----------=BigCloset Retro Classic!=----------
Complete

by Christine L.

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Admin Note: Originally published on Bigcloset Classic on October 02, 2002 at 03:27 am and then migrated over to BigCloset TopShelf on 10-03-2007 at 1:26 am by Nick B., this retro classic was pulled out of the closet, and re-presented for our newer readers. This is not your typical Spells R Us tale. ~Sephrena
 
 
Authors Note: The Spells R Us universe, and the SRU wizard, was originated by Bill Hart. Dannie was introduced by another author, DanielSan59 unless I'm mistaken, but has been further developed by authors such as Bashful, Ellie Dauber, and Bill Hart (to name a few). All other characters in this story are my creation, and should not be used without my permission.

This story is rated R for some swearing and non-explicit sex (it is mostly 'off-camera'). Anyone who is offended by these or by other elements such as magical sex changes should hit the 'Back' button on their browser now.

Special thanks to some nice people at Fictionmania for encouraging me to write another story (you know who you are). And a special thanks to Bill Hart for creating the Spells R Us universe to begin with, and providing me with plenty of inspiration.

Comments and constructive criticism are welcome. ~Christine
 

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Kristin Shepherd looked in the mirror of the fitting room. She was a very attractive eighteen year old girl, with long bright blonde hair falling past her shoulders. Right now, she was trying on a very revealing dress for her date tonight. The dress was sleeveless and low cut, revealing the tops of her 38-DD breasts. The skirt was short, ending just a few inches below her hips. David is going to love me in this, she thought to herself.

Regretfully, she changed back into her normal clothes. As she put on her bra, top, and jeans, she thought about her boyfriend, David Borden. They'd been seeing each other for a year now. He was funny, sweet, and handsome. Not to mention very good in bed... or elsewhere. Kristin giggled, recalling their 'meeting' under the boardwalk at the beach a few weeks ago.

David Borden was the best boyfriend in the whole world. Kristin wondered why she hadn't started dating him till their senior year. Of course, her 18th birthday was only this past May. Since she had been below the age of consent, they could only carry their relationship so far. Her parents had been very strict about it, and she had obeyed. But once she turned 18, the shackles were off, so to speak.

She went to the cashier, paid for the dress, picked up the rest of her shopping bags, and stepped out into the mall. It had been another good day of shopping for Kristin. She had purchased just about everything she wanted or needed. Except that there was something her mother wanted her to get for her, but she couldn't remember what it was, or where she needed to buy it from.

Kristin puzzled over this as she stood outside the department store. A few boys passed by, gazing at her admiringly. She smiled back, but otherwise ignored them. David was her boyfriend now, and she wouldn't even think of cheating on him.

What was it that she was forgetting? She couldn't figure it out at all. She then remembered her trip to the beach. There, too, she had a feeling that she had forgotten something important, but she couldn't for the life of her recall what it was. She had been forgetting things a lot lately.

Still, her mother had told her to bring back something, but she didn't know what. Trying her best to take her mind off of David and her date, she walked around the mall for a while, glancing at the shops. She hoped that one of the shops would remind her of what it was she was supposed to get for her mother.

She was just about to give up and leave the mall when she spotted a strange store. It was strange because she couldn't recall seeing any other stores in the mall that had a full storefront and a wooden door. A sign above the door read 'Spells R Us'. She didn't know what to make of it. It looked like some sort of antique shop or curio shop or something.

She didn't think whatever her mother wanted was in there, but she went in anyway. She wasn't even sure why, other than the obvious fact that she had been to this mall more times than she could remember and had never seen this shop before. In fact, she recalled that Radio Shack or something was in this spot a few days ago.

As she opened the door, a bell jingled. She entered the shop, and took a look around. Shelves, tables, and racks contained all sorts of curious knick-knacks. Some of them looked like old-style toys one only saw in old Christmas specials. As she looked around further, trying to figure out just what this place was about, a voice spoke.

"Welcome, Kristin." She turned to see an old man wearing what looked like a bathrobe behind the counter.

"How do you know my name?" she asked.

The old man sighed. "I know because I am a wizard."

"A wizard?" Kristin laughed. "Yeah, right. And I'm Reese Witherspoon."

"A moment ago, you were wondering what happened to the Radio Shack that used to be in this location, not that you normally visit the place anyway." the old man said. "This shop has temporarily displaced the Radio Shack. When my business here is concluded, Radio Shack will be returned to its normal location, and its employees won't even remember that it was gone."

"Huh?" Kristin was confused. What was this strange guy talking about?

"Never mind." the old man said. "Anyway, you came here to shop before your big date with David tonight. The two of you have been seeing each other for some time now."

"How do you know all these things?" Kristin asked.

The old man sighed again. This was going to be one of those customers. "Because I am a wizard, and can read minds."

"You read minds?" Kristin said. "That's..."

"Creepy, you were about to say?" the old man replied. "Yes, some customers do find it a bit disconcerting, but I find it very helpful in understanding a customer's wants and needs."

Kristin didn't even know if she was really a customer or not. "Like, I'm not really supposed to be here. I was supposed to get something for my mother before I came home..."

"Only you can't remember what it was you wanted to get her?" the old man replied, smiling. "It seems like you have been having trouble remembering things lately." He then called to the back room. "Dannie!"

A young lady emerged from the back room, carrying a box with her. "This is Dannie, my apprentice." the old man said. The old man whispered a few things to Dannie that Kristin couldn't hear, and then turned back to Kristin.

"I believe I have just the thing for you. For the past few days, Dannie has been mixing up a number of memory- restoring potions. If there is anything important you have forgotten recently, this potion will bring your memories back in a flash."

Kristin just stood there. This potion stuff sounded creepy. In fact, magic itself seemed creepy to her for some reason, but she wasn't sure why.

"Perhaps the potion might answer your questions." the wizard replied.

Kristin sighed. "Okay, how much for the potion?"

Dannie whispered to the old man. "Considering how much trouble your faulty memory has caused you... and indeed it may have caused more trouble than you realize... I am willing to offer it to you free of charge." the old man decided.

Kristin took the box and opened it. Inside was a small, unlabelled bottle filled with dark liquid. "Can I... drink it here? I mean, I have to get my mother something from the mall..."

"Sure, go right ahead." the old man replied.

Kristin opened the bottle, and drank the liquid. She started to feel dizzy, as all sorts of memories came flooding back to her mind in a hurry...

"SON OF A BITCH!!!!" she suddenly cried out. Then suddenly, she broke down, sobbing.

Dannie turned to the Wizard. The Wizard's expression was grim. "I know you meant well, Dannie, but the truth hurts..."

"She had to know." Dannie replied. "He shouldn't just get away with..."

The wizard shushed Dannie, and removed a scrying crystal from under the counter. "Here, let's view what she has just remembered from a slightly more objective viewpoint."

The Wizard and Dannie stared into the crystal, and an image began to form. It was an image from their current customer's recent past. Three weeks ago...
 
 
THREE WEEKS AGO, New Jersey

"I'm sorry, David, but it's not working." Kris Shepherd told his friend as they walked down the beach. "I can't stop thinking about Megan..."

"It's been a month now, Kris." David Borden replied. "Time to move on. There are plenty of other girls out there. Look around you..."

Kris took a look around the beach. Sure, there were plenty of girls crowding the beach, many of them in tiny bikinis that left little to the imagination. But none of them were Megan.

Kris thought back to how he had met Megan. He was short and thin, and socially shy. He was constantly being picked on by the jocks. One day in the middle of his junior year of high school, he had been shoved against a locker, dropping his books and supplies all over the place. Megan was there to help him up and pick up his belongings. He soon found out they had more in common then he realized.

Megan was not only lovely, but she was clever and compassionate, too. Whenever Kris needed someone to help him through a rough day, she was there. Initially, Kris was scared to try asking her for a date. He was afraid that he would say the wrong thing, and their friendship would be over. But David had encouraged him.

"Come on." he had told Kris. "Any fool can see you've fallen for her. You'll be throwing away the chance of a lifetime."

Some time after that, they had started dating. Indeed, they had much in common. They liked many of the same movies, TV shows, and comedians. They always listened to what the other had to say, even if they didn't always agree. And Kris never tried to take advantage of her in any way. They had a beautiful, equal relationship, and Kris wanted it to stay that way.

But then last month, Megan's father, who was in the Navy, transferred to a new base on the other side of the country. Megan wanted to stay, but she couldn't desert her family. Her mother was an invalid who rarely left the house, and needed Megan to provide for her. Tearfully, the two of them said their goodbyes a week after their graduation. Kris knew that they might continue to exchange E-mails, but it wouldn't be the same. They would probably never see each other in person again. Kris felt as if he had lost a part of his soul.

David meant well, Kris was sure, but going to the beach and eyeing girls in bikinis would do nothing to ease Kris' pain. David had been Kris' friend since his sophomore year in high school. David had stood up to the jocks on Kris' behalf more than once. David had been the one to encourage Kris to get together with Megan. David had his faults, most notably his attitudes towards women, but he had been a good friend to Kris these past three years.

David had driven Kris to the beach, in the hopes that Kris would forget about Megan, and find some other girl to have fun with. But David didn't understand. How could he?

"You don't understand, David." Kris said. "What Megan and I had was something special. We loved each other..."

"Yeah, but that's in the past." David said. "You've got to live for the moment. Look at all these girls around you. I bet there are plenty just dying to get laid by a young..."

"Will you shut up about it?" Kris snapped. "Megan and I had a serious, meaningful relationship. We never had sex. We were planning on saving it till we got married, or at least formally engaged. We treated each other as equals."

"Yeah, and where did THAT get you?" David retorted. "You lost her anyway. You screwed yourself, man. Waiting till you graduated to get engaged... she couldn't wait that long. You should have..."

"Don't tell me what I should have done!" Kris shouted back. "I'm different from you. I'm interested in women as people, while all you're interested in is a cheap fuck!"

"If it wasn't for me, you and Megan never would have gotten together in the first place!" David shouted back.

"Yes, and I'm grateful to you for it." Kris said, calming down. "But I don't think doing things your way is going to help me get over Megan."

"Oh, yes it will." David said. "Soon, you'll meet a really hot babe that will make you think 'Megan who?'".

"You go look for the hot babes." Kris said, with a sigh. "I just came here to relax."

He turned away, staring out to sea. The sounds of the waves crashing and the seagulls flying had always been relaxing to him...

David stared at Kris. The poor loser doesn't know what he's missing, David thought, as he turned toward the nearest bikini-clad blonde who didn't appear to have a boyfriend.

"Hey, baby. Looking for a good time?" he said, aware that his line wasn't all that original but at the moment he didn't care.

