I decided to repost a few old stories of mine from Fictionmania over here before I start posting some new stories i've writen. This was my first posted TG story on Mindy's Sierra BBS way back for those who remember the old pre web days. I hope people can still enjoy this story. I'm really happy to be getting back into writing after a 10 year break and should be posting new material soon.
Birthday Wishes By Bruce
"Goodnight Claire, night Robert. Happy birthday Jess!!" yelled his aunt Nancy as Jessie Evans closed the door on the last of his party guests.
Thank god the whole ordeal is over, Jesse thought, family parties are the worst. He figured at 19 he should be able to have his own friend over to his own party, but the big get together was a family tradition. All his aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, and all their spouses got together whenever someone had a birthday. It was always the same too; all the women went upstairs and drank tea, all the men went downstairs and drank beer. It feels like the 1950's in this family, he mused. Oh well, at least Mom and Dad are not as old fashioned as the rest.
"Jesse, could you come into the living room, please?"
Jesse smiled as he walked into the living room. Mrs Claire Evans knew her son was anticipating the gift he was supposed to get from his parents. She wished she could give him something right away as a reward for putting up with the party; she saw how he suffered. However this would not just be any birthday for her son and she wanted to explain things to him first before he did anything rash.
"Jesse " she began , "this is a very special birthday for you did you know?"
"Sure Mom" he replied, "19, a man, more responsibility, yada, yada, yada, and all of that. How about the gift?" He grinned.
Claire laughed. "You really get to the heart of the matter don't you Jesse? No, I am not going to give you the standard responsibility speech this year, if you are not responsible by now you will learn the consequences."
"Then why is it special, mom?" A good present he hoped.
"There is an old superstition about the birthday when you turn the same age as the day you were born...."
"Huh?" Jesse looked at Claire. What was she going on about now?, he thought.
She continued, "....you were born on February 19th, 1978. You were born on the 19th and you are now 19. According to legend, you may make a wish on this day and have it come true."
"What?" He gaped.
"I know this sounds strange coming from us, but listen to a story and I will explain why I am telling you this." Claire leaned forward. "It all began in 1977..........."
Robert looked up at the calendar with the picture of the big bussomed bimbo on his bedroom wall. She would make a nice birthday present, he thought. April 18th, 1977, my 18th birthday!! Today is going to be a great day! A new car from Mom and Dad, a date with the hottest chick in school, and a party with all my friends; what could be better? Thank god I was able to talk Dad out of the family party for once this year.
Grabbing his jacket, Rob went down stairs to fight a set of keys taped to the back of the door. "Right on schedule" he said as he read the note.
To our big boy- Love Mom and Dad
God, how cornball! Oh well, it is still a car. He grabbed the keys and went out side to see his dream car his.....
.........piece of junk. It was old , rusty, and about three miles long. It was impossible to hide the disappointment on his face as his Mom jumped out a snapped a picture.
"Don't you like it?" she asked him still smiling.
"Yeah Mom, great." He replied halfheartedly.
"Oh, by the way, your friend Ralph called and he and Steve got tickets to go to the Hockey game so they can't make the party tonight. He said it was the playoffs so he knew you would understand."
Great, what else could go wrong? He sagged.
"Now run along to school, you don't want to be late."
Things continued to go wrong. Everyone laughed at his new "wheels" when he arrived at school, English class had a pop quiz which he bombed, and to top it all off he was having a fight with Claire at lunch. This was the final straw! He could not take any more.
"It is supposed to be my birthday will you give me a break for Christsakes?" Robert snapped.
"No. You have been acting like a pig all week and I have had enough! " Claire fired back.
"Look I didn't mean anything by it, I just like to squeeze my woman in appreciation of her fine beauty." He grinned.
"I am a person not a side of beef. That's it, were through."
"Come on. You don't want to break up. Wouldn't you miss our snuggling?" He tried to look charming but was failing miserably. This was bad. Dumped, on my birthday, in front of everyone in the school. It was too humiliating.
"Snuggling! All you ever want to do is try to get that tiny excuse you have for a penis into me!" Everyone laughed at that, and then the final blow. "I think I will find myself a man instead of a boy." She walked out.
Robert tried to act nonchalant for the rest of lunch but he was too upset. How could she treat him like that? It was his birthday, the bitch.
"I wish we could trade places so she could find out how it feels to be humiliated" he mumbled.
He blanked out.
Robert awoke slowly. He felt really seedy. His vision was way off so that he could hardly focus and his muscles did not seem to be under his control. Everything felt really....weird.
"Are you ok dear?" Said an unfamiliar women's voice.
He had trouble speaking, all he could get out were a couple of groans that sounded very strange to him.
"Do you know where you are?" she said again.
At this point his eyes began to focus and he could see the white walls and tacky health posters of the school nurses office. Everything looked a bit off, the colors and textures seemed subtly different but that was where he was.
"The...uh..nurse's office?" He squeaked.
"Good girl!!. I knew you were all right. All you girls on all these diets nowadays, its a wonder we don't have more pass out."
Girl?! Slowly as his mind began to make connections to his body, as if his brain was learning something new, he could feel differences everywhere. His legs seemed cool and smooth; that was the first thing he noticed. That was not all however, his but felt, well, big, he had a sense of being smaller overall, he felt more hair, and there was the weight on his chest.
He sat up quickly almost fainting again from the rush to his head. There was no doubting the face he saw in the nurses mirror before him. It was the face of Claire. He was Claire!!
"I think I am going to be ok now, do you mind if I leave?" Robert looked at himself, now herself, in the mirror and just wanted to flee.
"Actually, your mother is in the office right now to take you home. I will walk you there" the nurse replied.
My mother? I can't go out and meet Claire's mother as if nothing has happened. I have often wished my parents would go away but not like this.
Robert got to his feet and almost fell over. He was amazed at how different it could feel to be in someone else's body. It was not just the gender changes either, although they were the most troubling to him. His size, movements, vision, hearing, and all his other biological senses were off at least slightly. The changed colors of familiar objects he assessed as being a byproduct of Claire's beautiful blue eyes replacing his ugly brown ones. Everything also smelled more strongly to him in this body although he was starting to wonder if Claire had a bit of a hearing problem. It was a unique chance to experience human differences even if it is not one he would have chosen for himself.
As Robert walked down the hall suddenly a woman ran up and hugged him. Al though he had never met her he had to assume this was Claire's mother.
"Are you all right dear? When the school called and said you fainted I almost had a fit! Do you know what is wrong with you? Do you still feel like fainting? Did the nurse give anything to you? You didn't hurt your head did you? I hope....."
Robert broke off her rambling, "Mom! Mom! It's ok, it's ok!!"
"Alright then, but I have you father waiting in the car and we are going home right now!"
He didn't see any way out.
"Ok Mom, let me just take my time though, I still feel a bit queasy."
Claire's mother helped him outside to a big expensive new car where a man he could only assume was 'Dad' sat waiting. As Robert got into the back seat the man turned around a kissed him making him almost jump out of his new skin.
"How is Daddy's little girl? You got the flu buttercup?"
Oh god! "No, I am just fine Dad. I just need a little rest." Buttercup, yuck,
The man peered back quizzically, "Ok, I will just take us home then. You better cancel your date tonight, by the way."
The reminder of the date still stung and he mumbled out a vague affirmative. Robert remained quiet the rest of the trip home as he sat in thought. What now? How can this have happened? Am I going to be stuck like this. By the time they arrived he was very depressed.
Robert went straight upstairs after getting to his new home. Fortunately Claire had snuck him in here one day when her parents were away and he was able to find his bedroom. Careful he locked the door and sat on the bed.
"I can't believe I am in a girls bedroom and I am not even excited." He mumbled to himself. "Heck, I am even able to feel up a beautiful chick in a miniskirt and I don't feel turned on at all."
He started to laugh. The tension of the afternoon had really built up he had to laugh himself into tears before he was able to feel calm again and think. His first step he figured was to try and find out what happened. He assumed it was the wish he made right before he passed out. If it worked once, he thought; heck, why not try again?
"I wish I was Robert again." Nothing.
"I wish that my wish never came true." Again nothing.
What exactly had he wished? He had wished to trade places with Claire. That meant that she must be in his body. He picked up the phone and dialed his home number....
Claire looked again at the body she now wore in the mirror. Strange, she thought; but being male is not the worst thing that could happen to me. No more periods, no more ass grabbing, no more being treated like a baby at 17. It's not that I did not want to be girl, it's just a new opportunity, if I am going to be stuck like this anyway...
The real mystery was how she had gotten this way. She laughed as she thought of macho Robert's experience as he woke up wearing a miniskirt. He must still be curled up in a little ball she mused.
At that moment the phone rang.
Mrs. Evans yelled, "Robert it's for you!!!"
Robert heard the strange sound of his voice at the other end. Well, sort of his voice, it sounded like someone using his voice but not knowing quite what pitch to balance it.
"Hello, this is Robert."
"Hello. You can drop the Robert, it's me." Robert said bitterly.
"Why, Claire, it is nice to hear from you!" she/he laughed. "You don't exactly sound yourself. Is something wrong?"
"Can the humor, this is not funny. Get over here; we need to figure out what is going on and what to do next."
"Ok, ok. Don't panic. I will come over in a few minutes. Do you have any idea what is going on?"
Robert paused, ".....well, not exactly......"
Not exactly? Claire thought. Did he actually know something?
"What do you mean by not exactly?"
Robert felt ashamed. "I sorta made this wish right before things switched..."
Claire was shocked. "I had no idea you had those sorts of feelings Robert," she giggled, "um....I never pictured you as the sex change type..."
"I am not some kind of queer!!!! I just wished we could trade places so you could understand how you made me feel today and this happened! I don't want to be a girl! I am a guy and I want my body back!"
"Methinks though dost protest too much...." she cut him off before he could begin yelling again. "I know you aren't that type Robert I am just giving you a hard time. I will be right over."
She hung up the phone. As she grabbed Robert's coat to go all Claire could think of was, 'If I do figure out a way to reverse this would I really want to go back?'
It was difficult for Claire to talk her way by her parents when she arrived. They were not use to having a boy go up and visit their daughter in her bedroom. Claire finally convinced them that she was concerned for her health and they let her go up.
When she arrived at the bedroom it seemed Claire was justified in worrying about Robert's health; although it was his mental health she was concerned about. He looked so upset and despairing that she decided not to try and tease him anymore, there was no telling what he might do.
"You ok Robert?" Claire asked.
Robert went over and flipped the lock on what was now his door.
"Do I look like I am all right? I am a girl!!"
"Ok, calm down and let's figure out what to do next." Claire tried to sound soothing. " We need to look at our options."
"What options?" He looked up hopefully.
She thought the brutal truth seemed best. "Ok, I am now you, a male; you are now me; a female. We have both tried wishing it back and it is not changing. I don't know of any scientific way to change us aside from radical surgery and I don't think that is likely to go over well with our parents. I think we need to assume we are stuck like this and work from there."
Robert put his face in his hands. "I can't be stuck like this. I don't know what to do. I don't know how to act. What is everyone going to think? I...I...I...." He was trying not to cry but the tears were beginning to get the best of him.
"Look, first of all, no one is going to think anything Robert. They are going to assume that you ARE Claire. As long as you don't start running around saying you are Robert we can both keep this our little secret."
