Stella felt uncomfortable going last. It was always hard for her to speak up for herself, though, being the only visibly trans person in most spaces she was in. Here was no exception, even if she’d gained enough confidence to say yes to going on this trip. Talking in a chatroom or even voice chat was much different than being in person.

She practiced her voice to make sure it wouldn’t waver too much, before finally speaking up: “Ahem, I’d like to tell a story that I’ve been thinking of for a while.”

---

The Burglar, the Witch, and the Doorknob, by: Leviathan86

He crept around the apartment, hoping no one saw him climb through the window. Three nights straight of scoping out places in this building, and he had finally found one that never had any lights on, barring one steadily glowing in the other room–obviously a facade meant to keep people like him out, to pretend someone was home. But he could not be fooled.

He was the greatest burglar this side of the city, and he was going to remain that way. He wasn’t sure exactly why he did what he did, he just had a knack for it, ever since he was a child. Plus, being unseen as he was, without ever having to work a day in his life, certainly had its upsides. This apartment, his latest escapade, might even serve as a new base for a while, he thought to himself.

He turned his flashlight on, and thankfully found no one ready to greet him. He breathed a sigh of relief as he looked around. The apartment looked far more spacious than it was on the outside. Books seemingly towered in large piles above him, covered in all sorts of runes and what he assumed was Latin.

He’d walked into a professor’s apartment! Jackpot! Maybe the old fart was away on a conference trip somewhere, or maybe he’d croaked! Professors didn’t make much these days, but in years past, or so he’d heard, they were definitely in the upper class, and judging by how old the bindings were, this professor was definitely stuck in years past. He normally didn’t raid classy apartments, being that they had security and all, but this…this was too good.

Just to be sure, he looked through a little tool he’d bought to check for any cameras. None. He was safe, thank God. He walked through the books, finding himself at the center of a veritable maze of information, holy fuck. As he walked deeper, he found himself smack dab in the center of a crossroads, which he could see no exit from, not even the moonlight.

He sighed as he pointed the flashlight about everywhere, eventually landing on a door which had rather odd markings on it. This must’ve been where the geezer’s valuables were, why else would it be buried so deep in here? He walked over to the door, sweat beading down his brow. Was it really this hot in here? Or was he just nervous?

He grabbed the door handle, and at first thought he felt a burning sensation on his hand, but as he looked down, he didn’t see anything. He checked his hand with a flashlight, no signs of burns whatsoever. As he put his flashlight away, he saw the door creak open, and decided it’d be best to take his chance, and not try his luck with the doorknob again.

He slammed with full force into the door, tumbling as he found himself in the middle of what seemed to be a forest. This professor, they’d really overdone themselves by making a garden indoors. When he had looked at the building plans, he hadn’t noticed any room for an arboreum of any kind, but somehow, he shook his concerns off, and looked for the door. He was in the wrong room to look for treasure, and he’d need to be off soon. Especially with how sweaty the forest was making him. It was like he’d entered a sauna.

To his surprise, he couldn’t find the handle. He must’ve tumbled a bit too far. He looked around, in every direction he could, even walking around a little to find something, anything. Eventually, he settled on the only idea he could rationally come up with: he was in fact hallucinating wildly, or perhaps had been electrocuted by the doorknob, and was now very swiftly finding himself in the last throes of dying brain activity.

Unfortunately, neither was the case. In fact, he was not hallucinating, though hallucination is a symptom of heatstroke, which he was developing rather quickly in his now-overdressed outfit. Figuring as he did that this was a hallucination, he began to disrobe, being halfway off with his pants before he realized–he was most definitely not alone.

Across the clearing from him was a beautiful woman with curly black hair. She wore an elegant dress of what seemed like every shade of green. She waved to him as he waved back awkwardly, shimmying his pants back on haphazardly. She giggled as she called, “It’s alright, traveler, the rainforest is quite humid.”

“H..humid?”

“Yes, dear, it’s not polite to copy others’ words,” she replied as she took a few steps closer to him.

“O..oh miss, I didn’t mean to–”

“I’m older than you, dear. There’s no ‘miss’ here, at least, not yet,” she replied.

“R..right, sorry madame–”

“Apology accepted. Stop blathering on,” she scolded him as she walked even closer.