The blonde slapped his face. "I heard your friend. All you're interested in is a cheap fuck!" And with that, she stormed away in a huff, leaving David confused and angry.

David stared at Kris, who was still staring out to sea. So this was how Kris was going to repay David for trying to help him? By ruining his chances with the babes? What was wrong with Kris? Why was he so obsessed over that one girl? David had had three girlfriends during the time Kris and Megan were together...

Kris needed to live in the here and now, and forget Megan forever, David decided. And David needed a babe who wouldn't think twice about scoring with him.

If the magic stone he was wearing around his neck actually worked, it would solve both their problems, David thought.

Kris continued staring out to sea. He tried his best to lose himself in the motion of the waves, the seagulls, the beachgoers frolicking in the water, but it was no use. Why couldn't David understand how much Megan meant to him? Did David really know what true love was?

Kris doubted it. David had had three girlfriends while Kris and Megan were together, and been dumped three times. Kris suspected that deep down, David was jealous of the fact that Kris and Megan stayed together so long, even though he'd probably never admit it. And in the end, neither Kris nor Megan had made any mistakes that made their breakup inevitable. It was just life interfering, as it did sometimes when people had made other plans.

David's voice shook Kris out of his reverie. "Still thinking about your girlfriend, Kris?"

"What do you care?" Kris said. "I never should have come here."

"I told you, Kris, you need to forget about her." David said, in a sincere tone. "You can't live in the past."

"But I don't want to forget about her." Kris said. "My memories are all I have of her now."

David pointed at the odd stone he was wearing around his neck. Kris had assumed David had bought it at one of those cheap stores at the boardwalk.

"See this? The guy who gave this to me said it was a magic charm. All I have to do is wish for something to happen, and it will happen. It only works once, so I'd better make it a good one."

"A wishing charm?" Kris said sceptically. "I didn't think you believed in magic."

"I don't, usually." David replied. "But the guy seemed so sincere, I figured what the hell and took it anyway. I've got nothing to lose, after all. If it works, good. If not, it's just a worthless bit of rock I'll either throw out or con some sucker into buying from me."

"Why are you bringing this up?" Kris asked. He didn't know why, but he didn't like where this was headed.

"Because if I wish it, it'll make you forget about Megan. You'll be happier that way."

"But I don't want to forget her. I want to..."

"Look, I could wish for a lot of things with just this one wish." David interrupted. "Money, babes, a fancy car, bigger muscles. I could do a lot of nice things for myself, but I'd rather use my wish to help you. Isn't that what friends are for?"

Kris paused. "I suppose, but..." He had a bad feeling about this, even though in all likelihood that stone was just a piece of junk. "You're asking me to give up a lot. I don't know where I'd be now if not for Megan."

David wasn't paying attention. He was thinking about the right way to word his wish. "I wish Kris Shepherd were, in mind and body, my girlfriend Kristin Shepherd, with no one but me remembering that she was ever a young man named Kris Shepherd."

"What?!!!" Kris shouted. But it was too late. He was frozen in place as the transformation began.

Kris grew a foot taller, as his suddenly bright blonde hair lengthened and spilled down past his shoulders. The few hairs on his face and body vanished without a trace, as his face and body began reshaping. His face became round and feminine, with raised cheekbones, and full, kissable lips. His hips widened, and his waist narrowed. Beneath his swimming trunks, his male organs shrank and vanished, replaced by female anatomy.

His arms and legs, hands and feet, became slender and delicate in appearance. His... no, HER breasts expanded at a rapid rate, not stopping until they were a DD-cup in size. Her swimming trunks altered, becoming a tiny black string bikini bottom. An extremely skimpy matching black bikini top appeared seemingly from nowhere, barely covering her huge breasts.

Inwardly, Kris screamed. How did he know what size bra his... her... breasts took? He knew full well what David's wish meant, and realized the mental rewriting was working already. He thought furiously, desperately fighting to retain his real self.

Megan, Kris thought. Mustn't forget Megan. Megan... Megan... who's Megan? My girlfriend... no, that's silly. I've always been into boys. Megan... no, I don't know her, whoever she is.

Kristin then suddenly relaxed. Why was she so worried about forgetting something? She was the same person she had always been, Kristin Shepherd. David Borden had been her steady boyfriend for the past year. Of course there had been others before David, but they didn't matter now. Indeed, whatever it was she had forgotten couldn't have been anything important.

Kristin put on her sexiest smile, and sashayed up to David, her breasts bouncing with every step she took. "Davey," she said in a sexy, sultry voice. "Why don't we go somewhere by ourselves and fuck like mad rabbits in heat?" She knew David always loved the simple, direct approach.

David had been standing there for a while, amazed at how his wish came true. Kristin was the girl of his dreams come to life. And here she was, demanding that he have sex with her right away. How could he refuse?

"Of course," he said, almost losing his composure as Kristin pressed her huge, full breasts against him. "Now where would that be?"

From a shop not far away came the sounds of a radio playing an old Drifters' song. "Of course. Under the boardwalk." David said.

Kristin just smiled. It was as good a place as any. She didn't really care WHERE they chose to have sex, just as long as they had sex. Right now, she was feeling very horny.

David and Kristin happily walked down the beach, until they reached a spot underneath the boardwalk, secluded enough from the crowd. There, David's swimming trunks and Kristin's bikini soon landed discarded on the sand, as the two lovers began coupling on their beach blanket. They spent hours there, losing all track of time as the waves crashed against the shore...

*    *    *

Back in the present, Kristin was lost in her tears. "I thought he was my FRIEND!" she cried out. "How could he DO such a thing to me?"

Dannie watched Kristin closely, wondering if the memory restoration had been such a good idea after all.

"My life is a lie!" Kristin cried. "David was never my boyfriend... he... r..."

Kristin turned on her shopping bags, spilling the contents all over the floor. "Lies!" she screamed.

Kristin looked down at her large breasts, as if noticing them for the first time. "LIES!" she screamed again.

Two sets of memories now filled her head. One set was the memories of Kris Shepherd, the young man she had been. The other set was the memories of Kristin Shepherd, the girl she thought she was... until now. But her life as Kristin had been a lie. She was really Kris Shepherd, David's former friend, and only now did she know the truth about herself.

Kristin stared at her body with new eyes. She was something out of one of David's wet dreams. Of course David would give her huge breasts -- David was always a superficial fool, despite Kris's attempts to persuade him that there was more to women than external appearances. Add to that the long blonde hair, the bimbo personality, and the obsession with pleasing David, and you had the girl of David's dreams.

The part of her that was Kristin didn't want to believe it. She wanted to believe that David was her generous, loving boyfriend, and had been for the past year. But she didn't even exist until three weeks ago. Before that, she was Kris. And Kris did not ask for any of this.

Kris' memories were back now. She remembered the horror she felt when David spoke his wish. She remembered the transformation, and how she desperately fought to keep Kris' memories intact. Megan... she remembered Megan now. In the new reality that had resulted from David's wish, Megan would probably not remember Kris Shepherd, either. No one else did, except David.

She remembered making love with David on the blanket. She remembered their later encounters in the weeks that followed. Sex with David seemed so wonderful then... but now she knew it wasn't real. It wasn't consensual.

"He raped me!" Kristin cried.

And the more she thought about it, the angrier she became. "I'll kill him!" she screamed. "I'll cut his balls off and leave him to bleed to death! I'll..."

Dannie couldn't blame Kristin one bit, but she had to do something to calm her down. The wizard was expecting at least one other customer before the shop moved on to the next mall, and that customer could arrive any minute. If they just let Kristin leave while still enraged, she would only end up doing something she would regret for the rest of her life, such as making good on her threat. Kristin did not deserve to be sent to some mental asylum.

The wizard watched as Dannie approached the distraught girl. He had seen scenes like this before, several times. Many of those times were before Dannie became his apprentice. Such things never got any easier.

"Calm down now," said Dannie, soothingly.

Kristin suddenly froze. She couldn't move a muscle. "What did you just do?" she asked. She stared at Dannie with fear and mistrust.

"A spell of immobility." said Dannie. "I didn't want you going off and doing something rash."

"Like castrating David?" Kris replied.

"Yes." Dannie replied. "Now, come, let's go to the back and talk about this in private. The wizard is expecting another customer soon."

Kristin followed Dannie behind the curtain. She didn't know why, but she seemed a bit calmer now. She was still upset, but at the moment, finding David and punishing him was no longer number one on her list of priorities. Maybe Dannie and her mysterious teacher would be able to help her... and maybe they'd be able to change her back to her normal self.

*    *    *

The back room was a non-descript hall of shelves with boxes, but Kris wasn't interested in the scenery. Dannie motioned to a nearby chair, and urged her to sit down.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Dannie asked, helpfully.

"Why bother?" Kris replied. "You already know what I'm thinking, anyway."

"It helps to talk about your problems. Keeping them bottled up inside of you can't be good."

"What's to talk about? Someone I thought was my friend did this to me..."

"And how do you feel about it?" Dannie replied.

"How do you think I feel?" Kristin replied. "An hour ago, all I could think about was my big date with David tonight. He was the centre of my world. All I wanted was to make him happy. I loved him, and I thought he loved me. But then I come here and I find out none of it was real. My feelings for him weren't real. I wasn't real." She began sobbing again, and then continued.

"I thought he was my friend. All through high school, we were there for each other. We stood up to the muscle bound jerks together. Whenever one of us was in trouble, the other was there to help. He was always encouraging me to try new things. Life was an adventure, he said. Seize the moment. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have gotten together with Megan."

"But then he goes and does THIS to me!" Kris was screaming now. "How could he do such a thing?!? Is that what friends do to each other? He violated me!" She broke down, sobbing. Dannie just sat there, silently.

A thought came to Kris. How HAD David done this to her? Where did he get that wishing charm in the first place? She stared at Dannie with new suspicion. So far, Dannie and the old man had shown her nothing but kindness but if it turned out they were in on this...

A guilty expression formed on Dannie's face. "I'm afraid that wishing charm came from this store." she said, after a pause. "Sometimes, our spells and charms do fall into the wrong hands, despite our best efforts. The wishing charms are the worst, as someone could do almost anything with them. As your case has shown, even with only one wish someone could do a lot of harm."

"You got that right. He took everything from me. My identity... my whole time with Megan... my whole life. Megan never even spoke with Kristin, according to my Kristin memories. Kristin was the kind of girl she'd never be friends with. A complete and total bimbo, obsessed only with boys and herself. The kind smart girls like Megan are embarrassed by."

"If it wasn't for that potion, I'd never even have remembered Megan. I wanted to treasure the time we had together forever, but David just wanted me to forget her. She wasn't anything special to him, so he couldn't understand. He's never had a girl who was really special to him. Probably because he's so obsessed with what's on the outside."