"I would never tell anyone. It would be humiliating. Besides, they would probably lock me up..."
"Good. Now you are beginning to think about this and not just react" She was trying to give him some confidence. "I will help you learn how to do what you need to do to be me until we figure a way out of this thing. It is going to be Ok."
Robert began to calm down a little. Claire knew it was going to be a long ride for him but she would be here the whole way. Robert needed her and she would not let him down.
Claire continued, "Your friends all canceled out and your birthday party so why don't we start working on stuff right away. No one is expecting either of us to be anywhere."
"Ok, what am I going to need to know?"
"It is not just you Robert. There are many things I need to know from you too. We are both going to know how to act around everyone we know, we are going to need to know how to walk and talk and dress in these bodies, and most importantly we are going to have to learn how to trust and depend on each other. It is going to be a long ride I think Robert; but I know we are both up to it if we can just stick together."
Robert smiled at her. Somehow she knew that this was going to be ok.
They worked on getting to know each other's lives for the rest of the night. Claire saved the "How to be a girl" lessons until the next day. No need to overwhelm him the first night. Fortunately, it was a Friday night so they had all weekend to work.
It did not take long for them to figure out how important it was that they share information. Claire's father asked Robert on Sunday morning why he was calling him Dad and not Daddy. He was afraid that she was mad at him or something. Claire did not realize Robert was supposed to work on Saturday morning for a friend of Robert's Dad and narrowly avoided getting grounded. they also both knew that they faced a big test on Monday Morning when school started again.
Robert had feared that the lessons were going to be a horrible ordeal but they turned out to be a lot of fun. He really liked Claire and her constant state of good humor and occasional good natured teasing made things go along much faster. He was still very upset but her presence seemed to lift his mood considerably. He was sure that without her he would have fallen into complete despair.
For her part, Claire was finding that she also enjoyed Robert's company. She was beginning to see that his macho posturing was mostly to impress his friends and because of his father. She had to admit she really didn't like his father. Even though she had only spent the weekend living Robert's life she could already see how his father had given him a perverted view of women. It made this situation that much harder on Robert but Claire was recognizing that he had an inner strength that she really admired.
Together they talked and laughed and for a time forgot that the days ahead would not be easy for either of them.
Monday turned out to be a hellish day for Robert. Already upset and depressed about the situation he was in he found that he had to deal with something new. The guys at school had seemed to take it upon themselves to torment him. Everywhere he went he was getting his but pinched, his bra snapped, and worst of all rude comments thrown at him. Everyone seemed to be snubbing him and he could not figure out why.
The only thing he could figure was that he was acting wrong and strange. During the day when he saw Claire she did not seem to be having the same problems and this only confirmed the suspicions in his mind. He was failing. People knew something. How could he tell Claire?
Every time Claire saw Robert on Monday he looked absolutely miserable. She was worried. She had hoped that he had learned enough to get by but obviously he hadn't. What made it worse was that she was having very little trouble at all and she felt tremendously guilty. Things were strange but she was able to cope. Her only real problem was having to do Grade 12 classes instead of Grade 11. However, even on that front she was a better student then Robert and seemed to be coping.
What neither of them knew was that Robert's friends had gotten together and decided to punish Claire for the treatment she had given him in the cafeteria the week before. They had decided to make her life a living hell and were doing a darn good job of it. They could not possibly know they had the wrong person.
Robert continued to try and muddle through but things were rough. As much as he ached inside to be with her, he avoided Claire. He could not bear to have her know how badly he was coping. It was terribly lonely. He was a stranger to Claire's family although he appreciated that they seemed to be loving and kind people. He was unable to master 'girl talk' and found himself on the outside with Claire's friends as well. Worst of all he could tell that all the guys were looking at him and making fun of him. Depression was starting to get the better of him.
School itself was not that bad for Robert. He had done all the grade 11 material already so this did take some strain off him. He did find girl's physical education a bit of a nightmare however. Everyone was so comfortable there except him. They talked and laughed and he felt so left out. He was self conscious all the time about his body and mannerisms. It was like his whole life was now. When he was there he could not help but think about his problems.
Within three weeks he was so empty he told his parents he was sick and went to bed for three days. He did not want to ever get up again.
Claire was getting concerned about Robert. He was so quiet all the time that he seemed to fade into the woodwork. Even in private she was having a hard time getting him to talk and he would not even laugh at her jokes! The more distressing part was that he was withdrawing from everyone including her.
For her part she was coping. It helped her in a way that she was so concerned about Robert. Worrying about his problems let her forget hers and she was able to ease more gently into this life. She had also hung out with Robert and his friend so much that she was kinda used to how 'the guys' acted. She did miss her parents terribly. She wanted to be able to curl up on the couch with her mom and watch a movie the way they used to. She even missed being called Daddy's little girl although she never thought she would miss that! Robert's parents just didn't seem to care whether he lived or died as long as the garbage got taken out.
It had been three weeks now since the switch. Suddenly Robert had not been at school for three days and she was worried. That was when she heard the talk:
"We really got old Claire on the run don't we?" Steve Slater laughed.
"Serves her right for the way she was such a bitch to Rob. I hope we have driven her right out of this school." replied Andy Diggs.
Suddenly everything made sense. She had to find Robert.
Claire rushed over to her former home only to find out that Robert was not seeing or talking to anyone right now. She could tell that even her parents were concerned about what they thought was their daughter. They did invite her to come back for a surprise birthday party for Claire/Robert the next day. She had forgotten it was her birthday with all the commotion going on in her life.
"My birthday?" she thought as an idea formed in the back of her mind.
Robert was feeling even worse. On top of everything else he had gotten his first period today. He was trapped forever and he knew it. He would never be happy again. For some reason Claire's, now his, mom made him get up early and wear a frilly dress. She said she wanted to take him shopping and he had no choice but to comply. He spent the rest of the morning in a miserable hell of dresses, skirts, undergarments, and other things he had no interest at all in.
He tried to get Claire's Mom to quit early but she kept insisting he try on garment after garment until it was obvious that he was just not going to get into the spirit of this. She seemed to look at her watch every two minutes as well which became very irritating. Finally they hit a restaurant for lunch and headed home.
Robert opened the front door of his new home to yells of "Surprise!!" There was a cake, candles, presents, and a large number of guests and he realized that this must be Claire's birthday. He did not want the crowd but he did his best to say all the necessary hellos. Eventually he was able to get away and went up to his bedroom to hide.
Suddenly there was a knock at the door.
"Robert, you there?" It was Claire.
"Come in I guess." Robert replied sounding very angry and depressed.
Claire poked her face in. "Is it safe?"
"Yes"
"You look miserable."
"How am I supposed to feel?" He shouted. "I am in the wrong body, the wrong sex even, I have no future, I am wearing a stupid maxipad, and I am supposed to get excited about a birthday that is not even really mine. Sorry I am not chipper for you!!"
"Calm down. I understand the stress you've been under. Some of that applies to me as well you know?"
Robert began to cry. "I know, it's just......you seem to be coping so much better. I am such a failure. I can't be you. I can't fool anyone. I am so alone and things are just never gonna be right for me."
"Look Robert, you are coping fine. No one suspects you of anything except being a very sad girl. Wait.....I know what you are gonna say....but I heard the 'gang' talking today and I found out they have been punishing you for dumping me. That is why things have been so rough for you. I just wish you had have told me....heck who am I fooling. I should have seen something was up. I just want you to know that you are doing fine. You are stronger than I imagine I would have been shouldering that alone."
He looked up at her through tear soaked eyes. "It still isn't the same thing Claire. I want my old life back. I don't think I can go on like this....."
The despair in his voice was obvious. She was beginning to prefer her life as a guy but she knew that she had to do something for Robert. She realized that deep down she had come to love him. His happiness was what mattered.
She mumbled under her breathe "I wish that me and Robert switched bodies again."
Then a voice in her head seemed to say that things that had been wished for could not be undone. It was then that she knew that the birthday wish power was real. A second thought formed in her mind. She hoped Robert would not be angry with this wish.
"I wish that Robert would accept the was his life is now and be able to enjoy the world again."
"It was the best wish you could have made dear." Claire smiled at her husband. "Once I got past all my despair and fear I found that this life could be fun and I was also able to realize how much I loved your father."
Robert grinned at his son. We were married before too long and you are the very happy result."
Jesse did not know how to take all this. The story sounded incredible but.....
His mother continued "This being your special birthday we wanted to tell you this so you could make an informed and responsible wish."
His Dad chuckled. "Not that things unplanned don't necessarily turn out right."
"Your serious?" Jesse said.
"Very much so. Don't take this lightly."
He grinned. "Then I wish I was a beautiful young women so I can be just like my Dad."
Suddenly before their eyes Claire and Robert saw there son turn into a young beautiful blonde girl. This was not what they planned! If only he had believed them.
Jesse looked down at his new feminine features in a state of half shock.
"Oh god Jess, I'm sorry" His Dad said slowly. "We will do whatever we can to make this easier on you..."
For the next few minutes Jesse parents tried to make him feel better until he was able to excuse himself and leave the room. His mother stopped him as he got to the stairs.
"I would not have told you if I knew this would go so wrong for you Jesse. Believe me."
"Don't worry Mom. What made you think things went wrong?" He smiled. "Don't tell Dad this cause I am not sure he'll understand. This is always what I've wanted."
His mother peered quizzically at him as he went up the stairs. Then she smiled.
"May all your wishes come true Jesse"
THE END
Another old story of mine. The early parts seemed popular but no one much liked the ending. I have been meaning to rewrite the ending forever so I have clipped off the original version of the ending and have started rewriting it and hope to post it sometime this week.
Would really appreciate comments and suggestions on where you would like to see the ending go.
Catherine and Alexander Part 1
by: Bruce
Although the children never knew it times had been rough in the castle. Their
father, the Duke of Beaufort, had in recent days made a number of
unfortunate alliances that put not only his fortune but his entire properties and
even his own life in jeopardy. In these days after the king's death the wrong
friends could mean accusations of treachery and the Duke had made all the
wrong friends.
Things looked bleak until he had an offer.....
Although she was one year
older than him, Catherine really did not seem to mind having her brother
around. Many in the castle remarked that they seemed inseparable. Catherine
being the oldest of the Beaufort children and Alexander the oldest son and
heir; both children were given a remarkable amount of freedom. They would,
much to the chagrin of their governess, disappear for hours in the large
cavernous hallways of their families ancient estate. No one knew where they
went but they always seemed to go together.
Many sections of Beaufort castle had been closed off for decades. The
family, like so many others in the country; simply did not have the funds to
maintain such an estate. For Alexander this left a perfect world to play in. The
ancient musty corridors could be transformed in his mind to the Royal Place,
or the tombs of a mad sorcerer, or a dragons lair; the atmosphere was rich
with mystery.
Today the game was minotaur in the labyrinth. Alexander was the mighty
hero sent to slay the evil beast (being played by his sister of course). With the
rapier they had found in an empty room in his hand; Alex went slowly
through the hallway searching for his sisters hiding spot. Her trail seemed to
lead in to a dusty room that the children seldom used and he advanced with
caution. He looked around the stacked furniture carefully when suddenly....
"Boooo!" screamed Catherine, jumping from behind a chair. Startled almost
out of his skin Alexander leaped backwards and tripped over a small foot rest
banging his head against the wall quite hard.
