was very convincing, and when my family agreed to let me try to use the certificate, the change happened almost immediately. It seems The Wizard was just waiting for their approval.
“Anyway, here I am, and I can assure you that I am all girl. Cindy has a gift. She can detect people like you and me, or least the way I was. She can’t do anything about it; however, The Wizard can.”
Randy was taking this all in; however, the girls weren’t sure he believed them. “Are you telling me that you can do something to turn me into the girl I know I am?”
“We don’t know. There seem to be some problems with the fact that you are not from this world. The Wizard wants us to find out anything we can about how you got to this world. Apparently, the sort of transfer you experienced doesn’t happen very often. Dorothy Gale is one of a few mortals who seemed to be able to go back and forth without much difficulty.”
“Dorothy Gale! You mean the Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz?”
“That’s the one. I think she made at least five trips before she decided to stay in OZ forever. That’s what The Wizard told us.”
Randy was getting confused. “Let me get this straight. The Wizard of OZ really exists?”
“In some universes, according to The Wizard,” Cindy said rather matter of factly.
“By ‘The Wizard’ you are referring to The Wizard who has that shop that keeps appearing here and there; the guy who turns guys into bimbos; the guy who tricks everyone who comes into his shop?”
“That’s the one,” Cindy said in the Wizards defense, “but he is not as bad as the stories make him appear. Bobbie and I watched him work a couple of changes yesterday and he was really quite nice about what he did. He could have been real nasty, but he wasn’t.” She didn’t mention that the fact that the girl was pregnant with twins may have affected The Wizard’s decision.
“The Wizard is very concerned about you; however, he needs to know how you got here. I think he wants to try to fix things, but there are some things going on that he hasn’t told us about. Apparently, magic doesn’t work the same for beings who just came across.”
Randy started to squirm and look around. “The voices are coming back. I think they found me.”
“Bobbie, get the nurse. I think we are going to have to leave.” Turning to Randy, she asked. “Randy, what happened? How did you get here?”
“I don’t know. I think it happened during a storm. They were coming after me. I couldn’t see them, but I could hear them. I was crossing the river bridge. There was a storm starting and the lightning was really bad.”
“What bridge were you crossing?”
“The steel bridge: the one that crosses the west fork of the river down by the industrial park. It was real strange. There were all these sparks coming off the supports. I think they call it St. Elmo’s fire. Then lightning hit both ends of the bridge at the same time. It was real bright and real loud. Suddenly, I was falling, not far, maybe five feet, and it was raining very hard, but there was no more lightning.”
“Randy, that bridge isn’t steel. It’s concrete. The steel one was demolished years ago, before I was born.”
“All I can say is that it was steel and then it was concrete. That’s when it had to happen.”
Cindy was going to ask another question but was disrupted by a nurse followed by Bobbie entering the room. “Mr. Mantooth, are you alright?”
“I don’t think so. They’re back. I can hear them. I’m going to have to get out of here. They’re going to kill me. I’m sure of it.”
The nurse injected a hypodermic into Randy’s IV. “This will make you feel better about things in just a few minutes.
“Mr. Mantooth needs his rest. It would probably be a good thing if you girls said goodbye for the day.”
Bobbie and Cindy watched as Randy visibly calmed down. He wasn’t a bad looking young man. He had been bathed and shaved and his hair had been combed out. The nurses were definitely looking out for him. They came over and kissed his forehead. “We’ll see you tomorrow,” Cindy promised. “If you can think of anything more, we’ll tell our friend.”
Cindy heard a stifled gasp from Bobbie as she stood back from the bed. She was as white as a ghost, at least figuratively because Cindy knew that ghosts didn’t have ‘color’.
“What’s wrong?” she whispered as they entered the long hallway.
“He’s dying.”
“You told me that before. The doctors are trying to fix it.”
“No, this is worse. I saw it when I kissed him. It’s in his brain. It’s real ugly and it’s like the roots of a tree. It’s going everywhere. I think it’s a creature of some sort. It’s evil and it’s not going to let him go. We have to do something. It’s not fair.”
Bobbie was in tears and Cindy realized there might be questions, so she pulled Bobbie into a rest room so she could compose herself. “You are going to have to be strong. The doctors don’t need to know about what you can do. Let’s fix your makeup. We can talk about it when we get out of the hospital.”
Bobbie gradually composed herself while Cindy checked on the repairs. “I’m OK now. Let’s go.”
Their parents were talking to one of the doctors in waiting area. “Did you have a nice visit?” Marissa asked.
“It was OK. He looks a lot better than he has before, but he started getting upset and the voices were coming back. The nurse gave him some medicine to help him relax.”
“Mr. Lewis, we’ll let you know as soon as we find out anything. The government offices won’t be open until tomorrow, and maybe then we will find out why he has dropped off the face of the earth.” They said their goodbyes and walked out into the heat of the late afternoon.
Next: What are they going to do about Randy? He has no place to go. There is only one solution. They visit the SRU shop with some interesting results. There are several interesting transformations.
