In all senses of the word, it really revolved. It was called magnatronics. It stemmed around a central axis of positively charged magnets surrounded by negatively charged metal plates. When activated, it created a circular motion that permitted electricity to be generated without any loss of energy. Because of this new source of electrical power, the industry picked up. Soon, every house in the nation that could afford the $50,000 price tag had one. Houses were being built with them packaged as part of the house.

Since there were no waste products from these generators, they could be made as small as a hatbox and used to power an electrical car. All it took to run it was the flip of a switch. Once the axis was rotating, electricity was being generated. As the demand grew, the price tag fell. Soon enough, the price was the cost of a good air conditioning system. All the houses in the world had them and the manufacturer and inventor were very rich. But no one could foresee the problems that all these generators would cause.

The revolutionary product caused a flux field to be generated that when the fields were overlapped, weird things happened. Regulations had to be enacted to prevent chaos from ensuing. Houses could not be located within five hundred feet from each other, that is if they had a magnatronic generator located on the property. Whole cities had to be drastically redesigned to prevent the overlapping of the fields. One building could house a generator that could supply enough power to run it but there were no building permitted within the five hundred foot radius of the generator.

This is the story of the first recorded effects of the magnatronics generator.
 
 
June, 2025
 
I could not believe it. I was the last house in the whole block, no subdivision that had the individual MagGen systems. I had been working a long series of overtime days trying to get enough money to become independent of the power companies. Now that I had been able to put out the
$10,000 fee to purchase and install the generator at my power coupling for the house, I was happy. Now I could sit back and enjoy the benefits that will come with it.

Not really knowing what to expect, I was standing out as far as I could get from it when they turned it on for the first time. I had my neighbors all out standing with me congratulating me on finally joining them in being free of the noose of the power company. All had been enjoying the benefits of not worrying about paying the high fees that the power costs. I had been having to cut back on my usage of power during the summer days because I could not run an air conditioner. When it cost me more money to run it for one month than my mortgage cost me, I had to stop using it. The hot summer days were not so bad because I at least had a conditioner in my vehicle for work.

The moment of truth came and the technicians flipped the switch to activate the generator. A soft whine started up and quickly built to an ear-shattering squeal that died out as fast as it had started. It was running at normal speed for generating power. The power kicked in with a click. The magnatronic field was becoming felt. It was a thing that had been felt every time a new generator had been set online.

But for some reason, this one felt differently than any I had ever felt. I felt like I was being buffeted around by a one hundred mile an hour wind. I had to grab something to keep from being knocked off my feet. A quick glance around me showed that my neighbors were all having the same problem. What was going on?

Whatever this force was, it was getting stronger. The wall separating my back yard from the neighbor yards started vibrating. As quickly as it started, it shattered into a powder and started swirling around like a tornado. The blinding grit was forcing all of us to try to move out of its way. But this was nearly impossible to do since the force causing the swirling dust was forcing all of us into a tight group.

The group became closer and closer regardless of how hard we fought to remain where we were. Once the group was pressed into each other, things were tight on our bodies. Nearly as one, our heads felt like they were being squeezed into a pulp. I could not do anything except hold my head. A nearly audible 'Pop' sounded inside my skull. I passed out from the pressure in my head.

I have no idea how long I was unconscious but I awoke with a horrible headache. My body ached horribly in addition to my head. I tried to open my eyes but the light around me hurt them. I closed them again. I moaned out of the pain in my head. I started hearing others doing exactly the same. I felt a body lying under me as well as on top of me. Both bodies were moving feebly and moaning also. My head played a million different versions of chopsticks. I was finally able to open my eyes and keep them open.

A voice nearby was asking us if we were ok. A couple incoherent voices tried to answer back but there was no reply. Shouting in the background could not be understood for what they were saying. Sirens grew closer to the area. I could not help but wonder what went wrong with the setup. I had not heard of anything like this happening before. Were we exposed to some unknown radiation?

Voices told us to remain where we were. Help was on its way. Of course I wasn't going to move. I hurt too much to move. The background sirens became louder and stopped nearby. There was an increase in the shouting around us. People came closer and there were reassuring voices trying to calm us all. I felt the body above me moved off and hands touching my face and neck. A voice asked how I was doing. I could not answer completely. I croaked an incomplete reply. I could not vocalize how I felt.

I was told to remain quiet and that they were going to help me. I knew something was desperately wrong but I had no idea what. At least the pressure was off of my mind. I really wanted to know what caused it. I was going to have to ask someone about it when I was able to get a chance. First, I was going to have to recover from what ever happened. I could not do much anymore and I let the mental pain take me back to the darkness where there was no more pain.

Time no longer had any meaning for me. It was all I could do to stay awake and recover from the accident. The doctors told me that there were a dozen people involved in the accident and all were in various stages of recovery from the accident. I was probably in the worst condition of the group. My body had so many different problems that I had to be strapped down to the bed I was in. They kept monitors on me at all times trying to keep track of my physical ills.

I kept trying to ask the doctors what was wrong with me but I was still unable to vocalize anything coherently. I could hear the doctors talking in whispers as far away from me as they could so that they wouldn't be overheard by me. Not that it mattered to me anyway. All the sounds issued from their mouths were nothing but babble to me. I knew I was in bad shape. I couldn't talk, couldn't hear right, all my movements were spastic. I would have to wait until I got better so that I could find out what happened.

My thoughts seemed to be running in a circle. I kept repeating the same things over and over again. I had to find out what happened. I had to get better. I had to find out what happened. I was starting to get dizzy from the circles I was going.

I saw the nurse bring in a hypo and insert it in the tube running to my arm. I grew sleepy. Time passed more without me noticing it.
 
 
One Month later...
 
The doctors have finally decided to let me up from the bed. My body has recovered sufficiently enough and they wanted to avoid the possibility of bedsores. I have been able to talk again for the last week and I can now understand what they are saying again. Except for a few physical problems that will vanish in time, I am in perfect health again.

I finally got the full information about what had happened the day of the accident. It seems that when they activated my MagGen, it caused what they termed a magnetic power fluctuation. The magnetic field around the generator interacted with the other gensets in the neighborhood and the overlapping fields caused the turbulence that we all felt as the wind on our bodies and destroyed the walls surrounding the properties. But the worst effect was to our brains. The pressure build up that we all felt was the magnetic force shredding our software or our minds. Once our minds were loosened from our brains, we all passed out. The jumble of the bodies tossed together when the field was shut down made contact and our minds continued the swirling pattern of body hopping until the chaos finally stopped.

You see, the body I wound up in was the pregnant body of my neighbor Jane. We were so jumbled up body-wise that there was no hope within the medical community of ever being able to put us back in our original bodies. In the mean time, I have to go through the rest of the pregnancy for Jane. And all I wanted to do was go in my house and watch Superbowl 58 on my TV. I was not cut out to be a mother. I was only cut out to be a father. Life cannot be growing inside me. I am a man for God's sake! I AM NOT A WOMAN!!! I will sue the company that caused this. I will!
 
Note: TG sci-fi body swap stuck pregnant.
Posted by: Admin on Thursday, January 23, 2003 - 12:10 AM
 
 

Despite the damage to the minds of each individual involved, medical professionals have felt that the benefit to science outweighs the actual damage done. The positive side is that psychologists involved have been able to study the actual affects on the mind of an individual of one sex being put into the body of the opposite sex. Long-term results are still under investigation but the short-term effects are quite noticeable. Due to the limited number of people that actually wound up in the body of the opposite sex (six of the twelve involved), the study remains inconclusive. The group's highly outspoken leader, Michelle, formerly Michael Fontaine met with reporters after the settlement hearing to give a brief statement. (Story to follow).

Has the nation and the world learned the down side of investigating new sources of power? Legislation has been enacted to prevent such calamities from ever occurring again. The President is expected to sign the bill immediately upon passage through Congress. Upon signing, this historic piece of legislation will give property owners specific instructions on the set up of MagGens. It also makes the manufacturer liable for any damages that occur as well as civil liability to the installers who fail to observe correct procedures when setting up new gensets. The future possibility of this incident is highly unlikely but scientists are studying the effect closely trying to re-enact the incident but have failed to date to find the cause of the body switching. All volunteers for the study have perished in the failed experiments. The Government has put a ban on all human testing for the interim.

John Cornelious - National Combined News Services reporting.

Fluctuation, One year later.

[R] This is John Cornelious reporting for NCNS. I am here interviewing Ms. Michelle Fontaine after winning her lawsuit against Magnatronics, Inc. Ms. Fontaine, In the year since the accident occurred, we have seen many changes that came from our replacement power sources. You were one of only six people to actually change sex in the accident. Plus you became a mother shortly afterward because of your new body being 6 months pregnant at the time. How is life treating you now?

[M.F.] I never thought life could be fulfilling after my body swap with Jane. Not only did I have to deal with the remainder of her pregnancy, but I had to separate myself from the claims of her husband, who wound up in the middleaged body of his neighbor Ralph. Jason still feels that he has the right to claim that my body is his wife's and all conjugal rights are still with him. That is not to mention that my body's son is in the battle for custody with his mind mother, mind father, body father and body mother. I feel that I can win the battle since I am actually the one that gave birth to the beautiful little boy. I still have a hard time dealing with the fact that I am a mother but I have adjusted to it.

At first, I wanted to kill myself because of the shame that I was going though in being a woman. Eventually, the hormones that were flooding my body because of the pregnancy adjusted my mental thoughts and even brought me to the point that I loved the fact that I was going to be a mother. Although I had never been through such pain as giving birth causes, in the end to see the beautiful face of the baby looking up at me was worth it all. I am uncertain if it will ever happen again but at least for now, I am content with my son.

Now that the trial is over for my lawsuit against the MagGen manufacturers, I can at least be able to afford things and give my baby a good life. Being a single mother is not easy but I have at least had a loving and caring family to support me. When they found out that I had been involved in a twelve-person body swap, they flew to be at my side. My father is still taking it rather hard at the loss of his only son but my mother is ecstatic over gaining a new daughter and has been my biggest help with the baby.

One of the easiest things I have had to adjust to was the fact that I lost sixteen years in my age. I am now officially twenty-two years old. Getting my records updated took the longest time but I and the others at least had the help of the Government to do so.

This was nothing in comparison to being poked and prodded for the first four months of my new life. I had shrinks asking me all sorts of stupid questions that I could not really answer. They gave me some sort of test they called a personality inventory that was one of the weirdest tests I have ever taken. When they received the results back, they told me that I should have been a man. Well, DUH! I used to be one until that horrible day.

It took me the longest time to get them convinced that I was not someone who was faking my mental state. Everyone else had the same problem that I had and yet they did not believe any one of us. They tried to explain it all away with some sort of psychological mumbo-jumbo but in the end, they reached a conclusion that the body swap HAD occurred. They even brought in our body parents in an attempt to make us all crack and let go of our delusions but when our parents were confused by a stranger calling them mom or dad, they had several groups of people up in arms over the treatment they had been giving us.

After we were declared of sound mind and body, they were forced into letting us go once we were able to prove our sanity. It was during the time were under observation that I gave birth to little James. I call him Jimbo as an endearment. I never did like the name Jimmy but I did like Jimbo. The psychologists had to watch me closely during that timeframe to make sure that I would not do anything to harm myself or the baby. By that time, my mind had already been overrun by the female hormones and I would not have hurt a fly. I was in love with the fact that I had a baby and that he depended on me for survival. It was quite a turnaround from being father material to mother material.

I may not be an instinctual mother, but at least I am learning how to be one. I feel that I have a long way to go before I will be totally comfortable in the role but I am something that I had never been before and that is a parent.

Oh, please excuse me for a few minutes. The baby needs to be changed. I'll be right back.

[A pause]

[M.F.] I am sorry it took so long. Now where were we?

[R] Ms. Fontaine, could you tell me about the other people involved in the body swap? Our viewers are curious about them.

[M.F.] I do not think it is fair to talk about them behind their backs. They have not been through as much stress as I have and each one of them has their own story to tell. I just cannot tell their story for them. You will have to arrange an interview with each of them personally.

[R] We have tried to arrange an interview with them and so far, all our efforts have failed. It seems you are the only one who is willing to talk with us. Therefore I have to talk about them. Now, the woman who's body you now inhabit, what body does she have now?

[M.F.] Oh, I see what you mean now. Jane is now in Frieda Malony's fifty-nine year old body. Her husband or at least my body's former husband is now in the body of Ralph Watts. The scientists who studied us all agree that there is no rhyme or reason why we shuffled bodies as we did.

[R] If they found a way for you to regain your body, would you do so?

[M.F.] To tell you the truth, I am not sure. If you had asked me a year ago, I would have said yes. Now, I think I would rather stay where I am. I have become comfortable as I am and I can foresee a life that I will not have the pressure that I had before.

[R] Are you now seeing anyone special who might become a father figure to your little boy?

[M.F.] Not at the moment. I am still uncomfortable with the thought of going out with a man. The thought of having sex with one really is not foremost on my mind. That is the only aspect of being a woman that I am uncomfortable with still. Taking into my body a part that I just a short time ago, had attached to me.

[R] I can understand that. If I were in your position, I would be thinking that I was not gay and I would be just as uncomfortable. I have a personal question for you if you are willing.

[M.F.] I will answer it depending on the question.

[R] What are you going to do with the money that you won in the lawsuit? Will you be moving away from this area or will you be getting a bigger house in the area?

[M.F.] My notoriety will go with me no matter where I am. I think I will stay where I am and raise my son here. Maybe one day I will become comfortable enough to look for someone to become close to and possibly marry. I am now young enough to do whatever I feel like doing.

[R] Well, I think I am about done with my questions. Is there anything that you would like to add before I close this interview?

[M.F.] Only this: My life never was good before. It took a tragedy such as this to awaken me from my apathy and realize that life is too short not to enjoy it. I am starting to like myself for the first time in years. One day, I think that will turn to love of myself. In the mean time, life will go on and my life will be doing so also.

[R] Thank you Ms. Fontaine.

[M.F.] You are welcome Mr. Cornelious. It was my pleasure.

[R] {Turning towards Camera} This is John Cornelious for the National Combined News Services reporting from Big River, CO. We now return you to your local news stations for updated news. Good night. {[R] motions to cameraman to stop recording}

I was glad the interview with the reporter was over. I had not been looking forward to it but ever since the accident became known, reporters had hounded me. The neighbors that were involved with me were too embarrassed to face the public. I, on the other hand, have been vocal over the neglect that was shown by the manufacturer of the MagGen systems. Now that the lawsuit is over, I am now financially well off. I was awarded $25,000,000.00 for damaged and pain and suffering. And believe me, I went through a LOT of pain shortly after the swap to Jane. I have become quite the little mother these days. I was still nursing the baby and whenever I hear him cry, I have to go running to him. I have learned to distinguish between his hungry cry and his wet diaper cry as well as his poopy diaper cry. He is a wonderful baby as long as he is dry and clean but once he is dirty or wet, he fusses incredibly.

My mom is enjoying being the Grandmother of a newborn or at least pre-toddler child. He has not started walking yet but he is starting to crawl around increasingly each day. One of these days he is going to get up and run away from me. His mommy is scared silly for that day! Gramma is enjoying herself playing with the baby. She moved in with me shortly before the baby was born so that she could help me adjust. It would have been so much worse if she had not. Her and dad have been a great support to me. My siblings have been having a hard time trying to figure out how to deal with me. My sisters have come around but my poor brother feels that he lost everything. He is angry and saying that there was no way that I was once his brother. He only has three sisters and a fourth one is not welcome. He has seen the person around that is wearing my former body and swears that it is his brother.

Walter Maloney is in my old body and is enjoying being younger and would not ever go back if they found a way for us to go back. Since he was sixty-three before the accident and was now thirty-nine again. He once confided in me that he was glad that his wife was no longer a woman. He had grown to hate her constant picking at him. Now he was free of her nagging and enjoying every moment of it.

Frieda Maloney on the other hand hates being a man. She had wound up in the body of twenty year old Keith Larson and now has to go out and work for a living.

Keith Larson is now in the body of Jason Wilson, the body father of my baby.

Keith's girlfriend Lisa Canby is in the body of Steve Mitchell.

Steve Mitchell is in the body of his wife, Karen.

Karen Mitchell is in the body of Kathy Watts.

Kathy Watts is in the body of Jack Tate.

Ralph Watts is in the body of Walter Maloney.

Jack Tate is in the body of Lisa Canby.

Jack has been having a marvelous time being in Lisa's body. She was a perky nineteen year old and it seemed that she was always on the go. Jack's wife was out shopping the day of the accident or she could have been involved in the body swap. She is having a hard time dealing with being married to a twenty-year-old girl. Jackie is afraid that she is going to file for divorce soon and take half of the lawsuit settlement. I have been feeling so sorry for Jackie. At least she could get a new boyfriend easily. She is like me in a way but is a whole bunch more comfortable in her role. It seems that Jack was a secret crossdresser and only her wife knew about it and barely tolerated it. Jackie has been spending a lot of time at the mall trying on new clothes without the fear of being discovered.

Poor Lisa went from being the perky nineteen-year-old girl and wound up a forty-two-year-old man. She has been near to committing suicide because of it. Her life is gone, for the most part anyway. She was in love with Keith and wanted to marry him but he was not ready. Now, she feels that she has little to live for. We have been keeping a suicide watch on her making sure that she does not do so.

All in all, most of us are coming to terms with who we became and are trying to get on with our lives. We all have reasons to live for but we still struggle to create an identity for ourselves based on what we were in the past. One day, we will but at what cost to those that cannot handle it. What will our fifth anniversary hold for us? I hope more than our first did.
 
 
Note: TG series sci-fi body swap
Posted by: Jerrie526 on Friday, February 28, 2003 - 03:14 AM
 
 

It all started when my friend Michael Fontaine purchased and had installed a new MagGen power generator. Since then, the world learned not to install them in the manner that had been done for a long time now. The transposed fields produced by the magnetic resonance given off by the generators forced us all out of the body we were born in and into another body when the generator was shut down.

For me, the first month was the most difficult because of the incoherency that the change caused in the brain. Like the rest of the victims, I was confined to a bed for too long. The relative youth of my new body was really what permitted me to recover faster than the others did. I felt so sorry for the former owner of my body because of the fact that she became a middle aged man and lost over twenty years of her life. But in my opinion, I got the better end of the deal since I obtained a secret desire without having to lift a finger.

Everyone who had the body swap has been hating it, but me for instance, I love it. Contrary to what everyone thinks, I was not a closet crossdresser, I was a transsexual in hiding. Being thirty-five, I was just reaching a point that I was increasingly uncomfortable in the sex that I was. Then with one fell swoop, I am now a woman and I did not have to go through surgery to become it. Nor did I have to go through the long drawn out transition period that was imminent for me to become one.

My new body is a beautiful one and I couldn’t be happier about it. I will take the periods and the possibility of being pregnant because it was always something that I wanted through my life. Lisa as I said was a very beautiful woman. She stood 5’9” tall and had a very lithe figure. She was stacked at 36D-22-35, had long blonde hair that went with her awesome bust. Her legs seemed to run from her shoulder blades to the ground but they really did not. They are so long and slender that they are an attractant no matter where she went. I inherited great genetics from her. My children with be gorgeous when I start having them. Please don’t get me wrong, I would have had the surgery eventually if this had not happened to me. It could have been worse, I could have wound up in the body of sixty-three year old Walter Maloney instead of the one I did get.

To understand what I went through, one has to go back to the beginning and hear my story. Oh, you mean that you would like to hear about my self-discovery? Ok, sit back and let Mama Jackie explain it all to you.

As I grew up, I became increasingly aware of the difference in my body from the way that I felt inside. I hated having everyone calling me a boy when I *knew * I was a girl. It was hard trying to get people to listen to me but no adult will listen to a child when they try to say something. They will always say, “Oh, how cute!” and wander off. I eventually gave up trying to tell anyone.

Years passed and things got harder to deal with. I kept my secret inside me and learned to live with it. Once I discovered that I could pretend to me a girl by dressing up as one, it became a regular hobby of mine. More years passed and I finally graduated from college with my degree in architectural engineering and went forth to ply my trade.

I met a young woman that I enjoyed talking to and we eventually got together and married. Mary was everything that I wanted to be in a woman but she was also the size that I knew I would not fit into her clothes. I managed to keep my secret from her for four years before she found out. I knew that my secret would be hard to keep from someone you lived with and shared things with.

When I was caught wearing one of my dresses that I had hidden in our house, I was told to promise not to wear it again in her sight. I didn’t wear it in her sight but I certainly wore it out of her sight. But that was few and far between. Eventually, I wound up becoming too tense and when finally asked why, I explained that I had to cross dress or I would probably have a nervous breakdown. She finally relented and I was able to wear a few things in the comfort of our house but I knew better than to stray outside.

That fateful day when Michael had his generator installed started out like any other day. I had breakfast and went out to watch the installers preparing to set the genset on its pad. When the installers started it up and that horrible buffeting started, I thought the world was coming to an end. Then it did with a soul wrenching finality.

When I finally came to consciousness, I could not understand what was going on. It sounded to me like people were talking in foreign languages to each other and none of them sounded like they were talking the same language. It seemed like it took forever before I could understand them but I was finally able to. The doctors approached me one morning and asked if I could understand them. When I tried to talk, it came out as grunts. They started asking me questions that could be answered with a yes or no and all I had to do was shake or nod my head.

They explained to me that there had been an accident and they had been afraid all of us involved would be brain damaged after our comas. They explained that I was the first one to come out and they would explain more when I could talk again. When they were getting ready to leave, they called me Miss Canby, which puzzled me a lot. I didn’t dwell on it much since I was still very tired and I went back to sleep after they left my room.

The next day I was feeling much better and I actually managed to get a few words out of my mouth that did not sound like grunts. My voice sounded strange to me and I chalked it up to not being used for a while. The doctors came back in to see me again and check my progress and again, they called me Miss Canby. I must have had a strange look on my face since they stopped talking. One of them asked me what was wrong. I answered gruntingly, “Not Miss Canby.” Needless to say, they became instantly worried that there might be a problem. They thought I definitely had brain damage if I denied being Miss Canby.

They asked a whole slew of questions of me, one of them being, “If you are not Miss Canby, who are you?”

Without hesitating, I answered, “Jack Tate.” Talk about the shit hitting the fan, the shouting was nearly deafening to me. When some semblance of order was obtained, the head doctor tried to get me to explain a bit more about why I said I was one of the other victims and not who I was.

Using a lot of half grunts-half words, I tried to explain that I was really Jack Tate and I needed to see my wife Mary. The doctors all exchanged looks with each other that said a lot to me. I had not seen Mary in my room at all and I know that if anything had happened to me, she would have been with me. I had been very puzzled about her care less attitude towards me by not being here when I was down with whatever it was that I had. The doctors excused themselves from me and left the room. I could hear their voices fading down the hall.

A nurse came back in the room and tried to make small talk with me but I was too busy thinking about what the doctors had said to me. I asked the nurse for a mirror and she got a puzzled look on her face and asked me why I needed a mirror. My answer was that I wanted to see if I had suddenly become ugly or had been disfigured by the accident. She relented without any other questions.

She had to hold the mirror for me as I looked at myself for the literal first time. I saw the beautiful face of Lisa Canby looking back at me. I was not really expecting to see her face in the mirror and I literally screamed bloody murder before passing out cold from the shock of seeing that face.

Some time later I regained consciousness again to look upon the frightened faces of total strangers. One face was familiar though and that was my wife Mary. She looked totally disbelieving in being there. I held out my hand weakly and called her name in that grunting voice that was strange to me still. The other people in the room started crying as if they had been told someone had died. Mary did not approach me though and shook her head no.

Since I was no longer in any sort of mood to be told no, I shouted as loudly as I could and told everyone of the strangers in the room to piss off and leave me alone. Mary left with all of them. I was left to myself to contemplate the situation I suddenly found myself in. Obviously, I was in the body of the girlfriend of a neighbor, Keith Larsen. How I got there, I didn’t know and I was not sure that the doctors would know why either. They had been acting very strange all day long after I had told them about being Jack Tate. I had a lot more thinking to do.

So, if I had to be a woman, at least I got to be a young one. If I was remembering correctly, there were a total of six women there that day and a couple of them were older than I was by several years. Then there was Jane, who was pregnant at the time. If it came down to it, I think I could handle being Jane even though she was going to have a baby. If I was Lisa, I wondered where Lisa was. Or for that matter, where did the others wind up? I am sure I would eventually find out.

For the first time in my life, I was starting to get excited. I had always hid the fact that I was a transsexual by admitting that I was a crossdresser instead. I knew I was fooling myself and that I would eventually seek to have sex reassignment surgery in a couple of years. I was glad that my wife and I had not had any kids. It would have been hard to tell them about why daddy wanted to become a woman and divorce mommy. I started feeling my body over in a touchy feely manner trying to get a good idea what sort of parts I had now.

The more I thought about the fact that I was real woman, the excitement grew. I started giggling and soon, I was in full blown laughter. I couldn’t stop. Nurses came rushing in to the room to see what was going on. From the looks on their faces, they thought I was hysterical. They started asking me questions and the more they asked the more I laughed. I could not help myself. I was so happy!

One of the nurses ran to a phone and called for a doctor. Within minutes, the gaggle of doctors came streaming into the room where I was still laughing with glee. The concerned look on their faces told me that I needed to quiet down and stop laughing or they might do something to burst my bubble. As I finally managed to get control of my emotions, I had a smile that threatened to split my face in two. My beautiful face! I started giggling again.

One of the doctors requested a sedative because I was hysterical. That sobered me up rather quickly. Seeing the seriousness on the faces before me was almost enough to start me up again but I managed to control it.

I had to tell them that I was fine, that I had finally realized what had happened to me and the rest of the people involved. The head doctor had called for a psychiatrist because he thought I had gone over the deep end. I had to explain to him that I hadn’t gone over the deep end, rather, I had come out of it. I had never been so happy in my life. My torment that I had grown up with was over and I did not have to lift a finger to do it, either.

The psychiatrist thought he had a potential suicide on his hands and had ordered me strapped down to the bed. That sort of upset me because I wanted to feel my body some more. Not to mention the fact I wanted to feel what my new female sex was like. I could wait for a while. I hoped beyond all hope that they never found a cure for what I have because I would probably kill myself for real but I did not tell them that.

Once I was secured to the bed, he started asking questions of me. He told me that he had heard that I thought I was a man who was in another room still unconscious and that I was suffering from delusions and was imminently hysterical. I laughed in his face and told him he was wrong because I was not hysterical, instead, I was the happiest person alive right now. He was a bit puzzled by that and continued in the manner that he had started. He insisted on calling me Miss Canby for some reason and would not listen to me. I finally started getting upset about his narrow-minded attitude. Finally all my happiness went away while I dealt with the anger I now had.

“Listen up Mr. Idiot. I will tell you one thing and you had better get it straight from here on out. My name was Jack Tate. I say was, because of the fact that the mental processes that are in my head were from the man with that name. I don’t know what happened to any of us involved but I do know what happened to me. I was a 35 year old man before this happened but I was also a cross-dresser. The reason I was laughing so hard was that I realized that I no longer have to cross-dress and that I could wear what ever I wanted to without having any stigma from it in going out in public. I would be viewed upon as being female, which I am now 100%. I couldn’t be happier about that. I just wish that I could get up off this bed and go waltzing out the door and fulfill my deepest desires at the moment.”

“Miss Canby, surely you realize that you are a sick woman and you really cannot do that at the moment.”

“Yes I do realize that I am physically incapable of doing what I really want to do right now. I can tell how weak I am at the moment, but I assure you that I am not going to stay this way. I will be up and out of this bed as soon as I have the strength to do so. I will not gain my strength back by staying hogtied to the bed. Now will you untie me and at least let me sit up? This is really uncomfortable.”

The only thing he did was have the bed raised to where I was sitting up rather than lying down. It was better than nothing. I was still tied down.

“Now let me get this straight,” he continued. “You claim that you was Jack Tate, who happens to be in a room nearby, but you are in the body of Lisa Canby? Do you realize how delusional that really sounds? If you are Jack Tate, then where is Lisa Canby’s mind at the moment.”

God this guy was an idiot. “How in the world would I know? I know only where I am at the moment. Why don’t you go ask the others who they really are?”

“I am afraid that we cannot do that right now. All the others are still incoherent and you are the only one so far that can function well enough to talk. It would have to be your young age that helped you recover faster than the others or do you have any explanation as to what is going on?”

“How can I have any explanation when I only know what I have told you. It is hard for me to explain anything at the moment. Talk to the rest of the people once they can talk for them selves and you will see for yourself what is going on. Somehow, the force I felt ripped our minds from our bodies and put us in a different one when it stopped. It is the only thing that I can attribute this situation to.”

“I guess then that we will have to wait until everyone recovers enough to vouch for who they are in reality. Relax and try to stay comfortable. We will be in touch.” With that, he walked out of the room with his little cronies tagging along behind him.

The next couple of days were so exciting to me because I was able to get up out of bed and move around more. I felt so light on my feet because I was no longer carrying the 225 pounds on my frame that I had as a man. If anything, I weighed a mere 120 pounds. I felt like I was going to float off the planet and fly away. I was in heaven. I was able to get the catheter out of my bladder that had been taking the urine out while I was incapacitated. I felt a bit nauseous when they told me that I had to wear a diaper while I was incoherent. Of course, all the rest of the people had to have the same thing done to them.

Finally, I received word that the rest of the people had come out of their incoherency and had managed to substantiate my story. Poor Lisa wound up becoming 42 year old Steve Mitchell. I felt so sorry for her since she lost more than twenty years of her life as well as her whole identity. I was able to talk to her ever so briefly but it was hard to do. All she did was stare at me with tears running down her bearded face. It was so sad and hard to deal with. I did not see her again for quite a while.

I had the opportunity to meet up with Michael again and I was shocked to find out that he was the unlucky one to wind up in Jane Wilson’s pregnant body. I had thought that someone might have been unfortunate enough to swap with the baby but I guess it was shielded enough by her body to not be swapped. That would really suck having to be born again. Michael was having a difficult with the fact that he is now a woman and pregnant to boot. I felt sorry for all of them since none of them have any choice in being who they became. Michael was talking about suing the manufacturer of the MagGens for negligence as well as carelessness because if they had done enough studies, they would have realized the potential for some sort of undefined problems with the units.

Speaking of which, they have been doing some experimenting with the unit that caused the problem and have yet found any reason for our predicament. They will work until they can find out why it happened in the first place.

The doctors of all types have been running all sorts of tests on all of us and I am getting sick and tired of them poking and prodding me. Poor Lisa just sits there and does nothing. I am afraid for her. She looks like a person that has lost all hope in life and is waiting for death to claim her. I have seen more life from a road-killed skunk than I have from her lately.

I cannot help myself for the most part. I have so much energy lately that it is hard to concentrate on much other than the sensations I have been having throughout my new body. I started my first period during this time frame and it was an experience that I really don’t want to repeat but I know that I will have more in the future. The cramps, bleeding and the smell were sure signs of the underside of being a woman. If fifty percent of the human race can deal with it, I can too.

After a month of tests, the doctors, psychiatrists and various other scientists have come to the conclusion that they have no idea why all of us changed bodies and they say there is no way to change us back. They fear that if they tried, none of us would survive. I am more than happy to stay like I am.

I found out that they are going to let me out of the hospital in a couple of days and I am elated at the prospect. I am going to go out and go shopping for some clothes that I have always wanted to wear but couldn’t because of my physical stature as a man. To me, the prospect is more thrilling than trying to do it otherwise. I can hardly wait. My wife was finally able to accept the fact that I was the person who had been her husband for fourteen years but I can tell that she really does not like the idea. She has told me that she has taken the liberty of moving me out of our bedroom and into the downstairs guest room. We got into a huge argument about it and she is adamant about it. She never did approve of me crossdressing and she approves even less of me being a woman. She is not a lesbian and there is no way that she will ever let me share a bed with her again. It is beginning to look like the end our marriage is in sight.

Before I was released from the hospital, I was paid a visit by government agents that had been studying our individual cases. I was given new identification cards such as driver license, social security cards, birth certificates that were based on Lisa’s original ones but with the names changed. It was the only thing that would work in our circumstances. I had thought about changing my name to Lisa as a tribute to her but it did not go over well with her. She immediately threatened to kill her body so that I could be the lone person with her name. I reluctantly agreed that I would not use her name. I was able to keep my college degree in the new name since I actually did go through the training to get it. I do have to take the board exam again before I can practice my trained profession again but it will be a piece of cake for me to do so. I have been doing the job for quite a number of years and I haven’t lost the skills because of my body change. I would have to see what I could do now with my new smaller hands.

Before I left the hospital, Michael gathered all the victims together and with a lawyer present, she went over her plans to sue the manufacturer of the MagGens. The lawyer says we have an iron clad case and it will not take much of our time to agree to be a party to it. The hardest thing I had to do was act like an injured party. All of the others hated what they had become with the exception of one or two who were content with their changes to a younger body. I really did not want to be part of the lawsuit because I felt like I should be thanking the manufacturer for creating such a wonderful way of getting a new body. But the chances had been that I could have wound up in any of the other bodies and I shivered at the thought. I was happy as I was. I became part of this monumental lawsuit out of reluctance.

I left the hospital after the meeting and gaily skipped out into the beautiful Spring day. It had been the end of January that this accident happened and it was now late March. Time to gear up for summer. I was wearing some clothes that had been scavenged from Lisa’s house but I really was not comfortable wearing clothes that someone else had worn, even if they were worn by my body. But, I was looking forward to decking myself out in the skimpy Summer clothes that most young women enjoy wearing during that time. The promise I made to myself back in the hospital was going to be the first thing I did. I was going * SHOPPING *! I could hardly contain myself. This feeling of euphoria over shopping must be a genetic thing with women. Though I hated shopping for men’s clothes before, I never got much of a thrill over shopping for women’s clothes as a man. Mary picked me up and when I explained what I was going to do once I was able to get settled into the house again, the look of disgust on her face said a lot to me about the soon to be end of our marriage. I think she is going to wait until the end of the lawsuit so that she can get her share of it before filing for divorce.

I was barely at the house thirty minutes before I was in my car and gone to the mall. While driving there, I took the time to reflect on my choice of vehicle for driving. A Buick Decade hybrid car is ok for a man but it is not a young woman’s car at all. I had to get one that now matched me as I am. I would have to do some searching to find the right car. It may take a while to find it but I will get one eventually. In the mean time, I will keep driving this one. So, armed with a new credit card in the name of Jackie Tate, off I went on my first shopping frenzy.

The city mall was large for the small city I live in but I felt that I needed a bigger one than I could get otherwise. Since Denver was an hour away from my home, I decided that I was going there. One thing I knew would be the difference was that in my home, people knew the previous owner of my body and what happened to her. I was feeling uncomfortable about going to the stores that the attendants would know me as being one of the swappers. I would rather deal with the anonymity that I could get from a different town.

That first day out, I had the most fun in my whole life. I went from shop to shop trying on clothes while buying only about ten percent of what I tried on. Still, I left the mall after spending about $5,000.00 for clothing. I had gone into one store and was going through the fancier dresses when I was approached by one of the clerks. She was about my age, as I was now, and was gushing about how beautiful I was. She wound up making a sale of over $1000.00, which was more than I had spent in any one store. I even bought a proverbial LBD as she called it. At first, I was a bit puzzled by what she meant until I saw what she holding in her hands. It was one of the shortest dresses I had ever seen but it was black. Then I realized that LBD meant Little Black Dress. I threw myself into the search and finally came up with one that I just * had * to have. Then I accessorized to the hilt. I had bought shoes, hose, jewelry, hand bag and a few other things that I had a vague idea what they were but I would find out later.

During the day, I went to the mall food court and ordered a salad and a juice drink of some flavorable concoction. The whole time I was eating, I was being checked out by a lot of guys. I knew I was attractive because I had always looked at Lisa when she was in this body. I won’t say I lusted after her but I knew that she was one hell of a sexy woman. Now I was on the receiving end of what she always had going on. One rather bold man approached me and asked if he could join me. Without waiting for a reply from me, he sat down and started hitting on me. Not really having any experience like this in my life, I could only sit there quietly while he rambled on about his life.

I found myself getting bored of his monologue and I think it started showing on my face. He stopped talking and asked me about myself. I found him to be rather shallow and it was plain that all he wanted was to get into my panties. I knew just the way to get rid of him. I started talking about just getting out of the hospital. He was curious at first about that but when I started talking about my ‘new’ life as a woman, he went blank and then excused himself after saying that he refused to have anything to do with one of us ‘freaks’. I could not help but giggle over how fast he disappeared from my sight. I was as much a female as one born to it but I was not born as one. That did not make any difference to me in regards to my future. If I found the right person eventually, I would hope that he could accept me as I am and was.

By the end of the day, I was tired but very happy. I was not really shopped out but I was getting tired. I had been at it for nearly eight hours. I felt that it was time to gather myself up and head home. I still had a drive to do but it made no difference to me.

By the time I got home, I was totally wiped out. I made several trips to and from the car unloading my purchases. Once I was done, I went looking for Mary to show her my purchases. She was in our old room watching TV. She barely acknowledged that I was there by flicking her eyes my direction. I knew a blowup was coming soon.

I felt that it might as well be now than in a month when her bitterness was eating her even deeper. I started it off, “What’s wrong Mary?”

She didn’t even look at me. Since I have been living with her for fourteen years, I could tell that something was terribly wrong. I walked over to sit next to her. I gently put a hand on her arm. She jerked it away from me as if I burned her. That hurt me greatly. “Mary, I know there is something wrong. Talk to me, please?” I had tears running down my face now.

“You want to know what’s wrong? You AREN’T my husband. He is still in the hospital but he does not know me. You are a near stranger to me even though you have so many of the mannerisms that my husband has. Or had. Now he is more effeminate than he ever was before. Kathy Watts was my friend for as many years as they have lived in the neighborhood. Now they say she has your old body and I am no longer married to it but that I am married to you as you are now. I cannot stay married to you as you are. I am not a lesbian. I miss my husband so much. No matter how much I hated your cross- dressing, this is much worse than that would have ever been. I cannot have sex with you any longer and yet, I have no choice but to let you live in this house. I hate this whole situation and yet, I know you had nothing to do with the cause and are nothing but a victim like all the others are. But you are acting like this is one great adventure and the others are suffering more than you have been. You act like you really love being a woman and if I didn’t know better, you act like you have always been one. I just don’t know how to adjust to that sort of situation.” She had started crying by this time. “I just don’t know what to do.”

I knew she had been taking it hard but this was a bit more than I had anticipated. She was really hurting about the loss of her husband or at least his body. “Mary, I may not be the person on the outside that you married but I am the person on the inside. I have to make a confession that may cause you to really hate me.”

“What, that you have always wanted to be a woman? Hell, I’ve known that for years. I also think I know the reason why you have never done anything about it either.”

“How do you know that?” I was sort of surprised that she admitted knowing my secret.

“I never told you before but you talk in your sleep. That is how I found out all about you before I married you. I thought I could change you and keep you from having surgery or anything else.” She said.

“I hope I am safe in assuming that you have done research on the subject of transsexualism. If you have, then you know that there is no cure for it. I was getting to a point that I was hating what I was and was going to file for divorce so that I could pursue a transition. This change has been wonderful for me and I have never been happier in my life. I am sorry that it is at the cost of Lisa being a middle aged man. If there was any way of going back, I would, but I cannot do so. But more than anything else, it pains me greatly to see you hurting so much. I would give my life for you to be happy but it would mean that I would be unhappy. I hope we can find a happy medium between us.” I had to be totally honest with her now. I had no choice in it. If we were to remain at least friends, honesty would have to be the key.

She was a long time before she said anything else. “I hope so to but you also realize that I cannot remain married to you as a woman? The state does not permit two women to be married. I am afraid that I will have to file for divorce from you.”

I was saddened to hear it but I had foreseen it happening. “I understand. Is there any time frame in which you want to file? I will not contest it.”

“Oh, I would say in a year or two at the most. As you said, we still have some common factors that we need to work on that hopefully will help us remain as friends when we do break it off. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to get to sleep so that I can go to work in the morning. Have you thought about when you will be going back to work?”

“No, I haven’t but I figure that tomorrow will be a good time to go back and talk to the company and see when they will take me back.”

“I hope things work out well for you. You may be in for a rough time with it. I am afraid that your company might not take you back. You will have to wait and see though.” She told me with sadness in her voice.

What she said stopped me dead in my tracks. I had always assumed that I would be able to waltz right back into my job and pick up where I left off. I would have to try no matter what the results were.

That night, I slept poorly. The only reason being was that I had been thinking all about what Mary had told me earlier. By the time I woke up in the morning, I was more tired than when I went to bed. I prepared myself for the day. Not knowing really what to do, I went about dressing myself in a smart woman’s business suit that I had bought the day before thinking that I would look good going to work eventually.

As I look back on that day nearly a year ago, I was stupid to have done what I did. I went into the office like it was any other day and I was working. I was stopped by the security detail and held until the higher ups were called down to investigate. My old boss was the first to arrive and he looked like he was about to burst a blood vessel in his head. His eyes bulged out so far that he looked like one of those old time cartoon characters. He literally drooled over the sight of my new body. The remainder of the management team arrived shortly after that and they took possession of my custody. I was escorted back to a conference room where I was given the third degree by all of them. When I tried to explain who I was, they really did not want to believe me. They had not been told anything other than the fact that I was in the hospital sick with some sort of new disease.

Some of the younger men were giving me looks that made me feel uncomfortable. I finished the story that had never been publicized anywhere because of a media hush placed on it by the Magnatronics Corporation. It was something that I had not heard about before. Needless to say, my bosses were very skeptical about my story. I even called the doctor who had been my main care giver, who told them the whole insane story again.

I finally had to resort to low blows to prove that I was who I said I was. I pointed out to several of the managers some of their past exploits into affairs that only I knew about, (and none of the others) and I finally convinced them that I was telling the truth. I told them that I was ready to return back to the work I had been doing before the accident. They glanced at each other and a silent agreement was made then. I was asked to leave the room for a few minutes and told to go to the break room and get a cup of coffee or whatever struck my fancy. About fifteen minutes later, I was summoned back to the room where I was told that they no longer had a place in their business. They explained that I would be a distraction and I would not be permitted to cause it. My fifteen years on the job were useless to use as ammunition to retain my job.

I was angry and rightly so. They were discriminating against me! ME!! Because I was now a woman, they felt justified to remove my employment status. Then they had the gall to offer me a position as a secretary to one of them. Of course, the cut in pay they offered me was an insult to my intelligence. I had been pulling in $75,000 a year as a man and they also gave me bonuses that had me pushing $100,000. The job they offered me was for less than a quarter of what I had been making before. I certainly couldn’t live on those sort of wages, not in this day and age. Forty or fifty years ago, maybe but not now.

I flatly refused to take the sexist job that was offered to me and told them that I had passed the board exams with flying colors. That did not sway them at all. I stood up from where I was sitting. I dared not even thinking about the sight that I presented. Here I was, a nineteen year old (or young) woman acting like a petulant child being told that I couldn’t have any more candy. I was worse than that in many respects. I was a thirty-six year old man that had been told that I could not go visit what I once had, because I was the self same woman as mentioned before. I had never been very forceful before when I was a man but now, I felt that my rights were being taken from me and I was going to stand up for them.

I was angrier than I had ever been in my life. I rested my knuckles down on the conference table and leaned onto them. I tried to make my expression as hard as I could, (which was not as easy as it sounds, let me tell you), glared into each of their faces and said, “Not one of you can say that I shirked in my duties here in fifteen years. Now, because of an accident that involved eleven other people, you basically tell me that I am no longer capable of doing the job that I had been doing for so many years and am only able to be a desk trophy, where all of you can ask your buddies up to inspect the prize you have sitting there looking beautiful. If that is the case, you will be hearing from my lawyer. I will not sit back and have my years of training wasted by a bunch of sexist old men! I am already party to one lawsuit, and I am sure that a discrimination lawsuit against your company will not help you business wise.”

“Now Jack, don’t start going off on this sort of tangent. You cannot hope to win a lawsuit with us. All we have to do is expose you for the pervert you were and you would not even get a day in court to plead your case.” That angered me even further.

“And what does that mean,” I asked, even though I knew what they were meaning.

“Don’t play innocent on us. You know perfectly well that we knew you were wearing panties under your suits all the time. We put up with your perversions because it made your work so much better because of the fear of exposure was too high. Now, you claim that it shouldn’t make any difference because you are the same person but in a different body. We say that it does make a difference. Once a pervert, always a pervert. You can just flaunt it now and wave it in our faces without us being able to take actions against you because you are a woman now. Forget it. You can either take the offer or be fired for your past perversions. See where that will get you. You will be unhireable to any company you might try to get hired on with. You are damned to hell anyway for your perversions and we will make your life hell on earth if you insist on fighting us.”

“You know, attitudes like that went out of style back in the days of Ozzy and Harriet.” I was madder than a wet hen now and I was not going down without taking all of them with me. “Since you seem to think that I will meekly kowtow to your wishes because of a blackmail issue, I think I will take it to my lawyer. Good day gentlemen. Or I should say, you narrow minded bastards. You will be hearing from my lawyer in the next few days.” I turned around and stalked out the door, slamming it behind me. I left six stunned men in the room. As I walked out to the lobby, there was a gathering of several women that worked as clerks for the company standing there leaning over the reception desk. I could hear the intercom to the conference room still going at the desk of the receptionist. They had not seen me yet as I came quickly into the room. I could hear a few giggles from some of them. I had always treated some of them as slaves, much to my chagrin now. I was in their position now, if I wanted to go back and grovel for my job. Fat chance of that ever happening. I intended to own this business shortly and I would make those bastards sorry they ever tried to cross me.

One of the ladies spotted me and silenced the others. I was once again being stared at but this time it was for another reason. They looked at me as one would an equal. I had to see whose side they were on. “You heard?” I asked.

“Jackie, I hope that you carry out your threat to them. They have been giving us hell for as many years as we all have been here. If it were not for our second jobs, we would be living in the street. Those old farts in there would not know a good employee if they had one. You were a great employee and they know it. To them, the thought of you wearing panties under your suits was a perversion and could have been a firing offense. To us, we could see what it did for you. When you wore them, you were calm and got more work done than anyone else. We could tell though when you did not wear them. You were tense and irritable all day and not able to get much work done. So, do what you feel that you have to do and do so knowing that we are backing you 100%.” The one person that I had never really got along with, per se, Carmin, was the one who told me this.

My feelings were at an all time high and my nerves were as tight as a banjo string. As I stood there, tears started rolling down my face as the strain of my ‘interview’ started to weigh heavily on me. I was quickly surrounded by eight women and was being hugged by them. I heard whispers of ‘Don’t give up and don’t give in. We will be here for you when you are ready.’ I strained to hug each one of them as hard as I could in thanks.

After the group hug was over, I quickly left the office to go over to my lawyer’s office. Since they were the once handling the other case I am involved in with the others, I felt that I should use them for this one too.

I filled them in on the occurrences in my former employer’s office, leaving nothing out about my past. Their non-chalance over my confession of being a pre pre-op transsexual led me to believe that I was doing the right thing. I had a lot of hope that my case against my former employers would go well. The lawyers did tell me that I would more than likely have to wait until after the original lawsuit since the system was backed up at least that long.

The biggest problem was the fact that I no longer had a job that would pay for my daily expenses, let alone be able to eat. I sat there in silence for several minutes immersed in my thoughts. Once I had collected myself, I looked back up into the lawyer’s face. “Is there someone around here that you know who would hire someone like me for my skills and not my body? I know this body is a sex bomb but I really do have a brain as well as a mind that I am not afraid to use. I need something that will allow me to live in a manner that would be comfortable to me but not one that would be called high on the hog.”

He looked at me with a grin on his face. “Now, it just so happens that I do know someone who fits that description. If you would like, I will give him your name and number and have him call you. I think that you would like working for him. He is an honest man and a strong believer in equal rights for women. All you would have to do is demonstrate your strength of character and I know he will hire you on the spot.”

I was amazed that this sort of thing would transpire so quickly. I was still just a bit cautious over it. “Yes, you may give him my name and number. Please be sure to tell him that I am not the ordinary 19 year-old air-headed blonde that he would normally expect. I will prove it to him if he wants me to.”

“You need not fear about that. Besides, I have already taken the liberty to contact him about your situation. I just needed your approval to pass proprietary information to him. It will not be anything more than you have already told me but since he is also a client of mine, he will know that you are vouched for in the highest degree.”

I accepted what he told me and stood up to leave. I offered my hand for shaking and I was dumbfounded by him taking it and kissing it! I nearly snatched it away from him until a small voice in my head told me that it was ok for him to do that since I really was a woman and a good looking one at that. I did feel my face getting hot from blushing so hard. Not to mention the tingling clear down in my belly.

I won’t go into the detail of the next weeks or months. Suffice it to say that I did get the job by my own recognizance and with no help from anyone. The firm that I was to work for was one of the best in Denver. I had the ability to work from home and use the computer that had been delivered to me from my new boss. He did not care about my past except for my work ethics and my ability to produce the highest quality of building designs. My actual audition with him came in the form of an assignment that I had a week to complete. He laid out the details of the building he wanted me to design and I had to lay out a floor plan as well as the final version of what the house would look like. With hundreds of years of architecture behind mankind, it is rather difficult to get an original design put down. Using the skills that I had trained in, I designed what I felt was a totally original house that utilized all the newest equipment in the market. I even hesitated at the thought of adding the MagGen to it because of what happened to me just a couple of months before. I finished the job in four days and he was absolutely blown over by it.

He asked me to meet with him at his office to go over the hiring proposal and I was asked to bring my lawyer with me to go over the contract. I was hired at a rate of $75,000 a year to begin with. All I had to do was keep turning out the types of houses that I drew up and I would get an increased paycheck. I was elated when he handed me a check for $10,000 for the design I worked on. He called it my signing bonus but I knew he was going to use the design to build the next generation of luxury homes. I didn’t care as long as I was compensated for my efforts.

The next several months were ones that I will never forget. I earned a lot of money as well as spent a lot. I started enjoying my shopping trips and before too long, I had a larger wardrobe than Mary did. The one thing that I was feeling bad about was my relationship with her. I kept hinting to her that I would rather be up in the master bedroom with her but she was adamant that I was not her husband and she was not a lesbian. I was told to stay put in the guest room.

The trial for the MagGen lawsuit was coming rather quickly. I was being rehearsed for my part in it even though I would tell the truth without any coaching from the lawyers. I was able to read the report from the professionals about the reaction caused by the intermingled generators. It was confusing to a point but the gist of it was that once the generator owned by Michael was turned on, it overlapped the fields put out by the seven others in close proximity to it. Whereas all gens put up to that date were smaller units or had nothing within 300 feet of the unit, our eight were within two hundred feet at the maximum distance apart. The fields interfered with each other causing a storm of electromagnetic waves. The waves were strong enough to pulverize a cinderblock wall and shear the minds out of the bodies of each of us. Why it didn’t outright kill us nobody had any answer for us. It would always be a medical mystery to everyone.

