On a truly rotten day, Paul Jeffers makes a wish that changes everything for the better.

A Simple Wish
By Ellie Dauber

It was a lovely warm summer afternoon, so Paul Jeffers decided to walk through the park.

He didn't feel like going home anyway. There was nobody waiting for him. Besides, sitting at home would only remind him that he'd just been fired.

Again.

He'd tried to make a go of the job, but things had just seemed to work against him. They always did. At forty-one, he was a man without friends or prospects. "People just don't seem to take to me," he thought.

Paul saw a stray dog walking up ahead of him. It seemed friendly, so he leaned over and made a motion towards it. "Here, boy," he said. The dog walked a few feet towards him. Then it stopped and sniffed the air in his direction. It growled and ran off. "Even dogs," he thought.

He sat on a nearby bench and pulled a folded newspaper out of his jacket pocket. Paul thought he might as well get a start on finding a new job. Then he realized that he'd tossed away the classified section at lunch time. Just an hour or so before his boss had called him into the office and fired him. He left the paper on the bench and moved on.

Paul turned down a narrow path that he didn't recognize. "Must have put it in when they planted all those trees last year," he thought. The path was quiet and cool, bordered by trees on both sides. It ended after a couple blocks at an old brick well. A "Wishing Well" according to the sign perched on top. Under those words was a notice that all money tossed in the well went to the city's orphanage.

Paul thought he could manage a quarter for a good cause. First, he thought about wishing for a new job. Then he realized that what he really wanted was a life. He thought about the friends, the family he didn't have, and he wished that he could have them. Even if he was such a loser that he didn't really deserve anybody.

"I wish," he said, "I wish that there was a woman out there who would love me for myself.” He tossed in a coin.

His quarter was the 10,000th coin, tossed in for a good cause with an unselfish wish. The powers that rule over such things decided to grant the wish, although not exactly as Paul might expect.

As soon as the coin hit the water, Paul felt himself beginning to change. He grew smaller losing almost a foot in height and all of the excess weight that he'd put on since college. His body grew almost hairless. He was slim as muscle was replaced with sleek curves. Two breasts grew out from his chest, going in minutes from non-existent to 36-B. His hips widened and his ass curved. His masculine "pride" shrank down and changed into a woman's genitals.

Paul's hair grew down to his shoulders, going from sandy brown to a blonde with reddish highlights. His chin narrowed and his nose grew smaller. His lips were fuller though, and his eyebrows thinned to a pair of narrow arcs. His hands and feet grew smaller, while his fingernails added an extra half inch.

Now his clothes changed. His shoes became a pair of low heels, while his socks climbed up his leg to join as a pair of pantyhose. His slacks fused together into a skirt that stopped just above the knee. The tailoring of his jacket changed to a lady's business suit, and his shirt and tie became a silk blouse and brightly colored scarf. His jockey shorts and T-shirt transformed into a Victoria's Secret bra and panty set. His wristwatch was now a woman's watch with a matching silver and turquoise bracelet on the other wrist.

Make-up, expertly done, appeared on his face. His ears were now pierced, with a pair of ear rings that matched the bracelet hanging from them. His nails were polished a dark red.

Paul's mind changed as much as his body. He had the knowledge now of how to carry himself as a woman, to walk, talk, and act as if he had always been one. He had new memories now, too. He knew that he had been Paul Jeffers. But now he also remembered Paula Jeffers, a twenty-five year old sales representative with the same company, the same job, in fact, that Paul had just been fired from. Only Paula was on her way up, not out. She was known for her ability to get people to like her, both her co-workers and her customers, and it was the general opinion that she was firmly on the executive track and likely to be a Vice President within five years.

The difference was not the change in gender or in age. Paul had wished for a woman who truly loved him for himself. He was now that woman. The man he had been, filled with self-loathing, no longer existed. That was the real wish, and it had been granted. Paula was happy with who she was. She enjoyed her life and saw every day as a new opportunity.

It made all the difference.

FINIS