***

Wendell stopped at the window for Designs by Suzie. As he watched the girl's reflection in the glass, her wavy hair reformed into bouncy curls. A sailor suit-complete with white hat-replaced Samantha's pink dress.

He reached up to touch his head and grimaced as the girl performed the exact same movement. I'm not a girl, he thought. This is all a horrible nightmare. I fainted in the auditorium before I went on. Too much stress and too little sleep knocked me out. Any moment he would wake up in a hospital room with Mom, Samantha, and even Prudence by his bedside. He would tell them about this terrible dream and everyone would laugh.

He closed his eyes and willed himself to wake up. Now, he thought. Wake up, now. He opened his eyes and saw the adorable little girl still looking back at him. She started to cry at the precise moment he did, her freckled cheeks turning red and her dimples fading.

"What's wrong, Wendy?" Samantha asked. She coasted down the road towards him, the vial of poison still in her hand. "Don't you like it? You look like Shirley Temple, ready to dance and sing. Makes me want to grab one of those sweet little cheeks and pinch it."

"Leave me alone! I'm not a girl. This is a trick."

"Why don't you come with me? We'll go home and play dress-up. I'll let you use my makeup."

"Stop this! Change me back right now."

"I like you better this way. You're so much cuter. In time you'll come to like being a girl."

"No. I'll never be a girl. Never!" In the display window, the girl's reflection shrank another inch. Wendell turned away from the window. He shouted for help, but no one responded. He didn't see anyone except for Samantha, as though the entire town had suddenly vanished. No one can help me anyway, he thought. No one can change me back. I need a miracle. He spotted the church steeple rising over the trees. It was his only hope. He scampered down the road as fast as he could, the tap shoes on his feet clicking against the pavement with every step.

Then, as he neared the pet shop, he heard a second set of tap shoes on the street. At first he thought it was Samantha mocking him, but then he saw a figure up ahead. There was someone else still here. He raced towards the figure, calling for it to stop. It turned around and a very girlish scream came from his lips.

What turned to face him was not human, but some kind of half-woman, half-pig creature. The pig girl snorted in surprise, her beady eyes narrowing to the point where they disappeared behind her chubby cheeks. "Wendell?" she asked, punctuating the question with an oink.




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