Chapter 24 – Girls

Marley’s dreams came and went like glimpses into other worlds. In one, she woke with her eyes on sleeping Olivia. She brushed her hair gently, turned to Mona beside her bed, and declared, “Take my memories. It’s better not knowing.”

The next moment came like a skip in a filmstrip. It was like she’d had a flash dream in a quick nap, but the dream left no trace behind. She was sitting there as Olivia stretched out and rubbed her eyes. She nuzzled Flopsalot and blearily gazed at Marley, who saw only her sister. Their morning, a day off from school, spread out before them. It would lead to the one after that and the one after that. Strange things would come and pass with just a frown and a shrug from Marley. In junior year, Jessica would become listless and lose her joyful spark. Marley would be there to support her and, in time, she would become much like the Jessica of before, but Marley would sense a difference. She would struggle with it for a long time before deciding it was just a part of growing up.

The three of them would always be close, always together, even finding each other in college. Until the day the sun blinked out and the coldest night fell upon them, followed by sleep without end.

The chill of that first look faded back into the warmth of her bed. She thought she had awoken this time. Olivia sucked at the edge of her thumb, an old habit from when she was younger. Marley brushed her little sister’s hair gently and turned to Mona, who appeared beside her bed, and said, “I’ll be a goddess…so I can give her and the others the happiest world possible…”

And so Marley was. She replaced Mrs. Sims with a better teacher. She made every day like the most joyous moments of summer vacation. She planned grand holidays assembled from the system memory about places in the outside world which may or may not have still existed. She savored each moment. She willed joy into everyone she knew. And she wailed with agony as Jessica’s light faded to a reflection of memory. For the rest of her days, she lived a hollow life while trying to smile. When the end came, she welcomed it as a respite with the hope that somehow, someway, she and Jessica would be reunited.

Finally waking from these visions, Marley looked up from her bed. No Mona was beside her, but Olivia was curled up and drooling on her bunny. With a sigh, Marley thought about what day it was. Saturday. But yesterday didn’t feel like a Friday.

She wondered if her mind had made it this way. Not that she was complaining. She stretched her cheeks to the point of pain, finally convinced this wasn’t another dream. She focused on feeling good, dispelling the raw sensation in her throat from dryness and her spell of vomiting. This day, no matter what choice she made, she resolved to feel better.

She let Olivia sleep as she showered, the warm water never waning. She dressed in something comfortable and settled down next to Olivia. With a thought, the covers fixed themselves underneath her and acquired a fresh, floral scent. Olivia’s nose wiggled, but she still slept. Reaching over for a pen and paper pad which hadn’t been there a moment before, Marley began writing.

The dreams had left her cold to Mona’s first two choices. The fear of forgetting and the agony of keeping a secret from her closest friends forever meant she had to reject them. To say nothing of the dream vision of Jessica’s hollowed shell, consumed by Simona.

Clutching the notepad, she told herself that only one path lay ahead: She had to wake the others up. But how? Her moment of epiphany had come accidentally. Engineering something like that would be challenging at best. She had no idea what memories would be the most meaningful to the others, but she started a list. A reminder of the blue box which they all first awoke in. Something with Sim….

However, they’d all looked at the same blue sky and only she’d recalled the feeling of a box. They’d seen the crossing guard with SIM on his vest. They had Mrs. *Sims*. Then there was the trap box and countless other details like memories transmuted into dream forms.

The task before her seemed so daunting. For instance, what did she know was an awakening-worthy memory to her little sister…to Oswald? Did she even have the right to wake him up? And what of Nicolas? She barely knew him.

Pressing her head against the paper pad, she sighed. Olivia shifted and groaned softly. Setting the pen and paper aside, Marley told herself that she could sleep in a little bit. And the answers would come. Or, if not answers, at least better questions.

But she didn’t sleep, despite summoning a cool glass of water to sip. Her mind raced with possibilities, none of them particularly clever. But she did settle on one concept. Marisa…for whatever reason…wanted to see boys turned into girls. And Marley decided she was going to show her just that, and see if it would be enough. In fact, her eyes widening, she realized each of them had the experience of transformation. It hadn’t been what awakened her, but this was the best lead she had for something, anything to try. At the very least, it would probably delight Marisa to see seemingly supernatural transformations occurring before her eyes. She would figure out something for Nicolas later.

Beside her, Olivia gingerly sat up and rubbed her eyes as she asked, “What time is it?”

Marley glanced over and recited the time. Olivia jerked up in bed, exclaiming, “Already? Omgosh. Oh no! That’s halfway through my pony show!” Flailing, Olivia started to push her way out of bed. Looking at the clock, Marley mentally ticked it back a bit and, with a laugh, said, “Whoops. My mistake. It’s not that late yet.” Telling her the adjusted time, Olivia eased her flailing and took a careful breath as she said, “Don’t scare me, sis! Whew…”

Apologizing with a smile, Marley responded, “Sorry. Enjoy, sis.” Olivia hummed a song to herself and muttered a few things before scampering off. When Marley found her in the living room with the TV tuned to a brightly-colored cartoon with talking ponies and a few small figurines in her lap, Marley couldn’t resist a smile but also a sad feeling. She didn’t want a moment like this to end.

