Echoes

by Jennifer White

 

Part I: The Book

 

Paul was really pissed. He had been after Martha all through their first two years of college, until she finally dated him. But after all his hard work to woo her, she just dropped him. Just like that! Suddenly, he was alone again, without her. He had spent money on dinners. Movies. Flowers. Gifts. He had invested time and energy. And what did he get in thanks? Just one kiss.

And now it was worse: she was dating another guy already, that obnoxious guy Brett from the football team. He was hurt, and would take a long time to trust a girl again (if he ever could). But just a week later, there she was holding hands with another guy.

Paul wanted to find a way to get even with her. He needed to do *something*, but he couldn't figure out what. But then one day, almost by accident, he found *it*. Magic.

Paul had never believed in magic, but that was before he stumbled across The Book. He was shopping for an antique lamp for his mother's birthday, and a book caught his eye. It looked ancient, covered with a fine layer of dust. For whatever reason, he was drawn to it, and opened the dusty cover to take a look.

Inside, the writing was a little hard to read. It was very fancy, with jagged serifs on the letters. And the wording was very out of date. He had no doubt that this book was handwritten, before they invented printing presses.

And if it was that old...could it be real? Could this be a store of lost ancient knowledge? What if it was? What if he really could learn magic? Paul salivated at the thought. He could get revenge on Martha, and she would be powerless to fight it.

He forgot about the lamp, and bought just the book.

 

Paul read the book with fascination. It was hard work just to read, with the old style language. But he kept the long-term goal in mind. His revenge on Martha. He just ignored the dire warnings in the first chapter:

 

Know Ye who from this book learns: perform not these spells,

for sake of revenge, else be thee warned that thy spell will be

brought back to thee, in power times three.

 

He just wanted to get through the basics, so he could get down to the part where you learned the magic. He stayed up until 2am most nights, reading and learning all he could...

 

As Paul got deeper into the book, he learned the basic rituals and incantations. He was to the point where it was time to try something. It was a very basic spell to levitate an object. He tried it on a pen laying on the desk next to the book. He dressed all in black, and started the incantations.

He felt a cold chill, and a slight wind, even though the windows in his room were closed. He was amazed as the pen on his desk started to slowly rise into the air, until it was just hovering there at eye level!

He was pleased, but also stunned that it actually worked. He was breathless from excitement. This was *real*! And he was able to make it work. He rubbed his hands in glee, as he was able to move the pen through the air, write a word on a pad of paper, and put it down. All without touching it at all.

He blew out the candle, turned on the lights, and went back to reading. Levitation was a nice trick, but he needed much higher level powers if he was going to be able to get his revenge...

 

* * *

 

Part II: The Spell

 

It took months, but Paul was now very powerful. He had learned many spells, how to cast them, how to control the. What he was going to attempt was very complex, very difficult. But he felt that he was ready now.

He read again the warning about revenge spells bouncing back on you. The Book called it an Echo. He had to avoid it at all costs, so he spent a full week working on the incantation. It had to be just right. Bulletproof, to make sure there were no tricks of words that could harm him. He read it again and again, fine tuning it until it was just right.

He lit the candles, sat in the center of the circle he made on the floor, turned off the light switch with a wave of his hand, and started the ceremony. He concentrated as he burned the incense, and the purification began. After he was clean, he began the ritual chants and the preparations. It took time for something like this, to summon the higher powers. But now he was ready. It was time for him to use the incantation he had labored so hard to create. He took out a picture of Martha, and laid it in the center of the circle.

 

In a dark monotone he chanted out loud:

 

You will love no man,

Until you see,

That you will fall

In love with me.

 

Paul took a deep breath. There, it was done. He blew out the candles after saying thanks to the spirits, turned on the lights, and cleaned up his room. He knew that being so new to the power, his spell would not kick in right away, as it would for a master. It might take as much as a week.

But he knew what would happen now. Martha would break up with her boyfriend. Then, when she thought of him, she would realize that it was he, Paul, that she really loved. And she would come back to him, in the deepest rapture of pure love. And he would have everything.

 

* * *

 

First Echo: "You will love no man...."

 

Paul waited several days for Martha to call him. Soon, she'd be madly in love with him. But as of yet, there was no word. But on the plus side, there were no negative Echoes either. He was glad he had avoided them. His spell was good and just (in his mind), so there should be no negative consequences. Right?

After a full week, he couldn't wait anymore. He had to see her. He dressed up nicely, and walked over to her apartment complex. He stopped at the store, and bought a bottle of her favorite wine. He went to her apartment on the second floor, and knocked on the door.