"So he turned me into THIS, his dream girl!" She looked at herself again. "Long blonde hair, huge breasts, and a head full of air. All I wanted was to please him. I was even shallower than he was. We were a perfect match all right."

Kris paused for a moment. "And do you know what? Part of me wishes I'd never drunk that damn potion! Part of me wishes I didn't know what I know now so I could happily hop into bed with David, not knowing I was once a guy he'd betrayed just to satisfy his hormones. But now that I know who I was now..."

"The memory potion was my idea." said Dannie after a pause. "You never did have an errand for your mother. We just implanted that thought in your head so that you'd look around the mall hoping to be reminded of whatever you'd forgotten, and find yourself here."

"You haven't been messing with my head in any other ways, have you?" Kris's suspicions returned.

"I assure you, that little thought is all we have done." Dannie said sincerely. "The rest was all David's doing."

Kris didn't know why, but somehow, she knew Dannie was telling the truth. "I feel as if I should trust you, but I don't know why. I mean, you could probably make it so that I DID trust you whether I wanted to or not."

"Only I didn't." Dannie replied. "You'll just have to have faith that I'm telling the truth."

Kris was silent for a moment. "Dannie... just who are you? And what is this place?"

"This is Spells R Us." Dannie said after a pause. "The wizard runs this place. I'm his apprentice. We sell magic to those in need of it, and every once in a while we correct some injustice. We saw what happened to you, and I insisted that we lure you here to have your memory restored. The master was against it at first, but I convinced him that you needed to know the whole truth..."

"Against it? You mean he didn't want me to remember who I was?"

"No. He knew you wouldn't take it very well, and was afraid you'd hurt yourself or others if you remembered who you were. He was still going to punish David, but make you forget him too, and go about your life as Kristin Shepherd. You'd have been spared from knowing just what he did to you. I told him you had to know the truth, no matter how much it hurt. Finally, he agreed, especially after I told him that..." Dannie stopped abruptly.

"You told him what?" Kris asked, sensing there was something Dannie was reluctant to tell her.

"That you're pregnant." Dannie finished.

"Pregnant?" Kris was stunned. "I can't be..."

But she knew that it was all too possible. She and David had had unprotected sex that day at the beach. Both had been so caught up in the moment that they didn't even think of the consequences. She couldn't blame herself...at the time; she was nothing more than David's wish come true.

"My God..." Kristin cried. "That bastard... raped me. And I'm carrying his child?"

Already she had felt a deep revulsion within her, as she thought about the incident at the beach, and every time she and David had had sex since. Had sex, not made love. Kristin only thought it was love, because David's wish made her think so.

"It can't be... I'm not real. Kristin isn't real..." she objected.

"I'm afraid you ARE real," Dannie said. "When David made his wish, he invalidated the reality in which you were Kristopher Shepherd. In this reality, you always were Kristin Shepherd, you fell for David while you both were still in high school, and you graduated last month. The rest of reality matches your Kristin memories. Tell me, in the past three weeks, did you see anything connected to Kris in your home, or anywhere else?"

"N...no." Kris sniffed. "Everyone acted as if I was always Kristin. And I didn't know better. I didn't notice anything wrong with my room or anything, because I didn't know anything was wrong. Now I know that everything's wrong. My whole life has been wiped away..." She continued sobbing.

"Creating the memory restoring potion wasn't easy." Dannie said. "I had to perform a magical trace upon you, to track down your true origins and determine who and what you were before reality altered on you. This was made even more difficult by the fact that in the three weeks since it occurred, your reality altered once again..."

"It did?" Kris replied.

"Do you know your friend Jenny Barnard?"

"Oh, yes. She was the 'brain girl'. If she didn't insist on studying with me, I... Kristin would've flunked math and history. She's not my closest friend, but I owe her a few."

"She was only 'born' two weeks after your transformation. Before then, she was Johnny Barnard. She remembers who she was before, but reality altered so that no one else does. Your Kristin memories of Johnny were altered to accommodate the new reality."

"I... remember Johnny now. He was even shier than I was. A skinny kid with glasses. I always felt sorry for him. This was back when I was a guy. I remember him as Kristin, too, but I never paid any attention to him. In fact, I flunked math 'cause I wouldn't be caught dead with a loser like him..."

Kris didn't know how much of this she could take. All these conflicting versions of her memories were starting to give her a headache. What was really real? As she asked herself that, she remembered what Dannie said. At the moment, THIS was real. She was an eighteen year old big-busted blonde girl, and she was pregnant.

"It's confusing, isn't it?" Dannie noted. "That's one of the reasons why my master was reluctant to restore your memories. A number of our customers forget who they used to be. Sometimes it's by accident, and sometimes it's by design. Sometimes, I think some of them are so traumatized that they blot out the memories of their past lives, and it isn't the magic at all. Not everyone can handle being transformed and not everyone can handle being in a new reality. Memory restoration isn't something to be done lightly, my master told me."

"Your master?" Kris said. "Doesn't that old guy have a name?"

"He probably has several." Dannie replied. "I don't know if anyone knows his real name. Most call him 'the Wizard' or 'The Spells R Us Wizard' or 'The SRU Wizard' or 'that strange old man in the bathrobe'. Anyway, once we'd reviewed what had happened to you several times, he agreed to the new plan of luring you here to have your memories restored. Performing that magical trace was difficult, as we had to work around Johnny's change into Jenny, but we soon traced your origins back to that now-invalidated reality where you were Kristopher Shepherd. Once the hard part was out of the way, we mixed up the potion, lured you here, and now here you are..."

Kris was staring down at herself, with her hands upon her stomach. She had attempted to take her mind off of it by encouraging Dannie to talk more about the magic, but it was no use.

"Pregnant." she muttered, still not wanting to believe it.

"I've got more bad news for you." Dannie said. "Do you want to hear it?"

Kris paused. How much worse could this situation get?

"Go ahead," she said, after a pause.

"Because of your pregnancy, it will be nearly impossible to change you back to your former self. I say nearly impossible, because if I've learned anything from working here, it's that nothing's impossible. But unless you want your unborn child to be negated from existence, we can't just cancel the effects of the wish."

Kris sat for a while in silence, trying to digest this. A life was now growing inside her. Did the child deserve to not be born just because its father was a selfish hormone- driven jerk? She could leave here and ask her parents, and all the preachers, and all the people on both sides of the 'pro-life/pro-choice' argument, but their opinions didn't matter. It was her child, and her choice.

After a long silence, she spoke again. "I'd like... to keep the child." she said softly.

"Are you sure?" Dannie said. "I've read your thoughts. You also want to change back to your normal self and go on as if all this had never happened."

"I know..." Kris said gloomily. "But the child changes things. I can't go back now."

"And what about David?" Dannie asked.

"I still hate him for this." Kris said. "And I want to see him punished."

"He was your friend," Dannie reminded her. "I think you should talk to him about it."

"You better believe I'm going to talk to him about it." Kris replied. A thought came to her. "But don't you and that wizard still have a plan for punishing him?"

Dannie smiled. "You'll see. I think you'll like what's going to happen..."

*    *    *

The wizard stood behind the counter in the deserted shop. Through the scrying crystal, he observed Dannie's conversation with Kristin. What Dannie had said was true, mostly. Dannie had kept her word not to tell Kristin about the other alteration in reality that had occurred since the initial transformation. Dannie reluctantly agreed with the wizard that Kris should not know about this just yet. Their customer already had enough things to things to worry about now. They would only tell her when or if it became necessary. If things went according to the wizard's plan, perhaps it would not become necessary...

The wizard gazed into the scrying crystal, viewing once more events of three weeks ago...
 
 
THREE WEEKS AGO, California

Megan Andrews sighed as she and her new friend Tammy Wilson walked down the beach. "I'm sorry, Tammy. But this isn't helping me. I still can't stop thinking about Kris."

"Forget him." said Tammy insistently. "He's all the way on the other side of the country. You couldn't just leave your mother to be with him. You know that. Your mother needs you far more than he ever did."

"I know." said Megan regretfully.

Her mother had been crippled in an automobile accident six years ago, driving Megan home from a ballet lesson. Even now, Megan felt responsible for that accident, even though she knew that everyone she talked to about it was right. There was no way she could have known it was going to happen. But that didn't make her feel any better about it.

Ever since then, Megan tried to make it up to her mother by taking care of her as best she could. She fed her, helped her clean and dress, and bought her the prescribed medications. When her father had accepted a transfer here, she had to come with them. Her father would be busy with his new Navy assignment, and her mother needed her more than ever.

But leaving Kris had been painful for both of them. Kris was the nicest boy any girl could wish for. Beneath his thin, awkward exterior was a heart of gold. Many of the other boys in that high school were only interested in appearances. Megan was an attractive girl, with her long raven-black hair and light green eyes, as well as the C-cup breasts the cruder males would occasionally stare at.

But Kris had not fallen for Megan because of her outward appearance. Unlike many of his peers, he appreciated her personality, her compassion, and her intelligence. They had been the best of friends before they started dating... and then their relationship became something more. They had a beautiful, equal relationship, always listening to what the other had to say, even if they didn't always agree.

They had decided to wait until a week after their graduation to become engaged. Until then, they would refrain from sex, as their relationship was doing just fine without it. Sex wasn't something to be rushed into, and neither was marriage. Unfortunately, Megan would instead spend that week packing up and moving out.

She wanted to stay with Kris more than anything, but she couldn't abandon her mother. Kris was just as broken up about it as she was, but he understood why she had to go. They promised to exchange E-mails, but it would be a poor substitute for what they once shared. Chances were good that they would never see each other in person again.

If only things had been different, Megan pondered. If only her mother hadn't been crippled in that accident...

Tammy's voice shook Megan from her thoughts. "Earth to Megan," she said insistently. "Are you forgetting why we came here?"

"No, I'm not forgetting." said Megan. "We came here because we both lost our boyfriends recently and we're trying to take our minds off it."

Tammy was one of Megan's neighbours, and the first friend she had made since moving here. Tammy had been recently dumped by her boyfriend, and had suggested this trip to the beach. Megan didn't really know Tammy very well yet, but she had found out that Tammy had had three boyfriends prior to her last one. She didn't know the details of any of the break-ups.

"Yes, and maybe we'll find some studs that'll help us forget all about those losers we hung out with."

"Kris was not a loser!" Megan shot back. "He was kind, and caring, and..."

"I know, I know." Tammy interrupted. "But it's not as if you're going to see him again. You need to find someone else."