Portia
Bobbie and Cindy’s fears are confirmed by their parents and the doctors. Randy is moved into the Lewis’s guestroom and made as comfortable as he can hope to be. The two families are going to meet with The Wizard in his shop. What could possibly go wrong? In The Wizard’s shop; just about anything. The two families witness several transformations.
I have researched the Spell’s—R-Us Universe diligently and cannot find anything that violates it, other than that The Wizard is a bit kinder and gentler than sometimes reported. Don’t get me wrong. Given an opening and The Wizard could resort to some of his more ironic and nasty transformations. I’m sure that could happen at any time.
My thanks must go to Holly H. Hart for taking time once again from her harried life to correct the multitude of errors made while creating this story. She is a dear.
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.
“I’m afraid we have some bad news,” Stan said as they entered the highway for the drive home. “I also think you already know what I’m going to tell you.
“Randy is very sick. He has a month, at most, to live. Even if he could get a kidney transplant and they could fix his liver, there is nothing they can do about the tumor in his brain. That’s where the voices are coming from. It seems to be centered in the auditory area of the brain. The doctor says it is inoperable and there is no way they can get it out without leaving him a vegetable.
“They are going to continue his dialysis and try to treat the liver infection. They can give him drugs to reduce his anxiety and they will be able to control the pain, but the bottom line is he is going to die.
“We know, Daddy. Bobbie could see it. We’ve got to get The Wizard to fix him and then do the other ‘thing’.”
“There’s something else. The VA will probably discharge him early next week. They can’t verify his service time. It’s going to be just like we thought it would be. So this is what we are going to do.
“We’re going to put Randy in the guest room. We can afford to take care of him and make him comfortable until whatever happens, happens. He’ll have to have dialysis every few days, and he will need a lot of medication. At least he can be comfortable. They doctor says that as long as he takes the medication, the paranoia should be minimal. Knowing what has happened over the last year makes me believe that he may not be nearly as paranoid as the doctors feel. I think the best thing we can do is to give him some hope.
“Do you think His Wisdom can do anything to help?”
“Daddy, that’s wonderful that we are taking him in and trying to make him comfortable, but it might be difficult to keep him there. Knowing how he sometimes thinks, he might just get up and leave. He can’t be a prisoner and I guess he can do whatever he wants. I just wish we could do what we need to very soon. It’s time that Randy lived the way he was meant to.
“The Wizard said we had to find out as much as we could about what happened to get him here. He’s going to be in the mall next week and he thought we should meet in his shop. He wants you to see it. I think he’s rather proud of it.”
Just as they thought, Randy was discharged the following Tuesday. The medical staff recommended a local medical facility where Randy could continue to get dialysis treatment. His liver had responded very well to medication and the doctors were encouraged about that. They were not encouraged about the brain tumor and said it would be only a matter of time. He was given prescriptions for a plethora of medications that should help keep him comfortable. They also had the name of a local hospice organization to contact when Randy’s time drew near.
Randy seemed to understand the seriousness of his situation; however, he held out hope that his ‘angels’ could come up with something. He had some trouble at first with moving into the ‘same’ house he had spent part of his youth in. He looked around at the place that was so familiar and yet so different.
“I know this isn’t the same place, but so much of it is nearly the same. Look at the marks on the doorway over there. They’re the marks showing how Cindy and Tom are growing. In my house, it was me and my younger brother and sister who got measured, and we put the marks on the same place. That beaver pond at the bottom of the hill is the same. My friends and me used to build a toboggan run down there in the winter. Our parents got real mad when we ran it across the ice. That stupid Freddy Smith almost drowned down there.”
“That’s scary,” Cindy mused, “so did I. I tried to save Maddy and went through the ice.”
Maddy was riding on Randy’s shoulders at the time, curled around his neck. “That’s the first thing I remember. Cindy grabbed me and threw me away from the open water. I didn’t see her for a long time, and then she came home, I knew it was her. I’m a cat, but I knew that Cindy and I were connected. It was a while before I realized that I was different from most other cats. I don’t remember my mother and I don’t remember my litter mates. I must have had them, but I don’t remember them.”
Randy had no problem at all carrying around a talking cat, one who did have a pretty high opinion of herself. She delighted in entertaining him with her ability to move small, light weight objects without touching them. Randy was very weak, but he and Mandy could play for hours with a paper wad. He would hide it somewhere and she would try to find it. He didn’t realize it at the time, but he was helping her develop her levitation and other skills.
Maddy found that she liked Randy very much, and it disturbed her that he might die very soon. She could sense when his medication was beginning to lose effect, and she would remind him to take the next dose.
It became obvious that Randy was not going to get better. They would take him into the clinic for dialysis and the clinic personnel would also check the hepatic drain. Things were looking better in that area as Randy’s color was gradually getting to be more toward normal. Cindy realized that beneath all the dirt and unshaven face, Randy definitely had a yellow tint. It was now less pronounced. On the negative side, there was definitely a tremor that was becoming more and more pronounced. The meds would help, but as they began to wear down, his hands would start to shake more and more. It was definitely getting worse.
“Before we go in, I need to tell you some things. First and foremost, don’t touch anything; don’t play with anything; and when other customers come in, just be quiet. Above all, unless The Wizard gives it to you, don’t eat anything.” Cindy was trying her best to warn everyone that the Spells-R-Us shop was a very dangerous place for the uninitiated.