“Right, sorry.” he said, growing anxious as she drew closer.

“And stop saying sorry,” she said, walking up as if she were in front of him, “apologies come from actions.”

“Ok!” he squeaked as he raised his hands.

“Good, now, first of all, I’d like to invite you to attend a dinner I’m hosting!”

“A..a dinner?”

“Yes! You and everyone else who arrives on my island! It’s been eons.”

“Eons? Island?”

“Well, I should stop being dramatic. It’s been…ten olympiads?”

“Olympiad?”

“Four years. You know, like the Olympics you have?”

“Oh, right, those, yeah. So, are you a fan of Greece?” the man asked, shifting in his boots as he tried to make conversation.
.
The woman snorted as she started to laugh. “Not after an ex I had. Joint custody was enough of a headache. He couldn’t even handle my kid for one weekend.”

“S..sorry to hear that,” the man timidly replied.

“Oh that was ages ago! You need not worry,” she replied with a grin, “Now, I know what you’re thinking.”

“Y..you do?”

“Do I look like a witch? No, not literally. Gods, men are stupid.”

“Hey!” he replied, incensed, “I’m not that stupid, just a little shook up!”

“Oh? Why’s that, kittycat?” she asked as she put her hand on her hip.

“W..well, I was in an apartment, and then I was here. And you’re the only person I’ve seen here, so forgive me for being a little–”

“You’re forgiven. All is forgiven. Come to dinner,” she replied as she pinched his lips shut emphatically.

“H..how will I know when dinner is?”

“Hmm, it should be about right when you arrive,” she replied as she tossed him what looked like a dress from out of nowhere, “now, I’ve got to go make the food! Come dressed up in this!”

“W..wait!”

And before he could say anything, even asking where dinner was, the woman was gone. He hadn’t noticed her leaving, though he didn’t think he had stopped looking at where she was. She had simply vanished.

“Well, I guess I should go where the dream lady told me to,” he muttered to himself as he disrobed further.

She was certainly a character, he thought to himself. Not once had any woman asked him out, and the only time he spent in one’s bedroom was when he was looking for jewelry. But now, this…peculiar woman in the green dress, who was at least thirty years older than him by her testimony, though she couldn’t have looked much older than he was.

But this was dream logic, he reminded himself. Time works differently in dreams, and it’s also why there aren’t any clocks around! He’ll walk to the house that’s bound to be somewhere in the distance. And wouldn’t you know, there was exactly such a house, barely visible through the trees.

He threw on the robe the strange woman had left him, and after examining it, noticed that it was a tunic. He felt a twinge of something approaching sadness in his gut. Not that he’d thought he’d have looked good in a dress, but, hey, you never do know. He’d experimented when he was young.

He began his trek forwards, stopping every few minutes to rest and take a breather. He noticed, along the way, many animals in the forest. It would make sense for a rainforest, except in addition to the usual creatures, there were lions–which he was pretty sure didn’t live anywhere near rainforests, and…raccoons?

To his surprise, and perhaps because it was a dream, he thought,the animals were docile. None bothered him at all, though some did stare at him for a while. Their looks made him uncomfortable, and not in the way being in the presence of a predator normally would’ve. Their eyes were big and sad and full of personality, and he couldn’t help but wonder if there was something special about them.

He continued towards the house, noticing quickly that ‘mansion’ would’ve been more apt. It was enormous up front. He composed himself as he walked in, trying to ignore the nagging feeling in the back of his mind that he was being watched. For being in a rainforest, the mansion was surprisingly open air, almost as if it were made to be in communion with the forest around it.

He sighed as he adjusted his tunic, which had been jostled a little in his haste. Eventually, he found himself in the middle of a strange room that seemed to be a mix between a courtyard and a living room, full of couches to recline on, with a table in the center. Seeing no one in the room, he sat down on the couch.

His nerves were still on edge. He’d had dreams that had lasted a long time before, but never one this vivid. He was beginning to truly doubt that…AH!

As suddenly as she disappeared, she reappeared in front of him. She looked at him, and he thought he could see a sneer tugging at the corners of her mouth. Nevertheless, she erased that look almost immediately from her face as she smiled cheerily at him, before waltzing to the table. She pointed at the table, and a great feast appeared.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but are you sure you’re not a witch?”