"I don't want to find someone else." Megan replied. "I don't think any of these boys are my type. Besides, looks like most of them are taken, anyway."

She gestured to all the young men in sight. Each, it seemed, was accompanied by a girlfriend.

"All the cute guys are taken?" Tammy exclaimed.

"Looks like it." Megan said.

Of course, she knew that they were bound to find guys looking for girls if they searched hard enough. But she didn't want to deal with jerks. She just wanted to go home to her mother. She didn't know why she let Tammy talk her into this trip.

Tammy glared at Megan. That girl really needs to lighten up, Tammy thought. And I need to find a hot young stud. Now, I could search this whole beach looking for one or...

She gazed at the magic stone around her neck. An idea came to her...

"You know, Megan, I think I can save us both a lot of time. We don't have to go searching this whole beach for stud muffins."

"We don't?" replied Megan hopefully. She hoped Tammy was getting the message.

"This stone I'm wearing is a magic wishing charm. I could wish for a guy right now, and he'll be here."

Megan was about to laugh her off, but suddenly, she had a strange feeling. She felt she had forgotten something important. She couldn't remember why she was feeling so depressed. She then shook her head. Of course she was depressed -- she had to move here to take care of her mother and leave the few friends she had made back in New Jersey behind.

"Don't shake your head at me." Tammy said, with annoyance. "This stone really works. The old guy assured me it would. All I have to do is make the right wish. But he told me it only works once."

Megan was confused. What was Tammy talking about? Using some sort of magical stone to wish for a boy? It didn't make sense. Nothing was making sense now. Megan thought she had forgotten why she came to this beach, but now she remembered that she had never had a boyfriend back in New Jersey. She didn't know why, a few moments ago, she thought she remembered having one.

For some reason, that annoying bimbo Kristin popped into her head. She didn't know why. Was she jealous of Kristin for having a steady boyfriend? Of course not.

Tammy was getting really upset with Megan. Fine, she's not even going to listen to me. Some friend she is. She deserves this, Tammy thought. Any doubts she may have had as to the morality of her planned wish were swept away by Megan's apparent rudeness.

Quickly, she thought up a wish, and the best way to phrase it. "I wish Megan Andrews were my boyfriend Greg Andrews, with no one remembering that he used to be Megan Andrews."

"What?" Megan said, confused. The world was going mad. Or was she?

Megan suddenly grew a foot taller, and more muscular. Her breasts flattened, and her feminine curves straightened into masculine angles. Her face became angular with a square, manly jaw. Her shoulders broadened, as hair sprouted on her now muscular chest, arms, and legs. Her dark hair turned to a light brown, and as it did, it retracted into her skull until it was a short, masculine style.

Inwardly, Megan was panicking but she was frozen in place and could do nothing. Her swimsuit morphed into boy's swimming trunks, as she became aware of the presence of male genitalia between her... his legs.

Oh my God, I'm a guy! Megan panicked inside, as she realized what the other part of the wish meant. She... he... tried desperately to hold onto her identity. I'm Megan, I'm Megan, I'm Greg, I'm Greg. Who the fuck is Megan?

Greg Andrews stood still for a while, wondering just why he had been so horrified. He had forgotten something, but he had no idea what it could have been. Nah, it couldn't have been anything important. Especially since I've got a hot babe like Tammy Wilson waiting for me. There had been other babes before her, of course, but Tammy was his girlfriend now. He would do anything for her, literally.

Tammy Wilson stared at Greg in astonishment. Wow, that wishing stone really worked! Greg was a hunk! No one would EVER believe that the stud standing before her had been an attractive young woman just a minute ago. She owed that old man an apology.

Then, suddenly, she was wondering why she thought her wish worked. She hadn't made any wish. She had come to the beach to have fun with her boyfriend Greg, and the stone was just a worthless piece of junk she bought in some novelty store.

Greg looked Tammy up and down, admiring her assets. Wow, that Tammy was a hot chick! He could feel his erection pushing against his trunks. He strode over to her, and fondled her breasts.

Tammy just giggled as Greg drooled on her. She liked her men big and stupid, and Greg certainly fit the bill. He had only moved in last month. It hadn't taken long for him to be totally taken in by her charms. Tammy couldn't believe just how obsessed with her he was. He followed her around everywhere like a drooling puppy.

"Tammy..." Greg said, breathing heavily. "I feel really, really, horny."

Tammy smiled. "Lead on, big boy."

And with that, Greg scooped Tammy off her feet and carried her to their hotel room. There, the noise they made greatly disturbed the hotel guests who had chosen to use the hotel pool rather than go to the beach that day. Not that Greg or Tammy cared.

Tammy was glad she had remembered those birth control pills. As much as Greg excited her in bed, she didn't really want to be pregnant with his baby.

*    *    *

The scene faded from the crystal as the old man shook his head. It was a situation much like Kristin's, though Tammy had neglected to shield her memories with her wish, and therefore she had forgotten who Greg used to be, too. Aside from the wizard himself, Dannie, and perhaps a few others in the mystical community, only Kristin remembered Megan now.

Kristin emerged from the back room, followed by Dannie. Kristin turned to the wizard.

"Okay, Dannie's told me what I need to do. I still don't understand it, but I'll do it." Kristin said.

"Good luck to you." the wizard replied. "Now, you'd best be on your way. I'm expecting another customer any minute now."

Kristin walked out of the Spells R Us shop and headed toward the parking lot. She did not notice that the shop faded away as soon as she left, leaving Radio Shack back in its normal location.

Kristin climbed into her car, and slammed the door. She had discussed the situation with Dannie, and knew that she had to be as calm as possible when speaking with David. Too much anger would only make things worse. She still doubted that she could ever go so far as to actually forgive David. The bastard had taken away her whole life!

She turned on the ignition, and then turned on the car radio, hoping that it would calm her down. No such luck. The radio just happened to be playing the Drifters' 'Under the Boardwalk'.

Angrily, she turned off the radio and drove off toward David's home. David would have a lot of explaining to do soon...

*    *    *

Greg Andrews strolled through the mall with a spring in his step. His hot date with Tammy was tonight, and he couldn't wait to score once more with the hottest babe in town. But right now, he was running a few errands at the mall. What was it that he was forgetting?

Tammy had asked for some curio or something, but Greg couldn't remember what it was or where to find it. He wandered the mall for quite some time, trying to remember just what it was that he was supposed to get her.

After a while, he stumbled across a strange shop he'd never seen before. He knew he'd never seen it before because he'd never seen any shop with a full storefront and a wooden door at this mall. The sign above the door read 'Spells R Us'.

"Probably some shop for role-playing geeks", Greg said aloud.

Normally Greg wouldn't be caught dead in a 'geek store', but somehow he thought what he was looking for might be found in the shop before him. He opened the door and walked in.

"Welcome, Greg." said the old man in the bathrobe behind the counter.

"How'd you know my name?" Greg replied.

The old man sighed. He knew better than to expect that someone as clueless as Greg would NOT ask that question he'd grown so tired of long ago. He replied with the same answer he was so tired of giving.

"I know these things because I'm a wizard."

"A wizard? No way!" Greg said.

"I happen to know that you are thinking about your big date with Tammy. The two of you met over a month ago, and you've been her lover ever since. Three weeks ago, you and Tammy disturbed a number of hotel guests by having a sexual encounter at two in the afternoon."

"Yeah, the manager got pissed, threatened to throw us out... Hey, how'd you know these things?"

"Because I am a wizard, and I can read minds."

"What is this, the Twili... whatever that show was with all the spooky stuff..."

"The Twilight Zone, you mean?" the wizard replied, with a smile. "Many of my customers feel they've stepped into Rod Serling's dimension. I assure you that I am here to help you. Have you had the feeling that you've forgotten something important lately?"

"Yeah, I can't remember what Tammy wanted me to get her..."

"I believe I have the solution to your problem." the wizard said, pulling out the other memory potion that he and Dannie had prepared. "This is a special memory-restoring potion. If you have forgotten anything important recently, this potion will restore your memories instantly."

Greg looked in his wallet for a bit. "Uh, I can't afford something like that."

"Considering how much of a problem your lost memories are for you, I am prepared to offer it free of charge." the old man said.

"Free? Cool!" Greg replied. "Can I drink it here?"

"Feel free." said the wizard.

Greg eagerly gulped down the potion. Suddenly, he began feeling dizzy. Memories began pouring into his head. Memories of being someone smarter... memories of being... a girl?

"Megan... I'm Megan..." he said out loud softly. "That bitch!"

He then broke down, sobbing. This whole thing seemed like a nightmare. He knew who he really was now. He was Megan, until Tammy had made that wish. Not only had Megan physically transformed into a muscular young man, but Tammy had mentally changed him into a dumb hunk, with few thoughts that didn't involve pleasing her.

Kris... he remembered Kris now. Kris had been Megan's boyfriend. But he also remembered some alternate reality in which there never was a Kris for Megan to leave behind, and instead Kris' friend David had some bimbo girlfriend named Kristin. What was going on? Nothing made sense anymore...

The wizard watched sadly. It looked like Megan was taking it even harder than Kris had. He wondered if he had done the right thing in agreeing to the memory restoration. However, if all went according to their current plan, his customer's pain would probably soon be gone as if it had never occurred.

Dannie emerged from the back, and approached the distraught customer. "It's all right now," Dannie said soothingly. "We're here to help you."

*    *    *

Kristin tried her best to calm herself down, but it wasn't easy. She thought about Megan. Megan had helped Kris through some rough times in high school. I sure wish she was here to help me through this, Kristin thought to herself, but she doesn't even remember me...

Kristin tried to remember if she had met Megan in the 'Kristin' reality. She remembered seeing Megan only a few times, but Megan wasn't in Kristin's circle of friends. Fact was, Megan probably couldn't stand Kristin, as several times she had spoken of her distaste for the busty blonde bimbos who draped themselves on the jocks' arms. Kristin was now still a busty blonde, but thanks to the potion, she was no longer a bimbo. But since she was pregnant now, she could never return to her former form and former life.

She sniffled for a bit, thinking about Megan. For some reason, her Kristin memories called up Greg, a tall, muscular hunk who she had seen every now and then. She had fantasized about him a few times, but she was too loyal to David to act on those fantasies. Greg Andrews was just a distraction.

A horrible thought came to her. She then immediately dismissed it. Calm down, Kris, she thought to herself. All this reality shifting is making you paranoid. Greg and Megan are two different people. Keep thinking like this, and you'll think your own parents used to be the opposite sex before something happened and changed things.

That line of thinking led to madness, Kristin decided, and she quickly put it out of her mind.

She drove up to the row of townhouses where David lived, and parked in an empty space. As she climbed out of the car, she slammed the door again.

