Bonding At The Beach, A Morality Tale In Triplicate free porn video

Bonding at the Beach, A Morality Tale in Triplicate WARNING Theft is a crime, this isn't a game. Steal from us and you won't be the same. If you hate your life, then take without paying, and risk alteration that won't be delaying. Return what was taken in a timely way or the winds of change will not delay. I stared at the bright yellow sign and didn't know whether to laugh or groan. Glancing around the cluttered little shop that Liam's mother had dragged us into, I saw stacks of touristy merchandise cluttering overstuffed shelves but I didn't see any signs of a security system. That didn't mean there wasn't one. Hiding cameras in a place this stuffed would be easy. Still, I appreciated their sense of humor and chuckled. "What's so funny?" said Liam. I pointed at the sign mounted next to the door. He smiled. "Yeah, it's a hoot. Mom saw it when we came in." "What did she think?" "She said it was funny, but I don't think it'll change anything." Liam's mom had a shoplifting problem. She took little things that she could easily pay for. I figured she needed therapy more than jail, but if it continued like this she might get both. "Hey," said Millicent. She was Liam's sister. "What are you two looking at?" We showed her the sign. She looked at it for a moment and started to giggle. It was nice to see her smile. She was usually so grim. At fourteen, she was a year younger than Liam and I and, like her brother, she took after her mom, which meant she was short, chubby and saw the world through thick glasses that magnified her eyes. Their mom was way beyond chubby and I knew Millicent that as her future. She definitely had serious body image issues. Her hair, like her brother's, was a dirty blond that hung to her shoulders. She did very little with it other than to keep it out of her eyes with a clip. I was the physical opposite of Liam and Millicent, being a beanpole with an Adam's apple that stuck out a mile. At six feet, I was seven inches taller than Liam and ten inches taller than Millicent and her mom, yet I probably didn't weigh more than Liam. I kept my brown hair cropped short under my black ball cap. My pointy rat-face wouldn't look any better with a trendy haircut anyway. Liam probably spent more time on his hair than Millicent did. He kept it shaved on the side and long and styled on top. He often said that he might be fat and homely with coke bottle glasses but at least he had nice hair. We were all wearing loose T-shirts and shorts over our swimsuits. Earlier, we had talked about whether we really wanted to swim, exposing our less than stellar bodies. Liam and I really didn't care, but Millicent was probably going to leave her clothes on and sit on the beach with her mother. It was all rather depressing, everything was depressing, so I drew the stainless steel flask from my pocket and took a swig. It felt smooth going down and I was instantly calmer. I'd needed that. Liam pulled out a box of mints and flipped it open. "You better take a couple," he said. "You sure as shit don't want Mom to smell that." He was a true friend. I took some and popped them in my mouth. "If you really want to feel better," said Liam, "you should try pot." "I'll take that under advisement," I said. I noticed the attractive woman behind the counter who was dressed like some kind of latter-day hippie with a long frizzy hair, a headband and a prominent peace medallion hanging at the end of a chain on top of her tie-dyed shirt. She seemed to be eyeing Mrs. Hayes. Looking at my friend's mother in all her wide splendor, staring myopically at a display of costume jewelry through the thick lenses perched on her nose, I wondered how easy it would be to shoplift with nothing on but a pink one-piece bathing suit, a pair of sandals and a purse dangling from a thin strap. Could you hide small items in folds of fat? "The chick behind the till the watching your mom," I whispered to Liam. "You think she'll behave?" Millicent cut in, "Not a chance. Mom's a master at this. She could walk out with half the store and no one would notice." "The question is," I said, "do you want her to?" She turned and pierced me with a death-stare. "Don't be stupid, Travis. We can't stop her." "Whoa there," I whispered back. "Claws in." Liam chuckled. "You deserved it, buddy. You should know better. Would you rather hang out with your own family?" "You know the answer to that," I said. Liam and Millicent Hayes may have been just as screwed up as I was and their mom might be a bitter, depressed chain smoker with sticky fingers, but bonding with them beat the hell out of spending time with my loving family. I was an only child of alcoholic parents who, when they weren't at each other's throats, were blaming me for being born. My caseworker let me live with them, probably because she was overworked and figured I was old enough to get by. Whatever. It still beat the hell out of foster care. As the three of us watched Mrs. Hayes, I whispered, "Maybe it would be better if she got caught." Liam frowned. "She's been caught before." "Yeah, that's what I don't understand," I said. "Didn't it scare her?" "Of course it scared her," he hissed. "It scared the shit out of Millie and me too. She's been banned from Walmart but she'll have to do some pretty hard time before she's scared straight." "Would it help if your dad came home?" I knew it was stupid the moment I said it. Millicent whirled on me. "He's never coming back." She was struggling to keep her voice low. "He's a fucking asshole and I hope that bleached blonde bitch leaves him even more fucked up than he left Mom." Mrs. Hayes turned around and said, "What are you kids fussing about?" "Nothing," said Liam. "We were just arguing about football." Rhonda Hayes's frown lines sharpened and her triple chin wobbled as she turned with confusion from Liam to Millicent. The idea that her little Millie would debate so vehemently about football was definitely a stretch. She shook it off and said, "Let's go. I didn't come down here to watch you kids fight about sports. We're hittin the beach." As we followed Mrs. Hayes out the door, I noticed the woman behind the counter