The world is a magical place, although to most people, magic doesn't exist. A rare few, however, are exposed to eldritch enchantments...and don't care for it one bit! There exists a chat room that few know about, where people who have been cursed go to share their experiences.
One night, long after her parents had gone to bed, a little girl of seven climbed into her father's computer chair and logged on, using his password. Her name was Janie, and she was a remarkably precocious girl. She'd started talking by the age of two, in complete sentences. No one knew exactly how smart she was, and that's the way Janie liked it.
She'd started to have dreams lately, about another life. Without her parents knowledge, she began surfing the net late at night. And finally, she found a place where she could talk to others.
Her father wasn't her father. It had been hard on her when she remembered the truth; that she had once been a girl named Jennifer, and a curse had regressed her all the way into a tiny sperm cell, which was put inside her mother's womb eight years ago.
Despite the fact she looked nothing like her father, there were no accusations, no false love, and she'd been happy, until recently.
[Smartgirl2002 has joined the chat]
[Cursedguy17]: Janie, isn't it past your bedtime?
[Smartgirl2002]: Screw you, Ryan. How's puberty treating you?
[Cursedguy17]: It sucks, I bleed, I feel like shit, and I'm starting to grow tiny little boobs.
Ryan had once been a rising star in his law firm, when a rival had found a curse on the internet that had turned him into a four year-old girl. Of all the people on the chat server, he understood what she was going through the most. Luckily, his fiancee had believed his story, and took care of him. It had drastically changed their relationship, and she'd finally given him back his ring when recently. She'd started dating again, which according to Ryan, he wasn't upset about. "She'd given me seven years, took care of me, fed me, bought me clothes, I don't think our marriage would have lasted that long anyways. So I stay out of her new boyfriend's way, and we're both happy about it."
Janie couldn't imagine what it would be like to be a man trapped in the body of an eleven year old girl, but if anything, it was harder than her own curse.
"I'm sorry Ryan. I remember going through that too. It gets better."
"Being a girl sure is messy, Janie. So I did some research on your curse, it's a doozie, something about a witch's little sister being killed because of a cheerleader, and the witch getting revenge at a party. Nobody ever saw the cheerleader again, but the curse has been going around this mid-sized town for awhile now. From your descriptions, it's gotta be the place."
Janie grinned. "Wow, did you find me?"
"Mysterious disappearance, girl named Jennifer. I'm guessing that's you, or used to be. Your folks split up, and moved away. Oh and I found the Ryan guy, he was a suspect for a long time because he was the last person to call before you vanished. He works at the local Best Buy now."
"No way to get my life back, then."
"Sorry Janie. But it's 2009 now, even if you could turn back into Jennifer, everyone else is seven years older. You have a good family, I suggest you enjoy it."
"I don't want to enjoy it. I want to get revenge. All my life...this life, I've felt that there was something missing. The other half of me is out there somewhere, and I don't know where. And I want to meet you."
"Janie...c'mon, I'm too old for you."
"You're only four years older than me, if that."
"That's not what I meant. And we're both minors, and girls...how could that work?"
"I don't care, I love you."
".....I love you too."
"Can I call you?"
"Yeah."
She logged off carefully, and went into her room, where she took out the cell phone Ryan had sent her, which she hid carefully. She couldn't answer her parent's questions if they found out about her secret life. She dialed the number.
"Hey hon." 'Ryan' (actually his girl name was Renee, which Janie thought was very cute) had a pleasant voice, soft and husky, at the lower end of girl's ranges, mezzo alto or something like that. Just hearing Ryan's voice gave Janie tingles in places girls her age shouldn't tingle.
"I'm sorry Ryan, maybe I'm pushing you too much. It may be years before we can meet, and even then, you're right, I'm just a kid."
"Hey...we'll find a way. And kid or no, you're smart and beautiful. In a few years you'll be sexy as hell, and I'll be lucky if you'll still want my girly ass."
"I don't care if you are a girl, you're a guy where it counts, to me."
"Hey, I think I may have found your other self. This morning, I logged on for a bit, and this new person was there. Fiona02. She typed a lot like you did, but before I could ask her much, Gary scared her off. You know how he is."
"Oh my God. I'll kill him!"
"Shh, I'm sure she'll be back. He's real sensitive about being cursed, and he doesn't like new people showing up, he thinks they'll just mock us."
Janie sighed. "Yeah, I know." Gary had been a transvestite, a drag queen. One night when he was very drunk, he got picked up by a guy who didn't know, and when he found out, he'd been angry. He was also a sorcerer.
He'd cursed Gary, turning his cock into a vagina, although he remained male in every other way. As a gay man, this had devastated his life, there was no one outside of the chat he could share his secret with.
"Actually about Gary, there's good news...well news at least. Barb says she found a spell that will turn him all the way into a woman. He's considering it, and he'll decide when they meet next month."
"That's not what he wanted, but at least he won't be a freak anymore. I'm happy for him."
"That's my Janiegirl. You need to get some sleep, hon."
"I know. I love you."
"I love you too, babe. Now sleep."
Janie turned off the cell and hid it. But it was a long time before she got any sleep.