For Moon, life has never been easy. With a horrible name, a bad break in life, a rough job, and problems coming from every direction. What is a part time pretend magical girl to do?

“Moon?”, he waited until he had my attention, which was tenuous at best, “Can you come with me? Bring your laptop too.” As I gathered my gear together, putting my system to sleep so that it could come back up fairly quickly, Ralph conferred with the lead tech that I had been working with for the last half of the night/day/whatever and when we were both ready, he escorted me out of the conference room and through the corridors.

Now and then we ran into other people. Even though it was a Sunday, this building and its offices were still open and some staff were on duty as it housed a vast majority of the servers and mainframes that the company operated for various accounts that it controlled. They looked at me strangely as we went by. Not that I blamed them. Ralph had to lead the way, not being able to walk beside me because of the bulk of my petticoats. The edge of my skirt occasionally touched the wall or brushed against a doorway if I strayed from the center. The one good thing was that I didn’t blush as much now as I had been earlier when all this began. I was too tired for one thing and I was way too concerned and preoccupied for the other. Yah, I had so much on my mind that I didn’t care about walking the hallways of a corporate office while wearing massive petticoats that flared my skirt way out. Believe me, I stood out and I really was mentally preoccupied. Seriously.

We arrived at the parking lot and found his car parked close to the door in the VIP section. “I hope you don’t mind, but I thought it would be easier if we road over to the main office instead of walking across the campus where anyone could see us.”

I managed to get into the front seat and after a bit, buckled myself in without cringing too much. My skirt really was a hassle and I was so sore when sitting, even in a soft and luxurious car like this one. As with most cars this size, I felt awfully tiny. I was fairly short and skinny in the first place, but when I got into these big type cars it really proved the point to me. I didn’t care for big cars anyway as they held too many memories. No, I don’t want to talk about it. My laptop went into the back seat along with my star topped wand. I don’t know why I had ever bothered to bring that thing in with me into the office in the first place. Ralph pulled out while I dug through my little cloth bag like purse and repaired my makeup in the mirror, putting on a fresh coat of lipstick after being satisfied with the rest of my appearance. The curls in my hair still looked good, what you could see outside of my large, poufy hat with its large bow on the back that matched the color of my dress. Plus the bow motif worked with the ones on my blouse, gloves, and shoes. My ears were hurting a little from the weight of the dangling star earrings that matched the star on my wand. I wasn’t used to wearing earrings this long in the first place, much less ones of the size that dangled from my lobes. When I wore them for long lengths of time, they tended to be smaller and less noticeable.

My whole outfit was a magical girl’s dream and it was meant to be that way. I had copied it off of a old show that I liked. It wasn’t exactly like the one on the show, but a mix of various elements from two outfits. Hey, I wasn’t required to be perfect to the original. This is the way I had made it. It worked for me. Besides my hat, I had a white blouse with short poufy sleeves tied off with a large white bow on each sleeve, leaving ruffles below. Those ruffles matched the ones on my neck line and I had a huge dark pink bow right on my chest. My softer pink dress was like a tank top with shoulder straps that defined my narrow waist before they went pretty much straight out resting on my already mentioned petticoats. My stockings were white and my shoes were mary janes with almost three inch heels on them, including a matching dark pink bow on the mary jane strap.

I put my short white gloves, with their own dark pink bows and ruffled hems, back on as I stared out of the window as we made our way through the corporate campus. This was a large company whose main business, at least in this arm of the company, was providing services and systems to our customers. I was but one person, a tech of little importance, lost in the sea of acquisitions and mergers who was trying to keep from drowning. Part of my current plan was to stay afloat and find a way to get ahead and get noticed for the good that I could bring to the company. That image I wanted to project to management and to my peers did not involve my current outfit, of course. Still, that’s what I get for being a good employee. All my fault. I figure I might be able to get another job once all this was over, move to a different state in the process. It was a good thing I was single and could travel light. Probably the most extensive part of my possessions was my wardrobe. Well, the wardrobe that no one else could know about. Well, I should say, that no one else knows exists except for the cute over the top magical girl number I was wearing now. I could sure use some prince to save me right now. That or another magical girl who could help me out. I’d take either. Both were equally likely.

I was trying to stay awake as we parked in the VIP lot of the main corporate building, what we all referred to as the management’s penis, so named because it was a single tower nestled between two smaller buildings we called the left and right nut houses. Cock Tower was another. This name and descriptions are not allowed to be told to anyone who had business over there. So of course I’m sure they all knew about it. Heck, as tired as I was, I was afraid I was going to blurt it out as soon as I started talking. Ralph was eyeing me right now as I tried to control my giggles.

“Something wrong?”

“Oh, ah. Sorry. I’m just a little overwhelmed at the moment.” I did my best to stifle myself. Still, my head started screaming ‘PENIS!!!’ and I had to pause near the door as I held myself up. This was not a good sign for future interactions. I wasn’t sure if it was from the lack of sleep, my meds, or the drinks I had long ago. Maybe it was just me? Could it be me? Was I that crazy person people always talk about? I tried to think if I was the one who was the crazy person in the groups I ran with or if I was the sane one, but honestly my heart wasn’t in it. I didn’t want to tarnish my personal self image of the hidden crazy one. Then again, maybe we’re all insane at some level and we don’t let others know about it.

Riding up the elevator, my mind was still thinking of penises, yet in my defense I can say that it was no longer thinking about the building. My daydream involved what happened earlier that evening with the aforementioned item in question. I wondered if I could find my way back into … the elevator chime woke me up from my pleasant memory, my eyes opening at the same time the doors did.

It was manager central.

Not just any manager central, but near the level of the corporate godhood manager central. My guess, from the view outside, that we were probably a floor or two below the corona and the tip top …. PENIS!!!

I gently pounded my hand against my head in an effort to get that thought out of there.

Ralph led me over to a chair and had me rest while he ran off into a smaller side office. In short order he brought over a very large cup of caffeine ambrosia goodness. A few sips and I felt myself in heaven. Manager coffee in the manager shaft was far better elixir than those down in the pits could ever desire. I moaned and rolled my head back for a moment closing my eyes in ecstasy.

Ralph, I could imagine him with my eyes closed, couldn’t figure out the best way to shake me awake. For one thing I could hear him move to my side and he kept pausing, not sure how to get my attention. Not wanting to risk touching me inappropriately. He must know that magical girls can affect others in strange and mysterious ways. He must have finally given up on the course he was thinking and went a different route. He softly asked, “Moon? Are you okay? Do you need help?”

I blinked a few times, lifted and turned my head slightly to look at him. “Having a hard time figuring out how to wake me up? Well, so am I.” I giggled again followed by another until I finally was able to stand up. “Let’s get this over with. Where do I sign?”

“Sign? What are you talking about?”

“You know, my termination papers. That’s why we’re here? You need to send me home now that you’ve got what you need from me.” My gloved hand pointed accusingly at him. I’d like to say it was a straight and stern finger, yet it was more like a wet noodle. My focus wavered a little and I noticed that my bow on the back of the gloved wrist was a little smudged. Carefully I took my other glove off and used my hand to spruce it up a little. I had to squint hard at it and stick my tongue out of the corner of my mouth a little. You should try it; it really, really works.

Ralph talked on as I preened my glove, “No, we’re not here to do any such thing. We’re here because we’ve got to give yet another report and since you are the main participant, you have to be here as well.” He looked me over again and started to say, “I’m not sure you’re quite ….”

Out from one of the office doors a middle age man popped his head out and interrupted him. He was very trim and fit. Probably was one of those guys that ran in the morning. I never really cared for early morning runners. No reason really. Not that I care talk about. Okay, I can’t run anymore and it sucks. Damn it all to hell. There’s so much stolen from me. It just isn’t fair!

“Ralph? Come on in. We’re ready for you.”

“Can you come carry our cups? I’m afraid … ah … that Miss Trail here is a little unsteady on her feet.” His arm came around me and helped me walk along to the door.

Part of me was a bit incensed. Unsteady? I was fine. I mean, I was wearing nearly three inch heels and I could still walk quite well. Not too many other people could walk as well as I could. Heck, I could name many people down around my office area who couldn’t walk in high heels to save their life. And I’m not talking about the other guys, but some of the actual girls couldn’t walk properly in them to save their booty. It always made me want to throw up when I saw them waste what god denied me. Not that I cared about god anymore, especially since he decided I must be worth punishment for having been born. Still, the arm felt kind of nice in a none creepy way. I guess I could let him be my knight in shining armor for a bit.

Besides, he called me ‘Miss’.

If I thought I could get away with it, I’d kiss him for that. As it was, I guess I’d settle for saying quietly to him, “thank you.”

We walked in through the first set of doors. My skirt and petticoats didn’t get caught on the frame, thankfully. We moved around what looked like a nice office with a wrap around desk with seating around the other walls before coming to another set of doors of a much larger office.

Before I knew what was happening, a woman appeared out of that office, wanting to help both Ralph and me… or was it just me? I got a good look at her as she worked around to my side. She was beautiful. And she certainly was a smart dresser. Maybe she was more of a smart dresser than she was beautiful? She certainly made Ralph look tacky. He was wearing jeans and a bowling shirt. Sure, he was all macho and everything even in his stupid bowling shirt, but she was quite lovely. Her hair was natural curls that most black women like herself didn’t use as often, preferring to use all sorts of chemicals to straighten and sort their hair into non-natural ways. Not that I’m complaining. Women have a right to do what they want with their looks. And a lot of women wear their hair in wonderful ways that require chemicals and stylists to achieve. Still, a lot can be said for a woman who can carry a natural look and make it look more beautiful than god intended. Not that I cared one wit about what god intended. After all, he messed up with me didn’t he?

Ralph tried to apologize, “I’m afraid that she’s been awake for a very long time. She’s sort of out of it.”

The lady looked at me as she helped me sit down as lady like as I could manage, what with the volume of my skirts and the smallness of the chair available to me.

He continued, “Should we cancel this? We can pick up after she’s had at least a few hours of sleep.”

I put on my best winning smile. “I’m fine, really. I’m mostly tired and my medication isn’t working too well right now.”

Both of them looked at each other, then the guy who was bringing in our coffee, and then myself. “Medication?” she asked.

“Yes, sorry. It’s why I was taking vacation for the next two weeks. My doctor has changed my medication and it takes a bit for it to settle in. Hopefully this one works well, but it seems to make me a little … you know ….” I waved my hand floppily in the air around me. “Floppy?” I did my best not to smile stupidly. I hope my smile was sweet and natural looking.

“So she’s a little punch drunk then?”

Ralph nodded, “Yes Ma’am. She’s been fairly solid up until recently, but in the last half hour she’s starting to feel some sleep deprivation. When she’s focused, she’s a lot less distracted.”

I felt my mouth grin. “understatement.” I’m not sure if I said that out loud and if I did, how loud I said it. It’s true though, my focus. It’s like a freakin’ laser when I apply it. Seriously, you don’t want to mess with me when I am focused. Maybe I didn’t say it out loud. I could have drooled and it sort of fell out. They were now looking at me. Did I do something stupid? Oh gods I hope not.

She smirked at me. “Indeed. Okay. We’re going to get started here officially. I’m turning on the recorder now.” The gentleman who had brought in our coffee pushed a few buttons on a nearby pad. She started to rattle off the date and time, and the reason why we were having this little session. “We have in attendance the technician who discovered the situation who goes by the name Moon Trail. Moon, what’s your real name?”

I must have jumped a little, because everyone was looking at me expectantly and I think they were thinking I’d just done something wrong. What was wrong? Oh, my name. I sighed. “Oh, it’s embarrassing. My parents were born again hippies and thought it would be cute to give us names that worked with the name ‘Trail’.”

“Your name please.”

“It’s Dusty.” I then spelled it out for them. You’d be amazed how many people can’t spell it right.

Ralph chuckled, “Dusty Trail? I can see why you wanted a different name than that, but why ‘Moon’?”

“College,” was my answer. It didn’t seem to satisfy him though. “I was a night owl and it stuck with me all this time.”

“Can we get back to this?” she looked at us all impatiently until she was satisfied. “We have Dusty ‘Moon’ Trail, as I was saying, the technician who discovered this issue. Moon, please state that you are here.”

“I’m here in the flesh.”

“Thank you. Regional Manager Ralph Wise.”

“Present.”

“My personal assistant manager, Charles McCormick.”

“Attending.”

“And myself, Winner Rollins, Regional President over the Health Care accounts.”

She noticed my face when she said her name. Her title didn’t impress me any. Well, mostly it didn’t impress me. What it told me was that she was a high mucky muck. And since she was at this level in the company that meant she was good at what she did. Still, her name was slightly amusing. I should really pay attention to the chain of command, but it never seemed to be that important to me. What use was it? Still, to have someone who was a Winner in my chain was interesting.

“Yes, Moon, I had parents who either had humor or intent on naming me ‘Winner’.”

She chuckled as she said that. I really liked her smile. She certainly had charm and grace within her. I wish she was my direct boss, that would be nice. I bet she was tough as nails and smooth as silk. On second thought, she sort of is my boss since she’s in my chain of command, but still I wouldn’t mind being under her directly. I like competent people.

Ralph began his report by covering the current activities. All system files and data had been copied over to a set of secret and secure systems that would be used as evidence and in the investigation. He then covered what he had done since I had notified him of what was going on. It took a long time, even while being summed up. I hoped I didn’t sound like a windbag when it was my turn.

Winner stated her activities and the direction we were all aiming for in this. Secrecy was the requirement while the investigation was going on. Her assistant merely stated he was attending as a witness to the activities and to facilitate the recording.

Thankfully we paused before my part was to begin. I wasn’t sure how I should begin. I needed to be careful though. I knew myself well enough to know that I could become quite free with my thoughts if I didn’t maintain control. I needed to focus. Charles got us all something to eat, but I wasn’t too hungry. I couldn’t eat normal food anyway. I mean, I was hungry. I know I was hungry, but my belly was doing an impression of a flopping fish out of water thing. Not something that was interested in eating at this time. More interested in getting back into the water I guess. Fish are amazing creatures, did you know that? Look at the oceans and the seas and lakes and rivers… They were everywhere. Why was it that we couldn’t take better care of their water? They were dying off from pollution and from being over fished. Such a shame. I wish the world could treat everything better. Okay, maybe not the world, but us. Yah, I wish we humans could be better treating everyone else. Why the hell were we such bad stewards of each other and the world? I mean, I’d really like it if people would at least treat me nicely. I’d love it if they could be understanding and helpful too. Don’t judge me. I guess there’s some hippie in me too.

It was my turn. You know, I think one of the nicest things about today was that no one was making fun of me and of my predicament. They were all such nice people. That’s just like how we should be treating all the fishes too.

Winner prompted me again to start my side of the events. “It started with the on call person. His name is Fish Silva. I mean Frank… Frank Silva. He is on duty to field calls from the system if there are problems with the system cycles. It’s actually a pretty quiet system. Anyway the system encountered an error, sounded the alarm, and he was called in to diagnose the issue. Frank is… well, he isn’t ‘new’ new, but he’s the second more newest member on the team. Since I had been helping him out he called me about the problem. He knew I was good at handling system problems.”

“So what is the problem again?” I didn’t feel comfortable being at the office, especially dressed the way I was. It was supposed to be a relaxing Saturday, not me at the office handling a crisis. I was towards the end of watching one of my favorite anime magical girl series. You could say that I had a thing for them. Anyway, after the week I had and the night before where I couldn’t sleep to save anyone’s life, I needed the time to relax. And if relaxing by dressing up like the character on the magical girl marathon I was watching is a crime then I was guilty.

