Riding Princess By Maggie O’Malley Chapter One - Waiting On Angels A woman goes to the mall in search of a DEPARTING gift for three special friends and ends up finding a very special one that gives her the ride of her life.

 
Chapter One: Waiting on the Angels
 

Molly sat alone in the food court at the mall. For a Wednesday afternoon there was quite a bit of shopping traffic, but the sullen woman was oblivious to it all. Molly looked down at a cheesy slice of her favorite comfort food and today it offered her no comfort. She pushed it and her diet soda away.

So far her mall hop had been a complete washout. She’d browsed store after store trying to find just the right goodbye gift for her three special friends, but she’d come up empty.

“Maybe it’s just not meant to be”, she thought. Maybe she should just catch the next bus home and then get on with the business at hand.

Checking her shoulder bag, she found her purse, containing among other things her life savings; Muffin, her cherished stuffie; her bus pass; and most importantly, the pills that she hoped would peacefully lead her to the promised land. The journey to the other side would take a giant final leap today but it truly began in earnest the day she was born.

Molly’s parents never knew the healthy baby boy they'd brought home from the hospital was really a baby girl. Yes, she had the all the proper bits and pieces of a boy, but inside that false shell was the heart and soul of a girl.

Molly’s parents had no idea their child was a prisoner in her own body, and raised her as the son she appeared to be. Molly would look in the mirror at the short back and sides she routinely got at the barber shop, the boy's shirt and trousers she was given to wear, and knew without any doubt she had to be the boy her parents dressed her as and told her she was.

Yet in her little heart of hearts, she so wished she could be a little girl with long hair, pretty bows and play dresses. She wanted a favorite dolly, a white canopy bed, and to grow up to be a beautiful princess someday.

From the time she was 5, she had gone to bed each night praying that the angels would come down while she slept and give her a little girl’s body. Each morning when she would wake, she’d keep her eyes closed for as long as she could, because until she saw the same boy’s body she’d gone to sleep with, there was still hope that the angels had come and granted her wish.

Eventually her mother would holler out, "Last call for breakfast!" and she would have to open her eyes. Sighing sadly at the miracle that hadn’t happened, she’d sniffle back tears as she dressed, and each day, a tiny piece of her heart seemed to die.

Molly suffered this slow death silently, save for confiding in just one person: her grandmother, Alice. Alice babysat her weekdays from the time she was 4 up until she was 8. Her grandmother babysat Molly’s cousins from time to time as well, and had plenty of toys for both boys and girls to play with. Being that Molly was there alone most days, she was allowed to choose her favorites, and for the most part she went straight for the dollies, the tea sets and the princess attire.

Alice watched Molly setting up a tea party one day and asked her if she was having fun. Molly answered with a broad smile that said, 'yes' and then quickly added that it was important for her to learn all these things so that she would be ready for when the angels came and fixed her.

When her grandmother inquired further as to why she needed fixing by angels, Molly told her with supreme certainty that the angels would bring the girl’s body that she was supposed to have had when she was born, because God had goofed, and gave her a boy’s one. Obviously then, she needed to know all the girl stuff she could so she’d be ready to step into the princess slippers when the time came.

Alice was deeply touched by granddaughter’s innocence, faith, and sadly, her pain. Without hesitation, she agreed to help Molly learn everything a proper princess needed to know so she would be ready when the angels came; however, for reasons obvious to Alice, if not Molly, it all had to be their special secret.

When Molly asked why. Grandma convinced Molly that her cousins might not believe her story about the angels, and that she shouldn’t tell her parents straight away either. She should just wait until the angels fixed her, and then give them a wonderful surprise. In reality, the older woman knew how cruel children could be with other children who were obviously different, and she also knew neither her daughter nor her son-in-law would be very accepting of the idea either. How such an uptight straight laced woman could have come from two hippie parents, was beyond her, but she knew her daughter would not understand, at least not without a little softening. Molly was so happy at getting proper princess training from her groovy Gran, that she agreed to keep everything secret without complaint.

Over the next three years, Molly spent many long summer days, and afternoons following school, being a little princess in training. She not only dressed and played to her hearts content, all in the safety of her Grandmother’s house, but she also got some practical princess training which included folding laundry, cooking, baking and running around with a feather duster helping her grandmother clean, all the while keeping the secret and holding out hope this would be the night the angels would come.

While Alice secretly trained Molly, she began gently working on her daughter, hoping she could ease her into the notion that Molly was really a girl. Unfortunately, her daughter was struggling with a bad marriage and an even worse job. She just didn’t have the time or energy to hear flights of fancy from her hippie mom, who still thought it was the Summer of Love. The best she’d accomplished for her efforts was to get Molly’s parents to let her hair grow out a bit.

Tragically for all parties, the secret came out just after Molly’s eighth birthday. Molly had just placed her small apple pie in the oven next to her grandmother’s when Alice suddenly turned pale and fell to one knee. She held her heart and tried to speak, but no words came. Molly, bright child that she was, knew exactly what to do and ran to the phone. Ten minutes later an ambulance came and whisked both Molly and grandmother to the hospital.

When Molly’s parents got there, they were informed that Alice’s condition was serious but stable, which offered them some relief; however, when the doctor complimented them on having a very smart and brave daughter, they looked at him in stunned silence. When Molly came round the corner holding hands with a nurse, dressed in full princess attire, they knew exactly why the doctor had drawn that conclusion.

Molly’s grandmother survived the heart attack, but Molly didn’t fare so well. Now that the secret was out, she told them the whole truth. She tried to explain to her parents that she was really a little girl, and her grandmother was helping her to be ready for when the angels came to fix her, but unfortunately for Molly, her parents weren’t interested in her truth. They wouldn’t believe, and they wouldn’t listen to her or Alice, but worst of all, they wouldn’t let her spend any more time over at her grandmother’s. Molly died quite a bit more that day.

It would be a very long time before she ever shared her secret with anyone. Her body would grow into that of teenage boy, but her heart and soul still belonged to the little fairy tale princess who hosted tea parties, baked pies and feather dusted her grandmother’s house.

She was 16, over 11 years waiting for the angels, and feeling like she was going out of her mind. In desperation, she took a leap of faith one late afternoon and poured out her soul and her story to her favorite teacher. Miss O’Hare listened to Molly’s heartbreaking story, her own eyes misting to match her student’s.

Two hours later she sent Molly home with a hug, and a promise to help as best she could. She went straight away to the headmaster and told him she had a student who needed help. When he coldly asked her if Molly was failing her class, and she told him no, he wasted no time in telling her that this issue was not a school problem, and most definitely none of her business. In fact, he forbid her to contact Molly’s parents or anyone else on this issue, saying she was meddling in affairs beyond her scope. He made it quite clear to Miss O’Hare that if she valued her position, she would stick to the subject matter and leave amateur psychology alone.

Frustrated, she was unable to help Molly as much as she wanted to, though she did what she could do inside the confines of the rules, and sometimes, slightly outside them. She continued to talk to Molly after school hours, offering what support she could, and because Miss O’Hare not only taught English Literature but was also the Drama Coach, she convinced Molly to join Drama Club. She tempted Molly with the promise of playing with makeup, and discreetly taking on an occasional girl role when the opportunity arose.

Molly joined the troop immediately and gained valuable experience in applying makeup, but her favorite times where those when she was allowed to play girl parts. Miss O’Hare picked several plays where she knew she would be short at least one girl when it came to casting. Of course this meant one of the boys would have to play a girls part, which Molly was ready, willing and able to do. However, to save what little face she had among the other “boys”, she couldn’t appear too eager.

Miss O’Hare solved that problem by having Molly show up late for class on casting day, knowing that all the parts would be selected save for the one girl part that would require a boy to play it. Molly would then complain just enough before 'begrudgingly' taking the part for the good of the show. Considering how much she truly wanted that part, she was already doing an Academy Award performance.

Molly had small roles as a girl in two productions and was hopeful of getting a much meatier role in a third when word got round to her parents about her in-drag, on-stage performances and she was forced to quit drama immediately and placed in a different English class. A little bit more of her died the day she walked off the stage for the last time. Once again, she was all alone and waiting for those angels to come.

Molly’s grandmother died shortly after her graduation, and her parents decided to move out of state. Molly chose without much hesitation to go into the world on her own. She found a small flat, furnished it as best she could and secured a job as a meter maid to pay for it all. She had to hit the streets in search of tardy meters by six a.m. each morning, which meant she had to be up by 4:30. At 4:31, Molly would have to open her eyes and see that the angels were a no-show once again. As she sniffled back tears and grabbed her uniform out of the wardrobe, a little of more of her died.

Some ten years and lot of tears and tickets later, another door opened for Molly. It had been her day off and with nothing much to do, she’d put on the television. As fortune would have it, she saw a program that would change her life. It was a documentary on people just like Molly. Evidently she was not the only goof the big guy had made. In fact, there was so many mistakes out there that they’d been given a name by the medical profession: transsexuals. And while the man doing the documentary never mentioned any angels coming to fix these poor souls, he did mention medical treatment and surgery.

On Molly’s next day off she went to the library and began research on transsexuals. Now it wasn’t like she was giving up on the angels. She would never do that. It was just that she really needed to find something to make the wait a little easier, something that might help her live just a little bit more like a girl and a little less like a boy, because if she didn’t, she feared she might not be able to stick around this world to wait for the angels.

At the library she learned about something called “Standards of Care” which spelled out the steps she’d have to follow if she wanted to become the best manmade woman medical science had the ability to make her.

Molly began the process known as transition shortly after her 29th birthday, with hopes of having sexual reassignment surgery in her early 30’s (angel intervention not withstanding of course).

