Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 15:49:44 -0500 (EST) From: Grimbo Subject: SRU: the Apprentice Here's my first contribution to the "Spells 'R Us" universe. I hope I didn't take to many liberities with the shop owner. If I did, let me know and I will rewrite the plot. Thomas, this can be added to the archive. Now, on with the story... ********************************************************** Spells `R Us: The Apprentice by Grimbo Leon Walters had always wondered about the strange tales on campus. Hell, anyone who heard them would. But to him, they meant nothing. He avoided the fraternities, sports, and any other school activities. To him, the location of his next paycheck was more important. Three years at the university, straight A's the whole time, and he couldn't get any scholarships to finish. It seems that his parents make too much money, but not enough to afford sending him to college. His only solution was to work while attending classes. Unfortunately, he couldn't keep a job for more than three months. It always seemed that something would happen and he would have to move on. His past jobs had been enough to pay for the first three years, as long as he was careful about how often he ate. Now after losing the last job and failing to get another one he was down to his last $100. Fall semester was paid for, but the fees and books for the spring semester would be coming soon and the prospects of making cash had run out. "Looks like flipping burgers at the mall for me," he said aloud as he approached the food court. "That may not be nesscessary," came a voice from behind him. Stopping and then turning around, Leon saw an old man standing at the entrance to a shop he had never seen before. "I'm looking for an assistant for my shop," continued the old man. "An apprentice if you want to call it that." "What's the catch?" Leon asked, not sure of the vibes he felt from the old man. "No catch. I'm just thinking about the future. My partners and I won't always be around and we will be needing a trustworthy person to run the business." "Trustworthy? How do you know I am trustworthy?" "Let's just say I do, Leon" Leon stood there for a moment. He didn't tell the old man his name, yet he knew it. Maybe there was something to this. "OK. I'm interested. Anything has to be better than flipping burgers. Let's hear the details." "Come inside and we can work on the arrangements." ***** Sweeping the back room out three months later, Leon was wondering if the old man was for real. He had promised to show Leon wonders beyond anything he had ever experienced. Magic was what he had called it. "Well, since I'm the one sweeping the floors and cleaning the bathrooms, it must be magic to him as to how the store stays so neat," he said to himself. "But, $10 and hour can't be beat and the only drawback so far is that new watchdog. Strange breed. I've got to figure a way to make it like me. Maybe I can get it laid." Before Leon had a chance to follow his thought through, the back door buzzer went off. Putting the broom to the side, Leon went to the door and looked through the peephole. Standing next to a delivery truck was the most gorgeous redhead Leon had ever seen. Her uniform indicated that she worked for the company that owned the truck, so Leon opened the door. "You Leon?" she asked. "Yes." "Your bosses want these boxes unloaded and then cataloged and compared to the invoices. Any discrepancies should be noted and placed to the side. When you're done, you are to notify them of the discrepancies and then put the cataloged items on the selves and racks as listed on the invoice. The discrepancies will be picked up by me in two weeks." All business, he thought. "OK." She turned to the back of the truck and lifted the rear door, revealing boxes that filled the truck top to bottom, front to back. "Get busy unloading," she said while pulling the attached ramp out from the underside of the truck. "I haven't got all day, you know." Without hesitation, Leon climbed up the ramp and in two hours had unloaded all the boxes from the truck. "Sign here," she said. When he had, she turned and climbed into the truck and was gone before Leon realized it. "Man, I can't believe I didn't even ask her for any help." Going inside, Leon shut the door behind him and looked over the stacks of boxes before him. "Better get to it if I'm going to finish before she gets back." A week later, Leon had made a first pass though the boxes and everything he had found on the invoice was put away. Knowing that he didn't want to make any mistakes, Leon started going through the discrepancies piles to compare them to the invoice one more time. This took two days and resulted in an even smaller pile of discrepancies. Placing the first box on his worktable, Leon opened it and began to remove the contents. "How's it coming Leon?" asked the old man as he entered from the front of the store. Leon jumped at the sound and spun around ready to fight. Unfortunately, so was the watchdog. Jumping as Leon spun around, the watchdog knocked Leon over and stood drooling on his chest. "Heel boy," yelled the old man. "You know