“This job here came down in step ninety.” I watched as he controlled the mouse on the screen to show what he was seeing and such. Frank wasn’t a bad guy, he really wasn’t. His fault was that he was new to the business and that he hadn’t learned to figure things out on his own too well. Some people were that way forever. I was trying to show him how to do things the right way. And I was doing it in secret. Why? Because this whole account was full of idiots of various varieties. And I mean that in the nicest way.

You see, I had learned long time ago to take the reins and drive the wagon. I didn’t let the horses take me where they wanted to go. I didn’t walk beside the wagon and lead the horses. I sat there on the bench and drove the dang thing myself. I had a great mentor in my first job out of college. He taught me that you learn in stages. You couldn’t be expected to know it all. That was impossible. What he did expect was threefold. First off you had to build your knowledge of the system. That was a never ending quest because the system was always changing. The system had cycles that did functions. Knowing the basics of what the cycles were supposed to do helped you to remember the details. You should know that in a cycle that was supposed to work on data regarding “dogs” you wouldn’t find anything about “cats” and if you did, there was something wrong. From there you dug into the issue.

The next thing he stressed was knowing the system programs. Not the stuff that we coded as that was part of the system. No he meant that you had to learn what the things like the operating system did and how it did it and what order it did it in. You needed to know the database in the same way. You needed to know each and every language used in the system and how it all worked together. And you should be able to go in reverse and read it even in the most basic level of the languages. This was the most stable aspect of the system. The database didn’t change how it did its job unless there was a major upgrade. So as long as you kept up with the system programs, you could do the third part.

Investigation. Digging into the issue. That was the key. You couldn’t count on being correct about what everything did. You looked, you investigated, and you checked it out. You NEVER EVER took it for what the document said it did. Not even your own stuff unless you had recently worked in it and was the last one who touched it.

That’s what I was trying to teach Frank. Never ending job it seemed. Most people never bothered. They’d call the expert on that area and then take a back seat.

“Why are you in the office again?” Frank asked.

I sighed. It wasn’t worth pointing out that I was supposed to be on vacation, it would only make him feel bad about calling me in to help. I certainly wasn’t going to mention what I was wearing or had been watching when he called. “I left my laptop at the office, so I had to come in when you called.”

“I’m sorry about that.”

“No problem.” I lied. “I was out and about near the office when you called, so it was nothing to drop by. I need to pick up my laptop anyway.” Again, lies. Well, mostly. My laptop was at the office. I was on vacation after all.

It wasn’t long before I had Frank’s problem resolved. It didn’t take long at all to resolve it. What took the time was walking him through how I found the issue and how to correct it. Especially since it was him who caused the problem. He had recently promoted this code earlier in the month. Since this was a monthly job, he didn’t hit the error until the first time it ran. All he had done was forget to define a file to the system’s generational data set list. Like I said, he’s new. We all make that mistake if we aren’t careful.

But something didn’t quite look right. I looked at the time and listened to the quiet deserted office. No one was going to be here on a Saturday night. Unless they were an idiot like me. Still, it was far better to stay here for another hour than to go out into the daylight where people could see me. I had spent a long time getting ready and dressed in a costume and I didn’t have time to get out of it to come into work only to go home again and get back into it. So I was here in costume. I was trying not to be seen too. If Frank knew what I was wearing… Well, lucky for me he was at home.

So I stayed and worked on tracking down what looked wrong to me. There was this file that had a strange date/time stamp signature upon it. From what I could see, it should have had an earlier stamp than it was showing, because the job that last touched it ran earlier than what this file showed in its date/time stamp. That is, the time stamp on it was more recent. That’s what the mystery was. I’m sure someone had done something stupid. With the crew in this account, it was inevitable.

Thinking about my teammates made me sigh. They weren’t bad people. They were only ignorant. And I meant that in a nice way too. Still, quite a few of them had reached the limit of their ability a promotion or so ago. Thus this team was heavy with people who all ranked above me who couldn’t tie their shoes. A few of them could though. More the pity for it all. Those that weren’t complete idiots were few. Of those few, most were fairly good at what they did, but they were very sheltered in what they did. They only worked in their little world and didn’t want to know or do anything outside of it. And they certainly didn’t want to let you into their world. If they did than someone else would learn what they did and could cause them problems. By keeping the world in the dark, they were the experts in their areas.

The problem really laid in management. Our account manager used to be a techie, like the rest of us. But he had been promoted out of that into management. Most techies who go that route suffer from one of the following afflictions. Either they no longer had the knack, thus their move to management reflected their loss of techie skills. Or they still had the knack and even though they hadn’t touched the code for years, they felt they still knew every in and out of the system and could make techie decisions without looking into the actual tech.

Generally these managers were either bad at being managers, but were being pulled along by those above or around them. Or they found they were good at being bosses. Problem with those folks is they want to keep pleasing folks to prove they are the same old good guy. That means protecting their own. Don’t upset the applecart. What was the best thing to do for a techie who goes to management? Move them off and far away from the team they came from. Put them into as foreign of a system as possible with people they don’t know. That way everyone benefits. Without that support system, they have to rely on the people to do their own work and they can judge things better. And people can judge them better too. No more relying on past images saving them in their new job.

But hey, what do I know. I’m just a lowly tech trying to stay afloat. Our company had been through several mergers and downsizes and I had found myself floating around accounts who would take me in. My oldest account no longer was around. My last account downsized and because I had a lot of sick leave and wasn’t on a major project at the time, I got the opportunity to find another account to work for. Thus why I was here. Far away from the city where I used to live and now working in the main corporate office complex of one of the past merger acquisitions.

This account wasn’t very good. I could tell they had cemented their staff long ago and anyone who came in now was not going to be accepted well. Unless they got a mentor. Problem was I scared these folks. I actually knew what I was doing and I was better than they were. You can call me arrogant, but I’m not kidding. I really did know enough to run circles around these folks. You see, what made me good was that this account used the same system programs and languages that I had known in my first account. It was very specialized knowledge. That’s why they picked me up in the first place, because I knew it and could demonstrate my knowledge.

Anyway, I had my own problems. I’ll admit that. They are all personal though. I didn’t like to let others know about them. I have a very extensive medical history and because of some things, I needed medication to keep me mentally able to walk some days. Sometimes the meds stopped working as well as they used to and I had to switch over which always took a little time during which it really was best that I didn’t work unless I was up to the task even if I could focus on that task. I have a very clear focus. It kept me alive all that time when I was struggling to stay alive. Anyway, the last account I was on I had let them know about my meds and the switchover I had to do and they got rid of me. So it wasn’t worth it. Sit down, be quiet, and don’t rock the boat.

“So what was the problem with the file again?” Winner asked.

“When you write a file to the system it will put a date and time stamp on it. There are ways in the operating system to get around it, but generally they require knowledge that most people don’t have. Plus it also requires security that most people don’t have. Finally, it isn’t something you can hide in a job script. It would mean you’d have to have security added to that script that most people don’t have thus they couldn’t run as part of the normal batch cycle.” I paused as I took another slug of coffee. “Did I mention that most people can’t do this?”

At their nod I continued, “So that was strange. I went back into the job scripts before there and found the files that built this final file. In my own development area, I pulled that data down and ran it through the job scripts before, during, and after; step by step. I got it up to where the original issue happened and compared the file sizes with what was in production, but one of the files in my development area was a larger size. It was the same file that I first noticed the new date/time stamp was wrong and it wasn’t wrong in my area. The production one looked like it had some data pulled out since it was smaller. And the job that ran at the same date/time as the modified date/time stamp of the file in question never listed that file as a parameter. The files it did list as parameters were all for a report that it did. I looked at the code and the output, the reports looked legit on the surface, but why was this one file suddenly different? I then played with the file copies I had and was able to pull all the data out that was different. They were all for a particular doctor. And when I looked back at the production files, not all the data records for this doctor were pulled, but there were a lot that had been pulled. As I said, it was weird and wrong. Even though the programs were the same as that within production, there was a different result based upon when or where it was run.”

“What does this part of the cycle do?”

My face contorted as I thought and focused on her question. “Oh, it is a statistical review of services rendered. Like, you’re a pediatrician. Your claims are fed into here and are analyzed and compared to other pediatricians. In this way we can see if there’s a doctor who is performing outside the norms of what other doctors are doing for that area. That’s the basic thrust of it all. It catches those who are doing more of a certain type of procedure, or a diagnosis, or if they had a lot more claims than anyone else. This job runs monthly so that the statistics are pulled into the database for analysis.”

“So what happens when a doctor operates outside of the norm?”

“I’m not too sure. That’s not an area that I’m fully familiar with. I know enough about it though to figure out that if they are outside of the norm, then they are flagged to be checked. I’m sure if they are okay then everything is fine, but if they continue to be outside the norm then something further is done.”

Ralph added his two cents, “The reviewed data can be used to find fraudulent claims. For example, let’s say that an eye doctor is submitting more claims for glasses than anyone else is in his area. It could be that he’s getting the business, but it could also be that he’s faking the claims and pocketing the money.”

Winner nodded. “So all these claims were for one physician?”

“Yes. That’s what was so freaky about it. Looking at the rest of the documentation, I could see that if that data wasn’t fed into the next part of the cycle, then it could make it look like this doctor had less claims than he actually submitted. So if had a lot more claims and now he was brought down into a more normal range… Well to me that meant something was very wrong. I couldn’t take this to the expert for the cycle. Chances were that they were part of this whole mess. So I went to the tech manager, Barbara Werner.”

“And what did she say?”

“Oh, she wasn’t home. I got her teenage son who said she was at some party. And he said there was no point in trying her cell phone as she had left it home.”

“With Barbara out, who did you contact next?”

“Um. That’s the thing. I didn’t know who to go to. The account manager is the type who I don’t trust.”

She looked at Ralph who shrugged his shoulders, “First I heard of it Winner.”

“Um,” I hesitated and finally continued, “James Arthur tends to protect his people from others. I knew of a story where one of his people reported to him in a closed door session some misgivings she had about how someone under him was not doing the right thing. Anyway, James went and told Barbara and this other tech everything she had said. When she confronted him about it he said he had to do it because they were his friends. She left the company immediately after that.”

Winner rested her forehead on one of her hands. “That’s not right.”

Ralph asked, “How come no one went higher about it?”

“With a reception like that? Who was she to go to? Besides, she now had the account manager, tech manager, and some techs after her. She didn’t feel like she could get a fair shake anywhere. They started to pull things out on her and she was getting written up.”

I thought about how Sue had left. I really liked her. She was a good egg and the first to let me know some things that were happening there.

Sue gripped her paper cup to the point where it dented. “Those people can’t be trusted.”

“So what the heck happened?”

“Look, the basic thing is this. Don’t trust them. They will lie and cheat to get their way.”

“Yah, but how do they lie and cheat?”

“Haven’t you been listening to me? They are all in some sort of secret club or something. It’s like if one of them gets in trouble, the other ones bail them out. With James floating over them protecting them from anyone below or above. All they have to do is build up a file against you. It doesn’t have to be true. So you might stand up and tell James that they aren’t playing by the rules, then James tells them and then they lower the boom on you with whatever they’ve plowed up.”

“Doesn’t that sound awfully farfetched? I mean, you would have to have incidents that were somewhat new for it to be of any use. And that way you could show that the troubles didn’t start until after you first went to James.”

“All they have to do is to keep it up to date. Drop the older and weaker stuff. We all do something wrong now and then, so they can build on what we really do and make up the rest. And believe me, they have a file on everyone for when they need to use it.”

Pausing for a moment, Moon thought about how things could be written up about his performance. He had issues and the last manager made sure to use them against him. His last change of medication required that he take off a lot of work here and there while he adjusted and that was used against him. He had best start trying to ether stay off everyone’s radar and stay afloat until he could move on within the company, or find someplace to go outside the company. He lifted his head up to face Sue again and pulled his hair back behind his ears. That’s one plus he liked about the company he got merged with, they let him keep his shoulder length hair.

Sue frowned for a moment and exclaimed, “When did you get your ears pierced?”

He froze and she continued, “And why are you wearing girl’s earrings?”

Ah shit, he forgot he was wearing them. It was Saturday after all. And they unmistakably were girl’s earrings.

“So…. Anyway, I knew that James was the wrong person to go to. And thinking about it further, I got to where I felt that even Barbara was the wrong person to get in touch with. I had heard that Barbara, Michael, and Jessica were pretty tight. I mean…” I looked over to Ralph for support.

He picked up on it thankfully, “You mean they hung out together?”

“Yah, some. But mostly they had a history of being ‘pals’. Back before Barbara became a tech manager, she was a techie with them and after she was promoted, she sort of stayed in contact with them.”

Winner tapped her fingers on her desk while I drank some more coffee. “What do you mean, ‘hung out together’?”

“Well, James was originally the tech manager before he was promoted to account manager. And Barbara was promoted to his old spot. After a while, both Michael and Jessica were promoted and given offices on either side of hers.”

“But they aren’t management. In fact her position doesn’t rate coming out of the cubes either. None of the them should be in an office,” Barbara stated emphatically. “Offices are only for account managers and above.”

“Yah, well, that’s nice. I guess the none of them ever got the memo.” In spite of the glare Winner gave, Moon continued, “I mean, hey, who’s going to stop them? James? HA! Even Ralph here never bothered with it. Everyone’s in the club so who cares about actually following the rules. I mean it isn’t…. like…” I trailed off finally getting the clue both had been sending. Yah, my big mouth. “Sorry, I went overboard on that one.”

“To be honest, I didn’t really catch it myself,” Ralph admitted. “But you’re right.” He wiped his face with one of his hands. “You’re right. I bought into the whole golden child image myself. I didn’t enforce the rules because Barbara, Michael, and Jessica were all considered top notch members in the account. It shouldn’t matter, but I let it matter and affect what I should have done when that rule was made.”

Winner looked at him. When she spoke her voice was sharp and seemed to burry itself deep into his chest. “Explain to me your involvement in all of this.”

He shrugged and tried to fire off a disarming grin, but it fell flat before her. “Well, um. I can say that I need to review my decisions and actions in this new light. I, ah… let James’s group do what they wanted because it’s always been a stellar group as far as numbers and issues. I mean, they’ve always had problem children in their lineup, but they tended to get weeded out when they… came…” His head fell into his chest for a moment. “I’ve been a fool. I bet a lot of those cases are just like what Moon was describing. Ways of getting rid of people they didn’t like. I should have spotted the trend and picked up on it.”

“Ralph, the day a manager actually catches all the tricks thrown at them is a day that never comes. You learn and you get better. We’ll discuss that and look into it more later on. We owe it to the people that have left to make an effort to clear their names. Moon, why don’t you continue.”

I blinked at everyone for a moment, “Where was I?” I was still thinking about Sue’s disgust at discovering I was wearing girl’s earrings. My bad.

“You tried to contact Barbara, she’s out, you didn’t want to contact James and then you realized that you probably shouldn’t have even contacted Barbara.”

“Oh yah, right… Um, I probably did something I shouldn’t have. Let’s just skip this part okay?”

Winner’s face tightened and I realized that as much as I enjoyed seeing Ralph get the end of her anger, I didn’t like it directed at me at all. I was sure glad she wasn’t my direct boss. Who the heck would want to report directly to her? Must be crazy folk.

