Help! Evil Wizards Turned Me Into A Girl!

A mug of milk followed a circular path on the rotary tray. A butter knife dug soft butter from a tin, which spread thinly over crackers on a snack tray. Nadia did not want anything, so Norman pulled a seat at the side of the kitchen table before biting a buttered cracker in half and taking a sip of hot milk. The crackers were eaten meticulously, so as not to spill crumbs. Dim light from the kitchen ceiling reached into the living room. It created furniture shadows that stretched across the carpet. Norman made a joke about a professional football team that hadn’t done well last year; it didn’t land. Nadia stared blankly for a second before changing the subject.

“Remember that thing you warned me about that might be tough to get through but it would be perfectly natural. I’m having it now. You never warned me I’d bleed to death, or that I’d feel so bad! I can barely move!”

Norman coughed up a chewed cracker and swallowed again, “Some have more trouble than others? It should be over in a few days. I already told you what to expect; you should have been prepared. What about the supplies?”

“I’m using them, but it still sucks! I ruined the outfit Geoffrey made. I can’t sleep for thinking about it. And if I’m a girl for another month, I have to go through this again!”

She cradled her head in her arms as she pouted, then let her forehead hit the table. Nadia pulled at her hair. A muffled yell escaped. Then she sat back up.

“NO! This isn’t fair. I’m making a decision. I’m putting my foot down! I’m going back to Pozalm. I have to reverse this. I can’t take it anymore!”

“We have three more days until the next full moon.”

Nadia stole a cracker, nibbled on its end, “I’m going to find out where the Tramen Fohar lived. If I can change, I can change back, and they must hold the key to reversing this. Even if they don’t, their lands should be a good starting point. I’m sure to find something.”

“Are you sure you want to go? You seem to be taking things rather well except for complaining a lot. Perhaps you’re starting to prefer things this way?”

“Are you crazy!?”

Her father thought maybe she protested too much, as she refused to look him in the eyes, her face reddened, and she said, “I -how could you -well you make it sound so bad. I can like whoever I want, so there. There’s nothing wrong with liking someone and it doesn’t have to be a big deal or something. Just drop it.”

“Oh, Darrell Flemming? Seems okay, could be worse.”

She folded her hands on her lap while nodding nervously. There was some bewilderment over how he already knew the boy she had feelings for. Had Nefri betrayed her?

“I’m your father. I pry.”

“It’s nothing perverted. And you need to stop nosing around in my business. Besides, when I’m travelling in Pozalm, I’ll have time to get over this stupid crush that is probably just part of my curse anyway.”

A pint of cookie dough ice cream retrieved from the freezer proved to be a decent consolation for her mood. She dug into it with a big spoon once she returned to the table, speaking between mouthfuls. This would be claimed as her pint of ice cream, so she had no need for a bowl.

“I know full well what I am every time I look in the mirror, take a bath, or even talk. I’m even a girl in my dreams now. If this is the way I’ll be the rest of my life- the rest of eter- I’m not going to make excuses. If I can’t change back, I can live with it. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to go and try to get this fixed before summer vacation ends!”

“I know of no foul proof way to reverse this, even in Pozalm. It’s been so long since I’ve been there. Before I was married even. I have a few maps of the western half of the Great Skull continent, but the rest is unknown to me. The Tramen Fohar were rumored to inhabit an island continent to the south of the western lands. You may need to rely on directions more than maps to find it. I’ve been giving another matter serious consideration. It would be wrong to drag Dew along under false pretenses. Once you arrive in Pozalm, you should talk to him frankly until he gets the picture of what you really hope to achieve. It would be wrong to deceive him, and the same goes for Josh and the others.”

“I planned to tell him once we arrived in Pozalm anyway. I tried to tell him before, so I doubt he’ll get the message. It seems to make him like me more. I want to get rid of him; he’s a big pain.”

The chirping of crickets accompanied by a light wind through the trees sounded quite comforting. Nadia continued eating as her father sipped at his warm milk. She finished her ice cream in silence. A fugitive moth flew to the kitchen light; shadows danced in the living room as it bounced against the glass.

“Really though, it’s no big deal being a girl. I could manage it for a while.”

“So, which is it?”