She paused and took a look at herself. Before leaving Spells R Us, she had changed into the low cut dress and 3- inch heels she had been planning to wear on their date. She then put on what she hoped would look like a sexy smile. She didn't want anything to appear unusual... yet.

*    *    *

David Borden sat in the living room of his townhouse apartment. He'd only just moved in here a month ago, and a few of his belongings were still not unpacked. It was, however, sufficiently furnished for what was to come.

Idly, he stared at the lucky charm around his neck, and thought of the events of three weeks ago. He'd created the girl of his dreams with one carefully-worded wish. The wish had clearly probed his mind to find out just what type of girl he would like to have as his girlfriend, and then there she was. And all it had cost him was one of his closest friends.

Snap out of it David, he told himself. Kris is happier as Kristin. It was the only way to make Kris forget whatever was making him so depressed. Now she's the happiest girl in the world. If there's even a part of Kris still left in her, he'll thank me for it.

Just then, David heard a door slam. He took a look out the window, and saw his buxom girlfriend approaching his townhouse. He quickly ran to return to his chair. He would have to pretend he hadn't already seen her in that very revealing dress. Boy, she looked hot!

The doorbell rang, and David went to answer it. He opened the door, and was greeted by Kristin. "Hi Davey," she said, with a sexy smile. She let herself into the house, shaking her impressive breasts as she walked past.

"Hi Kristin," David said with a leering smile. He closed the door, and then escorted her to the couch.

Kristin smiled back at David, realizing that this was working. So far, David didn't seem to notice anything different about her behaviour. He began to pull her onto the couch.

And then Kristin slapped his face. Hard.

"Son of a bitch!" she yelled, standing up and backing away from David.

"What?" David rubbed his face, confused.

"You raped me!" Kristin exclaimed, staring at David with angry, cold eyes.

David could only sit there, stammering. "R...rape?" he asked.

"Well, what else do you call it?" Kristin demanded. "You transform me into a girl against my will, brainwash me into a bimbo, and then we have sex! I may have thought it was consensual then, but I didn't know at the time! Then, I was nothing more than your wish come true."

David was stunned. "You remember who you were? How?"

"It doesn't matter how." Kristin said coldly. "What's important is thanks to some new friends of mine, I know just what happened now. You violated me body and soul! You betrayed me!"

"But... but I thought you'd be happy. You were so depressed, and nothing I was doing was helping."

"And YOU needed a bimbo girlfriend who'd worship the ground you walked on." Kristin said. "You needed a girl who didn't mind being treated as nothing more than a sex object. Don't try pretending you were trying to help me. You were being a selfish bastard."

"But... I WAS worried about you..." David said sincerely. "It's why I took you to the beach in the first place. That depression couldn't have been good for you."

"I told you that I didn't want to forget Megan. I wanted to keep my memories of her to treasure forever."

"Megan?" David was confused. "Who is Megan?"

"My girlfriend, don't you remember? She was the one you wanted me to forget so that I'd be happy."

Kristin didn't want to think about the implications of what David had just said. Instead, she took a breath, and continued with the speech she'd rehearsed with Dannie in the back room.

"David, one of the hardest facts of life is that people leave us. But as long as we think of the good times we had together, they are never gone from our hearts. In time, I would have stopped dwelling on how unfair it was that Megan had to leave, and just treasure the moments we'd had. It would have been tough, but I would have moved on."

David just sat there, confused. He still didn't remember who this Megan was, but clearly she had something to do with why Kris had been so depressed.

"David, I tried my best to be a friend to you, even though I didn't agree with you a lot of the time." Kristin continued. "I was there for you when you needed me. And you were there when I needed you. If it weren't for you, I'd never have found the courage to ask Megan for a date. When you were having troubles with your latest girlfriend, I tried to help you."

"For three years, I thought you were my friend. But then you turn around and do THIS to me. You didn't even tell me just what you were going to do until it was too late for me to stop it. Did I ASK to be turned into your girlfriend? Did I ask to have my memories of my past life wiped away? Did I?"

David shook his head. "No..." he said.

"Friendship is about trust, David. You don't do something like this to a friend without asking if they want it to happen first. You don't do anything to a friend that you wouldn't want that friend doing to you. If I had actually wanted this, then it'd be fine. I wouldn't have a problem."

"But you didn't ask me before making that wish. I don't care if you thought I'd be happier. You were NOT being a friend. You were being a selfish jerk, putting your own wants above mine. You didn't even consider my thoughts in the matter. You were in too much of a hurry to make that wish and get your dream girl."

"How would you feel if someone did that to you?" Kristin continued. "How would you feel if three weeks later, you found out your whole life was a LIE?!!! That you'd been an entirely different person before then, and someone had changed your sex and altered your memories just to satisfy their hormones?"

David was silent for a long time. He didn't really know what he could say that could make this all better. How would he feel if someone he thought was a friend did this to him? Pretty terrible, he had to admit. He couldn't imagine what Kris was going though now.

"All right..." David said, nearly breaking down. "I was fucking jealous! Of you and..." He stopped, placing his hands on his head, as if in pain. "What's wrong with me? Why can't I remember these things?"

"You were jealous of me and Megan for staying together so long while you broke up with three girlfriends?" Kristin replied.

"Yeah... no... I don't know." David replied. "I don't remember this Megan. You never had a girlfriend. I was trying to find one for you, but you weren't interested. This is crazy, but I remember being jealous of you for something... but I don't remember what."

"You don't remember her because something's happened to her." Kristin said, not even wanting to consider it. "Something that's made you forget her just as everyone else has forgotten the old male me."

"But why do you remember her?" David asked.

"The memory potion. It's too hard to explain." Kristin said. "But because of it, I remember how things used to be before all this happened, even though reality itself has been changed. My friends at the magic shop told me that reality was altered again at least once in the past three weeks."

"Oh God..." David said, his head hung down with his face buried in his hands. "I'm so sorry... for everything."

He then broke down, crying pitifully. Kristin approached him cautiously, but as she looked closer, she could see they were genuine tears. David looked up at her, teary- eyed, then turned away, unable to face her.

"All I wanted was for both of us to be happy. I never meant for anyone to be hurt..."

"I don't think what happened to Megan was your fault, David." Kristin said. "I don't even know what's happened to her yet."

"It's not that. It's... you were right, Kris. You were my only real friend, Kris. And I threw you away." David said, clearly disgusted with himself.

"And for what? A hot babe who'd have lots of sex with me? Sure, it was fun... but it wasn't real. You only did it with me because my wish made you that way. You were right, Kris. It was rape..."

David placed his head against the shoulder of the couch, sobbing. Kristin just stood there in silence. She didn't really know what to do or say. She wondered if maybe she should go against the plan and just leave him with his guilt and self-loathing. Perhaps that would be punishment enough.

But Dannie had predicted things would change for the better if Kristin went along with the next part of the plan. Kristin tried to ask her to be more specific, but apparently even Dannie didn't know precisely what would happen.

David looked up from the couch, noticing Kristin still standing there. "You still there? Go away!"

"David, I..." Kristin began.

"Look, we're not even friends anymore!" David shouted. "You can't forgive me after what I've done. Now go away! Maybe those magic shop friends can change you back." He turned away from her again.

"David, they can't change me back." Kristin said softly. "I'm pregnant."

"No..." David said. "It can't be..."

"I think it was from that time on the beach." Kristin said. "We were both in too much of a hurry to even think about using protection."

David turned around, and Kristin noticed that he was wearing the wishing stone around his neck. "You still have that wishing stone." she noted. Good, Kristin thought. Dannie was right.

"Yeah, but it's a worthless piece of junk now." David said with disgust. "I don't even know why I kept it."

Kristin paused for a moment, trying to remember what she was to say if the situation came to this. "Tell me, if you had another wish, what would you wish for now?" she asked.

"I don't know," said David. "I'd wish I hadn't knocked you up, maybe. I wish I could have been a better friend to you..."

David suddenly froze in place, as the stone around his neck glowed. As Kristin watched, David's hair suddenly turned bright blonde and began lengthening rapidly. His stubble and body hair vanished without a trace, as his face and body began to reshape themselves. Kristin looked on in fascination. She had experienced this herself. Now it was her turn to watch.

David's face became round and feminine, with raised cheekbones and full pouty lips. His hips widened, and his waist narrowed. Beneath his pants, his male genitals shrank and vanished, replaced by female anatomy. Breasts began pushing against his, no, her shirt, expanding until they were a D-cup in size.

And then her clothes began changing. Her jeans fused together, becoming a blue skirt, which then merged with her shirt, morphing into a dark blue casual dress. A bra appeared underneath her new dress, supporting her breasts as her briefs changed into a pair of panties. Her socks became transparent and expanded up her legs, becoming a pair of pantyhose. Her shoes morphed into a pair of women's flats.

'Holy shit, I'm a girl!' David thought to herself.

Then, she became aware of new memories filling her head. She remembered her childhood as a little girl, playing with dolls, wearing ribbons in her hair. She remembered her first boyfriend in high school, and how she dumped him when he turned out to be a real creep. She wondered if she was going to lose her memories the way Kris did...

*That's up to you,* a voice in her head said.

*Who are you?* David thought back.

She turned, and noticed that Kristin seemed to be frozen in place, as if time itself was standing still.

*Who and what I am isn't important.* the voice replied. David could not even be sure of the voice's gender. *What's important is that reality is being re-written. David Borden was never born. In his place is Darlene Borden, best friend of Kristin Shepherd. Your wish is being granted, however, you are being given a choice. Do you wish to retain your memories of being David Borden, in addition to your new memories of being Darlene?*

David thought about it for a moment. *No*, she thought back. *David was a creep, a jerk, a backstabbing son of a bitch. I don't think I can live with myself remembering what I did to Kris. I want to forget David.*

*Are you sure?* the voice asked.

*I'm sure.* she thought back.

*So be it. Enjoy your new life.*

Darlene had the strangest feeling that she was forgetting something important. A moment later, her confusion was gone. She was Darlene Borden, just as she had always been.

"Darlene!" It was Kristin Shepherd, her best friend. "It seems like you were zoning for a moment there. Have you been listening to a word I'm saying?"

"I'm sorry, Kristin." Darlene said. "What were you saying again?

Kristin had been Darlene's best friend since their sophomore year in high school. Just a few minutes ago, she had come to visit Darlene, claiming she had great news. They had spent the last few minutes chatting about their boyfriends, and sharing gossip about their fellow high school graduates.

Darlene was wondering what the great news was. Kristin was already engaged to her boyfriend, and they planned to marry at the end of the summer. Darlene would not miss her best friend's wedding for anything. But she sensed Kristin had something else to tell her.

