I didn't look forward to the store closing since listening to the girls talk and seeing
them browse through the clothes relieved the boredom that I'm sure I would feel once
the store closed. Alas the time came for the store to close and I was left with my
thoughts. Maybe I'd be so bored that I would block out large chunks of time. After a
few minutes the mannequin across from me moved. She was a young girl wearing a
red jumper but otherwise I thought she was dressed like me. She looked at me and
said, "Don't worry. Once Mommy gets here you'll move too." She slid down off the
alphabet block she was sitting on and a few more mannequins came over. There were
about eleven in all and none of them were adult mannequins.
The mannequins seemed to be waiting for something and I didn't have long to wait to
see what it was. The girl who had winked at me came through them and smiled at me
again. I felt like I should know her but I couldn't think of how I should. She touched my
cheek and said, "Become animate my daughter."
I didn't think that would work but then my hand twitched and I blinked. I was so
startled that I gasped and leaned back. "I'm alive again," I said in wonder.
"No," the girl said shaking her head, "you're only animate which is different from being
alive. You're still a mannequin and if I wanted to I could disassemble you."
I looked down at my arm and saw that there was still a seam there and I knew that the
girl was telling me the truth. I looked up at the girl and asked, "How were you able to
do this?"
"Well I'm a goddess now," the girl said smiling. "I have to apologize for not believing
you when you told us that the Greek gods were real."
"What are you talking about?" I asked confused.
The girl smiled and said, "I'm your mother Rick." This left me speechless so the girl
continued, "I see I need to explain a few things. I think you should sit down for this.
Come on over to this alphabet block and sit. Remember to lift your right foot up so the
rod isn't inside you anymore." Once I had sat down the little girl who had been sitting
here crawled up into my lap and I naturally put my arms around her which comforted
me. The girl who claimed to be my mother sighed and said, "It started about three
months ago. We noticed something was wrong so we went into your room. Well you
obviously weren't there and we saw the website burned into your computer screen.
We called the police and filed a missing persons report. A few hours later a rainbow
appeared in the front room and we were surprised to see an image of a man in the
rainbow and even more surprised when he spoke to us. He told us what had
happened and that you were now a girl. He said he would arrange for us to talk to you
so we could make a decision about whether or not to join you here. He called the next
day and apologized but he had to send you to look for others who had been drawn
into this world. He kept calling to update us and during the last update there was a
bright light. The next thing I knew I was laying in this store as you see me now. I got to
my feet but stumbled and fell into Chrissy who you're holding now. Well anyway when
I touched her she started moving. I became frightened and ran but I touched other
mannequins and they started to move also except they called me Mom. That's when
Zeus and Poseidon popped in. Well since I had seen and talked to Poseidon before I
wasn't so frightened. They explained that I was now something like a goddess and that
I had the power to animate mannequins. I asked them where everyone else was but
they couldn't give me an answer. They couldn't tell me where you were even. They
said that there was something blocking them like you were dead. Poseidon was
adamant that you were alive since your pearl and bracelet hadn't returned to him unlike
your sisters' items. Then two days later your items did return to Poseidon. He's been
depressed ever since."
"Ok I believe that you're my mom but I'm not dead," I said shaking my head.
"I hate to say this but you are," my mom said. "Your body was transformed into a
mannequin which isn't alive. The only reason you're able to move now is because of
my magic."
"But I've been aware since I was transformed into a mannequin," I said.
"That's because your soul was trapped within your body," my mom said. "The same
thing happened with Chrissy."
"Can we be changed back?" I asked. I didn't relish the thought of spending the rest of
my life as a mannequin.
"Not at this time," my mom said shaking her head sadly. "We had tried with Chrissy
but no one was able to transform her in any way. So I'm afraid that you and Chrissy
are mannequins for now."
I looked down at Chrissy and thought that she needed the comfort as much as I did.
Chrissy looked up at me and said, "The dead are not dead."
******
There was a very loud crack and I bolted up into a sitting position my breath fast and
shallow with my heart beating a mile a minute. I looked around and saw that I was in
the home again and all the girls had been startled awake. The light in the room was
dim and after a few seconds I heard the unmistakable sound of rain falling outside. I
got up and looked out the window seeing that the rain was coming down hard. I
started thinking back on what I had experienced. Was it just a dream or had it been
real? My head was saying that it was just a dream but my heart was saying that it was
real. I looked back at the girls getting out of bed and thought about the words Chrissy
had spoken. If it was a dream they would make sense. What if it wasn't a dream
though? Everyone here should be dead but they're not. The only thing I could think of
was that maybe I had come back in time if it wasn't a dream. I looked back out the
window and watched the rain stop. Given what had happened to me so far it wasn't an
impossibility that I could have jumped through time. I then thought about my other
dreams and wondered if they had been episodes of time jumping and if anyone else
was experiencing them.
It was after lunch when a package came for Gabriella. We found out that the girls
always got a present for their birthday and today was Gabriella's fifteenth birthday. No
one knew who sent them but whoever did send them was a good Samaritan and the
girls made sure to thank him or her in the paper. We went up to the bedroom so
Gabriella could open her present. We were just as excited as Gabriella as she opened
her present. What was inside was a wooden box and I started to get the feeling that I
should know it. Gabriella opened the lid and read aloud, "These vials contain potions
to transform you into any animal or change your sex and age. Each vial has a picture
of an animal, human, or the symbols for male and female on it with the age vials
having the age printed on them. Each vial must be fully drunk for the full effects. There
is a reversal vial that will reverse any and all transformations the subject has
undergone. When you have drank the vial just replace it in the space it came from and
it will automatically refill. Both humans and animals can be transformed with these
vials. Enjoy." She looked up with a smile and said, "Yah right. Like I really believe
these will transform me."
"Those really will transform you Gabriella trust me on this," I said hoping that she
wouldn't drink any.
"Oh come on Lisa," Gabriella said rolling her eyes. "You can't possibly believe that I'll
be transformed and I'll prove it." She grabbed a random vile and drank it. The vial
wasn't very big and it only a couple gulps to drain it. She replaced the vial and said, "I
didn't transform."
"Uh Gabriella the vile did refill," Denise said sounding scared.
Gabriella looked at the box and we all watched as she started to change.