Alfred Gontarski had the misfortune to have been born into the wrong body. That’s all been fixed now; however if you are not familiar with how things were corrected, you should go back and read “An Incremental Journey” before you read this little adventure. Al, now Cynthia Lewis, has a problem. It seems that one of her nine-year old classmates has the same problem she had. He was born into the wrong body. Cynthia was able to work a deal with the SRU Wizard to get Bobby Schmedlap a gift certificate for his birthday that would allow him to become the girl Cynthia knows he wants/has to be. The problem is this. Bobby has not redeemed his gift certificate and now the powers behind SRU want to know when he’s going to do it because it’s the end of the fiscal year and unclaimed spells cause all sorts of accounting problems. It’s going to be Cynthia’s job to find out what’s going on and why Bobby Schmedlap hasn’t gone for the change he so desperately wants.
I have researched the Spell’s—R-Us Universe diligently and cannot find anything that violates it, other than that The Wizard is a bit kinder and gentler than sometimes reported. Don’t get me wrong. Given an opening and The Wizard could resort to some of his more ironic and nasty transformations. I’m sure that could happen at any time.
My thanks must go to Holly H. Hart for taking time from her harried life to correct the multitude of errors made while creating this story.
This work is copyrighted by the author and any publication or distribution without the written consent of the author is strictly prohibited. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of the characters to persons living or dead is coincidental.
Pat, pat, pat, pat.
“Huh, murf, wha? Maddy what are you doing?”
Cynthia was now wide awake, and apparently, that was exactly what Maddy had in mind.
“Maddy, it’s only three o’clock. We have at least another three and a half hours before it’s time to get up.” Maddy, the little kitten Cynthia had saved from drowning a few months before was perched on the middle of her chest. She had been lightly tapping Cynthia’s cheek with her soft forepaw until she had eventually received the desired result. That was to get her young human friend to wake up.
“Meowlevishiss’n.”
“Maddy, if I didn’t know better, I would say you were talking, and it sounded like you were saying ‘television’.”
“Meoweress.”
“That sounded like you said ‘yes’.”
Maddy, tired of trying to get through to Cynthia, jumped off the bed and headed for the desk where Cynthia’s computer occupied a significant place. Cynthia was very computer literate for a nine-year old, she had just recently had her ninth birthday, however, she also had the memories and intellect of the thirty-five year-old man she had never wanted to be. She also had all the memories and some of the residual personality of the little girl who had previously occupied the body that was now hers. The latter had been very helpful in her adjustment to the life she had so desired for so long and now had.
Cynthia was a very happy; no, let’s make that an ecstatic nine year old girl. Things couldn’t be better as far as she was concerned. Her borrowed memories helped her fit into the family she loved more and more each day since the transference, and the memories she had as the misfit Alfred Gontarski gave her an advantage few nine-year olds would ever have. The most important thing to Cynthia was that she was finally in the correct body. The conflicts were gone.
Every time she woke up, she marveled at her little girl body clad in its little nightie. The first few weeks after the transference she would wake up knowing that it had all been a dream, that she was still the six foot, five inch, 350 pound Al Gontarski who had no life.
Her mother had twice found her standing in front of the mirror on her closet door while staring at her nude body. There were tears streaming down her face. Her mother attributed it to sleep walking induced by the trauma of her nearly dying from drowning and being in a coma for weeks.
Her mother would gently hold her as Cynthia would quietly proclaim, “It’s me, isn’t it? I really am a girl and I am pretty.”
“Yes, you are a very pretty little girl and you need to go back to bed. Here, put on your panties,” her mother would say as she helped Cynthia put her nightie back on. It would be some time before Cynthia could really accept that it really happened. It took a skinned knee from tripping on the playground at school, the subsequent pain and blood to finally get it to sink in that she was really Cynthia Lewis.
Her parents bathed in her happiness and she in theirs. Maybe some day she would tell them about her strange journey; tell them that although she was their daughter, she was a bit more and sadly, a bit less. She knew that she wouldn’t be prevented from telling them. She just wasn’t sure if it would ever be necessary.
Right now, there was something that required her attention. Maddy was seated to one side of the computer screen and was staring intently at it. Cynthia knew she had turned off the computer before going to bed, yet the screen was starting to glow and flicker. Then it sprang into life, that is, there was an image that Cynthia quickly recognized as the back room of the SRU wizard’s shop. She could hear some muttering coming from the screen. That in itself was weird as the speakers sat more than a foot away from either side of the screen. A quick glance at her computer clearly indicated it was not turned on.
Suddenly, The Wizard’s face was thrust into the forefront. “Blasted modern technology!” he muttered. “Why can’t we just do apparitions like we did in the old days; they were so much simpler. But no-o-o-o, we have to keep up with the times, computers and all that hogwash.
“Cindy, can you see me? We need to talk.”
By this time, Cynthia was sliding into her chair at the computer. She didn’t have an on-line video system as she had not yet felt the need for one. Somehow, she felt it wasn’t going to be necessary.
“Oh, there you are. How’s it going?”
“Other than it being three o’clock in the morning, not too bad.”
“Double drat and fried bat wings dipped in arrow toad excrement, I forgot about the time zones. It’s eleven A.M. here in St. Petersburg. I’ve got to straighten out some things with an ex-KGB operative in a few minutes.
“Look, I’m sorry about the time thing. The Board had some questions about your friend Bobby. Has he said anything to you since you gave him the gift certificate? They were hoping he would opt for the change soon so we don’t have to ‘fix’ too many things. All the financial things are coming due soon. It’s the end of our fiscal year and they were hoping they wouldn’t have to carry it over to next year.
“Bobby hasn’t said anything after he opened the card up. A couple of other classmates saw the certificate, but they thought it was a gift certificate for Wal-Mart. I know Bobby could see what it really was because he looked at me real funny like.
“I’ll talk to him tomorrow and see if he understands what it’s all about. He may think I’m playing a trick on him. I don’t think anyone else knows she’s inside.”
“Do that Cindy, and let me know as soon as you can. By the way, you still sound a bit too adult. Are you sure you don’t want me to tweak things a bit? You know, just to get your spoken phrasing a bit more like other girls your age.”
“No, I’m doing fine around my friends and family. It’s getting very easy, and I’m very comfortable. It’s just that you know all about me and discussing business with you as an adult seems to come naturally.
“By the way, I think Maddy can talk.”
“Of course she can. She’s young and it will get easier for her as she gets older.”
“I don’t think I understand. I mean, she’s just a kitten.”
“No,” The Wizard corrected, “she’s your ‘familiar’. I thought I told you that. No? I meant to, but I guess I forgot. That blasted CRS again.
“Both you and Maddy are rather special. As you get older, your powers will increase. Right now, your power seems to be primarily the ability to detect people with certain problems. You know, people like Bobby Schmedlap. That power will get stronger, too. You are able to recognize the anomaly when someone is close to you. That should change as you get older.
“Maddy and you will age at about the same rate. In about three years you will both reach puberty. No one will notice. Maddy’s appearance will change every fifteen to twenty years. She’ll do that when the time is right. We can’t have people suspecting 100 year-old cats.
“Your powers will greatly increase when you reach puberty; however, you will need a lot of instruction and training.”
“Your Wisdom, I remember you said I was special that day I stopped by to thank you for everything. I just thought you meant I was lucky to be where I was, and I certainly agree with that. I guess I didn’t pay much attention. I was too happy.”
Suddenly, Cynthia heard her parents’ door down the hall opening.
“I’ve got to go back to bed. Mom’s coming.”
“When you come to the mall this Saturday, come to the service entrance to the shop. It’s back by the restrooms. We’ll talk then.”
The computer screen went blank as the bedroom door opened. “Cindy, are you alright?”
“I’m fine Mom. I was having a real nice dream, but I had to get up to go to the bathroom. Maddy wanted to play.”
“Mro-a-dint.”
“Get back to sleep. Tomorrow’s Friday and we’re going to go shopping Saturday. Are you sure you are OK?”
“Mommy, everything is just purrfect. I love you so much.”
Marissa hugged her daughter and kissed her forehead. Cynthia slid under the blankets and Maddy snuggled up to her. Marissa gently closed the door.
“You are a bad cat!”
“Mrowmnot.”
Cynthia had been playing hopscotch, a game she mastered very quickly once her strength returned. It helped her re-acquaint herself with the friends who were the original Cynthia’s friends. She knew them from the saved memories, yet she didn’t really know them. That was coming along slowly.
Now she was watching Bobby Schmedlap. Bobby was a handsome boy. He was a bit tall for his age and very athletic. He had a shock of red hair, brilliant blue-green eyes and his pale skin was lightly freckled. Bobby got along well with everyone. He was equally at ease with the boys and girls and several of the girls had serious crushes on him.
There were times, though, that Cynthia caught him looking longingly at the girls around him. It wasn’t lust. He was not old enough yet for that to be a problem. There was a longing in his gaze. Once, Cynthia caught him looking at her and that was the first time she knew for sure. She knew that his soul was the soul of a young girl, a girl who was resigned to her fate as a male. He really handled it quite well.
She thought back to his birthday party. The Wizard had told her there wouldn’t be any problems with the gift certificate. That only those who had a need to read it could. To everyone else, it would look like a gift certificate from Wal-Mart. Now that she thought about it, she realized she probably shouldn’t have given it to him the way she did; however, that was done, and it didn’t turn out so bad; or at least she thought it didn’t.
He had turned pale when he first looked at it. He turned to Cynthia with a look of terror on his face. A nearby friend grabbed the certificate and loudly proclaimed, “Neat, a $20 gift certificate from Wal-Mart.” Bobby grabbed it back, reread it, and gave Cynthia a questioning look. She smiled back. He had basically avoided her ever since.
The bell rang: signifying the end of the lunch and play period. Bobby couldn’t avoid walking by Cynthia. “Bobby, we need to talk.”
“I don’t think I want to talk to you. You could ruin everything. I have enough problems as it is without you telling everyone about me.”
“Bobby, I haven’t told anyone about you except someone who already knows. I just wanted to help you be what you are inside.”
“What do you know about what I am inside? We have enough problems at home. Mom says you are just going to make trouble for me. She doesn’t think that the ‘gift certificate’ is very funny. She said it is a very bad joke. Dad said he had half a mind to spank you if he ever saw you.”
Cynthia was a bit perplexed. “Wait a minute. Do you mean they can read it?”
“Sure and my older brothers don’t think it is very funny either. What I don’t get is that Tedd McKeever thinks it's a Wal-Mart gift certificate. He never could read real good, though.”
“Bobby, class is going to start soon, but we need to talk. I’m sure I don’t understand everything that’s going on. I am going to have to get some advice from someone. I won’t lie to you Bobby, and I want to be your friend. I know what you are going through, believe me.”
“How could you know anything about me? We have never talked with each other about anything like this before. My mom says you found out about me some way and you are just going to make our lives hell. I think you just need to leave me alone and stay away.”
This was definitely strange. Apparently, Bobby’s parents and brothers knew about him and were trying to protect him. If that was the case, why wasn’t anything being done?
“Bobby, I won’t tell anyone your secret unless you want me to. Just don’t be afraid of me. I can help you.”
“Right, so rich little Cindy Lewis is going to be able to pay all the medical bills and everything else to fix me,” his voice dripped with sarcasm. “Good luck!” With that, he turned and they entered the classroom just as the last bell sounded.
