The Kinky Wizard’s Ring - Chapter 3

Maureen is back with the start of a brand new misadventure.

Hello,

It’s me, Maureen… Mo. Been a little while. Welcome back to my nightmare of a life. I’ve had some eventful weeks, and I felt like sharing. Prepare yourself for the weirdness.

This particular mess all started while I was on a date.

“Are you feeling alright?” the guy asked me.

I snorted and replied, “I’m fine.” Then, I dove face first into my second plate of pasta. I knew he was staring at me. Probably everyone in the bistro was. I didn’t care. I was too hungry, and I had my snout buried in some tasty food.

“You seem… different,” he said.

I looked up from my meal. Then, I oinked and asked, “You noticed?”

He nodded, doing his best to hide his disgust.

I held up my right foreleg, which had been my right arm, and showed him the gold band looped around the outer toe of my trotter. “See that ring,” I said and snorted.

He nodded again.

“That’s a grunt magic ring,” I said. “There’s a wizard’s spirit in it.”

“Oh?” he said, politely.

“He can oink change my body with his grunt magic.”

“I see,” he said. “Magic ring… I should be freaking out more about this, shouldn’t I?”

I squealed and said, “He can affect other people’s grunt minds. Keeps you all calm oink, when he changes me.” I leaned in to finish the pasta and began licking the plate clean. God, I was starving still. I can’t remember ever having eaten this much or felt this hungry before. No matter how much food I put in me, it never felt like I was filling up at all. The server came by and asked how we were doing. I ordered another meal for myself in addition to the third one I had ordered ten minutes ago. Then, I asked my date, “You going to grunt finish that?”

He pushed his plate closer to me, and I started to munch on his salad.

After a few seconds of consideration, he asked, “Why don’t you…?”

“Take it off?” I replied.

He nodded.

“It won’t come off,” I said, and took another bite of his salad. “But, he can’t control me. Grunt! He controls what I am, but I oink control what I do.”

“That’s…” he searched for a diplomatic word for horrifying. “Interesting” was what he settled on.

I finished his salad and sat my curly tail down on the floor of the bistro. The last remaining shreds of my dress tore off, and I was fully undressed, aside from the ring and my cute earrings, still dangling from my enormous folded over ears. I felt myself growing even fatter and larger as I waited for the next course of my dinner to arrive.

“As you can grunt imagine, I don’t go on dates very often.” I snorted and licked my chops clean. “They tend to go… oink wrong.”

“Sorry,” he said.

“I’ll pay for dinner,” I grunted.

“You don’t have to.”

“I’ve got a lot of oink money,” I explained. “You see, grunt I’m like the golden goose. I lay gold eggs grunt when I get squeal laid.” I snorted out a sad laugh. “I’m rich!” I squealed.

“Huh?” he said.

“Listen,” I said. “I don’t want to sound grunt desperate, but you can have some of my oink eggs if you come back to my place. I’ve got a squeal whole drawer full of them now. Oink! I've had some lonely nights lately.”

“Eh…” he said, not hiding his disgust very well now.

“Nevermind,” I grunted, realizing that even though he could see my tits now, there were probably too many of them for his tastes.

My next meal arrived, this time I was big enough that I could eat it without standing up. Just when I started scarfing it down, my phone rang. I squealed and asked, “Could you get that grunt for me?”

He stood up and found my phone in my purse and answered the call. He put the phone on speaker and held it up in front of me.

“Thanks,” I grunted.

“Maureen?” a familiar voice asked.

I squinted at the screen and read the caller’s name. “Jodie?” I replied and oinked. “What’s the matter?” My sister never contacted me unless there was a problem. I took another bite of my meal.

“It’s mom,” Jodie said. “She’s in the hospital.”

I stopped eating.

“Did you hear me?” she asked.

I grunted and said, “How serious?”

“They’re not sure yet,” Jodie said. “They think it might be her heart. You should come to see her… You know, before it might be too late.”

I chewed my food and considered a reply. “Did she ask grunt for me to come?”

“Your mother might be dying, Maureen,” she said. “Come home.”

I grunted again and sighed. “I’ll get on a plane in the morning.”

My sister hung up and my date put my phone back in my purse.

“Take all the cash oink out and leave it on the table,” I ordered him. I licked my plate clean just as my next meal arrived. I was still very hungry, but I knew I should be heading home soon. After he had left hundreds of dollars there to pay for the meals, I said, “You’re free to squeal go now. Thanks for toughing it out.” I grunted.

“Sorry about your mom,” he said. “I hope she’ll be alright.”

