A few minutes ago, Robert had been a man in his sixties. He'd been in a plane, flying first-class, thirty-thousand feet over the Atlantic. He'd been more than half-way to the Bahamas.

Now he looked like a young woman, and he was standing naked in a home office in the Niagara region of Ontario. His two clients were standing infront of him. And despite his vastly different appearance, the two women somehow recognized him.

Robert stared at the two of them, his eyes wide and his body still trembling. He was accustomed to towering over them both, he stood over six feet tall. Or, he used to. Now Samantha was at least a few inches taller than him, and he seemed to be level with the petite Nicole, if not slightly shorter than her.

His heart was racing and his emotions were churning wildly. He was confused, frightened, disoriented. "How... what..." He could barely form words, let alone sentences.

The three of them just stared at each other for a few moments. Samantha looked serious, Nicole looked slightly amused. Robert felt like his expression would match a deer caught in headlights.

Finally Samantha excused herself and stepped out of the office, returning a few moments later with a blanket.

She then moved to him, saying "Here, let's get you covered up first, before we start our meeting."

He just stood there, scared and overwhelmed, and nodded quietly as the young woman wrapped the blanket around him. He tucked it under his arms and held it closed.

Samantha then guided him to a chair, "Have a seat, Mr. Green."

He just nodded again, still trembling slightly as he let the tall brunette direct him to the chair. He sat down, keeping the blanket tightly wrapped around his body.

Ontop of everything else, he was getting overwhelmed by the sensations from his new body as he moved. The feel of his breasts shifting as he moved and sat down, how they rubbed against the blanket. And the distinct lack of something between his legs. Even just the feeling of the blanket against his smooth, soft skin. It was all new and foreign to him.

He was desperately trying to understand what was happening. None of this was possible.

Then it finally hit him - this had to be a dream! It's the only thing that made any kind of sense. The mimosas were stronger than he'd thought and he'd skipped breakfast. He must have fallen asleep on the plane, and this was some sort of bizarre dream, fuelled by stress, guilt, and alcohol.

He sighed a little, almost feeling relaxed. It was a damned weird dream, but knowing it wasn't real meant he could just let it play out and see where it went. Whatever happened next, he'd wake up soon enough back on the plane, and he'd be in the Bahamas in under an hour.

The two young women obviously noticed as the fear and tension left him. The goth asked, "You're feeling a little better now, Mr. Green?"

He shrugged, "I finally figured out this is a dream. It's not real, and as weird as it is, it'll be ending soon." His voice was still an airy soprano and he still spoke with that strange accent.

Samantha smiled a little, "Do you often dream about being a young woman, Mr. Green?"

He chuckled, or tried to. It came out as a giggle. "Never. This is a first, to be honest."

The goth smiled too, "Well I hope you're enjoying it then." In a more serious tone, she said "Anyways, let's get on with our meeting, Mr. Green. We brought you here to discuss the money you stole."

Samantha stated, "You took quite a bit of money from us, Mr. Green. More upsetting though, was you took money that was meant to go to charity." The young woman's voice took on an angry tone. It was the first time Robert had ever heard the young hippy sound angry. "That wasn't money you took from us. You were stealing from charities. Money that was meant to help marginalized people around the world."

Nicole sounded angry now too as she continued, "If all you had done was steal from us, we'd have simply retrieved the money and let you continue on your way to South America. But stealing from those charities... That was low, Mr. Green. That is why we plucked you out of that airplane and brought you here."

Robert just shrugged. He was still convinced all of this was a dream, but it was the most unusual one he'd had in a while so he decided to play along with it. "How exactly did you 'pluck me' out of the airplane?"

Samantha answered, "Magic, Mr. Green. We know you thought we were working for some crime family or something. The truth is, we're witches."

Nicole added, "Our money comes from our Goddess. You stole from Her, and from charities She supports. And She's very unhappy with you."

He tried to laugh, but it came out as another giggle. "Right. Magic, witches, and a gay-rights goddess. So why do I look like a young woman? And what's the deal with the accent?"