"Ouch! Would you watch out! that really hurt!" "Oh, quit whining, if you had
of watched what you were doing you wouldn't have fell." She replied
helping him to his feet.
"It was a good thing that wall seemed to have a bit of give or I would have
cracked my skull open" he moaned, "you would have had trouble explaining
that to Daddy."
Catherine snorted derisively. "You just hate it when I win." "I do not, I....."
She cut him off with a wave of her hand and pointed at the wall. "Look!
There is something behind here."
Alexander turned around and noticed where he had hit the wall a bit of a crack
had opened. It was a secret door! The children had not found one of these in
a long time. All these old castles seemed to be filled with hidden hallways and
rooms. The last one they had found had yielded this rapier and a full suit of
chain armor. The children fell all over each other trying to be the first one in.
Eyes wide, Catherine pushed her brother out of the way and opened the door
a crack. The smell of dust and some other acrid scent assaulted her nose as
she stepped inside. Within she found what could only be described in her
eyes as the greatest of treasures; books! There were literally dozens of huge
leather-bound texts stacked around on shelves and on top of a table that held
an assortment of other odd items. Overlooking it all was a portrait of a dark
and brooding man.
Catherine immediately moved over to the books as Alexander stepped in
behind her to get a better look at the room. He was amazed at all the stuff in
here. It looked like the room of some eccentric, none of the baubles and
assorted whatzits seemed to bear any relationship to each other. He looked
closer at things, his eyes finally coming to rest on that portrait.
"Ooh! You know who that is?"
"Hmm?" She replied obviously distracted by one of the books. "The portrait.
That is David of Beaufort. You remember, our great grandfather, the one they
have all the stories about..." That seemed to trigger her attention a bit. He
was the one that everyone thought dabbled in the black arts. It was said that
much of the families success and money dated back to his dealings. That
made this find twice as interesting to her.
"Let's close off this room and not tell anyone we found it. If we go back now
no one will know we were ever in here."
Alexander looked back at her. " Are you sure that is such a good idea? Dad
will want to know about something like this. There might be valuables."
"I am not saying we NEVER tell him. I only meant that we might want to
explore it ourselves first. How would they know when we found it if we
don't tell anyone?" She smiled.
"I guess. But we better head back now." He still seemed unconvinced. "Trust
me. I just want to grab a couple of these books and then we can go."
"But..." he started.
"Don't worry, I will bring them back."
Somewhere inside Alexander knew this would be trouble.
Alex never saw his sister all of that night or the next morning. She even had
her self excused from evening meal. He was beginning to get worried, when
his sister got things in her head she could be a dangerously obsessed person.
Her schemes had gotten them into trouble before. He remember the lashing
they got when she convinced him to go into town alone to see that minstrel.
The problem was he could never say no to his sister. He was 12 years old,
one year away from manhood, and he still could not assert himself around
her. She was the leader and he the follower. When he was away from her at
his sword lessons or lessons in governing the manor he felt totally adrift.
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, he was never away from her for long.
As if that thought had summoned her Catherine open his door and barged in.
"You would not believe what I found in these books!" she exclaimed.
"What?" he replied, halfheartedly, still worrying about their choice not to tell
Dad.
"These are spell books. Our great grandsire was a magician!"
"You must be kidding?!"
"Not in the least. This book is a copy of an ancient Latin manuscript on
magic."
Alexander warded himself against the dark one. "Ahh, we must dispose of
that right away! I cant believe we had Satanism in our family. If anyone
found out about this, it would be a disgrace."
Catherine shook her head. "Who said anything about Satanism? I said this
was magic. I read it last night and it did not say a thing about Satan."
"But witchcraft is always part of Satan..."
"Gods! You believe all that garbage they feed us? Superstitious nonsense. "
"How can you say that?"
"Look all I am saying is that none of these spells invoke Satan. The ones I
tried did not call on any dark powers at all."
He looked dumbfounded. "You tried some?!"
"Yes I did a spells to convey luck, power, and wealth upon myself. They
were some of the minor spells and I wanted to try them." she continued, "I
have not worked any of the major spells yet but was hoping you would help
me with one tomorrow."
"I am not sure this is a good idea." His heart was beating out of his chest in
fear and dread.
"Don't worry. Have I ever led you wrong?"
He didn't answer that.
Catherine awoke Alexander early in the morning. She said they needed to get
an early start as the major spells took some time. Still half asleep she dragged
him into the dark musty room where they found the book and she begin her
preparations.
As he watched she slowly drew two circles on the floor and proceeded to
inscribe them with some Latin phrases and some numbers. She then placed
and lighted some candles in strategic spots around the circles and chanted a
few words. She chanted some more and danced around a bit in a rhythmic
motion. The whole ritual would have fascinated him if he wasn't so nervous
about the whole thing.
"Please move into the left hand circle." She said in a distracted tone.
He complied. "What exactly is this supposed to do anyway?" He asked.
"You'll find out." She moved into the right hand circle and began chanting
and swaying in an almost hypnotic rhythm. Suddenly she stopped and said a
phrase in Latin.
He knew what it meant from his Latin classes: "Bring about the switch!"
The whole world seemed to swim for a moment. It seemed he was floating in
a void for a second and then he looked out and his perspective had changed.
Firstly, he was staring out at his own body, which was smiling broadly. That
was not right. Secondly, he was now in the right hand circle. Finally, and
most disturbingly, he could feel his breasts heaving with fear. His breasts!
"It worked!" His body cried out.
"Catherine? What have you done to us?" His voiced sounded strange to him.
Heck his whole body felt strange to him. He was beginning to panic.
"I never expected that it would actually work!" She turned around and around
in her new body feeling the sensations. "This is great!"
He shouted at her. "You have to put us back! This is wrong, it's weird."
"Take it easy. I will put us back in a bit. I just want to see how this feels for a
sec O.K.?"
"But..."
"Just try to experience something new for once Alexander. Sheesh!"
Suddenly a faint voice came from somewhere down the hall. "Children! Time
for lessons!"
Alexander look terrified. "Hurry you have to put us back!"
"I'm sorry. I can't do it that fast. We will just have to find time later."
"I can't go out there dressed like this!" He said looking down at the tight
bodice of his dress.
"If you were not dressed in something like that you would look suspicious.
Remember you are me now. Don't fear, no one will suspect a thing. My
lessons today are all book learning and you are almost as far as me in that.
You know from our little practice sessions that I am better than you with
sword work so just get a move on before they find us." she replied calmly as
she moved out into the hallway and ran off.
He was barely able to move with fear as he closed the door to their secret
room and went down the hallway. Every step seemed strange to Alexander
although he noticed that he was not walking like a man at all. For some
reason his body just seemed to move in the normal feminine fashion that
Catherine always used. It was very strange. As he reached the end of the hall
the governess was waiting for him.
"Follow me milady. There has been a bit of a change of plans for you. Your
father needs to see you on an urgent matter."
Alexander entered his fathers chambers nervously. Normally he welcomed
any time he could spend with his Dad but this was not a normal day.
Catherine never really liked their father but he was the firstborn son and his
father's pride thus he was probably treated much better than her. Today
would be different however. He walked up and curtsied and knelt before his
father. Curtsied? He did it without thinking. Very strange.
His father cleared his throat and began, "My daughter, as you know, even
though you are thirteen I promised your mother I would not marry you yet."
"Yes father." He replied with head bowed.
"I fully intended to keep true to that promise. I, myself, had hoped that we
could keep you long enough to grow you into some more feminine habits and
to get you to quit running around with your brother. However it does not
look like this will be the case."
He looked up startled. I don't think Catherine is going to be very happy about
this, he thought.
"You may not know this but times have been rough for our family of late.
Some ventures and alliances have not gone well for us."
This news surprised Alexander. He had not heard of any of this before.
"However, an offer has come to my hands which will secure the future for all
of us. The High Lord Marshal, the Duke of Stanley himself, lost his wife
sometime back. He remembered having seen you on a visit here to the castle
about a year back and he was quite taken with you."
Alexander remembered the Duke of Stanley. It had been at faire time and the
Duke had come up to see some of the artistic performances the local area was
famous for. What Alex remembered of the Duke was not favorable. He was a
hard looking man of about 50 who drank heavily and was very abusive. He
remembered that the girl who was with the Duke (she must have been all of
14 or 15?) looked frightened every time he glanced her direction. This was
not good for Catherine; not good at all.
His father continued, "At any rate he has made a proposal of marriage and in
spite of my promise to your mother I feel I cannot turn it down."
As much as the news of Catherine's impending marriage disturbed him Alex
found it to be almost a strange sort of blessing; it gave him something to
worry about instead of thinking about being in this female body. The
afternoon was really not all that hard for him. He spent most of his time with
Catherine's tutor learning languages and he was decently good at that. Any
mistakes he made were just put off by the tutor as being accountable to
today's news. It seems word had spread to everyone in the castle except for
him and Catherine.
He finally saw Catherine again at dinner. He found it very strange to find him
sitting across from himself at dinner. By instinct he almost found himself
sitting at the table for the male children and soon really wished he could. It
was not just wanting his own body either; the male children were always
served first, they were allowed to talk and be jovial, and they also were able
to eat without having to tend to the younger children. Alex was less than
overwhelmed when he found it was his responsibility to feed and change his
6 month old brother. He mustn't neglect his 'womanly duties' his matron
chastised.
Knowing his sister he made sure he cornered her before she left the chamber.
If he let her leave now he would probably find himself spending another day
in this body.
"Catherine, can we go talk?" he whispered.
"Don't call me Catherine yet!" she hissed back. "Come on." She led him out
of the chamber and down one of the mostly deserted hallways.
"Can we change back now?" he asked.
"You sure you don't want to try things as me for a little bit longer? I think it
is fun."
"Of course you do. You don't have to change diapers. You don't have act
ladylike all the time. I have had enough of the girl thing, thanks."
"Oh come on, you haven't even scratched the surface of what life is like.
Isn't this a good learning experience for you?"
"Just give me my body back. You and I have more important things to deal
with anyway."
"What do you mean?" This peaked he interest. "Father told me today that he
plans to marry you. Marry you soon in fact."
She gaped. "To who?"
"The Duke of Stanley." He grimaced." You remember him from the faire?"
"God's yes! That is not good!"
"I am really going to miss you sis. You don't deserve this." She looked back
angrily. " I am not gone yet. I am not going to take this lying down either.
So, Father thinks he can just ship me off does he? He is going to learn that
his little girl is a force to be reckoned with!"
Alex did not like the look in her eye.
"Alex, I need your body for a couple more days." He started but she held up
her hand and stopped him. "Don't worry, you will get it back. You have
access to people and areas I don't. I need to stop this wedding and can only
do it with your help. You will help me won't you? It is only for a little
while..."
He just couldn't say no to her. "All right, but what do you have planned?"
"Just trust me", was all she said as she turned and bounded down the
hallway.
Completely at a loss as to what to do now, Alex went to the library and tried
to lose himself in a book. After a couple hours he knew it was useless having
only reached page 3. The one thought that kept haunting him was that
Catherine might not want to give him his body back. He knew she cared
deeply about him but she had a tendency to only think of herself until
something really disastrous happened. He did not want this situation to come
to that.