I snorted and nodded. “G’night,” I said.

He walked away, leaving no indication that I would see him again. I didn’t blame him.

I finished my last meal, feeling myself grow into an even more enormous fat sow as I did.

I felt gross. I sweated. I stank.

Also, my mom was in the hospital.

***

I wish I could say that I just walked home after that with no further weirdness, but it turned out that tomorrow was garbage day. I could smell it as I walked past the full bins.

I tried to resist the urge to feed, but I was hungry still, starving still. Everything I had eaten already had just gone to grow me into an even larger pig, expanding me instead of filling me. I needed more, now, and the rich stink of the trash was making my mouth water.

I gave in and knocked over a garbage can, inside were the day-old remains of a chicken dinner. I munched on it, swallowing it down, bones and all. In the next can, I found wilted lettuce and squishy tomatoes. There were banana peels and melon rinds in the next can. Along with the food bits, I knew I was swallowing down bits of cardboard and paper, but it didn’t matter. I ate it all, anything to fill me up a little more. I had become a kitchen-sink food disposer. Shovel it all in my mouth, anything, everything, and watch me swallow it into my black hole of a belly.

I took a dump in an alleyway. It reeked like a sewage plant. Then, I went and licked cheese and sauce out of a pizza box on the concrete next to my mess.

It was never enough. I was always hungry. I made it back to my apartment, eventually, leaving a trail of scattered garbage behind me.

Although I must have weighed half a ton at that point, I walked up the creaking wooden staircase to my apartment door. I had remembered to ask the server to hang my purse around my neck, but now I had a problem. My neck was too huge for me to even take the bag off. Besides that, I doubted my trotters could hold the keys or maneuver them into the lock. Instead, I lay down on the landing, feeling hungry still, but too tired to go searching for more to eat.

I rested there, feeling fat and gross, waiting to sleep, wondering if my mom would die while I was still a pig. At last, I fell asleep.

***

I woke up on the landing, human again, and naked. That didn’t bother me much anymore. I lost any self consciousness about my nude body a while ago. That doesn't take long to happen when you regularly shrink out of your clothes or outgrow them. Still, I got inside my apartment as fast as I could and headed directly for the shower.

Warm water and soap washed away the bad stink from last night, but the memories of eating garbage would be with me for a long time to come. I toweled off and got dressed. Then, I made a little breakfast for myself.

Finally, I felt prepared enough to check my phone. There were no new messages, no missed calls. I wasn’t sure how to interpret it. Was it a sign that things were going well or going badly?

I decided to buy a plane ticket home while I waited for more information. First-class, one-way, I had money to burn, why not be comfortable? The flight was leaving in a few hours. I texted my sister with my flight number and arrival time.

Jodie replied, “See you soon.”

“How is mom?” I replied.

“She’s still with us. Holding on.”

“Is it her heart?”

“Yes,” Jodie replied, and I felt like reaching through the phone to grab her and shake her to force her to give me some actual information.

“How bad is it?”

“Not good. Listen, I need to check in on her. Talk to you later today.”

“Bye,” I typed and put down my phone.

I felt sort of hollow, not worried, not okay, just a little empty. I figured that I had emotions somewhere inside, but they were playing hide-and-seek for the moment.

“Listen,” I said, talking to the wizard in the ring. “Can you give me a break for a few days while I deal with this? You can go crazy with me after this is all done, but I just need a little time as my normal self while I deal with my family? Please?”

In response, I felt the waistband of my pants tighten. I looked down to see my belly inflating. I had to unbutton and unzip my pants to make space for my growing gut. Soon enough, I had a proper pot belly. At first, I figured that the wizard was going to give me another fat day, make me obese to some degree. However, it soon became clear that most of the new weight was concentrated in my lower abdomen, right around where my uterus was.

“Why?” I asked as I watched my breasts swell slightly, growing more tender as they went. I undid my bra to give them space. My belly had swollen up bigger than a basketball and showed no sign stopping yet. Soon enough, I had begun to resemble a prehistoric fertility idol. “Why are you making me look pregnant?”

I knew there wouldn’t be a reply, but I hoped I could shame him into stopping. Of course, he didn’t stop. He made me the most pregnant looking woman imaginable. Honestly, I appeared to be 12 months pregnant with triplets. And, that came with all the expected side-effects: sore feet, swollen ankles, squeezed bladder, aching back… the works.

I sighed. “Thank you,” I said with sarcasm, proportional to the weight on my belly.

***

One positive of appearing to be incredibly pregnant was that I got excellent seating on public transit. Even on a packed bus, someone stood up to give me his seat.

