by Lhynn Cooper
Chapter 17
.......... She stopped pacing and stood next to me. "Why don't you try changing back to mermaid and see what happens?"
.......... "Sure." I said, feeling disgusted. "Why not? Human, mermaid, it's all the same to me." I sat on the couch, naked and looked down at my wife's body from an entirely new angle. I looked at my legs and pictured my mermaid tail, with it's scales and fins. All of a sudden, I felt a tingling and in less than a second, my legs reformed into a mermaid tail and I felt hair hanging down my back again. My breasts were ever so slightly larger and my waist a little smaller. I wiggled my tail fins and said, in a somewhat different female voice, "Well, at least this is familiar."
.......... "Now try going back the other way." Kathy said.
.......... I concentrated on having legs instead of a tail. Nothing happened at first and then with the same speed and the same tingling feeling, my body reformed itself into a duplicate of my wife's.
.......... "At least that works, too." I said.
.......... "You should try walking." Kathy said. "Here, let Linda and I help you up."
.......... Linda and Kathy stood on either side of me and helped me to my feet. It had been only a week and a half, but having legs was now a very weird sensation. The difference in feeling between having a lower body that would bend and flex in almost any direction and these legs that now seemed so stiff with their odd joints was enormous. After a few moments, I was able to stand on my own, and then to take some halting steps. After a couple of minutes, it started to come back to me, and I was able to walk on my own.
.......... "I've gotta pee." I said, and started walking to the bathroom.
.......... "You need help?" Asked Linda.
.......... "I should be all right." I replied. "I'll call if I need help."
.......... I walked to the bathroom, feeling for the first time in my life, the sensation of walking without anything hanging between my legs. How weird and strange it felt. The more steps I took, the more the memory of walking as a man came back. My legs now moved so differently. The hip joints were wider apart and my upper legs angled in more at the knees. My feet pointed almost straight ahead as I walked. As a man, they had always angled out more. My knees now almost brushed together with each step.
.......... I was also aware of my breasts bobbing up and down with each step. The feeling of having breasts was not new, but walking with them was. Rolling around in a wheel chair did not set them in motion as much as walking did. I was definitely going to have to get used to wearing a bra.
.......... I went into the bathroom and reached to turn on the light as I shut the door. My one hand hit the wall about six inches below the light switch and the other one hit the door about the same distance below the doorknob. My wife's body was about six inches shorter than my male one. Doorknobs and light switches were usually set at standard heights and in the years since I had reached my full adult height, I had developed instinctive movements to do certain things, like open doors and turn on lights. I was now going to have to relearn a lot of those movements.
..........
.......... As I turned on the lights and shut the door, I noticed a full length mirror on the back of it and saw my new body's reflection for the first time. Well, I shouldn't say it was the first time I had seen it, because I had been looking at this body for years, ever since Samantha and I had married. But this was the first time I had seen it from the inside.
.......... I did have to urinate, but, curiosity drew me closer to the mirror. I stood and looked myself up and down. I moved and looked and touched. I carefully inspected my new face in the mirror, and noticed that although I had always considered Sam to be quite beautiful, her skin was not quite as smooth and flawless as my Barbie doll mermaid face. My hair was now much shorter. Instead of hanging down to the middle of my back, it was barely longer than when I was male. As I noticed before, it was now a golden-blonde color instead of the silver-blonde mermaid hair. I ruffled it with my hands, thinking that at least it would be easier to take care of.
.......... I moved my hands down from my face, feeling my breasts, noticing the same erotic feeling from rubbing these nipples as my mermaid ones. I ran my hands down my sides, feeling the inward curve at my waist and the flaring out at the hips. I moved one hand down my stomach still almost expecting to feel the transition from smooth skin to shiny scales. Instead, I felt only the smooth curve of my little belly as it curved down and inward at the groin. It had been a while since I had felt the outward protrusion of male genitals in this area, so the absence of them was not quite the shock it might have been. However, where my mermaid body had it's female genitals on the front surface of the tail, the vaginal opening was now tucked down between my legs. I ran my fingers through the light pubic hair and slightly bowed my legs to allow room between my thighs for my hand. I moved my fingers over the pubic lips, feeling the slit between them. I pushed a finger up into the opening and felt the warm moistness that I had already come to expect from this area. Moving a finger around inside produced the same pleasurable sensations that I had felt in my mermaid form. The feelings were almost exactly the same except the area had been moved down farther to a more hidden, more protected location.
.......... My former male genitals did not really hang between the legs, they attached more to the front of the body. Their female counterparts were not only moved lower down and back, truly between the legs, but were all hidden away inside the body and were unnoticed except when directly manipulated. This all led to completely different sensations when walking and moving. Although my mermaid body was most definitely female, this body felt even more so.
