magicshoppe

Heather Goes Off The Trails: Cast of Characters

I received some feedback about folks not remembering characters ten pages apart since that could also be five months apart. Sure, they were referring to comics like Statue Rentals and Little Witch. But, Heather has somehow stayed relevant while being just a statue in a remote woods.

Release Note: I was going to do this on Thursday, but the next five Thursdays are booked with short story teaser renders. Also, I wanted this to release week to week with the other cast pages.

RE: More cast pages: I don't think I have any other cast pages to do to: Animator Matter and Vanishing Act have 4 pages but they only have one character each (Two if you count the animator I guess). Gutter Maids has three characters across just two pages. And none of these have really been recurring. Maybe in the future. The next long form comic will have a cast page built into it. I just haven't worked on it in a month.

Aside: Wow, this is getting longer than I expected. May as well welcome some new Patrons: Welcome new Patrons!! Thanks for your support.

Preview: Around Christmas, Heather crosses over with Statue Rentals. Stay tuned.

And now, the wordy list of comics that didn't have titles until this:

1. Jogging

2. What's that?

3. A statue?

4. Another?

5. More?

6. What's that moving away?

7. Gorgon!?

8. Me?

9. Um...

10. Okay.

11. Winter

12. Spring

13. Summer

14. Fall

Garden Statues

There's a teaser image for this story here.

The car passed the gatehouse and drove up the large curved driveway leading to the front of the mansion. The car was worn and old but recently cleaned and otherwise well maintained. If not for the obvious wear it might have qualified as an antique car.

The driver parked slightly around the curve and got out of the car. He was an older man of indeterminate age above fifty or sixty. His clothing was plain and tidy but styled in a manner not seen for several decades, much like his vehicle.

He slowly walked to the front door of the mansion. The door opened as he arrived on the porch.

“Good evening, Sir,” the gray haired man opening the door said. “I saw you walking up and thought I’d best get here before you. Would you like to sit down before I ask what you are doing here?”

“That is very kind of you, young man. This chair here in the foyer will suffice. I am looking for the owner of the house or their legal representative.”

“I see. You don’t have their name?”

“The only name I have is Ezekial Harmon and I believe he died a couple decades ago.”

“I haven’t heard anyone speak about Ezekial in a long time. Did you know him well?”

“Can’t say that I did. We met long ago. But, I’m not really at liberty to say what about. I do need to speak with his heir about rented property of mine here on the mansion grounds.”

“Really? I should probably find you a better place to sit before I summon Mr. Harmon.”

“Harmon?”

“Ezekial Trebec had no male progeny.”

“Ah.”

“Mr. Harmon will probably ask me about what property you are referring to.”

“The statue in the garden. You may also tell him I am Lucas Sepjic.”

*****

Hours later, a video conference was taking place. David Harmon, the grandson of Ezekial, was not legally the owner of the mansion. He had called his mother Elizabeth via conferencing software. She was in Majorca.

When the video connected, David was about to speak when Elizabeth interrupted him. “Is that Mr. Sepjic?”

“You know this man? Do you know my mother?”

“We’ve never met, I thought.” He said.

“Not true, Mr. Sepjic. But I’m not surprised you don’t remember. I was probably eight years old the last time I saw you.”

“You’re the little girl who loved my statue.”

“Yes.”

“Eight years old?” David said. “That would have been over…”

“Don’t give away your mother’s age, young man.”

“It’s okay. Yes, David, it was over forty years ago when I met the man in front of you. He’s a lot older than he looks.”

“You know this?”

“Mr. Sepjic…”

“Please, call me Lucas.”

“It would be my honor, Lucas,” she said. “David, a wizard sits before you.”

“A wizard?”

“He is unlikely to believe you, dear woman. I guess you know why I’m here.”

“Did David find the paperwork?”

“I think I did. Why did Grandfather Essy rent a statue for ninety years?”

“I’m not that old. But, I remember like it was yesterday, the story he would tell of the wizard who turned a woman into a statue for his garden.”

“What?” David said. “I’ll pretend that’s possible. Why not just commission a normal statue?”

“Time. He could certainly have paid less for a sculptor to make a statue. He didn’t have the months necessary to wait for a commission.”

“She is correct,” Lucas said. “A friend referred your grandfather and great-grandfather to me. He needed a statue for a very important party he was hosting a few days from when I met him. He paid my family handsomely for the statue that now sits in your garden.”

“And he didn’t buy this statue outright. He leased it.”

“For ninety years, tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Elizabeth said. “Can you wait until Sunday when I return? I would love to witness this magic. I could pay you for the extra four days.”

“This is insanity, Mother.”

“David, this doesn’t concern you.”

“I think it does.”

“I will gladly return on Sunday. Four more days will change nothing. But, I must inform you Mrs. Harmon, my answer is still, ‘No.’”

“What?”

He stood up. “I hate to be rude but if I’m to wait until Sunday, I will leave now.”

“Be reasonable, Lu–… Mr. Sepjic,” she pleaded.

“Good day, sir, madam.”

“Mother, what just happened?”

“Be happy, David. If it works out as I wish, you’ll gain your inheritance early.”

*****

The statue stood at the focal point of a long curlicue pathway not far from the main patio off the back of the mansion. The plinth it stood on was three feet high making the statue visible across over one hundred yards of the garden.

Lucas’ spell culminated with a light show centered on the statue. When the witnesses could see clearly again, where the statue had been there stood a woman in the prime of her adulthood. She took hold of a sheet that had been wrapped around the statue and looked around.

“Lucas,” she shouted. She climbed down off the plinth with David’s help and gave her brother, Lucas, a warm embrace.

“I don’t believe it,” David said, his hand still held aloft from helping her down.

“I told you he was a wizard,” his mother said.

Lucas cleared his throat and the woman let him go. “Elizabeth, David, this is my sister Mila.”

“Pleased to finally be able to say hello to you both.”

“I’m going to miss you,” Elizabeth said.

Mila made a funny smile and just nodded. “I haven’t seen you in the gardens in a while, young David.”

“I should find the time to remedy that.”

“You should.”

“You’ve been standing here for ninety years?”

“Sounds about right.”

“And, forgive my asking, but how old are you, Sir?”

“Let’s just say older than I look.”

“Don’t pester them, David,” Elizabeth said. “Lucas, you know what I want.”

“What do you want, Mother?”

“I can’t give you what you want.”

“Why not? I’ll pay you handsomely.”

“How handsomely?” David asked, still unsure what was being discussed.

“Having the spells in play is draining. If I spent energy casting the spell you want, I’d not have enough energy to release my other sister when her spell ends.”

“Other sister?”

“After Ezekial commissioned his statue, a rash of other statue spells were cast because everyone’s garden had to have a woman turned into a statue. This is my sister Mila. My older sister, Ludavika, is current decorating a garden in Virginia and will be doing so for another four years. If I cast the statue spell on you today, I won’t be able to restore Ludavika for at least nine years. I will not do that to my sister.”

“I thought she never wanted to be a statue,” Mila said.

“She had me use the money to fund one of her projects.”

“Of course. She was always helping others.”

“You want to be a statue, Mother?”

“David, have you never heard me talk endlessly about spending time in the garden with Mila?”

“I thought you meant you enjoy being near the statue because it’s view of the grounds is stunning.”

“That’s true,” Mila said. “If anything, if I’d been placed two paces to the right, that would have been ideal.”

“Could you mark that spot on the plinth for when I become a statue?”

“Certainly.”

Elizabeth and Mila stood up and found the spot Mila spoke of. They returned to the sitting area.

“Lucas, what if you didn’t have to wait four years to revive your sister Ludavika?” Elizabeth said, still standing.

“Hypothetically speaking, I could cast a statue spell about a month after restoring my sister. But, how would we arrange that with Mister Goldman’s heirs, who most likely own the property in Virginia.”

“None of that is necessary. I purchased that property ten years ago. I’ve seen the statue of your sister and I can end the contract that currently holds her in stone.”

“That’s fabulous,” Mila said.

“But, I will only do this if I get what I want.”

“Mother! That’s madness.”

“I don’t think so,” Mila said.

“Begging your pardon, but I don’t want my mother to be a statue.”

“It isn’t for you to decide,” his mother said.

“It isn’t? It’s only for you to do whatever selfish thing you want as always, Mother? Who will you know ninety years from now? You’ve said many times you didn’t think I was ready to inherit your fortune. Who would own this house ninety years from now? My grandchildren? Or people who have no idea who the or what the statue in the garden is?”

“They wouldn’t be ignorant of who I am if you were to tell them about me.”

“Oh, sure. If I told my currently non-existent children their grandmother was a statue, they wouldn’t have me committed as soon as they could. Just telling my future wife could become an issue in sustaining a long-term relationship.”

“The boy isn’t wrong,” Lucas said. “A child’s wonder, such as the one you still possess, Elizabeth, isn’t found among all people. I’m sure you told David in his youth that the statue of Mila was actually a real person. He seems to have forgotten.”

“If she told me, it didn’t stick. My apologies.”

“Not necessary,” Mila said.

“What if it weren’t for ninety years?” David said.

“That’s possible,” Lucas said. “If we picked twenty-five or thirty years, would you want to be the same visual age as your mother?”

“It would be preferable to dying before she does. Had you considered that, Mother? If you outlive me and my children are older than you, how will you feel?”

“I don’t know. I suppose you did this, Mila, because you haven’t had children.”

Mila looked sullen.

“Did I say something wrong?” Elizabeth said.

“It’s okay,” Mila said. “I was married and had two beautiful children before they were all taken from me during war. It was I who suggested to Lucas we rent me out as a statue. I thought ninety years made of stone would steel my heart again the sorrow of loss. It only delayed it.”

“World War II?” David said.

“I don’t know about this world war two. The war I speak of ended in 1878 and freed lands from the rule of Turkey.”

“You’ve been a statue more than once?” Elizabeth said.

“Four times. Only this last one lasted ninety years.”

David looked a Lucas again. “How do you stay healthy, Sir?”

“Don’t attempt to knight me. And, of course, the answer is magic.”

“I’m sorry for your loss, Mila,” Elizabeth said. “But, Lucas, this proves you could make me a statue for far less time than ninety years.”

“Yes, I could. Not until Ludavika is revived,” Lucas said.

“I will gladly fly you and Mila to Virginia as soon as you are able to revive her.”

“What will you charge to turn my mother to stone? I can’t believe I just asked that.”

“I don’t know. All the statues I’ve made before were my family members. The rates I’ve charged were based on being without them for the duration. I’m sure we can come to an agreed upon rate. But I am too tired to negotiate right now.”

“Of course. Please call me as soon as you are able. I’m sure you want to be reunited with your other sister as well.”

“Yes. I’ll be in touch.”

“Where do you live?” Mila said as they left the mansion.

“All in due time. Get in the car.”

“This is an automobile. I’ve missed so much.”

“Yes, and I’m sure you’ll use that as an excuse to become a statue again.”

“Not this time. Is Mamo still in Roma?”

“Yes. She has been there so long I am no longer drained by her spell. She is well if my senses are true. I haven’t seen her since the last time I was there in the nineties.”

“Well, whatever you charge that woman, make sure it allows us to go see Mamo. Though I’m not sure I wish to voyage across the ocean again.”

He laughed. “Mila, you have missed so much.”

“Airplanes just fly there, don’t they? I forgot I heard people talking casually about flying to Europe. I’m sure the planes look as outlandish as this ‘car’ as you called it.”

“Of course.”

*****

David sat on a padded chair in the garden. His wife, Penelope, sat next to him with her legs crossed over his. He called out to his daughter, “Briana, don’t hang on Grandma’s arm like that. She’ll shatter if she falls over.”

The little girl rushed over to her father. “That isn’t Grandma. That’s just a statue.”

“You’re thinking of Mommy’s Mommy. She isn’t a statue. That statue is my Mommy. She was turned to stone by a traveling wizard.”

“Was she wicked? Or was it an evil wizard?”

“Neither. My mother just loved the view of the garden and she wanted it to be the only thing she saw.”

“That’s funny. Why did she have to be a statue to look at the garden?”

“You’d have to ask her.”

“Statues don’t talk.”

“No, they don’t. But she won’t be a statue forever.”

“Why not?”

“The wizard will come back ten years from now. When he does, he’ll turn her back into a person.”

“Is this true, Mommy?”

“It’s what your father told me when I met him. I’ve never met his Mother other than being told she’s that statue there. Even Daddy’s cousins say that’s his Mommy. I think it’s weird like you said. But, it’s probably true.”

“I’ll meet her then?”

“You can say hello to her. She can’t answer. But I’m sure she’d appreciate you saying hello. But before you do. I have a secret for you.”

“Oo, what secret?”

He whispered in Briana’s ear.

“Okay,” she said. She ran over to the statue and stood in front of it.

“She’s going to be mad if she finds out that’s just a statue,” Penelope whispered.

“You doubt me? The only issue is whether the wizard shows up when he should.”

“If you say so. What did you tell her?”

“You know the story of the wizard’s sister being restored to life, right? Give a listen.”

The four years old child swayed on her tiptoes hoping the statue could see her. “Daddy said, I should say, ‘Hello’. He only told me your name just now. I’m Briana. Nice to meet you, Mamo.”

RENDER: Garden Statues - A Teaser

I'm on a roll with getting teasers ready. This one is slightly spoilery. But not so much that will matter two days from now when you read the story. How do you feel about the translucent dialog bubbles? I'm curious.

Garden Statues is a standalone written short story not part of any my franchises. It isn't a comic strip. The story is a little over 2400 words and features magic, statues, and long duration transformations.

Scheduling Notes

This has little to do with the teaser. The next few stories: Garden Statues, Traveling Doll, Sunrise, and Ancestral Dolls involve long term inanimate transformations. Magic Shoppe: Oh, Henry isn't an inanimate TF story, though it is long term. It just sort of happened that they all came together... together. I'm planning to have teasers for each of these stories. Three of the five teaser are ready right now.

And after Ancestral Dolls, nothing is finished. Every time I think the "big story" is close to the finish line, three more chapters appear. I've been moving most of these new chapters to "book 2". But the operative word there is 'most'. The first book is around 63k words right now. And there's another 15k deferred to book two. The frustrating part is I'm not doing the AVN I'd hoped to spend this part of the year doing. And Ted's Doll season 5 is waiting in the wings. As are like two dozen stories waiting to be worked on. (Ironically, Sunrise was written last week, start to finish. It just demanded my attention as some of them do.)

Statue Rentals: Cast of Characters

I received some feedback about folks not remembering characters ten pages apart since that could also be five months apart. Fair. It was Reggie, poor Reggie. Forgotten after 2 appearances 5 or so months apart.

In any case, this is the second Cast of Characters post to help index the comicstrips. It was supposed to appear here Tuesday. No idea why it didn't.

Plot Summary

1. Stacy arrives at the art studio hoping to be hired for a modeling gig.

2. Stacy tells his roommate Reggie about the gig.

3. Stacy is turned into a block of marble that will be carved into a statue.

4. The carving has been delayed.

5. Months later, the carving commences. That doesn't look like Stacy.

6. The statue is installed at a restaurant.

7. Reggie and his girlfriend Leona go visit the statue.

8. Meredith is booked solid since Stacy's debut.

9. Stacy is restored to... um... normal.

10. Aftermath of being restored

11. Stacy's renter is rather nice.

12. Stacy finds a place to stay.

Statue Rentals #12: Home, Sweet Home

Mom is obviously a loving and thoughtful person, worried sick about her son, now daughter.

It occurs to me in hindsight that Anna should have been turned into a statue a few days ago so she would ready to install at the restaurant as soon as Stacy was removed from the restaurant. Was Brian saving money? Is there some policy Meredith has? Maybe no model was available? If I were smart, I'd write this down somewhere and make it a minor side conversation when I have a comic that's too short and needs a little something. If I were smart.

Transcribing these text messages is a bit annoying since there's four overlapping text objects to interleave: Left text, left timestamps, right text, right timestamps. If I were smart, I'd do that in presentation software and import it as an image. Instead I just use four text objects.

Transcript

ROW ONE (same layout as PAGE 11)

Panel 1 – Art Studio, the new model

Meredith: You’re Anna, right? I’m Meredith.

Anna: I love your work. That woman just now. Was she one of your statues?

Meredith: Yes. How could you tell?

Anna: Dust in her hair. And I recognized her. Tellani’s?

Meredith: Yes. You’ll be replacing her.

Anna: Sweet!

Panel 2 – Meredith’s apartment, bedroom

Meredith: Here’s the spare room. It’s yours as long as you need it.

Stacy: I hope I won’t need it too long.

Meredith: You should take a bath. There’s probably marble dust in your hair. Don’t ask me how that happens.

Meredith: You really need a good bra.

Stacy: I doubt any of yours would fit me.

ROW TWO

Panel 3 – Meredith’s apartment, bath

Stacy (thinking): A bath was too good an idea. So warm. This feels so good.

Stacy (thinking): I’m not used to these boobs. But, they don’t feel out of place.

Stacy (thinking): How could she say the Lord made me this way? Doesn't she remember carving them this way? Yeah, Mom and Aunt Lena have large breasts. And my cousin Sarah. But, chisels and a certain artist are to blame for their size, not genetics. Right?

Stacy (thinking): How does this feel so normal? Why am I not freaking out?

Panel 4 – Meredith’s apartment, sofa time

Noriko: How’s she holding up?

Meredith: I’m fairly certain she enjoyed her bath.

Stacy: Sorry, am I interrupting?

Meredith: No, no. We’re inseparable. But, I want you to feel welcome in my home.

Noriko: Did you ever talk to your mother?

Stacy: . . .

COLUMN THREE Phone Panel, text messaging app, history with contact called Mom

Stacy: I'm alive.

Mom: Finally. I was so worried you would end up as a permanent statue. You made a lot of money, I hope?

Stacy: It was well worth it.

Stacy: Remember when I was nine and you told me about my name?

Mom: Are you still mad about being named after my grandfather. Stacy is a boy's name, too.

Stacy: Still, you wanted a girl.

Mom: Why would you mention something like that now?

Stacy: Thanks to magic, your dream has come true.

Mom: You aren't making sense, Honey. What dream?

Stacy: This is me now.

Mom: All this time you claimed to be a statue? Were you getting that work done? I love you no matter what you look like or who you love, Honey.

Stacy: :rollseyes: :shakeshead: Mom!

Trust Machines: Briefs

“Wow, they’re all together?” Phil was tapping his friend’s arm and pointing toward the venn machine.

“What? Who? Oh. How many are already in the machine?”

“Wow, they’re all together?” Phil was tapping his friend’s arm and pointing toward the venn machine.

“What? Who? Oh. How many are already in the machine?”

“Three women that I saw. Now, four, five,” he said. “Is clothing getting thrown out of the machine?”

“Yep, they’re going venn commando. That was eight women, I think?” Evan asked.

“And just that one guy collecting the clothing? This would be so much better if they were eight guys.”

“You swing your way, Phil. I’ll swing mine.”

“That’s why I love you, Evan.”

“Did that guy just get in the other side by himself?”

“Yeah. And look at the display. It’s set for a year.”

“There’s no way the women are changing him. This is a venn he’s going to do to them. Five dollars that it’ll be an inanimate.”

“No bet. That would make the most sense.”

“Damn. The machine just cycled. He’s fast.”

“Or he’s done this before.”

Forty seconds passed before the door on their side opened and the man stepped out.

“I don’t see the women. Definitely inanimate.”

“What do you turn eight people into?”

“A set of fancy dinner service place settings for eight? I can’t believe it.”

The man entered the other side of the machine and exited carrying a small, plastic bag they’d seen the man hand to the last woman to enter the machine.

“I have to find out,” Evan said. He got up and rushed toward the man who was heading for the exit. When he caught up to him he said, “Excuse me. I don’t mean to be rude but I have to know.”

“What’s in the bag?”

“What did you turn them into? What’s in the bag?”

“Underwear.”

“What?”

“See for yourself.” The man opened the bag and held the opening toward Evan. Inside were a jumble of men’s boxer briefs in blue, gold, and black colors, some solid, some patterned.

“You just turned eight women into underwear for a year.”

“I did. You’re about my size. Want one?”

“What?”

“Marlena? Would you like it if I just gave you to some rando?”

“Oh, that would be awesome,” a soft voice inside the bag said.

“She would so dig that,” said another feminine voice.

“I guess we’re saying goodbye to Marly,” said a third.

“Bye, Marly,” and a fourth.

“Virtual hugs.”

(You get the idea.)

“If I say no, I feel like I’ll disappoint the others,” the underwear named Marlena must have said.

“Well?” The man said to Evan.

“Um… Sure. What color is she?”

“No idea.” The man reached into the bag. His hand moved around trying grab the right underwear. Several voices said ‘no’ or ‘not me’ or one said ‘yes’ while another said ‘no’ until finally Marlena was separated from the others. He pulled his hand out of the bag with a gold and black striped pair of boxer briefs. “Last chance to say, ‘No,’ Marley.”

“Just hand me to him, Charles.”

“Wear her well, um…”

“Evan.”

“Bye, Marly.” “Is he cute, Charles?” “Bye, Evan,” a few of the voices in the bags said.

Evan watched as Charles walked away. He was startled from his woolgathering when a pair of teenage girls walking by giggled at the man holding a pair of underwear near the mall exit.

“I’m putting you in my pocket until later,” he said stuffing Marlena into the front pocket of his windbreaker. He felt foolish immediately. First, because the teenagers’ giggles turned into full guffaws of laughter. And, second, because the underwear didn’t respond.

Phil tapped him on the shoulder. “What were they?”

“Underwear.”

“That’s kind of disappointing.”

“They could talk.”

“Why?”

“Dunno.”

“What did they say?”

“Can you understand what eight women talking at once say?”

Phil laughed. When Phil didn’t ask him about the underwear in his pocket, he didn’t volunteer the information.

*

It was three days later when Evan put his hands into his jacket pocket while a late autumn breeze chilled his fingers harshly. “What?” Oh, damn, he thought. I forgot about the underwear.

When he returned home, he took the underwear out of his pocket before hanging up his jacket. “You okay?”

No response.

“Fine.” He put the underwear on his dresser and went about his evening. In the morning, after he showered, he picked the underwear up. “Here goes.” He stretched the waistband to test it before putting his leg through the opening and through the leg opening below.

“Finally,” the underwear said. “How long was I inert?”

“Inert? I didn’t know you could go inert.” His other leg slipped through and he pulled the underwear up. It was rather comfortable. He adjusted his scrotum so it sat in the little pocket in the front of the underwear.

“Yeah, when not worn or being washed, it’s easy to kind of zone out. Being unworn underwear isn’t exactly mentally challenging. Wow, you have a good size.”

He was reaching for a shirt when his eyes bugged out. Something – he had a good idea what – licked his ball sack. A muffled, “Mmm,” emitted from his underwear. “Nice and clean,” the underwear continued.

“You have a tongue.”

Lips kissed the length of his shaft. A moist opening formed and his cock was pulled inside by that tongue. “That answer your questions?” the voice said, muffled in the manner someone with their mouthful would speak.

“Are you going to?”

“You aren’t saying I shouldn’t, are you?”

“I… well… no. But, I’ll probably find this very distracting.”

“That’s the idea.” The boxer briefs resumed pleasuring Evan. They did not stop until he had soiled them. “Sorry, but I can’t swallow.”

“That’s… I don’t know what I would think if you could.”

The pants giggled. “Don’t ask me to explain my anatomy. Charles explained it to me on several occasions but it’s just gibberish to me.”

“I would love to ask you more about Charles. But, I am going to be late for work if I don’t finish getting dressed. I would advise you not to repeat what just happened, especially when I’m driving.”

“I’m good.” A tongue flicked across his tip. “For a while, at least. Don’t be late on my account.”

*

She did it again while he was eating lunch. He started to protest but she pointed out she’d waited until lunchtime. Luckily for him there were no coworkers looking to chat him up that noontime. After dinner, he took a shower. He disrobed in the bathroom and after he had dried off he took the towel and the clothes he’d worn all day and put them in the hamper.

He was about to walk away when he fished out the underwear. “You’re okay with this?”

“This what? You took me off. Was I supposed to notice something?”

“The hamper. You’re going to sit there for at least a week before you get washed.”

“Did you notice the group of briefs I was with the other day? It’s not like Charles only has one pair of living underpants.”

“How did he convince you and your friends – are you friends? – to be venned as underwear for a year?”

“That’s a long story for a dirty pair of boxer briefs to tell.”

“True. You do have something of a musky odor now.”

“Oh, I bet that smells good. I have no nose.”

“Is that why a pile of laundry doesn’t turn you off?”

“One reason.”

“I know what I can do.” He tossed the pants in the sink and turned on the water. Once it was warm, he added some laundry soap for delicate clothes and hand washed the briefs.

They were moaning.

“Are you enjoying this?”

“Fuck, yes. Don’t stop.”

He chuckled and finished washing and rinsing the moaning clothing. He let the water run out of the sink and rinsed them again. When he wrung them out, they let out a soft cry of ecstasy.

“Oh, god. Wring me tighter, Wash Boy. Wring my wet body.”

He laughed. “It’s really odd hearing dirty talk from something I just cleaned. That’s as much as I think I can squeeze from you.”

“I’m good. I wish I could breathe at times like this. It would make the post orgasmic feeling feel more real.”

“You just orgasmed?”

“Several times. Another reason we enjoy being clothing. Although, being hand washed is much better than being machine washed.”

“You got venned… you and seven other women got venned because being run through a washing machine was orgasmic?”

“When you say it like that it sounds silly.”

“This whole episode is silly.”

“I didn’t write it,” the underwear said. “Look, it’s not just the washing machine. It also feels really good when I get jizzed on.”

“Sure. Common, everyday people say that all the time.”

“I admit, the other women and I do have something of an oral fixation. That aspect is great, too. Everyone I know who’s been Charles’ underwear a second time share that fixation.”

“How did Charles find you all?”

“Would you believe word of mouth?”

“Now, you’re fucking with me.”

“I’d rather be sucking you.”

“You’re still a bit moist.”

“If I were alive I’d be wet,” she said. “Did you roll your eyes? You seem like an eyerolling fellow.”

“Guess you’ll find out in a year.”

“About that. Do you have a girlfriend?”

“I’ve been on a date recently. We’re working on scheduling a third date.”

“I bet I can convince her to join me,” the underwear said with confidence. “Having two of us would allow one of us to drip dry while the other is worn.”

“You want me to tell the woman I’ve been seeing for less than two weeks I want to turn her into cock sucking underwear?”

“You’re a moron if that’s how you start that conversation. She isn’t a prude, I hope? Or the jealous type? You could weed that out real fast by whether she thinks she can tell you not to wear me.”

“That does have some practical benefit.”

“Ooh, a marketing vector. Buy talking underwear to enhance your relationships.”

“And we’re hiring. No experience necessary,” he added.

“I knew I liked you. Tell her I exist. I won’t say a word to her in public so she doesn’t feel awkward about it. Just be sure to tell her before you’re in bed with her and she wants to pull me off you. I prefer being slid to the side.”

“You want me to wear you while I’m with Grace?”

“Oh, god, yes, I love the feeling of being slammed between two people’s genitals.”

“I can’t decide if that would be weirder to tell her than the sucking part.”

“Listen. How do you think I ended up here? I dated Charles. And he told me he was wearing Debra. Debra went on and on about the orgasms. I dismissed the whole idea and then couldn’t stop thinking about it for a week. The next time I saw Charles it was getting into a venn machine to try it out just for one day.”

“How did you end up going for a year?”

“My second venn was only supposed to three months. That venn would have ended next Wednesday, I think. Charles had various women venned with various durations and ending times. He insisted we talk among ourselves to reduce the number of times he needed to go to the venn machine.”

“I’m imagining an underwear drawer from which the sounds of debate can be heard.”

“It took us a couple days to convince a couple of the girls to do the whole year. Debra wanted a three year venn. But she couldn’t get much support.”

“Boxer briefs needing support.”

“I tell the funny stuff, Wash Boy.”

“So, you think if Grace hears about you, then talks to you, she’ll agree to give this a try.”

“Absolutely,” Marly said. “And once she likes it, she can pull in her circle of friends. Soon you’ll have a week’s worth of underwear just like Charles. If you told him, he’d probably ask you to place a wager on who could get to fifteen or twenty first.”

*

From the moment he met her at the restaurant, Evan couldn’t figure out how to work Marlena into the conversation: “Hey, babe, did I mention my underwear can speak?” “Grace, I feel like I should ask how you feel about me getting sucked off by my underwear.” “Ever wanted to spend the day with a cock in your mouth?”

“You’re being very quiet?” Grace said. They were in the backseat a ride share car headed back to his apartment.

“Sorry. What were you saying?”

“I was saying you were quiet most of the evening. Is everything all right?”

“Yes. It’s nothing.”

“Should I go home?”

“No. It’s…” His eyes drifted to the driver and back to her. “Not here in the cab. I’ll explain at my place.” He felt a little bad about his acting concerned about speaking in front of the driver.

“Okay.”

He realized his mistake instantly. The rest of the ride was in silence and far more awkward than it had to be. They walked up to his apartment in silence.

She took off her shoes at the door and flopped down onto the sofa. “Well?”

“I guess you aren’t looking for a drink,” he said, joining her on the sofa. “Where to begin…”

“Are you breaking up with me?”

“No. The question is are you breaking up with me?”

“Why would I do that? You don’t sleep around, do you?”

“No. You aren’t really into getting venned, I guess.”

“No, it was really fun when the machines first appeared, before we met. But, you can only have really big tits or a big cock so often before they become boring.”

“Is that how you would use them?”

“Yeah, my circle of friends would get together and do body swaps with extra size. Then we’d go out and get wasted. Fond as I am of what memories exist from that time, it wasn’t a shining moment in lifetime.”

“Ever do anything weirder?”

“My friend Janus loved to get turned into dresses. I wore her to a bunch of clubs. I haven’t heard from her in a while. She’s probably hanging in someone’s closet happy as a lark. Or happy as a cocktail dress, I guess.” She laughed.

“I met someone like that recently,” he said.

“Are you wearing them now?” She was checking out his cloths as if they would be signs that his collared shirt was a person.

“No. But I wear her often and I’ve been feeling like you should know.”

“I should know what?”

“That I’ve been wearing a woman frequently.”

“Oh, that’s fine. It’s not like it’s anything sexual.”

The ding of an elevator arriving at its floor a building away could have been heard in the silence that followed.

“It is sexual?” She said, confused and perturbed. “How is it sexual?”

“She’s a pair of boxerbriefs.”

“That doesn’t make it sexual.”

“She can talk and do other things a mouth can do.”

“WHAT??!!”

“Calm down. I had no idea what she could do when she was given to me.”

“You had no idea? Given?” She took a deep breath. “Okay. Okay. I know you aren’t some weirdo. Tell me the whole story from the beginning. I think you’re leaving stuff out.”

“Okay… Well, I was at the mall with Phil…” He started.

*

“If I have this straight, these women so enjoy giving head they spend time as underwear?”

“I didn’t say any of this makes sense.”

“I can tell you’re dying to introduce us. Go get her.”

“Be right back.”

“No, let’s go into your bedroom.”

“Marlena?” He said holding the underwear. “Wake up, Marlena. Grace is here.”

Silence.

“She probably zoned out. She said if she isn’t worn time just zips by.”

“And thus you have to put her on?” She rolled her eyes when he shrugged. “Just do it.”

“How did you know that?” He hesitantly removed his clothes.

“Janus told me she loves zoning out as clothing. Must be similar.”

“You’re sure I should...?”

“Evan, put on the living underwear in front of your girlfriend.”

“That makes it sound worse,” he said, changing his underwear.

As soon as the waistband was set in place, the underwear said, “Oh, goodie. I missed your cock.”

“I have a guest here, Marlena.”

“Is it Grace? You finally told her? Hello, dear. I bet this is awkward.”

“I have conversations like this four or five times a week,” Grace joked.

“You didn’t screw up too much, Evan,” Marly said. “She’s making jokes. Grace, may I call you Grace? I’d offer to shake your hand but, no hands. You could grab his dick and shake it. I’m curious it that would feel like a handshake to me.”

“Don’t tempt me to do something vigorous with his dick.”

“I knew I’d like you. Evan always speaks so well of you. I’m hoping we can coexist in his life. But if not, I’ll give Evan Charles’ phone number and you can send me back to his harem, or underwear drawer depending on how you see it.”

“There’s really a Charles with seven woman spending a year as his underwear?”

“Yeah, assuming he hasn’t acquired any more. Connie was his first. Then Morgan. Debra roped me and Patrice in. And Vickie, Sandra, and Una. I kind of miss hanging out with Una. She would probably prefer Evan to Charles.”

“This is too absurd. Why would you want to be men’s underwear?”

“Being underwear is extremely relaxing. Underwear has no stress. Snuggling up against his cock is a pleasure, like a warm hug. Now, I’ll admit. I enjoy giving a guy head. If that’s a real turn off, I guess it wouldn’t be as amazing as I find it.”

“You wake up, suck his dick, and sleep until the next time? What kind of existence is that?”

“You wake up, get dressed, go to a place you can’t stand, talk to people you wish you never had to see ever again, suffer for hours, choke down a bland lunch, suffer for more hours, come home, have to cook, eat, shower, watch something stupid of television, and only then do you sleep and start it all over again. What kind of existence is that?” Marlena said. “I like to think my existence is evolved, like that of a housecat. No worries. No rush. Dick when I want it.”

“Maybe that last part isn’t very cat-like,” Evan said.

“Hush. The warm snuggling up against the dick is equivalent to finding the spot on the floor being warmed by the sun.”

