Tails

by Lhynn Cooper
Chapter 19

.......... "Surely you don't have to worry about those things?" Asked Linda. "Can't you just change all the records at the same time, or just cast a spell and change everybody's memory so they think you've always had money? Besides, what do you need money for anyway, can't you just create anything you want or need with just a spell?'

.......... "It's not that simple." Kathy replied. "The gift, magic as you call it, isn't quite what you think it is. We're not 'all powerful' or anything like that. Casting a spell properly, takes planning and careful thought. If you don't do it right, well, look at what happened to Terry." They all looked at me.

.......... "We simply don't have the power to affect everyone in the world with one spell." She continued, "Material objects are relatively simple, affecting people is much more difficult. If I wanted to change everyone's memory of something, for example to make everybody remember Terry, here, as always having been a woman, I couldn't do it. I don't know how to do that and I don't know any member of any family with the gift, at least any that's alive today, who can affect peoples memory like that. Maybe in the past it could be done, but remember, I told you that the gift seems to be getting weaker with each generation."

.......... "As I said, objects are different. Sure, with a spell, I could create a big house for us, I could create all the food and clothing or any material possession that we need, but, that brings up another problem. If you could do anything, have anything, with no effort or work, imagine how boring life would be after a very short time."

.......... She looked around at us, to see if we were understanding her, then she went on. "We're normal people, just like you, but a few of us have this gift that we didn't ask for. Still, we need to raise our children, to teach them values and morals, and live with the rest of our families and neighbors without them fearing us or being envious of us. And, to keep people from being afraid of us, or suspecting us, we've learned that we need to keep this part of us secret, and the surest way to let the secret out, is to use the gift in a way so that someone notices it. For instance, if someone without an obvious job, suddenly has wealth, that would raise suspicion. Today, with computers and things like that, tracking wealth is very easy to do, and some people are always eager to raise questions about something that they don't understand."

.......... "So, none of you use this power?" I asked.

.......... "As little as possible." Kathy answered. "We've learned that it's just not worth it. If someone finds out that we have the gift, they respond the same way, with fear and misunderstanding, and when people are afraid and don't understand something, they always seem to want to try and drive us away or hurt us. We're not immortal or anything even remotely like that. When you're young and you just find out that you have the gift, you can't wait to try it out, but, we've learned to teach our children to keep it a secret. It's not always perfect. Sometimes, someone a little too young to fully understand develops the gift, and then, something like this happens." She paused. "Uh......, I'm not sure how to put this, Terry, but, in the past, you would probably just have disappeared without a trace as soon as my family found out what Patty did. I know that's not right, it's not your fault, but, that's how it was done to protect ourselves."

.......... She paused again, and in very serious tone said, "Please listen carefully. I don't want anyone besides yourselves to find out about this. I'm not going to tell anyone else in our family about it, because it might get back to other, older relatives who sometimes think the "Old Ways' are the best. I just don't want to cause either you or myself any more trouble."

.......... Sam and I looked at each other, I could see this was upsetting to her. To Linda I said, "You better keep those pictures you took of me out of sight, Linda. Let's not ask for trouble."

.......... "Try not to worry." Kathy said. "As I said there aren't too many of us with the gift anymore, at least with powers strong enough to do much. I'm just trying to be cautious and help you as much as I can until I can get Patty trained correctly and I'm trying to protect her, too."

.......... "That still doesn't answer how we're going to explain the sudden appearance of a twin sister for Sam." I said.

.......... "And what about Terry being able to get a job?" Samantha asked. "She's, (that word again), going to need some identification, some kind of records for that."

.......... "Sam's right." I said. "These days you can't just walk in and get a job without a social security card, birth certificate, school records, stuff like that."

.......... "Now you're beginning to understand why our gift, magic, witchcraft, whatever you want to call it, is dying out today, it's just too difficult to think of every little detail when you cast a spell." Kathy replied. "What I can do for you is this, I need you to give me as much information as you can about your family backgrounds and some other things, and I will try and create some records and identification that will allow you to get by. The problem with doing something like this is that it's easy to forget something and have that one thing be found out and lead people to suspect something's wrong and then start looking for other things. Physically changing or creating a new person, such as what happened to Terry, here, is the easy part. Creating all the records, all the papers that make that person really exist in the eyes of the government is harder."

.......... Linda took a tablet of paper from her desk in her studio and Sam and I began to give her as much information about ourselves as we could think of. Kathy said she would use this to create a spell giving me a paper identity that, we hoped, would stand up to normal investigation. She said she would probable be able to set this up in a short time this afternoon, once she had all the information.