“Usually, if expected customers come in, they won’t notice anything that was not meant for them to see. His Wisdom is expecting a brother and sister to come in. He said he wanted everyone to witness what was going to happen. Bobbie, Daddy and Mr. Schmedlap have seen them before. The sister is a well known dancer at the Kandy Kane Klub. She has sacrificed her life for her brother. Now things are going to be made right.”
The shop was in the place of the Hallmark Shop; the place where all the wonderful things that had happened to Cindy and Bobbie had started. Everyone, even Cindy looked around in awe in the cramped old store. Randy was in a wheel chair; he never could have made the walk from the parking lot to the store.
The wolf stood up from his usual resting place and walked up to the group while wagging his tail. He almost climbed into Randy’s lap while giving him a big slurpy kiss that seemed to be his specialty.
“Just make yourself at home, folks. I have a couple of things to do back here before my customers arrive,” The Wizard’s voice came from the back room.
Maddy had ridden in Marissa’s purse and she jumped out and approached the wolf. She had met him at the Schmedlap’s old home, but hadn’t spent anytime with him since. The wolf reached out with a heavy paw in sort of a greeting and knocked Maddy sprawling. “Watch it Buster, I don’t weigh as much as your foreleg. I think your ears need grooming. Just lay off with the heavy handed stuff and I will give you a good cleaning, OK?”
The wolf rolled onto his side. His tail was thumping the floor and his tongue lolled out of his mouth. Maddy climbed up his neck and proceeded to rather vigorously clean out the wolf’s ears.
“Look at all this stuff,” Marissa said to herself as she was drawn down one aisle that seemed to have more modern cosmetic items. What she didn’t realize was that merchandise often changed in any location to suit the desires, spoken and unspoken, of the potential customer. She came to a countertop that had a number of wigs on display that were placed on Styrofoam ‘heads’. She was drawn to one in particular. It was a pale, ash/platinum blonde, and obviously very expensive. It wasn’t one shade throughout, but instead had wonderful highlighting and varying shades that naturally darkened a bit toward the nape. It was a bit ‘big’ but not to a ‘Dolly Parton’ extreme.
She gently lifted the wig off the stand and noted the label “GENUINE NATURAL BLONDE HUMAN HAIR”. ‘I’ve always wondered what it would be like to be a blonde. Surely it wouldn’t hurt if I tried it on.’ She set her purse on the counter and, while looking into the handy mirror, gently placed the wig over her head. She tucked a few stray wisps of her natural light brown hair back under the edges.
“Mother! Don’t do that! You’ve got to take it off!” Cindy rushed up to her mother’s side. “Mom, I told you not to mess with anything.”
“I’m not messing. I’m just straightening it up a bit. Ooooh, it tingles. Mmmm, I feel good. Where’s that handsome father of yours. I’ll bet he likes blondes.”
“YOUR WISDOM, HELP, WE NEED YOU RIGHT NOW!” Cindy shouted.
A little piece of cloth caught her eye. She thought she had seen something fall as her mother adjusted the wig. She picked it up as she heard the others approach.
The Wizard arrived first. He had a large glass of a greenish liquid that was fuming a bit. “Mrs. Lewis, drink this right now, all of it.”
“What’s that, a grasshopper? I hope it’s not alcoholic. Booze makes me do naughty things, especially if I drink it in the afternoon,” she said as she winked at her astounded husband. She took the glass and drained it. She gave a little shudder and licked her lips. “Wow, that’s strong stuff. What was it?”
“That, my dear, was my best de-bimboization elixir. I keep a bottle around for emergencies such as this. How do you feel?”
“A little strange, sort of horny,” she whispered the last part and stifled a giggle.
“Let’s wait a little longer. I think she got the elixir in time, but it takes a little while to act,” The Wizard said while he studied Marissa with a look of concern.
“Mrs. Lewis, what’s the square root of 144?”
“Why twelve, of course.”
“What are the first three rules of real estate?”
“Location, location, location: everyone knows that.”
“I think she’s going to be OK. She got the elixir in time.”
“Oh dear,” Marissa exclaimed, “Something is wrong with my bra. It’s getting very tight.”
“I’m afraid that is part of the affect of the wig. I’ll fix that.” The Wizard made a subtle motion. “How’s that?”
“Much better,” Marissa said while wiggling her shoulders a bit. “What did you do?”
“I made some adjustments. I adjusted all your clothes at home, as well.”
Cindy was looking at the tag she had picked up
“GENUINE NATURAL BLONDE HUMAN HAIR,” said the first side, the side her mother had seen. “Bimbo Blonde Products. Your Satisfaction Is Guaranteed. Our Best Three Way Alteration,” said the other side. Cindy looked at her mother who was still sporting a somewhat bewildered look. She was also sporting a rather prodigious bust line.
Marissa was running her fingers through her hair. “I guess since I tried it on, I had better pay for. I kinda like the way it looks, but I’m not sure it is really me.”
