[TFs: AR, Grow wings, shrink, cartoon-y violence, cross dressing?]

With a quick flick of the wrist, the closed sign is lifted up and flipped over to “Open.” A normal occurrence for most except that no one is there at the window turning the sign. In fact the turner of the sign is at the other end of the store standing behind the counter bouncing with excitement. “I wonder who will be my first customer,” the auburn almost brown haired owner wonders.

But she doesn't have to wonder long. The bell over the door jingles alerting her to what she already knows because she is looking that direction. Her best friend is walking through the door.

“Martha,” calls out the young female owner as she and her ponytail bound to the older, graying woman entering the store. “Thank you so much for coming to my grand opening.”

Martha smiles as the younger woman pulls her into a hug and then the rest of the way into the store. “I wouldn't miss it for the world, Dear.”

Pulling away from her, the owner looks back at her friend with tears in her eyes. “Anything you want is yours.” She gestures in a circle indicating the whole store, but both know it means more than that.

“I know. I know.” Martha looks around at the store. The center is clear and uncluttered with no islands to slow the customers from reaching the counter. The walls, however, are filled with shelves of various knickknacks that look old and mysterious. Knowing her friend's secret, she is also aware that they are worthless and for show. The real magic in the place still has one arm wrapped around her shoulder.

“I just don't know what I want. That's all.” Then to change the subject she pretends to notice the owner's outfit for the first time, “Jen! You are still wearing your genie silks.”

Jen looks over at the older lady, “Martha,” Then she pauses for a moment, “It's just the top. See? Down here is pants. I can't help dressing like this. I wish I could wear a full pants suit or a dress like I used to, but I can't. Something happened when I became a genie that makes me dress like this when I'm not focusing.”

“So, if you were to wear a business jacket and blouse,” Martha asked hopefully.

“We live in the same house, Roomie. We've tried this. With the jacket and blouse, I end up wearing the silky see-through bottoms. We decided that it was better this way. At least until I can get past this.” She sighs, “Phenomenal cosmic power ...”

“without the itty, bitty living space,” her friend finishes.

“... and I can't even get myself to wear normal clothes.” Jen looks down in frustration for a while and then looks back up again at her friend, “You know, I am so grateful to get out of that bottle that I need to start thanking people.” She pauses for a moment to let the older woman absorb it, “and the first one is you.”

With a shy smile, Martha looks back at her and begins her ignorance again, “Oh, I don't know what I want. Besides, it's what anyone would have done –”

“No,” Jen corrects her, “not anyone. Lots of someones used me and then threw me away to wait for more masters unlike you who passed me around, so I could give out the rest of my wishes. I am the djinn I am today because of you.”

Jen turns to face her friend and grabs her shoulders. “And I'm going to give you what you've always wanted.”

Surprised, Martha looks into her eyes, “What?”

“Youth.”

Martha's eyes go wide. “How –? Oh! You read my mind while your arm was around me.” Mentally she tries to deny it, but the denial fails her, “Yes, this old body creaks and is slower than it used to be. Yes, some years taken off would be nice. But not too many. I don't want people not to recognize me if I'm too young.”

“How about I make your body younger, but you project the image that the person who knows you wants to see?”

Martha tries to work this out, “So, if I'm with my old friends?”

“You'll look old to them.”

“That seems reasonable. Okay. Do it.”

“For you, my friend, I want you to say the words for old time's sake.”

Martha smiles, “Genie, I wish to be younger.”

Jen crosses her arms and nods her head making her ponytail whip upwards, “As you wish, Master Martha.”

The wrinkles on the old woman disappear as the skin tightens up. Gray hair changes darker as the years roll back. Everything about the woman seems to rewind until a brown haired teenage girl wearing Martha's old clothes looks back at her.

The former old woman pinches her arms and rubs her face amazed at how smooth and tight they are. Anticipating Martha's request, Jen reaches down and pulls a full length mirror up through the floor in front of her friend.

“I! I look so young. How old am I?” she asks still poking herself and gazing in the mirror.

“I reset you back to 24. And on your birthday in a month, you should still be able to do everything you need to, again.” Jen waits a moment watching her friend admire herself before speaking again, “As nice as that was I still don't feel like I've even come close to thanking you properly. So, I'm moving on to your second unmentioned wish.” With a double clap she adds, “Now all your bills are paid and you'll never have to worry about money again.” Then she claps twice again. “And now you never have to work ever again.”

The young Martha looks up startled again, “What did you just do?”

