Extracted - Chapter 22 – Sign Me Up – Part 1 of 2

 

Extracted

By Karen Singer

 

Chapter 22 – Sign Me Up – Part 1 of 2

 

When the President’s National Security Advisor walks into your office and demands to see you right away, you’ve got no choice but to politely dismiss your current patient and see the man.  That was the situation that Doctor Montcliff found herself in, late in the afternoon.  She stood up as Daniel Curmett entered her office, noticing a few men with him who remained outside of her office.  Curmett closed the door behind him as he came in and took the chair across from her.  She sat after he did.

“Mr. Curmett,” she greeted him.  “This is an unexpected pleasure.  What can I do for you?”

“Doctor Montcliff,” Curmett said, then changed course.  “Isabella.”

Montcliff was surprised to hear him use her first name.

“We…that is, the three of us who were looking into this memory transfer problem.  We met with the President yesterday.  First of all, let me offer my sincere thanks for recognizing the situation and alerting us to it.  You may have done this country a huge favor by doing that.  Otherwise, we may have never realized what was going on.”

“I take it you figured out what happened and who’s behind it?” Montcliff asked.

“No.  Unfortunately,” Curmett admitted.  “To be honest, what we discovered was mostly what you yourself had already deduced from what little interaction you already had with your patient.  That was exceptional work on your part.”

“Thank you,” Montcliff replied.  “I hope it helped.”

“It did, although I should tell you that we came to many of the same conclusions that you did before we read your paper, which is one of the reasons we were so impressed with it.  There was just one major thing we concluded that you seemed to have missed.”

“I missed?  What’s that?”

“We believe that this memory transfer process was actually developed to be used as a way to prolong life.”

“Prolong life?  How?”

“An older person, or a very ill person, could use it to transfer their identity into a younger, healthier body, complete with every memory they’ve ever had.”

Doctor Montcliff stared at him in disbelief, but only for a moment.  She suddenly threw her hands up in the air.  “Uh!” she shouted.  “It’s so obvious!  How could I have missed it?”

“You did figure out everything else,” Curmett reminded her.

“It’s the Fountain of Youth!” Montcliff declared.  “I should have realized.  Somone actually found a way to live forever.”  She pointed directly at Curmett.  “Sign me up!  I want it.  It’s every woman’s dream to be able to be young forever.”

“The President said something similar yesterday, asking us to not let his wife know.”

Montcliff chuckled.  “I’ll bet,” she replied.  “If I happened to find one of those things lying around on the street, I’d steal it in a minute, take it home with me, and hide it somewhere so I could just keep it for myself.”

“I fear, you wouldn’t be alone in that,” Curmett agreed.

“Imagine every household in the country, or the world having something like that,” Montcliff joked, then she turned serious.  “Yes, imagine that.  And the chaos it would bring.  If so many people had it, you could kill off three quarters of the population of the planet, just to continue keeping the remaining few alive forever.”

Curmett nodded.  “Which brings me to the real reason I’m here today.”

Montcliff stared at him, waiting for what she figured would be bad news.

“Doctor Montcliff,” Curmett started.  “It is imperative that you not tell a single soul of what we have discovered.  No one at all!  Nothing!  Please try to imagine the panic, or even just the chaos that knowledge of such a process might have if it gets out.”

“Just the Fountain of Youth part alone would drive everyone nuts,” Montcliff noted.

“Yes, it would.  But as you noticed originally, that is not the most dangerous aspect of what could be done with it.”

“No.  Not by a long shot,” Montcliff agreed.  “Don’t worry.  I pretty much knew that already.  I can tell you for a fact that Congressman Stiller and his family know it too.  They’ve gone out of their way to keep quiet about all knowledge of what has actually happened.  I met with Nancy here yesterday, and as I suspected, they’re simply telling everyone that something happened to her during her abduction that left her with…basically, amnesia.  Complete amnesia.  And as you know, amnesia is a more common situation than many people realize.  It happens all the time.”

“Yes,” Curmett replied.  “We were hoping that would be the case with the family.  I’ll still be going to see them tonight to have a little talk with them too.”

Montcliff nodded.  “I have no doubt you will.  And the Marsh family?”

“I’ll see them tomorrow, along with a couple of FBI agents and the police detective.  All of them are the only ones we’re aware of so far who actually know what the situation really is.”

Montcliff nodded.

“Which brings me to the final part of why I came to see you.”

That surprised Montcliff.  She sat waiting to hear what it could be.

“We would like you to continue to work with Nancy,” Curmett told her.

“I would have done that anyway,” Montcliff replied.  “That was the plan, as long as the family want me to.”

“Of course,” Curmett said, “But we also want you to work with Stephen Marsh as well.  We know that it’s a bit of a drive, but both we the committee, as well as the President of the United States, feel that it’s imperative that we keep all knowledge of the situation confined to as few people as possible, and bringing in yet another psychiatrist to work with Stephen would not be helping that.”

“Not to mention,” Montcliff added, “since the problem for both subjects are directly related to each other, it only makes sense for one person, or team, to work with both of them.”

“Not a team!” Curmett told her quickly.  “As few people as possible.  Remember?”

“Yes,” Montcliff agreed, disappointed to hear that.  She would have no one else to rely on or discuss this problem with.

“One other thing,” Curmett said.  “We’re going to need you to provide us with regular reports on what’s happening with those two as well.”

Montcliff was dubious about that request.  “I’m not….”

“Doctor!” Curmett cut her off quickly.  “Let’s just say that it’s not something that’s open for debate.  We will insist on being kept up to date on even the slightest details.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Use your imagination!”

 

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

 

Henry wasn’t exactly happy about it, but he realized it was a good idea.  It had been his wife’s idea, and he hadn’t wanted to be bothered with it at all.  But it was the one final thing that Agatha had said that drove the idea home.  “He’s still your son.  Maybe you should get to know him.”  She was right.  Like it or not, this new Stephen was his son, despite somehow being mentally a twelve year old girl that belonged to someone else.

The absurdity of it all wasn’t lost on him, but things were what they were, and it was looking like they were all going to have to learn to live with it.  Whatever had happened hadn’t just affected Stephen, it affected all of them…deeply!

And what about his real daughter?  Nancy?  She was stuck in a body so different than the person she actually was, just like this new Stephen.  As he remembered thinking a moment before, things were what they were, and he had to trust that Wanda and Mike Stiller would take good care of his Stephen, just like he was trying to take care of their Nancy inside of Stephen now.