still watching. She looked me in the eye and pointed at the sign with a knowing expression on her face. We might not have seen Mrs. Hayes take anything, but she must have seen something. I was going to mention it to Liam, when Mrs. Hayes stopped and said, "Well shit! That was creepy." "What was, Mom?" said Millicent. "Nothin. Just got a bit of a chill for a moment. The sun'll take care of it." She pulled out her cigarettes, put one to her mouth and lit it with practiced ease. A look of relief crossed her face. As we followed, I whispered, "What do you suppose she took this time?" "We may never know," said Liam. He stared blankly at the roles of fat jiggling across his mom's back as she waddled down the boardwalk. Millicent frowned. "I hope it's an ashtray." She was constantly aggravated by the piles of butts her mom left wherever she went. "Who knows," said Liam. "Maybe that sign will come true and Mom will magically change into a non-smoker." Millie sneered. "Yeah sure, and while that's happening, maybe we'll fucking turn into better-looking people." Liam held up his hands. "Hey, we didn't steal nothin." The beach was busy. People of all shapes, sizes, and ages lay on the sand and splashed in the water. A group of mothers with their children had collected near the water. A cluster of little girls was gathered around one of the mothers, a beautiful Hispanic woman, cooing to her baby who was smiling and giggling at all the attention. Nearby, another young couple sat playing with a pair of twin babies. Between that and the warm sun, it was hard not to start feeling more hopeful that we would all be a little less tense after spending the day in such a place. We followed Mrs. Hayes to the parking lot where she popped the back of her SUV and pulled out some folding chairs and handed them to Liam. She handed me a bag full of other supplies and then drew out a wide-brimmed beach hat with a flowery pattern on it and put it on over her tightly permed hair. "Hey Mom," said Liam. "Where'd you get the hat?" "This old thing?" said Mrs. Hayes as she crushed out her cigarette on the pavement. "I've always had it." "I've never seen it," said Millicent with a confused look. "Come, children," said Mrs. Hayes. "Let's go enjoy this beautiful afternoon." Something seemed off about her voice. Liam frowned as he stared at the crushed cigarette on the pavement and then back at his mom. "She barely smoked half of that," he said. "She'll light up another," said Millicent. "Just watch." As we followed Rhonda Hayes out onto the beach, she didn't light up another. Instead, her waddle seemed less... waddly. In fact, as we made our way past groups of beachgoers, she began to seem thinner. A young woman ran past with a Chinese character tattooed on the small of her back. Mrs. Hayes glanced at it and laughed. Her voice was definitely different now. "What's so funny?" said Liam. "That tattoo," said his mother. "I don't know what that girl was told, but I bet she has no idea what it really says." "Do you know?" I asked. "Sure, it says shagua, which means simpleton!" She laughed some more. "How... how do you know that?" said Millicent as her eyes grew large. "I've always known it, sweetie," said Mrs. Hayes, who was looking very different. Before our eyes, she was rapidly becoming thinner and shorter. She'd only been about five feet two inches before, but now she was sinking below five feet. Shiny black hair dropped from under her hat and made its way halfway down her increasingly slim back. Her glasses grew wider and darkened into sunglasses. They weren't transition lenses. At least, they hadn't been before. "What the fuck?" whispered Liam as we followed his mother toward the water's edge. Millicent was speechless. Her glasses made her eyes to look even bigger as she stared wide-eyed at her mom. Mrs. Hayes finally stopped at an open patch of sand and said in a high voice, "This look like good spot. Let's set up here." She was beginning to speak with an accent. Her skin was acquiring a warmer tone even as her body became thin and willowy. Her face was changing as well. "Set up chairs here." I set the bag down as Liam and Millicent mechanically unfolded the chairs. When they were done, their mother, now a gorgeous East Asian woman who appeared to be in her mid-thirties, said with a thick accent, "Wha a beautifuo day. You keeds go ejoy beach whiwe Mama ejoy sun." She dropped her reedy little body down on one of the chairs and stretched out, paying no attention to us as we stared with open mouths. Finally, we turned and looked at each other and wordlessly agreed that we needed to talk. We turned and put some distance between us and Mrs. Hua. Once we were out of earshot, I said, "Holy shit! That sign wasn't kidding. What are we supposed to do now?" Liam seemed oddly calm. "Well, we don't even know what she took. I'm not sure if there's anything we can do." Millicent's eyes grew wide again as she said, "We're fucking adopted now!" "Yeah," said Liam, with wonder in his voice. "Mama adopted us ten years ago after she emigrated from China." Millicent glanced at her mother. "She's totally gorgeous and she's got perfect vision now while I'm still fat and half-blind. If I had her genes, instead of just being adopted, I bet I'd be just like her." I looked from Liam back to Millicent. "What the hell's wrong with you two? We've just seen some mind-blowing shit. Your mom transformed into a completely different person and all you two can talk about is being adopted?" "Well," said Liam, "This kinda feels normal. I can sort of remember our old life. Mama was miserable because Dad left us." "Yeah," said Millicent. "Now she's young and beautiful and happy. I think she used to smoke before." "Don't you two remember the morbidly obese chain smoker she used to be?" I said. "I remember some of it," said Liam, "but it's getting hazy. She seems realer the way she is now. Didn't she used to have a different name?" Millicent frowned. "I think so." I thought about it. Her name was Rose Hua and her old name was on the tip of my tongue. "I don't know about you guys but I'm pretty sure we should be totally freaking out right now." "It's the magic," said Liam. "It's normalizing