“This is being recorded. We can’t skip over it. And since it part of this issue, we certainly won’t skip over it. So you will tell me what you did and you will be honest about it otherwise you and I will be having a short conversation about your career here, no matter what good you’ve done for this company. Do I make myself clear?”

Oh yah, she’s in the penis building. I felt my backside suddenly tighten in a way that reminded me more of what she was threatening to do then what had happened already last night. I had to be honest with her? To that degree? My stomach went back to being a flopping fish. Then again, with the right… No, focus! FOCUS!

“Yes ma’am. You see, when I had called up Barbara’s home and got her son, he gave me the address to the party. He didn’t know their phone number, she had left her phone at home, but he figured I could use the address to look it up. You know, there are websites that can do that sort of thing.”

I pulled into an open spot and looked at the house. Did I say house? It was more like a freaking mansion. And it was certainly rocking. I checked the time. It was around 10 so it was still early as far as parties go. Not that I know about parties, but it seemed that from what I heard most parties, the serious ones at least, go way into the night. I checked my purse and made sure that I pulled the items I thought I’d need out of it and stuffed them into my costume. Thank god it was a costume party. I needed to get in and catch the three of them here, so that I could get the evidence I needed to support my case. According to the information I got on the address Barbara’s son gave me, this was the home of that doctor whose claims had been pulled out of the system. And she was here at his party. She shouldn’t have been able to do this alone, so that meant one or more of the other techs were here too. Management sticks together, but if I could get the evidence high enough, I could prove my point. I had a disposable cell phone, my lipstick, some tissues, and my keys all secreted now in places on my body. The lipstick, keys and tissues went into some side pockets under my skirt. My phone I had to slip down in between my blouse and dress where my bra provided a handy cradle to hide it. Hopefully I could get away with this.

I made my way up to the door, my heels clicking away on the stone walk, my dress swishing side to side with my hips. My legs, lower neck, and arms were catching the night time chill in the air. I felt like the world was in sharp focus around me. Even though I had a job to do, I had never ever done anything like this. Could I get away with it? I wish I could go to parties like this every weekend. Heck I wish I could go anywhere on the weekend. Should I go back and use some more perfume? When was the last time I used any and has it worn off?

I realized the guards at the front door were looking me over. Oh yah, keep walking. Don’t stand there looking like a fool. If you’re going to be a fool, at least be a moving one. They are harder to hit that way.

As one covered the door, the other stepped up to me. “Do you have an invitation miss?”

My heart fluttered. Part of me was singing the hallelujah chorus. The other part of me? Eh, not so good. Yah, it was needing some resuscitation. “Oh, I forgot it at home. It’s such a long way to go back to get it. Do I need it to get in?”

“Rules state that everyone has to have an invitation.”

“Oh…” I quickly decided to play the role I was meant to play from the day I was born. “I guess that means I can’t get in then.” I turned away and took a few steps, letting my hips do a little more of a wiggle, then turned back with a finger up to my face in my best innocent girl pout I could muster. “Are you sure I can’t come in? I’ll be good, I promise.”

Mr. Stony Face actually blinked for a moment before coming back with his response. “No invitation, then no entry.” And then he soften and added, “I’m sorry miss.”

Oh I almost had him!

“Hey Tony,” the guy behind him reached up to his shoulder. “Let her in. You know he’s got a weakness for anime girls like this.”

Anime girls? Oh a kindred soul I hope! Yah, I was the spitting image of a cute sweet anime girl. I was a magical girl extraordinaire!

Okay, I may not have been a spitting image of a real magical girl, but that was what my costume was all about.

“Really? I thought he was more into Japanese girls.”

“Well that’s what anime girls are. Sort of.”

Yah, what he said. I got the idea I needed to sell this better. My hands grasped themselves and were held tightly under my chin, my arms locked together down towards my elbows, almost like I was praying. My legs also pulled together and I sort of crouched a little as in some sort of great expectation and anticipation of some great news. I felt my breasts push together and I was certain that if my blouse wasn’t covering it up, some sort of cleavage would have been greeting these two lunks like a siren call to come and test the waters. Maybe I was taking this a little too far?

“She’s not Japanese,” Tony cleverly pointed out, his head turned so that he was missing out on my wonderful deliverance.

But his pal got it full force. “Tony, she doesn’t have to be Japanese to be an anime girl. I’ll take the rap for this. Right this way honey, come on in.”

I felt Tony watch me as I minced in, stopping to give a kiss on the cheek to my unnamed rescuer. When the door closed behind me, I started to drop my act and then quickly put it back up. I was surrounded by people. All sorts of people. It was amazing!

I needed to keep it up. I realized after I walked into the second room that I didn’t need much effort to give off the innocent little waif unaccustomed to large parties. I was totally projecting that. I had the walk down and the hand gestures. Oh shy little me. I saw a mirror close by and looked at my hat with the large bow on my head, my curly hair coming out from underneath, my star earrings, my star topped beribboned staff, the matching bow and dress that went with the hat.

The girl in the mirror looked back in wonder at me, then I felt it. A small charge slowly moved up my spine and all my nerves flared into overdrive of excitement. My face beamed a smile back at me and the thrill turned into a nice little girl giggle! If I could have died right then, I would have been in heaven. I was out. I was being accepted. It was marvelous!

I caught a face in the mirror looking over my shoulder, sending my silent joy into a sudden squeak of a squeal as I spun around.

“Hey there, sorry to frighten you. But you look familiar. Do I know you?”

“Um, I don’t know. Do I know you?” Really, I had the most brilliant come back lines ever.

The guy before me was dressed as a swashbuckler, with the right sort of boots with the floppy tops, the tight black pants, the broad leather belt and white open shirt showing off a very nice set of manly pecks with just the right amount of hair upon them. He wore a scarf mask over his head and eyes and he had the deepest voice I had heard in real life.

I mean wow.

I felt weak.

Actually weak.

Seriously, I had to lock my knees together. Damn! No one had ever done that to me before. I didn’t even know anyone could! Had I fully crossed the line? Ye Gods!

“Allow me to introduce myself. I am David, part time swashbuckler to King and Country. And you are?”

“Oh, um. Sakura. I’m still in school, so I’m not much of anything else,” I smoothly covered myself.

He tsk’d me. “I certainly do recognize you Sakura even without your magical cards on hand, but in any event, what is your real name?”

“Oh, Dusty,” fumbled out of mouth. My hand suddenly sprang to my lips in a futile effort to stop what had already been said.

“Ah, fair Dustie. That’s an interesting name. I’ve not heard it before.”

Cleverly I recovered, “My, ah, parents had a sense of humor. My sister’s are named Meadow and Spring. Mine was supposed to evoke sunsets I think.” That really was the truth. My mind wasn’t working well enough to make up lies at this point. I thanked my lucky starts that I didn’t have my brother Rocky’s name or Forest’s. I think Meadow would have been nice though. Thinking about them was bringing me down. I missed them all and the way things should have been.

His eyes twinkled at me. “Well I think that’s well suited. A beautiful name.” He came to my side and started leading me through the room towards another set of open doors. “Is this your first party here?”

“Oh, yes.” I realized then that his hand was holding mine and I was suddenly glad I had gloves on to hide any sweaty palms I might have. “I was told that I could come as an anime character and that he would really like that.”

“Oh, you know him then?”

“Dr. Lon Braselton? No, not at all. One of his staff told me about it. I know her sort of and she wanted me to come. I’m not sure where she is though and she said she’d meet me here.”

“Well then, let’s take a stroll and see what we can see. Perhaps we will bump into her here. I’m afraid I don’t know any of his nurses, so I won’t be of any help. But Lon and I are old school friends and I know he’ll take an interest in meeting you if he sees you. I’ll introduce you if we run across him.”

I felt myself relax slightly at that point. I was worried that he might ask me who it was specifically I was supposed to meet. I was stupid for even bringing up that I was to meet someone in the first place. Still he seemed as ignorant as I was about Dr. Braselton’s staff, so that was a good thing. I’d just have to beg off from meeting him if we did happen to see him around. I smiled at David as he guided me around.

In the next room I was amazed at the costumes that people were dressed up in. There were cat girls, and game girls, and all sorts of fun fantasy type characters. One of the biggest things I realized that none of these costumes were the buy off the shelf kind. They all seemed very good quality type you get in very special type stores, and a few looked to be specially made for their wearers. When I asked, David pointed out that I should have been told that. “Only the best goes into these parties.”

“Oh, I wasn’t aware of it. I make costumes myself, so I guess that is why I wasn’t told since I obviously had the right ones to wear already.”

Luckily he allowed me to use my camera to take a few simple pictures. “Keep it hidden and I’ll let you. We’re not supposed to take pictures here, but given you are a fan of costumes, I guess it can’t hurt.”

I ended up dancing with him for a few dances in the room after that and he was a most perfect gentleman throughout it all. After one of the songs, I happened to spot Jessica and got her picture without her realizing it. It came out well too. And in the next room I was able to get Michael Cheng. There was no mistaking him. Plus his costume was horrible. A very poorly done kung fu type. Seriously, live a little and break out of the mold Michael! At least Jessica made a damn good looking mafia guy.

We ended up taking a rest with drinks in our hands. One of the things I know about myself was that alcohol and I have a certain limit. And I had already passed that limit right after we had danced when I had my first drink. I’m sorry, my limit is less than one drink. Seriously. Don’t laugh at me! I’ve never done well with alcohol or drugs or anything. That’s why I stay away from them. My stomach is way too small and this stuff goes right through and into my blood. I have to be very careful on what I eat or drink and what sorts of medications I take. I have to be Miss Natural.

So as the fourth drink smoothly went into my belly, I was feeling really good. I couldn’t believe my good fortunes so far. And David was especially nice. I felt so good leaning back into him upon the cushions. It was as if I was on a cloud of feathers softer than any silk could ever be. I lifted and turned my head ever so slightly and planted three kisses upon his cheek before he turned to face me directly. His lips were gentle upon mine and his face was slightly rough against my own smooth complexion. We kissed for a while like this before my neck started to hurt and I had to turn back forward. We broke apart for a moment and I finished off the last of my glass, wondering why I didn’t go out more often. Why had I never bother to kiss anyone before? Didn’t I realize what I had been missing?

David’s soft nibbles on my neck broke that train of thought from reaching any sort of conclusion. He reached down and undid the top two buttons of my blouse on my back. It didn’t really give him much access though so he decided to touch me through the blouse and under my dress around my bra, but he found that my phone I had nestled between my dress and blouse was in the way of things. He pulled it out as I pointed to a couple I wanted a picture of. It was Barbara with some guy. They were dressed as a couple from the Victorian age. And I have to say, even though I didn’t really want to admit it, she certainly knew how to pick her guys. He was handsome. Even more so was that I loved her gown and I wished I had one like it. She must be in some sort of corset to fit into it the way she was and I began to wonder if there was some way I could get her out of it so I could steal it. Maybe her date would do it for her. He certainly was acting like he wanted to do so.

David was very kind to snap their picture for me, then he handed my phone camera to someone else and they took a few photos of us as he slowly kissed me and I kissed him back as his hands roamed over my body. I felt him behind me as he poked me in the back with Mr. Happy. I couldn’t believe that I was managing to do such a thing to a guy like him. His smoldering eyes desired me as I held his gaze briefly, before I shyly glanced downward. I wasn’t sure what I could or should do regarding that. Upon seeing my hesitation he had me look around the room and I realized then that what had been a fairly empty room with a few couples in private conversation had blossomed the same way we were. A few were kissing softly, others were deep inside each other with the costumes removed to where they could get to each other. In a few spots, they weren’t just two bodies anymore.

I admit that I wanted to run away in terror. I’m such a prudish girl I guess, but David held me gently and softly kissed me until I relaxed again, allowing his hands to roam over my chest and to push down where my legs met in between. My heart felt queer in a way I never had felt before. Okay, I’m sure that’s a poor choice of words. Yet with each kiss there was a soft flutter in my chest, my breath became shallow and I felt myself wanting David to do more. A lot more. More than I should want him to do, yet I didn’t care anymore. Not then, not at that moment.

I turned into him so we were face to face and kissed him deeply as he held me tightly against him. As I laid upon his chest, his hands pulled my skirt and petticoats higher. Gently his fingers played with the tops of my white stockings where they hooked innocently with the garters that were over my panties. I’m positive the real Sakura wore tights, but I like being a little naughty. Soon they had followed the garters up to dance lightly upon my rear then to grab it in a handful as he pulled me up, turned me around and then back into him. I was so delirious. I don’t do well with breathing since the accident so long ago. My breath was alternating between gasps, gentle moans, and shallow caresses; I couldn’t breathe hard. I had been reduced to panting and I couldn’t do anything further. I couldn’t run because of that. I used to love running. At least I still had my legs unlike…. Oh gods, I was slipping… Please don’t let me faint! Don’t grey out, please… oh this felt so good. His mouth was kissing my lips and my back and all over it seemed, even in two places at once. I didn’t realize for a few minutes that it wasn’t one mouth upon me, but two or three. More than one set of hands as well. My eyes fluttered open and before it was not what I had expected.

Before me was not David, but the man who had been wearing the Victorian style clothes. Now he was mostly out of them and what was aimed in front of me was definitely not the mouth I had been recently kissing! Foolishly I was distracted from behind, my skirt was raised over me and what must have been David pulled my hips upwards to where the pillow was cushioning my knees as I was raised upwards to find something cool being spread over my backside. Someone else was back there with him. My mouth opened to protest, but it could do no more than begin to form a word when my tongue felt something slide over it. My eyes, I’m sure, must have been a sight to make everyone laugh. I’m certain they might have bugged out of my sockets before bouncing off of the body in front of me. There was so much hair there that I had to shut them quick, afraid of what might get in them. This Victorian gentleman proved he was no such gentleman as his hands grasped around my head and started to control how far back I could move away before being pushed back into him. His deep musk invaded me and smothered everything else out.

And of course it was but a distraction. In a few moments, it became clear the more pressing problem laid behind me. I was opened up now in a way that while yes, I admit I had fantasized about before, but honestly never ever thought I would ever do in my life. Yes, I am no stranger to things back there. Yes, okay, you’re right, I have several such toys at home and I have gotten increasingly bolder as to the thickness and size as I worked my way up to take some that were slightly larger than what was in me now. And yes, a few buzzed. Some rocked. Some flexed. Some shimmied even. One even played some Elvis tunes. But Oh My God None had ever felt like what was behind me now! Should I say behind me? More like in me!

What part of me that was offended at such invasions of my personage must have died at that point. Maybe it would come back to life later on, but for now it was well and truly dead beyond any doctor’s ability to revive. Which was funny in a way, as David and the Victorian gentleman? Turns out they were doctors. I didn’t know that then, but I found out later on. I’m sure that had I know it at that point, I would have found myself laughing in the most unladylike way at the most inopportune moment when two such fine men were swaying me back and forth in a rhythm that kept beat with my heart.

I didn’t pass out, but I almost did a few dozen or so times. Eventually they completed themselves. And I kept both as mementoes. Perhaps those mementoes met somewhere in between where they had found entrance. I’m not sure. And afterwards? Yes, I think I could be persuaded to do it all again. Still, at that moment I didn’t care about that. I wanted to luxuriate between these two men and feel them rise to the challenge again. The woman behind the man whom David called Lon laughed a bit when David asked if she had something. I really didn’t catch what he said completely, but I realized what it was shortly thereafter. She handled him a short devise that she removed the wrapper for and as I watched it go into David’s hands I wanted to bury my face where no one would ever see it again. He expertly plugged me from behind and I felt the small string as it rested against me. My panties were then pulled back up and my skirts were pulled back down. It was messy down there and I probably should get cleaned up.