He finished tying his sneakers and headed downstairs.  Stephen was at the bottom of the stairs waiting for him.  “Ready?” his son…new son, same old body…asked.

“Let’s do it,” Henry agreed, already regretting this plan of action.  The two of them walked out the back door, then walked around to the road in front of the house.

“Which way?” Stephen asked.

Henry nodded up the street.  Together, they slowly started jogging together.

“Is this where the other me ran?” Steve asked.

“Mostly,” Henry confirmed.  “He ran most mornings all over the neighborhood.  Don’t expect me to be able to do that,” Henry added quickly.  “I have a feeling I’ll be lucky to make it to the end of the block.”

“Huh!” Steve laughed.  “You sound like my…um…sorry.  Forget I said that.”

“Like your what?”

“My other father,” Steve told him.

“I probably do,” Henry admitted.  “And it doesn't surprise me either.  In some ways, he and I are a lot alike.”

“You both work too much!” Steve noted.  “Sorry.  I know how important each of your jobs are, especially his, but it’s just that…he was always working and never around.”

“And you wanted him to be?”

“Well, yeah.  I guess.  I guess though that mostly I just got used to him not being there.  He did have to spend a lot of time in Washington, so he couldn’t get home.”

“Yeah,” Henry replied.  “I’m sure he did.”

“Don’t tell him,” Steve said, “but sometimes he worked so much that I wished I could help him with something, just to get to see him a bit more.  And maybe it would help keep him home more too.”

“That would be awfully nice of you.  I take it you never told him?”

“No.  Of course not.”

“Maybe you should have.”

“But I had Emily,” Steve told him.  “And she was always…great!”

“She was?”

“Yeah.  We spent a lot of time together.”

“That’s nice.  I guess you were lucky.”

“Yeah.  Please don’t misunderstand.  I’m really grateful for the way you and…Mom…treat me and for everything you’re trying to do for me, but, I still miss my old family.  And even though I was never able to have as many kids to the house as I would have liked, I still had a few that either came by, or I was able to go to their houses.  But here…”

“Here you don’t have anybody,” Henry said, knowing that was a large part of Stephen’s problems now.

“I don’t know anybody I can even talk to,” Steve pointed out.

“Yeah.  We know,” Henry told him.  “And we haven’t forgotten about needing to find you a new psychiatrist either.  We’re working on it.”

“I’m not sure I want another psychiatrist.  I don’t think he can help me.”

“And beyond the psychiatrist, you’re basically alone with no one to keep you company or talk about anything at all with, like your sister was for you before.”

Steve said nothing.  The two of them just ran.

Henry tried to study this new Stephen as he thought about the things they had just said.  “Are you sure you’re only twelve years old?” he finally joked.  “You sound a lot more grown up than that.”

“Can you teach me to drive then?” Steve countered.

“Not on your life!”

 

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

 

Congressman Stiller had gotten the phone call at his office earlier.  Curmett, the National Security Advisor, was going to show up at his house this evening to talk with the family.  For once, Mike Stiller went out of his way to get home early, even though it would be several hours before Curmett got there.

At eight o’clock that evening, the doorbell rang, and Wanda answered it.  “Mr. Curmett,” she greeted the important man.  “Please.  Come in.”  As he entered, Wanda held the door for the three men with him, but they stayed outside.  “Coffee?” she asked Curmett.

“Sure.  Why not?” Daniel Curmett agreed.  He took one of the seats in the formal living room while the entire Stiller family joined him.  In moments, Wanda handed him a fresh cup of coffee.  “Thanks,” he told her softly.  With all eyes turned to him, he began.  “I can’t begin to tell you how worrying this entire situation is to not only the three of us who spoke with you in the Catskills, but also the President of the United States.  He asked me personally to speak with all of you and let you know some of our concerns.”

“I just want to know if you can fix us,” Nancy blurted out, anxious for that answer.

Curmett nodded.  “I’m sorry, but the answer is still no.  We have no idea how to do that since we don’t know how it was done in the first place.  We would have never believed it even could be done unless we had all seen the evidence with our own eyes, and we each managed separately to come up with pretty much the same conclusions.”

“How close was Doctor Montcliff’s theory?” Congressman Stiller asked.

“From our findings?  Almost right on.  We came up with only one other thing that she missed.”

“What’s that?” Wanda asked.

“I’m sorry,” Curmett told her with a shake of his head.  “For now, that information is going to be kept in strictest confidence.  Presidential orders,” he added.  “Doctor Montcliff was allowed to know since she deduced the rest of it before anyone else.  But other than her.  Nobody.”

“But the rest of it is true?” the congressman asked.  “There is some kind of threat to this country?”

“No direct threat right now, but we believe there could be in the future.  Because of that, the President asked me to come here personally to speak with you all.”

“All of us?” the congressman asked.  “Not just me?”

“You and your entire family,” Curmett told him.  “First of all, I need to know if any of you have told anyone else, family members, friends, anyone at all, about Steven and Nancy’s memory transfer?”

The family looked around at each other.  “We’ve been trying to keep that as much of a secret as possible,” the congressman told him.  “There’s too much of a chance of it damaging my reputation and what I’m trying to do in congress.”

“That’s good,” Curmett told him.  “Perfect in fact.”

“Nancy’s psychiatrist knows,” Wanda reminded him.

“I’ve already spoken with her earlier today,” Curmett assured her.  “Anyone else?” He asked as he looked to both Emily and Nancy.”

“Not me,” Emily assured him.  “Who would believe it?”

“Nancy?” Curmett asked next.

“Nope,” Nancy replied.  “Not even the friends who came to visit me.”

“Friends?” Curmett asked.  “What did you tell them?”

Wanda answered quickly for her.  “They only know that due to something that happened during her abduction, she lost her memory.  Amnesia.  Agatha in Philadelphia told me when we spoke that she’s already used the same excuse on her end too.”

Curmett nodded.  “Amnesia should work very well.  Perfectly in fact.  And I can tell you that Doctor Montcliff agrees.  Now that we know we don’t have to worry about that, I need to ask that you all do everything possible to never say anything at all, to anyone, that might let them draw a conclusion that Nancy and Stephen’s memories were somehow overwritten by someone else’s consciousness.  I can’t begin to tell you how important that is.”

“I already know how dangerous that could be,” Mike agreed.  “It could cause widespread panic.”

“Exactly,” Curmett confirmed. 

“Don’t worry,” Mike told him.  “I’ll make sure we all understand that.  You don’t have to worry about any of us.”