this. Fitting us in." "What does it matter?" said Millicent. "The memory may not be clear, but I fucking well know that this is a huge improvement. I feel like I've been Millicent Hua since we were adopted and our old name was Hayes. Anyway, I wish I was as pretty as Mama." "Yeah," I said, "I get what you mean. Maybe I can convince my shitty parents to come down here and steal from that shop, then our lives could all be perfect." "Our lives aren't perfect," said Millicent. "I'm still fat and ugly and I fucking hate these glasses." "I don't think you're ugly," I said. "Yeah, sure." She pulled off her T-shirt and shorts, stripping down to her red one-piece bathing suit, and spun around showing off her chubby body. "Every guy wants a piece of this." Her voice dripped with sarcasm. "I'm gonna be ten times fatter when I'm done growing up, a total porker!" "You shouldn't talk like that," I said. "You smart and talented and I like the way you look. Besides, we can't do anything about our genes." "Sure we can," said Millicent. I stared at her for a moment and then said, "If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, you should fucking stop it right now. You'd be playing with fire! Hell, you might be playing with a nuclear bomb." "Why not?" she said. "We saw what it did for Mama. I'm pretty sure she used to be fat, ugly and almost blind like me." "Stop putting yourself down!" I said. "You don't have to do anything like that. We should stay far away from that place. You could end up being turned into a toad or something." She did not look convinced. "I'm already a toad." She looked at Liam. "You with me?" He stared at her for a moment and then said, "If you're determined to do this, I'm in." I could not believe what I was hearing. I turned to him and said, "What the hell, Liam. You're the big brother. You should be setting an example, not following her over a fucking cliff." "I don't care what either of you says," said Millie, "I'm going." She started toward the shop with determined strides. "Are you really just going to go and do what she does?" I said to Liam. He rolled his eyes and turned to follow his sister. "If you do this," I said, "you're not worthy of your dick! You'll be nothing more than a little girl, your sister's shadow." He ignored me and continued walking. "You're both fucking crazy!" I said. As I watched them go, I felt a deep sense of loss. I was losing them. We were the Three Musketeers, weren't we? Wasn't this day supposed to be a bonding experience? Shouldn't I go with them and get changed too? No. I was fifteen years old. I wasn't going to let a fourteen-year-old kid lead me into who knows what. I turned back toward Mrs. Hua and sat down on the chair next to the one she was reclining on. She raised her sunglasses and looked at me with her huge brown eyes. She really was the most gorgeous Chinese lady I'd ever seen. "You no go wis sem?" "I'm a little wiped," I lied. "I think I'm just gonna chill for a bit and then go take a dip." She turned and picked up a bottle of oil which she rubbed on to her smooth body. Her bathing suit was now two-piece string bikini, though it was still pink. Her willowy body, which couldn't have been taller than four foot ten inches, was still rounded in all the right places with perky little breasts. I doubted she was more than ninety pounds. She looked so young that she must've been a teenager when she adopted Liam and Millicent. Would a new immigrant really be allowed to do that? I noticed a thin iridescent bracelet around her ankle and recognized it from a display in the gift shop. I wondered if I somehow got it off her and returned it, she would turn back into her old self. That would be no favor to her. I felt the anxiety of the situation start to overwhelm me so I pulled out my flask and took a very deep swallow and kept going until it was empty. After that, I felt so much better that I stood up and stripped down to my swimming trunks, stuffing my clothes in the bag, and sat back down. A few minutes later, Liam and Millicent came walking back, looking more relaxed. I didn't see anything different about them, though Millie seemed more cheerful. I stood up and whispered to Liam, "Did you do it?" He smiled. "Of course we did." "I don't know how you can be so happy. You don't even know what's going to happen now. If this were an episode of the Twilight Zone, we would be heading for some shitty ironic ending. For all you know, whatever's is behind all this could have a horrible sense of humor." Liam seemed unconcerned as he said, "I guess we're going to find out." Suddenly, he waved his hand in front of his face. "Whoa man, that breath. You been drinking again?" "Your priorities are fucked. So what if I have? You got more mints?" "Sure," he pulled out a box and shook a couple into my hand. I popped them in my mouth and said, "Look, nothing seems to have happened yet. It might not be too late to..." A shudder ran up and down my spine. "Those mints," I glanced at the box still in his hand, "they're not the same as before. Where did you get them?" He grinned wider. "Where do you think?" "I think you just sucked me into this." A part of me, which I immediately suppressed, seemed pleased. Millicent, who had just walked up, said, "Sucked you into what?" "Sucked me into whatever fucking transformation you bought for yourselves." "He thinks that by sharing a couple of mints with him," said Liam, "I might've put him in line to be changed too." Millie turned back to me. "I doubt that. We're the ones who stole." She held up a package of gum. "Maybe," I said, "but the moment I put those mints in my mouth, I felt a shivery feeling. " They looked at each other and Millie said, "You might be right." "Yeah," said Liam. "You might be." "Well it's not fucking fair," I said, "You guys did this to yourselves on purpose. I didn't." "I don't see what the problem is," said Millia. "It's not like your life was anything you'd miss." This was too much. "I'm not going to sit still and be changed into who the hell knows what when I didn't even do anything." "Well, if it's true, I think we did you a favor," said Mila. "Yeah," said Liam, "a favor." "This is all assuming you have the slightest fucking