Date: Fri, 06 Jun 1997 23:05:24 -0700 From: "Dana Short" (by way of Phaedrus ) Subject: SRU: A Christmas Gift. SRU: A Christmas Gift. By Dana Short The Old Man looked around his shop, as he prepared to visit his old friend in New Zealand. He planned on delivering him a special Christmas Present in person, since it had been way too long since they had visited. It was a one-of-a-kind Spelled Object. It was a large glass lens, similar to a Magnifying glass, held in a brass ring on a stand. You could torn and tilt the glass at any angle, so as to center it on the object of your attention. Once it was focused on an individual, it would do many things. By gazing through the lens, one could see many things about the individual centered in it's focus, such as the Balance of Good and Evil in the person's soul. Additionally, if one twisted the lens left to right, they could see the target as they would appear at a younger or older age, and if one choose to do so, they need only twist the knob at the top of the lens, and that would become that person's actual age! What fun! Gathering his package, he cast a spell, and vanished... -o- Malisa was wondering the Lynn Mall, doing some last minute Christmas shopping, when she spied a small store she had never seen before: Spells `N Stuff... "What a odd name," she thought to herself, "almost like the Spells `R us store from the List... I wonder if it's got an `Old Man' in it making Bimbos as well?" She walked up to the window and peered inside. The shop was small, and filled with many things... She could see a large number of antiques, as well as a set of glass counters holding many things... but sitting in one case, with a spotlight almost perfectly outlining it was a Crystal Angel Statue. From where she stood in the mall, looking through the window, it looked Gorgeous! Bimbo Making Wizard or not, Malisa had to get a closer look at that statue. Ignoring the small voice yammering in the back of her head, she went to the door, and opening it, entered the shop, to the tinkling proclamation of a small bell tied to the top of the door. "Can I help you, Miss?" an older man asked, stepping out from the back room. Very much unlike the Wizard in the SRU stories, this elderly gentleman looked like anyone's grandfather. His hair was graying, and he was dressed in slacks and a plaid shirt. "Uh, I was just looking..." she said, glancing over at the Angle Statue. "Ok, I'll be in back, Just let me know if you want anything." The man replied, smiling and turning back towards the door he had emerged from. Malisa went over to examine the statue... -o- In the back room, the shop's owner turned back to the bathrobe clad Old Man who was holding a gaily wrapped package forth, labeled "Merry Christmas" "But I can't old friend, I haven't gotten you a thing! Haven't for years, as a matter of fact.!" "I know, but that's partly my fault as well... After all, I haven't been around to visit you for quite a while, It's no wonder we've lost touch! Anyhow, I came across this last month, and it made me think of you. I know you have always had a fondness for antiques, as well as for Spelled Objects, and this is both! Go on, open it!" "Ummm, it's not going to turn me into a big-chested nymphomaniac is it?" the Owner asked, quite familiar with his old friend, and his tastes. "No, it won't. I assure you!" "Well, Ok. I will take it." He responded, accepting the gift. He set it down on a table, and carefully unwrapped the package, half expecting to be caught in some sort of spell at any moment despite the Old Man's assurances. As he revealed the contraption., he issued a gasp of appreciation, the Old Man smiled at his friend's obvious appreciation. "It has a unique set of spells on it, which work in combination through the lens..." the Old Man explained, taking the device over and setting it down where it had a clean line of view into the shop, and adjusted the lens so that the form of a young woman who was bent over peering into a display case was centered in the glass. "First, you can see by the aura surrounding this young lady that she is in relatively good health, aside from that ankle, which you see is sort of red, indicating an injury. Also, the general color of her aura shows this is a kind person, who will go out of her way to help others." "Interesting" the Old Man's friend said, looking through the lens at the woman. "The other effect of this device is it's ability to manipulate the age of an individual. If you twist the lens like this..." he said, turning the lens to the right "...you can see what the subject will look like as they age." As the wizards watched, the image of the 23 year old woman in the lens began to change, growing older, until she appeared to be in her 60s. Despite the change in the lens, however, the woman at the counter remained the same. "Or, if you twist it to the left..." the Old Man continued, twisting the other way now, "... You can reduce the age of the subject in the lens." Again the image changed, growing younger and younger, passing her original age, and finally stopping with what looked like a young fifteen year old girl in the lens. Yet the woman still remained un-changed, and un-aware she was the subject of their attentions... "and what does this do?" the owner of the new bauble asked, reaching out and twisting the knob on top... "Wait!" shouted the Old Man, reaching a hand out... Too late... -o- Malisa could not believe how beautiful the Crystal Angel was, it's detail was amazing, like it was once actually alive... Suddenly, she heard a muffled word shouted in the back room, sounding like "wait" and then, she felt a tingling all over her body. It was like when her