.......... With my appearance, there was no choice of who I was going to be, I would be Sam's twin sister. I would keep my first name, but the spelling would be changed to Terri. Kathy thought she would be able to change and create enough records to do this, but, to keep things as simple as possible, my education would end at high school, my four years of engineering school were down the drain. To cover the years since high school, I was supposed to have been working at a small, manufacturing business as a low level factory supervisor, and the company was now out of business.

.......... She couldn't change the memories of any of our parents or other family members, so we would have to be careful to try and keep them at a distance until Patty was able to remove the spell. I didn't mind that with Sam's parents, but not seeing mine for a while wouldn't be easy, and I didn't know what I would do if my parents called and wanted to talk to me.

.......... Kathy was going to set me up with a birth certificate, high school transcript, drivers license, and social security card, and even a couple of credit cards in my new name. She said the hardest part was the social security card. Doing that would require changing federal government records and would take some work on her part to get the spell just right. My old identity would be left alone, Terry, the man, as opposed to Terri, the woman, would still exist, he would just be away somewhere for a while.

.......... Kathy was right, magic in the modern, computer age, was not what it used to be.

.......... After she had written down all that she thought might be needed, Kathy told us she had to get home because her daughter was due home from school and she also wanted some privacy to get the spells done correctly. After she left, Linda asked if Sam and I wanted to stay for dinner, she had to run to the store and then, when Bob came home from work, the four of us could eat. I didn't really want to, I told them I still felt embarrassed about the way I looked and would feel uncomfortable around Bob. Sam said she didn't feel like cooking after all that had gone on today and she and Linda both agreed that I had better get used to looking like this and make the best of it for now, in fact, they decided that we would all go to the store.

.......... I made it clear that I wasn't going to go with them, at least not while wearing a dress, but, ten minutes later we all walked out the front door and headed towards Linda's minivan. I was getting used to my new legs by then, and found that walking around in this body was not bad at all, in fact, the physical sensations of moving around in this female body were actually enjoyable. To be sure, I was experiencing the very welcome sense of freedom brought about by being able to move around without the wheel chair, but, there seemed more to it then that.

.......... This body was relatively young and healthy, as had been my male body, but, there was a toned and limber feeling to it that I would not have expected. Although I knew Sam kept herself in good shape, I had always thought of women as being weaker and less physically capable then men. In this body, though, I didn't feel that way. I had been aware that my mermaid body was more flexible, more elastic, than my male one, and I had attributed that to the magic spell, but Sam's body, (except for the legs and feet which could never match the flexibility of a mermaid's tail), felt almost the same. I could only assume that the hormones that gave the male body it's extra muscle mass and strength must also cause a corresponding stiffening of the joints necessary to accommodate the stronger muscles. I knew that I wasn't as strong as before, there was no way the slim and graceful arms of this body, or my mermaid form, could match my male limbs, but after being a mermaid for a while, and now as Sam's twin, it just didn't seem to bother me anymore. There was a feeling of lightness that came with having Sam's physique compared to my male one, but now, owning a pair of legs again, what I was especially conscious of was the sense of lightness and feeling of emptiness between those legs.

.......... These thoughts all came up in the short walk to Linda's car, and I found myself concentrating on the sensations of no longer having external genitals. I clearly remembered the feeling of my male genitals cradled in my shorts, under my pants, and I also remembered Sam and I making love and what she used to do to them that felt so good. My lost penis had brought me, and Samantha too I hoped, much pleasure, but, now, I was almost ashamed to admit that I didn't miss it all that much. I rationalized this by telling myself that the fondly remembered external parts weren't really gone, they were reformed into something that I knew from the short experience in my mermaid body, could supply just as much physical pleasure, and, seemingly, could do so more often.

.......... As I opened the door to the minivan and climbed in I almost felt ashamed to admit that this female body felt so good, and as I smoothed my skirt under myself and sat down, I had to acknowledge that these internal female genitals seemed more practical than the external male counterparts, at least as far as walking and sitting were concerned. Before, I had never thought of my cock and balls as being in the way or in the least bit uncomfortable, but now, I found that not having them seemed almost more natural. I knew that I shouldn't feel this way, that I should be missing my male body much more than I did, but at that moment, I just didn't. I didn't know if it was Kathy's magic or the different hormones of the female body, but something had changed and I didn't seem to be able to decide if I should be upset about it or not.

.......... Linda backed the van out of the drive and headed off towards the store. I was sitting in the second seat of the minivan, behind Sam and Linda, and they took notice of my silence. "Why so quiet, Terri?" Asked Samantha. "You keep staring down at your lap, are you still embarrassed about wearing a dress?"

.......... "We'll talk about it later, when we get home." I said. "I'm not sure what I feel right now."

.......... They could both tell that something was bothering me and that put a damper on the conversation all the way to the store.