“That’s... amusing.”

“The point I’m making is not running the rat race has high appeal from where I’m… hanging.”

“Is this a problem for you, Grace?”

“No. Suck his dick. If you’re doing it, he won’t ask me.”

“Suit yourself,” the underwear said.

Evan unsuccessfully stifled a moan.

“Is it really that good?” Grace said, looking at Evan. She was shocked when they both replied at once.

“Incredible,” Evan said.

“Yummy,” Marlena said. “I wish I could make slurping noises. What I use for a tongue isn’t really wet. At least not until I’m done.”

Grace sat next to Evan and pulled his shirt off. Before he could say anything, she kissed him. Between smooches, Evan said, “Marlena, ease up.” “I think you’re going to get your other wish.”

He could feel a change in the way she was pleasuring him, she had switched to a mode conducive to keeping him erect instead of bringing him to orgasm.

Between kisses, Grace said, “Let me guess. She likes being worn when the guy fucks.”

Grace was naked and he pulled his cock out of his underwear, leaving them on, as he entered Grace.

*****

Afterward, Evan and Grace lay in bed cuddling. Evan had removed the soiled underwear. He could tell Grace wasn’t completely relaxed against his body.

“You aren’t happy,” he said.

“I’m confused.” She said.

He let her comment sit without saying anything.

“Was that my first threesome?” She asked. “Can’t say I ever considered having a threesome like that.”

“But you have considered being involved in threesomes.”

“I don’t know if we’ve reached the level where I tell you my threesomes fantasies.”

“That’s fair. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”

“’Hey, Grace, can we have a chat with my underwear?’”

The underwear chuckled. “Sorry, I was planning to leave this part strictly to Evan to handle. But that was funny.”

“Evan, is she trying to seduce me?”

“Kind of.”

“An 8 hour venn wouldn’t kill you.”

Grace was dumbfounded.

“Compared to having you first threesome be a guy, you, and pair of underwear, where does being seduced by a pair of underwear rate?” Evan said.

She blinked and looked at him before she laughed heartily. “This is just so fucked up.”

“Should we go for the closer, Marly?”

“What?”

“You are soiled.”

“Oh, gods, maybe not. She might think I was just acting.”

“Just show me,” Grace said.

Grace said nothing as Evan rinsed, soaped, rinsed, and wrung Marlena.

“Did she leave?” Marlena asked.

“No, she’s just staring at you.”

“Oh, no! I’m probably all wrinkled after that epic wringing you just did.”

“I could use a hair dryer on you.”

“You didn’t offer that before.”

“You said drip drying was… hang on. She just sighed.”

“Put Marly on. We’re headed to the machine on fourth avenue.”

“Yay!” Marlena cheered.

*****

To Evan and Marlena’s surprise, Grace put a coin in the machine and set it to three days.

When Grace saw his face, she said, “If I’m going to experience this, I have to find out how the boring parts feel, too.”

“Why three days?”

“I sent a text to my boss saying I wouldn’t be working Monday. Being worn while you’re at work is another thing I need to find out about. Now get in before I change my mind.”

“You aren’t going to change me, are you?”

“Probably not.” She disappeared into the other chamber right after saying that.

“It’s only three days,” Marlena said.

He got in the machine. The door closed and the interface lit up.

“Um… What do I do?”

Marlena laughed. “I was wondering when you’d realize you don’t what to do.”

“Typical,” came a muffled shout from Grace waiting on the other side of the wall.

“History,” Marlena shouted. “Do you see underwear, Evan?”

“The black and gold you are now is in the center. There are other black and blue colored boxer briefs. And a red one.”

“I want to be red,” Grace shouted.

“The red underwear can do all the things you can do?” He asked.

“Yes,” Marlena said. “Select them and hit the green button.”

Forty seconds later, Evan entered the other chamber and picked up the red boxer briefs.

“How do you feel, Grace?”

“Randy.”

“What?” He left the chamber to let the next couple, who seemed not to know what duration they wanted, use the machine.

“I said, ‘Dandy,’” Grace said with a laugh.

“She’s in a good mood,” Marlena said.

Laughter reached Evan’s ears. He looked and saw those same teenagers laughing at him.

“It’s venned briefs,” he exclaimed, waving Grace about.

This resulted in more laughter.

He stuffed Grace in his pants pocket. The briefs were whispering.

“Getting waved around felt pretty good.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Marlena said. “No one’s been weird enough to wave me in the air in a mall.”

“Lucky you. Change now.”

“Now? Okay,” Evan said.

“Someone’s anxious to be closer to you, you lucky guy,” Marlena teased.

“If I’m going to be just an article of clothing for three days, I want to be worn as much as possible.”

“Fair.”

When he put Grace on, she didn’t say anything for a few moments.

“Are you wearing her?” Marlena asked.

“Yes. Not sure why she’s so quiet.”

“I’m shocked at how nice it feels just having you in my face,” Grace said.

“You feel like all is right with the world?” Marlena said.

Silence.

“Oh, my,” Evan said.

“She’s hooked,” Marlena said.

“This isn’t fair,” Grace said one word at a time between licks. “I’ve never been so turned on in my life.”

“She does this better than you.”

“You take that back!” Marlena said.

“Gotcha.” Evan joked.

“That was mean.”

“Am I doing it wrong?” Grace asked. “How’s this?”

“Whoa,” Evan said. “She’s already upping her game, Marlena.”

“Definitely hooked.”

“Grace, I need to be able to walk home. Ease up or I’m taking you off.”

“Fine.”

She was silent and inactive the entire walk home. When they got back to his apartment, Fiona was there. Evan had met Grace’s friend once before. She rushed to meet Evan as he stepped onto the landing. “Where is she?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I sent her a text when you were getting dressed,” Grace said.

“Was that her? Are you wearing her?”

“Yes.”

“Hey, I’m Marlena. I’m in his pocket.

“Oh, cool. I’m Fiona. I’ve been Grace’s friend since grade school.”

Evan unlocked his door and held his hand out so Fiona could enter before him. “I don’t know why you’re here. But, please, come in.”

“I want to see her.”

“I can give you Marly.”

“Okay.”

He pulled the briefs out of his pocket and tossed them to her.

“These are well made.”

“Stretch me some more.”

“That’s unsettling.”

“Oddly enough, you get used to talking to underwear,” Evan said. “Want a beer?”

“Um, yeah. I think I do.”

“I’m guessing you want to hear the whole story.”

“Well, yeah, and I want to see her sucking you off.”

“Too late.”

“If there were a website where I could see this, I wouldn’t need to watch you doing it.”

“Let’s just tell her the whole story before there’s any underwear porn.”

With two pairs of underwear chiming in with various details, it took almost an hour to get Fiona up to speed. Evan was sitting on his sofa. Fiona sat on the floor not far away with Grace on the floor between them.

“What would happen if I were to wear one of them? Is their tongue long enough to…?”

“I have to admit,” Marlena said. “I’ve wanted to try this but Charles never let a woman wear me, or any of the other briefs that I’m aware of.”

“One way to find out,” Fiona said getting up, grabbing Marlena, and disappearing into the bathroom.

Grace laughed. “Did she just run off with Marlena?”

“She did.”

“Good, I can finish what I started.”

“You really like this?”

“Don’t ask me why,” Grace said. “But, yeah. I’ll do this from time to time. But I can’t go for a year.”

“I do prefer that you are sensible.”

“Thank you. Now, just sit back and let your girlfriend pleasure you.”

“I’d like th…” As he spoke, the sound of a woman orgasming without heed to the volume of her moans came from the bathroom. “Did you hear Fiona?”

“I wondered what that…”

She was cut off by the bathroom door slamming open. Fiona stalked toward Evan wearing only Marlena. She’d tied a knot in the waistband so the briefs didn’t slip off her hips. “Let’s fuck,” Fiona demanded. She was a bit shorter than average but she pulled Evan off the sofa like he weighed nothing.

“My girlfriend is right here.”

“That’s the best part,” Fiona said, dragging him toward the bedroom. “She and Marlena are going to have VIP seating to us fucking.”

“Help me out here, Grace.”

“Tell them you’re fine with it,” Marlena said. “You will love it.”

“I was going to say go for it.”

“Cool, cool,” Fiona said. She pressed herself against him to kiss him as she pulled his shirt off him. Her hand massaged his groin.

“Oh, my, that’s awesome,” Grace said.

Fiona laughed. “I’ve always wanted to feel you up, Grace.”

“You’ve told me that before. I know.”

“I’m missing something,” Evan said.

“Fee is my bisexual friend who secretly has the hots for her BFF.”

“It was never a secret. I told you how I felt about you like two days after we met.”

“I was talking archetypes. You like to work against expectations.”

“I wish I could be munching popcorn,” Marlena chimed in. “But munching Fiona is much better.”

“Less talking, more muff diving,” Fiona demanded.

“Yes, Mistress,” Marlena said jokingly. She muttered, “Underwear slavedriver.”

They were in bed and Fiona had pushed her briefs to the side. Her waist was nearily bent in half, she rested her heels on Evans shoulders.

Evan moved Grace aside. He pushed himself into Fiona’s burning hot and well lubricated opening.

“Oh, god, it went right in. So deep,” Fiona said.

“You are soaking wet,” Evan said.

“So am I,” Grace said.

“I know. She must enjoy sex a lot,” Marlena said.

“Oh, god,” Fiona moaned.

“Are you an exhibitionist, Fiona?”

“What tipped you off? Sex with the briefs as both observers and participants is driving me insane.”

“I almost feel like I don’t need to be here,” Evan said.

“If you try to leave, I’ll…. Oh fuck!!”

Her threat died in her scream. Evan’s hips ran harder than a jackhammer. Fiona’s moans and shouts were only louder than Marlena’s and Grace’s because she had lungs that could move air more efficiently than bits of fabric could.

Evan felt godlike as the choir of women feverishly voiced encouragement for his performance. He managed to hold off his own orgasm until the voices were straining and begging for an end.

The two humans were a sweaty mess. Evan discovered Fiona was a cuddler. She’d fallen asleep after giving him a few kisses. He fell asleep shortly after her.

*****

It was late Saturday morning when Evan woke. Fiona rolled away from him and continued to sleep. He peeled Marlena off her and Grace off himself. Neither said anything when he said good morning to them.

He tossed them into the bathroom sink and started washing them.

“Oh, god,” Grace exclaimed.

“Good morning, I’m guessing,” Marlena said.

“Oh, god.”

Marly laughed. “She’s reacting well to being washed.”

“Seems that way,” Evan agreed. “We have one problem.”

“Oh?” Marlena said.

“Oh, fuck. Scrub harder.”

“Yes, My Boxer Babe.”

“Oh, fuck.”

“Wow, she didn’t even complain about the nickname.”

“What’s the problem?”

“Oh, right. I’m sure Fiona will be joining my underwear drawer. I can’t fuck if all three of you are underwear.”

“Fiona and Grace…”

“Oh, fuck,” Grace said haltingly. “Penelope. Oh, god. And Una.”

“And, maybe Stewart if you aren’t weirded out by that,” Fiona said, hugging Evan from behind.

“Stewart?”

“Oh, yeah, Stewart,” Grace managed to say.

“He’s already a cum connoisseur. And being wrapped around a guy’s crotch would be a good time to him.”

“I suppose I could give it a try.”

“You messed up,” Fiona said. “You should have awoken me and we could have started washing them in the shower after another round of fucks.”

“Yeah, you messed up,” Marlena said.

“Don’t care,” Grace said. She was sitting on the edge of the sink waiting for Evan to finish with Marlena.

Evan handed Marlena to Fiona and picked up Grace.

“You want me to put on soaking wet underwear?”

“No, it’s time to wring them out.”

“There’s more?” Grace said.

Marlena laughed.

The wringing induced moans and shouts of pleasure from both briefs. They were both unresponsive when Evan and Fiona were finished. Evan put a towel on the bathroom vanity and pushed the underwear between the folds to speed up their drying.

“Shower?”

“Please.”

When they were finished, Fiona said, “Take me to the venn machine.”

“Seriously? You won’t experience sex if I’m by myself with three pairs of boxer briefs.”

“Oh, right. Let me call Penny.”

*****

“I’m here,” Phil said. “Hi Grace, Evan. What’s up? I’m not venning.”

“I know.”

Grace set the machine to one month and headed toward the entrance. A woman sitting nearby got up and followed her in. And another. And another. And a man.

“What’s going on?” Phil said. He recognized one or two the people now in the venn machine as friends of Grace he hadn’t really met more than for a moment or two.

“Remember that guy with the harem of women last week?” Evan said.

“Yeah.”

“I’ll explain when I’m done. Could you pick up their clothes?” He handed a large plastic bag to Phil.

A few articles of clothing landed on the floor and the venn door closed.

In a minute, the machine cycled. Phil was staring into the machine and it was empty. He looked down. The floor was covered with boxer briefs in various styles and colors.

Evan stepped past him and scooped up the briefs. “All set,” he called out to the couple waiting to use the machine after him.

“Name?” Evan said to a single set of briefs.

“Penny.”

“They talk?”

“They have functioning mouths for various mouth activities associated with body parts in the vicinity of underwear.

He repeated separating and asking their name until a man’s voice said, “Stewart. I saw your friend. I can’t wait for him to wear me.”

“What?”

“You wear underwear, Phil. I shouldn’t have to explain this,” Evan said. He handed Stewart to Phil. “Have fun.”

“What is going on?”

“Go put these on. Stewart will explain or demonstrate or both. In either case, you will enjoy what he has to say and what he does. Let’s go ladies.”

A chorus of “Bye, Phil” was made by the six underwear Evan placed in the bag.

Phil was standing there trying to understand what happened when laughter reached his ears.

“It’s a different guy this time?” The teenage girl said to her friend.

“Must be something with those machines.”

“It’s too bad we can’t use them yet.”

“I don’t know if I want to if it means I’ll have to talk to underwear in public.”

Phil shoved the underwear in his pocket unaware of the new vista about to appear before his eyes, and elsewhere.

TEASER - Trust Machines: Briefs

Evan watched as Charles walked away. He was startled from his woolgathering when a pair of teenage girls walking by giggled at the man holding a pair of underwear near the mall exit.

Early in the story coming to Patreon this weekend, the scene above happens. Trust Machines: Briefs is playful tale about a chance encounter Evan has with a man holding a bag full of men's boxerbriefs. Briefs is a short story set in DK Fenger's Trust Machine universe. It is approximately 5.6k words in length.

I just rendered this today. I was embarrassed by the snafu Tuesday where the image for Statue Rentals #12 was missing from the post. Embarrassment loves company so I made this teaser image for the Saturday short story coming up. This teaser is a public post. I've been avoiding public posts. I hope this is fine. The story will not be a public post. Reader tier and higher members will be able to read the story.

Little Witch #15: Date Night, Part 2

EDIT: I don't know what happened to cause the images to go missing. It was there yesterday when I looked at it. They're here now. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Off by one scheduling: The statue in the restaurant, Anna, is first seen in Statue Rentals #12, which comes out next week and we see her meet Meredith. Oops. At least the appearances are less than 2 months apart this time.

I added a city backdrop to the exterior of the restaurant. Though I'm wondering now if it isn't a bit overwhelming. Oh, well.

Maurice is Katheryn's and Darren's waiter. Maurice was Reggie's and Leona's waiter. But, he hasn't made it 'on screen' yet. Poor Maurice. François, the Maitre'D, has introduced him twice. Perhaps he's shy.

Bonus Pic. I posted the raw render of Katheryn's imagination as a bonus image. She likes a rather ornate style of marble it seems.

Transcript

Panel 1 – interior of Tellani’s Restaurant. A statue named Anna stands in the serving area

Panel 2 – Couple is seated in main row with excellent view of the statue, Anna, in the center of the main walkway.

Maitre’D, handing menu to Kate: Welcome to Tellani’s. I haven’t seen you here before. Is this a special occasion?

Mommy: No, we’ve heard so many good things about it but have had trouble finding time.

Daddy: We’ve been apart for a while and we’re finally together again.

Maitre’D: That’s wonderful. Your waiter is Maurice. He will be here shortly.

Panel 3 – Looking at menus

Customer at next table (small text): The living statue is gorgeous. What happened to the other one?

Mr. Tellani at next table (small text): Yea, Stacy isn't our statue any more. She was here for over eighteen months. Anna will be gracing our dining area for the next five months. But I know Stacy. I could pass a message along.

Mommy: The menu looks so good I feel like I could eat it all.

Daddy: Just because you spent a few months without eating doesn't mean you can stuff yourself.

Mommy: Ha Ha

Panel 4

Daddy: Did you hear that? That's a living statue. I'm sure if you put the idea in her head, Angela will turn you into one for Mother's Day.

Mommy: Don't be mean. You need to encourage her to practice more.

Daddy: Does all her practice have to be on you and last for months?

Panel 5 – the couple look at the statue, Kate is imagining a different statue in the display

Daddy: Look at you. You're already imagining how you would look as a statue under glass.

Mommy: I can even see my name on the plinth. I wonder how would feel to be solid stone? Dolls are hollow.

Panel 6 – Mr. Tellani interrupts.

Mr. Tellani (thinking): Why does she seem familiar...?

Mr. Tellani: Pardon my interruption, but you sound like you've been a statue like this before. Do you know the artist?

Daddy: Only if our daughter has been making statues and not telling us. She's a witch in training.

Mommy: And I've never been a statue. The only time I've been like that in public, I was a mannequin and my daughter left me in the store overnight.

Daddy: In fact, it happened yesterday…

Little Witch: Cast of Characters

I received some feedback about folks not remembering characters ten pages apart since that could also be five months apart. Fair. That was for Statue Rentals but it spurred me to make Cast pages for Little Witch, Statue Rentals, and the highly character dense (not!) Heather stories. Rather than bug you with these pages coming out on separate days, I'm releasing them a minute before the normal Tuesday releases for the next three weeks.

And, while I'm at it, I'm going to put a plot summary here. Not sure how often I'll update it. But it's probably worth it since I can then use this as a landing page.

Plot Summary

1. Angela thanks Mommy, whom she turned into a toy doll, for playing with her.

2. Angela leaves Mommy, who's still a doll, in the sandbox as it starts to rain.

3. (NSFW) Daddy has fun with Mommy, who's still a doll.

4. Bethany makes Angela turn her mother into a doll and hides her in a bookcase.

5. Angela forgot her gym shorts. Jenny is happy to take their place to avoid gym.

6. Bethany's father finds out his daughter is no longer terrorizing other students since her mother when "missing".

7. Angela's Aunt Sally ends up as a toy doll when she arrives and asks Angela to take her to Mommy, who was sitting in a doll house at the time.

8. Angela forgot to restore Jenny to normal after gym, this is a different time. Jenny sees her collection of Mommy and Sally dolls and asks to join them.

9. Angela was called to Bethany's father to help with his missing wife.

10. Daddy insists Angela restore her mother to normal.

11. Mommy and Daddy run off and Angela gives a gift to Sally

12. Mommy, Daddy, and Angela go shopping. Mommy really loves that dress over there.

13. Mommy and Daddy are going on a date. How will Angela help her babysitter?

14. Mommy and Daddy drive to a restaurant as Mommy is reminded of Angela's hijinks earlier that day.

15. There's a statue in the restaurant that used to be a living person. Mommy wonders if Angela could cast such a spell.

Meet My Ex (Part 2 of 2)

Braedon met Lia for dinner on Sunday. Lia was a little worried. “She didn’t say anything.”

“Not a peep or a flash.”

“That’s better than an outright no, I guess.”

“What brought on being a mannequin? And don’t tell me Janet did it.”

“Indirectly. More like how Janet influenced Courtney.”

“You never said anything about Courtney.”

“At first, I thought she’d try it. And even if she did enjoy it, she’d work at the shop like the other mannequins: a week or two as a mannequin, a few days off. No, not my Courtney. She insisted after her first two week trial that they keep her there for another month. Then two months, four. Right now, she’s on a six month shift.”

“I’m surprised Tyrel allowed it.”

“I may have given her some help with him because he was distracted making Janet’s birthday gift. By the time he noticed, Courtney was already in the middle of her four month shift.”

“This doesn’t explain why you wanted a necklace.”

“Being a mannequin in the store window is the only way I can spend time with Courtney,” she said flatly.

“Funny. Hold on. You disappear for most of an entire day sometimes. Have you been spending time in the store window?”

“I have. Never over night, at least not before the conference.”

“The conference,” he said rolling his eyes.

“Tyrel wanted to see if I enjoyed several days as a mannequin before finally giving me the necklace, although, that isn’t strictly required.”

“Why?”

“Because like Michelle’s necklace, this necklace can be taken off. And the wearer can end the transformation. It also has some other stuff.”

“He mentioned that. Did you enjoy your week at the conference?”

“I did. I needed a break from the wedding prep. It was perfectly timed. It also has me feeling calm about Janet. She’ll be happy for me finding my own bliss.”

“She probably will. But she’ll needle you for being a copycat.”

“Yeah.”

*****

Lia and Braedon kissed in the living room when they got home. Braedon started to walk out, “I’ll be in the bedroom waiting…”

She held his hand to stop him from going. She flipped her hair back and tilted her head so Janet couldn’t avoid seeing the chrome circlet she wore. “Hang on. Janet, anything you want to say or ask?” She waited a moment to see if Janet would flash that she wanted to talk. She didn’t. “Okay, let’s go have fun.” She said to Braedon and followed him to the bedroom.

“That was one way to deal with her,” he said as he got undressed.

Lia was already out of her dress and on the bed. “Toggle my speech after you see this.”

She transformed. She didn’t look like a mannequin. Her skin looked soft like a sex toy. He touched her, fondling her breasts. He went to the bathroom and came back before touching the stud to allow speech.

“That was kind of cool ignoring me like that.”

“Couldn’t you have just changed back?”

“Yes. But what would be the point before you have your way with your new doll.”

“Could I force you back to normal?”

“No, that trick instead can be used to lock my form. Hit the back stud with the front stud and say ‘three hours.’ It will lock me in this form for three hours.”

“That’s what you want?”

“Sure. What good is having sex as a doll if I can just end it?”

“Okay,” he said. He touched the two studs. “Three weeks.”

As the doll locked in place, it’s mouth reshaped into a hollow opening ready to be used. He pulled the panties off the doll to discover a rather realistic looking and feeling set of genitals, unlike the mannequin in the living which was completely smooth down there.

He laughed. “I didn’t think three weeks would work. Sorry.” He did as she’d said, having his way with the doll.

In the morning, the doll lay where he’d left it. Nothing he could do about it now. He got dress for work. As he passed through the living room, Janet flashed him.

“You didn’t want to talk last night. What’s different now?” He said. He passed her and went to get some coffee. When it was ready, he stepped back into the living room with his mug.

Janet flashed him again. He unlocked her voice.

“She sleeping in?” Janet said.

“Who?”

“What did I do?”

“You have an issue with something it seems,” he said.

“Maybe. I want to apologize to Lia for being… I don’t know what I was being.”

“Territorial?”

She laughed. “Perhaps. Did she really spend a week in Michelle’s store window.”

“Yes. Along with Courtney.”

“Where’s she been?”

“When you’re on speaking terms with Lia, ask her about Courtney.”

“Is she going to work?”

“Not for a while. I may have messed up.”

“How?”

“She stuck for three weeks because I fumbled her necklace.”

“Seriously? Fumbled it how?”

“The collar is setup kind of like yours and different in some ways. She can switch from doll to human and back whenever she wants.”

“Doll?”

“Sex doll, sex toy, yeah. Not just mannequins in her necklace. After she became a doll, I activated her voice. And then she tells me that instead of turning her back to normal when you use the second stud, it locks her current form. She had me silence her and told me to lock her form for three hours.”

“Just now? This morning?”

“No last night. I said weeks instead of hours.”

“And she’s still a doll.”

“Yep.”

She laughed. “This is the best morning. I guess I’ll talk to her next month.”

“Looks that way. I gotta run.” He turned her voice off and left.

Around noon, Lia entered the living room. Janet flashed her immediately. Twice.

“Hey, Janet. I wonder what Braedon told you.”

Janet flashed that she wanted to talk again. Lia relented and switched her voice on.

“I thought you were stuck for three weeks.”

“I did give Braedon that impression.”

“You sneaky thing. The second stud doesn’t lock your necklace?”

“Oh it does. Unless I block it. When he said weeks, I blocked the command. I just pretended to be stuck. I plan to be lying in bed still ‘stuck’ when he gets home unless…”

“Unless what?”

“First, I need to know you aren’t mad about the necklace.”

“Mad? Ever since I met you, you have a tendency to think I’ll be mad when I’m almost never mad.”

“Good. I just feel it’s better to ask than to assume. I probably will never get used to preferring we assume.”

“That’s just how I am,” Janet said. “I wish I’d thought of being a sex doll.”

“Michelle’s necklace does that. She suggested I’d like it.”

“Did you?”

“Of course.” Lia paused. She reached out to touch Janet’s necklace.

“Talk to you later,” Janet said before Lia could turn her off.

Except that wasn’t what Lia was doing. “Since you prefer action…” she said. The two necklaces flashed as she touched Janet’s necklace.

The mannequin said, “I’ll act first instead of asking first.”

Janet was looking at her mannequin body. The hand that belonged to the body she was in was touching the necklace. “What just happened?” Lia’s body said. “Am I in you?”

“Yes,” Lia’s voice emitted from Janet’s necklace. “I want you to spend the day as me.”

“Lia, I don’t want…”

“Just stop. Let me explain. Or silence me if you don’t want to know how to get back inside the mannequin.”

“Fine, I’ll listen.”

“You love Braedon.”

“No, we’re just friends.”

“I don’t believe you. And I don’t mind that you love him. I love him. You love him. And in fairness, you had him first. He obviously still loves you. He dealt with your mannequin fetish. And he didn’t bat an eye when I expressed the same desire.”

“It’s not the same. He just assumes you won’t hide from the world like I…”

“It’s okay to admit it. We know. And it’s not like you have to leave the apartment in my body. In fact, I’m hoping you’ll spend all the time Braedon is home as a doll lying in our bed, stuck for three weeks.”

“But, he’ll… Does he know about this swap thing? He’ll think I’m you.”

“Oh, no,” Lia said deadpan.

“You… I…”

“You might want to sit down. I don’t want you damaging my body if you fall.”

Janet sat down. “You want Braedon to have sex with me.”

“Well, it’s still my body. You’re mind will just be along for the ride. He’ll never know.”

“Until you tell him.”

“I will pinky swear with you that I have no intention of telling Braedon our two necklaces can mind swap us.”

“Why?”

“So you can sometimes experience being with Braedon without the burden of having to be his girlfriend the rest of the time. In the future you can play with our children or experience my pregnancy. Maybe even give birth to one of our ten to twelve children.”

Janet laughed. It sounded odd coming from Lia’s mouth. “I… This isn’t just a sex thing for you? You mean you want me to borrow your life occasionally so I can do things I never thought I could do?”

“Yes, Janet. I love you that much. I’m sure Braedon does as well, though, again, I have no intention of telling him any of this.”

“I’m overwhelmed.”

“That’s okay. You still have like 4 hours before you need to be on the bed in sex doll form. Tomorrow, after he goes back to work, we can swap back.”

“What if I turned you off just pretended to be you from now on?”

“Then I guess I should have listened to you all those months ago. I should have ran.”

*****

Janet felt weird lying, unable to move, on the bed. The unable to move part was familiar, at least. She actually enjoyed being so still, so peaceful, silent, unobtrusive. It was almost evening and she was playing the part of Braedon’s fiancee turned into an inanimate doll on their bed.

Part of her wanted to rebel against this idea. Would Braedon mind this trick Lia was playing on him? Was it really a trick? There wasn’t a ‘gotcha’ here. Lia straight up wanted her to experience being with Braedon again after years separated.

Part of her wondered if she did miss it. She’d told herself so many times she didn’t want Braedon that way. But she also knew how often she would stare at his ass when he walked through the living room. Being a mannequin made coupling with Braedon less than ideal. And that barrier to entry – heh, she thought – made it easy to dismiss them getting together ever again. Of course, he could have brought her to life for a short time so they could couple. She could have asked him to do this. She could have been a mannequin with benefits.

She didn’t want to be in love. It wouldn’t be fair to Braedon to get him to love a broken woman. That’s how she thought of herself. Broken. She knew it was foolish. She shouldn’t be defined by her reproductive capability. She had convinced herself of this in the same way she justified believing she wasn’t in love with Braedon.

Lia saw through this bullshit. Janet didn’t know how this was possible. Lia somehow knew Janet still loved Braedon, still desired Braedon. And now she was facilitating that desire. Why?

Should she let that stop her from getting something she desired? She had turned herself into an object to remain close to Braedon, forever a fly on his wall. Lia was shooing her from the wall and directly into his arms.

She heard the front door open and close. Braedon moved about the bedroom without acknowledging her. She was amused that he was treating Lia just like he treated her. He left. Several hours later, he returned. He removed his clothes and got into bed.

“How was your day?” He said. “Should I enable your voice? Or should I leave you completely stuck?”

She could flash the necklace. She decided not to.

“Nothing? Now I wonder if the lock you mentioned prevents the flash or not. No matter. What’s done is done. And what is about to be done can now start.”

With care and loving, he made out with the doll. Janet was shocked at how good it felt. She’d never savored a caress as a mannequin. His touches and movement across her doll skin were pleasurable beyond words. She was immediately horny and on board with him making love to her.

For what felt like an eternity, her pleasure grew. When he entered her it was more amazing than any other time she had made love to him or any other guy. She had loved having sex with him and she could no longer deny she had missed it. She had needed this. She… She couldn’t think. Her mind exploded as she climaxed.

In the morning, Lia watched Braedon walk through the living room. He said nothing to the mannequin. She smiled inwardly as he left. A little while later, her body walked up to her and activated her voice. “Well?” She asked.

“I… How do we swap back?” Janet said.

“That’s it?”

“No. I want to swap back and then have you animate me so we can talk face to face and alive.”

“Oh, great. Just touch the necklace I’m wearing and think ‘mind swap’.”

As soon as Lia was back in her body, she touched the second stud on Janet’s necklace and said, “One hour.”

When she could move, Janet said, “I was going to say we could talk later. I’ve been alive too much the past two days.”

“You can go back to hiding in your mannequin shell after we talk.”

They sat down. “Ouch. Is there a lot of blood? It feels like there should be a lot of blood.”

“Stop that. How was it?”

“I am not going to tell you if I enjoyed your boyfriend.”

“Fine, I’ll start. Standing in the store is more fun than standing here. The only cool part was when Braedon got home last night and breezed past me like I was part of the furnishings. At least that was until he went to bed and I assume drove you wild. When he just said good morning to me before going to work I at least knew you hadn’t spoken to him.”

“I find watching people rushing around distracting. I like the calm quiet of the living room,” Janet said.

“And…”

“And what?”

“Last night. Sex.”

“It was alright.”

“Alright?” She rolled her eyes.

“I don’t know what you hope to accomplish, Lia. I didn’t ask you to do this.”

“Why do you find it so hard to believe I want you to have a fulfilling life?”

“It is fulfilling.”

“It is? Settling isn’t fulfillment.”

“It’s not like borrowing your life will make me more fulfilled either.”

“No, I suppose it wouldn’t. But if you borrowed it often enough, you might resume your own life. You could be the live-in aunt to my children. You could take up a hobby to share with them. You could have friends, ones that you didn’t abandon so you could hide from the world. Sure, the world can be overwhelming. You crawled into such a deep hole. I just want you to fill it in a little.”

“I don’t want your pity. I don’t want to be rescued either.”

“I’m not so sure of that. You chose to hide away from the world in front of an audience of one. That’s no coincidence. You could have homed yourself in a closet. Instead you stand in a living room where you get watch Braedon’s life go by. If that isn’t a cry for help I don’t know what is. You’ve been asking for a life line. And now that I’m providing it you’re afraid to grab it.”

“You are making a lot of assumptions that aren’t true.”

“At least I’m doing something.”

Janet stood up and left the room.

*****

Braedon entered the bedroom that evening to get out of his work clothes. He looked at the Lia doll on the bed. “That’s not where I left you this morning.”

The doll shimmered and came alive. “Probably not,” she said, still staring at the ceiling.

“I didn’t think you were actually stuck.”

“I know. I fucked up.”

“Fucked up what?”

“I’d rather not say. I’ll deal with it.”

“Okay. Be mysterious.”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Being you. Being accepting first. Being understanding.”

“It’s what I do.” He sat on the bed next to her. “What are we doing for dinner?”

“Oh, I didn’t even think about it. Order delivery, I guess.”

“Just because I won’t press you for details doesn’t mean you can’t just volunteer them.”

She snickered. “Yeah.”

He pulled out his phone and scrolled through various food delivery options, calling out types of cuisines and names of restaurants to see if any of them interested Lia.

“Thai?”

“Janet should move out.”

“Is that a yes or no to Thai?”

“What? No. Not noodles.”

“Okay, chicken?”

“You aren’t going to react to what I said.”

“No. I’m not. There’s probably a whole back story that comes before Janet moving out and until I have that part of the story, I’m not going to react. Fried chicken on the bone or something sandwich like.”

She rolled over onto her elbow to face him. “You are infuriating.”

“Pizza then? Buffalo chicken pizza. Frank’s or Luigi’s?”

She pulled the phone out of his hands. “Why do you allow Janet to waste her life?”

“Why does it bother you? You’ve never had a problem with it before.”

“We’re going to start a family. If we have a daughter, would having a mannequin in the living room be the kind of role model you want her to grow up with?”