Cynthia managed to pay attention well enough to get through the rest of the day; however, she was perplexed by Bobby’s negative reaction. She could watch him without his knowing it and thought she detected a tear running down his cheek. When the bell rang, signifying the end of the school day, he was up like a shot and out the door before Cynthia could get her books together and follow him.
By the time she was outside the building, he was on his bike and heading off the playground. She ran to the street and followed him with her eyes. He turned right, just before the river bridge. She could see him for a bit longer because the Cottonwoods and Poplars had not yet leafed out; however, he disappeared among some industrial buildings.
Cynthia turned and walked to her bus that would take her several miles in the other direction. ‘Why was he going down there?’ she thought. ‘There’s nothing down there but a bunch of old factories. I don’t think anyone lives down there. I’ll have to ask Dad. He knows all about that area. I don’t remember anything about it other than the company had several sales there when I was Al.’
She shuddered when she thought about being Al Gontarski. In this reality Al Gontarski was deceased for many years. The company he used to run was now owned by her current father and four other partners. The Wizard and whoever he worked with had done some interesting things to adjust reality so that Cynthia could be with her current family. She didn’t try to question things. She just knew her current reality was far better than her old one.
The school bus stopped at her driveway and the driver kept the flashers going until he was sure Cynthia was safely out of the way of the traffic on the country road. There were actually three houses that shared part of the driveway before the separate driveways branched to each house, and two of Cynthia’s friends lived in the other two homes. The drive curved around the side of the low hill and at one point the curve overlooked the road below and the field and creek beyond that. Cynthia paused and looked across the field to the creek where her body’s previous occupant had been driven out by her near drowning, and in turn had made it possible for the spirit and memories of Al Gontarski take her place.
Her friends could sense her hesitation as the beaver pond surrounded by the willows, now just beginning to leaf out, came into view. It was almost a daily ritual. She would hesitate, and then stare at the slick waters for a while before she would continue on to her home. Her friends had been there that day when she broke through the ice. They witnessed her near lifeless body finally being pulled from the icy depths, nearly a half hour after going under. What they didn’t realize was that Cynthia had been up the hill watching her near death experience unfold.
Now it was almost spring, and the waters were warming up a bit. The beavers had long before run out of their winter stores and had felled several of the larger willows, harvesting the smaller branches that were now swollen with the nutritious spring flow of sap. An old man had parked at the edge of the road and was seated on a folding camp chair by the pond. He had three poles set up and was hoping to entice some catfish to accept the fat night crawlers he had baited his hooks with.
Cynthia took several deep breaths of the fresh, slightly chilled air. She saw so much more now. Details of what was around her would have been lost on Al Gontarski. Now, every little grain of sand, every pebble, every leaf, the Purple Martins just arriving from somewhere south of the border, all of it meant so much more to her than it ever did in the past.
“You’re different, Cindy,” remarked Diane, her friend from a grade ahead of her. “You’re a lot more serious than you used to be. Not all the time, but sometimes you seem to act like a grownup.”
“She, er, I almost died down there. The doctors think I may have had some things happen to my brain. That was why I was in a coma so long. Mommy and Daddy say the same thing. I know I am different from what I was before. I remember almost everything from before, but it’s like it happened to someone else.” Indeed it had, but Cynthia knew she wouldn’t always be able to ‘fake it’. So, if she acted differently from the way she acted in the past, it was easy to just attribute it to the trauma she had undergone.
Diane and Betty said their ‘goodbye’s’ as Cynthia headed up the last stretch of driveway to her home. Her mother was at home with her little brother. His school day ended earlier than hers did. Tommy was a good brother. In Cynthia’s previous life she would have said he was a pain in the ass; however, she realized now that he was just growing up and finding himself. They had a few arguments, but for the most part Cynthia was able to convince him to behave.
She realized something else these first months of her new life. There was nothing in her previous life that legitimized her behavior. Her previous parents had been wonderful caring people and she knew now that her reaction to her misplaced gender was over the top. She also realized that she had been very selfish. Well, that was all behind her now. Her mental maturation had been a difficult and painful process. She was wise beyond her apparent years now; however, more than anything else she was the little girl she had longed to be, and she realized that someday she would become a woman. That would happen in time. There was no longer any rush.
The mall was filled with early spring shoppers. The warming weather had brought the crowds out. There was the background roar of many voices riding on a soundtrack of piped-in music being played over the mall’s speakers. There was no sign of the SRU shop, and she didn’t expect there to be.
“Mommy, I need to go to the bathroom.”
They were sitting at the food court across from the passage leading to the mall offices and restrooms.
“Do you want me to come with you?” asked her mother.
“I’m OK by myself. It’s right there and I won’t be long.” This may not have been wise in some malls; however, in this case the restroom area was secure and there was only one way to enter the ladies’ room. Cynthia walked quickly down the short hall and made a right turn. The ladies’ restroom was just ahead at the end of the hall. On her right were two doors leading to the rear of two shops. A sign on one of the doors declared: "Spells-R-Us, Deliveries Only. Please Ring Bell.”
Cynthia looked around and noted there was no one in view. She pushed the button and a second or two later she heard a buzz and a click. The door opened easily and she found herself in the back of the shop she remembered so well. The Wizard was not in sight, so she made her way to the front. She could hear The Wizard talking with someone.
“Now remember to read and follow the instructions. We can’t be responsible for anything that results in your not following the procedures, warnings and cautions.” Cynthia watched as a young couple carrying two flat boxes exited the shop into a snowstorm! She realized she was looking out into a parking lot, not the interior of the mall she had just been in. ‘This is really weird,’ she thought.
“Hi, Cindy, glad you could make it.”
“I don’t have a lot of time. My Mom thinks I’ve gone to the restroom.”
“Not to worry. I’ve set up a little time loop. When you go back out the rear door, it will be the same time it was when you came in here.”
“I have a feeling I’m not in Connecticut, anymore.” Cynthia chuckled at her joke as she looked at the driving snowstorm outside the shop. “Where are we, anyway?”
“Fargo, North Dakota. I have two events to take care of, actually one now.
“That young couple who just left are so in love with each other and they are afraid to say anything. There is a “First Day of Spring Party” tonight that is being jointly put on by her sorority and his fraternity. She asked him and as you have probably surmised, it is a costume party. He’s going as Lil’ Abner and she’s going as Daisy Mae.”
“I take it there is a lot of padding in the costumes. Neither of them looked much like Daisy Mae or Lil’ Abner. Does anyone even know who they are? That strip stopped when I was a child the first time.”
“No, she just thought they were cute costumes.”
“So what’s the catch? I know there is one. There always is with you?”
“There’s no catch. They just need to follow the warnings and cautions. They won’t, though.”
“What’s going to happen?”
“I cast a little inhibition releasing love spell on them. They will probably make love tonight. It will be the first time for both of them. If they can wait and take their costumes off before they do it, they will marry and have a pleasant, if undistinguished life. If they can’t wait and don’t remove all the costumes before consummating their love, several things will happen. The built-in enhancements will become real; however, there is a little twist. They will switch bodies, something that they will have little trouble adjusting to. They will gain a lot of self confidence in their new genders and do very well. The probability charts indicate a 92% chance that the latter situation will happen and be successful.”
Cynthia had a far away look. “I never made love to anyone. I hope I find someone someday.”
“Don’t worry about it Cindy. You have many years ahead of you to grow up in. I think things will work out nicely for you.”
A coo-coo clock suddenly squawked eleven times and The Wizard looked up, startled. “Quick, follow me. We have to go out back.”
Cynthia followed The Wizard out the door she had come through a few minutes before. Instead of going into the mall, the door led to an alley. The Wizard made a little wave and the falling snow parted over their heads, keeping them dry. They walked to a dumpster that was a few shops down the way.
“OK, here he is. Stand back a bit. This could get a little messy.”
Peering over the edge of the dumpster, The Wizard called to an as yet unseen person, “Tommy, you need to get out of there. You will freeze if you don’t get out now.”
“Go away. Leave me alone.”
“Tommy, if you don’t get out now. I will make you get out.”
“You can’t make me do anything, you old fart. Just go away and let me die.”
“I figured it would go like this,” The Wizard grumbled. He made a few passes and suddenly a mountain of trash flew out of the dumpster followed by the form of a young man dressed in rags.
“What the hell?”
“Don’t move, and be quiet.” For some reason, the young man was unable to do anything.
The Wizard made a sweeping gesture and all the trash gathered up in a whirl and deposited itself back in the dumpster.
“OK, Tammy, you will be quiet and follow us.”
Thirty seconds later they were back in the rear of the shop.
“Sit there Tammy, The Wizard said, indicating a small chair. “You may speak if you remain polite.”
“Don’t call me Tammy. My name is Tommy.”
“Why don’t we have some hot chocolate while we talk things over?” There were three steaming mugs of hot chocolate on the counter and The Wizard passed one to the boy and another to Cynthia. The Wizard took a sip and smacked his lips with a gesture of satisfaction. Cynthia took a sip and found the temperature and taste to be perfect. The boy also took a sip. Cynthia realized he was a bit younger than she first thought.
After the boy took another sip, he couldn’t have been much older than twelve, The Wizard started talking to him in a gentle voice. “Tammy, I want to hear only the truth from you. What were you doing back there?”
“I was trying to find a place to stay warm, and my name isn’t Tammy.”
“Do you wish it was?”
The boy, who was closer to ten than 12, paused for a moment before answering, “Yes sir.”
“I think that can be taken care of.”
Cynthia watched in awe as the boy, no a girl, continued to change. The rags were gone. Instead, there was a little girl, dressed in wool trousers and a bright woolen sweater. There was a knitted wool cap on the stool beside her. Her auburn hair was in braids and her cheeks were rosy. There was a bright pink lip gloss on her lips. She took another sip of the hot chocolate and then fished out a marshmallow. She looked at it before engulfing it in one bite. She had a bright smile on her face. She couldn’t have been more than five.
“Tammy, where are you?”
“I’m back here Mommy. These nice people gave me some hot chocolate.”
A woman in her late 20’s came through the curtains. “Tammy, I said you could look at the kittens, not take over the place.
Turning to The Wizard, the woman smiled, “I hope my daughter wasn’t a problem. I told her she could look at the kittens while I was picking up the dry cleaning.” Then lowering her voice, added, “She will be five next week. She doesn’t know it, but that little black and white one has her name on it.” Tammy hadn’t heard a thing. She was licking the last remnants of the chocolate from the mug.
The woman thanked the Wizard for his kindness and led her daughter out into the snowstorm.
“She lost her daughter to a drunk driver last month. Tammy is going to be a very happy little girl. Tommy would have died in that dumpster tonight. His parents will be killed tonight when their meth lab explodes. They might do better next time.
“So, did you feel Tommy?”
“Yes, as soon as you got her out of the dumpster. That was very nice how you did that. She won’t remember anything will she?”
“No, there was little worth remembering. She will always know that she is a girl. There won’t be any doubt there. Now, tell me what’s going on with Bobby.”
“Bobby is afraid of being found out. What’s funny is that his mom and dad know about him. So do his brothers and I think they are OK with it. I think they feel if people find out what he feels inside that things will get very difficult for him. What I don’t understand is if they know about how he feels inside and are OK with it why aren’t they helping him?”
“Cindy, I think you need to find out. This is something that you will be doing a lot of and you need all the practice you can get. Your powers may not be in the area of correcting gender problems, but you will have the ability to detect those who need our assistance. It’s not clear yet where your other powers will be. It will be three or four years before your powers begin to develop fully. We’ll know much more then. Right now you are a scout.