“It’s $19.95 plus tax; however, it really is you now. I’m afraid it’s permanent. You are now totally and permanently a beautiful, natural platinum blonde. Your new endowments are part of the package. It only takes a few minutes for the changes to become permanent. I had to react to the most serious of the changes and your mind is the most important thing about you. The other changes will be accepted by others as being the way you have always been.”
“My God, my boobs are huge!” Marissa said as she twisted back and forth taking in her profile in the mirror.
“They are the best magic can buy. Guaranteed to never sag excessively or droop. They will always be 100% disease free. They also are fully functional and erotically very sensitive. I think you will be very pleased.
“There are some other effects that come along with this. Because you have children, your genetic traits have been passed on to them. There has to be some consistency in these things.”
“Cindy,” Bobbie piped, “your hair! Look at your hair!”
Cindy turned to the mirror. “Oh my goodness!” Her hair had been a light brown up to a few minutes before. Now it was a bright golden blonde. There was a little more wave, and it seemed to be a bit longer. She turned to The Wizard.
“I suppose this means there will eventually be some other similar changes,” she said with a bit of a knowing tone.
“Most assuredly; you were always going to be very pretty. Now you are going to be a bit of an eye catcher. I think you will be very pleased. You will naturally be a bit smaller than your mother, maybe a cup. I can make you bigger if you desire.”
“No, I think we should let well enough alone. Well, I always wanted to have breasts, and now I really have something to look forward to.
“Your Wisdom, I tried to warn everyone not to mess with anything. I guess Mom didn’t understand how powerful everything in here is.”
“No harm was done, Cindy. In fact I think things will work out very well, very well indeed.
“OK, here comes the brother and sister. They won’t see you, but please be quiet. I have to go to the back room. It’s part of the rules.”
The two families stood back as the couple entered the shop. The bell tinkled as it always did and the couple looked around in awe at the strange shop.
“Gary, Sonia, I’ll be with you in a moment.”
Sonia looked around taking it all in. “Gary, I don’t believe it. I saw the sign when we came up to the front. This has to be some sort of an elaborate joke. If only this place really existed. I mean there are so many girls like I am who would give so much if it did.
“I mean look at this. That big dog looks just like a wolf. And, what’s that kitten doing sleeping on his head. Who would go to all this trouble to make fun of me?
“Is this why you wouldn’t tell me what store the discount coupon was for. You must have known about the myth of ‘Spells-R-Us’. Are you that gullible? I hope you didn’t spend anything on that. How could you be so foolish?”
“He’s not foolish, Sonia,” The Wizard said as he parted the curtains. “Your brother loves you very much, and he hopes you can get the life you deserve.”
Sonia looked at the robed old man and gave a forced laugh. “I must say you certainly had some good coaching for the role. You look just like I thought you would look if you really existed.”
“Gary, you told me she was hard headed and practical about things. I think we will have to take a different tact.
“Sonia, your brother contacted me on the internet. There are special times and conditions for certain portals to open and apparently he found one. Now I want you to drink this Coke and think about what you would like to happen if it could. Remember, I am a wizard, and I will know what you desire.”
Without thinking about it, Sonia took the Coke and swiftly drank it down. “Shoot, now I have to go to the bathroom.”
“It’s back behind the skeletons. The seat’s a bit loose, so be careful when you sit down.”
Sonia strode on her long legs through the curtains to the back of the rear room.
The wizard handed Gary a box as Sonia disappeared. “What’s this?” Gary asked.
“They were her implants. She doesn’t need them anymore.”
There was a screech from the back of the shop. “Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! It’s real! I’m real. What have you done to me?” A much different appearing Sonia raced out of the back room into her brother’s arms. “Gary,” she said between gasps, “I went back there and sat down and all of a sudden I realized I was different. It’s gone. Oh my God, it’s real. You’re real. It’s not a joke.” She said the last looking at The Wizard. She looked down at her chest and her hands flutters over her breasts. “They’re real, too, aren’t they?”
“You’re totally real, just like you’ve always wanted. Now, there are a couple of other things that need to be taken care of. I think you will be much happier being about five-ten when you grow up instead of six-two, so that adjustment has been made.
“You sacrificed your young adulthood for your brother to get him through college and medical school. David is now 26 years old; ready for his residency and you are 38. Rather, you were 38. I think it is only fair that the tables are a bit reversed. I think if you were 14, you would get to experience a lot of what you missed. Would you be happy about that?”
“Yes sir, I think that would be wonderful, but what about our parents? They were so mean to both of us. It was hard to leave them, but we had to.”
“These changes don’t start here; they have to go back many years. It took surprisingly little to change just a few things to change your parent’s attitudes about things. I think you will find them much more accepting about people who have problems similar to what yours were. You have to remember that you were a late child. One of their hopes is that they will live long enough to see your children. That’s still a ways off.
“Gary, there is a nice Pakistani resident physician at your hospital who likes trout fishing. You might want to get to know her. Now, your little sister needs to get home. It’s been a long day and your parents are waiting for you.”
Next: Marissa’s enhancements have an immediate and very pleasing affect on Cindy’s parents. The families learn that Randy has not absorbed enough of this universe to allow The Wizard’s magic to work properly. Any attempt to change him would be immediately fatal. All they can do is make things as comfortable as possible for him.