Samantha's voice was still serious as she replied, "Your appearance is part of the punishment our Goddess has selected for you, Mr. Green. You're still going to be working for us, but you won't be an accountant any more."

"The spiritual retreat will be opening next month," Nicole stated, "And you've just accepted the position of receptionist."

Robert giggled again and rolled his eyes. "Ok, I think I've heard about enough of this. As dreams go, this has been the weirdest. So long." He pinched himself on the thigh. Then the side. Then the arm. The pinches hurt, but did little else.

He frowned, then closed his eyes, trying to force himself to wake up.

"Something wrong, Mr. Green?" Samantha asked.

He still had his eyes closed as he frowned, "No... Just trying to wake up..."

The goth stated, "Let me help you with that."

There was something wrong with Nicole's voice, and Robert's eyes blinked open. The goth was standing taller, and her blue eyes were so intense they were almost glowing. He tried to look away, but found he couldn't take his eyes off hers.

Then the goth's eyes seem to flare brighter, and Robert felt a wave of dizziness go over him. He nearly blacked out, as the room started spinning for a few moments.

It took a few seconds, and a few deep breaths, for everything to settle down again and stop spinning.

Then Samantha asked, "How are you feeling now, Gwyneth?"

"Call me Gwen," she replied automatically. "It was just a dizzy spell, but I'm better now..."

Then her eyes went wide and she gasped.

She knew up till a few minutes ago she'd been Robert Green. She knew Robert was a sixty-one year old accountant and money manager. She remembered stealing from Nicole and Samantha, and trying to escape to the Bahamas. She knew Robert had an extensive knowledge of accounting, banking, tax laws, asset management, and he was even pretty good at playing the stock market. He knew money, inside and out.

And as much as she knew about Robert Green, she also knew she wasn't him any more.

She was Gwyneth Jones, a nineteen-year-old girl. She knew nothing about finance, the stock market, or accounting. She could barely balance her own bank account, and had very little work experience. She'd worked two years of part-time retail while she was in high-school, and her last job was waitressing at a franchised steak-house restaurant.

Gwen stared at Nicole and Samantha and asked nervously, "What... What just happened?"

Nicole replied, "You are being punished for your crimes, like we said. You're now the receptionist at our spiritual retreat. Your contract is for a year and a day. After that, we can all decide whether or not to renew it."

She gulped, "This isn't a dream, is it? This... This is real?"

Nicole nodded, "It's real, yes."

She frowned as a thought occurred, then said, "When the plane lands, they'll realize I'm missing. Disappeared mid-flight?"

"Actually," Nicole said, "The flight attendants have just discovered Mr. Green's body in the first class washroom. Naked, for some strange reason. Doctors will determine Robert died of a heart attack."

Gwen's eyes widened. She realized if Robert's body had been found, if he was dead, there was no going back for her. She'd never be him again.

Samantha then said, "Don't worry about your wife. She'll do all right, between the life insurance policy you had, and when we retrieved the money you took, we also made sure to return what you'd taken from her as well." She then added, "This is for you, Gwen." She held out a sheet of paper.

Gwyneth took the page and looked at it. It was a copy of an employment contract, and it already had her signature at the bottom. It indicated she had been hired as the receptionist at Samantha's spa. The salary was actually quite generous for the position. It was less than a twentieth of what Robert had been making at the accounting firm, though.

She stared at the contract for a few moments. She wondered if she could just tear it up, refuse to work for them. As soon as she'd thought of it though, she dismissed the idea. Right now she was pretty much dependent on her new bosses for everything. She didn't even have clothing, let alone any money or ID or anything else.

Finally she looked up at Samantha and Nicole again and asked, "And why the accent? Where's it even from, I don't recognize it."

Nicole replied with a shrug, "I think our Goddess thought it was cute. It's Welsh."

