Norton couldn't figure out how to get back to the arcade. He wouldn't be able to get on the bus by himself since he looked like he was six now. Someone was sure to notice him walking and call someone. Even if he did get to the arcade that security guard would surely call someone. He just didn't see any way to get back to the arcade.
As he stood there he heard the apartment door open and two people come in. He could make out the rustle of plastic bags being sat down. He heard a familiar voice ask "Where's Nora?" He recognized it as his mother's voice. Why was she here though and who was Nora.
He heard someone walking toward the only bedroom in the apartment and his mother appeared in the doorway, though she looked younger now. She smiled and said "There you are Nora. Why do you have those boy clothes on? Don't you want to wear one of your pretty dresses?"
Now Norton remembered why he had long hair until he went to school. His mother had wanted a girl and so dressed him up as a girl and kept his hair long. She had to finally stop dressing him as a girl and cut his hair when the school wouldn't take him if he was going to be dressed as a girl. That was at a time when there wasn't as much tolerance as there is today. He was likely going to be going to school dressed as a girl now.
"You know Nora, you need to look pretty for when we go visit your school" his mother said. "You've been so excited since I told you you were going to Mrs. Muriel's School for Girls."
Norton wondered how his mother had gotten him in a girl's school. He sighed and said "I'll put on a dwess." He flinched inwardly at that. He had had trouble with his R's, W's and TH's until he was eleven.
"That's my princess" his mother said. She opened one of the drawers and took out a pair of panties with Ariel on them and a pair of white socks with frills on the top. Going over to the closet she sighed upon seeing his clothes hanging up. "I really should clean out your father's clothes" she said more to herself than to Norton. She moved some of them aside and took out a white dress with puffy short sleeves.
"Now, let's get those icky boy clothes off of you" his mother said.
Norton didn't have much of a choice as his mother took of his shirt, pants, socks and underwear. She stopped and sighed when she took his underwear off. She shook her head and said "We really need to do something about that. Maybe I'll have enough money next summer to start you on hormones."
She held out the panties and he stepped into them. Before she slid the panties all the way up she tucked his penis in between his legs. Next she put the dress on him and then the socks. Finally she dug out a pair of black shoes that Norton thought were called Mary Janes and put them on him.
"Now which earrings do you want?" his mother asked.
"Surpwise me" he said shrugging his shoulders.
His mother smiled and opened a jewelry box that Norton hadn't noticed before. She took out a pair of small dangling earrings with three stars on the ends. She put them in her ears and then started to braid his hair.
Once his hair was braided his mother led him out to the living space. A young man came out of the kitchen and said "I put your groceries away for you Mrs. Tomlinson."
"Thank you Chad" Norton's mother said. "Here's five dollars for your trouble."
"Thank you Mrs. Tomlinson" Chad said. "I need to get back home now. I'll see you later Nora."
Chad left and Norton and his mother left soon after. Norton was surprised when they pulled into the mall with the arcade. "Why we here?" he asked.
"I need to pick up a little something" his mother said.
His mother went to a bed and bath store. She bought a couple of bath towels and some body wash. As they were leaving they passed by the arcade and Norton asked "Can we go in dere Mommy?"
"It's just an arcade sweetie" his mother said. "Why would you want to go in there?"
"Dere's machines wif pwizes" he said.
"Well I guess we can go in real quick" his mother said.
Norton immediately went to the claw machine and said "I want to twy dis one!"
"You hardly get anything from those" his mother said. "I don't want you being disappointed if you don't get anything. Let's try something else." She looked around and said "I see one where you are sure to get something."
"But I want a pwize fwom dis one!" Norton said in a whiny voice.
"Why do you want to try that one?" his mother asked.
"I just do" he said. He couldn't tell his mother that he had gotten something that regressed him from that machine. He was sure that it would have something in it to return him to his proper age.
"You won't get anything from it" his mother said. "Now we'll get something from that machine or we'll leave."
Norton didn't know if any other machine would change him back but it was possible. He didn't have much of a choice though. He followed his mother toward the machine she had seen. She put in a quarter in it and turned the crank. With a ka-chunk something dropped into the tray and his mother reached in for it. She withdrew an pastel orange plastic egg. She smiled and said "We'll open this in the car." She started to turn around and stopped. She smiled and said "As long as we're in here I think I'll get my fortune told."
She went over to the fortune teller machine and dropped a couple quarters in. After a few seconds the machine spit out a card and his mother read it out loud. "You'll have a real daughter soon" she said. "I wonder what that means?"
Norton could take a guess. The card had said "real daughter" so his mother would probably get pregnant with a girl. It didn't occur to him that it might have meant something else.
As they were leaving Norton felt a pressure on his bladder and said "Mommy, I haf to go to da bafwoom."
"Ok sweetie" his mother said taking him to the women's restroom. At least his mother allowed him to use one of the toilets by himself. When he was done he tucked his penis back between his legs and pulled up his panties. As he did he wondered why he didn't notice that the drawers were filled with girl's clothes. He reasoned that since he only looked in one drawer that had shirts in it he could have been mistaken.
He went up to the sink and washed his hands. His mother leaned in close and asked in a whisper "Did you tuck your icky thing back?"
"Yes Mommy" Norton said.
"Good" his mother said. "You can have this now then instead of waiting for us to get out to the car."
His mother handed him a ring with a pink stars on the top. He took it and put it on his finger. Once it was on his groin felt like it was on fire. He cupped his hands over his groin and doubled over. He could feel tears streaming down his face. He opened his mouth to scream but nothing came out. He could hear his mother's panicked voice asking "Nora, what's wrong? Can you hear me Nora?"
Norton clenched his teeth and nodded. He heard his mother say in a panicked voice "Please tell me what's wrong Nora."
The pain faded as quickly as it had come. Norton opened his eyes and said "I just felt so much pain down dere." He noticed that his voice was a little higher than what it was before.
"I better look at it" his mother said. She took him back to a stall and she pulled his panties down. After a few seconds she said "I didn't think that fortune would come true so soon" in an awed voice.
Norton looked down and saw to his horror that he was now a she. Instead of the familiar sight of a penis there was smooth skin. Moving her hand down she felt the little slit of a girl. Her mother had gotten her wish for a daughter and she wouldn't have to dress up a son. She knew that her mother wouldn't let her back into that arcade ever again.
"God" her mother began in a whisper, "thank you for giving me a girl. I didn't know how I would answer my son's questions without his father. Now that he's a girl I don't have to worry about that. I can answer my daughter's questions when she has them. Though why did she have to go through all that pain? It scared me."
Nora's mother hugged her and wouldn't let go for a few minutes. When she did she looked at her daughter with tears streaming down her cheeks and said "Pull your panties back up. We still have to go to Mrs. Muriel's School for Girls. Only now you'll be going as a true girl."
Nora did as her mother said and followed her out to the car. As her mother was buckling her into her booster seat she thought about what had just happened. She now knew that her mother must have been praying for a girl. Now that she thought about it her mother had started to grow distant after she had started school the first time when she was a boy. Maybe that won't happen now that she is a girl.
She watched out the window letting her mind drift and before she knew it they were at Mrs. Muriel's School for Girls. As her mother unbuckled her she felt drawn to something but what was it?