My Little Instagram Star

My Little Instagram Star

It’s hard to read without tearing up, but I really should show it to my partner. I look at all the red angry numbers on the page, then I look up at him.

He’s watching the TV completely oblivious to the trouble I find myself in! My dance studio—it’s not doing very well!

I think it’s deffo time I spoke with him about it. Things are only going to get worse if I don’t get any students. We can’t live off his income alone.

“Rose…?” Charlie says, making me jump and look up from my book in freight. “Is everything ok? That vein on your head is popping out again—are you worried about something?

Gently touching my forehead, to check if the monster vein is indeed up, I frown back at him.

“Oh shut up Charlie, It’s not up” I answer with a roll of my eyes. “But yes, I am stressing out over here.”

He smiles and reaches over to touch my leg. We’ve been married for years now and he’s the love of my life. So I have no idea why I’m struggling to tell him about this. I think I’m just scared if I tell him because it’s admitting that I’m failing.

“Is this about us having kids again?” he asks, giving me a nervous smile. “I didn’t say no, I just said I’m not quite ready for that commitment.”

Playfully swiping his hand off my leg, I shake my head. “No, it’s not that.”

He looks down at the book in my lap, then looks back up at me with concern. “What up then, babe?”

I point to a single number written boldly in red pen. “Charlie I’m….,”

“Wait, is this the accounting books for the dance studio?” he asks, moving closer to me.

I shift uncomfortably as he basically takes the book from my hands to study it. I can see what he’s thinking just by the expression on his face. He thinks I’m a failure—and now we won’t ever have kids. He’ll be too worried about us having to raise them under a bridge!

My heart starts racing as he looks intently at this month's accounts. He’s judging me—I can tell.

“Babe,” he says, looking up. “Why are you using petty cash to buy lunch? Surely with those powers of yours, you could just….magic some up?”

I feel my face go flush. “You know using my powers makes me really tired, Charlie. I didn’t wanna be exhausted just in case I get surprise walk-in clients.”

Charlie rubs his chin and continues to study the page. “So you’ve only got three clients?” he asks. “and they haven’t booked in at all this month?”

I nod, too embarrassed to actually answer with words.

“What happened to the school contract?” he then questions, looking me in the eyes. “Wasn’t that going to be a large group eight sessions a month?”

Wanting to comfort myself, I reach for my ginger locks and start twiddling it between my fingers.

“Ermm…..they canceled on me,” I admit, unable to look my husband in the eyes.

“Why….?” He questions sternly, clearly knowing I’m not telling the entire story.

I pull my bangs down over my eyes for comfort and then give him a cheeky smile. He’s told me off for this so many times in the past.

“Rose….,” he continues pressing me, talking to me like I’m a naughty child.

“Someone may have….,” I pause. “One of the kids may have seen my using my powers to transform things and got all freaked out.” I continue, talking at the speed.

I sigh in relief. There—finally he knows!

“Rosemary!” Charlie scolds, passing me back my accounting books. “Did you manage to smooth it over? We aren’t on some government list now…right!?”

“No,” I giggle anxiously. “We aren’t on some government list! I just now don’t have any clients! I think the kid who saw me ended up having nightmares.”

“Oh really?” Charlie says with a surprised smile. “Poor kid. I remember the first time you showed me—was kinda scary, I suppose.”

“I haven’t had much work since,” I reply with a long exhale. “I must have a seriously bad reputation or something. Why else wouldn’t I get any clients. I’m country renowned for my ballet skills.”

Charlie reaches for his phone. Tapping a few times, he shows me his company's Instagram page. He’s got thousands of followers. Good for him, but how does that help my failing dance studio.

“What you need Babe,” he smiles. “Is some good PR. You need to get posting on your socials about all the good work you do. How amazing you are and how incredible the dance hall is!”

I drop my shoulder and give him a stupid look. “Great idea,” I answer sarcastically. “I’ve got no clients to take pictures of. I can’t just take pictures of myself dancing. That’s kinda sad!”

Charlie rolls his lips and makes thinking noises. Soon after he grins. “Why don’t you just create some ‘kids’ for the photos—problem solved!”

“That’s not how my power works,” I reply, grabbing locks of my hair between my fingers. “You know I can’t create life like that. I can only modify things that already exist—If I made children, they’d be lifeless puppets. That really would give people nightmares.”

Charlie nods and starts turning his attention back to the TV. I guess our conversation is over.

He’s got a point though. I’m really bad at the social media stuff and it’s completely free. What I need is one client I can get in pictures to post about. A pretty young girl who’s willing to allow herself to be used in advertising. They don’t even need to be good at dancing—they just need to be up for it.

Rattling the grey matter between my ears, I try to think of someone I know who’s got a little girl.

“Argh!” I groan out loud.

I can’t think of anyone! This would be so much easier if we’d got pregnant years ago!

Throwing myself back on the sofa, I make it clear I’m annoyed by huffing loudly. Usually, Charlie doesn’t get the hint I’m annoyed and this time is no exception. Men—why are they, such blockheads?