“I hope not,” Curmett replied.  “The only other thing I have to mention then, is Doctor Montcliff.  We would like her to remain as Nancy’s doctor for the foreseeable future so as to limit the knowledge of what actually happened to as few people as possible.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” Wanda told him.

“Just so you know,” Curmett continued.  “I’ve asked the doctor to also work as Stephen’s psychiatrist as well.  One doctor who is familiar with both your cases.  The doctor is quite agreeable about this.  The only problem she faces is the drive to Philadelphia, but a two-hour drive is nothing compared to the national security aspects of this situation.”

“Since Nancy is Stephen and Stephen is Nancy,” Wanda said, “that makes more sense to me than anything else.”

“Yes.  Exactly.  We also see it that way,” Curmett agreed.

As a congressman who had been in government service for a number of years, Mike Stiller couldn’t help but think there was more going on here than Curmett was letting on.  But more than that was the unstated threat.  Curmett had never once said what would happen if anyone in his family did tell outsiders about what had actually happened.  Knowing as much about the government as he did, that thought worried him.  But he owed it to his family to keep that knowledge to himself.  They had enough to worry about.  He didn’t want to burden them with anything like that.

 

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

 

Extracted - Chapter 21 – Out of Sorts – Part 2 of 2

 

Extracted

By Karen Singer

 

Chapter 21 – Out of Sorts – Part 2 of 2

 

The President of the United States finished reading the document he had been given.  He looked up at the three authors of it who had been waiting patiently.  “Right,” he finally said.  “Don’t let my wife get even a hint of this or she’ll commit murder to get it.”

“A lot of people would commit murder for it, or worse,” Curmett agreed.

“Forget the deadlier aspects of it, just the fact that someone could actually use it to keep themselves alive for…who knows how long is beyond comprehension.”

“Yet we know there’s a lot of people out there who would do anything to do it,” Blake reminded him.

The President nodded.  “Yes.  Too many.  But for right now, we have no choice but to consider the worst aspects of this, even though someone living forever might be just as bad.  No doubt there are national security aspects to this.  The question is, why hasn’t anyone come out and demanded anything for it yet?”

“As we stated there,” Curmett told him, “they may simply be waiting to give us time to analyze what they’ve done first.  Then they’ll make their demands.”

“Maybe,” the President agreed.  “Both those kids were returned to places where they couldn’t be missed.  The ransom demand by the activist group still worries me though.  But as you mentioned here, they simply wouldn’t have the resources for anything like this.  I also wouldn’t believe that a group like that would be interested in building a…live forever machine.”

“No,” Curmett agreed.  “We’re fairly sure they wouldn’t.  Some of them are pretty bright, but not that bright as to come up with something like this.”

“So we’re left with what to do about it,” the President said.  “Okay.  What do you each think about your proposals?”

“As much as I hate to even suggest such a thing, sir,” Holfstrom said, “I agree that knowledge of this has to be squashed at all costs.”

“All costs,” the President repeated.

“I’m sorry sir, but if knowledge of what has been done gets out, I can’t even imagine the uproar that such a thing might bring.”

The President looked to Doctor Blake.  “And you?”

“Sir,” Blake said.  “I’m a doctor.  I’m even more against such drastic measures as we’ve suggested.  However, the panic that might ensue could cost more lives than the few that would be taken.  I would like you to note however that there are some contingencies there instead of outright murder.  I think they might be considered, but as to the other…I have no choice but to agree.  The greater sum of saving human lives is the issue.”

The President nodded then looked to Curmett.  “I already know your feelings on this,” he said.

“Quite!” Curmett told him.

The President considered his options.  “Okay,” he finally said.  He looked to Curmett.  “Make your recommendations as to how we should continue finding these people in the future, and then have a black ops plan drawn up and let me see it, but as always, do not execute.  Not without my orders.  Is that clear?”

“No problem,” Curmett agreed.

“In the meantime,” the President continued.  “Let’s put your idea to not simply murder them into effect.  Curmett, maybe you should go personally to have a talk with all of them involved and put the fear of God into them.  Let’s see how well they seem to handle this.  When the plan is ready, I’ll look over whatever your black ops group comes up with and make my decision on it then.”

 

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

 

Nancy still wasn’t feeling well once she got home.  She went back up to her room where she spent most of her time, sat on the floor, and again leaned back against the bed.  Stupid doctor!  What did she know?  Give it a chance.  Don’t cut your hair yet.  You should try new things a few times before you make up your mind.  If she didn’t like ballet, that was her business, and she already knew that!

Emily poked her head into the room.  “You okay?”

“I feel sick!”

“Because of the doctor?”

“Yes, because of that stupid doctor.  What does she know.  Besides, I was feeling sick before that.”

“Sick?” Emily asked.  “In what way.”

“My stomach.  And stop bothering me.  I’m too busy feeling sorry for myself!”

“Uh…Nance,” Emily said.

“What?”

“Maybe you better check to make sure your period hasn’t started.”

Nancy’s arm was just long enough to reach up and grab a pillow from her bed.  She threw it at Emily who giggled and left her alone.

Stupid sisters.  It was better being Stephen with no sisters at all.  It was better being Stephen…period!

She had been sitting there for a while when her doorway was suddenly invaded again.  She looked up to see Chrissy there.  But this time, Chrissy wasn’t alone.

While Nancy stared at the two girls in her room in disbelief, Chrissy reached down and picked up the pillow.  “What’s your pillow doing here?”

“I threw it at my sister,” Nancy told her.

Chrissy giggled.  “Hi Nance.  How are you today?”

“Don’t ask,” Nancy replied, now looking only at the new girl.

“Hi Nance,” the other girl said softly, staring intently at Nancy.

“Hi,” Nancy replied.  “I hope Chrissy told you that I can’t remember one lousy thing about anyone anymore.  Since you’re here, I’m guessing I’m supposed to know you?”

Both Chrissy and the new girl knelt down in front of her.  “I’m Diane,” the new girl told her.  “And yeah, we’re friends.  We have been for a real long time.”

“Not that I can remember,” Nancy said, once again bonking the back of her head against the bed.  “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Diane said.  “Chrissy explained it all.  Then she asked if I could come over with her and try to cheer you up a bit.”

“Cheer me up?”  Nancy shook her head.  “I hate to tell you both, but I’m having an extra bad day today.  My stomach hurts, and it’s getting worse.”

“Your stomach!” Chrissy exclaimed.  “Oh no.  What does your mother say?”