.......... We pulled into the store parking lot, the same one where, last week while waiting in the car for Sam, in my mermaid form, I had experienced what it was like to be stared at by a man. Linda started to get out and Sam turned to me and asked, "You don't have to go in with us if you don't want to, Terri. If your that uncomfortable, we won't force you, but now that you have legs, you're going to have to go out sometime."

.......... "I know, I know, you're right." I answered. "I'll go with you."

.......... We started walking towards the store entrance. It was a breezy day, and I found that a full skirt could be a real problem in a strong wind, and that wasn't the only problem. With each step I took, I felt the wind blowing up the skirt, on certain parts of my new anatomy, causing a kind of air-conditioning effect between my legs that was disconcerting to someone who was still trying to get used to having those new parts. Linda and Sam noticed me trying to walk and hold the skirt down at the same time and Sam at least gave me a sympathetic look, but Linda started giggling. As we reached the door, I leaned over to Sam and said, "Jeez....., I almost feel naked like this, so exposed. Maybe I could buy something to wear under this dress?"

.......... "?Something under your dress?" Sam asked. "Why, what's wrong?"

.......... "That wind!" I said, "Blowing up this damned dress, on my, uh....., well, on my 'privates' just feels so weird, that it's driving me nuts."

.......... "Oh.......? Oh, yeah, I forgot." Sam said, looking down at my legs. "I forgot you aren't wearing any panties." Then she smiled at me and asked, "It can get kind of windy in a dress, can't it?" She looked around us at the store displays and said. "This is a grocery store, they probably sell pantyhose here, but I don't know about anything else. Can't you just put up with it until we get home?"

.......... "Yeah, I'll rough it." I said. "I just can't help getting this feeling that everybody's looking at me and they know I'm not wearing any underwear."

.......... Linda overheard us and said, "Relax, Terri, nobody's going to know your butt's bare, and anyway, sometimes it's fun not to wear any underwear, I do it now and then."

.......... I saw Samantha give Linda a questioning look and then I noticed other people coming in the store behind us, so I quickly whispered to the two of them, "Damn, will you two stop talking about it. Somebody's going to overhear you."

.......... Not wanting to call any more attention to myself, I told them to just go ahead and get whatever they needed, I was going to find the magazine rack and wait for them there. I had always hated shopping and whenever Sam and I had gone to the grocery store, back before all this had happened, I usually let Sam do the actual shopping while I stood around the magazine rack, reading and waited for her to finish.

.......... As I walked around, looking for the magazines, I still felt much more conspicuous than I wanted to. The feel of the skirt around my legs and the lack of something between them weren't the only things that were telling me life would be different from then on. As I passed people in the store, I noticed that I was attracting more attention than I was used to, and I remembered, when I had been in a male body, that unless I had some reason for it, I would hardly take any notice of my fellow men, they were just part of the background. Women, however, were instantly, if subconsciously, evaluated, and given a more thorough visual examination if they piqued my interest. Maybe it wasn't the politically correct thing to do, and I certainly wasn't looking for anyone to replace Samantha, but, damnit, I liked looking at attractive women. I always rationalized it by thinking that if nature hadn't wanted men to look at women, she wouldn't have made them so interesting to look at.

.......... Now the shoe was on the other foot. Even without makeup, Sam was a very attractive woman, and I noticed that most men I passed, gave me a quick look up and down, and many of them smiled at me, trying to make eye contact. Having been guilty of the same thing so many times myself, I realized that there was really no intent to make me uncomfortable, but I was new to this side of the game, and almost began to wish that Sam hadn't been so good looking.

.......... A tall, teen-age boy working at the store, saw me looking up and down the aisles, and asked, "Can I help you find something, Ma'am?" I felt embarrassment at being referred to as 'Ma'am, but I told him what I was looking for and he insisted on showing me the way to the proper aisle. At least women seemed to get better service than men did in this kind of situation. As a man, whenever I had asked for help in a grocery store, I usually got a quick two word answer like 'aisle 5', and a wave of their arm in the vague direction I was supposed to go. Of course, I realized that had Sam been less attractive, I probably wouldn't have gotten such solicitous service. Being an attractive woman carried some baggage, but it also seemed to have some advantages, however small consolation that was to my still embarrassed male psyche.

.......... As I quickly surveyed the magazine rack and grabbed one about sports, I remembered what I had been feeling in the car, about how this body actually felt pretty good, and how that feeling had bothered me. As I scanned the articles in the magazine, I tried to discern any mental differences in the way I now felt. I still seemed to be just as interested in sports as I had before, and I looked carefully at the pictures of the male athletes, trying to see if they had any effect on my female body, but, as far as I could tell, everything seemed the same. I finally put the sports magazine down and picked up a fashion magazine. It was full of pictures of slim, sometimes emaciated looking models, doing their best to appear completely disinterested or with just blank looks on their faces, wearing clothes that I could in no way ever imagine myself wearing, even in this body. As I was scanning through the pages, I came across a picture of a model wearing skinny pants and some almost nonexistent top of thin, shiny material that clearly showed she had nothing on underneath it, her nipples were erect and plainly visible.