David gently helped me to my feet and after he kissed me further in a way that showed his enjoyment of the entire affair. He introduced me then to Dr. Braselton and to Barbara. He found my anime girl outfit truly amazing. Which was why he couldn’t pass up an opportunity to have a chance with someone dressed like me. He also seemed to get into magical girls, but not like I did. Then he let Barbara help me reach the bathroom where we both went in. To say I was terrified is to express my feelings in a way that belittled what I really felt. She helped clean me up and her hands strayed upon my rear in a way that suggested she was willing to do so much more, touching the tip of my hidden treasure. I could only shake my head. She then applied a pad to my panties to help with anything that might leak.

“First time was it Dustee?”

I nodded.

“Don’t worry. If you want to come back and join in, we’ll be waiting for you. In the meantime, you might want to fix yourself up a bit. All that is hell on the makeup. And your hat looks like it might be coming off.” Before she left me though she turned around and handed me my camera, “Oh, I’m sorry but I saw the pictures and had to erase them. I’m not sure why David didn’t tell you, but we have a very strict rule about taking photos of others. And I hope you don’t mind, but I used what memory you had to film the three of you. Come join us when you’re ready? The two doctors are quite taken with your company. I wouldn’t mind sharing some of you as well. If you want, we could go to my place sometime and play dress up.” I was so lucky that she didn’t know my real name. All she knew me by was Moon. She left me then, letting me decide what I really wanted to do. I could return to the three of them for some more pleasure of their company or I could leave. My skin was tingling. Every time I touched myself, I felt my spirit weakening and my desire to be with them again. It was amazing to have people feel pleasure with me. That I could give them pleasure… Oh wow! I wanted to go and get Barbara to trade costumes too and so much more. I wanted to go back, but there was that voice screaming at me that I needed to get out of there. That something was majorly wrong. That I shouldn’t be feeling so … well, everything! I didn’t know what I might do next.

“So what did you do?” Winner asked.

“Huh?” Was I drooling? I could tell I was smiling stupidly.

“You said you got the address, it was a party that required costumes, so you had to wear a costume to get in. You had picked up a disposable cell phone to take pictures…”

“Oh! Yah, sorry. Did I fall asleep? I’m so sorry. I … Well, I went to take pictures. It was a costume party and everyone was required to wear one, so dressed like this I was able to get in unnoticed by them and actually get close enough to all four of them. No one recognized me, which is good. I wasn’t able to take any pictures, they had a rule about it and wiped my camera’s memory. But I did get these.” I reached into my purse and pulled out three invitations.

“Well that certain puts all three of them with him. Look at that, they have their first and last names on them plus his with the address, the date and time of his party,” Charles noted.

“Charles, don’t touch them. Get a zip lock bag and wear some gloves to put them inside there. We might need to use them as evidence.” Winner turned back to me and asked, “Where did you get them?”

“Well, I had found them by the front door. There was a basket that the guards were putting the invitations in. So I flicked through them, found theirs, and slipped them out hidden in my clothing.”

Ralph asked, “While you were there, you said you did see these three employees and Dr. Braselton?”

“Yes, but I’ve nothing to prove that I saw them. And someone could always argue that they were in costume anyway so how did I know it was them and… well there are all sorts of ways you can get out of it. These,” I pointed to the invitations, “should have their fingerprints on them. Which was the best I could do.”

Winner agreed, “Well, if we have need of them we’ll use them I’m sure.”

I was allowed a bathroom break and double checked myself, replacing my pad in case of anything further. I was still dripping. Lucky for me the manager’s bathrooms didn’t require you to pay for anything and they were of a much better quality than what you could find in a normal ladies room. I guess. Okay, so I know it to be true. Don’t judge me! I had taken out the tampon long ago when I had to go to the restroom after Ralph called in his people. What I really needed was something soothing for myself there. I felt very sore and … well, wonderful. Winner had to come and get me out of the bathroom as I had sat there and daydreamed a bit about David. It wasn’t exactly how I imagined my first time would be, but Lord have Mercy! I honestly don’t know if I could even tell that story and have anyone believe it.

Winner made certain I was comfortable before having the recorder turned on again. “Let’s start where we left off. You had left the party, what did you do then?”

“Well, from there it’s pretty much work-work-work. I made it to the office and logged in. I had gotten the idea that I needed to go above James, my account manager. I told you that I didn’t trust him, right? I did? Okay, well, I don’t trust him. So I sat there for a bit and decided who I could call. I guess the best I could do was to contact James’s boss, Mr. Wise here. It took some convincing…”

Ralph butted in, “I have to add this was around two in the morning. So I wasn’t very receptive.”

“More like he thought I was a fruitcake. I think I was babbling too. And I don’t babble at all. Probably the first time in my life ever to do so. Maybe it took me several times to explain it for him to get it. And I thought for certain he was going to call security and send me packing, but he came up and looked at the data I had and I told him that those three were at the party and how all this was pretty much a nightmare.”

“Not to mention that Moon was dressed in the costume that was worn to the party, which reminds me; I couldn’t figure out why you didn’t change before you went back to the office.”

I groaned a bit, “Time sir! It was essential that I get someone else involved before the morning.” I glared at him for a bit until he motioned me to continue. My eyes I’m sure told him, ‘Say something stupid and I’ll tear you up.’ That or, ‘please god don’t let everyone know how drunk I was nor how horny I felt. Not that you knew how horny I was feeling, but god I wanted to do every piece of office supply or furniture I saw.’

Perhaps it was better I continue talking. “So anyway, I get Mr. Wise into the office. He sees what I see, I step him through it. He realizes that there’s something to it all and then he calls in some people to do triage. I worked with them after they arrived over at the server farm and that’s where we are now.”

“That is it.” Ralph looked at Winner and myself. “We’ve already gone over my status as to what happened and all that, so I think that covers it.”

Winner sighed, “It looks like we’re going to have a lot of legal in here this week. I’ll have to alert them after we finish up here. That concludes this interview.”

Charles turned off the recording and said, “It’ll take me a little bit of time to type all this up. I’ll be faster if you don’t bug me about it.”

“Yes, yes, I am sure you will. Get on it. Let’s get copies made, get legal involved, we’ll sign them tomorrow, and then lock them up. In the meantime, we’ll sit here and go over anything we need to do next.”

“Can I go home now?” I pleaded. I’m certain I was confident and not pitiful.

Winner shook her head apologetically, “Sorry Miss Trail, we should cover some other items first.”

My heart thumped with what she said. I gave her my best sunshine smile. “I like you.” At least I hope it was sunshine and not creepy.

She paused for a moment, not quite sure what to make of that. “That’s nice. Ralph, I don’t think she’s able to drive home.”

“You called me Miss,” I supplied, figuring she needed to know why I liked her. Like I said, I felt I was probably a little creepy and I didn’t want to give that sort of impression. I mean, here I was a short and very skinny guy dressed in my best magical girl costume. It was a time to make good and important impressions.

Ralph turned away from us and must have caught something in his throat as he was coughing a bit.

“Ralph? Ralph Wise you had best get that out of your system and start answering me.”

He finally recovered, thanks to a few chugs from his water bottle. “I think, given the way she is acting now and how she acted on the recording that we probably should have her examined by a professional doctor at the hospital.”

I tripped. It’s not my fault. I was running and my skirt got caught and oh my god I hope I didn’t rip it… anyway, I’m the ground. You know, there is a pretty nice carpet on this floor.

How come they are yelling?

“You got her? Help me get her to her feet. Easy Moon, you’re okay. Everything is going to be A-O-Kay, alright honey?”

I gave Winner a hug. “I like you. You’re so cool. And you look so good in that dress. I wish I could look that good. Did you come straight from church? I’m sorry I ruined your Sunday.”

“Ralph, I think that’s a good idea.”

“What? Getting her to a doctor?”

“Damn IT RALPH!!!” yelled Winner.

How come is it that when you need an elevator to open, it is never on the floor you are on. Even if you pound on the door it still doesn’t open. Who was hugging me? OH, it’s that nice lady. I like her.

“Easy there. Easy… Let’s sit back down, okay?” She shot a look at Ralph daring him to do something stupid.

“I don’t wanna go to the doctors. I don’t wanna get locked up. I’m sane! Really I am…”

“No one is going to lock you up. You are okay. Everything is fine.” Gently, Winner pulled me away from the elevator and back to a chair. “Come on, let’s sit down for a moment.”

“I’m fine, I tell you I’m fine. Please don’t lock me up!”

“No one is going to lock you up. You’ve done nothing wrong.”

Ralph guarded the way to the elevator while helping Winner get me to sit down. “She wasn’t acting this way earlier, honestly. If she was I would have got her to the …” At Winner’s death stare, he stopped talking for a moment. “She really was okay earlier.”

I let them know, in case they didn’t get it. “I don’t feel too well.”

“Should we call for a… um, a ride to get some help?”

“Not yet. I think we can get her there faster ourselves.”

“This is why I don’t drink. It really messes me up.”

“What is she talking about?” demanded Winner.

“When I first got to her, she let me know that she had a few drinks at the party, but she was fine then.”

“She had drinks? At the party? What sort of drinks did she have?”

“They were pretty good. Fruity and cool. But I really don’t like to drink. I had four of them. I tried to tell David I didn’t like to drink, but he wanted me to and I didn’t want to look like a party pooper. They tasted good too.”

“Ralph, sit here. I’m pretty sure that they weren’t ‘innocent’ alcoholic drinks.”

I protested, but she didn’t seem to care. “But I’m nothing but innocent.”

Ralph bent down to look me in the eyes. “Moon, does alcohol make you act this way? Is that why you don’t drink it?”

“Hmm? Oh, not really. I get drunk way too easy. They took most of my digestion stuff after the accident. There’s not much there that’s left to digest things, so nothing works the way it should. Besides, I’m just tired. I don’t feel really good though. Like something is happening with my meds. I didn’t feel good last night either, but I’ve been focusing myself through …”

He called back to Winner, who was on her phone, “Her pupils don’t look dilated, but given her medication issues, maybe we need to let her doctor know in case this is a reaction to them?”

Winner nodded between prompts on her phone, “Okay, let’s get her to the hospital then. Ah shit!”

Okay, this time it was the bow on my heels. I’m pretty sure of it. Cuz I can walk really well in heels and look really good doing it. Women could take lessons from me. Especially some of those women from the customer service department that look like they are stomping around. Did I tell you that some of the actual girls couldn’t walk properly in heels to save their booty. I think I’ll throw up. All those stupid women wasting what god denied me. Oh, throwing up isn’t good. And my head really hit that elevator door really hard. Or was it the wall? Damn, my hat is getting wet from the stupid mess of a puddle thingie I made. Why is life so mean to me? I just want to go home and watch my shows and play along with them. Oh who cares, I’m going to sleep.

Dusty Moon Trail, Part Time Pretend Magical Girl, continues his mixed up ride secretly through the night. Let's hope he has a much better day.

Barbara looked deep into his eyes after the long soul sucking kiss took all his wind. That he was with Barbara was strange enough. That she was kissing him was even more strange. That he was enjoying the soft caress of her lips, the flutter of her touch upon him, and the soft breeze? Okay. That wasn’t too farfetched. After all, he was only human. Who wouldn’t like to be held and appreciated, nay even loved in such a tender fashion? By one’s boss in fact.

“Moon,” she whispered. “I know your secret now.”

Quickly his eyes opened wide, staring out at her and drawing back as far as he could. Appraisingly he asked, “You do?”

“Yes, I do. Did you think that you could come to the party without me knowing who you were? I saw the looks you gave me. I know what it is you desire.” She gave him an evil grin and continued, “And I’ll happily give it to you if you submit to me.”

“Um, no. Thanks, but no. I mean… What do I mean? Oh yes, um… thanks, but no.”

“Is that your final answer?” Her left hand softly stroked his hair, following it down to his ear and then her fingertips traced his jaw line to his chin. “You won’t submit?”

Moon of course, was made of sterner stuff. Laser focus and iron will stronger than anything that could be applied against him. His character was of the stuff that all the foundations of the world wish they could be made of. Tremble before him puny weaklings, for Moon Trail (Part Time Pretend Magical Girl) was made of the indomitable will of legends. None could succeed against him. Confidently he replied, “ah…. well, ah…. I could I guess, but really I shouldn’t. I mean, you’re my boss and that would be weird so I guess I should say no, if that’s okay with you. I’m sorry for that, but really, it is very tempting that is…”

Barbara’s grin disappeared and then grew again into a smile that faded as Moon rambled on. At last she got tired and stopped him, “So it is no then? Fine. Honestly it is so much better if you say no. After all, you don’t have any choice in the matter. You’ve already given me permission.”

“Yup!” A much smaller magical girl appeared from nowhere. She looked exactly like Moon, except she was much softer and curvy in appearance. She circled around above Moon’s head. “I gave it to her. It’s for your own good.”

Moon scrunched up his face and then yelled at his much smaller personage, “I didn’t say it was okay! Look, I’ve got my reasons…OOOOOOWWWWW!!!! Stop that! Stop that!”

Barbara twisted his arm while magical girl Moon tugged at his hair. In short order, his small skinny frame was hauled up to his feet. A white corset was pulled into place around him and the laces were tightened well beyond what he thought they should be. He was thrown into the air and white diaphanous ribbons coiled around his legs and body from seemingly nowhere. As they settled around him, they tightened to his flesh in a flash of sparkling white, transforming into white stockings, panties, a large bustle petticoat, and then the Victorian dress that Barbara wore to the party wrapped itself around him. The mini magical girl twirled her staff and with the incantation, “Moon Magic Makeup!” he was bathed in shimmering and pearly white light. His hair was curled and lifted into an up-do with silver combs holding it in place. His face blossomed and his features were highlighted in soft colors with bold lips and entrancing eyes. Small pearl earrings appeared on his ears and rings graced his soft hands while his fingernails transformed into soft oval tips with a color that matched his bold lips.

Gently he floated back to the ground, his feet sliding into high healed button up boots that were made of soft leather. He teetered there for a moment before he gained his balance once more.

Barbara and Mini-Moon gasped as he took a few steps, twirled and gracefully stepped closer to them. His boss swooned for a moment and exclaimed, “Such mastery of wearing high heels. You could teach other women how to walk in them. You know, there are a bunch of ladies at the office who waste what god gives them in this area!”

“Really?” Moon allowed himself, his hands raised towards his mouth in a soft surprise. “The thought never has occurred to me.”

Barbara fussed around him for a bit, checking his flounces and his well coifed hair. “You look so ravishing. It’s a shame I’m going to have to tie you up and lock you away.”

He smile at her for a second before her words sank in, “Excuse me?”

“Why yes, we can’t have you looking better than me, can we? I mean, what will Lon say? He certainly fancied you before and now I don’t know if there will be a place for me if you are looking this good. It’s a shame really. I had such plans for dressing you up in all sorts of costumes. You know, we could have played mother and daughter games on unsuspecting people. It could have been so much fun.”

“Wait a moment! I’ve no interest in Lon. He’s way too hairy for me. And I wouldn’t take him away from you at all. Plus I really am not into guys!” Moon backed away as gracefully as he could, he was feeling a bit short for breath from all that was happening.