“Nothing.  I haven’t told her yet.  Emily told me to go check my panties.”

“Oh,” Chrissy said.  “Did you?”

“Not yet.  I’m fine.  Don’t worry about me.  Do you want to know what my crazy mother did to me?”

“What she did to you?  What?” Diane asked.

“She’s got this woman, Mrs. Cutter, coming here to the house now to give me…get this, ballet lessons.  I had to suffer through my first one yesterday.  I think she was trying to kill me!”

Both Chrissy and Diane laughed.  “Does that mean you’ll be in ballet class with us after school starts?” Diane asked.

“Ballet class?  You both take ballet?”

“Of course silly.  We all love it.”

“Not anymore.  Especially after she tried to convince me I can dance, and then did everything possible to prove I can’t.”  Her two friends laughed again.

“Hey!” Chrissy said as she jumped to her feet.  She went over to Nancy’s dresser, looked at the things on it carefully, then selected a few and carried them back.  She held up two bottles of nail polish.  “Diane, which one?”

“That one,” Diane decided, quickly pointing at the purple bottle.

“Nance?” Chrissy said.  “This pink okay for you?”

Nancy stared at the two bottles of nail polish in horror.  “You want to…”

“Of course silly,” Chrissy told her.  “It’ll give us something to do while we talk.”

Nancy didn’t need anything else to do.  Talking was more than enough.  Especially today.  But before long, Nancy was putting the purple polish on Diane’s nails with one hand as Chrissy talked her though how to do it, while Chrissy was putting the pink polish on the nails of Nancy’s other hand.  When they all had one hand done, they switched things around to do the other hands.  Finally, Diane finished Chrissy’s nails with the pink polish.

Through it all, Nancy kept wondering why she was doing such a thing.  It was the last thing on earth she would ever do!  And yet, she just didn’t seem to want to disappoint these two new…friends.  She didn’t forget though about the bottle of nail polish remover she had seen in the bathroom.  She was going to use it just as soon as these two were gone.

Five minutes after they finished, Nancy realized something.  “Uh…excuse me,” she said as she got to her feet.  “I’ve got to go to…  To go.  Be right back.”

“Careful of your nails,” Chrissy reminded her.

Nancy didn’t bother answering.  She headed for the bathroom.  She pulled her panties down and sat on the toilet, and was annoyed to see a spot of color.  But it wasn’t the same exact color that was now stuck to her fingernails.  And it was in the wrong place.

“Aaahh!” she screamed in frustration.  She hated this new life like the plague!  When she was finished, she quicky pulled her panties up and headed back to her room, where she ignored her two new friends as she pulled a fresh pair of panties from her dresser, and headed straight back to the bathroom again.  She pulled her used panties off, and put her fresh panties on, but not before grabbing one of the period pads from under the sink that her mother had told her about.  When she was ready, she went back to her friends.

“Period?” Chrissy asked.

“I hate being a girl!”

An hour later, both Chrissy and Diane were gone.  Nancy headed straight to the bathroom to find the bottle of nail polish remover.  She ran into Emily on the way.

“Have fun today?” Emily asked.

Nancy shrugged.  “Not exactly.”

“What’s wrong?”

Nancy sighed.  “Don’t ask.”

“What’ch doin’ now?” Emily asked her.

Nancy held up one of her hands to show her the pink nail polish on her fingers.  “I saw a bottle of nail polish remover in the bathroom.  I’m getting this stuff off!”

“Why?  It looks nice.”

“Because I don’t want it.”

“Nance!  Listen to me.  Maybe you should consider leaving that stuff on for a while.”

“Why?”

“To remind you that you’re not so alone anymore.”

“I’m not?”

“What was that in there with Chrissy and Diane?  They came to see you, and Chrissy’s been here twice now.  You’ve got friends now Nancy.  Two of them.  And if you’re as old inside as you claim you are, then you’ve got to realize that they both care about you.  I mean, they came here when they didn’t have to, just to spend some time with you and try to break you out of your incessant boredom.”

Nancy considered that.  Friends.  Maybe real friends.  And even if she wasn’t happy doing the things they liked, she had still enjoyed having some company and someone to talk with for a while.

“Keep the polish Nance,” Emily told her again.  “And like I said, every time you notice it, which should be pretty damn often, remember that you’re not as alone anymore as you think.”

Nancy looked at her pink fingernails, then back at Emily and reluctantly nodded her agreement.

“Besides,” Emily said.  “It’s pretty.  Why would you want to remove it?”  With that, she walked off.

Nancy continued on into the bathroom, she was stopped though when she heard Emily calling from further down the hallway.  “I thought you were leaving it?”

“I am.  I need to…check my damn pad!  I’ve never had to worry about anything like that before.”

Emily laughed.  “Thought so!  Bye sis.”

“I hate being a girl!” Nancy yelled back.

Extracted - Chapter 21 – Out of Sorts – Part 1 of 2

 

Extracted

By Karen Singer

 

Chapter 21 – Out of Sorts – Part 1 of 2

 

Stephen was getting ready to go downstairs for breakfast, when his new father showed up in his room.

“Steve?”

“Yeah Dad?”

“You okay after our little talk last night?”

“Yeah.  Of course.”

“Good.  Any more problem with…”

“You mean Mister Gross?”

Henry chuckled.  “So no problems?”  He noticed Stephen just looking at him, but not saying anything.  “Steve?”

“Can we not talk about this Dad,” Stephen asked.

“That’s fine,” Henry replied, stifling another chuckle.  “I wanted to talk to you about something though, but last night’s little chat just didn’t make it the time.”

“What’s that?” Stephen asked.

“Your body.”

“My body?”  Stephen sighed.  “What now?  More problems like Mister Gross?”

“No.  Nothing like that.  What I wanted to talk to you about is exercise.”

“Exercise?”

“Yes!  Steve, look.  The old you worked out constantly to build up that body of yours.  In fact, he probably worked out too much.  But he had a goal, and I’d say he pretty much met that goal, all so that he could play football and be the best at it.  He wanted to play football in college, maybe even in the pros.”

“I hate football, remember?” Stephen told him.

“I know, and I’m not suggesting you should play football, although nothing would make me happier right now, even though I don’t see any way in the world you can play.  Not as things stand now.”

“So?” Stephen asked.

“So what I’m trying to get to, is that I really don’t want to see you neglect that body you’ve got.  You don’t have to go to the point where you…I mean the other you, went with it, but I at least want you to get some exercise.”