“I’m kind of hoping a child being here could pull her out of her shell. You obviously want that too. You’re just being more aggressive about it for some reason.” When she just flopped down on her back again, he continued. “And technically she isn’t wasting her life. She’s delaying it. It’s not like she’s getting older as a mannequin. I asked Tyrel about this and he said ten years from now, she probably won’t even seem a year older.”

“I don’t know if that makes it better. Now we’d have to worry about our children inheriting the mannequin.”

“If they were raised with the mannequin, they’ll love it, too. What are you really trying to do?”

“She loves you.”

“She does. I love her. I have for a long time. I also love my father, mother, and brother. She’s family to me. You aren’t jealous of them.”

“I’m not jealous of her. I’m sad for her. She probably lusts for you every time she sees you. Maybe not consciously. Maybe it’s something she repressed. But it’s there. The love of her life is right in front of her and out of reach.”

“Lia, I love you dearly.” He took her hand. “And I feel exactly as you just said every time I pass though the living room. I only get by because I have you. You are the love of my life. But she’ll always have a place in my heart.”

“It doesn’t have to be like that.”

“That was not the reaction I expected.”

“I know. I feel like you two can also be together. I see no reason to impede that.”

“Are you serious?”

“I’ve seen you glance at her and want to go over and have a chat. And then you stop yourself. At first I thought you were doing it in deference to my feelings. But, I was wrong. You’ve probably made that glance and ignored it many times before I was living here, before you even knew me. You want to tell her everything. You want to sit with her and talk for hours like we often do. I’ve seen you glance at her, wishing she could contribute to some discussion we’re having. You don’t though. You don’t because you know she would complain if you did. And deep down she would regret pushing back on you. You’ve been denying yourself just as much as she’s denied herself.”

“She wants to be left alone.”

“Fine. I’ll move her body into a closet. There she can be alone.” She pointed at him. “Look at the repulsion on your face. I just told you to shoot your dog.”

“She isn’t a pet.”

“Don’t start that. And don’t try to derail a difficult conversation. She’s in your living room because you can’t imagine life without her. And you’ve settled for this mockery of a relationship to hold on to her.”

He flopped onto his back.

She didn’t say anything else.

After a few moments of silence, he said, “You aren’t wrong. I want to tell you you’re wrong. I want to just laugh it all away.”

She still didn’t say anything.

“I also don’t see how getting this out in the open helps. She won’t just stop being a mannequin.” He sat up. “Did you have this conversation with her?”

“I started it. Her body was human for an hour today. But I pushed a bit hard. She walked away. I sat in the empty living room until the mannequin reappeared in its spot. I feared she might rehome herself but she didn’t.”

“You’re leaving something out.”

“For now, yes. It isn’t important… well, it is important. But not for what we’re discussing.”

“You usually don’t lie to me.”

“Just let me have this secret. I told her I wouldn’t tell you something and I intend to keep that promise.”

“Okay. I trust you.”

She handed the phone back to him. “The pizza sounds good. Order it.”

“Okay.”

*****

Lia left Braedon thinking on the bed. She passed Janet on the way to the kitchen. “I hope you aren’t too mad at me.”

The mannequin didn’t react.

When the doorbell rang, Braedon received the pizza. As he passed through the living room, Janet flashed her desire to speak. Twice.

“Be right back,” he said to Lia as he set the pizza down. He turned Janet’s voice on.

“May I have dinner with the two of you? We should talk.”

“Two hours?”

“Four.”

He brought her to life. “You’re always welcome to dinner, Janet.”

She hugged him as soon as she could move.

He held her.

“You two can hug later. The pizza’s going to get cold,” Lia called out.

They laughed and joined her in the kitchen.

They ate in silence for at least one slice each. Janet was exchanging glances with Lia who for the most part just shrugged in response. Braedon left them to work it out.

“I’m going to tell him,” Janet said.

“I can’t stop you. And I don’t really want to stop you. I just said I wouldn’t tell him.”

“Tell me what?”

“You’re still amazing in bed,” Janet said.

“Thanks?” He sounded confused. “Does Lia brag about it?”

“No.” She paused. “I was the doll last night.”

He was shocked. “How?”

“Magic,” Lia said. She made wavy jazz hands to emphasize the word. Her humor didn’t create laughter. “Oh, well. I tried.”

Janet explained the process as Lia stayed true to her word about not telling him.

“Why, Lia?”

“So we could have this conversation. Or really the one after this one. The one I started with both of you earlier. It is painfully obvious you two are in love. And while I’ve never felt neglected by Braedon or second fiddle to Janet, it’s always been a drag on the mood of the apartment. You two laugh it off, rib one another, joke about it. But, there’s an undercurrent of you both wishing things were different. Out in the open now, things will be different. I know it’s scary. Change always is. We are all adults. And we are all three in love each other. We can make that work if we try.”

*****

It was only when Janet disappeared four hours later that they realized four hours had passed. Lia and Braedon cleaned up the kitchen. Lia stopped in the living room before they went to bed. “Good night, Janet. I’m sure you’re talked out for several days now.”

The mannequin didn’t react.

In bed, Braedon waited until the lights were out and they had exchanged their good night kiss. He said, “I didn’t want to say anything before. But, how does all this affect our wedding?”

“It shouldn’t.”

“Well, you’ve expanded our couplehood into a throuple.”

“Privately. Any children we have need to have the two of us in the parent spots on the birth certificate.”

“It’s just unfortunate there’s no way to make all three of us official,” he said.

“It’s not like Janet would want us to throw a big party. Getting her to attend our wedding is already difficult. Just figuring out where to put a mannequin that isn’t too centrally located as to cause lots of people to congregate around her but not so far away that it doesn’t feel like she’s there is tough to balance.”

“True. She doesn’t want to be the center of attention.”

“No, the complete opposite, really.”

They cuddled up and fell asleep.

*****

The wedding was a beautiful ceremony and party. Lia managed to pry Courtney out of the store window long enough to be her maid of honor. Janet was placed in a quiet corner of the room. A few times, Courtney and Michelle stood next to her as mannequins so she wouldn’t attract attention as the only mannequin in the room.

Lia had wanted to join them but didn’t even wear her necklace. It would be too distracting if the bride became a mannequin. Toward the end of the party, Lia spoke Janet.

“Just a half hour. When it’s over, you’ll return to the apartment. Clean and simple.”

Lia hadn’t activated her voice. Janet flashed no.

“Why not?”

No flashes appeared.

“I think you should have one dance with Braedon. Today. No one will care. And anyone who sees it will be drunk anyway.”

Darkness.

“For me?”

Janet reluctantly flashed yes.

“Thirty minutes.” Lia said. She touched the two studs on Janet’s necklace. No one noticed the mannequin was briefly chrome colored before she came to life.

“There are too many people.”

“Don’t look at the people. Look at Braedon. Or me.”

“I hate you.”

“Of course you do.” Lia tapped Braedon on the shoulder. He was talking to a friend as he turned. “Someone wants to dance with you.”

“No, she doesn’t.”

“Do it anyway.”

“Let’s get it over with,” Janet said. “You have to do what she says now.”

“I do not.”

“You said I do earlier. That’s how it works.”

They continued to banter as the walked to the corner of the dance floor farthest from any other dancers.

“Lia?”

She turned. It was one of Braedon’s friends, Jim, she thought. “Jim?”

“Yes. Isn’t that Janet?”

“It is.”

“You know who she is, right?”

“More than you know. I had to twist her arm to get her to do this much.”

“Look at how she’s holding him.”

“I know. They were made for each other.”

“That’s a rather weird thing for the bride to say about her husband and another woman.”

“They gave up on each other. She hides herself away from the world.”

“I never believed she was a mannequin till I saw her here today,” Jim said.

“She’s the old chair I’ll never convince Braedon to get rid of. I can do anything as long as he gets to keep his favorite thing around. Why should I fight it? I figure. And I do enjoy talking with Janet as well.”

Jim laughed. “He does talk about her sometimes. I thought he’d lost track of her when she disappeared from the friend circle.”

“How is it I never heard this?”

“We all agreed not to mention her around you. No one wants to hear about their boyfriend’s ex.”

“He introduced me to her two months after we started dating. And I’m glad he did. She’s a good friend to me. And I don’t think he’d be the same man if she went away. So to keep the man I love, I also keep his mannequin.”

“Cheers to you then,” Jim said, raising he drink.

“Cheers to them.”

RENDER - Gutter Maids 1 & 2

2025/09/30 - When I originally scheduled this (in early July), there was only the first page and a vague notion of a second page. Now, there's the second page. I have a vague notion about the third page. Will I finish it before this posted at the end of September? (It's August 6 as the second page is added to the post.) Either way, this will not be a lengthy series if it can even be called a series. This is just some fun with size changes. (For now... *horror organ chord*)

I made a weird decision when I started this. The models for Stacy and Layla are the two models used in Statue Rentals for that story's Stacy. Is this an alternate reality where Stacy doesn't live with his friend Reggie? Perhaps, after meeting Layla, he has a dream where he becomes Layla and all of Statue Rentals is that dream. Or maybe Stacy from Statue Rentals has this weird dream where she meets her old self and she becomes his maid? Or.... Or maybe this happened in the past and when Meredith saw the woman in the block of stone, it looked like Layla because that's who Stacy wishes she was. (Insert conspiracy cork board image here.)

Or it's just because I didn't make new models and the stories are unrelated. (Of course, Paul has already resurfaced in Last Mannequin For Storage. If I do link Gutter Maids to Statue Rentals will that pull the LM4S into that same continuity? Should I redo LM4S using Leona's model? Noriko?)

This comic also experiments with not having speech bubbles. The text is so dense. If I used my usually bubble style the second comic would just be speech bubbles and Stacy's giant head. Not sure if I like this style. It should be fairly obvious who is speaking based on the color. Originally, I didn't include the little dashes. I added them in case it wasn't obvious who was speaking, for example, if the reader were color blind.

Yet another dialog bubble idea will be seen at the end of the year. (Heh.)

Scheduling: This is the fifth Tuesday of the month and that's why this isn't The Little Witch or Statue Rentals. Next fifth Tuesday is in December. It is still open. I have another one off comic that might end up there.

Transcript (Page 1)

Panel 1 – A 30 ft tall woman kneeling on a lawn, wearing a traditional maid’s outfit.

Guy (shocked): Whoa!

Maid: Hi, Mr. Erikson. You hired my gutter cleaning service?

Guy: Gutter Maids, yes.

Maid: That’s me. Sign here.

Guy: Um… Okay. Pen?

Maid: Oh, go ask Paul, the truck driver. I can’t easily hold a pen.

Panel 2 – The woman is cleaning out the gutter. Guy watching. The driver is carrying away a trash bag.

Guy: That little shovel must also be hard to hold.

Maid: Easier than a pen. It’s a normal gardening shovel. When you’re my size, you get used to small tools.

Guy: I feel like that was a joke at my expense.

Maid: That would depend on the size of your tool. They all look small to me.

Guy: I suppose I shouldn’t touch that one with a thirty foot pole.

Maid: Good one. And since you look like you want to ask, we have a machine to change my size at the shop. I’m normally quite short.

Guy: I bet this job gives you perspective.

Maid, to Guy: Are you flirting with the thirty foot tall woman.

Maid, to Paul: Thanks for changing the trash bag, Paul.

Maid, to Paul: Don’t look up my skirt, Paul.

Paul: Do this, Paul. Don’t do that, Paul. Nag, nag, nag.

Guy: I fear as a girlfriend you would always be out of reach.

Maid: Got them all out of your system yet?

Guy: Or you’d always have your head in the clouds. That should do it.

Panel 3 – She is crammed into the back of the box truck. Guy’s standing outside the rear opening. Paul approaches.

Maid: You rock. Just don't actually take that picture while I'm crammed in here. Do you want to do dinner? I eat very little considering my size.

Guy: Given the luxurious ways you travel, I doubt I could afford to take you some place appropriate.

Paul: I hate to break this up but I've got to close the doors. We still have two more stops today, Layla.

Guy: Why doesn’t he have to wear a maid’s dress?

Maid, Layla: Yeah, Paul, why aren’t you in a frilly dress?

Paul: Don’t rile her up. She’ll get bigger.

Maid: It was only that one time.

Transcript (Page 2)

Panel 1 – Mr. Stacy Ericson arrives at the Gutter Maids shop to pick up Layla to go on a date He finds Paul standing behind a reception desk.

Stacy: Hey, how's it going? Is Layla ready? She told me to meet her here after six.

Paul: Ah, Mr. Ericson. Are you sure you can handle Layla? She's a lot of woman, you know.

Stacy: I'm not a client, tonight, Paul. Call me Stacy.

Paul: Okay.

Stacy: Layla mentioned the machine you guys have. I'm assuming she won't be thirty feet tall today.

Paul: True. That green thing over to the right in the corner is called 'The Booth' by the maids.

Paul: I was just ribbing you a bit. Some guys get all weird at the thought of hooking up with woman so big, so powerful. Did you know the maids train for months to make sure they don't accidentally squish someone?

Stacy: Is that something that happens, um, frequently?

Paul: Far too many maids quit because of the guilt that traumatizes them after accidentally injuring someone or, God forbid, a pet.

Paul: But, yeah. I was kidding. Layla won't tower over you wherever you're taking her tonight. Oh, here she comes now.

Panel 2 - Layla is carried to the reception counter in Gabe’s hand as she’s only a foot tall. Stacy leans in to get a good look at her. We don’t see Gabe’s face.

Stacy: Ha, ha. Oh, Paul. You got me good.

Paul: See? She's unlikely to tower over you unless Gabe lifts her over your head.

Layla: Thanks for the lift, Gabe.

Gabe: No problem, Miss Layla. You treat this little lady well, Mr. Ericson.

Layla: Don't start with that little lady stuff. Hi, Stacy, lend me a hand to get down.

Gabe: I wasn't planning to lift her over my head, Mr. Paul. Good night. Have a good evening, Miss Layla.

Paul: Does Gabe like you?

Layla: I think he does, Paul. Gabe is so shy.

Layla: But you, Stacy. You clean up nice.

Stacy: Thanks. I assume there's a convoluted reason why you're so much smaller than me and why you couldn't go into that booth over there and become normal sized.

Layla: I don't know that it's convoluted.

Layla: We also clean interiors. Someone has to combat the hordes of dust bunnies lurking in places that are only hard to reach for normal-sized maids.

Stacy: I had no idea you were a warrior gutter maiden.

Layla: Warrior Maiden? I like that. As for staying small, activating the booth is expensive. I have three more short shifts this week, and while they give us monthly credits to use the machine for free, after they're used, we have to pay out of pocket. All because people were using the booth recreationally, I heard.

Stacy: Ha, I suppose 'short shifts' refers to your height not the length of the shifts.

Layla: Correct. I figured you'd be cool with it. This is only a mild inconvience, right? We'll find a way to make it work. And if not, it should make for a funny story to tell some day.

Stacy: I'm game. We'll just go out and have a run-of-the-mill bowling date.

Layla: I love that I can't tell if you're joking.

Meet My Ex (Part 1 of 2)

A two part story about a man who is happy to introduce his latest girlfriend to last more than a month to his ex-girlfriend.

“That’s the apartment. It’s functional. Oh, and that’s Janet, my old girlfriend,” Braedon said to Lia.

“What? The mannequin?”

Standing in a corner of the living room of Braedon’s apartment, facing the television, was a mannequin. It was wearing a slinky, strapless, little black dress, black heels, a wide, gold chain belt, a pair of thin, gold chain bracelets on its right wrist only, and a chrome choker, a solid ring a centimeter in diameter.

“Of course. Janet, this is Lia.”

“Your new girlfriend?” A tinny voice sounded from the mannequin. “Nice to meet you.”

“Where did that voice come from?”

“Janet,” Braedon said. “Well, the choker she’s wearing. But, she said it.”

“Is that some kind of AI or VR?”

“What?”

“No, I’m the mannequin,” the tinny voice said.

“Your girlfriend…” Lia began.

“Former girlfriend,” Janet interrupted. “We broke up amicably.”

“Your former girlfriend is a mannequin that can talk?”

“For the most part,” he said. “The mannequin itself cannot talk. Part of the magic allows Janet to verbalize her thoughts through the choker.”

“He left out that the choker is also how I’m currently made of plastic.”

“And you wanted to be a mannequin?”

“All my life,” Janet said. “Braedon helped me achieve it.”

“I’m so confused.”

“I should have scared her.”

“I’m glad you stopped doing that to people.”

“Scared me?”

“I once brought a woman home, our second date, I think,” Braedon sighed just thinking of the memory. “When she asked about the mannequin, Janet said...”

“Run for your life!” Janet shouted. “Before you end up trapped just like me-ee!!” She started laughing. “The look on your face, Braedon, still kills me.”

“I was stunned. And my date ran.”

“Ever see her again?” Janet said. “Melissa, I think.”

“No, I still owe her an apology and so do you.”

“I said I was sorry for cock blocking you many times since then.”

“That was funny. Unless I am in danger,” Lia said. “But, I’m still confused. Why did you want to be a mannequin? And why is she here?”

“I don’t know,” Janet said. “Ask him about the second question first.”

“She doesn’t take up a lot space,” he said. “We dated for nearly two years. We definitely clicked. And yet, there was always something missing. I would ask her and she would say…”

“You’d never understand,” Janet said. It was a sentence one could tell Janet had said many times, with melancholy and a fatalistic sorrow.

“I persisted and finally she says she’s always dreamed of being a mannequin. And I said…”

“He said, there’s nothing wrong with that,” Janet said. “To be honest, I thought he was humoring me. And then he says…”

“I know someone who turns living women into mannequins. Her face was inscrutable when I said it so I added that he turns them back to people, too.”

“Not that that was important to me,” Janet said. “Are you serious? I asked.”

“A few days later I took her to the clothing shop owned by my friend Michelle. All the mannequins in the shop are living women transformed by magic into merchandise display pieces.”

“Mannequins.”

“She introduced us to her husband Tyrel, who is a wizard. He agreed to turn her into one but she threw a wrench in the works.”

“I didn’t want to display clothes in their store,” Janet said. “And the magic he was going to use was part of the store.”

“You wanted to be a mannequin, but not display clothing?” Lia said.

“Oh, I love wearing cool clothing. This dress is one of my favs. I’m just shy about being seen.”

“Is that why we’ve been dating for two months and today is the first time you invited me here?” Lia said.

“Yes,” Braedon said. “I’ve shown her your picture and told her about our dates.”

“You two seem pretty good for one another,” the mannequin said.

“And what about you two?”

“Oh,” Braedon laughed.

“Oh,” Janet said at the same time. “We don’t have sex any more. We haven’t in several years, I think. We’re just friends. No benefits, well, except that I get to live – such as I am rarely alive – here rent free.”

“And you’re great to talk to.”

“Thanks,” Janet said. “At times like this, I wish I could move to thank him with a friendly hug.”

“You could,” he said.

“No, no. Finish the story you were telling.”

Lia laughed.

“What?” Janet said.

Braedon merely looked at her inquisitively.

“I only laughed because the two of you tell a story like an old married couple. One leads, one reminds them when they leave something out, you finish each other’s sentences, and other stuff like that.”

“We do do that, don’t we?” Braedon said.

“We do. Let’s continue telling my story like an old couple.”

“Okay,” Braedon continued with a raspy, old man voice, occasionally throwing in a hacking cough. “We were almost done. Michelle was disappointed since finding women who willingly spent days or weekends as a mannequin isn’t exactly the kind of thing you can put into the search bar of a job listing website.”

“Stop that with your voice. You’ll hurt your throat. You old coot!” Janet laughed.

He resumed in his normal voice. “I convinced Tyrel to see if he could make a portable mannequin transformation device.”

“And I told him and Michelle I would gladly pay for it. I figured if I’m a mannequin, I won’t really need money going forward.”

“He said no and insisted Janet be turned into a mannequin and be left in the back room for at least a month to make sure being a mannequin was what she wanted.”

“I said the back room was still too exposed and ended up spending three or four months in one of the changing rooms as part of the store’s mannequin inventory.”

“Without a break?”

“After the first month, he agreed to make the device and we negotiated a price. I then spent nearly three months as a mannequin waiting while he made it.”

“She was also unable to speak like she is now,” Braedon said. “The store doesn’t have speaking mannequins.”

“And you enjoyed it?” Lia said.

“It was all that I had wanted and even more,” Janet said.

“What did you do while your girlfriend was a mannequin?”

“She broke up with me,” Braedon said. “She said if everything worked out we wouldn’t be able to continue our relationship.”

“He wanted to see if we could make it work,” Janet said. “But, I’m infertile. I’ve been resigned to the fact that I’ll never have children since I was young. He wants to have a family, ten or twelve kids.”

“Two,” Braedon interjected. “Maybe three at the very most. Don’t scare the woman I’ve been dating for ten weeks and two days.”

Janet laughed, “And how many hours?”

“I can shut you up,” he said.

“Maybe I’m goading you so you don’t end up spending the whole evening talking about your ex.”

“Fine.” He reach for the collar and touched a small stud Lia hadn’t noticed until now. It depressed like a recessed button.

Silence.

“She can’t talk, now?” Lia asked. “She isn’t just not talking. She is incapable?”

He nodded. “Not until someone presses that little button again.”

“She wanted you to do that.”

“She is shy. She told you that.”

“She sounded so outgoing.”

“I’m sure she ran out of spoons three to five minutes ago. I could hear it in her voice.”

“You could?”

“I know her better than I know my brother Greg.”

“You two were serious.”

“We dated for over two years.”

“How many months?”

He laughed. “She really doesn’t want us to talk about her.”

“We could go in the bedroom.”

“Only if we aren’t going to talk about… well, much of anything.”

“We could do that.”

*****

The next morning, Lia closed the bedroom door behind her softly. She didn’t want to wake Braedon. She was headed to the kitchen when she saw the mannequin. It was right where it had been when she and Braedon had left. She wasn’t sure why she might have thought it wouldn’t be. Standing as it was, no one who wasn’t told or shown could possibly know the mannequin was also a woman named Janet.

She put a flavor cup in the coffee maker and walked over to his ex. She ran her finger along the chrome circlet until she found the recessed button. She pressed it.

“I hope you don’t mind me pushing your button.”

“Like I haven’t heard that one before. Good morning, Lia.”

“Good morning. I thought it was clever,” Lia said, pouting.

“I’m well aware that I’m something of a curiosity and you’re curious,” Janet said. “You weren’t very loud last night.”

Lia blushed. “I was a little self-conscious.”

“Don’t be,” Janet laughed. “Who am I going to tell with whom Braedon has sex? Or how loud they are?”

“And that doesn’t bother you?”

“The first two, maybe three times I felt a pang or two of jealousy – that isn’t the right word. But, neither is regret the right word. Whatever it was, I worked through it. I’m very happy that you and Braedon… enjoy each other’s companionship.”

“What were you about to say?”

“How do you feel about him?”

“He loves me. I can feel it. I’m not far behind him. I just need a little more time.”

“Pretend I’m nodding.”

“Does the collar come off?”

“Yes,” said Janet. She quickly added, “And I’m not going to tell you how. I’m fine as I am.”

“I didn’t mean I was going to do that to you. If I’m bothering you, I’ll turn you off.”

“Turn me off?” Janet said as if the words were foreign to her. “Braedon and I have never said it like that. I’ll have to use that phrase again later.”

“Glad I could help.”

“Thanks. I’m sure your coffee is getting cold. And I’m at my limit, I think. Could you…?”

Lia pressed the button before Janet could finish the request. She returned to the kitchen and sipped her still hot enough coffee. “I forgot to ask how much the collar had cost,” she said aloud.

Braedon joined Lia on the living room sofa an hour or so later. His cup of coffee brewing. “Did you talk to her? Get all you answers?”

“Yes and no. She wasn’t in the mood.”

“Yeah, last night wore her out.”

The coffee maker beeped.

“Why is she here?”

“One sec.” He got up and got his cup. He said, “Good morning, Janet,” as he passed by the mannequin. He sat down again. “She doesn’t really have anywhere to go. She’s an orphan. She was never in the system. Her parents died when she was nineteen. She actually had a small trust that matured a few years ago. Some of it paid for the collar. But, she’ll be mad if I go into any depth about that.”

“I don’t want to annoy her.”

“It’s okay, I think. We just get through today and then you won’t be curious and it’s over and done with. Why is she here? She has money. She could have rented a tiny apartment or even a storage locker, locked herself away, and never been seen again, right?”

“I guess.”

“Except, she isn’t anti-social. She isn’t even introverted as you’ve seen. She’s shy. She doesn’t want to hide from the world. She just wants to keep it at a safe distance.”

“I’ve never met someone that reclusive. Although, I suppose that’s what someone like that prefers,” Lia said.

“True. Reclusive is a better word. I say shy but that’s not precise. Have to remember to start saying reclusive. Where was I? Oh. She was surprised when I showed up at the store and pulled her out of the changing room. Michelle restored her to flesh and Tyrel presented her with the collar she’s wearing now. He showed her how it works – I know she doesn’t want me to explain it to you.”

“She said that when I asked.”

“It’s like asking someone what’s your favorite sex toy? You need to be pretty good friends to ask or receive an answer usually.”

“There are exceptions to that.”

“I’m sure,” he said. “She tried it out. I helped. When the demonstration was over, she paid him and then she had this look like she was a lost puppy. I said she could stay at my place till she figures something out. We had been living together before the break up. Her clothes are still in my spare room closet. And once she had been standing in the apartment for a couple months, I convinced her she was right where she belonged. Although, I think she was standing over there at the time. We’ve changed her permanent standing location a few times. She even spent a few months sitting in the stuffed chair over there.”

“Do you talk to her every day?”

“Yes and no. I’ve left her silent for weeks at a time occasionally. She really doesn’t mind. I don’t do it often. She is my friend. I like to talk to her. She wants to just blend into the background, unnoticed. I’m sure there’s more nuance to it. But that’s the simple explanation.”

“Did you tell her I was going to visit last night?”

“I did. But I didn’t press the button. She understands she can’t dictate how I spend my time. She prefers when I treat her as part of the décor.”

“An accessory or maybe a pet.”

“A pet. That’s funny. Did you hear that Janet? You’re my pet.”

“Do you just randomly say things to her often?”

“Too often she’d say. I only said I leave her silent for periods of time. I didn’t say I didn’t acknowledge her presence for similar lengths of time. Can’t recall the last time I didn’t say good morning or good evening to her.”

“And otherwise you don’t interact with her?”

He hesitated. “I do change her clothes sometimes.”

“She did mention that dress was one of her favorites.”

“Yes. Once a week – more often when I’m in the mood – I remove what she’s wearing and put it in the hamper in the spare room. I’ll go through her closet and dress her in something else. I even change her accessories, aside from the thick chrome circlet. Then I take a few pics and show them to her. Sometimes I ask her if she approves. Sometimes I don’t. And sometimes, I buy her something new to wear. She likes that the most.”

*****

Months passed, one day Lia was in the apartment while Braedon ran out to get a few groceries. She walked over to the mannequin and hesitated. “I hope you don’t mind. Braedon wants me to move in and he said he wasn’t going to ask you for permission. But, that still feels wrong so I’m going to ask. Do you mind if I move in with Braedon?”

She hadn’t turned Janet on since the day after they first met. She had spoken to her many times, or at her since Janet didn’t talk back. She just didn’t think it was her place to turn Janet on. She hadn’t even seen Braedon activate her or heard Janet speak since then. She pressed the button.

“Arf arf. Heh heh heh heh heh.” Janet said. “Woof!”

“What?”

“You said I’m a pet.”

“Oh, god. Are you mad about that?”

Janet laughed. “No, no. I’m sorry. Here. Let me answer your question without words. Put your middle finger on the button without pressing it. Now slide your ring finger around the back till you find another recessed spot.”

A look of concentration crossed Lia’s face until her eyes widened. “I think I’ve got it.”

“You do. Now say out loud, ‘Two hours’ and pull you hand away.”

“Two hours.”

The chrome circlet shimmered. The reflective metal seemed to flow over the mannequin’s body until a metal statue stood there. After a moment the chrome faded, leaving behind human flesh.

Janet hugged Lia. “I’d love for you to live here. I guess that means I’ll be your pet too.”

“I…”

“I’m joking. Relax.”

“Oh!” Lia said suddenly. “You just showed me how…”

Janet nodded. “I trust you. And I love you like a sister. You are so good for Braedon. And he adores you. I hope this is just the first of many steps in both your lives I’ll get to witness.”

“Thank you. I was so nervous.”

“It’s your own fault for not running when I warned you.”

“I suppose. Not that it’s important, but where’s the circlet?”

“I don’t really know. Tyrel explained it but neither Braedon nor I really understood the far too technical explanation. All I know is less that two hours from now, regardless of where I’m at, I’ll vanish and reappear as a mannequin over there, wearing the circlet.”

“He said it was a designated spot.”

“Yeah,” Janet said. “That can be changed, but only by me so you don’t need to know that. Come with me.” They went into the spare room. “I hate this dress. I want to change it. And I don’t get to do that often.”

“Mannequin problems. Who knew?” Lia said.

“Hey, I resemble that remark. And I know Braedon picked this dress on purpose. He probably knew you’d ask me.”

“He is usually a few steps ahead, isn’t he?”

“Should I throw that dress out?” Braedon said, appearing in the doorway.

The two women looked at each other they both had been about to jump up and rush him. “Go ahead,” Lia said. “I can hug him any time I want.”

Janet and Braedon shared a long hug. “I’ve missed this.”

“I know,” he said.

They sat on the sofa talking. Janet sat next to Lia hugging her sideways. Lia sat between the other two, her hand in Braedon’s hand.

At some point, Janet interrupted, “I’m about to…” She vanished.

Braedon turned to look at her spot.

Lia turned in time to see her mannequin body shimmer into existence where, in her experience, it had always been.

*****

After moving in, Lia felt comfortable inviting friends over. First was her old college roommate, Courtney. They passed through the living room as Lia gave her friend the ‘grand’ tour. When they returned, Courtney said, “That’s it?”

“It isn’t a big apartment but it’s good for Braedon and me.”

Courtney laughed. “You told me about the mannequin when you first started seeing Braedon seriously. You aren’t going to introduce me to her?”

“I actually forgot. Janet, this is Courtney. Courtney, Janet.”

“Hi,” Courtney said.

“Better?”

“I thought she spoke.”

“Oh, well, she can, if I let her. But, I haven’t really done that.”

“If you let her?”

“Braedon rarely turns on the voice part and I’ve followed his lead.”

“Sounds controlling. What if you were his mannequin?”

“Fine.” Lia touched the necklace.

“I did tell her to run, Courtney,” Janet said. “Nice to meet you.”

“Fabulous. Hi, again. You really like being stuck like that.”

“I do. I don’t mind when they completely ignore me. Sometimes I tell Braedon he turns the voice on too often when he does.”

“He never does,” Lia said.

“He’s done so a few times when you weren’t around.”

“Cheater,” Courtney said.

Janet laughed. “Braedon is a perfect gentleman.”

“Let’s not keep her too long,” Courtney said. “Being a fly on the wall is dangerous once you get noticed.”

“No swatting,” Janet said. “But you get it. A fly on the wall. Great analogy.”

“And as a mannequin, no bug parts.”

“Good day, Janet,” Lia said as she turned her off.

“Wish I could go through life like that. No cares or worries,” Courtney said.

*****

Lia had been living there for over a year and wedding preparations were well underway. On a rare day when she had cleared her schedule from distractions, she was alone in the apartment. Almost alone.

“I hope you don’t mind but I got you a birthday gift,” Lia said. “Braedon was reluctant to even tell me when your birthday was. I don’t think you’re that private a person. I wish I didn’t feel anxious when I wanted to talk to you and get your opinion. I visited Michelle’s shop and in addition to getting you a new dress – Michelle said you would love it – I got you something I asked Tyrel to make.”

She held up a chrome ring that looked very similar to the one around the mannequin’s neck. “Happy Birthday.” She pressed the button.

“You didn’t have to.”

“I did. And you will be happy about the upgrade.”

“What does it do?”

“You don’t want to be surprised?”

“Okay. How do you replace the one I’m wearing with that one? Or do they stack?”

“No, they don’t stack.” Lia turned Janet’s voice off. “It won’t work if speech is active. When you hear the two metal bands clink together, think the word upgrade.”

She touched the circlet in her hand to the circlet around Janet’s neck. They both vanished for a split second and reappeared having swapped positions. Lia put the one in her hand down and took out her phone. She activated the video camera and held the phone so Janet could see herself in the phone’s display. “When you are sure can see the collar in the phone, think the word, ‘Flash’.”

A few seconds later, a bright light flashed from a portion of the chrome collar. It flashed a few more times. Lia looked away. “Okay. Okay. Now. Flash it twice in a row and I’ll turn on your voice. Flash it five times in a row and I’ll restore you to…”

The circlet was already three flashes into a series of five. She touched the circlet and said, “One hour.”

Janet gave her the tightest squeeze. “I’ll be able to tell you when I want to talk. Or you can ask me before turning me on if I want to be turned on.”

“Exactly. Happy Birthday.”

“Ecstatic Birthday. This is so wonderful. I don’t know how many times I wanted to do either of those things.”

Lia explained all the ways she could modify the flash. Janet then started suggesting some signals she could use for various circumstances.

“What about the old collar?”

“Tyrel wants it back. He has a plan for it.”

“Okay. Oh!” Janet said. “I hope you didn’t spend too much on the new collar.”

“That isn’t your concern. I thought about having Tyrel make it so you could bring yourself to life on your own. But he said…”

“I wouldn’t want that. He asked me about that many times before he relented. There isn’t any way to do that in the new collar, right?”

