I had hoped to post this to the Fictionmania mailing list as a
last hurrah of sorts, but, as today is the day Mindy had announced
the plug would be pulled and it appears the plug has been pulled,
it appears I've missed.
This is one of those stories, where I've tried to add a little
something from as many of the categories established on the
Fictionmania web site as possible and still be reasonably
coherent.
Those who archive stories freely may do so, if you so wish. Just
let me know where it's going to be.
From here, I'll have to some real life work for a while.
Around the Circle Full
By Bill Hart
Old Ferrin was the kingdom's wise man.
There were stories, possibly as old as the man himself, that told of
the ancient man's ability to see events in the future. Prince Elnar,
as had his younger brother Libart, always smiled and wondered who
could have started such absurd stories - Ferrin had been born blind.
But his handicap, if that were what it truly was, had never once
impeded him in his search for wisdom.
He was also a hermit; he preferred living alone. Besides, many people
didn't want him living anywhere near them. Some of them thought him a
dangerous kook. Others simply feared him because he often knew things
that no one should know until those things came to pass. And still
others were disturbed whenever the sightless man gave the appearance
of being fully sighted.
Elnar wondered, as he sat quietly watching old Ferrin 'stare' into
that odd crystalline sphere of his, why his father King Parda had sent
him out here. It was traditional for the heir apparent of the Kingdom
of Wachin to make this type of pilgrimage to the wise man shortly
before ascending to the throne. However, Elnar thought that his
making this journey now was just too early. Unless something was
going on he knew nothing about, his father easily had years remaining
in his rule. In addition, Elnar had no burning desire to know what
his future held in store for him. He'd always thought knowing what
might be simply took a great deal of the zest out of life.
Old Ferrin looked up from his crystalline bowl. For a second, he
'stared' directly into the eyes of the Prince. "Elnar," he said
simply.
"Yes, Ferrin."
"I have this day seen in my sphere most wonderful news. Your son
shall, on the day of his birth, be the one true heir to the Unified
Kingdoms of Wachin-Dryem."
Elnar couldn't believe what the wise man had told him; he truly
believed the old man had lost it. As Parda's older son, he was the
heir to Wachinian throne by right of birth. His own son, when he
finally decided on marrying and siring one, would also have that
birthright. But the reuniting of Wachin and Dryem into the one
kingdom it had been centuries ago was not very likely to occur in
his lifetime.
"How can that be possible, Ferrin?" questioned Elnar curiously. "As
I understand it; there has been little, if any, communication between
my father and the Dryemite King Raswell since before my younger
brother Libart was born. Although our two kingdoms were once one,
they have been separate for centuries. The only way I can possibly
conceive of their reunification happening is for one of us to conquer
the other. However, it has been my experience that conquerors
generally tend to make a populace resentful of its new rulers."
"There shall be no war between Wachin and Dryem... ever," replied
Ferrin. "Instead there shall be great rejoicing throughout both of
our lands on that day, not long off, when your first son is born.
With his birth, he shall be the glue that binds the people of the two
lands into the people of the one land."
Elnar smiled at the old man. "If that's the case, I suppose I'd best
be on way home. It seems I should go find this girl I'm supposed to
marry. The sooner I find her, the sooner we can get started on making
this much to be beloved son of mine who'll one day rule the Unified
Kingdoms. But I find it difficult to believe that any child could be
the cause of such rejoicing simply by being born." Ferrin said
nothing; he just looked at Elnar with a cryptic grin. "I don't
suppose you could take another peek in that old crystal of yours and
give me some idea where I might find this lucky girl, or even who she
might be."
"That one, who is already known to you, shall be revealed to you soon.
For me to speak of whom is dangerous to what shall be, as the who is
yet in flux."
Elnar shook his head in reply to Ferrin's cryptic response, but he
knew it was the best answer he was going to get from the old man. Old
Ferrin had never been known to give a straight answer. But if he
already knew this girl he was fated to marry, then at least he would
neither have to worry about finding her nor look very hard for her.
"I hope it isn't Khyra," he mumbled, thinking about the peasant girl,
who was his current dalliance. "She has a great looking body, as well
being a whole lot of fun in the sack, but I can't think of anyone
who'd be overly happy if we had a child. Of course, I've been told
Raswell has a daughter, which would simply things greatly. But it
couldn't possibly be her, since Ferrin said I knew her and I've never
met the Dryemite Princess."
On the other hand, Elnar was not overly worried about filling old
Ferrin's little prophecy. He wasn't going to be King any time soon.
And he'd always made certain to protect himself from an unwanted
fatherhood, even if the girls hadn't. He had no great desire
whatsoever to hear the pitter-patter of little feet, especially
if it meant giving up his playboy lifestyle.
*****
Not long after he left Ferrin's cave, Elnar came across a small meadow
he didn't immediately recognize. He considered it strange and quite
unusual not to know this little glen, because he was certain he knew
every square inch of the kingdom that would eventually be his.
Tied to one of the saplings was a beautiful golden mare, who eyed the
approaching prince with a seemingly human wariness.
Curious about the mare, but equally wary, Elnar approached steadily
nearer.
Suddenly, he heard a sultry female voice. "Please, good sir. Could
you possibly help me? I would be ever so grateful if you did."
Just hearing her voice, Elnar knew he must help this, quite obviously
lovely, damsel in distress, wherever she might be. After all, he was
the son of a king bound to chivalry; it was one of those obligations
expected of him. Besides, someone with such a melodious voice must
certainly be either a princess or a great beauty, perhaps even both.
She might even be his future wife, as well as the future mother of his
beloved son that Ferrin had "seen" in his crystalline ball, although
he couldn't recall having heard her voice before. In any event, she'd
be exceptionally grateful to him, as all damsels generally were, when
he rescued her. But as he quickly scanned the meadow, he saw nothing
and no one.
"Tell me where you are, my lady!" shouted Elnar into the air.
"You need not shout, good sir," came the melodious reply. "I'm right
here."
Elnar quickly looked around the surrounding area again. "But where
are you, my lady? I can't seem to see you."
"Are you blind, good sir?" asked the voice sweetly. "I'm standing
right here in front of you."
Elnar was perplexed. The only thing he could see standing in front
of him was the golden mare. And he knew that horses, although
brighter than most animals, just weren't capable of human speech.
"You know, girl," he began as he casually walked up to the mare and
patted her hindquarters gently.
The mare whinnied. "I would appreciate it greatly if you would quit
doing that," came the female's voice sharply. "Would you kindly
remove your hand from there, good sir? We don't know each other well
enough for you to be patting my ass in such a familiar fashion."
Elnar stared at the golden mare in total disbelief. "You're a horse."
"Tell me something I don't already know," she said sarcastically.
"I know I'm a horse now. But I don't know why you have to rub it in."
"But you can talk."
"Of course, I can talk. I'll have you know, I haven't always been a
horse." Her voice sounded sad. "Up until a few days ago, I'll have
you know I was a girl. I was Prin..."
"But..."
"Please, good sir, no buts," she interrupted sounding irritated by his
interruption. "Will you help me or not?"
