Tales Of The Wand
#2 – The Wand's Story
by JMD & Alexandria

"Wand?" Lisa repeated. She looked into the box to see a thin stick-like baton lying on top of some tissue paper. It did have the look of a magician's wand, even having a tiny star on the tip. "You mean," she asked, looking back up at her husband, "like a magic wand?"

Chris looked into his wife's curious face and smiled. "Well, I don't think it's a real magic wand," he told her, "but it was sure like magic to me."

"What do you mean?" she asked, taking the baton from the box.

"Well, when I was little," he explained, putting the box back inside the bigger one, "when I'd go to stay at Grandpa's, he'd use the wand to do magic tricks for me." He held out his hand for the wand.

"Really?" Lisa smiled, genuinely interested. She passed it to him. "What kind of tricks?"

"Oh, simple little things," Chris replied, waving the wand in the air. "One of my favorites was the apple and orange trick. Grandpa would take an apple and sit it on the table. Then, he'd touch it with the wand. And poof. The apple would turn into an orange."

"Sounds like some trick," Lisa nodded. "How did he do it?"

Chris looked surprised by the question. "Why, by magic, of course," he grinned. "Actually, I never did find out. And Grandpa would never tell me. He'd just give me the orange and tell me the wand did it."

Lisa took another look at the stick her husband was holding. "Hmmm," she thought out loud. "Maybe it was real magic, then."

"Oh, get serious, Lisa," Chris scoffed. "There's no such thing." He paused, looking like he just remembered something. "Still, I never did figure out how Grandpa swapped the apple for an orange. Or, for that matter, how he changed it back."

"Changed it back?" she repeated. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I would take the orange to bed with me," he remembered, "and put it next to the bed. And the next morning, there would be an apple in its place. And I know what you're going to say. He changed it after I went to sleep. Right?"

"Well, that would be my guess. Yes."

"Mine, too," he agreed. "And that's why one time I stayed up all night. I just knew I'd catch him sneaking into the room to change them out. But he never came in. And the next morning, there it was. An apple, instead of an orange."

"Weird," she smiled, fluttering her fingers in the air in front of her. "Did you ask him about it?"

Chris nodded in reply. "But all he'd say was that the wand's magic was only temporary. As if that explained it all." He looked at the wand with a sad expression. "Damn, I miss that man."

Lisa could tell that Chris was starting to get depressed again. Deciding to head it off, she jumped up from the couch and struck a sexy pose, placing one hand on her out-thrust hip, while placing the other behind her head. "So, I guess you're the magician now," she said in a husky voice. "So, what are you going to use your magic wand to change me into?"

Chris looked from the wand to his young wife. In a way, he realized, his Grandpa was a magician. It was his magic, after all, that had led to Chris pursuing his love of writing fantasy stories. Now, with one bestseller under his belt, and the follow-up almost finished, Chris could afford to write for a living fulltime. And his writing had also led to his meeting Lisa, as well. She had been working in a bookstore where he was doing a book signing. He'd asked her out, she accepted, and a month later they were married. Now, less than a year later, Chris realized his Grandpa's magic had actually cast a spell on his young grandson that had changed his life forever.

"Well?" Lisa asked, bringing him out of his revelry.

Chris grinned up at his wife, taking in the sexy stance she had assumed. "How do you expect me to think when you get this way?" he asked her. "Hell, right now the only thing I want you to change into is something sexy. Like, say, a short satin nightie."

"Ooh," she screeched. "So, Mr. Magic, why don't you use that wand of yours to do it, then? Come on, Chris. Change me." And she gave him a playful wink.

Chris got up from the couch and walked over to her. He knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't be satisfied until he played along. "Okay, then," he grinned, spinning the wand between his fingers. "You stand still, and I'll do my stuff."

Lisa giggled like a schoolgirl and jiggled around for a second. Chris couldn't help but get turned on by her playfulness. He raised the wand up, picturing Lisa's pink satin nightie that he liked so much. If he knew her at all, he figured as soon as he touched her with the wand, she'd be off to the bedroom to put it on. He knew how Lisa liked her games, and he expected he'd be in for a night to remember.

"Are you ready?" he asked her. She gave him a nod and closed her eyes. "Then, here comes the magic." With a showy twist of the wrist, he brought the tip of the wand down on her head.

And in a blink, Lisa vanished.