Portia
The aftermath of Marissa’s transformation has some interesting results. The Wizard explains why he can’t do anything for Randy. He gets a bit philosophical about things. Randy accepts his fate and the inevitable happens. Cindy is left with the feeling that The Wizard didn’t try hard enough.
Cindy and Bobbie’s training in the world of magic continues and we learn some interesting things about Bobbie’s ancestry. Marissa’s two thirds bimboization rekindles her love life (which wasn’t really that bad) and she has two children over the next three years, and she might have more. Bobbie’s athletic skills are coming to the front. She learns that she will never be able to use magic to give her an advantage in sports. She won’t need it. Cindy’s little sister asks her an interesting question.
I have researched the Spell’s—R-Us Universe diligently and cannot find anything that violates it, other than that The Wizard is a bit kinder and gentler than sometimes reported. Don’t get me wrong. Given an opening and The Wizard could resort to some of his more ironic and nasty transformations. I’m sure that could happen at any time.
My thanks must go to Holly H. Hart for taking time once again from her harried life to correct the multitude of errors made while creating this story. She is a dear.
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.
Cindy and Tommy bounded down the stairs for their Sunday breakfast. The aroma of bacon and something else was almost intoxicating. Marissa was also cooking waffles and eggs. The coffee maker contained a freshly brewed pot of coffee, and the aroma was wonderful — a lot better than the taste of the coffee, as far as Cindy was concerned.
Marissa was in an especially good mood. She was wearing a light robe over what couldn’t for the moment be seen, but Cindy knew it was a see-through baby doll nightie. The robe did little to hide what was now a spectacularly well endowed body.
Tommy had been with Bobbie’s brothers the day before at a movie in the mall’s multiplex theater while the others were at The Wizard’s shop. The boys made no mention of the changes in Marissa and Cindy, nor did they seem to notice that Tommy was much blonder than he had been when they had entered the theater. As far as they were concerned, everything was perfectly normal.
Randy had finished breakfast a bit earlier, and he and Maddy were out on the deck taking in the pleasant summer morning. Maddy was watching the hummingbirds coming to the feeder. Her tail was twitching, but the birds knew she was not a threat. Once in a while one would come down and hover a few feet in front of her before going back to the feeder; however, there seemed to be an unwritten truce.
Cindy and Tommy were diving into their waffles when their dad came down the stairs. He too was in a great mood, and came up behind Marissa and gave her a kiss on the nape of her neck. He buried his nose in her beautiful blond hair, and Cindy couldn’t help but notice that his hand snuck around and lifted a beautiful breast while tweaking a prominent nipple. Marissa leaned back and accepted a kiss. “Stop that, you naughty boy,” she admonished while snuggling back into her husband, “The children ….” Cindy gave her mother a knowing look. She knew her time would come soon enough.
After the brother and sister had left the shop, The Wizard asked the group to come to the back room for some refreshments and a little discussion.
“That was certainly nice, what you did for those two,” Sally said, wiping a tear from her eye. “That was just real sweet.
“I have a feeling that this is not a store to go to, to try out as much of the merchandise as is possible,” she said while glancing at the new blonde.
“There are some things that can be arranged without serious consequences,” the Wizard advised. “Just remember the old saying ‘Be careful what you wish for.’
“The shop is no longer in the mall; however, when it is time to leave, you may go out the back door. It will open into the corridor that leads to the restrooms. Cindy has used that door several times.
“Now, about Randy, I am afraid I have some news that is not what you have hoped for. Randy’s transference to this world has some in the home office scratching their heads. As I said before, most mortals aren’t able to make the jump from one world to another. Dorothy was an exception, or at least we thought she was. But now we know she is part fairy. Pixel, the cat, is another mystery to everyone. Apparently, he doesn’t know it is impossible to do what he does, so he does it. That group that hangs out with Lazarus Long knows how to do it, but they control the method and it hasn’t reached this universe yet. If it ever does, there could be all sorts of chaos.
“It’s a moot point about how Randy got here, because he is here. The lightning and the configuration of the bridge must have weakened a spot in the continuum and Randy was at the right place at the right time. They are trying to duplicate what happened in the lab, but nothing has come of it yet.
“Unfortunately, a great deal of Randy is still of that other universe. My magic can only work on the part of him that is from this world. If I tried anything right now, he would probably end up being a pile of disassociated protein and that wouldn’t be very pleasant.
“Do you mean Randy is going to die?” Bobbie said, barely able to hold back her tears.
“My dear, the physical body always dies sooner or later. I’m not sure how old I am in accumulated years. Using the current calendar, I am over 900 years old; however, I’ve had many detours. Someday it will be time, and then I will just have to see what happens. I’m not going to worry about it.
“You are a wonderful group of people, and there are many adventures ahead for you. You have gone far beyond what anyone would have expected of you in taking Randy in. That will never be forgotten.
“Now I need to talk to Randy and Marissa in the other room.”
About ten minutes later Marissa returned pushing Randy in the wheel chair. She was expressionless as was Randy. “I think we need to go home now.”