It was an amazing odyssey, filled with psychiatrists and endocrinologists, hormones and legal paperwork, but more amazing than the changes going on to Molly’s body and her life, were the lack of changes going on within her body, more aptly at her heart and soul. It had been over 25 years since she’d started her nightly plea to the angels, and despite the fact her body had grown to 6 feet tall, that she had a high school diploma, and was well on her way to womanhood via SRS, she still yearned for the same thing she’d been cheated out of, the same thing she wanted and needed above all else: to be a little girl.

Molly seemed to be sort of a transsexual Peter Pan, and as we know, the best Peter Pan’s were always played by girls. While the other women she met at support groups were waxing poetically over finding romance with a man, having the perfect hour glass figure, being career women and mothers, Molly’s tastes had never changed or grown. Yes, she wanted the love of a man, but only one man and his name was Daddy. Curves didn’t mean that much to her either, she preferred a short straight stretch of road with a pig tails and freckles to compliment it. Career? Olympic Hop Scotch Champion or Professional Hug Monster interested her the most. Mother? Sure, she wanted to be a single mum of a whole brood of stuffed babies and one special dolly.

How did the little girl within her never grow, in nearly thirty years and a whole lot of changes? Maybe it was as a result of psychological trauma. Lord knows she had plenty of that. Maybe it was just a coping mechanism or escapism. She’d had several psychiatrists tell her that. Or … just maybe, that little red-headed five year old within was a stubborn Irish lass who simply refused to give up or grow up until she had the body, the life and the love she felt entitled to. Whatever the reason, the result was that while living as a woman was far and away better than living as a man, it was still only half way home. She still made the same nightly plea to the angels and she still cried each morning when she found it had gone unanswered.

Molly had her SRS at age 33, and life continued on, a little more comfortably for her in some areas, and much less in others. The worst of it came for her on the job. No one likes a meter maid, but being transsexual and a meter maid is an abomination of a combination, and poor Molly became the most hated officer on the force. Most of the time she handed out the tickets and took the abuse quietly, but there were other times when the frustrations of being transsexual and a little girl overwhelmed in adult’s life and body, combined with her Irish temper and set off some real fireworks.

Molly often referred to those times as, “when the Evil Beast was loose”. She hated the Evil Beast. She hated her dark side that came out with such fire, anger and vengeance. It was seemingly incompatible with the soft and cuddly little girl, and Molly feared that one day the Evil Beast might consume her. Then of course there was the aftershock from an Evil Beast appearance. Once the anger had subsided, Molly was left with shame, remorse, and usually, a very sick stomach. Nothing good could ever come from the Evil Beast, Molly thought, but one day it proved her wrong.

It was after one of those colorful displays with an irate motorist that she sought sanctuary in her favorite place: the library. She got online and started surfing, hoping this would ease the aftershock of the latest blast. She had just started to calm down when she found something that really caught her eye. It was a site for transsexual literature. Normally she passed by those by without a click, as they were often pornographic in nature, but there was something about this one that called to her: two cute little ladybugs hugging each other.

When she explored this place sweetly known as Hugglebugs, she realized she’d found something special. It was full of wonderful, soft, sweet and sentimental stories, quite a few of which, had magical Hugglebugs transforming adult men and women into little girls. Molly’s heart skipped a beat at the chance of finding magical nanites that would have her skipping rope.

After she read nearly every story she could find there, she found a link to a chatroom. Like the story sites she’d often bypassed, she'd normally bypassed the chatrooms, too. Her few experiences there hadn’t gone too well, as she’d been quite often chatted up by perverts, hate-mongers and those trying to fulfill their she-male fantasies.

Still, somehow feeling a sweet site like Hugglebugs couldn’t lead her into a dark place, she followed the link and her heart. She was not disappointed.

She found a chatroom with a giant pink fluffy couch and loads of warm and welcoming people there. She was greeted with hugs and words of encouragement. It was actually an author’s chatroom, but all were welcome there, and soon she met loads of wonderful people who instantly accepted her for who she truly was, including the little girl still waiting on her angel delivery.

This place that love seemed to have built, became an oasis from the outside world for Molly. After a long day on the streets writing tickets in the freezing cold and catching the slings and arrows of irate motorists, she could come home, fix a nice hot cuppa and then come to the chatroom. There she left the outside world and that badly fitting body of hers behind. She slipped into a life and a body that she’d been dreaming of for so long.

Her friends there easily accepted the bouncy little five year old who jumped from lap to lap, giving and taking hugs. Yes, they knew by day that same little girl went out into the world as a tall, lanky, thirty something meter maid, with Irish red hair and the attitude to match. Most of the souls there lived the same kind of double life as Molly did. They accepted what they had to do in the outside world and then embraced what they could do on the inside one they’d created.

This place and the wonderful people who visited there, really lifted Molly’s spirits, and helped bring joy and life to little Molly. No, playing in the chatroom and getting cyber hugs from friends often half a world away, wasn’t quite the same as playing in a real park or getting lifted up for real hugs, but the joy and the love she felt was real, every bit as real as the friends who shared it with her.

While she met loads of wonderful people and made many loving friends, there were three that occupied a very special place in her heart. Within this extended chatroom family, she found her very own family, the one, save for her grandmother, that she’d never had as a child and that she hoped would be included free of charge when the angels finally delivered her new body.

Considering the quality control people in heaven were clearly at fault for her condition, and that she had been waiting for nearly thirty years now, it seemed only just and reasonable that the big guy should give her a set of proper parents, and maybe throw in a big sister, too. It was the least he could do for all her pain and suffering.

While in the chatroom, she found the perfect people to fill those positions and she loved them every bit the same as she could any family that the angels would provide.

She found her mother first and somehow that just seemed fitting. Jennifer, or Aussie Jen as many of her friends called her, lived in, as you could guess, Australia. She was a beautiful women in her early forties, tanned and athletically built with long dark red hair, a soft sweet voice, and a smile that could melt men’s hearts. She was a strong, independent professional woman, who played tennis with a vengeance, but could be easily felled by a good romance novel, a tall handsome man, or most of all by a small child in need of a hug.

Jennifer, although no one would ever believe it to look at her, had been delivered to this world in a factory mismarked package just like Molly, and she too had been a little girl praying for the angels to recall her bad body and bring her a proper one. Jennifer however, was much more aware of her situation at an early age than Molly was. She didn’t just wish she was a girl, she knew despite what her mirror reflection said, she was a girl, and she wasn’t the type to wait on angels. She found those same Standards of Care that Molly did, only at a much younger age, and went after transition like she did a first serve ace. She had SRS at 20, built a good life for herself, and by 30 she had almost everything she could want, except the two things she needed most: the right man to love and complete the woman, and a child to love and fill that place in her heart that only a child could fill. In the chatroom, she found both.

First, she found the man of her romantic dreams. His name was Alex. He was a tall, dark and handsome Greek, and as beautiful as any God who ever stepped down from Olympus or graced the cover of a Harlequin romance novel. And yet, for as beautiful as he was outside, he was even more so inside. He was a kind, gentle, happy soul, with a great love and respect for life in all its forms. Like most Greeks, he loved the sea, good food and good wine. He also loved music with a passion, and he taught it that way to aspiring young artists. His life had been pretty good, and while never having to face it looking out from a body in the wrong gender, he did have great empathy and respect for those who did.

That empathy led him to the chatroom and eventually connected him with Jennifer. They spent long hours talking and getting to know each other, although it seemed as though they’d known each other all their lives. Soon, they’d filled the emptiness in each others lives that only a soul mate could, but each still had a small place open and waiting, waiting for a child to fulfill it and complete the circle.

Molly slipped into that spot as easy as she did a lap for hugs. In no time at all they became a cyber family, with very real love for each other. And while their time together was often stolen moments when Molly’s American breakfast, Alex’s Greek lunch and Jennifer’s Australian dinner hour brought them together for a meal, it was pure gold for all of them, and the joy and love they each took from it when they logged off and returned to their worlds sustained them for yet another day.

And then along came Ally, the last to join the family, but without a doubt, Molly’s older sister. Ally was a true English beauty in all worlds, but in the one known as “reality”, she shared Molly and Cindy’s transgender curse.

When she was fourteen, she found her womanhood and her soul mate. Her life was filled with joy and love and hope for the future, but then "reality" who'd already cruelly denied her the proper body and a loving family, dealt her a near death blow when it took her womanhood and her soul mate from her in a single stroke.

For twenty-five years she'd suffered in silence as she lived a lie and wandered the darkness before embracing her true destiny once again. Now she was 39, and living as a very loving, intelligent, and beautiful woman, who daily challenged young minds at the secondary school to reach for their dreams. She loves her life now just as she does the beautiful English countryside, but not a day goes by that she doesn't shed tears for "Pippa", the fourteen-year-old girl she once was, and for the boy and the future she was denied so long ago.

In many ways, Ally was a bit like Molly, for within this mature woman was the heart and soul of that fourteen year old girl on the verge of womanhood. She still longed for her days at secondary school, only this time on the student’s side of the teacher's desk. She dreamed of having loving parents, a pesky little sister, and to once again be held in the loving embrace of a tall blonde rose-bearing god by the name of Andy.

Molly latched onto Ally, crawling in to her bed at night for a cuddle and leaving cyber biscuit crumbs from her snacks in bed. Ally loved the little hug monster and would often sit at the keys taking Molly on long journeys that traversed both time and English countryside and usually had at least one ride on a dragon’s tail. It wasn’t long before the circle opened up enough to let Ally in and now the family of four was truly complete.

And while those from the outside world looking in might say that the only thing these four really shared was an internet connection and a cyber fantasy, they wouldn’t be seeing the whole reality. Yes, the hugs and the scenes they painted were symbols and words on a screen, but the love and the joy that came from them was as a real as any they would have shared in the outside world. All of the emotions, the wants, the desires, and the needs were real because those four people at the keyboards were real.