Congress was enacting laws to prevent anything like this from ever happening again and they also passed laws preventing any further experimentation after several labs tried to duplicate the reaction and wound up killing a couple of dozen people. It seems weird that we survived when others died. No explanation will ever come about.

When the trial began, I tried to act like an injured party but inside, I was so happy. I had been dreading the possible news that I would be giving back Lisa’s body to her. There was no way anyone could ever get their body back and we were supposed to stay there for the duration of our new bodies lives. I tried to be angry at the company that caused this but I really couldn’t be. I now knew that I was a transsexual and I would never have to go through surgery to become a woman. I could have kissed the inventors of the MagGens but he had been one of the individuals killed in the testing. He went to his grave disbelieving that he was to fault for the swaps. I am sure that he was not responsible fully. The manufacturer believed that there were no problems that would ever arise from the installing of the units but one was found with somewhat tragic results.

The trial lasted three weeks and both sides had several arguments but finally the jury held the manufacturer liable for the personal damage each of us suffered. The award was not to be disclosed to anyone outside the lawsuit party and lawyers. I was awarded twenty million dollars, after the lawyers fees, for my damages. I would have taken a million and kissed the companies CEO for giving me the opportunity to be who I should have been. I kept silent about my true self and just claimed that I had been a transvestite. I was looking forward to going out shopping for a new house and car.

Mary announced to me after the trial was over that she was filing for divorce and planned on taking half of the money I got from the lawsuit. I told her I was going to fight it no matter what. I sought out a good defensive divorce lawyer and made her an offer that I thought was fair and equitable for her part. I felt that she did not deserve that much of my settlement because she has been nothing but a pain in my side since I got out of the hospital. Sure, there were fifteen years of age between us now and we were both women but that did not give her the right to claim half my money. The divorce was turning into a media circus for me and for the first time in my marriage to Mary, I literally detested her.

The court finally settled the matter between us and gave her twenty-five percent of my settlement funds as well as the house and the car she drove. It got me away from her and I washed my hands of her. I was free at last to live my life the way I wanted to.

While I was working with my lawyer for the second lawsuit against my former employer, I met a young man who was working as a paralegal for the office while he went for his law degree. He asked me out for a date one day which I accepted. I had a wonderful time with him and he proved to be very entertaining. He knew my past and was not fazed by it at all. He saw how happy I was in my new life and how much fun I had being a woman and decided that he wanted to get to know me a lot better. We decided that we would go slowly until the second suit was concluded before we discussed any further involvement between us.

We had several dates during that time and it was after the fourth one that I decided that it was time to take the plunge sexually. I was a bit nervous about it but since I had over a year to explore my body and get used to the reactions it gave me, I felt it was only natural to explore my full sexuality. I must say that I was not prepared for the full onslaught of sensations. My hands touching myself were nothing when compared to the hands of a man roaming my body. The sensuality of it drove me wild and in the end made me a confirmed heterosexual woman. I started falling in love with Adam and I clung to him like a life preserver. He was twenty-three to my current twenty years old. He was going to graduate this spring from pre-law before moving on to law school in the fall.

My second lawsuit finally concluded with another win for me. I was awarded five million dollars, of which I had to pay the lawyers a third of it. It did not matter that I got much out of it, but the results were what I enjoyed. I was quite happy that after collecting my award through the court, that the word of the business’ folding reached my ears. I consulted with my present employer, though I hate to admit that I was still working even though I no longer needed to, about partnering with me to buy the business from them. He was more than happy to do so. We wound up buying them out for a mere $2,000,000, most of which came from me. Frank decided to play the minor partner in the business and would let me run it the way I felt was necessary. He would only take over if I blew it. I got the pleasure of seeing them ushered out of the building after I took over.

I immediately gathered all the employees of the business together and outlined my intentions with the business. All of the women that had the training for this type of work were told that they were no longer glorified slaves. They would be given raises and set to work doing what they were trained for. The men in the business that had been a part of the problem were mighty loud about that. Of the ten men that were now working for me, eight of them walked out after hearing that they would be getting a cut in pay to equalize the salaries of all the employees. The two remaining men were happy with it since neither of them were the type of men that perpetuated the gender inequalities the previous regime instituted. I did make sure that they all knew that I would be fair to everyone and all work would have to be of the highest quality. I had started the day with twenty employees and now was down to an even dozen. I knew that the work load had doubled for everyone that was trained for the job.

My first day had many ups and downs but I left the office that night after making sure that all the locks were changed because many of the men that walked out left with their company keys. I expected problems from them in the future and was not going to take any chances. I had to try to prepare for it and at the same time hope that it never happened.

My worst fears never came about. Several of the men came back to me in the following weeks because they had not been able to find a job anywhere. I had to hide a smile since I had put the word out that they were to be black balled for discrimination. They all wound up taking the original cut in pay as well as an extra five percent which they might earn back eventually if they behave themselves.

Eventually, things began to settle down with my life. I was one of the richest people in town now as well as being a business owner. The only thing I was missing was love. I was now divorced and living in my own house. Adam and I had broken up amicably because of the difference in our lives. He had been good in bed but I really had no way to compare it since I had no other experience. I needed to explore other situations and see if it was worth going back to Adam eventually.

I received an emergency call from Michael Fontaine that startled me to no end. It seemed that Lisa has tried to commit suicide because of her hate for her new body. She was now about 43 years old and a man. She has been so depressed because of the change and took a bottle of sleeping pills along with a fifth of whiskey. It almost killed her/him and somehow, someone managed to find him before he actually passed the point of no return. When I went to see him, he flipped out so badly that I was asked to leave and they had to sedate him. I reminded him too much of what he lost. I left the hospital that night in tears. I hated to see someone suffer so much. Lisa was going to need a lot of counseling and I could not be a part of it.

I have always felt a bit guilty that I wound up in Lisa’s body and her in one that did not match her personality. But then again, I am the only one that has been having it easy. I truly love what I am and am content. Michelle, formerly Michael, had a harder time with being a woman because she was pregnant when she got her current body. She has accepted the change as permanent and has gone on with her life. But that does not mean that she is comfortable with it. She has stated publicly that she is not comfortable with the thought of dating men, where I have been dating men for several months now and enjoying it immensely. Michelle feels that sex will not do anything for her except get her pregnant again, which she does not care to ever go through again. I do not agree with her at all. I look forward to it myself since I had no children with Mary and I am now able to have a child if I felt so inclined.

Unlike all the rest of the group, I am happy and contented. I will keep dating as well as keep my business going. One of these days, I may decide that I will take the plunge and get married again but in the mean time, I will enjoy being a single woman. I need to get going now. I think I have spent enough time talking about myself. Would you look at the time? I really have to rush. There is a shoe sale going on at my favorite shoe store and it starts in thirty minutes. I hope that you have enough for your story. Ta-ta.
 
 
Note: TG series sci-fi body swap
Posted by: Jerrie526 on Thursday, November 13, 2003 - 11:11 PM
 
 

I cannot help how I feel about being in this lousy body. It is out of shape and I had to smoke because the jerk who had it before me had addicted it to cigarettes, which I despise. I have had to go through a quit smoking plan to get rid of the habit. It has been long and hard to do. I have been dealing with the weight gain and the hunger that gnaws at me until I have to indulge it. I get so depressed that all I can do is cry. I hate this so much.

The doctors have told me that I qualify to have a sex change because I really am a woman trapped in a man’s body. I don’t want to change it into A fake woman’s body; I just want to have my body back. I know I will not and it depresses me even further. My doctors tell me that for my peace of mind that it would be best if I go ahead with the transition and at least try to be comfortable.

I have seen my old body several times since the swap and all I can do is cry over my loss. It is so hard to see someone else wearing it. I know she is a good person inside but I cannot stand to see her. It is just a reminder of what I have lost and depresses me further than I have ever been in my life.

I have been trying to get my family to come and visit me but it seems like they have disowned me for no reason of mine. My sisters have refused to even talk to me. My parents no longer claim me as their daughter, but that is because I am no longer their daughter. But they certainly don’t see me as their son either since I am now older than my mother but a year younger than my father.

The doctors tried to get me to see a therapist but it was hard to talk to her at all. She could not understand what I have gone through and because of that, I could not get my points across to her. Because of that, I gave up without any major effort on my part.

I was at least getting visits from a few of the others involved in the accident and some of them I cannot stand to be around. I had a visit once from Michael, who is now going by the name of Michelle now that she has had the baby. I found that she is a self centered and shallow individual who seems to act like she is the only person that was hurt in this thing. She complained all the time about the pain she had to endure when she had the baby and how hard it was to be a woman and that sort of garbage. I finally had to tell her off and when I did, she took it as an affront to her sensitivity and left. If she cannot see how much of a bitch she is, I would hate to see what would happen if she was told that by someone.

I was finally able to see my boyfriend Keith after a couple of months of his ignoring me. He was several years older than he had been before the accident but he broke up with me because in his words, “I am not gay and no longer am attracted to you.” Just more fuel to the fire that is burning me up inside.

I started having a difficult time sleeping because of my inner turmoil. I had been prescribed some sleeping pills by my doctors to help me go to sleep easier. My nights were disturbed by flashes of eroticism that bothered me to no end. At the least expected moment, I would awaken with a raging erection that was more disturbing than the dreams. I cannot describe how much I hate that horrible piece of flesh that is now hanging between my legs. The very first time I felt it after I woke enough to be aware of myself, I became totally hysterical and had to be sedated. Any more, I have been tempted to whack it off with a knife or something sharp so that I will not have to deal with it. Urinating is a lesson in futility. I refuse to touch that *THING * at all. It makes me so sick to think about it being ATTACHED to me!

At the advise of some of my friends from when I had my old body, I even went as far as wearing women’s clothes again. When I was able to get a look in the mirror for the first time after my friends had completed their work on me, I went ballistic. I had never looked so ridiculous in my life. I ripped every shred of clothes off my body and collapsed into a heap of tears.

By this time, I had been struggling for nearly a year. How time flies when you are not having fun. My nightmares have been growing worse each night and it is so hard on me not being able to sleep. I have been taking several of the sleeping pills each night to be able to sleep the night through and it does me no good. I awake at the same time screaming hoarsely from the images that disturbed my sleep.

I had to go give my testimony for the lawsuit finally and at least the jury was able to hear about my situation completely and were sympathetic to me. Each one of us were granted a large sum of money for our suffering. At the end of the trial, we were all handed an individual envelope telling us not to disclose to anyone what we had received. I had a check for $40,000,000.00, not that it was going to do me any good. I was in no mood to spend it at all.

The letter that was enclosed stated that the company that caused this felt that I was the one that was suffering the most and therefore, I received the largest sum of money. It did not say how much the others received but that they were all compensated for their amount of suffering. I wondered how much ‘Jackie’ was actually suffering. She looked like she was having the time of her life when I saw her during the trial. As hard as I tried to get the image out of my mind, I could not. I had seen her talking to some other women in the lounge set up in the courthouse and she was laughing and having a good time. She totally ignored me as if I were not there at all.

It was during that time that I decided that I was no longer going to deal with this body. My will to live has drained from me gradually day by day. Now, I no longer have anything to live for. I had several months ago taken to drinking in trying to drown out my sorrows but it never really helped me at all. All I did was wake up hung over and feeling sick. I went to the pharmacy to renew my prescription for the sleeping pills and stopped by the liquor store to pick up the strongest bottle of whiskey I could find.

That night, I downed every one of the pills that I had picked up that day. I even emptied the bottle of whiskey. I was totally drunk before the pills started kicking in and I passed out quickly.

Much to my surprise and disgust, I woke up in the hospital again with tubes running out of every orifice in my body. My hands were strapped to the bed and I could not move them. As I became more aware of my surroundings, I started thrashing my body. The nurse that was stationed there got on the phone and made a call. I was soon surrounded by doctors that were basically clucking their tongues at me for my actions.

I was told that if it had not been for the original occupant of my body finding me, I would have been dead. I could not talk with the tube in my throat and they relented and removed it so that I could talk. I was so angry about failing to kill myself that I berated every one of those assholes for letting me live so that I could continue to suffer.

Over the next several weeks, I had to put up with visits from shrinks that were trying to get me to realize that I did not want to kill myself and that I had a will to survive that would kick in soon. My will to survive had gave up the ghost a long time ago. I tried to tell them that many times but is was all to naught with my efforts.

A couple of days after I awoke, I was surrounded by the others in the group but the minute I laid eyes on Jackie, I went berserk. The bitch had no right to come waltzing into my room and life like that and all I could do was scream obscenities at her until she left the room. I hoped that she was crying like the little girl she was! I have never hated anyone in my life like I hated her. Little Miss Bitch! The doctors came back in and shooed every one out of the room and gave me an injection to calm me down.

The shrinks came back in the room and started asking me all sorts of questions, of which, I answered none of them. I stayed silent and refused to talk to any of them.

I was in the hospital for three more months this time and the majority of it was spent strapped to the bed. I was given some time up each day to move around so that the muscles did not atrophy on me but I did not care about that.

In the time before they released me, they started giving me several antidepressants that seemed to take me out of my most serious blue funk but it made me a zombie that could not think about anything independent. When I was released, I was taken to the home that was Steve and Karen Mitchell’s house and put up in their guest bedroom. They were the ones that I had the least reaction over so they were elected to watch over me. They made sure that I took my pills on time and made sure that I took them.

I hated being treating like an invalid all the time. Stephanie made sure that I ate and did not lose any more weight than I had already lost. Not that it mattered to me anyway. My body was going on automatic pilot as it was. It ate whether or not I wanted to.

One day, Stephanie was a little bit careless and did not watch me closely when it came time to give me the prescribed medication. I carefully hid the pills in my mouth and spit them out when she turned her back. I quickly disposed of them when I had the chance. I kept the stupefied act up so that they would not catch on until too late. Once my thoughts were clear, I started making up my plans for getting out of this situation. I caught my journal up to date which brings me to this point.

I have used this message as a way to clear my mind and make it up as to what I am going to do with my life. It has set me straight on what I need to do and I have set my mind to it. I have tried so hard to live as a man and I have found it impossible. I was not born to be a man and I am going to make sure that the future does not hold that prospect for me. I had received the majority of Steve Mitchell’s possessions after I originally left the hospital and while going through them one day, I found a hidden compartment in one of his cases that contained a pistol that was loaded. My last attempt to kill myself did not go over well because I took a woman’s way out without pain by taking sleeping pills. Up until now, I have been afraid to use it and now the fear is gone. This time I have to do it the man’s way and end it with violence. Let this be my last words while I say that I am sorry that I have to do this. Good bye to my family and I am sorry for the pain I am going to cause them. I just cannot take this any more and I must end it now.

Excerpt from the Big River Times, Big River, CO:

It was announced today that one of the twelve famous body swappers was found dead from an apparent self inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Lisa Canby had left a journal that detailed her/his feelings since the swap that left her in the body of a man more than twice her age. Lisa had been dealing with severe depression for the last year and a half and had previously tried to kill herself/himself but was found before he/she actually died. Her second attempt was successful. Funeral services for Ms/Mr. Canby will be held on Wednesday after a coroner’s inquest is held. She was 20 going on 43 at the time of her death.
 
 
Note: TG series sci-fi body swap
Posted by: Jerrie526 on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 - 08:30 PM
 
 

The letter I received in the mail seemed very curious. I tried rereading it again to decipher its true meaning. I still could not figure out what it meant.
 

There was no signature at the end of the letter and the enclosed clue did nothing to ease my mind as to what might be going on. I didn't normally like puzzles but this one had some sort of attraction to me. A clue shaped like a tiny pair of binoculars, did it mean that I had to look for the answer through a pair of binoculars? I couldn't figure out why.

As I looked closer at the tiny item in my hand, I couldn't help but notice the tiny loop attached to the top of the thing. It looked like something that could go on a necklace or some such thing like that. But it wasn't hard to figure out the best way was to go find a chain to thread the clue on to. I had a few gold chains that could be used for this purpose. Former girlfriends who all said they were trying to brighten up my otherwise gloomy disposition had given them to me. I had never liked any kind of jewelry so they sat in my underwear drawer out of sight. I went into my bedroom to get one out.

I had to go through five of the six chains before I found one that would fit through the hoop of the binoculars. It was almost like it had been made to fit only that particular chain. I placed the others back in the drawer. At least now, I had something to keep the, for lack of better words, charm on. I felt rather ridiculous wearing jewelry so I placed it into the pocket of my jeans. Whenever asked why I didn't wear any sort of decorations, my answer was always that to wear anything like that was vanity and vanity had no place in my life. I wore only a watch for the functionality only. You can't work without knowing what time it is, so it was a necessary evil to me.

I felt that it was time to go out and see what I could find out about my 'clue'. Since it was in the shape of binoculars, I grabbed my pair that was sitting on a shelf in my closet. I had never used them since they were given to me by one of my co-workers who was so into hunting. He felt that I needed to get more of a life and get out into the field and hunt for big game or something. I refuse to do that since to hunt is to kill and I am not a killer. The animals were too beautiful to end their lives so that you could eat them and mount their heads on your wall. I had made a decision that I would go out to my front porch to do some looking. Maybe even later I would go for a drive. Something had to turn up.

As I walked out the front door of my house. The first thing I noticed was there was no sounds anywhere. I lived on a fairly busy street and there was always noise outside. The highway was always humming with traffic, the kids in the neighborhood were always playing and making all kinds of sounds, dogs barking, birds singing. But now, there was nothing at all making a sound. It was almost as if the world had muted itself. But it was not my concern. I sat down in my porch chair and surveyed the world around me and contemplated the meaning of the letter. It was still a closed item to me. As I looked around the neighborhood, I noticed things really were not the way they should be.

There was a car coming around the corner three houses up from me. It did not seem to be moving. One of my neighbors was mowing his grass. He was not moving. A neighbor kid was out front playing with his dog and throwing a Frisbee for it to chase and the dog had jumped to catch it. The dog was in mid air with its jaws open to close on the Frisbee. But the dog was frozen in mid air and not moving. This was like something out of the Twilight Zone TV show from years ago. It reminded me of an episode where there was a Nuclear War being launched and one person went crazy with the thought of the world ending. Because of this, time froze and the only person that was able to move around was the crazy person. It showed one nuclear missile hanging in the air frozen in time. That was how this whole scene looked. Frozen in time. Weird. I had to repress a shiver down my spine with the thought of the world being frozen in time.

On impulse, I raised the binoculars to my eyes and looked through them at the dog catching the Frisbee. But something was in the way of the view. All I could see was a necklace and charm in the viewfield. Thinking something was wrong, I took them away and the still world returned. Looking back through the lenses again, I saw the necklace again. This time, there were more details. It showed the necklace with the binocular charm hanging from it and the whole thing hanging from a neck. The neck looked like mine without any clothes. Why was I seeing this? It made no sense. Then in a way it did. Was I meant to be wearing the necklace and the charm? It was ridiculous that I was supposed to wear it. I hated jewelry and flatly refused to wear it. I put the binoculars down on the table next to the chair I was sitting in.

I stood up and started walking to my car. I had to see if more than my immediate area was frozen as it was. When I got into the car and inserted the key, nothing happened. No lights came on when I turned the key and the engine did not start. It seemed that I was going nowhere until I solved this small puzzle. Whoever was doing this was powerful and it was up to my intellect to figure this out. I was starting to get hungry and went back into the house to get a bite to eat. I opened the refrigerator to dig out the makings for a sandwich and spread them on the counter to fix my lunch. I knew my stomach was telling me it was as close to noon as it could be but the clock on the wall said it was only 10:00. Why was I so hungry if it was only mid morning and I had a huge breakfast at 8:00? I didn't really care but I still had to eat something. I made my sandwich and sat down to the table to eat it.

It was like biting into a piece of cardboard. It was hard to bite and was tasteless but left a feeling in my mouth that was nauseating. Nothing like ruining a meal. I went to the refrigerator again and pulled out a milk jug to see if I could wash the horrible tastelessness out of my mouth. As I tried to pour the milk into a glass, it felt like I was trying to pour a jug of molasses. I practically turned it upside-down trying to get the milk out and it would not even run. In disgust, I capped the jug again and placed it back where I got it. I was starting to get very worried that things were going to stay this way. I tried the water tap; nothing came out when I tried to turn the handle. It looked like I was going to have to go hungry or figure out how I could get things to go back to normal. I started wandering through the house aimlessly. I was highly confused as to what to do. I passed a mirror in the hallway and had to stop when I noticed something strange about my reflection. The face was distorted back at me but the one thing that was noticeable was the necklace and charm again hanging around my neck. Was someone trying to tell me that I had to put the necklace on? I had no idea but it was almost unsettling to see such a distorted image in front of me.

Again on impulse, I took the necklace out of my pocket and slipped it over my head. Once it was in place, the image in the mirror cleared up. It was my face looking back at me. At once, dizziness hit me and I had to reach out a hand to the wall to steady myself. I missed the wall. I collapsed to the floor because I could no longer stand up. The spinning of my head increased as if the world's axis was speeding up. After several minutes, things started slowing down enough to be able to hold up my head again. It finally stopped and things returned to normal. Did I say normal? Too many things were not the way they were before the spinning took hold of me.

I heard a voice coming from the kitchen, "Where is that girl? Jennifer! You get back in here and finish your lunch, young lady!"

Jennifer? Who was Jennifer? I lived alone in this house and there had never been a Jennifer that was a girlfriend of mine. Besides, who was the lady in the kitchen yelling for Jennifer? Things didn't matter much at the moment. I had a sudden urge to use the bathroom. As I stood back up off the floor, I noticed things were not right with me either. My legs felt bare but yet there felt to be some sort of cloth covering them or at least partly. As I looked down, I saw a tank style top covering my chest that was covered with little flowers. Lower still was a pair of pink shorts covering me below the waist. Below them were the skinniest, hairless legs that I had ever seen. Down below them were a pair of lacy ankle socks and pink tennis shoes. My hands started roaming over myself when I caught a glimpse of movement from the corner of my eye.

I turned my head and saw a young girl in the mirror on the wall. She looked to be about 10-years-old and had a scared look on her face. I quickly turned my head to see if this girl was standing behind me. No one there! I looked back at the mirror and the girl followed my movements. She had very beautiful eyes that stood out from her face. I had never seen violet irises before and these were the most fantastic colors for eyes that I had ever seen. A tiny upturned nose that could only be described as cutely pert was centered on her face. Below that was a pair of lips that could only be termed as generous for someone so young. She was crowned with the most luxurious sable brown hair that cascaded down to the middle of her back. Looking closely at her chest was the tiniest little bumps of future womanhood.

My inspection of this girl was cut short but the treading of a woman's heels coming down a wooden floor. "There you are Jennifer! Didn't you hear me calling you to come back and finish your lunch?" she said.

Still surprised, I looked behind me to see if this Jennifer was standing behind me. Again, there was no one there. Was I Jennifer? How could this be possible? Was I going crazy like that person on Twilight Zone? Fortyyear -old men do not become 10-year-old girls in an instant like this.

"Well, what is wrong with you? Why are you just standing there and not getting back in the kitchen and tend to your lunch? Growing girls like you need their nutrition and I would be a poor mother if I let you skip lunch. Get going and finish eating." She had a stern look in her face as if she was going to brook no argument from me.

"I'm sorry, I needed to go to the bathroom." It was the only thing I could think of to say to her.

"Well, why are you standing in the hallway then? Go and get done and go back in the kitchen. Remember to wash your hands after you get done." With that, she turned and left me to myself. I was totally scared out of my wits now. Why was this happening to me? I knew nothing about this girl that I seemed to be. But I still had to go to the bathroom. Since this was my house as before, I knew where it was. I went there and closed the door. Knowing that I had to use the toilet before I burst, I had to undo the shorts that I was wearing. Once I lowered them, I could see that I was wearing a pair of pink cotton big girl's panties. I lowered them and at once I knew I would not be able to stand to go to the bathroom. All that was visible was a hairless little girl's crotch. I could not call it the derogatory terms that many men love to use because I always felt that it was too crude to use them. As I sat, I realized that to use the toilet in this fashion was strange but not nearly as strange as this whole day had been so far.

Once I had finished I wiped myself, flushed and stood back up as I pulled my panties and shorts back into place. Remembering what Jennifer's mother had said, I washed my hands and dried them. I left the bathroom much relieved and went back into the kitchen. When I walked through the house to get back to the kitchen, I noticed that the house was decorated differently than it had been earlier. It had a simple but very feminine style to it. There were pictures on the wall that I had not owned before. They consisted of renditions of famous artists' portraits of flowers, animals and fields. A couple pictures were of the family I was now a part of. It showed the woman, the girl who I was now, and a man. Another picture just showed the woman and myself. No man was evident in it. Why was he out of the picture? Were they divorced? I didn't think there was an easy answer to that question. Before I could ponder too much more, my stomach growled in hunger. Back to lunch I guess.

Upon entering the kitchen, I found the sandwich Jennifer had started to eat earlier. Bite taken out of it already. A glass of milk along side the plate with the sandwich. I quickly finished the sandwich and drank the milk. My new mother was at the sink doing some of the dishes that were dirty. She looked over at me and smiled her pleasure. "Would you like to have a couple of chocolate chip cookies for your dessert? I made some fresh this morning for you. I know how much you like them," she asked.

How did she know I love chocolate chip cookies? Before she came down the hallway, I had never seen this woman before in my life. The kitchen I had never seen in this shape before. It was too bare to be my kitchen. Hardly any cabinet space, the stove was an old fashioned gas burner instead of the fancy smooth top electric one that I bought last year. I had always taken pride in the modernity of my kitchen. I had even spent $15,000 last year remodeling it and upgrading the appliances. Now, has all that work been to naught? Those questions were nagging at my head but the ones that should have been bothering me the most were not.

"Yes, Mom, I would love to have some cookies. Thank you," I finally replied to her. She dried her hands and went to the old baking counter and put two cookies on a small plate and brought them over to me.

"Here you are, dear. Enjoy them as you always do."

"Thank you. Mom, may I have another glass of milk, please?"

"Yes, you may. My, aren't you a polite one today? Are you feeling ok? I don't think I have ever seen you as polite before. But I love it." She gave me another loving smile before turning to resume her tasks at the kitchen sink.

She seemed to be a caring mother and one that I might grow to love if I had to be this girl for the rest of my life. But I had to have an answer to the Discovery question in my letter. What was I trying to discover? I chewed the cookies and drank the milk in contemplation of my task. I had barely finished them when the doorbell rang. My mother said, "Could you get that, dear? My hands are not dry at the moment."

"Sure, Mom."

I ran to the door and opened it. Standing outside were two girls that looked to be my age as I was now. One was a redhead and the other was a blonde.

The redhead on the right asked me, "Jennifer, can you come out and play? Tiffany and I are very bored and we need you to come out and join us."

I didn't have any idea who these girls were but the pleading look in their eyes made me say, "I don't know. I am going to have to ask my mom if I can." I ran back to the kitchen. "Mom, Tiffany wants to know if I can go outside and play with her. May I?"

"I know your room is clean and I don't have anything else that needs for you to do it, so yes, you can go play. Is Heather with her? You know how inseparable those two are." So that was the redhead's name.

"Yes, mom, Heather is with her."

"Then I think it is ok to go. Please try to stay out of trouble. You know how the three of you get when you don't think. There is some money on the table next to the door if you would like to take it with you. You can buy an ice cream bar when the truck comes around again. They should be here in about an hour if their schedule runs as it should."

"Thank you, mom. I would like that."

"You go and enjoy yourself. Please try to be back home by 4:00 so that you can get ready for dinner. Make sure you remember your watch this time. I don't want to have to come looking for you again," she admonished me.

I looked at my wrist, the watch was there. A girl's Minnie Mouse watch. "I have it mom. See you later." With that, I went back to the door. I tried to figure out why I was so excited to go out and play with two little girls that I did not know. But I did not have any time to wonder. I spotted the money on the table by the door and picked it up and put it in my pocket. I opened the screen door and closed the big door behind me. The two girls were bubbling over with energy that I seemed to have an abundance of myself.

"So what do you two want to do? I have some money mom gave me for ice cream bars later when the truck comes."

The two girls squealed with delight at the thought of ice cream. Suddenly, they both stopped and looked at me strangely. Or more precisely, at what was around my neck.

"Jennifer, where did you get the necklace? You have never worn it before," Tiffany stated.

"I have always had it but didn't want to wear it. I just got the charm today in the mail." I wasn't lying but they had a hold of the necklace and were looking at the charm hanging from it.

"Why is it the shape of binoculars?" Heather asked. "It looks like something a boy would wear." She had a distasteful look on her face.

"I don't know. Mom thought it would be good to put it on this chain and thought I could wear it around the house. I forgot to take it off before I left the house. I will have to be careful that I don't lose it."

"Then take it off and put it in your pocket. It is an ugly thing to wear."

"I might lose it out of the pocket. At least around my neck, it won't come off," I responded.

"Well, it's your neck it is uglifying. Tuck it under your top so we won't have to look at it."

I was a little bit offended by her tone but I shook it off. By the time I had it hidden under my top, they were both back to their bubbly selves. We went down to the park that was on the next block and proceeded to have a great time playing on the equipment. We even had several boys showing off for us that had all three of us giggling our heads off. I wasn't attracted to them in any sort but I could remember how I acted when I was their age. They had all the moves I used to do down pat and to my great amusement they looked so silly to be doing them. Now I was beginning to realize just why the girl's 30 years ago had been giggling at me. And for that reason, I was joining in with Heather and Tiffany in giggling at them all.

We heard the ice cream truck's music playing and ran to the street to meet it and get our treat. I paid for the three of us and we ran back to the park and went into the shade of one of the bigger trees to eat them. I had long ago forgotten how wonderful these things tasted. An industrial accident with chemicals ruined my sense of taste and smell fifteen years ago and I had a poor ability for either. I could taste some things as well as smell some things, but for the most part, I was able to only get a sense of the worst things around. The ice cream was pure heaven to me and I enjoyed it as if I had never had any in my life.

The afternoon progressed slowly and I began to relax around the two girls and enjoy their companionship. I had never realized that girls had so much fun and was pleased to discover that they were not the alien race that I had always thought them to be. As the old saying goes, you have to walk a mile in another person's shoes to understand them. I had walked, ran and everything else in these shoes today. This was an enlightening discovery I had made.

Suddenly, I had another realization. My letter came back to me from earlier. The question of discovery. The answer was that girls were not alien and they were able to have fun without the pressures of peers looming about them. They could be themselves without sacrificing anything.

I took a glance at my watch and realized that it was getting close to 4:00 and I had to be home soon or mom would get mad at me if I were late. I made my apologies to Tiffany and Heather and left to go home.

As I got to the front gate of the yard, I noticed an envelope hanging on the gate. It stated simply 'Jennifer'. I pulled it loose and looked it over. It was sealed but I could feel a small bulge as well as what felt like a piece of paper inside. I folded it up and put it in my pocket and went into the house. I made my way to my room but realized as soon as I walked into it, that it was my mom's room and not mine. I went into the second bedroom, which was Jennifer's room.

I sat down on the bed and opened the envelope. I pulled out the paper and unfolded it. It had the list of questions that was on the original letter. But the first question had the answer next to it as I had thought it a short time ago. The message underneath the questions was simple. It read:

"The first question was the easy part. Each answer will get harder to find but again, you will have plenty of time to find it. Good luck."

Again, it was not signed. I overturned the envelope and dumped the item inside into my hand. The world swirled around me again and I found myself sitting on my bed in my bedroom. I was back to where I started from and I was myself again. Forty-years-old, male and tired. I felt like I had been out running a marathon. It was still early morning according to the light entering the room and the clock next to my bed told the truth. It was 10:05 AM. My whole day was spent already and hardly any time had passed in reality. Was this what was meant by having all the time in the world? I am sure I was going to find out further.

I pondered the next question further and looked at the charm that had been in the envelope. The two combined said it all. Explorations. The charm was shaped like the steering wheel of an ancient sailing ship. One that went on explorations of the world. Knowing it was inevitable, I took the necklace with the original charm off and opened the clasp. I put the new charm on it and closed it again. I slipped the necklace back over my head. The world started spinning again.
 
To Be Continued...
 
Note: TG magic transformation deals/gifts age regression Adult-to-under-13 rated-g
Posted by: Admin on Wednesday, January 08, 2003 - 12:01 AM.
 
 

By the time the spinning stopped, I was back in the bedroom that had been Jennifer's. This time though, the room had a definite teenager look. More precisely, a girl teenager. One that was interested in boy bands, fashion, girl singers, and hunky actors. I thought I wasn't going to have any fun with this one.

I stood up from the bed and walked over to the mirror on the closet door. It showed the same face that I had seen a short time ago but several years older. This time, I was about fifteen-years-old and had a fairly well developed bosom but only a medium sized b-cup. I'm sure that as she/I grew older, it would be larger. I had a decent figure and my face had developed into what I would have called a looker.

I noticed a clock on the nightstand next to the bed and turned to face it. It said that the time was 10:10 AM. Still early yet. But not early enough for Jennifer to still be lounging round in her pajamas. She'd gotten dressed for what looked like a day with the girls. I wondered if Tiffany and Heather were going to come over today. I realized a far away sound was the ringing of a phone.

"Jennifer, Heather's on the phone," my mom called out. Speak of the devil.

I went into the kitchen to pick up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey girlfriend!" the perky voice of Heather squealed at me. "Want to go to the mall and do some window shopping? Tiffany and the rest of the gang are bouncing off the wall to go do something and told me to call you. How about it?"

I looked over at mom, "Mom, Heather and the gang are wondering if I can go to the mall with them in a bit. Would that be ok?"

"How long do they plan on being over there?" Mom asked. "You know you have to baby-sit for Mr. and Mrs. Johnson tonight while they go to dinner and a movie. They want you there by 5:30. That would mean that you would have to be home by 4:30. Can you be done by that time?"

"Um, Heather? I have to baby-sit for the Johnsons tonight and I have to be home by 4:30 so that I can get ready to go. Will we be able to get done by then?"

"No problem. That still gives us almost six hours to scout to clothes and the boys. I hear that Rick's going to be there today. You know how badly you have the hots for him. I think he wants to ask you out to the Summer Fest dance in two weeks. Do you want to come over to my house or do you want us to come and pick you up?"

"Why don't you come over here. I'm ready to go now. All I have to do is slip some sandals on and I'll be all the way ready."

"Ok, we'll see you in ten minutes," she said and hung up.

Mom looked at me funny. "I really hope that you can make it home on time. You and those five are a royal terror to the mall people when you go there. I've heard some complaints about how wild you all are when you're cruising the mall. If it gets any worse, I'm going to have to ground you for a while. You know how much I hate disciplining you. Ever since your father died, you have become a hand full and I don't know what to do with you anymore. Please, for my sake, can you at least use some discretion today?"

"Mom, I know you try hard and I do know I am a hand full. I'll be good today and be home on time. You won't hear any bad comments about me today. I promise you that from the bottom of my heart."

I still had no idea why I was taking all this so calmly. I should be a blithering fool by now because of all the insanity that this should actually be. But I was acting like everything was normal and things like this happened every day. That was going to be the hardest to figure out. I still had the question to answer before I can try to make it back to what I called normal.

Just then, the doorbell rang. I knew who it was. I ran over to mom and gave her a hug and quick peck on the cheek. "Bye mom. I'll see you later. I love you." I turned around and made my way to the door.

I heard a sniffle behind me. I turned to see mom crying. Noting the look of concern on my face, she said, "It's nothing. What you just said was the nicest thing you have ever said to me. You go and enjoy your day and I'll see you this afternoon." Her comment had me wondering what sort of little bitch Jennifer was to her. She was a nice woman, from what I have been able to see of her.

When I got to the door, I grabbed what could only be Jennifer's purse. It felt strange holding something like this but anything that had a little tag on it that said 'Daddy's Princess' could only be for a young girl/woman. I slung it over my shoulder and opened the door. The screams of "Jennifer!" assailed me as I came face to face with the terror pack of the mall. No wonder the mall people ran and hid when they were around. I felt like doing the same thing at that moment. Oh, well. 'Grin and bear it girlie,' I told myself. I put on a huge smile and went to join them in the assault on the mall. I had to check myself over since all of the girls were wearing what could only be called skimpy outfits. I really hadn't been prepared for the trip but I must have passed muster with them all but then Heather and Tiffany both spotted something about me that didn't pass.

Heather wrinkled her nose, "You still have that tacky old necklace? Why on earth are you even wearing it? It's even more hideous than before with that wheel thingie on it. Girl, we need to get you some decent jewelry."

I tucked the necklace under my shirt and things went back to normal. All six of us went giggling to the bus stop so that we could wait for the bus. The other five were chattering up a storm that I was hard pressed to keep up with. Never in my wildest dreams had I ever thought I would be in the middle of a group of teenage girls when they were in fullblown shopping mode. When the bus finally picked us up, we climbed aboard and took it over. The ride to the mall was relatively short but I finally was able to get into the conversation somewhat but still had a problem following the inane chatter.

At one point, the girls asked me if I was ok since I wasn't acting like my normal self. I just made an excuse that I was thinking about my babysitting job tonight. But my thoughts were about what I was supposed to be exploring for. The purpose of this whole thing was too far above my head and I wasn't really up for this game. I would love to find out whom it was that was doing this to me. But this outing had the makings of an interesting day. I had to think about what I had found out on my previous visit to the life of Jennifer. The time I spent as her had been fun but that was the carefree time of a child. Now, I'm a teenager in her body and what sort of explorations am I supposed to be doing?

It seemed to me that I was starting to alienate Jennifer from her friends and that's just by being the antisocial person that I had been as a man. What was different about men and women that I was having such a difficult time dealing with? I do know men are so stodgy in their ways and they all act so bland in comparison to women. Everything's so emotionless in men and that was one thing that I was going to have to overcome being around these girls.

Before I knew it, we were at the mall. This was the moment that I had been dreading ever since I was asked to go there. From what Heather had said, someone by the name of Rick was going to be here and was probably going to ask me to some sort of a dance. Like I could really dance. I had always avoided dancing like the plague. I couldn't move my body other than like a lumbering hulk foundering in a pit of tar. I had no rhythm or musical talent of any sort. Everyone in my family was gifted musically. I was the one that was not gifted in those respects. But then, I had no idea what Jennifer could do. I wasn't sure I wanted to find out. But I may have to find out. I still had my exploration to do.

The doors opened for us and we charged right in as if we owned the place. From the look of terror on some faces, maybe we did. Maybe the terror pack is the right name for us. We started sweeping from one store to another browsing around and not even buying anything. About 1:00, we made our way to the food court and swept through it looking for something to munch on and restore our energy. We would need it for the next three hours before I had to go home.

I was really dying to have a pizza but I knew with this slight body, I wouldn't be able to eat my whole pizza as I normally do. I went to the Sbarro's stand and ordered a slice of cheese/veggie, which turned out to be nearly a quarter of a whole pizza. I knew I wouldn't be able to eat it all. I was also thirsty so I went to the Orange Julius to get me a Raspberry Julius. I decided to go lightly and ordered a medium sized one. The other girls had found a couple of empty tables and coerced a couple of boys to join the tables together and then gave each of them a kiss and sent them away with their heads spinning in bliss.

I joined them there and amid strange looks from all five of them, I began to chow down on the pizza. I was nearly halfway through before I noticed that I was being stared at. Sheepishly, I sat the pizza slice down and looked up. "What? Do I have sauce all over my face?" I asked.

Heather had a particular look of disgust on her face. "No, but since when do you eat PIZZA?" She said it with such vehemence that I was hard pressed to catch her meaning.

"I've always loved pizza. Just because I don't eat it around you, doesn't mean that I don't eat it at all."

"Jen, you worry me sometimes. It's like you're two different people. One day you're the rabble rouser that has a 'world-be-damned' attitude that eats a salad, then the next day you're the quiet demure wallflower that scarffs a pizza down as if there's no tomorrow. What has gotten into you lately?"

It kind of scared me when she mentioned being two different people. I guess I was being the same type of person that I was as a man. And it was certainly sending the wrong messages off to all the girls since they were looking at me the same way Heather was. I knew who I was but that wasn't who I was being at the moment. I didn't have the ability to act like a teenage girl since I had never been one before. I was getting so flustered that I started to cry. All of a sudden, the dam burst and I was in full tears. I turned away from the table, got up and fled the scene of my outburst. I ran as hard as I could to find a place of sanctuary. Whenever I wanted to be alone, I usually ran for the restroom and hid in a stall until I was ready to face the world again. That was where I was now heading. And also into one of the greatest disasters of my short life as Jennifer.

I spotted the familiar sign the said 'Men' and entered it, only to run into a group of boys that were just leaving it. Hands grabbed my arms and stopped me in my tracks. "Leave me alone!" I shouted.

"Whoa, there. I don't think you should be coming in here," one of them said. "I think you should be going to the one just down the hallway."

I had to do a double take and look closer at where I was going. And I had to remember who I was at the moment. Before I could think too hard about where I had been heading, the girls surrounded me and hauled me away from the men's room. That was too close.

"Jen, what's wrong? You have been acting so weird today. I know it can't be your period because you just had that last week. Have you been taking something that you shouldn't take?" The last spoken with a hint of dread.

"No, I'm not taking anything illegal and you wouldn't understand what's wrong even if I told you. You would just think I was crazy and probably get me into some very serious trouble."

"Jen, there's no way that I or any of us would get you into any sort of trouble."

"Heather, you're wrong about that. Just by the six of us being here right now, we're on the verge of being in trouble. I was thoroughly scolded by my mother before you got to the house because of everything we have been doing here at the mall. Mom told me that she'd been getting all sort of complaints about me and the rest of you from people that she knows that work here. I have to be on my best behavior or I won't be able to come here or even be with you anymore. I don't like being in trouble and it hurts mom to see me running wild like I have been."

"I don't see what that has to do with how you're acting right now. You almost go into the men's room while running away blindly crying. You have hardly said a word to any of us all day but yet normally, you're chatting up a storm with us all. If I didn't know better, the Jen that I know isn't the one that's talking to me right now. But that's impossible. Who else can you be if you're not Jen?" She was really worried about me. Her face was showing all sorts of concern.

"I really can't tell you who I am because I'm confused enough as it is. But I don't want to talk here. This isn't the place for it. Before I even tell any of you what's going on, I have to extract some severe promises of silence."

"I'll make any promises that you would need. We have to help you out. You're our friend and I can tell you're in pain of a sort I've never seen before," Heather replied.

All the rest of the girls chimed in their promises of silence. I sighed since I knew it was going to happen anyway. "We have to leave here now before anything is said to you. I'm shopped out anyway. Where can we go that will be private enough to talk?"

"We can head back home and go to the park down the street. We can be away from anyone out there," was the reply I was given.

"If that's the best that can be done, then so be it. We have to make sure that no one comes around us or things will go badly for us," I said.

We left the mall and made our way to the bus stop. The ride to our home area was one in total silence with none of the girls saying a thing. The other people on the bus thought we were a bit strange by not saying a single word during the ride. It seemed like forever before we got near the area even though it was only 15 minutes. We all exited the bus and made our way to the park.

Upon arriving to the park, we looked to find the most secluded area we could find and by sheer luck, there was a grove of trees in the northeastern part that wasn't even used by the innumerable amount of children playing there. It seemed most of the kids would rather have been out playing than sitting on the benches that were shaded by the trees. We all silently went into the shade and sat down.

"Ok, now spit it out. What's your problem?" Heather questioned/ordered me.

As a visual aid, I brought out the necklace that I was wearing. "Heather, Tiffany, you both remember this necklace from when we were 10 don't you?" Upon receiving their affirmative nods, I continued. "This thing is at the heart of my problems. I had the actual chain given to me some time ago but to me, the charm that's the shape of the binoculars was sent to me in the mail this morning with a letter."

"Wait a minute, you wore the necklace and that charm five years ago. How could you have received it this morning?" Heather exclaimed.

"You see, to me it was this morning but to you it was five years ago that I wore this the first time. Or I should say Jennifer wore it the first time. I'm not Jennifer. For some reason that I've not been able to fathom as yet, I'm wearing Jennifer's body but it isn't mine. You might say I'm a visitor out of time even though the time is now. I received a letter with the first charm that told me that if I wanted control of my life back, I had to answer eight questions but the questions were so cryptic that I didn't understand them.

"I'll recount the questions so that you can think about them also. The first question was simply listed as 'Discovery'. Nothing more and nothing less. But before I continue this story I must tell you all something that must be kept confidential. You may not talk about it with anyone other than you five. I'll know it if you do.

"First and foremost, I'm 40 years old, I'm single without having ever been married, no children out of wedlock either. The biggest thing is that...I am or was a man. My name is Michael."

Gasps of absolute shock flew from all five girls. Then a flurry of questions bombarded me. "How can that be?" "Why are you here" "What happened to Jennifer?" So many more that I lost track of them.

"Girls, I've no more of a clue as to why this happened than you do. I'm trying to work my way through what seems to be some sort of mystical treasure hunt. I don't know where it came from and I'm finding it rather hard to continue figuring this out. That's why I'm talking to you about this. As to what happened to Jennifer, I don't know. I don't know if I'm somehow Jennifer and I am having a split personality moment and the mind running the body is schizophrenic, I just don't know. Before I can become myself, I have to answer the question that placed me here. As I said, the first question was discovery. And I discovered that my life long feeling that women and girls were alien creatures wasn't true. You're human beings that aren't understood by the likes of men and me especially. I had quite a few girlfriends over my life but I never really had anything that could be a sustained relationship. I basically was miserable all my life and it was made even worse trying to deal with women. I don't know if this all is a punishment to me for some past wrong I may have done to some unknown woman or girlfriend. I'm lost in a strange world and I don't know how to get out of it." With that, the tears came again with a vengeance.

None of the girls even knew how to react to my disclosure but they did know how to react to one of their friends crying. They all came to me and hugged me closely. All of them were murmuring soothing sounds to me while trying to get me to relax. It took some time for me to finally cry myself out. When I finally did, Heather as the spokesperson for the group asked me, "You said you have eight questions to answer. From the necklace you're wearing, you're on the second question. What did it entail?"

Still sniffling, I told them, "The second question is still too vague to understand. It said 'Explorations'?"

"Explorations? What kind of question is that?" Rachel wanted to know.

"That's why I'm having so much trouble with it. The charm is the shape of a steering wheel of an old time sailing ship that was used in the explorations of the world on the ocean. I sort of thought that I had to do some sort of exploring while I was in this body but I don't know what I'm supposed to be exploring."

Michelle suddenly lit up with what I just said. "Could it mean that you're meant to explore what it means to be female? It would settle the explorations part. Is there any sort of timeline that you have to get this done?"

"No, there's no timeline that I'm aware of. I've been told that I'll have all the time in the world to figure things out. The letter said that I would have to deal with each part separately and that when I answered the questions suitably, I would be returned back to when I came from. The first one returned me to a point that was five minutes after I left. But the weird thing was that the world froze on me before I put the first charm on the necklace and put it around my head. When I put it on, it seemed like the world was spinning around me and when it stopped, I was Jennifer at the age of 10. That's the first time I met Heather and Tiffany. I spent the whole day with them and we went to the park to play. But it was during that time that I was able to work out the answer to the first question. When I got back to the house, there was a letter waiting for me on the front gate. I opened it in her room and then went back to where I was from. Just a few minutes later, I put the second charm on the necklace and put it on and wound up where I am now."

Heather looked at the others and then looked at me. "It seems that what Michelle has said seems to be the most logical thing that could be. Would it hurt you to try to enjoy who and what you are? At the moment, you're not a silly old man but you're a lively young girl. I think that all of us can help you feel comfortable in Jennifer's body. Won't we, girls?"

All of them voiced a concerted "Yes!" vote. I, at least, had help now. I'm sure that with their help, I would be able to accomplish the task ahead of me. Other things were pressing though. I looked at the watch I was wearing and noticed that the time was 4:15.

"If you will excuse me now, I have to go home so that I can go babysitting at the Johnson's house tonight. I'm not really looking forward to it since I know absolutely nothing about babysitting. Not to mention knowing anything about babies."

"Do you think that the Johnsons would mind if one or two of us were to come over and help you. We could start teaching you about children and how to take care of them," Heather said.

"I don't know but I'm sure that I could get permission for one person. I don't know the Johnsons but I would assume that they wouldn't mind if there were extra hands to help with their baby. I'll call them when I get home. I have to go to their house at 5:30 so I'll give someone a call when I'm able to find out. Now, who is it that will come with me?"

A very short discussion lead to it being Heather that would go with me. For that I was grateful since she was the one that I knew better than the rest but that wasn't really saying much. But for some reason, I think she would understand and help me more than the others. I had that feeling in my heart. I bid my farewells and left to go home. I had two minutes to spare when I got home. Mom looked surprised but she also looked relieved. I think that she'd thought I wouldn't be home until too late. I made the telephone call to the Johnsons after discussing the issue with mom. The Johnsons were happy to let me bring one other person with me but they wouldn't pay two babysitters. I assured them that that wouldn't be the case and to consider that they would be getting a two-for-one deal. I called Heather to let her know it was ok for her to go there with me. She would be over here before 5:30 so that she could go when Mr. Johnson picked me up.

I ran to my room and looked for some new clothes to wear for the evening and went in to take a quick shower. I never really thought about the term 'quick' in dealing with being a girl. Everything was so much harder to do. The shower seemed to be quick but it was actually 20 minutes long. I never knew that the mass of long hair would be so hard to get clean but I finally was able to do so. I knew I was going to have to really hurry now. I seemed to be on mostly autopilot at the moment because I didn't take the time to explore Jennifer's body while I was in the shower. It was almost like I had been in it all my life but I knew that wasn't the case.

Heather arrived back at the house about 5:25. Right on time, Mr. Johnson pulled up in front of the house and tooted his horn. Heather and I bade mom goodbye. We expected to be out until 11:00 or 12:00. According to Heather, the Johnsons were really good people to sit for. She'd only sat for them once but they were well known in the neighborhood even though they had only lived here for a year. Their only child was a daughter that was nine months old. I was still dreading the thought of sitting for a baby that small. But they do come in smaller packages but those rarely came without the parents attached.

The ride to the Johnson's house was short but quiet. Mr. Johnson knew that his wife was ultimately in charge when it came to their daughter. She would lay down the law and rules concerning the baby. As we entered the house, it was to the sound of a giggling baby. She sure seemed happy go lucky but that was because she knew she was safe with mommy. Mrs. Johnson heard us enter and stopped playing with the baby but kept her within reach.