“The problem we have with Bobby is that his transition has to be voluntary. Once these things are set in motion, the method of change may not be altered. For the change to take place, Bobby has to willingly accept the change. Here’s an additional problem. Since his parents are aware of the situation, as are his brothers, they must all be in accord before the transition may take place. The way these things happen, because they are aware of Bobby’s situation, they will remain aware after the transformation occurs, unless a subsequent spell is created. Therefore they all must agree to the transition taking place. If they won’t agree with letting it happen, it never will. You are going to have to use all your powers to convince them to let it happen. This may be very difficult because I have a feeling they may not believe in the process. That is, they don’t believe in the science of magic.
“Remember what it took to get Dorothy home that first time. She had to believe. Once she did, everything was possible and she was able to return to Oz time and again. She still lives there by the way with her aunt and uncle, and Toto still refuses to talk.
“Your job is going to be to convince Bobby and his family that the transition is possible and there will be no danger or fallout from it. When it happens, we will take care of all the necessary details and Bobbie will be able to live her life the way it should be. What do you think?”
“Wow! That sounds like a big job for a nine-year old. Who’s going to believe me?”
“Well, Cindy, that’s where we think your powers are. None of this comes easy. It takes a lot of practice, a lot of instruction and mentoring. You and Maddy will have a lot of help. Best of all, you have a lot of time.
“Now, I have to go to Tokyo. There’s a whole bunch of anime fanatics I have to deal with. I’ll check with you like I did the other night. Maddy will let you know.”
“Your Wisdom, I have a question.”
“Sure, what is it?”
“Why does everyone call me Cindy? My name is Cynthia.”
“It is, isn’t it? I guess it’s because Cindy is a nickname and is easier to say than Cynthia. It means people are accepting you for who you are. You are just going to have to get used to it. You are Cynthia, you are Cindy, and you are a nine year old girl. Isn’t it wonderful?”
“Yes it is!”
The Wizard made a half hearted attempt to avoid her hug and kiss. He gave her squeeze in return. “You need to go. I can’t hold that time loop in place much longer.”
Cindy made her way out the back door to the hallway. By this time she really needed to use the restroom and did.
“Why are your shoes all wet?” her mother asked.
Cindy looked at the wet mud on her shoes. “Someone stopped up one of the toilets. People are so rude.”
Well, Cindy has a problem, and it looks like The Wizard is going to let her run with it. I'll bet he'll be around if he is really needed. What could the problem be with Bobby. Did Cindy make a mistake? Did she misinterpret the signals? It doesn't seem so, not from the way Bobby was talking. Well there is a problem and it is up to Cindy to correct it. Will she be up to the task?
By Portia Bennett
Alfred Gontarski had the misfortune to have been born into the wrong body. That’s all been fixed now; however if you are not familiar with how things were corrected, you should go back and read “An Incremental Journey” before you read this little adventure. Al, now Cynthia Lewis, has a problem. It seems that one of her nine-year old classmates has the same problem she had. He was born into the wrong body. Cynthia was able to work a deal with the SRU Wizard to get Bobby Schmedlap a gift certificate for his birthday that would allow him to become the girl Cynthia knows he wants/has to be. The problem is this. Bobby has not redeemed his gift certificate and now the powers behind SRU want to know when he’s going to do it because it’s the end of the fiscal year and unclaimed spells cause all sorts of accounting problems. It’s going to be Cynthia’s job to find out what’s going on and why Bobby Schmedlap hasn’t gone for the change he so desperately wants.
Cindy and Maddy begin to realize some more of their powers. They are not huge or particularly strong; however they are important. They are approached by an internet predator and his fate is what one might expect when encountering The Wizard. The Wizard once again shows a bit of his compassionate side. Cindy talks to Bobby at school and is able to tell him about things that Bobby never told anyone before. We are also finding out a little bit about why Bobby hasn’t cashed in the gift certificate. Cindy and Maddy come to the realization that Cindy is going to have to tell her parents the truth about her. That will not be easy.
My thanks must go to Holly H. Hart for taking time from her harried life to correct the multitude of errors made while creating this story. She is a dear.
This work is copyrighted by the author and any publication or distribution without the written consent of the author is strictly prohibited. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of the characters to persons living or dead is coincidental.
Cindy was working at her computer later that afternoon. Before she had been aware of all the complications that Bobby’s transformation was going to entail, she thought it was going to just be a matter of getting Bobby to the SRU shop and let the transfer take place. The Wizard would make all the temporal adjustments and remove potential paradoxes. Then Bobbie could get on with her life and start the process of growing up.
Apparently, that was not to be. Even if she could get Bobby to realize that she was on his side, it wouldn’t do any good unless his parents and brothers agreed with the transformation. Cindy went to a number of the websites she used to frequent before her transformation. She had not felt any need to go there since; however, she knew there was information there about previous transformations. Maybe she would find something that would give her a clue on how to handle this situation. The problem was that she couldn’t find one scenario similar to this one. She thought it was going to be easy. It wasn’t.
She was staring out the window lost in thought, not really seeing anything, when she noticed that Maddy had awakened from her nap and was stalking a wad of paper that was one of her favorite toys. Maddy would approach it give it a little pat and send it off in one direction or another. Once it had become ‘alive’ she would pounce on it, give it a couple of shakes and send it off again. Finally, there was no life in it. Maddy picked up the ‘dead beast’ and trotted over to Cindy where she dropped it at her feet.
Looking up, Maddy uttered a very polite, “Mrrpreez.”
For the next ten minutes Cindy would throw the paper wad and Maddy would kill it several times before returning it to Cindy’s feet. Sometimes, Maddy would take her victim and hold it against the side of Cindy’s bed. She would drop it and then bat the wad high in the air before racing after it.
It was towards the end of this little session that Cindy noted something that at first astounded her. Maddy was making the paper wad move without touching it. After ‘killing’ her victim, Maddy would walk away a few feet and turn and face it. She would squat down and wiggle her rear end while staring at her victim. Suddenly, the paper wad would start to roll erratically away from her. She would wait a fraction of a second before leaping on it.
Maddy brought the paper back one more time. Her little sides were going in and out. It was obvious that she was exhausted. That wasn’t too surprising as cats aren’t known for their endurance.
“So, Maddy, you’ve learned a new trick.”
“Merwless. Mrrinner?”
“I guess it’s getting close to dinner, at that. Let me clean out your toilet and I will fix your dinner. I’ll bet you’re pretty proud of yourself. Have you learned to do anything else?”
“Mrohwl.”
“Well, you are just a kitten. Still, I can’t do anything like that yet; however, His Wisdom said we have a lot of time.
“We do have a problem, Maddy. I told you about Bobby. I know I am right about him and His Wisdom says I am. The problem is that unless his parents and brothers agree to let him become the girl he is inside, the magic won’t work. Bobby needs to be a girl right now so that her mother can help her grow up the right way. Real memories are a lot better than ones put there by magic that aren’t real. They aren’t complete. The real details are missing and no matter how good the magic is, it can’t be as good as the real thing. I am so happy that I have real memories, even though a lot of them aren’t mine.
“We have to come up with something. I think I have to convince Bobby first. Then we are going to have to work on his parents and brothers. They have to believe that the magic will work. His Wisdom says I am going to have to work this out on my own. I think it’s a test. Shoot! I’m only nine years old. What do they expect?”
They made their way downstairs and as they approached the rear of the house, Cindy could smell the wonderful aroma of dinner being prepared. In her past life food had been merely a means to temporarily satisfy her deeper appetites. She had not been a gourmet, she had been a gourmand, an over-eater. Food was now a wonderful experience. She enjoyed helping her mother, who was an excellent cook, prepare meals. Her father was also an excellent cook and sometimes the three of them would work on a meal.
On this late afternoon her mother was working on some real estate business in the home office. Her mother had an MBA from the Harvard School of Business and that was where she had met Cindy’s father. They had met on a double blind date, they were not each other’s dates, but the attraction was instantaneous. They married six months later and Cindy was born a year to the day after their marriage.
Stan already worked with Al Gontarski’s parents and had taken a year’s leave of absence to complete his degree. Marissa went to work for an accounting firm in Cambridge; however, after the death of Al’s parents (and Al, too, in this version of reality) she joined the firm as the accountant and business manager. The new partnership continued to thrive after the unfortunate deaths of the owners, due to their benevolence.
Cindy looked in on her mother. “What’s cooking? It smells delicious.”
“Pot roast: it does smell good doesn’t it? What have you been up to? I haven’t heard a peep out of you two since we got back from the mall.”
“I was looking up some things on the internet and then Maddy and I were playing. She fetches real well.”
“I hope you weren’t going anywhere where you weren’t supposed to.” When Cindy insisted on getting a computer, her folks weren’t too sure she should have one; however, after they talked to her teacher about it and found out that the students were encouraged to use the internet, they bought a nice one for her. When Cindy reached the fifth grade the next year, computers would be a necessity.
Her parents were amazed at how quickly Cindy took to it. She explained, somewhat truthfully, that she had learned at school where they had a computer lab. Of course, her father put in all sorts of protection so that the computer would not take Cindy to places that were not appropriate for a nine year-old girl. Cindy, of course, was able to bypass all the protection without her father or mother ever being able to detect it. Her interests were purely academic, now.
Her parents told her about the fact there were some evil people out there who would try to lure children into serious danger. Her mother had already had a pretty serious discussion with her about what it meant to grow up. Cindy appreciated the discussion, especially since it was from a perspective 180 degrees from the one she had the first time many years before. She had a much greater understanding this time about her parents’ concern.
Cindy cleaned out Maddy’s ‘toilet’ and added a little nice smelling, clumping litter. She checked the pet water fountain; Maddy liked to drink from where the water came out near the top, and then fixed Maddy a small bowl of wet food to go with the special dry food that Maddy seemed to be partial to. Maddy dove in.
The wonderful aromas from the kitchen drew Cindy back there. Her mother was checking on the roast that was in the slow cooker. Without being asked, she set the table. It was something she enjoyed doing.
While she carefully placed the utensils on the table she thought about what she was going to do about Bobby. She finally decided that the only thing she could do was try to gain his confidence. This might take a long time, especially because of her coming on too strongly with the gift certificate. She didn’t realize that someone who had gender issues might not be willing to jump at the chance to make the change. Instead she might have caused more damage than good, and had caused Bobby to be suspicious of her motives. She knew she would learn as she got older, but she didn’t want to ‘blow’ her first ‘assignment’.
Her dad and little brother had gone on their first fishing trip of the year and had returned while Cindy was setting the table. Tommy had a great time and actually caught a rather nice crappie. He couldn’t stop talking about it. It wasn’t his first fish, but it was definitely the biggest to date. That fish along with the half dozen his dad had caught would make a nice bunch of fillets for the Sunday evening dinner the next day.
After a very enjoyable dinner and helping clean up, Cindy retired to her bedroom to see if she could get any information from any of the past websites she had been visiting. She was not making any advances at all when her speakers gave a little melodic sound and a small square popped into view on the lower right side of her screen. Maddy, who had been draped around Cindy’s neck, gave a start.
It was an instant message announcement, something Cindy used from time to time to talk with her classmates if they were on line. This was different. It was a message from someone named ‘Lindy Lou’. “Hi, I am new in town and don’t have any friends. My computer said you were on line. Would you be my friend?”