idea how we're going to end up. I'd rather you guys didn't do me any favors like that." "We're sorry," said Mia. "We didn't mean to drag you into this." "Yeah, we didn't mean to," said Liam. "Whatever," I said. "I'm gonna go and fix this." I started toward the gift shop. Mia and Liam came behind me and Mia said, "We should go with you. Maybe we can help." "Yeah," said Liam, "maybe we can." I spun around and said, "I'm innocent. That should damn well be enough." "But this is our fault," said Mia. "Definitely our fault," said Liam. "I don't need your fucking help." "All right," said Mia. "If you don't want us along, it's your choice." "Yeah," said Liam, "it's your choice." As I made my way back toward the boardwalk, I ignored the fact that part of me really wanted my friends with me. I was my own man, dammit, not some follower. I needed to fix this myself. A sense of uncertainty and doubt gripped to me as I approached the cluttered little shop with its wooden sign that said TINA'S GIFTS. I was in over my head here. I stopped for a moment and then squared my shoulders and headed in. My cause was just. Inside, I glanced at the crowded shelves full of touristy items like stuffed plushy mermaids and crystal balls with wizards and dragons inside them. Beyond the rotating displays of fridge magnets, key chains and cheap jewelry was a counter with a glass cabinet containing jewelry, coins, and other used collectibles. Behind that, the same hippie girl sat reading a thick Stephen King novel. I fought off my rising sense of anxiety and stepped up to the counter. The woman looked up from her book and smiled. "Xiuwu hao, Travis. How's it hanging?" That stopped me. "How do you know my name?" She chuckled. "After the freaky stuff you've already seen, are you really flipping out about that?" "Well I... uh." Her expression grew serious as she set her book down on the counter. "Listen, kid, there's some heavy stuff going down here and I can see you've got things to say. So chill, take a deep breath, and lay it on me." I gathered myself and asked, "Am I going to get changed like Mrs. Hua?" "Not exactly like Mrs. Hua." "It's not fair! I didn't do anything." "You ate a stolen mint within the time limit." "But I didn't fucking steal!" "I may be in charge of this little pop stand, but I don't make the rules." "Who does?" She smiled. "You wanna appeal to the big brass? I sympathize kid, but they ain't available." "But... it's not fair!" I apparently didn't have much of a future as a lawyer. Her face softened. "Your sense of justice brought you here. I'm cool with that. That's why a couple years back when you saw a chubby kid being picked on by bullies, you stood by him even though you knew you'd get your ass kicked too. What followed was a groovy friendship that saved you both. His family became a family for you. Are you sure you want to lose them?" "N--no. But..." "It's not fair? After the bummer of a life you got, can you still talk about fair?" "It's all I've got. I'm not anybody. Without that, there's nothing." "I can dig it, but if I could stopped your transformation, you would lose your friends forever. You wouldn't even remember them. The odds of you spinning down the drain are pretty high in that reality. It would be a downer to separate your destiny from theirs. We need you all." "Need?" "To save the world. Lots of worlds, actually. I'm here for a reason, kid. Way out trouble's coming. A few decades up the road, we're gonna need the right people in the right places to prevent catastrophe. It's my gig to see to that." I thought about this for a moment before saying, "You're transforming people to save the world?" "You got it. Some of it's about getting the right folks and some of it's about getting rid of the wrong folks. It's all good in the end." "Mrs. Hua doesn't seem like a superhero that could save the world." She smiled. "Tough guys have their uses, but the danger to our little corner of the multiverse can't be stopped with anything so crude as violence." This was too much. "I'm no hero," I said. "Isn't there anything I can do to get out of this?" She looked at me intensely. "Tell you what, kid. I have a little authority here. It'll cost me, but I can get you out from under this if you're willing to accept some conditions." "Like what?" "While you've been here, I've been holding back all but the most minor changes to you and your friends. I can't hang tough much longer. Before the changes go too far, you need to convince Liam and Millicent to come and pay for what they took." "Who's Millicent?" "Sorry. I mean Mia." So she can make mistakes after all. That made me feel a little better. "Would it mean they would have to give up being changed?" "You got it." "Mia won't like that." "Never said it would be easy." "What if I just got Liam to pay for the mints?" She shook her head. "Sorry kid. They're peas in a pod. It's both or neither." "Shit." "If it's any consolation, you won't turn into a toad if you fail." "Will I become a big, strong he-man?" She threw her head back and laughed. Finally she said, "Anything's possible, but the Y chromosome is a house of straw to the shifting winds that blow through the multiverse." "What's that supposed to...?" "You're wasting time. Better get hoppin." As I turned to go, a strange feeling of confusion clouded my mind. I heard the woman behind me say, "Mrs. Hua is a righteous lady, kid, do whatever she says and always be honest. You dig?" "Sure, whatever," I mumbled. As I made my way back down the boardwalk, I realized that the conversation I just had was a blur. The only thing I could remember clearly was that if I could get Liam and Mia to go back and pay for the stuff they'd taken before the changes went too far, all three of us would remain as our old selves. Getting Mia to agree to this was going to be hard. I figured I'd have to guilt her into it. I found Mrs. Hua where I'd left her lounging on her chair and reading a book with a vertical column of Chinese characters on the cover. "Where are Liam and Mia?" I asked. She smiled and pointed toward the water. "Over sere. Sey go foo sweem." She looked a bit younger, almost as if she were in her twenties. I put my phone and hat into the bag with