=:= Sidney =:=

It might have been a second or it might have been ten minutes, there was no real sense of time while it was happening. Then the white faded away and like Cindy said, there'd been no sensation at all.

Sid was still laying on the sofa, Cindy was still watching. She still had that gentle smile on her face.

The first thing Sid noticed was there was no more pain, dulled or otherwise. It was like the injuries were all gone, which of course was the point.

"How are you feeling now?" Cindy asked.

"Better?" Sid immediately gasped, "My voice..."

Those soprano tones could only mean one thing. She sat bolt-upright, then jumped to her feet and looked down at herself.

Cindy grinned and pointed to the door on the far wall, "Through there, turn right. There's a full-length mirror in the bathroom."

Sid could feel her cheeks warming as she blushed, "Uh, thanks!"

She started to dash for the door but after three or four steps she slowed down to a quick walk. She was amazed at how light she felt on her feet and how all her joints felt so smooth and flexible. But she was also distracted by the sensation of her chest bouncing from her rapid movements.

The mirror was easy enough to find, and Sid stopped and stared, eyes wide.

Staring back at her was a cute leggy blonde. She looked no more than eighteen now, fifty years had disappeared in an instant. She estimated she'd lost a few inches of height, but not too many. She reckoned she was about five-foot-six now. Her body was slim and athletic-looking.

Her hair was a sandy blonde colour. It was short and a bit of a mess. It actually looked like the blonde version of Ciara's untameable mane. Her eyes were a dark, dusky blue. Her face was attractive, slightly rounded and cute.

Her clothes were different too, she hadn't even noticed that at first. Her khaki trousers were now a pair of blue denim cut-offs, and the long-sleeve green shirt she'd been wearing was now a small white crop-top that showed off her flat stomach and navel while also drawing attention to the two mounds on her chest. Her hiking boots had been replaced by a pair of white running shoes.

The outfit, or lack thereof, really showed off all her new curves. She had a narrow waist, and wide hips. And a butt. And boobs. Sid blushed slightly at how much of her perfectly tanned skin was on display, though she couldn't help but smile. She looked good, so why not show it off a bit?

As she continued studying herself in the mirror, some colour on her right ankle caught her eye. Turning, she leaned over for a closer look. She marvelled at how flexible she'd become, as she stared at the floral tattoo on her right ankle. It was about four inches high, a sprig of pink heath in full bloom.

Sid smiled, it was the official state flower of Victoria. She had no doubt this was one of Cindy's magic tattoos, so in addition to looking cute it would protect her from various ills and troubles, like the other three girls were already protected. The colour was perfect too, the pink looked really nice on her.

Staring in the mirror again, it finally dawned on Sid that she wasn't feeling much in the way of shock or upset. And it struck her that she'd been thinking of herself as 'she' and 'her' right from the start. She knew that had to be Cindy's doing, part of the magic the girl used.

She wasn't bothered about it though. She'd agreed to it after all, and she knew it was better that she was comfortable and accepted it rather than being upset or in shock.

Sid continued studying her reflection for another minute or two, memorizing her new face, her new looks. It felt natural, comfortable, normal. At the same time it was all very new and different. She glanced down at her chest in the mirror and blushed again. Definitely new and different.

Eventually she pulled herself away from the mirror and walked back out to the main room. She found the others all there waiting. Zoe and Cindy were cuddled together on one of the large chairs, and Ciara was sitting crosslegged on the sofa.

A soon as the young brunette saw her, she leapt up off the sofa and came running. She threw her arms around Sid's waist in a tight hug. "Grampa! You're all better now!"

Sid felt herself blushing yet again as she put an arm around Ciara's shoulders, hugging her back. "Er, yes I am, Ciara. I'm not sure if it's still appropriate to keep calling me 'grampa' though."

The kid giggled and asked "Can I call you 'sis' instead?"

"We'll see, hun." Sid was still blushing as she turned towards Cindy and Zoe. "So uh, I suppose I'll need new ID now? And we might have to move. The neighbours will definitely start questioning things..."

Zoe suggested "You could always claim to be one of the 'changed'. Full moon was just a couple days ago, folks will buy it if you tell them you were part of the eighth wave."

Sid felt her cheeks heating up even brighter at that idea. It would mean telling people that she specifically wanted this body.

"Maybe. I'll also have to start thinking about a new name too I think."

"Don't rush into any big decisions," Zoe said. "You've just been through a big change, maybe let that settle in before you start planning anything else?"

"Right. Yes that's a good idea Zoe." Sid finally sat down on the sofa next to Ciara. She commented "It's certainly going to take me a while to get used to this."