.......... Before my recent physical alterations, this type of picture had always been a little bit of a turn-on to me. I had invariably found the look of a woman's breasts, barely covered and clearly aroused, to be quite erotic. In some ways, more so than full nudity. It certainly wasn't an original thought on my part, but, a little mystery, something left to the imagination, was quite intriguing. Now, although I still found the picture to be somewhat interesting, I just didn't feel the same way as before, the strong physical effect just wasn't there. I felt somewhat uneasy at this discovery, almost as if I was finding something out about myself that I didn't like, but I supposed that the new hormones were bound to have some effect on me, and I mentally reassured myself that my old feelings would surely return with my male body.

.......... On the opposite page from this picture was an ad for one of those new, unisex perfumes. It showed a man and woman, embracing. Both were wearing tight jeans and nothing else, although the way the picture was posed, you couldn't see either face and with their chests pressed together, you could only see the side of the woman's breasts. Both models were obviously in excellent physical condition and the way their jeans fit left little to the imagination as far as their bodies were concerned.

.......... I tried to imagine what it would be like to be kissed like that, by a man. To feel what the woman in the ad was feeling. To feel my breasts squashed against his sculpted, muscular chest, my hard and sensitive nipples rubbing against him, to feel his strong arms around my waist, pulling our pelvises together so tightly that I could feel his growing erection pressing against my tingling groin. I imagined running my hands up and down his back, feeling the taut and bulging muscles, and then dropping them down to his small, tight rear, feeling, through the skin-tight denim, those hard little cheeks, and with my small hands, helping to pull his crotch against mine, my head tilted back to accommodate his greater height and his tongue probing between my lips.........!

.......... "Find something of interest, there, Terri?" Linda's voice snapped me back to reality, almost like waking up from a dream. She was looking over my shoulder at the magazine.

.......... "Uh......, no, nothing." I said, feeling like I had been caught doing something I shouldn't. "Just looking at the magazines."

.......... "Nice tits on that one." She said, looking at the pages. "Unless, you were dreaming about that hunk in the ad."

.......... "No way!" I said, with perhaps a bit too much emphasis than I should have used. "Just trying to get used to all of this."

.......... "Well, whatever you say." Linda replied, giving me a sly look and a little wink. "It's OK, Terri, you're one of us now, you can look at things like that. Don't be embarrassed about it." I quickly put the magazine back and Linda continued. "Sam's got the cart up in the checkout line, we're ready to go."

.......... As we walked up to the front of the store, I felt something odd between my legs, like something down there was just ever so slightly swollen, and it felt kind of wet and slippery as I walked. "My God," I silently voiced to myself, "I was really getting turned on, looking at that magazine." I looked down, and could see, even through the fabric of my dress and the bra, the outline of my slightly swollen nipples. As we continued walking I managed, almost, to convince myself that it was the picture, in the advertisement, of those barely covered breasts with their hard nipples that had done it.

.......... As the three of us stood in line, I noticed that we were the object of some subtle and some not so subtle looks and staring from some of the men in other lines. Were my nipples that noticeable? Was I standing or walking funny on my newly acquired legs since I hadn't had much practice at walking in this female body? I whispered to Sam that I felt like we were on display in the circus. She just shrugged and whispered back that she hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary, and that I was just going to have to get used to it from now on. I realized she was right, nobody was really doing anything out of the ordinary, at least nothing more than I had ever been guilty of. I guessed that three rather good looking women, particularly when two of them were identical twin blondes, were always going to attract some attention.

.......... As we loaded the groceries into the Linda's minivan and climbed in, I hoped that the moisture between my legs had subsided enough so that it didn't stain and show through my dress, particularly since I wasn't wearing any underwear. It felt like it had dried up somewhat, but I still sat with my buttocks and legs clinched together, trying to sit in some way that would keep my vagina from being pushed against the fabric of my dress.

.......... During the drive back I was completely silent, still shocked at the behavior of my body. Sam and Linda carried on a normal conversation up front. Thankfully, Linda didn't bring up the subject of the magazine, but Samantha looked back at me and said, "I managed to find a package of panties for you, if you want to put one on when we get back to Linda's house. They were by the pantyhose display."

.......... "Oh, thanks, I guess." I replied. She could tell that something was bothering me, but she didn't ask, she just resumed her talk with Linda. I guess she figured that I would tell her later what was bothering me.