Stanley Charm memoirs

Introduction

Welcome dear readers. My name is Stanley Charm, manager of the Wishbone restaurant. I originally didn't plan on writing my life story. After all I am immortal. But as time goes on, I have gained foes. Many of my foes, became foes because of the result of careless wishes. Other people just don't understand me or my role in the multi universe. Or are curious about my background.

I would like to thank Kayla for encouraging me, to write down my life story. She may be only eight inches tall, but she offers a lot of encouragement. I hope she finds someone willing to publish her life story.

Chapter one:Genesis

I was born in the year of the Lord, eighteen hundred and twenty-eight, on a farm in Hampden County, Massachusetts. The second son of Nichololas and Melissa Charm. They had six kids, of which four including myself survived into adulthood. The other surviving siblings were my older brother Matthew, and my two sisters, Lauren and Megan.

During my first thirty years, I was to use the turn of the millennium term a "zero." Despite being raised up on a farm. I felt being a farmer was not for me. But I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. Being a farm boy, my education was rather limited. I could read and write and do some simple math, but that was about it.

In 1850, I decided to start my own family. I married a childhood sweetheart by the name of Brittany Bear. I still remember her dark raven hair, brown eyes, charming smile. We spent seven wonderful years together. She was my wife and partner. When she died in child birth in the fall of 1857, my life fell apart. To add an insult to injury, the baby was stillborn. By Christmas I ended up moving back to my parents place; which was occupied by my parents and Matthew. My sisters by this time had grown up and had families of their own. While my mother was glad to have me around, my dad, had other ideas. By the time October of 1858 rolled around. He began to see me as a parasite.

Now don't get me wrong. I loved my dad. But he could get on one's nerves at times. Especially when he lectured. He used to say things like,

"You got to stop dreaming and do something with your life son. Your brother Matthew will run the farm when I'm gone. You have to go elsewhere to find your niche."He was right about me going elsewhere to find my niche. But he never foresaw where I would go.

It was October 9 th 1858, my 30th birthday. To celebrate I decided to head to the town Springfield and my favourite bar. It was called "The Drunk Skunk" For years when I visited a new world, I check to see if it existed. But I'm getting way ahead of myself.

That night, the usual crowd seemed to be there. There was drunk Al, going on about how us Yankees should show the south who's the boss. At the bar was Nick the bartender. The rest of the crowd consisted of Springfield locals. Then he came through the door.

He was tall(about 6'2'') with tanned skin, black hair, blue eyes. But what really caught everyone's attention was his purple suit. It looked like nothing we had ever seen. If plastic had existed on my home world at that time, I would say his suit was made of it. Anyway he went to the bar and ordered a drink. Nick stared at him like he was from another planet. As it turned out he was from a parallel world. But I didn't know that at the time.

Being curious, I decided to introduce myself.

"You're not from around here are you?" He looked down at me, (I'm about 5'8'') then he said:

"Just passing through. And who might you be?"

"My name is Stanley Charm."

"Nice to meet you Stanley. I'm Zachary Dunaway, manager of Wishbone."

"Wishbone? I never heard of it?"

"It's an old restaurant that moves from place to place. It's just north of Springfield. Feel free to drop by."

"A restaurant that moves from place to place. Is it a flying restaurant?"

The entire bar laughed at my joke. Zachary just smiled.

"You know. You might be the person I'm looking for."

At the time I ignored his comment. Although in hindsight, it was a good indication of his intentions.

The next day was Sunday, the Lord's day. Despite my parent's objections, I decided to visit the Wishbone restaurant.

After some searching, I managed to find it. It was about three miles north of Springfield. Further north than I expected. The restaurant itself was shaped like a box. Judging from the windows, it seemed to be two stories high. On the roof was a sign saying:

Wishbone Restaurant

Above the letters was a giant wishbone cemented into place. I should make clear, this was not the wishbone you see on top of the restaurant today. That's just a neon sign. This was a real wishbone. They're times I still miss it. But the story of what happened to it will have to wait.

I went into the restaurant. Inside the place was lit by gas lights. There was a dinning area to my left. To my right were stairs, and some doors that lead to unknown rooms. In front of me, was a sign saying:

Make a Wish

It will come true

"Ah Stanley. Glad you could make it."

Zachary had managed to sneak up on me.

"A cute sign, you got there Mr. Dunaway."

"Were serious Mr. Charm. Whoever orders the wishbone meal deal gets one wish."

"Only one wish? Why not offer more?"

"If people could get as many wishes as they wanted, chaos would result. Trust me on this."

I thought he was a nut. But I was too polite to say so. Besides I had travelled too far to go home hungry.

A blond woman named Ann Zone handed me a menu. After looking over the menu I decided to order the wishbone meal deal. For those who are wondering a wishbone meal deal consists of a small chicken(containing the wishbone) fries, peas, carrots and a drink to wash it down.

While I was eating, Zachary came up to me and asked how the food was.

"It's fine. But I'm having trouble deciding what to wish for."

"It's best to be careful. You know I've been thinking of retiring. Perhaps you could be my replacement."

I was stunned.

"I need to think about it." I muttered.

"Don't take too long. This restaurant will be leaving in a few days."

Later that night, I headed for a grassy hill side to think things over. It was a clear night, the sky was filled with stars. I considered my options. I though about wishing for my wife to come back to life, but that would be playing God. I was and still am a Christian. I also considered wishing for a million dollars. Which really went a long way in those days. But what I really wanted was adventure, the idea of a roaming restaurant caught hold of my imagination.

A shooting star crossed the sky. I had a sense that God himself was watching me that night. That I was about to meet my destiny. I stood up and cried:

"I wish to become the manager of Wishbone."

Then I headed home, with dreams of a wonderful future going through my head.

"You're going to do what?" My father cried when I told him my plans.

"Are you sure you know what your doing?" asked my mother.

"Does this mean you won't be underfoot." Matthew asked.

"Zachary Dunaway hinted he wanted to retire. I want to try the restaurant business."

"If you fail, don't come crawling back to us. We may have bailed you out in the past, but I won't in the future."

"I won't fail, father." I replied.

I then packed my things and said good bye to my family. Not knowing if I would ever see them again. It would be many years before I had a chance to visit my home world. Oops getting ahead of myself again.

When I arrived at the restaurant, Zachary was waiting at the door. Instead of his purple suit he had on a white shirt and purple shorts.

"Welcome aboard Stanley. I've been expecting you. Please come into my office. We'll talk in there."

"How did you know I was coming?" I asked once inside his office.

"Mr. G told me. "

"Who in the world is Mr. G"

"It's a bit complicated. He will be your immediate boss. Once you are sworn in as a Watan, I'll explain everything."

"What's a Watan? Some kind of business title?"

Zachary burst out laughing.

"Watans are a race of immortal beings. We are kind of like the guardians of the multi universe. We help guide the hand of fate."

I started to get an uncomfortable feeling. What in the world did I stumble into?

As if he was reading my thoughts he said:

"It's too late to back out. Once you make a wish at Wishbone you can't take it back. And since no mortal, can manage Wishbone."

I had heard enough. I got up and walked out the door. And ended up in another dimension.

It was like nowhere I ever been. There was a huge light overhead. It didn't hurt my eyes to look at it, yet it didn't have a form. There was also a man standing there. He was about 5'6'' in height, white skin but with a tan. His hair was black with some grey in it, yet he looked like he was in his twenties. He had a mustache but no beard and wore glasses that looked unusual to me. (I later found out, it was typical late 20th century glasses) The rest of his attire was also from the late 20th century.

"Welcome Stanley Charm. I am Mr. G. I'm here to welcome you to your new life. "

"You act like you know me."

"From my perspective I have known you for over a year. I am from another world and time."

"Confusing isn't he."

I turned around, Zachary was standing right behind me. Mr. G looked annoyed with Zachary.

"Let's get down to business. Zachary your wish to retire has not been granted. Standley will take over Wishbone for you once you show him the ropes. Then you be assigned to others parts of the multi universe. Standley we normally only recruit every trillion years or so. But we made an exception for Mr. Dunaway, so we will make an exception for you."

"What's that about a trillion years?" I asked.

"That's how often, new Watan's are normally recruited." Mr. G replied.

"It's time, Stanley Charm. As of October 11 th, 1858 A.D we now declare you a Watan."

A wave of energy struck me. Transforming me.

"It is done. You have kissed your Mortality goodbye. You won't see me again, but you will hear my voice from time and time."

Mr. G then faded from sight. True to his word I never saw him again. But I do hear him a lot.

I looked around me. I was alone except for the light and Zachary.

"Zachary what is that light?" I asked.

"That light is the Almighty himself." He replied.

I was shocked. I always thought of God as an old man. Only later did I realize he was a spirit that is everywhere. But at the time I wasn't interested in God. I wanted the truth about Wishbone so I turned to Zachary and shouted:

"Mr. Dunaway I want the truth. And nothing but the truth about Wishbone and about you."

"I intend to give you the truth. Although your going to find parts of it hard to believe. But lets head back to the restaurant."

Chapter two: Briefing

Back in his office Zachary went into lecture mode. For people who accuse me of being a bit of ham. I think I got it from him.