“Yes, you say all that, but I can tell by the way you are breathing that you are wanting to be with him again.”

“Ah, no, really, no. I mean, not really. I really don’t want to be with him. I did like our time together, mostly, but really he’s not my type. For one thing he’s a criminal.”

She pouted, giving him a playful look. “But I’m a criminal too, right?”

“Well, yah, and you really shouldn’t be that way.”

Stretching and presenting her body to him one sweet location at a time, she confessed, “But I am bad. You know it is true. You’ve known from early on and you’ve played this innocent sweet game long enough. It’s time that I show you how good bad can be.”

Grabbing his pendant affixed on his chest Moon said, “No! I can’t allow this. I really can’t.”

“And what do you think you can do about it?”

“Only what a heart pure and strong as mine can do.” Fluttering his lashes, he shimmered in the light and a soft wind danced around him.

Barbara backed away as the winds grew stronger; then sensing her defeat, turned tail and ran off leaving Moon and Mini-Moon behind.

Mini-Moon sat down and watched the display for a while before finally growing bored. “You’ve forgotten the lines?”

“Shh, don’t distract me.”

“You have forgotten them.”

“No I have not forgotten the lines. I wouldn’t be so stupid as to forget the lines.”

“Then why don’t you say them?”

The wind stopped abruptly as Moon let go of his pendant. Sheepishly he said, “Because I haven’t thought them up yet. Everything I try in my head sounds so stupid.”

“Oh, tell me about it. I mean, what gives with all this crap anyway? And talk about ridiculous! How are we to really fight when dressed this way, much less keep it all clean and stuff.”

“I guess magic makes it possible?” Moon kept looking for a way to sit down, but he was distracted by the fact he didn’t want to get his gown dirty. Also that he couldn’t move too well within all the clothes he had on, much less bend down to where he could sit on the ground without falling over half the way.

“Yah I guess. Well, my work here is done.” Mini-Moon got up and pulled out a bag from behind her back.

“Done?”

“Yes. I’ve got another appointment to get to. What are you looking at?”

“Nothing.”

“You were trying to look up my petticoats! You are such a pervert!”

“I was not! I mean, I was looking at them. They are very cute. I was wondering how you made them.”

“None of your business you pervert!” A curtain rod appeared and Min-Moon pulled the attached curtain shut. Her dress was tossed up and over so that it hung on the rod and she began to mumble from behind the curtain.

Moon tried to walk around to see his miniature magical girl self, but the curtain always moved to block his view. “What are you doing? Aren’t you supposed to guide me or something?”

Her head poked up and then she found where he was now standing. “What are you talking about?”

“You know, isn’t this like a spirit journey or something?”

The dress was pulled off the rod and shortly the curtain was thrown open. Mini-Moon was now dressed in black leggings with large clunky black boots and a baggy black sweater that was belted at the waist. Her hair was now dark, long, and limp, having lost all of its curl and body. She pulled out a black wand and pointed it at her face, mumbled and her eyes were lined with darkness and her black lipstick matched her nails.

“Spirit journey? Are you nuts?”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m heading out. I’m only a part time magical girl. You know, ‘part time’? And my clock says I’m off duty now.”

“But… but what about me? Can you help me? This costume is too heavy for me and I can’t seem to find any zippers or working buttons on this thing. It’s like it was never meant to be taken off!”

“Well, yah. Real magical girl clothes appear around the person. They come off in the same way, by magic.”

“But I don’t have any magic! That was all you!”

“Sucks to be you, huh kid?” Then she popped out of existence.

“But?” Moon looked around. He was alone in a secluded area surrounded by bushes and trees. The sun was heading down to the horizon and the cool breeze fluttered across his dress. “Oh crap. I’ve got to walk?”

He began to make his way through the countryside and found a nearby path. He kept a very slow and careful pace as he wound his way along and among the trees and bushes. His breath was shallow and regular and when it became a little labored, Moon stopped to help with the recovery. It wasn’t easy to breathe for him in this corset and dress. He had to be very careful that he wasn’t going to pass out.

Passing out was something he was intimately familiar with. He had to always exercise extreme restraint upon himself to avoid getting into trouble by running out of breath. It was one of his many curses. That’s why he didn’t wear tight corsets when he was in costume, even when the costume called for it. He always needed to keep it simple with enough room to breathe.

And if he passed out here… He’d be alone and vulnerable and inside this gown. He laughed a little. He’d have the ‘vapors’ alright. Still, who knew what might find him like this. He didn’t want to get…

"ggggrrrrrrooooowwwwwwlllll...."

Aw crap!

Moon turned his head trying to locate where the deep growling might be coming from. It seemed to be from down the path he had come from. And even though he had no idea what it was, it was not wise for him to stick around and found out. Growls tended to not be a friendly sort of thing, after all.

His feet moved as quickly as they could within the skirt. He lifted the hems up to help him move a little faster. The growling seemed to be gaining on him. As he topped the rise he risked looking back down hill to see if he could make out what was chasing him, but his feet caught on a tree root and he stumbled down the hill, rolling and rolling with his skirts flying in every direction. He lost his pendant and his hair was soon a mess. His gown suffered the most damage though, with rips and tears and mud and grass stains covering it throughout. When he finally came to a stop, he laid on his side in a large mud wallow and panted as his vision began to gray out.

When he could finally see again, there was a fox before him. The canine teeth showed a pearly white as the mouth opened towards him. “Are you okay, my lady?” the fox asked.

“Okay?”

“Why yes, I came upon you here in the mud taking a nap. I’ve stood guard over you until you could come to.” As the fox spoke, Moon became aware that he was wearing boots that protected his feet from the worse of the mud and he wore a belt with a rapier and a large brimmed hat with a jaunty long feather stuck in the brim.

“Who are you?”

“Why, I am Brother Fox, serving King and Country, my lady. And who are you?”

“Oh, well… I am …” Moon struggled to find a good name for himself, but couldn’t find anything that suited things. It was at that moment that a rabbit darted across the path in the distance, and upon seeing it behind Brother Fox, Moon exclaimed. “Rabbit!”

“What’s this?” Brother fox turned around quickly to see what might be behind him, tripped and fell hind end first into the mud. He slowly scanned the area as he turned back. “Rabbit huh? You seek to trick me?”

“What? No, not at all!” Moon tried to pull himself up, but his hands were stuck in the tar like mud. He tried to turn and get to his feet, but the corset held him tightly and rigidly to where bending was not possible.

“So, you now find yourself at my mercy, eh? You try to make sport of me and now you are stuck and in need of my help.” Fox walked around to Moon’s backside. “Lucky for you I am always a fine upstanding citizen. Let me help you by pulling your skirts up first. Then we can pull the rest of you up and back on your feet.”

Moon didn’t know what to think. His hands stuck in the muck, his feet were pulled to where his rear end was sticking straight up into the air with his hands and feet in the ground. Brother Fox hoisted his skirts and suddenly cried out, “What’s this! You have tricked me again! You are a Brother!! And you said before your name is Rabbit? My continual tormentor? Brother Rabbit? You’re disguise certainly had me fooled. You are making sport of me!” Brother Fox’s hand struck Moon’s bottom close to the offending object he found under his panties.

Fox backed away and began to stalk back and forth. “You thought you could get away with it too, you scoundrel. So Brother Rabbit, what do you have to say for yourself? Hmm?”

“I’m sorry, I really am. But I could really use your help. This mud,” Moon indicated with his nose as his hands and feet were both stuck in the tar like substance, “has me right good. I can’t seem to get loose! My name is Moon by the way, and I’m not this ‘Brother Rabbit’ person. It’s a rather funny series of unfortunate circumstances that have led me here today. I’ve meant no offense nor have I tried to lead you on in any way.” Looking at Brother Fox, Moon saw that he was grinning in a very nerve wrecking way. The grin turned into a chuckle which grew as the moment went on.

"I've got you this time, Brother Rabbit," said Brother Fox, jumping and laughing for joy. "You've tricked me for the very last time. Now I wonder what I should do with you? Maybe I should roast you over a fire and eat you. No, that's too much trouble. Maybe I'll hang you instead. If I'm going to hang you, I'll need some string. And I don't have any string handy. But the stream's not far away, so maybe I'll drown you instead."

As the fox laughed, Moon looked around hurriedly. He spotted to the side down the path a large building jutting up into the sky. If Moon could get in there, he’d be safe and perhaps be able to get out of the clothes and the situation he was in.

“Oh please Brother Fox, whatever you do, please don’t throw me into the building over there.”

"The building over there, eh?" said Brother Fox. "What a wonderful idea! That’s the executive manager’s building. You'll be torn into little pieces!"

Grabbing up the mud-covered Moon, Brother Fox pulled him out of the sticky tar like mud and swung him around and around and then flung him head over heels into the building. Moon let out such a scream as he fell that all of Brother Fox's fur stood straight up. Moon fell through a window with a crash and a mighty thump. Then there was silence.

Moon popped up and looked out of the broken window. Brother Fox stared at him from well off in the distance and Moon gave him a large raspberry.

He turned away from the window and went into the hallway chuckling to himself. Luckily he hadn’t hurt anything after having been thrown through a window. He was made of very stern stuff after all. He laughed as he pulled the tattered gown from his body, then stripped out of the muddy ruined petticoat and shoes. But with a growing nervousness, he felt like he was no longer alone. He looked up from where he stood, surrounded by his old clothes and dressed only in his corset, stockings, and panties. He definitely wasn’t alone.

“ah….. I need to get out of here. I’m sorry, I came in by mistake.” The office in front of him was filled with penises. All of them were busy working at their desks and having meetings, but after seeing him, they began to rise one and all, stiffening as they raised themselves up.

“No really, don’t get up on my account. In fact, stay relaxed please. I’m going to just … “ Moon pointed to the door. “I’m going to leave now. Please excuse my intrusion.” They all froze at that word, ‘intrusion’, seemingly looking at each other before reaching their silent tally about the whacking that was being voted upon, a tally-whacker vote as it were. Then they suddenly surged forward as Moon turned to scramble, only to fall flat on his face before reaching the door.

“What’s his problem?” the nurse asked as she stood before his bed. Moon was cleaned up and thus gone were all traces of his being a part time pretend magical girl. His hair had been washed and it hung there limply, having lost all of its body and curls. His face was pale without any makeup and his eyes seem much smaller without anything to define them and help them standout. An oxygen mask covered his mouth and nose, allowing him to breathe easier than normal.

The second nurse stepped up and checked the readout from the machine hooked up to his chest under his gown. Then she verified that his arms were still strapped to the sides of the bed with the call button within each reach if he were to wake up.

“Nasty bump on his head and some really bad medication interactions. This guy’s been through some hell last night.”

“Why the straps?”

“He keeps thrashing around and at times he’ll start to yell. It’s so he doesn’t accidently hurt himself or pull anything off.”

“Well hopefully he’ll come around soon. And I hope he has a much better day.”

Moon is recovering within the hospital as discoveries are… well, discovered.

A heavy set man dressed in a well-worn shirt and tie came out of the bathroom. His clothes had seen a lot of wear since when they were new and now they were starting to show their age from not only it being twelve years since he bought them, but from being one of the few suits he would still fit into. He didn’t mind much, not having things for himself, because it meant that he could provide something for his kids. Every little bit counted.

He called out down the hall, “Connie, is Dusty okay?”

“He’s still coming off the flu if that’s your question. Other than that, he’s been okay today. Why?” She came out of the kitchen and into the hall. Like him, she was still in her work clothes. Older jeans, worn steel toe boots, and a navy button down shirt that had “Connie” embroidered on one side and the company patch attached to the other side.

“Well, he’s not doing well now.” He moved to the side as the bathroom door opened and a small, twig like boy came out. His pale skin was offset by his dark brown hair. Looking at the three of them, you could tell he favored his mother as she also was exceptionally thin, standing about 5’5”, and with the same color hair. Where his was in a bowl cut, hers was thick and tied back away from her face. He looked like a miniature version of her.

“Hey Mom. I’m not feeling so well,” he explained.

She quickly strode down the hall, passing the rows of pictures showing their family. Their eldest in his last picture from when he was eighteen, a husky boy who favored his father; their second eldest, a blond broad shouldered girl who favored both parents on her first day in college, her parents both on one knee to be at eye level as she was in her wheelchair; their third child in a recent picture, a brunette wearing glasses posed in her seventh grade cheerleader outfit; their forth, Dusty holding a first place medal from a 5k run; and their last, a young boy in a Webelos scout uniform who also favored his mother in the face, but his father in his stocky build. Theirs was a family who had seen an early loss in their eldest, but one who persevered through that dark time and met each day as a challenge to be better than the last.

She placed her hand on Dusty’s forehead, following to his cheek. “Well, your fever isn’t that bad. Let’s get you back into bed.”

“Yes Mom. Oh, I need to get something.” He ducked back into the bathroom and came out with his eldest sister’s flower pattern blanket and then he was escorted to bed. His dad Roman didn’t mind, much…. It bothered him that his second son was somewhat feminine, but only in the sense that he knew how hard of a life his kid would face in school from the other students. Once he got out of this crappy little town, he’d be much better off. Until then, he’d have to live with the prejudices that neither parent could completely protect him from.

All night each of them kept checking on him. Cleaning him up with every bucket duty they performed. By the morning, both knew something was definitely wrong. This was something much worse than the flu. Dusty had begun to stare listlessly into space and seemed drained of any effort to do everything. They couldn’t shake him out of his funk. Roman wrapped him up in the blanket and placed him into the car, rushing off to the emergency room, not wanting to waste time with trying to get an appointment with the doctor. There was some confusion when he was admitted, his fault really since Dusty had gotten his own pajamas dirty and was wearing his sister Meadow’s sleep shirt over his own shorts and using his eldest sister Spring’s flower cover blanket. Meadow and Dusty were both the same size, so they often wore each other’s t-shirts, jackets, shoes, shorts, and pants. Roman and Connie both drew the line early on to hand-me-downs between those two, but that didn’t stop them from sharing things. Thankfully for Roman, Dusty didn’t wear everything of his sister’s as some things were definitely too girly for him to be seen in.

The day disintegrated into a repeat of their previous nightmare back when his first born Rocky had died from a motorcycle accident that sent Spring into the hospital. Dusty was soon care-flighted to a larger and better hospital. He was a difficult child to treat since he didn’t react well to medications. Some worked as expected, others more so, others less so, and still others in ways that were very unexpected.

Whereas Rocky had died soon after he arrived at the hospital, it was his eldest daughter who struggled to stay alive. In the end, both of Spring’s legs had been amputated. It was a miracle that she had survived at all. At least she had been wearing Rocky’s helmet. That was probably what saved her and doomed him.

And now they were back in the hospital again, with yet another of their children fighting to stay alive.

It was the aspirins Dusty had taken to help his fever while he had the flu. They hadn’t known the risks associated with taking it coupled with having a virus. Dusty’s brain was swelling beyond his skull’s capacity to expand, squeezing him to death within his own body. The diagnosis was Reye syndrome. Dusty fought to stay alive within the hospital, his first time as a patient and not a visitor. Visiting him within the ICU was difficult for them all, so many memories returning of Spring’s time within there. Thinking daily that this could be the last, fearing to lose yet another child of theirs.

