Growing up isn’t easy for anyone, and certainly Cynthia Lewis is no exception. The hormones are starting to flow in greater quantities than they ever have before. Suddenly, the doubts that had been hiding in the depths of her mind are beginning to surface. Menarche is pending, and Cindy is beginning to think that she doesn’t have what it takes to be a woman. She is suddenly very afraid.

If you haven’t read the previous stories about Cindy and how she arrived where she is now, you should probably read them. Start with “An Incremental Journey”, “Cynthia and the Reluctant Girlfriend”, and “Cynthia and the Dumpster Diver”. “Cynthia and the Christmas Gift” takes place several years after this story. Read it for enjoyment, if you like. It is not a plot spoiler.

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, The Wizard could resort to some of his more ironic and nasty transformations. I’m sure that could happen at any time. In fact, this just might be the time.

Once again, Holly has taken time out of her busy and hectic schedule to correct my many and grievous errors. Thank you so much!

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.

Chapter 1

Al Gontarski was famished and there was more food in front of him than he could remember seeing in one place at one time. There was no need for a plate; he could just grab handfuls of whatever was in front of him and cram it into his mouth. There was a problem though: none of the food tasted right. It was bland and unfulfilling. Hunger was eating at him, and no matter how much he ate, the hunger was there gnawing at his stomach. It was a cramping ache and it just seemed to get worse.

He looked around for help and saw his parents filling their plates with delicacies. There was a fabulous selection of antipasti. There were all sorts of salamis and cheeses, and the amount and variety of olives was spectacular. He tried to shovel the olives onto a plate, but they kept falling off. Finally he resorted to just cramming the handfuls into his mouth. The olives were as bland as the other food he had been ingesting. He was getting so frustrated, he started to cry.

“Mommy, this food doesn’t taste very good, and I can’t get enough of it. I’m so hungry and my tummy hurts.”

“Who are you calling ‘Mommy’, you fat pig. You’re no son of mine.”

“But, Mommy, I’m your daughter, Cindy. I used to be Al, but I’m Cindy now.”

“What are you talking about? Cindy drowned years ago. You’re just an oversized, fat excuse of a man. Come to think of it, you died several years ago, too. You have no business here taking all this food.”

Al started crying even more. Nothing was right. He wasn’t Al; she was Cynthia Lewis and had been for a long time. She had a baby sister and a younger brother. Her best friend was Bobbie Schmedlap. ‘Where are they? They should be here. Why does my tummy hurt so much?’

She looked across the room and saw The Wizard holding her cat, Maddy. They were both laughing at her. The Wizard was feeding Maddy shrimp, and a large pile of bones mixed with rat feet and tails lay at The Wizard’s feet.

“You’ll have to come with me.” Al turned to see a man dressed as a waiter reaching for him. “You don’t exist in this world and you are spoiling everyone’s meal. You will have to leave now.”

“But, I’m hungry. My tummy hurts, I’m so hungry. I want my mommy. I want my Daddy. I want my brother and sister. I want my best friend.”

“All that’s been revoked: apparently, the check you wrote has been sent back. Since you died all those years ago, it wasn’t any good.”

“No-o-o-o! The Wizard ran it through. It was good. I’m not Al, I’m Cindy Lewis. I’m thirteen years old. I’m a girl.”

“Not any more. If you don’t leave now, The Wizard is going to turn you into a toad, and you’ll be the premier jumping toad for Toad Suck Days in Conway, Arkansas next year.”
“No, this is all wrong. I want my Mommy.” Al started sobbing inconsolably.

“Cindy, wake up. Wake up, Dear; you’re having a bad dream.”

“What? Huh.”

“Cindy, you’ve been having a bad dream. Maddy tried to wake you up, but she couldn’t, so she came to me. She was worried about you. You’ve been crying. Your pillow’s wet with tears.”

Cindy began to realize that she was alright. The hall light was on, and the light through her open door lit things up well enough that she knew where she was. Maddy, her cat and familiar, was sitting on the bed next to Cindy’s mother. Maddy had a very concerned expression, at least it was as concerned an expression that a cat could get.

“[Cindy, I tried to wake you, but you just tossed and turned and moaned. Then you started crying. I had to get your mother. I couldn’t read you at all. There was a wall],” Maddy didn’t mind-speak to Cindy that much unless they were far apart. Her diction had improved so much that she didn’t have any problem being understood by anyone who was allowed to hear her speak.

“I’m okay, Maddy; I was having a horrible dream that I was Al. It was just awful.

“Mommy, you and Daddy didn’t know me. You said I was dead. The Wizard was going to turn me into a toad. I was so hungry and I couldn’t get enough food. My tummy hurt, I was so hungry. My tummy still hurts.”

“Where does it hurt, Dear?”

“Kinda low; down in the middle.”

“It doesn’t hurt in the lower right area, does it?”

“No, it’s just cramps.”

Marissa looked at her daughter while thinking back to her own early teenage years. She remembered the problems she had and the discomfort she experienced. There was good reason to feel that her daughter might experience some of the same problems. Cindy had experienced a huge growth spurt over the last few months. She was nearly fourteen and her body was changing rapidly. Marissa and Cindy’s genetics had been altered a bit due to The Wizard’s magic; however there was no reason to assume that their basic biology had been altered significantly. It was time, perhaps a bit overdue, but she was pretty sure she knew what Cindy’s problem was.

“Just a minute, I have something for you.” Marissa briefly left her daughter to contemplate her misery.

“Are you alright, Cindy? It frightened me when you wouldn’t wake up.” Maddy was very concerned about her human friend. Cindy reached over and stroked Maddy’s ear. Maddy reciprocated by pushing her head against Cindy’s gentle touch.

Maddy was close to full grown, and as had been predicted by The Wizard, Maddy had matured very slowly. If she had grown at the normal domestic cat rate, she would have reached maturity more than a year before. Instead, she was just about full grown, but hadn’t yet come into heat the first time. Maddy was pretty certain that she wouldn’t until Cindy had her first period.

Maddy, in spite of her high opinion of herself, was a very beautiful little cat. Her ancestry was mixed and she obviously had a lot of Siamese in it. Her eyes were large and very blue and the overall affect of her coat was that she was mostly white with darker guard hairs. Her eyes were made more spectacular as they were highlighted by a mix of light and dark, very long, and slightly curled eye brows. Her beautiful long whiskers were also a mix of light and dark. She had light tabby markings on her face and a darker pattern down her spine and tail, the latter being definitely tabby striped. Her ears were dark; however, her left ear was speckled with yellow-gold. Her feet were also dark, and following the design set by her ear, her left hind foot was highlighted with yellow-gold markings. Her Siamese ancestry stopped there. She had a stocky little body and her head was round, not elongated like a Siamese’s head would be. Another difference was that her very soft coat was long; not as long as a Persian, but quite a bit longer than what a Siamese would have. Soaking wet, which she would never have allowed to happen, she might have weighed seven and a half pounds.

“Here, take these,” Marissa was back with a glass of water and some tablets, “they should help. They work for me.”

“Oh, what are they?”

“Midol.”

“Oh…”

Things are going to get worse before they get better. Having a loving, understanding family, and great friends helps. There are four more chapters in this little episode.

Portia