“If there is, he didn’t tell me,” Lia said. “Now, let me get your opinion about a few things while I can show you the computer easily.”

When Braedon returned, Lia was in the home office using the computer, looking at bridal websites. He gave her a kiss and said he’d be watching the television.

He sat on the sofa and pulled up a show he was in the middle of watching. Shortly after it started, there was a flash of light behind him. He turned around but nothing looked out of place. This repeated several times over the course of the show.

When Lia walked in she saw the collar flash twice.

Braedon whipped his head around. “Did you see that?”

“See what?”

“Those flashes.”

“It was a bit muggy today. Lightning maybe?”

“Too bright without a clap of thunder.”

There was another flash.

He looked toward Janet. “That wasn’t anywhere near the window.” As he looked at her, her collar flashed. He resisted the urge to whip his head around.

Lia laughed.

“What are you two up to?”

“Ask her,” Lia said.

He turned on Janet’s voice. “Happy Birthday to me!” Her collar flashed with each word.

“How?”

Janet and Lia told the story of the new collar in tandem. In the middle, Braedon laughed. “When did you two learn to tell stories like Janet and I do?”

“We had a productive afternoon,” Janet said.

*****

A few weeks later, Braedon passed through the living room and Janet’s collar flashed the signal indicate she wanted to speak to him. He turned her voice on.

“Where’s Lia?” Janet asked.

“Business trip. Rather sudden, too. She won’t be back for a week.”

“Oh. She didn’t tell me.”

“I know she sent me a text to apologize. I forgot to tell you.”

“Like I believe that.”

He showed her the text from a day ago.

“Fine. Okay. I’m good.”

He turned her off.

Braedon got an unexpected text a few days later. Michelle wanted to know if he could meet for lunch before the end of the week. Their schedules lined up on Thursday.

Braedon arranged to take a long lunch and took public transit across town to the store. As he walked up the block he noticed something in the store window that was both familiar and something he’d never seen before. Lia was standing in the window as a mannequin. He took its picture.

He entered the store. Michelle called out, “Braedon, how are you?” She hugged him.

“Great. Where are we going for lunch?”

“I saw you notice her.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Sure, you have a mannequin in that window that looks like my finance who has never lied to me. I took its picture so I can text it to her at her conference she told me she was attending.”

“You’re so clever. Look at the sign over there.”

He looked where she pointed. A sign said, “Mannequin Conference.” It listed as start and end dates the days Lia said she would be gone. He laughed. “As I said, she’s never lied to me. Is that her friend Courtney next to her?”

“You didn’t know about her? She’s been there for like six months.”

“Six months? I guess I haven’t seen her in a while. She works here now?”

“Yeah, must have caught the bug from Janet. She showed up and out of the blue asked about being a mannequin.

Tyrel entered from the back room. “How are you Braedon?” They hugged and shook hands. “Talking about Lia or Courtney?”

“I’m good. Courtney at the moment.”

“I don’t know what Janet said to her. But she insisted on being one of our mannequins. She hasn’t left the window in months.”

“How come I never see Michelle in the window?”

“Because like someone else you know, she only does that at home.”

“I don’t see a necklace.”

“Mine is hinged and can be removed, among other differences,” Michelle said.

“Is that why you wanted Janet’s necklace back after the upgrade?”

“No, Michelle got her necklace a few months after Janet got hers. There’s a new mannequin-atic using the newly modified necklace that was once Janet’s.”

“I didn’t notice that. Lia’s wearing a necklace?”

“She is.”

A delivery person arrived with take-out Chinese food. Michelle said, “We figured we’d eat here so you could ask us both questions. Hopefully not just about mannequins.”

“Does Lia get a finder’s fee for Courtney?”

“She already collected on that. I didn’t want to give her a necklace.”

They caught up on each other’s lives. Tyrel told Braedon most of the new features of Lia’s necklace.

He had to leave to get back to work. He stepped up behind the mannequin. “You didn’t run this by Janet. I’m pretty sure she would have said something to me. I don’t think she’ll mind. I’ll find out before you get back from your… conference.”

That evening, Braedon stood next to Janet. “I have some information you probably want to know.” He held up his phone. There was an image on it of Lia, a mannequin, standing in Michelle’s dress shop. He swiped to the next image, a closeup of Lia’s neck wearing a familiar chrome colored circlet.

He waited. He expected Janet might say something but she didn’t flash to indicate she wanted to talk. “She’ll be home late on Sunday.” After standing there a moment, he left the room to shower and relax for the evening.

Statue Rentals #11: Arrangements

Texting. I hope people just know how texting looks. The other person's name is at the top and their text is on the left side. The phone owner's text is on the right. I don't have to spell it out, right? Oh. Heh.

Transcript

ROW ONE

Panel 1 – at the art studio. Stacy and Brian are by the sofa

Brian (stands): I should leave. You have a lot to think about. I'm being a distraction.

Stacy: It was nice to finally be able to respond to you.

Brian: I hope to hear from you soon about buying you some things to wear. Call me when you're ready. Meredith has my number.

Panel 2 – Brian goes over to Meredith. Noriko stands near Stacy

Noriko: He’s a charmer.

Stacy: What? Um... yeah. I'm not used to being on the receiving end of a guy's attention.

Noriko: I'm sure that won't be the last time. Here’s your phone. I've updated your contacts with our numbers. And Brian's.

Stacy: I should contact Reggie.

Noriko: And your family.

ROW TWO

Panel 3 – A bit away from the other two

Brian: Meredith, have you lined up another statue for the restaurant?

Meredith: I am expecting the model shortly.

Brian: So, four? Five days?

Meredith: Let’s say six. I'm going to spend most of today with Stacy.

Brian: Of course, you will. Always a pleasure doing business with you, Meredith. Good day, ladies.

Panel 4 – Brian is gone. The ladies are by the door.

FX: bzzt bzzzt

Meredith: There’s the doorbell. I’m expecting the new statue model. I doubt Stacy wants to sit in a restaurant in that short outfit. Noriko, why don’t you pick up lunch and bring Stacy to our home? I’ll meet you there once I’m done here.

Noriko: Sounds good. What kind of food are you craving after 18 months made of marble?

Stacy: Wow, I am hungry. I hadn’t really noticed until you mentioned it. Thai?

COLUMN THREE Phone panel – a conversation between Stacy and Leona, via Reggie's phone.

Stacy: I'm alive. :party: :party:

Leona: Stacy? It's Leona. I just told Reggie you texted.

Stacy: There's a... complication.

Leona: Someone already told you we rented out your room?

Stacy: What? No, that's fine. Meredith said I could stay with her.

Leona: :wooo: Oh, good. Then, what's the complication?

Stacy: You saw the statue?

Leona: It was gorgeous. Did you get to see a pic of it?

Stacy: Didn't need to. I can just look in a mirror to see it.

Leona: No way.

Stacy sends a pic of her face.

Leona: :shock: Fuck

Dramatis Personae

Stacy: Former statue model, first seen in SR#1.

Meredith: The artist who makes statues, first seen in SR#1.

Noriko: Meredith's significant other and business partner, first seen in SR#3.

Reggie: Stacy's friend and former roommate, first seen in SR#2.

Leona: Reggie's girlfriend, first seen in SR#7.

Brian Tellani: Owner of the restaurant where Stacy's statue was featured, first seen in SR#7.

RENDER - Heather Reflects on the Year

And the ivy is dead. Fall begins September 22 in the northern hemisphere.

My Reflections

Heather Goes Off The Trail was just a fun idea I had in October 2024. #1-7 were rendered 2024-10-21 in standard HD dimensions (1920x1080) and #8-10 were rendered 2024-11-10 in 4K HD (3840x2160). And then they were released here that November and on deviantArt the first week of December.

When I realized I should make a Seasons Greetings render, so began the HGOTT Seasons series culminating in today's image. Branding on the old files was haphazard so I've put the proper logos on the images and posted them here.

When I created Meredith's Art Studio for Statue Rentals, I added Easter Eggs to the paintings on the walls. Heather (and Avery Mountain) appear on the wall above the sofa area. SR#9 - Restoration Surprise had a cameo appearance of the Wilson family portrait. The portrait was first seen in Little Witch #9 - A Father's Dilemma and it's in SR#9 on the table behind the screen surrounding the statue of Stacy.

A true crossover with Statue Rentals is coming. After that I might collect all the Heather material, with bonus images, into a package that I sell on... Damned credit card processing fiasco...

Trust Machines - Puzzled

Tom and Susan are back. And Susan is subject to one of Tom's overly cleaver venns, if I can say so myself.

“Hey, you can’t cut the line!” A man called out cutting through the background din of the mall.

“I’m by myself,” Pat said, he was pulling a hand truck behind him. “How could I be cutting the line by myself?”

“You look like you expect to use the machine.”

“That’s a look?”

“The hand cart is a clue.”

“I suppose.”

“Stop being annoying, Stan,” the woman standing on line with him said. “If you don’t I’ll venn with him and then you’ll be the guy cutting the line.”

“What?”

“I’m not here to use the machine. I’m helping a friend. Did you see the people who went inside before you?”

“Do you know them? It’s been like fifteen minutes. Guy, tallish, reddish blond hair, green eyes, square jaw, works out.”

“Maybe you should be dating him,” the woman said.

Ignoring her, the man continued, “The woman was also tall but shorter than him, dark, wavy hair, brown eyes, button nose, if she works out its mostly cardio. They were obviously a couple.”

“That’s true the kiss they exchanged before going in makes me want to rethink spending future evenings with Stan.”

“Honora!”

“That would be my friends. Tom asked me meet them here to help get Susan out of the machine.”

The bored looked dropped from her face. Honora rushed over to Pat and spun him around, staring him in the eyes. “Tom and Susan? The Tom and Susan?”

“I’m not sure what you mean by ‘thee’ but yeah.”

“Venus spray paint Susan?”

“Oh, yeah. That’s them.”

“She did look familiar now that I think about it,” Stan said.

“Oh, god, can you introduce me to them?” Honora gushed. “I didn’t catch your name, I’m sorry.”

“Pat. Yeah I can introduce you to Tom. I have no idea if I can introduce you to Susan. Sometimes she comes out of the machine looking as she always does. And sometimes she totally isn’t.”

“Was she really spray cans?” Stan asked.

“Not at all. Tom handed her a box full of empty spray cans. She was strictly the spray paint.”

“Why aren’t you that cleaver?” Honora asked Stan.

“Hey, that wasn’t nice,” Pat said. “Tom is like six levels above everyone in this line at least, myself included.”

“Sorry, Stan.”

“Actually I must apologize for yelling at you. Do you think you could ask Tom to change Honora?”

“I couldn’t tell you if he would. What kind of change are you looking for?”

The venn machine cycled at that moment. Tom stepped out of the right side. Two people clapped and a woman shouted, “It’s him!”

Pat rubbed his ear that was right next to the woman, Honora. Tom approached Pat. “Fans?”

“Oh, god, you did the Venus painting.”

“Technically I commissioned it and supplied the paint. Now, if you’ll excuse me. I need to go retrieve my wife.”

“I got it,” Pat said. “They’re hoping they can enlist your aid with the machine.”

“Where’s Angela?”

“Bed rest. She’s going to give birth to a bowling ball.”

“I was surprised she let you come here.”

“She wants pics and details.”

“Okay, but let’s enlist their aid first. Help me and Pat, um…”

“Stan… and this is Honora. Sure what is your wife?”

“A big block of wood.”

The roughly four by four by eight area within the machine was nearly filled by a single block of wood, polished and lacquered in a tight parquet pattern of wood varying in color from whitish natural wood to a deep brown colored wood.

It took all four of them to get purchase on the edges. Once they did, the block slide out far enough to get the hand cart under it. There wasn’t much room to tip it back. With the wheels under one of the sides, it moved more easily and soon the block was clear of the vestibule, resting on the hand truck.

The door closed. The machine’s front panel hummed to life. Stan rushed around to the front. “Hey, you can’t cut the line!”

*****

By now, Susan would be more surprised if she could see, or hear, or speak, or smell, or move. As soon as she realized she couldn’t see, she knew all the other senses were off the table. Tom would venn her into either someone who looked mostly as she usually did or into something insensate. Rarely into anything in between.

She had no sense of motion, no idea what she might look like. She relaxed and hoped there was going to be more to the next three months than essentially being non-existent.

She had no idea how much time passed. At least she didn’t get hungry or thirty. Whatever she was wasn’t alive.

At first, she thought she was imagining it. There was a sensation. Her brain was telling her something was scratching her left shoulder. She knew that was highly inaccurate at best, whimsy from her brain at worst.

Even calling it scratching wasn’t correct. The feeling was unlike any she’d felt before. It happened once and then a short time passed and then it unhappened. It was like there was a switch attached to her like a room’s wall switch. One moment the switch was – she thought of it as – down. And the next moment it was up. Some time passed and it was down again.

After a few toggles, she noticed that when it moved ‘up’, a faint sensation appeared in her right middle toe. She lifted her toe. There wasn’t a toe to lift. But the thought she had and the thought she would use to move her toe were identical. When it moved, the same toggling of a switch seemed to happen. She could not move the shoulder switch while the toe was ‘raised’. She turned the toe switch off and then she could turn the shoulder switch off or on. But with the shoulder switch off, she couldn’t even sense the toe switch.

She turned both switches on and off in sequence a few times. With them both on, she could sense another ‘switch’ at her lower left eyelid.

*****

“Why aren’t you with your wife and little baby girl?” Tom said to Pat.

Angela had gone into labor as they were driving back to Tom’s and Susan’s apartment. Tom had had to get a few neighbors to help him get Susan out of the truck and on to the hand cart.

Pat was a little bleary-eyed.

“Angela sent me. She demands pictures.”

“Really?”

“And she could tell I wasn’t getting along with her mother. Her mother is great with the baby. She makes sure Angela stays off her feet. No complaints there. We just don’t get along. Never have. She still doesn’t think I’m good enough for her Angel.”

“At least you have help. Samantha is a pretty name.”

“What is she really?” Pat pointed at the block. “Have you ever considered doing something silly like this and there’s no trick at all.”

“Considered it. The only thing that would be worse than Susan hating it would be her obvious disappointment. I couldn’t let her down. And thus, she is currently a wooden puzzle box.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. Unlike most puzzle boxes, this one can open itself because it’s alive, or at least able to think.”

“How do you come up with this shit?”

“I really don’t know.”

“So why hasn’t she opened?”

“She’s working on it. C’mere.” He took them around toward the back of the block. “Funny thing is, I think of this facing as the front. I’m hoping you can help me spin her around. It’ll make it easier for me to visualize her progress.”

“Sure. What are we looking at?”

“Oh, right. See that?”

There was a break in the herring bone pattern. A small, rectangular sliver of wood was pushed out past the edge of the box. Tom pointed out four other places where the box had been altered.

“What will happen when this sequence reaches the end?”

“There’s actually three paths forward from where she is. I think that’s why she hasn’t progressed in the last few hours….

*****

Left shoulder on, right middle toe on, lower left eyelid on, left back of knee on, right lower rib cage. She was stuck here. There were no additional sensations. She toggled the rib switch on and off rapidly and slowly. She did the knee and the rib switches quickly one after the other, slowly one after the other. Nothing. By random chance she tried the toe switch. Three new sensations were unlocked. She tried each one one at a time. Each cause two more sensations to trigger. The number of combinations were probably infinite, she thought. Tom did this on purpose, she thought. He knows I like to write things down!

She was surprised by the next sensation. (right lower rib cage on, right middle toe off, left nipple on, left corner of mouth on, right eyebrow on.) It was air on skin. The skin was her left nipple and she could feel it quickly getting hard. She let the fresh sensation play across her mind. This had been the first non-itch you can’t quite scratch feeling she’d had in she had no idea how long.

A finger played across the nipple. It felt amazing. Tom! She wanted to call out to him. The finger disappeared and she was anxious whatever opening had closed. She checked the switches.

She froze as a mouth sucked on her nipple. She wasn’t sure when it stopped or how long her nipple was sucked on. She’d lost count after forty-three sucks.

She was floating in bliss until she felt grounded again. No air reached her nipple. The right eyebrow switch was off. She’d forgotten Tom had shown her the switches by moving the left shoulder switch. She guessed he’d closed off her nipple as well. She opened the eyebrow switch but time passed and no fingers or mouths were there.

She hoped that was because Tom was asleep. But, she suspected it was because he wanted her to discover more of the switches.

*****

After exposing her nipple, she had to hide it again to progress. She found switch combinations that would expose parts of her limbs or torso.

After what she feeling she possessed a month, she licked her lips and realized she had a tongue. A tongue that was behind teeth and lips. “Tom?” She believed she said. Still no hearing. A moment passed and a finger ran along her lip. So sensual, she thought. He was kissing her. They kissed for a long time. When he broke the kiss, she said. “I didn’t like this at first. But, it’s fun. I wish I could hear you. Touch my upper lip for yes and lower lip for no. Did you hear that?”

Nothing happened. Then she felt his tongue licking her lower lip.

“You are so mean. You can’t say no to ‘did you hear that?’” She explained.

“Will I escape this box?”

He indicated no.

“You don’t have faith in me?”

He tapped her upper lip a lot.

“You better. I guess that means I’m not meant to escape. Have I found more than fifty percent of the openings?”

He pinched her lower lip.

“Ow, more than ten percent?”

He tapped her upper and lower lips quickly in succession.

“Only close to ten percent?”

He tapped yes.

“Have you seen Angela’s baby? Is it cute?”

He tapped yes twice.

“I have the feeling I’m very large and heavy right now.”

He tapped her upper lip a few times.

“Did you make me so big and bulky so I couldn’t ask you to end my venn early and go see the baby?”

His lips pressed against hers though he distinctly touched to her upper lip first.

*****

She felt air on her belly. She waited, hoping for some belly rubs. Some time passed and she forgot her belly was exposed.

When his hand ran over her belly button, it was so relaxing. She heard a click but was too relaxed to wonder what it meant. He caressed and massaged her stomach for a while. She felt like she might drift off to sleep until he yanked her back to full awareness.

His hand had slid down her abdomen, brushed her thighs and slipped into her labia. His fingers lightly played with her clitoris.

The pleasure was both heavenly and diabolical. She tried to flip the right armpit switch that had revealed her belly but it wouldn’t flip. She wondered if that click had been Tom locking the switches.

After a few moments of playful teasing by Tom, she didn’t care. He stopped for a moment and she felt something hard and ovoid push into her folds. She was shocked when she recognized her mini-egg shaped vibrator was now inside her. She heard a click and then felt the last two switches flip downward before she heard another click.

He belly was no longer exposed, the switches were still locked, and the egg vibrator was running.

*****

Oddly enough, she thought, while the vibrator essential prevented her from doing any more exploration of her puzzle prison. It provided her a sense of time. Based on her normal experience using the egg, she felt three days had passed. Tom had deactivated it, she was sure, since she had found it far too distracting to continue flipping the switches. She needed to be distraction free to notice the new switches discovered when a switch was toggled.

She had just flipped a newly discovered switch, next to last vertebrae on her tail bone when she was blinded by searing light. It took a few blinks to realized it wasn’t really searing, just overwhelming after weeks of blindness.

She was in the corner of the living room left of the television. Light was coming from the television but she was faced away from it. She didn’t think she had an entire head. Just a face poking from a flat surface. There was something at the edge of her periphery but she couldn’t make it out.

Tom entered the room with a plate in his hand. “Oh, look who came out to play.” He put the plate down: sandwiches, his best food making option. He held his phone in front of him.

“Looks like we get to have this conversation in reverse. Blink your left eye for yes, right eye for no. While that sinks in, here’s a few pics of Samantha.”

The baby pics were exactly what she was missing. He swiped through a dozen pics of the baby on a bed, on another bed, in Pat’s arms, in Angela’s mother’s arms, Tom holding her awkwardly, and finally in Angela’s arms.

The next pic he swiped to was a big block of wood wedged into a venn machine. Then the same block of wood in the living room.

He was laughing. No doubt in reaction to how wide her eyes had just been. “I assume this means you hadn’t guessed. Check this out.” The next series of pics were close ups of the wooden surface with various bits slid to one side or another.

After those photos were pics of her nipple poking out of the surface of the box, her mouth enclosed by the wooden box, her abdomen in an enclosure of the box. He stepped back and took a pic. This pic showed her eyes kind of flush with the surface and her ears weren’t far away, also flush with the surface. No other facial parts were visible.

“It’s been sixty-two days. Only about twenty to go. Still enjoying it?”

She squinted her left eye.

“That’s good. May I try something?”

She waited a bit before indicating yes.

“Feel this?” He slide a piece of the wood upward.

She felt the switch on her right middle toe move... sideways. Again, her eyes went wide comically.

“Most of them, not all, can do that. Or this.” She felt the left shoulder switch rotate.

She looked sad.

“I should have told you sooner?”

Her left eye twitched a few time, but she only closed her right eye.

“That’s the spirit. Since I gave you a hint, do I get a prize?”

She blinked her left eye rapidly once.

He smiled. He slide a few other sliders half of which she knew nothing about and then the last five switches were the path that exposed her mouth.

She felt air wash across and into her mouth. It was wide open. She had no jaw she could control. Typical.

“Permission?”

She winked yes twice. As much as she found his oral fascination tedious. She found it pleasurable too. She couldn’t see the spot where her mouth was, but it was at a convenient height she discovered. He came inside her twice. He stumbled back and lay on the couch. “Was it good for you?” He asked with a laugh.

She winked left, left, right, left.

“Three out of four ain’t bad,” he said before falling asleep.

*****

As she continued exploring the various ways the switches could move a couple weeks passed with various body parts exposed and pleasured by Tom. With less than a week to go, she finally restored her entire head and upper torso.

“I thought you said I couldn’t get out.”

“Not completely,” he said. He sat on a shelf that was part of the wooden block adjacent to the ledge her torso disappeared into the wood from. His eye level was even with hers as he sat on the slightly lower shelf. They were able to make out like this. “I don’t know if you noticed, but this isn’t your only head.”

“What?”

“Remember when you looked like this?” He showed her the pic of eyes and ears flush with the surface.

“Yes.”

“Look straight out from the wood block.” He turned and pointed behind him. “Is the view you have now the same as the view you had then?”

She couldn’t see the sofa from here. It had been right in front of her before. “You didn’t move me?”

“By myself? You weigh a ton. Or pretty close to a ton. Wood is heavy when it’s lacquered.”

“I have another pair of eyes around that way on the block?”

“Yep. And another pair not far away.” He looked at his phone. “I should go get you a bikini top.”

“I’m not going swimming.”

“I invited Pat and Angela over once you got yourself this free. You can finally hold the baby.”

“They shouldn’t be traveling with the baby. It’s not even three months old.”

“When Pat mentioned you had a head and arms, Angela was starting to pack to get over here. She’s missed you.”

“Well, if it’s just Angela and Pat, a bikini is fine if you can figure out how to tie it. I may have arms but they don’t bend behind my back which is still embedded in wood.”

“I’m sure you’ll talk me through it.”

*****

“What is this sorcery?” Pat’s mother-in-law asked.

Tom had known she was coming and had also draped a shawl over Susan. “Uh.. Wha..?”

She stood there with a stern expression. Her gray hair was tied in a tight pony tail. Her glasses were small and sat on the end of her nose. Her clothes screamed disapproving grandmother. Angela and her mother laughed. Pat tried not to snicker.

“Oh, the look on your face!” She said. She gave Tom a hug. “I’m sorry, Tom. Everyone sees me and expects me to be someone I’m not.” She looked at Pat. “Did you help set this up?”

“I may have implied you and I weren’t getting along.”

“Hah,” Angela said. “He and Mom gang up on me usually. If she hadn’t raised me I’d swear she was my mother-in-law.”

As she sat herself down on the shelf in the wooden block Tom had vacated, her mother said. “No offense, Pat. But, if you compare me to Harlow again, I’m packing up and going home.”

“No offense taken, June,” Pat said.

“Pssh,” was all Angela said to her mother. To Susan, she said, “Hey, you. What’s new?”

“Ha ha. I missed you. You were gone most of the prior nine months.”

“I know. Someone wants to say hello to you.”

“Hey, little Samantha,” Susan cooed as she was handed the baby. “It’s me. Aunt Blockhead. Aren’t you just a beautiful baby? Switched at the hospital, I suppose.”

“You ever hear from that couple?” Pat asked Tom.

*****

A few months ago, at the mall, the transformation took hold of the couple. The doors opened.

“Why am I a woman?”

“That must be Stan,” Pat said.

“It is. I’m Honora,” Honora said.

The couple looked identical. They also looked a lot like Susan, at least how Susan looks unvenned.

Tom approached. “This is a contest. Susan, whom you now resemble, experienced this exact venn. She even enjoyed it once it was ended.”

“Not that you can ask her about it,” Pat said, leaning against the block of wood.

“A contest?”

“A test of wills. You’ll compete against one another. Pat, give them their phones back. I’ll give you an email that I check frequently. Don’t abuse it.”

“We would never…”

Tom didn’t hide his eyeroll. “You are both female with a slight modification down below. There’s a hinged, clear plastic lid covering a glowing, big red button. Do not press it down flat. The first one of you that fails to resist temptation loses.”

“That sounds easy enough.” Stan said.

“That’s what Susan said.”

“Did she win?” Honora asked.

“Her contest was with herself. She just had to last till the end of a one month venn. I think she lasted thirteen days.”

“You aren’t telling us everything.”

“Of course not. That’s the fun part. Well, for me the fun part is watching Susan try to hide stuff from me. But, I’m sure you’ll have fun with this. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to figure out where a block of wood will best decorate my living room.”

“You are forgetting to tell them how they’ll know if the other person lost,” Pat said.

“Oh, right. The button right now glows a dull red. If it gets pressed the glow goes away. No real way to hide it from someone who can see the button. Let’s go, Pat.”

Pat lingered as Tom took hold of the hand cart. He whispered to the couple. “Rubbing the button without pressing it down is like the best sex ever. Assuming during the best sex ever you can keep yourself from accidentally pressing the button down. Don’t ever touch the button if you want to avoid temptation.”

“Don’t tell them everything, Pat,” Tom called out as he pushed the hand cart toward the mall entrance.

“Good luck.”

A few onlookers approached Stan and Honora. “What did Tom turn you into?”

“I have no idea,” Stan said.

Honora just looked at the onlooker, puzzled.

Little Witch #14: Date Night, Part 1

Daddy's a bit of prick, isn't he? No wonder she likes to spend time ignoring him.

I may have over done the "Hey, Mommy is remembering prior events" visual cue. Likewise, the camera angles for the car shots are a bit much. And I guess they were lucky no other cars were out and about while they were out.

Transcript

LEFT SIDE

Panel 1 – in the car

Daddy: Do you think Mrs. Ippalla will be alright?

Mommy: We have to make sure Angela knows we trust her.

Panel 2 – in the car

Daddy: I’m sure if I had a four month doll vacation I’d feel differently as well.

Mommy: I’ve apologized about that enough, I think. It’s not my fault I enjoy it so much I can’t think straight. It’s not like I have a brain when I’m a doll.

Panel 3 – still in the car

Daddy: Yes, I'm sorry. You don't need to apologize. Since the issue with Bethany, Angela has showed me how mature

she can be.

Mommy: Yes, she would never do anything foolish.

RIGHT SIDE

Panel 4 (top 2/3s of the page) – inside flash back frame, Mommy is wearing a period piece dress in a bedroom

Angela: OH MOMMY!!! You look so pretty.

Mommy: Thank you, Angela. But, can you tell me why I'm wearing a ball gown?

Angela: You’re going to the castle meet Prince Charming, tonight.

Mommy: Your father and I are going to Tellani’s Restaurant.

We aren't attending a ball.

Mommy: I do like the updo. Do you remember making me unable to move when you made the gown appeared?

Angela: Oh, I didn't want to miss seeing you wearing it. And you usually like when I dress you up.

Mommy: Only when I'm a doll. It's been half an hour since you cast your spell, Angela. Can I move now?

Angela: Sorry, Mommy. You can move now. Are you sure there's no ball at a castle?

Mommy: That's better. If there’s a ball, we weren't invited.

Panel 5 – inside flash back frame, Mommy is wearing the dress she modeled as a mannequin in the mall

Angela: I have to go check the car.

Mommy: The car? Angela, since when do you ever have to check the car? What about the car might need checking?

Angela: It may have turned into a pumpkin if there's no ball.

Panel 6 – inside flash back frame, in the garage, where a car would be is a large pumpkin

Doll For Rent

Note: This is one of my longer short stories at a little over 6000 words. I would normally split into two parts except there's no good place to split this story in the 3000th word vicinity. So enjoy some extra word count this week.

Lars was surfing Beggar’s List when he saw an advert for a sex doll. It was the most realistic doll he’d ever seen anywhere. He’d been considering buying one new but couldn’t justify spending the thousands of dollars for the high end kind of doll he wanted. This doll was even better than the ones he’d priced. It was listed at eight hundred dollars or best offer.

He replied to the seller and went about his day. Two days later, the seller of the doll asked if he wanted to meet to see the doll in person. The seller’s profile indicated they were local to one another and they settled on meeting on Saturday for lunch at a diner in the local metro area. Lars sent a pic of himself. The seller didn’t send one back.

Lars didn’t think that was too unusual. He arrived at the diner on time and was surprised when a woman seated at a booth waved him over. As he got closer he realized the woman was the spitting image of the sex doll. There had to be a story here.

“Hi, Lars?” She said, extending her hand. “I’m Madison.”

He shook her hand and sat down opposite her. “Hi. You look just like the… merchandise.”

“Don’t I? You want to eat something? I ordered a burger for myself before you got here.”

“Oh, um. Sure. I could eat.”

She waved the waitress over and he ordered a Reuben sandwich while Madison made sure the waitress knew both their names.

“Was that so there are witnesses to us being here?”

“Yeah. Kind of like a first date. My friend will call with an emergency if I don’t text her in five minutes.”

“Really?”

“No,” she laughed. “I just wanted to get to know you before…”

“Oh, okay. What do you want to know?”

She found out he was a chemical engineer. He played amateur chess. And did amateur photography. They talked about television and movies and found they shared a love for detective stories. When he asked what she did, he was surprised when she said mostly the doll rentals.

“Rentals?”

“Oh, no. You didn’t noticed the doll listing was in the rental section? That stupid Beggar’s List is always hiding stuff.”

“No, I didn’t. I thought the doll was for sale.”

“No, it’s a one month rental with an option for extensions.”

Their food arrived and they ate as they spoke.

“Well, at least there’s lunch,” he said. “Tell me. Why does the doll look like you?”

“Who should it look like?”

“No, I mean did your controlling ex have a sex doll made in your likeness and now you’ve dumped him and don’t want the doll around.”

She laughed. “That’s a great story. I should use it someday.”

He just looked at her confused as she bit into her burger.

“I’m sorry,” she said. She took a drink. “The doll wasn’t made to look like me.”

“Coincidence?”

“No. The doll is me. You’d be renting me as a doll for a month.”

“I thought Beggar’s List closed the escorts section.”

“Probably. No idea. You aren’t renting a person. You’re renting a doll. If you end up being the renter.”

“I’m still not understanding what your selling.”

“Technically leasing or renting.”

“Okay.”

“Me. Money goes into my account. I cast a spell. The spell turns me into a rather life like and, I think, beautiful sex doll. A month later, I’m human again. We go our separate ways.”

She took several bites of her burger and ate a few fries as he sat there dumbfounded.

“Why?” He finally said.

“Why not? Saves me on rent, food, travel, etc. I get to have a lot of sex since who rents a sex doll for so much money and doesn’t use it every chance they have. No pregnancy. No diseases. No obligations. No worries. Everyone should be doing it.”

“I’m sure there aren’t a lot of people who can cast spells.”

“Well, true. If this were more common practice, I’d make a living turning people into dolls. None of my friends are game. Well, Amber tried it. But not being able to move for her one night trial run freaked her out.”

“But not you?”

“Not my first rodeo,” she said. She sat back and finished her soda. She’d finished eating and snagged one of his fries. “So, are you renting?”

“Was this actually a date?”

“Kind of. I assume you’ll be rather intimate with a sex doll you’re renting. I wanted to get to know you a bit more than just as a Beggar’s buyer. And you’re paying for lunch, I hope.” She batted her eyelashes mischievously.

He laughed. “Sure. Why not? Three hundred.”

“Wow. Low ball much?”

“Your listing has been up for three weeks. It was best offer. I thought I was buying a doll for eight hundred. Three hundred seems reasonable the doll I thought I was buying would last a few years or more. It’s a good offer.”

“I don’t know if I should be impressed or insulted.”

“If we don’t close the deal, this lunch is dutch.”

She leveled her eyes at him for a moment. “I can’t go lower than six.”

“Of course you can. You said it yourself: no obligations, no worries, also no need for money. I’m practically doing you a favor.”

She laughed.

“Five hundred,” he said. “Final offer. Take it or leave it.” He waved to get the waitress’ attention as Madison mulled over his offer. “When she gets here, am I telling her to give us separate bills?”

“You really know how to fuck with someone. Thus, a smart sex doll takes the deal. Five hundred it is.”

“Will that be all?” The waitress asked.

“No, just give me the check,” he said.

*****

On the ride to where she was staying, Lars transferred the money to her account. At the apartment, Lars met Amber. She was happy to hear Madison was leaving. She’d been crashing on Amber’s couch for weeks. As Madison was using the bathroom, Amber said, “She loves oral. Use her mouth a lot. She usually gets rented faster. Fucking economy.”