“Exercise?  Like what?”

“Whatever you want.  Stephen ran every morning, and he lifted weights all day.  I think whenever he was in this room he lifted weights.  I’ve even seen him holding his phone in one hand while he talked, but his other hand was busy lifting the weights.  He was always working out one way or another.  You certainly don’t have to go to that extreme, but please, just exercise.  Work out a bit.  Keep yourself in good shape.  Steve, whether you know it or not, that’s important.  And who knows, maybe it will help the depression you seem to live in.”

Steve considered it, then shook his head.  “I don’t know.  I don’t know anything about working out.  I used to dance all the time, but in this body, it’s not going to work at all.  I’m only twelve and I know that much.”

Henry was about to point out that he wasn’t twelve, he was seventeen, but he stopped himself.  Unfortunately, this new son that he was stuck with was only twelve – mentally.  Another idea struck him.  “Steve,” he said.  “You and…the real Stephen seemed to get along pretty good at that resort.”

“I guess so,” Stephen admitted.  “How else should we have been?”

“I don’t know,” Henry admitted, not wanting to go into the possibilities.  “But if you don’t do it for me, or even for yourself, maybe you can do it for him.  For that Stephen, the original person who had your body, and who took such good care of it.  I mean, face it Steve, you’re not only healthy, but you look…well, fairly incredible.  You already know the girls are all in love with you.”

“Yeah, and look what Melody did to me.”

“Yes, and look what she awakened in you.”

Steve rolled his eyes.  “Yeah, Mister Gross getting grosser all the time.  Okay.  I’ll try to figure out some way to exercise.”

“Good.  Let me know if I can help.”

Steve looked at all the weights on their racks in his room.  “I don’t really want those darn things in my room.  They’re ugly and they take up too much space.  And I can tell you right now that I’m not going to be lifting them all the time like he did.  Is there some place I can put them that’s not in here?”

“You can move them to the basement if you want.  That’s where your mother wanted them in the first place.”

“The basement?  I haven’t even been there yet.”

“Huh!” Henry grunted.  “Trust me, you’re not missing anything.  Carry them down there if you want.  Your mother will be happy.”

“Me?  Carry all them?”

“You’re the strongest one in the house.  Besides, what else do you have to do today?”

Stephen sighed.  “Maybe that can be my exercise for the day.”

“Sounds perfect,” Henry agreed.  “Now I’ve got to go to work.  See you later.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

 

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

 

Nancy was so sick of brushing her hair.  Not to mention, her entire body seemed to feel a bit sick today.  Her stomach was bothering her, and it had been since she woke up.  Breakfast hadn’t helped it at all, even though she had hoped it would.  And now, once again, she was spending an absolute eternity brushing her hair.  She had miles of useless hair!  Her stupid new mother made her do it every morning and every night before bed.  But it was worse on days like today when they were getting ready to go out.  She didn’t want to go anywhere, especially not when she wasn’t feeling good.

They were going back to see that psychiatrist again, Doctor Montcliff.  She didn’t mind Doctor Montcliff, she just didn’t see any use in what they talked about.  Actually, she didn’t see any use in talking about anything.  Talking never did any good at all.

Her mother walked into the room, all dressed to go.  “Okay,” she said.  “Hair all brushed?”

“Overly!” Nancy complained.

“Then let’s see what we can do with it today.  And Nance, it’s time you learned to start styling your own hair now.  It’s not difficult.”

“Maybe for you,” Nancy replied as she sat still with her back turned to her mother.  “Mom, I’m not feeling so good today.  Maybe we shouldn’t go.”

“Tough!  You’re not getting out of this!” Wanda told her.  “You need to see her.”

“For what?”

“To help you.”

“She’s not helping anything,” Nancy complained.

“You’ve barely started with her.  You’ve got to give it time.  Now, what dress do you want to wear today, and then we can pick out a pretty necklace to go with it.”

“Dress?  Do I have to?”

“Yes!  Now pick something.  We need to get moving.”

Forty-five minutes later, Nancy and her new mother entered the building where Doctor Montcliff had her office.  Sooner than she was happy about, Nancy walked in to speak with the doctor.

“Hi Nancy,” Isabelle Montcliff greeted her brightly.  “How are you today?”

“Sick!” Nancy told her.

“Sick?”

“Sick in the head and sick in my stomach.”

“Oh?” Montcliff replied, not sure what to make of all that.  She decided to move on.  “The last time we spoke, I suggested that maybe you should look around and try to find something that interests you.  Any luck?”

“Luck?  Instead of finding anything interesting, I found a few things that interest me even less than I figured they would.”

“Oh?  Like what?”

“Ballet!”

“Ballet?  When did you try ballet?”

“Mom, out there, signed me up for private lessons.  She’s insisting that I learn.”

“I don’t see why that’s such a bad thing,” Montcliff told her.

“And I don’t see how it’s a good thing either,” Nancy countered.

“Maybe you just need to give it a bit of time.  Be patient.  Who knows, you very well might come to like it.”

“Doctor, you do remember that I’m a boy inside this little body.”

“So?  What’s that got to do with it?  It’s no reason why you can’t like and appreciate something like ballet.”

“It is to me.”

Montcliff decided to drop it.  “Let’s try something,” she said.  “Tell me something that you really hate about this new life that you have.”

“You mean besides ballet?”

“Yes.  Besides ballet.”

“That’s easy.  Hair.”

“Hair?”

“I feel like I spend all day doing nothing but brushing it or messing with it in some way.  It’s always there.  It’s always in my way.  If I turn my head, it moves.  If I walk anywhere, it keeps moving.  If I do anything at all, it’s always moving and brushing me on the back, or my shoulders, or just getting in my way.  I’d love to cut it all off, but Mom out there, won’t let me.”

“You do have beautiful hair Nancy,” Montcliff told her.

“That’s because Mom makes me brush it so much.  Enough that it should be thoroughly dead by now.”

Montcliff chuckled.  “You seem a bit out of sorts today,” she noted.

“Me?  Oh no.  I’m fine.  Fine enough to have to wear this dumb dress even though I hate dresses.  Fine enough to have Mom fix my hair special instead of just pulling it back in a ponytail.  And fine enough to come here, even though I don’t want to.”

“You keep emphasizing the word Mom every time you use it.”

“So?”

“So what’s your problem with her?”

Nancy shook her head.  “Nothing.  She’s fine.  It’s just…life in general.”

“And ballet.”

“Especially ballet!”

Montcliff nodded again.  “Out of sorts.”