The negatives outweighed the positives, though. By the time I made it to the airport terminal, I needed to use the toilet. I talked my way into cutting in line so that I could check my suitcase right away, and then I hurried to the toilet. Inside, I thought about using the big stall but decided that my condition did not qualify as a disability. Despite it being a tight fit, I managed to squeeze into a regular stall.

Then, there was the long wait in line for a security check. My feet were aching after only a few minutes of standing. I would have killed for a nice chair or even an uncomfortable bench. Fortunately, they waved me through without a question. Once I had my carry-on bag back, I found the nearest bench and settled down for a good rest.

It was becoming clear that traveling as a very pregnant woman was just a series of short walks between rest breaks on various seats, from bus stop bench to bus seat to toilet seat to airport bench, followed by a succession of benches on my way to my gate. I made it just in time to board the plane first and collapse on my first class seat.

What a relief that was, being able to just sit there without having to do anything. The flight attendants were already prepared to give me literal first-class treatment when I arrived. After seeing how pregnant I was, they took pity on me and worked extra hard to give me the best service they possibly could. Anything I wanted, they would bring to me immediately. When I said my back felt sore, a pile of pillows and blankets appeared almost before I finished talking. When I mentioned I was thirsty I had a glass full of ice and water in my hand seconds later. Without a doubt, it was the nicest flight I had ever been on. It was almost enough to make me forget why I was flying.

The only real negative was the weight pressing on my bladder that forced me into the cramped bathroom a couple of times during the flight. That bit of awkwardness was no big worry, though. In the end, after we landed at our destination, I would have preferred to be able to stay on the plane rather than get off. I sucked it up, nevertheless, and got to my feet to make my way into the airport.

Again, I was lilypad hopping between seats on my way to the exit, where my rideshare met me. Fortunately, it was a nice van with plenty of space. After a short ride to my hotel and a long walk to my room, I took a quick piss and then collapsed on the bed under the weight of my own swollen belly.

“Well,” I said to the wizard in the ring. “Did that amuse you enough? Can I please be somewhat normal while I go visit my dying mother?”

Moments later, my enormous uterus deflated back down to its normal size. All the swelling and other side effects of the fake pregnancy faded away, and I was back to my standard, overly sexy body.

“Thank you,” I said as I went to change back into one of my usual outfits. Then, I contacted my sister to give me a ride to the hospital.

***

“You look good,” my sister said after a few minutes of awkward silence in the car.

“Thank you,” I said. I could have told Jodie that she looked good, despite how worn out she appeared. I could have, but I didn’t. I hadn’t seen her for five years, but she looked at least ten years older. Having four kids would do that to you, I suppose. If I had wanted to be rude, I would have mentioned that. I might have been impolite enough to ask if she was pregnant again. She was carrying extra weight in a way that could be a pot belly or a baby. Who knows? Who cares? I was beyond forcing politeness or reopening old wounds. It didn’t matter to me. “How’s mom?” I asked.

“She’s holding on,” Jodie said.

“Do they know what’s wrong with her heart?” I asked.

Jodie hesitated to respond. “It’d be better if I let her explain when you see her.”

She was being cryptic, which was not unusual for her, especially when discussing family business. I let it go, satisfied that I would find out soon enough. Looking out the window, I watched as we drove through our old home town. It was even smaller than I remembered. Back in the city where I live now, the walk I made from my apartment to the bistro was longer than the entirety of the main street here.

I recognized some familiar faces and looked away. I spent the remainder of the trip staring straight ahead at nothing in particular.

***

Jodie held back in the waiting room to let me visit mom on my own. As I walked, my clothes loosened on me. I stopped in a bathroom to check what the wizard had done to me. Sure enough, my reflection in the mirror looked years younger, probably in my mid-teens. I was much more developed now than I had been at this age originally, but I still felt the absence of those years. Here I was, squarely back in a high school body, at the age when things had gotten rough between my mother and me. I wondered if the wizard had somehow seen one of my memories of arguing with her, screaming at each other. Maybe he was trying to recreate that kind of awkward moment, or maybe he just knew how young adults and parents frequently fight. Whatever the reason, it looked as though I would be forced to be a child again in her presence.

Honestly, I would have preferred the ultra pregnancy.

I adjusted my clothes to fit me better as well as I could manage, and left the bathroom to walk to her room at last.

Entering the room, I expected to find her on her hospital bed, buried under wires and tubes, fighting for her life with the assistance of expensive machines. Instead, she was just lying there watching TV with a slightly bored look on her face and an IV in her arm.

