I walked into our apartment holding a small white envelope, only to find the house empty. The envelope had been left on our doorstep with a tiny handwritten note that read, ‘Enjoy.’ That simple word was written in a long, elegant font, but that’s all that was written. There was nothing about who it was for or from. The only other thing noteworthy thing was the bright red ribbon that crisscrossed the cheap paper. I was going to ask my mom about it but after calling out and looking I knew she wasn’t home. I figured they were still enjoying their “alone” time and decided to open it. So, with a tug, I pulled the ends of the ribbon and watched the bow come undone. As it came loose the envelope morphed into a six-inch cube box. The lid wasn’t sealed so I flipped it open and paused.

 I wasn’t expecting to see a realistic penis sitting inside it. The sight almost caused me to drop the box. I briefly thought it had cut it off somebody, but there was no blood. Instead, the base looked rubbery, like a strap-on without the straps. But it couldn’t be a dildo because it wasn’t hard. Curious I touched the flaccid penis and found it warm. Who would send something like this? I prodded it and it felt real.

I took it into my room because I didn’t need to have my innocent mom seeing me playing with what looked like a severed penis and took it out of the box. When I rested it in my hand, I felt it taking a tiny amount of my magic. It wasn’t much but I still felt it. It was only because I had just read about it when researching clothes that I knew it was a magic device. But who would make such a thing? Anything this realistic had to be expensive and once you used magic as the catalyst, it would go up by at least ten times.

I held it in my left hand and lifted the ‘cock’ part of it and as I did, I felt it twitching as if it was alive. I jerked back my hand like a naughty child, and it stopped reacting when I let go. With a smile, I lifted it again and it seemed to become a little bigger. With a giggle, I began toying with it like it was a real cock and watched as the four inches swelled to eight.

Was it really a sex toy? Who sent it? There was no way it was for my mom. We didn’t have the kind of money it’d take to buy something like this, even if she wanted to get herself a toy. And I doubted Roy would have just left it at our doorstep, so I began to think of all the men I knew that could afford such an expensive gag gift. Whoever it was, was going to get a talking to. More for the fact that they left it where my mom would find it, because otherwise I thought it was funny. I fondled the hairless balls as I looked at its rubbery base. The parts that faced outward felt like real skin while the back of the rubbery mat the cock was attached to was slightly sticky, and I began to wonder why.

I was unsure and was debating on testing to see if it was this world’s version of a strap on but finally decided against it. I was too dirty and tired to worry about it right now. But I couldn’t put it back inside the box. The thick, long shaft wasn’t going to fit, and it was too expensive to throw away. I finally decided to wrap it inside a shirt and place it inside my dresser. At least it was out of sight. With that out of the way, I went to take a long-needed shower, but didn’t bother to grab any clothes. I was planning to just shower and crawl into bed. So, with just a towel, I walked into the bathroom.

I let the warm water wash away my aches and pains for the next ten minutes. Slightly refreshed, I walked to my room still drying off. I didn’t bother covering up because I was alone and was planning on sleeping naked. But as my head hit the pillow, my text announcement went off. Glancing at it, I saw there were four unread messages from Ann. After reading them, I knew Janet told her I was upset and wanted to get together so we could work out our problems. I thought about it but only sent a simple [sleeping] before putting on the ‘do not disturb’ and tried going to bed.

But sleep didn’t come easily. My emotions were all over the place. I was still mad at the betrayal but because I was the only one angry out of the entire crew, I realized something. The people of this world may look the same, may talk the same but they weren’t. There were subtle differences in how people thought, like stepping into a different culture. One I didn’t really fit into, and I felt lost, sad, and unsure what I should do or how I should act going forward. I lay there feeling the soft covers caressing my naked body, like I used to do after a big game, and tried to push away my worries. But because of my new body, even my old ritual didn’t comfort me like before. Tangled, my eyes slowly drifted closed.

***

I walked out of my room to see my mom happily humming as she made breakfast. She danced around, grabbing this or that as I watched. Her giddy mood was easy to figure out once I saw the hickeys. Happy that at least Roy and her had a better weekend than I did, I walked over with a smile I wasn’t feeling. I didn’t want to wreck her mood. But it wasn’t until I said “Morning mom” that she even noticed I was there.

But seeing me, her smile just got wider. “Morning sweetie, how many pancakes do you want?”

“Just one.” Her pancakes filled the nine-inch pan and were fluffy. Before I could eat five to six but now, in this tiny body, I felt full with one and bloated if I ate more.

“Ok, coming right up.”

When she brought over the plates, I looked at hers in astonishment, because there were four thick pancakes stacked up high. She saw me looking and quickly said, “I don’t know why but my appetite seemed to have increased. Luckily, I’ve been keeping busy and haven’t added any weight.”

What she said was true. If anything, she seemed to have become skinnier and more importantly even younger since Friday. My mom is thirty-four going on thirty-five and while pretty our lives had not been easy, and people could tell she was in her thirties. Since she started dating Roy, her appearance had been getting better. But looking at her now, she seemed to be in her early twenties, and I wondered if Roy had worked his magic on her. It seemed likely, but I didn’t want to ask. It seemed rude. Instead, I replied, “Well whatever you’re doing seems to be working. You look great.” What girl doesn’t like complements? I knew my mom did, which is why I made it a habit to give her one or two a week.

“Ha, ha, eat and get ready for school.” She looked at the time and with a quick cast, sped up. She finished her food at lightning speed and sped out of the room with a “I got to go, sweetie. I have a bunch of work from last week that I need to get done.”

“…” By the time I swallowed the pancake in my mouth, I already heard the front door closing. I shook my head and continued to eat. Thinking that at least my mom’s pancakes were the same, my mood improved. Even if the world was crazy, I still have her.