A few moments later, she opened the door, and smiled at him. He smiled back. She was looking so lovely, so attractive...almost beyond words. He wanted to rush over to her and kiss her. He waited for her to react the same way to him.

But instead, she asked him inside. Now that was good at least.

"Oh, thanks for the wine" she said, taking the bottle from him, and setting it down on the counter.

"No problem" said Paul, full of himself. She was about to crumble, and fall in love with him at any moment. "So, is it true that you broke up with Brett?"

"Oh yes, I'm done with him forever" said Martha.

Wonderful! The spell was working! She no longer loved her golden haired football hero. Paul smiled. She would soon be his again.

"I'm actually glad to hear that" said Paul.

"Me too. I really learned something about myself when I dated him. I learned what I was missing in my life. I learned what it would take to make me truly happy."

Here it comes! She was about to break down for him! Paul could barely contain his glee.

"Yes?" he said, encouraging her to continue.

At that moment, the door to her bathroom, which had been closed, swung open. A pretty girl with very short dark hair walked out, and smiled when she saw them together.

"Paul, this is Kathy" said Martha.

"Nice to meet you Kathy" he replied.

Kathy kept walking over towards them. He thought she was going to shake his hand or something. But she went past him, over to Martha. She put her arms around Martha, who responded by touching Kathy lightly, and kissing her on the lips. Kathy's hand was resting on the small of Martha's back. They were leaning towards each other, hands clasped together.

It couldn't be true. No! Martha and Kathy weren't friends. They were lovers! They way they touched each other. The way they kissed. Even to a guy, it was crystal clear. Martha had become a lesbian somehow. She hadn't left Brett, the perfect man, for him. She left Brett for another girl!

How could this be true? Paul felt sick and dizzy as he tried to make sense of it all. His spell had been foolproof! How had he changed Martha's sexual orientation? What had he done? He thought about his spell again. You will love no man, until....

That was it! 'You will love no man'. Oh no. It was true. He *had* done this to her. *He* had changed her, and now she only liked girls. This was all *his* doing. One of the Echoes that The Book warned about.

He thought he had been above that. But his spell had bounced back on him, and now he was looking on helplessly as his dream girl was making out with another chick, right in front of him.

"Finding out that I prefer girls is the best thing that ever happened to me" said Martha.

"I love you" said Kathy.

"And I love you too!" giggled Martha, giddy with the effects of love.

All Paul could do was to stand there and watch. His future seemed to be gone. He'd never have her now. And more than that, with the woman he loved so dearly gone over to being lesbian, it was like an insult to his manhood. It was as if part of his manhood had been taken away from him. The girl he wanted to be with, was no with another girl.

Pangs of true emotion filled his heart, and for the first time since he was a young boy, he cried himself to sleep.

 

* * *

 

Second Echo: "You will fall in love with me..."

 

Paul woke up in the middle of the night, and a worse thought was in his mind. Worse than the fact that Martha was beyond his reach now: his spell *had* echoed back, as the warning in the book predicted. He had felt an Echo. And there was no way to cast a spell that would override an Echo. Whatever happened, he could not change.

But the book said it would come back times *three*. So as bad as last night was, it was only the beginning. He had two more Echoes to withstand. He took a deep breath. This couldn't be good. After the first Echo, part of him had died inside. Part of him *wanted* to just end it all, and die now. Dread and fear of the future crept over him, until he was mumbling to himself, unable to find sleep again. What awful doom awaited him now?

 

But as the light of day broke through the window of his bedroom, and the air warmed from the glow of the sun, some sense of calmness returned to his mind. He had been thinking for hours, unable to sleep.

He got up and made himself a pot of strong coffee. He'd need that just to get going, after such a terrible night. He sipped his first cup, and read the paper as he did every morning.

He was looking at the ad for the local department store, and their big sale. Pretty models wore the latest cute clothes and shoes. He eyed them longingly, and jealously, with their unapproachable beauty and their cool sexiness. Their clothes were so cute, so perfect, so well coordinated. Their hair, their skin, and their makeup, so perfect too.

Paul had a thought. Although his spell had bounced back on him, and he had been hit with the horrible Echo from it, the spell itself *had* worked. At least the first part of it.

Maybe that meant that the rest of it would still work too. As part of the spell, she was to fall in love with him. So in time, that would also come true! Now he had a reason to exist again, and the black fog over his heart lifted. He stared at the pretty women in the ad, and admired their outfits some more, before heading out to start his day. He *was* going to get Martha, after all.

 

A few days passed with no word from Martha. Again, he grew impatient. When was she going to come running back to him? It must be soon. Any time now. It *had* to be. So he was going to have to speed things up a bit. He called Martha on the phone.