“Well, you most certainly are being rude. I’m hosting a dinner for you,” she replied, “buuuuut, I won’t be offended if you don’t take my food, really.”

“You sure? It looks so tasty!” he replied, looking at the platter ravenously. His stomach was growling, he had walked a few miles through a jungle, after all.

“Up to you,” she replied, smiling.

He squinted at her and asked, “this isn’t one of those dreams where all of a sudden I get chased by something, is it?”

“Nonono,” she replied, “that is, unless you want to.”

He politely shook his head. He took a look at the smorgasbord, brimming with sausages and cheeses, vegetables and fruits, and a wine that was a dark, dark, gorgeous red. He decided he’d start with just a little bit of the fish filet he saw. He didn’t want to seem like he was taking any prime cuts, he wanted to be modest, that was only polite.

She sat across from him on another couch and grinned as he delicately took bites of the fluffy and intensely flavorful fish. It tempted him, certainly, but he had an image to maintain and would not be so given to gluttony.

“Interesting,” she remarked.

He finished his bite and swallowed before asking, “What’s interesting?”

“The food you choose says so much about a person, don’t you agree?” she asked.

“Oh? And what does my food say about me?”

“Despite being a thief, you’re remarkably prideful. I can tell by the way you’re holding your manners, despite my irresistible food,” she replied as she grinned.

“Well, it is very good, don’t get me wrong, and that’s why I’m holding myself to that standard,” he replied as he brushed his hair out of his eyes, wondering if he needed a haircut, “and how’d you know I was a thief?”

“I see, a person of class, despite your thievery,” she mused, “I knew you were a thief from not only the way you looked, but also from how you talked to me. You’re so jumpy!”
She fake-lunged at him, causing him to draw back onto the sofa. She giggled, as if her point had been proven. He crossed his arms, finding that it was a bit harder to reach the normal position on either arm. Had the woman always been this tall?

“What’s your name, by the way?” the woman asked, “I’m Kirka.”

“Kirka?”

“Oh, are they still using that bad translation out there? Fine, you should know me by Circe.”

“C..circe?”

“I prefer Kirka,” she replied.

“That means…” he looked down at himself, to find his body had already grown smaller. He actually didn’t mind that, having a smaller body was nice! It meant he could be more nimble in his escapades…if there were any after he transformed into an animal.

“You still didn’t give me your name,” she replied, towering over him.

“I’m Leon,” he replied as his voice squeaked, “what am I turning into?”

“Well, the fish, the prideful attitude, the jumpiness. I figured a kittycat was only fitting,” she replied as she smirked.

“Is there any way to reverse this? Any way at all?” he asked.

“Hmm, I suppose we could have a little contest! To see how good of a thief you really are!” she replied, “and during the contest I could, of course, halt the spell.”

“What are the terms?” he asked as he found himself shrinking another few inches.

“You win, you get to go home in your old body,” she replied, “and if I win, you become my housepet.”

He weighed his options, but realized he didn’t have much choice. If he refused, he’d be left to fend for himself in the rainforest, probably. At least now, he had the choice between freedom and being doted on in captivity.

“I accept,” he said in an uncharacteristically light voice as he reached out a hand that now resembled a very dextrous paw.

“Excellent, Leon,” she said as she smiled, “but, I’m afraid your body may need a slightly different attire.”
“What do you mean?” Leon asked as he looked down, noticing how the tunic was hanging on him loosely.

Kirka snapped her fingers, and all of a sudden, Leon noticed he was no longer in a tunic, but a very light dress. He blushed as he began to protest, before he realized, he filled it out fully.

Noticing his confusion, Kirka offered an explanation: “My spell merely transforms you into the animal your soul is most like.”

“So you mean my soul is a woman, or, I guess, a girl cat?”

“It appears so,” she replied as she gazed all along Leon’s body, “I must say, I’m not normally a big fan of humans but you’re looking nice.”

“H..hey, eyes up here,” Leon said, “so, if I’m a girl, we’ve got to use a girl name, right? I want to be Felicia!”

“You want…okay, that’s not necessary but–”

“I insist you call me Felicia!” Felicia yelled.

“Okay, Felicia,” Kirka replied with a smile as she pet Felicia’s head, “no further explanation needed. Now, let’s discuss what the trial entails. We’re both going to race to the beacon on the other side of the island, and see who can put this coin on it first.”