“She said she’s done this before. Has she done it so much you know how she likes her sex?”

“We used to double date in college. She’s been doing rentals for the last several years. She has almost no possessions: a bank account, a few changes of clothes, and a phone. The latter of which, she’ll be leaving here. This was the longest I seen her alive since college. And as much as I love her. I’m glad she’s leaving my living room.”

“So, extending her rental would be in your interest?”

“I’m not helping you pay,” Amber said with a laugh. “If you can afford the five hundred dollars a month, keep her forever.”

“Five hundred?”

“Yeah. I hope you talked her down to five hundred.” She laughed again. “At least you didn’t end up over five.”

“I suppose.”

Madison entered and handed her phone to Amber. “I’ve shut it down. Hopefully I won’t need it for a while. I’ll miss you.” The two women exchanged a friendly hug.

“And I’ll miss you. My couch is always available.” Amber was facing Lars as she said it. He noted she rolled her eyes as she said it. “Treat her well, Lars.”

“Um, yeah. I will.”

Madison chatted about everyday things as he drove home. When they got inside, he gave her a short tour of the apartment, ending in his bedroom. “And that’s it.”

“Any roommates?”

“Kirk. Do you want to meet him?”

“Will he be using me?”

“Depends on if he’s pissed me off that week.”

“Then I would like to meet him. The time on the rental doesn’t start until I’m a doll. So, delaying doesn’t lose you anything.”

“Can’t you just change back and forth?”

“No, the spell I use lasts a month whether I want it to or not. That’s by choice. If I could just switch back and forth, it would lose some of its appeal.

“You like being stuck.”

“I do.”

They sat around talking about their favorite television detectives until Kirk came home.

He was surprised to see Madison. “She looks familiar. Sorry. Hi, I’m Kirk.”

“Madison. Did you show him the listing?”

“The doll?” Kirk said. “Oh, yeah, you look like the doll. Cool. Is he renting it? Is it here?”

“Well, yes and yes,” she said.

“Where is it?”

“Right in front of you,” Lars said.

“Huh?”

“Thanks for letting me do that.” Lars said to Madison.

“Not a problem. I’m usually a silent partner,” she said.

“Are you two going to explain what I don’t understand?”

“Madison is the doll.”

“So, like role-playing?”

She laughed. “No, I’m not a prostitute.”

“She’s going to use magic to turn herself into a doll for a month.”

“So, like a role-playing game?”

“Real magic,” Madison said.

“Really? Cool. Cool.”

“Yes, really.”

“I’ve never met a magic person. So, a doll. I know he’s going to enjoy it. Will you?”

“Probably more than him.”

“More than me?” Lars said.

“Do you think I’d do this otherwise?”

“I definitely feel like I’m paying too much.”

“He said he was going to lowball you because the ad has been up awhile.”

“We settled on the amount I intended,” she said. “Nice meeting you.”

“Yeah. Would it be weird if I borrowed you?”

“No. I encourage it. The more I’m used to better it is for me.”

“Cool. Catch you later.” He went to his room.

“He didn’t attempt to mask his leering glances at me.”

“Kirk isn’t the smoothest operator.”

“You want me on the bed?” She asked.

“I guess. I should charge him to use you.”

“I’d prefer not to be subleased.”

He laughed.

“Any last questions?” She asked as she crossed the room and sat on the bed.

“I don’t think so.”

She pulled the sundress she wore over her head. She was wearing nothing beneath it. “Wash this when you get the chance. No rush. Enjoy your new doll.” A glow surrounded her quickly getting brighter, ending with a sudden flash. The room was dark. As the lights in the room reasserted themselves, the woman laying on the bed had been replaced with an exact replica sex doll. The doll tipped backward and lay flat with its legs bent hanging off the side.

He ran his hand over the doll’s stomach, gave a tit a squeeze. “Unreal. You’ll probably slide off the bed like that.” He pulled her further onto the bed and stepped back. “I’ll just let you get used to staring at the ceiling. Maybe fuck you, um…, Tuesday.” He turned the lights out and left.

Ten minutes later, the lights turned on. “Funny? Well, I enjoyed it. Just like I’m going to enjoy this.” He got undressed and used the doll quickly. It was indistinguishable from sex with a real woman, aside from the quiet. Afterward he wondered if he’d lasted long enough for her to fully enjoy it, just like sex with a real woman. An amusing thought brought a smile to his face. He cuddled up next to the doll and asked, “Was it good for you?”

He had been using the doll frequently at night. One night he felt like taking it slow and after grinding the doll for a lot longer than normal he felt something unexpected. The hole he was in was squeezing him. After the initial shock, he slowed his pace and sped up and varied it in time with the squeezing which was becoming more frequent. Was the doll about to orgasm? He continued to vary his speed in time with the squeezes when the doll’s vaginal canal contracted hard around him. The squeeze lasted several long seconds, relaxed for a second, and then contracted hard and long again. And again. And then it mostly relaxed.

He exploded inside the doll and the canal squeezed and relaxed in rapid succession, each squeeze a little weaker than the one before. “Oh, Fuck. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you were… um… interactive.”

Silence. But, it was a different silence to him. He could imagine she was feeling really good after that last orgasm. He was a bit pumped up and turned on the television to help him get ready to sleep. He remembered Amber had said she liked oral sex and wondered why he’d not done it.

He propped himself up at the head of the bed and put the doll between his legs, lowering its mouth onto his semi-erect shaft. He was rearranging a pillow when he felt something. A bit of suction or squeezing from the doll’s mouth. “Why didn’t you say you were interactive? I never would have lowballed you.” He laughed.

The doll didn’t seem to be able to really suck hard enough to get him off, but the soft steady rhythm was calming. Just what he’d been looking for when he’d turned television on.

When he woke up the next morning, the doll was gently massaging his morning stiffy with its mouth. Instincts caused him to pull the head downward on his shaft. The suction increased dramatically and soon he was face fucking the doll. He didn’t last long, filling its mouth. The doll was unable to keep up with his volume. He cleaned himself and the doll before getting ready for work.

*****

The next few nights, he spent most of the evening watching television or reading while the doll pleasured him orally. The mild suction action varied enough that his engineering background believed she was able to control it. Before going to bed a few nights later, he said, “Madison, if you can react to this, do four short sucks followed by an empty gap. Then do four long ones for comparison.”

It happened.

“You can control it!”

He felt four short sucks.

“I have a thought. Do a long one and a short one.”

She did.

“That means ‘Yes’. Do a short then a long one.”

She did.

“And that means ‘No.’ Do you understand?”

She did a long then a short one.

“Is the sky normally pink?”

He felt a long then short suck. Then a series of short ones.

“Funny. Were those short ones supposed to be laughter?”

Long short.

“Amusing. Do you know Morse code?”

Short long.

“No matter. It’s time for bed. Time for me to do a bit of the work.”

Long short.

He turned the doll around. He made love to it until the feedback from its vaginal canal made him sure the doll had been fully pleasured. After his own release, he went to sleep.

*****

Several weeks passed. One evening, as soon as he set the doll onto his dick, it did a series of four shorts and four longs.

“You have my attention,” he said. “Something to tell me.”

Long short.

“This ought to be fun. Um…”

Before he could ask a question, he felt a long series of short sucks. It was definitely purposeful, he knew. There were at least twenty to thirty before she stopped.

“Was that twenty?”

Short long.

“More?”

Long short.

“Forty.”

Short long.

“More?”

Short long.

“Fewer? Um, thirty?”

Long short.

“Thirty.”

Long short.

“Okay. Thirty.” It only took him a few seconds to understand. “Oh, the first month is almost over.”

Long short.

“And you want to know if I’m extending the rental.”

Long short.

“I am. The agreed upon five hundred bucks?”

After a hesitation, long short.

“Okay. Let me grab my phone.” He got up and setup a money transfer in an app. When it was ready. He showed the screen to the doll.

“I’m going to hit send. Good?”

Long short.

“Okay. Money sent. You’re mine for another month.”

Long short.

“We’ll do this each month?”

Long short.

*****

One night when Kirk wouldn’t be home for a few hours, Lars brought the doll out into the living room and had the television on. He sat the doll on the sofa and started a movie streaming. The streaming service was kind enough to play a couple ads before the movie started, allowing him to grab a drink and sit down next to the doll.

“I hope you haven’t seen this before.”

He leaned her against his side as the movie began. It was a film noir era, hard-boiled detective story he’d always meant to watch and thought she would enjoy as well.

Ninety minutes later, as the brief credits rolled, he put her back in the bedroom. He returned to the living room to cleanup. Kirk came home at that moment.

“What’s up?”

“Just watched a movie.”

“No popcorn?”

“Wasn’t in the mood.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t have the doll out here.”

“Yeah, can’t spend all my time with her.” He went into his bedroom and closed the door.

Kirk watched him leave. The word ‘her’ stuck in his mind.

When he could feel the doll, it repeated long short a few too many times.

“I guess you enjoyed it.”

The doll didn’t reply.

He talked about several parts of the movie commenting on whether they worked or not. The doll agreed most of the time. And disagreed a few times. He pressed for details only once with directed questions. Usually when he tried this, the doll cut him off. She didn’t seem to want to have long conversations. But with the movie, she was fully invested in having a conversation. She’d have kept him up all night even though she could only say yes or no.

Movie night became a weekly thing, to coincide with Kirk having dinner with his mother on Wednesday nights.

*****

One Thursday night, Lars came home late from his weekly chess club. When he engaged with the doll, it immediately said, short long, over and over again. It took a few questions to figure out Kirk had borrowed the doll, as he usually did when Lars went to chess club. But, this time she was unhappy about it.

“This is probably a useless question, but what did he do?”

She didn’t respond.

He pointed to various parts of her body and asked if they were involved. When he figured it out, he took the doll into the bathroom and washed it out thoroughly.

He stormed into Kirk’s room. “What the fuck did you do to the doll?”

Kirk was drunk. “Oh, hey, Lars. Sorry. I borrowed your doll. Wait. How did you know?”

Lars had never told Kirk that the doll could communicate, albeit in limited fashion. He still didn’t want Kirk to know.

“The smell.”

“I washed it. I think I washed it.”

“No more doll use.”

“What? It was just a little vomit. I cleaned it up.”

“Not well enough.”

“Sorry. I was gonna tell you. I didn’t hear you come in.”

“No more doll use until I say so. We’ll talk again when you’re sober.”

Lars asked the doll each week if Kirk was still banned. Its lust and Lars not being able to fully sate that horniness eventually caused the doll to rescind the ban on Kirk using it.

*****

A few months passed. He sat the doll up and held a dress up. “What do you think?”

He put his finger in its mouth and felt, long pause long. This could meant talk, explain, or why.

“I got it at a consignment shop dirt cheap. I think it’ll fit you.”

Short short short short. That was how she laughed.

“You were thinking it was for me?”

long short. short short short short.

“Ha ha. I want to photograph you in it.” He grabbed a hard shell case and took out one of his DSLR cameras. “I told you I was into photography. I’ve shown you some of the photos I’ve taken. I want to see how good you are at modeling clothing.”

She didn’t do anything to the finger in her mouth for a while. Then he felt, long short short long long short.

“A tentative yes is good enough. If I have trouble with dressing you I won’t do it.”

Long short.

Getting her dressed was easier than he expected. Getting her to hold a pose was not. The doll had a tendency to droop when there was nothing to support its spine. Eventually he added a remote trigger to the setup so he could let go of the doll, jump away, and get the picture before it sagged or drooped.

A couple hours later, he’d removed the dress and had the doll in its normal position at his crotch. His phone was on his abdomen facing the doll. He was swiping through the photos. A lot of them she made no comment on. Several she gave short longs to.

“Don’t you like any of them?”

Short long.

“Honestly.”

Pause short long.

“Let’s try that again.”

She did nothing for most of the slideshow until she gave one a long short.

He laughed. “That’s my second favorite. What about this one?”

Short long.

“You don’t like it?”

Short long long short.

“Oh, you’re saying the other is better.”

Long short.

“You’re entitled to your opinion. Even if it’s wrong.”

Looooong short loooooong. He never could get her to clarify that phrase. But he was sure it was derogatory and directed at him.

“Is that how it is? Fine.” He picked her up and turned her around. He gave her a good fucking. Stopping twice just before she orgasmed to go get something to drink. Only on the third round did he ensure she fully enjoyed it. He held the doll with its face near his. “Yeah, I know,” he said with nothing in her mouth to verify it. “I’m a loooong short looong.”

Though he didn’t feel it, the doll still responded if only to itself, short short short short.

*****

Several months passed. In addition to weekly movie nights and the occasional photo shoot, he would read to it whatever mystery novel he was reading. He’d tell the doll about things at work, things that happened to him, normal small talk good friends exchange.

That’s why it was unusual when he was quiet for a couple days, not engaging with the doll at all. After two days ignoring the doll, he fucked the doll’s three holes, ending with its mouth. The doll was tentatively cleaning him when he tilted its head so it was looking him in the eyes. “I am going to give you a command. You have to promise to obey it.”

Long pause long.

“No, I won’t explain before hand.”

Short long.

“Then you’ll just be surprised when it happens.”

Long pause long.

“No.” He picked the doll up and sat it on his dresser. He went back to bed and went to sleep.

In the morning he retrieved the doll and said, “Last chance.”

Long short short long short long long short.

“I’ll take that as a reluctant yes. The command is, until I tell you otherwise, you are not to use you mouth for pleasure or conversation.”

It didn’t respond.

“You understand.”

Nothing.

“You wanted to know why. I didn’t want to tell you I’m a coward. I just don’t want you to yell at me.”

Nothing.

“I have to give you to Kirk.”

Nothing.

“I owe him a lot of money and he said he’d wipe the debt clear if I gave you to him for six months.”

Nothing.

“If there were any…”

Nothing.

“Any other way I...”

Nothing.

“I’m sorry.” He pulled her off him before he felt the nothing that followed. “Madison, I’m so sorry.”

*****

Ten days after giving up the doll, Lars knocked on Kirk’s door.

“Hey, what’s up? You want to borrow it?”

“No, I’m good,” he said, managing to keep the longing from his voice. “I just wanted to remind you it was time to pay the monthly rent.”

“Oh, okay. How does that work?”

“I would setup a payment on the phone. And then show the doll that screen.”

“I forget the doll is aware sometimes.”

“Yeah. And then with her looking, I press the send button and leave the phone in front of her eyes until it says sent.”

“Oh, okay. Let me do that with you watching. It’s five hundred dollars, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Good thing I’m good for it,” Kirk said with a dull smile.

Lars could never tell if Kirk was an ass or just totally oblivious to social mores.

Once the payment was confirmed, Lars left the room. He locked the door to his room and flopped down on his bed. He was surprised when morning came and he realized he’d cried himself to sleep.

*****

A few months passed. Kirk was low-key passive aggressive with having won the doll from Lars. Lars figured it was only a few more months. His bank account was back to normal and he could afford the doll easily once the deal with Kirk was done.

He’d even borrowed the doll a few times. Although having silenced her, he was always melancholy afterward. He’d thought it was a good idea at the time because he didn’t want to suffer with her probably saying short long or looong short looong constantly. He worried she might have gone silent on her own and that sent him into a crushing tailspin of guilt. After these months had passed he didn’t know how he could lift the ban and deal with her ire.

The first time he considered returning her to Amber when Kirk gave her back, he almost hyperventilated from a panic attack.

He figured after the full six months, she might be happy she was never tempted to talk to Kirk. This thought was always followed by the thought that it didn’t mean she wouldn’t punish him for doing it in the first place. Just that redemption was possible.

Kirk came home from work while Lars was in the kitchen. “Hey, dude.”

“Hey. Want some of this?”

“Maybe later. If you don’t finish it, just put in the fridge. If you finish it, no worries.”

“Cool. Don’t forget the rent’s due by midnight.”

“Rent? It isn’t the end of the month.”

“The doll.”

“Oh, yeah.” Kirk said. He looked away. “You don’t need to remind me.”

“Oh, sorry. I just…”

“Yeah, you don’t want to lose your doll. It’ll be fine.”

“What does that mean?”

“I only paid that one time you showed me.”

“You broke the contract?”

“Relax. It’s not like she has any way to check her bank account. She’s a doll.”

Lars was about to blow up when he thought better of it. “Ha, yeah, sometimes I forget she isn’t a living person at the moment.”

“Exactly. You were too attached to it. It’s a good thing you’re getting a break now.”

“Yes. Good thing.”

Lars took his meal into his room and set it down on his desk. He needed to tell Madison. Like Kirk said, she doesn’t know the contract was broken. What if she was mad at him because of the silence and now she was mad because she wasn’t paid for two months going on three at midnight? He sent a text to Amber telling her about Kirk not paying the rent.

«Why is Kirk paying her rent?» Amber texted.

«I got in a money bind and he asked for her in lieu of repayment.»

«She isn’t collateral.»

«It was either that or send her back to you.»

«Hmm. No, I think she’d have preferred being here than being lent out.»

«And how do you feel?»

«You aren’t pinning this on me. Just tell her she isn’t getting paid. How many payments did he miss?»

«Tonight it will be three.»

«Karma’s gonna suck for you.»

«Me?»

«Kirk didn’t enter into a wizard’s contract with a wizard. You did.»

«Fuck.»

«She might be able to divert the retribution. She likes you, right?»

When he didn’t reply, she sent «Right?» again.

He explained the rest of it. All of it. The movies, the photography, and the promise.

«Oh, my. You have to tell her. You have to get her back. I’ll make sure you don’t get turned into a frog.»

«Is that on the table?»

«Probably not. But I’ll stick up for you.»

«Okay.»

*****

Kirk had been locking the door to his room when he left for work. Lars wasn’t sure when this started, mostly because he had no reason to go into Kirk’s room if Kirk wasn’t there.

It took a week before Lars found the door unlocked while Kirk was in the shower. He rushed in the room. The doll was filthy. How had that happened? Didn’t he clean her?

“I’m so sorry, Madison. Please, please forgive me.” He looked toward the door. “I release you from your promises. Kirk hasn’t been paying your rent. I only recently found…”

The doll disappeared.

“Out.”

“What the fuck?” Kirk said. “Get the fuck out of my… What did you do with the doll?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Did you lose it?”

“How the fuck would I lose something that big? What are you doing here?”

“Leaving.”

“No, no. You saw it, right? Looked kind of nasty, too. What are you going to do about it?”

“I told her you hadn’t paid.”

“Big fucking deal. What’s IT going to do about it?”

“I suppose you’ll find out. Why isn’t she here?” Lars pushed past Kirk and left for work.

He received a text from Amber saying he should stop by her apartment after work. When he got there, tears ran down his face as the door opened revealing Madison, alive and well. “Oh, god, you’re okay.” He held her, weeping in relief.

“How am I supposed to make you think I’m mad at you when you’re like this?”

“Not sorry.”

She held him.

They stood in the doorway for several moments before he noticed strange noises coming from within the apartment. “What’s that noise?”

“Amber, I assume. Let’s go inside.”

The noises got louder. A woman was having an incredibly good time. Or she was being murdered. Lars was pretty sure it was the former: ninety percent sure. But, every now and then the screams of pleasure could be screams of fear, he thought.

Madison tapped his shoulder and his attention focus solely on her. “Let’s sit. She should be almost done. I want to tell you something and…”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Stop with that. Even with Kirk being a pig, that was the best rental I’ve ever had. All because of you.”

“He didn’t actually get turned into a pig, did he?”

“What?”

“Amber said she’d try to prevent you from turning me into a frog. So I thought…”

Madison laughed. “I don’t do animal transformations. And I was only mad at you for a little while. I was kind of excited by you disabling my ability to communicate with you. Then you fucked it up by giving me to him.”

“Excited?”

“You think someone who turns herself into a helpless doll doesn’t also fantasize about being gagged?”

“Oh. I did ask you if the doll thing was a bondage thing, didn’t I?”

“Sometimes it is. Mostly it’s a sex thing.”

“I think she finished,” he said after a slight pause.

“Good,” Madison said. She called out, “Amber, I need a witness.”

“I need ten minutes.”

“Fine.”

“A witness?” He asked.

“You’ll see.”

“Did you do something to Kirk?”

“Make that twenty minutes,” Amber shouted.

“Do not turn it on again!” Madison shouted.

“Aww.”

“I gave him to Amber.”

“Gave? He’s a doll?”

“No, that wouldn’t be a punishment. He’s a dildo.”

“And that’s a punishment?”

“A dildo, cock and balls shaped, that doesn’t like to be squeezed. Tight spaces make him claustrophobic and the pressure against his body is like the prickly feeling of bad circulation.”

“That’s rough. How long?”

“Life sized. Kirk wasn’t small.”

“I meant duration how long.”

“Oh, right. A year, well ten months to repay his debt. Threefold retribution sucks.”

“God, Maddy. Why does it vibrate?” Amber walked into the room disheveled and with beads of sweat all over. She was barely dressed. “And why didn’t you tell me Lars had arrived?”

“Didn’t think about clothes. Been a doll for like a year and a half. Clothes don’t matter.”

“They don’t. I’m good. See, you aren’t a frog.”

“Nice to see you, too, Amber. Enjoying your new toy?”

“Immensely. Oh, yeah. Why does it vibrate?”

“It doesn’t actually vibrate. It squirms. He doesn’t like being in tight places.”

Amber laughed. “And I’ve been putting him in a tight place. Cute. Well, that squirming makes him the best thing I’ve ever put up my wahoo, animal, vegetable, or mineral.”

“Vegetable?” Lars said, and regretted it immediately.

She held her hands about a foot apart. “I love a good cucumber.”

“Note to self, skip the salad if Amber makes a meal I’m eating.”

The ladies laughed.

“I’m here. Why?” Amber said to Madison.

She took Lars’ hand. “Although, I plan to give you a lot of grief for what happened.” She held her hand up as he was about to speak. “Let me finish. I know you’re sorry.

“The time I spent with Amber’s dildo made me realize that what we had was extra special. If everything works out as I’d like. I will never rent myself out as a doll ever again. Thanks to you.”

She stopped him again from interrupting and continued, “You are the most caring, loving, funny, and considerate man I’ve ever met. If you’ll have me, I want to be your doll forever.”

“Doll?”

“And human. I’m going to make a wizard’s contract with you. For my part, I promise I will turn myself into a sex doll whenever you and only you tell me to. I will turn myself into a human being whenever you and only you tell me to. I will use my magic only at your behest. In return I ask that you love me. If you ever stop loving me, you must tell me, and the pact will be made void. Death will also end the pact.”

Madison looked at Amber. Amber said, “The contract has been proposed. Lars, do you accept the terms of the contract?”

“You are giving me complete control of you being alive or being a sex doll?”

“That is the gist of what I promised.”

“How…?” He stopped his question as he could feel how much she loved him reflecting back at him in her eyes. “I, um, how do I say this? I... accept the terms of the contract.”

“I witness this wizard’s pact,” Amber said.

A resounding clap of sound, not quite like thunder reverberated in the room.

“It is done,” Amber said solemnly. Then she squealed like a school girl. “I feel like I just officiated a wedding. I’ve always wanted to do that. Oh, oh, oh, you may kiss the doll.”

Madison and Lars looked at one another before kissing. The kiss lasted long enough that neither of them knew exactly when Amber had left the room. They could hear the shower running.

“I need to collect my things. I doubt I’ll be living here any more.”

“Not while I’m alive,” Lars said.

They were kissing on the sofa when Amber found them. “You’re still here? And she’s still human?”

“I’m not going to carry her home.”

“Aw.” Madison said. She got up and hugged Amber. “I need to give you a proper goodbye.”

“I’m sure I’ll see you soon.”

“Only if he let’s you.”

“Amber, you can stop by the apartment and see the doll any time.”

“I’ll take you up on that.”

“Call ahead so I can make sure she’s a doll when you arrive.”

They laughed. Madison and Amber held each other. “I love you, too,” Madison said.

“I love you, as well. Take good care of her. She was filthy when she got here.”

“Not my fault. Blame your dildo.”

“I blame you for losing her.”

“I actually think that worked out fine.”

“Me, too.”

“Go make babies.”

The couple looked at one another. He said, “Can you turn yourself into a small doll that isn’t a sex toy?”

“I have plenty of time to find out.”

Statue Rentals #10: A Decent Proposal

The placement of her left hand in panel 1 was entirely by accident. I was amused and vexed by it. Amused that it had happened. And vexed that it hadn't been on purpose. Such is making art.

Transcript

ROW ONE

Panel 1 – On the sofa in the art studio

Brian: I never thought this day would come. You are even prettier in person.

Stacy: You spent a lot of time near me as when I was a statue. What do you want?

Brian: It's my fault you spent so much time as a statue. I want to make it up to you. You'll need clothes. I'll buy them. No strings attached.

Panel 2

Stacy: This is all temporary. I don't really need many clothes.

Brian: Temporary?

Stacy: She didn’t tell you?

Brian: That you were a man?

Panel 3

Brian: I’m sorry. I shouldn’t laugh. She did tell me. Your friend Reggie didn’t know whether he should mention it or not. But I already knew.

Stacy: I’m changing back in a week. I have no need for a whole wardrobe.

Brian: That’s fine. Still need clothes for a week. As I said, no strings.

Panel 4

Brian: But, I hope you won’t mind going with me to dinner, perhaps some dancing. There’s no obligation implied or expected.

Stacy: You want to go on a date with me?

Brian: Is that a yes?

ROW TWO

Panel 1 – Across the art studio

Narration: Meanwhile

Noriko: Why haven’t you told her?

Meredith: I alluded to it. She isn’t ready for how long she really has to wait.

Noriko: That isn’t for you to decide.

Panel 2

Meredith: I can’t tell her she can’t be a statue again for at least six months. It’s too soon.

Noriko: And you can only restore her by recarving her.

Meredith: It won’t be a problem. I’m hoping Brian can distract her.

Panel 3 – walking toward the other two

Noriko: No way. She won’t date him.

Meredith: Wanna bet?

Magic Shoppe - For Real Now

As the door opened, a bell bracketed to the wall rang. “Welcome to the Magic Shoppe,” the tall, thin man behind the counter announced. “What can I do for you today?”

The man walked to the counter still looking around the shoppe. Aside from the man behind the counter and a woman wearing a maid’s uniform sweeping the essentially spotless floor, the shop was vacant. “Hi, I don’t know if you can help. But, I suppose if the rumors are true, you can.”

“I can assure you the rumors I spread are always true,” the proprietor said with a smile.

“Cute. My future wife…”

“You’re engaged?”

“Yes, the wedding isn’t scheduled but we’re thinking next summer.”

“Well, congratulations.”

“Thanks. After we’d been going out for about a year, she hesitantly introduced me to her darkest secret.”

“That you are about to tell me, a complete stranger.”

“You can’t help me if I don’t,” the man said. He noticed the proprietor favored verbal sparring. “She started out sending me links to images of people pretending to be mannequins in stores. Then to stories and webcomics about people who are turned into mannequins by technology or magic or other unusual phenomenon. No offense.”

“Of course not. Magic is strange. I can guess where your tale is headed.”

“After sending me a particularly steamy story, I was a bit embarrassed getting turned on as I read it on the commute home. And then…”

*****

“Barbara?” The man called out as he entered the apartment. “Barbara, that story was one the best you’ve sent me.” She wasn’t in the living room or the kitchen area. He entered the bedroom and saw her standing in front of the bay window. “Barbara?”

She hadn’t reacted at all. Her arms were held a bit too far away from her sides but not up in the air. Her fingers splayed in an odd manner. Her head was slightly tilted.

He was going to say her name again when he recalled the story he’d just read. He guessed she wanted to roleplay. He cleared his throat and said in a high pitched, kind of feminine voice, “When was the last time we changed the clothes on the main mannequin, Roman?”

Roman was his real name. “I don’t remember, Abigail,” he replied in his normal voice. “Do you want me to change them now?”

He returned to the feminine voice, presumably possessed by a woman named Abigail, “Yes. I’ll set out clothes while you remove those.”

He stepped up behind the mannequin and undid the zipper on the back of its dress. He raised the hem up to the mannequin’s waist. He gathered more of the fabric in a bunch and pulled the dress up over the mannequin’s head. The dress was hung up on the mannequin’s arm but pulling it downward allowed it to slip off.

He managed not to laugh as goosebumps manifested up and down her arms. He put the dress in the hamper and said, “Abigail? Where’s the dress?” He made soft incomprehensible sounds of a woman speaking loudly too far away. In his own voice, he said, “Okay, I’ll wait. You take care of the customer who just came in.”

He stood behind the mannequin and ran his hands over its arm. “She won’t be back for a bit. I have time for this.” He reached around the mannequin’s ribcage and caressed its breasts. “So hard… so solid.” He said about how hard her nipples had become and ignored how soft everything else about her chest was. “If the mannequin came to life now, my dreams would be answered,” he whispered in her ear. “Or maybe I’ll just put the new dress on it.”

He heard her a ragged nearly uncontrolled breath from her. She remained resolutely still otherwise as she got her breathing back under control.

“Okay, I can always take my girlfriend out to dinner later.” He grabbed one of her dressier outfits and put it on her. He could tell she was struggling not to tremble as he zipped the dress up. “Abigail, I’m leaving early. I’m taking Barbara out to Ciccone’s later.”

As he was leaving the room, ‘Abigail’ said, “Have a good time, Roman!”

*****

The proprietor looked over at the maid who hung on the man’s every word. The enchantment that was supposed to make her focus on sweeping and dusting was being overruled by how much she probably wanted to be the customer’s wife.

Roman continued. “I walked out of the bedroom and counted to ten. When I walked back in, she was sitting at her vanity doing her makeup, still wearing the dress I’d just put on her. She said she’d be ready in a minute and asked me about my day like nothing else had happened,” Roman said, finishing his story.

“You’re hoping I have something that can actually turn her into a mannequin, I’m guessing,” the proprietor said.

“Yes. Her birthday is coming. If it were something like a necklace, that would be perfect.”

*****

Her birthday came. She was so excited. Roman refused to tell her what he got her or what they were doing on her birthday.

She wasn’t sure why, but for the last few days, he had asked her to already be a mannequin when he got home from work. When she’d asked why, he said her birthday was coming and he wanted to encourage her fantasy.

She’d gone all out this evening. After leaving work early, she’d taken a bubble bath, done up her hair and makeup and was wasting time on her phone waiting for the sound of the front door opening.

When it did, she hurried to the mannequin pole she’d bought for herself a few weeks back. She decided to face the door so she could see Roman’s face when he saw her.

It had been so worth it. She stood there like a statue, or a mannequin really, and was so happy to see him taken aback when he saw her. He was holding a palm sized box with a red bow on it.

He looked around the room, making eye contact with her no longer. “Barbara? Barbara?” He called out. “Good, I must have made it home before her. How can I surprise her?”

She wasn’t sure what he was up to. She’d been expecting him to start role-playing his Roman works at a store with Abigail story as he’d done all week.

“I hope she likes the gift. I should see how it looks on the mannequin she bought.” He was standing right in front of her. “It is so convenient having a mannequin that looks exactly like Barbara in our bedroom. I can always be sure the clothes and stuff I buy her will fit.”

This was new, she thought. She wondered if he was going to change her clothes. Instead, he pulled a leather and metal choker out of the box and placed it around her neck. It was snug but not tight at all. She wanted to move her head side to side to see if it would pinch at all. But, she remained in character for now. Mannequins don’t worry about anything pinching them.

He stepped away from the mannequin, his arm on his chin, a thoughtful and discerning look on his face. He stepped forward again and twisted the choker a bit counterclockwise. He stepped back again. “Perfect,” he said. “I should take a picture. I can show it to her later.”

He took a moment to frame the shot just right and snapped a few pics of the mannequin. “I should put the choker back in the b—” An alert took over his screen as he was about to take another pic. “Oh, a text.” After reading the pretend text he pretended to respond. As he was ‘typing,’ he said, “That’s unexpected. She wants me to meet her Ciccone’s.” He put his phone in his pocket and reached for the choker. He stopped before he touched it. “I wonder. If I leave it there, how long will take her to notice it? I can pretend I didn’t get her anything and then she’ll see the choker on the mannequin.” He laughed. Later he wondered if rubbing his hands with glee had been too far over the top. “She won’t expect that. I better get going.”

He left the room.

What kind of plan is that? She wondered. It’s like he wants me to get upset and then have to apologize when I realize he has played me. But, why would he tell me his plan? I want to go after him and ask him but I’ll wait. He won’t leave without me.

She heard the apartment door open and close. Nice touch, she thought. He’s probably waiting in the hall for me to come look for him. I wonder what the choker feels like.

What? She tried to move her head side to side. But… How? It wouldn’t move. She couldn’t turn or bend her neck. She tried to reach for the choker but her arms didn’t obey her. Why can’t I move? She thought. For a split second she was afraid.

Where did he get that choker? She recalled a conversation they’d had a few weeks earlier…

*****

“Hey, you ever hear about a store called The Magic Shoppe?” He said out of nowhere.

“Yeah, on seventh, I think. Nancy was telling me about a coworker who’d been there.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, this guy had shown up to work one day as a woman. Scuttlebutt around the office was she’d used magic to do it. Goes by Dana now.”

“That can’t be real.”

“What if it is?” Barbara gushed. “That would be cool if there was magic to turn people into other things.”

“I wonder what you’d like to be.”

*****

It took all his willpower to stay away from the apartment for a few hours. He was at a nearby bar with his friend Martin.

“She’s a mannequin. Like a real mannequin?” his friend said.

“I’ve told you about this before.”

“Yeah, but now you’re telling me she’s actually a hollow piece of plastic, unlike all the other times.”

“True. It’s the perfect gift.”