Of course, they wished they weren’t separated by miles, oceans and time zones. Nothing would have made them happier than to truly be together and live together as the family they were in their hearts and online, but it just wasn’t possible, so they each shared what they could, cherished it and made the most of it.

It really wasn’t enough for any of them, but Alex, Jennifer and Ally seemed to maintain the balance between the two worlds. Each was sad when they logged off and “left home”, but they went out into the real world and functioned until once again until they could return to their family. Molly however, didn’t seem to fare so well. The goodbyes were always the hardest for her, and quite often after logging off, she would sit on her bed, clutching her favorite stuffie, rocking and crying for quite some time before she could pull herself together to join the outside world.

Perhaps Molly struggled the most when it came to balancing the two worlds, because in both worlds she was the youngest. The child within her reacted very much like any five year old would when separated from her family and left all alone.

Perhaps it was that Molly just needed more than the others. It did seem as though she could never get enough hugs, or perhaps it was that stubborn little Irish girl, who after having a taste of the love and life she always wanted, refused to go quietly back into the night. Whatever the reason, Molly suffered terrible post chat depression and it deeply concerned her family.

Alex and Jennifer did their best to comfort Molly by telling her to think of their time apart as if she were going off to school or daycare. Ally taught her how to visualize pretty pictures of them all together, when it was impossible for them to be together. Molly took all their suggestions to heart, but each time she logged off, the real world got just a little harder to survive in, and a little more of her died.

Today started off like every other day for Molly. She woke early, kept her eyes closed until the snooze alarm went off and then opened them to find the angels had been a no-show once again. Sighing heavily, she sniffled back tears and then shuffled over to the computer. She hit the power button and then put the kettle on for tea.

There was one good thing about today. It was Wednesday and that meant Molly didn’t have to don her meter maid uniform and be the wicked witch of the Westside. It also meant she could have a long and leisure breakfast with her daddy Alex and her big sister Ally. Mommy Jen rarely made the breakfast club during weekdays. She normally caught up with Molly for dinner.

Molly was sipping her hot cup of tea and impatiently waiting for the computerized magic carpet ride to the chatroom, when she noted the flickering of buttons on her modem. Seconds later she got the dreaded message saying that no internet connection was available. No doubt the server was down yet again.

Molly tried to reconnect again and again over the next twenty minutes but hit the same brick wall every time. It was terribly frustrating, but not anything she hadn’t experienced before. She was pretty sure that her daddy and big sister knew what had happened and why she wasn’t there for breakfast.

With nothing else to do, Molly sat on her bed and looked around her tiny flat and the life she lived. She saw the meter maid uniform hanging neatly on the rack, waiting for her to hit the streets and face the hate tomorrow. She looked at the computer, her currently broken life line to love and sanity. The flashing internet connection seemed to tease her by offering half a dream, by taking her so close to being home, and yet still outside the reach of those who loved her. She would never get closer. She would never actually meet her family in the outside world. She could barely afford her flat rent. How could she ever afford a plane ticket to England, Greece or Australia? And if she did, what then? Who would her family greet at the airport? It certainly wouldn’t be a bouncy little five year old who would pounce into their open arms. And even if they could accept her physical image and still love her, she couldn’t stay with them. In a very short while she’d have to return to her empty flat once again.

Molly stood up and walked to the mirror and looked at the body that hormones and surgery had done their best to alter. It was an improvement over the original factory defect, but still it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough. Nothing but an angelic make-over was going to make things right.

From there she walked over to the window and looked out on the world. Tears fell from her eyes as she faced it and the cold reality of it. She was tired of waiting for angels that had been standing her up for over thirty years. She was tired of cyber hugs and faulty internet connections. She was tired of a mirror reflection that truly wasn’t her own. She was tired of tickets, tears, and the terrible loneliness. And most of all, she was tired of dying one day at a time.

Wiping fallen tears from her face, she went over to her dresser and opened the top drawer. There nestled among her warm wooly socks was deliverance in the form of a pill bottle. She’d secured those long ago from another officer who dealt in drugs as a sideline. They were a guaranteed one way ticket to the promised land, or so she had been promised.

Molly sat at the computer, placing the pill bottle at her side and opening her word processor. Thank goodness she didn’t need the internet to do that. Selecting the file listed only as “Escape”, three letters immediately appeared on the screen. She had no letter for her biological parents. In their eyes, she had died the day she decided to live as a woman.

Molly was glad she'd had the presence of mind to write these goodbye letters some time ago, just as she had to purchase the pills. She had hoped the angels would come and that she would never have need of either, but today she’d finally run out of hope and time.

Looking over the letters, she noted everything seemed in order. She’d done her best to say she was sorry for leaving them like this, and to assure them that there was nothing they could have done that would have prevented her exit. She begged their forgiveness for any pain and sadness her early departure caused them, and she closed with the hope that the memories of the love and happiness they had shared would not be tarnished or lost by this last one she would leave them with. She hoped they would understand that she never meant to hurt them, she just wanted to stop hurting. She didn’t spend a lot of time telling them how much she loved them. She was confident they already knew that.

Molly printed off the letters, and then folding them neatly, placing each one its own envelope. Molly sat the letters on her desk and took a sip of her now lukewarm tea. She sat down on the bed and held the cup with both hands.

“What to do next?”, she thought. She’d never really planned it out past printing off the letters. At that point she’d always gotten so depressed that she ran to the computer and the safety of the chatroom where at least one of her friends were there. They would “talk her down” and then stay with her until the darkness passed. This time, however, was different. She was sad, but yet strangely calm and felt no desire to run to the computer or to run anywhere for that matter. Still, she wanted to be sure she’d done everything she wanted or needed to do before taking the final step.

She looked round the room at her worldly possessions, and saw nothing save for her stuffed cat,“Muffin” who had any real meaning to her whatsoever. She couldn’t very well leave Muffin all alone.

She knew she had to send Muffin home, even if she couldn’t go there herself, so she grabbed a small mailing box out of the wardrobe and prepared to send her cherished fluffy on a trip of her own.

Of course the trouble with this plan was that home was scattered between England, Greece and Australia. After some deliberation, it seemed the logical choice was Greece. Jennifer had hopes of one day moving to Greece to be with her beloved Alex, and England wasn’t really so far away that Ally couldn’t hop over for at least a visit.

Molly held Muffin once last time, kissed her, and then placed her in the bottom of the box. She started packing her transport with tissue paper, smiling sadly at her best friend who would be taking a long trip all alone and then suddenly she had an idea, a really wonderful idea.

"A gift!” she thought. She knew it was more traditional for those staying behind to give a parting gift to those leaving, but considering where Molly was about to go, if there were to be any gift giving, she’d have to be the one to do it.

The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea. If she could find a really nice gift for her family, then the last thing she would be giving them didn’t have to be bad news in the form of letter. She could give them something special to remember her by that could be with them long after she was gone. It would be a solid symbol of the love they’d only been able to share in cyberspace.

Molly went to her purse and checked her finances. Her life savings were less than a hundred dollars, most of which had been promised to the landlord for her flat rent, but that was now no longer a concern for her. What was a concern was finding the perfect gift for each of them, or one gift for all of them.

Molly put the kettle on for a second cuppa and chance to sort out this very important issue. By the time the kettle was singing she’d already found her answers. With her meager finances, it would be easier to buy one special gift than three, and there was a hidden bonus to buying only one. It would force the three people she loved who wanted to be together, to come together if they wanted to enjoy it.

Molly sipped her tea and smiled as she thought, “They often say something good can come from something bad”.

She couldn’t think of anything better to come from such a terrible thing that she was about to do, than for her family to come together and enjoy a special gift she’d left them.

As for where she’d find this special gift, that was an easy one: the mall. Even though she had no idea what that special present would be, surely somewhere on those three floors of shopping paradise she could find it. Finally, everything was in order.

Molly rose from her bed with a cool resolution that came from knowing that the next time she lay down to sleep, it would be her last. Never again would she have to deal with the pain of awakening to another morning where her dream didn't come true. Never again would she have to deal with the heartache and envy of watching a little girl playing at the playground, and knowing that she'll never get the chance to do the same. Never again, would the meter maid fear unleashing the anger and frustration of a lifetime on some irate motorist only protesting a ticket. The Evil Beast’s reign of terror ended here! It all ended here!

Molly strode confidently over to her closet and picked out her best summer skirt and blouse. It was going to be her last mall hop, and she was going to go out in style, literally. Heading next to the bathroom, she emerged thirty minutes later with face fixed, and hair styled as good as it was going to get.

Molly nodded, closed her shoulder bag, then briefly reviewed her itinerary. She would go the mall, find the gift, mail it from the post office, return home and then take the pills. Satisfied, that even a toddler could get this simple plan right, she closed the door to her flat behind her.

Molly stood there a moment and asked herself one last question. “Why today? What was really so different about today that it made her give up and chose death?”

Her answer came fast and easy and pretty much said it all. “Nothing, there was absolutely nothing different about this day, except she no longer had the faith to believe tomorrow would be any better.” Even the faith of a child has limits, and she’d reached hers. The angels weren’t coming, so she was leaving. End of discussion. Dropping her keys in her shoulder bag and taking a final look at her bus schedule, she headed off to catch the next one heading up town.

For once, the bus was right on time, and thirty minutes later, Molly was standing at the gateway to a shopper's paradise. Molly stepped confidently into the artificially air cooled market place, but with each step she took, her resolve began to wilt like a delicate flower in the high heat and humidity she'd just left behind.