foot fell asleep, she would get a pins-and-needles feeling in the poor appendage while it "woke up", but this was all over her body... She also felt her clothes seem to shift and bunch up on her figure, and noticed that the counter seemed to be growing? As the pins-and-needles feeling faded away, she looked around. It wasn't just the counter which had grown, it was the whole room! Either that, or she'd shrunk? She looked down at herself, and discovered that indeed, she HAD shrunk! Looking towards the door to the back room, she saw 2 men hurry out, One the grandfatherly one, had a truly concerned look on his face, while the other... The other was an Old Man in a Bathrobe! Suddenly, Malisa looked at her now-shrunken body for signs she had been changed into a Bimbo! Not seeing any, she did note from her reflection in the display case that she looked exactly like she did back when she was 15, and what was more, her ankle didn't hurt any more! The sprain was gone! She looked up at the two old men, and said, in her new, younger, voice, "What happened?" The Old Man in the Bathrobe, said "I'm sorry, miss, I tried to stop him, but..." Suddenly the Old Man's explanation was interrupted by a tinkling Crash! From the back room, and a cat came running out, with a Meerowwww! Archamades! The Grandfatherly Wizard shouted, running back towards the rear room... Malisa and the Old Man in the Bathrobe followed at a slightly more sedate pace. As Malisa entered the room, she saw a bunch of broken glass on the floor, and some sort of Brass device, which looked like a TV antenna. It had a hoop on a base which could swivel and turn, and then, at the top there was a small knob which looked like it twisted. "What is that?" Malisa asked, pointing at the clutter of brass and broken glass on the floor. "That, my dear, was the way to restore your proper age." Said the Grandfatherly Wizard, with a sad look on his face. "Well, I do have a spell or two I keep handy for such cases" the Old Man in the robe said, reaching into a pocket. "No" squeaked Malisa, jumping behind the Grandfatherly Wizard, "I don't want to become a Bimbo!" "Sounds like you have more of a reputation then I'd thought, Old Man", the wizard before Malisa commented with a chuckle. "No, I'm not going to make you a Bimbo", the wizard said, reaching into another pocket, this time emerging with a small Music Box. I promise we will restore you to yourself as soon as possible, but in the meantime, I want make sure nothing happens to you... As the Wizard held out the box, Malisa felt her body start to shrink again, only this time it was shrinking MUCH faster. Also, her very form was changing! She looked down and saw that her skin was becoming a light green, and she noticed her legs had fused into a single, fishtail! Then, as she continued to shrink, she suddenly found it hard to move. As her body began to freeze up, she heard the other wizard say, "Wait, just one change, lets give her a dream to occupy her soul while this lasts" and then everything went fuzzy. -o- Malisa awoke in a forest clearing. Looking down, she saw that her body was completely different. Her skin was now a Wooden Brown, and if she looked closely, it seemed to even have swirls in it. Like she really was carved from wood. Looking around at the clearing, she saw a sparking brook running through it. Skipping lightly over to the brook (It was just the way she found herself moving) she peered into the water, trying to catch her reflection. As she looked, she saw a brownish face, with sparkling green eyes, and greenish hair. Suddenly a voice spoke up from behind her "Come on, Malis! Let's play!" Spinning around, she saw a cluster of other girls, with quite similar features to her own, and then it clicked! She was a nymph! A Wood Nymph! Laughing with childish glee, Malisa skipped off after her sisters, and went to play in the Glenn. -o-- A few weeks after Malisa's sudden disappearance, her brother Scott was again walking worriedly through the Lynn Mall, the last place anyone had ever seen his sister. Stepping into a shop called Spells `N Stuff, he looked around for the shop-keeper, to ask him if perhaps he had seen anything... As he entered the shop, his eye was caught by a Crystal Angel sitting under a spotlight. It drew him, almost magnetically, and as he approached it, he thought "Malisa would love this". Bending down to peer closer at the statue, he noticed a small Music Box beside it. What was so amazing about it, was the figurine of a Mermaid which was perched inside it. She looked so... Lifelike. And her face... It looked almost like... "It reminds you of your Sister, doesn't it Scott?" a Grandfatherly old-Man said suddenly appearing behind him Spinning around, Scott backed up against the counter "What do you know about her, and how do you know my name?" he demanded. "I know your sister was in here before the disappeared, she was looking at that angle, and I know that the Mermaid has her face. I believe she may of mentioned your name, while she was here. A remarkable individual, your sister. Rarely do you see such a kind soul." The old man walked around behind the counter, and opened the case. "Here, I want you to take care of this" he said pulling out the Music Box, and handing it to Scott "I want you to put it somewhere safe, and be careful with it... It's for your sister. For her return. Scott took the box from the old man, and a feeling of calm washed over him. With a barely audible "Thank you", Scott took the music box, and went home. End. Dana Short I saw no one, but I knew they were there. It was not paranoia, just a reasonable deduction. Unless, of course, that was what they wanted me to think...