Jen looks away, “Oh, I just put your resignation letter on your boss's desk.”

Martha's face scrunches up in horror, “Noooo ...” Her voice trails off as she crumbles to the ground. “They needed me there.”

“Oh. Don't worry. I'll take care of it. Wanna see?”

Before Martha can even manage a reply, let alone a no, she hears claps and finds herself a little disoriented. The things straight in front of her look like garbage cans on their sides and beyond them a fairly short asphalt wall and above her a ceiling with lots of windows that have sideways furniture in them. Her eyes return to the garbage. “That looks delizzzious.” It occurs to her that the bags aren't out of the can. That can only mean the cans are standing up and I am on a wall or someone very neatly cleaned the trash up.

Something buzzes next to her but for some reason she doesn't flinch. This is all so strange. The familiar yet slightly different voice of Jen comes from right next to her. Martha looks to the side with her multi-lens eye to see a fly on the wall next to her. “Thizzz izzz pretty cool, right? We're fliezzz on the wall.”

Below them and near the cans are more garbage bags in a pile. Jen the fly zooms down to them and poofs back into herself ending a clap. This throws Martha off a little because for a moment it looks like Jen is standing on the wall again.

The bags stir as a head pops out from the mess. Jen reaches out and lifts the shabbily dressed person to their feet. The movement allows Martha to see bits of cardboard under the trash. She hears the words, “You'll do nicely” followed by claps.

The person, for Martha can't tell what its gender is, stands straighter. The long, brown hair begins to reflect the light from the alley becoming more clean. The dirty, wrinkled and torn clothes morph into a navy business suit. Now that the bagginess is gone from the clothes, it is clear to see the person is a woman. Manicured nails reach for her face. And then without warning, the garbage from the alley disappears leaving the cans empty. Jen hands the business woman a paper and points to Meg's left. You should take your car and drive to the address I wrote down and apply for the job on the paper.

“But I don't have a car,” the lady protests.

“Just head that direction and you'll find it there with the keys in the ignition,” Jen encourages her.

The woman exits and then runs back into the alley crushing the djinn in a bear hug. Wiping a tear from her eyes, Martha is almost unable to hear a whispered, “Thank you.” Then she exits the alley again.

Jen claps her hands a couple of times and they are back in the store. Turning on her magical friend, Martha demands, “What did you do?”

“Well, I froze time, turned us into flies, teleported us there, finished your wish, and then reversed it all. Time is running again.”

Martha fixes her friend with a look of concern, “You know what I'm asking.”

Jen sighs, “I cleaned her up, did a little plastic surgery, gave her your skill set, and turned her cardboard home into a car. Right now she is going to your work to apply for your job, which she will get easily. Probably. Satisfied?”

Martha nods her head. “Good. Now it time to give you your third wish. The last one for now I think.” Jen places her palms on Martha's back just below the shoulder blades and then pulls her hands away.

Warmth radiates from the spots followed by a numb tingling. Martha can tell that something is happening back there, but she can't figure out what. One look over at the Cheshire grin on her friend's face silences Martha. She's not going to tell me what she's doing. The numbing stretches vertically and the burning radiates from there. And the tingling, well, that's just all over her back.

Finally the burning cools and the numbing stops. Martha is left with an odd feeling on her back. Looking back at Jen, the devious smile turns to an anxious plead. “Well, go on.” Jen coaxes her, “Try them out.”

“Try what out?” Martha shrugs her shoulders. As she does so, she feels something else there, like a muscle. Jen pulls another mirror from the floor, but Martha is in her own world trying to solve the mystery. She tries a few times to activate the muscle with no success. And then without trying the muscle twitches which in turn moves another. In a flash her whole back has muscles moving back and forth.

And that's when Martha realizes her feet aren't touching the ground anymore. “Woah!” She points her toes to reach but she can't. She looks down to see that she is a foot off the ground. Her eyes jerk up to her friend, “You? You gave me wings?” Tears roll down her cheeks.

Jen walks a circle around her floating friend raising the rest of the mirrors until a circle of mirrors surrounds the flying girl. There, all around her, she sees her amazing, colorful butterfly wings, that are taller than she is, flapping back and forth.

“Done?” calls the voice on the outside of the mirrors.

Giant fairy Martha nods and then realizes Jen can't hear a nod, “Yes.” The walls slide down through the floor leaving no trace that they were there to begin with. “They are so lovely. And I don't feel them at all.”