"It doesn't matter." said Kristin, smiling. "I told you I had great news. Are you ready?"

Darlene nodded.

"I'm pregnant!" Kristin exclaimed, her expression filled with joy.

"That's wonderful," said Darlene after a pause. "When did..."

"About three weeks ago," Kristin replied. Happily, she recalled the events of three weeks ago...
 
 
THREE WEEKS AGO, New Jersey

Kristin Shepherd strolled down the beach arm in arm with her boyfriend, Greg Andrews. "I can't believe it," Kristin said. "We're finally engaged, after all this time."

Greg smiled. "To tell the truth, I'm a bit nervous about it myself. But it feels right somehow."

"I know. It's as if we were meant to be together, somehow." Kristin nodded.

Kristin and Greg had met early in their junior year of high school. One of the jocks was harassing Kristin in the hall, shoving her against a locker and groping her breasts. That was when Greg showed up.

"Leave her alone!" he said.

The jock decided that it wasn't worth the trouble to mess with Greg, and he left the scene abruptly. Greg then helped Kristin gather up the books she had dropped on the floor during the incident.

Kristin and Greg soon became close friends. Greg was not only incredibly handsome and strong (a real hunk, the other girls said), but he was clever, kind, and compassionate. He was always there to comfort her at the end of a rough day. And back at high school, Kristin had had plenty.

Kristin had to put up with a lot of bullshit at high school -- the jocks with their lewd remarks, and many girls with their name calling. They assumed that just because she was blonde and had big breasts that she was a bimbo. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. She had straight A's in most of her classes, including history, and varying, but mostly good, grades in math. But her tormentors weren't people who'd let the facts get in the way of what they thought was good verbal abuse.

Greg was different from most of the boys she had encountered. He never talked down to her, nor did he become tongue-tied in her presence like many of the nerds she knew. Instead of treating her like some object or some unobtainable goddess, he treated her like an equal.

Still, she was reluctant to risk spoiling things by asking for a date. However, her friend Darlene Borden had persuaded her otherwise.

"Kristin, he's everything you want in a man." Darlene had said. "It's clear you're falling in love already. You'll be throwing away the chance of a lifetime if you don't go for it."

Soon after, they started dating in earnest. The two had a great deal in common. They both loved many of the same TV shows, movies, and comedians. They didn't always agree, but they always listened to what the other had to say. It was a beautiful, equal relationship.

"My parents will be coming back for the wedding," Greg said, interrupting Kristin's thoughts. "Seems like only yesterday since they left."

Greg's father, who was in the Navy, transferred to a new base on the other side of the country. Greg opted to stay behind in New Jersey, to be with Kristin. They had become formally engaged a few days after their graduation. A few days after that, Greg's parents moved out, leaving Greg to set up an apartment on his own.
 
 
Now, a month later, Kristin and Greg continued their stroll down the beach. "Of course, Darlene will be there, and Jenny, and..."

Kristin was excited. Not only because of the wedding, but because of what she and Greg were planning to do today on the beach. It was something they had agreed to do only after they had become engaged. Like marriage, it wasn't something to be rushed into.

Greg and Kristin soon reached a spot under the boardwalk, secluded from prying eyes. As they spread the beach blanket on the sand, Kristin couldn't help feeling that she had done this before somehow. Of course, she realized, that was impossible. She was still a virgin -- she hadn't made love anywhere before. Putting aside her feelings of deja vu, she lay down beside Greg on the blanket.

For quite a while, they just lay there silently in each other's arms, listening to the roar of the ocean and the calls of the seagulls. This was their first time, and they did not want to rush it. They wanted it to be as special as possible.

"We can still turn back, you know." Greg said. "Are you sure you don't want to wait until our honeymoon?"

"I'm sure." Kristin said. "Something tells me... that we're meant to do this now. Don't ask me why. It's just how I feel."

They continued to just lie in each others' arms for a while, contemplating each other, contemplating their wedding in two months' time. Kristin began idly playing with Greg's chest hair. Then Greg turned to Kristin and kissed her, slowly and tenderly.

Kristin kissed him back, slowly, but passionately. She wanted to hold this moment as long as she could. Her hands began to caress his firm, muscular back.

A few minutes later, Greg's swimming trunks and Kristin's string bikini lay discarded in the sand next to the blanket. Soon, they were lost in their passion, oblivious to all except themselves as the waves crashed on the shore...

*    *    *

"Kristin!" Darlene's voice was saying.

Slowly, Kristin's mind returned to the present day. She was visiting her friend Darlene, telling her about her pregnancy.

"Who's zoning now, Kristin?" Darlene said, with a smile.

"I'm sorry." Kristin replied. "I was just thinking about that moment..."

Darlene smiled. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit jealous of you. You and Greg seem to be made for each other."

"Darlene, I'll probably say this again at the wedding reception, but thank you. For everything."

Kristin gave her friend a hug. As she did, she noted the strange stone hanging around Darlene's neck.

"Where did you get that?" Kristin asked, curious.

"Some old guy in a mall sold it to me." Darlene said. "Said it'd make my wishes come true. I tried, but nothing happened."

For some reason, the stone seemed familiar to Kristin, but she couldn't recall where she had seen it before. She was sure she had seen it somewhere before today, even if it was only in a dream.

"So, why are you keeping it?"

"I don't know, really," Darlene said. She quickly removed the stone, and tossed it in a nearby wastebasket. "It's a worthless bit of rock, really. I guess I don't need it anymore... if I ever did."

"Anyway, thanks." Kristin said. "Without you, none of this could ever have happened."

With that, Kristin waved and left her friend's townhouse. As she did, she thought back on her long friendship with Darlene. Even though they had only known each other a little over three years, they were practically sisters. Darlene had helped Kristin stand up to the jerks in high school, and had been the one to encourage Kristin to start dating Greg. Every once in a while, they would borrow outfits from each other, as they were similar in size.

However, as Kristin opened her car door, strange thoughts began running through her head. She looked at herself. For some reason, she thought she remembered wearing a more revealing dress fifteen minutes ago. But that was nonsense. She remembered wearing the casual light blue dress she was wearing now her entire visit with Darlene.

As she climbed into her car, she remembered something about wearing such a revealing dress for her date with David. David? Who was David? Greg was her boyfriend, and she could not remember ever dating someone named David.

She started the car, trying to put these strange memories out of her mind. But they came nonetheless. She remembered her day at the beach with Greg, yet she also remembered being there with David Borden. David Borden? Darlene's brother? No, Darlene had never had a brother.

More details came to her. David was wearing the stone that she had just seen Darlene with. Then they... no, that was impossible. Kristin knew for a fact that she had been a virgin until she and Greg made love under the boardwalk at the end of June three weeks ago. There was no way she had ever had sex with any man other than Greg.

She drove down the road, trying to concentrate on driving. But the unwanted memories still came, and each one seemed crazier than the last. Now she was remembering that she WAS a bimbo, and David Borden's girlfriend. She remembered snubbing Jenny Barnard, even though Jenny was in fact one of her closest friends in high school, along with Darlene. She and Jenny always got along perfectly. Why would she ever be rude to her?

Kristin then remembered Johnny Barnard, who she had been downright mean to. This was wrong -- Kristin had never been mean to anyone. Who was Johnny Barnard, anyway? Jenny's brother? No, Jenny only had one brother, and his name was Steven.

Kristin tried to think about who Johnny Barnard was. He was a skinny kid with glasses that the bigger kids always picked on. She remembered feeling sorry for him back when she was a boy. A BOY??!!!

Kristin quickly pulled the car over to the side of the road, and stopped. She couldn't concentrate on driving anymore. These memories were becoming too crazy. She stepped out of the car to get a breath of fresh air.

There was no way she could have ever been a boy. She was a girl, and she had been born a girl. Anyone who'd mistake her for a boy must be crazy, or be in need of glasses. And of course, she was pregnant.

But as she stood there, she began remembering scenes from a past life in which she WAS a boy. She remembered David Borden being one of her... his closest friends. But he had also been her boyfriend in that annoying set of alternate Kristin memories that was still invading her head. Reincarnation didn't work that way, as far as Kristin had heard. Lifetimes don't overlap...

She was disturbed from her thoughts by the honking of a car horn. She turned, and saw her friend Jenny Barnard parking her car behind Kristin's.

"Kristin!" Jenny shouted as she approached. Jenny was an attractive young lady with long red hair and green eyes. She was dressed in a green top and shorts. "Are you all right?"

Kristin didn't know what to tell her friend, especially since she was having memories of alternate worlds where Jenny either wasn't her friend or seemingly didn't exist at all. "I... don't know." she said, clutching her head.

"Dannie was afraid something like this would happen." Jenny said. "That's why she sent me to find you."

"Dannie?" Kristin replied, confused. She vaguely remembered meeting a young lady named Dannie once.

"You don't remember, do you?" Jenny said. It was more of a statement than a question. "Dannie? She's the assistant at the Spells R Us shop. You have to have remembered being there at least."

"Oh, now I remember..." Kristin said. She pulled it out of her 'bimbo Kristin' memories. She remembered shopping at the mall, and stumbling upon this strange magic shop. The strange old man and that assistant girl had given her what they called a memory-restoring potion.

"Do you remember the potion they gave you?" Jenny asked her.

"Yes. But I can't remember what happened after I drank it. Ironic, isn't it?" she said, trying to make a joke out of it.

"Kristin, your memories haven't returned yet. Dannie and the wizard sent me to be your designated driver until your restored memories stabilize. Hop in the car, and I'll drive you to the mall. They'll explain things when we get there."

Not knowing what else to do, Kristin quickly locked up her own car, and then climbed into the passenger seat of Jenny's.

"Thanks, Jenny." she said gratefully. "It's strange. You've been my friend for years, but I remember these other realities in which I rarely spoke to you."

"The wizard and Dannie will explain it. They know more about these things than I do." Jenny replied.

"How do you know them?" asked Kristin.

"It's a long story." said Jenny. "I don't think you're in any condition to listen to it right now."

Kristin let the subject drop as Jenny continued to drive her to the mall. As she did, her memories seemed to complete themselves. She was Kristin Shepherd, but she had been two other people before. One was also named Kristin Shepherd, but she had been so unlike the person she now was in personality that the present Kristin had to consider her a different person.

And the other was her male self, Kris Shepherd.

She remembered being Kris, a short, thin, and socially shy young man. She remembered his miseries in high school, his friendship with David. She remembered falling in love with Megan Andrews, and then the heartbreak when she had to move away to take care of her crippled mother. All these and more she recalled in full detail.

She then remembered Kris' day at the beach with David. With horror, she remembered David's wish, removing Kris Shepherd from reality and replacing him with the 'bimbo Kristin' who had been David's girlfriend.