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Breakfast was already waiting for her in the kitchen with her parents in their usual places. She tried a couple different faces on them, ranging from variations of her friends and herself to ones she’d never seen before.

Her mother leaned to watch Olivia in the living room and gave a delighted chuckle as she reminisced about when Olivia was younger. Sitting there and eating the normal way, Marley again considered taking her sister back in age from nine (five days to her tenth birthday). She considered changing her parents again but decided on something else entirely.

She mentioned, off-hand, “Did you know that some teen boys and adult men were transformed into girls younger than Olivia by watching that show?”

Instead of alarm or confusion, her parents both nodded, recalling that in the news. It was clarified as happening randomly a certain percent of the time. Smirking, Marley wondered if Marisa would use this new wrinkle in reality to her advantage, maybe email videos of the show to every boy in class.

Even with control over the world, Marley went about her day normally. She savored breakfast and talked to her parents with a smile. Even though she knew they were fabrications, their kindness was not lost on her. She gave them each a long hug before she set out, feeling their warmth and clinging, soft scents.

She left Olivia to enjoy her show and called Marisa after a while. She found Marisa was still in bed, slurring her words softly and barely disguising her snoozes. She almost decided to skip visiting her to let her sleep in, but she knew it would only be harder if she delayed.

The trip over could’ve been instantaneous. but it was only a few blocks and it was already a nice day (by happenstance or her own will). So, she walked the distance dressed in a casual sweater and jeans.

The leaves were beginning to fall in bunches along the sidewalks. The air had a crispness like it had nearly decided to rain overnight, but a fog had washed over everything instead. Marley puffed out a breath with just enough moisture to make it visible for a moment. She could’ve changed that moment, brought on actual rain or done a dozen different things to the world around her. Perhaps she already had, shaping this day with her awareness of it beyond the convenience of selecting a day of the week.

She mused on this as she invited small birds to flutter along and find patches of dark soil to pick at. She arrived at Marisa’s house with a bit of melancholy about the end of her journey. Marisa’s mother invited her in and offered her a steaming cup of tea. It was her favorite even before she decided on which flavor her favorite was. Marisa welcomed her with hair askew and dressed in quite casual clothes.

Clearing her throat, Marisa noted, “You’re here early. So…what was it you wanted to talk about?” She paused. She had an idea, but she wasn’t sure how she wanted to go about it. She started off with a mention of the transformative pony show. To her surprise, Marisa’s reaction was subdued.

“I’m skeptical”, she told her, trying to bring her hair in line. “I mean, if it was really happening that much, then there would be more news about it. And I would’ve known about it long ago and I would’ve been president of the fan club to spread it around. But yeah, I might look into it.”

Easing back on the couch, Marley sipped her tea and pondered. Her skepticism was something she could work with, maybe encourage a feeling of skepticism about the nature of the world as well. But she felt that perhaps Marisa needed something more. For that, they’d need a public place with a lot of test cases.

Marley thought about the nearest mall. It was open-air (at least it was now) and there were areas where there were far more men roaming about than women. And those places had plenty of areas to sit and people-watch. The problem was getting Marisa there for any length of time. She considered manifesting a new book as an enticement. She considered other methods, but none of them felt right.

Eventually, looking at her friend’s calm smile as she stretched her neck, Marley knew what she had to do. She wasn’t the sort to lie and mislead her friends, especially if she wanted them with her to defeat Simona. She’d been avoiding it in her plans and avoiding it in her thoughts, but she needed to cross the threshold. She needed to admit the truth.

She looked over to Marisa with an expression as pleasant as she could manage and said, “You can make anything happen in the world. You can turn any boy into any girl with your wishes because this world was made for and crafted by us.”

Marisa smirked as she asked, “Have you been peeking over at my books? Because that’s just about the plot of most I’ve read.” Bending around a coffee table, Marisa produced a dog-eared paperback with the cover describing a premise similar to their situation with an awoken girl able to turn boys into girls around her. Marisa noted, with a twinkle in her look, “It’s one of my favorites. It would be nice if it was real, but things are as they are.”

Marley persisted, “It’s not just a story. I can show you it for real.” Marisa shifted between a smile and a grimace as she responded, “That’s nice of you to indulge me, but I know where fantasy begins and ends…”

The moment called for Marley to show her a little bit of so-called fantasy come to life, but she wanted to do so gently. Flicking her eyes towards the front door, Marley offered, “If you really think that, then here’s something. You’re going to receive a package and the delivery boy is going to turn into a girl before your eyes.”