Barbie(tm) is a trademark of Mattel Inc. Use of this name is to support the story and no infringement of this name is meant for commercial purposes.

Synopsis: The world of children is filled with magic. Some of this magic is so strong that once born it has a life of it's own outside that of the child who's imagination brought it into existence. Powerful magic of this nature can change time and events, thoughts and memories, even the physical world. Such is the nature of this story.

 

Barbie's Gift

by Donna Allyson

© 2001

 

The children lined up to get on their buses for the ride home. It was the end of school for Christmas vacation and the excitement of the pending holiday and a week off from school was evident in each of their faces and actions. Nancy was the exception. She just could not get into the Christmas spirit. She had been told that older brother would be staying at college for special courses and this made her sad.

Nancy, at eleven years old was a late child and the ten year age difference between herself and her big brother should have deprived her of the sibling bonding that other children enjoy, but it had not. Ken had always been there for her when she was little. He had taken her to the park, had been there when she started school, and had even sat and played with her and her Barbie Dolls(tm). Ken was always willing to read her stories at bedtime. Those were wonderful

occasions and she had often wished that Ken was her own age so that they could spend more time together.

When Ken finally went off to college Nancy felt as if her world had collapsed. It was just not the same anymore. Even when he came home for summer vacation he seemed different, but those few weeks were wonderful times for her.

Janice Parker, Nancy's Mom tried to explain why her brother could not be home for Christmas but Nancy just did not understand.

***

The ride home was a noisy one but Nancy sat in her seat and just looked out the window. Her eyes wet with the tears she was trying so hard to hold back. Alison MacKenzie her best friend sat next to her and tried to comfort her but to no avail. When the bus finally stopped in front of her home, Nancy grabbed her schoolbag, said goodbye to her friend Alison and ran up the walkway, thru the front door letting it slam behind her, and ran straight up the stairs to her room. Throwing her schoolbag in the corner, Nancy grabbed her favorite Ken doll from the display case and then fell across her bed and finally the tears let go and she started to sob into her pillow.

"Why! Why does he have to be so old? Oh how I wish Ken was my sister instead of an older brother." Nancy sobbed into her pillow. "Why! Why! Why!" she repeated

over again. Pounding the Ken doll onto the bed covers for emphasis. Nancy cried herself to sleep.

In the corner display case the Barbie Fairy doll stood silently watching her owner. An observer would have had to be very alert to notice the slight wave of the wand, the delicate movement of the transparent wings. Was it as a light breeze that caused this movement?

The Ken doll in Nancy's hands was gone, replaced by a small childlike doll wearing a pretty yellow dress. Had Nancy picked it up by mistake? The Ken doll was not in it's usual spot in the case

***

"Nancy? Nancy wake up. It is time for supper."

Nancy stirred at the gentle shaking of her mother's hand.

"I must have fallen asleep." The girl said sleepily.

"I guess you did. You're still in your school uniform. Why don't you get changed and come downstairs. Supper is about to be served and your sister and father are

already at the table. We are going to decorate the Christmas tree after supper." Janet said as she stood in the doorway.

"Okay Mother. I'll be right down." Nancy replied as she got up off the bed. Nancy put the small doll back on the shelf of the display case smoothing out the dress that had gotten wrinkled.

'Strange.' she thought. 'I don't remember this doll.'

She reached up and set it in the place where her Ken doll usually was placed. She did not notice that Ken was missing.

Nancy removed her school uniform and hung it up in the closet. She quickly washed her face and hands, brushed out her long hair tying it back into a ponytail with a red scrunchie. She took a pair of jeans from the closet and slipped them on along with a red turtleneck pullover. Satisfied with her

appearance, she headed for the stairs.

Then it struck her: "What sister!" she exclaimed to herself as she stepped onto the first stair almost tripping. "I don't have a sister and Dad and Mom are divorced!" Nancy was confused. What was her Mother talking about she wondered. "She must be joking." Nancy said to herself as she stepped onto the floor of the foyer and walked towards the dining room.

She let out a gasp as she entered the room. There sitting at the head of the table was her father. Nancy stood frozen at the doorway. This was impossible. He had not come to visit at Christmas since he had remarried and that had been when she was only six. Since then he had only visited two other times. Sitting in Ken's usual spot at the table was a girl who appeared to be a about a year older than herself.

'What was going on' Nancy thought to herself, 'Who was that other girl?'

The two of them glanced her way as she stood in the doorway. Her father then turned his attention back to the newspaper he was reading. The girl just kept looking at her then looking away as if wanting to say something but didn't dare.

"Well sweetheart, are you going to sit down or become a furnishing?" Her Mother said as she entered the room carrying a tray of food from the kitchen.

Nancy was so bewildered that she said nothing but walked to the table and sat in the chair opposite the strange girl. Then it struck her. "Ken?" She blurted out when she realized who she was seeing in the face of the girl.

The girl looked Nancy straight in the eye and shook her head in an obvious sign for her to keep quiet.

"Who's Ken?" Her father asked becoming aware that she was speaking a boy's name.

Nancy took her queue from the girl.

"Sorry. I was thinking about Ken Bridges. I have to call him later. We are working on an school assignment together."

"Oh. He's a nice boy. I thought maybe you had a new boyfriend." Her father replied.

"Not hardly Daddy. Just a school project." Nancy replied, somewhat embarrassed.

"Cassandra, would you lead us in grace please. I believe it is your turn. Your sister did it yesterday." Janice asked as she took her place at the table.