I gently tapped on the door and said, “Mom?” My voice was embarrassingly childish now.

She noticed me standing there and replied, “Well, you made it at last.”

I sighed. Here we go, again… I thought. I tried to remain civil. “How are you doing? I came as soon as I could get a flight.”

“Hmph,” she scoffed. “Here I was, lying on my deathbed, and my own daughter was out who knows where, with who knows who, all night.”

“I was on a date when I got the call, and I wasn’t h-… I wasn’t in a state to travel.”

“Was this a date with a man?” she inquired, sounding both hopeful and disdainful.

“Yes,” I said, “not that it matters.”

“Sweetie,” she said, grimly. “It matters.”

Over the years, I had learned to control my temper, but being a teen again made it harder to handle. Still, rather than cussing her out, I simply sighed and asked, “Are you dying or what?”

She turned her attention back to the TV and said, “The Lord has not yet called me. False alarm this time.”

“What was it?”

“Indigestion,” she said. “Bad heartburn, but you can never be too careful.”

“Well,” I said, “that’s good, at least.” Then, I thought about the timing. “Hold on,” I continued. “When did you get this diagnosis?”

She did not look at me. “It was last night, but they wanted to keep me around for observation.”

“What?” I said, half-shouting now. “Jo called to say you were on your damn deathbed.”

“Language,” she corrected me.

“She was lying to me?”

Now, my mother turned to look me in the eye and said, “You’ve needed to come home for a long time now. I saw what this was when it happened. This was the good Lord giving you a reason to come back to us, to come back to Him.”

I groaned in frustration. “You lied to me! You both fucking lied to me!”

“Watch your tongue!”

“I should have just stayed home and waited for you to die.”

“But,” she said, “you came. Your love for me was strong enough to bring you back from your life of sin.”

“‘Life of sin?’” I said, turning my back to her.

“When you told me of your perversion, I prayed for you. We all prayed for you to turn from your sin.”

“I told you that I had a girlfriend in high school, and you decided that I had started worshiping satan.”

“It was the devil in your ear, tempting you.”

“I’m pansexual!” I stated, for the millionth time. “I am attracted to women and men and anything in between. That’s who I am. I don’t give a damn if you approve of it or if God approves of it or whatever. That’s not going to change.”

“Just say you will be with men only,” she said, sounding earnestly concerned for my soul. She held out her hand to me. “Pray with me, my dear. Pray for His grace. Pray for His forgiveness. Turn from your sinful ways. Come home to Him.”

I should have just walked out without saying anything. Being a teenager, I felt the need to express my emotions, first. “Fuck you!” I shouted and stormed out of the room.

“Maureen!” she cried as I left. “God sees you! Come home!”

I marched away. Jodie stood up in the waiting room as I passed, but I ignored her and headed for the elevator. She joined me there as I waited.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “She told me not to tell you how she was doing. She made me promise.”

“I’m going back to my hotel room,” I said. “Then, I’m taking the first flight home.”

“Come to dinner,” Jodie said. “Please. It’s been years since the kids have seen their aunt.”

I did not want to stay in town for one minute longer, but I found myself not immediately refusing.

“Nobody’s going to preach at you,” she said. “I promise. I just want to catch up with my sister. That’s all.”

I looked at her. Jodie seemed so grown up to me then, married, a mother many times over. Meanwhile, here I was, still a child, no family, no one in my life but myself and some stupid wizard.

“If she’s not invited,” I said, “then I’ll come, I guess.”

She smiled and gave me a hug. I did not push her away, but I was not ready to hug her back either.

***

I grew up again on the ride to Jodie’s house. Had I not known better, I might have thought that the wizard was being kind to me, giving me a break. More likely, he had returned me to my default body because he was unsure of the best way to humiliate me in this particular situation. No doubt, he would come up with a good idea soon enough.

Jodie lived in an old farmhouse on the edge of town. Her husband, my brother-in-law, worked as a police officer. She was a full-time housewife. Together, they had spawned a houseful of kids, who were running wild in the yard of the house when we arrived.

I remembered that their oldest boy was named Bryan, the same as his father. I spotted him in the garage doing something mechanical with his bike. I don’t know what. There was a wrench involved. God, he seemed so grown up, almost a teenager now. His eyes followed me all the way to the front door and probably lingered on the door even after I was out of sight.

Bryan the elder was sitting on a recliner, watching baseball on TV.

“I’m home,” Jodie said and walked over to give him a kiss on the cheek. He barely took his eyes off the screen. “How were the kids?” she asked.

“Fine,” he said. “Did you pick up more beer?”

