This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is coincidental.
Copyright©Frances Penwiddy 2018

I had had three glasses of white wine.

At five in the evening, pubs fill with beer bellied road repair crews, smelly dust cart operatives and builders bum trolls. Resting actors, slim, five feet nine and long haired with bright blue eyes were asking for trouble if they ordered spritzers, it was risky enough ordering white wine.

Leaving the pub feeling a little better I decided to walk round the heath and through the trees rather than straight across. I had walked about twenty metres into the wood when my foot hit something and I stumbled catching the obstruction with my other foot.

“Ouch! Don’t you oafs look where you’re going, that’s twice thou has kicked me!”

I recovered my balance and looked around but couldn’t see the owner of the voice, “What!…? Where, hullo, who called?” I peered into the denser part of the woodland with the hair on the back of my neck rising.

“Down here dotard. Though I am surprised I am not on top of a tree with the force of thy kick.”

I looked down and there less than a metre from my feet sat a twelve inch, very pretty girl. I shook my head, the three glasses of wine were having the expected affect, but she was real enough, too real to be a drunken hallucination. I shook my head again but she remained there on the grass, her legs pulled up and rubbing her calf. “Are you hurt?”

“Of course I’m hurt.”

I eased myself down with my legs spread, my ankles to either side of her, “I am sorry, I didn’t see you there. I was gazing up at the clouds. It’s such a lovely evening and I was trying to cheer myself up. Is there something I can do to help? Would you like me to carry you to the hospital, it’s only a short walk?”

“I have no need of physicians thank you.” She fiddled with the cuff of her blouse and drew a short wand like stick from it, tapped the sparkly end against her calf and sighed, “You’re a lucky person, the pain is easing, it’s not broken.” She looked at me for a moment or two and then apparently forgiving my earlier clumsiness she asked, “Why did thou have need to cheer thyself up?”

“I’m an actor and dancer and have been turned down for a part in the new musical being put on at the Town Hall.”

She shook her head, “I cannot understand why, you have such pretty blue eyes.”

“Perhaps but pretty blue eyes are not ideal on a dancer or actor auditioning for the male lead. Next month I’ll have to sign on for unemployment benefit and be forced to accept a job cooking French fries in a fast food place.”

“Couldn’t ye take a part as a girl dancer, it could be fun and a lot better than cooking French fries?”

I shook my head, “Wrong shape.”

She studied me for a while her lips pursing and then her eyes lit up, “I could fix that for you but it will cost a bit.”

“Fix it!”

“Easily, assuming of course they don’t already have a girl.”

“They haven’t. The female auditions are later this evening. But the musical is scheduled to run for six days a week for a month and rehearsals begin in a week. I don’t think I could masquerade as a female lead for that length of time even if I fancied the idea, which I don’t.”

She reached forward, “Let me have a finger.”

“What?”

“A finger, I need to pull myself up and test my leg.”

I leaned forward, held out my hand and she grabbed hold of my index finger and pulled herself upright and leaned cautiously on the damaged leg and gave a stamp, “Fine,” she said and then stared straight at my eyes, “They really are beautiful eyes,” and then abruptly changed the subject, “What’s wrong with being a girl dancer? Don’t you like girls? Is that why you kicked me?”

“No, I told you it was an accident. I like girls a lot especially pretty ones.”

“Am I pretty?”

“Very.”

“But if I had eyes like you I would be absolutely gorgeous.”
“Your hazel eyes are perfectly beautiful.”

She shook her head, “I know you are being kind, probably because you feel guilty about kicking me but I am sure I would be irresistible if I had eyes like yours. Anyway, you didn’t answer my question about being a girl dancer.”

“I’ve never danced as a girl. I know the technical details but a male body isn’t equipped with the grace and fluidity of a woman’s and I would be clumsy if I tried.”

“I can fix that easily but as I warned earlier, it will cost you. It’s up to you. I could help you get a job in the show as the leading female which has to be better than cooking junk food. I could fix it so you were the most beautiful girl at the audition and I’ve watched human girls dancing and know enough to make you a perfect dancer. What’s it to be? French fries or the star in a new musical?”

She had let go of my finger now and I groaned, and buried my face in my hands and rested my elbows on my knees. A half hour ago I was in the Red Bull and now, here I was sitting on the grass, hidden in the woods and talking to a bloody fairy who was promising to turn me into a female dancer.

“Are you ill, you groaned?”

I shook my head, “Confused yes, sick, no. I need to work this out.”

“Okay but don’t think for too long because if I have to make compensations for ageing I will need Merlot.”

“Who the blazes is Merlot?”

“He used to be called Merlin but since being appointed my mentor he claims I drove him to drink, so now he calls himself Merlot. I still call him Mellie though and he is kindly. Even when he’s strict I can sweeten him.”

I returned to my thinking knowing that when it came down to the nitty gritty, it was a choice between French fries or cordon blue and I don’t like French fries. “Two questions, the first is how much will it cost and at the end of the show do I get changed back?”

“Well, the charge is for you to allow me to copy your eyes and have a pair as blue as yours. I won’t take them away, I only want a copy. And, yes I will change you back to being male that is of course if you want it. If you do well in the show you may be offered a part in the West End or Broadway, even with the Royal Festival Ballet and will want to remain a girl but there might be a snag.”

“Go on,” I said, “I might as well know the snag.”

“If you chose to remain female I will have to take you to see Merlot because the bit I am not allowed to do is make it possible for you to have babies which human females seem to insist on. Only Merlot has the power to do that.”