"Of course, I'll help you. How could I not," replied Elnar, feeling
hurt this mare had found it necessary to ask him again. "It is one of
my responsibilities as a prince of this land. What do you want me to
do?"
"Quickly untie this rope that binds me to this tree," she replied.
"Then as quickly as you possibly can hop on my back so that I can
gallop us both away from here as swiftly as the wind. We really don't
want him coming back and catching us."
"Him?" Elnar sounded confused. "Him who?"
"Him would be me, of course," replied a little man, who, if he stood
on the kingdom's book of births over the last two decades, might stand
all of two and a half feet tall. With his full red beard and the
bright green suit he was wearing, the man looked odder than anyone
Elnar had ever seen in his life. But that big stick he was carrying
made him appear quite ominous. "What be ye up to with me horse?" he
asked.
"Your horse says she's really a girl."
The little man smiled at him. "Ye should be taking a better second
look at her. Tell me now, do she look like a lassie to ye, me bucko?"
"Well, no. Not really," replied Elnar. "She looks like a horse."
"Well, there ye be having it, me boy," said the little man. "If ye
can't be believing yer own eyes, what can ye be trusting."
"Don't listen to him," pleaded the mare. "He's just trying to confuse
you. I really am... or at least I was before I met him... a girl."
"Did you hear that?" Elnar asked the little man. "She's told me once
again that she's really a girl. Why would you change a girl into a
horse?"
"Quite obviously me horse is also a teller of tall tales." The little
man grinned. "Just who would ye be believing now? Be she a girl as
she be insisting? Or be she a horse as yer own eyes be clearly seeing
and me own self be telling ye?"
"But why should I believe you?" asked Elnar. "I don't know you. I've
never met anybody like you before."
The little man smiled again. "Of course, you havenae. That's because
I be a leprechaun - a regular son of Erin I be."
"That's an unusual name Leper Khaun," replied Elnar. "By some chance,
are you Farlish? I think I would have remembered a name so unusual.
Not only that, I can't think of anyone I know around here that had a
girl named Erin that married someone name Khaun. But then, rumor has
it that the people in far off Farland name their children strangely."
The little man looked flustered. "Erin be not me mother," he said,
"Erin be me place of birth. Be we not in Erin at this very moment?"
"No, we're not in Erin," replied Elnar. "We are currently in the
Kingdom of Wachin. I have no idea where this Erin place you say you
come might be."
"Saints preserve me," swore the little man. "I knew I should have
turned the other way when I got to Albuquerque. I'd best be getting
up on me horse and continuing along me way then."
"No way," answered the irritated mare. "I'm not going anywhere until
we get this settled."
"Yeah," agreed Elnar indignantly. "What about her?"
The mare whinnied her approval.
"That be simple," replied the leprechaun. "She be going with me, of
course. I be in need of transportation."
"She's not going anywhere with you, if she doesn't want to," argued
Elnar. "I'll stop you if I must."
"That's right," agreed the mare. "You tell him how it's going to be."
As the little man looked at them, his already wide smile broadened
further. "Be that a challenging, me boyo? If it be, then that not be
very wise of you. She be going with me. When we get to Erin, I'll be
changing her back, elsewise she might be staying a horse forever. As
for ye, since ye be the one challenging me, ye will be the one waking
up from yer little nap a changed man."
"What nap?" asked Elnar. "I'm not tired."
"But me shillelagh here says otherwise, laddie." Even as he spoke,
the little man lightly rapped Elnar's head with the big stick he was
carrying. "Sleep tight, me boyo," smiled the leprechaun as Elnar fell
to the ground. Then, after the little man mounted the horse, he asked
the mare, "Be ye ready to be on our way, lassie?"
"I suppose so," she replied in resignation, looking at her fallen
rescuer. "But I don't seem to have any other choice - do I? It's
too bad I didn't get to tell him my name earlier; he could have told
my family I was all right."
"Don't ye be getting all worried about that," smiled the leprechaun.
"The sleeping laddie will be learning yer name soon enough. Let's be
on our way now, lassie."
Without looking behind them, the leprechaun and his reluctant
enchanted mare rode off into the sunset in what the little man hoped
would be the general direction of Erin. Both the little man and the
golden mare were certain that Elnar, now peacefully sleeping in the
verdant meadow, would be fine right where he was.
At least until he woke up - and found himself somewhat altered.
*****
Elnar's head ached when he finally awoke. He was very angry that the
little weasel Leper Khaun had struck him with that big stick of his
while he'd been unarmed. Even though he had no idea where he would
ever find that little man again, Elnar wasn't about to let anyone with
a weird name like Leper Khaun get away with hitting him with a stick.
And if ever came across that Erin Khaun, who had given his feckless
attacker birth, he would tell her in no uncertain terms that her son
was no gentleman.
As he lay on the ground lost in thought, he felt oddly out of sorts.
He didn't know why he felt the way he did, but he considered it highly
likely the little man's blow had given him a concussion. Oddly, he
felt more energetic than he had in several years. And yet, he still
couldn't begin to explain any of these sensations of extreme well
being now coursing through his body.
He felt most peculiar.
But as yet, he had no idea just how peculiar.
As he got to his feet, Elnar immediately noticed he was now impossibly
several inches shorter than he had been before. Somehow, that odd
little man must have shrunk him, given that all of the shrubs and
bushes that he'd easily looked over before now blocked his view.
His clothes no longer seemed to fit him very well. The sleeves on his
shirt were too long, as were the legs of his pants. His shirt seemed
oddly baggy. And when he took a step, he walked right out of his
shoes. Even his hair seemed longer than it had been in several years.
"What is going on here?" he asked, his voice sounding strange in his
ears. "At least, I'm not a horse, like that perverted little twit did
to that poor girl."
Even if he hadn't exactly doubted her story, Elnar was now much more
inclined to believe that the golden mare he'd encountered earlier had
actually been a girl once, just as she'd claimed. But it was now
easier to believe her story, since the dumb little shit had somehow
altered him as well.
"It's too bad, I didn't get her name," mumbled Elnar. "She started
to tell me once, but I interrupted her and the he returned. Her name
sounded something like... 'Prin', but what could that mean.
"Prinella?
"Prinsella?
"Prinla?
"Prindy?
"Prinora?"
"Princess?
"No. It couldn't possibly be Princess," determined Elnar. "Even
a little dim bulb like that wouldn't dare change a princess into a
horse."
Then suddenly, Elnar had _the_ urge.
"What a time to have a take a piss!" exclaimed Elnar. Even though he
complained loudly about it, his complaints didn't make it any less
urgent."
Elnar walked over to one of shrubs, then looked about as best he
could to insure that no one was watching him who shouldn't be. He
then quickly unzipped his baggy pants, reached inside, pulled it out,
relieved himself, shook it gently, pushed it back inside again, and
rezipped his pants.
And, having finished relieving himself, Elnar soon returned to
wondering what the hell was going on. It was something he thought
about all the way home - except for those times his thoughts were
interrupted as he walked out of his too small shoes, or tripped over
his too long pant legs.