"Hi girls. I'm glad that you could both sit for us. It will make things a bit easier to handle this little bundle of energy. Now, I know Heather has sat for Treesa before so she knows how hard it is to deal with her. But Treesa will start missing me quickly after we leave. You will have to double-team her to keep her from missing me too much too quickly. On a piece of paper next to the phone is our cell phone numbers as well as the places that we will be going as well as the instructions I'm giving you now. Her next bottle will need to be at 6:00. She will let you know when she needs to be changed. I just changed her about fifteen minutes ago so she should be good for a little while. About 8:00, I usually give her a bath which she absolutely loves. She normally goes to sleep about 9:00 so her last bottle will be just before that time. She will need another one later but I'll be home before she needs one. If you need anything or if there are problems, please don't hesitate to call us. If there's an emergency and Treesa needs medical treatment, call 911 first then call us. We will drop what we're doing and come home or go to the hospital if it is necessary."

Since Heather was the more knowledgeable one, she spoke up, "Mrs. Johnson, don't worry about Treesa. I've a past arrangement with her and we understand each other. Poor Jennifer has never dealt with a baby before, which is why I volunteered to come and help her. I know you could have asked for me to baby-sit but I had a previous engagement, as you knew when you called me last week. But that engagement was cancelled at the last moment, which is why I asked Jen if I could come and help her. Your daughter's in good hands with the two us here. We will call you if we have trouble. You two go and have a good time and don't worry." She finished off with a very confident smile to the parents. This girl was natural parent material. I could learn a lot from her with this situation.

Both parents seemed satisfied that their daughter was in good hands so they left her in out care. Now I was starting to get very nervous. But I knew Heather was there for me to lean on if I needed it. As the door closed behind her parents, Treesa suddenly looked concerned. Heather was ahead of the game in those regards. Before the baby could utter a single scream, she was down on the floor with her favorite toy and making baby sounds to try to distract her attention from her mother leaving the house. I got down and joined the two of them in the playing. Before too long, we had her giggling and enjoying the play session.

Before I knew it, it was time to put Treesa to bed. Both Heather and I were plum tuckered out. That child really was a wild one. We had been able to give her a bath but it was with a mini shower for us two when she went wild in the water splashing her hands and causing a cascade of water that drenched us. Both Heather and I were laughing hard all evening long with the antics of this darling child. Once she was in bed and asleep, I was able to sit down and relax for the first time in hours. It almost seemed like days but I knew that it was deceptive. I had never been so busy in my life as I had been over the previous three hours.

Once I had sat down I was able to think about everything that I had been through with this baby. I had never realized just exactly what I had missed by not having a child of my own. I knew how much poorer my life was without someone to call me daddy and I really wanted to remedy the situation. I was quiet for too long for Heather's liking.

"A penny for your thoughts, Jen."

"I was just thinking about how much I've missed in my life because I didn't ever marry and have any kids. The whole evening so far has been an extreme learning experience for me while dealing with Treesa. If there was any way that I could correct that situation, I would do so."

"From the sounds of things, you're learning a bit about where women actually come from. We have to start at a young age and are given dolls that are in the likeness of babies. Everything we do is geared towards one day having and raising babies. What you experienced tonight is only a tiny part of what I've had to deal with my whole life. But I think that you could be a wonderful parent in your own time. If that day ever comes."

"I can only hope so Heather, I can only hope so."

I was starting to feel a slight depression coming on because of the lack of a child in my life. It was hard to think about things otherwise. Then I thought of something that should have been bothering me.

"Heather, I'm wondering something. What're you going to say to Jennifer once I leave her body again?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean, are you going to tell her that a man has been inhabiting her body against her will?"

"I don't think I was planning on telling her anything. What would I say? Do you realize exactly how crazy this sounds? She would think I was absolutely crazy and would probably not talk to me ever again. I'll never let anything come between our friendship and you would be the thing that would come between us. So you can rest assured that I won't say anything to her."

"Thank you. That means more to me than I can say. Let me ask this of you. The last time I was here when you, Tiffany and Jennifer were ten, did you or Tiffany mention the necklace to her the next day?"

"Now that you mention it, I did. I told her that she looked better without that ugly necklace that she'd been wearing the day before. Her response was that she hadn't worn any necklace and that she didn't know what I was talking about. I asked her about the park and the ice cream and she didn't remember anything either one. I thought she was being weird and I never brought the subject up again."

"Let's make a deal then. I don't know if I'll be here very long or when I might be back. But I know that the necklace goes with me wherever I am. It came with me that last time and left with me. Now it came back with me and I know that it will go back again. Until you see the necklace again, the only people that you can talk to this about are the other four. Jennifer mustn't know about this at all. None of the others can talk to her about this. I have to trust you in passing the word to them. When the necklace shows up again, then you can talk to me about things. Are we agreeable with this?"

"Yes we are. I'll tell the others about this deal and I know they will agree also. You can trust us with your secret."

"Thank you for that."

I knew that I could trust them all with my life if it came down to that. I knew it wouldn't but I could relax over the issue. What else could I explore while I was here?

I know! "Heather, could you teach me how to put makeup on? Jennifer put some on this morning but when I took my shower earlier, I washed it off. Now, I sort of feel like the ugly duckling being around you with your makeup on and me not having any."

Heather's eyes lit up brightly. I could tell that she was pleased to be able to help me. "I would love to! Did you bring your kit with you?" she asked.

"I don't know what a kit looks like. I remembered to bring Jennifer's purse with me when I came. Do you think it is in there?"

"If I had any doubts before about you being a man, I don't have any now. Only a man wouldn't know about a makeup kit or where it's kept. Jennifer has her kit in her purse where it belongs. It isn't much but it's enough to work with. Go get the purse please."

I went and grabbed the purse that to me looked like a saddlebag for a horse. It seemed too big to be of much use but at the same time, it seemed smaller than it should have been to hold everything that it does. I was wondering if there was a hidden portal to another world to keep everything in it. I had to giggle at the thought as it crossed my mind. Heather looked up at me as I approached her and giggled.

"What's so funny now?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing major. I was thinking about how much stuff you girls keep in your purses and how small they are in comparison to the quantity of things in it. I thought there might have been some sort of pocket world in it that you shoved everything into."

"Gawd, you're weird. I'll have to tell this to the other girls. They will get a great laugh out of it. Now, sit your fanny down here and we will set to work on making your face beautiful again. Oh, before you do, go into the master bath and get Mrs. Johnson's makeup mirror. You will need to see what I'm doing so that you can practice later."

I did as she said and was back in a minute. I sat on the couch with a strange feeling inside me. I had never put makeup on in my whole life but I've seen some of my past girlfriends put it on. To me, it looked like they had to put so much on to look good but it was always on second inspection that I noticed that they hardly had anything on at all. It was so subtle that while I could see it on them, they looked natural and highly defined in their faces. I tried to hold my head still while Heather started putting the base on.

She stopped for a second and asked, "What do you think you're doing? Relax will you? I'm only putting makeup on and you're looking at me like I'm about to use a paintbrush with wall paint on you. This is for your benefit so you will know what to do later on. Try to hold the mirror up to where you can see what I'm doing while I explain it all to you as I go." And she proceeded to do exactly that.

What seemed like forever with her explaining every little detail of the application of facial makeup really had only taken no more than 20 minutes. I had been in awe of Jennifer's face before. Even more so now. That young lady was absolutely beautiful and the makeup enhanced her beauty even more than ever. The lessons I'm learning tonight will come in handy later on but hopefully I can get through this whole thing soon.

"Heather, you're a master at makeup. I never really thought that I would ever have any makeup on my face but since this isn't really my face, it looks wonderfully natural."

"You have to remember this though, what I've done to Jennifer's face is something that she does every day without fail. That means if you spend very much more time in her body, you will have to put it on yourself. Do you think you can remember what I did? The style that I put on you is meant for daytime wearing. You have to remember that for a night out, you would have to wear it a bit heavier but not too heavy. Too much would make you look slutty and Jennifer would never forgive you for making her look like a tramp. But for now, you look clean and wholesome as a girl your age should."

"Thank you Heather. I appreciate everything you're doing for me. Without you and the others, I would be making a total farce out of Jennifer's life. That wouldn't be right for me. I'll try to do what's the best for her so that my actions or inactions, which ever the case may be, won't hurt her." With that, I reached over and gave her a big hug.

The look of surprise was on her face only momentarily. "You're learning to express yourself femininely. Without thinking too hard about it, you gave me a hug. That's what girls do. We're always touching gently or hugging."

Now that she mentioned it, I was starting to think more like a girl. Not much but it was enough to notice. I wondered if it would carry over to my real life. I'm sure that I would find out eventually.

The evening wore on and eventually the Johnsons came home from their night out. They looked happy but had a tired look on their faces. I could tell that they were no longer used to going out and having a night on the town since having the baby. Mrs. Johnson thanked us and hurried off to look in on her precious package. Mr. Johnson took us out to the car and dropped us off at our houses after paying us for the night. Heather was the first one dropped off and she said she would call me tomorrow after I got home from church. Mr. Johnson waited until she entered her house and then took me home.

He thanked me and I told him that any time they needed a baby sitter that I would always be available for them. I got out of the car after bidding him a good night. As I approached the gate, there was another envelope on it. Again, it said Jennifer. I took it without making it seem obvious and went to the door. Mom had left it unlocked and I entered it quietly. I turned around and waved goodbye to Mr. Johnson. He then left.

I was tired and needed to get some sleep seeing as to how my day seemed like it was going on forever. I decided that I wasn't going to open the letter tonight because I didn't know how long it would be before I was able to get some sleep for real. I could feel the next charm inside the envelope when I rubbed the surface. I wasn't able to discern what it was. I was going to wait until morning to look at it.

I went into the bedroom and prepared myself for bed. I didn't like taking over Jennifer's life like this but I wasn't in any control over how things went. I took the clothes off that I had been wearing all evening and put on a clean nightgown that was in Jennifer's dresser. I then went into the bathroom and washed the makeup off of my face since I knew enough to know better than to leave it on all night.

Once I was through cleaning myself up and making use of the bathroom facilities, I went back in the bedroom and crawled into the bed. I was tired enough that I fell quickly to sleep.

The night went well and I woke up in the morning feeling more refreshed than I can remember being. I knew that it had been a good idea to sleep. I must have been awake more than 24 hours by my figuring. Entirely too long. I won't do that again. I got the robe that was hanging on a hook next to the bed and put it on. Morning ritual calls for me to use the bathroom and then grab a cup of coffee. After I'm done, I'll read the letter.

Bathroom used, I went into the kitchen to find Jennifer's mom there enjoying a cup of coffee. "Morning, Mom," I greeted her.

"Morning, sweetie. Sleep well?" was the response I got back.

"Yes, mom. I slept like the dead. It seemed to me the best night's sleep I've had in a long time. Thank you for asking. How was your night?"

"It was fine after you got home. I couldn't help but worry about you being out so late but I knew the Johnsons were good people and would take good care of you in bringing you home. I hope you and Heather had a good night together watching the baby. I just hope you two didn't talk all evening long and ignore the sweet child."

"No, mom. We did talk but it was after the baby went to bed. We had our hands too full before that time to do much more than talk to her. She certainly wasn't neglected or ignored once she was in bed. We checked on her ever 30 minutes or so to make sure that she was ok."

While I had been talking, I had been going over to the cupboard and getting a coffee cup and I poured myself a cup out of the pot mom had fixed. I sat down next to her and took a sip of the coffee. I nearly choked on the taste. It was horrible and I had to spit it out quickly. I heard laughing coming from mom. I looked up to see wild mirth on her face. I didn't think it was so funny. "What did you put in this coffee? It tastes like sewage!" I said.

"I hope that you realize that coffee is an acquired taste and I've been drinking coffee since I was in college. I figured you knew what you were doing so I didn't say a word. I think you're too young to take up drinking coffee but I knew you had to sample the taste before I said anything."

"I've had coffee before and it never tasted this bad."

"Oh you have, have you? Where on earth would you have drank coffee before? It certainly hasn't been here. I only make enough so that I can have a second cup in a little while."

Oops! I don't think Jennifer has ever had coffee before. That might account for the fact that it tasted so horrible. I was about to say that I had been drinking it for twenty-two years. I certainly can't say that since I'm only 15 in this body. I had to make up something. "Lisa had brought some to school a couple of weeks ago and she said it was made out of coffee. But she called it something strange that I had never heard before. She called it a coffichino or something like that."

"Don't you mean a cappuccino?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's the word she used. I had some of hers and it was delicious. But she said it was actually coffee. But it didn't look like this when I drank it."

"That's because it's a different process to make. I drink straight coffee just to wake up. But I don't drink any more during the day since it makes me too wired if I drink too much."

"Weird. I really don't think I'm going to drink any more coffee. I may try a cappuccino sometime later if I can find some. Do I pour this back in the pot?"

"No, I think since you spit it back into the cup, you should just dump it down the sink."

I poured the foul tasting brew down the sink where it could join the regular sewage. I never knew that what I had enjoyed drinking for years would have that sort of effect on me in a new body but I learned a mighty big lesson with this.

"Jen, if you would like to go take a shower to get ready for church, I'll have some pancakes ready to eat by the time you get done."

"Ok, mom. I'll be out in a few minutes." I left the kitchen. I went back into the bedroom and got out the letter I found last night and opened it. I pulled out the letter first without taking hold of the charm.

'Jennifer, I'm glad that you're taking the explorations so well. You're doing everything correctly. Taking the girls into your confidence was perfectly done and they helped you out the way that needed to be done. But your time of exploration is done. Things will be harder from now on and you will have to spend a minimum of one month as Jennifer before you will be able to solve the puzzle of the next clues. You know what to do now that you have had a chance to figure out what you need to look for. You next clue, by taking it in hand will return you back to where you started. Take your time in starting the next one but remember you will still have all the time in the world. Good luck."

I read the note again. I would be Jennifer for at least a month when I return? Who's this person that's mucking up Jennifer's life so badly? How is she going to react to the fact that she won't be aware of anything for a whole month? Also, where does she go when I'm in her body? I wished I could ask these questions of whomever it is that's doing this to me. But I cannot. I upended the envelope and dumped the charm into my hand. The swirling started and ended quickly.

I was back in my bedroom again. My alarm clock said it was 10:10 am. That was strange. The first one started at 10:00 and ended at 10:05. Now this one started at 10:06 and ended at 10:10. I spent 6 hours as Jennifer when she was 10 and this last trip was twenty-two hours. It seems that the subjective time was nearly 5 minutes for each trip. I wonder if the real time will remain 5 minutes if I have to spend a month as Jennifer. I would have to find out.

I set the necklace down on my nightstand. I wasn't ready for a new trip yet but I wanted to get a good look at the new charm. It was in the shape of a shoe. Why a shoe? What does that mean when compared to the question of settle in for the long haul?

I would contemplate that for the next little while. But for the moment, I'll just sit and contemplate everything I've found out so far. Maybe a small nap before I start the next round. The letter said I didn't have to start right away. I would take it to heart. I'll give it a couple of hours before coming back to the necklace and charms.
 
To Be Continued...
 
Note: TG magic age-regression adult-teenager borrowed-body rated-g
Posted by: Admin on Wednesday, January 22, 2003 - 12:02 AM
 
 

The rest of the morning was spent puttering around the house. I was so immersed in my thoughts about my experiences that I really did not pay any attention to my actions. I was still trying to figure out why I was going to be Jennifer for a month and also thought about what Jennifer would do when she discovered that she was missing a month of her life after I was finished. No answer came to me, but I did not expect one either.

I made lunch around noon, sat, and ate it without tasting it. But then again, I never really tasted anything I ate. I was practically a zombie because my actions were so focused on one thing that did not have anything to do with eating. I was starting to get the urge to go back. I picked things up, put them in the sink, and started preparing myself for return to Jennifer.

I went back into my bedroom and picked the necklace up from the nightstand. I picked up the third charm and opened the clasp on the necklace. After the charm was in place, I closed it and slipped it over my head. The swirling started again and soon I was back as Jennifer.

This time, I was standing in front of a mirror. Jennifer was a very beautiful young woman. I was in awe of the vision of loveliness in the mirror. Long deep brunette hair cascaded over her shoulders. Her face was perfectly made up. She was wearing a mini-skirt that went to midthigh in khaki color. A cream colored blouse that complimented the skirt covered her upper torso. There was a sheen to her legs that was proof that she was wearing pantyhose even though I could not actually see any difference in the color of her skin to the color of the hose. She was wearing a pair of sandals that had a thick sole and a large clunky heel, which was obviously the popular style with the young women these days. The thing that impressed me a lot was that fact that this young lady was very statuesque, being about 5'10" or 5'11" tall. Her legs were long and very shapely. Her bust was a perfectly formed C-cup size. If I had to guess her measurements, I would have said she was a 36-23-37. Just about as perfect as a girl could get without being too large and small enough without being too small. Overall, perfect for her height. What I could not get over was that the image in the mirror looked to be in her early twenties. I must have skipped about seven years of Jennifer's life.

I tried to guess what Jennifer was dressed up for by glancing at the clock next to her bed. The time showed that it was 6:45 but I was not able to guess whether it was a.m. or p.m. I was going to have to improvise. I could at least tell that it was daylight outside so it could be either evening or morning. Since I was ready for something, I might as well try to find out what.

I walked out of the room and glanced in Jennifer's mother's room. She was in the bed and was reading a book. I had to play the niceties, "Good morning mom. How are you today?"

She looked at me strangely. "Morning? What are you talking about, Jennifer? You know I have been here in bed all day sick. Are you sure you are not coming down with the same thing I have??

"Sorry, mom. I forgot about things in my rush to get ready."

"That's ok dear. You go ahead and go enjoy yourself on your date tonight."

Date? Jennifer, I mean, I am going out on a date? Oh, no. I'm not ready for a date. I'd have to play this out. "Ok, mom. You take care of yourself and I will see you later."

"I will. Good night, sweetie."

"Good night mom. I love you."

I was in a near panic state. I had to find out who it was that I was supposed to be going out with tonight. There was only one thing to do and that was to call Heather and get the scoop on the guy. I went back into Jennifer's room. I had seen a telephone next to her bed a few minutes ago and I intended to make use of it. I did not see any sort of directory around, so Jennifer must have the numbers programmed into the phone. As I looked at the phone, there were several buttons that had letters next to them. One of the buttons had an 'H' next to it. On taking the chance that it was Heather, I went ahead, picked the receiver up, and pressed the 'H' button.

The voice that answered the phone didn't sound like Heather but once I asked for her, she was on the phone in seconds. "Hey Jennifer! I thought you were getting ready to go on a date? Has he stood you up?"

"Hi Heather. I'm the other Jennifer."

"The 'other' Jennifer? Are you feeling ok? Are you coming down with what your mother has?"

"No, I' fine. This is the Jennifer with the necklace. Remember me?"

"Oh, my God! You're back? I had forgotten all about you. It has been over two years since you were here last and we had almost given up on you."

"Two years? Only that long? Geez, when I looked Jennifer's body over in the mirror, I could have sworn that she was at least twenty-two. She looks so much older than seventeen."

"What did I tell you about makeup? It has the ability to add several years onto a woman's look as well as taking off a few years. Now do you understand about that?"

"Yes, I do. Now, I have some questions for you. Do you have a moment?"

"I do, but I am not sure that you have the time. Your date should be there very soon."

"That is one of my questions. Who is my date? In addition, what is the date today? I don't want to foul up so badly that he will never want to date me again."

"I don't think you have to worry about that. Your date is Dan Sparks and he has a reputation around the school as being a very boring date. He talks all the time and the girls he has dated has never wanted to date him again. I am surprised that Jennifer even agreed to go out with him after knowing about his reputation. As for the date, it is Friday, September 9, 2005. Anything else you need to know?"

"No, that is about it for now. Can you, the rest of the girls and I get together tomorrow? I would like to get caught up on things so that I don't muck up Jennifer's life too badly. I'm going to be here a month from what I have been told for this trip."

"Sure, I don't think that anyone is doing anything important tomorrow. Then you can fill us in on how your date went. Oh, before you go I have a question for you. What is the charm and goal this time?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot about that. This charm is a shoe. Or rather an old looking tennis shoe. Something that looks well lived in and comfortable. The question was Settle In for the Long Haul. From the last letter I received, I am supposed to be here for a month. I am still trying to figure this one out. Would you be willing to think about it and let me know your ideas?"

"Sure. When the girls and us get together, we can discuss it. However, for now, I had better let you go and finish getting ready."

"Perfect. I will see you then. I had better go out and wait for my date to get her." As I said that, I heard the doorbell ring. "Oops, I have to go. The doorbell just rang and I think that is him. See you later."

"Bye, Jen." We hung up and I gathered myself together and left the room. I peeked in at mom. "Bye, mom. I'll see you later."

"Bye, Jennifer. Have a good time. Try not to stay out too late."

"I won't mom." I ran to the front door, grabbed the purse on the table next to it that had a tag on it that said Jennifer on it. Checked it over to make sure that I had everything that I would need for the night out. Checked out ok. I checked myself over to make sure everything was fine with my clothes. Straightened out a couple of wrinkles. Braced myself. Here goes. I opened the door.

On the other side of the door was a nervous looking young man that looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old. He was wearing a dark blue suit that made him look like he should have been going to a twenty year high school reunion than a date with a seventeen year old girl. It was so far out of style that I had to assume that it was a hand me down from his father. I tried not to wrinkle my nose at it. I put a smile on my face when I looked at him. Physically, he was very good looking. He stood about 6'3" tall, which was about 5" taller than Jennifer was. He had a sandy brown color of hair that had a tousled look to it. It looked almost as if he did not really take care of it but at the same time it had a look of ruggedness to it that was somewhat cute. He had pale blue eyes that almost looked gray. A strong jaw and an overall ruggedly handsome face. The rest of his body showed that he cared about how good of shape he was in. That was at least a good sign.

"Hi Jennifer. I hope you are ready to go." His voice was an ear-pleasing baritone. Not too deep and not too high for someone his size. One thing that was detracting from the overall look he was presenting was that he was giving a nervous dance with his feet. Almost as if he was uncomfortable in those clothes.

"Hi Dan. Yes, I'm ready to go. Shall we?"

"Yes. I will let you know I am a bit nervous about going out with you. After all you are one of the most popular girls in the school and I am a bit shy."

"Don't worry about me. You will do fine."

He led me to his car and opened the passenger door for me to get in. Knowing that I could not get in a car wearing a short skirt like I am and do so as I normally do, I had to sit and back in as well as swiveling as I did so. I had to make sure that I did not spread my legs and give him a view of my crotch. However, I failed to make sure that my upper body was not flashed also. He got a good eye full of my cleavage when I leaned forward a bit as I sat down. I looked up at him and seen a big grin on his face and I grew warm as I blushed fiercely. I wasn't going to make that mistake again.

I sat silently in the car for a while out of total embarrassment. I was afraid I would say the wrong thing to him and ruin the evening for him. After a while, I began to realize that he would not let anything ruin the evening by coming from me. He talked the whole time we were driving to dinner. I have no idea what he talked about because it was so inane that I did not even pay any attention to what he said. We eventually got to the restaurant that he wanted to eat at but it was a struggle to keep from telling him to turn around and taking me back home.

After a 10-minute wait for a table, we were finally shown to our table. The ensuing wait for our waitress was a battle of patience in my part. Dan's ceaseless talking bombarded me. I had already made my choice on my dinner but he seemed to be unable to make any sort of decision for his. I could not help but wonder what his problem was. He seemed to be a confident person but his talking seemed to be a cover up for something. I could not place what it was.

When we finally were able to place our orders, I was able to get some sort of silence while he drank some soda. After a long 30 minutes of waiting for the meal to arrive, I could hardly get a word in edge wise. He never asked any questions of me and never asked my opinion of anything. I have never been so bored in all my life as I was that whole meal. Now I know what Heather had been trying to tell me about Dan. He was very boring and I was nearly about to fall asleep from hearing his droning voice. I ate my meal in silence for the most part.

The only thing I could think of was how much he sounded like my male self so many years ago. At that thought, I perked up. When I was Dan's age, I tried to date many girls but after a while, they stopped even dating me. I later found out that my talking was what kept them from dating me. Now, I was being confronted with the same thing all over again but from the woman's side of things. I know that the reason I had talked so much was because I was nervous and that was caused by my lack of self-confidence. Moreover, this is what I was dealing with in this young man. I was going to have to see if there was anything I could do to help him with his self-confidence problem.

"Dan, may I ask you a question?" I had to start out easy on him.

"Sure," he said with trepidation.

"I noticed that the whole evening long, you have been doing a lot of talking. Is it due to your nervousness or is it because you have been rejected for so long because of the nervous tension you feel when you get around a girl? Either way, you give off signs of having very low self-esteem. Am I right?"

His eyes shot open wide in shock at his secret being discovered so easily. He did not answer me and his head slowly moved downward until his chin was resting on his chest. I could tell that I had hurt him somehow but I had to press on. I moved my chair over to his side and placed my hand tenderly over his. I had to be gentle or I would break this poor soul.

"Dan, I am sorry that I hurt you. What I asked was not out of hate or anything like that. You see, I am not any different from you and I too have had some very serious esteem problems myself. For one, I am not sure that I should even be here with you since you are a much better person than I am. You don't deserve the likes of me and should be seeing someone better than myself."

His head shot up at that. "What do you mean by that? You are one of the most confident people I know."

"Dan, there is a difference between confidence and self-esteem. Yes, I exude confidence but my self-esteem is shot. I usually do not feel that I am worth anything and I fake the world out by showing that I am confident in everything that I do. That is far from the truth. However, I have been learning to reverse all that and I am feeling better about myself for the most part. What I think I need to do is work with you to bring your self-esteem up to a point that you are not nervous to be around girls."

"And how do you propose to do that?" he asked.

"Well, it is going to be very hard on you since you will have to be around several girls for a long time. What I am meaning is that you hang around my friends and I in our day to day activities. That means going to the mall with us, spending practically all our free time with each other as well as them. They are a crude bunch of girls, but they are very good people. I am sure that you would become used to everything we could say and do to you. However, I do not think you would have anything to worry about with them since they may embarrass you but they would never do anything to hurt you. If they did, they would have to face my wrath."

He looked very apprehensive at that. "How do I know that you are not doing this set me up for a big fall? I have had to deal with that before from some girls who wanted to make a big joke out of me."

I acted as if I was upset over his suggestion. "If you think that about me and my friends, you really have been hurt in the past. Well, you can think again over that, Mr.! We are not like that. We have had to deal with the same cruel people for a long time. We do not like to see others treated the same way. If you are an abused person, you will fit into our little group. I can guarantee that they will treat you well."

He sat there with his head down. I could not tell what he was doing, but I knew he was doing some hard thinking. It was hard to see him in such pain. "Dan, I think what we need to do is finish up here and forget about anything else for the evening. I think what we need to do is spend some time together and talk. Does that sound ok to you?"

"I guess. I really do not feel like going to a movie anyway. I don't know if you were looking forward to going but I just don't want to right now."

"That sounds good to me. I hate to say it, but I had not really wanted to go see a movie tonight anyway. My mother is sick and I was hoping on being able to get home and make sure that she was ok."

"Ok, I will take you home."

"That is not what I meant. I still intend us to go talk. I think it would be a good thing for us to get to know each other a bit better than we do now. Why don't we head for some sort of place that we can be alone and have some sort of privacy. Do you know any parks nearby?"

"I only know of one anywhere nearby. Shall we go there?" he asked.

"That sounds good to me. Shall we blow this place?"

Dan signaled the waiter and asked for the check. Once it was received and paid for, we left the restaurant. A short and quiet drive later, we arrived at the park that was in my neighborhood. It was like deja-vue all over again. Dan parked in the parking lot and we got out. I took hold of his hand and we walked over to the grove of trees that seemed like a short time ago I sat there with two young girls and ate ice cream bars. Now, I am going there with a young man. Things were definitely strange in my life these days.

As we arrived at the grove, I looked for the tables that I knew to be there. I took him over to the furthest one away from anything and sat down. I tried to gather my thoughts because I thought this might be a long conversation.

"Dan, is there anything that you could tell me as to what came about that made you so nervous to be around a girl? I know it may be hard to explain but please try. If you feel that I am prying, I do not mean to. I am just wanting to help you over the fear you have and to help you become a better person."

"I honestly don't know how it came about, but the only thing that I can think of was when I was twelve, I was set up by a group of my friends in school with a girl that I had no idea who she was. I tried to follow their examples with their girlfriends but it was rather hard. One day, the whole group got together and wanted to prove to others that they were 'in love'. By showing that they were, all the couples had to kiss their partner. All the other boys gave the girls a kiss and once everyone was through, they looked to me to show them all that I was 'in love' with the girl. The whole time, I was a nervous wreck because I had never kissed a girl before. No, let me correct that, I had never kissed a female person outside of my family. I had so many butterflies in my stomach that I could not do much. When it was finally my turn, I did everything I could to not kiss this relative stranger. As I was forced to kiss her, I felt a churning in my stomach. As I got closer to her, I suddenly vomited and some of it hit her. I had never been so humiliated by things such as this. After that, the girl refused to have anything to do with me and I was teased mercilessly for more than three years. Each time I saw any of the girls that were there that day, I would get nervous. I could not help but wonder who they had been talking to about me and what happened that day.

"My whole life has been misery heaped upon misery when it comes to girls. I dedicated myself to becoming a great athlete but that has caused me many problems because of girls wanting to go out with me. I always remembered the fact that if I get too nervous I might throw up on the girl again. I am sure I would die inside all over again. I guess subconsciously, I did not want to go out with any girl and to make it so, I would talk. And talk and talk and talk. I think I wanted it to get around that I was boring. Yes, I noticed how you were acting when we were eating. You were bored. At least until you asked me your question. I still do not know if I can trust you or not."

"Dan, if I were to say, trust your heart in what you feel, how would you respond to what I have said earlier when I said that you could trust me?"

"Well, to be honest, I would have to say that I should trust you."

"That is right. You should trust me. However, just not because I say to trust me. I will not hurt you, at least on purpose. Let me tell you a bit about my back ground so that you will know where I am coming from. Like you, I have been teased a lot at various times over my life. I never fit in with the 'in' crowd. It has not been long since I actually started having any friends. I am still very shy around people I do not know and it is hard to even think about being around other people. I finally just built up the nerve and just did it. I may seem like I am confident but I really have to work things up. I lost my father several years ago and for the longest time, I ran around like a wild child because I was so scared and I missed him so much. Now, I am seeing how badly my life was messed up because of his death and I am trying to overcome my grief and get on with my life. I have to take each day one at a time so that I can survive. If I ever stopped to think about things, I would probably have a breakdown and never recover from it."

"I never really realized how hard you have had it. You have always seemed like you were on top of the world and had the tiger by the tail. Now, I can see that was all a false front to hide your own secret hurt."

"Exactly. Nevertheless, I would rather live than anything else these days. I can honestly say that I have contemplated suicide but it is an extremely final thing to do. Life is much more enjoyable these days and each one becomes more interesting than the last one. Lately, there has been something else going on that has made things even more interesting."

"Oh, what is that?"

"You, silly. I still cannot believe that all the girls at school have given you a bad reputation. But I can see that it has been because they are not willing to get to know you and sit down and talk with you instead of going of into their own small-minded world. I think you are a highly interesting person and I cannot wait to get to know you even more. Now, let us discuss our upcoming day. Do you feel that you can keep up with the other girls and I when we are at the mall? I would hate to see you get lost and not be able to be with me."

"You do not have to worry about that. I will stick with you like glue."

"Ugh! That is a bit messy you know. Couldn't you use string or something like that?"

"That is not what I meant Jennifer."

"I know silly. I was teasing you."

"What do you think the reaction your friends will give when they see that I am going to be with you all day?"

"Once they get over their anger at me, they will enjoy it."

"What will you tell them if they ask about why I am there?"

"I will tell them that if they do not like the fact that you are coming along regardless what they say, they can lump it. Besides, I would rather spend time with my new boyfriend."

"B-b-b-boyfriend? What do you mean?"

"Silly! I meant exactly what I said. Dan, I really like you and I know you have not had a fair chance at life, but I would really like to be able to spend a lot more time with you. For me to do that, I would have to play the part of being your girlfriend. But it will not be a part I am playing that I will drop after the show is over. It will be real. I would like it to be real. Are you willing to share the reality with me?"

"I would be more than willing to share that reality with you. Has anyone ever told you that you are a fast worker? I mean, it would have taken me a month to work up the courage to ask you to me my girlfriend. As it was, it took me twice as long to work up the courage to ask you out."

"Honey, I know how long it took you. But that was only because of your insecurities that prevented you from just asking me out. What do you have to worry about now?"

"From what I can tell, nothing."

"That is right. You have nothing to worry about with me." I wanted to show him exactly what he meant to me and the only way was to seal it with a kiss. I had never kissed a male type person before so I was going to have to build my courage up.

I leaned closer to Dan and wrapped my arms around his neck. As I looked up into his eyes, I could tell that he was a bit frightened over the contact. I guess I was invading his private space and he was debating whether to back off or not. I was not willing to permit him to back off so I closed the distance between us and proceeded to kiss him. At first, it was like kissing a board because he was so tense. His lips were rock hard from his heightened nervousness. Gradually, he relaxed when he realized what I wanted to do. He started getting into the kiss and before we broke it, he was kissing me back better than I anticipated.

"Whew!" I exclaimed as I emerged to get a breath of air. I smiled at him. "If I had known how good of a kisser you were, I would have done it sooner!"

"Why thank you miss. I aim to please," he said with a huge smile on his face. "You are quite the kisser yourself. If I had known that you were such a good kisser, I would have asked you out a long, long time ago."

I gave him another quick kiss as a reward for his words. I learned a long time ago that rewards were much better than punishments. If someone does something right, reward them and they will keep doing the right thing. That was what I needed to do with Dan from now on. The sugar works much better than the stick.

"I think that I am going to have to be getting home now Dan. I do need to check up on mom to see if she is ok. However, I do hope that you will come prepared for a day of enjoyment with me tomorrow. Would you care to take me home? I know the evening was a short one and we did not get to see the movie you wanted to see, but I think that I enjoyed myself more than I would have at a movie. Just being with you is better than being alone."

"I think that the evening would have been a disaster if we had gone ahead with the original plans. You really are a unique person and one that I am happy to know. So, I would be more than happy to take you home since I know I will be seeing you again in the morning."

With those words, he took my hand and we walked back to his car. He opened the door for me, being the gentleman he was. This time I made sure that I gave him a good look at the cleavage that he had admired earlier in the evening. This time I did so grinning up at him. He was also smiling back at me knowing why I was doing this. That made my grin even bigger. He was so handsome when he smiled. Happiness seemed to cause him to glow a bright, blinding light. I could tell that he would be floating on seventh heaven for the rest of the night. I also knew that he would be having a difficult night's sleep because he would be thinking about me all night long.

The drive back to the house was quick and I waited for him to come around to open the door for me. He looked like he was floating six inches above the ground as he came around to my side of the car and opened the door for me. He gave me his hand to assist me out of the car. As I stood up, I gave him another reward kiss. I took his hand and led him up to the front door. There, I turned to face him and proceeded to give him another groin bursting kiss. This one seemed to go on forever since neither of us wanted to separate from the other. I finally had to break it so that I could go inside.

"Good night Dan. I had a wonderful evening. Thank you for everything."

"I'm the one that should be thanking you Jennifer. You're a wonderful person and I don't know why someone hasn't laid a claim on you before. But their loss is my gain and I'll enjoy it forever. Good night. I'll see you in the morning." He opened the door so that I could go inside. I gave him another reward kiss for doing so. I went in the house and shut the door.

I couldn't help myself. I peeked out the window to see what he was doing as he walked back to his car. I was rewarded with the sight of him jumping into the air in glee. He also made motions as if he was playing a guitar. Now I know where the term 'air guitar' comes from. I guess I lived a more sheltered life than I thought I did. I had thought that an air guitar was a special type of musical instrument that was only available to big name rock bands. I giggled a bit over his antics. I don't think that it would harm anyone if he is happy. The best part about him being happy was that he had no reason to be sad or even nervous. That made me happy too.

I waited until he got in his car and then I turned off the porch light. After locking the doors, I made sure that the house was closed down for the night. I made my way to my bedroom but stopped to check in on mom. She was sitting up in bed reading.

"Hi mom. It looks like you're feeling a bit better."

"Hi sweetheart. Yes, I'm feeling improved from earlier. I'm still not one hundred percent but I at least have the weekend to recover. So, how was your date?"

"It was great mom. He was a perfect gentleman all evening long. I think I'm in love."

"Boy, that is quite a change in attitude from hearing about 'the most boring man in the world'. What happened to change your mind about him?"

"Oh, mom, you wouldn't believe how misunderstood he really is. He has been so mistreated for the longest time that he has never been able to build any self-esteem when it comes to being with a girl. We didn't go to a movie at all. Instead, we went over to the park and we talked for the longest time. I really understand where he's coming from now and why he had the reputation he did."

"How do you know it's not an act that he's putting on so that he can take advantage of you? You really don't know him as well as you think and one date will not clarify that for you."

"I know that but it's something about how I feel about him. Haven't you always taught me to trust my feelings? I just know that what I feel is right. I can't explain it at all. It just is."

"Well, I hope that things don't go wrong for you and you get hurt. You know how hard I try to protect you."

"I know mom. That's why I love you so much. But one day You're not going to be there to protect me and I have to learn to protect myself. I do trust what you do for me and I appreciate it more than I can say."

"Ok, sweetie. Well, if you'll excuse me, I really need to get to sleep. Sleep well and I'll see you in the morning. Good night, Jennifer."

"Good night mom." With that, I gave her a hug and left the room. I went into my bedroom and prepared myself for bed. I had to choose a nightgown for the night but it was rather simple for me. The satin gown that I chose was exotic feeling as well as downright SEXY. I changed into it and went into the bathroom to take the makeup off and moisturize my face. A few minutes later I was crawling into bed for the night.

The next morning Jennifer's internal alarm clock woke me up at 6:00. For me, that was a first. Usually, I never woke up any earlier than 9:00. I tried to go back to sleep for a while longer but it was a failure. Jennifer was one of those proverbial morning people and it rubbed off on me. I popped up out of bed as if I had jets on. I danced around the room like a ballerina and felt like a ton of dynamite was boiling inside of me and ready to blast me off into space. I have never had so much energy and it was looking to go somewhere. I guess the best way was to go to the mall with the girls.

Then I remembered last night and that Dan was supposed to be here in three and a half hours. Not much time to get ready but I think I can do it. I felt that I needed to get something in my tummy even if it was a slice or two of toast. I knew I needed a glass of orange juice or even milk with it. I chosed the orange juice since I knew that there was the chance that I could catch whatever it was that mom had. I didn't want to take the chance of getting sick. After having two slices of toast and juice, I went into the bedroom again and started gathering things up so that I could go take a shower to get ready for my day.

Once I was ready I stripped out of my nightgown and climbed into the shower. This time it was like nothing else that I had ever felt. The cascading water hitting my breasts was so enticingly erotic that I could not help but massage them. That increased the feelings exponentially to me. Never before have I ever felt this sort of feeling. As I massaged my breasts I started feeling a tension in my crotch. Reaching a hand down to investigate this feeling, I was startled to find out that the sensations increased even more. I didn't realize it at the time but I was starting to get horny. I couldn't identify the signals that my body was sending me for what they were. All I knew was that I was feeling very good and the ministrations of my hands felt wonderful. I knew that I wouldn't get done if I continued doing this, so I quit that and decided that I was going to have to explore this sensation a bit more later on.

My shower lasted several more minutes and when I felt that I was sufficiently clean I shut things off and went out to dry myself off. I was still thinking about the episode in the shower and really wanted to know what it was that I was experiencing at that point. I didn't have any sexual experience to draw on so it was hard to tell what I needed to do to further the experience. I vowed to try again later.

Now, I was going to have to get myself ready to go out to the mall. I had to decide what I was going to wear but since I didn't have the experience to choose for myself, I was going to have to just it give my best guess. I went through her clothes haphazardly trying to find the right look for the day. I kept hearing a passive voice that I took for my subconscious telling me the good things about this outfit or the bad things about that outfit. Somehow, I finally had a positive feeling about one particular outfit.

Since it was supposed to be hot out today, according to the weatherman, I had selected an outfit that befitted the day and how I looked. I had somehow chosen a teal green pair of shorts with a matching spaghetti strap top. I knew that a pair of panty hose would be needed so I took out a new pair from the drawer and laid them aside. I looked through the underwear drawer to see what I could find. It seemed that Jennifer had a fixation of the tiny and slinky underwear that would barely cover anything but still be decent. Oh well, I had to follow her lead since this was her body I was wearing. I felt that it would be better to try to match the underwear to the clothing I was wearing but it was not to be. Jennifer didn't have anything that matched. I did find a dark green pair and felt that it was enough. As I slid them over my legs, I couldn't help but feel things leaned towards indecency as the panties moved into place over my crotch. How could a girl deal with the strap running down between her cheeks? I suddenly had a flash of weirdness run through my head. I had an image of tooth floss between teeth. A string between my butt cheeks? Butt floss? God, I was getting too weird for my own comfort. I couldn't help but giggle over the thought, weird as it was. I don't think I'll mention this thought to Heather and the girls.

Once I was fully dressed, I had to do something with my face and hair. That effort took about thirty minutes to complete and I was suitably impressed with the efforts. It looked as if I had been doing so all my life. If anything, I just let the body be my guide and somehow my face and hair were done flawlessly to the style Jennifer liked. I could only think that if life were this easy, I would coast through it.

I took a look at the time and I had a few minutes left before Dan would be here. I spritzed a bit of perfume on me to enliven my skin. I felt like a flower field surrounded me. It smelled so wonderful. Another quick check of the time showed that Dan should here any...DING-DONG! That had to be him.

I went to the door quickly and sure enough, it was Dan. "Hi Dan. Come on in. We'll have a little bit of time before the girls get here." I guided him over to the couch so that we could sit down. "Can I get you anything to drink, Dan?"

"No, I'm fine Jennifer. I barely got done eating breakfast not too long ago. But thank you for asking."

Before I could pick up a conversation, mom came out of her room in a robe. She was looking a bit better than even last night. "Hi mom. How are you feeling this morning?"

"Well, hon, I think I might live another day. And who is this handsome young man sitting in my living room?"

"Oh, sorry. I forgot to introduce you two last night. Mom, this is Dan Sparks. Dan, this is my mother, Myra Banks."

"I am pleased to meet you Mrs. Banks," Dan said politely.

"As am I. I had to come out and meet the young man that impressed my unimpressible daughter last night. I must say, she has ever been the finicky one ever since her father passed ten years ago. He was her world and it seemed like there would never be another male in her life because everyone would be compared to her father and usually, they would come up short. Obviously, you passed her muster or you wouldn't be here right now. What are you kids going to do today?"

I looked at her and winked. I knew what she was doing with him. She was playing with his nervousness to try to test where he stood around her. I was hoping he wouldn't blow it with her. I think he realized it too. He also realized that this was his audition with my mother.

"Mrs. Banks, I'm sure that nobody will ever be able to replace her father. If anything, I can't hope to be more than a very pale shadow to him. If anything, I can offer myself up to her as a substitute figurehead for the man in her life but the person that should remain where he was in her life is her father."

"Did she ever tell you about her father?"

"No she has not. Of course, our conversations have been rather unorthodox so far. I was hoping that sometime later we could get into a normal conversation. And that would include her family."

"I would certainly hope so. She is a wonderful person but she is rather hard to be acquainted to. Well, I will leave you two alone for now. I need to get back to bed. You two have a good day and enjoy yourselves. Give me a hug Jennifer."

I rose off the couch and gave her a hug. While we were hugging, she whispered to me, "I think that he is exactly as you said. You have good instincts. I am proud of you." We parted and she winked at me. I returned it where Dan could not see me do so.

"Take it easy mom and I'll see you later when I get home."

"I will dear. It was nice meeting you Dan."

"Same here Mrs. Banks. I hope to see you again sometime."

With that, she left the living room. I knew that was going to be the easy part of the day. I just had to win the battle with the rest of the mall rats. That will be very soon now. No sooner than I had sat back down again, the doorbell rang again. DING-DONG! The decisive moment was at hand.

I motioned Dan to remain seating while I answered the door. I was greeted by the voices of five girls screaming "Jennifer!" at the top of their lungs. It did not do my eardrums any good but I would deal with it. They boiled into the house while each gave me a hug at the door. Before the last hug was given, they were in total silence. I don't think I had ever heard silence from these five before. I knew what they were silent about. They had seen Dan. The battle was on.

As one, they turned to me with different looks on their faces. Heather's was the one that was the worst. She was very angry. She hissed at me, "We need to talk." And nodded her head towards my room. I looked at Dan and mouthed, "I'll be back. It'll be ok."

I was led into my room by the five. Once there Heather, always the leader, said, "What is the meaning of HIM being here? I thought it was just going to be us six going out."

I was ready for this. "Heather, girls, please believe me when I say that last night I had no intention of this happening when I talked to Heather before my date. It was what happened during the date is what changed my mind about it. I was able to get to know Dan quite well and it was what happened to him in all his other dates that reached out to my heart for him. Any girl that has gone out with him has mentally abused him. He is a nervous wreck right now just with the prospects of having to spend the day with all of you. With me, it would be a different story. He is comfortable with me but he will start showing everything that he is known for if you make it hard on him."

"What do you mean, hard on him?" Michelle wanted to know.

"By being hard on him, is what you do when you get single minded about something. You have a tendency to be a bit abrasive towards others but most of the time people just shrug it off. Dan is not like that. He will take it personally, withdraw into his shell, and I will never be able to bring him out of it again."

"Then why are you even taking the time with him?" Heather asked.

"Because, when I look at him and spend time with him, I see myself in him. Any girl that I went out with also gave me the mental abuse treatment. I became such a nervous wreck that I withdrew from the world of dating completely. Dan is almost there and I think that he's on the last stages of withdrawal. His self-esteem is in the trash and I am not going to let any of you say or do one thing wrong to him. He doesn't deserve it and I expect you all to treat him as you would treat me. You know my background and yet you treat me very well. I will probably not even speak with you again if he is hurt in any way. Is that clear?" I had to be firm with them or things will go the opposite of what I want it to go.

"Do you really think that we would hurt him, like you say he has been hurt?" Katie wanted to know.

"To be honest, yes, you would. No, wait, do not say anything yet. Let me clarify that. What I mean is that you would not purposely hurt him but through carelessness, you would hurt him. That is what I am trying to avoid from happening to him. Are you willing to go along with me on this and work with me to heal his injured mind? Or let me put it this way, would you help a friend help her boyfriend become a better person?"

"Boyfriend?" "Boyfriend!" "Since when is he your boyfriend?" They all wanted to know.

"Since last night. No, he did not ask me. I sort of told him that I would be his girlfriend."

"Are you crazy?" was the chorused exclamation from all five of them.

"Why would I be crazy? Let me tell you, once you get to know him a bit better and he is not so nervous around you, you will see him for what he really is. I know all too well about his conditional nervousness and believe me, he is not the person you think he is and have heard how he is. If you just go along with me on this, you will see for yourselves. Just trust me. Please?"

"Just a moment while we confer," Heather said. They went as far as they could from me and were whispering fiercely. It took them about five minutes before they came back and confronted me.

Heather as the spokesperson for the group spoke up, "Not all of us agree that what you are doing but some of us feel that it would be worth the time and effort to see this through. If the very least, it will be vastly entertaining to us all. I for one feel that you are making a big mistake and you will be hurt a lot when he shows his true colors. However, we cannot stop you from doing what you have set yourself to doing. But we will stop you if set on a path that will get Jennifer hurt. That is all we will say on the matter. Please do not let us down."

"I won't. I promise. I do know what I am doing in this. It will be alright." With that, I gave all of them a hug. I knew that the battle was over but the war may go on if things didn't turn out the way I thought they will.

"Let's go. Dan has been waiting too long as it is. Since he has a car, we can all ride with him."

That was what got them the most excited. They would not have to ride the bus to the mall, at least for today. We left my room and went back into the living room. Dan had a concerned look on his face. Since I was in the lead, I was able to put a big smile on my face to show that it was ok. His concern turned to a smile and he gave a slight nod showing he knew what I meant.

"Well, shall we go? There is daylight burning and stores that will not stay open if we do not get there in time," I said. And with that we were off.

A few hours later at the mall we were all stating to feel the need for a bite to eat. We went to our own choices of places to get what we wanted to eat and then made our way to the tables and sat down. Of course, I sat next to Dan and nuzzled on him while we waited for the others to join us again. I had decided that I would rather eat a salad than a pizza so that is what I had. Dan had a chicken sandwich as well as some fries and a coke. Knowing that food did not go well without something to drink, I chose my old standby – Orange Julius.

The rest of the girls finally joined us and all the people in the area looked at us as if we were making the most noise and needed to quiet down. Our actions were not what I would call disruptive but we were a bit raucous while we ate. Dan seemed to be enjoying himself being surrounded by all us girls. There had been some resentment earlier in the day with him being around but that quickly died off when he made no move or said anything to rile the others. If anything, he clung to me tightly and I enjoyed the contact for some reason.

After we were done eating all of us girls went into the restroom. I had been mulling over an idea about how to accelerate Dan's self-esteem. I know this whole 'treasure hunt' was about me but I could not help thinking about others instead of myself. I had to pass this idea by the girls to see what they thought about it.

"Girls, I have an idea that I need your help with. I have been noticing that Dan really does not dress up at all. What I would like to do is see how he looks in a suit that is made for him instead of what he wore last night."

"What do you mean, wore last night?" one of them wanted to know.

"Well, when he came to pick me up, he was wearing a suit that looked like it was at least thirty years old and was not even suitable for him in size. If I could get him to try out a suit that fit him as was a bit more modern, I think he might understand his situation a bit more. What I need you to do is make him feel like he is the most handsome person in the world. I already feel that way for some reason but some assistance is needed to help boost him up a bit. Would you all be willing to do that for me?"

A chorus of yes greeted me. I had not expected anything less from them. They were all relatively good people although they were sometimes terrors to be around. I knew them well enough from the little contact that I have had from them but it was nothing in comparison to what it would have been if I had grown up around them. With the goal in sight, we knew what we had to do. There was a great men's clothing store in the mall and we were going to have to get Dan in there and have him try on a suit or two.

None of us had been doing much more than window shopping all day but our terror reign over the mall seemed to still be in the minds of everyone who worked there. I hope that eventually we are able to get rid of the terror title. As we worked our way through the mall, we finally arrived at the men's store. I stopped and looked at Dan.

"Dan, I would like to try an experiment and I would like you to go along with me on this."

"And what does this 'experiment' entail?" He saw me glance over to the men's store. "Oh, no, you don't! I felt so stupid in that old suit of my father's last night. I refuse to wear anything like that again!"