“Unless the reality of being a mannequin is not the same as her fantasy.”

“Yeah, I’ve worried about that. But once I had the idea, I had to give it a shot.”

“All I know is when you do take the necklace off, do not lose sight of it. You might find it around your neck as she’s dropping you down the garbage chute.”

Roman laughed. “I’ve also considered her being livid with me for turning her back into a person.”

“Indifference. You are hoping for indifference in the best case here? Is it great gift giving if the optimal end result is indifference?”

“You’re buying the next round for that.”

Martin finished his beer. “Of course, we’re celebrating Barbara’s birthday without her.”

“Hey, if she really digs the necklace, I might be available to hang out more.”

“Let me get those beers. I want to drink to that.”

*****

This is fantastic, she thought. I wonder where he went. He was always complaining that he didn’t get to see his friends that much. I hope he used this opportunity to see Martin and/or Colby. I don’t want this to end. But, I also want to show my appreciation for the perfect gift.

She spent her evening wondering when she’d changed into a mannequin. She hadn’t felt anything at all. She realized she hadn’t tried to move for several minutes after Roman had put the necklace on her.

For a brief instant she considered it have been the photograph he’d taken. She dismissed this as unlikely since he talked a lot about leaving the necklace on the mannequin.

She hoped it hadn’t happened instantly. She could see herself coming home many, many nights and putting the necklace on herself if she was able to pose her arms afterward. It would be terribly inconvenient to end up standing there with her hands at her neck every time. She’d have to ask Roman when he got home. Her mind smiled. She corrected herself. She had to ask Roman when he removed the necklace. He could come home and leave it on her. Her mind became a little melty at the thought of him ignoring her for days.

Either way, she didn’t want him to rush home. She hoped he wasn’t worried about her reaction. Foolish, she knew. Being Roman, he’s worried. She tried to distract herself from his reactions.

She thought about how much she’d enjoyed the evening so far. Her favorite part of the evening was the sun ever so slowly setting, the light in the room dimming. She’d read those words in the stories she loved. Watching it happen was so much better.

She stood in the near pitch blackness, but not total silence. She could distinctly hear the explosions in whatever action movie her neighbor was watching. It was probably barely noticeable to someone alive.

The only thing she was missing was a window to look out of. She could have been looking out the bay window. Tonight, she’d wanted to see Roman’s reaction to her outfit. She laughed to herself. She’d gotten all dolled up because she’d expected to go to dinner. Instead she just got dolled.

The door to the apartment opened. It sounded loud in the silence. She realized she was so excited but her heart didn’t exist to be racing. When the light turned on in the bedroom, she hadn’t needed to blink so her eyes could adjust to the sudden brightness.

He got undressed before saying, “I considered just quietly going to bed. But, I need to know that you’re happy. But, that doesn’t mean you have to stop being a mannequin.”

What? She thought.

“I’m going to remove the necklace. When I unclasp it, if you really want to be human, you’ll turn back to normal. But, if you really don’t want to become human, the clasp won’t open and you’ll remain a mannequin.”

What should I do? I want to give him a kiss. And much more. I want to spend the night as a mannequin. What should I do?

“Okay, I’ve given you a few seconds to think about it. Here goes. 3… 2… 1…” The clasp would not open.

She was still a mannequin.

He laughed and kissed the mannequin’s lips. “Martin owes me five bucks. Enjoy the rest of your birthday, Love.”

In the morning, he used the bathroom before standing in front of her. Without a word he removed her dress. She’d wanted to kiss him since he’d kissed her the night before. He got a makeup removal pad and cleaned her face. He pulled the pins out of her hairdo. She had to admit she was amused at his delay tactics.

He stood back and looked around the room. He went over to his bedside table for his phone. He took a few pictures of her.

“Change back. I’m sure you want to thank me just slightly more than you want to stay a mannequin. The necklace isn’t going away.”

He removed the necklace. She couldn’t move for a few seconds. She was a bit surprised when she needed to inhale. Instead of speaking, she kissed him.

Moments later, he said, “Abigail said to wish you a happy birthday.”

“She should ask for a raise. She takes such good care of her mannequins,” Barbara said through a giggle. Seconds later her eyes when wide. “Your phone! Your phone! I want to see the pictures.”

“Yes. Here.”

The first picture he’d taken was already on screen. The naked mannequin had a close approximation of her face.

“There’s nipples but no areola. No labia. And the face is slightly fake.”

“Do you like it?” He asked for no reason.

“I love it.” Tears formed in her eyes. “I’ve never received a more perfect gift.”

They kissed and the kisses turned into further activity in the bed.

They lay in bed after a round of love making. “I need to stop,” she said. “I’m starved.”

“Mannequins generally don’t eat. Want to get dressed and hit The Grind for breakfast? I feel like I’m doing something wrong not taking you to a restaurant for your birthday.”

“Not a problem. You’re good. No, you are fucking great. I love you.”

“I love you.”

Little Witch #13: Who's Babysitting?

Mommy and Daddy go out on their date, finally. Who's babysitting? Or, more accurately, who's babysitting whom?

Mommy and Daddy go out on their date, finally. Who's babysitting? Or, more accurately, who's babysitting whom?

Transcript

Panel 1 – foyer

Mommy: We haven't gone on a “date” date in far too long. I hope she won't cause you any trouble.

Mrs. Ippalla: I’m sure she’ll be no trouble at all.

Daddy: Good night, Angela. No doll spells.

Angela: No doll spells. Have fun tonight, Mommy and Daddy.

Panel 2 – foyer

Mrs. Ippalla: Do you want me to play with you or do you want to play on your own?

Angela: I’m good. But, if you want to play with me, I could help you with getting down on the floor.

Mrs. Ippalla: Why do you say that?

Angela: I can hear the creaking of your bones. I can help with that. Just for this evening.

Panel 3 – walking past staircase toward living room

Mrs. Ippalla: Magic? You can make me young again?

Angela: As young as your heart desires.

Mrs. Ippalla: That might be too young.

Angela: Is it?

Panel 4 – Montage of Mrs. Ippalla de-aging. Ends up a 6 month old infant.

Panel 5 – baby on rug

Baby Ippalla: daa nuu taa?

Last Mannequin For Storage - Render and Manip

2025/09/02 - Scheduling Note: Today is Tuesday. Little Witch #13 was scheduled to release today. But, the current post is an anniversary post, as explained below. So, LW13 has been bumped to Thursday this week. The anticipation will just make it even more fun, right?

The original photo for this story has a create date on my computer of July 2018. And who knows how old the actual image is. Sometime in 2019, all I had was the original image and the story text seen in the manip. Fast forward to August 2025, I created the rendered version (I'll get to why in a moment) and since I was releasing it, I finally did the manip. It isn't my best. I'm rusty. I'm not planning to maintain that skill. Sorry.

Why? In the fledgling times of my rendering work, barely two weeks into "becoming serious" with Daz, as I said somewhere recently, I released a manip that I'd been sitting on for a while and on the same day, the rendered version. What's That Noise? came out September 2, 2024 here and on Oct 14 at dA. Those two images are rather different, like these two are. I love celebrating my anniversaries.

Fun Facts (for me, at least)

• Paul was first created in June for the one-off comic coming out 9/30. Nuff said.

• Stan had hair. After the hair was lost in a Daz crash, the baldness was added to the story.

• The furniture in the storage unit is from a clothing store asset that will be seen in Statue Rentals #13.

• I spent 3-4 days on the renders. But there are three renders: Panel 1, the phone image in panel 2, and panel 2 itself.

• Rusty or not, the manip took about 40 minutes to make. Or it took 7 years, depending on your point of view. I had put it off so long because the lace on the arm sleeves is a pain to manip. I kind of dealt with it half effort here.

Render Transcript

Panel 1 - Stan and Paul are done moving a former store’s inventory into a storage locker unit.

Stan: Finally, that’s the last of it. Let’s lock this up and go get a beer. My treat.

Paul: We picked up twelve mannequins at the store, right?

Stan: And eight clothing racks, some furniture, and those hangers. Why?

Paul: And that’s what’s in the storage unit, right?

Stan: Where are you going on about?

Paul: And yet, there’s another mannequin standing behind you. And it’s even wearing clothes. And high heels! It has hair!

Stan: Clothes? Shoes? Not our problem, Paul. Just load it. If there's a problem someone paid to care can deal with it. We're out of here once I lock the door. I'll ignore the hair comment.

Paul: It's just weird that neither of us noticed a mannequin standing right there. Where did it come from?

Stan: I'll explain the birds and the bees to you over that drink. Now, get that mannequin in the storage locker so we can get going. And because of this delay, you're buying the first round.

Panel 2 - Someone is swiping through photos on a phone when an onlooker asks them to pause.

Narrator: An unknown amount of time later...

Woman 1: Hey, flip back. Is that Lynnora?

Woman 2: Who? Oh, right. What ever happened to her? I don't think I've seen her since this photo was taken at my birthday party?

Woman 1: I haven't heard from her in ages. Didn't she want to downsize her whole life. She was looking to find a cost effective, long-term self storage unit.

Woman 2: Oh, yeah, I remember now. she was asking everyone at the party.

Woman 1: I guess downsizing her life included getting rid of her friend group, too.

Woman 2: Maybe. Anyway, I was trying to show you an outfit I saw.…

Manip Transcript

A: Let's just load up the last mannequin into the storage locker and call it a day. First round's on me.

B: Why is this one wearing clothes? Look, the manifest says there are eight mannequins, I count nine.

A: I don't get paid enough to ask questions. Nor enough to spend time counting mannequins.

B: It has a purse.

A: Let's just get done and get out of here. Do your job. Put it in the unit.

B: Okay. But it's odd.

A: Duly noted.

I Talk - September Is Here

This is a bit disjoint. Sorry. First order of business: Welcome to any new Patrons. Thanks for your sponsorship. And now... on to my random ramblings

Writing

After several weeks in a row heavy writing, I took basically the whole week off. Other than a few tweaks to some comic scripts, I focused on comics. My usual 4k words a weeks (with peaks of 20k sometimes) was a valley this week at 530-ish words. So what happened in comics?

My writing buffer is a little bare. I'm good for about 3 months. I have a massive series, perhaps call it a book, that I'm trying to finish completely before serializing it. There are 15 chapters/episodes complete. But I'm not sure what the stopping point chapter is. Probably 18 or 20. I focused on this story the prior two weeks. And now that I've taken a week off, I'll get back to it.

This also means I'm ignoring several stories that I teased on the list of stories page over a year ago that are still not quite ready to release. Sigh.

Comics

Saturday, I finished putting together the 30th page of Little Witch. According to my spreadsheet, it is scheduled to release May 19 next year. Little Witch consists of 216 renders across 30 pages.

I also did a lot of white balance and color correction on a bunch of the yet-to-be-seen comics, both Little Witch and Statue Rentals. I think tomorrow's Thursday's Little Witch has some of the rebalance in it. (I should check.) It'll be on Thursday because a Manip Render is appearing on Tuesday.

I also started a new comic: A Statue A Day. It was originally a short story but I thought it would be better as a comic. I'm also experimenting with not have pages full of panels. All the pages will be one panel (or I'll die trying). So, there might be a few pages that I'll release together to avoid having a week go by during a petrification sequence. (I don't think that is a spoiler, right?) I'll probably stream these on a Thursday once they are ready. (Or not. Depends on how much writing buffer I have. See above.)

Render Skill Progress

This is a render from Little Witch #28. I think it's one of my good renders.

On the same day/month a year ago, this was the best I could find (August 26, 2024 below, 2025 above). I made that mirror myself. But, the lighting work was still in its infancy. And the pose is a bit wonky:

That's about it. Talk to you soon. Leave of comment. Chat in the chat. Or just go about your busy lives as you usually do. It's all good.

Sold (Part 8 of 8)

NOTE: There are five epilogues below. Some of them overlap each other temporally. As each epilogue starts, any mention of time passing is basically relative to the end of the first seven parts of the story.

Epilogue 1

Within five months of taking control of the business, they had gained four more high availability rental dolls, five if one counts Lauren becoming one of the rental dolls. That count includes losing Evelyn to early doll retirement.

Mary, who had wanted nothing more with being a doll, approached them around that time to do a few rentals at first that turned into her being rented for entire weekends at a time.

Jean occasionally let herself be rented. She was surprised Dave had no issues with this. When asked by the guys, Dave said it was because when she came back, she was extremely horny.

After a year of rentals, the guys were getting tired of all the legwork involved in delivering and retrieving the dolls. Jacob and Ron proposed they drop the rental website and make a physical rental location with other services. The business had enough money saved up to rent an unused former fitness center, with the help of several doll-like silent partners contributing funds. The facility had showers and locker rooms left over from the former business. Within another year, they had hired another dozen dolls at various levels of availability as well as so-called normal employees to run the spa and fitness parts of the business.

Nora ended up making a total of four magic dolls stands that were stored in various locations for use at the rental store and privately by a few discreet customers.

But even in the first year, as the business grew, Nora wanted to distance herself from it a little. She got an apartment nearby. Later she would move into a larger home. But a two bedroom apartment was enough for her to have somewhere where she didn’t have to be Nora, the Doll Wizard. No one called her this. It was just her way of thinking about her role in life.

The apartment also had a basement. The basement had a utility area. And a small room tucked behind the utility area. She kept a secret there. Jean and Dave probably knew. But no one else did.

She would visit this secret room about once a month. She had cast the spell that allowed for five minutes talking with a doll as soon as she closed the door. She wasn’t sure why she bothered. The outcome was always the same. No matter how many times she tried to break his control of Rachel, she always said the same thing as soon as she could speak:

“What have you done to my master?” Madame Livanté demanded.

“How many times do I have to tell you he isn’t coming back, Rachel?”

“Lies. He wouldn’t abandon me, Evil Temptress!”

“You were there when he was dealt with. I turned him into a doll.”

“Your foolish light show didn’t mean anything. There were no male dolls in that bedroom.”

“If it didn’t mean anything, why is your master hiding from me? Maybe, just maybe that light show took care of him.”

“No.”

“What happened to you?” Nora said. “You used to be a wizard. Now you’re just a fuck toy. And we don’t even rent you out. You aren’t even that.” It stabbed at Nora’s heart a little. The dollnapper hadn’t rented her either the second time around. Now Rachel was being treated the same way.

“I wouldn’t want you to rent me out. I only did that for master.”

“He asked you? You had a choice?”

“He didn’t have to ask. I’d do whatever he needs.”

“He still could have asked.”

“He didn’t need to ask. I’d do whatever he needs.”

A headache usually followed these conversations. One was already building. “You’re still a powerful wizard, Rachel. Why don’t you escape from us and find your master?”

“Master said I’m not allowed to cast spells without his permission.”

“So if he never comes back you spend eternity waiting. It isn’t like you’ll die as a doll.”

“I suppose that’s my fate. I accept it gladly.”

Nora just shook her head in disgust. She tried something else. “So, if we had his permission, we could just leave you somewhere for free fucks and you would be happy to do it.”

“Of course. But, he would never give you permission. He hates you.”

“He did?”

“He does! You ruined his business. He had to start over completely. That was all your fault.”

“He had nine living dolls before he captured you and me. I don’t think starting over really hurt him all that much.”

“He didn’t deserve your interference.”

“Is that why you helped him get me back?”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you do it immediately, the moment you met me? Why did you wait over three months to deliver me to him?”

“I don’t… I don’t remember.”

“You know the answer. You know he wasn’t your master when you met me the first time. He did something to you later.”

“Master didn’t do anything to me. I’ve always belonged to him.”

“You belonged to him ten years ago? In college you did his bidding? High school? Kindergarten? You said always. Always? You’ve always belong to him?”

“Yes, I mean,… No… I… You’re trying to confuse me.”

“Am I? Or am I trying get you to see the truth?” Nora dismissed the speaking spell in frustration.

She turned the light in the small room off and left. She’d try again at some point, she knew.

Epilogue 2

A few years passed. Nora was surprised when Eddie invited her out to dinner. Neither he nor she spent a lot of time as part of the business so they rarely saw one another. He did visit the rental facility frequently to make use of the dolls, though. His doll predilection was how this had started after all. They met at an expensive restaurant and were in the VIP section.

“Do you know what today is?” He said.

“No. I don’t know if I ever knew your birthday.”

“No, no.” He laughed. “You still don’t. No, five years ago today, a young woman told me she was curious about having sex as a doll.”

“Has it been that long? Has it only been five years?” She said. “I guess I should thank you since it changed my life for the better. Eventually.”

“Yeah, don’t bother. It’s probably a wash in the end.”

“I don’t know. I would never have found out I’m a succubus otherwise.”

“You’ve come to accept that?”

“The evidence is overwhelming.”

He laughed. “Sure. Don’t know if we’ll ever know for sure. Although, take some pictures of yourself. You might find twenty years from now you don’t look twenty years older. And unlike the dolls who never age, you tend not to spend months at a time as a doll.”

“Not any more. The funny thing is as much as I enjoy being a doll. I like being a wizard or whatever I am better.”

“Follow your bliss.” He raised his wine glass as he said it. She joined him in the impromptu toast. They drank. He put his glass down and said, “What did you do with the kidnapper?”

“Dollnapper. You waited this long to ask?” She said with a laugh. She took a larger drought from her wine glass.

“You aren’t as angry these days. I figure you might humor me.”

“Do you know Dave has been a rental doll?”

“People rent male dolls?”

“Sure. Not often. But, Dave wasn’t a male doll.”

“You can shape a man into a female doll? That’s amazing.”

“And if I haven’t been using my power willy-nilly, I can restore them as a woman.”

“What?”

“You’ve met Raven, haven’t you?”

“Yes, but…”

“That was Dave.”

“Fascinating. The dollnapper…”

“That asshole had eight cheap sex dolls when I defeated him.”

“You didn’t…”

“Dave and the boys found nine cheap sex dolls in that home after I restored them.”

“But, only eight of them were sold.”

“I donated one to a fraternity house at my old alma mater. They thought she was a beautiful doll. I’m sure it gets passed from bedroom to bedroom at the start of each semester and then forgotten toward the end.”

“And you resisted the idea you were some kind of lust demon for how long?”

“I’m usually not this demonic,” she joked. “But in this case, my anger was insatiable. I expect at some point, the frat boys will put that doll in storage at the start of one summer and no one will remember to take it out of storage in the fall. Oh, to be a sex doll in a basement or attic listening to a house filled with people week after week partying their asses off. It brings tears to these presumably evil eyes.”

Epilogue 3

Stories of Nora’s time visiting her family the first time after her second rescue became legendary among the dolls and staff. She was asked to replicate those orgies and obliged. Her powers grew quickly with use. She had to restrain herself from puppeteering during sex. She would take total control of people’s bodies. Some of the permanent dolls even found it frightening. During the orgies her control could include several dozen people at a time. From the middle of the first year, her orgies were a regular thing monthly and sometimes more frequently.

In the fifth year of the business, there was an invitations only bacchanalian event that lasted an entire week. One hundred people and dolls attended. Except when resting, she might puppeteer three-quarters or more of the attendees. Some speculated that she only released people so she wouldn’t have to make them eat, sleep, or other bodily maintenance. And yet, some folks would tell of being puppeeted for the entire week. They would say she performed all their motions when they touched someone, when they pleasured someone, when they were touched their moans were not their own, eating for them, drinking, conversing with others. Usually these people were the type who got off on being completely dominated.

Until it happened to someone themselves, it was hard to explain to them that the puppets weren’t saying the words that came from their lips. It was all Nora. Nora reveled in her absolute control. Forty to fifty people speaking at once, every word escaping their lips formed by the puppeteer. The other puppets responding at the will of the puppeteer. Eye contact, subtle glances, folded arms to imply a guarded attitude, a gregarious laugh, sarcastic eye rolls. All were the work of Nora.

One of the puppets might be in the midst of mind blowing sex when their ramped up endorphins would dip momentarily, their head would turn, their eyelids open, and they would see someone dear to them engaged in a questionable activity. The other puppet was purposely not looking in the first puppet’s direction. Afterward, the observer would wonder if their friend or loved one had been a puppet at the time or if the questionable act had been done while they were free of Nora.

Some people were fascinated by her shenanigans and enjoyed the drama that might or might not be real. Others refused to attend future orgies because of it. But the orgies were popular, there were always new puppets made to dance at Nora’s whims. Her closest friends sometimes would feel the strings attach to them away from the parties. Those evenings were always exciting.

She would never discuss afterward anything she did during these events. Although, some folks would mention events that might or might not happen at the next event while socializing with Nora. Sometimes these idle whimsies happened at a future orgy.

Epilogue 4

Once the business had the ability to transform the dolls without her, she found she wasn’t really needed. She became the on-call wizard and no one ever needed her in that capacity. Nora would spend entire weeks ignoring the business. In the fifth year after the business began, the length and frequency of these retreats grew longer and longer. By the tenth year, her visits were more akin to old friends visiting than business visits.

Nora never told people what she did in her downtime – she had long since moved out of the apartment near the business and into the larger home. Most would be surprised her time off was generally spent reading, mostly historic texts. There were no lamps in the room. She would read using a magic glow she’d created. She was so happy when she was finally able to do such simple magic. Teenage Ryan was suitably impressed when she showed him the brighter glow. Because she could, she would read transformed into a doll. The book floated above her, held open by invisible hands. The hands moved the book across her vision so she could read it. As a doll she could have a book float into her range of vision and read it without ever moving. For days, weeks sometimes, Nora would lay there reading a stack of books completely uninterrupted.

Almost completely. The alarm spells placed on her home sounded in her head. The doll body was replaced by her own. She reached out to hold the book with her actual hands. The little light still floated unattended in the near darkness.

Her bedroom was suddenly extremely hot. A burst of reddish orange light filled a corner of the room leaving behind an after image. She looked over to see an eight feet tall man with dark red skin, tall leathery wings, and a whip thin tail standing in a flickering ring of fire. He was handsome if you weren’t put off by the rams horns on the side of his head. He was also sporting a cock longer and twice as thick as a weight-lifter’s forearm.

“You may worship me, Nora!” The voice was loud, deep, and yet did not reverberate off the walls making it a bit tinny sounding.

“Fairly sure I won’t,” she said, slightly bored. She turned the page and continued reading.

“You belong in my domain, not wasting time on these insects. You waste your time not living up to your full potential.”

“I’m trying to read. Keep it down.”

“Do you know to whom you are speaking?”

“Some two-bit ‘prince’ of hell, I’m guessing.” He could actually hear in her voice the quotation marks around the word ‘prince’.

“Don’t mock me. I am…”

“Tell me,” she interrupted. She finally looked at him, her eyes piercing his head. “Tell me your True Name, demon.”

“Naqtarsotine,” he said, although his pronunciation is impossible to capture precisely in printed form. “What? How?”

“I command Naqtarsotine to fully transform into a foot tall resin figure of a school age anime magical girl character you find enjoyable. When you finish the transformation, Naqtarsotine, lock yourself into this impotent, inanimate form for eternity.”

“Noooooo!!” His first encounter with pure terror ended almost as quickly as it began. The flickering fires faded.

Nora shuddered. The remains of the demon’s power flowed into her and while the power was nice, it tasted of the pits of hell. She went over to the corner of the room where he had stood and picked up the figurine. “Neptune? Who picks the Neptune princess?” She finished the ritual unnaming with a short dance. “Naqtarsotine is no more. There is no demon with this name. This name is forgotten for all time.” The universe seemed indifferent since the demon already ceased to exist.

With a shrug, she put the figure on a shelf next to four other similar figures. Still facing the shelf, she was reminded she had two Mars girls. Before turning around, she said, “Are you going to come out now? The big bad demon is taken care of.” She turned. “Now there’s just the weaker, smarter demon to deal with.”

“I wasn’t hiding,” a figure said. His voice was similar to Naqtarsotine’s though he didn’t make it boom annoyingly like his fellow demon had. He was two feet shorter, now five feet taller, than the other demon. His skin was that of a pale human, he lacked wings, rams horns, and tail. He was dressed in a business casual suit with a diamond patterned sweater vest. “I tried to convince my adversary not to confront you. I’ll need to find a new playmate.”

“Me?”

“No, no. You are beyond my power. Demons learn early on not to attempt to punch above their weight class.”

She pointed at the five figures on the shelf.

“That group did learn the lesson, albeit later than they should have. And the hard way.”

“We aren’t fucking,” she announced. She sat down on her bed and indicated the desk chair. He accepted her invitation.

“That would be glorious if I survived it.”

“I never kill for pleasure.”

“One of the reasons why your friend Eddie was wrong about you.”

“Wrong?”

“You are no demon, not a succubus as they are called in English.”

“But you are. And you aren’t here to just give me information for free.”

“Mostly true. I am giving you information for free. Without strings attached except that I hope the goodwill you are likely to feel will manifest in my favor should I regretfully find myself in your bad graces.”

She laughed. “I promise you nothing. It amuses me that a demon I’ve never met is worried enough to seek me out hoping to gain some kind of appeasement for something that might or might never happen.”

“Some demons learn early on how to keep those above their weight class happy.”

“What is this information?”

He did not answer. He seemed worried although his face was a mask of pleasantness.

“Well?” She asked.

“I want to clear the air. This may be a fatal miscalculation on my part.”

“Now I feel like demanding the information.” Her eyes pierced into his mind. “Kentr—”

“Please don’t finish saying my name. I still don’t expect you to end me. But if you say it aloud, others might hear it. Also, while I am powerless against you, you probably don’t want the truly power demons knowing you can pluck a True Name from a demon’s mind.” His posture was rueful and he didn’t look her in the eye.

“I accept your reasoning.”

“Since I have nothing else, I may as well tell you what I came here to say.” He looked her in the eye. “I gave your most hated enemy a power boost before you met him.”

She did not respond. He was about to continue when she held up a hand. He decided to wait.

“Why?” She said flatly.

“When he… acquired you the first time, I was pleased. I am a misery demon. I feed on despair. But, minutes after he made you understand the depth of your prison, I saw what you would become. Rightfully, I was afraid. I told him, I begged him, I pleaded with him to release you immediately. I knew you would be his undoing. If I had seen your potential a few weeks earlier, you’d never have met him.”

“Why would you tell me this?”

“That is something I am questioning right now myself. My original thinking was you might find out and seek me out. You are generally goodhearted but you don’t shy away from vengeance either.

“Also, my role in this isn’t the information I promised before. This is still preamble to the information.”

“You have information more useful than this?”

“I am working within the bounds of your concept of fairplay. Since you carried out your vengeance against my former protégé, he has been flooding me with misery and despair. If misery were carbohydrates, and I had human physiology, I’d weigh a literal ton just from him, or should I say, her alone.

“Under different circumstances I would take you under my wing after providing me such a source of despondency. You probably weren’t consciously aware that your punishment, specifically turning him into a female doll, causes him additional grief because he is such an unrepentant misogynist.

“But I’m off track. I do not ask your forgiveness. Just your understanding that I attempted to get him to back off. I do not want you as an enemy.”

“I should be mad at you. You wanted to deny me what I’ve become. And I cannot trust any of the candor you are showing is in my interest.”

“No, probably you cannot and should not. I still have the other information up my sleeve, just to remind you.”

She laughed. “Next you’ll request that the form of your punishment be a robot anime and limited to perhaps only a thousand years.”

“That would be preferable to eternity. But I didn’t ask for that. You said it.”

“I like you. The revelation you made just now will not be the sole reason you end up on that shelf should that come to pass.”

“You certainly know how to speak like a demon,” he said. “My actual information is that you aren’t a demon.”

“You already said that.”

“There’s more. You are an angel. Although, that doesn’t mean what you probably think it does. Angels are shepherds of souls, creators of beauty, and the antithesis of my kind. An angel of lust is nigh impossible. An angel of pleasure giving is far more likely. You don’t make people seek pleasure, you just give pleasure to them freely. A demon would use the lust to gain advantage. Aside from enduring friendship, I can’t fathom what you gain. These concepts hurt my mouth to even say aloud.”

She laughed even harder this time. “And that’s the lie.”

“What?”

“Angel? Me? I’m no angel. Have you never witnessed my orgies?”

“Oh. Yes. You think an angel wouldn’t – I believe you call it – puppeteer thinking beings. That’s probably true. I told you I have information for you. I didn’t say I would tell you everything I know. You are not a demon. You are an angel. And you are something else as well.”

“I like how you deliver the information is such compartmentalized morsels,” she said. “Have we reached the morsel where I have to give you something or is there yet another layer to come?”

“No. I will not have you pay for the information. But I also will not just give you the information. For one thing, it is not my information to give you, even though I know it. You are free to torture it out of me, I suppose. Though, I’m betting my literal existence that you won’t. Am I free to go?”

“Yes. I haven’t laughed this much in one evening is a very long time. You have forgotten one thing. But I will hold that knowledge to myself since you know several things that you aren’t saying. You aren’t telling me what I am. You aren’t telling me who’s secret this is. You aren’t telling me how I find this out without you.

“But I’m in a good mood. Does it twist in your gut that I wasn’t depressed not learning what you know.”

“More like goosebumps. May I ask a small question?”

“I’m shocked you haven’t disappeared already.” She said with a nod.

“This room, the whole house, is warded again eavesdropping. But you have no other traps. Why don’t you ward your home against idiots like those five up on the shelf? I understand if this is a secret you’d rather not divulge.”

“No, the reason is rather simple. I enjoy folks just popping in. It helps break up the boredom. I only raise strong wards when I have the orgies here. Would you like an invitation?”

“No. I wouldn’t enjoy it unless you planned to make folks miserable. But, I am grateful for the invitation.”

“You have it. Just let me know ahead of time when you’ll be attending.”

“When?”

Her smile was completely innocent according to the demon’s senses. He didn’t believe them.

“If you insist, I must graciously accept. Good evening, Nora. When we meet again, I hope to be twice as powerful as I am now?”

“And grind me under your heel?”

“No, I’d have to be far more than twice as powerful as I am now not to end up a mecha on that shelf.” He turned sideways. His frame seemed to flatten from her point of view until he was end on to her eye, disappearing as if he’d never been there.

“Angel,” she thought. “Demons think in terms of millennia. I really don’t have anyone to talk to about this. I haven’t even told anyone about the shelf.” She got back into bed and was a doll once more. The pages of the book turned to where she’d been before being interrupted. “Who should I tell? Some other time.”

Epilogue 5

“How is there is so much dust down here? When did the brothers last clean this basement out?”

“Probably before any of us were born.”

“Well, we have the money to put a real working bar in and this is the only space. We can probably just throw it all out.”

“That doesn’t mean we won’t get filthy dragging it all out.”

The brothers spent the first couple weeks of summer digging through all the junk in the basement. Some of them, the smaller guys, were tasked with determining if any value could gotten from the stuff on Beggar’s List and then cleaning that stuff.

“Hey check this out,” a dust covered brother said, carrying a dust covered body to the assessment team. “This thing seems to be in pretty good shape.”

“Is that a sex toy?”

“Yeah. Some kind of sex doll. Kind of realistic, but I’ve seen better dolls.”

“This one’s nothing to sneeze at.”

“Except for the dust.”

They laughed.

“Doesn’t Mr. Peters always tell us there’s a sex doll around here?”

“He was obsessed with some sex doll that belonged to the house.”

“Kind of creepy.”

“Is this that doll?”

“Oh.”

“Maybe.”

“We should clean it up and just give it to him. Maybe he’ll make another big money donation.”

“Good plan.”

As they were cleaning the doll, all the brothers were told the plan as they came by. One of them looked at the doll and was shocked. “How is that possible?”

“Things get lost all the time, dude.”

“No, no. The doll. It’s… it’s alive.”

“What?”

“Maybe you should lie down, you’re probably about to have a heat stroke.”

“Oh, shut up. Magic. That doll has a mind, a very dormant mind. But it’s there.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“Precisely. What are we supposed to do with this knowledge?”

“We need to rescue her.”

“Bah, we’re better off giving her to Peters. Tell him it has a mind and make it his problem.”

“I don’t feel right about that.”

“Can you rescue it?”

“Her. No. No clue how that’s done. I only dabble in magic.”

“What would it cost?”

“You’re right. It would be expensive.”

“Good. Mr. Peters can deal with it.”

“Fine.”

Afterward/Author’s Note

Hi, Magicshoppe here. This story was originally going to be two short parts. Part one, kidnapping and being a doll. Part two, a mini-revenge tour after escaping. A scene that involved Nora demanding $300 from Linda featured prominently in my notes and is now long gone.

Next thing I knew, the story had five parts plus an epilogue. The epilogue became convoluted so it was broken up into logical sections. One of the epilogues, involving Rexx and Evelyn, originally like two paragraphs, muscled it’s way into the main story along with a few other epilogue items and five parts became seven.

Three of the above epilogues could easily be entire chapters. Epilogue 4 is already 2k words in length.

Some day, they will. I’m setting this down now and releasing it for your enjoyment. But some day, probably years from now, I’d like to turn this 32k word novella into a proper novel.

There are so many side stories missing that… Hey, I didn’t write… Nora!!! Stop puppeteering me….

Statue Rentals #9: Restoration Surprise

When I first put the dialogue on this comic (and the next one), Stacy's dialogue bubbles were white. I considered making her bubbles slowly become the hot pink they are now. I gave up on the idea because I didn't think it would be necessary.

I realized at this point Stacy is a far more top heavy that I realized before. Putting her in clothes made this painfully obvious. SR#11 and SR#12 still have dialog about her size. The images here are the reduced size images. I ended up fixing SR#05 through SR#19 because they were just too big.

The Little Witch's Wilson family portrait is sideways on the table in the top right panel. Yet another crossover with another story.