.......... I felt the need to urinate, and the sensation was somewhat different than it had been when I was a mermaid. My bladder was obviously now in a slightly different location. I raised the lid and sat on the toilet, luxuriating in the ability to take care of simple bodily functions without having to drag myself along the floor and climb up onto a toilet. Sitting on the toilet as
.......... a woman, the construction of my hips and legs held my knees naturally closer together then as a man. There were no hanging organs to keep my legs apart and make room for. As I relaxed the muscles restraining the liquid within my bladder, I felt the liquid flow from a different place than I had been used to for these past days. A spray of warm fluid was coming from the top of my vaginal opening instead of from the anal area as it did from my mermaid body, although in this form, the vaginal opening was not all that far from the anal one. Again the relief was the same, but the sensation was quite different.
.......... When the spray stopped, and it did seem to be a spray, not the well defined stream my penis had produced, I spread my legs apart and bent over to look between them. I held the still wet vaginal lips open with my hands and inspected the area. I could clearly see the clitoris and, farther down, the dark, moist opening of the passage that led up to my uterus. 'My uterus', 'my clitoris'! Even after several days, prefacing the names of female sexual and reproductive organs with possessive personal pronouns was still disturbing to my psyche. In my mind, I was still male, no matter what the mirror showed.
.......... Despite that mental self image, reality now demanded different toilet habits. I sat back up on the toilet and rolled off some toilet paper. I looked down and with my legs still spread apart, could see straight down between my breasts, past my flat stomach, straight into the toilet. No protruding organs to block my view. I reached down between my legs and wiped myself. As I got up and flushed, I was thinking that even though I still had to sit to pee, at least I could walk to the toilet instead of having to drag myself along the floor.
.......... I again looked over my new body in the mirror. I turned sideways and viewed myself in profile. My pelvis now had that slight forward tilt that caused the female rear end to appear so attractive to men, shaping and curving it in such a delightful way. I rubbed my hands over my reshaped butt, cupping the cheeks and squeezing them, getting used to the feel of having a normal, human backside again, instead of the scale covered, undivided surface of my mermaid form. I slid a hand down my front, watching in the mirror as it moved over my bust, down my stomach, and brushed the light colored pubic hair. After the last few days as a mermaid, it felt very odd to have hair on this part of my body. As I ran my fingers through the soft, golden curls, I was thinking of all the time I had spent lusting after this body, making love to it, sleeping next to it, and now, I was inside it.
.......... There was a knock at the bathroom door, I heard Linda ask, "Terry, do you want a robe?"
.......... "Come on in, Linda." I replied, and she opened the door and stuck her head in.
.......... "You should really put something on." She said, watching me examine myself in the mirror. "You'll feel more comfortable, and I know it'll make Kathy feel more so. She really feels bad about this."
.......... "And I don't?" I asked, but she had already gone down the hall to get me something to wear.
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.......... In a few moments Linda returned with a long white bath robe, which she handed to me. I pulled it on and wrapped the thick, soft cloth around me. The robe had a belt, which I pulled around my waist and tied in front. In the mirror, I saw my wife wearing a white robe.
.......... "This is really going to take some getting used to." I said to Linda. It seemed I was saying that a lot lately.
.......... "I'll bet." She replied. "But just think about it, you were actually getting used to being a mermaid. I'd think that after that, being turned into your own wife would be a piece of cake."
.......... I just looked at Linda for a moment. All I could think of to say was, "Jeez, Linda, this isn't exactly fun, you know." I looked back at the mirror, running my hand through my now shorter but still blond hair. "I don't know how Samantha's going to take this. She'll leave me now, for sure. Then what'll I do?"
.......... "Calm down, Terry." She said. She came over and took my hand and then kissed me on the cheek. "I'm just kidding you." She said with a smile. "C'mon out to the living room, Kathy wants to know how you're doing."
.......... I didn't quite know how to take Linda these days. She seemed to be almost having fun with what had happened to me.
.......... I followed her out to the living room, still very aware of the, for now, unfamiliar feel of human feet pressing into the carpet instead of feeling my fish tail dragging along over it, and the stiff feel of legs that had very limited movement compared to my mermaid tail. Kathy was sitting in the chair, still looking nervous. Linda sat on the couch, and not being exactly sure of what to do, I sat next to her.
.......... "Are you all right, Terry?" Kathy asked.
.......... "Well," I said, "I guess I'm all right. That is, for a man who's just spent a couple of weeks as a real, live, water breathing mermaid, and then, for good measure, now has to spend half of each day as a duplicate of his own wife." I gave my head a little shake. "Could it get any better than this?"
.......... "You don't have to be so sarcastic, Terry." Linda broke in. "Mrs. Anderson, Kathy, I mean, was just trying to help. She feels bad enough as it is."