"Now where to begin? Ah yes, I might as well tell you, more about myself. I was born in the year of the lord fourteen hundred and ten. In merry old England, in my twentieth year, I came across this restaurant and after some talks with the manager of the time. Caterina I think her name was. I took over this place. Not that I had to twist her arm. She had been running the place since the time of the Roman Empire. She wanted to do something else for a change."

I didn't know history then, or else I would have questioned him more about Caterina. (Who I eventually met) Instead I questioned his claims about his age.

"Do you expect me to believe you are over 400 years old?" I asked.

"It's true. Please remember we are not mortals."

"Another thing. How long has this restaurant been in existence?"

"That's a bit complicated. You see the form Wishbone has taken has changed over the centuries, ten thousand years ago, it was a travelling stone that granted wishes. Then around the time of Christ, it became an inn. Then two centuries ago, the inn became a restaurant. You see Wishbone form is not fixed. Its shape can be easily changed. And take it from me, you will change the layout of the restaurant over time."

He turned out to be right about the interior of Wishbone. I've changed the interior several times. But back to my conversations with Zachary.

"At my swearing in, a trillion years was mentioned. How can this be possible? I'm not sure what a trillion is, but it sounds like a very long period of time. Much longer than the world been around."

"A trillion is a thousand billion. You see we live in a multi universe. Meaning many different universes linked together. These universes are constantly being born, live their lives and then die."

"Universes die?"

"Sometimes yes. But remember new universes come into existence so the multi universe itself doesn't die."

"I still don't get it."

"Let me use an analogy. People are born, grow old and die. But does the Human race die out?"

"No, because people have kids, who replace their parents."

"The same thing happens to universes."

"How come the bible only describes one creation? And come to think about it, how far back in time does the multi universe go?"

"Those are good questions. To answer your bible question. There are parts that should not be taken literally. Besides I suspect God left a lot out because it would have confused the Humans of the time. As for how old the multi universe is. Nobody knows how many trillions of years have passed since the dawn of time. There are some who say, it never had a beginning. Although personally I think, it had a beginning in the very distant past."

Then he went on to more practical matters.

"Please remember this is not a business. Well it is, but the objective is not to make money. Instead we help guide events in the multi universe."

"If we don't make money. How do we buy supplies?" I asked.

"Supplies appear all by themselves. I never questioned the magic behind it."

"Come on, do you really expect me to believe in magic?"

He shook his head.

"How to do think wishes are granted. Besides that, we have a witch on staff. Her name is Ann Zone. She won't like your comments."

"Come on it's the 19th century, we know that witches don't exist. Besides Ann too beautiful to be a witch."

"You really don't know your witches. Besides I think it time you met the staff. And try not to insult them."

The staff in those days consisted of Ann zone, waitress and resident witch, Isaac Ivan the cook and Pierre the waiter. They gathered in the dinning room to meet me.

"I see you suckered someone into taking your place." Ann said after the introductions are over.

"Correct." Zachary replied.

"What does she mean by suckered?" I asked Zachary.

"For months I have been looking for someone to take my place. I assure you your not a sucker."

I had my doubts but I didn't push Zachary any further. Instead I questioned Ann.

"Is it true you're a witch?"

"Yes."

"Prove it."

She then pointed her finger at me. And before I knew what was happening. I was the size of a doll.

"You're lucky I didn't turn you into an animal." She told me.

"Please turn me back." I begged.

"Well. Since you asked nicely."

Within seconds, I was back to my normal size and had learned my lesson. Never ask a witch to prove she's a witch.

Despite the bad start, I and Ann became friends. I still remember the talks we had. I remember asking her why witches didn't reveal themselves to mortals. Her response was that mortals didn't like witches. And that there was trouble between mortals and witches in the past. Having visited Stacey's world. I can safely say that mortals and witches don't mix very well. Even in worlds where witches try their best to stay out of the way of mortals.

But that's a story for another time. The next part of the briefing consisted of a tour of the rest of the restaurant. We went up the stairs to the top floor. On top of the stairs to the right was the control room. My eyes nearly popped out when I first saw it. Having been raised on a 19th century farm, I had never seen computers before. And this room was filled with electronic displays and controls.

Zachary noticing my reaction, grinned and said:

"I reacted the same way, when I first came here. These controls guide Wishbone as it travels through the multi universe. It looks complicated, but its easer than it looks."

Fortunately he was right. Although it took a few days to learn all the controls.

The rest the top floor consists of a hallway and several bedrooms where the restaurant staff slept. Since we (the staff) actually live in the restaurant; the rooms are fairly large.

Chapter three: Early days on the job

It was during my third day on the job that I made my first visit to another world. The restaurant was empty of customers, so we decided to lift off. Coming from a world with no heavier than air flight. I really found the ascent of the restaurant really thrilling. Then we went through a worm hole, which I found looked like a tunnel. Although you could see the light from other universes. Anyway, we soon emerged at our destination. To my surprise the restaurant had not changed location.

"This is a parallel Earth?" I asked Zachary.

"It is." He replied.

"I'm not convinced. Mind if a look around?"

"Go ahead. But be back by night fall."

I headed for the town of Springfield. With the intention of visiting the family farm. But all my intentions died when I saw her. Brittany Bear, my dead wife. She was pushing a baby carriage. I was speechless. Then she noticed me.

"Stanley. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at work?"

I didn't know what to tell her. Part of me was tempted to tell her the truth. But she would have a hard time believing me. After a long pause I said:

"I managed to get some time off work."

"But we got a daughter to raise. And a huge pile of bills."

"I wanted to say I love you."

"You said that this mourning. Are you feeling ok? Your acting like your drunk, but I don't smell liquor on you."

The conversation was getting more awkward by the second. Part of me wanted to stay with her. But she already had a husband. My double on that world.

"I assure you, I'm not drunk. But I see continuing this conversation is only going to cause us pain. Good bye Brittany."

I gave her a quick kiss on the check, then I took off running. She cried after me. But I kept on running. I hope she didn't take it out on her husband. With tears in my eyes, I somehow managed to make it back to the restaurant. Then a great anger arose within me.

"It's not fair. Why must I go through the torment of seeing my wife but not be able to live my life with her?"

Zachary hearing my cries said:

"Take it easy Stanley. It's a hazard of travelling to alternate time lines. Meeting doubles of your self."

"But my wife died in my time line. How come the Brittany of this world survived?"

"I don't know. Their are some things even Watan's aren't meant to know."

"Can we please go on to another world? I have no place here."

"Fine. I need to go to Crossover Plain anyway."

To my great relief we took off and headed for the Crossover Plain. For those who haven't been there, it's hard to describe. Imagine a place where all realms meet. A world that is the door way to all worlds. The gateway to infinity itself. Since all of creation can be reached from Crossover plain, beings from all over, end up in Crossover Plain.

I still remember my first view of Crossover Plain. It was a mainly flat surface. About the surface was a ever changing sky as the weather from countless worlds intermixed. Off in the distance I could see a huge building that stretched out of sight. In the foreground were several groups of beings. Most of them happened to be humanoid. One couple caught my eye. I call them a couple, for appeared to a man and a woman. Except for their clothing they could have walked down the streets of Springfield and not be noticed. Then the man started to grow, followed seconds later by the woman. While I was watching, they grew from 6' in height to 20' feet. Then something scared them, and they made themselves tiny. A being I later learned was called a Garhu went toward the couple but did not see them. The Garhu was armed with some type of weapon that could kill anything mortal. To my horror he vaporized a few people right in front of me. I wanted to stop him. But Zachary refrained me.

"That's a Garhu, a race of immortal beings. Human by day, Gargoyle by night. They are very hard to stop. I lost my entire staff to them once."

"But we can't let him kill people." I replied.

"Garhu usually travel in large numbers. Besides Garhu never hang around Crossover Plain for very long. "

As he was speaking a wormhole opened up and the Garhu went through it. Seeing that the coast was clear, the couple I had seen earlier enlarged themselves back to Human size. Then they headed toward the building in the distance.

"How did they do that?" I remember asking.

"You mean that stunt, the Sizechangers pulled off? Nobody but the Masterchemi knows for sure. Best guess is that they send off fields that cause objects to shrink or grow." Zachary replied.

Even today I am still amazed at the abilities the Sizchangers have. I've even asked Mr. G how they do the things they do. But I have never received a satisfactory answer. But I'm getting off topic again.

Zachary then showed me around. He identified the huge building I had seen as hotel infinity. I was amazed he could identify all the races we came across. And we came across quite a few. He also took me to the Possibilities bar. Run by a Watan named Bozar. When I first saw Bozar I thought, he was a servant or a slave. For he looked like a Negro. Which is another word for black man(or woman) He was greatly insulted. Even today centuries later. He hasn't really forgiven me, for the way I treated him. But hey, back in 1858 America(at least the one I grew up in) Negroes were treated as scum.

After a few days in the Crossover plain. Zachary went up to me and said:

"From now on. You're on your own."

"Think I'm ready for the job?" I asked.

"If your not, your never going to be ready." He replied.

"But what will happen to you?" I asked.

"I will stay in the Crossover plain for a time. Then who knows."

