Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 20:26:24 -0400
A comment my daughter made the other day inspired the following story.
It is my first attempt at tg fiction and my first set in one of my
favorite transformational universes, so wish me luck. I'll need it. If
you like the story feel free to keep it and use it as you like.
Constructive criticism is always welcome. If you dislike it feel
free to disgard it. It is yours in any case. Spelling may be poor as
well as grammar and structure. I don't have checkers in my e-mail.
Thanks-Terry
THE GIFT
(An S.R.U. tale)
Christmas was coming. The second Christmas following the death of
Cassies' Mother. The first Christmas without her older brother home.
J.D. had joined the Army the summer before and was currently over seas.
It would be just Cassie and her Father this year. Cassie sighed. Since
her Mothers' death her Father had become something of a recluse. She
knew her parents had been deeply in love, but the unexpected demise of
her Mother had such a shocking effect on her Father that she could
hardly believe he was the same man.
Cassies' Father had always been a large man. As long as she could
remember he had been a giant to her. He was powerfully built, and
seemingly afraid of nothing. Even after his accident, when the doctor's
were making such dire predictions, he had fought through. True he was
not as strong or as capable as before his injury, but he was still
formidable. But then her Mom died. All the life seemed to go out of him.
He was wasting away before her eyes. In the last two years he had become
gaunt and haggard looking. She was very afraid this would be her last
Christmas with him as well.
"It's not fair!", the diminutive 14 year old whispered fiercely under
her breath.
"What did you say Honey?", her Father asked as he steered their van
toward the mall.
"Nothing Daddy", Cassie replied meekly, "Well that's not exactly true. I
was just wishing, for the umpteenth time that I had an older sister, or
that you felt better and could do more things with me."
"I'm sorry Angel", Angel was her Fathers' pet name for her, "I guess
it's not much fun living with a useless old cripple like me. I wish you
had your Mom or an older sister around the house to be there for you
too."
On the words "your Mom" his voice caught and almost broke.
"Oh Daddy I didn't mean it that way", Cassie was quick to reassure her
Father, "I know you do the best you can. It's just that there are some
things a girl can only talk to another girl about. You know I love you
don't you?"
Her Father smiled reassuringly at her as he turned the van into the
mall, but in the corner of his eyes she could see the tears glistening.
"I'm going to be in Waldenbooks checking on the new work by Piers
Anthony. Take your time and enjoy shopping!", her Father told her.
She turned a thousand watt smile on him and walked off into the crowded
mall. She had about 3 hours before the mall closed. She knew her Dad
would still be immersed in the stacks at Waldenbooks when she got done.
He was a fanatical reader. Always had been.
As she wandered about from store to store getting presents for this
relative or that friend she did not find that certain something which
would be perfect for her Father. She wanted this present to be extra
special. Even though he loved anything she gave him, she wanted to make
this Christmas the best he ever had.
Her wanderings had taken her to a far corner of the mall where there
were few actual shops. Mostly there were hearing aid centers, and
school board rooms, and such but she spotted a peculiar little shop
tucked away in a corner all by itself.
"What an odd name", Cassie thought to herself as she entered the tiny
store, "SPELLS 'R US".
A tiny silver bell tinkled to announce her entrance. The shop was
cluttered with brick a brack and odd bits of costumes. There were
beakers and flasks of what looked like colored water and a handsome wolf
dog in the corner. The animal was huge and Cassie stopped for an
instant. She had a natural fear of large dogs, but this one seemed to be
smiling at her. It seemed so friendly she just could not feel afraid.
"Can I help you Cassie? Something special for Christmas for your Father
perhaps?"
Cassie almost jumped at the sound of the kindly voice. Looking up she
saw an old man in what appeared to be a worn bathrobe.
"Where the heck did he come from?", she wondered to herself.
"The back room." the old man responded to her silent query. "I don't
usually get much business this time of year. My big business rushes come
in October, early Spring and times like that. But I believe we were
discussing a gift for your Father now weren't we?"
"Uhh yeah I guess so." Cassie responded. She was very confused. She
couldn't be certain if she had verbalized her desire to get a special
gift for her Dad or not. She was reasonably sure she should feel uneasy
but the old man seemed so kindly and concerned. He was the image of what
she always felt a Grandfather should look like. Thinning grey/white
hair, sparkling eyes, kindly smile, and pence nez glasses perched on the
end of his nose.
"Tell me Cassie, what would you like to give your Father?"
Cassie chuckled ruefully, "I'd really like to give him his health and
youth back. I'd really like to give him a desire to live again. I'd
really like to give him back the part of himself he lost when my Mom
died."