For Dusty, it was a time of confusion, not knowing what was really going on as his brain was pushing against his head and squeezing everything about himself into someone different than he was. He knew at times that he wasn’t thinking straight, but he didn’t always know when those times were. As things improved, he found himself watching his heart beat on the monitor, listening to the nurses give out messages and codes from the speakers, and getting glimpses of others as they were wheeled by his door. Some were in far worse shape than he was. Some were now well enough to be moved out.

He watched his parents with each visit, their faces struggling to maintain a cheerfulness that they did not feel in their heart. He didn’t want to die. Not that he was really scared of dying. Only that he decided that he didn’t want to die yet, not when there was so much to do. He’d never be like Rocky, the strong sportsman type. He wasn’t even like his youngest brother Forest who tended to be a bit wild and easily distracted. The fact that he wasn’t like them wasn’t just in the way they did things. After all, Dusty was an athlete too and he competed by running. And it wasn’t because he knew that he couldn’t measure up to anyone in direct physical strength competition. After all Spring was very strong and could beat most anyone at arm wrestling when she was in school. No, it wasn’t a physical type thing. After all, a body is a body. They come in all shapes in sizes. And even though he was probably closest to his sister Meadow, they were different too. She didn’t have his gift of running and he didn’t have her gift of coordination. No, when it came to his brothers, both of them were different than he was in some other fundamental non-physical way. He recognized it. They did too. Even his sisters knew.

Hell, everyone in his family knew it to some degree. Only they didn’t know how much he was different from everyone else. What he felt like down in his heart.

And he was going to tell them too. Life was too short to hide anymore.

Yes, he’d tell them; when he got out of the hospital that is.

His eyes slowly opened and looked out at the ceiling. He recognized the various things around him fairly quickly. He was intimately familiar with hospitals, way more than he cared to be. He took stock of what was around him and found that his arms had been restrained to the sides of his bed. The oxygen mask felt secure on his head and he could see the IV tubes attached to his hands. More cables could be felt on his chest attached to monitoring devices beside the bed. The logical part of his mind recognized the need for everything, but this didn’t make it any better. He struggled slightly and was finally able to push the nurse call button they had supposedly left in easy reach.

In short order the nurse had arrived and she went immediately to work, looking at his vital signs on his monitors and checking the various machines and connections.

“Could you let me out?” he asked.

“In a moment. I need to get this done and then we’ll get you out of that restraint.”

“I need out please.”

“One moment.”

“You don’t understand. I need out now. Now. I need out…” Moon could feel himself start to slip away. The rational part stepped out of the driver’s seat and he watched as his fear took over. It was an interesting thing to watch. He had seen it time and time before, whenever a hospital had him restrained like this, the old fear came back bringing with it an incredibly painful desire to escape. To not be trapped.

Moon’s arm began to twitch as he continued pleading to be released. None of that was helping him though. The nurse began to back away from him, not sure what she should be doing for him. She hit the call button upon the wall and called for emergency assistance. He could hear her and he understood what she was saying. His voice took flight with more requests.

“No drugs. Lemme go. Lemme go. No drugs. No Drugs NO Drugs… Must get free…”
He felt it begin in earnest then. His rational self left completely, his body stiffening and beginning to convulse. His warm guts leaking out before him. The twisted metal holding him prone, the weight on his chest keeping him from breathing, his legs bent unnaturally…. Unable to scream. Unable to move. Unable to do anything but hear his father calling his name softly before he finally could speak no more.

Then there was freedom. His arms were finally moving and with their release, the hold of the past was also gone and he felt himself returning, his body straining to breathe even with the oxygen mask upon him.

He looked and saw that he was being held by two different people, keeping him from hurting himself, but giving him enough room to move. One of the people holding him looked to be a doctor. He gasped out repeatedly, “Okay. I’m okay.” In a few moments, they finally released him and he focused on regaining his breath.

“Did you not see the chart?” demanded the doctor to one of the nurses who was rubbing her back. “You are NOT to administer any medication without direct authorization. He is incapable of handling things in a normal fashion.”

She looked like she was ready to take his head off, but another nurse pulled her away and out of the room.

The nurse who was beside him who had helped free him was shaking. It always made him sick to his stomach to see how others had to deal with him. It wasn’t something he wished on anyone. Together she and the doctor continued to check him out, making sure everything was still secure, getting him a cup of ice water and using a wash cloth to clean him up a little. He kept telling them how sorry he was for what he had done and thanking them for looking after him. It only made them worry that much more.

“Moon, are you okay?” He wasn’t sure if it was the nurse or doctor who asked.

“Thank you. Yes, I’m fine. I’m okay. I’m sorry for my fits. I don’t like to be tied down. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. Really it is. What can we get you?” It was the doctor who was asking.

“My files. Did you get my medical files and history? I have a lot of special needs.”

He actually chuckled at that. “Yes, we have it. You are very smart to have it readily available and organized and indexed.”

“There’s a lot there. So much stuff. So many things. I’m sorry.”

“It is alright. Look, I’m going to leave Rebecca here for a bit until you settle down. She’ll look after your needs until you feel you have recovered, okay?”

“Thank you. I’m sorry to be such a bother Rebecca.”

“Everything is okay Mr. Trail. What should I do for you?”

“Call my sister. She can talk to me. Is that okay? Can we call her? I’m sorry that this is such a hassle.”

Soon his sister Spring was on the speaker system from the phone with him and he listened as she spoke. It didn’t matter what she was saying really, only that it was the sound of her voice. He finally realized she was going through the day to day she dealt with as the owner of a bed and breakfast in the tourist town she lived in.

He interrupted her finally, “Spring?”

“Yes?”

“You can shut up now.”

“Oh, you are very welcome. So what have you gotten yourself into? I got the call last night about your being admitted. A very nice woman by the name of Winner gave me some details about it all.”

“Ah…” the memory of Mrs. Rollins came flooding back into his brain. “Oh god. One moment.” He looked over at Rebecca. “I’m okay now. Do you mind if we have some privacy? No offense intended, but well, there are some things I’m embarrassed about.”

Spring laughed. “He’s embarrassed about how he was dressed when he came in I bet.”

Moon closed his eyes and counted to ten. Rebecca simply smile and responded, “It’s okay. I wasn’t on duty when he came in. So I’ve no idea what he was or was not wearing. However give me a moment and I’ll get you something to wipe your face with after you finish your call.”

He looked at her, his eyebrows cocked in confusion.

She hit the mute button and answered, “You still have some makeup on you.”

It was good he was in the hospital. They could save him when he died of embarrassment.

When she left, he continued, “Spring, I’m sorry for the call.”

“It’s okay little brother. So what were you wearing? All I got from them was that it was something very girl like. They apologized about cutting you out it and they were asking if you had any special needs because of the way you were dressed and all.”

“Damn.” He counted again. “Well, I can always sew another one. I was doing some cosplay when my meds went wonky.”

“Ah ha! That would explain things. Look, you need to add into your medical database thing about that sort of thing. This isn’t the first time I’ve been asked about it you know.”

“yah yah.” He waved her off with his hand, even though she was on the phone. “this is only the second…”

“Third.”

“Okay, third time this has happened. I am not going to put that in my file for the rare occasion…”

“Third out of five times.”

“Rare occasion!”

“I’m just glad they didn’t commit you again because of your freaking out.”

“God that was a nightmare. Thanks for bringing that one up.”

“It took awhile to get you out of that mess.”

“Please, don’t remind me.”

“Anyway, I need to know. Do you need me up there or are you okay?”

“I’m fine now. I don’t have any clothes to wear home, but I’ll manage.”

“Please don’t get arrested.”

“Thank you for your concern.”

“Any time little brother.”

“Spring?” he waited until he had her attention. “Thank you for helping me here. I appreciate it.”

He could hear her voice become a little strained. She was the one constant in his life, his safe guard, his only family. And he was the same for her. “You’re welcome as always. I love you. You take care, okay?”

“Will do. I’ll give you a call tomorrow, alright?”

“Deal.”

Winner pulled into the driveway of a small house in the middle of the street. She knew enough about the area to know it was an older neighborhood that had seen better days. It was a mix of elderly folks and a few young, desperate families barely able to make ends meet. All the houses showed a measure of neglect necessitated by fixed incomes. There wasn’t a garage at the end of the driveway, but it was deep enough for two cars to fit into. Behind her she saw that Ralph had parked along the street in front of the house.

Together they walked up the porch steps and unlocked the front door, Ralph hurrying in to key in the alarm code they were given. Winner stepped in shortly after him and looked around at a very sparsely decorated room. There was a couch, two end tables, and a large recliner chair that made the sitting area. There was a small TV with rabbit ears on a cart tucked into the corner at an angle implying it hadn’t seen much use recently and beside the chair she could see a special power strip and a large wooden container devise that cleverly held and concealed the contents from direct view. She made her way there first. “Here’s his data pad he wanted. Right where he said it was.”

Behind the place where the end table met the chair and couch, tucked neatly away and fully accessible from the chair was a medium size oxygen tank with a mask and hose carefully arranged on a hook in easy reach of the chair. Winner shook her head at it all. The house smelt similar to her grandmother’s. There was always this scent of age hanging about whenever she had gone to visit. A sort of medicine smell coupled with decay.

Ralph poked his head into the cupboard. “Geez. Moon has nothing here to eat. I mean, all that’s here is a case of water bottles and some really simple soups. Let’s see… some bowls, plates, and cups, but not many of them.” He went and opened the pantry, “Ah, here’s a whole bunch of bags of… nutrient powder?”

“Ralph, you should stop poking around. We’re not here to intrude on his privacy.”

“But what does he eat? There’s only this small dorm fridge and it doesn’t have much of anything either.”

“If you had read some of his file, you’d know that he had most of his stomach and intestines taken out when he was younger. Some horrible accident that laid him up for a few years in the hospital. But it left Moon unable to eat regular foods. He’s on a very special and mostly liquid diet.”

Ralph chuckled. “And here you were telling me not to snoop.”

“I wasn’t snooping. I was learning the needs of our employee.”

“Right,” he smirked. “You know, this place is very clean. Very much like his cubicle. Not a whole lot of stuff around.”

She nodded and replied, “Enough for someone to live with.”

She laughed as she looked at a few pictures on the wall. “He was an adorable child though. He looks a lot like his mother.”

Ralph looked over the pictures and noticed, “The frames are immaculate. No dust at all. He takes care of all his things it seems.” He pointed to a Christmas photo of Moon sitting next to a blond with broad shoulders sitting in a wheelchair. “I believe that is his sister Spring.”

“She’s very pretty.”

“Yes. She is. What was she like on the phone?”

“Professional. She’s been through this a few times from what she told me. Moon is very fickle when it comes to medication and things don’t always turn out well for him.”

“Well, we better get his clothes. I, uh, don’t feel very comfortable going in there alone. I’m sort of, well…”

“Afraid to see what Moon wears under it all? I understand. Tell you what, we’ll do it together. If we find that it is more suited for the other to gather things, we’ll handle it that way.”

He chuckled. “I’ve the feeling that you’ll handle the undies and I’ll take care of the rest of the clothes.”

The bedroom was small and equally sparse as the living room and kitchen. The bed had a mechanical lift system with railings, very similar to a regular hospital bed. Beside it was another oxygen tank with mask. Beside the bed was a night stand with a large radio alarm clock that had come from at least twenty years ago. The only two other items in the room was a chest of drawers and a butler chair that held some sweats, house slippers, a t-shirt.

They opened the drawer indicated in their instructions from Moon, “Standard stuff here. Nothing out of the ordinary for a young man.” Winner motioned to the closet. “Why don’t you get the tote bag and get him his pants and shirt?”

Ralph opened the closet and was relieved to see it contained the standard assortment of men’s clothing. He mentally chided himself over his concerns about what he might find. It wasn’t like Moon didn’t have the right to wear what he wanted to wear, but he felt like he was intruding in a place he didn’t belong. Privacy by its very concept indicated ‘private’, as in not being known, especially by him.

He found the tote in a shelf unit comprised of multiple boxes that held various things. Shoes were all in the lower, smaller boxes and shirts, shorts, and sweats were in the upper larger squares. He collected the tote first, then returned for the shoes, jeans, shorts, sweats, and shirts he had on his list.

Winner had already finished packing the tote with her items from the list, so it didn’t take long to arrange and pack the rest of the requested things, along with the data pad. He heard Winner exclaim in the distance, “Oh dear Lord….”

He stepped out and saw that she had opened a second bedroom door and was standing in the middle of it with her mouth hanging open as she surveyed the room. Sticking his head in, he glanced around and saw racks of clothes along one side of the wall followed by shelves and bins of colorful and at times fanciful shoes, hats, and strange staff and weapon like items. Winner was staring at several sewing machines arranged on tables and another set of shelves loaded with bolts of fabric that to Ralph’s eyes, seemed like way more stuff than anyone could really use.

“What is all this?” he asked her as she examined the various machines in front of her.

“What this is…” she paused and shook her head, “What this is, well, it is amazing! Look at these!” She pointed at a few things and machines that didn’t mean much of anything to him.

“Sewing machines?” he asked helpfully.

“Not just any sewing machines. These are some of the best you can get and he’s got multiple types here. I think he has everything he could use to make anything he might want. I’m envious! I mean, I sew some, here and there, but this…” she motioned not only to the machines but the rest of the room, “this is the realm of someone who is dedicated and highly skilled as a seamstress. Look at this!” She rushed over and fingered an elegant military style jacket hung on one of the racks. “Exquisite. Look at the needle work here. This is…. Well, it is simply amazing.”

Ralph mused, “Isn’t seamstress what you call a woman who sews?”

Winner didn’t notice what he had said as she looked behind a portable partition and visibly cooed her approval.

“What is it?” Ralph moved over to where she was and saw her looking at a very elegant dress for a child that was tacked up on a small dress form. Other dress forms were tucked against the wall. “What is this?”

“This is beautiful is what it is. It must be a flower girl’s dress. Dear Lord this boy has talent. Do you see how he’s …” she stopped as she looked at Ralph’s uncomprehending face. “You have no idea how professional this is, do you?”

“Not a clue.”

“I would say that Moon has a second career as a dress maker or costume maker by some of these things. And he isn’t messing around with it either. The quality of work he’s doing is extremely good. I suspect he could go toe to toe with the best in town.”

“Dr. Steele? What brings you to our wing today?” Rebecca asked. She looked at the his dark wavy hair and found herself lost for only a moment. ‘Drake Steele’ might be a silly macho-type name for a doctor, especially one who was exceptionally handsome, but it didn’t mean he didn’t warrant the macho image it implied nor decreased the number of people who admired him for his good looks and charm.

“Ah, hello Rebecca. How are the kids?” He flashed her a smile as his hand marked where he had stopped reading on the chart he held.

She couldn’t help but smile back. Drake not only was a dream in every regard, he always seemed like it wasn’t any big deal that he was. A quiet modesty that went well with his relaxed demeanor and friendly behavior. She had never once heard of him using his appeal upon anyone or taking advantage of any one. It was like he was willing to be friendly and kind and keep inside the rules that everyone followed.

“They’re doing well. I’ve been using that cook book you recommended and it has really helped Tom with his appetite.”

He laughed and commented, “Boys that age seem to consume whole refrigerators. And they hardly ever gain a single pound from it either. Life’s not fair, isn’t it?”

“No it certainly isn’t. So who are you here to see?”

“A Mr. ‘Moon’ Trail. I need to make sure that his dietary needs are up to date and being met. He’s down this hall here?” Drake motioned down the hall he was facing.

“Ah, no. Sorry, it’s the other direction.” She told him the room number.

