Alex woke up the next morning with a start. Disturbing thought of strange women in wild places troubled his mind.

He got out of bed and went outside to get some fresh air. The sun was peeking over the horizon. Alex felt better after taking a deep breath of the crisp dawn air. "I miss waking up and taking a shower and drinking a mug of coffee," Alex complained to himself.

"What are you doing talking to yourself so early?" Fufi asked from behind him. Alex jumped in surprise and almost fell over.

"Sorry, I was having another weird dream." Alex apologized to Fufi.

Fufu lowered her beak, "Again? Something is not right. Hmm, after breakfast I will fly around and see if I can find anything."

Before heading to Martha and Bob's house, Alex stopped by the well and drew a bucket of water. He used it to rinse his face off and swish water around his mouth to clean his teeth. He could get ready with his cleaning skill quicker but having an excuse to use the new well was nice. Merumeru joined him and copied his action.

"Aren't you adorable?" Alex declared as he watched the slime girl splash around. Alex grabbed the bucket full of water and brought it with him towards the house. Alex lamented how he struggled to carry the bucket. Before he could walk just fine with two five gallon buckets, one in each hand. Through the shutters, Martha could be seen cooking. Something smelled really nice. Was she preparing a special dish?

Alex knocked on the door and waited.

"Come in." Martha called out.

Alex opened the door and entered the mudroom.

"Good Morning, dear. I hope you slept well." Martha said as she opened the oven to check on something. It let out a nice fruity smell.

"Yes, thank you." Alex replied.

"You're welcome." Martha said as she closed the oven and set the table.

"How are you all doing?" Bob asked as he walked into the room and sat down at the table. Alex, Merumeru and Fufi took their spots at the table.

"We are doing great. Couldn't help but use the well we built yesterday." Alex answered.

Martha came in with some serving platters of eggs, a pitcher of milk, and a tray of pastries that smelled like apples.

"Alex, I'm glad to see that you and your friends have been able to settle in. I'm sure that it has not been easy." Martha said as she set the food down.

"Oh, what is that smell? Did you bake something for breakfast dear?" Bob eyed the warm pastries greedily.

"Yes, these are apple tarts. They are very delicious. I baked them myself to celebrate." Martha answered with a smile.

Bob grabbed one and put it on his plate along with a generous portion of eggs and a glass of milk. Everyone else loaded up their plates in a similar manner. Alex really enjoyed the apple tarts. He ended up eating twice as much as everyone else.

"Impressive cooking my dear." Bob complimented his wife.

"Thank you. I like baking. It is relaxing and calming." Martha smiled.

After everyone finished eating Fufi said, "I'm going to fly around and see if I can find anything in the surrounding area. The past few days something has seemed off. I just can't figure it out. What are everyone's plans for the day?"

"I am going to go and chop wood. We could use a bit more." Bob said.

"I am planning to gather herbs." Martha added.

"Well, if you are okay with it Bob I'd like to clean up that workshop that has the rope walk in it. It shouldn't take me long." Alex's voice cracked a bit as he spoke but held up his feather duster with a smile. Alex made a face and forced his voice to its lower tone, "Sorry, my voice has been all over the place lately. I hope I'm not getting sick."

"Of course." Bob nodded.

"Meru ruru ru Me," Merumeru said.

"Okay then." Alex waved goodbye to the others and headed to the workshop. Fufi flew into the woods trailing Martha. Bob went out behind the house and started chopping wood on a stump.

Alex looked at the rundown building and sighed. He pulled out his duster and started cleaning off the siding. It was in bad shape and needed to be replaced. "So much rot in this wood. It must have been a nice building back in the day." Merumeru skipped off towards the well and grabbed a brick from her pile of bricks. She showed it to Alex.

"Meru?" The slime girl asked.

"You are good at making bricks. Are you planning to build a castle?" Alex joked as he patted the slime girl on the head while smiling.

"Ru!" Merumeru said and giggled.

"I'll bet you would. Just be careful I don't want you to get hurt." Alex said and dusted off the rest of the outside of the building. While dusting off one of the shutters on a window it fell off and into dirt. Alex sighed and looked inside. There was just as much grime inside as outside.

"Let's get this cleaned up." Alex said and went inside the workshop

"Ru." Merumeru said and ran to grab a broom laying beside the entrance.

"Thanks, Meru." Alex said as he dusted off cabinets, tables and rusted things.

"Ru, ru, ru, ru." Merumeru said happily and swept the floor with the broom.