Suddenly Cassie felt like crying. "I don't suppose you can help me with
that can you?"
"You never know Cassie, you just never know.", the old man said with an
odd introspective look on his face. "But tell me wouldn't you like
something special for yourself this Christmas also?"
Wiping her eyes the, now, sobbing girl replied, "Oh, I don't matter. I
just want Daddy to be happy again. I want him to have a reason to live
again."
"I think I have just the thing here in back. Won't be a moment." the old
man called as he went through a worn blue curtain into what must have
been the back room of the shop.
He emerged a moment later with a small blue stone. It was highly
polished and sparkled in the light. Cassie stared at the tiny rock. She
had a large collection of odd and unusual stones at her house. Her Mom
and Dad used to get her odd rocks and stones whenever they had to be
away on business or on the odd vacations they took without the children.
"It's beautiful, "she sighed, "But I'm afraid my Dad isn't into rocks."
"Oh but this is no ordinary rock. This is a wish stone. Just hold it
next to your heart at midnight on Christmas Eve and make your wish. As
long as the wish is unselfish it will grant you your hearts desire." the
old man kindly explained while he held the tiny stone out to her.
Hesitantly Cassie took the stone. "Oh if only.", she thought to herself
as she gazed at the unusual pebble. Finally, as if coming to a difficult
decision, Cassie firmly closed her hand around the little blue stone and
asked, "How much?"
"Since you want it to give a gift of true love to another", the old man
replied, "How about one dollar?"
"A dollar?!!?" Cassie asked incredulously.
"Don't you think it's worth a dollar? Especially if it can do all the
things I say it can." the question in the old wizards voice was no
question at all. He already knew the answer.
Quickly Cassie got a dollar out of her purse and gave it to the old man.
Fearful that he would change his mind.
As she turned to leave the old man called to her, "Remember Cassie, your
heart's desire. All sales are unconditionally guaranteed. Come back
anytime."
Cassie walked out of the shop. "Cool," she thought, "Now I can get Dad
something else in case this thing doesn't work. Say, I wonder how he
knew my name anyway?"
Shrugging her shoulders she wandered off toward the men's shops elsewhere
in the mall.
Inside his shop the old man turned out the closed sign and put the light
out. He smiled to himself. It felt good to help someone so deserving.
The child's' spirit was as pure as the driven snow. Still, what people
truly wished in their hearts was rarely what they thought they wanted
in their minds. He just hoped that she, and her Father, would be happy
with her gift.
Cassie was so excited when Christmas Eve came that she had no trouble
staying up until midnight. She knew her Father had trouble sleeping and
usually napped fitfully in his recliner in the living room. He would get
her up around 5:00am to open her presents. The tree was surrounded by a
sea of gifts with her name on them and one large box with his. It
contained the new pants and shirt set she had finally settled on for
him.
At exactly midnight, as per the instructions she had received, Cassie
held the tiny blue pebble next to her heart, "I wish, I wish," she said
fervently, her eyes tightly screwed shut. Then she tucked the stone
under her pillow and fell asleep.
She was having an odd dream. In the dream there was a girl screaming off
in the distance and Cassie kept trying to find her and help her.
Everywhere she turned though she just saw white. Then she realized she
was seeing the inside of her sheet. It was daylight! It had to be well
after 7am. What had happened to her Father, and who was the screaming
girl? For Cassie now realized that the screaming was coming from her own
living room.
Leaping out of bed she ran into the living room. There, sitting in her
Fathers recliner, sat a petite young woman. The young woman was
apparently dressed in one of her Fathers' T-shirts and soft gym shorts.
She was holding her bosoms and screaming repeatedly, "This can't be real.
I gotta be dreaming!"
"Who are you?", Cassie asked the badly shaken young woman.
"Cassie! Oh God Cassie! Don't you know me? It's me...your Dad!" then the
woman began to sob uncontrollably.
As Cassie looked at her she began to see a resemblance between the
woman's hair color and facial features and her Fathers. Almost as if this
was another daughter of his that she had never know about. She had the
same auburn, wavy hair. Of course she wasn't balding and her hair came
down past her shoulders. She had the same blue eyes and dimples. But
there was no way this could be her Father. Her Father was 46 years old.
This woman couldn't be more than 22-24 tops. Her Father was a brittle
diabetic who was hooked to an insulin pump, he had a broken back, and
other problems that made him look far older than he was. This woman was
obviously in perfect health. Wait...youth, perfect health! Her wish!!!
Cassie ran back to her room and lifted her pillow up. There on her sheet
sat the tiny stone, only now instead of blue it was pink!