I then headed back to the restaurant and took off for another world. By the way, I still visit Crossover world on occasion.

To be continued

Chapter four: The North American Wars

During this time(from the 1850's to the 1870's) the North American wars were taking place. At least that's what I call them. What the wars are known as varies depending on which time line you're from. Although in most time lines it's known as the American civil war or the war of seccession, depending on who won. It seemed no matter where I went, American hated American. I think I saw every war variation possible. There were worlds where the North not the South left the union. There were worlds where the Union had to fight the British as well as the South. I remember visiting a world where both the South and the North, left the union leaving only the western states and territories still in the union. Then, there was this world, where Mexico took advantage of the war to get part of their lost territory back.

Those were sad times. As I have mentioned earlier, I am from Massachusetts. I believe in a united America. I was, and still am against the confederacy. Which I will refer to as CSA. (Confederate States of America) It saddens me, that there are worlds out there where the confederacy had its way. And I'm sorry to say, there was times when Wishbone helped the CSA. I'll explain how later.

I have seen what happens, when the union failed to win the war: the decline of America is the result. Do you realize that in every world where the CSA exists, the United States never became a superpower. Instead, the Americans became a sort of power, without much influence outside North America. Heck, I saw worlds where Americans were almost as powerless as Canadians.

Ok, enough stalling. During this time, the Wishbone restaurant travelled between both the northern and southern states. This meant that we had Yankees and confederate customers. And naturally, they made wishes supporting their own side. The most memorable of these people was Gabrielle.

Let me set the stage. It was the spring of 1863. The location was Virginia CSA, behind confederate lines. The local officials didn't trust me. They wanted to know why a Yankee would operate a restaurant in the CSA. Fortunately, Ann was able to convince the local authorities to leave my restaurant alone. I tell you, back in those days I was glad to have a witch on staff.

During this time, I was lonely for companionship. It had been years since my wife died. I thought about getting closer to my staff, especially Ann. But I felt it wouldn't be approbiate behaviour. Then she came in the door.

She was fairly tall(about 5'8'') with cute brown curls. She looked like a farm girl. For some reason I felt attracted to her. I decided to introduce myself.

"Hello. My name is Stanley Charm. Welcome to Wishbone."

"My name is Gabrielle. I see the rumors of this place being run by a Yankee are true."

"What gave me away?"

"Your accent. Let's get one thing straight Mr. Charm. I hate Yankees."

"You hate me just because I was born and raised in Massachusetts?"

"Yes. People in that state are heartless. They helped launch this unjust war against us."

"An unjust war." I cried. Then I shut my mouth, I had let my feelings about the CSA get the better of me. But the damage was done.

"Yes unjust war. The United States claims to be a democracy. But when we southerners made it clear we wanted independence, did the US do the honorable thing and let us go? No, they declared war on us. You Yankees are acting like the British during the revolutionary war."

"That's not true."

"Think about it. You're trying to preserve the old order against the wishes of the people. And like the British, you will lose. But enough talking, do you actually serve food around here?"

I led her to a table and gave her a menu. Told Ann to take care of her order. Then I went into my office and started to cry. I and Gabrielle could have been friends, but I had blown it.

Sometime later, Ann was snapping her finger in front of my face.

"Snap out of it Stanley."

"Thanks Ann. I get lonely at times and was attracted to Gabrielle. But then we got in a fight. Will I ever find someone Ann?"

"I don't know Stanley. But we need to talk about Gabrielle. We were having a talk. She told me she's worried about how the war with the USA is going. She wants to help the CSA win the war."

"What's wrong with that?"

"She ordered the wishbone meal deal."

I could hear the concern in her voice. But I couldn't figure out why. We had people wish for their side to win the war before.

"Stanley, she wished to become a goddess so she could defeat the armies of the union."

"A goddess. That's an unusual wish. But probably nothing to worry about."

Boy, was I wrong.

The next morning I woke up to a restaurant in chaos. The entire staff was in an uproar. Then Ann came to me and said

"You better come and see this"

We rushed outside the restaurant. In the east was the most amazing sight I had ever seen. It was Gabrielle and she was growing fast. She was at least 300 feet tall when I spotted her. And growing at least 10 feet per minute. Up to that time I had never seen a GTS-Goddess before. Watching one grow is quite a sight. You can almost feel the power they have over normal sized people.

Anyway, Gabrielle's growth leveled off at the 1200 foot mark. Then out of nowhere a grey uniform of a confederate general covered her body. I turned to Ann and asked,

"Can you shrink her down?"

"Sorry Stanley. My shrinking spells have no effect on her."

Then I heard a voice in my head say;

"Gabrielle is a GTS-Goddess and therefore she is shrink proof."

"Is that you Mr.G?"

"Yes it is. I should warn you that you can't stop Gabrielle."

"Watch me." I replied.

Gabrielle, for reasons of her own, decided to walk up to the restaurant. The rest of my staff fled inside the restaurant. But I stayed outside to confront Gabrielle. Which in hindsight turned out to be a bad move.

She stared down at me, and said,

"Hello tiny. Are you ready to repent?"

"My views on this war are unchanged."

"You're as dumb as a post. So long, bug."

She brought her foot over me. It was so big, it blocked out the sun. Then it slammed down on me, and I felt a wave of pain. The next thing I knew, I was buried deep in soil and Ann and her magic shovels were digging me out.

"I survived, barely. " I cried.

"So I have noticed, you're a reckless Watan. Did you know that?"

"What about Gabrielle? Where is she?"

"Doing her part for the war effort. The rest of the staff are inside watching her on my crystal ball."

After she had dug me out. I raced inside the restaurant, dreading what I would see. What I saw was horrible. Gabrielle was doing her best to seek out and destroy union armies. The confederate armies were startled by Gabrielle's size. And didn't trust her at first. But she made it clear, she was on the CSA side. The USA didn't have a chance. All they had to fight her with was bayonets, cannons, rifles and some primitive repeaters and of course men. It was a slaughter on the battle field. Gabrielle was laughing at their attempts to kill her. Meanwhile, the confederate soldiers cheered her on. This scene was repeated over and over again, over the course of several days. I was glued to that crystal ball. With great distaste I watched general Robert E. Lee congratulate her on a job well done.

Seeing that it was a waste of time continuing the war, Abraham Lincoln called a halt to the civil war and went out to meet her.

I pause my narrative, to say a few words about Mr. Lincoln. I consider him a great man. Out of 90 worlds where he became president. In 60 of them he managed to win the civil war. I had the privilege of meeting Abraham Lincoln Trice. Once in 1860, when he was running for president. He actually dropped by the restaurant. Again in 1862, on a world where he lost the election and later became a general for the union army. And finally in 1863, in that field in Maryland where he went to confront Gabrielle.

I wanted to save him. I turned to Ann, and said,

"Abe doesn't have a chance. We got to help him."

"But what we can do?" Ann asked.

"Send me there. I got to try to save him. "

Within seconds we were on the field standing next to Mr. Lincoln. He was surprised to see us.

"Who are you ? And where did you come from?"

"I am Stanley Charm and this is my friend Ann Zone. We are from Wishbone. Gabrielle will kill you Mr. president, if she has the chance. Please come with us."

"Can you stop her?" Lincoln asked.

"No. My spells don't work on her."

"Spells? You're a witch?"

"Yes." Ann replied.

"We could have used you earlier in the war."

"I prefer to stay out of mortal affairs."

While Ann and Lincoln were talking, I saw that Gabrielle was coming toward us.

"We don't have much time. Please come with us Mr. president."

"No, I must try to talk to Gabrielle. It's our only hope."

Then a shadow came over us. It was Gabrielle. She was surprised to see me.

"Didn't I kill you the other day?" She asked.

"I can't die." I replied. Before I could taunt Gabrielle further, I was whisked back to the restaurant. Apparently Ann didn't want to risk getting crushed by Gabrielle.

We joined the rest of the staff in front of the crystal ball, for the confrontation between Gabrielle and the president.

Lincoln: "Greetings Gabrielle. I am sure we can come to an understanding."

Gabrielle: "Don't try to sweet talk me, Mr. Lincoln. The confederate states are gaining their freedom."

Lincoln: "But a house divided, cannot stand. We are Americans, we should be one nation."

Gabrielle: "Sorry Abe. But were moving out."

Lincoln: "A state does not have the right to leave the union."

Gabrielle: "Your starting to sound like king George III."

Lincoln: "How do you figure that?"

Gabrielle: "Like king George, you ignore the wishes of the people. The Americans wanted freedom, but instead of granting it, he declared war on them. George lost in the end and so will you."

Lincoln:"There no comparison. We were Americans, we were fighting British soldiers. In this war it's American fighting American."

Gabrielle: "I growing tired on this conversation. "

Lincoln then got on his knees and said,

"I beg you. Please tell the confederate states to return to the union. Americans need to stick together."

"Too much blood has been shed, for the CSA and USA to be friends. See this fist?"

"Yes."

"It is the fist of justice. Good bye Mr. Lincoln."

She then pounded him into the ground. All that was left of him was a blood stained hole.