Being a Wednesday, she'd expected to find a near deserted mall, but she'd forgotten school was out for the summer and the mall was loaded with teenage girls babysitting little sisters who tagged after them. All Molly could do was think of her and Ally. Molly's heart and her step quickened as she turned one corner and saw a young couple with a little girl. The little princess skipped along happily with her parents, constantly pointing were to all the wide-eyed mall wonders she found.

Molly watched the trio, lowering her eyes as she passed and then suddenly she felt compelled to turn and take a final look. Giving in to her impulse, she turned to find the little girl smiling at her. Molly felt tears well in her eyes as she returned the little one's smile with one of her own. This seemed to please the small child to no end, as her smile widened and then her tiny fingers wiggled a wave at Molly. Molly returned the wave but her toddler soul sister never saw it as her father scooped her up and whisked away toward the ice cream parlor.

Shaken, but undaunted, Molly tried to clear her head and concentrate on the objective at hand, however brief forays into several shops brought her no closer to finding the perfect gift, and each new corridor she explored had scenes similar to the one she'd found earlier.

After over an hour of fruitless forays, she thought perhaps a brief break might be in order, so she headed over to the food court for what she was sure would be her last meal. Without any indecision, she immediately went over to the pizza shop and picked up a couple slices of her favorite pie and a diet soda to wash it down with; however, mozzarella held no magic for her today.

Frustration and doubt began to rise within her as soon as she sat down with her tray. Just a few hours ago, she had been so sure, so strong, and so confident, and now she was on the verge of tears. A part of her wanted to run home and go to the chatroom. Someone would be there, someone was always there, and they would stay with her until her mommy, daddy or big sister could come on. Once one of them were there, they would calm her down, promise her it would all be better soon and then send her off to bed, but then there was the other part of her, the part of her who had bought the pills, wrote the letters, and just wanted to end the pain.

"Damn it Molly, we've come too far to turn back now!" she muttered under her breath.

"For once in your miserable life, show some courage.” she chastised herself. "If you can't find it within you to live, then at least find it to die."

Molly pushed herself back from the table, and took a deep breath to regain her composure. She would not run to safety of the chatroom this time and she wasn’t going to leave this mall until she’d found the gift she’d come to get.

Dumping the contents of her tray into the rubbish bin, she started out once again, more determined than ever to accomplish her mall mission and return home for the last time.

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To be continued...

Riding Princess By Maggie O’Malley Chapter Three - Going Home A woman goes to the mall in search of a DEPARTING gift for three special friends and ends up finding a very special one that gives her the ride of her life.

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Chapter Three: Going Home
 
Molly stood dumbfounded as the Wizard's words began to sink in. If she understood him correctly, he was only offering her and her chatroom family everything they ever wanted. Helplessly, she looked over at the Wizard, who heard her unspoken thoughts and nodded to confirm them. Molly returned his smile, then promptly fainted on the spot.

The Wizard moved surprisingly fast for a man of his apparent age , catching her inches from the ground. He sighed and shook his head, thinking, ‘I’ve had too much practice at this.’

When Molly came round she found herself sitting in a soft chair by the counter. The Wizard handed her a glass of water and she took a tiny sip. Meekly, she thanked him, blushing crimson in embarrassment at having done a swan dive to the floor.

The Wizard smiled knowingly. as if to say, "these things happen." Then he directed her attention to the counter top where her globe was waiting patiently for her.

"Molly", he started, "I meant what I said before you took your brief holiday from the land of the living, so to speak. This globe WILL make your dreams come true, and it's yours for a price."

Molly's heart sank at the word “price”. She had almost believed in this kindly wizard and the magic he promised, but now his devil horns were showing. She should have known better. She had fallen for the oldest trick in the sales game: dangle irresistible bait in front of the sucker, and then when they can’t help but go for it, WHAM! You set the hook and make them pay through the nose. Boy, had she been an easy catch.
She’d allowed herself to get caught up in a world of kindly old wizards and magic globes. Unfortunately, she’d forgotten this is the real world, where fairy tales don't come true, and everything has a price. She could only imagine the price tag on her dream. Best case scenario; it would cost her immortal soul! She’d seen enough Twilight Zones to know it always ends up costing you your immortal soul and then it never turns out the way you hoped, anyway. Worst case scenario; Jennifer’s, Alex’s, and Allie’s souls would be lost as well. Oh, wouldn’t that make it a banner sales day for the Devil!.

As Molly chastised herself for being stupid and naíve enough to fall for this devil in a blue bath robe, her frustration rose, and her “Evil Beast” peeked out. "Listen sir, I don't know what your price is, but I can only imagine. Well you can stop your pitch right now. Yes, I want it. I want it with all my heart. Yes, I’d pay a fortune for it, but if you know me as well as you seem to, then you know I barely make the flat rent each month. And if it's my soul you wish, well you’ve reached a dry well, because I've already mortgaged it to the devil three times over! And finally I’ll tell you one more thing. It’s damn cruel to tease people by offering them their dreams, knowing full well they can’t afford to buy them!”

Molly was trembling and on the verge of tears. She knew she needed to leave before she gave him the satisfaction of watching her cry. “Now sir, if you'll just show me the exit, I won’t waste any more of your time."

The Wizard stared at the tall woman with little girl tears threatening to come from her fiery Irish fire eyes. He shook his head, then sighed. “Now child there’s no need to get your Irish up. I assure you the price I ask is not a fortune. Trust me, the last thing I need is a rise to a higher tax bracket. And as for that whole immortal soul thing, you really have been watching too many Twilight Zones. I mean … think about it! What in the world am I going to do with a soul?”

The Wizard pointed toward a small box sitting in the corner. “Why I’d stand a better chance of unloading those 8-track Disco tapes than I would selling a used soul.”

He punctuated that statement with a disco move straight out of Saturday Night Fever, which had Molly giggling at the John Travolta wannabe in a blue robe. The Wizard winked, knowing he’d put the Evil Beast on the back foot, and hopefully, renewed the girl’s faith in friendly wizards and affordable miracles.

The Wizard scratched his head. “You know, Molly … come to think of it, you’re the third person this week that thought I was in the used soul market. I’ve just got to find a better way to phrase that, because in all honesty Molly, when I said price, I simply meant guineas and shillings and not a Queen’s ransom either.”

“11s? You mean like in pigs? You want guinea pigs?”, Molly said in wide-eyed disbelief.

“Ooops!” The Wizard chuckled, “Sorry about that, just got back recently from 17th century England and I’m still struggling with the currency shift. What I meant to say by price was, simply a very fair amount in dollars and cents. Taxes included, and let me make this perfectly clear: souls definitely not!”

Molly dropped her head in shame. ‘Damn that Irish temper-fed Evil Beast. Here this man, this Wizard, has shown me nothing but kindness since the moment he helped me off the floor, and because of one little five letter word: price, I was ready to fit him for a pitchfork and pointed ears.’

Swallowing her pride, she lifted her gaze from the floor to meet his. "I do believe you. Honest I do. And … and I ... I'm really sorry about what I said, but ... It's just well … that I thought ... and well, it's just all so unbelievable ...and well, fairy tales just don't ..."

The Wizard raised his hand, silencing Molly before she dug herself in any deeper. "I know ... I know child ... but let's just forget about that and get down to business, shall we?”

When Molly nodded, the Wizard reached into his pocket and pulled out a small notebook. Molly watched closely as he turned the pages. “Yes…there it is: Carousel Magic Wish Globe. Price including all taxes and charges is… $79.45: a very fair price, if I say so myself. So my dear little one, have we a deal?”

Molly’s answer was to remove her shoulder bag from her shoulder, dumping the entire contents on the counter. Cosmetics, dollars, change, chewing gum, a large fluffy stuffie and a dozen other items spewed forth. The Wizard rolled his eyes and smiled, the look on his face saying, "Women and their bags."

Molly frantically began collecting her money, praying she still had enough left. Her eyes spied the sleeping pill bottle she was carrying, and without looking up at the Wizard, she quickly palmed her original exit plan and quietly placed back in the shoulder bag.

Her heart pounded and her fingers trembled as she dug through the debris collecting each stray coin. She said a silent prayer as she tallied it up and then … happy tears welled, as her sum total worth was exactly $79.45. Somehow, that just seemed to make perfect "cents" to her and she shoved the pile over in front of the Wizard.

When the Wizard pushed the globe toward her, she started to reach for it then suddenly stopped. Her eyes went to the Wizard's. He felt her fear and heard her unspoken questions, answering her before she could voice them. "Molly, I promise you, this will work. The family you see in the globe is the same one that exists in the chatroom, and will soon exist in the real world. Everything there will to come to pass, I guarantee it."

With those words he pointed toward the sign. Once again its message had changed. "Satisfaction guaranteed or your $79.45 back."

Molly’s smile threatened to split her face as she hugged the Wizard tightly, tears of joy leaking from her eyes.

The Wizard sighed and shook his head. He really wished they wouldn't cry, but ... it goes with the job.

Molly put her bag on her shoulder, then gently picked up the globe, cradling it in her arms. She looked lovingly at the Wizard who wasn't just saving her existence, but was offering LIFE to her and her family. "How ... how can I ever thank you?" she begged.

"Just go home and be the little girl you were meant to be and that will be thanks enough."

Molly leaned over and kissed the Wizard and promised she would do her very best.

The Wizard smiled, pointing her toward what she'd been looking for all along: the exit. "This is the way out Molly, and I promise you it’s far better than the one you were contemplating with those pills."

Molly lowered her head, feeling shameful for even considering the cowards way out. Finally gaining her courage, she raised her eyes to meet the all-knowing wizard’s and silently nodded her agreement.

Slowly she turned and walked toward the door but then stopped as she grabbed its handle. Turning back around, she had one final question. "I forgot to ask you something. How ... how is this going to work? I mean, what do I have to do?"