“Oh,” she said. “I’m sorry, I forgot about it.”

I had a feeling that she did not forget.

He sighed, and that was the end of the conversation.

Jodie led me to the kitchen where I watched as she pulled out a key and opened a locked drawer. Inside, were piles of chocolate bars and candy, a perfect stash for a lady with a sweet tooth. “Take what you like,” she offered, grabbing a chocolate bar.

I shook my head. “Thanks, but no,” I replied. “I’m not feeling like eating at the moment.”

Jodie shut the drawer and locked it. Then, she took a seat at the kitchen table and unwrapped her bar. She started to scarf it down, getting chocolate all over her lips as she did. I wondered if she was just very hungry or if she felt the need to eat her candy fast before her kids saw it.

Once she had finished eating and was licking her fingers, she remembered that I was there. She composed herself, grabbing a napkin and wiping her mouth. “I’m eating for two at the moment,” she explained. “We have another bundle of joy on the way.” She forced a smile. There was still a trace of brown chocolate on her teeth. I shivered.

“Mama! Mama!” cried a six-year-old girl as she ran into the kitchen. “Did you get me a present?”

“Mind your manners, Felicity,” Jodie scolded her. “Say ‘hello’ to your Aunt Maureen.”

The girl looked at me, and I had a feeling that she was trying to figure out what I had in my pockets.

“Hi, Aunt Maureen,” Felicity said.

“Mom?” called another child. This one was a couple of years older, another girl. “When is dinner going to be ready?”

“Give me a minute to sit down, first,” she said. “Also, say ‘hello’ to your Aunt Maureen.”

“Hi,” said the girl with a half-hearted wave.

“Did you clean up your side of the room yet?”

The girl shook her head.

“Now, Judith…”

“I’ll do it later,” Judith replied and walked down the hallway and up the stairs.

A boy ran down the stairs, passing her on his way to the kitchen. At first, I thought it was Bryan again, but this boy looked a couple of years younger than him. He was wearing an almost identical outfit to Bryan and had the same haircut.

“Hey,” the boy said when he saw me. Then, he turned his attention to his mother, “Do you know where Bryan is?”

“In the garage,” Jodie said. “Go see if he’ll let you help out with his bike.”

He ran off without another word.

“That’s Adam,” Jodie said. “He loves his big brother.”

I could see how frazzled and worn out she appeared. I wondered how much she was sleeping.

“Jodie,” called her husband from the living room. “Would you grab me a bag of chips, please?”

“Excuse me,” Jodie said, groaning as she got to her feet to fetch her husband his snack. I watched her go and felt actual pity for her now.

“Aunt Maureen?” Felicity said, causing me to jump. With all the kids coming and going, I had forgotten she was still standing there next to me in the room.

“What is it, Felicity?” I asked her.

“Want to see my toys?”

I shrugged. “Sure.”

***

After a short tour through the pink bedroom she shared with her big sister, Felicity gave me a conspiratorial look and said, “Want to see what we have in the attic?”

“I guess,” I said, not really caring but not wanting to head downstairs until dinner was ready.

She led me to a door in the hallway, behind which was a steep narrow staircase leading up to the attic. There were dusty boxes all over and antique furniture stacked up almost to the peak of the roof. A window at one end of the attic cast rays of light down onto the wooden plank floor. Sitting near the window on an old rug was a dollhouse, surrounded by scattered dolls, their accessories, and other toys.

“This is your mom’s old dollhouse,” I said, recognizing the Babra Dream Mansion and several old Babra dolls in various outfits.

“Mama said it used to be Grandma’s dollhouse when she was my age,” Felicity said. “Now, it’s all mine.” She seemed quite proud to have taken ownership of this heirloom.

I walked over and picked up one of the Barbras. It must have been one of my mother’s original toys. Certainly, it was old enough. Aside from some obvious wear and tear, there were the exaggerated body proportions that would be too problematic to sell nowadays. Aside from the legs that were twice as long as her torso, little Barbra had a massive pair of breasts and a waspish waist. It was a warped ideal of femininity, one which had been remodeled to more realistic proportions in the past couple of decades. Little Barbra was a relic of an old way of thinking about women.

I looked down at myself, noting my own exaggerated body proportions and realized that we actually had a good deal in common.

I set the doll down, and looked around the dusty attic, wondering what other artifacts could be found here. I could have done some searching, but, really, I didn’t care. “Let’s head downstairs for dinner,” I suggested, and we left the attic.

