One Summer's Day- Part I
By- G.K.S

Chapter 1- One Summer Afternoon

My parents were yelling again. I didn’t know whether I wanted to go up and check to see what was going on. No doubt my Dad was being emotionally abusive to my mother. The last time they got in an argument, he smashed her hand in a door on 'accident'. I’ve hated him for that ever since…I think he’s a overgrown boy with a temper, a real selfish sort of tyrant.

Lying on my bed staring at the ceiling I could hear my mother crying somewhere in the house. I wish I could save her from this place…but I’m still in college and I’m only 21. I own basically nothing and don’t have a cent to my name. I couldn’t take it any more, I had to get out of the house. Besides, it was a nice sunny afternoon and a June summer at that. I always wondered why I mainly had nothing to do on a summer day like this one. I’ve been depressed since I was in junior high…I’m depressed now, I’m suicidal and I never know what to do with my life.

I stopped and looked in the mirror at myself. The reflection looking back at me was me, Ryan Dunlap. I’m a boy, I’m twenty-one years old, about five foot six and I weigh a hundred and fifteen pounds. In other words, I’m a feather weight. Brown eyes, shoulder length brown hair…I’m feminine looking enough that people frequently mistake me for a girl. I dress androgynously I suppose, since I wear girl jeans just because they fit better. I threw on a short sleeved t-shirt and a short sleeved corduroy light jacket over it that was a light blue color that matched my denim jeans. I had a pair of blue puma motor-sport shoes I liked to wear. They were actually women’s shoes, although I wore them in women’s size 11. I figure that they were blue, so it’s not likely anybody would know that they weren’t men’s shoes anyways. Moreover, aside from that, I don’t really care what people think. Never have.

Walking out to my car I hopped in and started the engine. I had a nice car…although my dad refused to let me use my own money to buy myself a new one. I have a 1997 Monte Carlo Z-34. It’s a nice car, but I don’t have a passion for it nor do I really love it as if it were my own. It just gets me from A to B so to speak.

Revving the engine, I pulled my Torch Red sports car onto the main road outside my house. I live in the country, so first thing I did is start heading for town. The sky was bright blue and the air was in the seventies, which was a great mildly cool day. Looking down the rapidly passing road I saw a old Buick off to the side of the road with the hood up. I wasn’t sure…I wasn’t going to stop because it could be dangerous, and let’s face it, I’m not a good Samaritan. Although I’m not mean or rude or anything like that. Drawing closer I saw an old lady had the hood of the car raised and was looking into the engine compartment. I felt a sudden compulsion to pull over and see if I could help her. I mean she was just an old lady after all.

Pulling to a stop just behind her vintage Buick, I climbed out of the car. She looked at me with a smirk…as if perhaps…I don’t know, almost like she had expected me to stop. Walking around the car it was what I referred to as a battlecruiser, due to the fact it’s one of those big old people cars that seem so oversized. I waved at her as I walked up to her and smiled. She smiled back, but looked at me in an apprising way, with her head slightly cocked to the side. I realized I was only an inch or so taller than her, and smiled at the thought. I really don’t want to be taller than I am, or bigger. I’m very comfortable with my stature and my build.

“Having trouble?” she smiled a bit more at hearing my voice.

“Oh, you’re male. But I already knew that didn’t I,” she said with a peculiar expression. I figured she was amused at the fact I was a femme boy.

“I haven’t met many men who make the femme look seem cute the way you do,” she replied, almost as if she read my mind.

“Whatever, are you having car trouble?” I replied, nonplussed.

“Yes. But I’m sure you can see that.”

“Yes, I’m sure I can,” I replied coolly. I wasn’t meaning to be rude, I just felt odd now that I was here. I mean I hadn’t been planning on stopping to help her.

I looked down into the engine compartment, my hair fell into my face and so I used my hand to brush it aside and tuck it behind my ear. I was used to it getting in the way by now. I could see that the engine was low on coolant, and most likely overheated. Most cars will automatically shut off if the engine reaches a critical temperature.

“So my coolant is low?” she asked. I didn’t notice that I hadn’t told her that. I would just assume that she noticed it on her own.

“Yes,” I replied. “Looks like you might have overheated the engine. You’ll probably have to call a tow.”

Looking a bit closer, “You might wanna get that air filter changed as well.” It was in pretty bad shape. I didn’t really see a reason as to why it shouldn’t start back up given some time to cool. I wondered if she was up to something.

“Alright. Would you mind giving me a lift into town?” she asked.

“Oh…I suppose I don’t mind,” I said.

“Good boy.” She said. The way she said it made me feel as if she was talking to her pet dog or something.

So, she got in on the passenger side of my car as we cruised into town. I turned my radio off since I was pretty sure she wouldn’t want to listen to hip hop.

“Where you going?” I asked, as we neared town.

“Could you please take me to bikini beach?” she replied.

As we pulled into the parking lot twenty minutes later. “Is this some sort of water park?”

She looked at me with a slightly surprised expression, “Yes, it is. I suppose not many men have heard of it.”

“I’m going to my office just over there, why don’t you come in and have a drink.” She offered.

I suddenly realized I was actually incredibly thirsty, and decided that it couldn’t be such an bad idea. But, curiously enough, I didn’t feel overly thirst a minute ago…I think.

I shut the car off and hopped out, making small talk with he old lady as we walked towards the building that was on the parking lot side of the park. Walking into the office, I felt the air conditioning immediately and it made me feel a little cold.

“Sorry about the A/C, I had in on high since it was in the nineties the other day.”

She got me a drink from a mini fridge in the corner of the room, and handed it to me as she took a seat on the other side of a large oak desk. Her swivel office chair seemed almost like a leather throne it was so elaborate. I took the coke she offered me…a glass bottle coke and popped the cap off, sipping at it. She seemed lost in thought for a minute and I felt a little uncomfortable just sitting here with a stranger while saying nothing.

“I feel like maybe I should reward you. After all, you were courteous enough to stop and help me, then drive me to the park and ask for nothing in return. Not even a thank you,” she said, seeming as if she was impressed.

“Maybe I could offer you a free pass or some such,” she said.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m afraid of the water. I don’t like to swim,” I said.

She didn’t seem surprised, as if she knew what I was going to say. Then she turned to me, “Well, I’m curious about who you are. And you seem troubled by something. Would you like to talk?”

“Well…um, I have problems at home. And…I’m depressed all the time although I don’t know why.”

She just nodded her head and asked, “Problems at home?”

I started to talk about my father, and then I suddenly just spilled the whole story to her, and by the time I was done, I was crying. She looked sad, as if she felt sorry for me.
“You had a sad childhood didn’t you? Yet you’re very mature for your age.”

“I’m not. I’m not mature. I do very average schoolwork and I just don’t feel mature at all really.”

She gave a little nod, and then went on, “That’s not true. You think a lot about your mother. You’re looking out for her best interests and you love her so much. I can just tell, that you have so much compassion in your heart. You must feel like your dying in the environment your in.”

“I don’t know. Things have always been so hard on me. I never even felt like I was actually alive. I hate my life, I just hate it!”

“You seem pessimistic,” she said, with a curt nod.

“No, not pessimistic. Just bitter,” I replied.

“Why?”

“My child hood sucked. Everything after has been an absolute mess. My school work is a disaster, I’ve coasted through life in absolute misery.”

She looked at me for a long while.

“Alright. But how would you like to learn to swim? No inhibitions.”

“I said I’m afraid of the water.”

“Yes, I know…but something can be arranged,” the old woman said, now looking down at a card on her desk.

“Why are you doing this for me?” I asked.

“To repay you for a good deed. So few people follow their instincts and help people in need these days. Besides, I like to help people when business permits. What’s so hard to understand about that?”

“Alright. What’s this entail?” I questioned, looking deep into her grey eyes from my place on the opposite side of her desk.

“Just show up whenever you like with this card. Swipe in with it, go into the men’s locker room and take a shower before entering the park.”

“Take a shower?” I asked.

“Health department regulations.”

“Oh,” I answered.

“How’s this suppose to help me? I don’t really wanna learn to swim,” I said moments later.

“You just need to learn to have fun again. Or maybe learn it for the first time? There’s so much more to life you know,” the old woman replied. She then seemed to close her eyes for a minute. Moments later a tall, well build brunette entered the room. She was pretty and had brown eyes matching her brown hair.

“Anya, would you show Mr. Thomas the locker room?”

“Wait, I didn’t say I wanted to do this right this minute,” I exclaimed.

“Well…you won’t be doing it right this minute my dear boy. You’ll be doing it a couple minutes from now. Well, unless of course, you happen to be as fast as the incredible flash.”

“You KNOW that’s not what I mean!”

“Well Ryan, do you really have anything better to do?” the old woman questioned, with a slight knowing smile. At the moment I wondered just exactly what she knew that I didn’t.

“Alright, lets go,” I said, looking at the girl named Anya. Anya smiled at me, and suddenly I returned a goofy smile…she was quite pretty, you understand. Pretty girls always make me feel slightly silly as it is.

Once we were clear of the office I gave a sidelong glance at Anya as we walked, “What isn’t she telling me? I saw the little smile she had. She knows something that I don’t.”

Anya gave me a little mischievous grin before answering with, “Trust me, this experience will help you conquer your fears and solve problems. Both problems with yourself, and problems at home. I think my grandmother is impressed with how loyal and how good you are to your mother. I know I am. You’re a very compassionate person…although in my opinion all that testosterone in your system is inhibiting you true heart. After this little experience, hopefully you’ll be able to open up to your more emotional side.”

“Okay babe, whatever,” was my haughty reply. Anya just looked surprised, and then laughed. I took the plastic card I had been given by the old lady, and swiped it through the turnstile that led into the park. She handed me a pair of swimming trunks and winked at me. It’s a good thing I suppose, since I didn’t bring my own. But, I wondered where Anya got them from since she wasn’t holding them just a second ago.