She opened the cabinet under the sink and threw the empty ice cream container in the trash, “You know what I mean. You just wait, I’ll be a man before I have another. I’m going back to bed.”

She quietly returned upstairs. When Norman heard the door to her bedroom close, he downed the remains of his warm milk in a single gulp.

 

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A packed bag sat in the corner of the garage. Another open bag contained some other odds and ends. It included a bag of her old men’s clothes for two reasons: Josh, who had nothing, and for herself when she changed back. A tool kit held small picks, other tools for climbing, a small ax, and a good knife. A medical box packed with gauze, bandages, and peroxide peeked from the side. She hugged her father before pulling her bike out of the garage and into the forest lit by the full moon on a cloudless night. The groeble stood like a strange modern statue while Nefri, Luthial, Delia and Dew waited around it.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be back before school starts,” Nadia said aside to her father, who seemed to be twisting his fingers off.

“Your sister and I will be waiting for you. Safe travels.”

The great dome that served as the groeble’s head became dark as the void as a circle of purple light swirled counterclockwise between two trees. The direction of its swirl reversed to clockwise and the vortex deepened into a cone shape. Delia, Nefri, and, Luthial jumped through without hesitation. Dew wanted to take Nadia’s hand, but she pulled it away and gave him a push inside. She stepped to the front with her bike, then nodded to Josh. He needed to follow her quickly due to threat of his incubus breaking free without her presence. She glanced at her father, and began to say goodbye when she saw Darrell running toward them from the driveway.

“D-Darrell! What are you doing here?!”

Josh looked at Nadia, then towards Darrell, then towards Norman. Nadia took a few steps away from the portal. When Norman jumped from the porch, Nadia ran forward to get between her father and Darrell.

“How long can this thing stay open?” Josh asked.

“Soon it will close,” warned the groeble.

“It’s okay!” Nadia blushed, “He’s completely innocent.”

Darrell stared at the portal, then his eyes caught sight of the golem like creature. He saw slithering fingers extending like the tendrils of some ancient horror.

“What is going on? What is that thing?”

Norman backed away but glared warily and kept a loose stance with his arms raised. Nadia ran to Darrell and gently shook his shoulders.

“I’m leaving now. If you care at all about me you won’t tell anyone a word about this. Promise me you won’t tell.”

Darrell tilted his head at her, then at the portal, and then the groeble. He laughed nervously as the groeble began to roar in a raspy deep voice.

“Close it soon will. It will soon close. Close soon it will!”

“We get the point,” Josh waved his arms, “Hurry up! Old rock head says this thing won’t last.”

Nadia let go of Darrell, pushing him into the arms of her father. “I have to go now. I’m sorry. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye?! Wait a minute!”

Norman could hold Darrell back for only a moment. The boy elbowed him in the stomach and then darted forward as Norman fell on his butt. Darrell managed to grab Nadia’s arm. He pulled her away from the portal just as Josh entered with the bike. Nadia scrambled over the wet grass to dive inside, yet Darrell pulled her by the arm in the opposite direction.

“What are you doing? Let me go!”

“I’m trying to save your life!”

“Stupid! He’s going to die without me. People could die!”

“Will close it soon!” hollered the groeble. Nadia managed to break away long enough to scramble for the portal, but Darrell had her arm again before she could jump.

“I can’t let you do this! Something has to be wrong.”

“With you!” she struggled to pull herself ever closer to the now shrinking portal. “Why are you trying to stop me? Let me go!”

“Maybe I find it scary that the girl I like would want to throw herself in some strange swirling void.”

“I’ll be fine. Now let me go!”

“No, I can’t take that chance!”

She grabbed the arm he was using to pull her and jumped backwards, but she couldn’t gain enough ground to get inside the portal. Darrell remained undeterred by the threat of following her inside it. As he pulled against her, his strength proved itself sufficient to stop her at the entrance until Norman rammed his back from behind. Darrell lost his footing as he fell into Nadia and they both tumbled through the portal together. It closed the instant they disappeared. The groeble then took a deep breath, something rare for their kind.

“There was commotion. I could not follow. What now?”

“Now we figure out a way to hide yet another disappearance. I’m sorry friend. Your services will be required to prevent greater trouble.”