“Babies! I wouldn’t know what to do with one and if you magic me a pair of boobs to feed the baby I don’t even know how to put a bra on!”

“The bra is no problem I can magic bra management into you and the bit with the stockings and suspenders but baby making stuff involves ovum and things like that. I haven’t been practising magic long enough to do inside bits but Merlot can.”

“If you’re a fairy, where are your wings, Tinkerbell has them?”

“When I want to get close and study humans, I fold them and tuck them under my top. As for Tinkerbell, well what can I say? She became a star of films and forgot all about Fairyland and went off with some boy called Peter and I haven’t seen her since.”

“You know Tinkerbell? How old are you?”

“You keep asking questions and if we are going to get you that part, we’ll have to get a move on, we need to go shopping. As for my age, I’m thirty thousand years old but have been with Merlot for only ten thousand years, that’s why I don’t know all the magic but I do have money,” she untied a leather bag from her waist and poured coins into my palm, “Is that enough for clothes?”

“Good Lord, these are gold Sovereigns and are worth over a hundred pounds each!” I counted them, “There’s about fifteen hundred pounds worth, that’s more than enough.”

“Okay and whilst we are getting your stuff we have to get some for me because I will want to come and see the audition and be on the spot if you need any help.”

“I doubt we’ll find clothes in your size unless we go to a shop that sells Barbie Dolls.”

She shook her head, “I’ve tried them and I’m too tall but don’t worry about that I’ll magic myself taller and I have tried human clothes in a size ten and they fit. Now, it appears you have made up your mind so what size should you be?”

I shrugged, “I’m not sure, what do you think?”

“Same as the size I’m going to magic for myself, I’ve seen lots of human girl dancers and they seem about that size but I’ll have to shrink you a bit, I think about five feet, six inches would be just right.”

It was a choice between French fries or lobster and I made up my mind. “Okay, do it but remember, I will want to change back when the show closes.”

She had a smile on her face a touch of craftiness in it as I allowed her to lead me further into the woods.

We found a place that was hidden from the rest of the common and she stopped, “Can you undo the top half of my blouse, it fastens at the back and I find it difficult?” she turned her back to me, “Just the top four buttons and then you can unfasten my bra.”

“Bra! I didn’t know a fairy wore a bra.”

“I like them because they stop my boobs from bouncing about too much. If I just magic my boobs to stop bouncing it doesn’t work very well because they stiffen and stay rigidly in one place but if I wear a bra it allows some movement. The trouble begins when I want to use my wings. The band on the bra stops them unfurling and if we are to get shopping and be in time for the audition, we’ll have to fly about a bit.”

This was something I hadn’t expected. I didn’t have a lot of experience in taking off a girls bra, it was just as well it wasn’t one of those sneaky front fasteners. I thought too soon because the next thing she said was, “When it’s undone, unclip the shoulder straps and then you can slip your hand up the front of the blouse and pull it down and off.”

“I can’t do that, you’re too small and the buttons on the blouse are tiny.”

She sighed, “Okay wait a bit,” and as I watched she grew until she was standing at about five feet four. “Can you manage now?”

“Er yes I think so but I’ll shut my eyes.”

“What for?”

“Well I can’t trust myself and I might touch something or start staring and embarrass you.”

“That’s silly but you humans are different so okay shut your eyes.”

With shaking hands I undid the top buttons and pulled her blouse open and there sitting under the bra band were two very delicate, neatly folded, transparent wings. I fumbled a bit, undid the hook and eye fastenings and fumbled again as I slipped the shoulder straps free of their hooks and stood back. “That’s the back done.”

“Okay give me a moment,” and she leaned forward, shimmied a little, “Okay you can pull it off now my boobs are free of the cups and my wings have unfolded so you only need to hook a finger over the bit between the cups and pull it down. Do it gently or the shoulder straps may snag my wings as they slide up my back.”

I pushed my fingertips under her blouse and then shut my eyes and eased them up until I touched the bra then hooking a finger over it I gently pulled the bra down and free of her blouse. Only then did I open my eyes, “All done,” I said handing her the bra.

“Ta and she tapped it with her sparkly wand and it reduced to its original size.

“I’ll slip it inside my panties for now,” and I turned my head away just as she lifted the hem of her skirt.

“You can look now and if you do up the top button of the blouse I will be able to use my wings.”

I fastened the blouse and then we heard voices and she froze and rapidly reduced to her original size, “Quick, I’ll hide in that bush and you stand beside the tree and pretend you’re having a pee.”

“Why go to all that trouble, we can pretend we’re a courting couple?”

“A courting couple with me displaying a pair of wings and we haven’t the time to fold them away again. Just do as I say in case they come this way.”

She ran off and I went to the tree and pretended to take a leak but the voices faded as the approaching couple changed direction when the girl said, “Just look at that disgusting man doing that in full view.”

“He wasn’t in full view when he started and he’s already finished peeing and tucking it away,” but she led him off and I breathed a sigh of relief.
“You can come out now and I want to know your name. It’s indecent when a man takes a girl’s bra off without knowing her name.”

She reappeared from the bush dusting off her skirt, “Its Twinkle Bell.”

