Witchery 75
"This is a mistake. I shouldn't be here with you, Matt," said Joanna, feeling guilty about being in the room of a man she barely knew. "I should be home with my husband."
"You have nothing to feel guilty about, Joanna. As a master sorcerer, I give you my personal guarantee Clark will never know you were here tonight," replied Matt. "Despite your age, I knew that first moment I saw you we were destined to be together." Matt, knowing she must have also felt what he'd felt, smiled at Joanna. He had to make her his, but it had to be her choice. "Haven't I adequately demonstrated my love by using my power to make you young again? You're a very beautiful young woman, my dearest Joanna!"
"I'd forgotten how wonderful it felt being young." Caught up in the feelings of her restored youth, Joanna couldn't keep from returning his smile. Although she couldn't deny being attracted to him, Joanna wondered if Matt had kept his end of their bargain. "But what about my husband Clark?" she asked.
"He is well. As we agreed, I've also used my power to make Clark young again. As he was three years older than you, I thought you'd prefer keeping the age differential the same. Since it would likely cause him undue stress, he'll never notice the return of his youth," replied Matt.
"What happens if I decide Clark's the man I love and want to leave?"
"Then, as we agreed on, you're free to go."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that!"
"Are you telling you won't put Clark and me right back where we were?" asked Joanna. "I didn't like being old. The politicians keep making it harder to make ends meet on what little Social Security sends us."
"I'm hurt you'd even think that, Joanna! What kind of man must you think I am?" asked Matt. "I've freely given you and Clark a gift of renewed youth. Only the most vulgar of cads would demand the return of gifts. Trust me, I'm no cad. There are no strings on what I've given you." Abruptly, Matt slipped his arms about Joanna, then, after pulling her closer, kissed her.
Although Matt's unexpected kiss had surprised her, Joanna couldn't push him away. Along with her rejuvenation came the renewed passions of her youth. Joanna loved the feeling. She felt more alive than she had in years as she quickly, most eagerly, returned his kiss. Just as Matt had expected, Joanna's mind had been overwhelmed by the youthful emotions of her sensual young body.
Her only thought was being grateful Clark would never know how she'd betrayed him. Fortunately, he'd never know she'd been there.
* * * * * *
Clark Winston wasn't entirely sure why he'd walked clear across town to this neighborhood. So many years had passed since the last time he'd been there. He was certain neither he nor his wife knew anyone that lived here. Normally, he would have taken the bus, but he'd felt an odd urge to walk. For some reason, it had taken him less time to get there than he'd thought it would. He felt so spry. However, having other, more important, things on his mind, Clark didn't dwell on the unimportant subject.
That anonymous note he'd found in the mailbox still troubled him. Clark wasn't sure why that was, since it was absurdly unbelievable. He and Joanna had been married over fifty years. They would have never been married that long without trusting each other. That was a nobrainer. That note had to be someone's idea of a joke... a bad joke. It wouldn't have been the first some damn kid had slipped a note into a Senior Center mailbox. Kids often had the strangest ideas about what was funny.
However, from where he was standing, Clark could easily see the intertwined silhouettes on the window shade. He was stunned. Unsure of how he knew, he somehow knew the woman being kissed was his Joanna. He couldn't... didn't want to believe what he was seeing.
"How can Joanna be up there in the arms of another man?" he mumbled, more in shock than anything else. "How can she toss away our half-century of marriage so casually?"
Anger built up inside him as he kept watching them. "Maybe I should just march right up there and beat the snot out of that slimy wife-stealing bastard. That would teach him to mess with me." However, no sooner had the last word escaped his lips, Clark began having second thoughts. "What would Joanna say if I did something so violent?" He felt confused, unsure of what to do next.
He looked up at the window again only to discover the silhouettes had disappeared. "Maybe I should just leave and go home? I should have never come here." Slowly, he shook his head back and forth. Something wasn't right about this. But whatever it might be kept eluding him.
* * * * * *
He'd sensed Clark' arrival just before kissing Joanna. After their little scene had played out, a small nudge at Joanna's mind had sent her scurrying for the little girl's room. She'd be in there for a while, since Matt didn't want her watching what he was about to do.
"You're right on time, Clark," he mused, looking out the window at the figure standing down on the street. "You certainly look nothing like the octogenarian you were, my boy, but then neither does Joanna." He smiled at his rival, who would be unable to see him unless he so desired. "Such a handsome man. I can see where Joanna might decide to return to you."
Fortunately, Matt had planned for that contingency. That was why he'd left that note for Clark to find. "Your lovely young wife can leave here at any time she wants. It's her wants that are the key. I can't do anything to her that would make her stay. It's part of our deal that gives me this one chance to woo and win her away from you." A small compulsion spell had ensured Clark investigation. And the confusion Matt knew Clark must be feeling was always easily sown.
"Nothing in our deal prevents me from making you over into someone that Joanna would never want to leave me for," smiled Matt. "She wouldn't agree to give me a chance unless you were young again. Not that I can blame her, I guess she didn't want to return to an old man. I've also given her my word that you'll remain young regardless of her decision. Wasn't that nice of me?" His smile widened. "Of course, youth is something relative. Instead of being three years older than Joanna, you'll be three years younger." Matt wasn't overly concerned seeing no apparent changes in the young man below. A six year age swing wasn't all that much... for a man.
'A man?' he mused. In his deal with Joanna, nothing had ever been mentioned about Clark remaining male. That was another very simple spell, one of the very first he'd mastered. There had never been a better way found for removing a rival for any woman's affections. "You'll be a girl... a very pretty girl... with blonde hair... blue eyes... I think. You won't even notice you've become a girl. Being a girl will seem perfectly normal and natural." Matt couldn't keep from smiling as the shrinking male form below rapidly shifted into a decidedly more feminine shape. "You've become a real beauty. You'll never have problems getting male attentions," said Matt once Clark's transformation finally concluded. "I wonder if Joanna would like having long blonde hair like yours. I'll have to ask her."