"So I was right. It was an old, old hand me down. Have you never even tried anything new before?"

"NO! I hate those things. I feel like a clown in one. My father says that it will make a man out of me to wear something like that but with his hand-me-downs, I look worse than he does. So no, I will not go along with your 'experiment'." I could tell he felt that way. I was never able to wear a suit either for the same reasons but I knew that it would be different for him with the right one. I KNEW it deep inside. Now was the time for the girls help.

"Dan, personally I felt that last night you did look like you should have been going to a high school reunion for thirty years. But that was because of the suit and not you. YOU looked absolutely handsome and the suit demeaned you instead of adding class to you. I think that with the right suit and a well fitting one, you will look like the man that your father says you would be. Girls, do you not agree?"

Heather was the first to speak up. "Dan, Jennifer is right. I saw you in your suit last night and it was horrible. You looked great but not with it. I think you should go with Jennifer's idea. Who knows, you could not look as bad as you did last night."

The rest of the girls chorused in agreement. Dan was not in agreement with them but somehow he reluctantly agreed to go ahead with the experiment. We entered the store hand in hand. I strolled right up to the first sales person I could see that was old enough to know what he was doing. I chosed a man that was in his forties and from his nametag, he was the manager of the store. His name was David.

"Hi David. My name is Jennifer and I was wondering if you could help me out with something. My boyfriend here would like to see something in the lines of a suit that would be classier than something that was thirty years old and a hand me down from his father. My friends behind me say that he could not look any different as all suits are the same regardless of their age."

"Well Jennifer, suits these days are better built and our clients prefer them to look as modern as possible. We also have one of the largest selections of men's suits in the city and at the best prices your can find anywhere. Now, is there anything specific that he is looking for?"

"Well, if I am any judge of things, black is only good for funerals, blue really is not a good color for him at all. Something on the earth tones would go better for him but nothing dark. I would say that a beige color would be about the best suited for him."

David looked at Dan and asked him, "Your girlfriend seems to know what she would like to see you in. Are you ok with her choices?"

I could tell that Dan was starting to get a bit embarrassed as he had a red flush creeping up his neck. "I guess. I am not sure what she is doing but I am willing to go along with her in this."

"Ok, let's see what we can do for you. Ladies, if you would mind waiting here or if there is anything that you would care to go shopping for please feel free to do so. It may take us about half an hour to get Dan here sized up and ready for your inspection. If you will excuse us, we have work to do. Come along Dan." With that, he guided Dan back into the fitting area. I could tell that the girls were having a great time with Dan's discomfort but I knew things would work out well or better than I anticipate.

I checked my tiny watch to see what would be a good time to come back and the girls and I left to go do more browsing. I could tell Heather wanted to tell me something but I would wait for a few minutes before I let her.

Finally I stopped and asked her, "Ok Heather, you have been wanting to say something for a while now, please feel free to say what you wanted to."

"I hope that you know that Dan cannot afford to buy anything like what he is trying on. He comes from a family that doesn't have the money that you have and no matter what, he would never be able to buy the suit that you have him trying on. It is not fair to the store manager to help him try something out that he would never buy."

"What do you mean about having less money than I do? I don't have anything other than what little cash is in my purse."

"Oh, that's right. You don't know about that part of Jennifer's life. She has a trust fund that came from her grandmother on her father's side. When Jennifer's father died, her grandmother's estate went to her. She has a monthly allowance of $5000.00 until she reaches the age of 21 if she goes to college and after that, she will get the full amount. But if she doesn't go to college, she will not get her inheritance until she reaches the age of 25. Since this is after the first of the month, she has nearly all the month's allowance still. You could afford it but you really should not spend her money like that."

"If Jennifer has that much money on an allowance, why doesn't it show? Sure, she has a lot of nice clothes but from what I have seen, her mother has to scrape and scrounge for everything that she gets. Why doesn't Jennifer buy things for her mother or help out?"

"According to her grandmother's will, Jennifer cannot give her mother anything at all. Her father married her mother without grandma's approval. Grandma felt that he was marrying below his station and that she was nothing but a golddigger. Because of that, Jennifer cannot give her mother anything at all or she will lose all her inheritance. That is why I feel that it would not be a good idea to buy Dan anything."

"Is the money accounted for or audited?"

"They request an accounting for all the money spent by Jennifer and she makes sure that nothing shows that would cause her to lose the money. If she lost it, it would go to charity and nobody would win in the matter."

"Ok, I won't do anything that will cause her to lose her money. But I appreciate the fact that you told me this."

"I could have kept you in the dark and you never would have known about it and it would not have harmed Jennifer in any way."

"Still, thank you for telling me. I will be careful." I looked at my watch and it was getting near the time we needed to be back at the men's store to check on Dan.

When we entered the store, there was no sign of Dan anywhere. I was beginning to worry that he split and left us alone here. If that happened, I would be very upset with him. I looked for David to see if he was around. I could not see him either. I checked with another clerk and he mentioned David was still in back with a customer. That was a good sign at least. I asked if he could let David know Jennifer was here. He went into the back room and came out a minute later and said David would be out shortly.

About a minute later, David emerged from the back room with a smile on his face. "Jennifer, you would not believe the change the suit does for your boyfriend. He is a bit embarrassed to come out here and show it off and is wanting to take it off. I think that his father has done a horrible number on his mental state. That young man is in a sorry state with self-esteem."

"I know David. That is why I am doing this for him. He deserves better than what he has been handed all his life. Could you go ahead and bring him out, even if you have to drag him?"

"Sure. I will be right back." He turned and went back into the back room.

A couple of minutes later he came back out with a hunk of a man in a tremendously good-looking suit. I heard the gasps of the girls behind me. Stacy had to make a good exclamation. "Dan, why don't you drop Jennifer. She is no good for you. You need a REAL woman to take care of you. Oh, my God, you look great!"

"Don't listen to her Dan. She is not the right one for you," Michelle cut in a comment.

All this time, I was just standing there with my mouth hanging open in shock. He looked so much better than I had expected. I just could not believe my eyes at how good he looked. I finally was able to get a hold of my tongue and put it back in my mouth. David had a supremely satisfied look on his face. Dan took the comments with a grain of salt but I could tell he was pleased with the comments he got from the girls.

"Dan, don't listen to those other girls. I have already staked my claim on you. If you dump me for one of them, you will have to deal with someone less than me. I love the way that looks on you."

I looked at David. "I would hope that you have a decent pair of shoes that goes with the suit. His tennis shoes just look terrible with that outfit."

"Of course we do. Dan would not try them on without your approval anyway. But we did pick out a pair that went perfectly with it. I'll go get them so that you can see what they look like." With that, he whisked off to gather them up.

I walked over to where Dan was standing. I moved slowly around him and took in each aspect of the outfit and his body. I finally moved out to where I could look him in the face. "Dan, that suit is YOU. I think it needs to go home with you."

"Jennifer, there is no way that I can afford this suit. It is going to cost more money than I can earn in three months and have money left over. I'll tell David that I appreciate him letting me try it out but I cannot buy it."

"Dan, who ever said that you were the one that is going to buy it? I just said that it needed to go home with you. I'm am the one that is going to buy it, not you."

"Jennifer, there's no way that I'll let you buy this for me. It'll cost more than you have."

"And how is it that you know that for a certain Dan? As a matter of fact, I have not spent my allowance this month and this seems like it would be a good enough purchase."

"But, Jennifer, you can't buy this. I won't be able to pay you back."

"Again, who said anything about paying me back? I want to make it a gift to you. In addition, I plan to be able to see you in it a lot more than just this one time. I do expect that you will take me out a few more times. That, I would consider payment for it. How about this: I will let you pick out the next outfit for me to wear on our next date. It can be anything that you would like to see me wear. Within reason of course. I will not dress like a slut for you but I will wear something moderately sexy. We can go shopping for that after we are done here. Besides, here comes David."

"Here are the shoes that we selected for you Dan. I think that the suit could use a slight alteration to give you a perfect fit. Shall we set that up when we check you out?"

I cut in before Dan could say anything. "Certainly David. I hope I am safe in assuming that you take credit cards?" I had checked my wallet in the purse to verify what Heather had told me earlier about Jennifer's money. I did have a card that was made out in Jennifer's name. David assured me that they did take cards. As we made our way to the check out counter, I pulled out the wallet and took the card out of it. David started ringing up the sale and I kept looking over at Dan in the suit. I reached around and gave him a hug. I also whispered to him, "You look so good in that suit. I almost want to take you out of here and see what it is that you are hiding under that package." He blushed heavily at that comment. He also bent down to my level and gave me a kiss. He whispered back, "Thank you for the gift. You didn't have to but thank you again."

David looked at us and proclaimed, "The grand total comes out to be $752.62. If you will let me have the card, I will scan it and give it back to you." He took it, within seconds returned it back to me, and then handed the receipt to me to sign. After I signed it, I gave it back to him and he gave me my receipt.

"Dan, would you care to wear the suit now or would you prefer to have it put in a sack so that you can continue to shop?" David asked.

Dan thought for a moment. "As much as I enjoy wearing this, I think it would be better to wear the clothes I came here in."

"That's fine. If you would care to come back with me, I'll let you get dressed again and I'll bring the suit back out on a rack for you so that it won't get wrinkled before you get to wear it again."

Again, I was left to wait for Dan while he went in back to get back into his street clothes. It took about ten minutes before Dan came back with his new suit in a bag and on a hanger. He looked proud as punch over his new acquisition and I was happy to be able to have done this for him.

Arrangements were made for the alterations that were needed to make the suit fit him like a glove. As we left the store, he gave me another hug and kiss. I clung to him tightly knowing that he was happy.

After a couple of minutes walking through the halls, Stacy brought up a point. "Jennifer, didn't you say that Dan could pick out the outfit that you would wear for your next date?"

"Yes I did and I meant it. Dan, shall we look for the right outfit for me?"

"I guess so but I don't know what to look for with women's clothes. I know what looks good but not how to pick it out. I may have to rely on your wonderful friends to help me out. Girls, are you up for it?"

"Yes we are!" came the call back.

"Then let's go! Time is a wasting and the perfect dress for Jennifer is out there somewhere." With that, we were off.

All us girls were on the prowl for the supreme purchase and Dan was there for the ride but he was starting to get into the hunt as well as the rest of us. We coursed through the mall and went into every shop that we could find. After hitting about fifteen stores, we were all starting to become tired but the search was still going. We had been hunting for about 3 hours and had seen plenty of dresses but nothing that attracted Dan's eye.

As we entered one store, I began to get some glimmer of hope. This store was one of the largest and one of the most expensive to shop in. Dillards always have a nice selection of eveningwear, which is what we were looking for. Dan was led into the women's section and the girls were going through rack after rack of clothing.

Dan even started getting into the search and had left me holding his bag of clothing. I could only smile at his efforts. I knew he wanted to find me something classy as well as being sexy and I was more than willing to permit him to do so. While I was off thinking about other things, I heard his voice call out "Ah! Perfect!"

The girls all stopped what they were doing and went over to find out what he found. I was a bit curious myself to see. By the time I was able to get over near him, I could hear the girls all 'ooh'ing and 'ah'ing over his find. Now my curiosity was piqued.

As I squeezed myself into the crowd of girls surrounding Dan, I was hardly able to get that close. They had their hands all over the dress that he was holding. What I could see so far was that it was black but it did not mean anything to me except that it was all I needed to have - – a little black dress.

Heather said, "Jennifer, you really need to feel this dress. It is fabulous."

I reached my hand into the midst of all the bodies and put my hand on it. It was one of the most sensuous feeling materials that I have ever come across. I had to feel it even more. I wormed my way past everyone and took hold with both hands. It was even more luxurious than ever. "What is this material? I have never felt anything so wonderful!"

Dan had bright sparkles in his eyes. "This is what I have been looking for. This is what can only be called black velvet." Seeing the puzzled look in my eyes, he explained further. "My father has some old magazines from the time he was in high school. I have on occasion read them and looked at the advertisements in them. There were lots of old liquor ads that were for a drink called Black Velvet. All the models were very sexy and they would all be wearing a short, long, or even medium length dress but they were all made out of black velvet. After seeing all those models wearing those dresses, I wanted to see what one would look like on someone real. This is the first velvet dress I have ever seen and I think it is exactly what I was looking for."

I took the hanger with the dress and held it up to see it's design better. It was sophisticated and yet simple in its design. Out of curiosity, I looked for the size tag to see what it was. I knew Jennifer was a size 9 since that is what all her clothes say on their tags. This tag said size 9. I knew that I was going to have to try this one for Dan.

I started towards the fitting rooms and waited for an attendant to come to me. Once I was inside, I took a closer look at the dress. It had a collar that looked like it would go up onto the neck for about two inches and had three hooks to keep it together in the back. The back was missing but the front looked like it was going to be very form fitting over my breasts. Around the waist was a belt like thing that was mainly for decoration, although it did undo in the front for adjustment. The waist in the back had a small zipper that would allow the hips to be inserted into it. The skirt was a straight line with a small flare at the bottom. I could hardly wait to try it on.

I set to getting undressed. Within a minute, I was bare except my pantyhose, panties and bra. As I unzipped the skirt, I realized that a bra would ruin the lines of the back, so I had to take it off also. Once I had it up and fastened around my neck, I had to look in the mirror at myself. I could see why Dan chosed it. He really did know what would look good. This was sexy without being slutty. The decisive moment for me now. I had to exit the room and bear the comments of everyone.

As I stepped out, I tried to be as graceful as one of the models that would have been in the ads. I think I failed but I at least did not trip over my feet. I made a small twirl in front of them so that they would be able to see the whole thing on me. Then I stood in front of Dan so that he could inspect the goods as chosen.

To try to describe this outfit would almost be doing it injustice but I have to try. It started with a high rise collar almost like a turtleneck but ended before it hit mid throat. Halfway around the collar, the bodice started and wrapped halter style down the front of my arms. Once it passed my arms, it started circling around to my back. My breasts were enclosed in the form fitting velvet/spandex chest area. It almost felt like I was wearing a tube top only squeezed my breasts and not my back. It was a strange feeling. Sweeping further down my back, the dress came to about mid-back where it was joined by the zipper. The waist was firmly molded around the curves of my waist as if it were grown there. The flare of my hips brought the skirt belling outward in a small bell. It finally ended about mid-thigh. It was a very brief dress but one that was sexy enough to arouse any man in the vicinity but yet modest enough to keep things covered that needed to be covered.

I had not heard a single sound out of the rest of the girls and from the looks on their faces, they were jealous how it looked on me. Dan was the one that was in the worst shape. I had known that it would arouse any man and he was certainly trying hard to hide his discomfort. I could not resist adding some more agony to him. I stretched my arms high above my head and that had the effect of pushing my breasts even further out from my chest than they already were.

"So, how does this look? Is it what you thought it would be? I think it is a bit risqué for someone of my age. I think we need to put it back and pick out something a bit less daring, if you know what I mean." I knew he would not want me to take it off.

"Oh, Lord. You do have to be kidding, right? That looks better on you than I ever thought it would. It looks almost like it was painted on you. If you don't buy this one, you will be missing out on a wonderful date. In fact, this is my choice for you. All you have to do is find the right accessories for it and then you will be done for. Oops, I meant that you will be finished shopping for the outfit that I'd like to see you wear on our next date."

I had noticed his little slip of the tongue and it was exactly what I wanted him to do. I gave him a quick kiss and said, "You say the sweetest things. All right, I'll buy this outfit. As you said, it does need the right accessories and I am sure this store has everything that I will need to go along with it. Let me go change out of this and I'll be right back."

I quickly went into the fitting room again and was out of the dress quickly and back into the clothes I wore to the mall. I put the dress back on the hanger and carried it out of the room. The girls were nowhere to be seen and the question on my face was answered as they came running with several items in their hands. Jewelry, nylons, a tiny handbag of the same material the dress was made of. Just about the only thing that they did not have was shoes. I knew Jennifer did not have anything that would match the dress. I would have to be fitted for a pair that would add that touch of elegance to the outfit. The girls kept hold of the items they had and we made our way to the shoe department.

Once there, I looked for an older woman since she would have a better idea about the statement that I was trying to make with the outfit. Once I had explained to her what I was looking for, she went in the back and within moments returned with a pair of black velvet pumps with a threeinch heel. They looked plain but upon closer inspection, there was very tiny diamond like additions to them that added so much elegance to them that I had to try them on.

I knew that Jennifer's feet were a small size 7. Especially since she was 5'10" tall, they were small. I had made sure that the label on the shoebox said size 7 before I sat down. I kicked off the shoes I was wearing and prepared myself for the wearing of something that I had never worn before. Sure, I had worn the shoes last night that had a very tall platform on it but the actual rise of the heel to the toe was only a negligible ¾" while the overall rise was 3 ½". I felt very tall then but it was only subjective. This was going to be something that I was not sure that I could handle.

The shoe clerk took one of the pumps out of the box. A quick comparison to my foot showed that it would fit. I slid my foot into it and set my heel into place. It did not feel tight or anything in the relaxed position. I would have to wait until I stood up to find out for sure. She brought the second pump out of the box and put it in place. I put my other foot into it and prepared myself for standing. The heels were a moderate spike, which meant that I was feeling a bit precarious standing there.

I decided that it was best to move around in order to try to get the feel of them. It was like trying to walk down a hill but the hill was attached to my feet. Within minutes, I was walking around like an old pro at it. The heels put a very sexy wiggle to my walk that I was not sure I would be able to overcome. It was the nature of women and their high heels. I head a soft wolf whistle coming from the direction of Dan. I had to coyly look over at him. "Like what you see, big boy?" I said with a smile in my voice. He blushed even deeper as if he was caught with his hand in a cookie jar. "Don't worry about it dear, I'll take it as a compliment, which what I am sure you meant it as." I walked back over to him and gave him another kiss. From the look on Heather's face, as well as the other girls, I was training him very well to respond as I wished him to. I had never realized what sort of power women held over men and Dan was a prime example of this power. But I couldn't let it go to my head or I'll wind up trashing our budding relationship.

I went back over to the chair and told the saleslady that I would take the shoes as well as the other accouterments that the rest of the girls were holding for me. I was set up for my next date now. I had never realized what shopping did to a person when they are actually able to buy things without worrying about the cost. I knew what I was buying was expensive but I had to wait for the grand total.

Once the clerk had input everything into her register, she was sufficiently happy since I probably made her a good-sized commission for the day. My total came out to $1272.64. This day had made a sizeable hole in Jennifer's allowance for the month but I sure wouldn't regret it.

By the time all of left the last store, we were all starting to drag from exhaustion. I for one was fully shopped out but I had a great time just being with Dan. I know the others were starting to feel the need to slow down since they were no longer as perky as they had been earlier in the day. The mutual agreement was to head home. We finally left the mall and headed to Dan's car. The girls had all bought some small things but nothing like what I had bought for Dan and I. Everything was piled into the trunk of the car and we climbed in ourselves.

The drive back was short and each one of the girls was dropped back at her house. I was the last one to be taken home and that is the way I preferred it. Dan opened the trunk for me so that I could get my purchases out. He walked me to the door like the gentleman he was. Once there, I had to ask, "Dan, would you care to come inside for a few minutes? I could get you something to drink if you need it."

"If it is not too much trouble, I am really thirsty at the moment. Thank you."

"Then please, do come in." I opened the door and walked in. "If you will excuse me a moment Dan, I am going to take these packages to my room. I'll be right back." I went down the hall and dumped them in my room. I looked in on mom's room, saw she was awake. "Hi mom. I'm home. Dan's here and we are going to get something to drink. We're both parched and need it."

"Hello dear. Thanks for letting me know. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." She winked at me on the last part.

"I'll try not to. He probably will be leaving in a few minutes anyway but I will take care. See you in a bit."

"All right. Come back and see me when he leaves."

I closed the door and went back out to Dan. As I entered the living room, I had to laugh. Dan had sat down on the couch and fell asleep. The poor dear was so exhausted from the shopping trip that he could not stay awake. He was being so macho and such a trooper to not let his exhaustion show. I could not help it but to laugh at his situation. But I knew I had to wake him up.

I approached him slowly and sat beside him on the couch. He looked so peaceful sitting there, I could hardly bring myself to wake him. I lightly touched his cheek. "Dan, it's time to wake up," I said softly.

"Wha...huh? I'm not asleep," was his groggy reply.

"Sure you were, silly. I know us girls wore you out. You are not used to doing this and it is understandable why you sat down and fell asleep. To tell you the truth, I'm tired too but I don't let it show. Would you still like something to drink?"

"Yes, I would. What do you have?

"Well, let's go see what we have here."

We went into the kitchen and started looking in the refrigerator. "Ok, we have milk, orange juice, apple juice, what looks like tea. I am sure that I can find some lemonade in the freezer if you would like some."

"That's ok. I think I'd like some orange juice, please."

"Why certainly, sir! You desire is my pleasure." I could not help saying that. He knew I was kidding with him as he rolled his eyes and moaned.

"I wish you hadn't said that," he bemoaned.

"And why is that? Did you take it differently than I meant it?"

"I have to admit, it has always been one of my favorite dreams to have a girl say to me 'Your desire is my pleasure'. It is one that features a harem of beautiful girls."

"Oh, I see. Maybe I should go put my harem costume on?" I had to watch the look on his face. From the indications, he was thinking exactly that right now.

"No, that's not necessary Jennifer. I'll just have to use my imagination on that one."

"Don't imagine too hard. You might blow out a fuse in your brain." His brow furrowed at that. I could not control it any longer. I burst out laughing at him. The puzzlement on his face was full. "If you could see the look on your face right now. I'm sorry, it's just so funny. No, I don't have a harem costume but I can go out and get one if you would like to see me in one. Seriously, I am not the type of person that would advertise sex without the fulfillment of the advertisement."

"Oh, ok. I see what you were doing. Having fun at my expense."

"No, hon, not at your expense. I was laughing with you, not at you. There is a difference between the two. If I wanted to be cruel, I would laugh at you. I'm not cruel at all. It is a matter of getting you to relax and enjoy life more than you have been able to. Stick around me and you will learn to see life through different eyes. I know about that sort of thing. I have really learned to lighten up over the last few days. Life is too short to take things seriously all the time. Have fun; enjoy yourself now while your cares are not as great as they will be. Things will get harder as you get older."

"Whew, that is intense. Where did that come from?"

"It came from the heart, that's where. I know where I talk. Now, let's get some glasses. Our drinks are waiting." I went over to the cupboard and pulled out two medium sized glasses. They were glass and in my old life, I had always hated the feel of glass on my hands. I never kept any glassware around the house because of it. I could only handle plastic, although it did not last as long as glassware did. This time, I had no problems with the feel of glass. It was strange how each different body could do things that others could not. Elated, I poured us each a full glass. We sat down at the kitchen table to drink them.

As we sat down to the table, mom came into the kitchen. "Hi mom. Can I get you anything?"

"The orange juice looks wonderful right now. Thank you, dear."

I got back up, poured her a glass of the juice, and brought it back to the table where she had sat down at. "Here you are mom. I thought you were going to stay in bed for a while longer?"

"I was, but I couldn't stand being in bed any longer. I thought I'd come out and join you and get to know Dan a bit more."

I glanced at Dan. I saw him take a quick gulp without having taken a drink of anything. I knew he was thinking that he was now going to get the third degree from mom. I had to make sure that he did not have to suffer through that.

"Mom, I hope that you do not plan on giving Dan the third degree. After spending the day with me and the rest of the girls, don't you think he has had enough punishment for one day? The poor dear was so tired when we got here that he sat down on the couch and fell asleep."

"Well, at least he felt comfortable enough to do that. I think that if your father were alive, Dan would not have been able to fall asleep." Dan had a panicked look on his face now. "What's wrong Dan. You would have loved my husband. I think he would have liked you too. You are treating his daughter very well and she likes you as well. That would be all that he would need to accept you into his house. What I meant was that he would have kept you busy talking or something. You wouldn't have had a chance to fall asleep at all with him around."

"Oh, ok. I was halfway afraid you would have told me that he would have kicked me out of the house for going out with his daughter."

"He wouldn't harm a hair on your head at all. That is unless you hurt his daughter in any way. THEN your life would not have been worth a plugged nickel. But from what I have seen of you and how Jennifer has talked about you, he would have been happy to see you dating her."

"Well, I'm certainly happy that you approve of me dating her."

"I will say this though, if you hurt her in any way, you will not have to worry about her father. You had better worry about me. And I will be a million times worse than her father would have been." She said it with a growl in her voice to make her point.

He flinched at the tone, which was a tremendous change from her earlier words. "I, I, I'll do my best not to hurt her. I guess I respect her too much to ever consider hurting her."

"Good. I just wanted to let you know that a mother will protect her babies more severely than the father would."

"Mom, you scared the daylights out of Dan!"

"I know dear. I had to get the point across. You will one day find out the same when you have your own children and will want to protect them as best as you can."

With that, she stood up with her glass of juice. "Good night Dan. It was good to meet you. Jennifer, as soon you can, would you fix me a small bite to eat. I don't have enough energy to stand for any length of time right now."

"Sure mom. Is there anything that you would like?"

"No, there is not. Anything that you fix will be fine." She turned and left the kitchen.

After she was gone long enough and we heard her shut her bedroom door, Dan looked over at me and said, "You were right about her scaring me. I think I was about ready to soil my pants when she said what she did. I've never had to deal with anyone's parents except mine and I know better than to cross them. If I hurt any girl, I would not only have to face up to her parents I would have to face up to mine too. My father scares me almost as bad as your mother does. But I think I would rather face dad than I would your mom."

"Oh, you really don't have anything to worry about with her. She knows I can take care of myself. Besides, you wouldn't survive Heather and the girls to face either of our parents. They are even more protective of me than mom is. I am the same way with them. They are my best friends in the world and I would do anything for them."

"I just wish that I had friends as dedicated as yours are. I really don't have enough friends to matter."

"I think that you can count on us being listed as your friends. After today, I could tell that they held a high regard for you since you stayed with us all day and even had your hand in the shopping. I know how tired you were after we were done and I am proud of you for holding out as long as you did."

Just to show him how proud I was of him, I went over to him and sat down on his lap, wrapped my arms around him and kissed him deeply. The sensations of kissing him caused me to practically melt into him. If it were not for the fact that I had to breathe, I would have continued forever. I started feeling very strange in my chest and my crotch. It reminded me of this morning when I was taking my shower. It just felt so good that I needed to remain where I was.

Long before I was ready to break it off, Dan did.

"Whew! Girl, you are some kisser! You like to have sucked the breath right out of me."

"Well, stick with me big boy and you might have an even harder time breathing around me."

"I can certainly hope so. Jennifer, I hope you do not get mad at me but it is getting late and I am going to have to get going home. I really don't want to but I have to. My father is going to think I have run away from home and he'd turn around and rent my room out to the highest bidder."

I had to give a little giggle at his humor. "Certainly Dan. I understand. Let me show you to the door." I stood up to give him room to stand up. I held his hand as I walked him to the door.

"Thank you Jennifer. I certainly enjoyed today although it was a bit strange to me. Will I be able to see you tomorrow?"

"I am not certain. I know I will have to attend church in the morning and I think I need to do laundry in the afternoon. If you would like, I will call you after I am done with everything I need to do and see how it is for you. Could you give me your number so that I could call you?"

"Sure. It is 555-3264 or as I prefer to call it, 555-DANG."

"That is an easy way to remember the number. Thank you for everything today. I too enjoyed myself. I hope that we can get together tomorrow. If we can't, then would you be willing to pick me up for school on Monday morning?"

"I would be more than happy to do so regardless. Good night." He turned to walk out the door. I grabbed him again and kissed him farewell. I let it go on for about a minute before I let him go.

"Good night Dan. Drive safely. I want to be able to see you again."

"I will. I want to see you again too. Bye for now." He walked out the door this time without any grabbing from me. I waited until he got in his car, started it and left before I shut the door.

The rest of the evening went by swiftly and before too long it was time for me to get ready for bed. It had been a long day and I was tired. I went into the bathroom, cleaned the makeup off my face, and prepared myself for bed. I no sooner lay my head on the pillow and I was asleep.
 
To Be Continued...
 

Author's Note: This part of Transformation Treasure Hunt has been hard to do. First, I lost about 70KB of it in a system crash and it was during a backup that the crash occurred. I had not thought to copy the story over to a floppy in case that happened and I have been kicking myself ever since. I am now doing that and it has been inconvenient to do that but I do not care. Second, because I am not EVEN completed with this part of the story, I felt that I needed to send what I have done to Erin so that she can get this posted.

Jerrie526
 

Sunday morning dawned like any other day that I have experienced. I awoke feeling so incredibly refreshed. I felt like I had been injected with some sort of energy drug and it was boiling over. I literally bounced out of the bed and rid myself of the morning duties. I had to check on mom since she was not feeling that well last night. Almost as if she was having a relapse of whatever it was that caused her to be sick. A quick check in her room showed that she was not there. She could be one of two places – the kitchen or living room. When I check both places, she was not there. I was starting to get concerned. Then I heard her voice out on the front porch.

As I went out the front door, I was confronted with a strange sight. Dan was out there with two people that he resembled. They must have been his parents. Mom was talking to them. It was strange for someone to be visiting this early in the morning. I did a quick glance at the watch on my wrist and discovered that it was nearly 9:00. I really overslept this morning.

"Good morning mom. Hi Dan. I didn't expect to see you today."

The lady with Dan was looking at me with disgust on her face. She turned to Dan and said, "Is this the person that rubbed her money in your face?" What was going on?

"Dan, what is going on?" I was really puzzled about this.

"Jennifer, last night when I got home with all the stuff that you bought me at the mall, my parents started asking all sort of questions about where I got the stuff. When I tried to explain where it came from, they hit the roof. That is what this is about." He looked sad about the issue.

I turned to look the woman in the face. "If you have any problems with what I did, talk to me about it instead of discussing it with my mother as if I were not even here. What is it that you do not like?"

She huffed herself up with her own self-importance. "What I do not like, young lady, is for you to rub your richness in my son's face. We may not be rich but we will provide for our son as we can. We do not need some hoidy-toidy like you ruining our efforts to teach him right from wrong."

This woman was starting to get on my nerves a bit. "Is it because I bought him a suit that I thought looked wonderful on him? Or is it because it cost me over $750? Or just that I bought it at all?"

"It is the principal of the matter if you must know. My husband works hard for what money he gets and there is no way that we would ever buy Dan anything that would cost nearly two weeks wages."

"Yet you would give him something that is over thirty years old and expect him to feel comfortable in it? No wonder he feels like a clown in a suit. They are so old and outdated that it would cause a hesitation to a bum to wear it."

"Mrs. Banks, will you control your daughter? She is a very rude young lady."

"No I will not Mrs. Sparks. I happen to agree with her on the issue. No handsome young man like your son should have to be subjected to such situations regardless of any financial situation. I have raised my daughter to use her best judgment in everything she does. You may not know it but she has very deep feelings for your son and I have never before seen her act in the manner that she has been showing. In my opinion, she should continue to do what she is doing."

Mrs. Sparks puffed up even further. "Well, we are just going to have to forbid him to ever have anything to do with her again. As far as we are concerned, she is nothing but hilltop trash that grinds those below her into the ground." She turned to Dan. "You, young man, are to return those clothes to the store they were purchased from immediately and make sure that this person is credited with the money. Then you are never to have anything to do with her again. And if I hear of you associating with her again, you will be grounded for the rest of your life."

I could tell that Dan was getting very angry with her. His eyes had a dangerous look to them. "Mother, you will not even come close to making me do those things. I am 18 years old and legally an adult. Nor am I your husband to browbeat as you do to him. Jennifer did not have to buy the suit for me but yet she did. Not once did she rub her money in my nose nor has she ground me into the ground as you say. If anything, she has shown me more respect than you have ever shown me. For that matter no other woman has shown me the respect that she has shown me. All I have ever gotten was disrespect and all out belittling from any girl that I have tried to date. Jennifer has stated an understanding to me that no one has ever shown. She did not have to go out with me but yet she did. And why? I don't know but her reasons are her own. I will not analyze why but it will be up to her to tell you why. If you want to ground me, you go right ahead because I will be moving out of the house immediately and you will not ever see me again."

Now she was angry and turned to me. "See what your high handed ways have done? You have turned my own son against me! You are even worse than I said.!"

I had to smile at that one. "Mrs. Sparks, no disrespect is intended, but I would say that your son is growing up and is starting the process of cleaving himself from the arms of his parents. It is as God intended all people to do. If he chooses to be with me, then that is HIS choice, not yours. Just as my choice was to date him. I found someone who was a kindred spirit to me and I enjoy being with him. I bought him the clothes because I WANTED to and not to even mention the fact, he just looked so handsome and strong in them. But I am sure that you did not know that he will be paying for them in a way that no money changes hands. I expect him to wear them when we go out on our next date. I suppose that you also did not even know that I had spent over $1200 on myself so that I could go out with him. And I will spend more money getting myself prepared to go out with him. Yet, I do not care how much money I have to spend to make myself look good for him since he is worth every penny that I do spend. However, I do have to tell you this; if Dan were to listen to you, I think he will be miserable for the rest of his life. Legally he is an adult and thus can make decisions concerning his future without having to answer to you over it. But one thing that I am very pleased about, at least he does not have your abrasive personality to mar him in any way. Although I am sure that if you tried real hard you can make a little boy out of a man. Then where will you be? Miserable, I would say."

With those words said, I stepped off the porch, went to Dan and gave him a big kiss. "Dan, I am sorry if I have made things hard on you. For me, please be strong and endure it. But do so with the knowledge that I am in love with you and I do not want to lose you." With that, I turned and went into the house. On the way, I glanced at mom. She had the biggest smile on her face that I have ever seen. I could tell that she was proud of what I had just done. I went into the house with stunned silence from Dan's mother at my back.

About 15 minutes later, mom came back into the house with a huge smile on her face. "Jennifer, where did you get that sort of strength that I witnessed? You would have just kowtowed to someone before this."

"Mom, what I said out there was because I did not like to see the mental abuse that she was subjecting Dan to. I am beginning to realize that he is the way he is because of her. I could tell that she has firm control over her husband because he did not say a single word while I was out there. I could tell that at first, Dan was terrified of her and as I watched him and talked to her, he grew even more confident to the point that he stood up to her. At that point, I could see a very strong man grow out of his little hurt boy façade."

"I know, I could see him go through that also. I do have to admit, I was half way daunted by her accusations against you but I was also starting to get angry with her. How you kept you cool is beyond me but I am certainly proud of you for it."

"I had figured that you would let me explain myself about my actions yesterday. But I felt that I had to keep me cool or things would go against me. I felt justified with everything I said. And that last part to Dan, I meant every word of it. I am falling love with him and I am even more so now. He needs me to give him the support to get past his mother. Mom, please do not be angry with me, but I have never met such a disagreeable bitch such as her."

"I know Jennifer. I felt the same way. The only thing that I would hate to see you do is marry into that family and then I would have to deal with the bitch on a regular basis. Oops. We are both very bad. We said the B word. Shame on us." She giggled about it and I had to join her. I went over to her and hugged her.

"Mom, I love you but if it is meant to be, I will marry Dan. However, I am still young enough to know that it is too early to even think about marriage. I would not think about linking the two of you unless I had no choice but to do so. I would not like to have her as an in-law either."

"I just hope you know that she is going to be giving him a hard time from now on over you."

"I can just see it now. But it will not last long after what I witnessed today. He will no longer put up with any garbage from her and it will make him stronger. He is the type of man that could replace Daddy. Now that I ever wanted anyone to replace Daddy but I know that a male figure in my life will take second place at first. After a while, he will become the only man in my life. It is just the way that it has to be."

"Well, I have to tell you this, Robert would have been proud to see you in action today."

"Robert? Who is that?"

"Why, that is your father! Don't tell me you forgot his name already!"

"No mom, it is not that at all. The only thing that I ever knew him by was Daddy and that is all that I ever thought about him as."

"You mean to say that you have never read his name on the tombstone whenever we go visit his grave? Or never paid any attention to anything that pertains to him on any document?"

"I'm sorry mom, I have always been looking for something that said Daddy, never realizing that his name was right in front of me." All of a sudden, I burst into tears for a man that I never knew but I knew he had loved me or at least Jennifer. Mom took it the wrong way thinking that I was crying for not knowing his real name. I did not want to let her know it was for something else. However, it was too reminiscent for me since I had lost my own father a few years back and the ache for his loss was still on me. I cried for quite some time for both of my fathers. Eventually I was cried out and I was able to dry my eyes.

"You know Jennifer, we are already late for church, so why don't we just skip it for today. We can go tonight for worship instead. It will give us a chance to relax from our hectic morning."

"That is fine with me mom. Thank you. I am sorry I am such a crybaby this morning. Things stressed me out more than I had thought they did. If you don't mind, I am going to go into my room and lay down for a while. I think I am starting to develop a headache. I will have to take some aspirin before it gets too bad for me to handle."

"That is fine dear. I just hope that you are not coming down with what I had last week. You take it easy and I will check on you later on."

"Thanks mom. I love you." I gave her another hug before leaving.

"I love you too sweetheart."

I left the living room and went into my bedroom. Since I had not gotten out of my nightgown, I took the robe off and climbed back into bed. It was not too long before I was asleep again.

Several hours later I woke feeling much better. It was almost as if the weight of the world had been lifted from my shoulders. I went out to talk to mom. She looked up from her reading as I entered the living room.

"Hi honey. How are you feeling now?"

"I am feeling much better now. My headache is completely gone now."

"That is good to hear. Now, do you have any laundry to do today?"

"Yes I do. I was going to get on it right away. Do you have anything that I can do with mine?"

"No sweetie, everything is fine for now. You go ahead and do yours. Do you have any homework that needs to be done also?"

"I think so, I was going to work on that while my laundry is being done."

"Ok. I know how you love to put off your homework for as long as you can. Just do not wait until the last minute to do it please."

"I won't mom. As I said, I was going to do it while my laundry was being done. Well, if you will excuse me, I will get busy on things now."

"Ok. I will have dinner ready by 5:00 so that we can get to worship at 6:00. Please be ready to go by 5:45."

"Ok mom. No problem here." I left her so that I could get started on my chores. Since I had never washed women's clothes before, I had to be careful to read the labels and see what they required for cleaning. Fortunately, none of them required anything drastic like dry cleaning but I was careful to keep my colors away from the whites to keep them from cross coloring the whites. I took all the panties in the pile of dirty clothes and got out the special delicates cleaner and went into the bathroom and washed them by hand and hung them on the shower curtain bar to dry. While the main batch of clothes were washing, I sat down on the bed and prepared to familiarize myself with Jennifer's school work.

After digging around in her backpack, I pulled out all her books and glanced through her notes for the assignments. Nothing seemed too hard to do. It mostly entailed reading several chapters of the heavy textbooks on advanced English, Trigonometry, Biology 2, and advanced Spanish. Since I already had those classes years ago, I felt that I could pass these classes easily. I read the assigned chapters anyway just to see if there were any changes since I took them years ago. From what I was seeing with Jennifer's schoolwork, she was taking college preparatory courses. I guess it fits in with her inheritance that she would take those courses. I delved into the books and later came up for a break. Whew! Very intense reading. Now I know why Jennifer is known as an intelligent girl. This stuff was almost past me but I understood it well enough to keep her grades going as they are.

I kept very good retention of what I had read and felt confident enough to hold my own with the subject matters during class. I quickly went and checked the laundry and took care of the items that were ready to be put away. The rest of the afternoon was spent studying, doing laundry and getting ready for church. By the time mom and I arrived back home from church, it was 8:30. I had to go into my room to check and see if there had been any calls on the phone. There was one message waiting on the answering machine. I pressed the button to listen to it.

"Hi Jennifer." It was Dan's voice. "I just wanted to call you and let you know that everything is fine. If you get this message before 9:00, please call me on 555-DANG. I hope to be able to talk to you before then. Love ya. Bye for now." The recording gave a couple of clicks for the line being disconnected and then a buzz of the dial tone and then the machine disconnected the call. I picked up the phone to call Dan. The line rang and was immediately picked up.

"Hello?" It was Dan's voice.

"Hi Dan, its Jennifer. I am returning your call."

"Hi Jennifer. I am so glad that you called before 9:00. My mother is still having a hissy fit over this morning and has forbidden me to use the phone after 9:00."

"That is too bad. I hope that I did not get you into too serious of trouble with my mouth."

"I do not think you have to worry about that. I have been getting tired of her treating my like garbage all the time and this morning to hear her talk to you and your mother that way made me snap. By the way, my father came in to talk to me this afternoon while mother was out visiting one of her friends. He said to tell you that he admires your spunk and to never change. He was so happy that someone was able to stand up to my mother and not back down. You may have made an enemy with my mother but you made a friend with my father."

"I am glad that I was able to hit it off well with him. Maybe in time, I will be able to work out the differences with your mother. But she is a very hard person to like, as I found out this morning."

"I do admit she is a hard person to learn to like but she really is a good person at heart. She just has had a hard life years ago and it made her protective of what she has. I am sure that in time, she will learn that you are not meaning any harm and she will simmer down. Let her get to know you and things will workout."

"How do you propose that with me? I am sure that she would not have anything to do with me right now."

"I know, but let me work on it for a while and see what I can do."

"Ok. Now, is it still ok for you to come and pick me up for school in the morning?"

"It does not matter if it is ok. I will do it regardless. Since School starts at 8:00, I will pick you up at 7:30. That will give us plenty of time to get there and hang out for a while."

"Not to mention the fact that we will shock the whole school. The popular misconception is that our date on Friday night was only a one shot and would not last long. Shall we really make the news around the school? Let's walk in hand in hand. Not to mention a little public display of affection. That will certainly start the rumor mill rolling."

"Ooh, you have a very devious mind, you know that?"

"Honey, you have not seen anything yet. By the time I get through with the girls that rejected you as boring, they will not know what hit them. Not to mention the fact that your popularity rating will go sky high."

"Girl, I like the way you think. I am going to enjoy tomorrow a lot. Well, I had better go. Mom is giving me the evil eye and tapping her foot. I will see you in the morning. Good night. I love you."

"I love you too. Good night." He hung up and then I followed suit. I had many weird thoughts going through my head after that last exchange. In the last three days, I had gone from someone who was mostly a man, to being a teenage girl in the bloom of her first love. What had changed in me that caused this overall change? I have no idea but I am going to have to find out where it came from. In the meantime I am going to have to get ready for bed. It has been a long hard day and I was tired. It was time to go to bed. I concluded my ritual of cleaning my face and headed for the wonderful story that was written on the inside of my eyelids.

Morning came too quickly for me. The alarm went off at 5:00 and I groggily climbed out of the bed so that I could prepare myself for my first day at school in twenty-three years. In a way, I was not looking forward to it. I was still hoping that the time passes by quickly so that I can get out of this round.

Before I knew it, I was done showering, dressing, applying makeup and eating breakfast. Soon it was 7:30 and Dan was here to pick me up. The drive to school was quick even though I lived a mile from it. At least I did not have to worry about the bus today. I did not know why Jennifer did not own a car. I would have to ask Heather the reasons since she knows Jennifer better than I do.

Our arrival at the school was uneventful, at least until everyone saw who Dan had in his car. Then people stopped what they were doing and stared. Mouths dropped open when they saw us walking hand in hand. The talking was about to start.

When we walked into the front doors, the gaggle of girls that were sitting inside giggling could only be the most popular girls in the school. I felt Dan squeeze my hand a bit at the sight of them. I squeezed back trying to communicate that it was ok. One of the girls, obviously the leader looked like she wanted to throw up.

"Well, look what the dogs drug in off the street. Hey Jennifer, did he lose his way the other night? Or did he forget how to find his way back to the school without your help?" Her braying laugh was enough to piss me off.

"Can you tell me why you are being such a jackass? Your laugh says it all. No, Dan did not lose his way. I would say he found it. At least not by the likes of you guiding him. Obviously from your comment, you found him WAY below you. In my humble opinion, he is a thousand times better than you. Come on Dan, these people are not worth my time nor yours." We walked off with me holding on to Dan's arm in an endearing fashion. Silence followed us to the rear.

Between Dan and I, the rest of the day followed in such manner. We had a couple of classes together and I was able to rearrange our seats so that we were next to each other, much to the surprise of the rest of the classes. The teachers seemed to be a bit amused with our obvious affection though we did not outright fondle each other. It was the tiny things that set it off: the light touching of hands, the looks at each other, the warning looks to others to back off, things like that. By the end of the day the whole school knew about us being an 'item' and it was the buzz of the day. Many girls had confronted me while I made restroom breaks during the day. They all wanted to know what I saw in such a loser. My reply was that if they thought he was such a loser, then they must not be very good women because he was much better than they were. I had also found out that the girls that had confronted us first thing were the school bitches anyway and were not worth more than what I had given them. For Dan's part, he had been congratulated by a LOT of his male friends for the catch he had made of me. He told me later that he had been a bit nervous at first but all the guys were supportive of him. Quite a few of them had been very jealous of him since they had been trying to date me for quite some time and had had no luck in doing so. That boosted his rating with the guys higher than ever. Dan went home that day soaring on the clouds. I could tell his self-esteem had started climbing out of the cellar and was now looking at the brightest day it had ever seen. I was happy too.

The rest of the week went better than the first day but I was still having problems with the bitches. But by Friday they had taken their attention someplace else, which suited me fine. Heather, Tiffany and the rest of the girls managed to con Dan out of a ride to school each morning but it was under the proviso that they all met at my house in the morning or they would not get a ride. When that occurred, Dan's popularity rose higher than ever. Here he was going out with me, and he was suddenly the chief stud for one of the worst pack of girls in the school. Singly we were nothing, but get us all together even the bitches were afraid of us. We were literally the terrors of the school. At least our reputations were worse than we really were. That, I knew for a fact.

When we were dismissed on Friday, Dan had officially become the BMOC or big man on campus. He had single handedly tamed the terrors of the school or at least took them under his control. The girls and I all protected him fiercely from all that might have a problem with his association with us. Not that we had any problems, but it was passed around that if anyone had a problem with him, they would have to deal with us first. Life was sweet for Dan now. It was even better for me since I was feeling better about myself.

Schoolwork really was no problem for me. The classes were so easy that I could breeze through them without any real effort. Unlike in my male incarnation, which was a struggle. The only thing that I could attribute it to, was the fact that Jennifer's brain was unfettered with the problems my male brain had.

Dan all week had talked about our upcoming date on Saturday night but he would not say anything about where he was going to take me but he did say that I should look my best. With the outfit I bought the previous week, it would not take much to do that. Get my hair fixed, nails done, special makeup job and I would be ready. I was looking forward to our outing regardless of where we went. One thing I was sure of was that it was not going to be a repeat of our first date.

All week long, the only thing that I did not like was the fact that after Dan had dropped everyone off at my house and I said goodbye and received a big kiss, I did not see or talk to him until the next morning. He had a job in the evening after school that kept him busy until late. It saddened me to see him have to work so hard to get what he made. Little did I know, he was doing it for me and not him. His normal shift was for four hours a night but at his request, he started working a longer shift that wound up being eight hours a night. He would be tired the next morning, but he was happy. I just thought they were taking advantage of him and that they should not work someone still in school as hard as they were. They paid him weekly so he knew he would be able to afford to take me out on Saturday night.

I didn't see Dan Friday night so I hung out with the girls and talked with them for several hours. I found out one of the best things about being Jennifer was the fact that I did not have to work a job for her. Her trust fund inheritance kept her in money without any other work entailed. Poor Dan had to work for everything he had. I guess his car had been bought after nearly a year of working for the down payment and he still has two years to pay for it. I think I will at least help him out in the respects of gas consumption. I am using his services as well as the other girls using him to get to school. It certainly did make for a fun ride to school in the morning with six girls riding with one boy. Dan seemed to enjoy it from what I could tell.

After all of us had dinner on Friday night, we met at the park around 6:00 in our little corner of the park. It was the first time we had been able to get together this visit and discuss my objectives. School and other things had kept us apart.

Heather was the first to speak up. "Jennifer, I have been doing some thinking about what you told me last Friday night about your visit this time. I think what the 'Settle in' means. It means that you need to become comfortable with being Jennifer and deal with what she is on a daily basis. The experiences that you could gain that would be more than a few hours of being her and it would go so much further in the end. The best thing about this week has been the fact that nobody has noticed anything different about you. To them, you are still Jennifer. I had a few people comment to me how much more sure of yourself you are since you started going out with Dan. They all said that it is nice to see you with someone and having all your energies pointed towards him and not anyone else. I do have to agree with them. Sometimes the other Jennifer could be a real bitch to people but only if they were on the wrong side of her anger. For the most part, she is an agreeable person to be with."

"I know that I can certainly be a bitch after I jumped at those girls earlier this week. But you know, it felt really good after what they said to and about Dan."

Tiffany jumped in then, "I know, I heard about it later and I was so wishing that I could have been there to see the looks on their faces. I guess it was absolutely priceless. I heard that they were left totally speechless since Jennifer never talked to them like that before and it shocked them completely. They were wondering who you really were. You were not the meek little person you are when you are alone."

Michelle said, "Where did you ever learn to be such a hard person anyway? I mean, being a man and all, you never had been with another man I presume?"

"No, I was not gay or anything. I just had never dealt with girls or women for any length of time and kept to myself for the most part. I really do not know where all this came from exactly but I am having thoughts that it might be Jennifer's potential to be this way. I have no way of knowing for sure since I have no idea what her actual potential is. I only know mine and I did not know I had it in me either."

Sarah said then, "Maybe you did not know it but it sure poked its little head out at a perfect moment."

The conversation continued for sometime after that but it was mostly inconsequential stuff that need not be repeated. When we were all talked out, we all made out ways back to our respective homes for the night. We really did not want to stay out past dark so we all left well before sunset so that none of us would have to walk home alone in the dark. We bid our good nights and parted.

Once I woke up in the morning, I was still amazed at how well I woke up. I never had an ability to wake up so quickly and be so fully awake. I knew this day was going to be a busy one and I felt that I should enjoy it. I arose out of the bed, slid the robe on, and went into the bathroom to rid myself of the nightly accumulations. After I was finished, I went into the kitchen where mom was sitting at the table reading the small newspaper this town produced.

"Good morning mom. How are you today?"

"Good morning sweetie. I am doing well today. How about yourself?"

"Oh, you could say that I am totally excited about my mystery date tonight. Speaking of which, I was wondering about something that you could do for me, it you would like to."

"What is that honey?"

"Well, I do not know how to put this but would you take us down to the salon today so that I, no, WE can have the full treatment? My treat."

"I will be happy to take you but you know that you cannot spend anything on me as per the inheritance agreement."