 

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

 

Extracted - Chapter 20 – Do Guys Have Periods Too – Part 2 of 2

 

Extracted

By Karen Singer

 

Chapter 20 – Do Guys Have Periods Too – Part 2 of 2

 

After dinner, with nothing better to do, Stephen went out to the back patio again to practice throwing the basketball into the net.  He was getting better, but only slightly.  His problems were still the biggest thing on his mind.  Throwing the basketball simply gave his body something to do while he worried about things.

“Throw it here.”

Steve looked up to see his new father out on the patio now with him.  Steve tossed him the ball, still marveling at how easy it was for him to throw it that far.  He watched as his new father bounced the ball a few times, then took a shot at the basket.  The ball hit the rim and bounced away.  Steve had to run to chase it and bring it back.

“I don’t get it,” he said to his father as he threw the ball back to him.  “Why does the ball have to bounce so much?  Wouldn’t it be better to have a ball that you could throw through the net, then it would just squish down on the ground and not bounce all over the place so you have to go chase it all the time?”

Henry was confounded by the question.  Once again he was reminded that this was someone who didn’t know anything about sports, but still, he couldn’t help but notice that he was out here throwing hoops.  “Bouncing the ball is a major part of the game,” he told Steve.  Haven’t you ever seen a basketball game?”

“Not really.  It’s not in my top ten of things to do.”

“But you’re out here now, shooting hoops.”  He took another shot, and again Steve had to chase the ball down.  Henry motioned to Steve that it was his turn.  Steve threw the ball at the goal, but the way he threw it showed he didn’t know the first thing about playing basketball.  Once again, Steve’s shot missed.

“This is so frustrating,” Steve complained.

“And yet, here you are,” Henry noted.  “Besides, it’s not supposed to be that easy.  That’s part of the game.  Get the ball through the hoop.”

“Dumb!” Steve muttered.

Henry declined to remind him that he was playing that dumb game.  “You wanted to talk to me?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Steve said, putting the ball down on the ground.

Henry glanced towards the patio chairs.  “Want to sit?”

Steve considered that.  “I don’t know.  I think I’m still kind of antsy.”

“Okay,” Henry agreed.  “What’s going on?”

“Dad…” Steve started then stopped, trying to find the courage to talk about his problem.  “Yesterday a girl showed up here.  Melody.  Someone told me once that she was…the other Steve’s girlfriend.”

“I heard,” Henry told him.

“Anyway, she…kissed me.  On the mouth.  Hard!  A couple of times actually.”

“Your mother said it didn’t look like you liked it,” Henry told him.

“No!  I didn’t.  I mean….  Look,” he said.  “I’m really a girl inside.  And I know I’m not really that old, even though this body I’m stuck in is that old, but…”

“But what?”

“I don’t want another girl kissing me!  Not like that!”

“Since you didn’t like it, your mother said you managed to handle the problem pretty well.”

“Yeah but…”

“But what?  What’s the problem?”

Steve shook his head.  “I don’t know.”

“Must be something.”

“Maybe,” Steve admitted.  “But it’s kind of embarrassing.  And I don’t know if it’s a normal guy thing or what.  I’m a girl and nobody ever told me about…something like this.”

Henry was a bit more concerned now.  “What happened?”

“Since then,” Steve said, “I can’t seem to stop thinking about it, and…well…  Like all last night, it was like I could feel her hugging me, and still kissing me, and…and…um…”  He looked straight at his father.  “Gross got real big.”

Henry got real confused, real quick.  “Gross?”

“Yeah, I just call it Gross.”

“What do you call gross?”

“My…penis thingy.  My…cock.  I don’t know what guys call it, so I just named it Gross!”

Henry suddenly had to keep from laughing.  “You named it?  Gross?”

“Well, why not?”

Henry shook his head.  “Okay.  Got you,” he said, once again reminded that he was talking to a mental twelve year old girl and not his seventeen year old son.

“But what the heck is going on with it?” Stepehen asked.  “And that’s not the worst part.  Last night…last night, it kept getting real hard, and then suddenly it…”

Henry could almost guess what was coming now.  “It what?”

“Um…Dad.  Do guys have to worry about periods like girls do?”

“Periods like girls?  Of course not.  No.  Absolutely not.”

“Then what happened?  Cause it made a mess in the bed.  Don’t worry!” Stephen added quickly.  “I cleaned it up.  It’s fine.”

Once again, Henry had to work to keep a straight face.  “Steve,” he said.  “I guess since the real you is still somewhat young, you never had to face any sexual experiences.”

“Any what?”

“Did your mother or father…your other mother or father, ever tell you about sex?”

“Sure,” Stephen replied.  “And…well…the girls at school talked about it a lot too.”

Henry wasn’t sure how much anyone had discussed the subject of sex with Nancy…who was now Stephen.  “Stephen,” he said.  “What happened to you last night is what happens whenever a guy gets sexually aroused.  It’s normal.  It happens all the time.  Trust me, it’s okay.”

Nancy was shocked.  “You mean, it’s going to keep getting bigger than it already is?  It’s already huge.  Gross!”

“I’m afraid so.”

“But…what if it gets stuck that way?  It’s…how do I stop it?”

“Don’t worry, it won’t get stuck.  As soon as you cum…um, ejaculate, it will go right back to the size it was.”

“Eject…what?”

“Like I’m guessing it did in bed last night,” Henry explained.

“Ew!  Yuck!”

“But didn’t it feel good?”

Stephen just looked at him and didn’t answer.

“Steve?” Henry prompted.

“I…Dad, I couldn’t help myself.”

“Welcome to the world,” Henry told him.  “That’s kind of the way it is.”

Stephen tried to take that in, then asked, “So does this happen once a month or something, like a period?”

Henry chuckled.  “Not even close.”

“Oh, good.  Then how often do I need to worry about it?”

“Stephen, it’s going to happen every single time you get aroused.  Every time anything at all hits you that turns you on.”

“Every time something…”

“How often is that?”

“A lot!  Trust me.  All the time.  Steve, you’re…well, you’ve got an adult body now.  A body that does adult things.  You’re going to have to accept those things and deal with them.  Just remember though, there are consequences to everything.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, Steve, as someone who used to be a girl, you’ve got to know that the sperm, the semen, that came out of you last night, if you get any of that stuff too close to the wrong place on a woman, she could easily wind up pregnant.”

“You mean, like to make babies?”

“I thought you said someone told you about this stuff.”