"Paul! How are you today?" she said.

She sounded forced, like she was just putting up a cheerful facade. Something was wrong. He could tell.

"I'm fine" said Paul. "But forgive me for asking, but is something the matter with you? You don't sound yourself today."

"Yes" sighed Martha. "But I'd rather not discuss it on the phone. Would it be all right if I came over to talk to you in person?"

"Sure" said Paul, trying not to sound overly enthusiastic. "Come on over. What time should I expect you?"

"Oh, about an hour" she said.

 

As soon as she hung up, Paul flew into a flurry of housecleaning. He didn't want her to think he lived like a slob. He was busy vacuuming, dusting, clearing piles of stuff he had left all over the place, and putting the old newspapers into the recycle bin.

He was just about done cleaning up, when she arrived. Paul opened the door, and let her in. She looked like she had been crying. He had been right about his feeling that something was wrong. He had never been very good at reading women's emotions before. It was kind of cool that he could do it now. Maybe it had something to do with his powers.

"Martha, come in. Sit down. Can I get you something to drink?"

He was surprised when she agree, and asked for something strong. He found the ingredients to make hurricanes, a strong tropical drink from New Orleans. He poured them each a glass, and went back to sit beside her and let her cry on his shoulder. Normally, he wasn't a good listener. But somehow he sensed that she *needed* someone to just listen to her for now.

"Tell me" he said, "what is going on?"

"It's Kathy" said Martha, who was crying already. "She left me!"

"Aw, that's terrible" said Paul, sympathetically.

Martha went on in great detail about a huge fight they had, and how Kathy was always jealous, because she used to date guys. That fact made Kathy feel very threatened, as if every guy that Martha saw might take her away.

Martha poured her heart out, while Paul just listened. Martha felt so good being able to tell a friend about all this. A friend who was nonjudgmental and supportive. She looked up to Paul with newfound respect. She had never known him to be like this.

She was on her second hurricane, so maybe it was the alcohol acting on her, but Paul looked different now than when she had first arrived. He seemed softer somehow. His shape was different. Like he had curves.

Curves? On Paul? Martha rubbed her eyes. On his chest, were those boobs? She looked up at his face. It was so pretty. So soft. So feminine. The long hair on his face, the way it cascaded down gently. He was so pretty.

He? No, this wasn't a man. It was a woman. A very sexy woman. And Martha felt something stir within her.

"God, you're sexy" she said out loud to Paul.

"Not like you are" he replied, not noticing how soft and high pitched his voice had become.

"I want you" said Martha. "I want you now."

"And I want you!" said Paul, overjoyed at the turn of events.

Martha rushed over to him, and gave him a big kiss. It was so soft, so gentle, so *sensuous*. By far the best kiss he had ever experienced in his entire life. He was gasping for air, feeling faint and dizzy. Just from the kiss!

He tingled all over, with excitement building up inside him. Between his legs in particular, he was tingling in a way he had never known before. Martha was going to fall in love with him after all! He was giddy with delight.

She led him by the hand to the bedroom, and she began to remove her clothes. He stared at her perfect breasts as she took off her bra, and let it fall to the floor. She slipped out of her skirt, and pulled down her panties. Now she was naked before him.

Paul undid his belt, and his pants slid off very easily to the floor, as did his boxers. He couldn't take his eyes off of Martha, so he didn't even notice all that had changed. She was staring at his crotch, and she gasped with wonder.

"She must think I'm really big" he thought, not realizing the significance of a lesbian being excited by seeing what he had between his legs. He pulled up his shirt, which for some strange reason got caught a little on his chest as the tried to pull it off. And then it got tangled in his hair. That never happened before.

As the shirt finally came off, Paul felt a splash of long hair, all around him. *His* hair. He didn't have long hair. What was going on?

Paul looked down, following his long tresses down. They reached down to the tops of his...boobs. Big breasts, on his chest! He was at least a D cup. Huge mounds of *female* flesh, right there on his chest, topped off with a large erect nipple. Martha went right to his left breast, and began sucking on his nipple. He felt a wondrous warmth and excitement he never felt before in his life.

It was beginning to dawn on him now. She *was* falling in love with him. And she was a lesbian. That meant that *he* was now a girl.

A girl? No! It could not be! Before, he had felt like his manhood had been taken away when Martha had turned lesbian. But now, it was gone *physically* too. He could feel that between his legs, he was getting wet. Inside his pussy.

He had a vagina now. He was a woman. A girl. A chick. Waves of shock, pain, guilt, disbelief and fear washed over him, along with waves of the new pleasures he was feeling from being touched as a girl, for the first time.