*****
As Elnar finally returned home, he was very glad to enter the castle.
But, not long after he'd entered, Ard, one of his father's menservants
stopped him. "Prince Elnar," said the manservant with a disapproving
tone. "Why are you dressed in your older brother's clothes again?
The King and the Queen shall be most disturbed if they discover you
have returned to your jealous ways of your older brother Prince
Libart."
"What are you talking about?" Elnar was confused. Why should Ard
refer to Libart as his older brother, when it was he who was the older
of the two?
"Do not to worry, young prince," replied the servant. "If you now go
quickly to _your_ own room and replace those purloined garments with
those belonging to you, then I shan't inform the King and Queen of
this small transgression of yours."
"Thank you, Ard," replied Elnar, who stared at the manservant
suspiciously. Elnar worried how Ard could think Libart was his older
brother? And he could think of no reason why he would have ever been
jealous of Libart in his entire life. He decided he should go to his
room in order to think over whatever had happened.
But as he opened the door of his room and entered, Elnar was shocked.
"This can't be my room," he mumbled. But as he went outside to check,
he discovered this room he was in was actually his room - only it
couldn't be his room. Elnar hadn't seen his room look this way in
several years.
Needing to change his clothes, he easily slipped out of the too large
ill-fitting clothes he was wearing. But as he opened his closet, he
stared at its contents with disbelief. They were his clothes - of
that he had no doubt - but none of these clothes had been hung in his
closet since he'd outgrown them years ago. But after picking out a
change of clothes and putting them on, Elnar was greatly disturbed
that they fit him perfectly.
Worriedly, Elnar walked over to the mirror that he'd never wanted in
his room in the first place, had had removed on his eighteenth
birthday, and had now mysteriously returned. He stared at himself in
shock and total disbelief.
Reflected in the mirror stood a boy of no more than thirteen summers.
And if he were truly a boy of thirteen again, while his younger
brother remained the same age he had been this morning, then Elnar
was no longer the older son of King Parda. Libart was, by several
years, the older son.
Elnar could no longer be the heir to the Wachinian throne, if Libart
was older than he was. That must have been the reason Ard thought him
jealous of Libart. Suddenly Elnar realized that if he were no longer
the heir to the throne of Wachin, then it was extremely unlikely he
could be fathering the heir of the Unified Kingdoms of Wachin-Dryem -
unless he could somehow become his true self again.
That Leper Khaun person had done something to him, he realized. Just
as he'd turned that poor girl into a mare, he had somehow regressed
him in age to make him a young boy again.
But at the same time, the dumb little shit had totally fucked up the
future that the crazy old hermit had foreseen for him. Even if he
didn't totally believe in the old man's "power", he needed to speak
with old Ferrin again. After all, Ferrin was just weird enough that
either he could set things right again or he'd know someone who could.
*****
Elnar was still a boy of thirteen when he woke next morning in his own
bed. When he'd gone to bed, he'd been hoping to awaken in the morning
and discover everything that had occurred to him would have only been
a dream caused by being whacked on the head so hard by that little
twerp's big stick. He'd really hoped to wake up in that little meadow
suffering from nothing more than the aftereffects of a minor
concussion.
But nothing had changed from the previous night.
Elnar dressed quickly in what he considered his old clothes after
awakening. He wanted to start off for Ferrin's cave as early as
possible, since he didn't want his parents trying to stop him from
going.
He hadn't been gone long, when he suddenly felt an extremely strong
compulsion to take the left branch of the path, instead of the right
one, which led to Ferrin's cave. Believing that only old Ferrin could
help him out of his current predicament, Elnar couldn't understand
what was making him stray from the correct path to the old man's cave.
Neither could he make himself return to the correct path.
Since he couldn't fight against it, he let the strange force guide
him. As he came into a clearing, two large men were waiting, obviously
for him, around a very small fire.
"That's not him, Durf."
"I can tell that, Merk."
"Whats happened to that one we was supposed to get?"
"I don't know," replied Durf. "We was only told that the spell we was
given would bring us the Crown Prince."
"Taint him though. It looks to me like we got the other one - you
knows, the little prince - instead of the one we was supposed to get.
"I am Prince Elnar, son of King Parda and heir to the throne of the
Kingdom of Wachin," he said proudly, forgetting, for the moment, that
only he currently thought of himself as the heir to the throne.
"You see, Durf. He admits he's just the little prince. They's not
gonna be very happy with us."
"I don't see why, Merk. T'weren't our spell messed up."
"What is we gonna do now?"
"I reckon we oughta blow that powder they gave us on him. Then we'd
better take him to that place we was told to take him. They was the
ones messed up - not us. We'll lets them decide what to do next."
"I reckon that would be best."
Durf took a small bag out of his coat pocket. After pouring some of
the powder it contained into his hand, he took a deep breath and blew
the powder in Elnar's direction.
The dust stung his eyes, making them water. He began coughing after
swallowing some of the dust. All of a sudden, Elnar began feeling
really weird. As he straightened up, he couldn't believe that the two
large men were growing even taller. But that was before Elnar
realized the men weren't becoming taller, he was being shrunk ...
again.
"Now that's better," smiled Merk. "Even we should be able to handle
one little seven-year-old boy."
"Yeah, we should be able to do that easy enough," agreed Durf.
"Shouldn't we?"
"Seven???" mumbled Elnar. "And I thought being made thirteen again
was already bad enough."
"We needs to be on our way," said Durf, as he and Merk extinguished
their small fire.
"Let's get going boy," said Merk, as he and Durf each took one of
Elnar's arms and led him away from their camp.
*****
Elnar, now apparently a seven-year-old boy, sat by himself in a
darkened room feeling confused and lost. His small chair faced an
even darker corner of the room. Although he couldn't see who was in
that corner, he knew there must be someone, probably even several
someones, skulking about within the shadows of that dark corner.
"You moronic idiots!" shouted an unseen and unknown voice that could
have been either male or female or both or neither. "This is not the
boy who you were sent to fetch."
"How can you tell he's not the one?" asked Durf.
"That's right," agreed Merk. "Did you ask the boy? He'll tell you
who he is."
"I know exactly who he is, you brainless lunkheads. He is Prince
Elnar of Wachin, the younger son of King Parda and Queen Tilanna,"
answered the unidentifiable voice. "He is not who I wanted brought
here and, consequently, he's totally worthless to me."
Elnar flinched slightly at the reference to being his parents' younger
son, but he was even less happy being called worthless.
"But you didn't say how you knew it was him," said Durf.
"It should be more than sufficient for idiots like you just to know
that I do know," snarled the unknown person. "But, because it pleases
me, I'll tell you anyway. It's a very simple reason - Prince Libart,
the older son and the real heir, would not have age-regressed to this
seven-year-old when the powder you were given was blown over him. Now
take worthless boy away."
"But what should we do with him?" asked Durf.
"Yeah what?" agreed Merk.
"I don't care," replied the unseen person. "Whatever you imbeciles
decide to do with him is fine by me. You can have him for a snack
for all I care."
"I'd really rather they wouldn't do that," said Elnar nervously.