Randy’s decline continued over the next few weeks. His tremors became worse and worse, and there were a number of occasions where he seemed to black out. His eyes were open, but he wouldn’t respond to stimulation. Other times he was alert and quite upbeat. He would say the voices were there, but that they weren’t that important anymore.
For the two weeks following the visit to the Spells-R-Us shop he was able to get around fairly well. There finally came the day when he was limited to getting from his bed to the bathroom, or his chair to the toilet. His attitude was remarkable. He and the other adults would stay up at night comparing the differences in this world from the world he came from. He had to laugh about the fact that in this world the Chicago Cubs were frequent World Series victors.
It bothered all of them that in his world the schism between the Moslem and western world was so severe. There were still many differences; however, the Moslem world had begun to accept the fact that there needed to be a separation of church and state. This was also something that the western world had picked up on, and many of the fanatical Christian sects had lost a great deal of political influence. Randy was amazed that a Catholic Pope had actually been forced to step down. He was also surprised that celibacy was considered to be strictly voluntary and not looked at as a sign of religious commitment in the Church.
The end came suddenly and much more quickly than they had expected. Randy had a severe seizure and it took several hours before he regained consciousness. From that point on there was a nurse with him at all times. The second seizure was even worse. He had left a ‘do not resuscitate’ order; however, he continued to breathe on his own.
He regained consciousness to see two tear-stained faces. “Ah, my angels are here, good. Don’t worry little ones. You have made my life worth while. This is such a wonderful world and so many wonderful things can happen.
“Death is part of reality and my dying in this world is so much better than if I had died in my old world. I think I need to go to sleep now.” He never woke up.
There was a quiet funeral where the two families said goodbye to their recently found friend. The Wizard and Wolf appeared, and Maddy and the wolf sat silently together as the coffin was lowered into the grave. No one tried to explain why the flowers never wilted and why their perfume was so strong.
Things did get back to a certain degree of normality, but Cindy was upset that this world’s magic couldn’t help Randy. She had felt from the beginning that the reason he had shown up was so that her world’s magic would allow him to be the girl or woman he knew he was. It just wasn’t right that he had gone through so much torment and strife to not be able to experience what she and Bobbie had experienced. She had seen so many transformations with so many potentially happy outcomes, and in the back of her mind she felt that The Wizard had just not really tried.
Things happened over the next few weeks that helped take the edge off the events leading to Randy’s death and their failure to rescue him.
Cindy, Maddy and Bobbie were spending an afternoon in The Wizard’s shop. Since Randy’s death, Bobbie had not been able to duplicate her ability to recognize serious illnesses in people, and they were running some simple tests in order to see if there were any latent powers showing.
“Bobbie, you and Cindy are very young. It is unusual for ones your age to demonstrate the powers you already have. Most likely, there was a very strong affinity among the three of you, and it brought your powers to the surface.”
Their discussion was interrupted by Maddy streaking by with the wolf close behind. His feet were slipping and sliding on the wood floor. They could hear his toe nails rattling on the hard surface. Maddy went under the curtains, but the wolf hit them full force and the strings of beads were thrown in many directions. Seconds later, there was a huge crash in the rear of the back room. The wolf came flying back through the curtain with Maddy hot on his trail. Her tail was appropriately fluffed and the hair on the wolf’s back was raised in a body length ridge.
“That’s enough you two. Go play outside.” The Wizard waved his wand and there was a pop as the space the two playmates had occupied imploded.
“I hope you didn’t send them out to the parking lot. That’s not a very safe place,” Cindy said, obviously concerned.
“No, they’re up in Hockett Meadows. I’m going to let them wear off some of that energy. The wolf and I don’t get out often enough as it is. By the way, Maddy is now a mountain lion. That should make things a bit more even.
“Now watch this. The words are ‘Osteo Erectus’.” He waved his wand and the totally disassembled skeleton quickly re-assembled itself and hung back up on the hook. “Once you get the pronunciation correct, you only have to form the words in your mind. That’s why you never or seldom will ever hear me say any of the words when I am doing a spell. It’s not a good idea for the untrained to be hearing these things.
“Now, we have a little surprise for Bobbie.”
“Oh goodie, are you going to teach me a spell?” Bobbie’s voice sparkled with excitement.
“Not yet; I think we will need to find out more where your abilities lie.”
The shop door opened, followed by the tinkling of the bell. The girls looked up to see an older woman enter. She was carrying a bag of golf clubs.
“Gramma Naomi!” Bobbie shouted, “I thought you were in Visalia. What a surprise!”
“Dear, I am in Visalia.
“Your Wisdom, did you move the shop and not tell them?”
“Apparently I did. That’s right, I had it programmed to move: forgot completely about it,” he said winking at her.
“Gramma, you know The Wizard?”
“We have known each other for a long time. There’s a lot to tell you, and we will just take it a little bit at a time. My-oh-my, you just get prettier and prettier.
“Cindy, thank you so much for speeding things up. I know he told you he had the change scheduled for when she was 18, but that was before you arrived. Realities have been shifted a bit since then.
“Gramma, you know about me?”
“Yes dear, I know everything. I must say, you are positively gorgeous, and the best thing is you have some powers. They didn’t get lost after all.”