A great cheer arose from the crowd that had gathered to watch the confrontation. Within days the entire CSA was celebrating Lincoln's death. Confederate president Jefferson Davis personally thanked Gabrielle for winning the war. Little did he realize that he and the presidents to follow would be mere puppets of Gabrielle. But that's a story for another book.

© 1999 by Mr. G

To be continued

Please feel free to make comments, suggestions, complaints ect. By the way, most chapters in this story will not be dominated by giantess.

Chapter 5: The 60's (1860's that is)

One of myths people make up about me is that I encourage GTS-Goddess to come into existence. That I get a thrill every time a woman becomes a GTS-Goddess because of a wish made at my restaurant. Nothing is further from the truth. To be honest, I don't really like GTS-Goddess, they even give me nightmares.

I wish I could dismiss what Gabrielle did, as a nightmare. Shortly after the murder of Lincoln, she stole the states of Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky and Missouri from the union. People in these states were told to embrace the stars and bars or else. Needless to say, most people obeyed. Then she completely destroyed Washington, D.C., saying it was a blight on the landscape. The fall of Washington DC, occurred in the fall of 1863. I was very glad to get the orders to move on to another world.

Tired of endless wars in America, I headed north to British North America(BNA), which in many time lines is called Canada. The time was 1864, The colonies of BNA were starting to think about becoming a confederation. And in most time lines, they headed down that road. Although in a couple of time lines, the Maritimes went for maritime union instead of forming a larger confederation.

Speaking of times lines, it was during the Charlottetown conference that I met my first time traveller. Wishbone arrived in town just a few days before the conference. And we had no idea anything of importance was going on, until that day, when the fathers of confederation decided to have lunch at Wishbone.

There were delegates from Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, twenty-three men in all. To make room for them all, I had to add an extension to the dining room. It was the first time I had to modify the interior of Wishbone. The delegates never noticed the change. They were too busy talking among themselves and ordering lunch.

Lunch was well under way, when a tall black beared man came in the door. He seemed to scan the room. Then he focussed in on John A. Macdonald. I didn't like the expression on his face, I. I started walking up to him, then he pulled out a gun. Seeing little choice, I jumped him. He fired the gun, fortunately the shot went into the ceiling. Then time stopped. I later found out, Ann froze everyone in the room including me. This allowed her to sort the whole mess out.

After making sure he was disarmed, we brought him into my office for questioning. I wanted to find out, who he was and why he was after John A. Macdonald. The first thing he said when Ann unfroze him was,

"How did I get here? You people aren't from this time are you?"

"We are not from this world, if that's what you mean. My name is Stanley Charm, This is Ann Zone. Care to give your name?"

"Call me Marc. What year are you from?"

I was puzzled and so was Ann.

"We don't understand your question." I finally replied.

"Are you from the future?"

"Of course not." I replied.

Ann decided it was time for a truth spell. She cast it on Marc. She asked him where he was from and why he wanted to kill John A.. Macdonald.

"I am from the future, 2012 CE to be exact. I went back in time to free Quebec from the hell of Confederation. John A. Macdonald was the man most responsible for making confederation possible. By eliminating him, we hoped to prevent Quebec from becoming part of Canada."

"Where's Quebec?" I asked.

"It's known as Canada East. But the name will change to Quebec in 1867. You people seem to have access to powerful technology. Help me to free Quebec."

"It's not our place to interfere. And we use magic not technology."

Marc's jaw dropped, then he started chuckling.

"I get it. You use technology sufficiently advanced to be indistinguishable from magic. Arthur C. Clarke was right."

It wasn't until much later, until I found out who Arthur C. Clarke was, and read that quote for myself.

Something inside Marc beeped.

"I got to go. Vive Quebec libre."

He then faded from our sight. I never saw him again. Although I later met some of his fellow time travellers. But that's a story for another time.

When we got back to the dining room. The fathers of confederation were gathered around a couple of crystal balls. One of the men went up to us and said,

"Are you the manager of this place?"

"Yes I am. Stanley Charm my name."

"Glad to met you sir. I am George-Etienne Cartier. The most odd thing has occurred. We were joking around, wishing we had a crystal ball, so we could see the future. When out of nowhere this crystal bar appears. What's even more amazing is the things were seeing inside the ball."

"Did any of you order the Wishbone meal deal?" I asked.

"Yes. But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Whoever orders the wishbone meal deal gets a wish."

"That explains the first ball. But what about the second ball?" Ann asked.

"I can answer that." A man whose name was Edward Palmer replied.

" I wished for a what if ball. A crystal ball that can show me different possible futures. That way Maritimers can get the best possible deal out of confederation."

Shortly after our conversation with Edward Palmer, the fathers of the confederation left the restaurant taking their balls with them. I wasn't there at the negotiation table, but I've heard those balls, created quite a debate. The maritime delegates saw their possible futures and weren't happy. Wooden ships were on the way out and the Maritimes were headed for a decline, no matter what they did. In the end, they managed to convince the Canadians to base the Senate on the American model. Have the same number of seats for each providence. Which is a better deal than what they got in most time lines.

That wasn't the only time I met the fathers of the Canadian confederation. I managed to meet them again in a parallel world. The place was Quebec city, the time, October 1864. I found the meeting awkward, for I had met their counterparts before, but they had never met me or a version of me before.

I still remember a conversation I had with John A. MacDonald. He was designed to become Canada's first prime minister. I told him that I considered him the father of Canada. His reply was not what I expected. He looked me right in the eye and said, "a British subject I was born, a British subject I will die."

"You don't consider yourself a Canadian?" I asked.

" I consider myself, a subject of the British empire first, a Canadian second." He replied.

I could think of a polite reply and the conversation moved on. I don't think he liked Americans very much. Sad to say, at the time the feeling was mutual. I've been to a few time lines where the States and Canada actually came to blows. I'll say more about that later.

I may have been travelling in BNA, but I kept track of going on in the states. Speaking of which, I want to talk about what happened to the Abraham Lincolns that won the civil war. Tragically they became the target of both Southern and northern assassins. Southerners hated him because he defeated them in battle, and there was a minority of northerners who felt he wasn't going to punish the south. Out of 60 Lincolns, only 10 managed to make it to the end of the second term. All but one of the rest got assassinated. There was even one world where he was impeached by an ungrateful America for being too soft on the south.

Try as I might. I could not escape war. There was this one world where America, driven by greed and a great dislike of Britain: declared war on Canada.

That left me with mixed feelings. I'm a loyal American, but to shed blood over what proved to be a land grab. I was opposed to that. To make matters worse, I was an American behind enemy lines. Thank God for Ann. She managed to convince the Canadians I was not a threat.

I have visited that world several times. So I managed to learn what happened.

Over a period of three years, the Americans managed to conquer most of BNA. Only Newfoundland and PEI remained in British hands. This conquest came at a high price. Over 200,000 Americans lost their lives in the war.

Another war, that I had the misfortune of being mixed up in was the Fenian war. In most time lines, the Fenians didn't amount to much. But then some Fenians ordered the wishbone meal deal. They wished for their invasion of BNA to be successful.

As a result of that wish, they managed to conquer Canada. Their plan was to hold Canada hostage until Britain freed Ireland. But the British proved to be stubborn. They refused to let Ireland go. Last I heard, That Canada was still under Irish control, making that world unique among earths.

To be continued

As always comments and suggestions are welcome.

Chapter 6: Christmas

Time moved on through the multi universe. It's hard to describe what it's like. With the exception of Ann, everyone around me aged at a normal rate. People were born, grew up, had kids and died of old age, but I stayed the same.

My lack of aging caused an awkward situation when I visited home for the first time since I became a Watan.

It was Christmas eve, in the year 1898. For the first time in forty years. I stepped foot on my home world. Mr. G had given me a few days off. So I decided to use the time to visit the family farm. Leaving Ann Zone in charge of the restaurant. I set off on foot, through the snow, toward my old home.

As I had expected, the town of Springfield had grown considerably. Many old buildings had been replaced, but the Drunk Skunk was still there.

Much to my relief, the family farm was still there, although someone had built an extension to the house. While I didn't expect my parents to be still alive, I wondered if Matthew or my sisters were still alive. I decided to find out.

A woman I didn't recognize answered the door. She looked to be in her twenties and had nice long blond hair.

"Hello. My name is Stanley Charm. Is Matthew Charm still around?"

"Barely. But why do you want to know?"

"I'm his brother. I want to see him before he dies."

"His brothers are dead."

'That's not true. I'm still alive."

She looked at me as if I was a nutcase. Then she shrugged her shoulders, and said.

"I'll ask, if he's willing to accept a visitor."

She disappeared into the house. I waited impatiently in the snow. After a few minutes she returned.

"Matthew said, he wants to meet the joker who is pretending to be his brother."

"I'm no joker." I replied as I entered the house.

Matthew looked like he was on his last legs. His skin was all wrinkled, his colour was pale. When was the last time he left his sick bed?"

"Matthew is that you?" I asked. After all it's been forty years.

I must have startled him, for he turned around and looked at me. His eyes growing wide in shock.

"This can't be." He cried.

"It is I. I've come home for Christmas."

"But you look so young. Too young to be my Stanley."

"I haven't aged since I became a Watan." I replied.

"A what?" Matthew asked.