“Oh, you’ll see. And here we are.” She said, gesturing to the door before us that led into the men’s locker room. I noticed that strangely enough the men’s locker room was a great deal smaller than the women’s locker room. I pushed the free swinging door open and stepped inside, allowing the door to close behind me.

The locker room was cool, and felt a little humid…most likely from frequent shower use. Although, there was nobody else in the locker room strangely enough. Even though the parking lot was almost full, and I had seen many women in the park. Now that I was thinking about it…I saw men in the line for the ticket booth, but saw none in the park. Nor were there any inside here at the moment. I mean sure, I sat and talked with the old lady, so they had more than enough time to shower, dress and leave to go into the park. But I didn’t see any guys in the park or leaving it for that matter.

“I get it!” I shouted. “This place is like a roach motel for men. ‘They check in, but they don’t check out!’” I laughed at my own joke, and then felt a little silly about it.

The locker room was composed of many grey lockers, with wooden benches running between the rows of lockers. I walked to about mid-way down the center aisle and then put the few things I had into the locker. I disrobed and pulled the swimming trunks on. I didn’t have any flip flops with me or anything so I decided to walk to the showers bare foot, hoping I didn’t get athletes feet or something.

I stepped into the shower and pulled the curtain closed behind me, flipping on the water. The water was warm right off the bat…it felt puuurrrfffeeccttt. I would have closed my eyes but I was enjoying myself…that’s the point I noticed some sort of pink steam wafting around the shower. The water was so warm…it was making me tingle, in places I usually don’t tingle. It felt like a gentle massage. I had a strange sense of vertigo and looking at the shower handle, I watched it seemingly grow higher…and then I realized I was getting shorter! I jumped out of the shower, nearly pulling down the shower curtain. I watched as my limbs shortened and became slightly chubby…as if there was still a bit of baby fat there. I kept getting closer to the ground. My hair seemed a little longer, although I barely noticed since I was used to having long hair. My swimming trunks writhed like a nest of snaked and stretched and wound up my torso…I tried to bat and grab at it with my hands but it flowed around my hands and out of my grip almost like liquid…as if I had tried to grasp water. It eventually rewove itself into what looked like a girls one piece bathing suit. A sky blue one at that.

Pulling the bottom of the suit to the side, I watched down to watch my equipment slither up into my abdomen almost like it was being pulled inwards by some unseen force. I was utterly horrified. My mind started to cloud over…although I didn’t quite panic as I seemed to maintain my sense of identity. I raised my hand too my face and stopped short of touching my face…it was tiny. Looking down I could see my feet matched my hands…very small and a slight bit round, again the term baby fat came to mind. Somehow though, my limbs all looked rather graceful…subtly feminine even though I now seemed to be very young.

After realizing I was now too short to turn the handle of the shower, I decided to just leave it on. Somehow, I walked over to the mirror without realizing I had…most likely from shock of some sort. I looked in the mirror and saw without surprise, what appeared to be a three year old little girl with bright cyan colored blue eyes (a similar shade to sky blue), and platinum blonde hair. My skin seemed rather fair, but it was extremely soft and seemed flawless as far as blemishes went. The swim suit was a sky blue that matched my eyes. I was having trouble thinking straight…as if my thoughts had become jumbled together. I looked in the mirror again then suddenly sat down on my butt and started crying. Rubbing at my eyes with my little hands and tried to wipe my tears away with little success. I tried to contain the crying but I couldn’t, no matter how hard I tried. It was as if the transformation had wrought changes in both my heart and mind. I cried because I was so overwhelmed.

Indeed the physical changes had wrought changes within me as well. I was scared and I didn’t know what was happening, I felt emotionally charged…as if my entire body was a live wire, and my mind was electrifying it. Suddenly someone was beside me, out of the corner of my eye I saw pink flip flops and suddenly strong but slender arms enveloped me and picked me up.

“W-w-what are y-you doing! Put m-me down! NOWWWW! AGHHHHH!” I started crying again. I didn’t like the idea of being picked up…it made me feel helpless. I stopped crying long enough to turn and look into the face of…Anya. I guess I hadn’t heard her come in.

“Shhhhhh. Don’t worry, don’t cry,” she said.

“thomething happened to me!” I whined. “I turned into a widdle girl!” I cried. Then I realized I was having trouble talking correctly.

“I think I have a lithp,” I said, with a very evident lisp in my speech.

“Well, you’re only three years old. Don’t worry yourself so much.”

“UMmm-But I’m not!” I cried. I was startled by my voice, I sounded every bit the part that I looked.

“The showers are magic. This park is only for women, thus you were turned into a girl. As for the age regression, well you’ll see. Let’s go see my grandmother.”

“Kay’!” I replied enthusiastically, although I’m not sure why. Then all of the sudden I realized she had just told me the park was magic…was I slow or something?

“No, you’re not slow. You just have the brain of a three year old. You’re still as intelligent as before, except it’ll be a little more difficult to figure things out I suspect,” Anya said, carrying me in her arms.

“I don’t wanna be thupid!” I said.

“Shhhh. You’re not stupid! It’s just that with the brain of a three year old it probably takes you longer to reason things out. I’m sure you’re ultimately just as smart as before though.”

“Can thee help me out? I don’t wanna be a widdle girl. Theriouthly, thee’th got to do thomthing to help me!” I lisped out.

“Don’t worry,” was her only reply. I looked away from her then, and stared off into space. When I glanced back at her, Anya looked a little worried.

When we entered the spacious office once again, Anya sank into a leather armchair on the opposite side of the desk from where her grandmother sat in her leather throne.

The old woman looked at me, and the looked puzzled me although it probably wouldn’t have before the change. “What’d you do to me!” I demanded in childish tones with girlish intonation.

“Well, that should be obvious. I changed you into a girl,” she explained.

“I look like I’m three yearth old!” I said, once again wincing when I lisped.

“You wanted to help your mother didn’t you?” the old lady asked. “Here’s your chance.”

Her calm demeanor angered me even more than I had been, “But I’m little. thee, the difference between being an adult and being a child.”

“Yes, age regression was necessary. Besides, you had an awful childhood. Why wouldn’t you want a second chance at childhood?”

“How’th thith thuppothe to help my mother?” I questioned, eying the old woman suspiciously. I really was tired of hearing that lisp. As if sensing my thoughts, Anya looked at her grandmother saying with a laugh, “God that lisp is adorable.”

“YOU can help your mother. See, I really just saved your life so to speak.”

“How?” I asked, shaking my head.

“I wasn’t expecting to come across you or anything of the such. But Ryan, your life would have ended tomorrow if I hadn’t intervened. You see, you were born with a very mild heart defect. Usually they go unnoticed, but for whatever reason you would have gone into cardiac arrest tomorrow. Perhaps you’ve noticed your heart beating irregularly lately? A fluttering sensation and a bit of trouble catching your breath?”

“Y-yeth, but I feel fine. I didn’t feel hurt by it.”

“Well Ryan, I’m afraid it would have eventually. Call it fate if you want. Your heart condition would have worsened over time, even if you didn’t succumb to it tomorrow. It eventually would have killed you. At the best, you might have lived a couple more months.” The old woman explained, calmly and serenely.

“But why thith. Why a widdle girl? Why not jutht a girl my original age?” I asked.

“Because, the magic for doing that is similar to what I custom tailored to you, Ryan. The magic would have made it so that Ryan Dunlap never was born, instead he had been born as a girl named Hailee Dunlap. However, the plot thickens at this point. Even if I had changed you into a twenty-one year old girl who would have been your female alter ego, you’d have still had the heart defect. You see, the problem lay within the egg you were born from. You understand that one egg is emitted by the ovaries per menstrual cycle right?”

“Yeth,” I replied in a simple tone.

“Well, if a different sperm had fertilized the egg, you might have been born a different person. In this instance, a girl who would have been named Hailee. But the egg was the problem you see. It was defective so to speak. Therefore, I had to make you born at a later date so that a different egg with no defects could have borne you. See, my magic has limitations. You should feel lucky, I usually don’t give explanations this detailed to customers. My magic is bound by logic, and also by the extent of which I’m able to discern details.”

“Okay.” I replied, gesturing with my little hand, “But why thuch a big age differenthe?

“Well, that’s another aspect of this method of my magic. There wouldn’t have been another chance until 17 years later. A long time yes, but your mother was young when she had you, so still not an unreasonable span of time.”

“Okay.”

“Okay? Well Ryan, this is the part where you help your mother. You see, you can’t help her if your dead. She’ll remember you as Ryan, and while you were in the locker room I called her and explained everything over the phone to her. She should be here waiting outside the office for you by now.”

“The girl I am?” I asked softly.

“Kayla. She named you Kayla.” The old woman said, smiling a bit.

“So Kayla, would you like to swim?” Anya asked, rubbing the side of my upper arm and smiling at me kindly.

“But I’m not Kayla! I’m Ryan,” I exclaimed.
The old woman smiled, “I’m sorry to break it to you, but not right now you aren’t. The magic changes everything about you. Ryan was never born.”

“Well…then maybe thome thwimming would be okay.”

“That’s the spirit,” Anya said smiling, then I saw her wink at her grandmother out of the corner of her eye.

She stood up, still holding me in her arms, and carried me to the door. When she opened it, I was surprised to see my mother leaning against the wall outside the office. Anya set me on the ground, and without thinking I ran towards her yelling, “Mommy! Mommy!”

She looked a little alarmed at first, but then saw me smiling and swept me up into her arms. “Aww, hey baby,” she said, kissing me on the cheek.

I stopped smiling suddenly when I realized I hadn’t even been thinking…it was like I was on autopilot.