Durf turned towards Elnar. "Don't worry about that for now, boy.
Little boys like you tend not to agree with me."
"Boy, you're really lucky," agreed Merk. "You should have seen Durf
the last time he snacked on some little boy. I've never seen nobody
with so much gas before or since. Durf just swelled up like some
giant carny balloon and even started to float away. It was nip and
tuck for quite awhile whether or not he'd explode."
"Well, if you won't be eating him," said the unknown man, "then maybe
you could just sell him. I'm certain you two are always in need of a
little extra working capital to fund some of your more libidinous
activities."
"What?" Durf and Merk both looked confused.
"Illiterate ignoramuses," mumbled the man hidden in the darkness of
the corner. "You always need money in order to pay for your visits
to Doxella's whorehouse, you sex-crazed fools."
"Oh them activities," chorused Durf and Merk.
"You should just say what you mean," said Durf.
"I'm sure we can sell the boy," said Merk.
"Don't I get any say in this?" asked Elnar.
"You already did, boy," said Durf.
"Yup," agreed Merk. "You got your say when we agreed not to eat you."
"Let's get going, boy," said Durf, as he and Merk led Elnar towards
the marketplace, intent on selling him to raise enough cash for a real
good time with the pretty girls at Doxella's whorehouse.
*****
After a long hour and thirty-seven minutes of roaming about the
marketplace, Elnar was still unsold and being led around the
marketplace by his captors Merk and Durf. In that time, several
people, inquiring about the boy's availability, had approached either
Durf or Merk. But after all of them had looked Elnar over at great
length, they had all simply walked away without even bothering to make
an offer on the boy.
"Nobody seems interested in buying him," said Merk.
"We won't have to give him away, will we?"
"You could just let me go," suggested Elnar.
"What's wrong with you, boy?" Merk stared at Elnar. "If we gives you
away or lets you go, then how is we supposed to pay for our visit to
Doxella's? Them people we was working for made us give back all that
money they gave us before."
"Then we's just going to have to keep on trying to sell him," decided
Durf. "I wouldn't want to miss my next visit to Doxella's place just
because we couldn't sell one little boy. I'm sure someone will
eventually come along that wants to buy a fine looking boy like him."
At that moment, as if in answer to Durf and Merk's prayers, another
potential customer, a middle-aged woman, walked up to them. For
several seconds, she stared at Elnar, who nervously shuffled his feet.
The woman looked him over very carefully. After checking the boy's
teeth, she turned to Merk and Durf. "He's a fine looking boy," she
told them.
"He's for sale, you know," said Merk.
"Don't go getting pushy, Merk."
"That's okay," replied the woman. "I suspected that was the case.
Otherwise, I wouldn't have stopped to inspect him. Might I ask how
much you want for him?"
"We wants enough for him," Durf pointed to Merk, "and me to each spend
the night at Doxella's."
"Don't go telling people that, Durf," snapped Merk. "They'll start
thinking we're some kind of sex preverts or something."
The older woman smiled at them. "Not at all; I could never think of
either of you as any kind of a 'prevert'. Your asking price sounds
fair enough, but, unfortunately for you, I'm not in the market to buy
any boys today."
Merk frowned. "Does that mean you're not going to buy him?"
"As I said, I'm not buying boys today."
"Does you know someone who might be interested in buying a fine boy
like him?" asked Durf hopefully.
"No. Not really. I'm sorry I wasted your time, boys." But as she
turned to walk away, she suddenly turned back to them again. "You
know, I was just thinking - it's a real shame that he's a boy. I know
a great many people, who would love getting their hands on a _girl_
about the same age as him. And being that girls are in so much more
demand right now, you could get maybe up to ten times the price you're
asking for this boy." She then turned around and walked off into the
crowd.
"Ten times???" Merk's eyes became as big as saucers.
"That means both of us getting ten nights apiece," said Merk, as his
eyes began glazing over in excitement.
"All right, it's time to wake up now," said Elnar sounding annoyed.
"I'm still a boy, you know - one you can't even sell - not some little
girl. No matter how hard you try to sell me, no one's going to buy
me."
"We gotta do something, Durf."
"But what can we do, Merk."
"You could let me go," suggested Elnar.
"Quiet, boy. How many times we gotta tell you that ain't one of your
choices," replied Merk. Suddenly, Merk began to smile. "I just had
me this really great idea."
"What kind of idea?"
"Ain't your little sister got herself a girl about his size?"
"Yeah, little Clarista," replied Durf. "So what?"
"Hold on, I'm getting to that," replied Merk. "My sister got herself
this wig with long hair when she was sick and all her hair fell out."
"Yeah, I remember - she looked better bald," said Durf. "So where is
you heading with this."
"Boy are youse stupid," said Merk. "We'll just go over to your
sister's place and dress him in one of Clarista's dresses. Then we'll
go to my sister's, put her wig on him, and fix him up a little. By
the time we gets back here, he's going to look enough like a girl so's
we can sell him for the price of a girl. We'll even dicker a little
and sell our girl at a discount. That oughta make her even more
appealing."
"No way!" exclaimed Elnar. "There's no way that I'm dressing up as a
little girl so you can sell me for more money."
Durf glared at Elnar. "Did we say you got yourself a choice in this?
You is gonna dress like we tells you, or we cuts our losses and eats
you."
"What about your gas problem?"
"Don't worry about me," replied Durf. "I just take me a bottle or
three of industrial-strength antacid pills first."
"And just remember this, boy," added Merk ominously, "if you screws
up our selling you, then we'll ends up having to eat you anyway. It
will be the only way we can cuts our losses."
"Do you understand, boy?"
Elnar shrugged his shoulders. "Completely," he sighed, now resigned
to his fate of being sold on the open market dressed as a little girl.
He offered no resistance as Merk and Durf led him away from the
marketplace.
*****
In slightly over an hour, the Merk, Durf, and Elnar had returned to
the marketplace. Merk and Durf looked exactly as they had earlier.
But, on the other hand, Elnar, who now wore a knee-length skirt, a
boxy pair of shoes with knee-high socks, and a long-sleeved cotton
blouse, looked for all the world like a precociously cute, even if
overly disconsolate, seven-year-old girl. The clothes of Durf's niece
Clarista fit him perfectly, and the tresses of the ash colored wig
belonging to Merk's sister tumbled down over his shoulders.
Elnar hoped no one he knew would see him dressed this way, although,
knowing he looked like just another seven-year-old in addition to a
girl, he didn't think anyone he knew would ever recognize him anyway.
When a boy of no more than ten thought no one was watching him, he
casually pinched Elnar's butt. Elnar wanted to scream. Having his
butt pinched, by another boy no less, was far more than Elnar had
bargained for. "I want to go home," he whined.
"Shut up," said Merk. "Just look pretty, girlie."
"Yeah girl," added Durf. "If you don't, we'll have to eat you."
"It might be better to be eaten than endure this," moped Elnar.
"Just quit your whining, girlie," said Durf sternly. "If you don't,
then maybe we'll just haveta cut off that little part of you that a
girl like you shouldn't oughta have in the first place."