Maddy started growling. She climbed off of Cindy’s shoulders and sat in front of the screen. While continuing to growl, she started batting at the window with the message. “Mrowbad!”
“I think you are right, Maddy. I think this is one of those people Daddy was talking about. What do we do? Gosh, I wish The Wizard was here.”
There was another melodic ‘ding’ and a window appeared on the lower left side of the screen. Cindy looked down and could see the interior of the SRU back area. The view kept getting obscured by the robed figure of The Wizard reaching above the screen. “Dagnabbit and drosophilae’s wings; I keep telling them that these computer interfaces don’t work well with magic. Cindy, can you hear me? Maddy just sent an alarm. Are you OK?”
“Oh, gosh! I can hear and see you. I guess that’s another trick Maddy can do.
“I’m fine, Your Wisdom, I was working on trying to find out what to do with Bobby when I got an IM from someone I don’t know. Maddy doesn’t like it and I don’t think I do either.”
“What’s an IM? Oh yes, instant message. I think the old way is better. So what does it say? What a second — where are those instructions they gave me. Oh yes, here they are,” he muttered to himself.
“Cindy, I am going to do something so I can see your screen.” He started singing to himself as a fiddled with an out of sight keyboard. “Ah yes, bibbitty, bobbitty, boo, there it is. Lindy Lou my withered gluteus, excuse me Cindy, this is a bad one. There’s evil everywhere. Let’s see what ‘Lindy Lou’ looks like.”
The Wizard struck a few more keys and the small window on the lower right side of the screen expanded a bit. Cindy could now see the inside of a room. There was a man peering into what she assumed was his computer screen. He was maybe in his late twenties. There wasn’t anything about him that appeared to be particularly evil.
“OK, we can fix this. This is a good connection and I can read his mind almost as if he were in the shop. Sick, sick, sick: we’re lucky on this one Cindy. He hasn’t been able to hurt anyone yet, but if we don’t do something to correct things, he will. I see he lives near you. We need to get him to the shop as soon as possible.
“I have an opening between two and three tomorrow afternoon. Let’s set up a meeting. I am going to reply to the message for you.”
Suddenly letters started appearing in the window below the image. “Hi, I’m Cindy.”
The image of the man perked up and he started typing. “Hi Cindy, I’m Lindy Lou. How old are you?”
“I’m nine. I don’t have many friends. How old are you?”
“I’m ten. We just moved here from Detroit.”
Cindy watched as The Wizard conversed with the man. Before she knew it, The Wizard had arranged to meet ‘Lindy’ at the mall the next afternoon. Lindy was going to be with her father. They would meet outside the candy store. There was no ‘candy store’ except for what Cindy knew would be the SRU candy store.
The Wizard terminated the connection.
“Your Wisdom, how am I going to get to the mall? We shopped there today.”
“That blue dress you bought is too small. Your mother accidently picked the wrong one off the rack. Just show your mother it is the wrong one. She will take you back. I’ll fix it so she doesn’t notice what’s going to go on. I’ll see you there at two.”
Sure enough, Cindy got the blue dress out of her closet, and just as the Wizard said, it was two sizes too small. She took it to her mother and showed her the tag. Marissa was a bit perplexed, but they agreed they should exchange it the next afternoon after church as Cindy wanted to wear it to school the next week. The four of them would have lunch in the nice cafeteria and then they could exchange the dress after lunch.
The church service was nice enough. Cindy couldn’t really get into the sermon, if it was a sermon. Besides she was wondering what The Wizard had in mind for the internet predator. She had a feeling that a trap had already been set and that she was just along for the ride.
They had a very pleasant lunch at the chain cafeteria in the mall, and Tommy and Cindy were both allowed a generous wedge of egg custard pie for desert. The dress exchange went off without a hitch, and both her mother and sales lady were mystified as to how the error could have occurred.
They wandered through the mall for a while until her dad and brother spotted a sporting goods store. Tommy was starting to grow faster and he needed a new pair of athletic shoes. Strange, but there was a new candy store next door and the sign proclaimed ‘Sweets-R-Us’.
“May I look around in that new candy store. I just want to see what they have. I might want to buy Gramma Lewis a box of chocolates for her birthday. I don’t need to see anything in that sporting goods store.”
“Alright,” admonished her mother, “but don’t go anywhere else.
Wait inside and we will get you when we are through.”
“Yes, Mommy.”
Cindy waited until they entered the store before looking around for the predator. She spotted him immediately standing outside the store. He was rather nice looking; however, there was no doubt who he was.
She made a show of looking around before entering the shop. There was the same sound of the bell that she had come to love. The man followed her in a few seconds later. The interior looked like what she had seen in pictures of Victorian sweet shops. There were huge jars on the counters and bins under the counter and along the walls. Each contained thousands of jelly beans and each jar had a different color/flavored bean. There were huge jars full of various colored licorice. Trays were piled high with fudge and various toffees and peanut brittles. It was spectacular and in spite of just having had a very nice lunch, Cindy’s mouth watered.
“May I help you?”
Cindy turned and marveled at The Wizard dressed in a starched, striped shirt with a high collar. He had suspenders holding up his trousers. He sort of looked like an old time barber. His beard was gone and his hair was short and slicked back. Cindy had to suppress a smile and giggle. It was a pretty neat disguise. If she looked closely while squinting her eyes, she could see the real Wizard behind the disguise.
“I can’t buy any candy right now. I just had lunch. I’m supposed to meet someone here.”
The young man perked up at that comment. “Are you Cindy?”
“Yes sir.”
“Lindy had to go to the rest room. She wanted to meet you here but said we could meet her when she comes out. We can meet her down the hall.”
Playing along, Cindy said, “Well, I don’t know. I have to meet Mom and Dad here in a little while.”
“Before you go, why don’t you try a free sample,” The Wizard said offering a dish of Jelly Beans to them. “Take some for your daughter, too. Try them, you will like them.”
Without really thinking, the man popped a couple of the pink jelly beans into his mouth. He froze.
“Is something wrong, Mr. Tomlinson?”
“I don’t know. I feel a little dizzy. How did you know my name was Tomlinson?”
“Oh, I know a lot about you Mr. Tomlinson, or should I say Eugene? Why don’t you come with us to the back room? It wouldn’t look good if you fainted out front. This will take just a minute and you will be fine.”
The Wizard led the man to the rear of the shop. Cindy had never seen it look this way. There was a very nice sitting area with several very comfortable looking chairs. He had Eugene Tomlinson sit on one of them.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I feel light headed. I sure hope it’s not that swine flu.” Eugene pulled out a handkerchief and patted his brow.
“You don’t have the swine flu. In fact you are very healthy, physically. There is a problem inside that head of yours, though.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Well to put it bluntly, you are a pedophile.”
Eugene suddenly had a look of panic spread across his face. Cindy could see him struggle to stand but he was unable to.
“Don’t worry about it Gene. We’re going to fix everything. I assure you everything will be fine. It’s just going to take a while to fix.
“Now about this fixation you have for little girls. Why do you have that? You may answer me truthfully. No one here will hurt you. Have some more jelly beans while you are thinking about it.”
Eugene obediently put a half dozen of the pink jelly beans in his mouth. He savored them, washing them with his saliva before he gently chewed them as they dissolved. “I have always thought I was a girl. But I couldn’t be one. I wanted to play games with girls, be close to them; to be loved. I wanted to be a mommy.” He started to cry. “I didn’t really want to hurt anyone, but I think I could have. I think I am losing control.”
Cindy could see the changes taking place. His hair lengthened a bit; however, the biggest changes were in his facial features. His prominent brow ridge disappeared and his face became heart shaped. His eyebrows remained full and there was no makeup, the appearance was very feminine. His clothing shifted and suddenly he, no she, was wearing a skirt and blouse.
“What are you doing to me?” she said in a very sweet voice
“I told you we are going to fix what’s wrong with you. Now stand up so I can see how we’re coming along.”
Her hips broadened a bit and her legs appeared to be relatively long and very shapely. Her waist nipped in very nicely.
“Turn around so I can see the rest of you.”
She did as told. The Wizard looked up and down. He made a few passes and the girl’s bust expanded a bit. He stopped the growth somewhere between what Cindy would guess was a ‘B’ or ‘C’.
“What do you think Cindy? Not overdone, not a busty bimbo: I think she’s a rather attractive young woman, or should I say will be. Now we need to do the final adjustments.
“Jean, you need to eat the rest of those jelly beans. They are very good for you.
The Wizard turned to Cindy as Jean obediently ate the rest of the beans. “There’s too much wrong inside Jean to fix here. It’s going to take a lot of love and nurturing.”
Jean started shrinking rather rapidly. She became a rather cute teenager, then post pubescent adolescent. Soon she was a six or seven year old little girl. Then she was four, three, two, and one year old. Then she couldn’t have been more than a few weeks old. She started to cry.
The bell tinkled and The Wizard looked up. “Right on time; we should have this all made right very shortly.
“Mrs. Williams, we’re back here.”
The curtains parted and a young mother pushing a baby carriage entered the room. “Mrs. Baxter, (The Wizard was now definitely Mrs. Baxter) it is so nice of you to have a place like this for nursing mothers.” She sat behind a nice screen and pulled a small baby from the carriage. She opened her blouse and nursing bra and brought the little baby to her breast. The little baby latched on immediately. “Janie is such a good baby. I barely have enough for her, but we are doing alright now. I hope I can produce more as she gets older.”
“I don’t think that will be a problem at all. Have some of these chocolate, cream filled candies.”
“Delicious,” Mrs. Williams responded as she took a second and third candy. She never noticed that her bust increased at least two cup sizes in a matter of seconds.
“I think little Jeannie is hungry too, if her fussing is any indication.”
“Jeannie? Oh, Jeannie. Don’t worry Jeannie, there’s plenty for both of you. There always is. Here, I think I can still feed both of you at the same time.”
After about 15 minutes, both babies were, temporarily at least, sated. Mrs. Williams placed the two babies in the now twin sized baby carriage, thanked The Wizard for having a space for her to nurse, and left the store.
“It took her nursing Jeannie to complete the change. I think Jeannie will do a lot better this time around. By the way, the mall is converting a portion of this store into a nursing station. The entrance will be from the ladies rest room.”
Cindy returned to the front of the store and stopped to scratch the wolf’s ears. She couldn’t escape a slurpy kiss. She thought about what she had seen. Two days in a row now, The Wizard had performed a rather compassionate transformation. She didn’t think Tammy from the day before would grow up to be a vacuous bimbo, and she was pretty certain that Jean wouldn’t either. Still, she was certain that if situations presented themselves, The Wizard could perform some rather startling and bizarre transformations. She would stay on his good side.
“Cindy, I think another of your talents is beginning to show up. Your computer skills are very good and it will be important for you not to let on for a few years how good they are. We already know that you are developing the ability to detect the transgendered. Apparently you are also able to detect people like Jean. That could be very dangerous. I have fixed it so that if someone like Jean tries to contact you I will get an alarm. That way I can monitor what is happening and we will be able to do what needs to be done. It may not always be as simple as this time. You need to be very careful. Maddy and I will watch things closely.
“Your parents and brother should be coming along shortly. I’ll be close by regardless of where I am. All you have to do is call for me and I will contact you. Keep working on Bobby. He should be your main concern for a while. OK, I’m off to Anchorage.”