The Wizard chuckled and shook his head. "I already told you child. Just go home. Take your globe and GO HOME. The magic will take care of the rest."

Molly smiled at the Wizard and opened the door. The shopkeeper’s bell chimed again, as it had at the back door. She looked up at it and hesitated a second before turning back to face the Wizard.

She just couldn’t leave without properly pouncing this man who’d given her life back to her. ’No,’ she thought. ’He hasn’t just given me back my life. He’s giving me and my family the life we’ve always dreamed of.’

Setting the globe down carefully as she went past the counter, the Kitten ran toward the usually all-knowing wizard. His eyes went wide in surprise as she gave him a flying Kitten pounce that nearly sent them both to the floor. The Wizard gladly accepted the additional payment before gently shooing Molly out.

"Go on Kitten, go home! Your parent's and your sister are looking for you. Now scoot!”

The little girl within giggled as Molly blew the Wizard a kiss, carefully cradled the globe once more and started out the door. “Oh Molly…one last thing. There really are angels, you know and they hadn’t forgotten you. Who do you think filled me in on your situation?”

Molly grinned ear to ear. Her faith in angels, magic and happy endings had all been renewed. Blowing the Wizard a kiss, she stepped through the door and once again found herself in a crowded mall corridor. Before she could leave, she had to take one final look back and when she did she found out what the US she had seen earlier stood for. It wasn't United States at all, but simply the "US" on the end of store’s proper name: SPELLS 'R' US. She giggled again, as the name surely fit this magical place.

She lovingly rubbed the magic globe, then did as the Wizard directed. She headed for home. She never again looked back as she headed into the swarming crowd. If she had, she would have found that her magic store had now been replaced by a Starbuck's Coffee, making it the fourth one in the mall.

Molly squeezed through the crowd looking for an anchor store or familiar place to find her bearings, but it was if she had stepped into a different mall, as nothing was where she thought it should be. Attributing it to her obvious excitement, and the fact mall stores change constantly, she pushed on, sure she would find a familiar store or at least a mall exit somewhere.

By the time she had rounded several more corners, she felt no closer to her objective. Her frustration and anxiety began to rise, as she felt the swelling crowd seem to grow around her. Just as panic was beginning to set in, she first heard and then saw a familiar sight. The crowd momentarily parted like the Red Sea and there just a short distance ahead of her was the carousel she'd seen earlier. Its sweet sound was music to Molly's ears and she let out a relieved sigh. From the carousel it was just a short distance to the exit and finally home.

Smiling at her mall oasis, she headed toward it with renewed vigor, but suddenly it was de ja vu, as the crowd closed back in on her, and she felt someone once again bounce into her. This time she didn't see who, but the damage was far more costly, as her arm had been hit, and her precious globe tumbled from her hands. Molly screamed, "NOOOOO!" as she made a last gasp effort to recapture it, but it eluded her fingers and hit the tile floor.

The glass smashed on contact; splintering the wood base and emptying its contents before the horrified woman. Molly fell to the floor, the pain of broken glass on her hands and knees couldn’t compare to the shattered dream that lay before her. She had been given the chance of a lifetime, and she'd let it slip through her fingers, literally.

Looking through the mess that had once been magic, she picked up the little girl who would have been her and cradled the figurine to her breast. She began rocking and crying. The lights and sounds of the carousel became a blur and finally faded all together as the woman's world went black.

An overly excited five year old wove her way through the carousel's wooden steeds, dragging her parents along behind her. She had to find her special horse. She had known it was her special horse the moment she first saw it, and she just had to get there first before some other kid did. Her cherished mount was white, with blonde hair and a green saddle that matched her eyes.

When Molly saw her, she knew this horse had to be hers because she was just like Molly. The horse was smaller than most of the others, and so was Molly. The little girl was barely five, and small in size even for that. Molly had her own thick mane to match the horses; only hers was auburn and had a bit more curl in it. Molly had the horse’s emerald green eyes, same as her mum and sis, and they were both dressed beautifully. The horse had her pretty saddle, while Molly had her special green dress that mommy let her wear only when she was doing something where she couldn't get it dirty, and for Molly that wasn't often. It was Molly's favorite fancy dress. She loved the white collar trimmed in pink, the lace on the hem and sleeves, and the bow tied in the back. She loved the white leggings, and the shiny black shoes that her big sister Ally called "Mary Jane’s", but most of all, she liked the way her daddy smiled at her when she wore it and how he would say that she was going to grow up to be just as pretty as her mommy and her big sister, because with all her heart she wanted to be just like them.

She squealed and jumped up and down as she saw "Princess". (Her personal pony had whispered her name to Molly in words only a child could hear.) Her magical mount was available and waiting for her, if only she could get there first. She was tempted to let go off mommy's hand and just run the last few feet as mommy was taking too long and so was daddy, but after what had happened earlier, she wasn't about to let go of either one of them any time soon.

Her thoughts turned to just a short while ago. She hadn't meant to get lost, anymore than she had meant to run into the tall lady. It was just that she was so excited when she saw the carousel, and she wasn't watching where she was going. Mommy said they couldn't stop for a carousel ride right now, but maybe later if she was good. They had to meet Ally and Daddy at the food court. She should have stayed closer to mommy but she was looking back to see the pretty horses and that’s when she saw Princess.

She only stopped a minute to see her, only a minute, but when she turned back around Mommy had disappeared into the crowd. She screamed for Mommy but she didn't answer, so she tried to run and find her, and that's when it happened.

She ran right into the tall lady carrying the glass pretty in her hands. The glass pretty fell and the lady tried to catch it, but she couldn't, and it busted all over the floor. It must have been real special to her because she fell down, too, and started crying.

Molly knew it was all her fault that the pretty was broke and her mommy and daddy had always told her to say she was sorry when something is “all your fault”. She tried to run back over to where the lady was, but the crowd got her and swept her away. By the time it turned her loose, she couldn't find the lady, she couldn't find her mommy, and she couldn't even find Princess or the carousel.

She got really scared then and started walking down the corridors trying to find mommy, daddy or Ally, but she couldn't find them anywhere. The more she walked, the more frightened and frustrated she got, and the tears started to come.

Finally, when she could walk no more, she found a bench . She climbed up on it and started rocking. The thought of never seeing her family or her home again was just too much and she began sobbing.

That's when the tall boy came and sat down next to her. Molly rubbed her eyes and looked at him. He smiled at her and asked if she was lost. Mommy and Daddy said she was never ever supposed to talk to somebody she didn't know, but for some reason she wasn't afraid of this boy. He had pretty yellow hair, and blue eyes and a smile just like her Daddy's. She knew he just couldn't be a bad boy.

She told him she was lost a whole lot. The tall boy said he would help her find her parents and then he asked her name. Molly sniffled back tears and told him her name was Molly, but sometimes they call her Kitten. The boy smiled and said, "Hello, Molly the Kitten. Glad to meet you. I'm Andy."

Andy asked her if she was ready to go and Molly nodded as she opened her arms to him. He gathered her up and then asked her if she could remember the last place she'd seen her parents.

Molly nodded, and said she lost her mommy at the carousel but didn't know how to get back there. Andy winked and said he knew how to get to the carousel, and they would go there first. If they couldn't find her there, they could go to the place where lost kids go and wait until their parents find them again.

Molly didn’t like the thought of being a "lost kid" and squeezed Andy’s hand tightly as he picked her up. He held her close and told her not to worry. He promised they would find her parents and he would stay right with her until they did.

Molly liked riding in Andy's arms. He was almost as tall as Daddy, and they could move really fast and she could see so far. In no time at all she heard the pretty carousel music and then she saw her Princess bobbing up and down. She smiled when she saw her horse, but then she screamed and squealed when saw something far more precious.

There in front of the carousel was an auburn haired teen princess talking to the old man who ran the ride. Molly screamed, "Ally" as loud as she could. Her big sister looked up, screamed "Molly!" then tore through the crowd that separated them. When she reached the pair, she pulled Molly from Andy's arms and held her close as she rocked her. At first there were no words from either, only tears.

Ally checked to be sure Molly was all right, then told her half the mall and the National Guard were probably out looking for her by now. All Molly could do was say she was sorry, and that she didn't mean to be bad. She never MEANT to be bad, it just always sort of happened.

Ally told her it was all right and kissed her forehead. Her big sister never really got mad at her, not even when she used all of Ally's make up to paint pictures with, or for all the junk she kept hiding in her big sister's bed, like the custard, and the toothpaste, and the sand, and even the moldy pizza. No matter how many times Molly messed up, Ally always forgave her and always let her snuggle in her bed when the scaries tried to get her.

After the kiss, Ally took out her mobile and called her parents to let them know that the "Kitten" was found, safe and sound. She told them they were at the carousel and would wait there for them. It was then that Ally finally turned to thank the stranger who'd found her little sister.

Molly's new friend smiled at Ally as he had Molly earlier, but this smile seem to have just a bit more excitement in it. "Hi! I'm Andy."

Ally smiled back at him, but didn’t respond. Molly noticed Ally’s face had turned red, and she had this really silly look. Molly poked her big sister and asked her innocently , "What's madder Ally, how comes you is actin all funny and not sayin nuttin? Dont's you likes Andy or sometin?"

Ally shouted, "MOLLY!", as her face turned even redder. Finally she looked up at the still smiling tall boy and suddenly went from speechless to chat cat. "Hi, ummm ... I'm Alysson, but most people call me Ally ... of course I guess you already kinda know my name is Ally, since you heard Molly call me Ally right? Yeah, right … duh! So .... ummm ... thanks for finding Molly and I'm sure my parent's are gonna want to thank you and stuff so ... I'd really like ... I mean ... I'm sure my parents would like you to stick around until they get here. You know ... if you can ... and don't have some place else or some one else to go see?"