My mother leaned close to my ear and asked in a whisper, “Ryan, is that really you?”

I looked at her with a knowing smile, “Yeth, it ith.”

“Okay, its so strange…I have new memories of my pregnancy with you, and giving birth to you. Aww, my baby girl!” she said, hugging me close. I closed my eyes and let out a childish laugh. Again I was struck with uncertainty…I seemed to act my biological age when I wasn’t strictly paying attention. I wondered if the girl named Kayla would eventually drown me out and take over.

My mother carried me with her up to the ticket booth.

“Can I buy a year long pass?” she asked. A rather well built girl with an athletic tone smiled and said that she could sell her a two year long pass; her name tag said Norma. I groaned audibly when I heard they were buying a two year pass…I don’t want to be stuck like this. I hadn’t had time to think things over. The old lady appeared behind Norma in the ticket booth.

“Actually Kayla, your mother is buying a pass for herself. Your change is already permanent. As in life long,” the old lady said in her mysterious voice. My mother listened to what the old lady said and nodded, while I frowned and fidgeted in my mothers arms.

“But I don’t wanna be thith way permanently,” I whined.

The old lady only laughed in respose, “No Kayla, you’ll grow up as you get older. You won’t be a child forever. However, the only alternative to your current form is to die as Ryan; and that’s considering even if it was possible to change you back after you showered using the life-long pass I gave you. For the record, that is not possible.”

The old lady smiled and turned, returning to where she had been through the door in the back of the booth. My mother, having paid for her pass turned and walked through the turnstile, swiping her card. The electronic reader beeped, and my mother carried me toward the women’s locker room.

“Noooo! I don’t wanna go in therrrreeee!” I whined in my girlish child’s voice. My mother only smiled at me, “Honey, I have to change into my suit if you wanna go swimming today.”

“But that’th the women’th locker room! I can’t go in there!”

“Honey, you’re a girl now right? Judging by how flat your swimsuit is at the bottom, I’d say that an obvious yes. So, you use women’s facilities now.”

“Let me th’tay out here!”

“No sweetie, you’re only three years old. I have to take you with me, so quit whining and just accept it,” she answered in a knowing tone. For some reason that took all the fight out of me. I felt as though perhaps the magic had wired my brain to think a certain way.

“I don’t like being a girl. Ethpethially one this widdle.”

“Well honey, would you really want to go back to being Ryan?” My mom asked shaking her head which caused her blonde hair to shift away, pausing just outside the women’s locker rooms. She looked me in the eye before continuing, “Even if you could, you’d die as Ryan all too soon. I believe the old woman told the truth about that, since she wouldn’t benefit from lying about it. Besides, in this reality I divorced your father shortly after you were born. Would you really want to go back to the way things were?”

I paused for a moment, looking into my mother’s very serious green eyes, “No, I gueth not.” That lisp was really irritating me, but I couldn’t overcome it.

I don’t know whether it was a physical limitation, or whether my brain was magically programmed to talk that way. My voice always spoke with simplistic tones, so even when using complex-compound sentences, I sounded every bit like a three year old. It was so frustrating, especially because of the fact that I couldn’t do anything to overcome it.

“Then lets go. I have to change. Then we can swim and have fun together. Besides, maybe playing with children your age will benefit you,” she said, as she carried me into the locker room.

-~-
Chapter 1: Part 2
-~-

Splashing around in the shallow kiddy pool, I was actually having fun playing with children my…biological age. My memory wasn’t as good as it used to be, and when around strangers the magic seemed to force me to act my age totaly for the most part. For instance, if I tried to say something a three year old wouldn’t say, I would just end up saying something totally silly, miss-pronouncing words and what not…it just sounded silly. After experiencing this a few times I gave up and just ACTED my age. Grudgingly at first…but after a while a different me started to emerge…I was having fun!

I bumped into a little girl and she lost her balance and fell down. She looked to be no more than my age…perhaps a bit younger, I’d say she looked around the age of 3. She was now on her butt at the very edge of the wading pool all the little kids played in. She had long blonde hair down to the middle of her back, and sky blue eyes, a similar shade to my own. She could have passed easily as my sister.

“Thomeone knocked me down,” she said, seeming disoriented. I was surprised, because she talked with a similar lisp to mine. ‘Hey, perhaps I’ve found myself a kindred spirit,’ I thought to myself with a little laugh. The girl seemed to think I was laughing at her and gave me a little frown.

“Oh, you have a lithp too?” I asked in a childish demeanor. She just looked at me curiously before answering with a stoic little, “Yeth!”

I reached down and grabbed one of her tiny hands with one of mine, and hoisted her to her feet. She seemed surprised and then shrugged her shoulders before saying, “Thankth.”

“My name is Kayla.” I said with a smile.

“Hi Kayla!” she said in a childish sing song like voice. Then she looked confused for a minute before smiling again and saying, “My name is Heather.”

“Pleathed to meet you.” I said, smiling ear to ear. Then suddenly out of the blue water splashed me. I wiped the water from my eyes and peered about, and saw Heather laughing and slapping her thigh with mirth. So using both hands I splashed her back. We went on in this way, playing with each other for some time before we got tired.

“Wanna talk?” Heather asked with simplistic tones.

“Thure.” I said, then frowned again because of my speech impediment. However, I noticed Heather laugh and then repeat, “Thure. Thee, I can’t thay it either”

“But I don’t wanna go anywhere my mommy can hear,” I said, surprising myself by saying mommy instead of mom. Heather just got a sympathetic and understanding look in her eyes, “I agree Kayla. I don’t want my mommy to be within hearing distanthe either.”

Heather pointed out her mother, and so I pointed out mine to her. If for no other reason that to prevent one of them from sneaking up on us.

I didn’t want my mom to hear for no reason in particular, mainly though because I was in distress over my transformation. We both knew we’d have to stay within eye sight of our mothers who were sitting at different spots along the bank of the Frog Prince Splash Pool. We settled for a grassy spot in the shade just on the opposite side of the children’s wading pool we’d been playing in.

Once out of hearing distance of other people, but safely within viewing distance of our mothers, we sat down.

Heather was looking at me, with unreadable eyes. I was unnerved by the look she was giving me, since it seemed to hold more intelligence and thought that children our age have or show.

“I know you’re different, and I think I know in what way,” she said. She still sounded childish, but was obviously just as capable of speaking in complete sentences as I was. It was strange to hear complete sentences come out of the mouth of someone who looked like a child…not that I was one to throw stones.

“Okay,” I said, unsure of what to say. For a minute she looked unsure, then saw that I was focusing on her facial expressions and seemed to regain that look of confidence.

“Well?” she asked.

Feeling nervous I ventured, “Yeth. I am different.”

“You’re really male aren’t you? And probably an adult judging by the way you act.”

I looked down, realizing that she was probably in the same boat as me, if she was able to discern that much about me.

“Yeth, and tho are you.” I replied.

“Yeth.” Heather answered, looking at the ground as if embarrassed.

“How’d it happen to you?” I asked.

“My wife betrayed me for little to no reathon.” At the look of shock and horror in my expression she went on, “Thee wanted to have a baby. But, I wathn’t ready yet. I wanted to advanthe further in my career and get a nither car…maybe a bigger houthe before we had children.”

Heather then stopped talking and looked away from me and started to tremble. Then she looked back at me, with tears in her eyes, “Tho I came up with a plan. I would turn mythelf into a little girl to thow my wife how hard raising a thmall child can be. I only bought two path’th for a thort thpan of time.”

Sobbing between words, heather continued on with her story; “But my wife found out, and went behind my back to get revenge. Thee thayth it ithn’t a matter of revenge, but I can’t think of any other explanation. Thee somehow got the path’th refunded and then replathed them with lifetime membershipth. I’m thtuck like thith forever!”

I leaned over with a look of shock and horror on my face, and hugged Heather close to me. “Thhhhhh, it’th alright Heather. I’ll be your friend. And I need a friend too, tho would you be mine?”

Heather hugged me tighter and then pulling back looked me in the eyes and said, “Yeth!”

“I like you Heather, I don’t want you to be thad,” I said.

“Thankth for being tho underthtanding about it.” Heather said, finally breaking into a smile again. Then as Heather began to stop crying she looked at me and asked, “How did you get like thith?”

“The old lady did it to thave my life. I wath gonna die.” I said sadly, going on to explain how I ended up the age I was now.

“Oh. That’th thad too, but it’s nithe that you won’t die.” Heather, said with one raised finger to her lip, as if seriously pondering the situation.

“Tho you mutht really be mad at your wife…mommy, whatever she ith now,” I said absent mindedly.

“Yeth. But what can I do about it? Thith happened a year ago and I’m thtill thtuck like thith,”she answered.

She then looked up and I could see she was staring at her mother from across the Frog Prince Splash Pool with an angry look in her eyes. I also noticed her mother had noticed, and probably figured out what we were talking about. She didn’t look happy about it either.

“There’th got to be thomeway to help you,” I offered, looking in her eyes; the sky blue color looking brilliant in the sunlight.

“No. It’th a lifetime memberthip, I’m thtuck like this.”

“I’m tho thorry,” I answered meekly.

“Do you come here often?” I asked Heather after we had sat together silently for a couple minutes.

“Yeth. Mommy…Penny loveth it here,” Heather lisped out in response.

“Maybe we thould trade phone numberth, tho we can be thure to not lothe contact.”

Heather looked at me with a surprised look, “YEAH! It’th a good thing you thought of it.”

We then proceeded to recite each other’s phone numbers until we knew them literally backwards and forwards.

I then turned to new friend, and burying my face in her golden blonde hair I said, “Heather, I’m glad we’re friendth!”