“I thought so.  And Mom did talk about how babies are made.  But I didn’t know a guy’s gross thing got any bigger than mine is now.  I mean, it’s already big.  Too big!  I’m not used to having anything there at all.”

Once again Henry chuckled.  “Consider yourself lucky.  Trust me.  And something tells me that soon, probably very soon, you’re going to be absolutely obsessed with it.  I think the old you was.  In fact, I know the old you was.”

“Don’t bet on it,” Stephen told him.

Henry laughed.  “Oh, I will bet on it.”

 

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

 

The three committee members met in Curmett’s office.  There was a document sitting on Curmett’s desk now that hadn’t existed before.  It was printed on government letterhead, and the first thing on it were the words: Confirmed Viable Threat, in bold letters and underlined.  Below that was the title:  Initial Report On Identity Transference Situation.

All three committee members had now read it and approved it.  There was only one thing left for them to do.

Curmett turned the document to the final page and pushed it across his desk towards Doctor Blake.  He set a pen down on top of the document.  Blake picked up the pen and signed his name on the appropriate line.  He then slid the paper over to Doctor Holfstrom, who signed on his designated line.  Holfstrom pushed the paper back to Curmett.  Curmett used the pen to sign his name.  The final signature.

Tomorrow, the three of them would meet with the President of the United States and present their initial findings.  All three were troubled by what they had recommended in the paper, but not one of them could fault the necessity of their recommendations.

Extracted - Chapter 20 – Do Guys Have Periods Too – Part 1 of 2

 

Extracted

By Karen Singer

 

Chapter 20 – Do Guys Have Periods Too – Part 1 of 2

 

The kiss.  Kisses!  Because there had been more than one.  Stephen tried not to show it, but he couldn’t get Melody’s visit yesterday off his mind.  Especially when she had kissed him, and especially when she had hugged him.  It had been…disgusting.  Horrible!  Maybe that’s why he couldn’t stop thinking about it.  It had been so bad that…strange things were happening to him now.  Things that actually frightened him.  Especially last night.  Things he didn’t know about, but something told him he should know.

When a girl needed to know girl stuff, she naturally went to her mother.  She was pretty sure though that this was guy stuff, and something told her that this wasn’t something she should discuss with her new mom.  When guys had guy questions, did they go to their fathers?  She was fairly sure that was the case.  Like it or not, she needed to have a little talk with her new father, because she was now more confused about her new life than she had been before.  Why did everything have to be so difficult?  Why did everything have to keep getting worse?

Why couldn’t she have simply died when she had been abducted.  At least that way she wouldn’t have to worry about trying to be Stephen, not to mention so much older than she actually was.  Nancy, inside of Stephen, yearned more than ever for her old life.

As Stephen was walking down the stairs to get breakfast, he just got a glimpse of his new father heading for the door to go to work.  “Dad!” he called quickly.  It still felt weird to call him that, but what else was there?

Henry stopped and turned toward his son.  “Yeah?”

“Dad,” Stephen said again as he reached the bottom of the stairs.  “Any chance you can talk to me tonight when you get home?”

“What about?”

“Um...I think it may be a guy thing, but…I don’t really know.”

“What’s that?”

“Something kind of...embarrassing,” Steve told him.

Henry had already heard about Melody’s visit yesterday from Agatha, and she had spared none of the lurid details, so Henry had an idea of what might be on Stephen’s mind.  “Okay,” he agreed.  “I’ll try to find a few minutes, and we’ll get together later tonight.”

“Thanks Dad,” Stephen told him..  “Have a good one.”

“Yeah,” Henry replied.  He watched as Stephen headed for the kitchen to get some breakfast.  He had been considering having a talk with Stephen anyway.  If this new Stephen was going to be his son, which Henry already knew nobody was going to have a choice about, then there were some things they needed to talk about anyway.  Things that might even help somewhat with the depression Agatha kept telling him that Stephen seemed to be living with.

As he headed for his car, Henry remembered that they still needed to find a new psychiatrist for Stephen.  But who could handle what his problem really was?  The only doctor that came to mind just then was that Doctor Montcliff that they had met in the Catskills.  But she lived in New York!  Hours away!  A solution was needed, and like with everything else, he didn’t know what that solution should be.

 

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

 

After the success of Chrissy getting together with Nancy yesterday, Wanda expected Nancy to at least mention something about it either at dinner last night or at breakfast this morning, but Nancy never said one single word about it.  But that was yesterday, and today was today.  And today she had something else lined up to try and help her daughter.

The old Nancy had loved dancing.  Particularly ballet.  It was time this new Nancy at least gained some knowledge of it, and more importantly, learned to move a bit better.  Wanda wasn’t sure this Nancy moved like a girl at all.  She guessed she did, but there were simply too many little things that she would have expected that Nancy would do differently.  But then, all those little different things were feminine things and gestures that she was sure no boy in the world would even think about.  But girls, all women, were different.  Women noticed things.  So, ballet was the beginning.

She still hadn’t told Nancy yet.  She was still trying to sneak all this up on her without coming out and saying it.  Nancy getting together with Chrissy yesterday had been part of it, the dancing lesson today was another part.  Hopefully, without coming out and simply telling her, Nancy needed to accept that she was most likely going to be stuck being a girl, a female…she was going to be Nancy, for her entire life.  Right now, nobody saw any way around that.  It was time that Nancy saw that too and started to accept that fact.  Which meant that Nancy needed to learn how to be a girl, and act like a girl, and actually put some effort into it, like it, or not.  And Wanda already knew that Nancy wasn’t going to like it one bit.  She was too much of a boy inside.  A boy who had been the epitome of all boy!  A boy who had been practically a man.

Wanda still couldn’t imagine how that boy inside her daughter had to feel about being a little twelve year old girl now.  But then, nobody liked it, especially Wanda herself.  Her daughter was there, but the reality was, she had lost her youngest daughter, as if she had actually died.

She watched as Nancy and Emily finished their breakfasts, rinsed their dishes, and put them into the dishwasher.  Nancy was starting to turn to go upstairs when Wanda stopped her.  “Nancy!”

“Yeah Mom?”  Calling her Mom was starting to become normal.  Maybe even a habit.

“I just wanted to warn you that I made some arrangements for you for this afternoon.”

“Arrangements?”

“Yes.  Whether you like it or not, your ballet teacher, Mrs. Cutter, will be coming to the house here to give you some private lessons.”

Nancy’s eyes nearly bulged out of her head.  “Ballet?  You’ve got to be kidding!  I don’t want to take ballet lessons.”