Andy smiled, waited to make sure she was finally finished and said he'd love to stay, as he had no place else to go, and definitely no one else to see. Ally smiled, Andy smiled more and Molly just shook her head and giggled.

Andy suggested they sit on a nearby bench and wait for Ally's parents. Molly was restless, so Ally used her big sister magic to settle her down. Pulling out her brush from her bag, she undid Molly's pigtails that needed to be reset anyway, and began brushing her hair. Molly sat in Ally's lap, purring like any kitten does when she is brushed and paying very little attention to the conversation going on between Ally and Andy.

Ally finally finished, and had just put the last ribbon back in when Molly spotted a pair of familiar adults making their way toward her at a trot. Screaming,, "Mommy, Daddy!" she jumped off the bench and bolted straight for them.

Mommy got there first and scooped her up. Daddy followed a few steps behind and wrapped arms around both of them. Ally left Andy to join them and Daddy gathered her in as he proudly held all three of his princesses.

Tears were had by all as Molly told her tale. Mommy and Daddy scolded her for letting go of hands when she knew better, but they weren't too hard on her, as they both knew the powerful pull a carousel horse has on a toddler, especially one named Princess. They did commend her for wanting to apologize to the lady she had run into, and if they ever found out who she was, they would definitely try to replace her broken "pretty". They also said they'd she done the right thing this time by talking to a stranger, since she was lost.

Her father extended his hand toward Andy, who’d walked over and waited politely for them to finish their reunion before offering thanks. "Hi! I'm Alex and I want to thank you for finding Kitten, and looking after BOTH my little princesses."

Ally's eyes went wide as she glared at her father. "DAD! I'm fourteen. I'm NOT a little princess anymore."

Alex exchanged quick looks with his wife and they both realized by their eldest daughters reaction, she definitely wasn't as little as she had been before they got to the mall, and it was obvious the tall teenage boy by her side had a lot to do with that.

Molly's mother offered her free hand to Andy as the other one was occupied holding her youngest. Smiling warmly, she introduced herself. "Hi! I'm Jennifer, and I can't thank you enough for what you did. I was so afraid ... so afraid someone had abducted Moll y... and .... and ... I just couldn't ..."

Her words trailed off as the tears welled and she held Molly even tighter.

.Alex tried to offer Andy a reward for his help and kindness, but the young man wouldn't accept it. Jennifer, however had better success as she knew the way to a man's heart, especially a hungry teenage boy’s, is his stomach. She insisted that he at least allow them to buy dinner.

Molly heard dinner, and of course shouted, "PIZZA!" Knowing her chance for mozzarella magic versus tonight’s scheduled fare hinged on Andy agreeing to go, she turned, begging, "Pleeeeeeease Andy comes eats pizza! Cause … cause I no wanna eats liber and bwussel spouts at home!"

Jennifer, Alex and Ally shouted, "MOLLY!” in unison, which made the toddler lower her head and sigh, "I guess I ins twouble agains."

Andy couldn't contain his laughter, and then it spread through the rest, finally reaching Molly as she realized she wasn't in trouble and her chances of getting pizza were getting better all the time.

Andy rescued Molly from her appointment with liver and brussel sprouts by agreeing to go, which made everyone happy, especially Ally.

The carousel started up again and Molly looked over at Princess. She sighed heavily knowing that there would be no “horsey” ride for her today, not after what she had done. Neither parent missed their daughter’s wistful look. After a bit of silent communication, they agreed that Molly had been through enough today, and taking her home without a ride on "Princess" would be unusually cruel punishment for any toddler.

When Molly found out she was going to get her chance to ride the carousel after all, she showered her mommy with kisses and then pounced into her daddy's arms. She bounced and chattered on and on about Princess as they moved through the queue.

Ally decided to forgo the offer of a carousel ride, preferring to stay by Andy's side (a place she had no desire to leave) and watch her parents and little sister enjoy the musical magic.

Molly finally got her wish, as she found her way to Princess and immediately began petting her and talking to her. Daddy lifted her into the saddle and she hugged her trusty steed tightly.

The ride started to turn and Molly placed her hands on the post that held her Princess. Daddy on one side of her and mommy on the other each placed a hand over hers.

The lights began to flash and the music began to play. Jennifer and Alex's eyes flashed as well and then met, as they recognized the tune immediately. The carousel was not playing the traditional music most play, but instead was playing an assortment of pop tunes, old and current. The current selection was none other than ‘The Rose’. A very special song the two lovers shared, and one that Alex had sung to Molly as a lullaby when she was a baby.

Jennifer and Alex's free hands found each other and laced together over the horse’s tail. They were nearly lost in the music and each other when they came around and passed Ally and Andy. They would forever be glad they hadn't completely tuned out the rest of the world as they saw a very special moment in their oldest daughter's life.

Andy, inspired by the song and by his attraction to Ally, had purchased a rose from a roving vender and given it to her. As Jennifer and Alex passed by, Ally took the rose from Andy and offered him her hand. The look the two teens shared was the same one Jennifer and Alex had shared just seconds early, and the older soul mates knew exactly what it meant.

As they passed by Ally and Andy, Alex leaned over Molly’s head and Jennifer met him halfway there in a kiss.

Molly had missed both moments, but she still couldn't be happier. She was wearing her best dress. She was going to have pizza. She had made a new friend named Andy. She had Mommy and Daddy and Ally close, and she was riding Princess. She smiled wide as she couldn't imagine ever being happier.

The Wizard looked into the globe and watched the real life action unfold within it. As impossible as it seems, this was the very same globe that Molly had purchased just a short while ago, the same one that had disastrously dropped and shattered on the mall floor.

Yet sitting on his counter, it was in perfect condition once again and playing ‘The Rose.’ However, it no longer held the man-made figurines it had before, but was acting as a window on the action now taking place in real life on the mall carousel. When reality came into perfect alignment with the scene the globe had held earlier, the Wizard smiled and waved his hand over it.

Instantly the globe transformed back into its original form. The Wizard waited for the last few notes of the Rose to finish before he placed the globe back under the counter where he'd pulled it from earlier. He knew that Molly and her family would be all right now, and living the life they should have all along.

The sound of a door chime going off meant he had another customer and he turned to greet them, but before giving them his undivided attention and hopefully the help that only magic could give, he glanced heavenward and whispered, “You can rest easy now, Alice, Molly’s riding Princess and she’s going to be just fine.”

HUGS!

Riding Princess By Maggie O’Malley Chapter Two - Lost and Then Found A woman goes to the mall in search of a DEPARTING gift for three special friends and ends up finding a very special one that gives her the ride of her life.

 
Chapter Two: Lost and Then Found
 
Molly began her treasure hunt in earnest once again and with renewed vigor. Going down a yet unexplored wing of the mall, she'd found several promising looking shops, but after nearly forty minutes of exploring and a couple of near misses, she’d walked away frustrated and empty handed.

“It’s got to be just the right gift,” she told herself. “And when I see it, I’ll just know it’s the perfect one.”

Molly returned to the center of the mall and started down another short corridor which looked promising at first, but after thirty more minutes of treasure hunting, she came up empty yet again. Sighing sadly, she turned the last unexplored corner and came face to face with every small child’s dream, a carousel. The magical musical machine was filled with happy children riding painted wooden steeds and squealing with delight.

The little girl within Molly lit up immediately, and the big girl found herself shuffling almost hypnotically toward the carousel. Suddenly she was literally knocked out of her trance, as a small child bounced into her. Molly looked down to see the smiling face of the same little girl she'd seen earlier. The imp managed a "cuse me", before bounding off toward the carousel again.

Her young parent's were right behind her. The father went to corral the wayward toddler while the mother stopped , smiling as she apologized to Molly. "I'm really sorry about that, but you know how little kids are when they see a carousel."

Molly smiled wistfully, accepting her apology then added, "Yes ... yes, I know exactly how they are."

The young mother took Molly’s response to mean she too was a mother, and innocently asked her if one of the children on the ride was hers.

Struggling to hold back the tears in hers eyes, Molly shook her head and politely made her exit, saying she had more shopping to do and needed to be off.

She immediately turned back to the direction she’d came and tried to put as much distance between her and the carousel as she could. The sound of music and children's laughter slowly faded but the effect of what she had seen and felt was still shaking her to her very soul.

She wandered past shops aimlessly now, tears welling in her eyes. She had to find some place to release the torrent that was about to cut loose.

Spying an exit door, she pushed the bar, and it opened up into a deserted corridor that led her by the back doors of several of the mall shops. She followed the winding path past several turns and then, when alone and sure she could go no further, slid down to the concrete floor and released her pain in sobs.

She rocked as her body trembled. If anyone had stepped out into that corridor, they’d have heard the whines and whimpers of a little girl, lost and crying for her mommy, her daddy, her big sister, and her chance to live.

After the worst of this round finally left Molly, she struggled to her feet. Her hands wiped away the last of the tears and a good portion of her make-up. The post-sob exhaustion began to overtake her, and she knew there was no point in continuing the mall hop. There was no treasure here, and there would be no last gift to send her family. There was nothing left for her now, but a bottle of pills and a final exit.

Checking her bus schedule, she figured she had about ten minutes until the next return bus left. Getting her second wind, she began retracing her steps down the winding corridor, but after a few minutes it was obvious that somehow she’d gotten lost. Of course it was no wonder she had, as she has been paying little or no attention to her surroundings when she first entered this back alley mall maze.

Chastising herself for simply acting like the sad and lost child she was, she turned round and started off in the other direction, looking for any open door, whether it was marked exit, or otherwise.