-~-

All too soon, we had to leave and my mother was strapping me into the car seat. I had on a pink romper, with little pink sandals…the flip flop variety. I was tired, so I didn’t complain much and I faded in and out of awareness of my surroundings. That “other” me took over during those times, unless I was sleeping. Sometimes my mother seemed puzzled by the erratic personality differences, so I explained that I thought it was the magic at work. After that she seemed less alarmed when I suddenly started acting more my biological age, and not remembering or responding to events from my life as Ryan. I was in control when I wanted to be, so I wasn’t worried.

I drifted asleep listening to the radio, as the car rolled down the road. For once in my life, I felt unsure and insecure…but I felt safe somehow.

-~-

I woke to light streaming in through a window above my bed. I woke up, stretched my little arms in the air and climbed out of bed. The room was painted a light pink, with white carpeting. The bedspread was a bright lilac color, and the bed appeared to be a lot smaller than the bed I had slept in the night before. I’d say my queen sized bed was gone, and in place was a twin. I suppose I should shower…er…in this case perhaps take a bath?

I wiggled out of my purple night gown and moving into the bathroom drew a bath. I looked under the dresser for soap and shampoo and grabbed a bath poof. I added some bubble bath too as the water was pouring into the tub. I realized suddenly, I knew where everything was. I don’t know many three year olds who bathe themselves…but I guess I was one that did. Or more likely, I’m just so used to taking a shower in the morning that I followed the same routine. At least I was able to be more or less independent. I realized after waking up that this wasn’t the house I lived in prior to the trip to Bikini Beach. When my mother divorced my dad, I guess she took her stuff and found a new place to live. It was a nice house, small but cozy and comfortable.

The bath was relaxing, as I dried off I looked around under the sink and found some baby oil and baby powder. I rubbed the baby oil on my skin…mama always said I had sensitive skin that would dry out really easily and itch something awful. She was right, so I used baby oil to moisturize my skin. Or actually, in Kayla’s life, my mother usually gave me a bath and then applied it to me. The bad thing about baby oil is that it makes your skin all oily and slick. That was easily remedied by powdering my towel down with baby powder and then drying off with it. I coughed some when I shook the towel and created a dust cloud that caused me to choke. But it was better than dry, chapped or otherwise irritated skin.

Feeling fresh and soft, I went back into my bedroom. I searched the dresser drawers that were within reach, and found myself a pair of pink shorts and a white t-shirt with a picture of Elmo on it (you know, from Sesame Street!).

I slowly descended the stairs, one at a time. My legs were so short I was worried that if I didn’t keep hold of the railing I could loose my balance and fall. I didn’t want to hurt myself on the hard wooden stairs so I decided to be cautious. I slowly made my way into the kitchen to find my mom sipping some coffee and reading the paper.

“Hey sweetie!”

I smiled, “Hi…mommy!”

“So, you made a new friend I see? You spent three hours hanging around with that one little girl yesterday,” mom asked.

“Yeth. We’re gonna be really clothe friendth, I can tell.”

“Well that’s good sweetie,” she answered. Then looking back up at me, “Would you like something for breakfast? You’re too small to make anything for yourself.”

“Yeth pleath.” I answered.

“Speaking of which, would you like to go to the park later today? You seemed to really love it there.”

“Yeth, I would like that,” I replied, thinking that perhaps I’d get to see Heather there.

Meanwhile as I munched on some toast and a little sausage (which surprisingly enough filled me up), I started formulating a plan on how to help Heather, or at least make her feel better. I didn’t know anything about magic though, and neither did Heather. We’d have to find somebody who did know stuff about magic…the only people I could think of at that moment were perhaps the proprietors of Bikini Beach. I don’t know if magic exists anywhere else or if anyone else knows any.

I was kicking my legs back and forth, since they came no where near to the point of touching the floor.

“Kayla, why don’t you go watch some t.v while I get our swim suits and get myself ready to go?”

“Okay…mommy,” I said, hopping down from the chair and almost losing my balance.

I walked into the living room and hopped up on the couch. I turned the t.v on and tried to watch some of my favorite t.v shows, which happened to be on. I couldn’t pay attention though…as if my attention span wasn’t what it was used to. I had trouble following the story because I got distracted easily. Even when I was paying attention I found it to be boring and I had trouble understanding it. As if my mind just didn’t work the same way as before.

I started flipping through the channels, eventually I turned on some cartoons. The funny sounds, fast movements and bright colors fascinated me and most of all relaxed me, holding my interest with ease. I pulled my legs up behind me as I shifted into a lying position rather than sitting. I kicked my legs in the air behind me as I watched a couple of short cartoons. I seemed to have the attention span of a squirrel, so the shorter and simpler the plot lines were, the better I liked them. Secretly though, I was still thinking about Heather and her predicament as well. I turned my face to rest my cheek on my hand, placing my elbow onto the cushion of the couch I was lying on.

I was dozing with the cartoons still going when my mother was ready and came back down.

“Sleepy? Already?”

“Yeth. I was bored and got thleepy.” I answered.

My mother laughed, “Well honey, that’s normal. You’re only three years old you know.”

She then came over and scooped me up off the couch in one arm, and I could see that in the other arm she was holding two beach towels, sunscreen, our bathing suits and some other items which appeared to be rolled up in the towel.

“Okay baby, time to go.”

I smiled up at her and she held me to her chest with one arm.

-~-

Arriving at the park, I went into the women’s locker room with my mother and changed my suit. I think my mother was just glad she didn’t have to argue and fight with her new three year old daughter just to get her to go into locker room.

My mother held my hand and together we walked out of the locker room. We went over to where there was an old fashioned swimming hole, and she laid her beach towel out in the grass. We lay in the shade for a while, as it was a bright sunny day. We were within viewing distance of the Frog Prince Splash Pool and the path that led from the entrance of the park. So I knew I’d see Heather if she were there. It was hot out, but not unpleasantly so. I was lying on my stomach, and my mother took the opportunity to apply some sunscreen to my back. I smiled and closed my eyes, contented because it felt relaxing…like a massage.
My mother just laughed asking, “Awww, do you like that sweetie?”

“Yeth,” was my contented drowsy little answer. My mother just laughed and tickled me in response, sending me into peels of laughter.

Soon, the heat had me sleepy and I drifted into a pleasant sleep, the breeze blowing over my back and my mother smiling at me from her position next to me.

-~-

“Pttthhht, Kayla. Wake up,” a familiar voice said. “It’th me.”

Okay, I definitely recognized that lisp, which was so similar to my own. I sat up quickly, “Heather!”

I looked up to see Heather looking down at me with those pretty blue eyes, my own blue eyes twinkling back in response.

“Heather, we have to find thomeone who will help you,” I said.

“Nobody can help me,” she answered sadly.

“That’th not true. We don’t know that for thure. But you are clearly the victim in this thtory.”

“Okay. But who would we even athk?” Heather questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“Firtht of all, we athk Anya and her grandmother…they did it in the firtht plath. And thecondly, ithn’t there anyone you know who might be able to help you?” I asked.

“Well, maybe an old friend of mine I haven’t talked to thince all of thith happened. Hith name is Gene, thometimeth Jean.” Heather said, laughing about the bit she said at the end.

“Well?” Heather asked after I remained silent for a minute or so, thinking over it all.

I looked at her and giggled, “We’re off to thee the wizard.”

“The wonderful wizard of Oz?” Heather asked playfully. We both had a good laugh, then I turned to try and convince my mother to let me sneak off. It was hard…she seemed really protective of me, but she finally relented and decided to go with us.

P.S-

Thanks to Elrod W for the wonderful Bikini Beach universe. And thanks to Bashful (on fictionmania.tv) for creating the story that inspired the character of Heather. So remember, Heather isn't my own character, merely she's borrowed. BTW, I wasn't able to run this by Elrod because his site is no longer being maintained? Nor does he seem to answer the email address linked to there.

the site in question-

http://www.armchairconservative.com/Elrod/

P.S.S- I really hope that more people write about the bikini beach universe. It's really fascinating once you get to know the huge cast of characters and such.

P.S.S.S- A lisp can effect both 'S' and 'C' sounds depending on the pronounciation and usage.

For instance all 'S' sounds are effected. But only 'C' sounds that sound like an 'S' sound are effected. Like... Cindy for instance. Compare that to how the S in Sally sounds. Just in case some people noticed.

Bikini Beach: One Summer’s Day
By: G.K.S

Chapter 2: The Not-So-Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Dashing across the hot pavement with Heather in tow, I made my way towards the office just outside the park. My mother kept up with us easily and kept a ways behind us, not wanting to smother us out. Nevertheless, she knew she needed to be within visual range just for safety reasons obviously. We were too small to protect ourselves if someone tried to abduct us or hurt us.

Pushing our way through the turnstile and walking around to the office outside, I knocked. I would have used the intercom, however it was a couple feet above my head and I was unable to reach it. Considering I was something close to 2’10” in height, that was understandable. I was wondering whether I’d be able to turn the door knob on my own when somebody answered the door. The old woman seemed able to read minds so…not exactly as if that should surprise me.

Looking up as the door swung open, I saw Anya staring down at me from high above. I felt a little intimidated and frowned a little, but Anya smiled kindly and reached down to ruffle my hair with her hand.

“Hey kiddo, is everything okay?” she asked. I had to stand back so I could clearly see her face from such a huge height difference, without getting a kink in my neck.

“I wanna talk to the old lady.” I asked, neither politely nor rudely.

Anya didn’t look surprised, but her smile faltered a bit, “Alright, come on in. Is your mother gonna wait out here?” My mother nodded an affirmative to that and I walked through the open door, pulling Heather along with me.

“I’m thcared Kayla. Let’th go back,” she whispered in my ear. I just ignored her, although I was trying to be understanding of the feeling. I felt scared to, but did my best not to show it.

“We’re jutht gonna talk to her, okay Heather?” I said rhetorically, annoying myself with my girlish little voice.