"I know but you do so much for me and it is so unfair that just because Grandma did not agree with you marrying daddy does not mean that I do not agree with it too. I will make up some sort of excuse for the auditors over this. I do hope that you will join me and make it a mother-daughter day out. We have not spent any time together in such a long time that I think it is time we do so. So say yes, PLEASE!" I put on my best sad eyed waif look to try to coax her into it.

"Damn, Jennifer. What has gotten into you lately? You seem like such a different person these days. First you never want to spend any time with me and then you do. You do not want to spend any money on me, then all of a sudden you do, and you say you will make an excuse for the expenditure. I know. You are not my Jennifer. You are some stranger who is wearing her body."

When she said that I turned completely cold. I must have become pale white because she stopped talking and was staring at me as if something was wrong.

"Jennifer, what is wrong. You suddenly turned ghost white. Are you sick?"

I tried to talk calmly but all I did was stammer. "N...no, mom. I am fine. Y... you just scared me with what you said. I have been getting that a lot lately at school. One person had even looked at my head to see if there were any scars from what she termed 'brain transplant surgery' to see why I was acting as I was. She said the same thing you did and it scared me." I thought to myself, 'good cover.'

"I am so sorry sweetie. I did not mean to upset you."

"It is ok mom. Please do not say that again, ok? Things have been very strange for me lately and I am trying to deal with them as best as I can."

"I promise I will not say anything again. Look, if it means so much to you for me to go to the salon with you, then I will do it. Lord knows I could use a good relaxing treatment myself."

"Thank you mom. You do not know how much this means to me. I miss not being able to just spend some good quality time with you."

"Now I know it is true. You are not my daughter! She would never say such things." She looked dead serious when she said that so I started feeling exposed. "Geez, Jennifer. You should see the look on your face! I am teasing you. That girl must have really scared the daylights out of you. However, on a more serious note, you do seem to me a much more mature person lately and the only thing that I can attribute it to is your relationship with Dan. He really is a nice young man and I am glad to see him being such a great influence on you."

"I know he is being a good influence on me. I think that the greater influence is what I am having on him. He is acting more like someone who is not frightened of his own shadow. The bad thing is that I have not really seen him all week except for school. I find myself missing not being able to talk to him in the evening and school is not the best place to talk except at lunch. I just wish that I could talk to him now. Just to hear his voice. Do you know what I mean?"

"Yes, I do honey. I think what you are describing is sometimes called love. I know you professed to him Sunday morning that you were falling in love with him but this is something completely different. My baby is growing up and will be leaving my house soon and I do not want to see that happen." With that, she burst into tears that I was not sure if they were happy tears or if they were sad tears. I scooted my chair over to where she sat and hugged her tightly. I had tears running down my face also but I felt that I could control them a little bit. After a while, she managed to stop her crying, looked up, and smiled at me.

"What did I ever do to deserve a daughter as sweet as you? You are wonderful sweetie."

"Thanks, mom. Yet, I do not think you should knock too hard on yourself. You got what you deserved when you and daddy had me. I miss daddy and I know how hard it was on you trying to raise me without any help from him. I promise that those days are over and I will do what I can to help you out as much as I can. One day it will be up to me to take care of you and I certainly hope that I am up to that task."

"I do too sweetie. Now, what do you say about us going and getting ready to go. I will call my salon and set up appointments for us both. Go take a shower but do not do anything with your hair or face otherwise. We will let the salon take care of all that. Once you are done, then I will take a shower also."

"Ok mom." I stood up in preparation to leave the kitchen. I reached down to where she was sitting and gave her a other hug. "Thanks mom. I love you."

"I love you too sweetheart. Now go take your shower while I make the phone call."

I left the kitchen realizing that I had not had anything to eat since I had come in to talk to mom specifically. I gathered up clothes to wear for the day that was casual as well as nice and went into the bathroom. As I was undressing, I stopped for a few minutes to admire Jennifer's body. I could not believe that everything about her was absolute perfection. There were no scars of any sort on her body. That in itself is an unusual thing. Everyone gets cuts or scraps throughout their lives and nobody is so protected that they acquire no scars. It is totally unheard of. Jennifer is the type of girl that is a prime candidate for centerfold of Playboy or some other sort of thing like that. Not to mention the possibility of model material. She is a teenage boys wet dream come to life. Moreover, I am here as Jennifer so all these things are ME! I felt like I was living my favorite dream.

I had to shake these thoughts out of my head. Mom is going to need to take a shower soon and if I do not hustle, she will take one ahead of me. As much as I wanted to further explore the budding sense of self as Jennifer, I had to conclude my shower as quickly as possible. I had not realized how quickly I would become comfortable as Jennifer if my visitations were over an extended period. It was almost as if I felt I would be happier as Jennifer and not as my old male self. I wondered idly what the future visits entailed. I would have to wait for this visit to be over before I found out.

Once my shower was concluded, I dressed myself and settled in to wait for mom to get done with hers. It was amazing to see how quickly the water heater recycled. When I was in the house as Michael, it took forever for it to reheat. Did new occupants of a house mean that things were different too? I knew it was pointless to ask the questions because it would bring rise to ones that I did not want to have to answer. I searched the house while waiting for mom to finish her shower and found two things out. One, there was not a book in the house to read. Were Jennifer and her mother anti-reading? I did not know and was afraid to ask. Two, there were no magazines in the house either. The only books I found in the house were Jennifer's schoolbooks. I KNOW I saw mom reading a book one time but for some reason, I could not find her stash so that I could read one. I know when I was a man here, I had a room dedicated to books so that if I got bored, I could read. I resolved to check into the book issue later.

After about an hour of waiting for mom, she finally emerged from her room dressed for a day out of the house. I could tell that she was excited about the prospect of spending time with me. She glowed with the joy that a day out would be an escape from the prison of the home.

"Are you ready to go Jennifer? The salon says that they are rather slow today and if we are able to get there quickly, we will have all day to be pampered."

I had to smile at that. "All day? Well, what are we waiting for? We have already killed half the day just getting ready to go. Let's get a move on it!"

With that, we both went out to the garage and got in mom's car. In all the times so far that I have been Jennifer, I had never even seen her with a car. It seems that everything I did revolved around me and I paid no attention to the details. I was going to have to look closer from now on. The car we got into was one of the latest models of Jaguars in a midnight blue color. I could not help but wonder what Myra did that she could afford a car this expensive and yet live in a house as tiny as what we were living in. I could see the old me living in the house since it was small and I was single without much of an income, so it made sense to have a house like it. This woman though, was a mass of contradictions that were very puzzling to me. Maybe I should stop trying to figure out the puzzle of Myra and work on the puzzle of Jennifer.

It took us about ten minutes to arrive at the salon. If this place was slow today, I wondered what it would be like on a busy day. It seemed like someone occupied every chair and there were no openings to be seen. If we were going to spend the rest of the afternoon there, they would have to kick someone out. Unexpectedly, a woman comes rushing out to greet mom.

"Myra, darling! How good it is that you can join us today. I take it this is Jennifer?"

"Yes, this is my daughter Jennifer. She is the one that suggested that we come here today and even offered to pay for both of us. Jennifer, I would like you to meet Monica Strazinski. She used to work with me at the real estate office before she got tired of the rat race there and decided to open up a salon." OH, ho! So that was what mom did. It still didn't answer the question of why she drove a Jaguar and lived in the dinky house.

"Hi Monica. It is a pleasure to meet you. I hope that you can fit us in today. It looks like all your people are tied up with someone else."

"Honey, don't you worry your little heart out over that. Monica will take good care of you and your mom. We were preparing for your arrival in another room. Besides, this IS a slow day. If it was busy, your mom would not have been able to get an appointment at all."

We were ushered into another room that made the outer area look like a dump. As I entered it, I stopped suddenly with my mouth agape. I had never seen such luxury before and I could only stand there in shock.

"Come on Jennifer. You act like you have never seen the luxury suite of a salon before."

"I have never seen such a place before. The place does not look big enough to have something like this inside of it."

"Well, you are not rightly inside of the place that you entered from. This is in an adjacent building that is well hidden by the surrounding buildings outside. There was no other access to this area except through the front area of my original store. I got a wonderful deal on the rent and when someone wants a good pampering, they come in here."

"You can be assured that you will be getting my business from here on out and I expect to have the 'treatment' back here."

"You betcha sweetie. You can have it any time you feel like it. Come on now, let's get busy."

I went into the room with only slight apprehension. Mostly from not knowing what was going to happen. I was ushered over to a barber style chair that looked like it was covered in suede leather but felt much more decadent than that. I was never able to identify the actual covering but I knew I was going to have to find out, it was so that I could get furniture for my own house in the future.

During the next 5 hours I was pampered, preened, and sometimes tortured. Mom had thought it would be a great idea to have my legs waxed so that there would be no stubble from a razor on them. After I was done with that excruciating agony, I was ready to kill her. I didn't ever think that a woman would go through that sort of thing because it HURT to have the hair on your legs yanked out by the roots. They tried to tell me that the more I had it done, the easier it would become but I am highly certain that I will not do that again. Mom just stood to the side while it was being done and smirked at my exclamations of pain. I think she enjoyed it while it was happening. The wax technician even had me strip to skin and did my bikini area too. I was literally tearing up from the abuse of my lower extremities. She was finally done but would not let me up off the table.

"Jennifer, I would like to apply a new treatment that will help you in the future. It is called Exfolicid and it is a new treatment that will prevent you from ever having to shave your legs again once it has finished its work. It is like a lotion that I apply to your legs, but you will have to be standing for at least ten minutes while it works."

"It sounds almost like it will hurt, Sheila."

"It will only sting for a few minutes because of the follicle killer that will be in it. What we did with the wax was open up the pores of your legs and the Exfolicid will move down the opening and settle in the bottom and eat away the hair root that is left. It will kill any new hair starts as well as any hair that has just been pulled out. Once it has gone its route in killing the roots, it will stop working and the aloe vera in it will smooth out the problems and heal your legs up. Two hours after you leave here, you will not have any marks or redness to show you had anything done to your legs. Now, shall I do the treatment? It is only a one-time application and will never have to be repeated. It would also be preferable to do your underarms too but it will not be necessary today unless you want to do so. That is up to you. So, what will it be?"

"Since you recommended it, I might as well go all out. Give me the works. That is what I am here for, is it not?"

"Good girl. Would you please stand up for me while I apply it to your legs? While that is working, we will work on your underarms and prepare them too. Here goes." With that, she applied a warm lotion to my legs and worked it into every nook and cranny that they hid. It felt good for a couple of minutes and then started a minor irritation that was not unbearable. She finished putting it on the area that she did for the bikini line and let that work its way in. She had me raise my arms and hold them up while she applied the wax again and denuded under the arms of hair. Then she applied the lotion there too. The stinging sensation increased for a few minutes and then went away. Before too long Sheila was wiping the residue off my body.

"There you go young lady. You are now hair free for the rest of your life. Money back guarantee if one hair grows back."

"How can you be sure that the hair will not grow back?" I asked.

"This product has been in extensive testing for a few years and when all of the test subjects never grew a hair back, in a year, the testers were satisfied. It took a bit to get approval from the FDA but that was granted a month ago and was permitted to be sold just last week. We were one of the first places to buy it. We will give you your money back if the hair grows back in any location that it was applied to. No questions asked either."

"That sounds good to me," I told her. I ran my hands down my legs and they felt silky smooth. Before I could feel tiny razor stubble but now it was gone. It also felt slightly erotic. Dan was going to love the feel, I just knew it.

The very last things they did were put my hair up into a very elaborate style that I would never be able to duplicate in a million years. It was too intricate for me to even follow or describe. They also applied makeup in what they called 'night out on the town' and showed me how to renew it once it was looking a bit smudged. I was taken to a large mirror to see the results of their work. If I had thought I was beautiful last week when I went out with Dan that first night, the angel in the mirror astounded me. I giggled at a thought that went through my head. Dan was going to pass out when he sees me. While I was absorbed in my thoughts and admiring the reflection, I heard a voice call out "Jennifer!"

I turned around to be confronted with several cameras pointed at me and flashing their bulbs at me. I was nearly blinded because it was so unexpected to have my picture taken. After the initial shock, I started strutting around like a model and flashing big grins. The photographers loved it. After several minutes, the flashing stopped and the photographers vanished into the nothingness they came from. Everyone acted like nothing had happened and it left me wanting to ask some questions.

"Monica, who were those photographers?"

"Photographers? What photographers? There were no others here. Are you sure you are not dazed because of the vision of loveliness that was in the mirror?"

"I don't know. Forget it. It is not important." What were these people up to? I needed to put the incident from my mind. I had more important fish to fry right now. Dan's goose was going to be cooked once he caught sight of me.

"Well Jennifer, do you like what you see in the mirror? You have gotten our best work so far."

"I do Monica. Are we concluded for today? If so, please let me know what I have to pay for the services."

"Are you sure that you are ready for this hon? All your treatments are rather expensive."

"It does not matter to me. Just let me know what the bill is and I will pay it. Oh, and could you make sure the receipt says nothing about mom on it at all. I will pay extra for the service."

"That will not be necessary, dear. Your mother has a long standing agreement with me that she will not pay for any services here."

With that, I was even more puzzled by the disclosure. "What do you mean by that? Mom, can you explain that to me?"

"Sure sweetie. It is simple. I helped Monica get into this building when she was first setting up her salon. Because of the fact that I waived my customary fee for procurement. Monica in return signed a paper that I would not ever pay for the services here. But I do leave wonderful tips for the girls that wait on me."

"But yet you let me think that I was going to pay for your pampering and the whole time knew that you were not going to have to pay. That is low mom. VERY low."

"I am sorry you feel that way dear. If MONICA (a look of something at her), had not said anything you would not have known."

"Myra, I thought that you did not keep anything from your daughter. I thought she knew about the agreement."

"No, she did not. It was my one little secret that I kept from her. Just like she has some of her own that I will never pry into. I expect her to respect my wishes with this one."

"Ok mom. I will not ask about it ever again. Now, back to the matter at hand. Monica, what is the total bill for my services today?"

"Do you want the item by item amount or a total?"

"I need to do an accounting for the expense auditor so the receipt must be item by item. But you may only tell me the cost before a tip based on the cost of services provided by each of your consultants."

"That I can do. Your total before a tip is $416.00. How much of a tip do you wish to add in?"

"I feel that a 15% tip is generous enough. I will let you break it down into whatever each consultant cost was."

"Good enough. Let's see here. Your grand total comes to $478.00. Will that be cash or card?"

"It will be on my card. Here you are." I handed my card to her.

"Thank you. It will be just a moment while I wait for the approval." She stood there watching the card machine. Within a few seconds, I heard the clatter of a printer working. A zz-ii-pp of paper being removed from it sounded. "Here you are hon. Please sign on the line at the bottom."

I took the proffered pen and signed Jennifer's name to it. Could not help but compare my signature of her name and her actual writing and they were the same. Somebody up there must like me. My old signature is nothing like what it was now. I could do nothing except shrug it off. "Here you are Monica. Thank you for your services. I will be seeing you a lot more often in the future."

"You are welcome. If you would like, I will give you a 25% discount on future services to any referrals that you make to your friends or anyone else. All they have to do is mention your name and they will receive a 10% discount."

"Thanks Monica. I will let the girls at school know. They will appreciate a good salon experience." I turned to mom. "We need to go now. Time is growing short and Dan will be to the house soon and I still need to get finished getting ready to go."

"Alright dear. Monica, it has been a pleasure as always. I will see you again for my regular appointment in 3 weeks. I have to look good for my job you know."

"I will mark it down Myra. Enjoy your date Jennifer. Goodbye."

Since my time was short, we made our way to mom's car and left to go home. I had to address something that was bugging me. "Mom, may I ask you a question?"

"You already did," she said with a smile on her face. "Sorry, go ahead."

"Mom, this is a strange question but I have to ask this. I know you work at a real estate company and you drive a Jaguar but why is it that we live in such a small house?"

"I knew one day you would be asking the question. The answer is simple. Your father bought it when we got married and it was the last thing he had the money to buy. He didn't want to have a big flashy house because of what he lived in all his life. He felt that it was best to just fade into the woodwork and forget his past. He disdained the money that had made his life pure hell. He still had a lot personally from his own inheritance but he did not want to have anything to do with such amounts of money. He only used enough to get by and for the most part ignored everything else. I have a sizeable amount of money in the bank that I inherited from him when he was killed but I was ingrained with hanging on to money. When I am gone, you will receive a large amount of money yourself but you will not really need it because of your inheritance from his mother. As for the reason we are still in the house we are is because of the fact that it belonged to your father and it is about the only thing that is left from him besides the bank account. Does that answer your question?"

"Yes, it does. From what I get, the house is still occupied by us because of sentimental value rather than functional value."

"That is it precisely. Anything else?"

"No mom. Thank you for telling me."

The rest of the ride home was done in silence. I was absorbed in the thoughts of getting ready to go out with Dan. I would not have much time and I had to be very careful that I did not muss up the makeup on my face and the intricate hairstyle that had been done on my head. I was getting nervous myself. Would Dan like what I had done? Or would he run from nervousness himself? I knew we would both have to work hard on it this night. I broke my train of thought as we pulled into the driveway. I had to hurry to get finished.

I quickly went into my room and pulled out the dress and accessories that I had bought last week. I dressed as quickly as I could without causing unsurpassable problems. Somehow, I managed to do minimal damage. The worst was the fact that my newly longer nails ripped holes in the nylons twice. Now I knew why Heather and the girls insisted on me getting at least six pair. At last I was ready to go over how I looked one last time before Dan arrived. I did a close inspection of my makeup and my hair. I had a smudge of makeup on my face that was easily correctable. Not a hair was out of place after all my gyrations in getting ready. I felt that it was a miracle that I had not destroyed everything that had been done for me. I touched up what needed to be touched up and gave a quick spritz of perfume. I believe I am ready for this date.

A quick check of the time showed that any second now...DING-DONG! Yep. It was time to go.

"Mom, can you get the door please? I think it's Dan."

"Sure sweetheart." I heard her footsteps going to the door. I had to prepare myself mentally. Mom's voice broke me out of revelry.

"Jennifer, Dan's here. Hurry up honey."

"Ok mom. I'll be right there." I had to hurry out but take it slow as to seem if I was not nervous. I walked out into the living room with as much grace as I could muster. As I entered the living room, I paid close attention to Dan's face. I was pleased with what I saw. It was exactly as I had planned.

First, his eyes nearly popped out of his head. Second, his mouth nearly hit his chest. Then lastly, his mouth started acting like a fish gasping for breath. I smiled at him and it increased his fluster. He finally was able to get his eyes and mouth under control.

"My God, Jennifer. You look beautiful. No, gorgeous. No, I...I...I don't know. I can't find the words to describe how you look. I have never before seen anyone like you. Just looking at you takes my breath away."

"I take it that you approve of your choice of dress for our date?"

"You looked good in it then but you are beyond good looking now. If anything, you do not deserve even being with scum like me."

"Now Dan, you know we have been working hard on that attitude. I really do not want to hear you ever say that again. Are we understood?"

"Y...y...yes Jennifer."

"Now, do you remember what I said before? I did not have to go out with you but since I did, I hope that you will enjoy it. I know I will. Are you ready to go?"

"I guess so, but I feel so inadequate in comparison to you."

"There is that self esteem problem I dislike. YOU, young man, are the candy of MY eye. You are so handsome that I would like to do something right now." I slinked over to where he stood and wrapped my arms around his neck. "I think you have been working too hard this week. We have not been able to see each other as often as I would like to. Because of that, poor baby, you are so lacking in the attention that I am just going to have to bathe you in it tonight." With that, I gave him a big kiss. "Oops! I hope I didn't mess up my makeup. Do I look ok?"

"Honey, you couldn't look messed up by any means. You look superb no matter what. Come on. Let's go. Your limousine is awaiting, my dear."

"Then let us go, kind sir." I took his arm and was lead out the door to a...LIMOUSINE! I turned to Dan in shock. "How could you afford this? I thought you had no money!"

"Well, I did have some savings and it was a very hard time working all the hours I did this week. In my opinion, it will be worth every penny of it. Come, our transportation waits. Not to mention our reservations." He guided me to the car and the driver was there waiting to open the door. I stepped into the vehicle in awe. I had never been in anything like this vehicle and I felt that it was nothing to sneeze at.

Once both of us had settled into the car, the driver climbed in and took off. I looked over at Dan and he was still staring at me. From the look in his eyes, it was either love or lust but I was not sure which one it was. I could not help but blush at his attention.

"I have to tell you Jennifer, I cannot believe how good you look tonight. I had picked the dress out as more of a joke just to see what you would do but I did not expect it to be this good looking on you. Then again, you could look good in a burlap sack. There is something about you that just glows and I have not been able to figure out what it is. Whatever it is though, please do not change."

"Thank you Dan. I must say, you look better in your suit than I had thought on a casual day like last week. Once you set your mind to do something, you go all out, do you not?"

"True, but in all fairness, most of this is because of you. You saw something that others did not and that sets you apart from all the rest I tried to go out with. They all seem so shallow while you have depths that have not yet been discovered. I hope that our relationship goes far enough that I can but discover ten percent of those hidden depths."

"Well Dan, at least you have a good come on line," I said with a twinkle in my eye. I knew what he was talking about but I wanted to tease him a bit.

"I didn't mean it like that. You do not interest me sexually. No, that's not it. You interest me sexually. Oh geez. I'm fouling this up again. Let me try this again. What I mean is that I am interested in more than your body. Your mind is so fascinating that it is attracting me more than that beautiful body is. I had judged you a long time ago as an easy lay because of what other guys have said about you. I am finding out that they are all wrong and you are nothing like that. They painted you out as a total slut and only interested in sex."

"I know how the guys talk about me. I may be female but I am not stupid, nor am I deaf. They look at the exterior and see the same sexpot I see in a mirror every day. None want to know more than one thing about me and that is how good I am in bed. You on the other hand are shy and mostly quiet. Overall you are a normal guy that likes a good-looking girl but you know when to keep your hands off. If you are willing to take me to bed and also willing to wait until I give you the signal, I will let you know when. Now, I can tell you all the other guys are wrong. I have never been to bed with anyone. I am also not ready for that step now but I feel that I will be in time. If you are willing to date and be very good friends, you will be the first to know when I am ready to take that step. Does that sound ok with you?"

"Damn, Jennifer, when you lay it on the line, you REALLY lay it in flat out. I agree to your terms. How can I not? It gives me the opportunity to be with the most beautiful girl, no, woman in the school and I do not have to act like the macho shitheads, pardon my language, that run around the world. Those types of people detest me and I would much rather just be with you than forcing you into something that I would later regret."

"Dan, you say the sweetest things!" He deserved a big reward for what he just said. I leaned over to him, wrapped my arms around his neck and proceeded to kiss him hard enough to curl his toes. Upon separation, I told him, "That dear sir, is only a message of things to come in the future. In time, hold on to your hat because things will only get better."

"Whew. If that is just a message, I can hardly wait to get the whole story."

"Oh, you will. You will. Now, may I ask a simple question?"

"If it has anything to do with tonight, no. You will just have to wait until we get there to know."

"Oh you meanie! How did you know what I was going to ask?"

"It is a well known fact that girls are very curious creatures. They have to know everything that is going on so that they can plan around it. The only plans that I would like you to know is that we are going to dinner and then somewhere special. Do you think you can handle that?"

"No. And you know it! You are going to drive me crazy I hope you know."

"Yes, I do and I am going to enjoy every minute of it. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. It will not take us more than an hour or three to get there."

"An hour or three!? Where are you taking me? Help! I'm being kidnapped!"

"Nope, no answer coming from me. My lips are sealed. Mmmphmmmphm!"

"You're silly! Ve haff vays uff macink shoo tock." If he did not understand what I said, I made my point by starting to tickle him. Before too long, I had him saying uncle. I just hoped that I did not mess up my hair or makeup. I could ill afford to go anywhere looking like a person who just got out of bed. I could not believe this guy was so ticklish.

"Ok Jennifer, I give up. I am taking you to...URK! GAK! UGH! Whoosh!" He pretended to collapse.

"Dan? Dan?? Are you ok? Hmm, I guess not. I guess I'll have to give him mouth to mouth resuscitation to revive him." I made fake motions for preparing him and I planted another big kiss on his mouth. I held that position for quite some time. Of course, when I tried to break it, he held the vacuum so that I would not be able to do so and held me even tighter. "Mmm, mmmphmmpjhm," was my attempt at saying 'Help, I'm being smothered!'

"You know, no matter what I still refuse to tell you where we are going. But I will tell you this: we are going to have fun."

"Oh pooh! You're a spoilsport. I'll not bother you any more about where we are going. But I will bother you in a different way." I proceeded to bother him in the different way. It was quite enjoyable too. I felt myself starting to feel like I did in the shower earlier. Then it dawned on me that what I had been feeling was my body becoming aroused. I think that once I was ready for sex, it might be even more fun than what I have been feeling. Who knows, I might want to fill out the part of the form that asks the question Sex [] and I'll mark 'Yes please.'

The rest of the trip to the Where Ever Place was spent in relative silence. At least silence on my part. I was too busy with my mouth to do much talking. An occasional gasp for air was the only things heard in the passenger compartment of the limo. I do not know how long we drove but it could have been anywhere between fifteen minutes and three hours. I could not care less about how long. I was enjoying being in his arms WAY too much to care about things.

Shortly I felt the car come to a complete stop and heard the driver's door open. I stopped what I was doing and tried to arrange myself before the door opened. I was not able to check my makeup before I got out of the car. That was the first thing that I had to check once I was inside the building.

When I got out I was confronted with the sight of a theater style building that had a marquee that read 'Dinner and a Play'. What sort of place was this that had dinner and a play? I am sure that I would find out.

Dan opened the door for me and I stepped through into a luxurious lobby. I waited for Dan to come along side me and I took his arm as he guided me into the building. I spotted the ladies room off to the side before the entrance into the theater.

"Dan, I need to run into the ladies room quickly. I have to powder my nose. Please wait here for a minute. I will be right back."

"Certainly Jennifer. I would not go anywhere without you."

I gave him another kiss before I went to the restroom. Once I was in the ladies safe haven, the first thing I did was verify that I did not destroy my face too badly. I did mess it up a bit and a couple of hairs were out of place. A few minutes work and things were back the way they were supposed to be. Since I was in here, I felt that it was best to make sure that I did not have to get up and run to the bathroom at the wrong time. I finished, washed my hands and rechecked to make sure things were still ok. I went back out to rejoin Dan.

He was waiting patiently for me just outside. I took his arm again and we went to the ticket taker.

"I have two tickets on hold for the 7:00 show. My name is Dan Sparks"

"Yes, Mr. Sparks. Here you go. The seats are as you requested. Thank you for coming. I hope you enjoy your dinner and the show."

He took the tickets and led me to the doors where there was an usher waiting for the tickets. Upon being handed them, he led us further into the bowels of the chamber beyond the door. We were taken to a table near the stage/musicians area. I was impressed about how close we were to the stage. At least it would not be hard to see the actors in the play.

Once we were seated, a waiter dressed in an old time Western style bartenders outfit brought us menus. "I will return in a few minutes to take your orders. Would Sir and Madam care for some refreshments?"

"Since we are both minors, we cannot have anything alcoholic. I think that for now, we will settle for a coke each. Is that ok Jennifer?"

"Yes, that is fine," I said.

"Very well, I will return in a minute with your drinks." He turned and left us alone.

"Dan, where ever in the world did you find this place? I have never even heard of it before."

"It comes from having worked here at one time as a stage hand when I was studying drama my Junior year. I always enjoyed the atmosphere and the actors are actually professionals. They do have other jobs but this pays them fairly well. I was able to pull my past employment here and wrangle the seats here. Tonight, they are kicking off a new play that has the looks of being a success for them. As you can see from the people around us, this is going to be a sell-out crowd. This place has a good following among the drama crowds and the play itself has been the talk for quite sometime. They are trying a new twist on a very old play."

"May I ask what the play is?"

"I should keep it a surprise, but I won't. It is Romeo and Juliet portrayed as a musical melodrama based in the old West."

"Really, that sounds pretty strange to me. I am not sure that it will be that successful. Really, you just can't mess with the works of the Bard like that."

"Please be patient with me on this. I feel that you will enjoy it. Have you decided what you want to eat?"

"I am a bit confused about that. There are no prices on the menu. I do not want to overspend your budget."

"Please do not worry about that. The prices of the tickets include the meal regardless of what a person selects. That way, nobody feels like they are being taken advantage of. It is a system that has worked out for quite a number of years since the dinner theater opened. Go ahead and order what you would like."

"I see. That makes things easy for me. I love shrimp and seafood, so I will have the seafood combo plate if that is ok."

"That is perfect. I was thinking about having the twelve ounce top sirloin and lobster tail."

About then the waiter came back with our drinks and set them down. "Are you ready to order now?

"Yes sir, we are." Dan proceeded to give him the discussed upon items as well as the side dishes such as salad and soup. It had been a long time since I had had the money to buy a good seafood plate and I was practically drooling over the thought of the shrimp. The other components of the plate were an added bonus to me.

The waiter left us to ourselves and went into the back room. I felt the need to find out a bit more about Dan and his job at this place.

"Dan, without getting too detailed, what was your job doing here?"

"I did not have too important of a job. They needed to have stage hands to move the scenery around to new settings and I was just one of the six grunts they utilized for the tasks. Sometimes it was rather difficult trying to get things done in the two minutes that we had for scene changes. It was challenging and fun. There were times that I wished that I could have been out on the stage rather than behind the scenes."

"Does that mean that you have an aspiring talent to be an actor?"

"That is the reason I took drama in school last year. I enjoyed acting but according to the director, I did not have leading man capability and the best that he could recommend would be as an extra. He said something about presence or presentation on stage. I am not sure what he meant but I knew it was a negative thing. I stopped having anything to do with the stage after that."

"You have to be kidding! You have many hidden talents that people have not found yet. I think you really need to try it again and see what happens. Besides, I have the utmost confidence in you that you can do it. I will support you all the way, if you would care to try. I think you can surprise all your non-supporters."

"I appreciate the thought Jennifer but that sort of thing is not what I am interested in at the moment. I have better things going right now and I would like to see how they turn out. If things do not work out, then I will try it. Is that ok with you?"

"What are your 'better' things you mention?"

"I guess I should be blunt about it. You are my 'better' thing. I have never run into anything or anyone like you before and it seems like there are so many things that can be done and I would like to explore the possibilities as they arise."

"That is sweet to say. I too would like to explore the possibilities with you. The things is, is that each of us have to do things without the other so that we are at least diversified and not totally dedicated to each other. Please do not take that wrong. The reason I say that, is I have seem many couples do things together practically 24 hours a day and after a while, they get to the point that any love has turned to hate and they break up."

"I never thought about it that way, but you are right. There is too much contention in life as it is and not enough variety for people. You can only do so much together before it becomes boring."

"That is right. So, I think what you need to do is try out for the next play they are doing here and see how things go. If you like, I will help you out with the parts as you get ready for the tryouts. Any idea when the next one is going to be?"

"No, but I can check with the director to see when it is and what they are going to do. Maybe I can work things out beforehand get the part down before the tryouts."

"That would be something that would impress them more than going in cold and doing a poor job with the part. In acting, you have to be confident in your manners and that would reflect in the job you do. If you have a higher confidence factor in yourself, then it will show to the director. Remember what I said before about your self-esteem? That is the biggest part of being confident. I have been able to see you change over the last week and I really like what I am seeing."

"Now that you mention it, I have had a lot of people commenting about how I have been holding my bearing lately. One woman mentioned to me that she had noticed me before but I had an invisible sign up that said 'Warning, jerk at work' or something like that. She said that the way I have been carrying myself had announced that I had dumped the negative feelings. She asked me if I wanted to go out with her sometime. I had to tell her that I was otherwise taken and would do nothing to ruin the relationship I was building. Needless to say, she was a bit bummed out but understood."

"Did I not tell you that if you had confidence in yourself that people would notice? It is already starting to show to people and they are starting to take you seriously. THAT, my dear, is why I said you need to try out for a play. I KNOW you will get the part you want. I have all the confidence in you that you will get it too."

"You know what they say too, behind every great man is a great woman. I think you are going to be that great woman behind me."

"I will do my best to be that woman for you."

He smiled brightly at me, moved closer, and gave me a very passionate kiss. He was learning to show his feelings. It was better than I had hoped with him.

Before he could be too carried away, our waiter brought our meals out to us. We had to scoot apart so that the meals could be placed in front of us. "Please enjoy your meals. The play should be starting in about twenty minutes. If there is anything I can get you, please feel free to signal me."

"Thank you, we will," Dan said as he dismissed the waiter. "How does your meal look to you Jennifer?"

"It looks absolutely wonderful. Almost too good to eat. I know I will enjoy it. It has been too long since I have had seafood."

"With your money, I thought you would be eating seafood whenever you wanted to."

"That is not the way it works Dan. I would feel guilty eating it if I could not buy it for my mother also. The terms of my inheritance states that I cannot do anything for my mother when it comes to buying things. My grandmother did not like my father marrying below his station and she thought mom was a golddigger and nothing more. My father died before Grandma did and I was given his inheritance with those rules. I have to go to college after high school or I will have to wait for a long time to get anything else. As it is, I will only get enough to pay my living expenses and tuition with little left over while I am in college. Right now, I am getting only $5000 per month and once I graduate, unless I am enrolled in college, I will lose that money until I turn twenty-five. If I do not spend the $5000 in a month, they will not roll it over to the next month. They will just add on to make it the $5000. If I do not spend it, I will not get anything else the next month."

"Wow, it sounds like your grandmother had it in for your mother."

"Yes, she did. Grandma could be a royal witch if she tried and did not like the person much. I was her only grandchild so she doted on me while daddy was still alive but never in view of mom."

"It sounds like you at least got along with her."

"Yes, I did. She died about three years ago and left me her estate. As I said, it is with a lot of restrictions. I just have to be careful how I do things or I stand the chance of losing everything that I inherited."

"I hope that I am not one of those restrictions."

"No, you do not have to worry about that. The restrictions are all with mom. Grandma was upset when daddy died because it meant that mom got his money that was his inheritance from his grandparents. Grandma did not want mom to get it and tried her best to stop it from happening but she was not able to because of the marriage."

"Ok, I understand now. How is your dinner?" I had been eating between my talking and him talking.

"It is fantastic. The shrimp are the best that I have ever had. It is almost a dream to eat them."

"That is good. They have always had the best food here. Not to mention the entertainment too."

The rest of the meal was eaten and we engaged in small chitchat while we ate. I was not able to get all of my meal eaten since it was a rather huge plate of food. I was at least able to get a to go box for it. Shortly before we were done eating, the play started with a preamble of music. We had watched the musicians tune up and prepare for the performance. That in itself was entertaining. The play started up right at 8:00. If I had any doubts before it started, by the time it was over, I had been able to get into so deeply that I was doing the same things as the rest of the crowd was. That is, whooping and a hollering, booing and hissing, cheering and jeering, as well as the hushed silence at the end when the two lovers were silent with their deaths. Never in my life have I ever had as much fun as I did this night.

I left the theater that night with a reverence that having seen a group of people work hard to entertain their audience. Along with a feeling of pleasant surprise over the fact that my original assessment that it was sacrilege to treat the Bards work with completely rewriting the play to a different format than what was originally intended to be done.

Immediately after the play was over and the curtain calls were made to a standing ovation, we left the auditorium/dinner room and Dan wanted to go see the owner of the theater. He talked with the man for several minutes and came back to me with a smile on his face.

"The owner says that the next play they are going to put on will be having their tryouts starting in December. I will have that long in which to prepare myself for the part. He said that they would be doing West Side Story. I think I can get the lead easily enough if I work on it. Are you still willing to work with me on it?"

"I certainly am. When do you want to start?"

"Let's give it a couple of weeks so that I can find the play script book and read it over. Then we can get started."

"That sounds good. You know Dan, I have to thank you. I really doubted that the play was going to be very good and you advised me to be patient. I must admit, you were right and I was wrong. I enjoyed myself very much and it is all with thanks to you."

"I had a great time myself. This was all due to you. If it had not been for you having the confidence in me, I think that I would have been a lost cause. You are special and I think it would be in my best interests to remain with you no matter what."

He had been looking me in the eyes as he said that. I knew what he was feeling in his heart and I was starting to feel it even deeper than he was. He was in love with me as well as I was falling deeply in love with him. He reached up with his hand and stroked the side of my face with the sides of his fingers. The look of love in his face was nearly overpowering. The spark of love in my own heart threatened to explode in my chest, sending me into oblivion.

His kiss was not unexpected and was most welcome to me. The passion in it was unbridled and wild to my senses. I was overwhelmed by the sensation as his arms wrapped themselves around me and held me tighter than I had ever been held in my life. I melted into his arms and practically became one with him.

He finally broke the kiss and I was instantly overcome by the sensation of loss. I did not want him to let go of me. "We need to go. I told the driver to be back here by 10:30 and it is now 11:00. I do not want to incur penalty payments so we need to get out there and go home. Are you ready?"

"Not really but let's go. If you run into any charges, I will pay them. It would be the least that I can do."

"If we make it home before midnight, we will have no charges to pay. Come, my lady, your carriage awaits your arrival." He gave a small bow and pointed with his arm towards the door. I took his arm and we left the theater to got to the limo.

Our drive home was not nearly as long as the one to the theater, but we were not paying attention to anything other than each other. His face filled my eyes and all I could see in his eyes was my reflection. No word was spoken between us as there was no need for words.

The arrival back to my house was not a welcome one. I did not want to leave him but I had to. The car had to go back to the company. A quick but long goodbye permitted me to get a goodnight kiss before I went into the house. Dan was quick back to the car so that he could get home and avoid the late charges. It was going to be close for him, but he would at least make it.

I went inside the house and prepared myself for bed. I knew that I would have to go to church in the morning since mom had warned me about it earlier. I had to be up early and I could not waste any time. The ritual of getting ready went quickly and before too long, I was in bed.

The next week or so went very well. I had become used to the morning and evening rituals that I had to perform every day. My relationship with Dan was growing ever closer each day. The school no longer used us as the butt of their jokes. All the girls that Dan had dated before were very jealous of me because I had something that none of them had ever been able to bring out. Sometimes I was treated rudely but that was few and far between. It is just the normal treatment that a girl gets when others are jealous of something that she possesses. Moreover, did I ever possess an object that none could wrest from me. I would have fought tooth and nail to retain him but I did not have to do so.

My third week in Jennifer's body was one of the worst ones in my life. It seemed that nothing I did could shake the weird feeling I had been having. By Wednesday, I was sure I was ready to kill someone. It did not matter who it was but I just wanted to kill someone.

Heather and the girls noticed that I was being a bit sullen and one of them asked me what was wrong.

I looked her in the eye and said, "I have no idea what is wrong. Lately, I am tense and I hate the way my skin feels to me. Nothing is right and I do not know what to do about it."

That must have made sense to all of them since they got a knowing look on their faces but they did not tell me anything else. By the end of the week, I was in even worse condition. Saturday morning, when I was getting dressed, the bra I was putting on felt so tight that I had to take it off to verify that it was not too small. I felt like I was being cut in half by it and I also felt as if I was overflowing the cups. My shoes were tight on me when I put them on. I was miserable all day long. I was not the angry person I was earlier in the week but I was still off kilter and there was no reason for me to be that way.

Sunday morning dawned and I was feeling absolutely horrible. My stomach was in turmoil, as if I was going to be sick. I wanted to die! I went to church with mom but my mind was not on the services as it usually was. As the morning wore on I started feeling worse. My stomach was giving me horrible cramps and I was wondering what I had eaten that was making me sick.

Finally the services were over, much to my relief. Mom and I went home quickly. Actually, not quick enough for me. I wanted to just crawl in bed and die. At one point while I was feeling sorry for my state, there was a knock on my bedroom door. I hollered out, "Come in," and crawled back under the cover to hide.

Heather walked in the room after being invited. "Jennifer, I had to come over and see you. After the way you were acting last week, I felt concerned over your state of mind. I can see that I was right. Something is wrong and I know what it is."

I uncovered my head. "You know what it is? What can make me feel so bad? I just want to be left alone so that I can die in peace."

"I keep forgetting that you are still new to this sort of thing. Jennifer would have taken it in stride and nothing would have been said about it since it is normal."

"What do you mean normal!? Nothing about what I am feeling is normal!"

"It is normal...for Jennifer. However, you are not Jennifer. You are someone else who is only Jennifer for a short time. I watched Jennifer go through exactly the same things a few years back but this time, you don't know the cause."

"Will you stop babbling and tell me what you are talking about!!!!"

"Now that sounds almost like her. What I am talking about, is you are starting her period."

"PERIOD!! What do you mean, I'm starting her period? I can't be!"

"How can you be so certain about that? Look, I have been friends with Jennifer long enough to know what she goes through when she has her period. You have been showing classic signs of her PMS and now, you are most likely having very severe cramps. Very shortly, you will be bleeding down below and that will need to be taken care of before you wind up having to clean up a terrible mess on the bed and in your clothes. We need to get you taken care of now before it gets really bad for you."

"I can't do this! I am a man for God's sake. Why I am I having to go through this? I don't want to have to deal with this."

"I would suggest that you just get used to the idea. You don't know what you were supposed to find out yet and you'll be dealing with this regardless. Now get your lazy ass up out of that bed so that we can go to 'girl' school. I have to teach you how to deal with this."

Not really feeling like it, I rose out of the bed and followed her into the bathroom. She went to the sink and bent down to open the panels underneath it. She pulled out a box that read 'tampons' on it and another box that read 'Kotex'. I didn't like the looks of things but I had to bear it or, as she said, deal with a worse problem.

"Now, what you need to do is basically, sit on the toilet with your underwear down. If you have to go to the bathroom, do so, but you will have to follow my instructions explicitly."

For the next fifteen minutes, I listened to her as she explained how to use the tampons and why a pad was necessary. I shuddered at one point when I heard a drip hit the water below me. A quick glance showed me that I had started bleeding. It nauseated me to no end and I felt like vomiting. Within a short time, I had been able to insert the tampon and prepare the pad for any secondary absorption.

"You will find out that Jennifer has a very heavy flow for the first three days of her period, which requires constant looking after. You will more than likely have to change the tampon and pad every two to three hours. After that, it starts getting better for you but you will have to deal with it for seven days before it will end. Now, do you understand everything that I had told you?"

"Yes, but I don't like it."

"You don't have to like it. You just have to be aware that it is normal. Regardless of how you feel about your period, it'll come every month except when you are pregnant. Up until now, you have been seeing the best part of being a woman. Now you get to experience the worst part. Make the best of it."

"I'll try my best. I just hope this week passes by quickly so that I can get away from this problem."

"I can only say that the week will be the longest one in your short life as Jennifer."

True to Heather's words, that week was the longest of my life. I hated dealing with the mess that my period brought to my ritual. The smell was nearly overpowering to me and I had to mask it with plenty of perfume. I felt that everyone could tell that I was on my period and I was a little wallflower all week long. My relationship with Dan was a bit strained that week. I tried to act like nothing was wrong but he knew that there was and assumed that I was mad at him for some reason. It took a lot of talking with him to convince him that nothing was wrong and I was not mad at him. We at least ended the week as a couple.

During that week I also learned that no matter what, things were normal regardless of the fact that when a woman was having her period, life had to go on. Half the human race had been dealing with such things for their whole lives and I only had to deal with the one. I hated it but it was a consolation to me that every woman had to deal with the same thing all the time and they acted no differently than they ever had. I did not know it at the time, but Heather had been having hers the first week I was back here while a couple of the others had theirs at the same time as I did. Moreover, they did not even show any signs that they were having them.

For me though it was the shock of what I was dealing with that caused me my problems. I would know what to expect next time it happened. I would not have to worry about showing the signs since I would know what to expect.

Saturday dawned a lovely day. It was a briskly cool morning that was shown in the bright early autumn colors. Per habit of that week, I went to the bathroom to check my tampon and pad. The pad had nothing on it and the tampon had hardly anything on it. It looked like my period was nearly over. I still put new ones into place and prepared myself for the day.

For the first time that week I did not feel like an outcast although it was self-imposed. I was practically skipping around feeling good. Mom had had to go to work since she was doing an open house, so I had the house to myself all day. I felt like calling up Heather and the girls and having them come over. I wanted to call Dan and ask him to come over but I knew he was working today and would not be off until after 6:00 this evening.

I decided to go out onto the porch and sit for a while before making any phone calls to the girls. I received a big surprise when I opened the door. Taped to the glass of the screen door was an envelope that had my name on it. Immediately I took it down. I went back into the house and sat on the couch. Had it really been a month since I came back here? It did not seem like it. It seemed longer than that.

With trembling hands, I opened the envelope as quickly as I could. I carefully pulled the letter out being careful to not take the enclosed charm out. I read it to myself. I had to re-read it to make sure that I understood it.

"Congratulations Jennifer. I know this was a hard month to get through. You discovered the main thing that was supposed to be learned here this time. Women must do whatever is necessary at all times regardless of what was going on with them. You discovered how hard it can be for them when they have their period. It is the worst time of their lives and they spend nearly a quarter of their year having one. This test is over. Now you will get to set your own pace on the next one. It will be quite pleasurable for you once you figure out your objective. Your clue is easy: Personal Pleasure. However long it takes you will be dependant on how you feel about your goal. They always say, seven is a lucky number. Do you feel lucky? You will have it."

It was still unsigned. I upended the envelope and allowed the charm to fall out onto my hand. The only glimpse I was able to get was the shape of the number seven. The spinning of my mind began again. I was back to being myself.
 
To Be Continued...
 

Now, on to the story--I give you...
 

As the swirling died, I was once again back in my old familiar body. As Michael, I looked around the bedroom, wondering about the upcoming challenge. What did it mean: personal pleasure? What pleasure could I get as Jennifer? I had an idea, and I was half scared to death. I had a very strong feeling that I had no experiences to help me through this time.

The new charm looked ordinary, belying the power I knew it had; its one distinguishing feature was its shape: a number '7'. There was no use delaying it. I removed the necklace and clipped on the charm. I took a deep breath and put it back on. The now familiar spinning took over and I knew I was Jennifer again.

When the spinning stopped, I was assailed by several sensations. A very rough hand groped my breasts and pinched my nipples very hard. I nearly screamed in pain. If this was supposed to be pleasurable, I wanted to go back to my own body right now! I tried to move away, but he was too strong. The hands continued with their rude ministrations briefly before moving down to my crotch. Dry fingers entered me and I realized that Jennifer had also been unprepared for this before I arrived. It was extremely painful! Whoever he was, he must have felt that he was pleasuring me immensely by the way I was squirming to get away from his hands.

He moved his hands away only to move his mouth into place. Using his teeth, he started nipping my tender nether region. His actions became rougher and more painful to me as he began to bite. Some of the bites seemed quite hard enough to leave bruises. I moaned in pain, but that only spurred him on to greater efforts. The way I was moving, he had to think that I was at the peak of desire and wanted more of what he was giving me. It couldn't have been farther from the truth.

Nearly as quickly as he started, he stopped and lifted his head. The next thing I knew, his entered me dry, rubbing me raw. The friction caused my insides to get wet, but only as an involuntary act of selfprotection. The pain lessened somewhat, but it was not pleasurable. I put up with the humiliation of this forced sex -- no rape, since I was not a willing participant. I couldn't get him off me. Eventually, I felt him come. He slowly lifted his sweating body.

I saw the outline of his face dimly in the low light before he kissed me. I closed my eyes firmly. I reeled in disgust as his lips met mine. When I opened my eyes, I could make out exhaustion on his face. Obviously, he had had a workout.

He rolled off me and lay there. Within seconds, he was asleep. I took the time to study his face. This wasn't Dan. His face was strongly masculine with a square jaw. He had five o'clock shadow. The dirty blonde hair on his head was short and tousled, like it was naturally unruly. That was all I could see without risking waking him up; his arm lay over my waist.

I suddenly realized that I had just had unprotected sex! Oh, God, I could become pregnant if I didn't do anything about it. I wriggled free from his arm and sat up. This was not the bedroom that I had gotten used to over my past visits. This room was larger, larger even than the combined bedroom areas in my house. I needed to find the bathroom. I could see a couple of closed doors in the room. I went to the closest door. It was the closet. At least I knew this was Jennifer's place; it had nothing but women's clothes in it. Oh well. It was a fifty-fifty chance of getting it right. I went to the other door, the bathroom this time, and closed it quietly behind me, avoiding the risk of waking the sleeping man. I looked for a robe or gown to cover my nakedness, but none were to be found.

I searched through the medicine cabinet and found a disposable douche. Following the instructions on the box, I crouched over the toilet, inserted it inside me, and squeezed the bulb, flushing out any possibility of getting pregnant. While I was in the cabinet I had caught a glimpse of something that looked like birth control pills. I needed to check it out.

As I approached the cabinet, I studied myself in the mirror. Jennifer was still young looking, but several years older. Fine lines were forming around her mouth; the elasticity of youth was disappearing slowly. The violet eyes still sparkled, but I think it would not be long before they dimmed. I brought my left hand up to feel the slight wrinkles around the mouth. At least there was no ring indicating a marriage. I was happy about that. But who was the man in my bed?

I had to find out one way or another. Glancing at the old familiar watch on my wrist, the time was 11:30, too late to call anyone. Who could I call anyway? I decided to wait until morning. Looking in the cabinet, I found a circular bubble case with Jennifer's name on it. Inside were places for 28 green and pink pills. Fourteen pills were green and seven were pink. Were there supposed to be seven more pink or seven more green? From my limited knowledge of women, I had to assume these were birth control pills. With the seven missing, did that mean that Jennifer has already taken one for today? I had to assume so. The instructions said to take once per day at dinnertime, so Jennifer had to have taken one earlier.

I didn't know who he was, or his relationship with Jennifer, but I doubted any woman would want sex like that. I didn't want to share a bed with that jerk, but I didn't have much of a choice. Before I carefully crawled under the covers, I had a good look. He was a large man, at least 6'5", about 250 pounds and had a beer belly. I laid down, only to find a sticky wet spot under my butt. I looked at the ceiling, fuming. Why do women always get the wet spot? It was a long time before I fell asleep.

First light of morning woke me with the surety of an alarm clock. I could not get over the fact that Jennifer could wake at the drop of a hat and be wide-awake. I got up and went to the bathroom. Washing my hands, my crotch was grabbed from behind. Reacting quickly, I whirled around and laid a resounding 'SMACK!' on the first thing I encountered, his left arm.

"Hey!" he yelled at me. "What was that for?"

"It's for grabbing my crotch. I don't like you grabbing me when I'm not expecting it."

"Well, aren't you all high and mighty this morning. What's got your tit in a wringer? You PMS'ing already? You can be a real bitch during that time."

"It would be none of your business if I was. Now let me go. I have to get ready."

"Ready for what? It's Sunday morning, you dizzy bitch." That last angered me to no end. Who is this prick?