He thought to himself, 'what exactly is the situation?' He was in his sister's
body; that part was obvious. This didn't cause him as much problems as he
expected. He thought back to the incident with his father where he curtsied
and acted completely properly. Alex had also been carrying himself the way
his sister did all day. It seemed whenever he tried to think about how he
should act the information came to him. The only time he messed up was
when he was distracted and unfocused in the dining room.
He decided to put this to the test and tried to dredge up some information
from his body that only Catherine would know. He tried to think about what
she was planning when she cast this spell on him but the information did not
come. Right at that moment when he was trying to think however; some
strands of his hair were annoying him by getting in his eye and the
information about how to put his hair back up popped right into his head
Maybe that was the key. He was only getting information that he needed to
take care of himself, the how to's instead of the why's. At least he could take
care of himself and not stick out. That was good. As long as he thought
before he did things he was not going to embarrass himself. He still needed
more information, however. At that point he decided to get up and head for
the one place where he could find out exactly what was happening---the
secret room.
Alex had trouble staying awake through Catherine's chores that next
morning. He had spent the entire night reading some of the other books from
the hidden room. He was unable to put the books down once he found what
they contained; secrets of magic, unknown politics of the early kingdom, and
personal remembrances of the man who had made Alex family what it was.
He even found another copy of the spell Catherine had used to trade places
with him. That book was filled carefully away for future use, if necessary.
Being sleepy also dulled Alex' conscious mind enough that doing sewing,
embroidery, singing and all the other tasks that Catherine needed to do, came
almost perfectly to him. As long as he didn't concentrate too hard the spell
seemed to provide with everything he needed to know. He still felt incredibly
strange and unnatural doing all these feminine tasks but he was able to get through. He wondered how
Catherine fared as him. It must be the same for her, he imagined.
Catherine was having a great time being Alex. Everyone she came near
treated with a respect she had never before experienced. I guess people are
afraid to cross someone who someday will have the power over there life and
death, she thought. Maybe it was just being male. Either way it felt good!
She also loved the opportunity to practice sword play with a proper weapon
master. Once she had become accustomed to her new equilibrium the weapon
master even remarked that she was seeming stronger than normal today. Hah!
Wait till I get to rub that into Alex! She grinned.
It was almost hard for her to remember that she was not just having fun and
games but was trying to accomplish an important task. She was meeting with
all of Alex' teachers so that she could clear today and tomorrow to execute
her plan. If she failed she would be married to the most brutal man she had
ever met. The thought was not one she relished. However, so far, things
were going as planned. The teachers were very accommodating, it was Alex
she was afraid to confront. She wasn't sure how he would take her going off
in his body...
Alex spent the entire afternoon searching for Catherine to try to learn more of
what she had planned. He had hoped she had figured out something that
would keep her from getting married so she could give him his body back
and he was starting to feel that at least the first part of that was true. It was the
second part that was beginning to concern him.
Everyone of his teachers that Alex talked to, had told him that Catherine had
canceled the classes for that afternoon and for the next couple of days. She
had apparently told them all that she was being sent to meet the Duke and
escort him to the castle. Even more disturbing she had made preparations
with the stable hands to have a horse prepared and provisions for 5-6 days.
Worse than all of that, she had already departed!
This could only mean one thing; she had run off in his body and left him to
be married. Alex felt faint. Married....to a man no less! The Duke would
obviously expect children. That meant... No, he must calm down Alex
thought. Maybe he could still stop her. She had only left an hour ago, his
Father's best horseman could still catch her, he figured. He had never ratted
on his sib before but it was the only option.
The Duke of Beaufort paced his study deep in thought. He was finally having
a some good fortune after that little affair which nearly implicated him in the
assassination of key nobles of the realm and cost him his head. Then,
suddenly, his daughter comes to him and says that her brother had fled the
castle for parts unknown and must be stopped. It was not unusual in itself for
his daughter and son to be up to something; they almost always were. Yet
somehow he knew that this was different. The timing bothered him for one
thing. Why would his son try to leave the castle right after the marriage
announcement? It was also unheard of for Alexander and Catherine to work
against each other. It meant something and he had to figure out what.
At the very least it meant he must keep an eye on his children. He saw that
much immediately and put one of his men to the task of discretely following
his daughter. His son could stay locked in the tower for his disobedience in
leaving without orders. There was just one more precaution to take... the
plans for the wedding must be sped up.
The next few days were a nightmare for Alex. He had been there when
Catherine was brought in by Dad's riders. It was obvious to her that Alex had
played a role in her capture and thustly all she did was glare at him and said
nothing. He tried to visit her while she was locked in the tower but she
refused to see him. This also had the spin-off effect that he had to remain in
Catherine's body for a few more days.
The next day he also found out that the wedding had been pushed up and the
Duke of Stanley had been sent for. He was forced to spend all his time being
pricked and poked in order to fit and design the wedding gown. He felt like
his arms would fall off after having to hold them in the air and perfectly still
for what seemed like hours at a time. Worse than being without Catherine and
fitting the gown; he was forced to sit through a talk by his maidservant about
what he would have to do as a wife to please his husband. It felt like he
would explode from fear and embarrassment. Mercifully, it was not his
mother giving the talk or he would have never survived.
Now things had finally come to a head, the Duke of Stanley had arrived and
here he was to meet his future husband. As he walked through the door a
chill went through Alex' spine... he looked just as he remembered him.
"Hello milady" the Duke knelt and kissed his hand gently. "It is such a
pleasure to be in the presence of such a beauty."
Alex did not know how to respond. The smile and the sincerity in the voice
almost made Alex believe him. "Thank you Lord" he muttered weakly.
"I have already met with your Father and I felt it might be appropriate if we
got to know each other before the ceremony. Would you be willing to give
me a tour of the castle? I have been told you know it better than almost
anyone." he smiled.
"Me and my...uh...brother like to explore around."
"So I have been told. I would have liked to meet your brother as well but I
was told about his predicament. Of course I am sure you know all about it."
"What do you mean?" Alex replied inquisitively.
"I just have a feeling you and your brother know more than people might
think"
Alex looked up nervously.
The Duke winked back. "Don't worry I won't tell. You are to be my wife
after all, we need trust between us. Besides, I would love to hear your
observations." He moved closer and whispered into Alex' ear. "I don't trust
your Dad either."
Later that evening Alex felt he should try to make another visit to his sister.
He almost didn't want to; things had went so well he didn't want to spoil
them. The Duke of Stanley had turned out to be not at all as he had expected.
They talked and laughed and before the day was over Alex knew that he was
somehow a changed man. This was not the cruel man he had seen at the fair.
More than that he was someone you could confide in. Alex had discussed
much of his apprehension about the marriage and speculated on what
prompted his father into the rush marriage. The Duke listened to all of it. The
Duke told Alex how he had been changed by losing his first two wives. He
had been a hard man scarred by leading the nation through many military
campaigns and this had led him to be more cruel than was proper. When his
second wife died with child he realized that it wasn't worth this bitterness,
there were more important things in life, like family. He was just happy to
have another chance with her, he said. He also assured Alex that whatever
business his Dad had gotten into the Duke had the power to get him out.
Alex finally convinced his sister to talk to him and relayed all this to her. He
was sure that this would put her mind at ease but it didn't.
"You expect me to believe he has changed this much?" she asked Alex.
"But he has....."
"Look brother, I love you, but you have never been a very good judge of
character."
Alex began to tear up. "Love me, huh? How come you ran off and left me to
deal with your life and your marriage? I would never do that to you!"
"Hey! Calm down, calm down. I would never have left you to that."
Catherine put her arms around Alex to try and calm him.
"Then where were you going?" he asked.
"I was going to ride to Mom. She is the King's sister, if she wanted to put a
stop to this she could. I am sure she does not know about this; she would
never allow it."
"Mom? Really? I thought...."
"Look I understand. I should have told you what I was doing in the first
place. I guess I didn't realize how much stress this has been on you" She
hugged him closer.
"It's OK." he replied, "At least it is all over now. We can switch back can't
we? The marriage is safe now."
"No we can't switch back! First of all, I still don't trust the Duke and I would
like you to watch him a little closer. Secondly, you want to try drawing a
magic circle and doing a ritual here in the tower with guards looking in
periodically? Hope you like being burned as a witch!"
"But..."
"You just have to get me out of here first." "I'll try, but the wedding is in just
two days."
She smiled grimly, "Then I guess you better hurry."
Alex snuck downstairs into the kitchen. After talking to Catherine he needed
to think seriously and that required privacy. At times like that he always went
into his secret hiding place; a small crawlway, long forgotten, that linked the
kitchen and his Dad's study. Not even Catherine knew about it. He made
sure no one was looking and crawled in. He had barely made himself
comfortable when he heard voices coming from the study.
"Now that we have some privacy let's go over those plans." said the voice he
recognized as his Father.
"You realize as soon as I show you these plans you are officially involved in
all of this?"---that was Stanley.
"I was already involved when I agreed to give you my daughter."
Stanley laughed, "She is hardly worth considering. She will amuse me for a
time. I look forward to teaching her some lessons in obedience... after the
wedding of course. Keep her happy until then."
Alex froze with fear. This was bad.
"Thank god the child's Mother isn't here, she would be a problem. I don 't
know why I ever married the shrew."
"Because she was the King's sister of course. Speaking of which; were you
able to use her to get the information we wanted?"
"Yes, between your maps and my maps we should be able to orchestrate the
attacks in such a way as to leave the King helpless."
"Then let us get to it"
The time had come for Alex to act. Catherine was right; he was no judge of
character. He had almost allowed his sister to be married to a traitorous scum
like the Duke of Stanley and he had believed his Father cared about his
family. They were at the brink of disaster and it had to be stopped. That
meant he had to free his sister.
Alex crawled out of the passageway into the kitchen. He open the cupboard
and grabbed a brew that he knew the cook kept to keep himself out of it on
those long long nights. This should take care of the guards, he thought. As
he preceded up the stairs he failed to notice the man watching him from the
shadows.
There was a knock on the door of the study.
"My lord, I have a report on your daughter." came the voice of the guard.
The Duke of Beaufort could not believe he was being interrupted now! "What
in god's name do you want! It had better be important."
"You wanted me to report any suspicious moves by your daughter and I
believe I have seen one."
"What is it?
She trying to sneak food to her brother? What? Be quick!"
"Sir, I believe your daughter was spying on you from a passage next to this
room."
"What?!"
The guard entered and pulled open a panel in the wall. "She was in there a
few moments ago sir"
Stanley sighed. "My god she must have heard everything."
"Where is she now?"
"Sir, I left her to report to you."
"Find her and let me know as soon as possible."
Stanley interrupted, "Let me deal with her" He smiled.
It wasn't hard for Alex to get Catherine out of her cell but it certainly was
embarrassing. The only way that he could get close enough to the guards to
sneak the sleeping medicine into their drinks was to turn on a little "feminine
charm". It felt very disgusting to be pawed at and stared at by two creeps like
these but it had to be done. It really amazed him that even a girl barely out of
childhood could cause them to react so. He barely escaped with Catherine's
virtue intact.
Once they had lost consciousness he opened Catherine's cell and explained to
her everything he had heard and they agreed she needed to leave immediately.
Unfortunately for Alex, this meant yet more time in Catherine's body. It was
strange though, each time his stay was extended seemed to bother him less.
Perhaps he was getting used to being a girl; he hoped not.