“Great. That's just how I wanted them,” Jen replies looking over her friend with a critical eye, “I need to make a couple last changes.” Fearful, Martha reaches over her shoulders to grab her wings and protect them. “No, no. Nothing like that. For one, you take up a large chunk of store. Customers will have a hard time getting past you to the counter, so let's make you a little more … portable.”

Jen nods her head, flicking her ponytail again. Martha watches as the world her grows huge and her friend, Jen becomes a giantess. “One last thing,” Jen says as she holds her hand out palm side up, “Come here.”

With a flick or two of her wings, Martha rockets up and nearly hits the ceiling. Her small size gives her wings extra power. With some corrections and partial flaps, she lands on the open palm.

Jen reaches over with her free hand and picks up a couple of gems. She charges up one and then crushes it into dust. Then she blows the dust at the little fairy coating her body and wings. “This will make you strong, as strong as a weight lifter, so despite your small size you will be able to do everything you did as a human and more.” She reaches for the other gem. This one is tear shaped. She charges it up and a necklace appears threaded through it. Jen puts it over her friend's head and shrinks it down, so it fits her like a regular necklace should. “This one allows you to talk to me wherever we are.”

Jen lowers her hand causing her friend to hover in place. “Now Martha –” She starts again, “Martha –” And at last she looks down shaking her head, “I can't do it. In that form, I can't call you by your name. You are just too adorable for a Martha. How about Maggie?” Jen rolls it around her brain, “Maggie. Maggie. Maggie the fairy. Yeah, it has a ring to it. What do you think,” she asks her tiny roommate.

“I don't know. It doesn't feel right.”

“Margie?”

“No, too close to my name.”

“Peggy? Missy?” Jen starts rattling off names hoping one of them will stick.

“What about Naomi? Naomi the fairy. Oorrrrr”

“Meg,” they both say together. “Jinx,” they call together and then start laughing.

Jen catches her breath and her face turns serious, “Now that I've paid you back some of what I owe you, I have a problem.”

“What is it,”Meg stops herself from saying 'Dear'. I'm not old anymore. “... Jen?”

“Well, this is such a big store,” she gestures to the showroom, “and I'm only one person.”

“I'm sure someone will show up,” Meg suggests.

Jen gets a sparkle in her eye, but Meg doesn't see it, “If only I had a someone who was recently unemployed who wanted to assist me.” Meg looks at Jen in confusion, but Jen is looking in a different direction. “Someone who will have nothing to do during the day but help me in running this huge store.”

Meg thinks she knows what Jen is getting at and wants confirmation, so she lets Jen continue. The djinn spreads her finger and thumb apart to show height, “Someone who's about this tall ...” She leaves it hanging.

Meg knows that Jen is waiting for her to volunteer, but her diminutive size has developed a mischievous streak. She decides to let Jen keep going.

Jen glances at her fairy friend who sits there floating with her arms crossed. “Someone whoooo – Fine. Meg, would you be my assistant here in the shop?”

“Yes!” Meg races to her friend and flies circles around her.

“Partner?”

“Partner.”

They both turn to the door that hasn't had anyone walk through it except Meg. “We need some customers in here.”

“Yeah,” the little fairy agrees, landing on Jen's shoulder and sitting down. “What are we going to do?”

“Well, maybe if we get some friends in here, people will see other people in here and not be so afraid to check us out.” Jen tilts her head to one side in thought. Her ear brushes the top of Meg's wings. “I know,” she says as her head swings back up, “Jim! I'll text him right now.”

A couple of thumb pokes later, and the two friends are watching the door again. Still no one enters as many pass by. “Jen? Tell me a story.”

“Hmmm?”

“Tell me a story from before we met.”

“Oh, well, about ten years ago, there was a carefree girl named Jen. She had just graduated from college, with a major in Psychology. You see, she wanted to be a detective because the guy she liked wanted to be a policeman.”

“We were going to work like a team. I'd find the bad guys and he would bust them. At least that was the plan. My plan, I guess.”

“He was all for it, at first, but then it wasn't enough for him. He started to 'help me' with my job by giving me tips. When I would do what he suggested, he was nice to be around. But when I didn't, it wasn't good. Soon, he was trying to do both our jobs. That was when I decided to end our relationship.”

“I'm so sorry,” again she wrestles with 'dear', “Jen.”

The door jingles interrupting the two friends. A lone man with short brown hair ambles in. His clothes are a mess with the wrinkles in his shirt being smothered by being tucked in his pants. The wrinkles in his knee long shorts are more evident showing his habit of sitting for long periods of time. He smiles.