Kirka held up a coin that gleamed in the courtyard’s gentle sunlight. Felicia figured it was probably real gold, the kind she would’ve definitely considered a jackpot in her findings.

“I’m going to give you a head start. I’ll give you the coin, and I want you to run with it. We can steal from each other all we want. Everything’s fair game but maiming and using magic to win,” Kirka replied.

“Deal,” Felicia replied as she grabbed the coin and ran out of the courtyard.

Her feet, it appeared, had also become half-paws, not that she was complaining with how naturally running came to her. She felt like she could run forever. Her ears pivoted to hear the forest around her, and she felt positively alive and vibrant. Animals almost seemed to be cheering her on as she ran, and she felt her gut drop as she realized they were all converts too, based on what little she knew about the legends behind Kirka.

She pressed onwards, before noticing Kirka running next to her in the bushes.

“No magic!” Felicia hissed.

“This isn’t magic, I’m just very fast,” Kirka replied as she lunged for Felicia, Felicia darting out of the way and leaving Kirka in the dust.

After a few hundred meters, Kirka caught up again.

“How can I trust you?” Felicia asked.

“Do you really think I’d use magic to make it appear like I was winning? I may be a witch, but I’m not going to taunt you for your inevitable failure, that’s just being mean to my housepet!”

“I’m not your housepet! And hey, you said you weren’t a witch!” Felicia yelled as she pushed onwards, exhausting herself and causing her to trip.

Taking the opportunity, Kirka tackled her, wrestling the coin out of her paws, despite much clawing. Kirka grimaced at the scratched but giggled as she waved to Felicia and ran off. Felicia got up to try and run, but found she was exhausted. She had probably run far longer than she’d ever run before, but that obviously didn’t make it easy.

But Kirka was barely ahead of her, so perhaps Kirka would be needing a rest as well soon. At any rate, it served her to keep walking forwards. As she walked through the forest, finding herself instinctively licking the scrapes she’d gotten when she fell over, she noticed how serene it was. Of all the places to be trapped forever, it certainly wasn’t a bad one.

It was a few hours before she found Kirka again, at the bottom of a hill, walking at a leisurely pace. The path down the hill was a winding series of hairpin bends, so it was no wonder Kirka felt so assured in reducing her pace.

Felicia frantically looked for alternate routes, but knew that Kirka had taken the fastest path. That much was for certain. She sighed as she fiddled with her claws. She’d had a bad habit with biting her nails, but that seemed more likely to hurt either her mouth or her finger, with how sharp both her claws and her teeth were.

And then she realized–her claws could be the advantage she was looking for. She experimentally climbed up a tree, and found it was incredibly easy–much easier than she had expected. If she could get up to the top, it would be easy to jump from tree to tree. She might get hurt, but she really had no other choice if she wanted to catch up to Kirka.

She tested her ability by jumping to another tree. She found herself a little shaky afterwards, but as long as she chose the right branch to land on, it couldn’t be too difficult. She jumped to a tree further down the hill, making it much more easily. She continued down the hill, and down, and down, until she was but one tree away from the one Kirka was currently walking under.

She eyed a branch, readied her haunches, then jumped again. As she landed on it, she found, thankfully, stability. However, the third part of her plan would prove more difficult. How was she supposed to get down from here? She tentatively walked closer to the center of the tree’s canopy, but as she heard the branch creaking, she knew she’d made a mistake.
She tumbled to the ground, crashing in front of Kirka. Kirka gasped as she reached out to touch Felicia. Felicia sat up, trying to get at her, but a coughing fit stopped her–coughing up blood. As her vision grew hazy, she slumped over. She swore she could hear Kirka mumbling in the background.

Leon woke up with a start. It was a relief to finally be awake from that awful dream, from that awful Kirka and the island. Yet, as he looked down, he saw–it was most definitely not a dream, and he was most definitely still on the island. Yet, she hadn’t lost yet, judging by the fact that her body remained largely intact. She felt an odd but pleasant sensation on top of her head, almost as if someone were stroking her ears.

“You’re finally awake,” Kirka remarked as she continued to pet Felicia’s ears lightly, “I was growing worried.”

“What happened?” Felicia asked as she examined her chest for any injuries.