“I don’t think I understand.”
“Sweet, sweet Bobbie, you come from a long line of magical people. Call us sorceresses, witches, wizards, whatever. We thought the line stopped with your mother, but now we know it is continuing.
“I deliberately dropped a hint last year when we were visiting, and your mother picked up on it. She knows that I know.
“There was a horrible accident when your mother was about four. She learned to read early. It was totally my fault. I left a spell book out and she got hold of it. She randomly opened it and just started reading. It was an obfuscation spell and she erased her mind. Before I could do anything she was a babbling baby. We got the basic things back, but the magic was gone, maybe forever. I never worked magic around her after that.
“I hoped that she would have a girl and that the powers might be passed on. Instead, she had three handsome athletic boys, one of whom was a girl. I have always known that, Bobbie, and you were so strong about it. I knew eventually that the change was going to happen, but we didn’t know if the magic would come back. Now Cindy has worked her own special magic, and you have magic, too. The other wonderful thing is that your mother, father and brothers believe in magic because of what Cindy did. There’s hope now that your mother might get some of it back.
“You need to get back east to that mall, but I wanted to give you something. I found this set of lady’s golf clubs at a sale and they are perfect for you. There is one caveat.”
“What’s a caveat?” Bobbie was a bit overpowered at the moment. She had many questions to ask, but they would have to be asked later.
“It’s an advisory or warning. I made a little spell. Anything you do athletically cannot be magically enhanced. You have to do it on your own. It’s only fair.”
“Thank you so much, Gramma. These are so much nicer than the child’s set I have now. You never would have had to worry about me using magic on the golf course. That would not be good golf etiquette.”
They were interrupted by a crash in the back room. The wolf flew through the curtains and over the counter closely followed by a sleek puma. She grabbed him and they rolled down the aisle.
“Stop!” shouted The Wizard. The two sat back on their haunches while panting in exhaustion. Naomi peered into the back room. “Osteo Erectus”.
Gramma Naomi hugged the two girls, kissing their cheeks. She and The Wizard exchanged embraces. She stroked Maddy’s head, she was a kitten again, and scratched the wolf’s ears. “We’ll see everyone at Thanksgiving. Your grandfather is at the garden shop getting some bulbs. I need to make sure he is getting the right ones.”
Maddy didn’t wake up that night until Cindy rattled the cat food can with the spoon. She trotted down the stairs, ate her dinner, bathed and returned to Cindy’s bed.
Dinner was quiet, but Cindy could tell something was going on. Her mother positively glowed. She was reveling in the changes that had occurred, and seemed to take a bit more interest in how she appeared. Cindy had always considered her pretty, although she down played her appearance a bit. Now she was beauty pageant gorgeous. She didn’t overdo it, she kept her appearance very tastefully done, but she was a real attention getter regardless.
After twelve years of marriage, her parents love making had waned a bit; however, that was different now. Cindy knew her parents couldn’t keep their hands off of each other. She was sure that the wizard had probably done some tweaking of the spell that had changed her mother’s, and consequently her appearance as well. She began to think that her mother’s donning the wig may not have been an accident. It may have been planned.
“Children, your father and I have an announcement. We are so happy to tell you I am going to have a baby in about eight months.”
Cindy thought the news was wonderful. Her brother wasn’t too sure; however, he would be fine with it after a while.
Marissa’s pregnancy proceeded normally, and in the fourth month they confirmed she was going to have a little girl. Marissa went into labor on a Saturday morning and delivered after only four hours of labor. By the second day little Christine Miranda Lewis was feeding like a champ.
Little Christine flourished. She was a beautiful platinum blonde like her mother, and her eyes were dark blue. Cindy could not remember her ever having an unhappy moment.
When Christine was three, Marissa gave birth to a little boy. He was Stan Junior.
Although, Christine was a very happy child, she had some serious moments, too. She would get very involved in computer games, and more than once, in fact many times, she would come into her sister’s room while her sister was doing something with The Wizard. The Wizard would look over Cindy’s shoulder and say hello to the little girl. Christine would say “Hi” and take in whatever was going on.
Cindy asked The Wizard if it was alright for her little sister to watch. “I don’t think any harm will come from it. You know, I think Maddy needs a playmate. It might be time to find a kitten out there somewhere.”
“No toms,” Maddy responded.
It was around Christine’s fifth birthday that she asked the question that changed everything. “Cindy, how come you don’t call me Chrissy like everyone does at school?”
“I’m not sure. I guess it just seemed too ordinary for my favorite little sister.”
“What’s the nickname for Miranda?”
“I don’t know. Why?”
“Why don’t you look it up on the computer?”
“Sure,” She typed in ‘Nickname “Miranda”’.
“Well look at that! The nickname for Miranda is Randi. I never knew that.” She turned around and looked at her little sister. She was smiling up at her big sister. There were some tears in her eyes.
“I remember everything. It’s just that the voices are gone. I love you so much.”
They hugged and cried for a long time.
Marissa was working on the evening meal when she heard approaching footsteps, Stan and Amos were reviewing the status of one of the ongoing construction projects, and her husband would be a bit late for dinner. She recognized the footsteps immediately as those of her two daughters. She turned to welcome two of the many joys in her life, and was greeted by two tear stained but smiling faces.