***

I ate. Fortunately, the kids monopolized the conversation, not leaving much room for Jodie to question me about my life. I did share that I had been promoted to a manager. In response, Jodie made sure to point out every achievement her kids had accomplished in the past few years. Mostly, the kids didn’t care much about what either of us had to say, but I caught little Bryan staring at my chest more than once during the meal. I guess he was at that age, now. Jodie served ice cream for dessert, giving herself an extra two scoops. When we were all done and it was time to put the younger kids to bed, Jodie offered to let me sleep on a fold-out bed in the back room. I said I would just call for a ride-share to pick me up.

Making that call for a ride proved difficult. The signal indoors on the first floor was terrible. It seemed that my provider was not offering great coverage in this region.

“Problems?” Jodie asked.

“I don’t have any bars here,” I explained, trying to get a signal by moving my phone around.

“Why not just stay? I can drive you in the morning.”

“No offense, but I’d rather not spend another minute in this town.”

Jodie sighed. “How can I not take offense to that?” she said. “This is my home. I like it here.”

“Do you?”

“It’s where my family is,” she said. “Mom is here for me.”

“Well,” I said. “Bless your heart. I’m sure she’s a big comfort for you all.”

“She is,” Jodie retorted. “At the very least, she takes an interest in her family. I haven’t heard a word from you in years. I knew you had problems with Mom, but why’d you have to cut me out of your life along with her? You didn’t think I might appreciate hearing from my own sister occasionally? You didn’t think your nieces and nephews might want to see you?”

I sighed. “It wasn’t about you. I just needed to move on. I needed to leave my old life behind.”

“And, how’s that working out?”

“Fine.”

“You’re alone.”

“Not exactly,” I said, touching the ring with my thumb.

“You’re not with anyone.”

“I’m looking. I’ll find someone.”

“There’s men here who would be happy to have you.”

“Oh, yes, a man could ‘have’ me. Wonderful. Just what I always wanted, to be someone’s property,” I said and sighed. “I’m my own person. I’ve got my own life.”

“A lonely life. You’ve got no community, no family to turn to,” Jodie took me by the hand. “Come back home. The kids want to have you here. Stay with us, at least for tonight.”

I pulled my hand free and said, “Listen, I’m leaving. I’m sorry, Jodie. I’m not staying a minute longer than I have to.”

After seeing the pained look of disappointment on her face, I stepped out onto the driveway, hoping I would have better luck getting a signal outdoors, but I got no more bars there. I considered just walking to my hotel, but I might run into someone who remembered me, which would be awful. To get some elevation, I went up to the second floor, which was better but still not good enough. Then, I recalled the door to the attic that Felicity had shown me. While Jodie was distracted by getting the girls into their pajamas, I opened the door and headed up there. Success! Standing by the window, I had a signal at last. I let out a sigh of relief, feeling glad to be getting out of here.

However, just when I opened the app, I felt my body begin to change.

“No,” I said, feeling myself shrinking. “Not now.” I was pleading with the wizard even though I knew that would only encourage him. The stacks of boxes and old furniture seemed to rise up around me while my perspective fell. My clothing began to slide down my body as I became too small to fit in it. I set the phone on the carpet, knowing that I would not be able to hold it much longer. Then, there was an odd moment, about the point I had been reduced to half my normal size, when I felt less like I was wearing clothes and more like I was standing naked inside of them. It was then that I was certain that I was not getting younger. I had shrunk smaller than a toddler and was still shrinking. However, my body still seemed adult in its proportions.

Once I became about ten inches tall, the shrinking stopped. I was half buried in the pile of my enormous clothes. Despite that, I would have no problem crawling free of them, but before I could move, I felt another change begin, something I had never felt before. My body began to stiffen, my soft skin becoming solid and glossy. I held up my arm and watched it become plastic. “No!” I begged, helplessly. “Not this!”

I felt my knees and elbows lock into one position as ball joints formed in my shoulders and hips. My legs stretched taller and my ankles bent my feet to force me to stand with my heels raised. A joint formed across my waist as it narrowed, and I felt a new joint appear around the base of my head. Finally, I felt my mouth forced into a frozen smile.

Once I was fully transformed into a Babra doll, I stood there for a moment, unable to move, unable to breathe, just a collection of hollow plastic pieces that somehow could still see and hear and feel. (I could probably smell and taste too, but at the moment, everything smelled and tasted like plastic.) I tipped over backwards, coming to rest, lying on my back on my big pile of human-sized clothes. I could not move my eyes, so I was forced to stare at the ceiling for what felt like an hour. At first, I could only listen to the sound of movement in the house below, but that grew silent eventually as everyone went to sleep.