Under cover of night Catherine knew she could get a fair distance before they
could ever pick up her trail. She would make it to her Mother this time. What
she didn't point out to Alex was that this meant he would have to take part in
the wedding. Since there was nothing they could do about it there seemed
little point in upsetting him.
"Make sure you let mother know how much danger she is in." Alex warned.
"Don't worry, I will tell her everything. I will be back as soon as I can."
They hugged and Catherine went out the window. As she left Alex
whispered, "I love you." and turned around in tears.
The Duke searched the castle for any sign of the girl. The first place he
looked was the tower, figuring she would run to her brother. Finding the
guards asleep and the prisoner gone did nothing to improve his disposition.
The girl would certainly pay for all of this.
He finally found her in the library. He dismissed the man at the door and
quietly moved up behind her as she read a book.
"So, milady; I think it is time we had a talk."
Alex looked up startled. He hadn't heard the Duke approach. He tried to get
up and move away but the Duke pinned him in the corner.
"I said we need to talk." There was a fierceness in the Duke's voice.
"I am sorry my lord. You just startled me."
The Duke bent down right in front of Alex' face, "You have good reason to
be startled. Where is your brother?"
"I don't know what you mean, sir..."
He grabbed Alex and slammed him against the wall. "I am through playing
games! It is time we were both honest with each other."
Alex felt a fear he had never felt before. The Duke's size and his grip were
overpowering. Even more than that, the Duke by virtue of his rank and his
gender could do whatever he wished to Alex and there would be only minor
repercussions. This was a sense of vulnerability so intense Alex did not
know if he could stand up to it; but he must. Everything depended on it.
"What do you want of me?" Alex stammered.
"I want you to tell me where your brother went and I want you to tell me
what you heard. Yes, I know you heard us."
"I did not know my brother left; but I am glad he did. I do not trust you or
Dad. I have no idea what you think I heard but I am sure it was bad." Alex
tried to muster as much dignity as he could.
Stanley grabbed Alex and pulled him in tightly. "I guess it does not matter
what you heard. You will be my blushing bride in just two days anyway."
He planted a fierce kiss on Alex. "I would kill you, but you still have
uses....little girl."
The kiss made Alex cringe. "We are not married yet so unhand me."
"I take what I want."
Alex could feel the breath on his neck, he could also feel the Duke's arousal
on his stomach. "A good daughter of the church would wait until marriage. I
fear if I did things...prematurely...I would have to confess it and then I
would no longer be worthy to marry you."
"Bitch!" The Duke slammed Alex' head against the wall leaving him seeing
stars. "You would risk the shame and shunning of such a confession?"
"There are many things I would risk to avoid you. I have no choice in the
end; but until that final moment you will not touch me!"
The Duke sneered, "Very well. Enjoy your two days. Then you are MINE!"
Catherine rode as she never had before. She continued all night at the fastest
pace she could maintain. On many occasions she almost rode into a ditch or
got hung up on low branches but too late would be worse than not at all.
Fortunately; her mother was nearby at the castle of her cousin the Earl of
Warwick. She rode in the gate at noon and collapsed from exhaustion.
When she awoke her Mother stood above her with a look of concern on her
face.
"Mom! Thank god! You must come immediately, Alex is in terrible danger!"
"Alex? When did you start referring to yourself in the third person?"
"Oh god! It's a long story Mom."
"It can't be that much of a rush. You just awoke from passing out so take
your time."
"Awoke? How long have I been unconscious?"
"About six hours..."
"No! We have to hurry. Get saddled up and I will explain on the way. Let's
just say that if we don't hurry the Duke of Stanley will be married to your
daughter and Dad will be guilty of treason."
Catherine's Mother looked seriously at her. "Your not kidding are you. I
knew my gracious husband was up to something when he sent me away but I
never expected this. Don't worry Alex, he will get more than he bargained
for."
Alex spent the next two days locked in his room. The Duke of Stanley knew
he could not touch her until the wedding but there was no way he was going
to give her free run of the castle. It was too much time for Alex to think. He
was stuck in an alien body and, as he saw it, doomed to a life that would be
short and miserable.
He had seen the violent side of Stanley and it was terrifying. He knew that at
best he would live to serve him sexually and maybe bear a couple children but
not much beyond that. The Duke only liked little girls and the power that he
had over them. As Alex aged the Duke would lose his temper at some point
and that would be it. It would be worse if the plan with his Father worked.
With Stanley as King not even his Mother's royal birth or the church itself
could or would protect him.
His only hope had been that Catherine would return with his Mother in time
to save him but that hope was fading fast. Here he was dressed in his
wedding gown mere moments away from becoming a bride. It is a nightmare
he could not have imagined just days ago.
The door opened. It was Catherine's chambermaid. "Are you ready milady?"
she asked.
"Can't you give me a bit more time?" Alex sighed.
"I am afraid not, milady. Your Father has sent two guards to escort you to the
hall."
"Very well. Send them in."
"I am so sorry. I wish there was something I could do..."
Alex felt lost, "It's OK, I don't think there is anything anyone could do
now."
The servant brought in the guards which immediately moved to either side of
Alex. He had no choice but to set out down the corridors to the castle's
gathering hall. Each step took away a little of Alex' hope and resolve. By the
time they reached the gathering Alex knew that he would not be able to resist
any longer. The Duke had won.
Alex' Father met him at the back of the room. "It is my task to give you away
my dear."
"Let's get this over with, please."
He took her arm. "Very well."
The local Bishop performed the ceremony. Throughout the entire event Alex
kept looking to see if his mother would come in and stop everything. It never
happened.
"And now before God I recognize you as man and wife."
Stanley swept Alex up in his arms and passionately kissed him to the
applause of the crowd.
Through the din he whispered into Alex ear. "There is no more escape.
Tonight you shall learn what your place really is."
To Be Continued....
Wishes are tricky things. Even when you get what you want...
Another old story of mine while i finish off chapter 3 of To Save A Family
Consequences
By Bruce
"I am not here to judge you or to punish you. I just want to help you but you need to make me understand." He tried to be as soothing as possible but the girl still looked nervous and depressed. "Just explain to me your side of the story."
The young girl fidgeted. She was quite the little enigma to the doctor. A young pretty girl, only ten years old, and so smart! Her parents were rich and it seemed the whole world was laid out before her grasp but she was so sad...
"Well Doc" she began, "I will try to explain but I know that you are not going to believe me either."
"I would still like to here it."
She shrugged. "OK, well I guess the whole thing started as my fault. It was my stupid wish that got me into this in the first place."
"What wish was that?"
"The wish that I could be young again."
"But you are only ten years old. You are not yet old..."
The girl stopped him. "I am going to explain it all if you just let me and don't interrupt."
"Go ahead."
"Thank you. As I was saying, I had made a wish. I guess it helps if I tell you more about whom I was before. You see, I was once a 30 year old man named David Springer."
She looked over toward the psychiatrist hoping to see some sign of whether he believed her in his reaction but he just sat stone faced.
"Go on." He said.
"I hadn't been very happy, you see. I had lots of hopes and dreams when I was a young man and they had never quite panned out. Here I was 30 years old and I had no wife, no kids, no schooling, no job, and no future. Then the thought entered my mind that if I could start all over again things would be different. It was more an obsession than a thought really and I began to imagine how things could have been different. I daydreamed about different lives and backgrounds I could have and how they would change my future. Then I made a wish."
The doctor gestured toward her. "I am to take that this is the result of your wish."
"Yes."
"So you just wanted to start over and the universe played this cruel trick on you?"
She squirmed a bit. "Not exactly. I didn't just want to start over it was important that I start over right so I was pretty specific in what I wanted."
The doctor raised an eyebrow and she continued. "I wanted to be young enough to have all my choices but not so young that I would take forever to grow up. Ten years old seemed about the right age for that. I also wanted to be smart and rich so that was put in the equation too. The girl thing...well, I thought if I wanted to be free of all my emotional and relationship baggage I need to break free of my rut. What better way than change everything."
"So you got your wish. Than why so unhappy?"
"Well, it just wasn't how I thought it would be. I never considered the
consequences..." She began to cry.
"It's OK. Talking about these things help."
"I guess the first problem I noticed was the boredom. I was so happy when I woke up in my new body with my new family. All I wanted to do was explore my new body and my newly found youth and wealth but it all quickly wore off. I never thought about the boundaries that being 10 years old could put on your freedom. I had to submit to a 9 o'clock bedtime, I was only allowed to watch children's TV shows and that was just the tip of the iceberg. I was not allowed to leave my street because some stranger might grab me, no more CD's with explicit lyrics either. Us kids must be protected. It was sending me slowly mad."
"I can imagine. I don't think I could handle something like that either."
"That's not all Doc. The kids were just as bad. The kids my age and younger had nothing in common with me and were of no interest. The kids older than me would have nothing to do with a little baby. I should have known; when I was a kid I would never have been caught dead playing with a younger kid either."
"You must have felt pretty lonely."
She laughed grimly. "Lonely? I had no friends to talk to and my parents saw me as their sweet little daughter. They did love me but they didn't relate to me. It was hell. Even the love had a down side."
"What kind of down side?"
"It was just that I knew I wasn't really their daughter. It all felt like a lie to me."
"So this is why you feel so sad?"
"It's not just that. There were a lot of other problems not associated with being young but with the fact that I was now a girl. First and foremost are the obvious physical differences. It is tough to get used to being so much shorter and weaker that even I was as a young boy and the sense of vulnerability that gives me. I don't think I will ever have the same sense of security again. The plumbing differences and the thought that I might one day have a period and get pregnant are not exactly fun concepts either."
"Every woman has to deal with those problems."
"True, but I had 30 years as a guy. It was just stuff I didn't consider. I also just don't know how woman can stand the social roles that are thrust upon them. My Mom makes me work in the kitchen instead of getting out in the fresh air and doing yard work. I have to wear dresses and frilly outfits and put up with being called cute and darling and never being taken seriously. I don't think that will ever change either. Now that I have the incentive to watch, I see how people treat my Mom and other woman and have a grim view of my future."
"That is really a lot for one person to have to deal with isn't it? Have you found any upside?"
"Not really, I thought things would be easier in school knowing what I know now but the just moved me to an enriched program where I am quickly finding the pressures mounting up again. What's worse is even though the students there are brilliant the are still so immature and recognize that I don't fit in. If only some one believed me things wouldn't be so bad but telling people at school my story is what got me sent here."
"It looks like we are about out of time. I need to speak with your parents and would like to see you again."
The girl got out of her seat.
"You believe me don't you Doc?"
"I am here to listen to anything you have to tell me."
"Thanks."
The girl left the room and the secretary escorted in her two young parents.
"So what's up with our daughter? She isn't schizophrenic or something is she?" The father asked.
"No, no. She is just feeling a little alienated from her life right now. She doesn't have many friends at home or at school and tries to rationalize it away but pretending she is someone else."
The mother looked relieved. "So what can we do to help her doctor?"
"Just don't indulge her fantasy. Make her act her age and her proper gender roles and she will eventually grow out of it. It would also probably help if you took her out of the pressure of the enriched classes and into a more normal environment. She just needs to know it's OK for her to be a 10 year old girl."
"Thanks doctor."
"Just make sure you pay my secretary."