Ten minutes later her bus was leaving, but she was no closer to finding an exit door. Finally she had no choice but to suffer the humiliation of going in the back door of a business and explaining to them she had gotten lost, and would they terribly mind letting her pass through and into the mall again.

Molly tried several doors, one to a restaurant called Bob’s Café, another to a toy store called Jenna’s Jumping Jack Toys, and finally one for an establishment called, The Bear Market, but much to her frustration, none of the doors would open, and no one answered her knocks.

Finally she tried the last door in the corridor. Its nameplate was so worn that Molly could only make out the last few letters, “US”. Assuming the US stood for United States, she thought perhaps this might be a shop that sold patriotic memorabilia, or maybe even an actual government office.

She smiled softly as she rapped gently on the wooden door. It was so odd to see such an old style door in a state of the art mall. As with her previous efforts, no one answered her knock, but when she pulled the handle, she sighed in relief as the door gave.

Molly peeked in to what appeared to be a darkened storeroom. Wondering if she should announce her presence before entering, the decision was taken from her as a tiny bell overhead tinkled alerting anyone within earshot to her arrival. Molly smiled up at the shopkeeper’s bell, and wondered why anyone would put one on a back door surely used only for deliveries.

Without further thought, Molly slipped past the door and took a few steps, blindly making her way in the darkness. She hadn’t gone more than a few steps when her foot contacted something solid and she spilled to floor, grimacing when her left knee hit concrete. The sound of glass breaking nearby assaulted her ears and told her that she’d obviously taken something down with her. She cursed beneath her breath, hoping she hadn't broken anything expensive or that some gun toting owner wouldn’t think this lost kitten was really a cat burglar.

Molly was trying to scramble to her feet, when she was startled by a hand gently taking hers to help her up. Even though she was unable to see her rescuer clearly in the dark, she immediately began apologizing; assuring the shop owner she was not a thief, only a shopper who'd lost her way.

A voice, a man’s voice as soft and gentle as the hand that was now leading her toward a tiny sliver of light, cut her off and assured her he knew exactly who she was. “It’s alright my lost child, I know why you're here, and it's not to steal from me. Although I must say … most of my customers prefer to enter through the front door.” The last few words were added with a light chuckle to hopefully quiet the frightened woman’s fears.

Molly was immediately relieved to know she wasn’t going to have to face the police; (the last place any transsexual wants to be is thrown into the lockup at the county jail), however she still needed to make amends for whatever she’d broken and then inform the kindly shopowner that she really wasn't much interested in shopping any more.

As she saw a small lit opening ahead, she made a silent prayer that whatever it was she broke cost less than the eighty or so dollars she had in her purse. When she finally reached the opening, the man pulled back curtains leading to a dimly lit, very cluttered sales floor.

Molly quickly scanned the shop and found it contained shelves and cabinets well stocked with a wide variety of items. It reminded her a little of an old curiosity shop she used to browse called Prue’s Perusals. It was one of those places, that if you dug deep enough, you could probably find just about anything.

Molly noticed one row of items that reminded her of the magic and witchcraft tools she'd seen at a Wicca bookstore she’d once explored. Another row was well stocked with dust-covered antiques. Molly's heart sank as she imagined the sound she'd earlier thought was glass breaking, was probably a Ming dynasty vase with her luck.

A smile turned at Molly's lips and her eyes lit up as she spied a shelf full of porcelain china dolls. She wanted nothing more than to run over and hold one, but with her luck, she'd probably break one of them, too. Sighing, she turned away from the dolls and focused her thoughts on the merchandise she’d broken during her unauthorized entrance.

The shopkeeper patted Molly’s hand as he saw the distressed look on the woman’s face. “You needn’t worry Molly”, he said with a smile, “You only broke an old soda bottle, basically worthless these days, as they won’t even give you the deposit back anymore.”

Molly gave a relieved smile and then took her first real look at the man who’d lead her out of darkness. The gentle voice belonged to a gentle looking, if not strangely dressed old man. He was short and round with silver hair and soft blue eyes that smiled to match his grin, and curiously he seemed to be wearing of all things, something that most resembled a ratty looking old bathrobe.

Molly started to comment that she’d still being willing to pay him something for the destroyed item if he wanted, when it finally dawned on her that he’d called her by name. “Excuse me sir,” she asked meekly. “But … but do you know me?”

“Well of course I do, child.” The old man chuckled and nodded. “ You’re Molly the Meter Maid, a living legend of sorts on our city streets,” he added with a smile and wink.

Molly’s closed her eyes and sighed heavily. “Oh great!” she thought. “So THAT’S how he knows me. Just what I need, someone else I’ve ticketed, and probably with an axe to grind. Boy, did I ever pick the wrong door. I bet I’m going to end up paying a thousand times over for that one broken soda bottle.”

As Molly opened her eyes again, tears began to well, and her voice cracked with emotion from a speech she’d given far too many times. “Look sir, I don’t make the parking rules. I,…,I just enforce them. If,…,if,…,you've got a complaint about a parking ticket I gave you in your loading zone, then I’m really sorry, but,…,but you’ll just have to take it to court like everyone else. If you want file a complaint with my boss, please be my guest. I’ve probably got one of his cards here somewhere.”

Molly was instinctively reaching toward her shoulder bag when the old man chuckled and stopped her. “Slow down there, my little sassy lassie. There’s no need for all that child. You haven't written me a parking ticket, and considering the kind of merchandise I handle, I certainly don’t need a loading zone for my deliveries."

Molly pulled her hand back and sighed with relief, but the question still remained. ‘If he doesn’t know me from my ticket rounds, then … how?’

She gave the proprietor a bewildered stare he’d seen more times than Molly had given her, “I’m just doing my job” speech. At that point Molly asked her own personalized version of the question that everyone seems to ask when they wander into this particular shop. “But Sir, if I haven’t ticketed you, how could you have known I’m Molly the Meter Maid?”

In keeping with tradition, the old man pointed to a sign on the wall that usually silenced most all who asked. It read simply: Because I’m the Wizard. Don’t Ask.

Molly’s eyes went wide and her mouth soon joined them. She wanted to say something, but what on Earth, (if she was still there) could she possibly say to follow a statement like that. She'd spent her entire life hanging onto the hope that angels would come one day and magically transform her into a little girl. Now, only hours away from her scheduled departure, she found herself face to face with a self-proclaimed spell slinger.

She so desperately wanted to believe this little man was everything the sign promised he was, but her faith and hope had been beaten down by reality. She'd given up on that kind of magic when she’d given up on the angels coming to fix her. For all she truly knew, he was just an eccentric old man who had seen her patrolling her meter route and had heard the stories of the infamous “DRAGon Lady” as she had too often been called. In fact, if she wasn't careful she might still end up in jail before this was all over.

The wizard smiled up at the suddenly quiet, too thin woman with raccoon eyes from her obviously not sob-proof mascara. Taking her hand he patted it softly as he spoke. “Molly my child, I truly am a real wizard, you know, and I promise you that I’m not sending you to jail. You’ve been imprisoned far too long, little Kitten, and I might add, unjustly as well. You and your "family" deserve far more than life in a computer chatroom."

Molly’s knees got weak and she began feeling a bit dizzy. He’d not only read her very thoughts, and called her Kitten, Kitten being Molly's little girl nickname in the chatroom, but he even knew about her special family there. How could he possibly know about the little girl imprisoned within her, and her family in the chatroom?

She began to consider two possibilities. One, she had finally lost her mind and was more than likely still wandering around in that corridor, or two ... this man was truly who he said he was. She didn't much worry about the first possibility, as the folks from the mental hospital would come to collect her straight away, and she could spend the rest of life bouncing off rubber walls and being spoon-fed tapioca.

The second possibility was far more appealing, however. If she was really face to face with a wizard whose magic told him of the Kitten within, then he also had to know of the “Evil Beast” that timeshared her body and spewed forth her anger. He probably even knew of her plans for later that day.

Suddenly she felt very ashamed, ashamed of the Beast, ashamed of her inability to control it, and ashamed of the early exit she was planning. Even if this man truly had real magic at his disposal, he would never help the likes of her.

She felt the urge, the need to just turn tail and run ... run until she collapsed. Summoning up what little courage she had remaining she finally faced the mysterious man. "Sir ... or wizard if you prefer ... I ... I don't know how you could possibly know about these things … unless ... unless you really are some sort of wizard, so I do believe you, honest I do. B ... but ... if you know of the Kitten, then you must also know of ... of ..."

The seemingly all-knowing Wizard proved himself once again by finishing her sentence for her, "The Evil Beast? This terrible horrible creature you fear so?"

Molly nodded, too overwhelmed and too ashamed to speak.

The Wizard smiled sadly and shook his head. He looked deep into Molly's eyes, in to where the frightened and frustrated child lived. His voice was still gentle, but firmer. "Molly, there's no Evil Beast within you, at least no more than any other human carries. In fact, I’d say when it comes right down to it, you’re probably about 87% cuddly little kitten, 8% tired adult, and 5% pure pepperoni pizza.”

Molly giggled at the pizza reference, which only added to her 87% kitten, but she still wasn’t convinced the Evil Beast was a non-entity. She started to voice her objections, to tell him of the anger she vented daily on her ticket route, but the Wizard never gave her the chance. Placing his finger to his mouth he signaled her to silence. Molly stopped immediately and gave it.

"As I was saying, little one, you really are a little kitten, a gentle and loving creature, BUT ... even a kitten has claws and teeth, and if she is injured, frightened, mistreated, provoked and pushed into a corner she will come out like a wild cat. Molly, life has done all those things to you, and you've reacted accordingly. That doesn't make you an Evil Beast, my child, just a wounded animal trying to survive."

Molly was heading toward emotional overload and her hand trembled within his. The Wizard could feel her instincts telling her to literally run from this place and from this wizard who was reaching so deep within her.