Once again he couldn’t avoid Cindy’s hug, and she felt he wasn’t trying too hard.
Cindy looked across the playground at Bobby Schmedlap. He was playing softball with his class mates and doing very well at it. It was just that every time Cindy got within 50 feet of him, she could sense his female spirit. There was no question about it, and her dealings with The Wizard over the weekend only confirmed that her intuition was correct. Bobby was a girl inside and he wanted desperately to be a girl on the outside. She thought at first that Bobby’s display of sporting prowess was his way of hiding the real Bobbie; however, she began to realize there were some biases left over from her previous life. There was no reason a girl or woman couldn’t be an athlete and still love being a very feminine woman. After all, there were many very attractive athletes who were also famously wives and mothers.
On the other hand there were also a number of excellent male and female athletes who were gay. It boiled down to the fact that athleticism and gender were not tied directly together. Cindy knew she was going to have to work hard scrubbing stereotypical thinking from her mind. It wouldn’t be easy. Now she was going to have to do something for Bobby. She felt more and more that she had let him down. If she had gone about the whole thing a different way, like gaining his friendship first, things might already have been the way they should have been.
“Hi, Bobby, that was a neat catch you made. I thought Jason was going to hit it over your head.”
“Er, uh, thanks Cindy; I got kinda lucky with that one.”
“No, you are very good. I think you are one of the best baseball players in Carver.
“Could we talk a minute? There’s still some time before we have to be back to class.”
“I guess so,” he said after a short pause.
“Bobby, I’m sorry about the gift certificate. I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted you to have something so that you would be happier than you are now. I should have talked with you before I did that. I know how you feel. No, it’s more than that. I know what you are inside.”
Bobby stared at her before talking. “My mom says you are nothing but a trouble maker. I don’t know what you know or how you found out, but my mom says nothing but bad could come from this. My folks have enough troubles with dad not being able to work. Besides, how could you possibly know how I feel?” Bobby was almost in tears.
“Because, I was once like you are.”
Bobby stared at Cindy. His jaw was slack. He shook his head. “That can’t be. We’ve been in school together since kindergarten. You’ve always been a girl. That accident last winter must have really messed you up. They say you almost died. I’ll bet it screwed your brain up.”
Cindy contemplated what she knew she had to say. “How different am I from before?”
“It’s hard to say. You are quieter. I don’t know, sometimes you don’t seem to be as girly as you were before.”
“I know; I am still learning that part. It’s not as easy as I thought it would be; however, it’s better than I ever hoped it would be,” she said almost as if she were talking to herself.
“That’s another thing. You are always talking like a grownup. You never used to talk like that.”
“Yeah, he warned me about that, too. I’m trying, Bobby, I really am. I hope it won’t be too long before you find out what it’s all about.
“I want to be your friend, and I’m pretty sure we are going to be friends for a long time.” She thought back to what The Wizard had told her that day she thanked him for everything he and the ‘others’ had done for her. “I am going to tell you some things that may sound a bit strange, and the way this thing works is that you won’t be able to tell anyone but your parents and brothers about what I am going to tell you. That’s because some of the magic is already in place.”
“What are you talking about — magic?” he said almost disdainfully.
“You were there that day, weren’t you?”
“What day?”
“The day I almost died.”
“Yeah, I was hanging out with Ken Burns. We were having fun with that toboggan run. I rode my bike over there.”
“Let me tell you exactly what happened after I went through the ice. First of all, drowning is not fun. It hurts. You were standing away from the others, but ran up to the edge of the ice. You tried to walk out. You even lay down like I did when I tried to save Maddy. That’s what I named her.
“You tried to get close to me, but went through the ice up to your knees. You were lucky. When I went under you took off up the hill. You were going to Ken Burns’ house to get them to call 911. You fell down twice: once when you slipped on the snow and the second time on the Burns’ front steps. I think there is still a mark on your shin from the scrape. After you got them to call the rescue people, you came back to the edge of the pond. Miriam was holding Maddy and she was crying. You took Maddy from her for a while, trying to warm her up. Miriam eventually took Maddy back before she gave her to my mother. After the ambulance took me away, you stood there for a long time. You sat on the edge of the snow bank and cried for me.
“You are probably thinking someone told me about this, and they could have. One other thing happened. You stopped at the old well house. I think you were looking to see if there were any more kittens. That’s all I can tell you.”
“What do you mean that’s all you can tell me.”
“Well, at that point I had to leave.”
“I don’t think I understand.”
“Bobby, I watched all of that. I was there with someone else. You couldn’t see us, but we were there. This is going to be hard for you to believe, but I am not Cindy. No that’s not exactly right. I am what’s left of Cindy and a lot more. Cindy died that day. Her body stayed alive and it gradually healed. Being under water that long caused a lot of damage and Cindy’s spirit had to leave.
“So, who am I? I was someone like you in many ways. I was a girl in a man’s body. I wasn’t a very nice person, and I blamed a lot of other people for my problems. It seems there were things about me that I didn’t know and I am still finding them out. Then I met The Wizard. Sometimes he has a shop in a mall around here. He helped make it possible for me to take the original Cindy’s place.”
Cindy watched as a look of astonishment spread across Bobby’s face. “You really are crazy. The Spells-R-Us Wizard doesn’t exist.”
“So, you do know about the SRU Wizard. There’s hope.”
“That’s a bunch of crap. My mom say’s it is just a bunch of wishful thinking.”
“How did you first find out about The Wizard?”
“From the computer in the library; we can’t afford a computer at home.”
“I hope you still have that gift certificate. You told me your family could read it. Where is it redeemable?”
“It says at my local Spells-R-Us Shop.”
“Have you shown it to anyone else?”
“The guys at school all thought it was for Wal-Mart.”
“We took it there, and they said it was for Dillard’s. We thought I might be able to get some new clothes so we took it there and they said it was for J. C. Penny.”
“That’s when my dad got pissed. We can’t afford to buy much gasoline.”
“Bobby, I know you are smart. You get some of the highest grades in class. Why are you and your family able to see what it is, I can too, but others can’t?”
“I don’t know. It’s really weird.”
“Bobby, it’s magic. The Wizard made that certificate for you and I paid a lot of money for it.
“I know some other things about you. Things you never told anyone. Your girl name is Roberta, that figures. You are glad you are a redhead and you like the color of your eyes. They are beautiful, by the way. You want to be tall, not too tall, maybe five-ten. You want to have nice breasts, you’re not too sure of the size, but I think a ‘C’ cup is what you envision. You wish your teeth were smaller and straighter. That will be easy to fix. You want to be married and have at least three children. You want the first two to be girls. You want to go to college and eventually become a youth counselor and coach. And above all, you want to play professional golf on the LPGA tour.
“Did I pretty much hit the nail on the head?”
“Oh my, I never told anyone all of that! Mom and Dad just know I’m a girl inside. We can’t afford to do anything about it. We lost our health care when Dad lost his job. Mom’s working as a waitress. We lost our home and….” Bobby was doing all he could to hold back his tears.
Cindy couldn’t help it as she moved in to hold the much taller Bobby to her. “Bobby, we need to get to class.”
“Boy, are we in trouble,” Bobby said while wiping his nose. “We’re gonna be real late.”
“I don’t think so,” Cindy said while checking her watch. I think time stood still for us for a while. The Wizard’s looking out for you. We still have a minute to get to class.”
When class was over, Bobby didn’t make an immediate exit like he had a few days before. “Would you walk with me to the bike stand? Your bus doesn’t get here for a few minutes and I think we need to talk.”
“Sure.”
“I don’t know how you know what you do, but it has to be magic. That’s the only way to explain that weird gift certificate. Can you really do what you said you could?”
“Bobby, the only thing I can do is detect people like we are or were. I can do something else, but that doesn’t matter right now. I’m too young to do any real magic. We’re not sure what I will be able to do when I’m older. Maddy’s got a bit of magic in her, too. The Wizard says she’s my ‘familiar’. She’s there to help me.”
“What are you — a witch?”
“Perhaps: what I really am is a nine-year old girl who is enjoying what I am very much. I lived 35 years as a male of the species and now that’s not a problem anymore. I’ll find out more about what I am later on. I’m just taking it a day at a time.”
“See, you’re talking like a grownup again. That’s another thing that makes me believe you. You never used to talk like this.
“I want to be like I feel inside very much. The idea sort of scares me, but I know it’s right. Before Dad got hurt and lost his job, they took me to a special counselor. She said I have gender dis… er disphora, or something like that.”
“I think it’s called gender dysphoria. There’re a lot of names for it. The names aren’t important. The important thing is that you know, your parents know, your brothers know, I know, and The Wizard knows that inside you are a girl.”
“So what do I do? Do I take the certificate to the wizard and he waves his magic wand or something. Where is he anyway? I have never seen his shop and I used to go to the mall all the time.”
“The only thing I can say is when the time is right he will be there for you. That gift certificate has locked you in. We do have a problem, though. Until your parents and brothers agree to let you use the certificate, it won’t work. The reason for that is that they are tied into your transformation. They know and believe in how you feel and they have been brought into the circle. We know that because they can read the certificate. They have to believe in the magic and consent to let it work.
“I’m new at all this. I might have to talk with your parents to try to explain things. They have to realize that the certificate must be magic. It can’t appear to be different to different people without it having some sort of spell on it.
“Please try to get them to understand how important this is. I don’t want you to have to go through what I did the first time.
“Look, my bus is coming. I’ll see you tomorrow. Wait, one other thing: what did your dad do before he got hurt?”
“He was a construction supervisor. His company built all sorts of plants and office buildings. Why?”
“I’m not sure. For some reason I felt like asking. It must be important.”
For the first time since becoming Cindy, she had trouble sleeping. There had to be some way to meet with Bobby’s parents and two older brothers for that matter, and try to convince them that the gift certificate was real and that she was not crazy. She needed help and wasn’t sure where she could get it. After all, The Wizard said she was on her own.
She realized that since the change she had mentally been becoming younger and younger. There was that time when her new body had almost pre-occupied her. The wonder and the joy, maybe it was elation, she felt about what had happened to her no longer caught her attention every few seconds. She had all her adult memories; however, they no longer on the ‘front burner’, so to speak. If she needed something it was there for her. She had to search those memories out. It was different, though about the memories of the previous Cynthia. She could feel them being interwoven into her personality. It wasn’t like pulling up a page that said on this date and at this time she kissed her Grandmother Smithson goodbye before their trip home. Now she had all the details. She could smell her grandmother’s perfume; she could feel the soft texture of her skin. She could see the rouge and makeup on her cheeks, and she could see the fine hairs growing out of her cheeks. That was strange because her grandmother had died before Cindy had recovered from her near drowning.
Cindy knew she was becoming Cindy in every way. She didn’t have to act. Maybe the wizard had given her a ‘tweak’ as he put it, but she didn’t think so. She was just fitting in. Al Gontarski no longer existed, nor did Cynthia Lewis. She was Cindy Lewis. There was no schizophrenia, no voices, no two personalities occupying one body, one brain. She was Cindy Lewis and she had a mission, perhaps many missions and she knew she was going to enjoy every minute of what the future brought to her as she became a young woman, wife and mother.
She realized, too, that her thought processes that probably put her in the high genius category were still the thought processes of a nine-year old girl. She saw things in a considerably different light than Al Gontarski did. There was something else that really weirded her out. She thought at first that her poor coordination when she was recovering was due to the brain trauma.