There's a bonus pic down below the transcript.

Transcript

Panel 1 – Statue is hidden behind blue screen, Meredith is sitting nearby

Meredith (speaking to statue): I hope you enjoyed the experience. It’s been almost 18 months since you were human.

Meredith (continued): You’ve been well- compensated financially. I’ve explained what caused the delays to you before but had no way to ask how you felt. I hope it was okay.

FX: <snap>

Panel 2 – Magic!

Panel 3

Meredith: There’s some clothes for you on the stool.

Stacy: This is a dress.

Meredith: It’s a jumper. It was all I had. Think of it as a really long shirt.

Stacy: This is not my body. Why do I look like the statue did?

Panel 4 – Puts on shirt

Meredith: The statue was an accurate depiction of you.

Stacy: I'm not a woman.

Meredith: That block of stone I carved definitely held a woman. I just removed all the bits that weren’t you.

Stacy: Are you kidding?

Panel 5 – Puts on pants

Meredith: Am I? Try it out. I can’t change you into a man without the whole block and carving montage. And if you pay for me to do that, you’ll have made no money on this gig.

Stacy: You want to charge me because it’s in the waiver I signed.

Meredith: I don’t want to charge you. There are issues with changing someone to stone and back too frequently. Being a woman for little while won’t be as bad as you think. If you come back here in a few weeks and want me to fix it, I promise I will for free, if I can.

Panel 6 – Steps out

Stacy: Fine.

Meredith: Watch your step getting off the plinth.

Stacy: This outfit is very short.

Meredith: You’ll get used to it.

Meredith: God, how you are so gorgeous? Let me introduce you to Brian. He's dying to meet you.

Stacy: Brian Tellani? I've seen him a lot lately.

Bonus Image

Sold (Part 7 of 8)

“Nora?” her mother said. She sat on the guest bedroom bed next to the sleeping woman.

“Mom?” Nora woke. “What time is it?”

“Just after nine. Elaine got called into work and had me bring Ryan to school.”

“And then you came back here?”

“I thought we could talk. And, I’m kind of glad I did. I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?”

“I didn’t believe you.”

Nora sat up. “What didn’t you believe?”

“All of it. Magic. Dolls. Kidnappings. Sex. Well, the sex part wasn’t really an issue.”

“Why would I have lied and been unreachable for a year and a half?”

“I didn’t know. I thought you were just going through another phase. You chose to go to college on the other side of the country. After college you came back and then found a different part of the country to go to. It isn’t like we normally spoke every day. At first, when you went missing, it just seemed like you were busy or something.”

“Mom…”

“Let me continue. You were always more independent than Elaine. Always spending time with friends or alone to the exclusion of us. I just assumed it had progressed to another level.”

“And now you’re sorry...?”

“I saw Ingrid.”

“Oh, now you believe people can be dolls.”

“It’s insane. I’m sorry. I thought you ended up in some weird sex cult the way you described it. Especially since I assumed the magic wasn’t real and the dolls were just women pretending or something.”

Nora laughed. “Oh, if you only knew. There are, right now, six women standing in doll stands at Jean’s and Dave’s apartment, made of plastic.”

“Really? Why?”

“Well, for one thing, I’m here.”

“You just abandoned them to their fate?”

“Mom. All of it is real. They wanted to spend their time as dolls.”

“Why?”

“Let’s go talk to Ingrid.” Nora got out of bed.

“You’ll get dressed first, won’t you?”

Nora looked down. “I will admit. Spending a lot of time as a doll makes clothing feel very optional. But, yes, I’ll get dressed.”

“I’ll be in Elaine’s bedroom.”

When Nora joined her there, the bed was made and the doll was dressed. It sat upright in the chair in a reading nook. Her mother sat on the bench at the end of the bed.

“There’s no way Elaine made the bed.”

“No, I did.”

“And I bet you dressed Ingrid.”

“Yes.”

“Sorry, Ingrid. I need your help with Mom. I’ll change you back once she gets it or earlier if she doesn’t.”

As she spoke, the doll’s skin became pinker, pores could be seen on its arms, tiny strands of hair appeared. “Oh, oh, oh, fuck.” Elaine called out. “Oh, my, god. What? Nora. I… um… Hi, Paula. I…”

“Sorry, I always forget how people react the first time they’re revived.”

“No problem. Why are you here?”

“Tell Mom why you liked being a doll.”

“How do you know she did?” Her mother said.

Nora just held a hand out to Ingrid indicating she should speak.

“It was amazing, Paula.” Ingrid got up and moved over to the bed so she could be closer to the other two. “You will change me back, Nora.”

“Not a problem.”

“I don’t get it.”

“Be a doll and find out.”

“No way.”

“I don’t think she’d want to,” Nora said. “And it may not be for her. Mom, I don’t know the percentages, but you’re right, for most people, I suspect, being a doll would be boring. For some, torture, perhaps hellish. And for some...”

“It is divine,” Ingrid said. “It’s like floating. No anxiety. No worries. Just emptiness. I bet… I bet this is what folks who mediate wish they could achieve. Pure empty existence. Nirvana.”

“I don’t think I ever looked at it like that. But yeah, perhaps,” Nora said.

“I still don’t get it.”

“And you probably never will. Meditation isn’t for everyone. But listen to Ingrid, you can’t deny her experience was anything but positive for her.”

“Oh, I loved it,” Ingrid said. “I am not going to happy when you leave town.”

“I see. It is a cult,” Paula joked.

The other two laughed.

“I suppose there’s a small amount of truth there.”

“When do you want me to give you all my worldly goods, Nora?”

“We’ll discuss it later.”

“You’re both funny,” Paula said. “I don’t understand. Maybe I will have you do it to me. Just for a few minutes.”

“Sure, Mom. How about right now?”

“Now?”

“Do you have anywhere to be for the five hours before Ryan gets home?”

“I said for a few minutes.”

“Not what I asked.”

“No, I don’t have any plans except to spend time with my daughter.”

“Fine, lay down and relax.”

In the midst of lying down, she lifted her head to say, “Just a few minutes.”

“The time will be measured in minutes. Not a problem.”

“Okay. Oh, I…”

“It grabs you fast, doesn’t it?” Ingrid said. She looked at Nora. “Not that she can answer. You’re thinking like a hundred minutes, aren’t you?”

“Something like that. Let’s let her be. I still need breakfast.”

They went to get breakfast. “I could not even guess how many times I’d have wanted to turn my mother into a doll, specifically one that can’t speak, when I was growing up,” Ingrid joked.

“Elaine tells me she loves your mother.”

“Of course, my mother doesn’t treat her like her child.”

“Ah. Yes. There is that.”

“I’m not sure if I’m glad we get this time to talk so Laney doesn’t make fun of my questions.”

“Hmm?”

“Or if I should be upset I’m not a doll.”

“There’s plenty of time for that. In fact, I’d like to borrow you once we finish eating.”

“Borrow?”

“I need someone I can experiment on magically.”

“I’m your doll.”

Nora had taken Jean’s necklace with her. Jean had insisted she be a doll the whole time Nora was gone. The experimenting she did with Ingrid involved putting the necklace on and off her to observe the magic taking effect.

After an hour, she removed the necklace one last time. She had a lot to think about. And she needed to restore her mother soon.

Ingrid said, “That necklace seems perfect. It’s too bad you don’t have several of them.”

“The inconvenience is once it’s taken off the spell ends.”

“That seems like a feature.”

“For personal use, sure. But, we’re renting dolls. Not dolls that can be turned into people at the renter’s whim.”

“And you can’t be there all the time.”

“I’d rather not be. I want to create a doll making and restoring station of some kind. I’ve got some ideas from your help just now. I just haven’t put it together.”

“Like a fully functional doll stand.”

“That’s… The form factor of the device has eluded me. A doll stand could be just the right mix of bulk and convenience.”

“Good luck with that.” They were in Elaine’s bedroom. “Change me back before you face Paula’s wrath.”

“Coward.”

*****

“What’s that?” A young voice asked.

“Hey, Ryan. That is a doll stand,” Nora said, turning to face the boy. He stood at the door to her bedroom. A treadmill still stood folded up against the wall in the corner. The empty stand was in front of the treadmill.

“Doll stand? What’s it for?”

“Standing dolls up. Usually they just fall over.”

“Isn’t it too big for a doll?”

“For a toy doll, yes. I work with life-sized dolls.”

“What job has life-sized dolls?”

“Merchandise display. Most people call them mannequins. But life-sized dolls aren’t mannequins and mannequins aren’t dolls.” She was glad she’d thought ahead of time about someone like Ryan, who didn’t know about the doll rentals, asking her about the stands.

“You don’t have any dolls here.”

“No, I don’t. But, I don’t need them here. Customers aren’t going to see dolls in my room, are they?”

“I guess not. Mommy said you can do magic.”

“I’m not sure why she would tell you that.”

“Can I see a trick?”

“I’m not very good. How’s this?” She created a glowing light in her hand. It was somewhat dim.

He ran his hand through the light. “Cool, I guess. How does it work?”

“It’s magic,” she joked. “I really don’t know. It’s just something I can do. But I don’t really understand it.”

“Could you teach me?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve never taught anyone before.”

“Was it like going to school when you learned?”

“Sometimes.”

“Maybe some other time. That little light doesn’t look useful.”

“I told you I wasn’t very good at it.”

“Well, you’ll get better. Bye-bye.” He ran from the room as children tend to do.

She smiled and got back to poring over the spellbook in her lap. She had been surprised when she’d found it among Rachel’s books. It is specifically about making magic devices and it was more useful than the book Eddie had given her. She was on a page about trigger mechanisms. She was trying to figure out how to incorporate it into the stand. The turning into a doll part was easy conceptually. Stand on the stand and put your weight on the arm rests. Zap. The stand trigger the magic and there’s a doll on a doll stand.

But, what reverses it? She needed to modify the stand somehow. She just wasn’t sure how. At dinner, she said, “Is there a good bar around here?”

“You drink?” Her mother said.

“A lot less now. If I hadn’t been at a bar all those months ago, I wouldn’t be a wizard now.”

“You’re hoping someone will suggest you spend time as a marble statue this time.” Her sister joked.

“Tempting. No. I just need to stop thinking about dolls for a while. Unwind a bit.”

“I’ll call Carol,” Ingrid said. “She probably has a favorite watering hole.”

“Carol?”

“Her ex’s best friend,” Elaine said.

“Ex’s best friend?”

“I got her in the break up. Half off since she was used.”

That got a few laughs.

*****

Carol and Nora sat at a table in O’Malleys a few hours later. “I can’t believe anyone would want to be a doll,” Carol said. She was a few years older than Nora.

“They do. I’m not saying it’s common. But they are among us.”

“Hey, ladies,” a guy approached the table with a friend. “I’m Bart. This is Jerry. We were wondering if we could join you, maybe buy you a drink.”

“Hello, ladies.”

“I’m Nora. But, I don’t think Carol will be interested.”

“Not particularly.”

“Oh, that’s a shame.”

“Yeah, we’re just here to hang out, not to meet people,” Carol said.

“Well, if you change your mind, we’re sitting over there.”

“We’ll keep that in mind,” Nora said. “At least they weren’t pushy,” she said once they were far enough away.

“I have to leave in an hour if you want to go talk to them later,” Carol said. “I could see Jerry caught your eye.”

“That’s funny. I thought he had eyes for you and Bart was hoping to catch my eye.”

“That could be true. I wasn’t paying attention to their interest in me.” Carol sipped her drink. “I’m wondering though. Are you looking to score? Elaine told Ingrid you’re a bit freaky.”

“My sister said that?”

“Ingrid implied your sister was jealous that you know how to cut loose in a way she’s never been comfortable with.”

Nora laughed. “Are you saying you would be willing to get down and dirty with Bart or Jerry with me because you’re curious?”

Carol took another drink, a bigger one, “Yes. Bart. But I’m open to either of them.”

“You will either love me or avoid me at all costs after tonight.”

“Sounds fair.”

“How do you feel about that couple over there?”

When Nora clarified she meant a man and a woman who were sitting together laughing as those in a recently started relationship do.

“She’s hot. Why?”

“Go to Bart and Jerry and tell them to look at me. If they’re willing to do something, the six of us, give me a thumbs up when I look over and nod.” She got up and approached the couple.

Confused, but game, Carol sat down next to Bart. “See my friend Nora over there?”

“You two looking to hook up?”

“Only if the hook up is you two, us two, and those two.”

“You planning an orgy?” Jerry said.

“Nora is,” Carol said.

Nora was talking mostly to the guy since the woman he was with looked uncomfortable in a good way. Her hands were in a death grip on the edge of the table, like she was trying not to have something happen in public that she knew she couldn’t stop. The guy was looking around frantically, hoping no one would notice.

“Is she about to…?”

“Fuck, she is,” Carol said.

“You didn’t know the plan?” Bart said.

“Not really. But I’m on board for sure now.”

“Me too.”

“Yeah.”

At that moment, Nora looked at Carol across the room and nodded. Nora gave her a thumbs up. The six of them met outside a moment later. The new guy, Vince, suggested his place had room and was nearby.

Nora said, “One moment. All of you need to tell me you agree that what happens at Vince’s home the rest of the evening and morning, stays there. And no one gets mad if they find themselves a bit out of control.”

The group assented, Deena, the new woman, saying, “Absolutely. No one say no if you know what’s good for you.”

They followed Vince home. As soon as the door closed, the lock bolted itself. The three guys floated across the room landing on chairs with their legs up and their pants missing. The three woman moved between those legs, two of them a bit robotically, and pleasured the guys.

None of the observers – calling them participants seems wrong – remembered everything that followed. Nearly eighteen hours of unimaginable debauchery followed during which only one person made any decisions about what happened. All six of them were flopped on the queen sized bed, turned into a heap of motionless dolls. Another ten hours passed before Nora got up.

“I know you all enjoyed that. Thanks for letting me cut loose.” She got dressed. “I suppose I should start restoring all of you. Although I sense some of you are in no rush.”

*****

Weeks passed. Rexx called Jacob. “Did you forget about me?”

“I knew you’d miss me, Rexx. What’s up?”

“I still have Evelyn.”

“Yeah, our wizard won’t be back for another month maybe longer. We figured she could stand on a doll stand here or spend the time with you.”

“Okay. I love having her around. It’s funny. But I miss her voice.”

“That’s sweet. You’ll hear it again eventually.”

“I know. Thanks, Jacob.”

*****

“It worked at least one way,” Nora said as she turned herself back into a person. She was alone in her temporary bedroom. She left to find a volunteer. Ingrid and Elaine were watching television. It was after ten at night. “Hey, I need a doll volunteer.”

“Me-ee,” Ingrid sing-songed.

“How long will she be a doll?”

“As long as you like.”

“All night?” Ingrid said.

“Just follow me,” Nora said.

“I’m not sure I like that duration,” Laney said.

“We can discuss it later,” Ingrid said.

“Not if you’re a doll.”

“Drat. She saw through my plan.”

Nora laughed. “It won’t be over night the first time.”

“The first time?”

They arrived in Nora’s room. “Get on the stand, Ingrid.”

“Does it work?”

“You’re about to test it.”

She placed herself in the stand and looked blankly at the far wall. She frowned, “Did it fail?”

“No. It didn’t start yet. Tap the doll stand base with your foot three times. You’ll have a few seconds after that.”

Ingrid tapped the base three times and then made sure she was looking blankly at the wall.

Light flashed across her body bright enough to make Elaine close her eyes and look away. When she looked back, her fiancee was a doll.

“It worked. You didn’t do anything just now?”

“Just watched. Now, you step next to the stand and tap the base three times.”

“Should I look away?”

“That was a bit bright, wasn’t it?” Nora said. “The bright light doesn’t bother me. I’ll see if I can tone it down in a future revisions. But, yeah, look away when you activate it.”

Elaine used her foot to tap the doll stand base three times. Light, again, flashed across the doll’s body with blinding intensity. When it faded, Ingrid stood on the stand.

“That wasn’t for very long. Can I activated it again?”

“If you two have some time, I’d like to see the device cycle several times in a row.”

Ingrid transitioned back and forth from human to doll four times before Elaine’s tapping didn’t produce a light show. The doll remained a doll.

“Nine activations in about twenty minutes. Not bad.”

“Amazing, I suppose,” Elaine said. “Now what?”

“Now, you wait five minutes before trying to revive her. If that fails, another five, ten, etc. I’m curious how quickly it recovers its energy.”

After an hour, the doll was still a doll.

“Do you mind if we go to sleep and try again in the morning?” Nora said. “I seem to have underestimated the recharge time.”

“I have to leave her here all night?”

“No, pick her up and… you know... sleep with her. In the morning, put her back on the stand and see if you can activate it.”

She hugged her sister. “I’ll have a happy night. So will she. Good night, Sis.” She grabbed the doll and left.

“Good night, Laney.”

*****

It took another two months of tinkering to get the drain reduced as well as the brightness reduced. In the meantime, each Friday night, Carol and Nora would go to the bar. A line of people who had heard about or had experienced one of Nora’s orgies were waiting for her to arrive.

There was a bit of celebrity tension involved. Everyone wanted to swarm her and beg her to invite them to the night’s puppet orgy. At the same time, they didn’t want to seem desperate. Nora always insisted on having on cocktail before entertaining any of the requests.

By the end of the two months, the orgy was taking place in the basement of the bar. The bar was paying her to allow them to host it. The number of participants approached twenty.

This night, the number was double that because she had earlier announced that it would be the last one before she moved away the following week. It lasted well into Sunday morning. When the group was turned back into people, they all insisted Nora allow them to give her a standing ovation and thank her. With a tear in her eye, she thanked them and left.

*****

“I’m going to miss you, Sis,” Nora said. She stood next to her luggage, which included the disassembled magic doll stand.

“Me, too.”

“No more doll fun for me?” Ingrid said sadly.

“You need to go check out Laney’s bedroom.”

“What? Did you make a second stand?”

“I did.”

Ingrid squealed. “Thank you so much.”

“Promise me Elaine will not be calling me a week from now complaining you spend too much time as a doll.”

“Can I have three weeks of indulgence before that ban goes into effect?”

“That’s up to Laney.” Nora said.

Nora arrived at her home airport several hours later. Ron met her at the airport.

“I thought Jacob did all the deliveries, Ron?”

“He does. I usually ride along with him. But not always. Welcome home.” They hugged. “Where am I taking you?”

“Jean’s and Dave’s assuming you’re still storing the bulk of the dolls there.”

“We are. I’ve got the bulky bag. Grab the other and we’ll get going.” In the car, he paused as he fooled with his phone. “I’m just letting everyone know to meet there. Everyone’s missed you.”

“Where’s Dave?”

“He still has a day job. He’s trying to maintain a little distance even though the dolls stay in his apartment. He says he’ll be there soon.”

At the apartment, it took a half hour to get through hugs with the staff and close friends. As the welcome backs faded, Nora had Ron and Dave get one of her bags and had them assemble the doll stand without her help.

“It’s shinier than the others,” Ron noted.

“Perhaps,” Nora said. “Dave, get Jean from the bedroom and put her on it.”

“Okay. Is she getting a new stand?”

“No, this isn’t hers or any of the dolls individually.”

Ron helped Dave get Jean situated quickly on the stand.

“Now, tap the base with your foot three times.” As the not-overly-bright light show faded, Jean inhaled. “You made a doll device? You did it?” She said as she practically flung herself into Nora’s arms.

“I did. Get back on and tap it three times with your foot.”

Jean rushed over to Dave and kissed him before getting on the stand and turning herself into a doll. The handful of people in the room cheered.

“Anything else we should know?” Dave eventually asked.

“Remove her from the stand. Get the other dolls who probably missed having me revive them more frequently. I don’t really know how many changes the stand can do. All I know is they deplete faster if there isn’t a few minutes between activations.”

All the dolls were revived with the doll stand over the next two hours. Dave sent Ron out to get refreshments. When her returned, he held the door open. “Look what I found,” he said.

Jacob entered carrying the doll of Evelyn.

“How long was she gone?” Dave said.

“The whole time Nora was gone plus like a week.”

“She was with Rexx that whole time?” Nora said.

Rexx entered. “Um, hi. Yeah. I’m Rexx. Jacob said I would want to see this and asked me to follow him over.”

Jacob and Ron set her down. Ron tapped the base three times. Evelyn orgasmed as soon as she could move. No one laughed but they all smiled.

“That was awesome. Did that thing restore me without Nora?”

“It did. Did you see…?”

“Rexx!” Evelyn ran to him and they kissed deeply. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, Evie.”

“Hi, I’m Nora,” she said, shaking Rexx’ hand.

“You’re the wizard.”

“I suppose I am. And I’m two-thirds of the way through making a second doll stand just like that one, well, technically this one is the second one. I’m making a third one, just for you and Rexx.”

“You are?” Evelyn said giving Nora a hug.

“That would mean Evelyn could be a doll or not whenever we wanted?”

“Yes,” Nora said. “Consider it my wedding gift to you.”

“I still have to propose.”

“You will.”

“He will,” Evelyn said. “I’ll have to remember a doll transformation device doesn’t need to go on our registry any more.”

Little Witch #12: At The Mall

The little fashion show was fun. But, Mommy seems a bit distracted.

LW#8 through #11 take place over the course of a single afternoon. Angela said her parents should go on a date. LW#13 through #16 take place over the course of a single evening. A few days pass between these two mini-arcs.

Who's that in the last panel? You'll see them at the mall Oct 28.

Bonus Pic

These images are very small in the actual comic. Angela was having some playful fun putting on a little fashion show for Mommy. It's too bad Mommy only has eyes for that slinky green dress. Mommy made it up to Angela by having her do a photoshoot with proper backdrops and taken by a real photographer. (Non-canon event.)

Transcript

Panel 1 – in the mall

Mommy: I can’t believe how much you’ve grown in the four months I’ve been… away.

Angela: I told Daddy I needed new clothes. He didn’t believe me.

Daddy: I wasn’t sure how to shop for you. I’ll leave you two to shop. I need to get a new keyboard for my computer.

Panel 2 – they smooch

Panel 3 – he walks away

Daddy: Mall closes in two hours. We'll meet here at this fountain at that time.

Panel 4 – Angela walking into a store. Mommy sees a dress.

A many little panel montage of Angela in different clothes. Mommy is eyeballing the dress the whole time.

Panel 5 – Looking at the dress

Angela: Mommy, you’ve been staring at that dress the whole time we’ve been here. You should buy it.

Mommy: When would I wear that dress. It’s too dressy.

Angela: You and Daddy should get dressed up and go somewhere fancy to celebrate your return.

Mommy: Yes, we should. That does mean I shouldn’t buy a dress like that? It can’t possibly fit.

Angela: Yes, it can.

Panel 6 – at the fountain, Angela sits waiting

Daddy: Why are you sitting here alone with all those bags? Where’s your mother?

Angela: Trying on a dress.

Daddy: And you walked away.

Angela: I’ll take you there.

Panel 7 – at the store, a gate bars the entry

Daddy: Why is your mother a mannequin?

Angela: She’s trying the dress.

Daddy: Angela, the store is closed until tomorrow. Even if you restored her, she would be trapped in the store.

Angela: I guess we’ll have to come back tomorrow.

Panel 8 – walking away. People can be seen in looking at Mommy mannequin

Daddy: Did you plan this?

Angela: Now that she had a beautiful dress, you should take her out to someplace nice.

Daddy: You didn’t answer my question.

Sold (Part 6 of 8)

Three of the dolls wanted to remain permanent dolls rented out using the website. One of the dolls, Mary, wanted to get back to her life. Funds taken from the kidnapper were used to help her get back on her feet. The other four dolls became part time dolls, spending between thirty and eighty percent of their time as dolls rented out. Dave, Jacob, and Ron, with the help of a few of the others, continued the rentals.

Nora would talk to some of the dolls once a week. Other dolls asked to cut back to a month or three. She laughed and complied.

*****

A few weeks after taking control, Jacob made a special delivery on a Tuesday.

“I didn’t order a doll,” Rexx said. “You are the new doll guy, right?”

“Correct, you didn’t order a doll,” Jacob said. “A doll ordered you.”

Evelyn stepped out from behind the wall of the house into the light cast onto the porch. “Hi.”

“Evelyn? Is this a prank? Is that really my doll Evelyn?”

“In the flesh.”

Jacob stepped off the porch. But he didn’t leave. Ron was waiting in the car. Just in case.

“I don’t understand. How are you a person?”

“I’ve always been a person. I’m also a doll. I’ve been doing the doll thing for like sixteen months.”

“That’s crazy. Do you want to come in?” He looked at Jacob. “You can come in as well. I understand you might not trust me.”

“I’ll be in the car over there. You might want to take the young lady out to dinner.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea. Do you like Portuguese? There’s a great restaurant a few blocks away. We could walk over,” Rexx said.

“Okay,” Evelyn said. “Jacob, why don’t you pick me up at the restaurant in a couple hours? What’s the name?”

“Alfonso’s.”

“Okay.”

“You aren’t staying the night?” Rexx asked.

“I’m not that kind of girl.” She heavily emphasized the word ‘girl’.

The three of them laughed.

“I don’t know what I want,” she said. “This is mostly a first date from my point of view,” she continued.

“That’s completely fair. At the moment you are far more talkative then I’ve experienced before.”

“Let me leave before you two make any more dolls comments,” Jacob said.

“At least I don’t have to carry you around tonight,” Rexx said.

“I knew being human had some downsides.”

They walked the four blocks to the restaurant and were seated immediately. Rexx was surprised how well Evelyn knew him.

“I’ve spent hours looking at the sports stuff on the walls and hearing you talking to your friends about movies. People will say anything in front of a doll. I even asked them to take me here today because you’ve told me you don’t do much on Tuesdays.”

“But I know nothing about you. Why did you want to be a doll?”

“That’s a long story,” she began. “If we do this again, I’ll give you the long version. The short version was a game I used to play with a dear friend. We would take turns being the doll for one another. I’ve always suspected it meant a bit more to her if you know what I mean. But her family moved away and no one else would play doll in that manner with me. I grew out of playing with normal kid dolls. Later, I found weird stories on the Internet about people being dolls and a flood of wonder memories returned.”

“But, you were a doll doll.”

“Magic exists. I met this guy in a chat group. He had a friend of a friend who could cast spells. I met him and he could just tell I wanted to be a doll immediately. I think I avoided him for a month before I finally tried out the spell. I was completely hooked.”

“That doesn’t explain the sex part.”

“That might require the long version,” she said. She was looking around the restaurant.

He apologized. “I forgot where we were. I don’t think anyone heard me. Second date.”

“Bold.”

“You are far more wonderful alive than dolled so far. That’s on top of being amazing as a doll.”

“Such a charmer.”

He laughed. “Yeah, it was a weird thing to say. But tell me. When you get rented, don’t you spend most of the night just lying somewhere ignored?”

“Yeah. Usually the –” she looked around “– sex euphoria lasts a while to make up for it. It’s not for everyone. But, having a carefree existence should be easy to understand.”

“I suppose so.” Rexx said. He was a little quiet for a few moments.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m hoping you aren’t humoring me.”

“What do you mean?”

“You are such a lovely young woman.”

“And you are a handsome man.”

“Older man. I’m sure a few people here think I’m your father.”

“Let them,” Evelyn said. “Let them think you’re my sugar daddy if that’s what they think. It’s not our problem. It’s the fact that you are older that attracted me to do this. You aren’t wild. You think ahead, you plan. And even as a doll, I could feel that you were respectful. I have literally seen how young guys are when they don’t think anyone is watching. If you did, you’d understand why I’m here with you and not one of them.”

“This is another reason why you’re better alive.”

“If I could be a doll and alive like putting on a hat, I would.”

“That would be interesting. I suppose someone else would have to take that hat off.”

“That would be divine.”

“Note to self, by Evelyn a hat.”

A few hours later they were sipping coffee and sharing a plate of natas. The phone she’d been given vibrated. “Oh!”

“What?” he said.

“I haven’t had a phone in a while. Jacob says they’re ready for me whenever I’m ready. I should tell them I received this.”

“I had a wonderful time with you.”

“More fun than the time you went three rounds with me? That was an amazing time for me.”

“Different fun,” he winked. “We’ll recreate that some other time.”

“So bold of you.”

Rexx paid the bill and they chatted another fifteen minutes before he said, “I should let you go back to your stand.”

“Oh, I forgot I mentioned that.”

“Let me walk you out.”

Jacob was standing outside of the restaurant with a smile on his face. “Let’s go, Evelyn. Do you want a ride back to your home, Rexx?”

“No. The walk we do me some good after eating.” He held her arms near her shoulders and leaned in for a kiss.

She kissed him back.

“Good night, Rexx.”

“Good night, my precious Doll.”

Rexx walked away, only looking back at her twice.

“Come on, Doll.”

“You can’t call me that.”

“Why not?”

“I’ll give you a reason when I have one.”

He led her to the car. Ron still waited there. “That was some kiss,” he teased.

“It was. The former rent guy said he had been putting money away for me. Did he?”

“He did. I don’t know how much. We’ll have to talk to Dave.”

*****

“I have how much?”

“You might be able to buy a new model car. Though I have no idea what a doll would do with a car,” Dave said.

“I’ll think about that later. I don’t really want to pay rent on an apartment. That was part of why I was full time as a doll.”

“Can’t you just give yourself to Rexx?” Ron said.

“You only think of that because Lauren basically gave herself to you,” Jacob said.

“Exactly. I mean he likes you as a doll. You love being a doll. What’s the issue?”

“Two things that I can see, not to put words in your mouth, Evelyn,” Jacob said.

“I’m curious about the second thing,” she said.

“One, it seems like Rexx likes when his doll can talk back. The five-minute spell isn’t really a cheap option.”

“It makes me nervous, too,” Evelyn said. “I feel like I’m not worth the cost. Or not living up to the cost.”

“Never feel that way,” Jean said. “If someone is paying to speak to you, you’ve already exceeded the value of the cost in their eyes.”

“Nice,” Ron said.

“And two, Lauren living with you has a distinct advantage over Evelyn living with Rexx: ready access to Nora. Nora comes here rather frequently and so do you. If Evelyn was permanently with Rexx, how does she ever turn back? In strictly business terms, we lose Rexx as a customer. Nora obviously wouldn’t care about that. It would be harder to manage overall.”

“I think you are overestimating Lauren’s value to Nora.”

“Not really. I only said Ron is closer to Nora. I didn’t say Nora would drop everything for him. It’s just more likely Nora finds out Lauren and Ron need help. When would Nora find out Evelyn needs help? How would Rexx even know Evelyn wants to change back?”

“That’s the important reason, Jacob,” Evelyn said. “Even as inconsistent as the former rental arrangement was, I was physically in this vicinity. Rexx can barely afford the rental fees.”

“I think we need to talk to Nora,” Dave said.

“What if this caught on?” Ron said. “Dolls retiring to live with their favorite rentals. Maybe we add a private feature to the website.”

“We’d have to rethink a lot of things if Evelyn were to become the norm and not the lovely outlier she is now.”

“I’m taken.”

“Owned?”

“That remains to be seen.”

Jean put her arm around Evelyn and herded her into the doll room. “Do you want some doll time to think?”

“That would be great if I could.”

“You can use my necklace for a while.” She took the necklace off Lauren, who had been listening to this entire exchange.

“I was using that,” Lauren said. “But given the circumstances, take your time with it.”

“Too bad I couldn’t get my own necklace.”

“Yeah, me, too.”

*****

“I can’t believe I’m asking this. How many?” Nora said.

“Three more, at least,” Lauren said.

“I can’t make one of Rachel’s necklaces.”

“Yes, you can. We believe in you,” Jean said.

“And we have her spellbooks. I’m sure Eddie could help,” Dave said.

“I can’t even reliably control turning people into a doll directly.”

“Nora, you turned Jean into a doll three hundred miles away. And that was before you tore that asshole a second one of himself.”

Nora snorted a laugh. “That never gets old. But that’s beside the point. I wouldn’t know where to start.”

“Eddie. Rachel’s books.”

“Both of those sound like they’d take years.”

“We’re dolls, Nora,” Lauren said. “Patience is our main virtue.”

“And being firm and pliant but strong enough to enjoy rough handling,” Jean said. Nora laughed. Lauren and Dave were staring at Jean. “What did I say so wrong?”

“Nothing,” Nora said. “Let’s back up a bit. You two haven’t had any trouble sharing Jean’s necklace. And you can use my necklace to talk to the dolls. Maybe I could use a weaker spell to turn them into dolls. Then my old necklace would break the spell.”

“Then we can’t turn them back into dolls without having to you do it.”

“Let me think about it. Where are those books?”

“Can’t you talk to Madame Livanté?”

“Only if I want to talk to a wall. That’s something else I hope to work on. But while I know a lot about fucking, I know nothing about the mental fucking that was done to her. And she wasn’t a mentalist either.”

“She’s the wizard who helped Nora, right? What happened to her?” Lauren said.

“The asshole convinced her to kidnap me and she ended up one of his rental dolls. When I cast the talking spell on her, she’s mad at me for ruining the asshole’s business. I have no idea what he did to her.”

*****

Eddie gave Nora a few more magic lessons, mostly in the form of dismantling the traps on Livanté’s old apartment. He also got her a primer on making magic devices.

The business was a huge distraction. She mentioned this to Eddie.

“So leave.”

“Leave? What about the dolls?”

“What about them? They’re like a million times better off than they were with that shithead. You can take a vacation. You shouldn’t be at their beck and call.”

“But…”

“No buts. When was the last time you saw your family?”

“I have no idea.”

“There you go. Call your sister, I remember hearing you have a sister. Call her, tell her you want to crash on her sofa for a month.”