Elnar shut up, just as a new potential customer, an old woman arrived.
"That's a nice looking girl," she grinned. He didn't know why, but
the old woman's grin made Elnar even more nervous. "How much?" she
asked.
"Didn't say she was for sale," replied Durf. "Now, did I?"
"You wouldn't be here if she wasn't for sale," replied the old woman.
"Now quit beating around the bush, or you'll lose out on a sale. How
much?"
"Ten nights apiece at Doxella's House of Pleasures," replied Durf.
The old woman smiled. "Sex fiends, I should have known," she
mumbled, knowing now she'd get a better deal from them. "Five
apiece," she haggled.
"Nine," said Durf.
"Six," she countered.
"Eight," said Merk.
"Make it seven," countered Durf, as the old woman grinned at their
ineptitude.
"Six."
"Sold," said Merk and Durf in unison. As they shook the old woman's
hand, they were both somewhat confused about what had just happened,
but, with nearly a week of pleasure apiece ahead of them, they were
not of a mind to complain.
Money quickly exchanged hands. Elnar wondered how this old woman, who
seemed more than a little prudish as well as quite a few years removed
from that sort of activity, could possibly know the going rate of a
night with one of the girls in Doxella's bawdyhouse.
"You go with her now, girl," Merk told Elnar, as he picked up the
disguised boy's hand and placed it in the hand of old woman.
"But..." began Elnar.
"You got no need to be thanking us girl. What we done, we woulda done
for any other girl in trouble," said Durf. "And those clothes you're
wearing, you can just keep them."
"You can keep the wig too," mumbled Merk. "It looks a lot better on
you anyway."
"You have no need to fear me, girl," said the old woman kindly. "You
will live a much better life with me than with those two hooligans.
My name is Olgindra. What is yours, dear?"
"Elnar," he replied dejectedly without thinking.
"That's an odd name for a girl."
Realizing he'd just made a mistake, Elnar replied, "My parents always
wanted a boy. When I was born they named me Elnar."
Olgindra shook her head. "Sometimes parents don't realize just how
much harm they do when they tag their child with an inappropriate
name."
"I don't doubt that," replied Elnar.
"Come. Let me take you to your new home," said Olgindra, as she led
the Prince to her small cottage on the outskirts of town.
*****
"We need to get you cleaned up, Elnar" said Olgindra. "Afterwards,
I'm sure you'd like something decent to eat, since those ruffians
probably never fed you those things a growing girl needs. After
you've had your bath, there will be a fresh change of nice clothes
waiting for you in the closet of your new room."
"Bath?" asked Elnar.
Olgindra looked at her new charge. "Surely you know what a bath is.
Although, if you've been living with those two dirtbags for any length
of time, then a great many things can be explained. Come with me,
Elnar. I'll show you."
Olgindra led Elnar to a large tub of water, already full of water.
"Take off those clothes, then step into the water."
Elnar slowly removed his clothes trying to avoid facing the woman.
But when he mistimed a turn, the old woman plainly saw that Elnar
possessed something that no little girl could ever call her own.
Olgindra stared at him menacingly, quite literally scaring him
speechless.
"You're no girl; you're a boy," she said coldly.
Elnar shook his head. "Yes, ma'am," he replied, equally nervous and
frightened."
"Do you enjoy dressing up in girls' clothing?" she asked, almost as
coldly as before.
"No ma'am," he answered hurriedly, still frightened. "Today was my
very first time and I didn't really like it at all. They made me do
it so they could make more money selling me as a girl. I didn't want
to dress up as a girl at all."
"How could they make you do something you didn't want to do?" she
asked, even as Elnar wondered if her voice might be somewhat less
chilly than before.
"For one, they're a lot bigger than me. And they said they'd eat me
if I didn't dress this way," replied Elnar, "or if I somehow messed
up their plans to sell me as girl. They couldn't find anyone willing
to buy me as a boy. I was really afraid they'd wind up eating me."
Olgindra smiled warmed. "They said they'd eat you, did they?" She
started to laugh. As she laughed, her old body straightened and she
became younger and more attractive. "I guess I'll have to go have a
little chat with Mr. Durf and Mr. Merk."
"You're not really an old woman, are you?" asked Elnar.
"In a way I am," replied Olgindra with a smile. "I am a woman, and I
am much older than I'm currently willing to admit to you at this
moment, but I can appear however I wish to appear."
"When you see them, tell them you found out about me being a boy on
your own," pleaded Elnar. "Please tell them I didn't mess it up."
Elnar suddenly realized something wasn't quite right. "Wait just one
minute. How did you know their names? They didn't tell you, and
neither did I."
"I know lots of little things that people never tell me, Elnar,"
replied Olgindra. "I'm a little surprised I didn't know you were boy
before you accidentally revealed yourself. But sometimes, odd
combinations of magic block or mislead my extra-normal senses."
"I'm sure they'll give you money back, minus, of course, what they've
already spent at Doxella's."
"I'm not interested in getting my money back. They sold you; I bought
you. And I intend on keeping you." Olgindra looked him over
carefully. "Now go take that bath; you look like you could use the
cleaning up. Once you're finished, there'll be some hot cocoa waiting
on the stove. If I'm not back when you've finished with your bath,
then have a cup of cocoa and head off to bed. Meanwhile, I will go
pay a little call on your Durf and Merk. We'll talk again in the
morning, Elnar."
"Okay, Olgindra," said Elnar.
After Olgindra had resumed her old woman appearance and left, Elnar
removed the ashen-colored wig and slipped into the bathwater. It was
so warm and felt so good, he could have easily soaked in it forever.
However, it had been a long and trying day and he was very sleepy.
Climbing out of the tub, he was glad that Olgindra had found out he
was a boy. After he'd watched her become younger and more attractive
before his eyes, he'd had the distinct impression he wouldn't have
been able to fool her for very long. After toweling himself dry, he
went to his room for the promised change of clothes - but all of the
clothes inside the closet were girls' clothes. He'd forgotten the
woman had thought him a girl. And she'd left so quickly, she'd
probably not had any time to replace them with something more
masculine.
Since no one was in the cottage but him, he went down to the kitchen
naked. As Olgindra had promised, he found a cup and poured some of
the cocoa simmering in the kettle on the stove into it. He sipped at
it, and found it delicious; it was pure ambrosia to his senses. Never
in his life had he ever tasted something so marvelously delicious.
After a sudden yawn, he quickly downed the remainder of his cocoa,
then headed back to his room.
He yawned again, as he entered his room.
He pulled back the covers of the bed, then slipped between the silken
sheets. Before he could yawn again, Elnar had fallen fast asleep.
*****
Durf and Merk were standing outside Doxella's House of Pleasures, when
Olgindra, once again having resumed her old woman form, caught up with
them. They were almost exactly where she'd anticipated they'd be.
"Howya doing boys?" she asked.
"Not all too great," replied Durf. "Doxella won't even let us come
inside tonight."
"We even showed her we got us the money so we can pay in advance,"
added Merk. "She always makes us pay first."
"That was good money you gave us for the girl we sold you, wasn't it?"