"My God..." she said out loud.

She found herself shivering involuntarily, even though it was the middle of July now. David had betrayed Kris, violated him body and soul. Kris had practically ceased to exist when David made that wish.

But yet her last 'bimbo Kristin' memories were of drinking the memory-restoring potion. They were followed by a very brief return of 'Kris' memories in which the horror of the situation became all too clear. But after that, she couldn't remember anything else.

Everything after that was her 'present' Kristin memories. She had been to the mall, and then visited her friend Darlene. She didn't recall seeing the SRU shop in what she still considered her 'normal' memories.

But she knew that the Kristin she now was wasn't who she had originated as either, regardless of what her memories said to the contrary. Kris Shepherd was who she had been to start with. The memory potion, or something after it, transformed her from 'bimbo Kristin' to the Kristin she now was. She still LOOKED the same as the other Kristin, but inside she had more in common with Kris Shepherd than the one-dimensional airhead David had created.

What had happened to David, by the way? A thought occurred to Kristin. Did Darlene used to be David? Does she remember who she used to be?

She turned to Jenny. If she had been Kris Shepherd to begin with, then Jenny must have been Johnny. And, as crazy as it might sound, Greg may have previously been Megan.

Jenny's car soon pulled into the mall parking lot. "We're there now." Jenny said.

"I'm feeling a bit better now." Kristin said. "I still don't remember enough to make sense out of this, but I'm feeling better."

Jenny helped Kristin out of the car, as Kristin was still feeling a bit dizzy. "What do you remember?" Jenny asked, with a note of curiosity.

"I remember..." Kristin said with a smile. "That you used to be some nerd named Johnny."

Jenny giggled for a second. "Like I said, it's a long story. I'll tell you about it some time. Now, we need to get to Spells R Us."

*    *    *

Spells R Us was in the location Kristin recalled it being in when she had visited as 'bimbo Kristin'. Even though she now had her intelligence back, she still couldn't figure out how it could just replace the Radio Shack that had been there before. Just where was the Radio Shack in the meantime? In limbo? The wizard had promised, however, that it would return eventually and its employees wouldn't remember that it had ever been absent.

Kristin and Jenny entered the shop, as a bell jingled. The wizard and Dannie stood behind the counter. Standing before the counter, to Kristin's surprise, was Greg.

Though they had seen each other every day over the past month or so, Kristin and Greg now looked at each other as if they had not seen each other in a long time. Kristin gazed deeply into Greg's eyes, and Greg did the same. Both were silent for a second.

"Kris?" Greg asked.

"Megan?" Kristin asked.

Suddenly, they both rushed toward each other, and soon were joined in a loving embrace. "It IS you!" they both said at once.

"They showed me what had happened to you but I..." Greg began.

"When I started remembering things, I suspected this but..." said Kristin at the same time.

Then, they kissed each other, with the passion of lovers reunited. Dannie smiled as she watched the lovers embrace.

Jenny's voice interrupted them. "This seems to be getting kind of personal. If you don't mind, I think I'll wait outside."

Kristin and Greg separated for a bit. "That's okay."

The wizard spoke up. "Your task is done, Jenny. Feel free to go."

With that, Jenny left the shop.

"Greg, this is... weird." Kristin said. "On the one hand, we've been together all the time. I last saw you just last night. But on the other hand, we haven't seen each other in months..."

"I know." Greg replied. "The thing is, in this new reality, my mother never had that accident. Since I'm a guy in this reality, I never took ballet lessons. So she never drove me home from ballet, and we never had that accident. My mother's not a cripple now. In fact, she's pretty healthy."

"So we never had to break up in this life." Kristin realized. "But I'm still confused. How did you turn into a guy? How did I become the me I am now?"

Greg frowned.

"Some bitch named Tammy wished me into her dumb hunk boyfriend. Then the wizard and Dannie lured me here with a false memory about a gift for Tammy, and they gave me a memory-restoring potion to drink. They told me to stay here till you showed up, because reality would be changing again outside the shop soon. I do have all the memories of being your boyfriend, though. Including that day at the beach."

Kristin smiled at the memory. It felt real to her, even though she knew now that the reality she was in now was less than a day old. She sobered, and then turned to the wizard and Dannie.

"As for your second question," the wizard began, "Your present reality began when David used his secret second wish and became Darlene. Under normal circumstances, you would only have memories of your current reality. You and Greg would have married not knowing that you had been Kris and Megan in a now-invalidated prior reality, and chances are you would have been happy together. Dannie and I were both willing to accept that as a happy ending."

"However, the memory restoration potions were more powerful than either of us anticipated. Enough residual magic remains in both your systems to cause the restoration of your memories again, provided they were memories previously restored by the potion, or memories you had before drinking the potion. So therefore, when reality was altered again, you lost your memories..."

Kristin nodded. "But then I started remembering right after I left Darlene's. Wait... I think I started remembering just before I left. I remembered seeing the stone she was wearing somewhere before."

"So you started remembering little things just a few minutes after the reality shift." Dannie supplied. "However, you still don't remember what happened between the time you drank the potion and the time the reality shift occurred. You don't remember the conversation we had in the back room?"

"No, I don't." Kristin replied.

"Tell me, what do you remember of your visit with Darlene?" the wizard asked.

"We talked for a while. We chatted about our boyfriends, and our classmates. Then I told her that I was pregnant." Kristin said.

"And is that all that happened?" the wizard asked.

"Yes... no. It couldn't have been all, since I started remembering things just as I was about to leave."

Dannie removed a bottle of dark liquid from under the counter, and handed it to Kristin. "It's another memory potion." she said. "This one won't be as disorienting as the last one, as it'll only restore a few hours' worth of memories."

Kristin accepted the bottle gratefully. "Does Greg need one too?"

"No," said Greg. "They kept me in this shop so that I wouldn't need one. Reality altered not long after I drank the potion, so I didn't really have time to build up a lot of things to forget, anyway."

Kristin opened the bottle, and drank the potion. This time, she knew what to expect. She braced herself for the inevitable dizziness.

However, it turned out that Dannie was correct. Kristin didn't feel quite as disoriented as she had the last time she had ingested one of these. Then again, she'd been dizzy for the past fifteen minutes at least slowly regaining her memories.

Memories began flashing back into her head. She remembered how she had reacted when she found out the truth about herself and David. She remembered the conversation in the back room with Dannie. She remembered her shock when Dannie told her that she (Kristin, not Dannie) was pregnant. She remembered her decision to keep the child, even though that would mean that she could not be transformed back.

She also remembered the confession Dannie had made after she announced she was going to keep the child...

*    *    *

"He was your friend," Dannie reminded her. "I think you should talk to him about it."

"You better believe I'm going to talk to him about it." Kris replied. A thought came to her. "But don't you and that wizard still have a plan for punishing him?"

Dannie smiled. "You'll see. I think you'll like what's going to happen..."

"But it's still not your original plan, isn't it?" Kristin said.

"No." said Dannie. "Kris, I have to be honest with you. David didn't steal the wishing stone or anything. The master sold him the stone knowing what he would do with it. After you became Kristin, the wizard was going to lure you here, and give you a different charm. You would be tricked into using it on David, and he'd turn into a bimbo, too. You'd both forget everything that'd happened, and happily head off in search of boyfriends."

"But why?" Kris asked.

"David was heading for a bad end." Dannie said. "If this whole wishing stone thing never happened, then the anger he had inside of him because of his unsuccessful relationships would have continued to grow. You were right about him being jealous of you for staying together with Megan while he broke up with three girlfriends. Eventually, he would have been arrested for sexual assault. The girl and her family would have dropped the criminal charges, but they would have won the lawsuit."

"David, meanwhile, would be so overcome with guilt and remorse that he'd turn to drinking and drugs. Eventually, he would be killed in a car accident while driving drunk. You would have tried to stop him, but you would have been killed too. And so would a young mother and her three-year old child."

"Oh my God..." Kristin muttered.

"Anyway, I talked to the master about his idea. Like I said, I felt you needed to know the truth about yourself. I also told him that you are a kind, caring, person, and you deserved better than to remain some airhead who would never really amount to anything. Bimbos are a penny a dozen, I told him. This world needs all the decent, caring people it can get. Soon after, he agreed to the new plan."

Kristin sensed that there was more to the story than Dannie was telling her, but she said nothing. "I think you'll like the new plan better than the original plan." Dannie said. "If all goes well, things will change for the better for all of you. Listen carefully..."

*    *    *

She remembered the plan Dannie had made. Dannie told Kristin that there was a second wish left in David's wishing charm, even though David had been told it only worked once. Unlike the first wish, which could be as selfish or as selfless as the user wanted, the second wish had to be a heartfelt wish to change things for the better, for more than just the user.

Kristin and Dannie had spent a great deal of time discussing David. David, after all, wasn't a complete jerk; otherwise, Kris wouldn't have considered him his friend for three years. If Kristin made him realize the error of his ways, then she would prompt him to make another wish, even though he believed the stone's one wish was used up. Dannie had told her she wasn't sure just what would happen, but she WAS sure that the wish would change Kristin's world for the better.

Kristin remembered the whole scene at David's townhouse. She remembered David's breaking down, and his wish that they could have been better friends. She remembered watching David metamorphose into Darlene.

And then she remembered... not remembering that Darlene was anyone other than Darlene or that she herself was anyone other than Kristin Shepherd. There was no ripple or dissolve or fog accompanying the transition as she had seen in many movies. One minute, she was staring at the newly- created Darlene, the next she and Darlene were chatting as if nothing were out of the ordinary. Aside from Kristin being pregnant, that is.

"I remember now." Kristin said. "I remember everything. Thank you so much..."

"No problem." Dannie said, with a smile.

"We will be concluding our business here shortly, and moving the store to another mall across the country." the old man announced. "If you have any further questions, now would be a good time to ask."

Kristin spoke up. "Does Darlene remember that she used to be David?"

"No, she only remembers being Darlene. It was her choice." Dannie replied. "She wished to be a better friend to you, and she got it. As Darlene, she has most of David's good qualities without the bad traits that made him turn on you in a time of moral weakness. Think of it as a sort of reincarnation. You, Greg, and Jenny remember your previous lives, but Darlene only remembers her current lifetime."

"David always did have an easier time letting go than I did. He never was one to dwell on the past a lot." Kristin mused.

"What about Tammy?" Greg asked. "Isn't she going to get hers?"

"In this reality, you and Tammy have never met, since you never moved to California." the wizard responded. "Tammy still has the wishing charm, but its 'anything' wish has been used up. She will not be able to transform anyone else against their will the way she transformed you. All she has left is the second wish. And it will only be activated if she sincerely wishes for a change for the better."