Matt was satisfied with the physical results. Although it was still possible, he didn't see Joanna remaining interested in the new female Clark. Only a little more effort was necessary to eliminate even that slim possibility. And then, Joanna would be his. "I think it's time for you to head home, Clark," he mumbled.
"Were you talking to someone just now, Matt?" asked Joanna as she finally returned.
"Just myself, love," he replied with a broadening smile. "Just myself."
Clark's long blonde hair swirled about her neck and shoulders as she slowly shook her head. "There's nothing I can do here. I should just go home." With a casual flick of her hand, Clark swept away those blonde strands of long hair that had fallen across her face and over her eyes.
Clark wondered what she'd say to her wife when she saw her again. That, of course, assumed she'd be coming home. Clark was no longer as sure she knew her wife as well as she'd always thought. She still couldn't believe she'd caught her with that man. They had a plenty of things to discuss. And first and foremost, Clark definitely wanted to know the identity of that damnable wife-stealing bastard she'd seen her kissing.
On her way home, several boys gave her a good looking over. It wasn't unusual; boys were just like that. At the same time, she wondered if she'd ever get used to all the attention. Wherever she and Joanna went boys were always staring at them. None of them ever seemed too worried that she and Joanna were married. However, Clark knew she'd always be faithful to her wife, even if Joanna wasn't faithful to her.
For some reason, getting home had taken less time than she'd thought it would. Clark had no idea why that was. It wasn't as if it was a long walk. She knew where she'd been was only a short couple of blocks away from the condo where she lived. Once through the gate, Clark was surprised finding mail in the box. She thought she'd already picked up her mail.
There were a couple of bills. She'd worry about them later. However, she didn't remember subscribing to the magazine in her hand. When she checked the label, Clark was surprised again. The address was hers, but the name wasn't. Even them, only the first name was wrong. Clark wondered how long it would take to get everything straightened out in the morning.
After unlocking the door with the key in her purse and stepping inside, Clark tossed the mail on the kitchen table. It would still be there in the morning. "What else can go wrong today?" she mumbled, as she headed for her room.
Catching sight of herself in the mirror on the dresser made Clark smile. "What the hell has that damn man got that I haven't got?" he asked, not really expecting her image to answer. Once she'd stripped out of her clothes, Clark cupped one of her breasts. "Not too bad. I wonder if I can win Joanna back by getting a boob job?" However, she quickly dismissed that idea, knowing it wasn't the answer. "It wasn't a bigger pair of boobs that led my wife astray." Suddenly, having thought about that man with her wife, Clark found herself wondering just how big it really was.
After slipping into the hottest, sexiest, skimpiest nightie she owned, Clark couldn't keep from smiling. "You're just so damn hot and sexy, girl." Clark didn't think she was bragging. After all, how could anything be thought bragging when it was the honest-to-goodness truth? "You don't know what you're going to be missing, Joanna." She still had some trouble believing her wife would rather be with some man than her. On the other hand, that was Joanna's problem not hers.
Abruptly, Clark yawned. She didn't know why she was suddenly so sleepy. It had been a long strange day. Her bed was so inviting. After slipping under the covers, Clark felt so warm and comfy. The only thing she could think of to make it even better would be having someone in the bed with her. And at the moment, that someone didn't really need to be her errant wife.
Clark slowly closed her eyes.
Even as she fell asleep, a mischievously naughty smile continued spreading across her face.
* * * * * *
Joanna laid a big juicy wet one squarely on Matt's lips. "How was that, lover boy?" she asked seductively, even as she slowly pulled back from him. A fire that hadn't been there before lit her eyes. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know what kind of thoughts she was thinking.
Just moments before Joanna had so passionately kissed him, Matt had felt the telltale ripple that always preceded a reality shift. He'd been eagerly anticipating it since Clark had left. Only another master sorcerer might have felt the flux. Even if one of the others had noticed, only he knew its cause as well as what had changed.
Clark had gone home - her new home, not his old one - just as any good girl who'd formerly been a boy should. Once she was home, Clark had gone to bed and fallen asleep just as Matt had planned. Matt wished he could do more than just imagine how Clark had reacted to the odd mixture of his and her thoughts along the way home.
With sleep came the reality flux. As far as the rest of the world was concerned, Clark no longer - had, in fact, never - existed. In the morning, she'd wake as Clarissa Winston, just as she had ever morning of her life. For reasons even his old masters could never adequately explain, the world about her changed instantly, but Clarissa herself would require a full night's slumber.
Joanna was clearly his woman now. As was always inevitable, he'd won. He'd kept his word. He hadn't forced her to do anything. She was still free to leave if that was what she wanted. From Matt's viewpoint, it certainly didn't seem as if leaving was on her mind. Besides, if she left, where would she go? Returning to someone that had never existed seemed an unlikely option. Even if Joanna knew Clarissa, always a possibility, Joanna clearly wasn't the least bit interested in other girls that way.
"Why don't we head for our bed, lover boy?" Joanna seemed suddenly anxious. Staring deeply into Matt's eyes, she added, "I can't seem to remember the last time I had a really good man."
Matt smiled. Just as he'd planned, everything had worked out perfectly. "As you wish, my dear," he replied, taking Joanna's hand in his.
But oddly, as she led him off toward his bedroom, Matt began thinking something about Joanna seemed different somehow. It wasn't anything he could readily put a finger on. Once they'd reached his bedroom door, Matt decided whatever it might be must be unimportant.
After all, his plan had been perfect. He'd won Joanna, just as he'd known all along he would.
The End