Writers Note: I would take this characters place in a heartbeat so her feeling in no way reflect the author. :)
Another old story of mine. Just a lighthearted quickie.
Hopefully I can finish one of the 8 new stories im currently working on.
Customer Survey
By: Bruce
Andrew was exhausted. It was another crappy day at work and he
just did not want to see anyone. First, the boss chewed his ass out over a
small mistake in one of the requisition forms. Who cares if he ordered
four extra bags of cement? On a job site this big someone will eventually
want it. Then he saw his old girlfriend bringing lunch to Peter! The little
weasel never even had the guts to let him know he was moving in on his
girlfriend. Although, he really shouldn't blame him. Women make men do
stupid things.
He hoped the frustration would end at home but unfortunately it
didn't. Before he could even get inside his door he was besieged by a
couple of little kids trying to sell some crappy chocolate bars for school.
He almost felt bad for yelling at them and scaring them half to death, but
not quite. Salespeople annoy him even more than regular folks.
Once he got in the door he found his mailbox stuffed to rim with a
ton of junkmail and a notice that he would have to go down to the Post
Office to pick up his new CD's. Apparently because of the sales flyers
they couldn't get the package in his box. He was ready to scream. What
else could go wrong?
Sadly he wasn't done there. On the elevator upstairs he got
cornered by a couple of Mormon missionaries that some jerk let into the
apartment. When he lost them and got to the door of his apartment he had
to juggle junkmail and his keys to get inside where his phone was ringing.
"Hello?" Andrew, panted into the phone, out of breath.
"Yes, Hello. I am calling on behalf of Carpomagic carpet cleaning
services. We are offering a special, one month, low rate on all the carpets
in your home. The fee is just..."
"Leave me alone!!" he slammed the phone down.
It took a few minutes to calm himself down and throw a frozen
dinner in the oven for supper. He picked up the dreaded junk mail and
looked through it.
"Wal-Mart, garbage." he mumbled to himself tossing the flyer,
"You may have just won...ughh. Grocery store ad...gone, pizza
ad...gone, customer survey...geez why do they send all this crap."
He went to toss the junk in his garbage but the customer survey
caught his eye again. It had written on the top 'For the lady of the house'.
This really made him mad. Can't they even send the junk mail to the right
places? he thought.
"Well let's him some fun." he mumbled to himself.
He carefully opened the envelope, took out the survey, and got a
pen. The first set of questions were fairly routine, what laundry detergent
do you use?, what aspirin do you use?, what is your favorite hand soap,
and so on. Even here he had a little fun; choosing all brands that were not
his. For example, under soft drink he chose the very feminine diet pops.
Gotta watch that waist, he chuckled.
Things got even more fun for him. What feminine hygiene
products do you use? Fortunately they had a list to choose from since he
had no idea. How often do you get yeast infections? Yuck, he thought.
How severe is your menstruation? He couldn't believe they would ask
stuff this personal. Do you have bladder control problems? He answered
very high on all of these. Yep, I've got feminine problems all over the
place, he thought and laughed loudly.
The last section asked for all his personal info Age? He put 21.
Name? Andrea Wilson. Address? He put his own. Occupation? He
thought carefully...sell womans shoes. That sounds good. Income? Sadly
I only make 8-10,000 a year, he chuckled. Thank god my boyfriend helps
support me.
The last question asked him if he would like to receive coupons
and offers from companies involved in this survey. He answered yes. Let
them send out all this junk at their expense. It's not like my box isn't full
all the time, he thought. He laughed and put the survey and in the postage
paid envelope provided. At least he was beginning to have a bit of fun.
Maybe the whole day wouldn't be a loss.
He then realized he had forgotten his frozen dinner. It was burned
black.
A week or two had passed since he had mailed the stupid little
survey. He had forgotten all about it until he found the first envelope
addressed to Andrea Wilson in his mailbox. It was a coupon for some Diet
Coke. He barely noticed it in the midst of all the junk mail he had got. He
was starting to think he shouldn't have sent it; wondering how much more
junk he was actually going to get.
Other than that the night passed mostly uneventfully. The only
thing unusual on his mind was this strange obsession with how much he
weighed and a strange desire to get on the scales.
The next morning he got up and weighed himself and went to
work. On the way home he picked up some Diet Coke with his coupon,
thinking what could it hurt?
He found another coupon in his mailbox addressed to Andrea
when he arrived. This one was for some body lotion. He was going to
throw it out but he noticed that his skin did seem kind of rough. Have to
go get some tonight, he figured.
Over the next few days he got a few more coupons addressed to
his female persona but did not even think about the fact that he had used
them all. He had changed soft drinks, detergents, cleaning supplies, was
using body lotion, hair conditioners, skin cleansers, and worst of all
started shaving his legs instead of his face.
The guys at work had already begin talking. They found it strange
that Andrew's skin looked so....soft. Andrew never had the 5 o'clock
shadow that he used to and his buddy Eddie noticed one day that he had
shaved his legs. He never told anyone else or confronted Andy but one
day he couldn't hold his piece anymore. Andrew came in wearing
eyeshadow.
"What's with you buddy?" Eddie asked.
Andrew looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"Um, the eyeshadow, the shaved legs, everything. I mean, I'm not
judgmental myself but your asking for a beating from the other guys. I am
not sure how the boss will take it either."
"I'm not wearing..." Andrew paused. He noticed for the first time
what had been happening the last few days. It was like he had been in a
fog. He was worried.
"I'm under some stress lately man. Cover for me while I go to the
can and wash this off."
Eddie looked concerned. "You should really consult a therapist,
eh?"
"I will."
Andrew rushed off.
When he got home he found another coupon. This time it was for
lipstick. It took every ounce of willpower he had to not go out and buy it
right that moment. He wondered what was happening to him.
In his apartment he checked himself over and was disturbed by
what he found. His skin was softer than it had ever been. His body hair
was much thinner now and he had almost no facial hair. His checks
seemed a little softer and his eyes more rounded than he remembered
them. It was an almost feminine facial contour. He was very worried.
Andrew dosed off later that evening and did not become aware
until the next morning before he went to work. He fought off the fog and
found himself sitting at the table eating a bowl of (yuck) Special K. It did
not take long to notice the bag with lipstick and eyeshadow sitting on his
table. He didn't own the lipstick when he dosed off last night.
This is getting bad, he thought. At least I caught myself before
work this time.
When he came home form work Andrew decided to grab his mail
and throw the coupons directly in the garbage without looking at them.
Maybe this would stop things.
Later, that night Mrs. Tinkle, his landlady, decided to be helpful
and put the letter she found in the garbage under his door. She figured it
must have been put in someone else's box by mistake and then tossed.
She was glad to help such a nice young man.
Andrew regained control of himself on the way to work this time.
Fortunately it was before he got there. He could tell by the stares and the
feel of the stuff on his face that he was wearing lipstick and eyeshadow.
There was something new too. He was wearing pantyhose.
He decided that it was best to go home and call in sick for work.
He vowed that today he would not let his concentration slip at all and he
would not even open his mailbox. His plan worked just fine too, until he
dozed off during jeopardy.
He woke up the next morning wearing a night gown that he had
apparently bought along with a jacket-dress combo the night before with a
J.C. Penny ad he got in the mail. He did not know what to do next so he
called in sick again.
Standing in front of the mirror he noticed many further changes.
The conditioner had apparently caused his hair to grow and fill out, He
was still a brunette but could only tell from the roots. The other day he had
bought blonde hair coloring. His lips were fuller and much more feminine
and the suit and pantyhose seemed to have given him a much more
hourglass body shape. He wasn't even sure his friends would recognize
him anymore.
This thought seemed change something in Andrew. He wasn't
stupid, he knew where this was going. There was really no point in
fighting it. He just wish he understood how and why.
Things progressed quickly after that. That day he got an ad sent for
a special on bras and slips from Wal-Mart. This left him with a perfect c-
cup. He also noticed that he had shrunk down to a very shapely 5'3". He
also woke up to find himself fitting a woman for a shoe at the mall. More
than anything this upset him. He knew he was now a young woman
earning minimum wage and struggling to get by. He could say goodbye to
his high paying union construction job. Working in a shoe store all day in
a dress and heels is remarkable hard on your back too, he thought.
The next days tampon sample brought with it his period and his
final change into womanhood. He felt awful. He had cramps and bloating
all day at work and left very miserable. He also found that the fog had left
him and now he was in total control of his new body and life. Except in
control of his bladder of course. He was really beginning to regret that
answer.
He cried all the way home. He didn't know how to face his future.
Somehow, he also figured that his boyfriend will probably be waiting for
dinner when he arrived.
He came in the door to the building and opened the mailbox. There
was a letter for Ms. Andrea Wilson. He wondered what they could have
missed...
Dear Ms.Wilson
We would like to thank you for your participation in our
market research survey. It is helpful, honest responses like
yours that allow us to better serve our consumers. We hope
our coupons have been helpful and hope to serve you
further in the future. Enclosed is copy of the same market
survey to pass on to one of your friends.
Sarah Davis, President
Miracle Marketing
Inside he found the survey that had caused all the problems. Oh
well, Andrew (now Andrea) thought, maybe I can take this down to Peter
at the construction site. If he is going to steal my girlfriend, the least I can
do is give him a chance to know her a little better.
Another old story of mine. Was meant to be the first part of a longer story but most people seemed to like it as a stand alone horror piece so I left it that way.
The Ward
By Bruce
I had known Anne since I was 4 years old. We lived a few houses apart in one of those neighborhoods in the suburbs that had once been filled with young families but had aged into older couples through the years. It was only natural we became friends, there was no other kids within blocks of us.
I still remember that first day we met. My Dad had just moved the family to a quiet little suburb of Toronto to take a high paying job in the city. My Mother, always the perfect little homemaker, obsessed about every tiny detail of the new home; leaving very little time for me. I had no brothers and sisters to play with so I was feeling very lonely. My toys had still not arrived at the new house so I went out and sat on a swing set that stood out in the yard when along she came.
Anne was not very tall but she was a real ball of energy. As a kid she always had a glint of mischief in her eye and a smile that made you feel that you were the canary in front of the cat.
"You mind if I swing?" She said.
At this point I was lonely enough to have accepted Genghis Khan as a playmate so I invited her aboard despite some nagging part of my brain that said 'Look Out!'
"Sure"
"I knew that swing meant a kid was comin' but I kinda hoped you were a girl."
"Sorry. All boy."
She smiled, "Don't worry you'll do."
"You're the first kid I seen 'round here."
"No kids only old farts in this street."
This only confirmed what I suspected. Dad didn't even think of me when he chose a house.
"So what are we supposed to do for fun?" I asked.
She got that evil grin again, "You really wanna find out what I do for fun? You're not a chicken are ya?"
I knew a challenge when I heard one. "No way. Show me"
She smiled, took my hand, and led me off to a nearby back yard. We walked back to an old tool shed and she took out a can of paint and some brushes. Black paint.
"We need to pain Mr. Evans shed" she announced.
"You paint a shed for fun?" This sounded kind of weird to me, "It sounds more like work."
"Trust me."
I shrugged and started painting. It did turn out to be lots of fun, at least at first. We painted all kinds of fun shapes on the shed and even got silly and started to paint each other. Before long I knew we were going to be good friends. Unfortunately, my Mom was not very happy about the paint all over my clothes, and that was not the worst of my problems. It seems Mr. Evans had not expected to come home and find his tool shed painted with funky black designs and he sort of hit the roof. I was grounded for weeks.