our clothes. As I did this, I noticed a couple pairs of plastic sunglasses sitting next to the bag. One of them had red frames in the other pink. More changes were happening. The clock was ticking. I turned and charged into the water. When I reached them, Mia said, "Hi Travis. Did you fix it?" Her straight black hair was stuck to her face and she brushed it back so it flowed behind her. She was a lot thinner than before and her face was starting to look Chinese. I suspected that she could see me clearly even without glasses and supposed she was heading in the right direction by her estimation. Convincing her to cooperate with what I needed her to do was going to be a bugbear. I was sure Liam would go along with whatever she decided. I smiled and said, "I can fix it but I need your help." "Like what?" "The lady told me that if you and Liam pay for what you took, I'll be off the hook." Did I really have to tell her the rest of it? In my head I heard a voice, "...always be honest." Lia popped out of the water next to me and flipped his long black hair back. "Hi Travis," he said. "Did you fix it?" He was looking very thin and Chinese too. In fact, he looked an awful lot like his sister. Mia cut in. "He says that if we pay for the stuff we stole, he won't need to change." She turned back to me. "Is that it? We just go back to that shop and pay?" "Yeah," said Lia. "Is that it?" I knew telling them everything would be the honest thing to do but I couldn't think of anything to say that would convince Mia to give it up. After a moment's hesitation, I finally said, "Sure. "That's it. Just pay and I'm golden." Suddenly, a powerful shiver ran up and down my back. That couldn't be good. "Well that should be easy enough," said Mia. "Yeah, easy," said Lia as she adjusted the strap of her bikini. This felt wrong. I needed to tell them more. "There's one other thing." Mia and Lia turned to me and said, "What other thing?" "If you pay for the stuff you took, it will mean that... ah...." "What?" said Mia and Lia. "You might have to pay an extra penalty? Something like that, I think." I brushed the hair out of my eyes. That was it, wasn't it? "Well I guess that's reasonable," said Mia. "Yeah, reasonable," said Lia. As we stepped out of the water, I noticed that Mia and Lia were now the exact same height. I was almost five foot eight inches and I felt like a giant next to them. "How tall are you two?" I asked. "We're four feet and ten inches, the same as Mama," said Mia. "The same as Mama," said Lia. "You two weren't identical twins before, were you?" Mia's eyes grew wide. "You're right!" "Totally right," chimed in Lia. They both squealed as they looked at each other and said, "We're not fat anymore either." They definitely weren't. They were identical Chinese girls, neither of whom could have weighed all of eighty pounds. Their straight black hair hung halfway down their backs. Mia was wearing a red bathing suit, while Lia's was pink. That seemed to be the only way I could tell them apart. "How old are you two?" "We're thirteen," they said. Then Mia looked at Lia and said, "I think we got younger." "Yeah," said Lia. "I think we did." "Well I'm still fourteen," I said. "Let's go back to that shop so you can pay." There was something I needed to remember but I couldn't think of what. We walked back to where Mrs. Hua sat reading so the girls could grab their purses and I could get my wallet. Mrs. Hua, it seemed to me, looked a little too young to have a pair of thirteen-year-old twins. I wondered if they were still adopted. They sure looked like her daughters now. As I started to walk away, I felt a hand on my wrist and looked down. Mrs. Hua had raised her sunglasses and was looking at me. "Stay wis my giuls," she said. "Sey're my leetle flowus. Leesen to Mia. She oldest." "Sure," I said. "You coming?" I looked up and saw Mia and Lia waiting. Somehow, I knew it was Mia who'd spoken even though their voices sounded the same. As we made our way along the boardwalk, Mia and Lia suddenly stopped and stared into the window of a store called CONNIE'S. "Those sandals are so cute," said Mia. "So cute," said Lia. I looked in the window at a pair of pink sandals with flowers on them. They really were cute, but we had something we needed to do. I turned to Mia and said, "We can come back later. First, we should..." "There's lots of cute stuff in here," said Mia. "Let's take a look." "Yeah, let's take a look," said Lia. "Okay," I said. "Let's take a look." There really was a lot of cute stuff in there. The store was filled with all kinds of beachwear and summer attire. And soon Mia, Lia and I were gushing over a flowery string bikini displayed on a mannequin in the back of the store. "It's so gorgeous," we said. It really was gorgeous. As we walked through the racks, Mia suddenly said, "Look at this." "Scrunches!" said Lia. "Let's get some," said Mia. "Yeah, let's," said Lia. I started to echo Lia but, instead, forced myself to ask, "Do we really need scrunches?" "We do," said Mia. "You could use one." "Yeah," said Lia. That's when I noticed that my straight black hair was just as long as theirs. "Okay," I said, "I guess I could use one." I forced myself to add, "Then we should go over to that shop so you can pay." "Whatever," they said. As Mia paid for the scrunches, I checked myself out. I was a couple of inches taller than the twins but kind of scrawny for a boy and my yinjing was awfully small, which was humiliating. At least we weren't far from the shop where this could be fixed. Something I couldn't quite remember still nagged at me. I had to admit that once we had our hair in ponytails, it did feel better. "Can we got to the gift shop now?" I asked. "Sure," said Mia. As we reached the door, Mrs. Hua stepped in with her purse over her shoulder. "Hi, Mama Hua," I said. "We were just..." "I glad I foun you giuls here," she said. "I sau some puetty basing suit eaulier. Say would just be peufec foo you." The girl's cheered. I felt so glad to be included that I didn't object to being called a girl. I'm not sure why the prospect of a new bathing suit was so thrilling. Still, we had something we should do so I said, "But we were going to..." "Don wowy