Jen bounds to him and wraps him in a big hug, “Jim!” Releasing him, she adds while looking into his blue eyes, “Thank you so much for coming to my grand opening.”

He looks her up and down. “I'd say you've changed but you look like you haven't aged a day since I last saw you, except for the cosmetic changes. Those are for store image, right,” he asks pointing at her genie silk top and ponytail.

The djinn giggles a little, “Sorta.” Then she turns more serious, “As my first customer, I'll give you anything you want.”

Skeptical, he asks, “Anything?”

With a nod, “Anything, anything.”

He gets a mischievous smirk on his face, “Sooooo, if I asked for ...” He leaves it hanging.

Jen's face begins to mirror his own. “Don't. Ask. Don't make me break my word.”

“Fine.” His body relaxes and a more natural smile emerges, “Then I want you to change the laws of reality. I want you to do something cartoon-y.”

“As you wish.” Jen claps her hands twice and then turns to her partner, “Meg, everything we need in behind the counter.” Her arms go behind her back where she makes a pulling gesture. “Jim, this is going to hurt a little.”

Both of her friends look at her, “What?”

Without explaining, the djinn kicks him between the legs. His pants drop to his feet and he doubles over in pain. “Ooof!”

Meg blinks at her friend. Jen stares back at her. With a subtle jerk of her head, she gestures for Meg to head to the back of the store. “What,” Meg whispers.

“Behind. The. Counter,” Jen whispers back.

“Oh.” Meg flies back there and finds a thick cast iron pan about five times as big as she is. She picks it up and puts it over her shoulder as she flies back surprised at how little it weighs. Upon returning, she looks over at the still bent over and wobbling Jim. Then she looks over at Jen confused.

As if Jim could see her gesture while staring at the floor, Jen taps her own face with her hand. Meg shakes her head, not understanding. Jen clenches her hand into a fist and punches her face. Meg is still confused. Jen points to the pan. Meg pulls it off of her shoulder, and everything clicks into place. Memories of those animated animal characters beating each other up pour into her mind. Now she knows what to do.

Seeing the realization in Meg's eyes, Jen turns toward the counter and her legs start moving so fast that they become a blurry leg circle on either side of her. Meg winds up and smacks Jim in the face with the pan. The force of the hit straightens him up and his arms fly up into the air.

Done with the pan, Meg heads to the back passing her partner coming back. Jen drops a corset over his arms which slides down his body and stop in its normal spot. With a tug on the strings, Jim's body slims down and becomes more feminine to an hourglass shape.

The partners pass again. Meg takes a pair of toilet plungers and stick them on his chest. Quick motions provide the suction to pull mounds of flesh toward the fairy. The plungers pop off and the corset is now full with bits of breast barely contained underneath.

Jen arrives with a beautiful, sparkling blue dress which she drops over his still raised arms. The dress floats down and in the process pulls the arms down into the sleeves. It settles around Jim's new curves making them look fabulous.

Meg returns with a lemon which she pops into his mouth. His eyes squint, and his mouth puckers. Jen returns with makeup in her hand. She adds lipstick to the puckered lips. Then she pulls a puffball out of the compact and mashes it against his face over and over until a small pink cloud surrounds his head.

Meg arrives with the last item, a blond wig. She places it over his short brown hair making it disappear and blowing away the cloud of makeup.

There before them is a beautiful woman or at least the image of one. After watching the new lady sway for a moment, Jen breaks the silence with a question, “So, what do you think?” She pulls a mirror up from the floor.

“Uh, well, yeah, I'm still in shock.”

Jen nods, “That's totally understandable.”

Meg butts in, “Do you like it?”

He takes a moment to look himself up and down a few times even turning and posing a little. “I wasn't expecting it, but it works.” He thinks for a moment, “You're right, though. Those things didn't hurt as much as they looked like they would.”

“Great!” With gentle pushes, they goad their still dizzy friend outside. “Now, go out there and send some customers in here!” He wobbles out the door on his matching blue heels that got there somehow.

Jen watches Jim get his head together, his feet under him, and him talking to the passersby attempting to convince them to come into the store.

“Well, Meg, we have our first satisfied customer,” she says to the weight on her shoulder. After a second of no reply, she hears a little snore by her ear. “Poor Meg. All of the changes today have already worn you out. Sleep well, partner.”

And with that, Jen heads back to the counter to wait for the next person to walk through her door.