He shook his head, “I get so turned around on these floors at times. Thanks for pointing the way.” He smiled at her again and began walking the right way down the hall.

Looking over the history, he was amazed that this patient ever survived the initial accident. His guts had been impaled and destroyed, part of his lung had to be removed from the damage sustained, and it looked like he had spent years in the hospital recovering the use of his legs. All this was about twenty years ago too, and though he didn’t like to think along the lines, the things they did back then seemed like the dark ages to him. Not that their hearts weren’t in the right places, but the equipment and techniques they used back then couldn’t measure up to what they had today. He chuckled to himself. That’s probably what they’ll say about us in another twenty years.

He knocked on the door and upon hearing permission, he stepped into the room. A nice private room too. That made things easier when dealing with privacy concerns. He walked in, putting the chart down purposefully to his side so that he could give his attention to the person in front of him and not the patient on paper. Someone had been by already and brought a change of clothes for the man. That’s always a good sign. Mr. Trail sat up in his bed, oxygen mask on below large glasses that sort of took over his face. His hair looked clean and was a little damp, pulled back straight into a low pony tail. He even smelt like he had a shower not long ago as well. The small man placed his data pad down on the table next to him and looked up expectantly.

He looked so thin and tiny. So young too. If he hadn’t known that this was a man in his early thirties, he might have thought he was in the wrong room. It was best to check in any case.

“Mr. Moon Trail?” he inquired. “I’m Dr. Drake Steele. I’m here to make sure we’re following the right dietary requirements. Specifically, I need to make sure we’re current with your needs.”

The young man paled rapidly and his free hand clamped over his mouth. He finally squeaked out, “David?”

Dr. Drake David Steele looked at him a moment and then it clicked for him, “Dustee?” This was that magical girl he had met the night before!

Sometimes there’s no turning back.
And…
Sometimes there’s no moving forward.

“David?” I couldn’t believe what was happening. I felt like running, but there was no place to go.

He dropped the folder he had in his hand and the impact echoed in the room.

I tried to speak a thousand things at the same time, “Uh, um…”

“Dustee?” he asked again.

“Um, yah.” I gave him a little wave with my free arm. “Hi?”

I could see him swallow and glance around. Then he bent over and picked up the chart. “Um, I don’t know if you want me as your physician or not.”

“Physician?”
“Yes. I am a Gastroenterologist. I was assigned to work with your special dietary needs. I work here,” he gestured helpfully.

“Oh,” I answered. Then to be helpful I told him, “I’m only visiting.”

“I can see that.” He suddenly grinned and then looked away.

“What?”

He supplied, “I was thinking that you look pretty different since last time I saw you.”

“Oh, yah. I’m sorry.” I struggled to find something to add to that.

He looked back down to his feet, “So I…”

I busted through, “Sorry, my hair’s not normally curly.”

He looked up at my face to check my hair, “Oh. Yes, well…”

“And I normally don’t wear glasses. I can see fine without them for the most part, but I find they help me when I’m not feeling 100%. I like to think of them as hiding my secret identity, like Clark Kent.”

“They are quite…”

“And I use oxygen because I don’t have all my lung on my left side, but I don’t always have to use it. I can actually do quite well without it if I’m calm and not doing anything too vigorous….”

He touched my arm, “Dustee, please. It’s okay.”

“What’s okay? Something is wrong? I don’t know of anything wrong. Everything is fine here!”

He began to talk over me, “Everything is fine. Really, You’re okay. I’m okay. It isn’t like I didn’t know you weren’t 100% female you know. I am a doctor and I had a very good look at you from behind.”

I cleverly responded by pulling the sheet over my head.

“Dustee?”

I moaned softly behind the sheet, “how did you know?”

“Seriously? You’re asking me how I knew you weren’t really…” he trailed off, not sure how to proceed. I helped him out by not saying anything.

He took a deep breath. “Okay, let me set a few things to rest here, okay?” Responding my sheet covered nod, he continued, “First off. Are your records here up to date regarding your dietary needs?”

I put my hand out from under the sheet. “Can I see them?” He handed them to me and I put my glasses on over the sheet, then pretended to review them. “Yes, they are up to date.”

Chuckling he took the records back. “Okay, so let me help you out here…”

“No, really. They are up to date.”

“How do you know they are up to date?”

“Because I update them and review my data all the time.”

“Humor me please.”

“What’s the date on the record for last update?”

“It doesn’t say here, which is why I am asking.”

Moon pulled the sheet off his head, his hair now in disarray. “It doesn’t? Let me see that.”

Moon looked out of the corner of his eye at David, who was examining him as well.

“Looking good,” Moon declared. “That is, um, the document that is. It’s good.”

“Uh-huh. So are you ready to go back to eating regularly?”

“I guess so. I don’t know how long I’ll be here though.”

“Well, we’ll set you up for a few days, then if you need something more we can get it for you. I’ll personally make sure that you’re doing well on a daily basis…. That is, if you’d like for me to drop by.”

Moon let that hang in the air for a moment. David stopping by? On a daily basis?

“I, uh, I’m not sure if I can handle that.”

“Do you mind if I at least try it one more day?”

Swallowing, Moon considered it for a moment. If it worked out, then it would be okay. “Sure. One day at a time.”

“Exactly. Now that we have the diet element out of the way, can I ask what brought you to my place of business?” David smirked at Moon’s frown.

“Okay. Medically. We’re talking medically, right?”

“Yes, medically.”

Moon did his best to briefly sum up his problem with medications, and how difficult it was when he had to change them and how sometimes they didn’t do well at all with his situation.

“I see. Well, that’s okay. Now if you don’t mind, how did you end up at the party the other night? I went through the invitations afterwards, looking for your name ‘Dustee’, and I couldn’t find you at all.”

Looking away, Moon clarified for him, “Oh, well, I… That is…” Then suddenly, “Wait, you looked for me?”

David smiled at him, a sparkle coming to his eyes. “Yes, I looked for you. I enjoyed our time together. Both before and during. And I was hoping there would be an after as well.”

“After?” squeaked Moon.

“Yes, after. I was interested in knowing you better.”

Pointing to the file, Moon provided, “Well, you know a lot about me now.”

“Indeed. Look, I have to continue my rounds. And I know that this is still very uncomfortable for you, and awkward, …”

“… and weird, and disturbing.…”

“Exactly my point. It’s uncomfortable for me too. Look, I’m going to arrange to drop by tomorrow after my shift and see about talking to you some. If that’s okay? Not as a doctor, but as someone who wants to … um, visit with you.”

Moon felt flushed. “Okay.”

“Fine. It’s a date. I’ve got to go. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

After David left, Moon’s brain finally re-engaged. “Date? Oh My God! DATE?”

Spring laughed on the other end of the line, “So you’ve got a date tonight when he gets off work?” He had called her up like he said he would, grudgingly revealing more and more details of what had happened in an attempt to find some sort of advice or help.

“Look, it isn’t a date.”

“You said it was a date. He said it was a date. You both say it is a date. That’s what you said.”

“Yes, I know what I said, but it isn’t a ‘date’ type of date.”

“Well of course it isn’t that.”

“I’m glad you see it my way.”

“If it was a ‘date’ type of date, you’d have to put on your best dress, have your hair done, and then your nails…”

“Spring! You ass! It isn’t that way at all!” Spring laughed on the other end for a moment and then Moon continued, “And I don’t wear dresses or get my hair done or nails or anything like that!”

Spring let the silence hover for a moment. “Dusty, you aren’t fooling anyone. We’ve had this conversation before, right?”

“And you are wrong! I’m not that way!”

“And yet you have a date… sorry, a meeting scheduled… Wait, is he attractive?”

Moon accidentally softened in his reply, “Yah, he is.”

“So it’s a date with a man whom you find attractive…”

“Who told you he was attractive?”

“You did, just now.”

“I did not.”

“You are in huge denial. Admit it.”

“Spring, sometimes I don’t like talking to you.”

“That’s because you know I’m right.”

Moon hit the button to shut off his phone.

David sat at the table and looked absently out over the rest of the restaurant, “Look, Lon…”

“So? What gives?”

“It isn’t like that.”

“What? You mean you are actually smitten with her?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Who’s the lucky girl?” Barbara asked as she sat down.

“Look, it’s nothing,” David sat his drink down rather forcefully.

Lon pointed to him, “Our good friend here is pining over that bit of ass he had Saturday night.”

Barbara smiled, “Oh, her! She was rather delicious wasn’t she. I wouldn’t mind having her out again, if possible. So Lon honey, who is this mystery girl? What was her name again? Dustee?”

Lon frowned, “I’m not familiar with anyone by her name. I thought that maybe you had invited her or something.”

“No, I hadn’t.”

“She crashed the party I think,” supplied David helpfully.

“How did she do that?” Lon grew serious.

“I’ve no idea. I looked for her invitation afterwards, but I couldn’t find it. Now yesterday she shows up in the hospital because she had a bad reaction to her medication. I walked in and found her there in bed….”

Barbara laughed, “And then you jumped into bed with her all over again?”

David glared at her for a moment. “You know, there are times when your attempts at humor aren’t even worth the attempt.”

She stiffened, but held her tongue when Lon placed his hand on her knee under the table.

“So what is her name? Did she give a fake one or something to you? I’m curious if she had an invitation or not. My front door staff should not have let her in if she wasn’t on the list.”

“Oh, she had a different name in the hospital. Her first name for real is Dusty, with a y and not two -e’s- like I thought. But she goes by the name Moon Trail.”

Lon felt Barbara’s leg jerk violently and he quickly squeezed it so she wouldn’t make another sound. “Oh! Yes. I guess she was hiding the fact that her name isn’t normal or something. But yes, she’s on the list.” He smiled as he said it, but his mind began to race.

“She’s on the list then? That’s good. I didn’t ask if she had crashed, but I assumed it because she was so embarrassed about the whole thing.”

Lon gave a nod, “Probably because she ran into the man who had used his scimitar so well upon her.”

David frowned at him, “At times I wonder why I even bother with the two of you.”

Barbara recovered enough to reply, “Because old friends are good friends.”

“And friends help hold each other secrets,” Lon reminded.

Moon gently eased himself out of the taxi, allowing the driver to help him out and to retrieve his bag as well.

“Are you going to be okay, miss?” the driver asked.

Moon stretched and sighed at being called ‘miss’. It happened from time to time and he had learned not to bother trying to correct people. It sometimes made them uncomfortable and the whole situation would always become awkward. “I’ll be okay. I’m a little slow, but I’ll be okay.”

“Let me at least carry your bag.”

With the bag dropped off inside his house and the taxi driving off, Moon closed the door and leaned against it. They had let him go early. There was that part of him that was happy about that, but the other part of him had been looking forward to seeing David. Now he was struggling with what he should do. Call David or see if David would call him.

He went and sat down in his chair, pushing the buttons that would raise the legs and let him recline. He pulled his current mask off from his smaller, traveling unit, tucking it all away carefully in its carrying case and then he settled his second mask onto his nose and hit the button to turn on the oxygen, letting it cycle so he could breath normally again.

It was a tiring day.

His head kept running through memories with David. How they met at the party. How they had danced and enjoyed each other’s company. How he felt in his arms and how wonderful it felt being a woman with him. Not a pretend woman. Not a fake one. But a real actual living breathing woman.

It had felt so wonderful. But he couldn’t do that. He really couldn’t. His parents wouldn’t have approved. The thought of it all made him ill.

For the rest of the evening, he distracted himself with a show and then tried to do a little needle work, but his mind and spirit wasn’t with him. By nine that night, he finally gave up. David hadn’t called. Probably wouldn’t call. It was time to face facts and let it be.

As he laid there in bed, he couldn’t help but to think about David again. It seemed wherever his mind turned, there was another reminder. With a smile on his face remembering how it felt with his hands upon him, he at last he fell asleep…

… only to be woken up by a crash from his front room. He tried to detangle himself and lower the side rail, but three large figures ran into his room, grabbed his arms and threw something over his face. Then there was darkness.

Sometimes you can’t get away
And…
Sometimes your past follows you

‘thum-thum-thum’

I became aware that my head was hurting. Each moment my head kept going ‘thum’, over and over again. If it didn’t hurt so much, the regularity of the ‘thum’ could have been relaxing. With each ‘thum’ my eyes squeezed and my nose wrinkled. I couldn’t think with all of this going on. Why was it going on?

‘thum-thum-thum-thum’

Okay, don’t think. Try to empty your mind. Don’t think.

….

I’m thinking about not thinking.

….

This is useless. My mouth … I smacked my dry lips and my mouth felt like cotton mixed with phlegm. Then I remembered. My arms… my hands… I couldn’t move them. There were straps holding them down.

I felt my body complain as I began to tense up. I needed to stop… think about something else. Anything else….

David…

No, not David… I can’t deal with David right now….

But he is so … oh god he is so amazingly good looking.

My heart was starting to race. Think of something else. Breathing. Yah, concentrate on breathing. In… Out… In… Out… God, David felt so good back there.

No, something else! Anything else!

I opened my eyes and saw that I was in a small room that was dimly lit. There wasn’t much to it, really. The only thing in the room was the bed I was on. I knew this. I had seen this before. I remembered… that I was ... that I can’t move….

“Let me go,” I whispered. “let me go… let me go… help me… help me let go….”

Heat spread over my chest and moved through the rest of my body… My fingers began to tingle, then my toes… my air… I can’t breathe… i can’t breathe… i can’t…

“What the HELL is wrong with you idiots!?” Lon ran to the first aid box, pulling out of it several boxes and cartons. “You! Come with me.”

He ran out of a room lined with monitors with the man he had commanded following him. Quickly the door was opened, the lights were brought up to full levels, and Lon began checking Moon’s heart.

“Elevate his feet and legs. Half a foot or so. Don’t stand there you idiot!”

His mind ran through the checklists and routines he used to diagnose emergency cases. Check the eyes, airway clear, heart, and pulse. Damn, he didn’t have a blood pressure cuff. That would be helpful to rule things out.

His patient began to stir again, his breathing changed and his eyes fluttered open, only to squeeze shut again because of the bright lights. Lon tried to talk to him, but all he got was repeated requests to be released that progressed until his breath became labored and he passed out again.

This wasn’t working… He needed to get a sedative into Moon’s system to stop this cyclical fainting.

“So what is such an emergency that you’ve brought me here for?” David grumbled while looking at his surroundings.

Lon looked at him to gage his reaction as they walked into the non-descript building surrounded by a whole neighborhood of equally non-descript buildings. The driver who had been sent to pick up his old friend got back into the car and drove away. “Well, I’ve a special case that I need your help with.”

“What sort of special case? One of your people sprain his back or something?”

“No, nothing like that. Look, I’ve a patient that keeps fainting. I don’t know why. I can’t see anything physically wrong in a basic examination and soon after they come too, they start freaking out and then they faint again. I know there’s something there medically, but I don’t have their records nor do I have the ability to do x-rays or MRIs or anything else useful. So I tried a gentle sedative and now they seem to have gone fully unconscious. I can’t wake them normally. I don’t want to give them anything to revive them, because that will start the fainting all over again.”

“That’s not good. Where are they?”

David took a look at Moon’s unconscious form strapped down on the bed, then spun around and yelled, “What the hell is wrong with you?” He had thought it was one of Lon’s accomplices, but they had Dusty here. Given that they didn’t know who Dusty was during or after the party, it could only mean that he was being held as a prisoner.