“You made a pretty daring plan, but I think you might’ve fallen one branch short. Literally,” Kirka replied as she smiled, “you’re lucky I was there to heal you with my magic, even with your nine lives.”

“Isn’t that not allowed?”

“I’m not using it to win,’ Kirka replied, “if I had healed you and left you here, maybe it would’ve been, but I healed you and I’m staying with you until you’re ready to start the race again.”

“Why did you save me?” Felicia asked.

“You’re too cute to be a corpse,” Kirka remarked as she got up and stretched, “let me know when you’re ready to go, I’m getting antsy.”

Felicia took her chance and jumped over the witch’s head, nabbing the coin from her outstretched arms as she tumbled and got up a few meters away.

“Tricky girl,” Kirka said as she smirked.

Felicia smiled and ran away. She decided it’d be best to use the trees from then on, just a little more carefully. She held the coin in her mouth as she climbed up the nearest tree. Below, she noticed Kirka looking up at her and smiling. She waved down before she took off. She set her sights on the faraway beacon, a glowing light that while only barely visible at the mansion, was now glaringly obvious. It looked to even be at the beach on that side of the island.

As she strategically jumped from treetop to treetop, she wondered: would it be so bad to lose? It was clear that Kirka cared a great deal about her, even if she didn’t show it in the traditional ways. If she did win, she’d go back to a life of crime, there was no other way about it. She didn’t mind being a thief, but in that body…

She shook her thoughts away and focused on climbing, noticing at every intersection with the path that Kirka was keeping pace with her, even if just barely. Both were neck-and-neck for several kilometers along the way, before Felicia finally pulled ahead of Kirka, slowly but surely. She was in the clear now, in the final stretch.

However, as she drew closer, she realized: it wasn’t just on the beach, it was on the end of a sandbar that only had one connection to land. She’d have to outrun Kirka along several kilometers of beach, and then a whole sandbar, all on sand, before Kirka could catch up with her.

She tried to find a way around it but quickly realized, there was no way to win but that, unless she was confident she could swim to it faster than she could run, which she was definitely not sure of. She just had to hope Kirka couldn’t swim as well, either. As she pulled into the final stretch, she landed on a palm tree and began to strategize her path.

Climbing down was a little easier, aided both by the palm’s lack of branches to collapse and the rough texture of the palm’s bark. She hoisted herself down onto the gentle sand of the dune that overlooked the beach. She hadn’t run down a dune since she was a kid, so she found herself stumbling a few times, especially as sand slid around her, but she eventually found herself on the beach proper.

She still couldn’t see Kirka anywhere, which was certainly good. She raced down the beach’s length, until she reached the connection to the sandbar. The sand was soft and she was quickly getting tired. Every part of her body ached, and yet she continued onwards.

Every step felt like another challenge, another dare for her to continue. Just as she was a few steps away from the beacon, she noticed a figure running at the beacon full force out of the corner of her eye, then jump in the water. Felicia expended every last bit of energy she had to make it, and…she did.

But, as she looked to her side, into the water where Kirka was swimming at her, she couldn’t help but feel a little torn. Kirka wasn’t…alright. No one who changed people against their will was, so to speak. But she had saved Felicia’s life, and Felicia couldn’t help but wonder, was it so bad to be a pet for a powerful witch? She looked at the coin in her paws pensively, gripping it tightly, then looked back to Kirka.

As Kirka swam ashore, she looked confusedly at Felicia, who still had the coin.

“What’s going on, kittycat?” Kirka asked, panting from the exercise.

“I…I’m not sure what I want, is all,” Felicia replied.

“What do you mean? You’ve won, I’ll honor that and I won’t take it from you when you’ve gotten here before me. You can go home, you can have your body back,” Kirka replied.

“Right, but…”

“But what? That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”

“It was but, it isn’t anymore,” Felicia replied, “and I’m worried about what will happen if I do win.”

“What do you want then?” Kirka asked as she attempted to squeeze some of the water out of her dress.

“I…I want to be with you,” Felicia said, “but I don’t want to be your pet. And I don’t want to be a man anymore either. But I also don’t want to just be a housecat.”

“Well, I can make you a tiger or something, if that kind of cat is better,” Kirka replied.

“You’re not getting what I mean! I like my body as it is right now, and I don’t want that to change,” Felicia explained.