She stopped and looked at me critically, “It’s still bright and sunny so I’ll have to reduce your size once I’ve change you into a girl because if I fly with you whilst you’re full size and somebody looks up, they’ll think you’re a pterodactyl and start screaming. If you’re reduced they’ll think we’re a pair of birds. You’ll have to hide somewhere as well because it would look a bit funny if you look like a girl wearing baggy trousers that keep falling down. We’ll do the change, then fly to the mall and you hide whilst I get your clothes. Then we can shop and pick the rest. We’ll have to get a leotard and tights for the audition. A pink one with a matching flirty skirt and white tights with two inch pink shoes or would you prefer white?”

“Let’s make those decisions when I see what I look like after you’ve done the magic.”

“That’s a good idea. Now put your arms out in front of you and rest your fingertips on my forehead then close your eyes.”

When I did she adjusted my fingers slightly and there was a short pause, “Right I am going to put my fingertips just above your eyes and you may feel a slight tingle, don’t worry it’s my brain making a copy of your eye DNA and transferring the image to me and enlarging them slightly because I like big eyes.” There was another pause and then I felt my eyes tingle, it lasted a few seconds and then she said, “Okay, you can take your hands away then open your eyes and tell me what you think.”

I did as she bid and looked at her. For a moment I couldn’t speak. “You’re stunning, the most beautiful face I have ever seen.”

She smiled with satisfaction, “I’m afraid I can’t make your eyes any larger because that is a Merlot spell but they are large for a man anyway. I’ll can make them look larger when I do your makeup. Now I want you to drop your arms to your side, keep your fingers straight and pressed lightly against your legs. I am going to put my hands on top of your head and run them across your hair and down the sides of your face, neck, shoulders, hips and down to your feet. You must keep your eyes closed all the time. That bit is important because if you open them, the bits I am touching will not change and you’ll look like a man with bits of woman in various places and it will seem a little odd.”

I closed my eyes and her hands started to move and it felt like the caress of butterfly wings and when she reached my feet she called, “Keep your eyes closed because I am now going to do the same up the front and back.”

“What about when you get to the top of my legs?”

“I’ll stop for just a second and then I’ll run my hands over your bottom and then across your man bits and then up…”

“What happens to my man bits?” I said in panic.

“I’ll teleport them and put them in my dressing table in Merlot’s place. We’ll retrieve them when you change back. I can’t leave them because you would have odd lumps showing through your leotard at the audition and if you succeed and get the part, you’ll have unsightly bulges in your knickers. Don’t worry, they will be perfectly safe.”

“Are you sure?”

“Certain, nothing can be changed permanently until you give permission. It’s forbidden by the magic protocols.”

“What about remaining fresh. Shouldn’t you store them in a fridge?”

“No need, magic takes care of that. I’ll be using UHF and Wi-Fi magic so I won’t have to undo your fly buttons. Now hold still I’m starting again.”
I froze and felt her hands move over my feet and up my legs until they reached the top of my thighs. She stopped for a moment and then I felt a hand pass lightly over my buttocks and then a caress over the front of my trousers and there I experience a tingling. Her hands continued up my back and chest, pausing again at my chest where there was more tingling and then up my neck and face and finally reached the top of my head and my hair was caressed lightly. She took her hands away for a second and I felt the touch of her wand on my shoulder, “All done now, you can open your eyes and take a look. I touched you with the wand and managed to change your clothes for a light toga style dress but you have no underthings beneath. It’s temporary anyway so check and see if you approve of the changes and then we’ll have to mini size ourselves and fly to the town.”

“I can’t to do that yet.”

“Oh, are you afraid I might drop you?”

“No. It’s, er it’s, well you know.”

“How can I know if you haven’t told me, mind reading magic without the owner’s consent is strictly forbidden by the Disclosure of Information Act, (Fairyland 2011), and the Use of Hypnotics or Magic to discover personal Information, (Fairyland 1887) as amended by Appendix 7, 2011. Furthermore the Court of Appeal, (Fairyland, Oberon Rex, 2012,) ruled that an attempt by any person, regardless of rank and with or without their presence during the act and without the written permission of the intended victim is to be regarded as a crime committed rather than a crime intended: ‘Crocodile versus Tinkerbell,’ (King’s Bench, Family Division, 2012.) refers.”

“Pardon?”

“I’m not repeating that legal mumbo jumbo again so just tell me what the problem is. And hurry up, the clock is ticking.”

“You don’t have to be so techy, it is after all a problem caused by your suggestion. If you must know, I can’t pick clothes without knowing what I look like. All I know at the moment is I have beautiful blue eyes, a pair of boobs and that’s it. How can I make decisions on styles, and colours without even knowing what colour my hair is?”

“I hadn’t thought of that, just a second,” she looked around the glade, “Over there,” and pointed at two silver birch trees which were five feet apart. She went to the trees and touched each with her wand and a large mirror appeared between them. “Come and take a look. I think you’re stunning but I suppose you have to reassure yourself and don’t spend the rest of the day doing it.”

I was so excited I nearly tripped and fell, I’d forgotten I was now wearing dainty white slippers and not my hiking boots and I hurt my toe. It didn’t stop me, I was eager, perhaps over eager and when I arrived close to the mirror and was able to see my full image I halted. I was gorgeous, I twisted to the right and then the left and flicked my long blond hair and pouted my full, red lips and blew myself a kiss. The image responded, this was the new me! I twisted each way again and the bodice tightened slightly over each breast and the shape showed a perfect pair, exactly the right proportion for a dancer of my size and even the nipples stood proud, thick and inviting a caress. I lowered my gaze to my groin but here I ran out of luck. The toga was loose skirted and there was no telling what lay beneath but this was not going to stop me. I slipped a hand round to my bubble butt gathered a handful of skirt and pulled it away from the back of my body and tight against the front of my thighs and sighed, there was the evidence. Even under the material of the toga, I could detect the suggestion of a narrow slit vanishing between my thighs, I sighed again and to make sure my eyes were not deceiving me, let go of the back of my dress and lifted the hem then slipped my free hand under and up and my fingers found the slit. I gently run them along the length and plucked up the courage to push a finger inside but it came to a stop. I could feel something there a small hole far too small to stick my finger in, “What’s this,” I asked Twinkle, “I put my finger inside the slit and can feel what seems to be a small hole and nothing else and I can’t get my finger in any further.”