.......... "That's OK." Kathy said. "I guess I deserve it. But, Terry, I really am sorry. I wish I could do more, but I can't."
.......... "I'm sorry, too." I said. "It's just that this is all so unbelievable. We move cross country, and the first thing I know, I've got scales and a fish tail. Then, before I can begin to cope with that, I turn into my own wife. I don't mean to give you a hard time, Kathy, but, wouldn't you be a little upset, if all this happened to you?" I asked.
.......... "I suppose I would." Kathy said. "But, remember, my daughter told me she cast the spell on a woman, and when I saw the picture, and you kept calling your wife Sam, well.......," Her voice trailed off.
.......... "Yeah." I said. "I can see how it happened. I just wish it hadn't." I looked down at my new legs and straightened one knee, lifting the foot off the ground so that the leg was sticking straight out. I moved the foot around, trying to get used to the feel of having feet again. "At least I'll be able to move around without the wheel chair now. And, I'll be able to
.......... leave the house and go out in public, although I really don't want to be seen looking like this either."
.......... "Remember, Terry, you can be out for only about twelve hours a day." Kathy reminded.
.......... The three of us sat for a little while, not knowing what to say. I kept moving my legs, trying to get used to them. After a few moments, I began to notice other things. It felt different to sit. As a mermaid, it also felt different to sit, but I had a tail then, not legs. I was now much more aware of the lack of external genitalia. Instead of my male equipment tucked in between my thighs and confined by underwear, I was now actually sitting ON my female genitals.
.......... I had been feeling up and down my thighs and had started to open the robe to be able to see my hips and upper legs. I suddenly became aware that Linda and Kathy were watching me and I became embarrassed and quickly pulled the robe closed.
.......... Trying to change the subject, I asked Kathy, "Why didn't you try to find me right away, as soon as your sister brought your daughter home? Didn't it bother you that she had done this to someone?"
.......... "I didn't know." Kathy replied. "When Carrie brought her home, Patty didn't tell me right away. Carrie told me about the broken doll and what happened in the restaurant, and Patty knows she's not supposed to say anything like that out in public, so I was a little angry at her and said so. Apparently, then she was afraid to tell me what she had done, but after a couple of days, I could tell something was bothering her. When I asked her what it was, she wouldn't tell me at first, but then she finally started crying and told me."
.......... Kathy paused and fumbled with her purse, then continued. "She said she had turned the woman in the restaurant into a doll, but Carrie didn't see her do anything and I didn't think she was able to do it, since she's still so young. I thought she had probably tried to cast a spell, but that nothing had happened. When I was a little girl and found out about the gift, I know I tried to do things, to cast spells, but, nothing worked until I was into my late teens. It was then that my powers started to develop. When I went into the art gallery, to look at some pictures, I saw those ones of you, Terry, and saw how much you looked like Patty's doll. I didn't want to believe it at first, but then I examined the pictures more closely, and sensed some magic in them."
.......... "You can 'sense' magic, from a picture?" I asked.
.......... "Some of us who have the gift can do that." She replied. "It's almost, well....., not almost, it really is another sense, like taste or smell. If magic touches something, I can usually tell."
.......... "Kind of like the super sensitive nose of a dog?" I said. "They can smell things that people can't."
.......... "Terry!" Linda said. "That's not a nice thing to say, comparing somebody to a dog."
.......... "I didn't mean it that way." I quickly said.
.......... "It's perfectly all right." Kathy said. "I'm not offended, it really is very much like that. I think many people may have a little bit of that sense, they just don't know what it is or how to use it. Remember, I told you that magic used to be much more common than it is now, there could be
.......... people who have just a little of the gift but just don't know it. When someone says they have a 'sixth sense' about something, that may be what they're talking about. A lot of what people refer to as 'the supernatural' or other things referred to as paranormal, may be based on magic."
.......... "This is all very interesting." I said. "But, don't you have any idea how soon your daughter will be able to do something about this? I mean, I guess having legs is better than having a tail, but I really don't want to be a woman." I pulled open the neck of my robe a little, and looked down at my breasts. "I love Samantha very much, but, I don't want to BE Samantha. She really wants me back, and I just don't know how she's going to take this."
.......... "I'll work with Patty all I can, Terry." She said. "But, even though she's shown special ability by doing what she did, I just can't promise anything. The minute I know she's ready, I'll call. I'll keep in touch and try to help as much as I can. Remember, I don't want any word of this getting out, and having a live mermaid around, even for only half the time, is just asking for trouble if anybody sees you or finds out about this."
.......... I looked at Linda and could tell she was thinking the same thing I was, about the drunken fisherman up at the lake. I didn't think it was wise to bring it up to Kathy and Linda didn't say anything either.
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