Alex noticed that there was a large cloth covering something big in the corner. "I wonder what that is?" Alex said and took the cloth off. More dust covered the area. Alex coughed and waved his feather duster around to get rid of the dust cloud.

"Ru, ru." Merumeru said and walked over to Alex.

"I know, I should have dusted first." Alex said and wiped the dirt out of his eyes. What was under the cloth appeared to be an old wooden loom. Alex's eyes sparkled as he whistled. "Wow, look there is a loom here. You know what that is for? It is for weaving to make cloth!" With several swipes of the feather duster the old loom looked good as new. For some reason Alex wanted to try it out. He had never actually done any weaving before but for some reason he felt drawn to it.

"Ru, ru, ru, me, me, ru, ru, ru, ru." Merumeru sang to herself.

Alex clapped a bit and danced a little bit giggling to the slime girls little song. "I guess the loom will wait until after lunch. Finish cleaning all the dust off and ask permission to try it out.

"Meru." Merumeru agreed and went back to sweeping. The boom was too big for her and she was just waving it back and forth getting dust everywhere. But the little girl was cute so Alex just let her do her thing. They cleaned the workshop for a couple hours until it looked about as nice as it was going to get.

Alex went outside and saw Martha with a basket full of fresh apples. "Hey, Martha. I was wondering if I could use the loom?"

"Of course dear. It is a bit old so it might need some repair first." Martha answered and handed him and Merumeru an apple.

Alex greatfully accepted the apple and took a bit.

"Ru, Meruuuu." Merumeru said and grabbed the apple, eating it in one gulp.

"Thanks, Martha. I think I'm going to start trying to weave right away." Alex said.

"I'm sure you'll be fine if you've done it before. You've surprised Bob and I already. Come and ask if you need any help." Martha replied and gave him a warm smile.

Alex walked into the workshop and inspected the loom. He grabbed a spool of gray wool yarn that was sitting on a shelf and pondered how best to thread the warp. Alex picked up one of the threads on the left side of the loom and threaded it through the shuttle. Then he did the same with the other threads.

"Meru, do you want to help with the shuttle?" Alex said as he sat down on a stool next to the loom.

Alex lifted Merumeru up and she started to push the shuttle across the warp. The shuttle passed between the two rows of warp.

"I guess we are learning to weave together. Though I think I am cheating a bit with one of my skills," Alex chuckled as he moved the shuttle back and forth with the slime girl.

"Me me me me me." Merumeru hummed, pushing the shuttle.

"I'm glad I'm not alone in this. I'm just doing what I'm guessing seems to be right" Alex laughed. He finished off the apple. By the time the sun was hanging low in the sky the pair had created a nice bolt of wool cloth. Alex stood up and ran a hand through his hair. He felt a leaf stuck in it.

"Bleh, phone is making noise and I have leaves stuck in my hair. I thought we cleaned out all the leaves in here." Alex said and tugged the leaf. It actually hurt.

"Ouch, that felt like I was pulling a hair out. Did I get some glue or something stuck on it?" Alex just shook his head and left the workshop. He saw Fufi flying overhead.

"Fufi, Merumeru and I can apparently weave come take a look!" Alex declared to the pink bird landing before them.

"Sure, I'm coming." Fufi said and landed in front of the door.

"Ru, ru." Merumeru said and followed Fufi inside.

"Meeeeru." Merumeru said and pointed at the loom with a bolt of cloth folded beside it. She looked happy and hops up and down while she pointed, tugging on Fufi's wing.

"That looks nice. What were you planning on making out of the cloth?" Fufi asked.

"I'm not really sure yet. I was thinking maybe a dress for Martha. I have a little bit of experience making outfits for dolls after all." Alex said as he turned the cloth in his hands and examined it.

Fufi tilted her head, inspecting Alex carefully, "Alex have you been practicing your magic?"

"Oh, no, not really. Not since our last fight. I Merumeru sang and I danced for her a little while we were cleaning. Does that count as practicing magic? Why do you ask?." Alex said, wondering why Fufi was changing the subject so suddenly.

"Well... I don't know. You seem to be glowing with magic right now. When I was flying around none of the birds seemed afraid of me. It makes me think that they are familiar with flamingos but I haven't seen another one around." Fufi said and shrugged her wings.

Alex nodded and, "Yeah, I don't think I used any magic but maybe I did? The dolls are still in the cart so I can't see them from here so I don't know if it counts or not."

