Somewhere between Big Bad Island and New Zealand the yacht had ran out of fuel.
The captain was furious with himself for having miscalculated how much fuel was left.
Now they were adrift and there had been no response to the distress calls he had
been sending out. They had enough food and water for a few days and that could be
stretched out if need be. The captain just hoped that someone would either receive his
distress call or happen one them and hopefully that someone wouldn't be pirates. At
least they had solar panels and the batteries were fully charged so they would have
electricity for awhile. It would probably be best to limit the electrical use to necessary
items.
Rick looked in the mirror and sighed. He wanted to be a little girl so bad he could taste
it. He knew that he should forget about it and concentrate on his marriage to Maylene
but the more he tried to forget about it the more he thought about it. Sighing again he
left the bathroom and sat back down next to Maylene. She had wanted to talk to him
alone so she had sent Dennis to play with the other kids. "What did you want to talk
about?" he asked trying to be a good fiancée.
"Well I don't know how to say this to you," Maylene said looking down and looking a
little bit guilty.
"Just tell me," Rick said taking Maylene's hand.
Maylene took a deep breath and said, "I'm pregnant and I don't know who the father is
but I know it's not you."
Rick nodded and said, "Well since we haven't had sex it would be a safe bet to say
that I'm not the father. Have you told Dennis?"
"Not yet," Maylene said. She then broke down and sobbing said, "I wouldn't blame you
if you broke up with me."
Rick put his arm around Maylene and said, "I wouldn't break up with you over this.
After all you got pregnant on the island under the influence of Kurse."
"But we can't get married," Maylene said and then sobbed uncontrollably.
"Why do you say that?" Rick asked thinking that she may be right about not getting
married.
"I don't know," Maylene said still sobbing. "I just have this feeling that we won't be
married."
"You may be right about that but it's not for the reason you think," Rick said deciding
that it was time to tell her what he had been feeling since the island.
"What other reason could there be?" Maylene asked shocked so much that her
sobbing quieted down.
Rick took a deep breath and said, "Well since the island I've had this desire to be a
little girl. It was barely there at first but it's been growing and now it's almost all I think
about."
"Why would you feel like that?" Maylene asked.
"I think it has something to do with what the witches did," Rick said. "I saw some of
their memories while we were under Kurse's power. The witches wanted a world of
children and the figured girls were more innocent than boys."
"So you think Kurse wanted you to be a little girl?" Maylene asked with a surprised
look on her face. "That doesn't make sense though. If she wanted you to be a little girl
she would have made you one of the chimeras. And why make the bears
hermaphrodites."
"Kurse wasn't controlling the transformations," Rick said looking down. "She just let the
Infinite Chaos have some free reign. As to why the bears were hermaphrodites I think
one of us is a hermaphrodite and they were used as a kind of template."
"But shouldn't that desire have been removed when Kurse died?" Maylene asked
getting a far away look. "We did become ourselves again after all."
"Physically we did since our transformations where fueled mostly by the Infinite Chaos,"
Rick said. "The desires we have however are deeply rooted in our souls now. Some of
those desires won't make their presence known or will only make themselves known
once in awhile and weakly. Other desires, such as mine, will grow stronger with time.
These are the most dangerous ones since those desires could drive one to insanity."
He looked at Maylene with a crooked smile and said, "The witches had the desire to
free the world from rules so no one would be hurt again. That's what drove them
insane."
"So you're going to go insane?" Maylene asked with a look of horror on her face.
"It's a possibility if my desire isn't realized," Rick said nodding. "That's why we
probably won't be married now. It wouldn't be a happy marriage if we do get married
before I go insane. Of course to realize my desire I would have to become a little girl
and we wouldn't be able to get married."
"Are you going to ask Marie to transform you into a little girl?" Maylene asked drawing
Rick close and stroking his hair.
"I think I will," Rick said laying his head against Maylene's chest. "I'm sorry about this I
really am. I wanted to marry you but with this desire growing within me I'm afraid it
wouldn't be fair to you."
"You'll need a mother when you're a girl so I'll be your mother," Maylene said with a
smile. "I think that I can overcome the awkwardness that would entail."
"I'd like that," Rick said starting to fall asleep. "Maybe our home will be on the island or
in Glendale. I'd like to be friends with the pups and cubs."
"Maybe," Maylene said quietly watching Rick go to sleep. She wanted him to be happy
and she knew he wanted her to be happy. He was right about one thing, if they were
married they wouldn't be happy. She continued to stroke his hair already starting to
think of him as her daughter. She loved him and wanted to be a part of his life. If that
was as a mother-daughter relationship then so be it. She heard the announcement
that they were adrift and they would need to conserve all they could. Fortunately the
announcement didn't wake Rick from his slumber which was good because she didn't
think he was getting enough sleep.