“We’d kill each other.”

“Would you?”

“She has been asking when she can see me.”

“How far away is she? I’ll book you a flight if you need one.”

“I don’t want to owe you money.”

“You know I’m not into charity. But, I’m also not into someone burning themselves out. Go.”

“Fine. Maybe if I’m there I can wrap my head around this doll necklace thing.”

“Necklace? Don’t make a necklace. Necklaces get lost. Make something bigger to do the transformations.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. The business doesn’t need a bunch of transformation necklaces. It needs a… a transformation station. Something anyone there can operate and does doll to human and human to doll changes.”

“You actually are useful.”

“See. Now heed the wisdom you’ve discovered within me and disappear for a month or two.”

*****

The airplane was the weirdest thing she’d experienced in a long time. So many people on the plane were horny and frustrated. Four couples and too many solos fucked in the bathrooms. She was fully aware of each of them. It took all of her willpower not to unleash an orgy on the plane. She could imagine the headline that couldn’t happen: Plane crashes as passengers, crew endlessly fuck.

She arrived at the airport. Her sister and her mother called out to her as she stepped out of the luggage area. After the three of them shared a tearful hug, Laney stepped back, “Don’t you dare do that to us again!”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Don’t yell at your sister. She’ll turn you into a doll.”

“I would never do that until she asks.”

“I won’t ask.”

“Of course not.”

“We should head to the car,” Mom said. “Only one suitcase?”

“I actually don’t have a lot of stuff any more.”

The drive from the airport to Elaine’s home was about an hour. Their mother practically lived with her because she babysat for Elaine’s son, Ryan, frequently.

“You didn’t tell me the arrangements while I’m here,” Nora said.

“I’m finally moving out of Elaine’s house.”

“You never moved in.”

“I have a bedroom. Most of my clothes are there.”

“Your house is twenty minutes away. It was your choice to move in.”

“Ryan’s toys are at your house. If he had to spend time after school at my house he’d consider it a prison sentence. Or I’d have to cart his toys back and forth.”

“What really happened to you, Nora?” Mom said.

“I told you everything I’m ever going to tell you.”

“It’s a crazy story. But no crazier than you being a witch,” Elaine said.

“Wizard.”

“You can really turn someone into a doll?” Laney said.

“You still don’t believe it?”

“It is a bit far-fetched, dear,” her mother said.

“Well, I hope it’s true,” Elaine interrupter. “Ingrid wants it bad. So, I hope you don’t disappoint her.”

“Ingrid?”

“They’re dating,” her mother said.

“Congratulations, Elaine.”

“It’s just dating,” Laney said.

“More than I’ve got.”

“Just put off indulging Ingrid for a few days. I don’t want to be around for it,” Mom said.

Elaine had a decent sized four bedroom home that she'd acquired as part of her divorce settlement five years ago. Her ex had cheated on her from the start. He had a six-figure salary and while they didn’t get along, Elaine could admit he was a caring father to their son.

“Mammaw,” shouted the young boy as they entered the home.

“Has his priorities straight,” Nora joked as the boy gave his grandmother a hug.

“Hi, Mommy,” he said. “Who’s that?”

“Don’t you remember your Aunt Nora?”

“No.”

“That’s okay, kid,” Nora said. “You were very little the last time I saw you. Like the size of an ant.”

“I was never that small.”

“How do you know for sure?”

“Mommy, was I that small?”

“Your Aunt is having fun with you. Calling you an ant when she’s an aunt.”

“That’s right,” Nora said. She stood up taller and held her hand above her forehead. “You’ve never been this big. My mistake.”

“You’re silly.”

“I am. And this must be Ingrid.” Nora bent down and whispered to Ryan. “Psst, kid, is she silly?”

“No. But she’s okay.” He whispered back.

“Good to know.”

“Nice to meet you.” Ingrid said. “And I’m glad I got the Ryan seal of approval.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Drat.” She said as Ryan ran off. “I started dinner.”

“Oh, good. Let me show Nora her room,” Grandma said. “I’m already packed. I’m leaving after dinner.”

“I think you’ve been keeping her away from something,” Nora said.

“My boyfriends miss me.”

The women laughed. But Nora had a feeling her mother wasn’t joking.

*****

She stayed until after Nora and Ingrid put Ryan to bed. After a few good byes she reminded her daughters she’d be back the next day.

“You look like you want to ask a lot of questions,” Nora said to Ingrid.

“I do. But I won’t. Unless you let me.”

“Fire away.”

“I realize it didn’t go as you planned. But the guy who did turn you into a doll, was that initial part what you hoped it would be. The stuff before the bad stuff.”

“I guess. Frankly, he got caught by his ex before he really did anything useful with me. But, if you want to know if I liked being a doll. I did. Still do.”

“And you could just turn anyone into a doll.”

“Pretty much.”

“Just ask her, Ingrid,” Elaine said.

“Can I?”

“When it’s closer to bed time.”

“Okay. I had a few other questions. What happened to the other dolls?”

“The guys who rescued me took over the rental business. Many of the dolls are still working there full or part time.”

“Really? Did you ask them?”

“Of course. There were some like me who were glad to be rescued. And wanted nothing to do with it. We gave them some of the money the dollnapper had accumulated.”

“Dollnapper?” Elaine said.

“From we could find out, he never turned anyone into a doll. He just acquired people who had been transformed.”

“Wait. How many people just wind up turned into dolls?”

“At least nine that I know of,” Nora said. “Twenty-three if you count the folks who we changed during my second rescue.”

“How did they get turned into dolls during the rescue if he couldn’t do it?”

“He stole my magic and used it against them.”

“Backup. People get turned into doll that frequently? That’s… How is that a thing?”

Nora shrugged. “Most of the dolls didn’t want to stop being dolls but also didn’t want to be dolls all the time. I’ve been rotating them in and out of service the past few months.”

“So they’re stuck while you’re here.”

“Well, I did give them warning and I hope they’re all human if they wanted to be or doll if they wanted to be. And there were three dolls who haven’t been human at all, content to be rented out and enjoying not being part of the rat race that is modern life.”

Elaine looked at her girlfriend’s face. “I think you broke her.”

“There is a certain appeal to it,” Nora said. “I think she needs the deep end treatment.”

“The what?” Ingrid said. The last word turned into a squeal before being cut off. She was a doll.

“It… it just happened. You didn’t have to do anything.”

“You just couldn’t see what I did. Pick her up and put her on your bed. Then come back out here.”

“What’s the deepend?”

“I can tell she is flying among clouds right now,” Nora said. “And now she’s dying to know how I know what she’s thinking. In any case, just let her experience dollhood by itself before you play with her later.”

She picked up the doll. “What makes her think I’m going to do anything but dump her in a chair and get the whole bed to myself tonight.”

Nora laughed. “That’s one way to play this. It’s not like I have to change her back any time soon.”

Elaine returned and sort of whispered. “What was she thinking?”

“You tell me.”

“I’ve told her before you were just like me when it came to needling a loved one. She’s probably assuming you didn’t mean it.”

“Did I?”

“Oh, I know you did.”

The sisters laughed.

“I’m sure you also left her on a chair to emphasize it.”

“Of course. I also know you won’t push her too far,” Elaine said.

“Now that’s she’s disposed of, dish. How’d you meet? When did you switch sides? How did Walter take it?”

They talked for hours.

“It’s a good thing I took tomorrow off from work.”

“Oh, what’s today?” Nora said. “I’ve forgotten about work schedules. Will Ingrid need to go to work tomorrow?”

“It’s Thursday, well, Friday now. And she also took the day off.”

“Oh, she can look forward to a weekend as a doll.”

“And it’s a good thing. I’m really tired. I didn’t plan to leave her hanging tonight. But she might not get the full treatment till tomorrow.”

“She’ll live.”

“Only when she’s alive.”

“That’s the spirit. Good night, Laney.” They hugged.

“Night, Nora.”

*****

“Jacob? And Evelyn’s a doll?” Rexx said with confusion as Jacob stepped past him to put the doll on his sofa. “I thought she said she’d be human tonight.”

“Yeah, our wizard is unavailable. So, Evelyn is still a doll from another rental.”

“Sometimes I forget we aren’t doll exclusive.”

“I’m not here to judge but does that mean you are human exclusive with Evelyn?”

“Yes. We promised one another two weeks ago. It’s not like I was seeing anyone anyway. And I couldn’t deny her her job.”

“Well, I have some good news or it could be bad news if you enjoy having me visit.”

“Your visits either bring joy or take it away.” Rexx said with a laugh.

“I suppose that’s my lot in life. But this sounds like a joy then. I will not be here to pick up Evelyn tomorrow.”

“Ron’s coming.”

“No. Evelyn is yours until next Monday. Until then, you won’t see my smiling face.”

“Really?”

“I do tend to smile.”

He snorted. “I meant she’s staying here that whole time and I’m not getting charged?”

“Exactly. Same reason. The wizard isn’t available. And we felt bad that Evelyn wouldn’t be able to say hello tonight.”

“I’m sure she’s thinking it.”

“That’s the spirit. Bye, Rexx.” He looked at the doll. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, Evelyn.” The door closed behind Jacob.

“And Jacob complains when we make doll jokes.” Rexx said to the doll. “I haven’t eaten so forgive my absence.” He came back with an instant dinner and ate it as he talked about his life since they saw one another.

Before he finished, he said, “I guess we aren’t going to the movies.” He didn’t expect a response. “I suppose we can still watch a movie together.”

Rexx arranged the doll on the sofa. He cleaned up dinner and got himself a drink. He sat next to her and said, “I suppose I get to pick the film. Although you mentioned you like romantic comedies.” He brought up a list of films and said, “I’ll go with one you probably haven’t seen because you’ve been a doll for the last year or so.”

The movie started. It bored him. He sat through it, holding the doll’s hand the whole time. He managed to laugh in a few places. He had never enjoyed this kind of film before. He could imagine Evelyn enjoying the film. He didn’t talk through the film. When it was over, he made a few comments about some of the plot points and characterization. He’d loved a scene where the guy hung out with a friend and the two sounded like guys he’d known.

Rexx carried the doll out of the living room. “I hope you don’t mind. Once you’re on the bed, you aren’t my date. You’re my rented doll. I don’t want to worry that I’m treating you less than your used to as a doll since that was part of what attracted you to me.” He lay her down on the bed and in his mind she became an it he would have his fun with soon.

Statue Rentals #8: Business Is Booming

Does a statue maker really want to have a lucky break? I'm sure her subjects don't want to be broken. The statue in progress seems "rough" because the figure asset is a low polygon asset. Makes the figure seem unfinished automatically. I had to work to make in-progress Stacy seem unfinished.

That's rather wordy. Isn't it? Someday I'll figure out how to not turn my comics into short stories.

Transcript

Panel 1 (Top left quadrant) – Meredith and Noriko at the studio

Narration: Two months later...

Noriko: How many commissions are you working on?

Meredith: The Martinez and Ambicor statues were picked up today. These two are slated for the Petrasoft executive office.

Noriko (thinking): Slated? Ha ha.

Meredith: Next week, I have someone coming in to be used in a few FlabAway commercial spots. The company wants four different statue transformations by the end of the year done with their one spokesmodel.

Noriko: Or unspokesmodel.

Meredith: Ha ha! Hey, Monica, this is Noriko. Say, hi to Monica.

Noriko: Hello.

Panel 2 (Bottom left quadrant) – still at the studio

Noriko: Are all of these new contracts because of the statue in Tellani Restaurant?

Meredith: Yes, it seems like I get a call from Mr. Tellani every couple weeks telling me to expect a call from so-and-so. Most of the time he even knows a model whom he says is perfect for the job. And she usually is.

Noriko: Do you think he’s going to take the six month extension on his restaurant contract?

Meredith: Without a doubt.

Panel 3 (Entire right half) – restaurant, day, empty

Narration: Nine months later…

Meredith (thinking): What's with the glass box? Leona said Mr. Tellani was obsessed with cleaning fingerprints from the marble.

Mr. Tellani: You didn’t have to come to the restaurant.

Meredith: Just making sure she’s still here and not squirreled away in your private mansion, Brian.

Mr. Tellani: Aside from a little joking around, I would never consider doing that. Is there any way you'd reconsider extending the contract to two years?

Meredith: That isn’t what Stacy signed on for. And she’s going to need at least six to ten months being human before she can go through another cycle of petrification and restoration.

Mr. Tellani: Can you explain how the FlabAway model can undergo four cycles of petrification and restoration in less than twelve months but two years would be bad for Stacy?

Meredith: That model will only be a statue for 4-6 weeks at a time. Stacy will have been a statue for about 18 months when your contract ends. Two years would be highly inconsiderate of her wants and desires since we can't ask her permission. It would also be outrageously callous of her mystical well-being. Her affinity for humanity could be completely destroyed after such a prolonged petrification.

Mr. Tellani: I didn't realize it was that serious and I should apologize for not considering her agency in the matter. Can I meet the young lady after you've taken the statue back?

Meredith: I believe that can be arranged.

Sold (Part 5 of 8)

Most of their friends who had gone on the raid to rescue Nora six months earlier were gathered in Jean’s and Dave’s apartment. Dave, Jean, and Eddie filled them in on everything they knew. Two of the men knew a bit more.

“Ron, Jacob, can you two tell the group about the only lead we have?”

They looked at one another. Ron said, “Dave asked us a few days ago to see if we could find a new listing for Nora on the current websites similar to the now defunct site Jacob had found her on last time.”

“You play with dolls, too, Ron,” Trent said.

“Only when your mother can’t fit me into her schedule.”

“You’d see her more frequently if you were willing to take part in her Manwich Mondays specials,” Lauren said. The room filled with chuckles a second time after she said it.

Trent leaped to his feet his fists balled up, ready to fight the next person to say something about his Mom.

“I’m shy,” Ron said.

“Not helping, Lauren,” Dave said stepping in front of Trent. “Trent, sit down. Please continue, Ron.”

“We struck out. If she’s being rented again, we couldn’t find a listing.”

“I thought Dave and Eddie got an email address or something.”

“Something of a dead end. We had Kurt join the list.”

“Yeah, the only thing I ever received from that list was stuff like. ‘No rentals on the fourteenth.’ or ‘The Rita K doll is not available. All existing rentals will be refunded.’ and so on,” Kurt said. “There’s never a link to the website where the rentals are. And the mailing list is hosted in the dark web. I only saw any of the emails by paying attention to my spam folder.”

“If we can’t find her, what are we going to do?”

“Dave also gave us someone else to look for,” Jacob said. Dave flipped the slideshow he’d had running on the television to a new slide. “This is the other wizard that restored Nora’s humanity: Rachel Livanté.”

Two wolf whistles sounded.

“Was that you Lauren?” Jean said.

“Is she not hot?”

“Definite WILF material.”

“We’ve met her. She comes off as a prude.”

Ignoring them, Jacob continued, “She went missing the same time Nora did.”

“And this is her listing,” Ron said. The slideshow jumped to a website.

“That seems cheap. Is she under priced?”

“Yeah, market rate for a doll of her quality should be three to five times that.”

“She must be busy.”

“Could that be because the asshole renting her wants to rub it in her face?”

“We have no idea what his or her motivations or lack thereof might be.”

“She is definitely busy,” Dave said. “Ron placed an order for her and couldn’t get a rental until the fifth.”

“That’s like eighteen days from now.”

“And a Tuesday.”

“The next available Friday or Saturday was four months from now.”

“We realize some of you might not be available on a Tuesday and Wednesday,” Jean said. “But you have a couple weeks to try and clear your schedule.”

“So we’re getting together again on the fifth?”

“Early on the sixth. Rentals last over night. The scheduled pick up time is noon on the sixth,” Dave said.

“I don’t know anything about magic,” Kurt said. “But, isn’t that woman a wizard? Why would she let herself be rented?”

“Some people would enjoy it,” Jean said.

“Some people. But, not her. Not in a million years her,” Dave said. “We have no idea. Odds are she isn’t a willing participant…”

“But we aren’t taking any chances on that being incorrect,” Eddie said. “No one she’s ever met will be anywhere near Ron’s place when the doll is delivered or picked up.”

“How are we tracking the doll back to his place?” Maurice asked. “He found the GPS tag we put on Nora the last time.”

“We are taking a chance on you guys following him,” Jean said.

“Yeah. We assume the delivery person is a wizard. We don’t want him suspecting Ron knows any wizards or knows Nora or Livanté.”

“On the fifth, I’m going to invite Kurt, Matt, and Lauren over to hang out. Maybe Phil if he can come,” Ron said. “They’ll be here when the rental is dropped off.”

“We don’t want too many people there, though. In case we fail to follow them back on the sixth. Someone else will have to do the rental,” Eddie said.

“Three weeks later,” Mark said. “Should we add a second rental? Just in case.”

“That could be a problem if whoever does the second rental gets seen by the asshole,” Jacob said.

The rest of the meeting involved maps of Ron’s neighborhood and where cars could be stationed to cover all the ways in and out, who would be in which cars, another Trent’s Mom joke, how the cars might stop and resume tailing the delivery driver if necessary, and other logistics.

*****

On the fifth, Dave, Jean, Eddie, and a few others were gathered at Dave’s and Jean’s apartment.

“I just got a text from Ron. The eagle has landed,” Dave said.

“We’re calling Livanté ‘The Eagle’?” Eddie asked.

“Code names. We forgot code names,” Jacob said.

“If our communications are compromised,” Jean said. “We have no chance with this. The guy dropped the eagle off. We should be safe.” She said ‘the eagle’ with unmasked disdain.

“Calm down, Jean,” Dave said, holding her tightly.

“Go easy on her,” Eddie said. “The tension here is very real. I hope those at Ron’s aren’t this tense.

“We’ll get your fuck doll buddy back, Jean,” Dave said.

She broke the hug a swatted his arm. “Stop that.”

*****

“She’s here,” Lauren said. “What do we do now?”

“I’m not fucking her,” Matt said.

“Does she have to sit on the sofa staring at us?” Phil said.

“What really sucks is we aren’t drinking,” Matt said. “Just one beer?”

“Maybe later,” Kurt said. “We need to be sober.”

“I’ll put her in the bedroom. Only I’m doing the doll,” Ron said. “The guy would probably know if the doll wasn’t used.”

Everyone sat in silence as Ron picked up the doll and removed it from the room. The silence continued for a few moments once he returned.

“Can I watch?” Lauren said.

The others gave her a stare like she was an alien being until Ron laughed. “Sure Lauren. Then you can lay on her face while I do you.”

The shock on Lauren’s face turned into a smile quickly. “Awesome!” They laughed and soon the others laughed.

“Thanks for breaking the tension, Love.”

“I was serious,” Ron said. “I hope you were, too.”

Lauren shrugged coyly evoking a few more laughs.

“Are you two dating? Did I miss something?” Kurt asked.

“No, she’s just a big flirt.”

“Or am I?”

“So, what do we do the rest of the evening?”

“I say strip poker,” Lauren said. “Once me or Ron are naked, Ron goes and does the deed.”

“What if we have a lucky streak?” Ron asked.

“I get to enjoy looking at some packages,” Lauren said.

*****

Half the men were playing the poker game for free since they no longer had clothes to bet with by the time Lauren, still wearing panties, disappeared into Ron’s bedroom.

Ron stood up full monty and said, “Given how late it is, I’ll be going to sleep now.”

“Five minutes from now tops,” Kurt said, still wearing underwear and a sock.

“Funny. Try not to make any stains yourselves,” Ron said pointing to the pile of clothes.

In the morning, Matt went out and grabbed breakfast before everyone else woke up. Tensions rose as noon approached. All signs that a sleepover had just taken place were completely gone when Ron answered the doorbell.

“Where is it?” Said the delivery guy.

“Right there on the sofa,” Ron said stepping back.

The delivery man picked it up, gave it a cursory check, and headed toward the door.

When the door closed, Ron forced himself not to watch through the window as the man packed the doll in his car and drove off.

Text messages arrived at various cars in the area indicating that the car was the same car from the drop off the night before. At Ron’s, the other guys waited impatiently for fifteen minutes before going out to their car, car four in the plans, and joining the chase.

Ron closed the door behind them. He turned around to see Lauren disrobe and hold up a necklace.

“What’s that?” He said, feeling foolish.

“Impatient? I borrowed this from Jean. It’s magical.”

“Nora’s necklace to turn her human? What good is that?”

“Jean has her own necklace that does the opposite. I’ll be on your bed showing off how it looks on me. Give me a minute.” She left the room.

Ron experienced the longest minute of his life. He found her face down on the bed, her knees holding her rear aloft. She was a doll.

*****

Nora heard the front door open and close. He had been gone longer than usual. Her owner entered the doll storage room and placed a doll on its stand. He returned a few minutes later with Rachel’s body. He left and returned once again, putting a doll stand next to Rachel. When he returned once more, he set a doll on the stand. It was Jean.

He looked at Nora, a smirk on his face. He held up the small round ball. Yesterday, it had glowed brightly. It was dark.

Nora was seething. How did this fucker capture Jean? She didn’t hear him start the gem ritual. She wanted to murder him with her eyes. So distracted, she almost didn’t notice when he brought the small ball to her forehead, it was not glowing at all.

As she was thinking the same thing, he said, “I have to thank you for powering the spell I used to stop your would-be rescuers. I have no idea what I’ll do with the male dolls.”

When the small ball touched her forehead, the room flashed with a blinding light. The man recoiled in pain and shock.

“NO. MORE.” Nora said.

He didn’t say a word before he was rendered inanimate. Blinding light played over his body. Nora didn’t need to look away as her spell completed. The light faded. Where he had fallen, a sex doll lay. Not the high quality kind like she had been, or how Rachel and Jean currently were, but better than the cheapest models stacked on the shelves at the back of the room.

She picked it up and placed among the other cheap dolls. She reached out to restore Jean. The room became dark and the last thing she felt was her forearm smacking the floor hard.

It was pitch black in the room when she awoke. Her right elbow was throbbing. Nothing had changed since she’d passed out. Her mind felt fuzzy. There was an ache that she believed meant she was starving but it wasn’t hunger. Looking up, she saw Livanté and Jean where her former owner had left them. She was reminded her arm hurt when she tried to stand up.

She pulled herself up using the rack in the corner. The newest doll was there but it didn’t register with her. She needed sustenance, not food. Something. She staggered out of the room. The unfamiliar living room was littered with male sex dolls. Dolls! She grabbed one and was about to use it when she spotted Dave. The idea that she should start with him managed to manifest in her disoriented mind.

She pulled him out of the heap and sat down on the plastic phallus. With no finesse, no foreplay, no hesitation, she humped the doll. The orgasm she had was like a man lost in a desert drinking water for the first time in days. She just sat there savoring the movement of the orgasm up and down her nervous system. As it faded, she resumed humping the doll. She reached orgasm a few moments later and a few moments after that. Dave found himself able to move as she continued to move up and down forcefully on him. She didn’t stop until he came.

She got up without a word. Her eyes locked on to the nearest doll phalus.

“I’m good, thanks,” he said. “What happened to your arm?”

“Not now,” he voice croaked. “I’m so starved I’m dying.” She righted the nearest doll and engaged it just as animalistically as she’d used Dave. As she did, she managed to form a sentence, “I think I broke my arm when I fell unconscious this afternoon.” Kurt reanimated the same way Dave had after she’d had her own orgasms.

After Kurt and Jacob, her body slumped with exhaustion. “Dave, Kurt, help me get off Jacob. If I try to roll off, I’ll probably land on my face.”

The men chuckled. “What happened and why are you… this?” Jacob said.

They picked her up and sat her on the sofa. She stopped them from trying to lay her down flat.

“I’ll need to do several more of those dolls but I’m good enough for now.”

“We should put your arm in a sling,” Kurt said.

“I have water bottles in the car,” Jacob said. “We can’t trust anything here.” He ran out of the apartment.

“I’m no expert,” she said slowly. “But, you all got bombed by my magic energy. The fucker had been collecting it and I had no idea what he was up to. But, I’m certain I need it back as soon as possible. This, as you put it, was the fastest way to do it. And once I have all the energy, the spell on you guys was canceled.”

“What about Jean?”

“By the time I finish with this lot, I’ll be able to help her at a more leisurely and pleasant pace. And on a bed. And I’m not using any bed in this fucking apartment. It’s bad enough my bare ass is on this sofa.”

“This is the right place though. Where are the other dolls?”

“Through there. He…”

Dave cut her off. “Touch nothing. We have no idea what kinds of magical traps there might be.”

Jacob returned with a blanket he wrapped around Nora. “I’m sure you don’t care about being in the buff. For our sake, cover up.”

“Fine.” He handed her an open water bottle and she drank it half down in one go.

Kurt had been about to go look for a sling. He stopped, took off his shirt, and tied it into a loop.

“You weren’t kidding about magic traps with that other Eddie wizard?”

“No. I’ve just texted him. We wait till he gets here.”

“Bring a doll over. I think I can do another one.”

Kurt stopped her. “Lets stop you from doing more harm to that elbow.”

“Thanks.”

“Where's the guy?” Dave said.

“Did he get away? Or flee?”

“I was unconscious all afternoon,” Nora said.

*****

Eddie was amused to see how Nora was retrieving magic energy. He made no comment. He helped them disarm a couple traps. “I guess he wasn’t as paranoid as Livanté,” Eddie said.

Close to dawn, all the helpers had been revived. The inventory of dolls, including Rachel and Jean, had been moved to Dave’s apartment. Most of the helpers went home dreading the work day to come since they hadn’t expected to spend well over half a day as inert dolls when the rescue mission started.

Nora thanked everyone when they returned to the apartment and said she was going to sleep. She went to her bed and found Jean’s body already laying there. She cuddled up against it and said, “I’m sure you won’t mind if I wait till morning to restore you.” With a chaste kiss, she fell asleep.

Ron arrived as they were unloading the cars. “Guess I missed the fun part.”

“Where’s Lauren?”

“Ask Jean.”

“We really can’t at the moment.” Someone pointed out she was a doll.

“Oh, that’s also why Lauren isn’t here.”

“Lauren is wearing a certain necklace?” Dave asked.

“She put it back on around three. She was worried sick that we hadn’t heard anything and she said it kept her relaxed.”

“That’s what Jean says about using it,” Dave said.

Jacob, Eddie, Ron, and Dave sat together hunched over a laptop, searching, though they didn’t know what for. They figured they’d know it when the found it.

Eddie cursed at a spreadsheet they found. “I figured out how he managed to ambushed all of you.” He had been using a spell that told him how many people were thinking about someone else. He would cast it for Nora and Rachel each day and was tracking the numbers in the spreadsheet. There were spikes from three weeks ago and yesterday with all the days in between elevated compared to before three weeks ago. “He used the knowledge that Jean and Dave had told more people about Nora to determine when we’d attempt a rescue.”

“There’s no way we could have known?” Jacob said.

“I’m sure if Livanté had been working with us, she’d have suggested we only talk about Nora in a magically protected environment. I’m not that smart, I guess,” Eddie said.

“We don’t hold that against you,” Dave said.

“You’re lucky I fear Nora enough not to retaliate for that quip.”

“I know.”

“Fear her?” Jacob said.

“I rather go one on one with Tiger. Yeah. She broke whatever doll spell had been placed on her with no energy reserves. I’m guessing, from what little story we got from her, that seeing Jean turned into a doll caused her to react violently. And sufficiently to break the spell. Emotion can be used to power a spell. But it has a huge cost. Of course, recouping from that cost had the side effect of reviving you and your friends. It’s just a good thing she hadn’t died before she started reviving you.”

*****

Jean crawled into bed next to Dave.

“Oh, there you are,” he said. He kissed her.

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” she said.

“Is Nora awake?”

“She’s having breakfast.”

“Food sounds good.”

“Sex sounds better.”

“No argument here.”

Nora poured cereal into a bowl. She felt funny. She could tell Jean and Dave were kissing. She could tell someone was masturbating a few apartments over and two or three flights up. What had she become?

She was finishing her cereal when she felt someone approaching the apartment. She held the door open as Ron stepped off the stairs.

“You’re up? How are you, Nora?” He said.

“Hey, I’m good. Did she turn herself into a doll?” She replied indicating the doll over Ron’s shoulder.

“I thought this would be the fun way for Lauren to return Jean’s necklace.”

“Sure. Come in,” she said, stepping aside. “You should know. She’s a bit mad at you. She was hoping to stay a doll longer.”

“How can you tell?”

“I have no idea.”

Jean and Dave joined them in the kitchen area shortly. “Why is Lauren still a doll?”

“Nora says she’s mad at me for making her return the necklace too soon.”

“No, I don’t know how I know,” Nora said. “We’ll ask Eddie at some point. I was a bit out of it. How many dolls are there still to revive?”

“Nine, if you count Madame Livanté.”

“I haven’t decided yet. She’ll be last regardless.” Nora said. “Let me look at them.”

The group went into the spare room.

“May I ask something possibly indelicate?” Ron said.

“It’s your neck.”

“What?”

“I’m joking. You are obviously aware of whatever you are about to say is perhaps indelicate.”

“Last night, we found the passwords to the rental websites and that guy was making a ton of money. He had notes about some of the dolls that implied, though it’s unverified at the moment, that some of the dolls were voluntarily working for him.”

“Yeah, there are even payouts in his bank records,” Dave said.

“Not surprising. But is it true? He said something about that to me over a year ago but never followed through.”

“We were wondering if you’d be upset if we continued the business. With you around, you could make sure the dolls become women occasionally and can opt out.”

“Wow,” Nora said when she saw the nine dolls with unworldly detail standing in doll stands and the cheaper dolls stacked on the bed. No one saw her sneer in that direction. “I recognize those two from my first time with shithead. Both of them are volunteers. They're actually mad about being taken away from him.”

“The one on the right, Evelyn, has an appointment tonight,” Jacob said.

“You want to take her to it?” Nora said.

“Only if you’re okay with it and to the best of your ability you believe she’s okay with it.”

“She perked right up when you said that. Did you find any magical reagents?”

“In those boxes over there,” Dave said. “Eddie said you could have them.”

She rummaged through the boxes and grabbed a few things. A few moments later, she was casting a spell. The head on the doll named Evelyn softened and became human.

“Yes, yes, I want to go,” Evelyn said as soon as she could. “We only have five minutes, right?”

“You volunteered? And he kept to the terms of the deal?” Dave said.

“Mostly,” Evelyn said. “I was supposed to get a few weeks off but that was disrupted when he became fixated on this doll.” She was looking at Nora.

“He didn’t ask for my permission,” Nora said.

“But you love being a doll.”

“And I love being human. Shithead didn’t care about that part. And don’t say his name. Anyone says his name they get to spend eternity in a land fill.”

“I don’t know his name. He really didn’t want anyone to know.”

“Why do you want to go on your appointment?”

“Rexx treats me so good. I have goosebumps, mental goosebumps, just thinking about what will happen tonight.”

“You even knew who would be renting you, tonight?”

“Rexx is a regular. Every Thursday night for the last eight months.

*****

Jacob knocked. He stood on the unfamiliar porch for the second time in a day.

“Here for the doll?” The older man who answered asked.

“Yes, anything I should know?” Jacob was inspecting Evelyn for damage.

“I don’t think so. You aren’t the normal delivery guy.”

“No, he’s no longer working in this area.”

“No big deal. He probably said less to me during the six or seven rentals I saw him than you’ve already said today. Unfriendly sort.”

“I see,” Jacob said. He put the doll into the carrying sack. “Well, Evelyn seems in good shape. Have a good day.”

“Evelyn? That’s a perfect name for her. I’ll remember it.”

The next time they spoke to Evelyn she gushed about how much Rexx said her name during his next rental.

“You know, Evelyn. You could meet Rexx as a human,” Ron said. “Just coordinate it with Nora. You already told her you wanted a few weeks off.”

“Meet Rexx? No… Could I?”

Little Witch #11: Sally's Gift

Aawwwww... Such a heart warming moment. And some shenanigans.

Transcript

Panel 1 – Daddy in closeup, Angela is facing him, arcana is seen in her hands behind her back. Mom is by the ottoman also in an arcana bubble.

Angela: Daddy, there’s only two dolls: Mommy and my friend, Jenny. That other doll is just a doll.

Daddy: It is? Oh. For a second there I thought it's face looked familiar.

Angela: No, It’s just a doll.

Doll: Just a doll.

Panel 2 – Mommy’s restoration is just about finished.

Angela: Jenny has to go home. And you have to get ready for your date night.

Daddy: After I do this…

Doll: Just a doll.

Panel 3 – Center, full height, Mom and Dad kiss. Arrows indicate this panel happens before the next panel.

Panel 4 – Mommy and Daddy run off to do… stuff. Angela is restoring Jenny in the bg. Jenny lays on the ottoman inside an arcana bubble.

Doll: Just a doll.

Panel 5 – Jenny is standing on the ottoman.

Jenny: That was fun doing nothing but talking with your Mom. I better get home before my Mom kills me.

Angela: Blame it on me.

Jenny: No. Mom already thinks you’ve turned into the new Bethany. Later.

Panel 6 – insert of Angela, view from behind Sally. She’s looking at Sally.

Angela: Wondering why Mom didn't ask about you?

Panel 7 – The 3 doll stands shot from other comics. Only Sally remains.

Doll: Just a doll.

Angela: You secretly wanted me to cast that spell, right? No one remembers Aunt Sally exists. Not even you. You're just a doll. No new thoughts. No cares. Just for a few days. Like you told Mom, you have people who need you, too.

Doll: Just a doll.

Angela: You'll remember it all after I reverse the spell. If I remember you exist later.

Doll: Just a doll.