"I'm so glad that you're a girl" said Martha, who pushed Paul down on the bed, and forced his legs open wide so she could go down on him.

She licked his new genitals once, from top to bottom, then put the point of her tongue into the top of his warm wet slit. She made a circle motion around his clitoris, and ran her hands up to his large breasts.

Paul shook all over, as *they* started to hit him. Orgasms. Plural. *Female* orgasms, more intense and wonderful than anything he had ever imagined. He had done drugs twice, and they couldn't come close to this.

He had always hated going down on Martha (or any girl for that matter), because he didn't like the taste. But after feeling what it was like for a girl when someone did it right, he vowed that from now on, he'd be glad to do it to any girl.

"My turn, lover" said Martha, who withdrew herself, making him shiver all over. He went at her so hard, that she had to tell him to back off and be gently. She showed him how to touch her breasts the right way, to excite her. Not just groping, but careful tender touching.

"Remember what I did to you" she said. "Make small circles with your tongue on my clit. Yes, like that. Very good. Oooh!!"

She trained him in how to be a good lesbian lover. When she got too sensitive, and had to make him stop, she used her fingers to penetrate into his vagina, and found his g-spot, sending him reeling again. Then she made him do the same to her.

They ended up in bed together, holding each other closely, sharing their warmth. Paul was on a wet spot, from where the juices from his vagina had leaked out. He had come so hard and so often! He had gotten so wet that he got the bed wet. But it was worth it. He had Martha now!

The second Echo had hit him, and he was a woman now. The full implications would not sink in for a while, and for now he was too overcome with the afterglow of their lovemaking...

* * *

 

Third Echo: "Until you see...."

 

Paul woke up female. He was still a girl. He really had to go pee, so he went into the bathroom. There, in the mirror, he saw himself for the first time. He was blonde, with wide doe eyes, full lips, and a very pretty face. His shoulders were small, as were his arms.

On his chest were the two very large prominent mounds of his breasts. He tapered down to a slender waist, then out wide at the hips. A classic hourglass figure. His legs were long and smooth.

It hit him again, even more strongly than the previous night: he was a girl now. He was female. It was very real. But at least he had Martha.

Paul didn't want to wake her, so he went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for them. He hummed as he worked, cooking omelets for the both of them. He was wearing an old T-shirt of his. If not for his big boobs, the shirt would have come down to his knees.

Martha walked in, with a smile on her face.

"Hello lover" she said.

"Hello babe" replied Paul.

"Mmmm. My little lover girl. I *love* you" said Martha, cooing.

"I love you too" said Paul, as he served breakfast onto the plates he had set out. They ate together, holding hands under the table.

Paul didn't know whether to laugh, cry, yell, scream, or do all of them. He was completely in love with her. He would do *anything* for her. He felt like he belonged to her, after what she did for him last night. He was madly and completely in love with her.

But he was also a chick now. The very foundation of his world was shattered. He was a girl! He had a pussy! Last night, he had his clit sucked, and his g-spot massaged. He looked at the paper, and realized that he *wanted* to wear a pretty dress like the girl in the ad. He had become a girl now.

But at least he had Martha. It was wonderful and terrible all at once. How was he going to live like this? How would he explain to his friends that he was a lesbian now, in love with the prettiest girl in the world? What would he tell his dad?

"Are you all right?" said Martha, looking on in concern.

"I....I guess I'm trying to figure out how to make sense of this all" he said, waving his hands across his body.

"Its a miracle" said Martha. "A wonderful blessing on us, that you were changed from a young man into a beautiful young woman. *My* woman."

Her speech didn't help much, but he liked being called 'hers'.

"I can't keep calling you Paul though" said Martha. "You're not a guy anymore. No, I think you look more like....like a Sally."

"Sally?" said Paul.

"Yes. That's it. From now on, you are Sally to me."

"I am Sally" said Paul, still trying to come to grips with the fact that he had been transformed into a female. He still couldn't think of himself as 'her' or 'she'. How would he think of himself as 'Sally'? But that was what Martha wanted, and he would do anything for her.

"I am Sally" he said again, with more conviction.

"I love you Sally" said Martha.

"I love you Martha" said *Sally*.

 

After breakfast, they got dressed. But Sally only had men's clothes at home. Martha had some things that might fit her, but she was only a B cup, so her bras would never fit over Sally's huge boobs.

So the two girls went off to the big sale at the department store, where Sally bought a green and yellow floral skirt, along with an orange tank top. She bought several bras and five panties. And then a pair of sandals, with a flower on the strap over the toes. And a wide brimmed had with a ribbon tied into a bow around it. And cool women's sunglasses.