"It was the very best money," replied Olgindra. "There must have been
something else that set Doxella off."
"That was what we thought it must be," agreed Durf. "But we can't
figures out what it might be."
"Does you reckon it had something to do with her telling us the last
time that none of her girls never wanted nothing to do with us no
more."
"But we ain't dirty or nothing like that, Merk. Don't you remember?
We just took us a bath couple a few weeks back."
Olgindra smiled. "Maybe I can talk to Doxella on you behalf. Perhaps
I'll be able to secure a job for you inside; that is, if you're at all
interested. I'll see if I can also get both of you a nice place to
stay at night. Would you boys like me to do that for you?"
Durf and Merk eyes widened. "We sure would," they answered together.
Olgindra walked up the steps and into Doxella's place of business.
Durf turned to Merk. "You knows, she's a really nice old lady. I
feels kinda bad about tricking her about Elnar being a girl."
"Shhh!" Merk raised a finger to his lips. "She ain't said nothing
about that. Either she don't know yet or she ain't the kind to hold
no grudge against folks trying to make an honest living."
"I guess you's right, Merk. But I still feels sorta guilty."
"You'll get over it, Durf, once we gets inside. And besides what can
she do about it. She's just some old broad who ain't too bright. But
even after we tricked her and all, she's still gonna get us a job
inside with all them gorgeous broads we been alusting after for so
long."
"Yeah, I almost forgot about that, Merk. And once them gorgeous
broads get to know us real personal like, then I'm sure they'll want
to be with us again, just like before."
The door into Doxella's place opened.
Olgindra stepped out.
"Well?" asked Durf and Merk in unison.
"It wasn't easy, boys," replied Olgindra. "Whatever you've done here
in the past was a major obstacle to overcome. But I finally persuaded
Doxella to give you both jobs. With so many weddings among her girls
the last couple of weeks, she's found herself a little undermanned
right now. Included with your new jobs is a place, right here under
Doxella's roof, for each of you to spend your nights."
"That's really great!" exclaimed Durf.
"Yeah, that's really awesome!" exclaimed Merk.
Durf and Merk smiled, almost unable to believe their extreme good
fortune. Each of them sported the simple look of a sly fox soon to be
let loose in the hen house.
"However, there were a couple of conditions to your employment here,"
smiled Olgindra. "Doxella wanted me to take you up to your rooms.
And she didn't want either of you talking to any of the girls until
after you've seen your rooms and settled in."
"Okay," said Durf.
"No problem," said Merk.
Without another word, the three of them walked through Doxella's front
door. Doxella stared at them as they entered. Not overly unusual for
her whenever she saw them, an odd expression quickly spread across her
face. A couple of the girls standing with Doxella turned and quickly
ran up the stairs, as soon as they saw Durf and Merk.
"It don't look like we's gonna have to worry about talking to them,"
observed Durf.
"Yeah, I noticed they don't seem too talkative," said Merk. "But they
sure does look real nice running up them stairs that way."
Strangely, as they walked up the stairs with Olgindra, Merk and Durf
saw no one else. They both thought it very unusual for Doxella's to
be so quiet this time of night, since Merk and Durf knew Doxella's had
the reputation of being the best little whorehouse in the whole
kingdom.
At the top of the stairs, Olgindra opened a door. The three of them
stepped over the threshold and into the room.
"This will be your room, Durf," smiled Olgindra, "that is, when you're
not working. Your room, just like this one, is right next door,
Merk."
"Tain't much," observed Durf.
"Shut up, Durf. That ain't no way to talk about our new home."
Olgindra grinned at them. "You know, boys, there is something else
I've been meaning to talk over with you about this evening. But that
was before I got so busy helping you get these new jobs."
"What do you want to talk about?" asked Durf.
"Elnar," replied Olgindra. "I'm sure you must remember the girl I
purchased from you earlier this evening."
"Yeah, I remembers her," replied Merk. Nervously, he glanced over at
Durf. "She's a really cute one, ain't she?"
"She's a boy," said the old woman coldly.
"No!" exclaimed Durf and Merk feigning shock. "She done told us she
were a girl."
"I've been thinking you boys might have a little trouble telling girls
and boys apart, so I've decided to help you out a bit." Olgindra
stared at them intensely for several moments. "There," she smiled, "I
think that should be a lot of help for both of you."
Durf and Merk both felt dizzy. The room seemed to be spinning out of
control. Each of them tried to steady himself by putting one of his
hands against the wall. But suddenly, each one stared with disbelief
at the other.
"Merk!" hollered Durf, his voice cracking. "You's growing titties."
"Durf!" hollered Merk, in an airy soprano voice. "You's done grown a
nice plump ass."
"I likes your long blond hair, Merk."
"And you looks real fine with your long jet black hair, Durf."
"What did you do to me?" both of them suddenly asked Olgindra in their
new and incredibly sultry female voices. The hands they'd been using
to steady themselves against the wall shifted to their expanded hips.
Their clothes reformed, becoming tight fitting all over, while
highlighting their new and quite buxom female forms.
"Just never mind," squealed Durf, as he ran his hands along the new
curves of his altered body. "This feels really good."
"Yeah, you can say that again," giggled Merk. "Just go away, old
woman, so me and Durf can start getting to know our new bodies
better." Merk smirked, as he cupped each of his newly expanded
breasts in turn. "I never knew having such big boobies felt so
good."
"You looks really hot now, Merk."
"So does you, Durf."
"Is you still here?" asked Durf, noticing that Olgindra was still
standing beside them. "We don't needs no old woman like you hanging
around."
"I'm sorry girls," grinned Olgindra. "But I'm afraid you'll have to
delay getting to know yourselves better for a little bit. Right now,
you have work to do."
"Work?" Durf sounded surprised.
Merk was puzzled. "What kind of work can we do around here looking
like this?"
"You do remember where you are?" smiled Olgindra. "Don't you girls?"
"Of course," replied Durf. "We's at Doxella's..."
"...House of Pleasures," finished Merk.
Both of them suddenly paled whiter then the purest snow. They were
in obvious shock as it dawned on them exactly what kind of work they
would be expected to do here looking the way they did.
"No!" objected Durf. "You can't means we'll be doing that."
"I won't do that!" exclaimed Merk. "I don't want no guys doing that
kind of stuff to me."
"Of course you do, girls," whispered Olgindra.
Durf stared at Merk. "What's gone wrong with you now, Merk," he said
indignantly. "That kind of stuff is just what Doxella pays us for
doing night after night."
Merk shook his head. "You's right, Durf. I just don't know what come
over me just then. I can't even begin to tell you how horny I feels."
"I knows what you mean, Merk. I just can't wait to have some guy put
his thingy inside me."
"I can't believe how good I feels about all this."
"Me too, Merk. I feels great. You knows, it's too bad I didn't know
it felt so good to be a girl with big titties before. If I had, I
would found someone to change me into one a long time ago."
"Yeah, me too, Durf. I really love having these big boobies of my
very own to play with."
Olgindra smiled. "I'll go downstairs and inform Doxella that you're
all settled in and ready for your first action of the evening."