Gwen sighed, and put the contract down on the desk next to her. She looked down at herself, still sitting naked in the chair with the blanket around herself. She'd mostly got over the fear, now she was just trying to deal with the shock, trying to grasp everything that had happened.

She sighed again. "So... You've changed me into a young woman and given me a new name... And a low-paying entry level job." She then asked, "You're my bosses now, how should I address you both? Mrs. Elliot-Carlisle?"

Samantha smiled, "That's a bit of a mouthful to be saying over and over."

"Does ma'am work then?" Gwyneth asked.

Nicole shrugged, "That, or our names would be fine, Gwen."

Gwen nodded slowly, then came up with one more question. "What happens when the contract is over? I guess I won't turn back to..." She realized she couldn't even speak the other name. She sighed again, "I won't turn back into the accountant, if he's dead now... Will I at least turn back into a man?"

Samantha asked "Is that what you want?"

"Yes!" Gwen insisted. "I know you've done something make me think I'm 'Gwyneth Jones', and make me think of myself as a girl. But..." She shook her head, looking down at herself, "This isn't me. It doesn't feel like me."

Nicole shrugged, "Well, it wouldn't be a punishment if it was easy, Gwen. Next year, when your contract is almost over, the three of us will have a little meeting and discuss the matter again." She then added with a smile, "Who knows, perhaps by then you'll have changed your mind."

Gwen sighed a little. "I sincerely doubt that, ma'am. I'll be counting the days till I can get out of this."

Samantha gestured to a large plastic tote box on the floor near Gwen's chair. "Those are your clothes. Get yourself dressed, and then we'll give you a tour of the retreat so you can see where you'll be working."

Gwyneth looked at the box of clothes. She was positive that hadn't been there a few minutes ago when she'd sat down. She looked back at her bosses and asked, "May I have a little privacy please, ma'ams?"

"No." Nicole replied. "We still don't trust you yet, so while you're in our home we'll be keeping an eye on you."

Gwen sighed, but nodded. She let the blanket fall aside as she started going through the box of clothes. There was also a pair of shoes and a purse in there along with the clothing.

She pulled on the cotton panties, and then the knee-high socks. There was a wool skirt that would reach down past her knees, and she grit her teeth as she pulled that on.

As she was doing this, she noticed Samantha at least had the decency to turn around, but Nicole was just watching silently.

Gwen felt her cheeks going red as she continued dressing. The bra gave her some trouble. She'd helped women out of them a number of times, but until now she'd never had to put one on. She'd seen Shelly get dressed countless times though, so she had a good idea how to do it. Finally there was a long sleeve blouse, and then the shoes. They had a low heel, only about an inch.

Gwen stood a little unsteadily in the shoes. She'd realized by now that even though she looked like a young woman and thought of herself as one, she clearly didn't have any idea how to actually be one. Clothes, make-up, all the other things a woman her age should be familiar with, she was still clueless about all of it.

She finally picked up the purse as she sat back down in her chair, and started looking through its contents.

The purse already contained ID for her, with her new name and face. She discovered she'd been born in Cardiff, Wales. That explained the accent, at least. Some letters in the purse conveniently informed her that her family had emigrated to Canada when she was twelve. And an obituary clipping revealed that her fake parents had died late last year in a house fire. So she was completely isolated, no family, no home.

Gwen finally put everything back in her purse, and looked at her new bosses again.

She thought to herself, this is day one. Only three hundred and sixty-six to go, and then she'll be free again.

• • • • •

"Honey, I'm home!" Gwen called happily as she stepped through the door of their little flat.

Chloe smiled as she followed Gwyneth inside, "That wasn't funny the first time you did it, it's still not funny now."

Gwen just giggled, and tossed her purse onto the sofa as she went into the small kitchen. Chloe walked past into their bedroom.

"Leftovers for dinner all right with you, hon?" Gwen asked as she looked inside the fridge.

Chloe called from the bedroom, "That's fine, Gwen."

Gwyneth pulled out the rest of last night's pasta, and got a pan and some olive oil warming on the stove. As she started heating up the food, she reflected on the past few months.