She had received flowers and gifts from well-wishers, and her mother thought it would be good therapy if she wrote some thank you notes. Her writing was awful. Al Gontarski’s penmanship hadn’t been bad, but her attempts to write were almost painful.
“Mom, I can’t seem to write very easily. My hand doesn’t work right.”
“Here, let me see. This might have to be something the therapist will have to help you with.
“Oh, Cindy, no wonder you’re having trouble. You’re left handed.”
“Oh my, I guess I forgot.” After that many things became easier. She had to let things happen, rather than think about them. That became very apparent after her catheter was removed. It was a horribly embarrassing time. It took the best part of three weeks before she had any control at all, and another two weeks before she had essentially normal control. It was an enlightening and totally female experience. She learned something in a little more than a month that most little girls took many years to learn.
She knew that she had essentially caught up in most ways. Now she had to look to the future and the future included Bobby Schmedlap. What was she going to do?
“Maddy, how are we going to help Bobby?”
“Mtark.”
“What?”
“Mwarlk”
“Maddy, can you try to talk to me without vocalizing? Your lips make enunciation a bit difficult.”
“[What I said was ‘talk’. I thought I said that very clearly.]”
“Omigosh, you really can talk that way. I was just joking.”
“[You need to talk to Bobby’s family. We need to convince them that the magic is real.
“[Cindy, you need to tell your parents.]”
“Tell them about what?”
“[You, me, Bobby, the whole thing: I think they are part of the plan. You will know it’s permitted and meant to be if you can do it. If you can’t tell them, then you’ll know it’s not allowed.]”
“Maddy, how come we haven’t done this before? I mean, I knew you could talk, but not this way.”
“[Probably because there wasn’t any need before. You asked and suddenly I knew I could do it. I will try to practice talking the other way, too. It might come in handy. I think that was what they call anthropomorphizing. I don’t have hands, though these paws work pretty well.]”
“Cindy,” her mother’s voice came from the hall, “it’s much too late to be talking to your friends. Tomorrow’s a school day and you need your rest. Say goodnight. You can talk at school tomorrow.”
“OK, Mommy. Goodnight.”
“[Maddy, can you hear me?]”
“[Loud and clear.]”
“[Oh, this is going to be so much fun,]” she thought while Maddy snuggled up to her. “[But I’m not sure about telling Mom and Dad about me. They might think I’m crazy and make me go to some shrink. If they do that, I may not be able to help Bobby.]”
“[I don’t think that will be a problem. I think we need their help. We’re too young to do this on our own.]”
“[Speaking of being too young, how old are you anyway? You don’t sound, er, talk, er whatever, like a kitten. The Wizard said you were going to live a long time.]”
“[We will age together. I won’t be able to have kittens until you are old enough to have children. I think I have done this before. I keep remembering things. I think we will live a very long time, but we don’t have to worry about that now. We are just children.
“[I’m going to sleep now.]” And, she did.
Well, Cindy has her work cut out for her. It looks as if Bobby is beginning to believe in ‘magic’ and the gift certificate. Now Cindy is going to have to get her courage up in order to tell her parents who she really is. The thought scares her, but she knows it has to be done. If that works, then she is going to have to confront Bobby’s family and convince them to let Bobby use the certificate. Next time we will see if Cindy is up to the challenge. Thank you for reading and thank you for your comments. Constructive comments are always fuel for future stories.
Alfred Gontarski had the misfortune to have been born into the wrong body. That’s all been fixed now; however if you are not familiar with how things were corrected, you should go back and read “An Incremental Journey” before you read this little adventure. Al, now Cynthia Lewis, has a problem. It seems that one of her nine-year old classmates has the same problem she had. He was born into the wrong body. Cynthia was able to work a deal with the SRU Wizard to get Bobby Schmedlap a gift certificate for his birthday that would allow him to become the girl Cynthia knows he wants/has to be. The problem is this. Bobby has not redeemed his gift certificate and now the powers behind SRU want to know when he’s going to do it because it’s the end of the fiscal year and unclaimed spells cause all sorts of accounting problems. It’s going to be Cynthia’s job to find out what’s going on and why Bobby Schmedlap hasn’t gone for the change he so desperately wants.
Cindy confronts her parents with who she really is. It turns out they are not as surprised as she thought they would be. Now it’s time for the final confrontation. Will Cindy, with Maddy’s help of course, be able to convince the Schmedlap family to let Bobby use the gift certificate? Her parents come with her to lend support; however, this is Cindy’s assignment and she is going to have to pull it off or Bobby is doomed to have to try more conventional means to set things right.
I have researched the Spell’s—R-Us Universe diligently and cannot find anything that violates it, other than that The Wizard is a bit kinder and gentler than sometimes reported. Don’t get me wrong. Given an opening and The Wizard could resort to some of his more ironic and nasty transformations. I’m sure that could happen at any time.
My thanks must go to Holly H. Hart for taking time from her harried life to correct the multitude of errors made while creating this story. She is a dear.
This work is copyrighted by the author and any publication or distribution without the written consent of the author is strictly prohibited. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of the characters to persons living or dead is coincidental.
“I think my Mom and Dad want to talk with you,” Bobby said first thing when they got to class.
“Great! I guess they want to let you use the certificate?”
“No, I think they want to tell you to stop filling my head with false hopes. Those were the words Mom used. I think they want your mother and father there, too. I think they’re really upset about some other things. No one will hire Dad because of his back. We might have to move again, too. It’s not very good right now.
“I really do believe you, Cindy. I keep thinking about the things you’ve told me, and magic is the only way you could know what you know. I looked at that certificate last night and I got all tingly. I almost felt it was doing things to me.
“What are we going to do?”
“Let’s not worry too much about it,” Cindy said while thinking things over. “I am going to have to talk to my parents. Maddy says we should. My parents don’t know about me and I am going to have to tell them. Give me your phone number, and I will call you when I get things straightened out with them.
“This is going to be tough. There may be two sets of parents who think I’m crazy.”
Cindy was eating lunch in the school cafeteria when the subject of Bobby came up. Stephanie Adams looked at Cindy and spoke in a knowing sort of tone, “So, is Bobby your boy friend? You two have been getting awful chummy lately.”
“Bobby and I are friends. I’m a little young to have a boyfriend. We just have a lot in common.” ‘Whoops,’ she thought, ‘I’m talking like a grownup, again.’
“Well, I think he is gorgeous. Those eyes are to die for. You know, you are the only girl he ever talks to like he does. You are very lucky.”
The rest of the day went quietly. Bobby and Cindy said goodbye to each other and each went their separate ways at the end of school. Cindy promised to call as soon as she knew something.
“You’re being awful quiet this evening,” her mother said as they cleaned up after dinner, “Is anything wrong?”
“No, I don’t think anything is wrong. It’s just that I need to talk to you and Dad about something that is pretty important.”
“Well, what is it? You’re not in trouble at school are you?”
“No, nothing like that, but I think we need to wait until after Tommy has gone to bed.”
It was not going to be easy, but she thought it was like getting into cold water. She needed to jump in before she lost her courage. They went into the family room after Tommy was asleep. Cindy was shaking a bit. Her parents sat on the couch but Cindy stayed standing.
“I need to tell you some things about me that may be a bit difficult for you to believe. Please let me tell you everything before you decide to have me committed.
“This is so hard. I think you know that I am different than I was before. I think I remember the doctors telling you that because of brain damage, I would be likely to have personality changes.”
“Well you are a bit different,” said her mother, “but you are still the sweet little girl we have always known.”
“Mom, Dad, Cynthia died when she almost drowned. She’s still around, or at least her spirit is. We’ve talked a lot. There was so much damage to the brain that she couldn’t stay. I am not Cynthia. I am Cindy. Before, I was someone else. Cynthia’s brain was fixed while she was in the hospital, but there wasn’t a spirit there to run things. When her brain, my brain, was fixed I was allowed to move in.
“You know I have most of her memories. The thing is I am loaded up with the memories and personality of someone else. I am not that person anymore thankfully, because I wasn’t very nice. I love both of you very much and I love Tommy, too.
“There’s something else. It seems that I have some special powers. Some of them may have been there before, but I think it took my moving in to make some things happen. I know things about certain people. I’ll get to that in a minute, if you will let me.”
She looked at her parents who had been very attentively listening to her. She was somewhat amazed by the fact that neither had spoken out while she was talking. Neither had made a move to protest anything she was saying. She stared at them for a moment. She had expected some sort of reaction, and she wasn’t getting any. Her parents looked at each other, and then walked to her. They pulled her close and hugged her for a long time. Cindy realized she was crying.
“Cindy, a day or two after you woke up, I had a dream. It was a very strange dream. I was in a tunnel and I wasn’t alone. There was this thing, a sort of bright light, and it was alive, or at least seemed to be. Then it spoke to me. It said you were going to be OK, that it would take a while. It also said you would be different, but that you would always be our daughter. It said that you were a very special person and that someday you would tell us all about it. That was when I realized that your father was with me. It told us other things, and so far everything it said has happened.
“The next morning as we drove to the hospital to see you I told your father about the dream. He almost wrecked the car. You see, he had the same dream, exactly the same dream. Before the dream ended, the spirit, for want of a better description that’s what we called it, said it loved us and always would. That was the end of it.
“We wondered what sort of insanity we had been afflicted with, partly because you never said anything. I think that right-handed thing was the first clue we had. The way Maddy warmed up to you was another. There were many little things that could have just been due to your brain injury, but they didn’t add up.
“We do know this. You are our daughter. We couldn’t possibly be wrong about that. Yes you are a bit different, but that is as much of a blessing as anything. We are so lucky to have you and we don’t want you to ever think anything else.”
There were some more hugs and tears. Maddy had been reclining on the back of Cindy’s chair during the revelations.
“Menow.”
Cindy turned to her. “Now?”
“[Yes, now.]”
Stan Lewis, who had been quiet through most of the conversation, after all, this was greatly a mother/daughter thing, stated with some affirmation of what he had suspected for a while, “Maddy can talk, can’t she.”
“Yes, she can. She has trouble with some of the syllables and letters, but she is getting better. She can mind speak to me, but I don’t think you can hear her.”
“[They can’t.]”
“She wants me to tell you something. We will get to that in a minute.
“Daddy, I heard you say the other day that you need someone at work to do property inspections and evaluations for you. Would someone who had been a construction superintendent be able to do that? I would think he should be able to.”
“Yes, that’s exactly the qualifications we are looking for. Do you know someone?”
“Bobby Schmedlap’s father: I think he used to be good, but he hurt his back.”
“Amos Schmedlap would have been perfect, but I don’t think he can do the climbing that the job would require. They say he can hardly walk. It’s a shame what happened to him. He was one of the best. I understand the judge threw out the lawsuit out on some sort of technicality. I haven’t heard anything about him in quite a while. I thought they had moved.”
“No they live here, but they lost their home. Bobby Schmedlap is in my class. I think they live somewhere down in that old industrial area by the river.”
“This brings me to the main reason I needed to talk to you. It’s about something I can do and it has a lot to do with who I used to be. I don’t think the spirit told you about that. I know that spirit by the way. We spent a lot of time together.
“I was someone you knew before; not real well because reality has been changed a bit. In the world you remember, I was killed 10 years ago in an airplane accident. In the world I knew, I was around until last December, when Cynthia drowned, or almost drowned. My spirit was extracted from my body before things were changed. For a while I was an elderly woman and I learned many lessons about life and getting along. Then the Spirit and I went to many places and saw many things. That ‘I’ was being healed while Cindy’s body healed.