"It's a long story, we are kind of like the guardians of the multi universe."

"Out of my sight. I have no time for fools."

I couldn't believe my ears. My own brother was treating me like a stranger. An unwelcome stranger at that. I tried to convince him of my identity by telling him about stuff that happened, when we were kids. I think I finally convinced him, that I was really Stanley Charm. But what he said next, broke my heart.

"Stan, there's no place for you here. The world has moved on."

"But I'm still family."

"A family member that cut his ties forty years ago when Wishbone was in town. Who would believe your story?"

"Can you at least tell me, what happened to the rest of the family?"

"Of our immediate family, only I and Lauren are left. Not counting our kids and grand kids."

"Megan's dead?"

"She twenty years in the grave. I fear I will soon join her."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Hey Stanley. Is it possible to share your eternal youth?"

"You could go to Wishbone, order the Wishbone meal deal and make a wish. If that's what you really want."

"I was joking. Besides, I would rather go to heaven then spend eternity on Earth."

"That's your choice brother. By the way, are mom and dad buried in the family cemetery?"

"Yes."

"Think I'll pay them a visit. It's been nice seeing you."

After saying goodbye to Matthew, I headed over to the cemetery. I had little trouble locating my parent's graves. Judging from the dates on the head stones, they lived full lives. Dad lasted to 1872, while my mom lived to see 1880. Still part of me was sad, they didn't live to see me return.

"Need a friend?"

Startled, I turned around.

"Ann what are you doing here?"

"I decided to check up on you. I figured you where heading for trouble."

"In what way?"

"Time is different for immortals than it is for mortals. It's hard to keep friendship with mortals."

"Are you speaking from personal experience?"

"Yes. I once knew a woman named Beth. I went away to the Witch realm for a while, and when I returned to her world, over two centuries had passed. Ever since then, I try to avoid becoming close to mortals."

"Then why do you hang around Wishbone?"

"I find it an interesting place."

"Would you consider becoming close to someone like me?"

"I consider you to be a close friend and nothing more."

"Nuts."

Interlude

"That's so sad Stanley."

"Reading over my shoulder?"

Kalya nodded.

"I must admit that Christmas was a bit of a downer. But I learned to move on. How about you Kayla? How did you spend your holidays?"

"I rather not say. I didn't get along with my mom, or my sister."

"Well you're always welcome to spend Christmas at Wishbone."

'Thanks. By the way, why not tell people how Christmas is celebrated at Wishbone."

End interlude

The way Christmas is celebrated at Wishbone has changed over the years. From 1858 to the first world war, I had Ann zap up a live tree, the weekend before Christmas. Now I use an artificial tree. It may not smell as nice, but it served me for centuries.

Another thing that changed is the Christmas carols. I and the staff used to sing Christmas carols on Christmas eve. But my singing voice is not the best. From the 1950's onward, taped Christmas music is played in the restaurant from mid December up to boxing day. I got Christmas songs from dozens of Earths. This often confuses the customers, who mutter "I never heard that song before." Some of the more unique Christmas songs played at Wishbone are: "Have yourself a giantess Christmas." , "There's a man in my stocking.", "I found a SW under the tree.", "Bottle of FemaleGrow under the tree"and one of my personal favourites," All I want for Christmas, is an giantess free world."Sung by Brittany Adams. Poor Brittany, her world never did get under the foot of the GTS-Goddesses.

Sigh! Those GTS-goddesses are getting in the narrative again. I guess I'm going to have to talk about Katherine Carrol sooner or later.

To be continued

As always comments are welcome. By the way, what did you think of Christmas song titles?

For those who missed previous chapters of Stanley Charm. They can be found in the Mr. G story Achieve. The url is www.oocities.org/akagilles

Author note: The date of the false millennium referred to in this chapter is January 1, 2000.

Chapter seven: The turn of the century(Or when the19^th century became the 20th)

Before I get to Katherine Carroll. Let me tell you, some of the events that took place in 1899 and the start of 1900.

It was the fall of 1899. The 19^th century was drawing to a close. It was then, when I met Tom. I remember Tom, because he made an unusual wish. He wanted to have a history of the future. The 20^th century to be exact. I guess he wanted to see where Humanity was headed.

Knowing the future is a dangerous thing. It often brings nothing but sorrow. I once heard of a man who found out he was going to be responsible for first contact and the death of four billion people. Harvey, I think his name was. But this is not the time for such stories. So let's get back to Tom.

Since he ordered the wishbone meal deal, he got his wish. He had a copy of a book called Chronicle of the 20^th century show up at his home. I know this because he told me.We used to be drinking buddies. We spent many an evening talking about what was in that book.

He had mixed feelings about the future. He was glad that America was destined to become the most powerful nation on earth. He cheered the death of the European empires. Although he wasn't pleased that America got involved in two world wars. Or that America would be fighting a losing war in a place called Vietnam. He also didn't like the idea of women getting the vote. He once called the suffrages a bunch of losers.

"Why do they need the vote?" He once asked me.

"Can they do any worst than men?"I replied.

Come to think of it. I'm not sure what happened to Tom, after I left his world. The book itself, didn't mention him, so he didn't become famous. Unless of course he managed to change his world's future.

I still remember January 1, 1900 like it was yesterday. It was the dawn of the 20^th century.

Interlude

"Actually, the 20^th century only started on January 1, 1901."

"To the vast majority to people it started on 1900. Even most history books have it starting in 1900."

"I suppose you celebrated the false millennium as well."

"You're starting to sound like Lois."

"Who?"

"She is one of Doomsday Club millennium GTS-goddess. Now let me get back to my narrative."

Sensing she was intruding Kalya said no more.

End interlude

Now where was I? Oh yes, January 1, 1900. I happened to be in California, a place called Riverside to be exact. The clock had just struck midnight, everyone was shouting "HAPPY NEW YEAR"

Then there was the sound of clothes ripping. A woman was rapidly growing out of her clothes.

"Somebody please help me." She cried. But the crowd just stood there gawking. Somehow I knew that she was becoming a GTS-Goddess and that I better get some distance between her and me. Yet I couldn't keep my eyes off her. There something about a GTS-goddess growing, that makes you want to watch.

Bigger and bigger she grew, her clothes quickly gave up the ghost. Leaving her naked. And let me tell you, in those days they frowned on women showing skin below the face.

The bigger she got, the faster she seemed to grow, by the time she passed 500 feet, she was starting to crush people who didn't get out of the way fast enough. In GTS-space they even have a name for it, they call it, "growth crush". Which refers to people or building crushed in the wake of a growing giantess or goddess. Speaking of which, Cheryl's growth stopped, when she reached the 4000-foot mark.

By then she had crushed, several city blocks. But she didn't appear concerned about that. Instead, she tried covering herself up. But she had nothing to cover herself with. She then tore the town of Riverside apart, looking for something to wear.

For my part, I didn't hang around. Like I said before I don't really like GTS-goddess. Although I don't mind them as much, if I'm not responsible for their creation.

In case your wondering, Cheryl eventually forced the people of her world to make her clothes. Other than unreasonable clothes demands, she is a gentle goddess, so I'm told.

Soon after I left Cheryl's world I ran into my first time travelling couple. They showed up one January morning. The woman asked me to help them get back to their own time. I asked them, what made them think I could help. The woman replied, That she could sense the magic of Wishbone. She then told me, that they weren't in 1900 by choice. Apparently their magic computer wasn't Y2K compatible. So when January 1, 2000 came along. It couldn't recognize the date. So it sent them back to 1900. When I asked why 1900, The man told me, that to the computer 00 meant 1900. Unfortunately for them, computers didn't exist in 1900, so their computer didn't arrive with them.

I suggested that they order the wishbone meal deal and wish themselves back to their home time. They followed my advice and were soon gone from sight. To this day I won't touch a computer built by witches, you never know what's going to happen.

It's time to stop stalling. The reason why I'm hesitant to talk about Katherine, is because she was close to me. And our relationship ended on a tragic note.

It was September of 1900, when I arrived on her home world. But it would several months, before I would meet Katherine. Despite the fact my restaurant was only ten miles from her home: which lay outside the town of Elwood in Indiana.

As the weeks and months went by, I got to know some of the people in town including the mayor, a man by the name of Martin McGuire. He invited me to his Christmas party, which was being held on Saturday, December 22 at his house.

It seemed that everyone in town was there. There was singing and laughter. About an hour into the party Martin went up to me and said.

'Stanley I want you to meet a friend of mine."

He led me to a woman standing by the food table. She was of average height at 5'6''. She had shoulder length brown hair, rosy checks and cute brown eyes.

"Stanley Charm, I want you to meet Katherine Carroll."

She smiled at me and shook my hand.

'Nice to meet you Stanley."

"The pleasure is all mine." I replied.

Martin decided to butt in the conversation.

"Stanley is the manager of the Wishbone restaurant."

'So you're a business man. I heard a lot about Wishbone, they say dreams come true there."

"Actually wishes come true."

Katherine's response to this was to giggle and walk away.

It wasn't love at first sight. But I knew I liked her and I think she liked me.

Later that night, I heard her singing "Silent night". Katherine sings like an angel and I've heard angels sing, so I know what I'm talking about. The entire room applauded her performance. Afterwards I went up and complemented her on her singing.