The old woman was seated behind her desk as usual, she frowned when she saw us but didn’t have a mean expression. If anything she might look a bit annoyed by seeing us.

“Ah, what might you two be here to discuss?” she asked, staring at us vacantly.
“You already know,” I replied.

She looked a bit flustered being put on the spot like that. Then was silent for a moment before saying, “You’re upset about your transformations.”

Heather squeezed my hand, and I turned to see her looking utterly terrified. I understood, as it seemed this woman had lied to Heather and royally screwed her over.

“You dethtroyed Heather’th life,” I explained calmly, while holding Heather’s hand tightly. I was scared as well…who knows what this woman could do to us for confronting us.

The old woman looked down at her desk for a while, “I can’t do anything about that.”

“Yeth, you can!” I shouted, sounding like a temperamental toddler.

“No need to shout darling,” the old woman said with no show of emotion. She paused and then went on, “To quote Macbeth, ‘What’s done is done.’”

I narrowed my eyes, “Thurely thomething can be done.”

“No poppet, nothing can be done. The changes are permanent. For both of you.”

I could think of anything to say, then suddenly I heard crying from beside me and turned to see Heather in tears. I felt awful…I had brought her here just to be told what she already knew to be true. Heather looked so distraught, and I couldn’t help it…I started crying too. I think it was just because I saw her crying, and somehow it got me crying. I’ve seen that happen a lot in small children. Heather looked so sad and lonely when I first met her, and even now she looked so vulnerable. I did the only thing I could, I used my soft podgy little hand to help wipe tears from her eyes and then hugged her. I buried my face into her sunshine blonde hair and hugged her tightly. Crying with her, as we sat in the chair across from the old ladies desk, we rocked in each others arms and I genuinely felt truly very sad.

The old lady suddenly looked distraught and saddened as well, after a long heavy sigh she said, “I made a mistake. I’ve regretted it terribly ever since it happened. It plays over and over in my head, and I wonder again and again what I was thinking.”

Heather and I looked at her then, but we didn’t stop crying…we couldn’t have even if we tried. She looked away out of shame and continued on, “I regret it. But I cannot change it. Heather might be able to turn into an adult using other magic. But I doubt it would do her any good at this point. I can’t assist her in that regard, there’s nothing that can be done. I’ve already considered it.”

“What about the medallion, grandmother?” Anya asked, from somewhere behind our armchair.

“Anya, even if we knew where it was…it wouldn’t help. Turning Heather into a grown woman wouldn’t change anything for her. She’d still not be able to get her life back. My magic can’t do anything for her.”

“No…I wouldn’t want that,” Heather said, wiping at her eyes. Then she said between tears when she was able to get enough air, “I’ve already gotten used to this life and body of mine. Even if I hate both. Turning into someone else or going to another way of life would be to difficult for me. I don’t wanna grow up that quickly.”

“Then why come here?” the old lady asked, shocked.

“I hate my life! I want my old life back,” she said.

“Even if we had the medallion Anya mentioned, we couldn’t use your clothes from your previous life because the magic erased them. And you just said you wouldn’t want to be turned into an adult simply for the sake of being an adult.”

“No, if I can’t have my old life and body back…then I’m not interethted in anything else. I’ve already adapted to my new life and body. I hate my…my…mother; Wife…I don’t even see her as being my wife anymore. Not even ex-wife for that matter. I hate my mother. Let’th jutht leave it at that. Taking revenge at thith point wouldn’t help me or make me feel better. Then I’d just be without a mother to take care of me. Aside from the horrible thing she’th done, thee hath done her betht to uphold her promithe of being a loving mommy.”

Heather paused, and remained silent for a while…as if thinking over everything she had said before adding, “I hate her, but that feeling ithn’t ath thtrong ath it uthed to be. Thee take’th care of me. I can tell thee’th come to love me ath her daughter. Doing thomething to hurt her wouldn’t make me feel good. I’d feel sad for hurting my…my mother. I can’t think of her any differently, not after this long of a thpan of time.” Heather suddenly seemed tired from all the talking. She leaned her head on my shoulder and stopped crying.

“What about you, Ryan?” the old woman asked.

“I don’t know how I feel. I’m more worried for Heather than anything,” I said. With that I stood in the seat of the chair, and hopped down to the floor. I took Heather’s hand and helped her down, then, together we walked hand in hand towards the door. I smiled at Anya as we left. She smiled back, but it was a very sad smile.

-~-

Anya watched the two small children leave and then turned back to her grandmother, “Couldn’t you have done something for them? Maybe the SRU wizard?”

“No Anya…I can’t undo my own magic. Neither can the SRU wizard. I’m at my wits end, I don’t know what to do or how to help them. Ryan is adapting, I don’t think she wants to go back to being Ryan. She’ll probably get used to it in time. Heather on the other hand, I don’t know what we can do to help her. We can’t give her the life and body she used to have back to her.”

“But-,” Anya was interrupted by her grandmother, “No. If we want to help them we’ll have to find another way. A non-magical solution to be sure.”

Anya looked thoughtful for a moment, “This might sound strange. But maybe we could give them a job here at the park? If we can make them feel useful, they might not be so upset over their ages.”

Her grandmother suddenly looked very thoughtful, “By George Anya, you might actually be right! I hadn’t thought of anything like that.”

“But what would we have them do?”

Anya looked thoughtful for a moment, “Well, it’d have to be something that they can do taking into consideration their speech, height and strength.”

“Maybe we could have Vicki talk to them. She’s dealt with the being turned into a girl ordeal…I mean, she might be able to help them deal with the age difference too,” Grandmother suggested.

Anya grinned, “Yes. They definitely need a supportive environment. And they could use all the friends they can get. They need to feel useful and more independent. But we also have set limitations…they are three years old after all, regardless of how old they used to be.”

Anya walked over and sat in the chair that the girls had been sitting in earlier. She looked thoughtful for a moment before making a decision of some sort, “Good. Let’s discuss this with their mothers,” Anya then paused a moment, “I feel like we can’t just let Heather’s mother get away with what she did.”

Anya’s Grandmother looked thoughtful a moment, “Right, BUT we can’t take her away from Heather. Besides, Heather said it herself; she has come to love her wife slash recent mother even though she hates her to some extent, for what she did to Heather.”

Anya frowned, “Yes, but we can’t just let get away with doing something like that. Perhaps we could just teach her a lesson? A non-permanent one.”

The grandmother didn’t know whether to smile or to frown, “Maybe we should show her what it’s like to live a couple days in Heather’s shoes.”

“Grandmother, we can’t turn Heather into an adult. Not only would she not want it, but we just aren’t capable,” Anya reminded.

“No, who said anything about changing Heather?”

Anya looked confused, but suddenly a grin started to show the white of her front teeth, “How do you think Heather would like having a twin sister for a few days?”

The old woman looked at her granddaughter and suddenly laughed with genuine amusement, “Good idea. I don’t think Heather would mind at all. Let’s go have a word with Kayla’s mother.”

With that, the old woman and her granddaughter got to their feet and set off into the park.

-~-

Anya let her magic and instincts guide her to where Kayla and her mother were. She finally saw them near the old fashioned swimming hole…which was more or less a small lake that people could swim in. It looked like a lake, but it was actually more or less all artificial, even the water was cleaned and chlorinated to protect against bacteria and water-borne micro organisms.

Strutting up to the two, Anya smiled, “I think I might know how to get Heather some justice, without blowing it out of proportion, or causing excessive or long term damage.”

Kayla looked up at Anya with an uncertain look. However it was Kayla’s mother who spoke first, “Kayla told me what happened to that poor little girl. Or…at least she wasn’t such a little girl at one time. Which makes it all the sadder now.”

Anya looked sad for a moment, “Yes, poor Heather wasn’t treated very nice. Not that she’s being abused now, but I think this would be a good lesson for Heather’s mother to learn. Heather herself might also benefit from it, at least then she’ll know that her mother knows a little about what it’s like.”

Kayla said nothing, but looked down at her bare foot and absent mindedly smiled, wondering what Anya had in mind.

“Mrs. Dunlap, what do you say about the idea of having a sleepover for two of Kayla’s new friends for this weekend?” Anya inquired.

Things were about to get interesting.

-~-

“Heather, it’s time to go to the park,” Penny called to her daughter, who was upstairs taking a mid —morning nap.

She then bustled about getting some beach towels and the necessary sun screen, lotions and various other items she’d need for a day at Bikini Beach with her darling daughter Heather. She privately smiled to herself, remembering who heather used to be and then aloud said, “I like him so much better this way.”

She had moments of regret, Heather seemed so sad and resentful…although she was showing vast signs of improvement over the past couple months. She seemed to be opening up to her mother’s love, and that warmed Penny’s heart greatly, also helping to relieve some of the regret and stress she felt over what she had done to her husband who was now her baby girl named Heather.

Soon she heard Heather’s light and somewhat clumsy footsteps coming down the stairs and Penny smiled to herself. Heather just looked at Penny with an uncertain gaze when she came into view.

“Aww, how’s my baby doing?” Penny asked.

“I’m doing good, Mommy.”

“That’s nice dear. But remember, ‘good’ is incorrect grammar. You should use the word ‘well’ when speaking in that context and usage.”

Heather just nodded in affirmation, and Penny secretly wondered whether Heather understood what she had just been told. Penny suddenly got an idea, and bent down so she was eye level with Heather; carefully, she tickled Heather under her chin and smiled when she got a genuine laugh and smile of affection in return. Picking Heather up, she kissed her daughter on the forehead and Heather kissed her on the cheek in return. She almost never did that, but it truly warmed Penny’s heart to think that perhaps Heather wouldn’t hate her new mother forever. If that was the case, the guilt for her as a mother would be unbearable.