“You shouldn’t be touching those parts yet, I told you before we started that Merlot would have to do those bits. The part you are touching is the exit of your urethra, I had to arrange that when I took your willy away otherwise you wouldn’t be able to pee. The rest has to be done by Merlot but what you have is enough for the audition. When we have a little time, he can arrange your clitoris, vestibular glands and labia. Now that’s enough, if you start poking about in there all you will find is a layer of skin stopping you. Come on and remember to sit when you pee or you’ll splash your legs. Wipe yourself carefully especially at the bottom of the slit because a little of your pee may gather there and you’re not wearing knickers and risk leaving a trail of spots on the floor as you walk.

Twinkle waved her wand and I shrank to just under a foot then taking my hand she led me onto the open heath. There was a pull on my arm and suddenly my feet left the ground and we rose, slowly at first and then with rapidly increasing speed as she adjusted the power to weight ratio of her wings.

I felt sheer exhilaration as my toga rippled along my body under the influence of the slip stream and my hair flew free behind me caressing my shoulders. “Wheehee,” I called lifting my face towards the sky, feeling the late evening sun on my cheeks.

After a few minutes I began to feel chilled and I looked down. I nearly let go of Twinkle’s hand with fright, “How high are we!” I squeaked, watching the heath and the few figures scattered around it diminish to a size that an ant could have stepped over.

“About five thousand feet.”

“Five thou…!”

“Is something wrong?”

“Yes-s-s,” I’m feeling chill-ill-illed, magic me a sweater?”

“Oh dear, sorry, I forgot you haven’t done this before and I didn’t allow for the drop in temperature as we ascended. I can’t magic whilst flying so we’ll pop down a bit, it will be better there. It won’t be for long, we’ll be over the town soon and we can fly down to a rooftop and you can hug a chimney to warm up.”

Down we went and levelled off and sped towards the town.

The feeling of exhilaration returned as she led us weaving and twisting between television aerials, chimneys and satellite discs until we arrived at the centre of town and stopped, hovering above Debenhams in the mall. “Hold the skirt close to your legs with your free hand, I am going to turn us upright and descend to the roof and your skirt will flare and reveal everything. If somebody looks up, they’ll see your hairless legs and privates and think the town is being invaded by airborne harlots.”

We touched down and grew back to human height and she glanced around. “Over there in that little brick hut, I suspect it houses a water tank, you can hide in there until I get back.”

As soon as we were inside she looked around quickly and spotted a pair of door wedges, picked them up and brought them to me and kneeling down ran her hands over each of my feet then touched the door wedges with her wand and they immediately formed into a pair of white three inch heels. “I can always change the colour later,” She stood up, “Now remember to stay in here and don’t go wandering about in case people come up. Leave the door open a little to get air. I expect I’ll be a while and whilst I’m away, practice walking because your skeleton, particularly your hips, have changed so you will walk a little differently. Use the flat shoes to begin with and then try it in these three inch heels.” She went to the door and opened it, peered around and slipped out leaving the door half open. “Remember, stay inside and don’t start exploring your new bits because you’ll become excited and discover that you can’t reach a successful conclusion and when I get back you will be all of a dither, breathing heavily, groaning and rolling about on the floor and that will cause further delays.”

Running across to the access doors for the store, she magic wanded the key code pad and disappeared inside. I closed the door a little, found a light switch and turned the lights on and looked around. There was machinery of some sort and a large tank and a faint hum coming from a cabinet which probably held computerised controls but it was clean and tidy. I moved a tool trolley out of the way and created a twenty feet walkway. I started my exercises at once before I was tempted to slip my hands inside the toga and ignore Twinkle’s warning. I would have to be careful anyway because if men came up to the roof and spotted me prancing about in nothing more than a white toga and no undies and looking as beautiful as I did, I wouldn’t stand a chance. Twinkle would probably find me groaning and rolling on the floor in agony rather than passion. The thinking made me stop and consider my current position and it dawned on me that my reactions to this crazy set-up weren’t exactly normal. I had just changed from a not very remarkable male actor/dancer into a very beautiful blonde actress/dancer and I should have been distressed, in fact I should be terrified. What did I know about being a woman? Nothing! And here I was, thrilled, overjoyed and in a state of euphoria and acting as if I had been female all my life. When I started walking back and forth along my walkway it took only a few minutes for me to adapt to my new skeleton and I knew instinctively that I was moving with grace. I tried the three inch heels but this was more difficult. I had the same problem that little girls have when they try on their mother’s heels and was awkward and walked, stumbled and hesitated without any grace. I continued practising and after a half hour I had cracked it and could even spin when I reached the end of the walkway and started the return journey without stumbling or hesitating. If I could do this in high heels then the much lower, thicker heels I would need for dancing were going to be easy.