"Thank you Stanley. Do you sing?"

"Yes. But people don't like my singing voice." I replied.

"Sing for me Stanley."

I then sang Jingle bells for her.

"You need more practice."

"Could you teach me to sing?" I asked.

She laughed.

"I may be a teacher, but I don't teach music."

"Really! What do you teach?"

"I teach history to middle school students. Speaking of history, I got to be getting home."

"Will I see you again?"

"I'll be around." Was her reply.

The next time I saw her she was at the new year's eve party. We spent part of the evening making small talk. Then she tried finding out more about me. I wasn't sure if I should tell her the truth or not. Then she asked about my marital status.

"Are you married?"

"No." I replied.

"I'm surprised, that a man like you would be single."

"My wife died a long time ago."

I could tell from her face, that she didn't expect that sort of reply.

"I'm sorry to her that. Did you have any kids?"

That question hit me like a punch in the stomach. I felt like rushing from the room. In hindsight I wish I had. Instead I replied.

"My wife died in childbirth."

"I'm so sorry to hear that."

Thankful she didn't ask any more personal questions. She left me alone, until midnight. Then she came up to me and said.

"May you have a happy 1901, Stanley Charm." She then kissed me on the cheek. Before darting off into the night.

!901 was indeed one of the happiest years of my life. I saw Katherine at ever increasing intervals. By April we were dating steadily. I was in love. I even thought of retiring from Wishbone or finding another person to replace me.

This was also the year I met her family which consisted of her parents and her little brother. They found my reluctance to talk about my background odd, but they seemed to accept me as a possible suitor.

Not everyone was happy over how my relationship with Katherine was going. I remember one night in May. I just come home from a wonderful date with Katherine.

I was in a romantic daze until I felt cold water flowing over my head. Ann was pouring cold water over me.

"Why did you do that for?"

'To wake you up. Your relationship with Katherine is going to be nothing but trouble. Remember what I told you back in 1898. Don't get close to mortals."

"But I haven't felt this way about anyone since my Brittany Bear died."

"You're comparing her, to your wife? Now your really starting to scare me."

"My life is my own. Besides has it ever occurred to you I might want to remarry some day?"

'The powers that be, won't allow it. They won't let you marry anyone, other than another Watan."

"Maybe they'll let her become a Watan."

"Highly unlikely Stanley. I see talking to you is a waste of time. But I beg you to reconsider the consequences of your actions."

Ann was giving me good advice. But I didn't follow it. Now I wish I had.

To be continued

Chapter eight: What happened to Katherine

My memory is a little fuzzy. But I think it was around Christmas of 1901, that we first raised the possibility of marriage. I was hesitant at first. While I was in love with her, I wasn't sure she could accept the truth about me.

After thinking the matter over for several weeks. I decided to come clean. I figured she won't like it, if she found out my past after we got married.

She found my story hard to believe at first. After all, I appear to be in my 30's but in reality I was already 83 years old. I think she started to believe my story when I showed her Wishbone's control room.

"This is no ordinary restaurant." Was her comment on the control room.

She was alarmed, when she found out that Ann was a witch.

"She not going to hurt me? Is she?"

"No, she's a good witch. She doesn't think we should be togther. But she won't harm you."

'That would explain way she glares at me."

Naturally she had to reflect on all she had learned about me. The week that followed was nerve racking, for she won't speak to me. Then one Saturday morning she showed up at the restaurant

"You came back." I said.

"I have thought about what you told me. While I like my teaching job, visiting other Earths would be very exciting. And I would be travelling with an interesting companion."

"Does this mean?"

"Yes. Stanley Charm, I will marry you."

I'm sure my whoops for joy were heard for miles around.

We made plans to get married on June 24, 1902. Things went well until June 14. Then to my horror, I got the order to leave Katherine's world on June 16, 1902.

I asked if I could take her, with me. The answer to my surprise was a firm no.

"But she already knows the truth about me. She already agreed to travel with me. Have a heart Mr. G."

"She has her own destiny." Was his reply.

"If she became a Watan, would she be aloud to marry me?"

"Were not allowed to create new Watans until the 21 century."

I continued to plea my case but Mr. G ignored me.

When I told Katherine the news, she was understandably upset.

"Can't you just quit?" She asked me.

"I don't have a replacement." I replied.

"And they won't let you find one."

Shocked by the unexpected voice, I turned around.

"Zachary, what are you doing here?"

'You know this weirdo?"

"Katherine this is Zachary Dunaway, he was the manager of Wishbone before me."

"Is he a Watan?"

'Yes I am a Watan. I'm here to tell you, that they won't let you find a replacement. They let you replace me, because they wanted you to."

"You make it sound like we have no free will."

'We have some free will, but we also have a separate destiny. And your destiny will soon part company from Katherine's."

"I refuse to accept that." Katherine vowed, before she stormed off. I thought about going after her, but Zachary shook his head.

"I don't think she's going to listen to anything you say Stanley." He told me.

The morning of June 16, 1902 was clear and bright. I stood in front of the restaurant, drinking in the scenery around me, for I knew I would never see it again. Then I saw some movement in the distance. Then I realized, it was a rapidly growing woman. To my dismay, I realised it was Katherine. She was becoming a GTS-Goddess.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" I cried.

Katherine wasn't happy about what was happening to her. Her clothes had long been ripped to shreds. And she was shooting up like a fountain. When I first noticed her, she was 100 feet tall and growing fast. Taller and taller she grew, 200 feet, 300 feet, 400 feet, 500, feet, 600 feet, 700 feet, 800 feet, then her growth started to slow down. At the 900-foot mark, her growth stopped together.

Katherine was naked, but not for long. For out of nowhere a blue dress appeared on Katherine body. She was surprised by the dress appearance, but grateful. She surveyed the landscape then headed for the restaurant

Closer and closer she came, until she was standing right in front of me. She looked down on me.

"You got to help me Stanley. I wished to become a goddess so I could go with you. But I never expected this to happen. Please change me back."

"I wish I could. But once you make a wish at Wishbone it can't be taken back."

"But can't you make an exception for me? I've become a freak."

"Actually you're a goddess."

'This is no time for jokes. How I'm going to live? I'm too large to enter my home or my place of work. And I have no idea what I'm going to use for shelter when it rains and snows. Not to mention food."

"As for the latter, I don't think GTS-goddess need to eat. I really wish I could help you, but there's nothing I can do."

"THEN YOU AND YOUR STUPID RESTAURANT CAN GO TO HELL."

She reached for the wishbone on top of the restaurant. She easily pulled it off the roof. Then she threw it so hard that it must have landed in Illinois. She was about to crush me and the restaurant when a voice said.

"STOP!"

Surprised, Katherine turned around. There was a 600-foot blond GTS-Goddess standing behind her.

"Who are you?" Katherine asked.

"My name is Rose Crusher. I'm here to welcome you to the GTS-goddess race."

"But I don't want to be a GTS-Goddess." Katherine moaned.

I tried sneaking into the restaurant. But Katherine saw me.

"Just where do you think you are going?"

"Back to the restaurant." I replied.

"But I'm still mad at you for ruining my life."

"Actually you have a wonderful life ahead of you."

"Stay out of this, Rose. Now how to punish you? Killing you won't do any good, since your immortal I know, your going to smell my stinking toes."

She then put her toes right on top of me. I for one, find feet give off an offensive odor. Katherine's feet were no exception. The odor they gave off was so overpowering that I fainted. The restaurant staff had to carry me in the restaurant Fortunately Katherine didn't have a beef with them.

To this day, Katherine hasn't forgiven me. Fortunately, for me, our paths rarely cross. As for Rose Crusher our paths cross far too often for my taste, but that's a story for another time.

To be continued?

Remember comments and suggestions are always welcome.

Chapter nine: "Life goes on"

As the saying goes, life goes on. It helped that I visited some interesting worlds. I was able to think of something else other than Katherine.

Some of the America's I visited were bizarre. There was one world where Cuba was an American State. In another world, all of Mexico was part of the great American union. In yet another world, the American revolution was avoided but the South rebelled in 1834 when the British abolished slavery. Everything north of the Mason Dixon Line belongs to the British Union, while everything to the south and to the east of the Mississippi belongs to the CSA.

Then, there was my visit to New France in 1904. A world where the French dominate North America. And where anglophones are treated as second class citizens. Something I found out the hard way.

The restaurant was in what is Ontario in most time lines. I decided to visit a nearby town. Big mistake, the moment I open my mouth people could tell I wasn't a francophone. They shunned me, they acted like I was a piece of dirt. I couldn't leave that world fast enough.

Come to think of it, I had a similar experience in 1906, when I visited a world where all of America to the west of the Mississippi belonged to Spain. And English and French people are little more than migrant workers slaving away to the Spanish master race. I recommend staying away from that world.

One of the more interesting worlds was the one ware aliens landed in the 18^th century. They called themselves the Zoak. Their funny looking people, they have four legs attached to a round bottom, their body looks like a cylinder, their six arms can bend in any direction, their hands have six fingers. Their heads is a white sphere with two eyes, a nose and a mouth.