I lay there, awake but immobile, wondering when the wizard would get bored with keeping me stuck as an inanimate object. It took less time than I expected. I felt my joints loosen up, and I found I was able to control the movement of my limbs. I was still plastic, and still limited by the range of motion allowed by my joints. Still, I could sit up and move my head to look around the room. After a few clumsy tries, I even managed to stand upright, balancing within my clothes pile.

I felt my face soften slightly. My head felt plastic still, but I was able to move my facial features again. My eyes could blink and look around, and I could open and close my mouth.

“What the fuck?” I asked, and was surprised to find I could speak again. My voice sounded normal, but I could tell that I was much quieter now. “Hello!” I yelled. “Can anyone hear me?”

I listened for a response, but heard only silence. The family below must have been asleep. Even if there was still someone awake, I doubted that they would be able to hear my little doll voice from a floor below me.

It seemed that I would need to try to find a way out on my own if I wanted to get out of here tonight. I knew it was probably futile to try. No doubt, the wizard was enjoying toying with me like this. Still, rather than give up, I wanted to at least attempt to make an escape. After some more practice moving, I managed to crawl my way out of my old clothes. I got to my feet, and only fell a few times before I managed to balance on the balls of my feet. It sucked to have ankles permanently angled to wear high heels, but I could stand and walk with my heels up if I focused.

After noting that the window was locked shut, I started my long walk to the staircase, taking care to not let my feet get stuck in any of the gaps between the floorboards. When I reached the stairs, I discovered my next problem. Each step was nearly as tall as I was, and the door below had a handle that would be way out of reach once I got down there. Certainly, I would fall if I tried to climb down, and I doubted I could even climb back up once I tried and failed to open the door.

I sighed and turned back. There was no point in trying. I would just need to wait at my pile of clothes until the wizard made me human again. I stopped at my cell phone, which was at least half as tall as I was, and I tried to open it up. Unfortunately, my plastic hands were incapable of operating a touch screen. I sighed again, feeling deeply annoyed at my own helplessness. I had no way of getting out of this attic, no way of calling anyone, no way of doing anything. I was trapped here, just another doll amongst the old ones on the floor by my clothes. For a moment, I considered checking out the dollhouse. Instead, I lay down on my clothes and shut my eyes, wondering if I could fall asleep as a doll. A short while later, I had my answer. I drifted off to sleep.

***

I woke up to the sensation of the world shaking beneath me. At first, I thought it was an earthquake or several quakes happening in regular succession, getting closer and more intense each time. I opened my eyes to see the barn-like enormity of the room above me. Then, I discovered the source of the earthquakes: a giant girl was approaching me, each footstep she took, shaking my world. I blinked a few times, and recognized her as little Felicity, seemingly grown to over 20 feet tall compared to me. Looking up at her, I reflexively lifted my arms to protect myself. Big mistake, she saw that and recognized that there was something different about the new doll on the floor.

“Hello?” the girl asked, crouching down above me. “Who are you? I’m Felicity?”

Before I could respond, Felicity reached for me, wrapping her giant hand around my waist and lifting me up to examine me as she stood up.

I was so terrified by her size and strength that I panicked. I started shrieking and begged her, “No! Put me down! Put me down! Please!”

Her eyes went wide. “You talk, too?” she said, apparently delighted by the special new toy she had found. She gave my clothes pile on the floor a quizzical look, and I could see her recognizing the clothes and putting two and two together in her head. Her face lit up as the realization hit her, and she asked, “Aunt Maureen, is that you?”

I considered if it would be best to lie or tell her the truth. Both options seemed pretty terrible, but I was on the spot. I was too scared to think up a good lie. I told her the truth. “Yes,” I said. “It’s me.”

Felicity gasped in amazement. “Wow!” she said. “That’s so cool. How did you do that?”

I held up my hand with the ring and gave her a brief explanation of how it worked and how I could not control it.

Felicity squinted to see the tiny ring still attached to my plastic finger. “That’s magic?” she asked. “Wow! I have a magic doll.”

“No,” I said. “I’m not a doll. I’m your aunt. I need you to put me down, so that I can figure out how to get back to normal.”

The girl chuckled and said, “You can’t order me around. You’re my doll. I get to tell you what to do.”

I sighed. This was going even worse than I had feared it would. “Felicity, please. I need your help.”

“Let’s get you dressed up,” the girl said, ignoring my words. “Then, I want to watch a movie with you.”