that Leon isn't going to hurt me. Now go back out front and watch for anyone trying to shoplift." The watchdog gave Leon one last growl before leaping off him and bounding towards the front of the store. Leon looked at the tear in his shirt and the slow trickle of blood coming from the scratches left behind before slowly standing. "Sorry about that Leon. Sometimes he gets excited. I think he really enjoys his work." "So I noticed." "Why don't you clean up and take the rest of the day off. I'll even pay you for the full day." "That's OK. I think I can get the discrepancies finished today if I stay." "OK. Just be careful. Sometimes our competitors will slip curses into the shipments and they tend to go off if you're not careful." "I will." The old man turned to leave when Leon said, "By the way. I've been here for over three months and I haven't done much more than be a maid. I thought you were going to teach me the business." The old man looked down in thought for a moment. Returning his gaze to Leon, he said, "Do you feel that you are ready? Once I start you on the road to learning, you can never go back." "I'm as ready as ever." "I know you are. Once you finish here, we will begin your training the next day." "Thanks. I won't disappoint you." "Yes you will." And with that, the old man turned and went back to the front of the store. Leon turned towards the bathroom to clean the scratches when he felt dizzy and fell against his worktable, spilling his bookbag and the box he had placed there earlier. Hurriedly, Leon picked everything up and then went to the bathroom. Within four hours, Leon had finished his invoicing and left for home. Upon arriving at home, Leon went to his room, sat on his bed, and began to unload his bookbag. Pulling out his first book, Leon noticed that is was covered in a pink powder. Brushing the powder off, he set the book aside and looked in the bookbag. Inside, everything was covered in the same powder. Leon tipped his bag and spilled the contents out onto his bed. Sifting though the powder, Leon removed all his books and dusted them off. As he was doing this, he cut the back of his hand on something sharp. Quickly wrapping his hand with some tissues from his nightstand, Leon carefully pushed the pile of powder aside to reveal a large and broken jar. The lid on the jar was still closed and a label on the side was unreadable. Figuring that this had fallen from the box and into his bookbag, Leon realized that he needed to get it back to the store. He went to his kitchen and got a Zip-Loc bag and then returned to his room. When he got there, the pile of pink powder had somehow spread over his bed sheets. Picking the corners of his sheets up, Leon managed to work the loose powder to the middle of the sheets and then into the Zip-Loc bag. A fine layer of powder remained on the sheets and would not come out no matter how hard he rubbed. "I guess I'm going to have to learn to live with pink sheets until I can wash them." Looking at the clock, Leon decided that he would wash them in the morning before going to class. Placing the Zip-Loc bag in his bookbag, Leon changed into his pajamas and went to bed. After classes the next day, Leon returned to work at the shop. Upon arriving, he immediatle told the old man what had happened. "Did you get any of the powder in you mouth or on any food?" the old man asked him. "No. Why?" "The powder you've described is one that we have special ordered for an upcoming party. Since today is your first day as my official apprentice, I can tell you what we are planning. The powder, when injested, causes any male to become a female. Usually takes two days to happen. It's part of a trick we're going to play on some of our old friends. They turned our group into ponies and rented us to a petting zoo two years ago. We've been planning this revenge for some time. Now, let's get to your lesson." The two moved off to the back room and Leon began his first steps towards becoming a mage. Durring the first few hours, Leon realized that the old man had not been fooling him and that there was real magic being sold from the front room of the store. At midnight, Leon left the shop and returned home. When he got there, he immediately went to the bathroom. Stripping to his waist, Leon stepped into the shower and turned the water on. The cold blast of water hit him and made his penis shrink and his nipples stand out. Reaching down, Leon rubbed one hand over his groin and, using the other hand, began to massage his nipples. As the water warmed, so did the feeling coming from Leon's crotch and chest. Two mounds slowly began forming under the massage of his hand and his penis pulled in further as it shrunk. After a twenty minute shower, Leona stepped out and began drying her soft skin and then covered herself with a robe. Walking into her bedroom, Leona donned a pair of tan crotchless pantyhose, her miracle bra, and a black leather minidress. Stepping into her 4 inch heels, she thought about the joys of being an apprentice at the best brothel in the world. At the shop, the old man smiled, knowing that Leona was the perfect test for the new powder. Fin.