But that was Anne
It turned out that wasn't the last time she would get me in trouble. She was always doing something that would cause grief to someone and I usually got dragged along. I was grounded more often than I was free until the time I was a teenager but I would not have missed it for the world. Anne was just irresistible to be around.
We didn't just get into trouble all the time either. We would often just get together and talk for hours about everything. Neither of us could talk to our parents. Mine were distant; Dad always worked and Mom took care of the house and was always out doing volunteer work. Anne had it worse though. Her Dad was an alcoholic who got pretty mean with his temper and her Mom; well her Mom just wasn't quite right in the head if you know what I mean. All we had was each other.
We stayed the closest of friends until high school and then things started to drift apart. I was a much better student than Anne was so I ended up in all different classes than she did and we rarely got a chance to talk. This wasn't the only problem however. Anne's consistently reckless behavior got even worse in high school. She was into drugs, got into fights, and was pretty much the first girl I knew to be having sex. Childhood pranks were fine with me but this was stuff I just wouldn't get involved in. I always tried to be there for Anne when things got really bad but our lives were just drifting apart.
I didn't find out what happened to Anne until I came home from college that first summer. It seemed that someone had found her wandering down the middle of the street talking to herself and she had been put in the local hospital. The doctors there had said she was in a schizophrenic episode and put her on some heavy pills. I tried to visit her that summer but she would barely talk and that twinkle just wasn't in her eye anymore. I felt guilty going back to college with her that way but I did not know what else to do.
Over the next few years I tried to visit her every time I was home from school. She got out of the hospital sometimes but always seemed to bounce right back in. It was hard to see her that way and she would always make a scene of hugging me and telling me I was her only friend. I felt tremendous guilt ever time I left the hospital but I had my own life to lead.
I moved away from town after college and got a job as a high school teacher. I married a girl I had met in teacher's college and sort of lost track of Anne. I had the life I had always wanted and kind of forgot her in all the excitement. I felt pretty bad about it when I thought of her but I just mostly didn't. Then one day I got a letter from her asking me to come down and visit. She said she needed my help. That's how I come to be here now... at the ward.
The old stone building was an imposing sight. It was three stories high and took up most of a city block. The old red brick was in state of serious disrepair and it was hard to imagine a more dreary location. Naturally some jerk in government decided this would be the perfect location to house the mentally ill.
I walked in the doors and was assaulted by just how lifeless the whole place seemed. There were no plants, no art on the walls, no friendly receptions; just one sour looking nurse sitting behind an old desk in front of a locked door.
"Can I help you sir?" the nurse asked in her best monotone.
"I am here to see Anne Potter."
She flipped through her notes, "Ward G5." She pressed a buzzer and the door opened.
I moved as quickly as I could down the hall to find the ward. I knew I had to come when Anne wrote but I didn't really want to spend any longer than I had too. I knew from visiting in the past that these places were not the funnest places to be in. It's not like you see in the movies with lunatics screaming and running the halls but there was a palpable feeling of hopelessness in the air that I wanted no part of.
I had to have another nurse buzz me in when I arrived at G5; which the sign proudly declared the 'Chronic Care Ward' as if to hammer home the patients status as without a future. The nurse led me to Anne's room and I was shocked by what I saw. The pretty but troubled girl I knew in high school was gone, only to be replaced by a gaunt face and empty stare. She was only 35 but looked at least 10-15 years older. At least she brightened up a bit when she saw my face. With some effort she got up and gave me a hug.
"Nick! I was afraid you wouldn't come."
I tried to smile, "Would I ignore my best girlfriend? No way. I came as soon as I got the letter."
"I am so glad you did. I have missed you so much." She hugged tighter. "How are you anyway?"
"Not bad. How are you doing? You said you needed my help..."
She frowned, "I don't want to get into that just yet, I want to visit." She took my arm. "You can stay for a bit can't you?"
I tried to say no but I just couldn't. The look on her face was like a lost puppy dog. "Of course I can."
"Great! Let me show you around." She leaned in and whispered. "I have been hiding my medication instead of taking it in case you showed up. I wanted to have enough energy to visit and that stuff just kills me. You won't tell will you?"
"No I won't tell."
She whispered again, "You are my best friend aren't you?"
"Of course." I replied wearily.
"Cool!" she yelled, and we were off on the tour.
"This is where we do the laundry." Anne said as I tried to pay attention. She had taken me through the entire ward and explained every minute detail of her life there as if it mattered. She even introduced me to all the patients and nurse and told me details about them, like "This nurse is very strict about bed time." and "This patient screams in the night sometimes." It was hard to feign interest but I suppose this was all very important to her now.
I finally began to get impatient. "So what was it that you wanted anyway? The reason for the letter, I mean."
"Oh that. Come on back to my room and I will explain." She grabbed my arm and led me back.
She looked at me intently. It was an unnerving, penetrating glance. "You are my best friend aren't you?"
" I told you earlier that I was. I meant it Anne."
She continued, "You would do anything you could to help me wouldn't you?"
"Of course, you don't have to ask that."
She stared at me again. "Will you pray with me then?"
I was somewhat taken aback by this. I had never known Anne to be religious and I wasn't really that pious myself.
"If that's what you want Anne, sure."
"Thank you, I don't know how I will repay you." She motioned me down to my knees and we knelt together beside her bed.
"Please repeat everything I say Nick." She bowed her head and started praying. "Oh lord we ask your mercy."
She looked back at me. I stuttered, "Oh lord we ask your mercy."
"We come before you as soul mates and friends."
"We come before you as soul mates and friends." This was weird. Now I know how Kissinger must have felt with Nixon.
"All that we have we offer to each other."
"All that we have we offer to each other."
"Eternally."
"Eternally."
"Amen."
"Amen."
Anne made the sign of the cross and muttered some strange words that I couldn't understand. Suddenly the whole world began to spin. I didn't know what hit me and I blacked out.
Did you ever wake up in the middle of the night from a fever or illness and felt that everything about you was wrong? Waking up was kind of like that. Everything felt sore and wrong and out of place. It took me a second to realize that I was still in Anne's room on the ward as my mind seemed to be moving in all directions.
Suddenly I heard a masculine voice. "Thank you Nick, I won't every forget this."
I looked up and saw that the voice was coming from the face I see in the mirror every morning. Only this time I wasn't talking to a mirror. Something was badly wrong.
"It might take you a bit to adjust but I know you can handle it or I wouldn't have asked you." She continued. "I hope you remember everything I showed you because I want to get off and start my new life."
Then it hit me. I looked down at my body and realized that somehow, impossibly, I was Anne. I wondered if maybe I was just going crazy but this body felt wrong in a way that was unmistakable. I could not have dreamt these feelings in my head.
"How? Why?" I stuttered in a voice that wasn't mine.
"Our prayers have been answered. There was a guy here on the ward a while back that knew all kinds of mystic mumbo jumbo. He would talk of spells and stuff but no one would believe him but me. He used the magic to get out of here but as a gift for believing him he taught me this spell before he went."
"You have to change us back. Reverse the spell." I pled.
"You can't change your mind now. I have to go. You have a job I need to get back to. You have a doctor visit in a little bit anyway."
She got up and began to walk out the door. I stood in shock. This could not be happening but somehow it was! It took me a second to recover and then I ran out after her.
"Wait, please!"
She came over to where I was and whispered, "Don't make a scene, you'll end up in the quiet room."
"But..."
"Don't worry ANNE, I will try to visit you again."
She walked out to the door and the nurse buzzed it open. This was my last chance; I could not let her go. I ran to the door but the nurse blocked my way.
"Calm down Anne."
I was nearly hysterical as the door clicked shut and I saw my old body wave goodbye.
"You have to open the door. I can't let her leave. I am not supposed to be here."
The nurse smiled patronizingly, "You know you don't have hospital privileges right now Anne. Why don't you go to your room?" I didn't see the orderly move up behind me as I struggled to get by the nurse
"No!" I screamed.
Suddenly the orderly grabbed me from behind and the nurse motioned toward a room over by the nurses' station.
"I think you need some quiet time Anne. Your guest seems to have got you excited."
The orderly took me inside the padded gray room and shut the door. The click of the lock at the door hit me with a wave of despair and I blacked out again.
A young man tries to find a way to put his broken family back together.
Bruce
A young man tries to find a way to put his broken family back together.
Finally a new story. Part one is mostly background and the transformation is in part two. This is a bit of a tribute to a FTM friend of mine who had things pretty rough although it will include a tranformation in both directions.
Part two is nearly finished and should be posted within a week. Comments and criticisms are welcome.
To Save A Family
By Bruce
I carefully slipped the covers over my mother making sure her head was set so shouldn't choke if she happened to vomit. In spite of my sore face I still bent down to give her a kiss on the cheek. She was still my mom, even if she got too drunk too often, I still loved her.
I moved to the kitchen to clean up the mess she made. Had to make sure I wasn't bruised also. She really didn't mean to get me in the face with her elbow but many people would take it as a sign she was abusive. That was an extra problem we didn't need, especially now, especially when I was so close.
Ir was in fact a night like this when I first got the idea that things could be fixed. Prior to that I had almost given up. Dad was gone and clearly not coming back, and I still hadn't heard about the whereabouts of my sist...err brother. I still have problems with pronouns sometimes. Mom had come in drunk and I had tried to help her but she fell and took me down with her. I got the worst of it and had a sore shoulder for a week after. It wasn't that which led to me having some hope but what came after. I finally got mom up to her bed and dressed in her nightgown when she said those words:
“I'm so sorry Mary. Oh god I'm sorry, please forgive me”
This was the first time I had heard remorse. I thought she was drinking because she felt sorry for herself or for Dad having left. I thought she hated my sibling.
I still remember how it all went down like it was yesterday. I knew first, of course, since me and Mary were really close. She was 1 year younger than me and she always wanted to hang around. I thought it was weird since sisters usually don't want to hang around with their brothers especially after puberty. Puberty was almost a dirty word with her. She wore whatever she could to hide her body, got her hair cut really short and seemed to move between being really angry and really depressed most of the time. Dad tried to make her be more feminine and when she resisted he called her a “dyke”. I should probably be honest and say I'm glad hes gone.
One day I came home from school and wanted to show her a new Xbox game I got walked into her room and she was trying to bind her breasts. Somehow looking at her right then I knew and she could see it in my eyes. She broke down and told me she couldn't be a girl anymore, that she was meant to be a boy. She knew she was getting pretty and she hated it. She wanted to be like me. I just sat with her and told her I loved her boy or girl. I promised not to tell Mom or dad until she was ready and said that I would help her with anything I could. I really did love her
From that day she had more trouble keeping her feelings inside but I did my best to help her. I would share my clothes with her, I would help her work on her voice and mannerisms. I tried to call her him and Mike whenever my parents were not around. I let him (I really have to remember that) talk things out with me whenever he wanted to. Heck, I even shared my porn since he was a guy in that way too.
It was wonderful to see Mike happy again; it had been so long. Unfortunately it couldn't last. One day Dad found his porn collection. It was awful, he kept slapping Mike and asking if he wanted to be some sick lesbian. Eventually Mike broke and explained he was transgendered. The room went silent after that. Both of us were sent to our rooms but we could still hear the shouting. Dad screaming at mom and hitting her. Telling her it was all her fault. How she had bad genes and he should have never married her. He walked out that very night and never came back.