She set me on the floor, and I watched her piece together an outfit for me. Helpless to stop her, I did not resist as she slipped a blue dress on me with a matching pair of heels for my feet. While I did not mind being clothed again, the fact that they were doll clothes was somewhat depressing.

“Let’s go,” Felicity said, lifting me up again and carrying me to her bedroom.

***

The movie ended, and I felt even worse about my situation.

“Did you enjoy that?” Felicity asked me.

“Sure,” I said.

We had just finished watching that animated toy movie. You know the old CG movie with the toys that come to life when nobody is looking at them? It seemed that Felicity had decided that I would be starring in a live action remake of the film, and, naturally, she would be the director.

“Felicity?” her mother called for her. “It’s almost time for lunch.”

I heard footsteps approaching along the hallway, and just as Jodie entered the room, I felt my body stiffen and my face freeze into a smile, as though I had been hit by paralyzing rigor mortis. I tried to move, but I was as immobile as I had been when the wizard had first transformed me. It seemed that I had become just an ordinary doll again in the presence of Jodie. No doubt the wizard had taken some inspiration from the cartoon we had just watched.

“Look, Mom!” Felicity cried, lifting me from her lap to show me off to her mother. “It’s Aunt Maureen. She’s a doll now. Isn’t that great?”

My sister frowned as she looked down at my inanimate doll body. “Did Aunt Maureen give this doll to you?”

“No,” Felicity said, giggling. “It is Aunt Maureen.” She looked down at me and ordered me to “Say, ‘Hello.’”

I could do nothing but smile helplessly up at my giant sister.

Felicity looked concerned. “What’s the matter with you?” she asked me.

“Dolls can’t talk, Honey,” her mother said. “But, it is a very pretty doll. It does look just like your Aunt, too. I wonder where she found it.”

Felicity sighed in frustration. “I don’t get it. She was talking before.”

“Well,” her mother said. “Maybe she’ll talk to you again after lunch. Come downstairs after you wash your hands. Okay?”

“Okay,” Felicity said, before heading for the bathroom sink.

Once Jodie had left, I felt my body loosen up again, but I kept still, hoping that Felicity might forget what she had seen me do earlier and believe that I was only a regular doll, after all.

***

The kids were eating hotdogs, and Felicity had set me down right next to her plate. My body had gone stiff again, when we entered the same room as her mother, confirming my suspicion that the wizard had decided to make me play by the rules of the cartoon, at least when I was around adults.

Eight-year-old Judith got up from the table with half her hotdog remaining, and her mother said, “Put your plate in the sink, please, and excuse yourself properly.”

The girl sighed as she turned back and grabbed her plate. “Excuse me,” she muttered and put the plate away before exiting the room.

Felicity whispered to me, “Daddy says she’s lazy. He’s always saying he’ll spank her if she doesn’t do her chores.”

Bryan saw this and whined in his croaky voice, saying, “Mom, tell Felicity to keep her dirty toys off the table.”

“She’s not dirty,” Felicity retorted. “Aunt Maureen is very clean.”

Bryan gave me a leery look. “That’s supposed to be Aunt Maureen?” he asked, scoffing at the idea. He seemed kind of disgusted by the sight of me, and yet he could not stop glancing at me while he ate, as if he had to make sure that I was still there to absorb his hate. There was something very middle-school-boy about his behavior, so many confused, conflicting emotions. I imagined that he might pull my pigtails if I were sitting in front of him in class. He kept glaring, and I really wished he would forget about me.

“Just leave your sister alone,” Jodie scolded him. “Finish your lunch.”

Bryan scarfed down the remainder of his hotdog and stood up from the table.

“Excuse yourself,” Jodie ordered him.

“‘Scuse me,” he said, giving me one final glance before exiting the kitchen.

“Excuse me, too,” Adam said, following his brother’s lead.

Only Felicity and her mother remained at the table, then. Jodie checked if anyone was watching before she stood up and grabbed the half-eaten hotdog from Judith’s plate and ate the rest of it herself.

“Mom?” Felicity asked, causing Jodie to jump. “Is Grandma going to be okay soon?”

“Yes, dear,” Jodie said, swallowing and composing herself. “In fact, she’s coming to dinner tonight.”

My heart sank. I had hoped I had seen the last of my mother for this trip.

“Did you hear that?” Felicity asked me. “Grandma's coming to see us.”

I sat there smiling like an idiot, unable to do anything else.

***

There’s more story to tell, obviously, but I’ll need to leave it on that cliffhanger for the moment. This is getting longer and longer as I write it, and I need a little more time to wrap it up. Don’t worry, though. I’ll have the next part ready soon.

Thanks,

Mo