I stare at him waiting for him to react. As I study his rugged face, an idea hits me like a lightning bolt! He’s free this weekend and he’d be absolutely more than willing to help me out!

“Chaaarrlieee….,” I say in my cutest voice. “Do you wanna help me with my socials this weekend?”

He gives me a sideways glance. “Course I will,” he answers nervously. “But why are you using that voice? You only say my name like that when you wanna do something I’m not going to like.”

“Stand up,” I grin, giving him my come-to-bed eyes. “Strip for me big boy. Down to your boxers.”

His face lights up and starts wrestling his clothes off. “Is it my birthday?” he laughs.

Pulling each item of clothing from his body like his life depends on it, he starts panting as he stands in front of me in just his boxers. He’s really excited—I feel bad for doing this to him!

I raise my left hand and he instantly understands what happening. I click my fingers and imagine the changes I want to happen. “Sorry Charlie,” I say, reacting to the terror in his eyes. “You said you’d help and this was kinda your idea!”

I’d seen things transforming in front of me thousands of times, but I’d never transformed my husband into anything. He’s probably going to hate me for this.

His strong upper body starts to soften and his muscles become less defined. Losing inches of height every second, I watch his hands and feet shrink.

“Rose!” he squeaks with the cracking voice of a pre-pubescent teenager.

I say nothing as swathes of long blonde hair explode from his head and cover his eyes. As he pulls the hair from his face, I see his strong masculine features mold and curve into that of a cute little girl.

Eventually, the transformation stops and my husband is unrecognizable from moments ago. His sturdy frame is now small and delicate. He’s now very much an eight-year-old girl, ready to help me get some fantastic pictures for my business.

Holding back his long blonde hair, Charlie looks down at what I’ve done to him. I can see he’s freaking out. I suppose growing up as a man—this would be fragile masculinity's worst nightmare. He’s so f’ing adorable right now!

“I’m a…,” he squeaks, staring to shiver. “a-a-a girl!”

I can tell he’s getting a little scared. I made it a rule never to mess with him. When you’ve got powers like mine, modifying your boyfriend to be….‘prefect’, can lead to dire consequences. I need to make sure he knows he’s safe.

“Babe,” I say compassionately to the small girl standing in front of me that's having to hold up the men's boxers hanging from her body. “Please don’t panic! As soon as we’ve got the pictures I’m going to put you back to normal straight away! I Promise—I’d never harm you! Please, I really need your help!”

“Straight after?” he asks, sounding just like my niece. “You promise!?”

“Yes,” I reply, helping him with the hairs in his eyes. “I promise. You won’t be like this any longer than you need to be.”

Frowning at me with those big pretty blues, he slowly nods. “Fine, but we are doing the photos right now. I don’t want to be a like this for any longer than I need to be.”

“Sure,” I smile. “Thank you such much, Charlie. You really are the best man in the world!”

Charlie looks away and folds his little hands. He’s trying to give me attitude, but little does he know… he looks so cute! He even has cute little freckles all over his face.

“Right, if we are doing this tonight,” I say, touching his soft blushing cheeks. “We need to get you dressed in your tutu and do your hair. Maybe a little makeup too.”

Charlie rolls his cute little head. He’s clearly a little annoyed at me right now, so I need to be delicate.

“I promise I’ll be quick with it all,” I respond, getting up off the sofa to tower over my husband for the first time. “We need to make you look cute for the photos. Remember, it’s for my business. If we get this right, maybe it doesn’t have to close down!”

“I know….,” Charlie replies, looking in awe at his small hands. “I know I said for better or for worse—but this is beyond that.”

Turning his attention to his tiny and narrow body, he hesitates to touch between his legs. It must be freaking him out having the other gender's parts down there! At least he’ll sorta understand me a little better—now he’s experienced having one for himself.

“I know I’m super lucky,” I gush, touching my husband lightly on the top of the head.

He looks up with daggers in his eyes. “Don’t do that,” he huffs, “I don’t like it. You’re making me feel small.”

“Sorry, Babe,” I reply, holding back a smile. “I’ll go get you some clothes to wear. Good thing I’ve still got all my Ballerina stuff from when I was younger.”

I turn to leave the room, but just as I stand at the doorway, I look back at him and give him a cheeky grin. “That’s another thing we are going to have in common. We will have both worn the same tutu and leotard to dance practice!”

“Just go a fetch it already,” Charlie says, waving me away. “I’ve no muscle anymore, so the old is cutting straight through me.”

As he looks away, I look longingly at the small girl standing in our living room. I know she’s my husband, but just for a moment, I could almost pretend she was my little girl. Our little girl, ready for her first dance lesson with Mommy

“Rose!” Charlie huffs, breaking me from my daydream. “Stop staring at me and go get the ballerina garb! I’m cold!”

I have to hide my laughter as I turn away. She’s just like me at that age. Quiet the little madame!