Lon didn’t bother to look apologetic. “I’ve got a situation and we’re trying to find out how much trouble we’re in.”

“What do you mean, ‘situation’?”

“Well, I can’t go into detail about it. You’re not involved in what I do. You’ve always wanted to stay out of it. So if I tell you then you’ll be involved.”

“Damn it all to hell! You’ve already have involved me by calling me in to look at him. Did you not think about what would happen when I saw someone you were holding? And you know I am…” David’s face crunched up and he stifled any further outbursts he had. It did not pay to get too out of line with Lon. He knew that. He knew there was danger there. He forced himself to turn back around and started examining Moon, taking readings and the like.

Lon turned and started to leave, “Do your business. I want him awake to answer questions.”

Moon slowly came around, feeling extremely tired and sore all over. When he finally was able to blink, he realized that the lights were no longer dim. Carefully he stretched his arms and found them no longer tied, but he felt, then saw the IV drip they had on his arm. This definitely was not a hospital though. He knew a lot about hospitals.

Carefully he turned his head very slowly, fighting the dizziness he felt as he moved. It was a rather small room. There wasn’t anything in there either, other than the bed he was on and the IV stand. No, definitely alone. And there were two obvious places for cameras to hide in distinct darkened half-globe fixtures. So if they were watching him right now, they could tell he was awake.

Since they were holding him here, it was obvious he wouldn’t be able to get out by the door. Though he did entertain the notion for a moment that maybe he could sneak out and take on the stereotypical guards and gain his freedom. Still, reality dictated that there was no way in hell he would be able to escape and beat anyone up physically. Anything really athletic and he’d be unable to breathe. He’d faint. That would be that.

He wasn’t sure how many times he did faint since they brought him here, but it was certainly multiple times judging from the way he felt.

As he laid there, it finally made sense. He reported on the illegal claim pricing scheme that he had uncovered. At the party the mansion was guarded and certainly stank of a lot of money. That sort of combination meant it was probably one of the bad guys who were behind his kidnapping. They would have to have found a way to identify that he was involved. Most likely Barbara finally connected the girl she met at the party with him. Which means she would have been able to tell Dr. Braselton and his people where he lived. He was screwed.

The door clicked.

There wasn’t any use in pretending to be asleep or even to try and stand up and do anything. He wasn’t in any shape to stand up anyway. So he did his best to relax. Keep breathing normally. Wait.

Suddenly he jerked upright and gasped.

David walked into the room and turned towards him with a slight smile on his face. “Hello there. Strange meeting you here, isn’t it?”

It couldn’t be! The man he had fallen in love with, that is, that he liked, that is… Oh damn, David was one of the criminals!

His world crashed down around him and his body slumped back down into bed. Things were bad now; really bad. A long, strained moan of pain from his heart softly left him.

Suddenly David was at his side, “What’s wrong? Where are you hurt?”

Pulling away from David, he felt himself wanting to shrink away to nothingness. How could it be possible?

“Moon, you need to tell me what’s wrong. I can’t help you if you won’t talk to me.”

He whispered, “go away. leave me alone.”

Eventually David did just that. But afterwards, he still felt no comfort. Even crying wasn’t helping.

Moon’s puffy eyes snapped open when the click of the door sounded. Dr. Braselton walked in with only one of his goons in attendance. ‘Not like it mattered’, Moon thought, ‘I can’t even fight against him.’

“Mr. Trail. I’m glad to see that you’re awake. I need to ask you some questions. The attendants tell me that you’re not eating your meals. I want to encourage you to eat next time something is brought in. I know you’re hungry and refusing to eat won’t buy you anything. I’m not here to be disagreeable with you. I can promise you that if you work with me, I can work with you.”

He waited, but all Moon could do was to stare at him

“Alright then. Let’s start by asking you a few questions. Why were you at my party uninvited? What brought you there?”

“What the hell do you expect? He can’t eat food like you and me. He’s missing most of his stomach and intestines!”

“So what does that mean exactly?” Lon asked, growing impatiently.

“Geez Lon,” David shook his head at his ignorance. “It means that there’s little to no absorption of some vitamins and minerals from food via digestion. You have to provide a lot of what the body isn’t able to get from food in pill form. There’s injections too to make up for what you can’t cover through pills.”

“Ah, so Moon can’t eat which is why he isn’t eating.”

“Exactly. And since he’s not even getting his pills, he’s going to have withdrawals from that as well.”

Lon rubbed his eyes in irritation. “Okay, you’re the expert here. What do we do to keep him healthy?”

“I need his medication list for one. That will list all the supplements he’s taking as well.”

“And where do we find it?”

“He has it on a key drive that he always carries with him.”

“My men took him in the middle of the night and he doesn’t have that. It is at his house which we can’t go back into.”

“There’s a website he set up for access to the latest information.”

“We might be able to do that, but it would leave a trail even if we faked where we were coming from. It has an element of risk I don’t care for.”

“Hospital has a copy of it.”

“Which we can’t access for similar reasons. You failed to report to work and can’t be contacted. So protocol will kill your access until you are reinstated.”

“Yah, I want to thank you for that bit in my life.”

“You don’t know how thankful you should be. Now if you want to keep Mr. Trail alive you’ll continue to cooperate.”

“I had a personal copy of his medical records for review on my tablet.”

“Nice to know you’re so careful with your patient’s health information. We might be able to get your tablet, but again, you’re currently missing now. If they’ve started to investigate your disappearance, it would be very risky for us to enter your place to get your computer pad.”

“We could ask him for it.”

“He’s not in any shape to answer any questions.”

“Why?” David asked, concern registering in his eyes. He leaned forward, “What have you done to him?”

Lon sighed. “I tried to question him. It was rather pointless. I don’t think he really remembers everything he did this weekend. It seems… garbled.”

“What. Did. You. Do?”

“The standard stuff. I asked questions. He didn’t answer. Drugs didn’t work either. HELP!! GUARDS!!!”

The guards rushed into the room and pulled David off of their boss. It took three of them to hold him in place. Lon got up and dusted himself off, glaring at David who was being held prone to the floor. “I remind you that my patience is limited. You want Moon to live? Fine. You get the information from him. I’ll get your precious tablet to keep him alive. If you both cooperate, you’ll live.”

David spat, “What, to rot in your prison cell until we die?”

Lon actually sighed. “No, I’ve always valued our friendship. I also have valued the fact that during all this time, you’ve not done anything to jeopardize anything I’ve been doing. So I’m planning to give a good conduct pass to both you and Mr. Trail in there. I will set you both up in a private paradise out of the country, provide you both with new identities and faces, and I’ll even make sure that Moon is given the medical treatment he needs to be your wife, slut, or just your willing slave, if that’s what you want to do to him or her. Whatever makes you happy in that. However you won’t be free to leave that paradise, but that’s a small exchange for your life.”

“Dusty? Dusty, can you hear me?”

I tried to say something, but all that came out was a bit of mumbled response.

“Look, I need you to focus. I need your help here.”

I could focus. I had laser sharp focus. Hell, I could cut through concrete with my focus. I felt myself smile, then I stopped smiling because it hurt.

“Look, all you have to do is help me here. If you tell them what they want to know, then they’ll let us live.”

Live? Oh, the bad guys…. Can’t trust the bad guys.

“We can have our own place somewhere. You can get the surgery you need to be a woman if you want and we’ll be safe.”

I felt like glass was grinding in my jaw, but I had to tell him. “kahhnt de ah giirll.”

“What? You can’t be a girl? Is it that you can’t or don’t want to be? Because we can find a medical way that works with your conditions.”

I shook my head. “naaaooo,” I said clearly. “kahhnt.”

I felt him rubbing my arm and I could hear him talking, but I was too tired to focus. Don’t tell anyone I couldn’t focus…

I woke again. I knew I was definitely awake now and not dreaming because I hurt too much for it to be a dream.

I didn’t want to sleep anymore because of the nightmare. My old nightmare… I had told them who I really was and I could still hear my sister Meadow yelling about how I wanted to be a girl, my mother screaming, my father yelling and losing control of the car. His voice saying my name as he died.

I don’t like to sleep sometimes.

I was able to open my right eye a little and look around. My left didn’t want to open. I didn’t even bother touching my face to feel it, I knew it had to be swollen shut. I shouldn’t have said what I did to that bastard Braselton. If I could take it back now, I would.

“Dusty?”

I turned my head slightly and saw David. He looked awful. His face was bruised and he had blood stains on his shirt. One of his arms was strapped to his side by a torn sheet.

“bavib…” Oh God what did they do to him?

“Don’t worry, you should see the other three guys,” he laughed and then grimaced.

“bavib, wah ah we?”

“Same place as before. We’re not going anywhere soon.”

“erre esxackee.”

“Um, it’s in a warehouse district, near Forest and Van Deman. Number 3110B if I remember correctly. Why is it so important?”

“ah wahnded do no.”

“You wanted to know?”

I shook my head, ‘yes’.

“Look, that’s not important. What is important is that you’ve got to tell me what you know about why you’re here. If you can do that, then they’ll let us go free. We can be together then and they’ll let us live together. Will you do that for me?”

“dirred.”

“Yes, I know you’re tired. Damn, what am I thinking. You’re needing your meds. Look, are your fingers okay? Good. I need you to type out your medications and all the supplements you need. It’s the best we can do right now. Can you do that for me?”

He helped me sit up and put the laptop on my lap.

“It isn’t much. But we’ll have to trust your memory to help you out.”

I stared at the laptop.

“Once you’ve typed out your medications, you’ll need to write what you have told others. Everything you can think of. Tell them everything.”

“ah boned gib in.”

“It’s not giving in. Look, they’ve won. We’ve lost.”

I shook my head again. Couldn’t he understand? We couldn’t give up. We had to fight. My whole life was about fighting. Fighting to stay alive. Fighting against everything that ever held me down. I couldn’t give up now.

“Dusty, please.” David lowered himself to one knee before me. “I love you. I want to be with you from now until forever, but we can’t do that if we don’t live. I can’t let you die. They might kill us, but they might also torture us and I’m sure there are far worse things they could do.” He saw my skepticism. “Look, they will kill you if you don’t cooperate, but they’ll also go after your family and friends too. You don’t even have to be alive when they do it. I can’t let you or anyone else die. I can’t. Please, for me, tell them what you know.”

I looked at him and his eyes pleaded with my one good eye.

He slumped, “I should have never stayed friends with that bastard. I didn’t believe him when he told me he was connected like he is. I wasn’t smart enough or brave enough to say anything to anyone when I found out he really was. I was far too scared of what he might do. I always figured if I stayed quiet and let him be, as long as I didn’t know what he was doing, I could absolve myself of any wrong doing. But that isn’t true. I accepted it as the price of keeping people safe. I was a fool.”

I didn’t care about all of that. I was still hanging on what he said originally. “uu ovf me?”

“Yes. Yes, Dusty, I love you. Please do what they ask.”

I looked at the computer. I may be a part-time pretend magical girl, but I was also a full time badass with my weapon of choice. And they had given me that weapon. It was a long shot. It probably wouldn’t work, but if I knew people, they couldn’t help but do what I expected them to do. Someone was going to take this laptop and go on the internet. All I needed was to create a quick little program using a script, set it to trigger with an internet browser, and off goes an email with our address and circumstances. I began to type.

“I should have never promised you anything,” Lon said to David, his voice reminding me of a predator who wanted to eat the meat in front of him.

David took the box of medical supplies from him and brought it to my side. He started to prepare a syringe before he stated, “I expect you to live up to your promises.”

“Oh, I will. You and your fuck buddy here will be fine. You’ll live in paradise. The only big change in plans is that I’ll be joining you from time to time.”

“Joining us?” David asked, as he stuck the needle into the plug on the IV drip.

“Yes, seems that this bitch here didn’t just play Nancy Drew. She sold out me and Barbara and everyone else she could find. Now we’ve got to move shop, and fairly quickly. I’ve got to deal with the loose ends. Then my family will take care of me, but I would have liked to remain here in country. Ah well, that’s the way it goes at times.”

“I’m so sorry for your loss,” David grumbled. A moment later he was slammed against the wall by one of the guards.

Lon stood at the door and sneered. “I said you’d live. That you’ll be together. And that I’d do anything you wanted to your butt buddy here to make him more attractive. But I never said I wouldn’t do anything to you or him afterwards. I might make you both my toys, or even toys for my men.” With that he left the room and the guards left with him.

“babid?” I pulled myself from the bed and did my best to help him up. “babid? hon-nee? Thlease hon-nee?”

A dull explosion woke both of us. David was on the floor and I was on the bed. We both looked at each other and I struggled to stand up. “eeld nee,” I implored, looking to him to help me get to my feet.

Soon we were both on our feet as he looked at me and listened as intently as I was. We could hear it in the distance, the quick muffled sounds of rapid gun fire. I pulled my IV stand closer to the foot of the bed so I could sit closer to the door where the sound was better. The IV line was almost long enough to reach the end of the bed, but not quite. In a few moments, David moved next to the door to hear what might be going on in the hall. When the door clicked, he tried to jump back out of the way, but the bastard Lon came charging in and pulled him up and around to slam into the wall near the door.

Lon snarled into his face as he held him there, “The deal is off!”

David looked dazed. Lon seemed to move in slow motion as I quickly stood and grabbed my IV stand. He never looked my way, his eyes focused on David’s eyes. I remember seeing a gun being pulled from a holster on his back. I brought my stand up in an arc and swung as best as I could, letting the momentum take the pole in the widest route possible while still holding on. I spun as fast I could, bringing the stand to full extension…

Only to have it smack against the wall near them both.

The stand left my hands and I continued to twist around, carried by the momentum. My IV line popped apart at the connection joint as it tried to wrap around me.

Lon and David both looked towards me, started by the stand slamming into the wall next to them. I felt myself begin to fall, the momentum pulling me downward as I turned.

But I was not unaccustomed to balance.

I had spent years practicing.

Not too many other people could walk in heels as well as I could. Heck, I could name many, many people I had met who couldn’t walk in high heels to save their life. They couldn’t walk properly in them to save their booty. It always made me want to throw up when I saw them waste what god denied me. But me? I didn’t have a problem with balance in or out of high heels. I could save my booty. I was more graceful and more elegant than anyone else I knew when it came to balancing myself on my feet.

A slight step forward, bring the other foot up and in, continue the spin…

My IV cord whipped around as my inertia decreased, translating into angular velocity. I would have rocked as an ice skater! Especially in one of those gorgeous little skirt sets!

The end of the cord slashed across Lon’s eye. The gun fell from his hand and David shoved him in the direction he was turning, using Lon’s own movement to pull him around and to the floor.

I quickly came to a stop and went for the gun, but by the time I got it, David was dropping on Lon’s chest with his knee. David fell over to the floor then, as Lon’s body rolled under the impact. I held the gun in my hands and brought it around to point where Lon laid, but the next thing I knew, I was blindsided. I felt myself fall away as someone in blue combat gear started to yell at all of us.

I was separated from David then as we were both taken in separate ambulances. The police hadn’t let us talk to each other at all and I had no idea what would happen to him next. I could only hope that I’d see him soon.

But the first two days passed without him. Then the third. I figured he was done with me. My sister had come to see me as well as Winner and Ralph. Plus I had a lot of interviews with the agents. No one would tell me what had happened to my sweet David.

Slowly my face healed, my bruises started to fade. But the pain was there still. I missed him. And I never could be the woman he wanted me to be. The one I wanted to be.