"I'm going to church with my mother."

"Church? When did you start going back to church? It's been two years since you last went. And when did you start speaking to your mother? You haven't spoken to her for a year."

I winced. God, what has Jennifer been doing? I was going to have to patch a few fences. "That's my business. Don't you have somewhere to go?"

He grinned nastily. "Now that you mention it, yes there is. Come on back to bed. I need my morning wake up. Roger is up and ready to be jollied."

"Roger can start without me. I have better things to do this morning." I had to get away from this jerk. Why did Jennifer put up with him? I left the bathroom and went into the closet to get something to wear. While there, I took a whiff of myself and decided that I could not get away without a shower. I couldn't bear the thought of him in the shower with me, so after I gathered up the clothes I wanted to wear, I made sure the door was locked.

Several minutes later, I stepped out refreshed, no longer soiled by the contact with the jerk. I dressed quickly and applied my makeup, easy after a month of experience. Back in the bedroom, I found a pair of shoes that would go with the dress I was wearing.

Earlier, while I was searching Jennifer's clothing drawers, I came across Jennifer's diary. It had looked well used. On curiosity, I brought it out and read a few entries. Glimpsing a few near the back of the book, I read how Jennifer met Dirk and what a suave character he was. The date was from four months before. Reading further, I read how Jennifer had lost her debit card and had requested a new one from the bank. She was getting frustrated about not getting a new one after six requests. A few pages later, she mentioned that she wished that she had never met Dirk or broke up with Dan. Her words were, "He has been the only decent man in my life and I treated him with contempt after going out with him for a while. I wonder where he is now?" I glanced at my watch. It was late. I put the diary away and finished getting ready to go. I stepped out of the bedroom into the living room.

Sure enough, Mr. Macho was lying on the couch - a typical couch potato on Sunday morning.

"Hey, where do you think you're going? You still haven't fixed my breakfast." He noticed my lack of movement and frowned. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get your fat ass in the kitchen and fix me something to eat!"

"You want breakfast? Then eat out."

He looked at me suspiciously. "You certainly got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. What's gotten into you?"

"You did. Now, don't you have any place that you should be? I would prefer that you were not here while I am gone."

He rose off the couch. He was big. I hoped I could handle him. His face was flush with anger. "What is it with you, bitch? You didn't get off last night and now you're taking it out on me? If you didn't, then that's your fault. You are nothing but a frigid bitch, anyway. My father warned me about bitches like you. You just need to be shown who is the boss." With that, as counterpoint to his words, he moved towards me. I had never had anyone act this way towards me before and my heart started racing in fright.

I suddenly found that I had to protect myself. I had a desperate thought; I had spiked heels! My chance would come as he came closer.

He reached up with his hands to grab my arms. Things happened fast. He had no shoes on to keep the heel from entering his foot. He hollered out in pain and grabbed for his foot. While he was off balance, I brought up my knee as fast as I could and nailed his un-jolly Roger. He folded in extreme agony and I backed out of his reach quickly. I needed to find a weapon.

I ran into the kitchen and grabbed a butcher knife from a kitchen drawer, going back into the living room with it in my hand. His foot was bleeding heavily and he was having a hard time breathing. It would end soon, but he was going to hurt for a while. I looked around to see if I could find some identification for this jerk. I found his wallet on the kitchen table. His name on the driver's license was Dirk Bishoff. Well, Mr. Bishoff, I hope you've learned a lesson about trying to play the big man. I went back into the living room.

I regarded him. "Well, Dirk, are you prepared to be a good boy now?"

"You know, you are one crazy bitch."

"Well, I think you are right on that count. I was crazy to ever let you into my apartment and my life. At least I've become sane and won't have to worry about that anymore. I do expect that as soon as you are able, you will leave here as fast as you can hobble. Do you understand me?"

"I have no place to go. I gave up my apartment to move in here with you."

"Then I'm sure that you will find one pretty darned fast. Because you will not be here any longer, I expect that you will leave your key, take all your junk with you and vacate immediately. While I'm at it, I'll make sure that you have a reputation as a woman beater. However, I am not totally vindictive, I'll make sure that nobody finds out that you lost a little argument with little old me. How does that sound?"

"If you say one word about this to anyone," he warned me, "I'll come back and you will pay for it. You can bet your life on it."

Somehow, he didn't seem so tough to me now. He did attack me, though, and I couldn't forget it. "You know Dirk, if I give you my word, you can bet your life that I will keep it. I am a woman of my word. Honesty and integrity is my motto. I did say that you will get a reputation as a woman beater and I will keep my word. I can make your life miserable and you no inkling what I can do to you! If I hear of you even raising your hand to another woman, it'll be the last thing you do! Now, how about I take a look at that foot of yours. It looks like it just has to hurt and it needs to be taken care of. Want Mommy to kiss and make it better?" I made kissing sounds to him.

Apparently he hadn't seen this side of me before. He seemed unusually upset. "Get away from me you crazy bitch! Don't you even think about touching me!" He was nearly verging on hysteria as he said that. "I'll take care of myself."

"Good." I went to the bathroom and retrieved some large gauze pads and an ace bandage. I tossed them at his feet. "I expect you out of my apartment in five minutes." I went to the kitchen and had a glass of orange juice. It tasted especially good.

He mumbled under his breath something that I couldn't quite make out. I had no doubt that he was still calling me an insane bitch, or words to that effect. The way I looked at it, last night was nearly a rape since I was not a willing partner in it. If I could have stopped it, I would have, but the whole reappearance as Jennifer in the midst of her having sex was unexpected and I was overwhelmed.

Out of curiosity, I looked inside his wallet again. I couldn't help but wonder what else I would find. He had about $200, but what really shocked me was finding Jennifer's debit card. I quickly checked Jennifer's purse. Her card was nowhere to be found. I emptied his wallet onto the table and verified what I had feared. Dirk had used the debit card to remove money from Jennifer's account. The fool had actually kept the receipts. I added them up quickly – they came to almost $4,000, dating back about three months.

I had to confront Dirk with the evidence. I found him in the bathroom bandaging his foot. "I found my debit card, Dirk. You stole almost $4,000 from me." I laughed. "You can be assured that I will be filing a report with the police for the theft of the money as well as the card. You are a lowlife scum that does not deserve to be free." I smiled. "Time to go, asshole."

"I'll go, but be advised, you had better watch your back." He was furious with me, but I wasn't going to back down.

I shook my head. This was becoming tiresome. "Dirk, it's time to get your gear and go."

I waved his wallet at him. "Here you go, stud. I made sure that you're leaving here with nothing more than you came with. Now give me my key."

Growling at me, he dug into his pocket for it. He threw it at me, but missed wide. Knowing that it might be a ploy, I let it be and made sure I kept my eyes on him until he left the apartment. He wasn't moving fast, but he was moving. He slammed the door behind him, causing several items on the wall to fall down. A picture fell to the floor, breaking its glass frame. I would have to clean it up later. It was worth it.

I followed him to the door to make sure he didn't do anything else but leave. I watched as he hobbled down the stairs to the lower level and climbed into a pickup on the back side of the parking lot. Once he started it, he revved the engine up and peeled out, leaving streaks of rubber on the asphalt. A couple of people popped their heads out of their doors to see what was happening. The heads disappeared as Dirk's pickup rounded the corner.

I looked at my watch. I still had an hour to go before mom would be going to church. I wasn't surprised that it seemed much later than it was; a lot had already happened this morning. I went back inside, making sure nothing was missing or broken in the bedroom. A quick inspection showed nothing obvious was gone, but I couldn't be sure; Jennifer had lived there, not me.

Before much could be done, I was startled by a knock on the door. Very scared that it might be Dirk coming back, I took care to look out the peephole. To my surprise, it was Heather! I quickly opened the door. She took one look at my face and the terror that still showed.

"As if I need to ask, what happened, Jennifer?"

I tried to say something, but in the shock of seeing my friend so quickly after kicking out Dirk, all I could do was grab her in a hug and burst out crying. It was several minutes before I was able to control my emotions enough to talk to her.

After I told Heather that I was the other Jennifer, I told her everything that had happened since I became Jennifer the previous night. She was shocked, but very happy that I had kicked Dirk out and laughed when I told her the legal problems he was about to have.

"Jennifer always mentioned that she didn't like being used as a sex object anytime he felt like it." Heather just had a thought. "Oh, my God! Michael, was that your first time as a woman?" I nodded. "How did you take it during the first moments?"

"I wasn't too thrilled with it. He was rough as hell and left several bruises from biting. It was not something that I care to repeat. This morning he wanted to do it again. That's when I decided to get rid of him."

"You certainly are brave. Jennifer would never do anything like that."

"I don't know why. She doesn't seem to be a strong person. When I'm Jennifer, people keep telling me that I am not acting like I normally do - that I'm more decisive."

"That's certainly true. Sometimes I wish that you could stay as Jennifer. For the most part, you are an overall stronger individual and you have a greater sense of self than Jennifer does."

"Thank you, but I don't feel that it would be good for me to stay here. As much as I love everyone here, my life is back in my old body."

"Well, it's your loss. Now how about getting together with the rest of the group today? It would help to get you caught up to speed with what's been going on lately with her."

"Right now, I just need some basic information, then I'm going to go visit Jennifer's mom and see if I can get things smoothed out with her."

"That's good to hear. Dirk really caused problems between Jennifer and her mother. Besides, she would be really happy to see you. I talk to her all the time about you since Dirk would not let Jennifer see her. So, what is it that you need to know?"

"The basic things are: date, my age now, what Jennifer is doing now and what happened to Dan?"

"Starting at the top, today is April 16, 2009. You, as Jennifer, are twenty-one years old. Her twenty-second birthday is on the 25th of this month, in eleven days. Jennifer is about to end her Junior year in College where she is studying Psychology. Dan and Jennifer stayed together until she went to college and he went to study drama out of state. By the way, he's back in town again. Is there anything else you need to know for now?"

"Not at the moment. I do have to go see mom and talk to her. If I can, I'll call you after I'm done with her. We can get together then, is that ok?"

"Sure. Have a good time and I will talk to you later. The rest of the girls and I are going to go have brunch anyway."

"Fine. See you later then. Oh, before you leave, would you be willing to keep an eye out in case Mr. Dick, er... I mean Dirk shows back up? If he does, call the police. Then call me on my cell."

"Sure, but I think that after what you said and did to him, you'll be back before he is. He will have to take care of his foot first, or he will wind up with an infection. You go and enjoy your morning with your mom. We'll watch for you. Oh, by the way, Jennifer's mom knows about you. Jennifer still doesn't."

"How would Mira find out?"

"Because I had to tell her." She paused briefly. "Jennifer was near to having a nervous breakdown because of her month long memory loss the last time you were here. Mira confronted me to find out why. She wants to meet you as yourself and not pretend like you were Jennifer."

"Why would you do this to me Heather?"

"Michael, Mira needed to be aware of what was going on in her daughter's life. You have been here so rarely that it seemed like Jennifer had a split personality. With the incidents being so few and far between, no one had any idea what was going on. Her mother was about to send her to doctor after doctor, who would, of course, find nothing, or even worse, set her up with a series of psychiatrists who would probably give her a lot of drugs to make her feel better. How could I put Jennifer and her mom through that? This was the only way I could stop her mother from worrying. If you don't believe me, you'll have to talk to her yourself about it."

"I'm not sure that I care to do that right now, but I still need to go see her, anyway. I hope that I can pull it off and not let her know that it's Michael that's wearing her daughter's body and not Jennifer."

"Believe me, she'll know. Give her some slack. She's really not a bad person. She cares for her daughter more than her daughter cares for her. Please, take my advice. Talk to her. I have to run now. Come next door when you are back and we will talk some more."

"Alright, I'll come over when I'm done. Thank you for being my friend." I gave her a hug before leaving.

I found Jennifer's car, a very nice Dodge Intrepid II. The drive over to the house was fairly quick. Jennifer must not have wanted to be too far away from her mother, regardless of what Dirk had said.

As I pulled up in front of the house, I spotted Jennifer's mom open the curtains in the front window. I saw her surprise when she saw me pulling up in front of the house. Before I was out of the car, she was out the door and assisting me out of the car. She gave me a hug. I returned it as well.

"Jennifer, I know we've had our differences, but I am so glad to see you."

"I know, mom. I hope that we can settle the differences."

"So, where is Dirk today? Is he out getting drunk again?"

"Can we go inside to talk? It's too public to talk about out here."

"Sure. Come on in. It still is your home, even though you have moved out."

We went inside and sat down on the couch. The living room had certainly changed since the last time I was here. It had completely different furniture and wall coverings.

"So, Jennifer, what's gone on that you felt you had to come and see me? The last time we talked, you made it plain and clear how you felt about... how did you call it now... oh yes, my bitchy attitude towards you."

"Mom, I wanted to apologize for everything I have said and done in the past. I have no excuses and I really miss you."

She smiled quizzically. "Really? Now Michael, why don't you just come clean and say what you really mean."

She called me by my REAL name! Heather was right; Mira could tell the difference between me and Jennifer! I had to pause for a moment to collect my thoughts. When she smiled, I felt better. She seemed to be taking this in stride. I had new respect for Jennifer's mother.

I suppose my shocked expression showed. "How did you know that it was me and not Jennifer?"

"That's easy. You carry yourself so much more confidently than Jennifer does. Something in your walk stands out. While it is not male, it's not really female either. I noticed it when you first started dating Dan all those years ago, but I just thought it was the dating that was doing it. Now I know differently."

"Are you angry with me for doing it?"

"Absolutely not! I like how you present Jennifer to the world. She should take lessons from you. You have more depth and confidence."

"I wish that I could meet her. She seems to need someone like me in her life. But I'm afraid that I'm too old for her. Dan would be much better for her than me. May I ask you a question?"

"Sure. You just did," she said, with a twinkle in her eye. "Seriously, feel free to ask any question you want."

"Now that you know about me, what do I call you? You're not really my mother and I'd feel uncomfortable calling you mom without permission. Yet, it would seem strange for other people that know you and Jennifer to hear me call you 'Mira'."

"For the moment, or however long it will be, you are in my daughter's body and I agree, it would be unseemly for you to call me 'Mira'. If you're willing to call me mom, momma, mother or anything like that, I will accept it. Is that what you need to know?"

"Yes, thank you, Mom."

"You are welcome, sweetheart."

We talked about inconsequential things for a couple more hours. Then I told her about the morning incidents with Dirk and about kicking him out of Jennifer's life. She was tickled pink and told me again that she wished Jennifer were more like me.

"So, Jennifer, what are you going to do for the rest of the day? Would you care to join me for lunch, or should I say brunch? It's still early yet and we have time to catch a buffet. What do you say?"

"Actually, there is someone that I need to go see. I have to get going."

"That's fine. Can we get together again another day soon? I really would like to get to know you a bit better."

"Sure mom. We can do that. I'll give you a call about when I'm able to go. As you know, Jennifer has her classes to go to and I have to take care of them for her. It might not be until this weekend."

"That will be fine, just as long as you can. Take care, and I'll talk to you later."

"Ok. Bye, mom. I promise I will call you later."

With that I got up and left the house. I still had a man to see and hopefully, he would want to see me. As I drove over to his house, my anticipation and anxiety grew. Would he still be in love with me, as I was still very much in love with him? This meeting would tell.

Several minutes later I pulled in front of his house. I took a deep breath to prepare myself. Smoothing out imaginary wrinkles from my dress, I rang the doorbell.

Mr. Sparks opened the door a moment later. He had an instant smile. "Yes, may I... Jennifer! How good it is to see you! What brings you around here?"

"Hi, Mr. Sparks. It's good to see you too. I'm here to see Dan, if he's around."

"Yes, he is but he's still being lazy today. He had a long night last night with the drama troop's final show. He didn't get home until after 5:00 this morning. Would you like me to wake him up, or would you like the pleasure?"

Oh, yes. I wouldn't turn this opportunity down! I think I even blushed. "I would like the pleasure. I've missed him and I'd like to be the one to greet him, if you don't mind."

"Hey! I offered, didn't I?" He paused and held up a finger. "Could you wait here for a moment, Jennifer?"

"Sure." I was suddenly eager to see Dan and was already thinking of ways to wake him when Mr. Sparks returned with his wife.

"See, what did I tell you? Jennifer came back." He was obviously happy that I was here to see Dan.

I remembered my previous meetings with Mrs. Sparks. They hadn't gone well, to say the least. I had even lectured her once. "Hello, Mrs. Sparks. It's a pleasure to see you again."

She was cool. "Hello, Jennifer. It's good to see you again, too. What are you here for?"

It seemed to me that she was still holding a grudge. I could only hope for the best. "Well, Mrs. Sparks, I'm here to talk to Dan for a while. I hope that's ok."

"Certainly. Far be it for me to stop you from doing anything you want to do. Before you do, I need to talk to you for a moment." She turned to her husband, "Honey, will you leave the room for a bit? I need to talk to her in private."

"You just take it easy on her," he cautioned.

"Don't worry about anything. I just need to talk to her. Now shoo."

He left the room with a couple of worried looks over his shoulder. She gave him a stern look to hurry him along.

"Now dear, let us go sit on the couch and get comfortable." We did so. She waited a minute before continuing on with what she had to say. "I know we have never been able to get along well, but you know I was just trying to protect my family." I opened my mouth to say something. "No, do not say anything. Hear me out first. Now as I was saying, I have always tried to protect my family as best as I could. Several years ago, I made the assumption that you were one of the girls that had been making Dan's life pure hell. I apologize for that. For the short time you went out with him, I'd never seen Dan happier. You were good for him and I was sorry to see you two break up. I was wrong and I want to try to make it up to you. Yet, I do not know how to do it. For the last three years, I've watched Dan throw himself into his acting career, and while he is enjoying it, I see the lack of something in him. Jennifer, he really missed you. I know he loves you very much. I hope you two get back together."

That was a surprise! I had to meet her half-way. "Mrs. Sparks, I'm truly sorry for our differences. I certainly can't fault you for trying to protect Dan. And Mrs. Sparks, I really hope Dan and I get back together. That's why I'm here."

She did something I had never seen her do, smile. "Wonderful. Welcome back, Jennifer. It really is good to see you again."

I smiled back. The way was clear! "Mrs. Sparks, if you'll excuse me, I need to go wake someone up."

"Certainly, dear. Go right ahead."

I was almost too embarrassed to ask, but I had a sudden thought that seemed too good to resist. "Um, I am not sure how to ask this, but is there a chance that I could get an ice cube? I want him to wake up with a surprise and this is seems like a great way to do it."

She laughed. "I like what you're planning. I'll be back in a minute."

In exactly a minute she was back with an ice cube in her hand. "Here you go, dear."

"Thank you, Mrs. Sparks." I went up the stairs slowly, as not too make too much noise, and then carefully opened the door to his room, peeking around the corner. Dan was still dead to the world. The ice was already melting in my hand, so I had to be quick. I crept slowly across the floor as quietly as my heels would let me. I noticed that his room was immaculate, one of the things I loved about Dan. Dirk was a total slob.

As I approached the bed, I noticed that his chest was uncovered and made a perfect target for the ice. I carefully set it down, gently putting my hand over it. It took a minute to penetrate his sleep. With a shout, he reached to grab the ice and encountered my hand. His eyes popped open. The first thing out of his mouth was "What the he... Jennifer? What in the world are you doing here?"

I had to smile at him. He looked so cute when he was at a disadvantage. "I'm here to see you, Dan. I heard you were back in town." I could not help smiling even more at his discomfort as the ice cube slid out of my hand and down his chest before he managed to grab it.

I also had to give him points for recovering quickly. His smile was beautiful. Jennifer, how could you have left him? "You know Jennifer, there is a word you should consider: payback." His eyebrow lifted skeptically at my feigned horror. "Would you mind stepping out of the room for a minute while I get up and get dressed?"

"Sure, but don't take too long or I might decide to leave." I said it with a flash of a smile. He caught that and smiled back. I left the room in a good mood. I did not go very far. I lurked just outside the door, hoping to catch him off-guard again.

I didn't have to wait long, as he came out of the room within 3 minutes of my exit. He was expecting me to be in the living room and I caught him unawares, as planned. I grabbed his arm and pulled him, giving him a hug.

"Damn, I have missed you so much, Je...," he started to say, but was silenced by my lips as I kissed him deeply. He settled into it quickly and returned it with a passion that set my nipples to tingling.

We finally broke the kiss and I could tell that the kiss had effected him, too; there was a tell-tale bulge in his pants. I was in the same shape on my chest; my nipples were rock hard.

"Dan, I made a big mistake in the past and if you're willing, I'd like to make up for it."

The tender way he ran his fingers through my hair sure felt like a 'yes' to me. Still, I was very happy to hear the words. "You don't have to make up for it at all. You're here and that's all I need to know. Come on, let's go downstairs."

We went down to the living room where his parents were sitting. Mrs. Sparks looked at me with a sly smile; she knew the ice would get him up in a hurry.

"Dan, dear, I thought you were going to be sleeping until 2:00," she said.

He frowned suddenly. "As you can see, I have a visitor who was completely uninvited. I'm in the process of kicking her out of the house for pulling a dirty trick on me. Now if you will excuse me," he looked at me sternly and shouted, "OUT she goes!" With that, he grabbed my legs and picked me up in a fireman's carry. In about a second, my rear end was pointed towards the ceiling and I was upside down, looking at his back. I shrieked. He put me down, laughing.

"NOW, we're even, Jennifer." He left me to arrange my dress briefly and flip my hair back. When I looked up, he had a wonderful smile plastered all over his face. "Damn, is it ever good to see you again."

"I feel the same way about you, Dan. I've missed you for quite a while."

"Jennifer, can we go outside and talk? I need to ask you some questions."

"Sure."

We led me by the hand to a two-seat lounge swing in the back yard, under the shade of a large oak tree. He had a real serious look when we sat down.

"Jennifer, I hope you don't get angry with me, but I have to ask you something. Last week, I saw Heather and asked her about you. She told me that you were in a bad relationship that was turning violent and wouldn't be able to see me. What happened?"

I was quiet for a moment. "I was in a bad situation with someone, but it's over. It ended this morning rather dramatically when I found out that he had been stealing from me, among other things. Besides, I've been thinking about you a lot lately and it only took a small incident to make up my mind."

"Can you tell me about it? You don't have to, but I would like to hear how things changed so quickly." His concern was etched into his face. He was worried about me.

I took his hand and filled him in on the events of the morning with Dirk. By the time I was done, he had an incredulous look on his face.

He made the sign of the cross at me. "Please remind me to NEVER get you upset or angry with me! You'd be too dangerous to have around."

I laughed. "Dan, there is no way I could get that angry with you. You're too kind and don't have the mean nature that Dirk has. I know that he's furious with me. He knows I'm filing theft charges and slap a restraining order on him tomorrow. But I'm not really afraid of him and I certainly don't have any feelings for him."

"What are your plans now? Is this visit to get someone between you and him as a protector?"

"Dan!" I was hurt a little, until I remembered how other women had treated him. "No. This visit is to get us back together. If I needed a protector, I'd go buy myself a gun and get a license to carry it concealed. He's not worth anything more than that. Once I'm done with him, he won't have any spare time to do anything."

"That is all I need to know. I don't like the idea of being used as a shield or cannon-fodder for a feud between two people."

I sighed heavily. "Dan, I'm not one of those girls from school that used you for a target of their jokes. I think we went out long enough to really discover our feelings for each other."

"I'm not so sure about that. You certainly changed after the first month of going out with me. Not bad, but you were so flaky that it made it hard to go out for a while."

Jennifer, what have you been doing! "I'm sorry about that. Something came up that nearly caused me to have a nervous breakdown. I got over it and don't want to ever have that come between us." I smiled as sweetly as I could. "Can we let that be a bygone and not talk about it?"

He smiled back – he knew what I was doing. "If you feel that strongly about it, I'll let it go," he said sincerely.

"Thank you. Now, may I ask you a question?"

"If you must."

"Are you hungry? I'm starving and would like to get something to eat. How about joining me for lunch?"

"You'd have to give me time to get a shower and get dressed in better clothes."

"Certainly. Do you think half an hour is sufficient?"

"Yes. Let's go back inside and you can talk with my parents while you wait." We both got up with that and went back inside the house. His parents were still sitting in the living room talking.

"Mom, dad, Jennifer and I are going to go out and get a bite to eat. I'm going to take a shower, so would you be so good as to entertain her while I'm getting ready? Thanks." Without waiting for an answer from them, he bounded back up the stairs, entered his room, and dashed back out into the bathroom. Within a minute, I could hear the shower running and his happy singing while he washed.

In the meantime, I chatted with his parents and got to know them a bit better. I discovered they were both wonderful people and Mr. Sparks, I found, had a fantastic sense of humor. I laughed so hard at some of his jokes. Some were kind of dumb, but the way he told them and the expressiveness of his face was hilarious. Finally, Dan came back downstairs. He looked so handsome.

My heart nearly burst through my skin with an increased beat. My loins tingled with desire for him. My body was telling me that this was the man, to go for it and let nothing stand in the way. Shortly thereafter we left the house to go eat. I tried to remember what buffet Heather said she was going to go to, but I couldn't remember. I realized that I really didn't care. Being with Dan was all that was important. I asked Dan to choose. He drove us to a nice Chinese buffet, the Shanghai Garden. The prices were quite reasonable and I managed to eat two plates of food before my tummy told me to stop. Of course the portions were small but very tasty. I'd never had much of an appetite for Chinese, but I did enjoy the meal. It was with Dan.

When we were finished the waitress cleaned the plates away and left us the fortune cookies. Dan was a big traditionalist when it came to fortune cookies. He explained that his parents believed that we had to open them together and read what it said to the other person for it to come true. He told me to read mine first.

"From the past comes one thought lost, to the future both shall go," I read. "Your turn, Dan."

His read, "Former love's return tolls the bell of matrimony."

Both of us were shook by the predictions. If it were true, we would be getting married. When, was impossible to say, but it would happen.

We didn't talk about it afterwards, but I knew I was thinking about it and I'll bet Dan was, too. I caught him looking at me oddly, almost an appraisal. I felt I was being measured for a wedding dress. We left, but not before making sure that we each had the fortunes safe in a wallet or purse.

Afterwards we drove around the town for a while and wound up out at a recreational area at the outer edge of town, walking a path by a river hand in hand, getting to know each other again. We talked about everything and about nothing. The afternoon passed slowly for us, but it also went too fast.

My feelings for Dan were so much more intense than they were so long ago, yet such a short time before. As it was nearing sunset, we made our way back to the car. Not really wanting to let him go, I offered to make him dinner, to which he gladly accepted. I certainly had other plans for him tonight, but if they didn't go through, I wouldn't be hurt by it. Just to be with him was all I cared about. I knew I was madly in love with him and the thought of separating from him for any amount of time was painful.

We didn't get back to Jennifer's apartment until after dark, which suited me fine. I gave Heather a ring to let her know I was home. I had just started fixing dinner when she rang the doorbell. She was startled when Dan answered it.

"Dan, what in the world are you doing here?" were the first words I heard from the kitchen.

"Hi, Heather. Jennifer is fixing me dinner tonight," Dan casually replied. "Hey, Jennifer, Heather is here. Would you like me to send her in to help you?"

"Hi, Heather. No, Dan, if you don't mind, would you talk to her while I finish dinner?"

Heather decided she needed to chime in after being volunteered and then rejected for kitchen duty. She spoke loud enough for Dan and me to hear, "You'd better watch out Dan. Jennifer is the Tuna Fish Sandwich Queen around these parts. She can eat them five meals a day. Why don't you come over to my place and I'll fix you a REAL dinner."

I snorted. "Heather, you lying twit! I can fix more than tuna fish sandwiches. You watch. It'll only take me 45 minutes and I'll have a great meal prepared that even YOU would like." I had remembered that Jennifer had a steak in the refrigerator and there were other ingredients that turned up when I was looking through the cupboards and the pantry. I had a meal of beef stroganoff in 40 minutes.

"Dinner's ready!" I hollered out. "Heather, have you eaten yet?"

"No, Jen, and I'm not sure that I care to try your concoction." Both of them came into the kitchen to see what I had made. Dan immediately started drooling over the smells emanating from the 'concoction' and I could tell Heather was nearing the same point.

"What ever did you make Jennifer? It smells so good! I never knew you had it in you to fix something that smells so good."

"Heather, if you think it smells good, it tastes even better. Here, try a taste." I gave her a spoonful of the beef and gravy mixture to try.

"Oh, my God, Jennifer! This is fantastic! How did you learn to cook this stuff? You've always been the sandwich queen. I changed my mind. I'm staying for dinner. Thank you for the offer." Following her words, she sat down to the table. I'd already set it for three, figuring that she would still be here after she had a taste. I put the serving dishes on the table and prepared myself to sit down when Dan held the chair for me and eased it up to the table for me. That made me feel rather odd but nice. It was a kind of respect I had never expected or received as Michael. Heather, at least, had manners enough to wait until Dan sat down before she took a plate full of noodles and piled the beef/gravy mix on top.

Dan waited for me to take my portions before filling his plate. He was trying not to look like he was in a hurry, but I could tell the scent of the food was getting to him. When he was finished, he asked, "Jennifer, if you don't mind, I'd like to say a quick prayer for dinner."

"No, Dan. Please, feel free."

He said a very short prayer for the food and the companionship to share it with and we dug in immediately afterward. When I went go make some iced tea I could hear the appreciative sounds of two people eating a very good meal. I ate with the enjoyment of having others enjoying a meal that I had prepared. The meal was over before I was really ready and both Dan and Heather were looking rather uncomfortable with the sensation of having eaten more than their normal amount of food.

I already knew what it tasted like and I knew that it wouldn't do Jennifer or I any good to overeat while I was in Jennifer's body. I could always make a pig out of myself later when I was back being Michael, but for now, I was satisfied to let the other two do it for me.

In an attempt at levity, I announced, "Hey! I've got an idea. Let's have seconds! There's still more left." I was answered by two groans, which I took to mean no. "Ok, how about dessert? I think I have a nice strawberry/rhubarb pie in the freezer. It will take an hour to get it ready. I can start now."

Dan turned a bit green around the edge. "Jennifer, I guarantee that won't be necessary. I don't think that I could eat anything in an hour let alone eight."

Heather begged off from the after dinner chat with the excuse of having visited long enough. Personally, I didn't mind at all; it left Dan with me alone. After Heather shut the apartment door behind her, I locked it with all the locks the door held. I turned back to Dan.

"I hope you don't mind staying a while longer? If you don't have other pressing things that you need to do, that is."

His look was happy, full and contented. "The only thing I have going right now is spending some time with a very lovely lady. So, what would you like to do?"

"I just want to spend time looking at you. It's been so long since I've seen you. I'd just like to get used to being with you after too long away."

Making what I said come true, I walked to the couch and stretched out length-wise with my head in his lap, so I could look up at him. In his eyes, I beheld the look of love.

"God, Jennifer, it's been so long since I last saw you. This a dream come true for me." He bent down as far as he could before lifting my head up and kissing me. I returned it with as much gusto as I had in me, holding it for several minutes.

I had to make my move now before he even thought of leaving. "Dan," I breathed, "are you in any hurry to go home? Will you spend the night with me?"

His answering smile was everything I had hoped for. "I've dreamed of you saying those words for a very long time. It's not every day that a man has the woman of his dreams ask him to spend the night with her. Hell, yes, I'll spend the night with you."

He called his parents to advise them that he wouldn't be home until morning, then returned to me on the couch. We cuddled for quite some time after that. The TV was on, but we were only paying attention to each other. No words were really exchanged between us, as it seemed that we were reading each other's minds. He caressed me, ran his fingers through my hair, and touched my cheek. I explored his face, arms and chest. Finally, around 10:00, I made a move to get up, knowing that I would have to go to school tomorrow morning for Jennifer. Dan was right there assisting me up off the couch.

As I stood up I reached my arms around his neck and looked silently up into his beautiful blue eyes. I couldn't get over how wonderful he smelled. "Come, let's go to bed," was my nearly whispered statement. In near deafening silence, we moved, arm in arm, to the bedroom. I slipped briefly out of his arms to go into the large closet to prepare myself. "Dan, please feel free to do whatever you need to do. I'll be ready in just a moment."

I could hear some rustling around in the room, then the bathroom door closed. I continued searching for the outfit that I was going to be wearing tonight; nothing simple but nothing complex. I wouldn't be in it for very long, anyway. I put on my choice of nightwear and slipped a satin robe over it. Before I left the closet, I considered what I was doing. I certainly hadn't enjoyed what I went through last night with Dirk and I was rather hesitant doing anything with Dan. One thing I certainly noticed was that my body, or rather Jennifer's body was so ready for him. Jennifer's skin felt so sensitive and it virtually ached for his embrace. It could tell how much I wanted Dan and was preparing itself for what was surely to come.

I thought of something that needed to be done. I pulled out Jennifer's diary and wrote a brief entry into it. I wrote about the fight in the morning with Dirk, about kicking him out, the reconciliation with mom and the magical day with Dan. I explained that I was no longer able to keep my mind off him and that I felt it was better to be with him than someone like Dirk. From the entries she had written before, I was sure she would understand. I looked closely at the entry I had just put in the book; it matched her writing completely. It had no resemblance to my writing as Michael, but I could only ponder it for a moment. There was a man waiting for me. I closed the book and set it back in the spot she kept it. I took a deep breath and left the closet.

As I entered the bedroom again, Dan was sitting on the edge of the bed waiting expectantly. I motioned with a finger that I needed to use the restroom. I was quick at it, making sure that I was clean for what might come up shortly, no pun intended.

When I came back I stood looking at Dan for a moment, feeling alive, the body tingling, sensitive and sexy. I allowed the anticipation of his embrace to sweep through me until I couldn't stand it any more. I walked forward, my needs and desires, intimately tied up with my love for Dan, making it the most natural thing in the world. He took me in his arms and my body trembled with pleasure and sudden purpose. He picked me up gently, saving me from weakening knees. After laying me on the bed, he slowly drew my nighty over my head, and I felt every inch of the silky fabric brush across my body, instantly bringing my nipples to greater hardness.

My panties were next and then it was just the two of us, discovering each other for the first time, enveloped in love and our need. He moved slowly, taking his time to explore and excite, moving me to one passionate moment, only to proceed to another. He started with my lips, pressing his harder body against my soft and willing skin. His hands did what they wanted, and I felt his pleasure, turning it into my own. His lips found their way to my breasts and the pleasure built and migrated south, making me wet and so available. He seemed to know this body so well, and I found time between passion and wonderful surprises to look at his face in appreciative awe.

Eventually, the feelings built to a point where I had to have him. I wanted him so much. My heart was already his, and the body was his for the taking. He took it, but not in lust. He took me in love. His movements started my own in unconscious reply and we moved together in our own intimate, private completeness. When I came again and again it was the culmination of everything; Dan, me and us. When I felt him come inside me, I held him close, amazed with the sudden knowledge that this would only be the first time of many. I knew that THIS was my true first time; the scene with Dirk was finally erased. I wept with happiness. This was Jennifer and Dan's future!

Sleeping that night was so peaceful, I didn't wake at the crack of dawn as I had the previous morning. I slowly woke in ecstasy from the night's activities. I felt Dan's arms around me with him spooned to my back. I wriggled a bit to turn to face him. My movements woke him. As he opened his eyes, his smile was beautiful to behold. The love he had in his eyes matched what was beating in my heart.

He kissed me to welcome in the morning. "Good morning, love. Did you sleep well?"

"I slept better than I have in months," I told him honestly.

"Jennifer, I know this isn't the most romantic thing to say, but I have to go. Can we get up? My arm is falling asleep." He had this silly grin on his face.

"Sure." We both sat up. "Who gets the bathroom first?" I asked him.

"You go ahead. This is your place and I can be patient," he replied.

I completed the morning ritual with little fuss. I no longer had any nightclothes on, but it didn't matter. Dan was polite enough to remain out of the bathroom until I was done.

At breakfast we sat down to the table together and just looked at each other. The glow from last night was still with us.

He looked like he was contemplating something. After several minutes, he finally made up his mind. "Jennifer, last night was the best night of my life. To have the morning come so quickly was depressing. I want to remain with you day and night from now on. I'm not the best with words, but will you marry me? I love you with all my heart and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You are all that I've thought about for the last several years and my life has been a hollow shell ever since we broke up. When you came to me yesterday, it was my greatest dream come true. Will you remain with me and be my wife, my partner, my eternal love?"

I started to cry. I couldn't help it. I loved him so much. Oh, Jennifer, you are so lucky! He was waiting for my answer. I took his hand and smiled through tears. "Dan, since we broke up, my life has been one series of failed relationships. You were the high point of my life. Last night was the best thing, with the best guy I've ever known. I've loved you for so long, Dan. Of course, I'll marry you. I'll share my life with you and bear your children one day. But can you wait a year until I've finished school? If you wait, we'll be married soon after graduation."

The look of joy and relief was all over him. "Jennifer," he laughed in delight, "I agree to your terms. Now if I'm correct, you need to get going to school or you'll be late." He knelt down on one knee and took my hand. "I love you with all my heart, Jennifer. You will never have to worry about anything. Your life will be filled with joy and will never want for anything that I can give you." He rose to wrap his strong arms around me and drew me in for a kiss. It was several minutes before I could break away; my arms didn't want to let him go.

"Oh, Dan, I don't want to leave, but I have to take a shower now. Once I'm out, you can take one if you'd like."

"Well, if you insist, but it can wait until I get back home. Besides, you don't have time. I need to get a ride home from you."

"Of course! It wouldn't be right to strand your fiancé!" I kissed him quickly. "Now, if you will excuse me, I will get ready." I went into the bedroom and headed for the closet. Adhered to the door was an unexpected letter. With trembling hands, I took it down. How had I found the answer so quickly? I expected to be weeks finding out the answer. I went into the closet before opening it. I took out Jennifer's diary and wrote a brief entry into it describing the proposal, my acceptance and a little bit about last night. This was definitely something Jennifer had to know. Then I opened the letter.

"Jennifer, you are getting very lucky. It must have been your lucky number that came up." It showed the figure of the '7', then continued, "You were to find the answer to intimacy or personal pleasure. You found that the wrong person could cause pain and that the right person could give you most exquisite pleasure. From the heart comes love as well as the ability to give and take pleasure. Women are the most passionate creatures in the world, as well as the most frail to fear others may invoke.

"The next step of your journey will test your strength against pain. It will be a hard road to travel. The personal pain you MUST experience can be the most rewarding as well. Good luck in your journey. You will know when it will end."

I overturned the envelope to remove the expected charm. The all too familiar spinning took hold, to return me back to where I would begin the road to pain. I closed my eyes, as the dizziness became too strong to bear. As quickly as it started, it was over.

A sharp pain tore through my abdomen, causing me to gasp in pain. Things were not what I expected them to be. I quickly placed one hand to the place that hurt so badly. I was astonished to discover a large bulge where my stomach should have been. What now?
 
To Be Continued...
 
Note: TG magic transformation deals/gifts age regression Adult-to-under-13 rated-g
Posted by: Admin on Sunday, May 04, 2003 - 12:02 AM.
 
 

I was absolutely dumbfounded. I hadn't experienced anything like this in any of my previous transitions. I usually had a chance to take a breather before I started a new challenge, so why was I lying here on this table in a hospital gown, feeling my huge stomach? My chest was itchy. When I reached up to scratch it, I encountered what felt like paper there. I grabbed it.

It was a folded piece of paper. I reached up with the other hand and discovered the new charm from the last letter already in my hand. I would look at it later, so I set it down on my belly where I could be sure I wouldn't lose it. I opened the paper and read it.

"Jennifer, I am sorry this came as a shock to you. I know how you are with pain. You would have procrastinated until action would have been necessary to get you moving. I could not take the chance that you would take too long. This is the only time you will be forced into a challenge. This will be the most difficult challenge to date. There are some rewards to this as well as some of the worst pain you will ever go through. There is only one item of advice I would give you: take this all like a woman, never as a man. Always remember that. Good luck."

Take it like a woman? What did that mean? I know what taking it like a man means but 'as a woman' meant little to me. The door opened suddenly. I tried to hide the paper, but it had vanished while I was distracted. 'When I found out who was playing with my life,' I promised myself 'I would be demanding some answers.'

A woman doctor entered, reading a chart in her hands. She looked down at me and smiled. "Good morning Jennifer. How are things going today? Have there been any changes since you were in here two weeks ago?"

'God, now what do I say?' I asked myself. 'What was I in for?' Obviously, from the size of my belly, I was pregnant. How far along I was, I had no idea. I had to think of something to satisfy her. "Everything has been going well. I just had a sharp pain in my belly a few minutes ago that went away almost as quickly as it came."

"Well, that's to be expected. Your little one is making its impatience known. It wants to come out and see its mommy's face for the first time. Let's see here. Your due date is only a week away and we should start seeing a lot more activity from your baby while your body prepares to evict its passenger. Now, let's see here." She felt around my stomach, all around the huge bulge of the baby. I didn't know what she was doing. She finally wound up down around my pelvis, pushing around and feeling for something. "Ah, here we are. Right where I'm pushing is your baby's head. It's in the perfect position for its appearance." She stopped feeling around and wrote something down on a page.

"Now, would you please put your feet up in the stirrups?"

'Stirrups? What stirrups?' I didn't see anything that looked like the stirrups I knew. Then I noticed some cup shaped objects attached to bars at the end of the table. They sort of looked like the stirrups I was used to seeing, so I proceeded to put my feet there.

"Just relax, I'm just checking for any dilation you might have." As a counterpoint, she reached up under the hospital gown and inserted her fingers between my legs. Not really expecting it, I flinched a bit. I settled down after a few seconds when she did nothing more than feel inside me. After a few seconds, she withdrew and commented, "Well, Jennifer, it does not look like it will be too much longer before your little one enters the world to join us." She took her gloves off and threw them away before turning back to me.

"I certainly hope that you have been doing your exercises as you were told. Has your husband been helping with his exercises, too?" She had the twinkle in her eyes saying that she knew how much a man helps with the woman giving birth. He is there for moral support and nothing else. The woman does all the work. I would be doing all the work very soon.

"Yes, he has been doing his exercises. He's getting very good at the breathing part. If he ever had a panic attack or even gave birth himself, he would know EXACTLY what to do. I just wish that I could get him in this position and show him what it's like."

"I certainly know what you mean by that, Jennifer. Men are such babies when it comes to pain like this. It really is a good thing that they aren't the ones to give birth, or the human race would have become extinct years ago." I had to laugh at that, trying not to sound too hysterical because I was thinking along those lines completely. If I had my choice, I would not have been there in Jennifer's body, getting ready to give birth to her baby.

"So, Doc, do you have any last words of encouragement for me before my big day?" I tried to sound cheerful and expectant for the 'big day' but I was scared halfway out of Jennifer's mind. As I was thinking those thoughts, a huge, very sharp pain tore through my abdomen. I nearly doubled up with it trying to get it to settle down. Knowing it was the baby did nothing to ease the pain at all.

"Not really. But you know how impatient kids are these days and this one seems to be just as impatient as the rest of them. That was a pretty good contraction you just had there. Your baby seems to be in very good health and will come out squalling its head off."

That last contraction really shook me up. "But that won't be before I'm squalling my head off with the pain of it. This whole thing terrifies me to death and I don't want to do it. Can't we just postpone this until I am ready? Please?"

"Jennifer," she frowned, "you should have thought about that before you got pregnant. It's too late and you will just have to suffer through it like all women before you. I'm surprised at you. A woman of your learning and degrees in Psychology suddenly reduced to a puddle of whimpers. And for what? A BABY! That's what. All over a little baby that has had the luck to be growing inside you. You reject it now and you will never be able to have another one. Take it like a woman for God's sake! For the life of me, I would think you were a man by the way you were acting."

That stopped me short. I had never thought about that aspect of things. That is what the letter meant. I didn't understand it at first but now, I realized that I had to look on this as a woman and not as a man. I had to take the pain and push it aside. It was natural for women to do this all the time and rarely do you hear one talking about the pain or anything. I resolved to hold myself to the standards Jennifer would have and take the pain like a woman.

"Sorry about that, doctor. These last few days have been pretty stressful to me, preparing myself for the birth. In a way, I'm not ready to have a baby, but I know that the new life growing inside me is a precious one, regardless. I started it; now I have to finish it."

The doctor nodded her head, soothed somewhat. "Good girl. That is what I like to hear. Now, I will admit, this is one of the hardest things you will have to deal with in your life, but it is also one of the most rewarding things, too. If you have any problems, or if you go into labor, get hold of my service and I'll meet you at the hospital. You go home and enjoy the last free and unfettered days you will have for a long time to come. Do you have any final questions for me?"

"Only one that I can think of. Where is the restroom? I have to pee really bad right now." I'd been feeling the urge for several minutes, but it had been increasing with every second that went by. It felt like I had not gone in hours and I was starting to get desperate.

"As long as you have been seeing me and you still forget where the restroom is?" she chuckled. "We need to do something about your short-term memory. Out the door, to your left on the way to the front desk. I hope you have all the restrooms located between here and your home because I'm sure you are going to need to go at least three times before you get home. See you for the delivery, Jennifer. Call me if you have any problems."

"I will, thank you." I sat up from the table and realized that no matter what I did, I would have to get out of the open back hospital gown before I went anywhere. The doctor left the room. I put on Jennifer's clothes as fast as my ungainly body would let me. In what seemed to be too long, I was dressed and heading for the restroom. Considering the amount of pressure I had, the small amount of urine I managed was a surprise. What was up with this?

I gathered myself together, cleaned up and left to go to the desk. On reaching it, I stopped in front of the receptionist who looked up at me smiling.

"Hi Jennifer. Hope things are going well for your delivery. Would you like us to use the same billing as normal?"

"Yes, please." I had no idea what Jennifer used, but I could only assume that she paid cash for her visits. The receptionist gave me a receipt.

"Good luck, Jennifer. Come back and let us see your baby once you have it." She was a sweet young lady around 19 years old.

"I will. Thank you for all your help." I turned and waddled as fast as I could out the door. Once outside, I was stuck. I had no idea what I was supposed to do. 'Did I have a car or was someone picking me up?' I wondered. Then I heard a honk and looked towards the sound. To my relief, it was Heather, waving to catch my attention. Once she knew I had spotted her, she drove up to the curb to let me in the car. Once inside, I sighed loudly as the pressure on my hips and back released.

I turned towards Heather and said, "God, how do you women stand being pregnant? This is killing me!"

"Michael? Is that you?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah, it's me. I became Jennifer right before the doctor examined her. God, that was so uncomfortable."

"Wow! I thought that your next trip here would be different. You came at the wrong time, I think. Jennifer has been getting tired of being pregnant, but at the same time, she was getting very excited over being a mommy. What are you here for now?"

"My trip is for personal pain. I hate any sort of pain and this is scaring me half to death. I think I had told you that in one of my last trips here."

"You will have to excuse me if I don't remember, but it has been five years since you were here last. I can barely remember you and would not have known if you hadn't said what you did. Would you like to go home now? Since I know Jennifer so well, I can tell that you are having a hard time with this."

"I think that would be a good idea. I'm tired of this already, but I need to get this bulky body to a place that would be a lot more comfortable. Then, once I'm settled in, perhaps you could answer some questions for me."

"That sounds fine to me. Home it is and questions later." She took off like a bat out of hell.

"Hey! Did you get clearance for that take off? Geez, we are going to have to go back and get the baby because I think it popped out when you took off."

"Geez Jen, it's not like you've never gone for a ride with me before. Oops. Sorry, Michael, I forgot that YOU have never ridden with me before. Jennifer knows that I'm sort of a speed demon, but you don't. She would have been prepared for the 'take off' as you put it." She was laughing as though she thought it was very funny.

"Well, could you just take it easy on me? If you cause me to go into labor early, I will certainly not be happy about it. I am not really ready for that yet. Please slow down for me, will you?" I was trying not to sound freaked out over her sudden burst of speed since I have never had anyone drive like that while I was in their vehicle.

That got to her. She slowed down to a more respectable speed. "How did you know Jennifer was married to Dan? When you left he had barely proposed to her. Anything could have happened since then."

"It would just be going on assumption. Jennifer wrote in her dairy that she wanted to see Dan and that it had been a mistake for her to leave him. Now I'm pregnant and there's a wedding ring on my finger."

"I see. You are beginning to learn a bit more about Jennifer and how she thinks because that's exactly what she did. She's grown up a lot since then and you would not recognize her if you met her. But then, you've never met her and I doubt that you will."

Our drive back to where Jennifer lived now was a long one. We had to make several stops so that I could go to the bathroom again. I complained outrageously about the size of the bladder. Heather got a great laugh out of it. She explained that a woman's pregnant body has little room for anything but the baby. Urine quickly fills the compressed bladder, making frequent bathroom stops necessary. I lamented the fact, but knew I had to accept it; it would be this way until the baby was born.

Heather made several turns that got me lost. Finally, she turned down a driveway to a very large house.

"Whoa! Whose house is this?" I asked her.

"Yours, silly. Jennifer and Dan bought it three years ago after Jennifer received her complete inheritance."

"Oh my god! This thing is huge! Why would Jennifer buy something like this? It must require a staff of 20 to maintain!"

"Actually, you have a staff of five for the house. You also have three groundskeepers for the five acres of land around the house and a pool cleaning service to clean your pool once a week. Dan made sure that you wouldn't have to worry about a pool boy making any passes at you; he hired an all female service. On a lighter note, I think Dan hired the pool girls so that he could see their tight little bodies but he is not willing to admit it."

Hearing all this made me wonder how much money Jennifer had inherited. I had to ask. "Heather, if you can answer this, how much money did Jennifer inherit from her Grandmother?"

"If she was telling me the truth, and I would expect her not to lie to me, she inherited about $250,000,000.00. That includes, give or take, about six businesses she owns now, incorporated into the inheritance."

"My God! W-w-why would her mother live in such a tiny house when Jennifer's father could afford to buy a bigger one?" I was shocked by this disclosure. I never thought Jennifer would get that much money, even with her little allowances she had been getting in one of my previous visits.

"Jennifer's father hated to have the money he was born into. He wanted a simple life and bought that house because it was simple. Nobody wanted for anything, ever, and Jennifer grew up very spoiled. She would always have anything she wanted, but she always shared with the rest of the girls. We were our own little group and nobody got into it without problems. Jennifer was the leader all the way. Nobody even contested her authority because if they did, they would be out in a heartbeat. When you came into her life, things started changing. Now, she is one of the pillars of the community, even though nobody would question her because of her money. You know the golden rule don't you?"

"Yes. He who has the gold, makes the rules." Everyone knew that one.

"With Jennifer, everyone knows she is the richest person in town but the only way she shows it is with her house. She drives a mini van, does her own shopping, and even still works with the mental health services locally. She contributes millions each year to charity and the city loves her for it. But she has learned to be humble."