I continued until I was so confident that I stopped and actually considered popping outside and going through a dance routine on the roof. With the extra space I could include some little leaps and throw in a cartwheel or two but the thought of people suddenly appearing stopped me. I found a stool and sat down. The thinking started again. I should be sitting on the stool sobbing and berating myself. My masculinity had gone completely. I was certain of this because in the latter half of my walking practice my thoughts had often wandered and I found myself thinking of hair styles, cosmetics, perfume and pretty lingerie and wondering what dresses, skirts and tops Twinkle would select for me and would she remember to include some pretty nighties.

Noises outside brought me back to earth and I got up and hurriedly changed into my flatties, crept over to the door and peered out as Twinkle appeared at the entrance to the store and walked out. She stopped and held the door open and waved to somebody inside and I ducked back and peeped cautiously round the door jamb. It wasn’t a somebody she was beckoning to, a supermarket trolley rolled out followed by two others and they stopped until Twinkle pointed towards the hut and they started rolling towards my hiding place. Twinkle walked alongside holding a skirt in front of herself looking down at it so I opened the door wide and waited.

“Quickly, get the trolleys inside and we’ll transfer everything to the three suitcases and then we can get away.”

We worked rapidly, everything was in store bags so we simply opened the suitcases and dumped the bags inside. Twinkle kept back a couple of shoulder bags and threw me a pair of plain white knickers, “Slip these on, it’s getting cooler outside and we have to get to an hotel. Here, you had better wear these as well and she placed a sweater and a pair of pink two inch square heeled shoes on the stool. Those are your dancing shoes and the walk will break them in but for heaven’s sake don’t start dancing in the street, people will stare.”

“We can’t carry these suitcases, not even for a short journey, they’re too heavy.”

“Oh don’t worry about them,” and she waved her wand. “There, they only weigh a few pounds now, we won’t even notice them. Put them in one of the trolleys and we’ll get going.”

“What about all the people in the store, won’t they think it a bit unusual if we go wandering through with three suitcases and you with a pair of wings sticking out of your back!”

“It’s early closing, there are only a couple of security men and they’re in their office watching a saucy movie I put on the telly. I’ve put a spell on the alarm system and the security cameras and I took the tickets off all the clothes and run them through the till and paid for everything so we won’t upset their exit alarms.”

“How did you pay, you haven’t any English money?”

“I popped out to book a room at the hotel so I tucked my wings under my blouse and on the way to the hotel I went into a jewellery shop and sold some of my sovereigns. There’s plenty of cash left so we can afford a nice dinner and a night out later.”

“I can’t pay you back if I don’t get the part!”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get the part. I found out that there are only five other girls auditioning, you’ll win easily.”

I slipped the knickers on, helped Twinkle rearrange her wings and did the buttons of her blouse up. Then we left the hut followed by our trolleys and made our way down to the staff door. We unloaded the suitcases and Twinkle waved at the trolleys and they parked themselves in the trolley section and we walked out of the store. We went down the alley and as soon as we reached the high street Twinkle ran to the kerb and waved to a taxi.

“Leave the cases, ladies, I’ll get them.”

“I didn’t argue and followed Twinkle into the cab whilst the cab driver heaved the bags into the boot and after a bit of struggling, closed the lid and returned, “What you got in them cases, scrap iron?”

“Half of Debenhams stock,” I answered.

“I can believe it. Where to?”

“The Royal Astoria, please,” answered Twinkle and I nearly choked, “The Royal! That place charges two hundred a night without breakfast.”

“Two hundred and forty,” she answered, “I asked for an ensuite twin. “We’ll need somewhere to change and after the audition we will want to change again and have a bath. I said we’d need it for a week, possibly two and they reduced the charge to one eighty.”

“Why two weeks?”

“Well I didn’t know what your place would be like, with you not having a job and after the audition, we have to see Merlot. Then there’s the rehearsals and if we can’t find a place to live that befits a super-star, we can use the hotel. You’ll be earning decent money by then and we can share so it’s only ninety pounds a week and it would cost more to rent a two bed furnished flat.”

“But I might not get the job.”

“You will and even if you don’t, we’ll still need a place to live whilst you’re looking for another starring role. Somebody will snap you up if the people producing this show don’t.”

We arrived at the hotel and I waited whilst Twinkle paid the fare and then we followed the porters into reception.

As soon as we entered our room I understood why the Royal charged two hundred and forty a night for a twin without breakfast. The lounge and bedroom were large and the bedroom had twin beds and a wall full of wardrobes with mirrors on each door. The en-suite was marble with taps that were gold plated. It was so luxurious I felt a little intimidated and would probably worry about leaving tide marks around the bath when I used it.
When the maid asked if we required help with unpacking, Twinkle declined but asked her to have a pot of tea with cream scones sent up. As soon as we were alone she took over, “Right you pop into the bath and I’ll unpack. I’ll leave your new clothes hanging over the doors of the wardrobes and we can decide what you should wear for the audition and for our celebration dinner.”

I did as I was told and luxuriated in a warm scented bath for twenty minutes listening to the sounds of Twinkle unpacking our new clothes. Eventually there was a tap on the door and she called, “Time is passing come on.”

“Okay and I’ll remember to dry my new bits carefully, I’ll only be a few minutes.”

When I returned to the bedroom she watched me critically as I walked across the room to join her between the beds. “It’s easy to see you are a dancer, you walk very gracefully and it looks so natural.”

“I think it is natural. Did you magic it into me?”