It was late August now, and she had just finished the fifth month of her contract.

The first month had been very quiet at work, the place wasn't open yet so there wasn't much need for a receptionist. Instead, she'd done a lot of training and 'orientation', and had learned the practical side of the job. Although work wasn't busy, her life had been rather hectic in other ways. She'd had to learn how to be Gwyneth Jones.

Basically, she had a crash-course in being a young woman. Her bosses' magic hadn't given her the knowledge that she'd have received if she'd grown up a girl. So she had to learn make-up, figure out her style, and learn about feminine hygiene and health issues. It was lucky the retreat had been so quiet that first month, because everything else had been pretty rough.

The second month things were busier, as the spa had its grand opening and they were starting to get some guests coming in. That's when she'd met Chloe. The tall attractive brunette was working there as well, as a massage therapist and an aromatherapist.

They'd started as work acquaintances, then became friends. And then one night three months ago they'd become lovers.

Gwen really hadn't expected that to happen, but she hadn't tried to resist it either. And now they were a couple, they were living together, and she couldn't deny that she'd fallen in love with Chloe.

Chloe emerged from the bedroom wearing nothing but an oversized t-shirt, and started setting the table.

As she did, she commented, "You shouldn't be cooking in your work clothes. You don't want to get stains on that nice blouse, do you?"

Gwyneth grinned. She suspected her girlfriend was more interested in a nice view than she was worried about her blouse, but she obliged. It was warm in here anyways, since their air-conditioner wasn't working.

She stepped away from the stove and quickly unbuttoned and removed her blouse, and slipped out of her skirt. She left both on the sofa with her purse, then returned to her cooking wearing just heels, panties, and her push-up bra.

Chloe smiled at her, then asked "Wine tonight?"

Gwen nodded, "Sounds good. Food's nearly ready."

Chloe nodded and as she squeezed past Gwen to get to the cupboard with the wine glasses, she leaned closer and planted a kiss on Gwen's cheek.

Gwen grinned and stretched up on her toes to return the kiss.

Ten minutes later, the two were sitting across from each other at their small dining table. The chairs were mismatched, and the little table had a wobbly leg. They were eating day-old supermarket tortellini in marinara sauce that had come from a jar, and drinking cheap red wine from a local winery.

Their little one-bedroom apartment was slightly cramped, and they co-owned a little Toyota that they'd got second-hand.

It was a far cry from the life of luxury Robert had been expecting when he stole from the witches. For that matter, it was a long way from the comfortable life the accountant been used to, period.

But despite all of this, Gwen was happy.

Chloe was incredible - sexy, funny, smart, cool. She was tall, slim, and stylish. She had a great sense of humour, usually quick with a joke, but she was never mean about it. And she could work magic with her hands, she was a pro with the massages.

Work had turned out to be rather fun. The pay may not have been great, but Gwyneth had almost no responsibilities. Mostly she just needed to smile and look pretty, answer the phone and be polite. Her coworkers had turned out to be a good lot, all nice people. They were all sort of like a family in some ways, looking out for each other, that sort of thing.

She'd also discovered Samantha was a kind and generous boss, as was Nicole. Despite being the ones who'd cursed her into this new life, they'd both helped her get established. Samantha had even co-signed on the lease for the flat, and helped her and Chloe get a loan for their car.

Gwen knew that five months ago she'd been positive that as soon as the contract was up she'd want to escape. She thought she'd want to be turned back into a guy and then get as far away from here as possible. She'd begun this new life counting down the days till it would be over.

Now she just smiled to herself as she thought about how wrong she'd been. She'd quit counting before she even got to day fifty.

"What's got you so happy?" Chloe asked. "You've got that thoughtful grin on your face again."

Gwen giggled a little. "Just thinking about how lucky I am, hon. If I hadn't scored that job at the retreat, I'd never have met you."

Chloe smiled, "Flattery will get you everywhere, cutie."