"Yes Mother."

Nancy could not believe what she had just heard. The girl sitting across from her that looked so much like Ken, was in fact her sister. Her Mother had just

confirmed that.

Then it dawned on her, 'It was Ken. And Dad's here like he had never left, but how. What was going on?' Nancy felt as if her world had turned upside down.

***

The rest of the meal went by without much conversation. Janice and her husband George each made small talk about How their day had progressed. Nancy was aware that they did not seem to notice that anything was different. It was as if George had never left and Ken was never a son who was at college but a daughter still at home.

By the time the meal was over and the girls were excused from the table, Nancy was ready to explode. The eye contact that she had made with Cassandra had left no doubt in her mind that the girl was quite aware of what had happened. As they left the dining room Cassandra grabbed Nancy's hand and nearly dragged her up the stairs to Ken's room.

As they entered the room Nancy's mouth dropped open. This room was not the room that Ken had always had. Sure it was laid out the same but it was furnished for

a girl. It had all the accents that would normally be expected in a pre-pubescent girls bedroom.

Cassandra waved her hand around the room. "This and this." motioning to herself and the lavender and white dress she was wearing. "Do you have any idea what has happened."

"Ah no. I think this is weird. You're a girl and Daddy is home like he never left. I must be dreaming." Nancy replied genuinely.

"Nancy, I have got to find out what is going on It appears only you and I seem to know that things have changed. A couple of hours before you

came downstairs I was sitting in a lecture hall listening to my professor and the next moment I was walking home with Mom from a ballet class wearing this dress and carrying a ballet outfit. I could not even tell Mom who I was. She just kept calling me Cassie and telling me how well I danced and how pretty I was in my pink leotard and white tutu. Nancy, I have become a girl and I have no idea how it happened. If things don't change back to normal quickly you are going to have to help me with the things I don't know. I don't dare tell Mom or Dad who I really am. They will think I am crazy." Cassie started to cry.

Nancy reached out to her new sister. Where Ken was always the one to be there for her it was now the other way around, She had to help him. The two girls embraced in a tight hug.

"It is alright Cassie. I'll help you the best way I can." Nancy said. She really meant it. Deep down inside she was glad Ken had changed, even though she did not know why. She liked the idea of having him for a sister. She knew it was a little selfish but at that moment she did not care. They embraced for what seemed a long time. Finally Nancy broke away and looked at Cassie at arms length.

"Are you really a girl? I mean all over." She asked

"If you mean do I have to sit down to pee? I think so. I have been afraid to look. I am sporting some little boobies though." Casandra said seriously, as she put her hands on her chest.

The bluntness of the reply caused both girls to look at each seriously and then the moment was broken as both girls started to laugh at the ridiculousness of

the situation.

"I guess I can't call you little sister anymore, huh? Cassie quipped.

"I don't think so Cassie. Not when it looks like we can wear each others clothes. I guess I will have to teach you how to be a girl. Hey, let's check out your closet." Nancy asked.

For the next hour the two girls explored Ken's changed room and it's contents. They were surprised at the completeness of the changes. Everything a young girl needed was there and had the appearance that it was a used room. Even the contents of the bottle of nail polish on the dresser was half used. The hamper in the corner of the room even had some clothes in it that was obviously worn and then readied for the wash. The more they explored the weirder they both felt.

There was a moment of pause between them when they found the plaid school jumpers and white blouses neatly hung in in the closet. It was obvious that they both were now in the same school.

"I guess I can forget about my professor's lectures now." Cassie quipped as she ran her fingers over the skirt of one of the jumpers.

There was magic in the air and they both felt it.

"This is weird." Nancy said with a little fear in her voice. "I wonder what else is going to happen.

"I don't know Nan, but I don't think we have any control over it if it does. Hey I better get changed, we have to go downstairs and decorate the tree. Can you undo the buttons on the back of this dress, I can't reach them." Cassie said.

"Sure." Nancy replied. She walked behind Cassie and undid the small bow on the tie back and undid the buttons.

Cassie stepped out of the dress as if she had been doing it all her life. She pulled the white cotton slip over her head and threw it in the hamper. Standing in panties only she looked at Nancy and then pulled the waist band of the yellow panties away from her body and look at her groin.

"That's proof Sis. Whatever happened to me is complete. I will have to sit down to pee from now on." She said with a smile and a giggle.

"And you better tell Mom to get you some bras too." Nancy said jokingly as she pointed to the small bumps on Cassie's chest.

"Ya, I think so. She better get you some to." Cassie said. The two sisters started to laugh and hug each other. Nancy never felt happier in her life.

Ten minutes later the two girls both dressed in jeans and red pullovers and looking almost like twins, entered the living room. They were about to do their first activity together as sisters, one of many activities that they would share together for many years to come.

***

In Nancy's room, the Barbie fairy doll and the small childlike girl doll touched hands and vanished, replaced by two normal but innocuous little Teddy bears. Nancy would never notice the change. She would never remember having a Barbie

fairy doll. She would never realize the power of the magic that her wish had released. Her family was whole again and both sisters would come to appreciate the benefits of this strange but wonderful magic.

As for Ken, he would never find out what had caused him to become almost a twin to his sister but he was a fast learner and of course a little magic helped him adjust.

***

Kendra smiled as her two favorite dolls re-appeared on her dresser. "Gosh it is times like this that I am glad that I decided to become a fairy godmother and guardian." She said to herself.

End

  

  

  

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