“Hm,” Kirka said as she rested her chin on her hand, “I have an idea.”

“What’s that?” Felicia asked.

“The spell is paused as long as neither of us wins,” Kirka explained.

“Right, and?”

“What if we just permanently postpone the game? I’ll destroy the coin magically.”

“But using magic to win is illegal!”

“But I’m not winning, I’m calling it a draw,” Kirka replied, “do we have a deal?”

Felicia pondered for a few moments. She wasn’t sure if she could trust Kirka with the coin, especially being so close to the beacon, and with how she was definitely shady. But, she definitely didn’t want to have that ugly body again. Her tail flicked behind her nervously, before she nodded, and handed the coin to Kirka.

Kirka, true to her word, began to chant a spell as the coin seemed to crumble into a pile of dust. She then threw it in the ocean, and promptly fell over on the sand, her exhaustion palpable. As if to confirm, Felicia looked all over her body, just to be sure–yes, it was the same as it had been moments ago. She sighed in relief as she collapsed next to Kirka.

“So,” Felicia said, “this might be a bit forward, and I understand if age is an issue…”

“What?” Kirka asked.

“Would you like to go on a date?” Felicia said as she held her breath, waiting for an answer.

“A..are you serious?” Kirka asked.

“Yes, I’m serious! Don’t make me ask it again,” Felicia replied, “I mean, I understand you’ve had a bad history with men but–”

“Yes.” Kirka said, placing a finger on Felicia’s delicate, rosy lips, “and it’s clear to me you aren’t a man.”

“O..oh, okay,” Felicia said as she rolled over to look at Kirka.

“Let’s get back to the house and get changed, looks like your dress is pretty torn up too,” Kirka remarked.

Felicia looked down and noticed, for the first time, that her dress was nearly in tatters near the bottom. She nodded, and found herself in an unfamiliar place, a room. She presumed this was the mansion, but then she thought…had Kirka made her walk all the way that first time, instead of teleporting her?

Of course, Felicia couldn’t blame her. She was a thief, after all, and that would’ve made anyone feel put off. She wondered, what kind of date was Kirka? She certainly seemed like the type to keep secrets, and yet also the type to overshare. She wasn’t even totally certain why she’d asked the witch out in the first place. Was the witch even fully aware of what the implications of going on a date were?

She found a note on the bedside table in the room, on top of another dress. The dress itself was gorgeous, lavishly decorated with flowers. It was a longer sundress. Now that she was a woman, dresses felt much more natural to wear, as if it were her style all along. She took her old, torn dress off and pulled on the new one.

She looked at herself in the mirror for the first time in her new form. She was lean, and yet retained a lot of her muscle. Her eyes were green now, an interesting change from the prior brown, and based on the fur on her ears, tail, and paws, she was a tabby cat. She smiled, and the woman in the mirror smiled back. Even if things didn’t work out with Kirka, she knew things would work out in this form.

She picked up the note. “Dear Felicia, please come to the courtyard as soon as you like. I’ll be waiting with the food, and don’t worry–no transformation magic this time.”

She smiled as she put the note down and walked out of the room, making her way to where she assumed the courtyard was. What was strange was, despite it being a rainforest, there hadn’t been any rain beforehand, and Kirka seemed perfectly comfortable building a mansion with a dining room with an open roof.

As she looked out one of the windows, she realized: it was raining everywhere outside except the mansion. More magic, right, that explained it. She walked onwards, eventually arriving at the room, finding it quite sunny.

“Hello Felicia,” Kirka said as she waved from the couch, “it’s good to see you here. I was halfway worried you wouldn’t show up.”

“Well,” Felicia replied bashfully, “I did ask you out.”

“Right, I’ve been meaning to ask, why did you do that?”

“You’re very pretty, and I can tell you care about me, and I’m not happy with you ‘changing what I look like without my permission’ part, but you did give me a body I’m happy about,” Felicia replied matter-of-factly.

“Oh, I see,” Kirka replied, taking a sip of her wine, her hand shaking.

Was Kirka…nervous? Felicia shook the thought away and reclined next to Kirka on the couch, smiling up at the witch. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was hoping for more petting on her ears. Kirka seemed tense at first, but seemed to get the hint after a little while, and started to pet the catlady now laying on her lap, purring.