Penny sighed for a moment, “Heather, if I could take back what I did to you. I’d do it in a heart beat. I know I totally and unrealistically over-reacted to the situation a year ago. I am so and I really do love you,” Penny said sincerely. Heather just kissed her mother on the cheek in response.

It was all true for Penny of course. Especially since the magic that transformed her husband into Heather had also given Penny memories of carrying her baby girl for 9 months, and then painfully giving birth to her. Despite the fact that it didn’t really happen…or did it? Didn’t the old woman say that the magic re-wrote history or some such? Penny smiled, because regardless of whether it actually happened, her memories were just as real to her as if it had actually happened. Penny did truly and deeply love her daughter. The love was real, regardless of whether the memories were or not.

“I just wish I could do something to make it up to you. I understand that what I did to you was very wrong. Heather…I really do love you, you know.”

“It’th not fair that you get to thtay an adult, and keep your life while I lotht mine,” Heather replied, a mixture of anger and resentment clouding at the affection from just a moment ago.

“I know sweetie, and I’m so sorry for that. I’d do anything to make up to you.” Penny replied, feeling that she truly meant that. Nevertheless, Heather didn’t believe her.

‘You say that now only because you’ve gotten what you wanted.’ Heather thought to herself.

“I am sorry baby, I really am,” Penny told her daughter, getting teary eyed.

“Then why’d you do it?” Heather asked her highly concerted mother. Penny closed her eyes for a minute, and when she opened them again she responded with, “I don’t know honey. I-It was a spur of the moment sort of thing.”

With that Penny carried her daughter and their bags out the door, and for once in a what seemed all of history, mother and daughter smiled warmly at each other out of genuine affection, looking forward to some fun in the soon for the afternoon.

-~-

Heather rode in the backseat of her mother’s station wagon, listening to her mother humming along with some tune on the radio. Heather didn’t hate her mother for what she had done anymore. She just wished her mother could know what it’s like to have your life and body stolen away from you. She just wished her mother could feel her pain and understand…not for reasons of revenge, but just so she could understand what it’s like for Heather on a day to day basis. It’s so painful, the only person who knew what it was like was Kayla. But Kayla’s understanding of the issue wouldn’t help ease the resentment between Heather and her mother.

As her mother carried her into the women’s locker room, after they swiped through the turnstile, Heather thought she noticed Anya wink at her from the ticket booth as she had walked past.

Once in the locker room, they stripped their clothes revealing the bathing suits they had put on underneath for convenience. As per regulations, Penny took her daughters hand as they made their way to the showers.

Heather and her mother found an empty shower stall and closed the curtain behind them. Flipping on the water they rinsed off…Heather noticed her mother seemed to be enjoying it a lot more than usual.

“Wow, it really tingles today.” Penny exclaimed with her eyes closed.

Heather suddenly realized that her mother was changing and hopped down out of her arms, startled. She looked worriedly down at herself to see if she was going through a transformation too, but was relieved to see that she wasn’t. The same however could not be said for her mother.

“Mommy! You’re changing!” Heather said, pointing.

Penny suddenly opened her eyes, to the same sort of event that Heather and Kayla both witnessed. Which of course was to watch the shower handle grow higher and higher, as she herself shrank.

Heather looked shocked; Penny on the other hand just had a surreal expression on her face as if she didn’t really understand what was happening. Heather giggled, but not in a cruel way; as her mother shrank and started to become slightly rounded on her arms and legs…a sign of baby fat. Heather was absolutely amazed to see her mother turn into...an exact replica of her. Her mother had just turned into what could very well be her identical twin sister. When it was all said and done, another Heather stood opposite of the original wearing a red one-piece. Penny had been wearing a two-piece bikini before. It contrasted to Heather’s blue one-piece suit.

“You did thith to get even didn’t you?” Penny asked angrily.

“NO! How could I do thomething like thith. I don’t know why thith happened to you,” Heather replied exasperated.
Suddenly someone pulled the curtain back in a quick graceful movement. Both girls turned to see Anya standing there with an indulgent smile.

“Actually Penny, I’m the one responsible for this little occurrence.”

“Why?!” Penny asked, looking absolutely bewildered.

“Don’t worry, it’s just for the weekend. I thought it’d do you some good to see how things are for Heather every day. You’ll both be staying the weekend with Kayla and her mother,” Anya replied calmly, as she reached into the shower and turned the water off.

With a gleam in her eye Heather suddenly focused her little blue eyes onto her new sister and in a mocking tone said, “Oh my goth, you’re so cute’thy wuthy!”

“I’m your mother, don’t talk to me that way!” Penny said with a great deal of agitation.

“No you’re not! You’re my wife and now you’re my thithter,” Heather said, trying to pronounce ‘sister’ correctly.

Heather then turned, and grabbed her mother’s tiny hand with her own, and laughingly winked at Kayla. She pulled Penny along behind her as they ran out of the locker room to find Kayla’s mother. Kayla’s mother was standing just outside the locker room door, and smiled when she saw the new arrival.

“I jutht can’t believe this,” Penny whispered, as if talking to no one other than herself.

However, Heather did hear, and rather angrily said, “Can’t believe what, poppet? That your whole fucking life just vanished before your eye’th? Mutht hurt to have no control over what happen’th to you.”

Watching this was surreal for Kayla, as she watched she was surprised that Heather was swearing. I mean, to hear those words come out of her mouth. It just seemed rather strange.

Suddenly Heather grinned wickedly, “Well Penny, now it’th time for you to experienth a day as my twin. We’re gonna have so much fun!”

To Be Continued.

~Author Shoutouts~

PS- (I’m gonna get rid of the terrible lisp next chapter. I’m getting just as sick of writing it as most of you are of reading it. Lol. )

PSS- A big thanks to; stanman63, Barbara Lynn Terry, Visitor (haha, anonymity at its best!) and Kirri for their wonderful comments/reviews on Part I! Kudos to all of you! :-)

One Summer’s Day, part III
By- G.K.S

Chapter Three: Operator, Can you Help Me, Help me if you Please…

“Give me the right area code, and the number that I need.”

Hearing my mother on the phone I looked up from where I was building a sand castle with Heather. Penny was sitting sullenly as far away as she could and still remain on my mother’s beach towel.

“Hey Penny, sweetie dear…if you don’t want to build a sand castle maybe you’d prefer to swim in the kiddie pool?” Heather called over to Penny, without ever looking up from making a turreted tower on the side of the castle. I laughed at that, realizing that Heather was in fact baiting her mother/wife/sister.

“Yeah Penny, why don’t we all go have fun in the children’s pool,” I said, not pronouncing my words very well. Meanwhile I took a little plastic hand shovel to smooth out the top of the castle.

“Shut up!” Penny replied bitterly.

“You might as well make the best of the situation, my little honey bunny,” Heather chided.

“This is your fault!” she screamed, climbing unsteadily to her feet, obviously still un-use to walking on such short little legs.

“My fault? My fault? MY FAULT!” Heather lisped back, exasperation clear on her face.

“Yes, you! Your fault!” Penny screamed, stomping her little foot, and her little white flip-flop sandal

Heather was red in the face, looking like she was going to pitch a tantrum before she suddenly smiled and went back to focusing on sand castle building. “Oh Penny, don’t get so upset. You’ll make yourself cry and then your makeup will run.” She said. Then Heather pantomimed smacking her forehead, as if with sudden realization, “Oh wait Penny! That’s right! You’re a little tighty-whitie diaper wearing baby. Just like us! You can’t wear makeup anymore! AHAHAHHHAHA!”

I laughed, because neither me or Heather has to wear diapers. We’ve both managed to retain our bowel and bladder continence from our previous lives. Penny didn’t either, but I suspect she’s a right little bed wetter judging by her cry baby attitude.

Penny turned bright red in the face and screamed wordlessly back at Heather in anger, screeching and sounding exactly like a three year old girl who was pitching a level ten tantrum. Then she suddenly fell back on her bottom and started bawling loudly. What a cry baby. My mother just looked at the three of us with a bewildered expression.

“Can you keep it down over there, we’re in a public place.” She said, as if expecting us to act maturely. Or at least Penny anyways…neither I nor Heather was making such a racket. Penny evidently didn’t hear, or more likely she did, but couldn’t stop the flow of tears. What a baby.

Listening to Penny bawl, I looked Heather in her little blue eyes and giggled, “What’s she making such a big deal about. It’s only for the weekend. What a cry baby.”

Heather grinned, showing her pearly white baby teeth, “Uh huh, but she always was a cry baby. Even as a grown up, she just hid it better by being bossy.”

“I heard that!” Penny lisped out under all the crying.

“Good!” Heather replied with a grunt and a little smirk that followed.

“Well Heather, I think it’s finished!” I said smiling down at the pretty sand castle we’d made. The walls were all straight and smooth. We did a good job. I felt so proud.

“Yup,” Heather responded with a happy smile, the sun glinting off her eyes.

Just then we were interrupted by my mother, “Hey, would you three like to do some shopping at the mall after this?”

With a mock horrified look on my face I answered, bangs swaying in the breeze tickling my forehead all the while, “No, I’m always reading stories that include endless shopping. Let’s do something else please.”

“I agree,” Heather chimed in, her tiny voice making me smile.

Penny was still bawling like a baby, before I turned to my mother, “Mommy, can I have a dollar?”

My mother gave me a questioning look before digging in her purse, which was lying on the towel next to her, and handing me a one dollar bill. Clenching the bill in my podgy little hand, I unsteadily got to my feet and without another word to anyone, tromped off, a Snow cone stand firmly in my sights not fifty yards away.

I had to wait in line, which was hard…because I have the attention span of a squirrel, same as any other three year old. But I managed to wait it out, as the adults in front of me got what they wanted and got out of my way.

It was finally my turn, and skipping two feet to the concessions window, I realized I was too short to see in. Confusion…I felt confused, what should I do? I need a snow cone.