"How long will it be before that happens?" Greg asked.

"It could be months, it could be weeks, it could have already happened." The wizard said with a knowing smile. "In any case, it is unlikely that Tammy will be making any significant impact on your lives in the near future, so don't lose any sleep worrying about her."

"About these memory potions..." Kristin began. "Are there any other side effects we should know about? I mean, if they can make me slowly remember everything after that last reality shift..."

"You don't have to worry about that." replied the wizard. "Our potions are safety-tested before we offer them to our customers. If something goes wrong, it's usually the customer's fault for not using them as directed. Nonetheless, we will continue to watch over you from time to time, and if there are any side effects that we feel you ought to be aware of, we will arrange another meeting and discuss it with you."

There was a pause. Then Greg spoke up. "I'm confused now. If we were originally supposed to forget who we were after David's wish, then why'd you give me a memory restoring potion?"

"To answer that, I must ask you both to think about your current selves, and the memories native to this reality." the wizard said. "You've probably already noted the similarities in personality between your current selves and your original selves, Kris and Megan. And you've probably noticed that you have very little in common with the people you became as a result of David and Tammy's wishes, aside from physical appearance."

Kristin and Greg nodded, as the wizard continued. "Had neither of you consumed the potions and been restored to your original personalities, and reality was still shifted, then you would have crossed over into the new reality as the simple-minded creatures David and Tammy created. Neither of you would have been able to have any sort of truly fulfilling relationships, and eventually tragedy would have struck you both."

"However, since your original personalities had been restored, the re-writing of reality merely adapted said personalities into their equivalents from this reality. In much the same way, David's personality was adapted into Darlene's, with the improvements needed to make David's wish come true. And as far as anyone else knows, you have always been the people you are now."

"Jenny only knows who you were because we told her." Dannie added. "Once we realized what the residual potion would do, we called her in and told her of your problem." She stopped speaking, as she realized Kristin and Greg were no longer listening.

Kristin and Greg kissed again, slowly but firmly. The wizard was only telling them things they had already figured out for themselves. Kristin gazed happily into the eyes of Greg... Megan. Greg was still the person she had fallen in love with in her previous life as Kris.

"Megan, I've missed you so much!" Kristin said out loud.

"I've missed you too, Kris." Greg replied. He kissed Kristin again, with even more passion.

"Ahem." the wizard said, interrupting them. "As much as I hate to break up this romantic reunion, we are expecting some customers soon in Nebraska. Unless you wish to come along for the ride..."

"Oh. I forgot." Kristin said, slightly embarrassed. "I guess this is goodbye then."

With that, she gave Dannie a hug. "I know that in all the realities, I've only known you for just this one day, but I'd like to think of you as my friend. Thank you for being so kind to me..."

"I know what it's like to have your world turned upside down." Dannie replied. "Thanks for trusting me."

Kristin then turned to the wizard. "I know some of this wasn't your idea, and that Dannie talked you into it, but thank you, anyway." With that, she gave the old man a hug.

The wizard was a bit surprised. Some of his customers had been grateful to him for his help, some had not liked the end results, and some had forgotten that the wizard's magical items had made any real difference. But very few of them had given him a hug.

"You're welcome," the old man said after a brief pause.

Now it was Greg's turn. "Dannie, I want to thank you. Without you, Kris and I wouldn't have been brought back together. If it's possible, I'd like to invite you and the wizard to our wedding."

"I'll try to make it." Dannie replied. "If we're not too busy with something at the time, maybe you'll see us both there."

Greg then gave Dannie a hug. "Thank you, anyway."

He remembered how Dannie had gently told him that there was a complex plan being set in motion, and that they could not change him back into Megan without upsetting the plan. Now that he had the memories of the Greg of this reality, he understood why. In order for Kristin to keep the child, it would need a new father since David never existed as David. And who better to be that father than someone who truly loved Kris, now Kristin?

He then turned to the wizard. "I don't really have anything to add to what Kristin already said. But thank you, anyway."

He then shook the wizard's hand. Greg considered Dannie a friend, but he didn't feel he knew the wizard well enough to give him a hug. The wizard was like a friend's parent he didn't know particularly well.

"You're welcome." said the wizard. "You may find that there are a lot of stories told about me and my shop. Some are true, and some are just urban legends. Despite what some of these stories may say to the contrary, I really do like to see my customers satisfied in the end... if they deserve it, that is."

Kristin and Greg headed for the door. "Goodbye," Kristin said, waving back at her new friends. "If you need me to be a designated driver or anything, I'll be there."

With that, they went through the door and into the mall, where Jenny sat on a bench waiting for them. "Hi," she said, standing up to greet her friends. "I take it everything went well in there."

"It did." Kristin said, smiling.

"Your memories are stable now?" Jenny asked. "You know which memories are which?"

"Yes." Kristin replied. "They gave me another potion to fill in the gaps. I don't have any trouble knowing which reality is which anymore."

"Good." Jenny said. "I'm glad I didn't have it as rough as you guys. Even though there were times when... but that's another story."

"You were a customer here, too, right?" Greg asked.

"I was." Jenny said with a smile. "But that's a long story. Maybe we can talk about it some time..."

"You're not an... apprentice or anything?" Kristin asked.

"No, just a customer, and a friend." Jenny replied. "I owed them a favor or two, since they helped me. They called me to tell me you were in trouble, and I was on my way a minute or two before reality shifted again and I remembered you as my friend."

"They're going to be leaving soon." Greg noted. "Aren't you going to go in and say goodbye?"

"No, because they'll be back." Jenny replied. "If not at this mall, then maybe at one of the others. Besides, they're probably watching us now." She turned in the direction of the shop, and waved. After a moment, Kristin and Greg did the same.

As they watched, the Spells R Us shop shimmered and silently faded away, leaving Radio Shack in its normal position as if it had never been away. Kristin, Greg, and Jenny stared in silence for a while, and then turned away.

"Greg invited them to our wedding. I hope they'll make it." Kristin said, as the three strolled through the mall.

"I'm sure they will." Jenny said. "If the wizard's too busy, he'll probably just send Dannie if he doesn't need her for anything important. I know I'll be there, anyway. I wouldn't miss it for the world!"

"Thanks Jenny." Kristin said. Another thought occurred to her. "Greg, in this new reality, did you drive over here? I had to leave my car on the side of the road, since I wasn't feeling well enough to drive..."

"We can come back for your car later." Greg said, holding Kristin's hand. "I'll drive you home."

Kristin and Greg gazed once again into each other's eyes. Neither had to be telepathic to know what the other was thinking at this moment. Their prior lives as Kris and Megan had ended in heartbreak and horror. Now, they had been given another chance. Their life together would be full of new challenges, they were sure. Raising their children and paying the bills would not be easy. But after what they had gone through, they felt now that they were ready for anything the mundane world cared to throw at them.

As long as they had each other, they were truly living in the best possible world.
 
 
Epilogue:
 
Dannie sniffled for a bit as she watched the scene in the scryer. "I love happy endings..."

"So do I, Dannie." the wizard replied. "So do I."

The wizard was impressed by how things had turned out. Yes, this was a happy ending, but it had nearly not been so. He felt almost ashamed to admit that bringing the two lovers back together was not part of his original plan at all.

True, Dannie had tried her best to persuade the wizard to restore Kris's memories. But it was the arrival of Tammy Wilson at the shop that had made the wizard change his plans.

Tammy Wilson was an only child, the daughter of a Navy man who had badly wanted a son, and made no secret about it. Tammy had grown up determined to prove that she was superior to any boy. She decided that boys were only good for one thing, and that was sex. As a result, she only dated boys she knew weren't very bright and whom she could easily manipulate.

The wizard knew that Tammy, too, would meet a horrible fate if he did not interfere. Eventually, she would leave home after a fight with her father, but be unable to pay her bills. She would be forced to live in a slum in the city, and later become a prostitute out of desperation. Eventually, she would be found brutally beaten to death in an alley.

So the wizard sold her a wishing stone, knowing that she would use it to transform Megan into her dumb hunk boyfriend, Greg. Unlike David, she would not have felt overly guilty, as she hadn't really known Megan long enough to truly consider her a friend. But eventually, she would have grown bored with Greg, and she would dump him. Greg would have never gotten over it, and eventually would have been arrested for sexual assault. Tammy would still end up having the fight with her father and ending up a murdered prostitute.

But just as the wizard was devising a plan to prevent that from happening, he realized that Megan was in fact the same Megan Kris had broken up with. And her transformation would end up taking place only a minute or two after Kris's. This could not be coincidence, the wizard realized. Some higher power had a better plan for Kris and Megan, one that would result in a happier ending for both of them.

So the wizard mixed the memory-restoration potions with Dannie, and together they devised their plan to bring the two lovers back together. The initial reactions of both were painful for even the wizard to watch. But he knew that both would be happier in the long run if they at least had the equivalents of their original personalities in the reality that would be the end result.

About the only surprise to the wizard was that the memory- restoration potions had left that magical residue which restored Kristin and Greg's previous memories after the last reality shift. Jenny Barnard, formerly Johnny, hadn't been a part of the plan, but once it became clear to the wizard and Dannie that Kristin was going to remember who she was before, Dannie called her up and told her everything. Jenny had been looking for some way to be of assistance to the wizard and Dannie since they had been of so much help to her, and here was her chance.

Because Kristin and Greg remembered their past lives, their love would be even stronger than it would have otherwise been. But all the principles in this little drama, whether they remembered their past or not, were happier now than they had been when it began.

Jenny was not only happy with her new life, but now she had Kristin and Greg to talk to about her past. Being a transformee, and remembering who you used to be, could be a lonely experience.

Darlene was certainly a happier person than David. She was going steady with her current boyfriend, and a year or two later they would be married.

And Tammy was certainly happier now that she was...but that was another story. In any case, even though Greg would continue to remember Tammy, it would be unlikely that he would recognize her if they were to meet again now.

Dannie interrupted the wizard's thoughts. "They invited us both to the wedding. Are you going to come?"

"If I'm not too busy. I do like to be able to get out of the shop every now and then."

Dannie smiled, and turned to the shelves. She was looking forward to the wedding next month. Regardless of whether her master was going or not, she planned to be there. Even though she probably would not be seeing them in person very often after the wedding, she liked to think of Kristin and Greg as her friends. She was glad that she was able to make a difference in their lives.

But for now, Dannie had to concentrate on other things. Their first customer in Nebraska would be arriving soon, and Dannie had to prepare for his arrival.
 
 
 

 
 
The Best Possible World  © 2001-2002 by Christine L.