"Oh thank you so much," they said sweetly in unison.
"That's most kind of you," said Merk.
"But would you ask Doxella to send us a couple of guys as soon as she
possibly can. I'm really horny right now," replied Durf.
"Yeah, me too," added Merk.
Olgindra stared at them for a moment. "I really hope you girls enjoy
yourselves," she mumbled as she left the room.
"You knows, she's really nice for an old biddy, Merkelle."
"Yeah, I knows. Somehow we'll have to find some really nice way to
thank her for being so nice to us and getting us these great jobs and
finding us this fine place to stay, Durfina."
*****
Elnar woke up as sunlight streamed through the window into his room.
As he lay in bed, he felt both content and comfortable. For the
first time in the last couple of days, he actually thought things were
beginning to go his way again.
Thinking he should thank Olgindra for her hospitality and then return
home before his parents sent out the royal guard to find him, Elnar
decided he'd better get up and moving. After pushing the covers back,
he rose quickly from the bed.
Inexplicably, he felt hair fall onto shoulders.
"That's strange," muttered Elnar. "I know I removed the wig before my
bath. And I don't remember putting it back on before I went to bed.
But it must be the wig - how else could all this hair have fallen over
my shoulders like this?"
Elnar reached up, grabbed a handful of hair, and pulled. "Oww!!" he
screamed, as he found the hair he'd pulled was firmly attached to his
scalp. "This can't be possible." Quickly locating a mirror, Elnar
stared at his reflection. His hair was now several inches longer and
slightly lighter than his own, but still darker than the wig. He was
more surprised when he spotted the wig on the stand sitting on the
dresser.
Even more strangely, Elnar had just noticed he was now wearing a long
flowing nightgown. Not willing to wear girls' clothes after his bath,
he could have sworn he'd gone to bed naked.
Except for his longer hair, he didn't look much different than he
had after his bath. However, dressed in this nightgown he looked
decidedly more like a girl than he did a boy. And oddly, he thought
he might have actually shrunk another inch or two; and he was already
a lot shorter than he wanted to be.
Suddenly he felt a pressing urge from his bladder.
After entering the bathroom, he lifted the seat and stood before the
toilet. Pulling up his nightgown, he reached for...
Where the hell was it?
Elnar hurriedly felt around the area of his groin. All he found was
a little mound with a slit where it should have been. He began
feeling dizzy and slightly nauseous, as if he were about to pass out.
Instinctively putting the toilet seat down, the shocked Elnar sat down
on the seat. He shook his head in complete denial of what had
happened.
But it really was missing.
And that just wasn't possible.
It had been there last night when he had stood at the toilet. He'd
looked at it and held it as he'd relieved himself just last night.
Even as he remembered last night's relief, Elnar's bladder finally
let loose and eased his pressing urge. He was very glad he'd been
sitting down.
At that moment, Olgindra, appearing sympathetic and motherly, entered
his room. "You're awake, I see," she smiled at him as if she were
actually his mother. "Remember to wipe yourself, dear - front to
rear."
Elnar looked at her with a confused expression. Assuming she knew
what she was talking about, he wiped himself the way she had just
suggested. "Do you know what's going on, Olgindra? Have you any
idea what's happened to me now?" Elnar thought his voice sounded
differently somehow. It seemed a little higher in pitch than before.
"Of course I know what's happened, my dear," smiled Olgindra. "You've
become a girl."
Elnar was stunned. "How did that happen?"
"Very simply, my dear. You drank the potion."
"What potion?"
"Do you remember the cocoa I prepared for you last night. It
contained the potion that transformed you into a girl as you slept."
"But why?"
"Why not," countered Olgindra. "Those two who sold you to me said you
were a girl," she explained. "I wanted a girl. They sold me a girl.
I bought a girl. And now, you are the girl I wanted and bought. It
really is quite simple."
"But I'm boy; I'm not a girl."
"You just think you're a boy. Physically, you're very much a girl
now, Elnar." Olgindra looked him over carefully. "But we must do
something about that name of yours."
"But you knew I wasn't a girl before. You knew I didn't like dressing
up as one. And now you've gone and changed me into one of them. Why
did you do this to me?"
"I needed a baby sitter for my ten-year-old niece, while my sister and
I go shopping today."
"You what! That's the most asinine reason for doing something like
this that I've ever heard. I can't believe that you changed me into
a girl so I could baby-sit your niece. Not only that, if she's ten
years old, then, on a purely physical basis, she's at least two or
three years older than me."
"I may have missed the fact of your being a boy earlier," explained
Olgindra, "but I definitely sensed you'd been age regressed and were
older than you appeared."
Elnar shook his head and sighed. "Do I look older than seven or eight
to you, Olgindra?"
"Not at this moment, but age is transitory," she replied. "I can
easily negate your age regression. After I sensed you were older
than you appeared, I had this really good idea where to find my
niece's sitter."
"And what idea was that?"
"First, tell me your name," said Olgindra.
"What kind of game are you playing now?"
"It's no game," said Olgindra. "Just tell me your name."
"Oh, all right. My name's Elenara." He clutched at his throat. "No,
it isn't. My name's not Elenara, it's really Elenara."
Olgindra smiled at him. I heard you quite clearly the first time, my
dear Elenara. Now don't you think that's a far more suitable name for
a young girl like you? And now, I really must fix that other little
problem of yours.
Elenara - the only name with which he now felt comfortable with and
recognized as his own - suddenly felt strange. Thankfully, even if
he didn't believe it, he found himself growing taller. Maybe Olgindra
was changing him back after having had a little fun at his expense.
But he suddenly stopped growing taller. He was taller than he'd
been after that weird little man had struck him with his stick, but
he wasn't nearly as tall as he should be yet. Olgindra must have
forgotten something important in her spell, but what it might be,
Elenara could only guess?
However, even if Elenara might have forgotten the new gender his body
possessed, his body certainly hadn't forgotten he was now female. As
he looked back towards the mirror, he watched his waist pull in and
form a simple hourglass shape. His ass grew plumper, while his hips
widened. His hair grew several additional inches longer, a few shades
lighter, and even silkier than before. As he felt a tingling spread
rapidly across his chest, he watched in total amazement as his chest
suddenly blossomed into a pair of large, firm, and full mounds of
post-adolescent womanhood.
Looking back from the mirror was a very sexy looking sixteen-year-old
teen heartthrob. Had he been himself, he knew he would have lusted
for her. "Not again," he whispered.
"Isn't that much better, Elenara? From now on, no one will ever
believe you when you tell them you were once a boy."
But Elenara didn't hear what Olgindra had said. All he could do was
stare at himself in the mirror. The long nightgown he'd been wearing
had also changed. It was now a short flimsy negligee, which showcased
his very shapely feminine legs. It had no sleeves and showed off his
slender feminine arms. But if all of that wasn't bad enough, it's deep
plunging neckline embarrassingly revealed far more of his new and
exceedingly ample cleavage than he wanted others to see.
"Your clothes - now something far more appropriate for your new older
age - are still hanging in your closet, Elenara. After I've helped
you change your clothes, we'll be off to my sister's, where you will
baby-sit my niece."