“Mo-o-o-ther, why didn’t you tell me?”
Marissa could tell there was something important behind the question. She took in the two smiling faces and sensed there was something very serious in the words. Then she saw her youngest daughter's questioning nod. “About what, dear?”
“Mom, you had to have known. I just never gave it a thought; then Christine asked me why I never gave her a nickname. She knows, Mom. She knows who she is and you never told me. For almost five years, I thought Randy was gone, but Randi has been here the entire time, and you never told me.”
Marissa’s mixing spoon clattered to the floor, spattering batter across the cabinet. “Oh my God, when did this happen?” She gathered her two daughters to her as she sat at the breakfast table. Now she knew what the tears were for. She gently kissed Christine on the forehead and then pulled Cindy to her and kissed her, too. She placed Christine on her lap and Cindy sat on the chair next to her.
“We were never sure that it would work, but The Wizard assured us it would. He just wasn’t sure whether she would remember like you did, Cindy.
“What happened, Chris? How long have you known?”
“Mom, she’s Randi from now on,” Cindy said while holding her little sister’s hand firmly in her own.
“Mommy, a fairy came to me in a dream. She said I was old enough to start remembering some things. I had some scary dreams, and I was doing all sorts of things. There was fighting, and sometimes I would walk and walk. I dreamed about Cindy and Bobbie, ‘cept they were little girls, not all grown up like they are now. They were nice to me, not like some of the grown ups were. I dreamed about you and Daddy and The Wizard, too.
“The fairy said I would remember the nice things, mostly, but it would all be there, sorta like a book. I didn’t have to be scared any more. I remembered something about bad people coming after me and all of their voices. She told me that they weren’t real. I was sick then but I wasn’t sick any more and that all of you would take care of me. She called me Randi. I asked her why, and she said because that was my name. Then I remembered. Randi was my name, but once I wanted to be called Christine, and then I knew why.
“My old dream came true, and all of you are part of that dream. The Wizard told me you are supposed to find a kitten for me. Maddy said she would help when the time was right.”
“Randi, are you using my computer when I’m not there?” Cindy asked with a bit of a scolding tone.
“Oh no, he talks to me on mine. He’s real friendly, just like that first time I met him before I died. Mommy, he said it was okay for you to tell Cindy what happened.”
“Mo-o-o-ther, exactly what did happen, and why haven’t you told me any of this?” said an exasperated Cindy.
“That was quite a day, wasn’t it? I became a blonde, something I had always sort of wanted to do, although I never expected to become a natural blonde. I hadn’t bargained for these two ‘girls’, though,” she said while lifting her perfect DD breasts, “but I must say I’m not disappointed. Your father certainly isn’t. I also found out that I was going to become a mother again if I agreed to the plan.
“The Wizard set me up. The timing was pretty important, because I had to be ready when Randy died. He explained it to us that afternoon. If I was pregnant when Randy died, they might be able to arrange for Randy to be transferred to me. The thing was, even if Randy’s spirit was transferred, it was so early in the pregnancy that we didn’t know how many of the memories could be saved.
“His Wisdom put us, including himself, into a trance, and the spirit met us like she did before when Cindy was recovering. She said she would do the best she could do to help us. She told Randy not to worry. She didn’t want her to have his old memories for the first years as she grew up. There just wasn’t any reason for it. She needed to have a normal childhood. There was also a chance that the memories could be damaged, lost or that Randi would just never allow them to surface.
“We didn’t tell you any of this Cindy, because it wouldn’t have done any good to have you and Bobbie worrying about it. We also felt that you and Bobbie might try to force things too much. This way, you just let Randi have a normal early childhood. The Wizard knew you would be disappointed in that Randy could not be immediately saved, but he felt it best that we just keep you two out of the loop for a while. I have to agree.
“I see Bobbie coming up the drive. Why don’t you tell her while I clean up this mess?”
The two sisters met Bobbie as she parked her bike at the edge of the driveway. She had played golf that morning with her father and some of his friends. As usual, she trounced them, and she played from the men’s tees. At fifteen, she was a scratch golfer and a member of her high school’s golf team. There had been an uproar about letting a girl play on the boy’s team; however, there was no girl’s team. Besides, she beat all the male members when she tried out.
“Hi, guys; what’s going on?”
“Bobbie, Randi has something to tell you.”
“Randi? Since when has she been Randi?”
“Well, Randi is a nickname for Miranda. She asked me today why I didn’t call her Chrissy like all her friends do. I hadn’t really thought about it much. She just never seemed like a ‘Chrissy’ to me.
“Randi, you tell her.”
“Bobbie, I still think you and Cindy are angels, and I always will.”
“OH, MY, GOD!”
Next: That’s it for this episode. There are several more stories about Cynthia and her friends lurking out there. I think we need to go back a few years, essentially to the period after Randy’s death, and see how Cindy and Bobbie fare as they enter the great adventure of puberty. Cindy and Bobbie should find their powers starting to surface. There is also a question about where Cindy’s powers came from and what the implications are.
Portia