I had an interesting conversation with one. His name was Zola. I assume he was a male, it was hard to tell with the Zoak.

The time was summer of 1910, I had been on that Earth for several weeks. Zola was a regular at the restaurant. He was fascinated with alternate Earths. But was puzzled by the lack of Zoak on them.

"Did we self destruct even earlier in those time lines? " He asked me.

"I don't know." I replied, 'There are numerous possibilities. I find it hard to believe that an advanced race would destroy itself."

"Oh, It's very possible. It probably happens all the time. Want to hear our tale of woe?"

"Sure."

I sat down in a chair. Zola bent his four legs until they formed a stool.

"We Zoak come from a planet orbiting a star 60 light years from this star system. Our home world was a lovely world. With three continents set within a vast ocean. Two moons were visible in the sky, I miss them to this day."

"On each continent a separate civilization arose. Don't get me wrong, we were all Zoak, but we followed different leaders. Similar to your world, but not as fragmented. The names of three continents were Zoolan, where I'm from, Chilan and Eurzan. For many thousands of your years, our civilizations thrived. Rivalry between the three continents fuelled science and progress. At a rapid pace we developed medicine, flight, nuclear power, space travel, nanotechnology and antimatter production."

"By the time I was born. The Zoak had colonies on the two moons, five of the seven planets in our star system. And we were sending colonists to the star systems of Zarb and Colla. Back on the home world, the situation was like this."

Eurzan used to dominate our world. It is said that all Zola ordinated from there. But the other continents managed to overthrow their rule. So by my time, Eurzan was a shadow of it's former self.

Zooan was the most advanced economically and had the most advanced technology. Our popular culture dominated the home world and the colonies. The people of Eurzan resented this.

Chilan was the most populous of the continents, it's population was equal to Eurzan's and Zoolan's combined. While primitive, it was advancing rapidly. By the time I was born, they were dreaming of becoming the number one power in the universe, much to the discomfort of us Zollans. We wanted to be number one.

Then one day our leader, suggested that all Zoak follow his leadership. The other continents said no to this. They thought that we were too powerful as it was. Then the unthinkable happened, somebody nuked the city of Floria. Over 200,000 Zoak died in the bombing. Naturally we wanted revenge. But who was responsible?

Then word came, that the Chelan's were reasonable. We threaten them. They said they were innocent. We didn't believe them. We bombed one of their bases. They said to back off. Our government ignored their protests. Instead they thought they had the opportunity to wipe the Chilian government off the face of the galaxy. They decided to h-bomb the capital. Believing the rest of the continent would be easy to conquer.

I was in an observation ship in orbit when all this was going on. A good thing too for it allowed me to survive the holocaust.

My government nuked the Chilan capital, what they didn't realize was that the Chilan's had a dead limb switch. Destroying their capital activated this switch. The entire Chilan nuclear and anti matter weapon arsenal was launched. It was quite a sight to see 10,000 nuclear missiles launched at once.

The ship I was on, was able to dodge the missiles. The colonies on the moons and planets weren't so lucky. All but the most distant were destroyed. As for my home world it was completely destroyed.

The sad part about all this, is that the Chilan's were innocent. We later found out it was the Eurzan who did the initial bombing and framed the Chilan's. They hoped that we destroy each other so they would dominate the universe again. Instead they were wiped out with the rest of us.

We never did rebuild on our home world. Instead we went to the colonies. Of the two colonies we had started, one had failed. The other didn't have the means to support large numbers of refugees. So we ended up searching for habitable planets. Unfortunately most of them are already inhabited by intelligent beings. So now we depend on other races' charity. It's humiliating, we considered ourselves to be a great race.

"That's a sad story."

"I fear your race is heading down the same road. I won't be surprised if humanity destroys itself in the next century or two."

At the time, I had a hard time believing his story. While I had been in numerous wars. I had trouble imagining all or most of humanity being wiped out in a war. Then I had no idea of the horror of the fast approaching world wars.

To be continued

I know this is a short chapter. But I wanted to keep it separate from the world war one chapter.

Remember comments are always welcome.

Chapter 10: World War One

The great war otherwise known as World War One was one of those wars that took place in many worlds and at varying years. Although in most time lines it took place in the 1910's. The players also varied, although the Europeans were always involved. Although the roles each country played varied from time line to time line.

For example in the world where the Americans invaded and conquered Canada(see chapter five) the Americans refused to help the British. Instead they remained neutral despite their friendship with Germany.

In yet other worlds, Italy fought on the side of the Germans. Russia remained neutral and the tsar survived.

As one can imagine, with all these different world wars there were different results. There were worlds where Germany and its friends lost the war. In other worlds they managed to win the war. In still other worlds, neither side was able to give a knockout blow, resulting in a stalemate and surprisingly, a just peace. Something that didn't happen in most worlds where one side won. Unfair peace terms led to world wars two and in some worlds, world war three.

Sadly it was in 1915 that Ann Zone announced that she was leaving Wishbone. It broke her heart to see Europe destroy itself in world after world.

"I thought that as your race advanced that you would become less warlike." She told me on the night she left.

'Please stay." I begged her.

'I'm sorry but I can't stand the mortal realm any more."

She then packed her bags and left. Other than a brief visit in 1942 I haven't seen her since. I miss her. Over the decades she had become my friend and there were many times I relied on her help.

People did visit Wishbone in these, horror filled years. And people did make wishes. They wished that the war would end or that they would live to see another day. Only a few made wishes for victory for their side.

Interlude

"I get the feeling I'm forgetting something."

"What about the role GTS-goddess played?"

"What makes you think they played a role?"

"GTS-Goddess love to stick their noses in Human affairs."

"Good point Kayla."

End Interlude

On a couple of worlds, the GTS-Goddess decided to enter the conflict. For example in 1915, Valentina a Russian girl from St. Petersburg. Became a GTS-goddess. Since she had a crush on the tsar, she agreed to help his armies. Soon she had the Germans in full retreat.

As a result of her actions the tsar managed to survive world war one. Valentina was able to prevent the Bolshevik revolution from taking place. Another result of her interference was the ability to the Russian empire to keep its pre 1914 borders. The tsar was tempted to annex parts of the defeated German empire, but pressure from the other allied powers and Valentina's reluctance to add territory to the empire made him change his mind.

One of my most vivid memories involves an incident that took place on May 28, 1917. I was on a world, where they were drafting everyone insight. I and my restaurant staff got drafted and were sent to the front lines in April of that year. I don't mind getting shot at, but I was concerned about the fate of my staff. Men were dying all around me.

Anyway it was the morning of May 28, we were attacking the Germans, when a shadow came over the battle field. I turned to look to see what was causing it. To my shock. It was a 600-foot woman whom I recognized as Rose Crusher.

She looked down at the battle field and said.

"Hello boys. Can I join the battle"

The battle ground to a halt. Neither side knew what to make of the GTS-goddess in their mist. Rose for her part, studied both sides as if she was making a decision. Then she started to attack the allies.

It was a slaughter. We tried our best, but nothing the allies had could hurt her. They poured round after round of machine gun fire into her. Other than annoying her, it had no effect. Planes buzzed her. She swatted them away like they were flies. Then there was the sound of Crusher crushing people. There's a reason why they call her Rose CRUSHER. Crushing seems to be what she does best. While this was going on, the Germans were cheering her on.

"Why are you doing this?" I cried. To my surprise she stopped her rampage to answer me.

'Isn't the objective of war, to destroy people?"

"But your killing the good guys." I replied.

'There are no good guys in war. But since you seem to dislike Germans."

Rose then turned on the Germans. Who were no longer laughing. Instead they were running for their lives. A few tried to reason with her. She said something in German to them. I don't know what it was, but I could tell it wasn't what they wanted to hear. Soon there were no Germans on the battle field.

"Was that necessary?" I asked her, when she came back to me.

"They are mortal. Their lives aren't important. Besides there just distractions to my purpose here. I'm here to take you back to Wishbone."

She then reached for me. I tried to run, but I wasn't fast enough. She grabbed me and brought me up to her face."

Why do you resist? I'm trying to help you."

'I don't want your help." I replied.

"You are stubborn Watan. I would crush you underfoot, but Mr. G tells me, that you are going to become instrumental in recruiting women to the GTS-goddess race."

"I wouldn't bet on it. Only two people Gabrielle and Katherine have become GTS-goddess because of Wishbone. That's two too many."

Rose laughed, it wasn't a pleasant sound.

"They will be many more to come. Mr. G, has promised us a great empire. "

"And what is your role in this great empire?"

"I have many roles. I help new recruits, I scout worlds, and even give advice on how to better run worlds."

'Interfere with worlds you mean."

"What's wrong with interfering with the affairs of Humanity? They are not important in the big scheme of things."

"That's not true. Humanity is a great race."

"I was hoping we would be friends, but it's clear that you're a fool."

She then carried me back to the restaurant. Before she left me, she told me, that we would meet again, for my destiny was linked to the GTS-goddesses. A statement I wish that wasn't true. Come to think of it, I'm also linked to the mini goddesses as well for most of them became Mini goddesses because of wishes made at Wishbone. But that's a story for another time.