The Wizard raised an eyebrow and tightened his grip on the paw of the nervous cat before him. "Molly, what is it that Alex calls you?” he paused a moment and then smiled again, "Oh yes, the Cheetah! And Cheetahs are always ready to run, aren’t they?. Well my little Cheetah, I know you want to run now. You want to run from my shop and the truth, just as you're trying to run from the life that has hurt you so badly. I also know why you came to the mall today. You came in search of a very special gift for your family, but you've given up on finding it, just like you've given up on life."

Molly's heart was pounding. The Wizard was on the mark once again. Cheetah, or Little Cheetah, was Alex’s pet name for Molly, and at this very moment she did want to run, but she couldn't run and she couldn't block out the truth in the Wizard's words. Unable to find words, her emotions spilled out in tears.

The Wizard sighed heavily. He never had been able to deal with watching a woman or a child cry, and considering Molly was both, this was doubly difficult. Patting her hand he tried to stem the tide of tears.

"Here, here, now Molly ... there's no need for all that, and besides, didn't you read the sign?"

Molly sniffled back tears and then turned in the direction the Wizard was pointing. The same sign that only moments ago had proclaimed the shopkeepers as actually a wizard, had now changed to give Molly a new message. It read: "Crying, by women, children or kitten's is strictly forbidden by the management."

The ridiculous store policy caused a small smile to peek out beneath Molly's free-flowing tears. The Wizard nodded approvingly and coaxed a full-fledged smile out of her by adding, ”because you are actually all three, the rule goes triple for you.”

Reaching into his robe pocket, the Wizard produced a white lace hanky which he gave to Molly. "Now child, if you'll dry those eyes, quit trying to run! And stop being such a stubborn little Irish girl for one minute. I think I can help you find what you're searching for. In fact, I think I have just the gift that will not only bring your family all the joy you wish for them, but also put the POUNCE right back in the Kitten.”

Molly dried her eyes and a tiny giggle escaped as the Kitten peeked out when she heard her name called.

A relieved wizard winked, and offered Molly his arm. She took it willingly as he led her over to a frosted glass display case. Releasing her had, no longer fearing she would run, he made his way to the other side of the case. Reaching into the pocket of his robe, he starting pulling things out, mumbling something about needing a good key ring. Finally, said key was produced and inserted into the lock When he turned the key, the frosted glass cleared to reveal the contents within.

Both little Molly and big Molly smiled at the wonders inside the case. There were beautiful crystal globes like none she'd ever seen before. Their wooden bases had been expertly handcrafted and engraved, while the figurines within the globes were so finely detailed they seemed almost alive.

As Molly was admiring these incredible works of art, the wizard knelt down and opened the door to the case. He reached in and began mumbling again as he shifted through the various globes in the case, obviously looking for a particular one. Smiling triumphantly, he finally found it. “Yes … I knew you were in there somewhere,” he told the globe as he grabbed it from the shelf.

Molly watched with curiosity and excitement as the Wizard removed the globe from the case and set it before her on the countertop.

Her eyes went wide and she gasped at its brilliance. “Ohhhhhh … it’s so … so … beautiful!”

Her hand started to reach for it, but then stopped short, as like any other child in the presence of a pretty, she looked for permission to touch. When the Wizard nodded silently, Molly gently cradled the globe in her hand.

Small images had been finely engraved into the wood. Of its stand. Molly gently turned the precious pretty in her hand so she could view each carving.

One appeared to be a guitar, and another, a tiny sailing ship. Of course this immediately reminded her of her daddy Alex, and his love of both things.

The next carving appeared to be of all things, a tennis racket and ball. She beamed, as those reminded her of mommy Jennifer, and her many court conquests.

Molly turned the globe again, finding yet more images. She saw one of a girl’s hair brush and immediately she thought of Ally and the many times her big sister had cyber-brushed Molly’s hair, calming the child when nothing else seemed to work.

Finally she saw what appeared to be a small Kitten curled up into a ball and sleeping. It was obvious who that reminded her of and she swallowed hard as tears threatened again, but the best was still yet to come.

At the wizard's direction, she turned her attention to the scene within the globe and it nearly took her breath away. Inside was a finely detailed miniature carousel, and as Molly admired the fine craftsmanship, she couldn't help but think she'd seen this carousel before, only the life-sized version of it.

Suddenly her eyes went wide as she realized the tiny carousel enclosed within the globe was the same one she'd seen in the mall earlier. She’d carefully noted the colors, the carvings, the mirrors and bold steeds on that carousel,and there was absolutely no doubt that it was identical in every way.

She looked to the wizard, ’How is this possible?’" written across her face, but he hust smiled. Rather than answer her unspoken question, he directed her attention back to the carousel.

This time Molly took a closer look at the tiny people on and around the carousel. Just like the magical musical ride, they too were so finally detailed that they almost seemed alive.

Molly's attention was first drawn to a young couple that stood outside the carousel. The young man, a tall blond-haired, blue-eyed lad with broad shoulders, was holding hands with his love. The young woman, in her early teens, was as beautiful as he was handsome. She had long auburn locks, a peaches and cream complexion, and big green eyes which were lost in his blues ones. In her free hand was a lovely red rose, no doubt a gift from her beloved.

Molly smiled warmly at the pair. Like the carousel, she seemed to know them in a life size version as well. Taking a longer second look, the rose gave it away. "Ally and Andy", she thought. Smiling, her mind drifted back to the stories Ally had shared with her little sister about the tall, blonde American who'd stolen Pippa's heart so long ago, and then, there was the rose. Andy had given Ally a rose the first time they met. As unbelievable as it seemed, there was still no doubting it, the love struck teens within the globe had to be Ally and Andy.

Wondering if what little sanity she still had could survive much more, she turned her eyes toward the remaining three figures aboard the carousel.

Her eyes lit up again, as she spied the scene before her. A young woman, older than the teen princess outside the carousel, but equally as beautiful, with the same auburn trusses and emerald green eyes, stood by the side of a carousel horse. She had to be the older sister, or possibly the mother of the other, and as the saying, "like mother like daughter" goes, this lovely lass had a handsome beau by her side, as well.

He was a tall gorgeous, well-built man with smiling dark eyes that bespoke a gentle soul, and thick dark hair that seemed to beg his beloved to run her fingers through it. He stood on the other side of the carousel horse, but like their younger counterparts, their fingers had found each other and were laced together over the back of the wooden steed.

However, the senior Romeo and Juliet had one-upped their younger counterparts, as their lips had also found each other,meeting in a soft stolen kiss above the horse and its rider.

Molly smiled dreamily, there was no indecision or denial here, these two could only be Jennifer and Alex. The child within replaced Jennifer and Alex with terms more appropriate. "Mommy and Daddy", slipped from Molly’s lips in a child's sigh that made the Wizard smile.

Molly's eyes went on, to the final image. There on the carousel horse, sitting beneath the soul mate’s kiss. was a small child. She was a tiny toddler princess, no older than four or five, and undoubtedly the product of the love these two adults above her shared. She had her mother's auburn locks and the same gentle smile in her green eyes that her father carried in his brown ones.

The littlest princess was wearing an adorable light green dress, with a white peter pan collar, white leggings and Mary Jane’s. Her softly curled hair had been placed in pigtails held by green ribbons that matched her dress. Her rounded eyes and cherubic face. lightly sprinkled with freckles, combined with a wide smile to create a heart-melting imp.

The small child was steadied on her mount by a loving hand from each of her parent's. Her fiery steed was white with a green saddle and seemed perfectly suited to the little princess. The broad smile on her face showed a child who couldn't possibly be happier than she was at that very moment.

Molly knew who that little girl was, or at least who she should be. She was living the dream, the dream Molly had wished for all her life. Molly's heart pounded and tears welled in her eyes again, as the little one within her tried to reach out to her twin, and her family within the globe.

The characters and the scene were something right out of the chatroom universe, or possibly the twilight zone. And just when Molly thought she couldn’t possibly be touched any deeper, the Wizard winked. Reaching beneath the globe, he pushing the button that released a spring. Suddenly the tiny carousel lit up and began to turn. A song started playing and the rotating carousel horses rose and fell in time with the music.

Molly began to tremble, for the haunting refrain was as familiar to her as the characters within the globe, and the song reached her very soul. The song was The Rose. It was not only the first song that Alex had ever sung to Jennifer and Molly, but it also stood for the actual rose that Ally’s soul mate Andy had given her the night they met.

Tears flowed freely as Molly struggled to hold the globe. The Wizard shook his head, and rather than remind Molly of store policy again, simply gave his customer another dry handkerchief. He really wished she wouldn’t do that, but he knew such things were all part of his job.

Molly gently set the globe down and then took the hanky, thanking him again for his kindness. She listened to the last few notes of the song, sighing sadly as the lights went out and the carousel finally stopped.

Normally, Molly would have been the curious Kitten, ready to ask a thousand questions as to how all this could be possible, but for once, the how's didn't seem to matter. Molly had no idea what kind of magic had created this incredible globe, but she was sure about one thing. The Wizard was right. It was exactly what she'd been searching for and she wanted it; wanted to share it with Mommy, Daddy and Ally, but even more than that, she desperately wished somehow, someway they all could LIVE it. If only there was someway, some magic that would allow them to slip right into that globe and BE that family.

"Molly I told you this globe was exactly what you were looking for and I meant it.” The Wizard’s strong words broke Molly out of her daydream.

“It's the one thing, perhaps the only thing in this world that has the power to give each of you what you need most of all, each other. The magic within this globe, combined with that in your heart and the hearts of your family, can make your chatroom dream come true in the real world. So yes, Molly, you can have that family, and you can finally live as the little girl you’ve always been.”

To be continued…