Cindy grinned, "Don't worry Sid. We'll all help you get yourself sorted out. And if you do decide you want to change your name, or you want new ID, just let me know. I'll see about conjuring something up for you."

"Thanks Cindy." Sid smiled back.

After a few minutes, the small sorceress asked "If you're ready, I can send you back. I can put you and Ciara back where you were on the trail if you want to finish your hike, or set you down by your camp and car?"

Sidney grimaced, "I think I need some time to get used to having a whole new body. I don't think I'm quite ready for hiking or camping. Or spending half the day in the car, driving back to Wye River."

"Ok, that's fair." Cindy nodded. She suggested, "How about I send you straight home then? Zoe and Ciara and me will go pack up your camp, then we'll drive the car back home."

Zoe added, "That'll give you four or five hours to yourself, to ah, get used to everything."

The catgirl had a knowing smirk on her face, and Sid felt her cheeks going bright red yet again. Her hair-trigger blush response was something else that would take some time to get used to.

"Uh, ok. Thanks," she nodded. "That sounds like a good idea."

"Ok Sid." Cindy was smirking now too, "We'll see you in a few hours. Around dinner time." She added, "Don't bother cooking, we'll pick up take-away before we get home."

Sidney nodded and started to reply when Cindy's eyes glowed again. She felt a strange tingling sensation across her skin and the log cabin spun and faded. Sid found herself sitting alone on the sofa in her living-room.

She blinked a couple times, then got to her feet. She had several hours to herself now, but wasn't really sure what to do.

She wandered the house, and had a look in her closet. Right, she realized she'd be needing a new wardrobe. She really couldn't picture herself wearing any of this stuff anymore. Not that any of it would fit her now anyways. Which also meant she was stuck for the moment in the cut-offs and crop top as her only outfit. Which led to another blush, of course.

Next stop was the kitchen, where she got the coffee machine running. While she was waiting for it to brew, she went around unlocking and opening the front and back doors. She also opened some windows, to let the fresh air through the place. It had been closed up for the past few days, since she and Ciara left on their last hiking trip.

A few minutes later Sid was surprised to hear a knock at the front door, just as the coffee machine finished filling the pot with fresh brew.

She went to the door and sighed at the sight of her neighbour. Margaret probably spotted Sid when she was opening the doors and windows, and came to investigate.

"Hello Maggie," Sid greeted the woman as she opened the screen door. "I've just made up a pot of coffee, care to join me for a cup?"

Margaret was another retiree, and a widow. She was few years younger than Sid. Or, younger than Sid was this morning. Sid knew the woman had been interested in her. Or him? She frowned slightly trying to figure out what pronouns were appropriate, then immediately gave up on it. She wasn't interested in a busybody like Maggie before, she was even less interested now.

The older woman stared at Sid, frowning slightly. She was obviously confused and taken aback that this stranger knew her name and was acting so familiar to her.

"Er, hello young lady. Is mister Metcalf home? I thought he was off on another one of his hiking trips, and I hadn't seen his jeep about, but I realized there was someone here in his home."

Sid didn't know whether to blush, smile, or slam the door and hide. She finally just motioned "Come on in, Maggie. I'll fix you up some coffee."

Margaret was watching Sid with suspicion, but nodded and followed her inside and back to the kitchen.

Sid got two mugs out. She fixed up a cup for her neighbour, she already knew how the woman liked it. Margaret sat at the kitchen table and accepted the coffee with a frown. "I haven't seen you around before, miss. You're another one of mister Metcalf's young 'relatives', are you?"

Her back was to Margaret as she was fixing her own coffee. She paused though, momentarily distracted as she realized it felt good being addressed as 'miss' and 'young lady'. On the other hand, hearing 'mister' Metcalf was starting to grate on her nerves slightly.

She had a sip of her coffee then scowled. One milk, no sugar was how she'd been drinking her brew for the last forty years. She sighed, remembering the last fifty years had just been all but erased.

After a half minute of trial-and-error she finally sat down at the table across from her guest. Her coffee was now double-milk-triple-sugar, but it was palatable.

Maggie was still watching her like a hawk, and Sid realized she hadn't answered the woman's question.

She sighed and braced herself. "Maggie, it's me. I'm Sid."

Margaret blinked, sputtered, and shook her head "That's.... No! That's preposterous! Impossible!"

In spite of herself, Sid grinned. It was actually pretty funny watching Maggie try and process the news that the kindly old widower she'd been trying to woo for the past four years was now the cute teen girl sitting across from her. In cut-offs and a crop-top. Sid almost giggled.

"But... but... Why?!" Maggie finally exclaimed.