Satisfied, they went back to Martha's place. Sally dressed up in her ultrafeminine outfit. She came out and modeled it for Martha, who clapped.

Martha excused herself to go pee, so Sally, who half a day ago had been Paul, had some time to herself to think. And what she thought of, were the words to the spell she had cast weeks ago.

 

You will love no man,

Until you see,

That you will fall

In love with me.

 

She realized that being turned into a girl was the second Echo coming back from her spell. But there was a third one due too.

Upon reflection, the first two Echoes were part of the incantation itself. 'You will love no man' had been the first one. 'That you will fall in love with me' had been the second. So that left 'Until you see' as the third one. What could that mean?

Perhaps there wouldn't be a third echo. Perhaps the book was wrong. Maybe this is how it would end, with the two of them happy together as lovers.

But in her heart, Sally knew that there had to be a third Echo coming back. It was only a matter of when. She looked over to the kitchen counter, and happened to notice something: the in-use light for the phone was blinking, and the handset was gone. Martha was talking on the phone.

A few minutes later when she emerged from the bathroom, Martha had a funny look on her face. Almost like the look she had when she had come over to Paul's house the day before. Back when Sally had been male. Back when she had been Paul. She could remember those times, but they seem distant now, as if a fading memory from a movie. Only the female path was reality now.

"Who were you talking to?" said Sally.

"Oh, nobody" said Martha, not making eye contact. Immediately, Sally knew that something was wrong. Very wrong. It must have been the third Echo. What had happened?

"You can tell me, lover" said Sally, hopeful.

"Please don't call me that. It makes me uncomfortable" said Martha.

"What does?"

"Having a woman as a lover."

"But you prefer girls...." started Sally, before she was cut off.

"I'm sorry Sally, but I realized something this morning: I was wrong when I thought I wanted a relationship with a woman. That's just not me. I need a *man*. I need to feel myself with my legs wrapped around him in bed, and him up inside me. Don't you feel that need too? Don't *you* need a man?"

Sally was too busy trying not to faint. She didn't have enough presence of mind to search within, and try to see what she was really feeling. All she knew was that her world was crumbling around her. Again.

Martha didn't want a woman anymore. She was restored, to the way she was before the spell influenced her. But Sally herself...she was changed. She was no longer Paul. She was no longer a man.

There was a knock at the door, and Martha rushed over to open it. In walked Brett, the six foot four football player with the perfect male body, the blond hair, the chiseled chin, the rugged good looks.

Martha threw her arms around him, pressed her body to his, and looked up to him as he kissed her.

"I love you!" she said, hugging him tighter. She jumped up, holding herself up by wrapping her legs tightly around him.

All Sally could do was to look on. A strange feeling welled up inside her. *Jealously*. No, she wasn't jealous of Brett for being with Martha. She was jealous of Martha for having such a perfect boyfriend. He was the kind that she wanted for herself.

The realization that she *wanted* Brett hit her so hard, that she fell back, and onto the couch. She didn't pass out, but she was gasping for breath. This was bad. Very bad. She had lost Martha, again. She had lost her manhood, completely. She had become a woman. And now: she was having feminine feelings inside. Feminine thoughts. Feminine *desires*.

"Who's your pretty friend?" said Brett.

"Oh, that's Sally."

"Hi" said Brett.

Sally gasped for breath again. He said 'hi' to her! He was *so* cute. All she could manage was a little wave of the hand back, as she shyly looked away.

"You know" said Brett, "my buddy Jack is looking for a date tonight. Do you want to tag along with me and Martha? We could double date."

"Jack is cute" said Martha. "You'd like him. He's really nice."

"Okay" said Sally, much to her surprise. Her new female desires were overwhelming her. She wasn't ready for such strong emotions. She just caved in, without objection. She was horny too, and she wanted a man. The horror, revulsion and fear that it should have caused were wiped away. Her female side was taking over.

 

* * *

 

A month after her first date with Jack, Sally finally got to the end of The Book. She fully understood it now, and realized what a bad thing she had done. She had used her powers for selfish purposes, trying to make a woman do something she didn't want.

She vowed that from now on, she would only use her powers for good. She would only use them to set things right. She would be pure, selfless, and kind.

She realized that her male ego was what had gotten her into all the trouble. So it stood to reason that her goal in life would be to stop other men's egos from driving them into trouble. If only she had a woman's sense of self, back when she had been Paul! None of this would have happened.

But she could not undo it. So she would do her best to eliminate male egos from the world. She saw an article in the school newspaper about a man on campus who had tried to rape a girl. She decided to start on him. After he woke up as a pretty girl, he would gain a new perspective on life, as she had.

She prepared herself to start the spell...

  

  

  

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