While I made it back to the Wishbone restaurant, my staff did not. I was completely without staff. So I was forced to put up the "Help wanted" sign.

I decided to go to Crossover Plain. I figured that it would be easier to get people there. I was right, I managed to replace my staff within a week.

To be continued?

I know this is a short chapter, but my muse doesn't know where to go next. Comments and suggestions are always welcome.

Author note: what follows can best be described as two mini chapters

Chapter 11A: Enter a Morpher

One of the questions I've been asked, are there any perks to the job? The answer is yes, there are perks. Besides immortality which is a very handy thing to have while visiting dangerous places, one sees many different worlds and meets' very interesting people. Everyone from Presidents to witches and even aliens. But you people should know that by now.

As I had said in the last chapter, I had to replace my entire staff back in 1917. The people I hired were human with one exception. I hired a Morpher by the name of Danzo. I wanted to hire a witch but none were available.

Now let me tell you about the Morphers. They call their home world Morphia. While Human in appearance they are not human. They have yellow coloured blood and tend to glow when embarrassed. They also have powers, they can turn themselves or other objects into a liquid (hence the name Morphers), have telekinetic abilities and can shoot electricity from their fingers.

Morpher society is a matriarchy ruled by a queen. As a general rule, females are stronger than males. Danzo was an exception to that rule, his powers were as strong as any woman. This made him a threat to Morpher society so he had to leave. He eventually ended up in Crossover Plain, where I met him.

I quickly learned that Morphers consider humans to be a lesser race. He once said that Humans were little more than water and chemicals. He also laughed at human technology. While Human technology was advancing fast in many worlds, it was still far behind the technology of the Morphers. To give an example, when the very first planes were getting off the ground on the Human worlds, the Morphers were visiting their Mars. And the list goes on, when Human were developing a-bombs, the Morphers were working on the much more powerful anti matter bomb.

But I'm getting off the topic here.

Still despite the problems, Danzo ended up spending the next twenty years at Wishbone.

Chapter 11b: Weather War

Here's a riddle for you. What happens when two people who hate each other both wish for the ability to control the weather? The answer is a weather war. Such a war took place in the summer of 1924 in the state of Michigan.

It all started when a Mr. John Conan got caught in a rain storm. His best suit got soaked to the core. He was in a bad mood when he walked into the restaurant.

"Why must it rain at the most inconvenient time?" He asked me while he was eating his Wishbone meal deal.

"I don't know. We can't control the weather." I replied.

"Control the weather. Now that's an idea for a wish. I wish that I could control the weather."

John was pleased with his new found power. It only rained when he wanted it to. Things would have been fine, if it wasn't for his dislike of a certain Miss Daisy Flower. Why he hated her, I don't know. Although rumour had it that they were lovers but they had a fight. Anyway John put Daisy's house under a rain cloud. Day and night it would rain there even if the rest of the town enjoyed clear skies.

Daisy was not pleased. She sensed that magic was behind the rain cloud over her house. She also felt that my restaurant had something to do with it. She marched right into Wishbone and demanded an explanation. I then made the mistake of telling her about John and his wish. She was furious. Then a smile came over her face.

"Do you still offer those Wishbone Meal deals?" She asked me.

You can guess what happened next. She wished for the power to control the weather. You can imagine John's surprise when a tornado demolished his house. Daisy then made the blunder of admitting responsibility for the tornado. The war was on.

To my surprise, tornados were not used as a weapon after that. Instead Daisy preferred lightning, while John was fond of huge hail stones. After fighting it out for a few days, Daisy won the war. There's only so many times a man can be struck by lightning and survive.

Sadly I haven't seen the last of weather wars, another one occurred in 1960. Which strangely enough also involved an ex-couple, but in that case, both combatants died. There have been other people who wished for the power to control the weather, but I'll save their stories for another time.

To be continued?

Please feel free to make comments.

Author note: For those who missed the earlier chapters of Stanley charm. They can be found in the Mr. G Story Achieve. The url is http://www.oocities.org/akagilles/index.html

Chapter 12: Frank and Dorothy

It was back in 1926, that I came across my first giantess fan (sadly he wasn't the only giantess fan I have ran into). He was a boy by the name of Frank. I didn't know he was a giantess fan at first. If I had known his day dreams, I won't have let him near my restaurant. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Frank had a crush on a girl named Dorothy Johnston. He loved her blond curls, her tall (5'10") shapely body. He considered her a goddess. I'm not sure what Dorothy thought of him before he went to Wishbone. I suspect that she ignored him.

Anyway, it was the summer of 1926, the place Washington state. We had been on this world for a week, when Frank walked in the door.

"Can I get you anything?" I asked as he sat down at a table.

"The girl of my dreams." He replied.

"Um. This is a restaurant, but we may be able to help you. Do you have someone in mind?" I asked.

"Her name is Dorothy Johnston. She a goddess" Frank replied.

"Is she that a tall, blond girl with blue eyes, I saw the other day?" I asked.

"Probably, she been telling her friends about this place." Frank replied.

"I see. May I suggest the Wishbone meal deal. Whoever orders it gets one wish."

"Really? My dreams about Dorothy will come true?." Frank asked.

"Yes, but be careful for one you make a wish you can't take it back." I replied.

I must repeat, I had no idea giantess fans existed back then. I figured his dreams about Dorothy involved her becoming his girlfriend or perhaps his wife. I didn't suspect the awful truth until the next mourning.

It was just after dawn, when Danzo came running in saying.

"There's a Human growing in the distance."

I and the restaurant staff rushed outside to see for ourselves what was going on. Off in the distance, I could see Dorothy, and she was growing fast. She was hundreds of feet tall already and growing fast. I could tell she was becoming a GTS-goddess

"Have you seen anything like this?" Danzo asked me.

"Yes. I have seen women become GTS-Goddess before." I replied.

"What's a GTS-Goddess?" Mary who was one of my waitresses at the time asked.

Before I could respond, I saw Frank, in the distance. Figuring he had something to do with this. I told Mary I would get back to her. Then I went up to Frank.

"Isn't it a beautiful sight?" Were the first words out of his mouth.

Dorothy at this time was 6,000 feet tall and still growing.

"What in the world did you wish for?" I asked him.

"I wished for Dorothy to grow to the size of a mountain. A mountain-sized goddess you could say. I must admit that she getting a bit bigger than I expected." Frank replied.

"I told you that once you made a wish you can't take it back. Why did you wish for such a thing?" I asked him.

"Ever since I was a boy, I have dreamed about gigantic women. Women so big I was a mere ant to them. " Frank replied.

Meanwhile, Dorothy had stopped growing at the 9,700 foot mark. A what would later be called a swimsuit had appeared on her body. (She had grown out of her old clothes) She looked pissed.

"CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON?" She asked.

"You have become the goddess you were meant to be." Frank replied. To my surprise Dorothy had heard Frank.

"YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THIS FRANK?" Dorothy asked.

"Yes my love. I have dreamed of this moment for months." Frank replied.

"WHAT GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO DO THIS TO ME?" Dorothy screamed.

Frank did reply. My staff expect for Danzo had retreated to the restaurant. Dorothy was getting frustrated.

"PLEASE FRANK, I BEG YOU TURN ME BACK THE WAY I WAS." Dorothy begged.

"Once a wish is made at Wishbone it cannot be taken back." Frank told her.

"I'm afraid he's right." I added.

'ISN'T THERE SOMETHING YOU CAN DO STANLEY CHARM?" Dorothy asked me.

"Not really. You're not the only GTS-goddesses created by wishbone. There's a whole race of GTS-Goddess out there."

"I'M NOT A FREAK. THERE ARE OTHER WOMEN MY SIZE." Dorothy asked.

"There a bit smaller than you. The GTS-Goddess I have seen range in size from 600 feet to 4,000 feet." I replied.

"Can you get some of those lovely goddesses to come this way?" Frank asked.

"Do you always have giantesses on the brain?" Danzo asked.

"Yes " Frank replied.

'Come on Danzo. We did enough damage here."

"WAIT! HOW DO I CONTACT THE OTHER GTS-GODDESSES?" Dorothy asked me.

"I'm not sure, I would try calling out to Rose Crusher. She has the power to travel from world to world."

"No need to call for me." Rose replied. Somehow she had managed to arrive without being noticed.

"Wow! Another goddess." Frank cried.

"MAY I HAVE A WORD WITH YOU?" Dorothy asked Frank.

"I would leave if I were you Stanley Charm. This is going to get messy." Rose told me. I didn't need to be told twice. Me and Danzo headed back to the restaurant and headed for another world. I later found out that Dorothy had killed Frank. Apparently the words "May I have a word with you" are GTS-Goddess talk for 'your toast'.

I know I'm being hard on giantess fans, but the truth of the matter is they do a lot of damage. For instance, in the 1990's there was a man named Ryan who wished for his giantesses daydreams to come true. It wasn't long before his world was overrun with giantesses. Then again what do you expect from a guy whose net name is 'giantess maker'.

Then there was Dennis who in the summer of 2000 thought it would be nice for a GTS-Goddess party to take place on his world. You can imagine what happened next. They trashed his world and made him pet of the party. I bet he regrets making that wish.

To be continued some day (maybe)