“This may seem a bit strange; however, I have among other things, the ability to sense or detect people who are in the body that is not their gender. I used to be a person like that. I have always been a girl. It’s just that I was in a man’s body. I hated it, enough said. Everything is just fine now.
“I know now that because I have been able to tell you all of this that it is OK to tell you more. Bobby Schmedlap is a girl like I was. His family knows it and they love him. It’s just that they can’t afford to do anything about his condition. He wants to be a real girl so much. I knew that as soon as I got back to school.
“Remember when I went into that Hallmark Shop? That’s what it looked like to you. To me, it was the Spells-R-Us shop. It is operated by a very special person. I think it will be OK for you to meet him soon. That candy store I went into on Sunday was his shop also. If you check now you will find out that there is a specialty tea and coffee shop there. Anyway, I bought a gift certificate for Bobby so that The Wizard’s magic would allow him to be a girl on the outside, too. The trouble is, unless his parents and brothers agree to let him use the certificate it won’t work.
“The Wizard says I am going to have to work this out on my own. I think it is part of my training. Maddy told me to tell you all this. I would have eventually; however, we need your help. Bobby’s parents are mad at me because they think I am being mean to Bobby by giving him false hopes. We need to meet with Bobby’s family and try to convince them to at least try to get the certificate to work. They don’t believe in magic. I think you do.”
“Of course we believe in magic. It brought our daughter back to us. How could we not believe in it,” her father said as his voice cracked a bit. “They said there was no hope for you; that that best we could do was donate your organs. Then you were back. They said it was impossible, but here you are. Then there is this thing about a talking cat.
“Maddy, you really can talk, can’t you.”
“Mrresss. Mralk oo Missindee. Easrr rat way. (Yes, Talk through Cindy. Easier that way.)”
“That’s all we need to know. No I think there are two things. You want us and Maddy, too, I suspect, to talk to the Schmedlaps.”
“Right; and what’s the other thing?” Cindy knew what it was, and she dreaded the question.
“Who were you before?”
“I was Alfred Gontarski.”
“No, Alfred Gontarski died with his parents in a horrible plane crash. You are our daughter, Cynthia Elizabeth Lewis. You have always been and always will be our daughter; a very special girl with something extra.”
Cindy was walking on air and Maddy was on her shoulder. They had absolutely nothing to worry about, except Bobby Schmedlap.
It had been threatening to rain all day. There had been a warm, gusty wind from the south, but now the west was darkening faster than could be attributed to a setting sun. As they drove past the school, Cindy began to have serious doubts about what they were doing.
Bobby’s parents had wanted to talk to Cindy’s parents to get her to stop talking to Bobby about his gender identity problem. They had wanted to help him get the medical and psychological help he would need. They just couldn’t afford it. Maybe when Bobby was older and their financial situation got straightened out, they could do something. It was hard enough now to put food on the table. Their phone service would be the next thing to go, then the power and water. They had a roof over their heads but that could change at any moment.
The double-wide trailer had basically been a loan from Amos’s previous employer. It had been a construction office; however, with the downturn of the economy, it wasn’t needed. If things turned around in the construction business, they might lose their home, such as it was.
Amos’s employer was a good man, but with Amos’s injury and the downturn of the economy, there was no hope for a job.
After the injury, things went downhill fast. The worker’s compensation insurance company refused to pay the workers’ compensation insurance. They maintained that Amos was not on the job at the time of the injury. Amos’s lawyer filed a suit against the subcontractor who actually caused the injury; however, the opposing lawyer successfully filed a motion dismissing the suit.
Then the market crashed and their 401K lost 60% of its value. The medical expenses ate everything up and the Schmedlaps ended up filing for bankruptcy. They couldn’t make the house payments and with the mortgage balance being more than the house was worth, they ended up having to walk away from it. Now they were living on a shoe string and there wasn’t much left of it. Then some idiot girl had to start bothering their beloved son about his gender identity problem.
It would have been difficult, but they had it all planned out to help him the best way they knew possible. He was going to start anti-androgen medication within the year. Then when he would start low dose estrogen and progesterone to simulate early puberty. When he reached twelve they would increase the dosage to allow him to start female puberty and grow into the girl he was. They had it all worked out and then that damned forklift had to run Amos down. He was exactly where he was supposed to be and doing exactly what he was supposed to be doing; however, the other lawyer was cleverer than his lawyer and the judge threw it all out. Amos would gladly have lived with the back injury if their son had just been able to become their daughter. It was so wrong that Bobby had to suffer because of someone else’s careless action.
Now that crazy girl and her parents were coming over to talk to them about something. She had no business dragging Bobby through all of this. He had accepted things pretty well and now she was bringing up all this magic crap. It wasn’t right and he was going to tell them that what she was doing was unnecessarily cruel. He was going to do his best to make them leave Bobby alone.
His back hurt like hell and his leg was essentially numb. He could barely make it work. He had some pain pills left, but he didn’t want use them because they fuzzed his mind. He wanted to be sharp when the rich people from up the hill arrived.
“It’s down here dad. We’re supposed to go past the old warehouses and up the levee. After that we turn left at the stop sign. There will be a bunch of trailers in a yard and they are back by the office building.” The wind was picking up and lighting was reflecting off the cloud deck. They found the trailers and noted a light on at one near the rear of the yard. The rain was starting to spit as they walked up the portable stairs to knock at the metal door.
Lightning flashed again and thunder rumbled about fifteen seconds later. The wind was picking up and had shifted to the northwest. The temperature was starting to fall.
They could hear someone coming to the door. It started to open slowly, but a sudden gust of wind blew it out of the grasp of the woman who stood there. She was an attractive woman, but weariness shown in her expression. Her hair was dark red and Bobby had her eyes. Cindy saw that right away.
“Please come in. It’s really starting to look nasty out there. I’m Sally Schmedlap.” She politely extended her hand. She led them into the main room of the double-wide trailer and introduced the rest of the family. Bobby’s brothers were David, age 12, and Ezra, age 14. They scowled at Cindy when she was introduced. Cindy introduced Maddy, but didn’t mention that she could talk. The Schmedlaps’ German Shepherd ran up to investigate the intruder. Maddy murmured something and the dog stopped in his tracks. Maddy twisted around his legs and everyone watched somewhat astonished as the two headed for the kitchen and the dog’s watering dish. They returned shortly and settled down on the mangy carpet to watch the humans.
“Would anyone like something to drink? We can’t offer much. We have coffee, tea, iced tea and some cokes. I think there are a couple of beers in the refrigerator,” Sally offered.
The adults settled on coffee and the children opted for the soft drinks. Cindy felt almost guilty about taking a coke because she knew how tight things were for the Schmedlaps. There was a bit of unease in the group and before anyone could say anything, Cindy decided it was up to her to get the ball rolling.
“I know that Mr. and Mrs. Schmedlap are upset with me because of what I said to Bobby and what I gave him at his birthday party at school. I know now that I did the wrong thing. I didn’t handle the situation very well. I should have done things very differently.”
“Young lady,” interjected Mrs. Schmedlap, “I don’t know how you found out about Bobby, but the last thing we want is to have it spread around is that Bobby is transgendered. Things are hard enough on him as it is.
“We were going to move so that Bobby could start living as a girl in our new home, but everything was lost due to Amos’s accident. We can barely put food on the table; much less get him the medical help he needs. Then you come along and dangle this preposterous ‘gift’ in front of him. What sort of nonsense is this? I think it is a cruel joke and we think you owe Bobby an apology.”
Cindy was trying to summon up all the courage she could. She was gong to have to fall back on her Al Gontarski personality a bit to give her some strength. “Mrs. Schmedlap, everybody, this is not a joke. I know about Bobby because I was given a gift. I used to be like Bobby. I used to be a man who wanted desperately to be a woman. I got that chance.”
“This is nonsense. I think you and your parents need to leave now,” Mrs. Scmedlap said rather emphatically.
“Would you give me a chance to prove that there is validity to what I am telling you? If you would let me and Maddy show you a few things, things that might be attributable to magic, maybe you would you at least let Bobby try to use the gift certificate? There can’t be any harm in at least trying. If it doesn’t work, you can do what ever you think is necessary to do about me and my parents. The only thing is that all of you have to agree to let him redeem the certificate. There’s nothing else to do. I know it will work.
“Please humor me for a few minutes.”
“Who are you? You certainly don’t talk like a nine-year old girl.”
“I know, and I’m trying to forget how I used to talk. I want to grow up as a girl and rid myself of some of my old habits. This isn’t easy to talk about, but it’s the only way I can see to at least convince you to try to let the magic work.
“The original Cynthia Lewis died last December. Her body was kept alive and it was repaired until I could occupy it. I am one person, but I am a combination of the original Cynthia and someone else. When I woke up in the hospital, I was the new Cindy Lewis. The doctors think that my problems with personality are just due to brain injuries.”
Cindy paused for a moment and listened as the storm raged outside. She hoped her brother wasn’t afraid of thunderstorms and that the baby sitter would keep him safe.
“I don’t want to flood you with a lot of details right now. If you will let this work, we can talk about it and other things over the years. I have been given a brief glimpse of what will happen, and I know everyone will be very happy with the results
“Maddy it’s time for us to do our thing.”
Maddy got up, stretched, said something to the dog, and then trotted over to Cindy. She jumped to the arm of the chair and then to Cindy’s shoulder.
“Maddy is my familiar. Bobby helped save her the day I drowned. Maddy, please say hello to everybody.”
“Herrow.”
“She still is having trouble with her ‘l’s. Maddy can mind speak with me and I suspect she can with Einstein.”
“Maddy, ask Einstein what his favorite fun food is.”
Maddy looked at Einstein and he looked back, licked his chops and wagged his tail.
“[Pepperoni, but he didn’t get any for Christmas this year.]”
Cindy passed on the information.
“Why, Bobby could have told you that. That doesn’t prove anything,” said the doubting Amos Schmedlap. “Ask him where the skunk family is that I found today. I haven’t told anyone about that. And, how many kittens were there?”
Maddy relayed the answer.
“They are living in the small trailer that is up against the building in the northeast corner of the lot. Einstein thinks it is a light gray trailer, but Maddy says it is blue. There are five kittens and one is sickly, but if you give them food like you did this afternoon they will survive. Einstein says he doesn’t mind that you left some of his food for them earlier. They are pretty warm in that old utility closet. Einstein says the mother killed a pigmy rattlesnake under this trailer two nights ago. That’s what he was talking about, er barking about.”
“I don’t believe it. That kitten told you that?”
“Yes, she’s learning about what she can do, just like I’m learning.
“Dad, do you have a business card with you?”
He fumbled around and found one in his wallet.
“Crumple it up into a tight little ball and throw it to the middle of the floor.”
Maddy reacted instantly to the sound of the card being crumpled. Cindy could feel her twitch in anticipation. Her dad threw the wad onto the floor.
“Maddy, take the paper wad to Mr. Schmedlap and then return it to my father. The only thing is you may not touch it. Do it like you did the other night. Can you do that?”
“Mmyesss.”
Maddy did exactly as she was asked. She chased it across the floor towards Mr. Schmedlap. Before it reached him, she cut it off and proceeded to push it across the floor toward Cindy’s father. At the last second, she gave a little grunt and twitched her behind. The paper wad popped into the air and landed in his lap.