"Shit," swore Elenara softly, as he peeked over his shoulder and saw
the graceful feminine way his reflection swayed as he returned to pick
out his clothes from the closet.
*****
Elenara walked silently alongside Olgindra as they made their way to
her sister's house. He still found it difficult to believe he was now
a teenage girl, who would soon be baby-sitting Olgindra's niece. If
that weren't bad enough, he didn't want to believe how femininely his
ass swayed back and forth as he was walking.
With Olgindra's help he'd selected the clothes he now wore. But he
wondered why he had picked out such a short skirt with a matching low
cut blouse to wear. Even with the two-inch heels on his shoes, he'd
managed with minimal assistance to dress himself as if he'd always
worn such attire.
Even worse than the clothes he'd selected were the actions of nearly
all the young men they'd passed along the way. All of them stared at
him as if he were some really hot and available girl. Most of them
whistled at him, which made him feel quite uneasy and extremely
self-conscious about the way he was dressed and how he looked.
Although Olgindra had assumed a more youthful appearance, a couple of
the more adventurous boys had even approached him with the intent of
rescuing him from "that old biddy". They wanted him to run away with
them for a chance for some real fun. Having other guys thinking about
him that way worried him even more, although he decided he really
couldn't blame them for being interested in someone like him, who
appeared to be such a pretty girl. After all, he'd seen himself in
the mirror before they'd left Olgindra's cottage. He was almost
certain that if he'd seen this girl he'd become walking along with
Olgindra, he would have also tried to rescue her.
Then he noticed a pair of older men on the other side of the street
staring at him. When they realized that Elenara had seen them
looking, one of them pointed at him as they began whispering back
and forth between themselves.
"How totally disgusting," he mumbled. "Dirty old geezers like those
two shouldn't be lustfully ogling pretty girls young enough to be
their daughters." Elenara shook his head. "What am I thinking?"
But he was greatly relieved, when the two lustful men hurriedly left,
headed hopefully someplace far away from him.
"Are you all right, Elenara?" asked Olgindra.
"Fine, I suppose," he answered, "at least, for now."
"You need not worry about anything, Elenara," said Olgindra in a
motherly tone. "You know everything there is to know about being
the girl you are."
Elenara was puzzled by what the old woman had meant about knowing
everything about being a girl. He was still trying to decipher her
meaning, when they finally arrived at the house of Olgindra's sister.
Olgindra knocked on the door.
A woman, who looked like a younger version of Olgindra, answered the
door. "Gindra, you finally made it. I was beginning to worry about
you."
"You should know by now, you never have to worry about me, Mindra.
It just took me a little longer to find a reliable sitter than I
expected it would. Mindra, this is Elenara. Elenara, this is my
little sister Olmindra."
"I'm certainly glad to meet you, Elenara," she smiled warmly. "But
you must call me Mindra, just like everyone else."
"I suppose I'm glad to meet you too, Mindra," replied Elenara.
Mindra turned towards the stairs. "Liana!" she shouted. "Please come
down here."
"Liana is my sweet little niece, Elenara," said Olgindra.
"Oh sure," he muttered, "as if I couldn't have guessed."
Quicker than Elenara thought was possible, a pretty girl, he guessed
must be about ten, bounded down the stairs and stood between Mindra
and Olgindra. She certainly looks a lot like her mother and her aunt,
thought Elenara.
Oddly, the young girl was holding a rather large iguana in her hands
and gently stroking its head. "Hi Auntie Gindra," she squealed, even
as she carefully scrutinized the newcomer Elenara.
"Elenara, this is my daughter Liana," said Mindra. "And Liana, this
is Elenara. She's going to watch you while your aunt and I go
shopping. You are to obey her as if she were me."
"Yes, mother," replied Liana dutifully. "I'm very pleased to meet
you, Elenara."
What a nice kid, thought Elenara. This should be a lot easier than I
thought it would be. "I'm very happy to meet you too, Liana."
"This is Tolstoy," said Liana, indicating the large iguana she held
in her hands. "He's very happy to meet you too."
"Okay, if you say so," replied Elenara hesitantly.
"Would you like to pet him? He really likes being petted."
"That's okay, Liana," replied Elenara. "I think I'll pass on the
petting for right now."
"Mindra and I won't be gone very long, Elenara. We should be back in
three or four hours."
"And remember, sweetheart, you're to do whatever Elenara tells you
while we're gone."
"Yes, mother."
"Have a good time shopping," said Elenara. He was now certain he
could do this without having any problems. After all, Liana was just
a ten-year-old girl. Even if her aunt did appear to have magical
powers, what could possibly go wrong watching such a nice little girl?
Not long after Mindra and Olgindra left, Liana turned and smiled at
her sitter. "You know, Elenara, I think you're a really pretty girl."
Although he didn't want to, he felt his cheeks redden. "Do you have
a boyfriend, Elenara?"
Elenara's already bright blush grew brighter. He still had difficulty
thinking of himself as a pretty girl. "No," he answered simply. "I
don't have a boyfriend."
"Why not?" asked Liana curiously. "You're so very pretty; I'll bet
you could get any boy you wanted just by looking at him."
Elenara's blush deepened. "It's just that I'm not all that interested
in boys."
Liana gave him a look of semi-shock. "Are you telling me that you're
one of those girls who likes other girls better than they like boys?"
"Well, yes," he replied hesitantly, not knowing what else to say.
"I guess I am. But that's only because I'm not really a girl. I'm
actually a boy."
Liana stared at him in total disbelief. "You don't look like any
boy I've ever met before, especially with those great big boobies
of yours." Liana smiled at him. "You really should like boys more
than other girls, you know."
A sudden wave of dizziness swept through Elenara. But as quickly as
it had begun, it had passed again. "Your aunt gave me big breasts
so I wouldn't look out of place sitting for you. She wanted a girl
to be your sitter, you know."
"That's just like Auntie Gindra," smiled Liana. "But are you
absolutely certain a pretty girl like you doesn't have a boyfriend?"
she asked again.
"I'm positive," replied Elenara. But suddenly, he began wondering why
he didn't have his own boyfriend. After all, Liana had just told him
once more that he was a pretty girl. And since he knew all pretty
girls had boyfriends, he should therefore have a boyfriend of his very
own. Elenara shook his head. He wondered, if his thoughts were as
rational as they sounded, then why did they still seem so totally
wrong?
And then, suddenly there was a boy Elenara's age in the room with
them.
"Elenara," said Liana with a mischievous grin. "This is my friend
Leo."
"Hi Leo," replied Elenara with a near breathless response. Unable to
explain why, Elenara simply, even if quite inexplicably, couldn't take
his eyes off their new visitor. However, since Leo was such a
handsome and incredible hunk, Elenara wouldn't have minded staring at
him forever.
"Hello Elenara." Leo quickly pulled Elenara close and kissed him.
Elenara briefly struggled. But, shortly after fighting through
another round of oddly disconcerting, yet fleeting, dizziness, he
began responding positively to Leo's advances.
"You're abso