Aha, I know! I yelled quite loudly in an attempt to gain service, “Hey!”

Before long a blonde haired girl, looking to be about seventeen leaned out of the window and looked down at me, her hair back in a pony tail. “Yes little girl, did you need something?”

“Snow cone please,” I replied, handing her the dollar bill.

She laughed, and took the money, “What flavor?”

“The blue kind please,” I replied, wondering why I was feeling so confused. The magic makes me act like a three year old around strangers…that must be it.

“Blue kind? Oh…you mean Blueberry,” she questioned, arching her eyebrows and smiling at me.

“Kay!” I replied with enthuse, my eyes wandering around my immediate surroundings, my mind already wondering what mischief might be had in the immediate vicinity. I spied a fat lady lying on a towel lying on the sandy beach just a ways away and considered running up and poking her.

I was saved from such an embarrassing act by, “Here you go.”

Looking up I saw the concessions server girl…or whatever she was, handing a blue snow cone towards me. Aha! This is what I came for!

Grabbing it, I scampered off with a mildly sincere, “Thank you!”

I stopped halfway down the beach, wondering exactly where I was suppose to be scampering off to. Aha, I was saved from being lost, when I saw my mother waving at me from a short distance away. And simply seeing her seemed to cause my mind to switch gears.

“Now I remember!” I said to myself, “I bought this to give to Penny, so she’d shut up!”

Having explained the situation to myself aloud, I finished my scampering and got to my mother and Heather…and Penny too. I stopped in front of her, and handed the snow cone to her, frowning all the while, because I wished I could eat it. She took it out of my hand, and pulled her arm back as if she was going to throw it at me! I ducked quick, but fortunately the snow cone wasn’t wasted, because Penny suddenly got a funny look on her face, and started eating it with a weird smile.

“I wanna throw it at you,” she said between bites, “But it’s so good! What’s wrong with me?”

“You have the brain of a three year old. Duh!” I said in my silly little girls voice, finding my way over to Heather all the while.

“How come she gets a snow cone and I don’t?” heather whined, once I sat down next to her.

“Cuz, I’m tired of listening to her whine, pout and cry without end.” I answered with a slight stutter.

“Oh, yeah…good idea.” Then she smiled, “That takes you know, planning skills and stuff to pull off.”

“Yeah, it was hard! Glad that my mission is accomplished,” I said, sighing with relief.

The afternoon flew by, and before we knew it, it was time to go.

“Alright kiddies, we’re going home, but I have to stop at Wal-Mart on the way there to pick us up something to eat for tonight…and tomorrow night.”

“Aww,” me and Heather groaned simultaneously, and my mother took our hands and began leading us off, Penny also in tow.

As we wear nearing the locker rooms, some lady stopped my mother and us by reaching down an pinching my cheeks…quite uncalled for I at that, I think.

“My, you have three little ones!” she squealed, looking us all over.

My mother looked at her, and gave her the once over, glance, “Uh…yes?”

“My, my, how did you manage to get three that are so close in age?”

“Oh you know, lots and lots of…you know.”

“Hehehe,” childish laughter from me and heather, “Hahaha.”

The woman gave us an odd look, and then muttered something before hurrying off. Penny just looked around in confusion causing me and heather to giggle at her, as she asked, “Huh?”

Finally making it to the locker room, I sat down on the bench next to Heather, Penny on the other side of her…the three of us were sharing a locker since we were so little. Pulling my clothes out of the locker, I simply stared at them for a moment, “Momma, I need’s help!”

Don’t you love my improper grammar?

“Oh, okay honey.” My mother replied as she took her wet swim suit off.

“Haha, you’re naked.” I laughed watching my mother pulled off her wet bikini swim top, causing Heather and Penny to notice and giggle too.

“Yes, yes sweetie. I am.” She replied with a knowing smile, while she started putting on her street clothes. Her knowing little smile caused me to realize how silly I was being, but I dismissed it as proper behavior considering my age.

After she finished, she helped the three of us get dressed and packed our swim stuff away in the duffel bag she brought along.

“Right, now we can go.” She declared with a grin, looking down at the three of us dressed in our little t-shirts and blue jeans. Me and heather were still wearing our flip flop sandals, but Penny was wearing Barbie sneakers that came with her transformation.

“Kay!” Heather and I chorused simultaneously. Penny just looked around with a bewildered expression.

“Where?” she asked.

“To Wal-Mart; you stupid!” Heather pandered, giving her a petulant little frown that caused me to giggle.

“Am not stupid!” Penny declared boisterously, as our mother led us out of the locker room.

“Are too!” I shouted, joining in the verbal mayhem.

“Okay you three, quiet down.”

“Yes ma’am,” the three of us replied, forlorn expressions displayed by all three of us.

“There, there, no need for pouting. Let’s get to Wal-Mart and then get home.” My mother replied. “The quicker the better for all of us.”

The drive seemed to go quick, I suppose it was do to my short attention span. One event sort of distracted me to another and before I knew it, we were there. I always hated Wal-Mart as my old self, it is after all, the official White Trash emporium. I felt dirty just by being there. I haven’t been there yet as my new self, so I’m not sure if I’ll still hate being there.

As my mother unbuckled me out of my car seat, firmly grasped me and picked me up, I smiled and kissed her cheek. She smiled brightly at me and ruffled my hair, saying, “My baby girl.”

“That’s right, I am!” I lisped, merely a whisper in her ear.

She held me in her arms, and took Heather’s hand, and Heather used her other hand to grab Penny, and that’s the way we made our way up to and into the store.

Looking around from the high vantage point of my mothers arms, I realized that indeed, Wal-Mart still made me want to have a bad case of diarrhea, sheerly out of disgust. I hated this place.

My mother expertly made her way down the aisle and over to the grocery section of the store. Super Wal-Mart indeed.

“Beth is that you?” a man’s voice asked. Still held in my mothers arms, I craned my head around to look at a man who seemed to be addressing my mother. He looked to be just under six foot in height, was clean shaven and had brown eyes and hair.

My mother looked at him confusedly for a moment or two, “Jake Neily?”

“In the flesh,” he replied with a grin.

“How clichéd,” I expounded loudly, as I slapped my hand over my mouth in surprise.

The man looked shocked for a moment, before smiling at me, “What a well spoken little girl. I wish my five year old son had such a vocabulary.”

I just looked at him with a little frown on my face, and after several moments his smile faltered a bit at the edges, like a loaf of bread that was falling during baking. Seeming unsure of himself he refocused his attention back on my mother.

“So how have you been!?” he asked.

My mother set me down at this point much to my protest, smiling profusely at the man all the while. She was seemingly smitten with him, and completely ignoring me and Heather. Penny too…wait a minute, where is Penny? Looking around I didn’t see her anywhere.

Nudging Heather, I whispered, “Penny is gone!”

“What!?” Heather asked, bewildered by the news.

“She’s gone!” I replied, my lisp worse due to my excitement.

“Gone?” Heather asked, seeming more confused than bewildered, now. She just looked all around once more and asked, “Huh?”

I realized that the three year old effect was back in play for some reason…probably because this strange man came over and undid our usual more mature state of mind. I felt it coming on stronger in me as well, and realized we had to act fast if we wanted to find Penny without alerting our mother who was thoroughly in conversation with that man. The two of them had become absolutely oblivious to everything else around them. It reminded me of how deer got hit on freeways more often during mating season. Something about them being fixated on other deer and following and chasing each other without paying enough attention to their surroundings…and then getting run over by cars, trucks or other motor vehicles.

“Come on,” I whimpered, tugging on Heather’s hand. “We have to get away from him and find Penny, before we both stupefy to the point of being our true age for the duration of his visit with my mother.”

“Kay!” Heather said, smiling at me toothily.

I took her hand, and led her away, as my thoughts too became increasingly jumbled. We scampered along the tile floored aisle, our little flip flops making smacking sounds as we skipped and scampered along, holding hands.

“Where’s Penny?” I asked.

“There!” Heather answered loudly.

“Where?” I asked, rubbing my ear, wincing.

“There!” heather said again, pointing at a clothing aisle just across from the grocery section.

“Penny!” I shouted, as I skipped towards her, Heather in tow.

“No, go way!” Penny shouted, running away from us. “You’re bad! Both you’s!”

“Huh?” I asked, perplexed? Bad? Bad why? At this point I became distracted by one of those mounted television sets that department stores liked to mount on the walls, for what other reason. Sponge Bob Square Pants was on…I hate that cartoon! Or at least I used to as a grown up boy…but I couldn’t take my eyes away from it. Heather was watching too.

Suddenly heather looked around, on a commercial break and declared, “I’m lost!”

“No we’re not,” I answered with a confused little frown.

“Well I am!” she answered.

“But you’re with me,” I replied.

She looked at me and frowned, clearly three years old mentally, “Still lost.”

“No!” I answered yet again.

“Both us is lost,” came her reply.

This was confusing me more than anything, so grabbing her hand I led her off again, wondering what we we’re suppose to be doing.

“What are we doing?” Heather asked uncertainly, looking like she might start crying.

I thought as hard as I could, but could only answer, “Avoiding pedophiles?”

Her eyes started tearing up at that point, and I had five seconds to talk her out of crying. “We’re…look! A fat lady!”

“Where!?’ heather asked, suddenly excited, sounding for all the world like an excited three year old girl.

“There!” I said; pointing at a fat lady who was shopping for bra’s in a nearby clothing aisle. I scampered towards her, dodging in, out and between racks of clothing, Heather following me with ease.

At this point we both became more stealthy, and much quieter in our movements, in order to successfully sneak up on her. I crawled under a fully loaded clothing rack and peeked out at the fat lady from the other side. It was dark under the clothing rack, which apparently was loaded with moo-moo’s and very large shirts made for women.