"Speaking of humble, whatever happened to Dirk after I left the last time?"

At the mention of his name, Heather burst out, laughing hard. "Oh, you would not believe what you started with that man. He's now doing life in prison. After Jennifer charged him with felony theft, three women saw his picture in the paper and filed charges of their own, claiming he had raped them. He was convicted on all counts and because had a prior record they threw the book at him. Jennifer has lived without any fear for a long time now. She's quite happy where she is in her life."

"She deserves it. From what I can guess, she is a wonderful person and I would get along with her wonderfully."

"She is a wonderful person. I'm living here at the house at least until Jennifer has the baby. I'm hoping that she lets me stay here longer. It's a dream come true to live in this huge house and Dan has been quite supportive of me as a near-sister to Jennifer."

That puzzled me a bit. "One thing I am curious about; have you gotten married or anything yet? It would make this sort of arrangement a bit difficult on a relationship."

"No, I'm not married nor am I attached." She seemed hesitant to admit it.

"Why not? A beautiful young woman like you should have boyfriends coming out of every closet. Besides, you would be the closest thing to an aunt for Jennifer's child. She has no one to play that role in her family, although it is nice to have grandparents and all but it is good for every child to have an aunt and it would also be wonderful if you had a child to share the joys of parenthood with her. You need to think about that, among other things."

"Michael, may I be honest with you? Can I be certain that it will not get back to Jennifer? You mentioned that you had read her diary and put things in it."

"You would have to let me be the judge of that, Heather. It's the only way I do things."

"Fair enough. What I have to say is for your ears only. The reason I am not married is that I am a lesbian. I have been in love with Jennifer for as long as I can remember, but I have always known that she was not destined to be with me. She enjoyed men way too much for my liking. But I knew when to keep my feelings dampened. I love her like a sister and there would be no way that I would ever betray her trust and intrude on her relationship with Dan. He is like a brother to me and I respect him too much to do that to him."

"I see, but I am curious, Heather. How is it that someone as beautiful and intelligent as you are is a lesbian? I always thought that lesbians were all mannish looking women who could drink a normal man under a table, not to mention their tough character."

"Being such is indiscriminate. You have no choice in being what you are right now and I have no choice in being what I am. It is what God intended and every person should deal with what they are in one way or another. Just because I'm beautiful and intelligent doesn't mean that I'm any less a lesbian. I wish to God that I weren't and I wish this was all a dream, but it is my own personal burden that I have to bear. You have your burden to bear right now and I am sure that you have your own issues to deal with in your normal body." She seemed to be on the verge of tears; I felt that it wasn't the time or the place to press her any more.

"Ok, Heather. You win. I won't mention this to anyone. Your secret is safe with me, but I would make a suggestion that you tell Jennifer. I think she loves you as you are and it would not make any difference to her what you did with your life." I told her.

I was exhausted from carrying around all this extra weight in my stomach and I needed desperately to get into the house and relax. I waddled into an area that looked like a living room without the feel of anything living in it. I heard an "Eh, hem!" behind me and saw Heather standing in a doorway several feet away.

"I thought you wanted to rest? The relaxation room is this way," she told me, some laughter mixed in with her words.

I waddled over to her as fast as I could go and entered the room she had indicated. The furniture inside looked like it was designed by someone from outer space. None of the shapes looked like anything I had ever seen before. Heather guided me over to a vertical piece of cloth attached to a frame. Following her instructions, I leaned into it and it moved by itself. First, what looked like armrests came into place under my arms. Then it started folding itself into the rear of my legs while pushing my legs out. I let out a screech of fright, thinking that it was trying to push me down on the floor.

Heather burst out laughing at my fright. She said, "Jennifer had the same reaction the first time she sat in that chair. Relax, it's designed to assist a pregnant woman into a sitting or standing position."

Following her instructions, I allowed it to do what it was made to do and within seconds, I was sitting in a reclined position that was very easy on my back, legs, and belly.

"Jennifer loves this chair. She has practically lived in it the last month, since it's the only thing she can get in and out of. Dan has been really good to her since she nearly broke her leg when she was seven months along. He was the one that suggested the chair after seeing an article in a magazine for expectant fathers. There haven't been any more problems since then."

"I can see why. This is so comfortable to sit in. There is no pressure on my legs like there was standing up and the lumbar support is incredible. I'll have to remember this idea, take it back with me and see if I can invent it in the past."

"Only in your dreams. This chair was in the beginning design stages in May 2003 in Sweden. You are a bit too late for that, if I remember your timeline correctly. It also uses advanced servos and computer chips, designed in 2010 so it would do you no good to even try. You can, however, at least take advantage of the years of efforts that went into the design."

"Oh well. I can't say I didn't think about it." I was a bit bummed out that I could not take this wonderful invention back and recreate it in my time. It would certainly make my life easier if I had an invention of this magnitude to my credit.

"In the meantime, I'm going to go do some resting myself. I know Jennifer always gets tired after a visit to the doctor's office. From the look on your face, you are too. You sit tight and sleep. I'll check back with you later and see how you are doing."

"That's fine with me." I was nearly asleep as it was. This whole day had been stressful enough. The intermittent stomach pains I had been suffering since the doctor's office had subsided, but who knew when they would pick up again. Heather put a light blanket over me and I was asleep instantly.

I don't know how long I'd slept, but I was refreshed when I awoke. Only this time, the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was Dan and Heather sitting a few feet away. Both of them were sitting, looking at me with love in their eyes. I smiled brightly at them both. Dan's smiled outshone the sunlight at that moment. The love I felt for him nearly burst my chest.

He was the first to speak. "Hi love. I'm sorry that I was late getting back here. I wish that I was able to have been at the doctor's appointment with you, but you know how the auditions go. One tiny thing wrong and it gets delayed for hours."

"You're here now and that's all that matters. So, now that you are back, where is my kiss?" I was needing one right then.

"You must not have felt it when I first came in here and gave you one while you were sleeping. That is the ration for the hour." He had a twinkle of merriment in his eye.

"Hey, that doesn't count!" I exclaimed. "You have to give it to me while I'm awake or it doesn't count."

He looked over at Heather. "She's changing the rules again. You would think that there were two minds in there doing the thinking for her. I know," he brightened, "it must be the baby's turn for a kiss and she is demanding it too." He got up and knelt beside me, took me in his arms and kissed me deeply. It was enough to tingle me to my toes. I loved every bit of it.

As he broke the kiss finally, I was overtaken with a rather large contraction. As I gasped with pain, Dan took on a look of concern. "Are you ok, honey?" he asked.

"I will be as soon as the contraction stops. The doctor said I would be experiencing them more often as it draws closer to the time of birth."

"We both knew this wasn't going to be a piece of cake, but we both wanted it to make us whole. We have created a new life between the two of us and I can hardly wait to see her." He moved down to my swollen belly and lovingly ran his hands over it. I could feel something that felt like two hands pushing out from the walls of my stomach. They met with Dan's hands and moved with them. It was almost like the baby knew he was there and was trying to hold hands with him. Dan did not seem surprised at it and smiled widely. "See? She knows when her daddy is there. She's holding her hands out to be held." He bent down and gave my belly a kiss. "Daddy loves you and can hardly wait for you to come out." He obviously loved the baby. He gave me a raspberry on the bulge of my belly that sent me into fits of laughter.

After he was done playing with the baby, he returned his attention to me. I knew he was still totally smitten with Jennifer. He was still a great catch for her. Even though I had a big hand in them getting back together, she played a large part in the joining. One thing I wish my quest had done was to have put me at the wedding somehow, but it was not meant to be.

Jennifer would have been a beautiful bride. I was going to have to dig up the pictures of their wedding and see what it had been like. I would expect nothing but the best for her since she could have afforded it.

Dan knew that Jennifer was in a delicate condition, but she had obviously trained him right. His attention to my swollen belly was proof of it. He was gentle with his hands as well as his manner. My heart swelled with the love I felt for him as well as what Jennifer had felt for him. He was a good man and, as such, is a rarity. They always say, a good man is hard to find and he was the catch of the century. Still, there was something I needed to do and it was starting to be a pressing matter.

"Excuse me for a minute sweetie, but I need to get up and go to the bathroom. Little miss room hog in there is giving me fits at the moment. I am about to burst from water pressure and I'm afraid that it won't be only water that breaks if I don't pay attention to it." I was starting to get pressure creases on my forehead from the concentration I was giving the matter. Dan looked at me knowingly. He moved away from me so that I could get up. As I started to move in the chair, it also moved to lift me up from the sitting position. I was beginning to like this chair.

None too soon, I was sitting in the bathroom easing the internal pressure. Again, there was not enough to fill a thimble.

Once I was finished, I made sure that I was clean again before leaving the bathroom. If things were to continue along the same lines, I would have to ask Dan to put the chair in the bathroom so that I wouldn't have to go very far to relieve myself.

I found the bedroom and went in search for the perennial diary. I still felt guilty about reading her personal, private thoughts, but since I was she, I also felt that I had the right. I found it in her dresser drawer, the same old dresser where I had found it before. It seemed that she liked to keep things the same no matter where she was.

I sat down on the bed and started reading it. It was a new diary. I would love to find and read the old one, but I was afraid to even try a search; I would look like I was lost inside my own house. At least I had six months of reading I could catch up on, considering the date of the first entry.

It told of the first few months of the pregnancy and the problems that she had been having. There was one place that spoke of the possibility of losing the baby. She had been put on a watch for at least two months in case she started to spontaneously abort the baby. She described the daily ultrasounds to check the baby and the needles into her abdomen to check the fluids. It finally came down to Mother Nature and whether she wanted the baby to survive. Finally, things had evened out and she was out of danger.

Jennifer's mother had been one of the greatest supporters during her pregnancy. Dan's mother was also a big help and had been able to be there for anything Jennifer might have needed. She was excited to be seeing her first grandchild. Since Jennifer's father was deceased, Dan's was making up for him. If there was anyone who could take the place of two people, it would have been him. He was a superman.

Jennifer's assessment of Dan was of a very doting parent. He wanted to be around all the time, but he would have driven her crazy if he were. She insisted that he keep himself busy and let her do the actual work of carrying the baby. He had agreed but with extreme reluctance. His argument was that since she was wealthy, he really did not have to work and could be there to help her out with the changes. She reminded him that he would be very unhappy if he was not out doing what he loved to do.

She admitted that secretly, she had arranged to have a talent agent scout him out and take him under his wing. The agent had liked what he had seen with Dan and it had worked out. Dan had a high degree of natural acting talent and had been perfect for movies. He was rapidly becoming a hot item in Hollywood and his agent was fielding the best offers for him. Dan had the luxury of picking and choosing what he wanted to work on. He was a millionaire in his own right, now, but he was still an outsider to the glitzy Hollywood glamour scene. He preferred to live in a smaller city and away from the hustle and bustle.

There were clippings of newspaper articles in her diary expounding on his acting ability. One of them had referred to him as being the 'New' Kevin Costner, while another flatly refused to compare his brilliance to a washed up old has-been as Costner. In the words of the writer: "Dan Sparks has more talent on his little finger than Costner ever had in his whole body. Mr. Sparks will be a blessed addition to the staid and boring Hollywood group. Long live the new King of Hollywood!"

It made me feel good that Dan had an ability he could use. I think that I could take credit for encouraging him to follow his desires in being an actor back when he was in school. He had put his talent to use. I would love to see the looks on the faces of his greatest tormentors. He had gone from a shy, awkward young man and emerged as a strong, confident, and highly sought-after actor.

As I read further through Jennifer's diary, she talked about the upcoming birth and how happy she would be when it was finally over. She mentioned that she was afraid that she would hurt the little girl growing inside her and that she would refuse any medication. She must be braver than I am, since I wanted to have pain medication to reduce what I was going to feel.

When I was about halfway through the diary, I had to get up again and go to the bathroom. My life had rapidly dwindled to remaining near a bathroom from fear of wetting myself. Once done, I went back to reading.

There weren't many pages that said anything about fearing birth. Most concerned fears that the baby would somehow be deformed, despite assurances from doctors that everything was perfect.

A sudden growl in my stomach told me that I was hungry. I had been ignoring a lot of what I had been feeling. The sensations were fairly alien to me and I really didn't know what to make of them. This was one that I did not want to ignore. The baby needed food, too.

I went back into the family room where Dan and Heather were. We all went into the kitchen to get a bite to eat. The cook had made a huge meal and it was put away by both Dan and Heather. I barely ate anything. Again, the baby was not leaving much room for anything inside me. I knew I was going to be hungry soon enough, but how long it would take, I had no idea.

Afterward, I started getting a bit tired of being inside the house. It was stuffy to me and I needed some fresh air. Since I had heard about a pool earlier, I made my way to where I assumed it to be. Behind me, I heard a voice say, "Where is she going?" and another one saying, "I have no idea but we need to follow her."

The two cohorts came running after me to head me off. Heather was the first to reach me followed not far behind by Dan. Both followed me out the rear door to the pool area. I noticed one of the fancy pregnancy chairs sitting out there, so obviously Jennifer liked to spend time out here. I sat in it like an old pro. Once reclined, I decided that I didn't want to sit any longer. I had no idea why I was so restless all of a sudden.

"Dan, honey, is it permitted for me to go swimming or at least sit in the water to cool down a bit? I am so hot right now, I feel like I'm burning up."

"I don't see why not. Heather could you help her in the dressing room please?"

As Heather led me into the dressing room, her first comment was, "What's wrong, Jen? You haven't been acting your normal self tonight."

"I don't know Heather. I get uncomfortable no matter what I do and things are out of sync with me. I feel like I'm too hot to be outside, but it's too stuffy to be inside. I can't sit for long but I can't stand for too long. My hips hurt and my legs are throbbing. My tummy is nauseous yet hardly anything is in it. I can't describe things as any differently."

Heather's face was a study in intensity. I wasn't sure what she was thinking but I could tell that it was deep. When she finally opened her mouth, it was not what I wanted to hear. "If things are as you say, I don't think that it will be very much longer before you have the baby. You should start preparing yourself to go to the hospital."

I hated the way that she put everything out to me so logically. "Geez Heather, you really know how to make a guy feel comfortable. Maybe you should be the one having this baby instead of me. You do not know how hard it is for me not to run screaming away from here, or at least commit mayhem on myself to keep from going through this."

"If you keep thinking that, you'll be in deep trouble. What you need to do is start thinking about this from the woman's point of view. We've been doing this sort of thing forever and only a few women have ever complained like you are doing now. Do you remember the time you went through Jennifer's period? Do you remember how bad it was for you? Try going through it every month from the time you are eleven or twelve to the time you are in your forties or fifties. After a while, you become immune to the pain and suffering the goes along with it. For me, after nearly fifteen years of having a period, I barely notice any pain. It's not that I don't have any, I am just able to think it away. I still suffer through the problems that a period causes, but I don't feel the pain I used to feel."

"You just wish away the pain?" I asked incredulously.

"Something like that. Mostly what I do is ignore it. There are times that I will have a migraine and I am on my period at the same time and it is harder for me to put the pain aside because of the fact that I am already in enough pain."

"So, you are saying this is the way to think about pain?" I had begun wondering again what that cryptic little note had meant. Maybe this was the insight that I needed to help me out.

"That is exactly what I am meaning. You have been looking at this whole thing not as an adventure but as something to be dreaded. A baby is a gift to the world from a couple to thank it for allowing them to exist in it. More than anything, a baby is a blessing from God." She was plain and simple with it.

It was getting late into the day and I was gradually getting more tired. I needed to go to the bathroom again and my stomach was hungry again. Since I was eating for two, it was harder to keep myself going on that tiny bit of food I had earlier. I did a quick relief then went into the kitchen and got a bit more food and ate it like I was starving. Once my appetite was sated, I started getting tired. I made my way into the bedroom to get ready for bed. I sat down on the edge of the bed and made a few minor entries into the diary detailing the days events. Afterwards, I tried to lie down on the bed and sleep but it was too uncomfortable. I made my way back into the family room where the wonderfully comfortable chair was.

Dan was in there waiting for me. As I entered the room, he looked up and said, "There you are. I was wondering where you had disappeared to."

"I was just doing some last minute things before going to bed." I told him.

"Oh, I see. Writing in your journal again? Anything important?" he asked.

"Not really. Just some thoughts about the baby and us." I didn't really know what to tell him.

"Well, one day our grand children and great grand children will be able to read how we were able to start our family and live our lives together."

"I don't know if they would be of value for something like that. There are some deep and very personal thoughts in them that I'm not sure I would like being read by anyone beside myself. I will have to see what happens when I get older and how I feel about it."

We did not talk about things again that night. I leaned back in the comfy chair and Dan covered me with a blanket. I didn't need a pillow since the chair formed its own pillow around my head. I was tired enough that I was asleep in seconds.

The next morning, a light hand on my shoulder woke me up. As I opened my eyes, the sight of Dan's mother and Jennifer's mother greeted me. Both were smiling at me as if they had a secret and didn't want to tell me about it.

I smiled up at mom. Her smile grew wider. "Good morning, sweetheart. Time to rise and shine. You have an awfully big day ahead of you. Time to get moving."

Mom Sparks said, "Yes, you have burned away half the day and if we are to get through this day, you need to get yourself ready right now. We have a lot of things to do."

What was it with these two? Did they have nothing better to do than to harass a poor pregnant girl and get her up out of a deep sleep for nothing better than to take me out on their errands? I sleepily gave them a piece of my mind, a VERY small piece. "Go away! I don't want to go anywhere except to the hospital to get this baby out of me. Can you arrange that for me please?"

They both laughed at my supposed plea. Mom just reiterated the previous statement. "We need to get going Jennifer. Your public is waiting." Somehow, she triggered the chair I was in, causing it to start to rise and eject me slowly from it.

"Ok, ok, I am getting up. Now tell me, what is this all about?" I demanded.

"We are not telling you anything yet. You'll have to see later. First, we have to get you up and ready. Come on!" She seemed to be very excited about something. I hadn't seen her like this before. Maybe the pending birth of her first grandchild was doing this to her. I arose from the chair.

The next hour or so I spent the time taking a shower, getting a bite to eat and getting dressed for a day out with my mothers. I was, at one point, able to get Mira off by herself and tell her that I was Michael. She didn't act a bit surprised at that and she just grinned evilly. I was halfway scared at what they had planned for me. For the life of me, I could not figure out what was going on.

The day was one on the go. They took me to stores and did a lot of shopping. Nothing was purchased, but a whole bunch of stuff was heavily inspected. I made so many trips to a bathroom, I was sick of seeing one. We took a brief break sometime during the day to replenish the body, but then we were off again. After a while, mom got tired of my whining that my feet hurt and rented an electric cart for me to drive around while we shopped.

This was the first time I had seen this side of mom in all the times I had been here. She had always so busy that I never had the chance to shop with her. I was tired and grumpy by the time they were all shopped out. Mom announced that we had done enough damage for one day and that it was time to go.

We finally left the mall and worked our way through town. As we drove through town, my body was getting logy on me. I fell asleep before we made it home.

I was jerked awake as the car stopped. My hands were resting on the basketball of my stomach. I could feel the baby inside moving around, a lot! How quickly I had adjusted to this situation. Nothing seemed normal to me anymore and the state I was in had become 'normal'. Mom was still in the driver's seat of the car and Mom Sparks was still in the shotgun seat. They were talking in whispers like they were trying to decide something.

I tried as cheerfully as I could, "Hey, what's up? Are we finally home?"

They had not realized I had awakened and both went silent and spun around to face me. "Oh good," mom said, "you're awake finally. Sorry it took so long to get home, but we needed to pick up something while we were on the way. Come on. We're at your house. It's time to go inside."

I moved as quickly as my ungainly body would let me, exited the car and waddled to the door. Mom and Mom Sparks were right behind me, but neither had anything in their hands. I was too tired to notice anything out of the ordinary. All I wanted to do was get into the house and sit down in the chair.

As we entered the house, it was dark. Mom turned on a small light by the door and we found our way through the house by that light. I was guided into the room where the chair was, but it was pitch black. I tried to feel for a light switch but nothing was near me. Since I was not that familiar with the house, I could not tell that the switch was on the other side of the room by another door. Mom and Mom Sparks moved away from me as if to go find the switch.

Next thing I knew, the light was on and I was greeted with a lot of voices screaming "Surprise!" at me. I was nearly scared out of my wits. The sights before me showed some sort of surprise party but with a baby theme.

I spotted Heather standing off to the side with a silly grin on her face. I cocked an eyebrow questioningly to her asking what this was about. She came over and hugged me.

"You didn't think that we would let Jennifer have a baby without a baby shower did you?" She whispered in my ear. "She refused to let us hold one for her and at the moment, she is not her to object to it. And since you are here at the moment, you are the guest of honor instead of her. Besides, when I told Mira earlier today about you being here, it was her idea to throw the shower but she also suggested the way to keep you away from the house."

'Oh, great!' I thought to myself. 'All I care to do right now is sit down and relax. These people are not going to let me do that for quite a while.' I just smiled at Heather instead of telling her what I really wanted to do.

For the next three hours, we spent it playing some sort of games, eating cake and ice cream and opening presents to the baby. I had never seen so many diapers in my life. There must have been at least twenty packages of them. Not to mention all the baby clothes that were piled up in front of me. Toy, bed articles, feeding accessories, and more.

As normal procedure, I had to get up so many times to go to the bathroom that I felt it was a wonder that anything got done at all. Finally the party was over and everyone started filing their way out the door. All congratulated me and wished me well.

After everyone was gone, I was able to sit back and relax for a few minutes. Heather and the housekeeper were trying to sort everything and get them all into the baby's room. Considering the quantity of gifts, it would be a struggle to get them into the room.

My two moms were talking in the kitchen, but it was hard to tell what they were talking about. I had been feeling rather strange all night long, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I felt an oncoming need for the bathroom again when suddenly I was sitting in a pool of warm water.

With a curse at my bladder control, I started to stand up when a horrible cramp wrenched my abdomen. I screamed in sudden pain and held my stomach. Both moms came running over to me as well as Heather. The first thing I noticed was the water pooled under me and running onto the floor. My clothes were now sodden with it, but I suddenly realized that it did not smell like urine. There was a rank scent to it as well as a small odor of blood.

This panicked mom into action. "Heather, call Dan on his cell phone. Tell him Jennifer's water just broke. Then call the doctor and tell her that we are on our way to the hospital. Stacy, see if you can find Jennifer's bag that was prepared. We need to get going now."

This whole time, I was gripped with panic because I was feeling more cramps coming. They seemed to be coming in waves but not very quickly. Things were happening around me at what seemed to be light speed. Everyone was moving quickly while I was moving very slowly. I had a sensation of being under water while they were the only ones out of the water. My ears were ringing loudly.

The next few minutes were slowly moving by me. Before I knew it, I was in the car with the three of them and we were moving swiftly away from the house. I was beset again with the huge cramps. I heard someone say to time things. I had no idea what they were meaning. I got a brief respite for about fifteen minutes before I was hit with the next wave of cramps. This one was stronger than the others and I screamed out in pain.

I felt Heather holding my hand and she was telling me softly in my ear, "Take it like a woman, Jennifer. Take it like a woman. Remember what I told you earlier."

Next thing I knew, we were at the hospital and Dan was there with the same doctor from the day before. They were waiting outside with a wheelchair. Dan nervously bounced from one foot to the other. Before we pulled to a stop, he had the door open and had hold of my arm. At that point I had another contraction. It didn't seem that long before that the previous one had hit me. Heather piped up that it was twelve minutes.

That seemed to motivate everyone into action. I was whisked into the hospital and flew down the hallway to an elevator. We were taken to another floor, but before we arrived there, another contraction hit me. "Nine minutes," stated the far away voice of Heather. I was put into a room and assisted into a hospital gown.

The doctor was quick once I in the gown. She spread my legs and reached her gloved fingers inside me. Once she had pulled out, she said, "Dilation is at five centimeters already. We won't have long to wait. Your baby wants to come out as fast as it can."

I was hit with another contraction as they were hooking me up with a belt with wires leading to a meter of some sort. They turned it on and I watched the needle bounce around briefly.

What seemed like thirty minutes to me, but I found out later was in actuality four hours, were hectic for me. I was treated to numerous finger probings to measure diameter. After the first measurement, things went slow. The only things going fast were the contractions. They grew in strength as well as frequency. I had stopped screaming by then and could only moan with the pain I was feeling. My mouth and throat were dry from my vocalizations and I asked for a glass of water.

I was presented with a glass and as I tried to take a drink, I was hit with ice, very tiny chinks of ice and no water in the glass at all. Surprised about that, I complained. The nurse explained to me that I would not process water while I was giving birth and that my body could only handle the amounts of water that I could get from ice chips. I had to deal with it and I sucked on the chips to get as much moisture as I could.

The next time I was measured, the OB nurse said that I was at eight centimeters. How much larger did I have to get before the baby would come out? I had no idea and I was afraid to ask. Dan was standing next to me telling me that I was doing great and that our baby would be here soon. I could hardly wait. NOT!

Time seemed to be moving very slowly around me. The actions of the people around me were quick as if they were stuck in a time speed up. The pains were coming quicker every second and I was sweating like a stuck pig.

I had seen one of the OB nurses come over putting a huge glove on her hand that seemed to be ten times larger than it had been before. It felt like she was inserting a sausage inside of me. A deep, slow voice announced to the world at general, "You are now at nine centimeters. You may now give birth." I looked up, startled at the nurse and noticed that she looked somewhat like a tall black man with bumps all over his head. He had long whiskers hanging below his chin from his upper lip. As he grinned at me, I saw sharp pointy teeth. The absurdity of the whole thing started me giggling uncontrollably. I guess that is what I get for enjoying Star Trek: The Next Generation so much.

The people around the room wondered what was going on. Dan's face was filled with concern as he looked down at me. I looked around the room again and there was no black man with the bumpy head around, just the doctor and the nurses as well as my family. I giggled again. The whole thing was funny to me. All these serious faces around me and I was giggling because I was going to have a baby. I burst out, laughing hard. I was going to have a baby! How could I have a baby if I were a man?

Faces grew even more concerned. There were whispers and even louder voices. "What does she mean, 'how can she have a baby if she was a man?'" That got me laughing even harder, until I was wracked with another feeling from deep inside me. Only this time, the pressure was between my legs and I felt like I was being torn apart by a watermelon. I screamed in pain. The action started up again.

"I see the head. The baby is coming now."

Bright lights shone in my face as a video camera was turned on to film the event. Then the cameraman moved away to film the actual birth.

I heard, "Push Jennifer. Push harder. Ok, stop. Breathe. Dan, remember the breathing exercises you two worked on? Please help her out. She is going to need it from you now."

More pressure built from inside of me. Something told me to push. I screamed as I did so. The pain decreased momentarily. Then increased. Again, push. Breathe. Push again.

My world became centered around breathing and pushing. Shortly, I was greeted with an ear breaking squalling cry of a newborn baby. The pressure inside me was gone.

The proclamation, "It's a girl!" resounded through the room. I felt a weight on my chest as the baby was placed there for my inspection. She was covered in blood and some sort of whitish stuff and crying her heart out. Love surged through my being as I beheld the daughter I had just given birth to. I held her hand ever so briefly before she was taken away to be cleaned up.

The doctor continued to work on me below. She and the nurses massaged my stomach. There were some odd tugging sensations from inside me. Thinking there was another baby inside, I tried to push again. There was a tearing sort of feeling and an audibly slick 'pop' as something slid free of the birth canal.

The medical people continued to work on me for several minutes afterwards. I was starting to hurt immensely now and I was beginning to twitch from the pain. An IV had been started when I first arrived and now a painkiller was added to it. I watched as a needle was inserted into the line and compressed. A warmth crept up my arm and started to slowly spread through my body. Within minutes, I was in a state of peaceful bliss.

Minutes later, I was totally asleep.

What seemed like weeks later, but was really only a few hours, a nurse taking my blood pressure and pulse awakened me. She smiled at me as I opened my eyes. I was in mild pain again, but nothing as severe as before.

"Hi, there. There is a certain young lady that has been demanding some attention. Are you interested in a visitor?" She asked me.

"I am. Is my husband around still?" I asked her.

"He sure is. He has not left her side since we took her into the newborn room." I'll get them both for you. She finished up, typing some information into the computer set up in the corner of the room and left.

I noticed a glass and pitcher on the table next to the bed. I was thirsty, so I sat up and poured myself a glass of water. It was cold and sweet tasting to me. It seemed like it had been weeks since I had any. I had no idea what time it was, but I could tell it was still dark outside. It had to be very early in the morning still or almost dawn.

The door opened again with Dan being the first through the door. Next followed the nurse pushing a hospital cradle. Inside was a crying newborn. This one was different form the one I held on my chest earlier. This one was swaddled in a pink thermal blanket and had a pink cap over her head. My heart nearly burst with emotion as I laid eyes on her. She was tiny and precious to me. The nurse picked her up and waited for me to hold my arms out. I was a bit nervous so I was hesitant to do so.

"She won't break." The nurse said. "All you have to do is hold out your arms and I will place her in them. Have you thought about how you will be feeding her? Bottle or breast?"

I had no idea what Jennifer had planned but I felt I should at least go with the natural method. "Breast, if that is ok."

"No problem. Let's get you set up. She is ready to eat now and there is no better time than the present." She set the baby in my arms and did something to the gown I was wearing. The top fell open and the left breast was exposed. I blushed heavily at that. "There is no need to be embarrassed, Jennifer. I've been doing this for twenty years now. I've seen a lot in that time. You're not showing me anything more than I have seen on myself."

She explained about how I needed to adjust the baby to the nipple and assisted it into the baby's mouth. A feeling of vacuum hit me and I felt a surge of pain in my chest. Before too long, the pain eased up and I began to be suffused with a feeling of satisfaction as the baby nursed. After several minutes, the nurse suggested that I switch sides to allow the baby to nurse from the other breast. For a while, all I could hear was the contented sucking sound of a baby nursing. I stroked her tiny head and whispered sweet nothings to her. Her tiny hands were covered in the gown the hospital had dressed her in, but I could feel them balled up as fists inside.

I looked up at Dan with a tear in my eye. He had love shining all through his face. I held out a hand for him to hold. He bent down, kissed me and whispered "I love you both." I reached around his neck and hugged him tightly.

Finally, the baby was sated and she let go of my nipple. The nurse explained that with a breast fed baby, they did not need to be burped but it was a good habit to get into. She helped hitch the baby up to my shoulder and demonstrated how to pat the baby's back until she burped. I was rewarded with a loud "URRPPP!" from her. I had to giggle at it because it sounded so funny. Dan laughed also.

The baby was now sound asleep. The nurse took her back and lay her in the cradle. I caught Dan yawning, also. I repeated his contagious yawn and my eyes grew heavy.

Dan leaned over, kissed me and said, "It looks like momma is getting tired after all the work last night and she needs to get some sleep. I need to get some myself so I will go home, come back later after I'm rested and can get cleaned up. I will see you later." He gave me another kiss and departed.

After he had left, the nurse came back into the room gloved up. She explained that she needed to change the pad now. I was a bit confused until she explained that after the placenta was removed, I had been bleeding a lot. I grew worried about that until she told me that it was ok. The bleeding was normal and was already slowing down. They just needed to make sure that I didn't bleed all over the place. A few minutes later she was done and left the room. The ache in my belly was down to a dull roar now and it was something I could manage.

I reached over to the bed table to get the glass of water. My hand encountered an envelope. Thinking that it was from a well wisher, I opened it. There was no card inside. Puzzled, I upended it and a charm plopped out. The spinning started as I screamed at the top of my voice. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
 
To Be Continued...
 
Note: TG magic age-regression pregnant borrowed-body rated-X
Posted by: Admin on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 11:59 PM
 
 

As the familiar swirling took me back to my body, I found that I was crying. I wasn't ready to come back. I needed to spend more time with the baby. It took me a while before I could settle down and think again. Afterward, I could only reflect that the pain that I had endured would be with me forever. I would also never look at pain in the same light. Even though I had been hurt and dealt with pain before, it had never been on that scale. The experience had enabled me to deal with the more normal, tiny pains and push them off to the side.

Since I hadn't received a note with this latest charm, I had no idea what I had to do. Remembering back to the original letter, I remembered that this challenge was for living. I looked at the new charm, ready to put on the necklace. The weight of those things seemed to be heavier than life truly was. I felt that I had double the life's experiences now because of this quest. It was still hard to deal with and it seemed that each one had been getting harder to go through, yet I still managed to get through it on top.

Recalling what the letter said about life and how it must go on, I tried to match the words with the charm. The book-shaped item in my hand was strange; I couldn't make the connection. Was life like a book, something that you could read, or was it that life was not like a book? I sometimes wished the quest were just a book.

Not wanting to do much thinking about this until I had to, I took the necklace off, attached the new charm and put the necklace on again. The spinning took over my life again.

Once the spinning stopped, I had to be careful of my position. I was wrapped up in someone's arms being kissed. Since the passion I felt had to be from Jennifer's husband, I added my own to it. He was a good man and worth my efforts. All too quickly for my liking, he broke it off. As we separated, I took a good look at him to see how long it had been since I was last here.

Dan's face still held the handsome looks that he had always had, but the lines that traversed the corners of his eyes and mouth revealed that his youth was a thing of the past. The gray hair creeping backwards from his temple showed that he was aging well. He had obviously been taking good care of himself because I could feel very hard muscles underneath his shirt. He seemed to be working hard at formulating his thoughts.

"Honey, while I'm away at this shoot, please make sure that the kids are taken to see my parents. Mom and dad have been pestering me to bring them over for the last week or so. They miss the kids and want to spoil them some more." Dan was leaving? What sort of shoot was he going to? What had changed in their lives?

"I will, sweetie. Is there anything else you'd like me to do while you are gone?" I felt that I had to play this one by ear and hope I said the right things.

"Not really, just keep yourself occupied like you normally do. If worse comes to worse, take the kids to my parent's house and leave them for a week. After that, you wouldn't have anything to be bored over since they would be spoiled rotten and you would never get them to mind us again." He said that with a twinkle in his eye knowing that his parents love the kids more than anything else in the world.

Jennifer! Why would you get bored? "Ok, sweetheart. But is there any way that I could come with you? You know I can get Heather to watch the kids and I can go with you and be your companion."

"Sorry, honey, but you know the studio does not want to let its people get distracted. Besides, this is only going to be a four-week shoot. I will be home in one month unless we have problems. And I do not foresee any with this one."

"Ok, Sweetie, I will be here when you are done." I was sad that I would have to wait four weeks to see him again. What would I have to look forward to if he was not around?

Because of my intense desire to be with Dan, I hadn't paid any attention to where we were. A woman came up behind us and announced, "Mr. Sparks? We will be taking off in twenty minutes, so would you join the rest of the people getting ready to board the plane? Thank you." With that, she walked off to do something else.

"Sorry about that honey. I have to get onboard the plane so we can go to the site." He gave me another quick kiss before bending down and picking up his carry-on satchel. "I'll be back in four weeks. Don't let the kids run roughshod over the city, as you like to do. They are too hard to control when I get back from my trips otherwise. You have to remember that you are not a teenager like them and let them do what you used to do, alright? I love you."

"I love you, too," I told him sincerely.

A voice from a ways away spoke up, "Come on, Dan, we need to go. You two can talk when we get there. It's not like you won't see each other again."

Another quick kiss and he was gone. The group he joined turned and walked down a loading ramp. I watched them exit and walk to a larger private jet. My heart was breaking because I would not get to see him for a while and I already missed him. He turned to the window where I was standing with my face pressed against the glass. He put his hand to his lips, kissed it and threw it to me. I pretended to catch it and held it to my chest for a moment before putting it to my lips, signifying that I accepted his kiss. He climbed onboard the plane and was gone from sight.

I watched as the ground crew finished the loading of bags and equipment into the cargo areas. I could see the pilots preparing for the ignition of the engines so that they could take off. Within moments, I could hear and feel the rumble of the jets igniting, preparing to take my love away from me. I watched as the tractor backed the plane from its parking spot and positioned it so that it could take control, ready to escape the bonds of earth.

A higher setting of the throttle moved the plane away after the tractor uncoupled. I watched it taxi to takeoff position. After several minutes of waiting for the larger planes to leave, it was finally Dan's turn. I saw the heat from the exhaust increase and the plane started down the runway, its speed building quickly. I watched as the front lifted from the ground and soon the rear wheels followed suit. The plane began a quick climb into the air but as I watched, a jet of flame blasted out of the engine and cut off as quickly.

I watched in stunned horror as the plane tipped side-ways and plummeted into the ground at high speed. The fireball from the exploding fuel was the last thing I saw as I fainted.

As I came to, I had a crowd of people standing around me. Someone knelt beside me with a cool pack, holding it against my forehead. I sat up quickly, got to my feet and ran back to the glass. There was the last sight I had seen but more chaotic. Fire crews sprayed retardant foam around the blaze and the thick black smoke was still billowing up into the air.

I turned towards the people standing there and asked desperately, "What happened? Why did the plane go down? My husband was on that plane!" At that sudden realization, I started screaming, "Dan, Dan! No! Don't let it be his plane! No! Don't let it be his plane!" I kept screaming those words for several minutes while pounding on the glass, trying to get out through it somehow. My efforts were wasted and I was hysterical in a way that I had never been before. I felt a slight pricking sensation in my rear, but it wasn't enough to interrupt my hysteria. Before too long, though, the blackness claimed me again.

As I regained consciousness again, I felt the familiarity of Jennifer's bedroom. Heather was with me, sitting beside me and holding my hand. There was a very sad look on her face as she regarded me.

"Heather, please tell me it's not true. Please tell me that Dan's plane didn't crash. Please? I'm not ready for this. I should have taken a longer break before I came back here." I was not nearly hysterical, but I was crying hard. I knew the truth, but it didn't help me at all. Dan was dead and Jennifer was a widow. More to the point, I was a widow until I was done here.

"Michael? You're right, this is not the right time to be here but you have to deal with it." She said sadly to me.

I thought again to the happy moments that I had had with him but his death was hard on me. That was the last thing that I expected to have happen. I loved Dan with all my and Jennifer's heart and he was gone so quickly. There was no way that I could describe the agony of the soul that I felt at that moment. Why did life have to be so harsh? Why couldn't we have been left alone to share our time together? Why? I was crying so hard, I wasn't making any kind of sense in my babbling. Heather could only hold me and share my tears.

I have no idea how long I was a vegetable. I was so lost in my misery that I had no idea there was even a world around me. I slept more than I was awake. I found out later that I had had to be sedated because I was so hysterical. I didn't recall any of the events from those lost days.

The funeral plans weren't made for several days because of the crash investigation. Finally, I was weaned from the sedatives and allowed to come out of my stupor. I was in was horrible state, but I knew that I would have to shake it off and take on some responsibility. There were funeral plans to be made and I had to be at the head of them. I left the bedroom to survey the damages done by my absence.

I was greeted by shouts of "Mom!" from several kids. A trio of youngsters nearly gang tackled me as they came running over to hug me. I returned their hugs with gusto. It seemed that Jennifer and Dan had been prolific in my absence. There were two girls and one boy hugging me. One girl was nearly as tall as I was and the boy seemed to be catching up with her. The second girl looked like she was going to be at least as tall as Jennifer. All three had the dark hair of Jennifer and both girls had her violet eyes. The boy had his father's looks and blue eyes. Just seeing him caused me to burst out crying. I held him tightly as well as the girls until I was cried out.

As I finally dried my tears, the younger one said, "Mommy, it will be ok. God is watching over Daddy now." That started me crying all the harder.

Through my tears and sobs, I told her, "I know, sweetie, but mommy misses him so much and I don't know what to do."

All three of the kids closed in on me again and joined me with their tears. Their inner pain and suffering washed over me. They were suffering more than I was with Dan's death. They had been around him all their lives and knew him much more than I did. I may have loved him intermittently; they loved him with their existence. More than anything else, he was their father! My whole being hurt for them and I had to do everything to help them overcome their loss.

I was not their mother, but I had to be their absolute support. I had never been close to a death like this before and I had no idea what to do about it. I would have to wing it as best as I could. That would be the hard part of this quest. I have never really been a tower of strength, but I would have to find it within me.

I led the kids over to the couch and sat down with them. The girls were hurting but the boy had had his role model cut out of his life completely. With no male figure in his life, he could very well go the wrong way. Jennifer would have to be very careful with him. Maybe the best thing was to have Dan's father be a stand in for as long as needed.

I had no idea what these kid's names were. I may have given birth to the older one, but I was taken away before she was named. I looked for Heather, finding her looking around the corner at me and the kids. I still had my arms around them as I signaled her. I nodded lightly towards the kids and mouthed, 'What are their names?'

Enlightenment showed briefly on her face. She moved to me and knelt down. Looking to the older girl, the boy and the younger girl, she addressed them in turn: Heather, Robert, Myra, would you leave us for a few minutes? Your mother and I have something to discuss. They nodded and left.

I looked at Heather in relief and said, "Thank you. I had no idea what to call them." I had to go silent as the kids came back from errands that had obviously been laid out for them once I had been able to awaken from my stupor.

I drank the water, ate the toast and examined the papers. They were standard documents regarding the disposition of the deceased. I really didn't care to deal with them at the moment, but sighing heavily, I read through them. A note on one of the papers suggested a closed casket funeral or cremation because of the heavy fire damage to the body. I would have to discuss this with Dan's parents and the kids. I just wished that it were Jennifer's decision and not mine.

I was getting a headache just thinking about it all. I had to stop and put the papers down before I developed a full-blown migraine. What I would give to be Jennifer after giving birth to Heather again. It was a much happier time. Why did Dan have to die? Tears threatened to roll down my cheeks again but somehow, I managed to force them back. I could only sit there silently as the doorbell rang.

Heather went to the door and answered it. A minute later, Jennifer's mother as well as Dan's parents came into the room. Upon seeing them, I nearly lost it again. I was so miserable that I could hardly contain myself. Dan's mother hugged the girls while mom held onto Robert. Robert seemed to be her favorite.

Knowing that I was hurting as much as the kids were, mom came over to me and held me tight. I finally began to understand how she must have felt when her husband had died all those years ago. Jennifer must have been very young when it happened and I didn't know the details of it.

All I could say to her was, "Why mom, why did it have to happen? Why? I miss him so much." I started crying my broken heart out on her shoulder.

She could not answer me. She just hugged me tighter. Robert joined us. With two people in her arms, she could only stand there and cry with us. Robert obviously loved his grandmother and she, him. I managed to run down to sniffles again. Would I ever run out of tears?

I glanced over at Mr. and Mrs. Sparks. Mr.. Sparks had Myra in his arms and was hugging her while she sobbed uncontrollably. Mrs. Sparks had hold of Heather and was letting her cry her eyes out. Obviously, the Sparks' had had their own little bout of crying because they held it very well when they dealt with the children. I wished that I could control myself as well as they could. I knew their own private time would be in remembrance of Dan and his life. He had held my heart in the palm of his hand. Now he was gone and my heart was gone with him.

Mom whispered to me, "I need to sit down. My legs are killing me and will give out if I don't get off them."

Together, we moved over to the couch. I snuggled closer to mom and told her, "Thank you for coming over. I'm not sure that I can handle this by myself."

She replied quietly, "I came over because Heather called me and told me that someone special was back in town who was very sad. I knew what she was talking about right away. I had to come. How long have you been here?"

"Since before he boarded the plane. I managed to get one last kiss before he left."

"That was more than I got from your father. We had had a fight and he left angry. I never saw him alive again. I'm thankful you, at least, had the chance to tell him good bye. I hope that you told him that you loved him."

"I did, but I didn't think it would be the last time I would be able to tell him that. Why is God so cruel to you and Jennifer, mom? He has taken both of your husbands from you too soon. They should have been able to see their children grow up and see their own grandchildren before dying."

"I don't know, Jennifer. If I were able to read God's mind, I could tell you, but that's not possible. We can only sit here wondering why this cruelty happens; we will never have the answer. We live with it regardless."

I was ready to scream. I held it in instead and said, "I do not want to live with it. I want Dan back! God, I miss him so much!" A new round of tears poured down my cheeks. I have never cried so much in my life as I did during that terrible time. My ribs were starting to hurt from the crying, but there was no way that I could stop. The hurt was in me so deeply that it would never leave.

I sent the kids off to be with Heather while I discussed the funeral arrangements with mom and the Sparks' for a couple of hours. We all came to an agreement to have his remains cremated. At least we would be able to have our own private family ceremony. I signed the papers at that point, sealing the decision. I would make sure that they would be sent to the right people for processing.

The next couple of days were the hardest for me. A memorial service was set up for the following weekend. Since there would be no casket for him, we would display the urn containing his ashes along with a picture of him when he was doing what he loved to do - act. We hired the largest church in the city for his memorial service, making a sizable donation to its operating fund for the privilege.

The days passed slowly for all of us. Nobody was sleeping well and the kids were sitting around in a daze. I was too lost in my own thoughts of Dan to do too much moving around either. I wasn't eating and sleep was not something that was a necessity for me. I went to the bedroom most nights, but without the aid of a tranquilizer, I couldn't sleep. I read through Jennifer's journal and made my own entries into it.

Many of my tears were dropped into the book as well as my words. I poured my pain and agony into the pages that were before. Jennifer, I knew, would not understand what was going on when she came back. She would have to deal with her own grief and would not be able to do so as publicly as I had been able to. Her pain would be more than mine because she had spent more than eighteen years with him.

The candle that burns twice as bright, burns half as long. Dan's burned so brightly while he was alive. He was the star of the show once I met him and my life revolved around him whenever I was living Jennifer's life. I hated the thought of the loss in Jennifer's world and can only feel the most sympathy for her.

I clipped out the obituary notice from the local newspaper and put it in the journal. I made sure that I added the articles about the crash and the loss of the thirty people who were on the plane. According to the paper, Dan was one of several important people on the flight and he was still in demand in Hollywood and had been pulling in multi-million dollar payments for his movies. We were expecting to have many of Hollywood's finest at the memorial service on Saturday.

The day of the Service dawned like any ordinary day, but this one would be one that I would remember for the rest of my life. There were people there who had known Dan in grade school talking about what a great man he had been. Many of the speakers from high school angered me because of lies they told concerning the 'good old days' but I decided to keep a civil tongue in my speech. I had been asked to speak last. The service lasted six hours.

The most touching words came from people who had starred with him in his movies. Those were the words that I cared for the most and would cherish for all time.

Finally, it was my turn. People had tried to talk me out of giving a speech during the week, but I would not hear of it. I had to for my sake and for Jennifer's sake. I walked to the podium and prepared myself. When I was ready, I started talking.

"Thank you all for coming here today in the time of my family's grief. I stand before you all a shell of a person. The center of my being has been taken from me and I have gone through many emotions since that fateful day when I watched his plane go down. Dan's precious life as well as twenty-nine others were quickly ended. I grieve for their families as well as mine over the loss.

"Dan's spirit was contagious as was his happiness. It was a very rare occasion to see anything other than a smile on his beautiful face. He was a very easy person to get along with but brooked no guff from anyone. He also stood up for others who could not do so themselves.

"He had a love for life that was second to none. He was a champion for all causes and without a moments hesitation or thought to himself, he would go to do battle for what he felt was right."

I had to pause briefly to catch my breath and to keep from crying again.

"We have three wonderful, lovely children who will always miss their father. He will miss their first dates, their high school proms, their graduations, their weddings and the births of their future children. Their children will never get to know the wonderful man he was and for that, I am saddened for their loss.

"Within our years of marriage, I shared with him his love of acting and cherished the time he spent with us. His life held excitement for him and he used his mind and acting skills to make people think.

"With his loss, the world is a poorer place and my life is much emptier. I will never find another person to take his place. I will have to somehow fill that hole myself and do it for the rest of my life.

"Good bye, my love. I will miss you every day of my life and in the lives of our children. I will one day see you again. However long in coming that day is, I will try to live my life the way you told me to live it when we last exchanged words."

"Thank you again for coming." As I closed my speech, I looked over the audience. There was not a dry eye in the house.

The whole service closed with a prayer for the deceased and for the strength of the families involved. Then it was dismissed. As people started filing out, many stopped to give their condolences. I hugged them and thanked them for their words.

Afterwards, there was a reception held for all who attended. I was able to meet many of the people Dan had worked with over the years. All had been saddened to hear about his death. Many said that he had inspired them to be all they were and what they did. I told them to use his memory to inspire them to greater heights

The day seemed to finally be moving quickly as I talked to people and grew closer to them. To many of these people, Dan represented a tower of hidden strength. He was there for them whenever they needed it and was always available to listen. The people loved him and all were as sad as I was.

To live through this was a nightmare for me. I acted like I was completely together in my head when I was exactly the opposite. I was so tired of acting like I was strong. I was crumbling into a powder on the inside while the shell was standing strong for people to see. It was at this time that I learned what acting was all about.

The day finally drew to a close and all the people went home. I was still wishing that this were all a bad dream, that things would be ok in the morning and we would all be happy and laughing again.

The children were moving around in a daze, much as I had been earlier on. They were suffering the hardest of us all. Over the coming weeks, they would need to snap out of it or things would get even worse for them. I was sure that they would get over this eventually, but I could tell that I was doing something wrong. Most of my quests had been fairly short and the challenges not as hard as this. I felt it was time that I seek the answer to my challenge. My time here so far had been wasted wallowing in self-pity.

Self-pity was not anything that had been part of my life before. Living certainly had nothing to do with it either. What was it about life and living that was so hard to figure out? They were two completely separate issues. Life is what we had on a day to day basis, living is what we did on a day to day basis. Life went on regardless and living was hard to do at times.

I had to deal with both right now. The loss of a loved one was what had been decreed in life. Living with it afterwards is something that had to happen. It would not be easy.

As these thoughts went through my head, I started to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Mom had been through the death of Jennifer's father and she survived it. She made the most of things afterward and lived life to the fullest. How was it possible to do this without the self-pity?

Mom was a strong woman and had been for as long as I had known her. For me, it had only been a couple of months, but for her, it had been thirty years. In another way, it seemed as if I had been doing this forever.

After it was over, I would certainly be a stronger person for the experience.

I stopped. Me, strong? How was that? The sum of a person is the strength of their experiences and how the individual deals with them. I had a fairly mild life before this started and really did not have too much to base any strength on. I would be relying on my experiences as Jennifer to give me strength.

I felt that I was getting somewhere I needed to be. I no longer cried all night and had been sleeping peacefully for the last three days, but I still awakened each night to the children's tears and I still had to comfort them. I resolved that I would bring them out of the blue funk they were all in.

In a sudden burst of inspiration, I decided that I would do some of my own research on childhood depression based on a parent's death. I would at least have some of Jennifer's books from college to rely upon. Over the course of the next three days, I spent as much spare time as I could looking up information and came to a startling conclusion: I was not Jennifer, nor did I have her training and degrees in psychology. I would not be able to utilize her books; they contained very technical information that I didn't understand. I would have to play it by ear and do it my own way.