“You’re not mad at me?” Kirka asked, rousing Felicia from her trance-like state.

“No, I’m not anymore. This is probably going to be the best, and weirdest day, I’ve had in a while,” Felicia replied.

“Really?” Kirka asked. “I’m surprised a traveler like you, brave enough to find my island, would call this their best day.”

“Well, um,” Felicia replied, “I kind of found it by accident? I was breaking into an apartment full of books with weird markings, and then I found this door and it led me here once I touched the doorknob.”

“Oh,” Kirka said as she furrowed her brow, “hm. Might have to do with that nerd of an old man I turned into an owl.”

“An owl?”

“Well, yeah, he seemed kind of bookish and sage, so I just kind of, you know?”

“Is that how you decide what animals people become?”

“Maybe. Point is, I should really make sure that the portal that led you here is closed up,” Kirka replied as she snapped her fingers, “All done. No more unfortunate burglars coming here.”

“I’d say I was pretty fortunate, actually,” Felicia replied as she relaxed further into Kirka’s lap.

“If you don’t mind, Felicia,” Kirka said, “I’d like to eat.”

“Okaaaaaaay,” Felicia whined as she sat upright and looked at the food. This time, the food was a little more modest, though it still looked heavenly. There were grapes, and olives, and a variety of breads. Not to mention the fish! She hadn’t realized it, but she had been craving more of that fish ever since she’d eaten the first little bit.

She picked up one of the small plates, and placed the fish gently on it, biting it delicately piece by piece. By the smell, it was a slightly different variety than the one she’d eaten earlier. She also placed some olives onto her plate, and munched on a few in between bites. After a few bites, she noticed Kirka was staring. She looked around frantically at herself and her plate, hoping she hadn’t done anything wrong.

“You’re so beautiful. I’m glad we tied,” Kirka said as she blushed and looked down at her plate of food, which had remained untouched despite her insistence on eating earlier.

“I’m glad too,” Felicia piped up as she signaled for a kiss.

Kirka took the hint and almost lunged down to kiss her, the two embracing gently and intimately as they kissed. As they both pulled away, they shared a laugh as they gazed into each other’s eyes, and then found themselves cuddling once again on the couch, Felicia feeding Kirka grapes one by one from the bunch. Eventually, both fell asleep on the couch, letting the gentle sound of the rain outside, and the warm embrace of the other, put them to sleep.

The police arrived a few hours later at the abandoned apartment, after an anonymous tip. The landlord didn’t even know it existed, almost as if it just wasn’t on his floorplan, but after a little digging, the police found it. After tearing through the mountains of books, they found a flashlight and some gear at the foot of a door.

When they opened it, it led to a bedroom that looked as if it hadn’t been touched in half a century, which, according to the records kept of the building, was about right for how long it had been since it had been rented. They figured the thief was long gone after realizing nothing of value was here, and had scurried off while leaving some equipment behind.

The strangest thing was, the doorknob had broken in two, the engravings on it looking as if they had split it down the middle along the delicately carved lines. The detectives investigating said it wasn’t done by any power tools at all. There were no grind marks, no dents, it was as if it had shattered down the middle. For a doorknob made of white gold like this, they weren’t certain how that was even possible.

Perhaps someday, they’d catch the mysterious burglar who had broken the doorknob. Perhaps they’d learn how he did it, but as you all know, that’s very unlikely. But to be fair, the burglar was on the other side of the world.

---

“And they all lived happily ever after,” Stella concluded, “well, except for the owl, maybe. But who cares about that?”

She looked around to see the group of ladies she’d come here with. She felt as if she were forgetting something about some of them, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Their looks were variously tired, engaged, some distracted. 

She curtsied and couldn’t help but notice–she felt shorter, like she’d always wanted. But wait, she hadn’t grown since eighth grade, when…wait, no, she’d had her growth spurt in tenth grade. It was like her memories were being rewritten. She kept it to herself, noticing the people around her seemed to already be moving on from the stories anyways, and it was kind of uncomfortable to bring up. For the first time in what felt like forever, she felt at home in her body, and that was enough for her.

Leviathan86 is a trans author who has written various short stories, along with a series of very gay werewolf stories, and more! Her other writing can be found on her ScribbleHub profile.