Sid knew she couldn't say anything about Cindy, and she'd already outed herself, so she had to go with the eighth-wave story.

"I did it for Ciara. She's a handful, she's active, and she wanted to do more than I was capable of. I was slowing down, and my knees were shot. I decided, why not give the kid what she wanted?"

Maggie was still struggling. "But... You're a man! This... Why this?!"

"Ciara wanted a big sister. And anyways, I spent almost seven decades as a bloke." Sid found the more she talked, the easier it was getting. Trying to explain herself to her neighbour was forcing her to actually think about the situation for herself. "If I was gonna do the whole magic thing anyways, why not try being a gal? See what it's like playing for the other team."

Margaret had barely touched her coffee, and Sid hadn't either. The sugar made it drinkable, but she found she wasn't really in the mood for a hot drink after all. It crossed her mind she'd only put the coffee on out of habit. She decided what she actually wanted was something cold.

She got up and dumped her mug in the sink, then pulled a can of cola out of the fridge instead.

Maggie continued watching, and asked in a very disapproving tone "Is that how you're going to be dressing now?"

This time Sid couldn't suppress the giggle, though it came with another blush. "Mags, this is literally the only outfit I have at the moment. I've just got home in the past fifteen minutes. I really need some time to get myself sorted out. Since you don't seem to be interested in the coffee, how about you head on home and we'll talk more in a couple days."

The older woman bristled at the new nickname, but she got to her feet. "Fine. I... I'll see myself out." She turned and marched back out the front door.

Sid giggled again, but followed Margaret as far as the door. She closed it and locked it up again. She'd come home for some privacy after all. She locked the back door again too, then had a few gulps of her soda.

Finally she decided to get the next hurdle over with. Time to have a shower and get a proper look at herself.

• • • • •

It was evening now, around six o'clock. Sid was relaxing on the sofa, wearing a nightshirt and a pair of panties she'd borrowed. Zoe and Cindy both left some clothes in Ciara's closet for when they were visiting, and the catgirl was nearest to Sid's new size. Still, the nightshirt was a little small for her. It was a bit tight across her chest, and the hem was a bit too high to be entirely decent.

Now she was relaxing as she waited for the others to arrive. It was only a few minutes later when she heard the girls pull up in her jeep. Then the front door opened and the three of them came in, accompanied by the smell of food.

Sid jumped to her feet, smiling "Hello girls, welcome home!"

Cindy grinned, "Your neighbour Mrs. Margaret was giving us all the evil eye when we..."

Her voice trailed off and her grin widened as she finally registered what Sid was wearing. "Well, it looks like someone's already feeling right at home with her new look."

Zoe giggled softly as she and Cindy both gave Sid a look up and down.

Ciara was somewhat oblivious to the whole awkward exchange, as she announced happily "We got Vietnamese for dinner!"

Ten minutes later the four of them were in the living-room enjoying their meal. Cindy and Zoe were on the sofa, Ciara and Sid both sat crosslegged on the floor. They had water and sodas to drink, and there was a good assortment of food set out on the coffee table. Sid was careful as she experimented with the different dishes, and quickly determined she now preferred sweet instead of spicy.

With a mix of blushes and giggles, she told the others about her brief encounter with Mags from next door. And finally, she reminded Cindy and Zoe that her only clothes that fit was the outfit she'd woken up in.

They quickly decided that all four of them would drive into the city together tomorrow for a shopping expedition.

Before long they'd all finished eating. Sid noticed her own appetite was significantly smaller than it had been previously, a detail she wasn't going to complain about in the least. She now had something of a runners' physique, and she planned to maintain it.

After the leftovers were in the fridge and the dishes cleaned, the four sat and talked a while longer. Ciara went to bed first, exhausted from the day's events.

When it was just the three of them, Sid looked at the two older girls. She felt a brief flicker of...something as it dawned on her that they were both older than herself now. Zoe was almost twenty-two, and Cindy turned twenty last month, even if she still looked sixteen.

"Hey Sid?" Cindy asked softly. "You still doing ok?"

She nodded, "Yeah. Yeah I am. It's been a heck of a day though."

"That it has," Zoe smiled.

"Will you two be going back to er, your other place for the night?" Sid asked.

The two girlfriends exchanged a look, which quickly became a naughty grin.

"Yeah I think we will." Zoe smirked.

Sid blushed, "Right. I'll make us all breakfast in the morning when you two get back."

The three stood up, and Cindy and Zoe took turns hugging her. They all bid each other good night, then Cindy and Zoe vanished. Sid turned out the lights and made her way to her bedroom.

As she drifted off, she decided that she needed to wash the linens tomorrow. She had to get rid of the old-man-smell.

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