“I already know that, but like it or not dear, it’s going to happen.”

“Why?”

“Because whether you think so or not, I’m hoping they’ll help you.”

“Help me with what?”

“Life dear!  Life!  Face it, you’re going crazy and this could very well help.”

“I doubt it.  I doubt it very much!”

“Besides,” Wanda added.  “You could use the exercise.  All you do is sit around and do nothing.”

Nancy’s jaw dropped open for a moment.  “And you expect to make me do this?”

“If need be, yes.  I’m hoping though that you’ll at least give it a try.  Besides, what else have you got to do today?  Any plans?”

Nancy wasn’t sure what to do.  “I guess I’ve got plans now.”  With that, she headed straight up to her room.

Wanda was happy.  That had gone better than she expected.

 

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

 

“Mom, please can I go shopping with my friends?”

“I don’t know Em,” Wanda told her.

“But Mom….”

“Emily, have you picked up all those dolls in your room yet?”

“What?  Mom, have you blown a gasket?  I got rid of all my dolls years ago!”

“Then have you cleaned your room and done your homework?”

“Homework!  Mom, what the heck?  School hasn’t even started yet.”

“Then I guess as long as you promise to be safe then….”  Wanda stopped and sighed.  “Sorry Em.  Yes you can go.  I just…  After Nancy was kidnapped, I can’t help but worry about you more than ever.  Can you at least try to be safe?  Stay close to all your friends?  Not wander or be alone…ever?”

“Mom, we’ll stay together.  Don’t worry about me.  I’ll be fine.  I promise.”

Wanda nodded.  She knew she had to let her go sometime.  “I’ll give you some money to spend.  Just…have a good time, but be safe.  Okay?”

“Sure Mom.  Thanks.  And Mom, stop worrying so much about Nancy.  Give her some time for heaven’s sake.  But I do think that Chrissy yesterday was a good idea.  Maybe you should consider inviting her over more.”

“I plan to,” Wanda told her.  “But today Nancy’s got other things to worry about.”

“What things?”

“Mrs. Cutter is coming here to the house in a little while to start giving her private dancing lessons.”

Emily’s eyes bulged.  “That Nancy?”

“Who else?”

Emily shook her head.  “I almost wish I was staying so I could see that.”

“So stay.”

“Are you kidding?  I’m going!  In fact, I’m already gone.”

“Did you want that money I promised you?”

“Oh yeah.  Yes!”

“Then give me a minute.”

“No problem,” Emily told her.  “I’ve still got to get dressed anyway, and then Stacy is picking me up in half an hour.”

While Emily headed for her room, Wanda climbed up to her bedroom to grab her purse.  She pulled a hundred dollars out for Emily to enjoy herself with and headed for her room.  Before turning into Emily’s bedroom, she glanced into Nancy’s room.  Nancy was in there doing what she often seemed to do lately, sitting on the floor with her back up against the bed, doing nothing.  Wanda went into Emily’s room and handed off the money to her half-dressed older daughter.  Then she went over into Nancy’s room.

“Is she here?” Nancy asked, obviously not looking forward to it.

“Not yet.  But soon.”

Nancy nodded.  “Do I have to wear anything special for this?”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.  I’ve got...I mean the other me had gobs of clothes that I’m guessing were for dancing.”

“She had…you’ve got gobs of clothes, period!  If you like, pick something.  I’d enjoy seeing you in something different.  Otherwise, what you’ve got on is fine.”

“Good!  I like this.”

“You might want to grab a pair of ballet shoes though.”

“A pair of what?”

“Ballet shoes.  Here,” she said.  “I’ll show you.”  She went to Nancy’s closet and hunted among the many dancing shoes in there and found one of the pairs she was talking about.  She threw the light slippers with the elastic straps to her daughter.  “Just bring them downstairs with you.  In fact, you might want to head down there now before she comes.  We’re paying her by the hour, and I’d rather not pay her to wait for you to mope your way all the way down there.”

Nancy banged her head against the bed in frustration.

“Go!” Wanda told her.

Nancy grabbed the slippers in her hand and climbed her way to her feet.  With her mother leading the way downstairs, she followed, but she kept going all the way down to the basement level of the house to where the dance floor was.  She picked up a cue stick and practiced playing pool while she waited.  A little while later, she heard people coming down the stairs.  She saw her mother and another woman.  A nice-looking woman wearing workout clothes.

“Nancy!” the woman greeted her as if she was happy to see her.

“Nance,” her mother said.  “This is Sonya Cutter.”

“Hi,” Nancy said to her.

Sonya turned to Wanda.  “She certainly looks like her old self.  From what you described, I was afraid she might look sick or something.

“I am sick,” Nancy told her.  “In my head!  Otherwise I’m...fine.”

Sonya took that in for a moment.  “Good.  Then perhaps we should see where we need to start.”  Her eyes now noticed the nice dance floor set up further into the room, complete with mirrors on the walls and a ballet barre mounted on the wall.  “Oh my,” she said.  “This is perfect.  Come on Nancy.  Let’s take advantage of it.”

Sonya took a minute to study the music system, then found some recent pop music.  She turned it on.  “Come on Nance, let’s dance!”  With that, she moved out onto the dance floor and started moving around, dancing to the music and having fun.  “Come on Nancy,” she urged.  “Dance with me.”

Stephen inside of Nancy considered that he wouldn’t mind dancing with the attractive woman at all.  He just didn’t want to do it in Nancy’s body.  Still, he moved out onto the dance floor and tried to…dance.

“That’s it Nancy,” Sonya told her.  “Let loose.  Enjoy yourself.”  A minute later, she suggested, “Nancy, use your arms more!  Loosen up.”  When the song ended, she shut the sound system off.  “Okay,” she said, already knowing what she was working with.  This was certainly not the old Nancy.  Not by any stretch of the imagination.  This Nancy’s arms, and especially her hands, didn’t move right.  They just looked…strange.  “Put your dancing shoes on while I find us some soft ballet music.”

For the next hour, Nancy suffered through everything from how to stand, to holding onto the barre while she did weird knee bends.  Sonya corrected what she was doing often, paying most of her attention to Nancy’s arms and especially her hands and how she moved and posed them.  Over and over she had say, “Nancy!  Hands!” or “Nancy!  Flowing…graceful,” and then she would help Nancy do the movement again until it looked at least somewhat better.

By the time Sonya left, Nancy was not only tired, but she hated ballet more than ever.

 

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---