Normalizing the way their days went would be the easiest. That night, as I went to ease their nightly horrors, I vowed to myself that this would have to stop. I had to work to show them the light of survival.

That decided, I headed for bed again. The rest of the night was undisturbed.

I was up at the crack of dawn and began my day with a refreshing shower.

The weather forecast was for sunny and warm turning later into rain. I decided to dress for sunny and warm.

I found the best and brightest dress Jennifer had in her closet and put it on. I had three children to brighten up.

Around 9:00, I decided that they had been sleeping long enough. I bounced into their rooms individually and woke them up. All of them were grumpy and not eager to move around. My persistence finally paid off and they all arose, albeit reluctantly.

Later, when we all congregated in the kitchen dining area, I was confronted with three glum kids. The youngest was more copying the older two, but she was still depressed. My determination hardened. I was not going to give up on these kids and let them remain in bed, sulking over the loss of their father.

I wasn't going to let them go through life without living it to the fullest if I could help it.

Heather sat in the chair with slumped shoulders and a brooding look on her face. All in all, it was a look that told how dangerous she was or could be if not left alone, strong body language for a sulking child. She stared at me and my whirlwind movements around the kitchen. Finally, she spoke up. "What has gotten into you today, mom? Don't you even care anymore that Daddy is gone?"

It was what I had been waiting for. "Honey, I'll always miss your father, but there is nothing any of us can do about him now. While we've been sitting around moping about him being gone, life has been passing us by. There is a whole world out there. What do you say we do some exploring?"

A chorus of 'No' sounded around me. I was not about to give up without a fight. These kids were going to learn a hard lesson about life, even if it broke me in half to give it. I left the kitchen to go converse with Heather.

Heather still had a room in the house that had become a permanent residence for her. It had originally been a servants quarters and it was separate from the main part of the house. Heather was lying on her bed resting when I walked into her quarters. She looked up as I came in.

"Hi, Jennifer. Uh oh. What's wrong?" She could tell by the look on my face that something was not the way it should be.

"Heather, I'm scared for the kids. All they have done is mope around since their father died. Heaven knows, I didn't do anything to help for a while and they are suffering for it. They refuse to go outside the house, they don't want to do anything at all. I am afraid that Dan's death will harm them too severely if they don't realize that they are just kids and have their lives ahead of them. They will see death many times more in the future, but this being the first time is affecting them hard."

"Then what would you have them do? I mean, if they don't want to do anything outside the house, you really can't force them to do anything."

"But that's the point, Heather. If I do nothing at all, they will spend the whole summer moping around the house. Can you remember all the fun that you and Jennifer had during summer when you were growing up? Not to mention the fun that we had the very first time we met? Children their age shouldn't be so depressed. They need to have fun. They need to get on with their lives, regardless. I guess I'm becoming more of a mother than I had anticipated. I love these children with all my heart and I have to see that they are going to be ok before I can leave." I started crying again.

"What do you propose we do to help them?" she asked.

I tried to dry my tears as best as possible. "Since I don't know any of their friends, could you find phone numbers for me and invite them all over here for a get well party? I am sure that we can order in some pizzas for them to eat." I was now getting excited about the prospect of giving a party for the kids.

"And then what? Just having a party for the kids will not really do anything except possibly give them reason to avoid you completely." Bang, splat. I was shot down. I had no idea what to do next. My shoulders slumped in dejection. In my whole life, I had never had any reason to have a party. Nor had I ever had one as Jennifer. I was an old has-been who had never had an original thought. I never went wild doing anything. I was so depressed now that I started crying.

"Heather, I really don't know what to do. I am a failure. I can't think of any way to get the children out of their funk. If I could bring their father back, I would. But that is an impossibility."

"Well, at least you admit it. Now let the expert have a crack at it. You were at least on the right track. The worst thing you could have done is to have brought in a child psychologist to pick their brains. That's what Jennifer would have done because of her training. I know the kids need to have fun as well as I know they need to get on with their lives."

"It's just as well that psychology isn't the answer. For the last several days I've been reading Jennifer's college texts, but they were so difficult I had to give it up. It looks like it will have to be my way, not Jennifer's."

"Ok, try this: you just go and see what they are doing. Try getting each one of them alone and try to talk to them about their feelings. Heather will be the hardest since she is the oldest and nearer the point of teenage rebellion. If you can get her swayed over to your thinking, you will have an easier time with the younger ones. Maybe with her help, you can approach Robert and Myra. In the meantime, your idea for a little party is a good one and will only take a few hours to get it prepared. You take care of the three and I'll do all the planning and getting things ready." There was an excitement in her eyes that told me she was looking forward to it.

I left to go spend time with the kids. None of them had moved from where they had been sitting earlier. The same blank stares covered their faces as before. They were all lost in their own thoughts, but it was about to come to an end.

WHEEETTTT! I blew from a whistle. "All right, listen up! This has to stop right here and now!" I suddenly had all their attention. "This self-pitying has to stop. Do you think that I didn't hurt when your father died? I'll miss him for the rest of my life, but life will not stop for me because I'm sad about losing him. Your dad wouldn't have wanted it that way for me or you!

"You are all young enough to be able to adjust at your own rate. You just have to realize that life will not stop for you."

I scanned the faces before me. All of them had confusion written on them. I may have gone a bit too far but at least I had their undivided attention. I had to make the most of it. "Now, I will no longer give any of you a choice in things. You will all go to your rooms and you will put on your swimming suits and we are all going to go out to the pool and have fun." I was confronted by shock on their faces. I had actually ordered them to do something.

"Come on, get moving. I will give you enough time to get yourselves ready and be out to the pool. Now get going." I crossed my arms with my watch showing so that they could see I was keeping track of the time. All of their jaws had dropped open. They could not believe that I was serious over this whole thing. To prove I was, I left the kitchen and went to my room. I had found Jennifer's swimming suits a long time ago.

She was now forty years old, but she was still a tremendously sexy and young looking woman. Three kids had not ruined her figure at all. I dug out a sexy bikini, stripped and put it on. I put a pool robe on over the top of it and grabbed a towel from the linen closet.

I went back to the kitchen to find the kids still there. All of them just stared at me as if I was totally out of my mind. I was not going to let them get away with just staring at me. "Didn't you hear me? I said get going!" I raised the tone of my voice to something that I hoped would galvanize them into action.

Without waiting to give an answer, all three of the kids vanished. Talk about a disappearing trick. I knew it would take them longer than five minutes to get ready, so that gave me plenty of time to prepare the area for what would be coming up soon.

The kids were no longer visible in the kitchen. I knew they were at least in their rooms. I went to each room in turn to check on them. The oldest girl's room was nothing but a flurry of activity. She may not have known the real reasons why I was doing this, but she knew enough about her mother to know that normally they would have gotten away with murder. I knew that she had to be confused with my new tough attitude. I knocked on her door and entered.

I heard a voice that seemed to be muffled by tears. "Come in." was all she said. She looked up at me trying to quell her tears. I went over and sat down beside her on her bed.

"Heather, honey, what is wrong?" I had to be as gentle as I could with her. If I did or said the wrong thing, it could blow up in my face.

"I don't know, mom. You've been acting so strange since dad died and all of us are trying to figure out why you are trying to make us do things that we really don't want to do. You were always more easy-going. But now, you are ordering us around and you are starting to sound more like Grandma Banks every day. Why can't you just be like you were before all this happened?" Talk about a hard question and some good points on her part. It was showing that she had a tremendous brain in her head. It was time to put it to even more use.

"Honey, nobody likes being this way. When a person dies, it leaves a void in the lives of all those around them. In our case, we are left without the pillar of the family. Imagine our family as a house. Each one of us is a wall or the roof or something like that. You could think of me as the roof, protecting the family from the elements. Your dad was the pillar, the central support that held up the house and made it strong. Now that he is gone, what do you think will happen to the house?"

"It'll collapse?" She replied quizzically as if she was unsure of the answer.

"That's right. Our house is collapsing around us because the pillar is missing. I am running around trying to do two jobs at once: be the support pillar as well as the roof of the house. But I'm fighting a losing battle because the walls are showing signs of weakness now. Before too long, we could be nothing but a wrecked shamble of a family. Nothing would ever be exciting to us again and we would wind up going through life as if we too were dead. The only step left would be to put us in our graves because that is where we would belong. Are you dead?"

"No."

"That's because your heart is beating. It's telling you that you are alive. Right now your mind is having a difficult time recognizing that. It if keeps on this way you will start a slow killing process that might last your entire life. It tears me apart to see you kids acting like you are going to be the next ones to die. You are alive! We have to get your brain to recognize that."

"Why are you trying to psychoanalyze me now, mom?" She was sharp but that was not what I was trying to do.

"What makes you think that? If I felt that's what you needed, I wouldn't do it myself. I'd call someone else in to do it since I'm too close to the problem. What I am trying to do is to get you to open up and start to live again. To do that, you have to want to live, otherwise, you will dwell in your own misery. The choice is now yours." I told her firmly.

"Momma, I really want to live but I don't know how I can without daddy to be here for me like he used to." I could tell that I might be pushing her close to the point where things would start looking up for her.

"Then why don't we try to learn what it's like but do it together? We can learn and grow from each discovery we have along the way. There really is a whole wide world out there for the picking. All we have to do is reach out, grab what we want, and hold on tight."

With that, she did exactly that. She grabbed me in a tight hug and cried her eyes out. She continued for several minutes. At times, I felt like I was going to break in half, as hard as she was holding me. But my arms were holding her as tightly. When she was finished crying, she backed off.

"Thanks mom. I really needed that. Now if you will excuse me, I have to finish getting ready to go meet the world again," she said with a warm smile on her face.

"Certainly, dear. Try not to take too long." One down, two to go.

The boy's room was not as active, but I could hear him moving things around. I knocked on his door and waited for his invitation to enter. As I entered his room, I could tell he was not going to be easy to deal with. He had been sitting on his bed and throwing things around in anger. I could tell he was hurting inside, but was too much of a man to let it out anymore by crying.

"Care to talk about it, Robert?" I asked him.

"No mom, I don't. I just want my father back. I know I can't have him back and it makes me want to scream. I want to punch someone out. I want to tear the arms off the person that let the airplane go down with dad inside it. I want." He trailed off.

"What do you want, Robert?" I asked him quietly. I felt that he was blaming me for letting his father get on the airplane that killed him.

"I.I really don't know." He was suddenly very quiet. I think he was gathering his thoughts.

"Let me ask this, Robert: If I had been able to keep your father from getting on that airplane, what do you think would have happened?"

"I DON"T KNOW WHAT WOULD HAPPEN!" he screamed at me. "WHY DIDN'T YOU KEEP HIM FROM GETTING ON THAT PLANE, HUH? IF YOU HAD TOLD HIM THAT YOU DIDN'T WANT HIM TO DO THAT STUPID MOVIE, HE WOULD STILL BE HERE WITH US! HE WOULD STILL BE HERE!" He was trying to keep his emotions in and not show anything that might be a weakness. He had cried early on, but now it seemed like it was bottled up inside him and was eating him away from the inside out.

"Robert, don't you think I didn't try? I even tried something that would have left all three of you kids in a worse condition. I tried to talk your father into taking me with him. If I had, I would be dead too and you kids would be orphans."

"But that still doesn't make up for the fact that my father is gone forever. Don't you ever think about getting married again because I will never accept anyone else that tries to be a replacement for him."

"Sweetheart, I seriously doubt that will ever happen. You three are my greatest concerns right now and are my life, my world. No one could ever replace your father in my heart. I know I will never be able to replace your father just by myself, but I do know that there is someone who is willing to make the efforts to be a father figure if you are willing to give him the chance."

"I don't even want to know who your new boyfriend is. I told you that I will not have anything to do with someone like him." I could tell his anger would get the best of him one day.

"Silly, I do not have a new boyfriend. The person I was talking about is Grandpa Sparks."

"And what do you know? He is an old man and should be in his grave too!"

"Now young man! You had better watch your tongue or you could be working your way into deep trouble. If you look at it from my point of view, your grandfather raised your father and look at how he turned out. Your father was a fine man thanks to grandpa. I don't see how it could hurt for you to spend some good quality time with him. I am sure that he could show you a thing or two that he might not have taught your father. Besides, he loves you as much, if not more, than he did your father. Now, he is also one of the people suffering because of Dan's death. You only know him from your short visits to him, but you will find that he is a man of great knowledge. All you have to do is give him the chance to prove it."

"But you don't understand, mom, Dad was going to teach me how to be an actor like he was. He had started teaching me how to control my voice and to sing. He kept telling me that once I hit p-u-berty or something like that, he would get more serious about teaching me how to be a better actor. Now I won't be able to learn anything and be an actor like he was. I don't know what I'm going to do!"

"But why should that stop you from being an actor like your father was? I see great potential in you and all you have to do is harness the talent and apply it the way that your father did. He really had little formal training and you can see how much people loved his work and ability. I'm sure that if you really truly want to be an actor, you will find a way to do it. But more than anything else, DON'T give up on it. Keep it as your heart's desire and you will accomplish what you set out to do. There are many great acting coaches out there who can teach you a lot more than your father could ever have done." I was starting to feel like this child was going to be a hard nut to crack; that it would be a matter of time before he accepted everything.

"But what if I don't want to go to any acting coaches? None of them are like my father."

"I think that would be your choice. By all means, I am not going to push you into doing something that you don't want to do. But look at it this way: You are the living legacy of your father. You are the inheritor of his talent. What you decide to do with it will be up to you. Every person has the free will to choose whatever he or she wishes to do with his or her life. Why waste that skill by refusing to get training because your father can't give it to you? Wouldn't your father be more concerned that you had the training, not where it came from? If your father had asked you to go to them, wouldn't you go?"

"Yes, because if he felt that it would help me, then I would listen to him."

"Then what's the difference if I'm the one to suggest it instead of your father? Can't you see that what I am trying to do is look out for your best interests? Your father and I were married too long to not see eye to eye on issues concerning the welfare of our children. Right now, you are the main focus of my attention. You have so much going for you and you have the potential to surpass your father's talent, but only if you work hard at it and strive to excel in your studies. But none of this matters as much as how much I love you and how much I want what is good for you. I want for you to be the best at whatever you set you mind to doing. Regardless of anything, you are my son and I love you and your sisters with all my heart."

I watched as he sat there thinking over what I had told him. I was expecting him to start coming over very soon now.

"Mom, do you really think that I can surpass dad in things that he has done?"

Good boy. He is starting to think now. "Yes, sweetheart, I do. As I said, you have the potential to surpass your father, but you have to work for it and you have to work hard. Nothing will be given to you without your earning it. To earn it, you have to want it with all your heart and be willing to give up all other things in search of your goal. Are you willing to go to that extent? If you do, I will be there behind you all the way supporting you. But I will do that no matter what you decide to do with your life. But I will not do it if you feel the need to waste your life."

"What will I have to do to get training in acting? What will I need to know?"

"If you want to start training to be an actor, we can start tomorrow morning looking for an acting coach for you. You will have to listen to whoever it is like you would me or your father. If he says jump, you ask 'How high?' and proceed to do it. While you are doing everything you are told, think to yourself that your father is in the audience watching you. Make every performance for him and him alone. Make him proud of you. I know he would be regardless, but make every performance your best no matter what. That is all I will ask of you."

"If you really want me to do this, I'll do it and be the best actor that I can be," he said.

"No honey, you have it wrong. I don't want you to do this. YOU are the one that has to want to do this. What I want and what you want are two separate things. You have to want to do this for yourself or better yet, you have to want to do this for your father. That's all that matters in the end."

"How long do I have to think about this?" was the next question he asked.

"How long? Take all the time in the world. But know this, I will not ask you again what your decision is. I will act like I forgot all about it. YOU will have to bring it up again or never. Once you start, though, I will expect that you keep the highest grades in school and I expect one hundred percent cooperation from you. Do you understand that?" I felt that I had gotten through to him, but only time would tell.

"I understand, mom. I'll think about what you said and let you know when I have made a decision." I, at least, had managed to slow a crisis down a bit. He still had a long way to go, but at least he had a focus for his energy and ambitions. I had to reward him for this. I reached over to him and pulled him closer to me. He seemed uncertain what I was intending, but when I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him, he relaxed and joined me in the hug.

"Thank you, momma. I love you," he told me tenderly.

"You're welcome, son. I love you too." I felt that it was time to get him ready to join in a bit of fun. "Ok, now young man, since we've been sitting here for nearly an hour, it's time to complete what you came in here for. Get your swim clothes on and meet me out at the pool. I have to go see to your younger sister."

The youngest girl's room was different. I could hear no movement at all, although I could hear her sobbing inside. It was time for corrective measures for her, too. I knocked and then entered. She was sitting on her bed trying to stifle her tears but failing miserably. I walked over and sat down next to her.

"Why are you doing this to us, mommy?" was her heart-rending question. "Don't you love us anymore now that daddy is gone?"

"No, sweetie. This means nothing like that. If anything, mommy loves you three more than ever. Since daddy is gone, mommy has nothing of him left except you three. All of you are more precious to me because you are his children. It is just that mommy is hurting when she sees all three of you so sad all the time. It is not like it was before daddy was gone and I cannot let you live this way. All kids should be happy and playing or doing things that they enjoy. There is a time for sadness but there is a time for happiness. All of us are survivors of daddy's death and that means that we have to continue to live our lives now that he is gone. But the best way to do that is to celebrate what he gave us to begin with. That means that you kids can celebrate that he gave you your existences and I can celebrate that he gave me three such wonderful children to love in his absence. Does this help you understand?"

"Yes, mommy," was the quiet reply I received. It was still sad, but nearing what I wanted it to be.

"Well, then let's get a move on. Let's go celebrate life!" As I stood up, I heard the 'BONG, BONG' of the doorbell. Ah, the guests were arriving. I went down to the front door to greet them.

Heather was already there, directing them into the back yard. I could see a number of mothers with kids that ranged the ages of Jennifer's kids. There were a couple of younger children, but that didn't matter. I let Heather do the guiding and I made sure that the kids were ready to face the world at large again.

When I found the kids again, they were standing at the back door staring at the number of kids and mothers outside. I smiled to myself over the sight. They looked like they were about to be thrown to the lions. Robert looked like he was about to turn around and run back to his room to hide. I had to step up and urge them again.

"Ok, kids. Now you see what I've been up to all morning long. Whether you want to or not, you have to go outside and be with your friends. It's not because you want to be with them that I am doing this. It's because you do not want to be with them. So, get going and go have fun."

Shell-shocked looks and all, they moved stiffly outside. As they were coming out of the house, their individual friends all came over to join them. The oldest girls moved to join Heather and each girl that approached gave her a somber hug. Then they dragged her over to the pool and threw her screeching into the water, then jumped in after her.

I watched as variations of the theme played out with the other two kids. The boys were a lot rougher with Robert than the girls had been with Heather, but he still wound up in the pool.

Myra was led over to the side and the girls all sat down on the edge before getting in the water. Before too long, there were kids of all ages splashing and playing in the pool. For a while my three were just frowning about it, but soon, they were all joining in with the laughing and playing as well as the rest of the kids. I smiled with happiness. At one point they all looked up at me and motioned for me to join them. I had noticed them talking together earlier and I wondered what they had up their sleeves.

I took my robe off and climbed into the water to join them. All three moved towards me. All three of them gave me a huge hug. As the leader, Heather had something to say.

"Mom, we don't know how you did it, but this is the best thing you have ever done for us. We all realize now that this was what we needed to do. Myra explained to Robert and me what you had told her earlier about celebrating daddy's life and his gifts to us. Those words are truer than any you have ever said to us. We do owe him our lives, but we owe them to you too. You gave birth to us all and that has more meaning than anything to us right now. We love you, mom. Thank you for our gifts."

They all gave me a tighter round of hugs before moving away to play with their friends. I was now content. I think I was able to show them there was more to life than sitting around being gloomy. I got out of the pool and dried off before putting the robe back on.

The mothers who brought the kids joined me. The comments I got from them were all of condolences and congratulations for being strong enough to turn the kids around. One woman told me that she had been waiting for the phone call to bring her kids over. She knew what losing a loved one was like. She seemed to me a strong individual and I told her so.

I had tears on my face and I excused myself from the gathering to go collect my thoughts. I now knew my time was short here. I could feel it in my soul. There was contentment at a job well done. I went back into Jennifer's room, took the expected letter off her door, went inside and pulled out her Journal. I wrote a large account of what had happened that day and what I learned about inner strength. I poured my heart out as I had never done before. I was still worried that the children might backslide a couple of times, but I knew they would have their mother back to help them. I felt bad about Jennifer not knowing that her husband had died and that she was going to have to go through the mourning by herself and in private. I made sure that my feelings over his death were plain and heart-felt enough for her to understand. I knew she would know where the words came from but I still felt that it might help her out in the long run.

I then opened the letter.

"Jennifer, I am sorry for the loss of Dan. But it was his destiny to die and you had to learn what life was truly about. At any time in a person's life, a death may occur. Some are sudden, such as Dan's, but many are expected and are not as much of a shock to the survivors. But as a mother, you had to learn the strength to continue living and even to help your children when they were affected by the same death.

"Without that strength, the children would have remained in the state of denial over their father's death and eventually one or two might have killed themselves out of grief. That had to be prevented. All three children have destinies that span many years, touch lives and achieve goals. They had to learn the strength to go on and there was only one person who could teach them: their mother. You have taught them well.

"You will only have one more challenge left after this. You may start it at your leisure or you may start it immediately. This next one will not be as difficult as this one was. Good luck and choose wisely."

I overturned the envelope after making sure that the journal was opened to the last entry so that Jennifer could read it. The spinning returned me back to my body.
 
To Be Continued...
 
Note: Note: TG magic age-regression borrowed-body rated-R
Posted by: Admin on Wednesday, August 27, 2003 - 08:23 PM
 
 

This was supposed to have been the last time that I would have to worry about the necklace and charms. It had been so long since I had been able to be myself. For some reason, I'd managed to pass all the tests and yet in the real world, very little time had passed. I was tired of this whole thing and I needed to get it over with. I could barely remember how this business had started, but after what seemed to have been several lifetimes worth of problems, I thought that whoever was doing this to me would surely, eventually show themselves, probably after the last lesson.

I was not looking forward to this one. My question was 'Dying?' I looked at the charm I had just received. It was in the shape of a tombstone. That in itself was enough to make a shiver run up and down my spine. Would I have to die this time or would someone else have to die? I was afraid to find out.

With shaking fingers, I opened the necklace, put the charm on it, and closed the catch. I took a deep breath, trying to relax myself. Hesitantly, I put the necklace over my head. The world changing spinning started and I was transported to a world I was not ready for.

Once things settled back to somewhat normal, I staggered from what felt like the weight of the world. I felt hands reach to steady me.

"Are you alright, Grandma?" a young woman's voice asked to me.

Grandma? I was someone's grandmother? I turned to look at the person who had hold of my left arm. A young beautiful woman about 23 years old was looking at me with concern. She looked a lot like Jennifer did at that age, but I could tell she had other genes in her makeup.

"I'm fine, dear. Thank you for steadying me. I'll be ok now."

"Grandma, you know as well as I do that you aren't doing well. You try to pull the wool over everyone's eyes, but you can't fool me. You've been getting worse every day and you know it."

"I know dear, but the only thing wrong with me is time." I could feel the time burdening my shoulders as well as every joint in my body. How old was I? "I think I need to go sit down for a bit, dear. I'm a bit tired at the moment."

"To tell you the truth, Grandma, you shouldn't even be up out of bed. You know that your heart isn't as strong as it used to be. The doctor said that you needed to take it as easy as possible. She also told me to keep an eye out on you and make sure that you didn't do things that you weren't supposed to do. And what do I find you doing? Exactly what you are not supposed to do." She had a perturbed look on her face.

"Dear me, you certainly are a pushy little one, aren't you?" I gave a sigh. What choice did I have? I WAS tired. "I know when I'm whipped, young lady. Just help me to my chair and I'll be good."

She looked very serious. "Grandma, you know, sometimes you worry me. I would hate to have something happen to you and lose you. I love you too much to let you go without a fight."

"That's sweet of you, dear, but when my time comes, you will have no choice but to let me go. I've had a long life and I'm looking forward to the time I can rejoin my family in peace."

I could tell that she didn't like the thought of seeing her grandmother dying because she was so quiet; she even had a tear running down her face. Personally, I still didn't like the thought of having to die. If I died here, would that mean that I died in the real world? I doubted it and what kind of lesson would I learn if I did?

"Sweetie, you don't have to worry about me. When it's my time, I will go out peacefully and without pain."

"How do you know that, Grandma?" she asked with a puzzled look on her pretty face.

"Because I know that when a person dies, any pain that they may have had in life will vanish. And right now, I would gladly welcome the loss of the pain." We had arrived at a chair that looked older than I felt. "Help me sit down, dear. That's a good girl." I eased my body down to the chair as slowly as I could. Just to take a load off my feet felt wonderful. My ankles were aching tremendously, as well as my knees and hips.

Jennifer's granddaughter, whatever her name was, was looking at me in concern. "Is there anything I can get you, Grandma?" she asked.

"Well, if you don't mind, would you be so kind as to get me a glass of water, please? I'm parched and could use a quenching coolness inside me."

"Would you like any of your medications? It's getting to be time to take some of them."

"Whatever you think, dear. I'm tired and can't think well enough to remember what to take." Now that was sort of the truth. I didn't know, much less remember, what sort of medications Jennifer took, so it was best to let her get those for me.

"You just relax and I'll be back in a moment with them," she told me. She was such a good girl.

I was physically exhausted and having a hard time catching my breath after the walk from the kitchen. It was not all that far, but it seemed like I had walked a mile. I closed my eyes for what felt like an hour but could have been only a few seconds. Time seemed out of whack to me.

"Here you go, Grandma Michael," she said as she handed me the glass and some pills.

I nearly choked. "What did you say?" I was shocked to hear that name from her lips.

"Don't be so shocked. I knew that one day I'd get to meet you. I just didn't know when. Your reaction gave me the confirmation I needed. When you said you couldn't remember what pills to take, I knew that something had to have changed. That's because Grandma NEVER forgot what pills to take. Before Great Aunt Heather died, she told me to keep an eye out for you. She told me that you were a special person, although for the life of me, I'm not exactly sure why she said that."

"Heather died? How long ago?" I was starting to tear up. The one who had been with me through thick and thin was gone? It tore a hole in my heart to hear that.

"She's been gone for five years now. She told me that she hadn't seen you for nearly forty years and had expected you long before she died. She told me all about what was going on with you and Grandma Jennifer and all the visits you had made to her body."

"She told you everything?" I was incredulous over this disclosure.

"Well, I'm not sure that she told me everything, but she told me a lot."

"Did she ever say that she told Jennifer about me?"

"I'm not supposed to tell you anything about that, but it is too late in Grandma's life to hide things from you. I remember Aunt Heather mentioning that you had told her not to tell Grandma Jennifer about your quest, but yes, Aunt Heather told Grandma about you. That was about thirty years ago. Since I wasn't alive at that time, I can only go on what I was told."

I couldn't help but be curious as to what Jennifer had been told about me. "How did Jennifer react to the news?"

"From what I had been told, she at first thought that Tiffany was lying about it, but after Tiffany told her everything that had happened when Grandma had her blackout periods, she came to believe the whole thing as truth."

"Was she depressed about things afterward?"

"As far as I know, she wasn't. She supposedly accepted it because it went a long way towards explaining the blackouts and finding strange messages in her diary. Once it was explained that the messages were to help her adjust to the changes in her life she didn't remember, she was calm. She wanted to know everything about you and was told everything about your supposed quest."

"And were you told about the quest?" I asked.

"Yes, I was. And I know why you're here right now. That's why I am so sad. It means that I will be losing Grandma soon and I can't help but have a difficult time with it." With those words, she burst out crying. I think she realized that she had already lost her grandmother and that I was waiting to die in her place. I joined her in tears.

With the tears flowing down my cheeks I said, "Be that as it may, I'm still here for the moment. Let us make the best of what time we have left." I reached as far as I could and drew her into a hug. "Now, young lady, I think that there is something that I need to know from you. Would you be so kind as to answer a few questions from me?"

She looked up at me with puzzlement written on her face. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"What I mean, is that since Heather is not here to answer my questions, I have to ask someone else who knows the answers."

"Oh, I see. Sure. Ask as many as you care to ask."

"Ok. First, I need to ask you, and this may seem a silly one, but what's your name and what is your complete relationship to Jennifer? I can't keep calling you dear or young lady, can I?"

"No, I suppose not. My name is Amy Johansen. I'm the youngest daughter of Grandma Jennifer's youngest daughter, Myra."

"Ok, now how many kids are in your family?"

"There are three of us. Each one of Grandma Jennifer's three kids had three kids."

"Goodness, then that means I have nine grandchildren, including you?"

"Well, in actuality, you have several great-grandchildren. Twenty-four to be exact. I'm the youngest grandchild. I'm waiting to start my family."

"Mercy me! Twenty-four great-grandchildren? If I may be so bold in asking, why haven't you started having children?"

"It's only because I haven't been out of college long enough to worry about it. I'm still trying to build a life for myself and I'm not yet ready to share it with someone else."

"That's fine, but you really should have started a long time ago," I said with a twinkle in my eye.

"Grandma Michael, you are worse than Grandma Jennifer EVER was! She was always trying to set me up with grandsons of her friends. I'm just not ready to do that yet. You will just have to lay off me for now."

"Ok, dear. Now, would you be so kind as to tell me what year, month, and day it is and how old I am now? Also, what are the important factors in my life right now, health-wise? It would help me keep my items straight while I'm here."

"Well, for starters, you, or I should say, Grandma Jennifer, is 81 years old. Today is March 15, 2074. I guess that Grandma won't see her 82nd birthday as she wanted. She knew she wasn't going to see the end of the year because her doctor told her she wouldn't be able to carry on long enough. She had resigned herself to fate and was trying to take care of things as swiftly as she could; there are only tiny things left to do now."

"Well, they may be tiny things, but they might not get done. Some of my challenges didn't take long and some were long drawn-out affairs. I'm afraid this one will not be very long. I can only hope that I'll be able to get to know you a bit before I am gone, maybe the rest of the family too. While I'm Jennifer, I can at least learn a bit about her descendents. What's so wrong with Jennifer that she is not expected to live out the year?"

"She, or you for that matter, has congestive heart trouble as well as being highly diabetic. Between the two, her body has been shutting down and she knows or knew it. Now that you are here, I know it will be a lot sooner than I had hoped. I hope that I can make your last moments, however long they will be, comfortable and enjoyable for you."

"I can't thank you enough for that. I'm terrified of the whole idea. In my real body, I'm only 41 years old. To me, dying now is to be going before my time and I am not ready to die, no matter what. But in another sense, for me to die here means that I will soon be on my last challenge and then it will be over and I can have my life back. It's been so long since I have been able to even think about being myself for more than a few minutes. The longest respite that I've had since this whole thing began in 2003 is two or three hours."

"Wow! How much time has passed in your real life?"

"From my calculations, I have been myself for about 4 hours total. The rest of the time has been skipping through Jennifer's life, living bits and pieces for her."

"This is fascinating. Do you mind if I write an article for a newspaper about your experiences? If not for a newspaper, maybe I can write it as a fictional story and post it on the web. Did you have such a thing way back then?"

"I think we did, but I never paid it any mind. I was always too busy to worry about things like that. At the time I began this quest, I didn't even have a computer. But you can write it as a fictional story; nobody would believe it if you wrote it for a newspaper. Are there still newspapers being published these days?"

"Actually, no, there aren't. What we call newspapers is in reality on the web; all news services post the daily news on it."

"I see. I am curious about something. Did Jennifer still keep a diary around? I would love to catch up on her life since I was last here forty-one years ago, regardless of how painful it might be to read."

"I think we kept her old journals in the attic to leave more room for things. She started buying the ones that were good for five years, but they still took up a lot of space, even though each page had room for two days worth of entries."

"On second thought, would it be possible to see her most recent one? That way you can avoid digging around in the attic for them. Besides, I might not get the chance to read the others." Not that I didn't want to read the others, but if things work out the way I was expecting, I wouldn't be here long at all.

She stood up and said, "I'll be right back with her most recent journal."

She left the room and I could hear her rummaging around in a drawer. I heard a faint "Ah-ha!" coming from the room and she was back out in a couple of seconds.

"Here you go, Grandma, her most recent journal." She handed me the flower-covered book.

"Thank you, dear. Would you be so kind as to get me another glass of water, please?"

Amy got a worried look on her face, but it was only fleeting. "Sure, Grandma. I'll be right back with it. You go ahead and read." She left the room.

I sat back in the chair and opened the journal. Inside, it had Jennifer's name and the starting date. She had only been writing in it since January 1st, which made it less than three full months old. I turned to the first page.

January 1, 2074

Happy New Year. Not that it's going to be a happy year for me. I know this will be my last year of life and it's something that I am not happy about. My family is rallying around me, saying that I will outlive my doctors. I know they are being kind. To tell the truth, I'm tired and would just like to rejoin my mother, father, Dan, Heather, Grandma Banks, Mom and Dad Sparks in the afterlife. I know for a fact that I will not see my 82nd birthday. My body is too tired to go on and it's a struggle to carry through each day. If it weren't for young Amy, I would surely give up and go now. She is such a dear to me. She is so much more beautiful than I was at her age. But she certainly has my spark and spunk in her. Her Grandfather would have been so proud of her if he had lived to meet her.

I skipped a few pages to another month.

Feb. 14, 2074

Happy Valentines Day, My Love. How I miss you with all my heart. It's been forty-one years since you left me and I have missed you each and every day. I'll be joining you soon and we will both rejoice in it. Take care of everyone until I arrive.
 

March 12, 2074

Went to the doctor today. She said that I would not survive the week. My heart is barely pumping blood through my system and it does so sluggishly. I have decided not to tell anyone in the family about it and I will go out with as much dignity as I can. Michael, I know you are reading these words because I have been expecting you for a long time now. I will go out without any pain and you will have to go through my death for me. Tell Amy I love her with all my heart and that she needs to get herself married as soon as possible. She is the primary recipient of my estate, although the rest of my kids and grandkids will be getting a share. She has been my pride and joy for years. But I have a requirement in my will that she must be married within 6 months or she will forfeit 90% of her inheritance. She also must name her first daughter, Jennifer, after me.
 

Michael, I wish so much that I could have met you while I was alive. But for some reason, we were meant never to meet. I could only read about your times in my body after you had left. I thank you for the words you left to help me understand what happened while I was blacked out. Until Tiffany explained you to me after the last time you were me, I thought I was going crazy. The month when I was 17 was the most traumatic. I had a nervous breakdown trying to figure out where that month of my life went.
 

When I found out that I had a boyfriend who doted on me and that we had been dating for a month, when I had originally intended on it being a pity date, I felt my life was a shambles because I didn't remember it at all. Later on, when I was in that horrible relationship with what's-his-name, I was too afraid of him to end it. Then, lo and behold, I had another blackout and when I came around again he was gone. Dan had come back into my life again. I was near to having another breakdown. This time it was not from a nervous condition but from relief. I read your entries in my diary about kicking that man out and then going back to Dan. Then I read that he had proposed to me (you) and I was happy. I knew at that time, I was going to be ok. I still had no explanation why this was going on, but as long as it was for the better, I didn't complain.
 

I was angry when I found out that I hadn't gone through the birth of my first daughter, that I had another blackout period during that time. I did get to experience the births of my other two babies, but the first one was the most problematic; I really wanted to have that experience myself. I was able to forgive you when I knew about you. When I found out that you had no control over what you were going through, I discovered that I couldn't hate you for taking over my life. Truthfully, I learned a lot from you and you weren't even there.

Then the worst time of my life happened: Dan's death. Again, I was not here for it. When I found out what happened to him, I felt I had lost the world. If it had not been for Tiffany telling me about you then, I would have went off the deep end in grief. I had grown to love that man with all my heart and I could not stand to be without him. Reading your words in my journal helped me to understand the grief YOU went through with his loss. Yet, you had not spent 18 years with him as I had. You reacted as I would have and you learned that life had to go on, that death was a part of living. Your words sustained me in later years because I was able to read the anguish that you had in your heart. We both loved Dan so much and his death tore us to pieces.
 

Michael, I have no idea why I was chosen to be the one you would live through, but I am truly glad. You were the best thing that happened to me through a troubled youth and a weak adulthood. You were a pillar of strength to me. I worked hard to emulate you and prove to others that the two sides of me could be one and the same. YOU, sir, are a tough act to follow, let me tell you. But I did learn that I could not let people use me and toss me aside when they were through with me. I used your inner strength to firm up my life and I took control of my own destiny.
 

About 20 years ago, on a spur of the moment, I went to see a fortuneteller to see what she could tell me about my life. She told me some of the most amazing things. She took one look at my lifeline and mentioned that it broke up six times in its length. The last stretch, the one following me to the end of my life, was the longest. Then there was a tiny gap. She said that six times during my life, I had been officially dead, yet I lived on.
 

The gaps were close together in the first quarter of my life, but became spread out a bit thereafter. She said that there were two men in my life, and that one of them was not my husband, yet was closer to me than my husband ever would be. I could only assume that that man was you. I couldn't tell her the truth behind what she was saying, but I acknowledged the point. She went on to tell me about the length of my life as well as the rough date when I would pass away. So far, she's been so correct that it's scary. She also said that the second man would come back at the end of my life. That could only be you.
 

Now that my time has come, I am at peace with it and I look forward to joining the others who have gone before me. Thank you again, Michael, for everything you have done for me. Good-bye and I will see you when it is your time to join me in the afterlife.
 

My love always,
 
Jennifer

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

That was the last entry in the journal. I found that I was crying from reading her words.

I wish I had known her. We were so close; in many ways I felt I was a part of her.

She had left me with so much to think about and I was sure I would be doing so for the rest of my life.

I was so tired. Since I was sitting down in Jennifer's favorite chair, I felt that it was a good time to sleep for a bit. I leaned back and closed my eyes. I was quickly asleep.

Amy

Grandmother Jennifer passed away while taking a nap this afternoon. She had been reading her journal, her staple for so many years. I read her words to Michael about being told that she would not live out the week. That was true. I knew that she was dying, even though she never said a word to me. I could see it written on her face as she went about her normal daily routines. There was a tenseness covering her in shadow that seemed to drive her, forcing her to work hard to get things done before she left us.
 

It is left to me now, the task of calling everyone and letting them know Grandma has left us. I also have to contact the mortuary so that we can carry out her last request. Now that she is gone, life will have to continue for the rest of us. God Bless you, Michael for everything you did for our family. Without you, none of us would have ever been around and Grandma Jennifer's life would have been cut short. God, take care of Michael. He is a good man and deserves better than this. Let his life be without strife for the remainder of it.

 
To Be Continued...
 
Note: TG magic borrowed-body rated-R
Posted by: Admin on Wednesday, September 17, 2003 - 08:43 PM
 
 

To the doctor, the most puzzling part of the coma was that the patient had had brain activity the whole time, very high activity, in fact. According to the neurologists, this should not have been possible for someone with such severe head trauma. The doctor shook his head and ordered the crash team to leave the room. There was no crisis now, and the brain activity again gave a very highly agitated motion to the charting needles. He could only wish that he knew what was going on inside this person's mind. However, tonight he realized that he would never know; all signs were pointing to a physical degradation of the body. There was likely little time left before he died. The family had wanted to keep him alive as long as possible, but after six weeks in a coma, even they weren't hopeful.

The heavy sadness of the patient's family was apparent every time they visited. Everyone he'd met had loved this poor man, but there were a few callous people in the outside world that hadn't cared. Because this man was transgendered, they felt the need to commit mayhem. Several brutal blows to the head caused massive swelling in his brain, yet somehow, by some miracle, he still maintained brain function and activity.

'Regardless,' the doctor decided, 'he's not coming out of his coma.' The police put the perpetrators in jail for assault, but they still waited. When the man died, they would file charges for First-Degree murder as well as for hate crimes. The doctor took one last look at the EEG monitor. It was intense activity, as usual. 'What was going on in the patient's head?' the doctor wondered. 'Only God knows,' he answered himself.

I was back in my own house. The feeling of dying had been so calming. I knew every person would die, but to know that that death wasn't mine made it easier for me. I knew that eventually I'd die, but I certainly hoped that it wouldn't be for a long, long time to come. The only thing that I had left to deal with was the last question. This one didn't sound too bad. Choices? I could always make choices. However, I wasn't sure that this choice would be any easier than what I'd been facing so far.

The weird thing about this one was that I didn't have a charm to attach to my necklace. I didn't receive a letter from whomever it was that had been sending them to me. I could only guess that they were going to come to me to let me make my choice, whatever choice I would have to make. Nevertheless, I would have to wait for them.

DING-DONG!

Oops, there went my doorbell. I guessed I didn't have to wait very long after all.

After opening the door, I gasped at the site in front of me. It was Jennifer, only the Jennifer I remembered from her early twenties, except that she had a look of absolute perfection about her, not to mention a sort of glow that permeated her whole being. I could only stand there, dumbfounded at the sight of her. I just didn't know what to say.

"Hi, Michael. May I come in?"

What could I have done except dumbly stand aside and motion her to enter.

"Please, Michael, this is your home. Relax. Or haven't you learned anything about being a good hostess?"

"I'm sorry, Jennifer. I'm just so shocked to see you here. I hope you're not mad at me for living all those parts of your life."

"Michael, shall we sit? I think it would be better for both of us if we were able to be comfortable."

We walked over to the couch and sat down.

"Michael, I know my presence here is a shock to you, but we decided to use someone who would be familiar to you when we finally approached you. Just to let you know, I'm not really Jennifer. I only look like her. Very much like your experience in her body; you were not really her, either."

"What do you mean, only look like her?"

She held up her hand. "It might be very hard to explain things to you, but I'll try to answer your questions."

"I have a lot of questions for you. First, why did you do this to me? What did I do to deserve this sort of treatment? Who are you, and who are you people?"

"Michael, let me make this clear to you. We did not do this to you. We have been assisting you. The whole thing came from your own mind." I started to say something. She stopped me with a motion. "No. Wait, please; don't say anything. I know what you're going to say. I know it doesn't make any sense for all this to be coming from your own head. However, I'm afraid it's true. You didn't deserve this sort of treatment, either. I will explain more a bit later. Who I am and who my people are... that is a bit complex to explain. First, I have to show you something that I hope will bring things into clear focus for you. Come with me."

She took my hand, led me down the hallway to my room, and stood me in front of the mirror on the door. I was confronted with myself. She was not in the mirror at all, yet she stood next to me. This was weird.

"Michael, please tell me what you see."

"I see myself, but it's Dan looking back at me. I don't see you at all. Why is that?"

"Because I'm not really here. I'm just in your mind. What else can you tell me about your reflection?"

"I'm sorry, I don't really know what you're trying to ask me. This is all very confusing."

"Let me show you something, Michael." She put her hand to my forehead and held it there for a moment. "Close your eyes a moment." I did so. "Ok, you can open them. Now, what do you see?"

"I see myself, but I'm homely, overweight and my eyes are very sad. What did you do to me? Why did the reflection change from what I was before to this ugly person?"

"Michael, what you saw in the mirror before was your idealized self. It is how you want to be able to be seen by others. Your inner beauty was reflected. What you see now is what you actually look like. In reality, you're a very tender person and all the people you meet like you. They are able to see past the shell and see the person inside. That person is a wonderful person to be around. However, he is so sad because of his inner turmoil. Do you know what that is?"

"Yes, I'm transgendered. I hate what I look like. I'd never be able to pass as a woman because I'm too ugly as a man."

"Yet, people see the real you and they like what they see. Come with me again, please."

She took my hand and led me to the bedroom door. She opened it and we walked into what looked like a hospital room. There was a person lying on the bed, hooked up to a variety of monitors and tubes. This person looked very sick.

"Jennifer, who is this man? I can't tell through all the bandages."

"Michael, this is you. You've been in a coma for six weeks now, but your body is failing. The doctors have been doing what they could, but it hasn't been enough. What you went through in the last challenge, dying there, caused your heart to stop for a few seconds. It will only cascade further."

"How did I get to be here? Everything seems so real."

"It does to you, but it's all in your mind. This is what happened: One night you were trying to cross dress to see how good you could make yourself look. You had friends helping you, and you even had enough courage to step out of your house and sit on your porch. But before you could go back inside, a gang of young toughs prowling around looking for trouble spotted you and made you their target of opportunity. They beat you severely, took a baseball bat to your head, and tried to kill you. You were long unconscious before the neighbors heard them laughing about the queer they had just bashed. The police were summoned immediately and the gang was caught a few blocks away. You were brought into the hospital emergency room in extremely critical condition. Somehow, you not only survived the night, but you have survived for six weeks now. Nevertheless, it's ending. Your body is dying and there is nothing anyone can do to stop it."

"Why are you telling me this? I don't want to die!"

"Figuratively speaking, you already have. When Dan died, it was your mind releasing your masculine side to its inevitable demise. However, that's why I'm here now. My Father has sent me to make an offer to you. You will have to make a choice. Yes, it's that choice. Life has been unfair to you and your soul was not meant for the body it was imprisoned in. Moreover, I do mean imprisoned. You were supposed to have been a woman and live to an old age with many family members around you. The woman you have always called mother was meant to give birth to a deformed stillborn baby, but the carrier of the souls mixed things up, your soul was put in this body and the body you were meant for was not given anything soul-wise. That meant that the little girl you were supposed to be was stillborn. It was too late to correct the problem after the girl child died. You were both born at the same moment, at the same hospital in rooms next to each other."

"Jennifer, when I was looking in the mirror in my bedroom, I looked so handsome and then I became hideous. I understand the hideous part, but why was I so handsome?"

"Dear Michael, that's simple. What you were seeing is the person that you always wished you could have been instead of who you had always felt yourself to be. Dan is your desired self and that is why he became your boyfriend and husband. Your deepest desire was to be a normal-looking man and not a transgendered monster, as you felt yourself to be. Dan is how you perceived your ideal self to be inside your head."

"Why was I Jennifer when I was going through all the challenges? That's puzzled me most of all."

"That's why I'm here. As I said, my Father sent me to make you an offer. Every thing that you experienced as Jennifer is what you would have experienced if you had been born as that baby girl. However, your adult mind made the choices and took the actions she did. You filled in many of the blanks, such as dialogue, from your mind. It all occurred because of the mistake that was made so many years ago. My Father had made the decision to let you live as long as possible. He even had it written into your fate that you were to live as long as your destined body would have lived, but it was cut short when you were attacked in your yard."

She sighed. "My Father cannot maintain the body any longer and you will have to leave it."

"Could you explain what you mean?" I asked.

She smiled brilliantly. "Sure. Father wants me to offer you a new life right here and now. You can live from birth to death as the person of your choice. You can choose to live as a male or as a female. Your soul was destined to be female. If you choose to be male, we will have to modify your soul to fit your body. The body you choose will still be beautiful when it grows up and you will always be favored and guarded throughout the life you will live. But unfortunately, time grows short and the decision must be done within the next few minutes. Your old body is nearing terminal and will die. At the moment, no one can see us. If you look at the heart monitor, you will see an irregularity in the beating of the heart. The brain activity is decreasing as we stand here talking. The alarms should start going off any second now."

As she said that, the alarms sounded, warning the hospital staff of the irregularity of my heart functions. The team came running into the room, preparing for an attempt to resuscitate the patient on the bed. There was a flurry of activity and I was hard pressed to keep track of anything.

"Michael, come with me now, please. We must go. We have two different babies in the process of being born right now. They are in two different cities so you will not have to worry about where they are. They'll be born within a minute of your body dying. We will only have that short time in which to have you safely inside the new body. You will not remember your past life, but you will have a clean slate with whomever you choose."

Jennifer took my hand and we were suddenly in what seemed to be two different rooms at the same time.

"On your right, the woman is about to give birth to a girl. She will grow up to be very beautiful and intelligent. The woman on the left is about to give birth to a boy. If you choose him, we will change your soul to be content to be a male. He will grow up to be intelligent and handsome. Michael, there is a standby soul waiting to be placed in the body that you do not choose. You must choose now."

I couldn't believe the choice was needed so quickly. In my mind, I could hear the doctors in the room working furiously on saving my body. They were getting desperate, from the sounds of things. They were fighting hard, but they knew they were losing. I turned to Jennifer.

"I've made up my mind." She smiled at me. I nodded to the one I wanted.

"Come, let us proceed." She took my hand and approached the woman who was about to give birth to the chosen baby. "All you have to do is touch the spot where the baby is and you will be drawn into the new body. Congratulations. I'll see you when you come back to us. Goodbye, Michael."

I touched the woman's tummy. I heard the sounds in my room. Voices were asking for the time. The voices faded out, as I was absorbed into the body of the child I was meant to be, waiting to emerge into the world. . The last thing I saw was a beautiful smile on Jennifer's face.

The sound of a crying newborn filled the room. The people gathered in the room cheered. A voice declared, "It's a girl!" An ethereal voice sounded in the room, "Whole at last!" The baby cried; tears streamed down the mother's face as the happy parents welcomed their new addition to the world. The baby continued to cry as she protested the parent's loving handling.

Someone asked the parents, "What are you going to name her? Have you chosen yet?"

The proud mother looked up at her husband. "We had decided to name her Rachel, but I no longer want to call her that. Honey, if you don't mind, I have a deep desire to call her Jennifer. Is that ok?"

The proud father beamed at his beautiful wife. "Sweetheart, I didn't know how to tell you that I didn't like Rachel anymore and wanted to name our daughter Jennifer. She just looks like a Jennifer, a beautiful young girl. Would you look at those beautiful eyes! They are the most beautiful color of violet that I have seen!"

The doctor looked at them and said, "Ok, Jennifer, it is."

And Jennifer, it was.
 
 

 
 
Authors Note: This story has been a work of heartache and thought. It is also dedicated to those brothers and sisters in the Transgendered community who have suffered the most and have paid the ultimate price for trying to be who they were supposed to be. I weep for those lost souls and pray that they have been able to find peace and hopefully wholeness is given them in their next life. Thank you for following me in this journey.

Jerrie

Strange Items: After this part was completed while I was eating lunch, I was sorting through the work for the remainder of my work day, I came across a work order that shocked me to no end. One of my customers that I was supposed to work on caught my eye, big time. The name on the order was Ronald Banks and his wife's name was Almyra and he had a daughter by the name of Jennifer. Sometimes fiction nearly coincides with reality. Sometimes too close for comfort.
 
 
Note: TG magic borrowed-body rated-R
Posted by: Admin on Friday, October 03, 2003 - 09:22 PM