abou sat. We shop," said Mama Hua. A weight lifted from me and I gave in to the excitement of shopping and followed her and the twins to a rack of children sized bathing suits. She pulled out a little one-piece bathing suit with large pale pink flowers printed on it. Handing it to Mia, she said, "Camellias foo my leetle camellia." Mia seemed to blush as she took it. Mama Hua then drew another suit off the rack. This one had smaller darker pink flowers on it. She handed it to Lia and said, "Azaleas foo my leetle azalea." Lia also brushed as she took hers. Finally, she drew out a one-piece bathing suit that had several large flowers in yet another shade of pink with pointed peddles and yellow centers. She handed it to me and said, "Lotuses for my leetle lotus." I eagerly took the bathing suit and felt my heat up. I couldn't understand why she handed me a girl's bathing suit or why she called me a little. I was almost as tall as she was. "I don't know about this," I said. "Shouldn't I get a boy's suit?" "Oh nonsense, Tuavis," said Mama Hua. "You shou be happy eet so peufec foo you." Mia's and Lia's fit them flawlessly and soon I was in the changing room with my own flowery suit. I held it in front of me and examined the large pink Lotus flowers that wrapped around it. The idea of putting it on filled me with glee. That didn't seem right. I was a boy, wasn't I? I considered myself in the mirror. I was so thin that my long straight hair did make me look like a Chinese girl. Was I supposed to look Chinese? Did I have budding breasts? Before considering that further, I felt under my swimming trunks. My yinjing was gone. I felt around as if it had somehow gotten lost, but all I could find was a little slit. I had a yindao. I was a girl. I turned back to the mirror. My hips seemed wide and I really did have small breasts. With a flush of pride, I realized that they were a pretty good size considering that I had just turned thirteen. At least I was older than the twins. As I stared at myself, I slid off my old swimming trunks, which were too big for me, and pulled on the bathing suit. It fit perfectly and I was pleased. I looked so pretty in it. This was wrong. If I wanted to fix this, I needed to get the twins to pay for what they'd stolen and that required clear thinking. I concentrated. My name was Travis Fenton Fetterhoff and I was supposed to be a guy. I felt my thoughts come into focus. I wasn't supposed to be Chinese either and I knew I should be older. I needed to clear my mind more. I stood up straight, looked my reflection in the eyes and said out loud, "My name is Tiavis Fiton Feuhoff and I'm supposed to be a guy." That felt good so I repeated it. "My name is Tiais Liaton Huahoff and I'm supposed to be a boy." My mind was definitely sharper now. "My name is Tia Lian Hua and I'm supposed to be a nanhai, I mean boy." Now it was coming back to me. I used to be thirteen. I was Tia Hua and I wasn't always a twelve-year-old Chinese girl. I needed to fix this. With renewed purpose, I grabbed my purse and stepped out of the changing room. Mama and the twins gushed at how pretty I looked in my new bathing suit and I felt my face get hot. Other than the different cute flowers on their bathing suits, Mia and Lia looked exactly like me and we were the same age too. I had to fight this. I turned to them and said, "We should go to that gift shop and pay." "What are you talking about?" said Mia. "Yeah, what?" said Lia. "You know," I said. "The mints and the gum." "But Mama bought those for us," said Mia. This confused me and I didn't like it. I was sure that they had taken something from that gift shop and needed to pay for it and somehow this would fix the fact that... "Come giuls," We shop moue. "Okay Mama," we said. As we followed Mama to another store that had lots of fun toys and stuff, I tried to think about what was happening but it was getting fuzzy. For some reason, we needed to go back to that shop. "Oh," said Mia, "Look at this!" She gestured to display of inflatable beach balls. One of them had pink stripes with mermaids on it. "Oh," said Lia and I, "that's so cute." "It's only three dollars," said Mia. "Let's get it." "Yeah, let's," said Lia and me. We looked at Mama and said, "Can we?" "It you money," she said. We each put in a dollar and bought the cute mermaids ball. "Come," said Mama. "We go to beach so you ca puay wis ball. "Yay!" we said. As Mama sat in her chair and read her book, we kicked the ball around and squealed like we were six years old. "This is so much fun!" said Mia. "Yeah," said Lia and me. Something was still wrong. "Aren't we supposed to be different?" I asked. Mia and Lia looked at each other and Mia said, "I think we were different and magic changed us because we wanted it to." "Yeah," said Lia and I. "We wanted it to." That was true. We used to be different people but we wanted to be Mama's little girls. I couldn't quite remember who we had been before. I knew we were twelve-year-old triplets. I was Tia Lian Hua, the youngest. Lia Dujuan Hua was born before me and Mia Cha Hua was the oldest and the smartest. Mama came from China when we were babies and managed a restaurant in town. We spent the next hour swimming and had a great time. We love swimming. Then Mama came and said we should get something to eat. She asked where we would like to go. "Can we go to that place at the other end of the boardwalk?" said Mia. "Juanita's Cantina!" said Lia and me. Mama frowned. "What kinda food eesat?" "Mexican," we said. Mama agreed and we headed down the boardwalk. When we passed TINA'S GIFTS a feeling came over me and I turned and stepped inside. Everything was so much bigger than I remembered. The woman behind the counter put her book down and stood up. She was really tall. I noticed three people on the far side of the shop and did a double-take. They weren't moving. In fact, a man and woman seemed to be frozen in mid- conversation, as if they were lifelike statues. A few feet from them, a girl in a really cute bikini was stopped midway in the act of reaching for a necklace. My mouth dropped open. I spun around and looked back through the glass door. Mama and my sisters were frozen in place. The people