I giggled, realizing the very obese woman would never see us since we were hiding in rack, almost completely obscured by the clothing all around us. I peaked at her from a gap between a floral print and a leopard print; getting ready to spring my attack.

I tapped Heather, and nodded at her, “Follow me.” Then I turned and shushed her, “Sshhhhh!”

With unnatural quickness I sprung out from the rack, and pointed at the woman, who nearly jumped out of her shoes at our sudden and surprising appearance.

“Arrggghhh! There she blows!” I yelled, mimicking the proper pirate sounds at the proper times perfectly, “It’s Moby Dick! The Great White Whale! YArrrgh!”

“Captain Ahab, we can’t let her get away!” Heather declared, her blue eyes flashing with mischief. Her stupor from before seeming to melt away.

“Get the harpoons!” to which Heather and I pretended to be picking up invisible objects and holding them like we were going to jab them at her.

“Now!” I declared, losing my fake pirate accent.

I jumped forward, Heather too, causing the woman to scream in genuine fright. I poked her roughly in her lower stomach with my finger and yelled, “Got her!”

“Time to reel her in!” Heather declared next to me, also roughly poking the woman.

“You brats!” she screamed, red in the face with rage.

“Yargghh!” I declared in my fake pirate accent once more.

I watched as Heather grabbed a plus sized bra from a neighboring rack, and I decided to do the same.

“Yes Captain, reel her in!” Heather declared, seeming a lot less like a three year old with every passing minute. Must be the excitement?

Heather then not surprisingly tossed one end of the bra and looped one strap over the woman’s arm, I quickly did the same to her other arm, while maintaining a firm hold on my end of the support device.

“Heave!” I declared.

“Ho!” Heather answered.

In unison we started pulling the woman, to which she screamed at the top of her voice, “Let go of me, you little beasts!”

“Now we’ve got her,” I said, ignoring her protests.

In a sudden moment of genius I ran around the woman, stretching the bra around her like some kind of obscene rubber band, hooking the two ends together behind her back so she had trouble reaching…due to her immense girth. Heather seeing my example, did the same, and right quickly we had her all bound up in the two double F sized bras. With her arms bound at her sides she struggled in vain, screaming “DAMN YOU TWO! Little beasts I say, UNHAND ME!”

Stepping back a bit I admired my work, declaring, “Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum!”

“I smell the blood of an Englishman,” Heather reciprocated.

Grinning like a meek little shark I dramatically answered with, “Be he alive, or be he dead!”

“I’ll have his bones to grind my bread!” Heather answered.

Just then our bound giant bellowed, and in a moment of surprising strength the woman stepped forward and kicked me right in my middle, HARD. I hadn’t thought to restrain her legs or feet. The blow was so hard it knocked me backwards onto my back. I knocked my head on the floor in falling backwards, which made me really dizzy and made me literally see stars.

Struggling up to my little knees I huffed for breath, having the wind knocked clean out of me, doing everything to avoid crying. She moved forward, making to stomp me…she’d gone hysterically out of control! Her foot nearly avoided landing on my arm as I rolled out of the way! A near miss, by not more than an inch or two.

“Wooohhh!” I hollered as I ran for my life. Heather at my heels.

The fat woman gave chase, but was over the hill in age, and despite being an adult couldn’t keep up with our quick little legs. With tears running down my cheeks, I was crying hard by the time we ran around and ducked behind some shelving selling magazines.

Bawling loudly and in obvious pain I doubled over holding my stomach, “Owww!”

“Kayla!” Heather shouted in worry, squatting down next to me.

“Maybe that wasn’t such a good idea,” I wheezed, while huffing amidst my crying, the tears flowing freely now.

“We we’re being awful, yes, but to kick a toddler in the stomach? That wasn’t your fault Kayla,” Heather said, comforting me by wrapping her round little arms around me and holding me tight.

Despite bawling my eyes out, I managed to sputter as I wiped streams of tears from my cheeks, “Sure was fun though.”

Heather didn’t smile at my attempt at humor, “Oh Kayla, are you alright?”

“Noooo-,” I cried, with both my arms still folded over my stomach tightly.

“I can’t believe we did that,” Heather said, looking scared as she hugged me.

“It wasn’t completely our fault. Being three years old mentally is kinda like being drunk and high at the same time,” I answered, with a heavy lisp on certain sounds.

“Yeah, but how did we manage to say all that stuff? I mean, reciting lines from Moby Dick?”

I looked at her and pondered that for a moment, “I’m not sure. Intense emotion seems to override certain aspects of the behavioral magic. And we were both feeling intensely mischievous, and were looking for a distraction.”

“What were we doing before that?”

I looked at her, suddenly remembering, “Trying to find Penny!”

“Oh yeah!” heather said, smacking her forehead with her podgy little hand.

I struggled to my feet, still in a great deal of pain, “We’ve got to find her!”

Just then the fat woman slid around the corner…I watched as her fat face swiveled, and her beady eyes focused on us. She saw us! Heather realized this too. The fat woman did a slow run of sorts toward us, yelling all the while. Oddly enough, her immensely fat arms were sill restrained at her sides by the over-sized brassieres we’d tied her up in.

Heather looked at me with a momentary smirk, “Captain, it’s making to ram us!”

I looked all about theatrically, yelling, “ABANDON SHIP!”

With that we broke into a quick run again, the fat woman screaming wordlessly at us, loud enough for the whole store to hear. She gave chase and we we’re once again outrunning her with ease. This time though, I had managed to catch my breath despite my tummy still hurting.

I was getting very tired from all this excitement, but I couldn’t lay down to rest In the middle of the store, especially with the obese woman in hot pursuit. I was betting Heather was tired too!

Suddenly Heather grabbed my arm, and pointed off to the side, “Look!”

I looked, seeing who she was pointing at, and screamed, “PENNY!”

Heather pulled my arm and we both changed direction, heading off down a side aisle. The fat woman attempted to follow, but due to her immense girth and weight couldn’t make the turn, sliding into a nearby display. Looking back I saw children’s large playground-style bouncy balls flying in every direction. The wire cage holding them falling over with a thunderous crash.

“Wow, this is just like an episode of Benny Hill!” I shouted to Heather as we dashed towards Penny, and some strange man who had a hold of her arm. Watching while running, we saw her call for help, only to have his oversized mitt of a hand clamp down over her mouth. Only then did he notice us, which distracted him from the fat woman’s bouncy-ball wipeout, just down the hall.

“What are you doing with her!” I screeched.

Penny saw Heather and I, her eyes wild, “Help me! HELP!”

We had a brief moment of respite before the immensely obese woman was almost on top of us. She skidded to a half in front of us, Penny…and the suspicious man. In a moment of brilliance I thought up a plan of how to deal with both the man and the woman.

I looked at the man with a pleadingly distressed look and screamed, “DADDY! SAVE US!”

Then, grabbing Heather’s hand I dashed around behind the man who still roughly had a hold of Penny. The stunt worked, the Fat woman rounded on the man and bellowed, “SO! These little shits are YOURS?!”

The man looked shocked, “Wait! What?”

“Right little MONSTERS! You should be ashamed!” She yelled at the top of her voice.

While she was screaming at the man, we attempted to pry his hands off of Penny with no success. Penny looked at us, as she struggled against her captor, “Help you two! He said awful dirty icky things to me! He wants to do gross stuff!”

I spared a brief glance at him, hollering “PERVERT!’

Pulling Heather to the side, in a moment of inspiration I kicked the fat woman in the shins as hard as I could, causing her to topple forwards. The man, seeing his impending doom, let go of Penny in an attempt to ward off the toppling giant of a woman. She collapsed on top of him with a loud, “OOMPH”

I pulled both Penny and Heather safely away from the temporarily subdued adults. I heard fast falling footfalls and looked up to see none other than mommy running towards, with the man from earlier following behind her. She looked absolutely hysterical.

“Oh my god! Where have you three been?” she asked in a terrified jumble. “Do you know how worried I’ve been?”

I didn’t answer right that moment, instead I dashed into her open arms with a loud, “Mommy!”

Heather and Penny hurried over too, hand in hand, both look very scared. Suddenly Heather looked around and said, “That woman hurt Kayla! Kicked her! Kicked her!”

We we’re all back to three year old speech unfortunately. But we we’re safe, because my mommy could handle anything! Or anyone!

“What…did…you…say?” My mother asked in seemingly quiet voice, but with a dangerously dark undercurrent to the tone. Her eyes focused on the fat woman who made no attempt to get to her feet, the man beneath her making protesting noises while trying to push her of.

“Kicked her in the tummy! Look mommy look!” Heather said, pretending that my mommy was hers too.

Quickly and efficiently she bent down and pulled my shirt very gently with her hands. Looking down I could barely see my tummy, and the area above it already had a dark bruise forming the size of a grown man’s fist, or perhaps slightly larger.

Raising back up she asked in a deadly calm, eyes fixated at the fat woman who had by now gotten to her feet, “Did you do this?”

“Monsters!” she yelled.

My mother suddenly had an odd look on her face, and looking, I realized that the fat woman was still all tied up in the two bra’s we bound her up in. I took the moment to explain the situation to my mother in an appropriate context, “She’s really weird mommy!”

Heather chimed in with, “The bad man tried to take Penny! He wanted to do icky things to her!”

The man with my mother approached him now, and grabbed him as he tried to make a run for it, folding his hands behind his back and forcing him to the floor while saying, “Hold it asshole, you aren’t going anywhere until the cops arrive.”

At that my mother made some quick phone calls. And cornered the fat woman and told her very darkly to stay put…or ELSE!

Us three little ones hid behind her all the while, because she looked for all the similarities like a lioness protecting her cubs. We KNEW we were safe hiding behind her.

-End of Part III-