“Not really I simply told your bones and muscles to convert to ladies movements rather than men’s’ but your skill as a male dancer did the rest. You are very talented that’s why I am confident you’ll get the part. Now,” and she pointed at the bed, “The leotard, shoes and a pair of plain pink panties for the dancing. The bra is pink but other than that fairly plain but will give you good support whilst dancing. White tights, not stockings because I suspect you won’t have a lot of time for changing at the audition so fussing with suspenders and stockings would be a nuisance. What do you think?”

“Perfect and if I wear the panties and a skirt and blouse with perhaps a front buttoning cardigan for the journey to the town hall that will save time when I need to change into the leotard but I’ll have to change my name from Allan Sterndale. What about a stage name?”

“How about Belle Starbright, it does have a ring to it and when we go to see Merlot, I will adopt you as my sister and then you will become Starbright Bell but we’ll keep the first name for the stage.”

“Adopt me as your sister?”

“Of course. You may take a liking to Fairyland so being my sister solves any immigration problems and we can flit back and forth between England and Fairyland as much as we like and have loads of fun and you can teach me to dance. We’ll have stacks of Fairyland men and English blokes queuing up to dance with us. When we are at theatres and places whilst you are doing shows you can introduce me as your sister and manager.”

I laughed, “That would be terrific and when we’re not partying we can give fairies dancing lessons and have jobs in both places and spend all our money on clothes, makeovers and expensive jewellery.”

Twinkle grinned, “That’s what life is for, having fun. Now come on you have to pick the clothes for tonight. How about the pale blue dress, the colour matches your eyes and you could wear the pretty bra, sexy panties and suspenders and I’ll magic the three inch heels to a different colour when we go out.”

We sat in the waiting room of the town hall theatre whilst another girl had her turn and my brain was in a bi-polar mode. One minute I was dreaming of the fun Twinkle and I would have when I got the part and then it switched to worrying about my sexuality. Had I accepted this odd change from male to female simply because I was prepared to do anything to get a part and avoid the doll and poverty or had I always had a female hiding inside me, was I a transsexual! I found myself becoming impatient to meet Merlot and have my change completed, to become a complete female and have Twinkle banish my male parts forever but what now, did I still want that or would I want to go back to being Allan, say goodbye to Twinkle, never meet Merlot or experience all that I had today.

Then my mind would switch again. No, that would never happen, not now. I could never give up the feelings of excitement when I saw the clothes Twinkle had bought and as she helped me dress for the audition the keen anticipation I felt when looking at the blue dress and the pretty undies that were waiting for tonight…

“Are you okay. Your face keeps switching from frown to smile, is it nerves?”

“No. I’m thinking about today, about the fun I’ve had and how much I want it to continue and then worrying about how I would feel after the show ends and I have to return to being Allan. Then I wonder whether Belle was always inside me. I love things as they are and I think that even if I don’t get this part, I want to remain Belle and go looking for another part…What should I do, Twinkle?”

“I can’t help with that, it’s not allowed but I think your head and heart will make that decision either tonight or tomorrow.”

“You don’t think I will make a decision based on my financial situation? You know, decide to remain a girl because I would stand a better chance of getting a part?”

“Is it easier for girls?”

“Not really. Probably more difficult, particularly parts that involve both acting and dancing because far more girls are interested in dancing than boys in our earlier years so there are more girls auditioning for dancing rolls. I’m surprised there are only six tonight but then again, there were only five or six men this morning. It’s a short run, just two weeks rehearsal and a month on stage and in a provincial theatre as well so that’s probably the reason.”

“So you’re not worried that you won’t dance at your best?”

“No, if anything I have to remind myself that though I know I’m good enough, I still have to put everything into the audition.”

“That’s the answer. Do just that, put your soul into dancing tonight and worry about everything else later…”

“Miss Starbright, you’re on in a few minutes if you could wait in the wings please and we’ll call you.”

“Okay.” I turned to Twinkle, “You come with me and watch, that is allowed. No magic though, I have to do this bit on my own or I won’t be able to make my decision later.”

“I promise,” she said and with my knees shaky we walked to the wings and waited.

The auditorium was quiet, there were five men in a group four rows back and another four or five scattered around the theatre. The five in the group were huddled together, talking quietly and making notes and I wondered if they knew I was here but as I thought it a man came up and smiled, “All ready?” he asked. I nodded and he turned to Twinkle, “And who is this?”

“My sister and she acts as my dresser and manager when I’m doing a show, is that okay?”

“As long as you keep quiet and don’t call out advice,” he answered, “What’s your name?”

“Tinkie,” I said before Twinkle had a chance to reply, “And Tinkie always calls me Starry. They’re the names we called each other when we were young.” He nodded again, made a note on his clipboard and then one of the men in the group called out, “Next please, Paul.”

I stepped forward but Paul stopped me, “I’ll announce you, wait until I signal.” He walked onto the stage and said, “Number five, Belle Starbright, you have her résumé. Her sister is also in the wings and acts as her manager, I have warned her about coaching whilst Belle is dancing.”

“Okay ask Belle to come on please.”

Paul turned and nodded at me, and I joined him. A man in the group who was probably the casting director looked up, I smiled and said good evening. He glanced briefly at my leotard and asked, “Are those the clothes you would normally audition in.”

“Yes unless instructed otherwise, are they suitable?”

“Fine, I want you to feel comfortable. Right, I want to see you interpret the music and this is a free dance. I need to see your skill as a dancer and judge your ability to understand and fit your movements to the music, okay?”

“Any style of dancing?”