on the beach behind them weren't move either. I saw some gulls hanging in the air and someone had kicked up some sand that stayed suspended in place like a paused video. "It's all good, kiddo," came the woman's voice behind me. "They're fine. I just shifted us outta regular time, like temporary. As soon as you leave, the joint'll start jumpin again." I turned back around and glared at the woman. I remembered that she was magic and something was going on. She needed to fix something. Before I could ask her what it was, an overpowering shyness gripped me. I needed Mia. Mia was the one who did the talking. "Wow," said the woman. "You're so tiny." "I'm not tiny," I said with a shaky voice. "I'm thee inches over four feet." Okay, that is pretty small for a twelve-year-old but I didn't know what else to say. "Yeah," said the woman, "and if you were all dressed up and soaking wet, you might crack sixty pounds. So what brings you in?" I tried to think of what to say. If I could just remember what I needed her to fix. She leaned forward until her arms rested on the counter so she could look me in the eye. "Yeah, I know you're a bit tongue-tied. Hard to express yourself without your sister. My name's Tina, by the way, and yours is?" "I'm Tia," I said. "Okay Tia, maybe this'll help." Suddenly, memories filled my head and I knew everything. I used to be six feet tall. I had been a fifteen-year-old boy named Travis and Mia and Lia weren't my sisters, they were my friends Millicent and Liam. They had wanted to be changed, but I hadn't. I realized why I hadn't been able to get my friends to pay for what they'd taken. I had forgotten too soon. Anger flared up in me and I decided to give this Tina person a piece of my mind. I open my mouth to shout and find the words all tangled in my head. I concentrate, talking seems hard right now, and say in a tiny voice, "How can I feex sis if I fouge wha to do? Ee no faiu eef I ca no remembeu. Tai bu gongping le!" I timidly look down at my feet. I may remember the big tall Meiguoren boy I used to be, but I am not him, I am tiny little Tia. I tremble as I wait for her to answer. "Relax Tia," says Tina in a surprisingly gentle voice. "Everything is going to be groovy. You have nothing to fear from me." Some of her words are hard to understand but I can comprehend what she is saying. I look up into her eyes and a feeling of calm fills me. Tina smiles. "Do you remember when you decided to not to tell Mia and Lia what would happen with their transformation if they paid for the stolen merch?" I can't deny it. I nod. "When you made that decision, even after I told you to be honest, you crossed a line." Her face seems to ripple as my eyes fill with tears and I begin to cry. I can't help it. The next thing I know, Tina has stepped from behind the counter and wraps me in her arms as I wail. Finally, when I've cried myself out, I say in my little voice, "This is embarrassing. I feel very stupid. I did it to myself." Something seems odd about my words, but at least talking is easy again. Tina steps back behind the counter and sits on her stool so that she doesn't tower over me quite as much. She looks me in the eye and says, "Tell me the truth, Tia. Do you really want to go back to being Travis and having that terrible life without even your friends to make it bearable?" I think about that. "No. Travis's parents did not want him. They only tolerated him sometimes. But can he be friends with Mia and Lia anyway?" She shakes her head and says, "That is unlikely. Mia and Lia do not even speak English." "I do not understand what you mean," I say. "We speak English. We..." Then it comes to me and I look around the shop, glancing at the sign by the door. I can't read it. It looks like horizontal lines of meaningless symbols. My eyes grow wide. "We just came from China last month! We have not learned English yet." I look back at Tina. "We are speaking Mandarin right now!" She nods. "See? You do not really need your sister to think for you." Another memory comes to me that my real name is Ting, but Mama said that I should use Tia now, and my sisters' real names are Mei and Lee. "Why have things changed again? I thought you said you made time stop." "I have not made time stop. I said I shifted us out of regular time. I cannot stop everything or we would not be able to have this conversation. I am not all-powerful." I think about this and finally say, "Do I have to be a triplet who thinks the same as my sisters?" She reaches below the counter and pulls out a black, leather-bound book that looks like a ledger. "I'll tell you something, kid. I liked you the moment you walked in here. You have lots of potential and there might be a better way to make use of it." She opens the book and scans the pages. Finally, she looks back at me and smiles. "I will give you a choice. You can be a triplet or you can let your sisters be a lot more than a few minutes older than you. You will be more useful that way." Would Mia and Lia be a lot older than me?" "Yes. About five or six years." "I do not like that." "Listen, kid," her expression becomes serious, "we are only a few decades out from a crisis that will threaten thousands of worlds, including this one. It is up to me and a handful of others, scattered at strategic points across the multi-verse, to try to arrange things so that we will not be wiped from existence. I cannot edit reality any way I want. You can either be one of three identical girls or you can be the baby of the family. Those are the only choices I can offer you." I think about this. The talk about crisis and a multi-verse sounds like nonsense but the choice is clear. "Okay. If I have to let my sisters be years older, I guess it's better than being a triplet with no mind of my own." She smiles brightly. "You won't regret this, kid." She picks up a pen and writes something down in the book. "There, I've made the adjustment." She looks back at me. "Being a triplet isn't as bad as you seem to think it is. You actually would have had a mind of your own, but this is a better option. You have an opportunity to make a much bigger difference. You're a special girl, Tia, more so than you will ever know." "Okay," I say. "What