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.

Al doesn’t realize it but her journey is ending and at the same time, just beginning. She and her companion return to her original world, or at least the world where she had been Maddy. They witness a near drowning and then everything suddenly becomes much clearer. If The Wizard needed a hanky, you might need one, too.

Well, it’s back to being Al, and her dream companion from the first night as Maddy has returned. Perhaps it wasn’t a dream after all. Reconciled to whatever it is that she is going through, Al joins her companion on a lengthy and convoluted journey. She returns to her early school years and learns about someone who could have been a friend that she instead rejected.

The top brass at Spellcrafters Inc. have it in for the Spells R Us wizard. They've brought in hired muscle from overseas to do their dirty work- a powerful magical mercenary named Necromancer Sato. Can Wizzie survive their deadly scheme? And will our "somewhat ridiculous heroine" Wendy manage to avoid getting caught in the crossfire? This is a wicked little story about an extremely nasty bunch of people. In the words of William Burroughs, "Hold back the edges of your gowns, Ladies. We are entering Hell..."
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When the old guy warns you, you really need to pay attention!

SRU: Sobibor

by shalimar

WARNING: This story describes in details a concentration camp, death train ride and death camp during WWII.

It was the end of the day here in Rotterdam. I could see the Allies bombers returning to England from their raids in Germany as they flew near the city. The shells from the German cannons were exploding like blossoms of black orchards below the squadron above as it flew back to England.

This like many of my stories came to me in a dream, and then was written in a single sitting. I was thinking about the dongle in the story as I need one myself to get my second monitor working, I have one already but a second would be handy.

Some liberties have been taken both with the actual adaptor and with the IT department and it’s network. Mainly as they mean the story works.

Playmate

by shalimar

I took a break from my household chores on that early May afternoon and watched Miriam, my five-year-old and her friend, Sarah, learn a clapping song from two of the older girls in the neighborhood. The older girls are very patient with my baby and her friend as they learn the actions, rhythm and words of the song, “Playmate.”

As I watched them it brought back memories of my own childhood, sitting and watching the girls in the neighborhood do that and other clapping songs. One time there were only three girls, so they asked me to join them.

When Sara was growing up, her "magic crayons" helped her escape the pain. Now as an adult and the world famous Art Angel, can they help her to find the life she's always dreamed of?