“Anything you feel will show us your ability even if it’s a classical dance. Now pick any spot on the stage and nod when you’re ready.”
Paul walked off and I went back four paces and looked at the director and he nodded then called “Music.”

There was a brief pause and I felt my legs begin to shake and my confidence vanish but before I feinted the opening bars of Khachaturian’s Adagio from his ballet Spartacus and Phrygia began. I lifted my arms and gently pirouetted and began to dance long sweeping movements light jumps, turns and pirouettes using my entire body concentrating on the tiny voice that whispered in my ear; “Let your body do the dancing and leave your heart to translate the sounds into grace and beauty.” My feet, legs, arms, fingers and torso danced and it was better than anything I could ever have done as a male. I danced for I don’t know how long but as the music began to fade I pirouetted on one foot while bending until I could reach out and let my fingers appear to caress the boards and then I rose slowly and gave a little curtsy and stood perfectly still.

A second man walked up the steps nodded and came over to me, “That was excellent but how are you with ballroom dancing, Latin American, the jive?”

I closed my eyes and sighed, I had got it wrong, this was after all an audition for a modern musical and I had danced ballet. In for a penny, in for a pound I thought, “Fine,” I answered which was only part truth, I had never danced ballroom or jive as a girl!

The man nodded, “I’m the choreographer and if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to see you jive a few routines with a partner.”

I was sunk now, why couldn’t he have asked me to act a short scene, “Okay but with a new partner I can’t be too adventurous.” Heaven only knows what had made me agree!

“Fine, give me a moment to set it up,” and he walked over to the first man and they spoke for a moment or two and then the choreographer went to the wings and called, “Get Mike here please and I need a chair.”

He smiled at me and returned to the auditorium and the director came over with the chair. “Sit down. I want you to imagine you are at the village hop. Your friends are dancing to a jive number and a young man comes up and asks you to dance. I want you to act your reaction, accept his invitation and get out of the chair and be led onto the dance floor. Can you do that?”

“Yes, okay.”

He walked back closer to the wings and called, “Ready Mike, let’s go and music keep the volume low until they start dancing…Action!”
The dancer, Mike walked over slowly gave me a wink as he stopped and eyed me over like a Teddy Boy selecting his next chic, “Fancy a jive?” he asked.

“Might, you any good?”

“Red hot.”

I held out my hand, “Help me up from the chair, you said you’re red hot I want to feel myself burn.”

He led me a few steps and whispered, “Being serious, how fast?”

I smiled, “Let’s drill holes in the floor.”

Then the volume increased and he took hold of me and we danced a few steps to get the feel for each other and then he looked an enquiry at me, “Let’s get going Hot Boy,” I challenged.

He grinned, took my hand spun me and then we went into it like a couple of 50’s bobby soxers. We spun skipped and flew around each other and we put on a terrific demonstration. I missed his hand at the end of a particularly fast double spin and stumbled against him.” I wanted to burst into tears when the director called “Cut!” and came over to me as the choreographer raced up the stairs. “Sorry,” I said, “I fumbled and blew it.”

Mike put his arm around me, “My fault, I missed her hand.”

“You two know each other?” asked the choreographer. I shook my head “Ever danced with each other before?” Mike shook his head “Never, and who could forget those blue eyes.”

“Right, said the director, “Thank you Miss Starbright. Would you like to get changed and go to the waiting room, there’s tea and sandwiches there but don’t leave the theatre.”

I felt terrible but controlled it and smiled ruefully at Mike, “Thanks for the dance, Hot Boy,” and I felt Twinkle take my hand and lead me to the changing room.

The changing room was empty and I sat on one of the benches and opened my shoulder bag to search for a tissue, all I wanted to do was blub until I flooded the room and drowned myself. Twinkle gently lifted me back onto my feet, handed me a tissue and went behind me and as I cried she quietly unzipped the back of my leotard, eased it off my shoulders, and unclipped the little skirt. “Why are you crying, I thought you would be overjoyed,” she asked as she folded the skirt and put it in my bag.

“I ruined all our plans, spoiled the day and now all I want to do is lay down and die.” She eased the leotard over my shoulders and then hips and lowered it to my feet, I automatically lifted each leg in turn and the leotard joined the skirt in the bag. “What did you ruin, you danced like and angel in the first part and in the second danced with the man so skilfully, with so much passion and so dedicatedly I had to stop myself from running over and joining you?”

“I missed the final catch, if Mike hadn’t been there I would have lost control and flown across the stage and into the auditorium.”

“But he was there and all you did was stumble and Mike admitted it was his fault. You were both dancing with unfamiliar partners but despite this, you threw everything into it and only made one tiny mistake. You have the part and now your crying has ruined your face, go and wash it and I will try to disguise the puffy eyes and pouting lips.”

I did and fifteen minutes later, dressed and with my face repaired we went into the waiting room, “If only I had danced a little slower, everything would have been different.”

“If that’s a wish, I cannot help because we are forbidden to grant wishes that may alter what is preordained.”

I smiled for the first time since leaving the stage, “I already know what’s pre-ordained, it’s French fries in plastic trays.”

“Don’t be silly, all you’re thinking about is the little mistake in the dance. You have ignored what the choreographer and director said to you after your performance.”

“What did he say? I was told to get changed and have a cup of tea before going home.

“He said nothing about going home, in fact he said you were not to leave the theatre, he obviously wants to speak to you again because normally all they say is ‘Thank you, we’ll let you know.”