“Are there any questions?” Cindy asked.
There were none.
“Now, is there anyone not in favor of at least letting Bobby try to redeem the gift certificate?”
Bobby’s oldest brother, Ezra, who had been silent up to this point, commented, “Bobby has always been a good brother, but he has always been like a sister, too. I will always love Bobby whether he is my brother or she is my sister. I have always wanted a little sister that I could be proud of and protect as she grew up. I say go for it.
“What do you think, David?”
“I would like to have a sister. One brother is enough. I think Bobby would be pretty, too.”
“All Sally and I want is for Bobby to be happy. If this doesn’t work, we will find a way some day to save enough to do what we need to do medically. It’s just that I don’t see anything happening soon. I say let him try to use the certificate. What do you think Sally?”
“Yes, we can try. It certainly won’t change anything if it doesn’t work. After what I’ve seen and heard, who knows?”
Cindy breathed a sigh of relief. It was going to happen.
“So what do we have to do to redeem it?” Sally asked.
“I think we will need to go to the mall. The Wizard will probably contact me and let me know when. He’ll work out the details with you and Bobby. I already know a bit about what Bobby wants.”
The raging storm had abated somewhat, but the wind was blowing fiercely. There was a simultaneous flash of lightning and a huge crash of thunder. The lights flickered off and then back on after about two seconds.
Cindy gave a gasp at what she saw.
Bobby stood up and headed down the hall. “I think I need to go to the bathroom.”
Cindy stood to follow. “There’s another bathroom in the master bedroom,” Sally Schmedlap said. “I’ll get some brownies. I made them this afternoon.”
Cindy tried to catch up to Bobby but she didn’t make it in time. Bobby opened the bathroom door, turned on the light, and closed the door behind him. The shriek that no one but Cindy expected was loud and short.
“Eeeek!”
“Mrs. Schmedlap, Mom, I think we may need your help.”
”ƒ
Cindy had been the first one to get to the door. She opened it and stepped into the small space. The change had been happening as Bobbie got up and started walking down the hall. Cindy had seen the changes taking place, but everyone else was too startled by the brief power failure to pay any attention to someone going to the bathroom. The change was probably complete by now.
Standing in front of the mirror was a relatively tall, slender nine year old girl. Her beautiful red hair hung in loose waves down to her shoulders. It was a Titian red, almost auburn in shade. Her eyes were the same beautiful blue green they had been before. Her complexion was a bit paler and still lightly freckled. Her face was that of a young girl not yet entering puberty, but it was a beautiful face. There were some tears streaking her high cheek bones, but there was no doubt that the tears were due to an extreme happiness that was just beginning to settle in.
One of the things that had first caught Cindy’s attention was the clothes. She was wearing a nice cotton blouse rather than a boy’s shirt, and the Levis were definitely girls Levi’s. They no longer had the bulge and looseness of boys’ trousers. They fit tightly to her body and left no doubt about her femininity. She had a tight little waist and a very pert little bottom. Her legs hinted at the glamorous length they would some day grow to.
There were two simultaneous gasps behind them. Bobbie looked up at her mother’s reflection. A huge smile was spreading across her face. “Mommy, I’m me. I don’t have to pretend any more. It really is me. I look just like I wanted to.” Then she got a look of concern on her face. “Mommy, I gotta pee. What am I going to do?”
“I think you can figure that out. Just sit down and relax. Don’t forget to wipe. We’ll work out the details later. I am going to have my work cut out for me. I can see that. We’ll wait out here for you.”
They closed the door and let Bobbie find out about one of the things she would be dealing with for the rest of her life. Finally the toilet flushed and there was the sound of her washing her hands.
She opened the door and smiled. “I think everything worked just fine.” She looked down the hall towards the living room. “Do they know yet?”
“I’m not sure. They probably suspect something happened. You always did shriek rather girly-like if you were surprised. Your father probably ignored it.
“Well, they are going to have to find out sooner or later. There’s no reason to wait.” The two mothers preceded the girls back to the living room. They stepped aside as the newly minted girl made her entrance.
“Gentlemen, it seems as if the gift certificate has been redeemed. Meet Roberta Allison Schmedlap.”
Amos dropped his coffee cup on the dilapidated carpet. Fortunately, the cup was empty. “Oh my God: it worked. It really worked. What a birthday present! Thank you, Cindy. Thank you so much. This is more than we could have ever hoped for.”
Suddenly there was a mass hug going on. David and Ezra held back a little at first as if they were afraid that Bobbie had suddenly become fragile.
Everybody was beaming at the pretty little girl and she couldn’t stop giggling. Finally, things started to settle down.
“Amos, there was another reason for this meeting tonight, although I must say it pales in comparison with what we have just witnessed. I know you need a job, and we need someone with your qualifications. I think you are aware that our company deals in commercial real estate and property management. We need someone can oversee the various properties and make sure they are properly maintained. We also need someone to conduct property inspections. We are also getting into renovations and restorations. Loft apartments are becoming a big thing all over the state. We were wondering if you would be interested. You would be our property and construction superintendent.”
“I would love to do it, but I’m afraid I’m not physically able. My pain is severe and the doctors don’t seem to be able to do anything about it, and, as you can see, I have just about lost the use of my left leg. God, I would love….”
They were interrupted by a rapping on the door. Sally looked out through the peep hole. “Oh my! There’s an old man in a robe and he has a huge dog with him. And, it is really snowing hard.”
“Wonderful,” Cindy shouted, “It’s His Wisdom, The Wizard, and he brought his wolf. You can let him in. I’m sure he wants to see his handiwork. I’m sure he knew how Bobbie was going to turn out, but I’ll bet he has some other things to talk about, too.
Sally opened the door and a cold blast of air preceded The Wizard and Wolf. They could see that the early spring snow was falling hard and a few flakes followed the pair in.
“Good evening everyone; sorry about the lightning and thunder display earlier. I couldn’t resist. We would have been here sooner but we had to deal with a gang of hoodlums who thought I might have something worth taking. They have been sworn to an unbreakable oath not to lose their virginity until after they are married, and they are now home with their mothers learning how to knit.
“So, Amos and Sally, what do you think of your daughter? I think she turned out rather nicely. I knew she would.”
“She’s beautiful. And, above all, she seems to be very happy,” Sally said while wiping away a tear.
“Ezra, Dave, what do you think of your sister. Is she what you expected?”
“Er, yes sir,” replied Ezra in awe of the robed man in front of them. “She’s very pretty. I’ll bet she will have a lot of boyfriends someday.”
“Yes there will be boyfriends, but only one will matter. Promise to look out for her.”
“Yes sir.”
“Well, Stan and Marissa, what do you think of your daughter? She did pretty well for her first case, didn’t she? She’s going to help us a lot. I’ll have some assignments for her in a few years, maybe sooner. Right now, she is just going to have to learn about her abilities. We’re not sure right now about everything she is going to be able to do.
“Great job Maddy. I liked that little trick with the paper at the end. Keep practicing. Work on pushing and pulling. You’ll never know when it might come in handy.”
“Mresssir.”
“Now let’s see,” he said while pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket that hadn’t been there seconds before. “We made a few adjustments, nothing that will be very disruptive.” He moved the paper up close and then far away as his arms could reach. Finally, he pushed his glasses up on his forehead. “Double drat and fried toad kidneys, arms are too damn short.” He muttered something and suddenly the paper quadrupled in size. “There, now I can read it. I’m going to have to put the shop next to Lens Crafters next time. Okay; Amos, the judge had second thoughts about your lawsuit. It has been reinstated and should settle out of court for around $500K for you after fees.
“I’m not licensed to practice medicine, but I got the OK for this.” He made a subtle motion with his hand and Amos gasped in surprise. “I hope that didn’t hurt. They said it shouldn’t.”
“No, it didn’t hurt. I just felt a twinge in my back. What did you do?”
“It seems that the doctor never detected this little bone chip,” he said while handing a tiny fragment of bone to Amos. “It was impacting your sciatic nerve. The doctor should have found it but he was on drugs, totally incompetent. The hospital should have detected his problem long ago. Well she’s going to have a long time to think about it. She’s going to be a midwife in about 20 years when she is about 30. She will never take drugs again.
“It will take a while for your leg to recover. It wouldn’t look right when you go to court if you had miraculously recovered. You should be able to work in a few months. I think Stan will have the job ready for you then.
“Now, what do we do about this little situation? I know that the Schmedlaps are fully in accord with Bobbie’s change. Cindy may have told you it was scheduled to be handled by my shop in about ten years. It would have been good, but all the memories would have been artificial. This way’s better. The only thing that would have been better would have been if the mistake had not been made in the first place. That’s not your fault. The mistake was made elsewhere. Cindy will explain all about that later.
“What do you want to remember? I can fix it so that you will remember Bobbie as a tomboy who decided to become all girl, that’s the way all outsiders who knew her will remember her, or we can just let things alone. You just won’t be able to tell anyone unless there are important reasons for it. Cindy will probably know what those are.”
Sally thought about it for a moment. “I think we can all agree on this. We want to remember how it was, if only among us, so that we may share her joy about what has happened. This has been such a wonderful evening. I know I don’t ever want to forget it. You have opened up a whole new world for us.”
“Fine, that’s the way it will be.”
“Your Wisdom, would you have a brownie and some hot chocolate? We have some extra.”
“I would love some. We can stay for a little while. We have to be in two places at the same time later on. That’s always a strain.
“By the way, I think that scratch off in your purse is worth $10,000. You should probably claim it tomorrow. That will hold you over until the settlement comes through. There’s going to be a nice house available just down the road from Cindy’s home. You might want to look at it.”
The Wizard reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of beef jerky for Wolf and a stick of pepperoni for Einstein. Then he pulled out a small dish of kitty treats for Maddy. He made room on his lap for Cindy and Bobbie and the two families spent the next 30 minutes discussing Cindy and Bobbie’s future, plus a lot of just happy talk. Finally, The Wizard excused himself. He had to move on. There was no rest for the weary. Maddy, Einstein and Wolf had been snoozing together.
“We’ll see all of you many times, I am sure. Maddy, Cindy and I will have a constant connection. They will always be able to reach me.”
The Wizard received hugs and kisses from the women and girls, and handshakes from the boys and men. Wolf followed him down the steps into the snow. They disappeared after about four paces. The footprints just stopped. The two families returned to the inside of the trailer and found that the horrid soiled carpeting had been replaced by a nice plush carpet. Nobody questioned it.
The Lewis’s gathered up their things and Cindy bundled up Maddy in her coat. They said their goodbyes once again and returned to their car for the drive home in the waning snow.
Sally Schmedlap looked at her pretty little daughter as she helped her get ready for bed. She kissed her goodnight as she had kissed Bobby every night before. They were going to have a lot of fun over the next few years. She knew there was something special about a mother-daughter relationship. It would be very special for both of them.
In fact, it was going to be magical.
Well, that’s it for now. I think there are many adventures ahead for Cindy, Maddy and their friends. What they are, I can’t be too sure about that right now. I have one in mind; however, it happens many years from now. We’ll just have to wait on that one. I’m sure there will be many more transformations in the future. Some may be more in line with those we have seen The Wizard do in the past. Thank you for reading and thank you for your comments. Constructive comments are always fuel for future stories.
I also want to thank the large number of readers who took the time to read the previous story, 'An Incremental Journey', and vote. The response to the suggestion to read it was very heart warming.
Portia