do I do now?" "Go back and join your family. Time will resume as if you had never left it." I step toward the door and then turn and look at Tina, "Will I remember this? Mia and Lia seem to be forgetting everything." "The old you is gone but not completely lost," she says. "You will forget, but you will have what you need when the time is right." That makes me feel better, "It is good, then. Goodbye." "See you soon, kid." I step outside and I find myself walking with my sisters behind Mama. Mia and Lia seem a little taller and I realize that they are already a year older. While I am still eleven, they are now twelve. At least I am not a triplet anymore. Farther along the boardwalk, we come to a food stand where a pretty lady stands behind a counter under an awning with some tables out front. I cannot read the sign but I still remember things that my sisters have already forgotten. I can, for instance, remembered that this stand is called Wa-neeta Ka-tena. Mama orders tacos for us. Tacos are finger food and they often have cheese in them but Mama says that she told the lady not to put in cheese so we don't get tummy aches. Cheese gives us gas. When we sit down to eat, I listen to Mia and Lia. They can only remember being Chinese girls. I feel smart because I know that we used to be different people and magic is changing us. It's hard to remember what the lady in the shop said, but I know that Mia and Lia are getting older. They're twelve already while I'm still ten. I can't finish my taco so I let my sisters have it. They're getting so big, they must need a lot of nourishment. I'm pretty sure they are eleven already. I can remember being a big boy named Tawes who could eat all the cheese he wanted, while they don't remember anything like that. I may just be eight, but I know more than them. On the way back to the beach, we meet a lady with a great big orange colored dog. I get scared and push against Mama's leg and she takes my hand so I feel better. The lady says something but I don't understand her. Mama says something back to her in the same language. It's called Yingyu. When we get to the beach, Mama sits down to look at her book and says, "You girls go swimming but watch out for your little sister." "Okay, Mama," Mia and Lia say. Then Mia says, "We'll watch the baby." "Yes, the baby," says Lia. They both give me a superior look. I get mad and stand up as tall as I can. "I am not a baby," I say. Just because they are almost nine and I am still five doesn't make me a baby. "Just stay out of the deep water," Mia says. "Yes," says Lia, "stay out of the deep water." We run into the water and I try to follow them but then I get scared and go back closer to shore. They shout at me, "That's right, little baby! Don't go too deep! Stay near Mama!" My face gets hot. "You two stupid! Not swim with you anyway!" Just because they keep getting bigger, they think they can be so mean. I sit and splash in the water for a while. I get bored and go back to Mama. She is still in the chair but she is not looking at the book. The lady named Tina is sitting in a chair next to Mama. They are talking in Chinese. I know Tina can talk Chinese because she told me my sisters would get big. I sit on Mama's lap and listen to them. They talk about what it is like to move to Beautiful Country. Tina smiles at me so I smile. I put my thumb in my mouth and listen more. I get bored because they keep talking about things that are hard to understand. I like to sit on Mama's lap because it's so soft and safe. I wake up. Tina is gone. I turn to Mama and say, "Mama, Mia and Lia mean to me. Lia and Mia bad!" Mama smiles and feels my bum. My bum is wet and I look down and see that my bum has a pink pull-up on it. My top is a pink shirt with a big flower on it. Did I get new clothes? "Baby is all wet," says Mama. "You need a new diaper." "Not baby," I say. "I this old." I hold up a finger on each hand. "Yes," says Mama as she takes my diaper off, "you're a big girl." I feel joy and say, "I big!". Mama puts a dry diaper on me. I like it because it's dry. Mia and Lia come out of the water and walk to us. They are wet. I am dry. "How is the little baby," they say. I stamp my foot. "Not baby," I say. "Big!" Mama gets cookies from a bag and gives us one each. I nibble mine but I want something else. I say, "Mama, milk. Milk." Mama looks around and says to Mia and Lia, "Are you two okay on your own for a while?" "Yes," says Mia. "We are six already." "Yes," says Lia, "six." "Milk!" I say. "All right," she says. "I will just be a few minutes." She picks me up and carries me. I like that. I snuggle with her. I try to pull the top off suckle-boob. She slaps down my hand and says, "Not yet, little treasure." "Milk!" I say. We go into a room. Mama sits down. Mama pulls down her top. I get nipple from suckle-boob. I suck. Warm yummy milk is in my mouth. I am happy. I am full. Wake up in car-sit next to Mama. Car is making a noise. See trees and houses go by. Hear big sisters talking behind. Feel warm squishy on bum. Do not like warm squishy on bum. Tell Mama. "Ma ma, haa boo duba waa. Bu bu." Mama talks in a nice voice. Need new bum-soft. Cry. Mama puts something in mouth. Soother. Suck on soother. Car stops. Mama gets out. Door opens. Mama picks up. Mama carries. Sisters walk behind Mama. Go in house. Mama puts down on soft sit. On my back. Mama takes off squishy from bum. Feel wet-wipe on bum. Get new dry bum-soft. Big sisters looked down. Look up at them. Big sisters talk. Spit out soother. Reach up to big sisters. Can't reach them. Squeal at big sisters. Big sister holds up round stripy thing. Big sister shakes round stripy thing. Round stripy thing makes noise. Like that. Squeal and shake. Mama picks up and carries. Mama puts in basket-sleep. Big sisters look in basket-sleep and smile. Smile back. Shake arms and legs. Want big sisters to take out of basket-sleep. Big sisters talk with nice voices. Hands reached down. Poke tummy. Giggle. Poke tummy again. Squeal and shake. Want big sisters to take out of basket-sleep. They go away. Cry. Mama comes. Mama picks up. Suck on suckle-boob. Like that. Happy. Mama puts back in basket-sleep. Warm and soft. Dream of Tina.