She was right, I might yet be offered a job in the chorus line. It wouldn’t pay enough for the Royal Astoria or expensive celebrations but at least we could get by if we went bed and breakfast in a cheap lodging house whilst I looked for something else. “We’ll have to economise,” I said.

“What for, I have a chest full of those gold coins back at Merlot’s, more than enough to last us for years at the Royal.”

“We can’t spend your money like that unless we are certain we can replace it.”

“We are certain. Where are the other girls?”

“What?”

“The others who were here for the audition. The last went out to the stage as we came in and the one before you left here with a frown on her face whilst you were crying. You are the only one asked to wait which can only mean you have the part. They simply wanted to make sure the last girl wasn’t better.”

“Maybe but I think they’ll want me for the chorus line and have another audition for the lead…”

We were interrupted by Mike appearing at the door, “Okay, they want to speak to you in the office, come on, you as well ," he said smiling at Twinkle.

“I can’t dance!”

“I thought you were Belle’s manager, so you’ll need to be there. Hurry, they are not people to keep waiting.”

We were ushered into a plush office with a huge oak desk, an executive office chair that I could have slept in comfortably and they fussed over us until we were both seated in deep armchairs.

James Bowman the producer introduced us to everybody and started the meeting. “Thank you for attending today’s audition, Belle and I have the pleasurable duty of informing you, that subject to our reaching a satisfactory agreement we have unanimously agreed to offer you the part of the female lead for the four weeks run of the show and subject to our success in this first venue, and of course your willingness to continue, the contract will cover the entire British tour. After that, if all goes well and the show receives the public support we are confident it will, perhaps we can discuss your continuing in the West End of London.”

I opened my mouth and squeaked, “But the disaster in the jive, ouch!” The ‘ouch’ was a response to the sharp kick on my ankle from Twinkle.
The choreographer, Lionel Dirkin interrupted, “That was nothing. You had danced through the full Adagio of Spartacus and danced in a beautiful, classic style and then changed that style, and tempo and danced a full jive splendidly with a partner you had not even met before the audition and without a break or chance to warm up. To say we were impressed is a gross understatement. Before you danced, we had planned to hold a second audition next week, you have saved us the expense.”

Twinkle interrupted, “I think Belle needs a few minutes to consider your offer so may I suggest that she leaves us and has a rest, she is a little tired from the audition. I can discuss the terms on her behalf.”

If it hadn’t been for the fact that I had sunk so deeply into the cushioning of the chair I would have leapt up and strangled her. Mark, misunderstanding my reason for trying to struggle out of the chair crossed the office, held out his hand and helped me up and still holding my hand walked me to the door, “I’ll look after Belle,” he said over his shoulder, “And leave you to the business arrangements.”

The next minute I was walking across the stage to the canteen worried sick that Twinkle was going to negotiate me right out of the part; what does a bloody fairy know about show business contracts. Mark sat me down at a canteen table and went to the counter, “Two teas, with buttered scones, please.”

I turned and looked out of the window at the closed door of the office. An office where Twinkle was either negotiating me out of a career on the West End Stage or weaving magic spells and brewing deadly potions in a cauldron.

“Congratulations,” said Mark returning to the table, “Nothing less than you deserve. I have never seen a dancer at an audition who could switch styles and dance as well as you did.”

I nodded a little vacantly, “You helped by blaming my stumble on yourself.”

“The stumble was nothing, you are an outstanding dancer.”

“We never had a chance to prepare!”

“That’s it, forget what’s going on in the office, Tinkie will sort them out and I have already told them you are a fully paid up member of Equity so they do have rules to stick to. They also know that I am something of an equality enthusiast so I would be surprised if they didn’t offer you something close to my contract terms and I know they want us both in the show.”

“I was about to ask what terms he had negotiated but the door to the office opened and to my relief, everybody was smiling and James Bowman had his arm around Twinkle’s shoulder. “Don’t forget to telephone and confirm after you’ve explained everything to Belle,” he said.

“About an hour and a half, no more,” she promised and took me by the hand. “You look absolutely exhausted, come on, straight back to the hotel for some rest before dinner.

I just had time to say goodbye and thank you and the next thing I knew, I was standing outside the Town Hall whilst Twinkle tried to catch the eye of a taxi driver.

“Back to the hotel, get changed and off for a celebration,” she ordered once we were in the cab.

“What happened at the meeting?”

“Well they offered two thousand but I turned it down…”

“You turned down two thousand! I know it’s not much but we could have scraped by. We would have to leave the Royal and get a cheap bed and breakfast but we could have survived and I would have a chance to become known and get other parts.”

She was staring at me her face frowning. “Two thousand a week, not for six! They also want you to start on Wednesday so that you and Mike can get to know each other and do a bit of rehearsing before the main rehearsals start . I got them to increase the fee to two thousand five hundred a week for the six and a half weeks of this first show and they have agreed a fee increase to two seven fifty for the remainder of the tour and will pay our accommodation in a four or five star hotel for the full year of the tour. You will have to dance two extra numbers though.

“There’s the publicity work and sponsorships to take into account during the second half of the tour and that will be extra money. I’ll get Merlot to agree to my staying for a full year, possibly two. I’ll make sure you get plenty of rest time between venues and we can visit Fairyland frequently. Are you okay, you look pale?”

“Pale! This morning I was an unemployed male actor and dancer and now I’m a fully employed girl super star, living in luxury.” I gave her a hug, “Let’s go out and celebrate and visit Merlot tomorrow.”

“Don’t get pregnant after he completes the change, it will ruin our plans.”

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