Cautiously approaching the woman Cassie said, "Daddy?"
The woman blinked at her a couple of times and said, "You believe me
Angel? You know me?"
"Yes Daddy", Cassie replied, "And I think I can explain what has
happened."
"I wish somebody could explain this to me." the woman smiled ruefully,
"But how could you explain it when I can't even understand it myself?"
"Let's get some coffee Daddy and I'll tell you everything."
One hour and one very tentative explanation later the attractive young
woman was staring at Cassie blankly. "You mean this all happened because
of a wish stone you got at a SPELLS 'R US store? I thought those things
were just internet story's." She muttered the last to herself.
"Please don't be mad Daddy. I didn't mean this to happen. I just wanted
you to be young, and healthy, and happy again. I wanted you to get back
that part you seemed to lose when Mom died.", the tears were flowing
freely down Cassie's cheeks now.
"Ahhhh, I think I'm beginning to understand now.", her transformed
Father said. "You see Cassie your Mom and I were soulmates. Like two
sides of the same coin. I was her male side, and she was my female side.
When you wished that I get back what I had lost when your Mom died..."
here she trailed off.
"Oh God Daddy what are we gonna do?" Cassie asked frantically. "No one
will know you like this."
"Hold on a second Cassie." her Father reached back to her rear pocket.
"If I know the Spells 'R Us story's as well as I think I do...Damn these
pants seem tight now. My butt feels huge, as do my hips." Extracting
"her" wallet she began to look through it.
"Ummm Daddy?"
"Yes Sweetheart?", she responded distractedly.
"You mentioned how big your butt and hips feel...but what about the,
ummnnn, other parts?"
"I don't want to think about that right now. Ahh here we go, just as I
thought." Smiling she turned her drivers license around where Cassie
could read the front. It showed a picture of the lovely woman who sat
before Cassie, smiling at the camera. The information reflected her
Fathers name, just in a feminized form. Fortunately his name had always
been rather androgynous. Terry Lee changed to Teri Leigh with the last
name remaining the same. The other information reflected his birth date
but moved up several years. Far enough forward that "her" age would be
23.
"I also found this.", her Father told her as she studied the drivers
license. It was a court paper granting custody of Cassie to her
sister-Teri Leigh-after the death of both of their parents in a car
crash two years ago.
They talked for a long time that morning. Amazingly the phone didn't
ring even once, as it usually did on Christmas mornings. Finally they
got around to opening their presents. When Teri got to hers it wasn't
the pants and shirt outfit Cassie had originally bought. It was a
beautiful skirt and blouse ensemble.
When they inspected Teri's room they found his dresser replaced with her
bureau. His closet filled with her things. His underwear replaced with
her bras and panties. Similar changes were found all around the house.
It was a day of discovery and sharing and a truly happy Christmas, just
as Cassie had wished in her heart of hearts.
A week after Christmas an attractive auburn haired woman, wearing a
smart skirt and blouse with modest heels, walked up to a tiny shop
huddled away in a dark corner of the mall.
The bell tinkled as she entered.
"Hello Teri", the old man said. "have you come here to demand your old
life back?"
The attractive woman sighed wistfully. "No. Cassie is happier than I can
remember her being in a long time. I feel really good for the first time
in years, and I am even looking forward to the future. I almost feel as
if I had my wife back. Strange to feel that way I guess. But I feel as
if she is here, inside, with me. That is not to say that this is not
going to take some getting used to! You could have at least given me the
necessary skills to walk in heels and do makeup and such."
"Now what would be the fun in that?" there was a twinkle in the old mans
eyes as he asked this.
"Well I just wanted to thank you for giving Cassie the only gift she
really wanted, and the only gift I couldn't give her. You know I don't
think you deserve the bad reputation you have on the internet."
The old man just smiled. A few more of these and then maybe the home
office would get off of his back.
Teri left the shop and rejoined her "sister" at the food court. They
were going to get a quick bite and then they were looking forward to a
day of shopping. At least Cassie was. "Oye...I don't think I'll ever get
used to looking at and trying on a thousand outfits a day." Teri thought
to herself. "Still if it makes my little girl...oops...I mean my little
SISTER happy, then it is well worth the effort. After all look at all
she did for me."
THE END
I really do feel that the old wizard gets an undeserved bad rap most
of the time. Well I know it sucks, but then I did tell you once that I
have no skill at writing these sorts of story's. God bless and take
care-Terry
(
geocities.com/westhollywood/heights/2671) (
geocities.com/westhollywood/heights) (
geocities.com/westhollywood)