"You are. It is a very faint glow though. If i wasn't a familiar I might have missed it. Anyway, lets go see what Bob and Martha are up to." Fufi said.

"Okay." Alex said and headed for the house.

"Meru, Meru." Merumeru said and jumped to catch up to Alex.

"Hey, Alex." Martha said as he entered the kitchen. "Bob is upstairs. He should be back soon. How is the cloth?"

"It's pretty good things came together quickly. I was thinking of making a dress for you?" Alex tried to say but he voice kept wanting to go up an octive. It made it sound strange. For some reason the thought of dresses made Alex excited.

Martha smiled, "I would love that. Dinner is not quite ready yet but here is a snack." She said and placed a basket full of apples on the table. Alex grabbed one and started munching on it. The apple tasted really good and he ate it quickly.

"Meru, Ru, ru." Merumeru said and reached into the basket for an apple. Alex also reached for another apple but Fufi pecked at his hand.

"Ouch what was that for? These are really good." Alex complained and withdrew his hand.

"Alex, you are brightly glowing with magic right now. I think it has something to do with the apples." She turned and looked at Martha, "Martha is glowing too. I think someone is using magic on you. Martha, where did you get these apples?"

"I got them from the forest. Why?" Martha replied.

"Where exactly in the forest? I don't see any apple trees nearby." Fufi questioned.

"I didn't buy any. I found a whole bunch in the woods." Martha said and pointed out the window.

"Alex, you aren't going to eat those, are you?" Martha said with a frown.

"Where exactly in the woods? How did you get them? Please answer as detailed as possible Martha." Fufi repeated the question.

"I was walking through the forest and there was a big pile of apples in a basket. A girl with leaves in her hair said I could have them and should share. So I took them back and offered them to everyone." Martha explained.

"I wonder if it was the girl from my dreams," Alex wondered aloud. His stomach rumbled. He felt like he needed to use the bathroom right this moment.

"Alex, are you alright?" Martha said with a worried expression.

"I think I need to use the restroom. I'll be back." Alex said and rushed out to the outhouse.

"Meru, Meru, ruuu." Merumeru called after him. She followed him outside.

"Alex, what is happening? You look like you're about to explode. The magic is glowing even brighter. I can see it through the cracks in the walls." Fufi flew out and landed on top of the outhouse.

"I think that I just ate too much fruit today." Alex sighed and sat on the outhouse seat.

"Alex, you don't know that for sure. I think that girl in the forest did something to those apples" Fufi worried.

"Maybe it was a trap. Can I just get a moment? I really got to go." Alex said felt like he was about to have the worst runs ever.

He squeezed but instead of pooping the straining went to his backside. His hips made cracking noises. For some reason leaves came down on his shoulders and face. He heard Fufi pecking on the outhouse but his eyes were closed tightly. He eventually was able to poop but his whole body was tingling. He got up and wiped off his backside with some broad leaves that were in the outhouse for that reason and unlocked the door.

"Alex! Alex! What happened?" Fufi flew circles around him.

Alex took one step out of the outhouse and stumbled. His center gravity felt off. He landed on his butt. He rubbed his sore backside and saw that it filled a lot more of his hand. He blinked a few times and saw lots of leaves hanging in front of his face. He tried to pull them away but they were attached to his scalp. "Ouch, what in the world?" he said, though his voice was that of a girl. He put his hands on his neck and didn't feel an Adam's apple there.

Alex's hands were small. They were like a teenage girl's hands. Panicking, Alex reached between his legs and paled. Nothing was swinging down there anymore.

"What in the world?" Alex said again. He pulled his hands out and saw that his fingers were long and slender.

"Alex, you are turning into a girl. Maybe? Why is your hair all leaves?" Fufi said and landed next to him. "You can't just stay like this."

It was at that moment there was a sound that sounded like cracking of wood. In seconds a tree grew up from where the outhouse stood. It knocked it over and grew to twice the height of a person. It was covered in apple blossoms.

"Alex! Quick check your status." Fufi cried and flapped her wings.

Alex pulled out his phone(which was at 20% charge) and viewed his status:

Name: Alex Parker

Class: Magical Girl

Sex: Female

Race: Apple Nymph

Strength: 10

Constitution: 10

Dexterity: 16

Intelligence: 7

Cuteness: 10

 

Skills:

Cleaning: 2

Cooking: 1

Toymaking:1

Sewing: 1

 

Feats: Empower Doll

 

Spells: Animate Doll

Grow Plants

Lesser Charm Person

 

Traits:

Mental Resistance: 1