Mom got support payments from Dad that were more than enough for us to live on but it wasn't the same after that. She blamed Mary. About a week later we had come home from school and Mom had tossed out all of Mike's guy clothes and guy possessions. Her closet was filled with skirts and dresses and extremely feminine shoes. She had also painted the walls pink and dragged in some feminine furniture. She declared that it was time Mary was a proper girl. I was told that I would be punished severely if I tried to aid her in being masculine and that she also had school officials told to inform her if Mary tried to come to school dressed “inappropriately”.
Mary tried to deal with it for a while but she really wanted to be Mike. More than wanted...needed. One day after begging Mom to let her be who she wanted and being refused she just vanished. A 15 year old runaway. Mom never even reported her missing.
I spent a lot of time alone after that. I was sad Mike never told me where he went but I could not blame him for leaving. It was hard though. Mom started drinking and I had to clean the house, pay the bills make the food and pretty much take care of everything. I assumed Mom hated Mike/Mary since she blamed him often enough. Until I heard her regrets that is. That's when I formulated a plan.
I needed to reunite our family. Minus Dad of course; he could rot. Step one was finding Mike. Rough part was I didn't even know where to begin.
I tried talking to Mike's old friends. Even pre-high school friends that knew Mary. Sad part was Mike never had many friends other than me. Of the few acquaintances who even remembered him none had heard nor seen him since he left. That led me to plan number two which was checking in the big city. Whenever I had a chance I would slip up there and visit homeless shelters and soup kitchens. I tried contact family services but they didn't have Mary in the system. I carried pictures of him both as Mike and Mary and showed them around. Eventually, after about two months, I got lucky.
A working girl downtown recognized Mary's picture. And yes I mean Mary. Said she had longer hair and dressed more feminine but she was sure it was her. I was skeptical but she told me where I could find her. I almost prayed she wasn't right but she was.
Mary was a working girl. I found her not much further up the street. It seemed to go against everything that was Mike. I just couldn't understand. She recognized me right away and told me she couldn't talk since she had to work and I agreed to pay her for her time.
I could barely contain my questions as a watched a scantily clad sexy Mary lead me into a cheap hotel room. She cried as she explained how things had been since she left. After arriving in the city she tried to make it as a guy. She tried to get work but no one wanted to hire a short feminine looking guy especially one her age. She was forced to stay in shelters or live on the street and what money she did make doing day work tended to go to a small bit of food or paying off people so she wouldn't get robbed or worse. She couldn't afford a therapist, or hormones, or even a place to live. Eventually one of the street girls found her and made friends with her and told her if she cleaned up she could make some decent money for herself with her good female looks. It even worked for a bit.
Eventually one of the pimps in the area took issues with her freelancing. Now she worked for him. He gave her enough to get by and a small amount she could save. With no high school and no other options she had to keep doing it. She hated herself and felt she was betraying her inner being by being a woman this way. She just saw no other choices. The despair in her voice was clear to me.
I told her I would fix it, I also promised to sneak her what money I could but she had to stay in touch with me. I tried to get her to come home and speak with Mom but she wouldn't believe that Mom didn't hate her. I could tell she still loved Mom but she couldn't face Mom's disappointment. I was even more sure now that something had to be fixed.
The plan I came up with would probably be considered crazy by some. I knew Mom needed Mike and Mike needed Mom, there was just so much pride and hurt that getting them together was going to be a challenge. I knew Mike didn't believe Mom would accept him and I knew Mom wasn't emotionally up to reaching out to Mike. I had to get them together but they were a city away. No amount of convincing would move the other so I needed to turn to something else. Something to force the issue.
Magic.
I decided to find out what I could. I went to libraries, occult shops, used bookstores and even the internet. I found out everything I could. Tried more than one spell at some personal cost but nothing worked. My college grades started to suffer so after first year I took a leave of absence to work on my project. Mom never even noticed.
Finally I found something I could use. One of my contacts put me in touch with an old mystic who said he could help. I drove a few hours away to his shop in the city and met with him. What he offered was a book on demonology. Specifically summoning. A demon would grant me what I needed but I had to pay the price. My soul.
I bought the book. I couldn't leave it there. I read the spell and gathered the ingredients. I didn't even question what I was doing once. If sacrificing myself would save my mother and my sister it was worth it. Which brings me back to where I started. With mom safely unconscious I can finally begin to set things right.
I set the circle and began the summoning....
Matthew makes a deal with magical powers to try to save his broken family.
In part 2 the bargains are made and the transformation occurs.
My first new story in a while and my first to go to this wonderful website first.
Btw, about pronouns. The slipping between genders and names for Mike/Mary is intentional. I have found in my life people have had trouble adjusting to mine and since the family hasn't stayed in close contact it would be even harder and this is written from their point of view much of the time.
To Save A Family Part 2
By Bruce
I honestly believed that the summoning would work but I was still surprised to see the smoke and the light. Perhaps I was just startled that finally my hopes were coming true. What I can honestly say I did not expect to see was a girl in the center of the circle. Maybe if it was a demon of some sort, a tail or horns or something, but it was just a blonde girl, well dressed and pretty.
She smiled at me. “Not what you were expecting was it? The boss feels no reason to be intimidating at a friendly bargaining session so we try to come in a form that is less threatening. You can call me Sara.”
I could not contain my enthusiasm. It had worked! “You have to help me! My family, I need...”
She put a finger to her lips. “Shhh. I know why you called. We even have a plan to help you.” She grinned. “But first there is a bit of red tape. I need to ask you a few questions.”
“Don't worry I will pay any price...honestly I...”
“Calm please. We will get to that part. Question number one is why? Why are you willing to pay such a price for your family. Your mother has not been the best of moms and your sister went away from you. Why on earth would you help them?”
“I love them. I know mom hurts me but she can't help it. She's hurting so much inside. And Mike is my brother not my sister. I don't care what shape he takes. He did what he had to do to survive. They need me, they are both lost and they are my family.”
“Well, they say the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” She dramatically flared her arms around the circle. “I am not sure they would do the same for you. Actually that gives me an idea. Instead of the standard transaction perhaps I can have a little fun with this. See how your love holds up in the face of the reality of your family. I will even give you an escape clause at the end. You up for a little game?”
This made me a bit nervous. “What kind of game?”
“I will set a way to reunite your sister and mother. It will involve a great deal of hardship on your part. After they are reunited you will get to decide if you want them together or want things back the way they were. If your love holds up you have your family again with the only cost being yours. If not I will put things back the way they were at no price to you personally. Sound good?”
“It sounds too good to be honest; but I'm desperate. You have a deal.”
She smiled. “Tomorrow find your sibling. I will show myself and your test will begin. Do not try to summon me again. I will come when the time is right.” With that she vanished.
Sleeping that night proved impossible. Before it was even dawn I headed for the city. I knew where I could find my sisters apartment. I stepped over the homeless man sitting in the door and tried not to wake him and climbed up the stars doing my best to ignore the smell. I knocked on the door and heard my brother/sister from inside...
Mike:
It has been another long night. I hated working the street. It felt like a betrayal of everything I was. I was supposed to be a man. It was damned if I do damned if I don't I guess. I needed the money for a therapist, and hormones, and clothing and surgery. The list seemed endless. I didn't have much talent or skill for anything else. Dad and Mom saw to it that their “little girl” didn't learn anything that might be a useful other than for a housewife. I also have to admit I couldn't focus at school either so that wasn't an option. Mind you I don't feel like I'm stupid; I just couldn't focus. Too much going through my skull.
My one big mistake was running into Dave. He didn't like girls working what he called “his streets” without permission. I had bruises for a while to prove it. I learned pretty fast that I had to give him his cut or I would wind up like one of those other girls that just vanishes. Moving somewhere else wasn't an option either. There was a code in town. Different pimps want different parts of the street. I tried once to relocate. Another beating and one final warning got me back to my corner.
It was hard to get ahead. I had the advantage that I wasn't hooked on anything like a lot of the other girls. I also didn't smoke and I didn't try to have a television. Strictly no frills for me, I had my eyes on my goal. It still didn't leave me much to put away for myself. After Dave took my stash when he first found me to cover his “cut” for the months that I was working I had gotten a bit smarter about where I hid things. Fortunately he also slept in most morning so I was able to slip away and deposit my money in a bank account my parents set up for me when I was little.
I still hated my life. I was dressing up more femininely than I did even under my parents roof. I was also being used by men. I am really not interested in men at all. There were many nights all I could think about was ending it all. Maybe I would be a guy in heaven? Although I am pretty sure if I end it all I would not go up there. I would probably end up in a place just like this. Only this time with no way out.
Seeing my brother Mathew again was one of the few things that gave me hope. From a practical point of view he gave me money that helped me build my stash much much faster. It was more than that though, it was someone who loved me. Someone who made me feel I was worth something not just some sick freak. He came as often as he could and we would talk and I would feel almost normal. Only problem was he always wanted to talk about Mom.
He seemed to think Mom still wanted me. I knew differently. He hadn't seen all of the fireworks between us. I couldn't even blame Mom for hating me either. I made Dad leave. I am surprised Matt didn't hate me for that also but he seemed to have a pretty low opinion of Dad to being with. A part of me still loved both Mom and Dad. That was why I couldn't go back. Seeing the disappointment in her eyes hurt me more than a beating from Dave. I didn't want to take anything more away from her and I was also pretty sure that I couldn't contain the part of me that was angry with her.
Today was going to be a visit from Dave so I tried to get home early. Meant I had to work extra hard to get clients so I could cover Dave's end of things for the night. It wasn't easy either since I had been sick for a while and had lost some weight. Had to put in extra effort to try and look good. Took me a good while to get to sleep even getting home a bit early so I was pretty put out to hear the banging at the door at the crack of dawn.
“Who the hell is there?”
“It's me Matthew! Let me in!”
I dragged myself out of bed and went to the door flinging it open. “Do you have any idea what time it is?” He rushed in past me. He looked about ready to burst. “Something wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong! Just the opposite I have found a way to get you back together with Mom!”
“Matt, I have told you again and again she doesn't want to see me. I don't have any way to get there anyways and you know what Dave would do if I vanish?”
He smiled. “What if I could guarantee that she would see you? What if I could guarantee she would welcome you home?
I shook my head. “How can you possibly guarantee that?”
A flash appeared and suddenly there was woman in my room. “Why that would be me. Your big brother here decided to make a little deal with me to get you and mommy dearest back together. I promised him you would be welcome home and you will be. The only cost would be his.”
My mouth hung open, what was going on? Suddenly she snapped her fingers. Another flash of light blinded me and suddenly everything felt different. I was across the room and I saw myself. It was weird seeing my body from the outside and the expression on my face was one of horror and disbelief. I looked down at the body I now wore. I was Matthew.
The woman smiled at me, “Now you should have no problem visiting Mommy.” She turned back to Matt in my body. “As for you we will settle up later.” She winked at him then vanished.
What had Matthew done? Why? Did he understand what he had gotten himself into. I was afraid for him but I was feeling something that might be even worse than that.
Looking down at my own body... a male body. I felt joy.
Comments and criticisms are welcome! Part 3 should come soon!