[a Pastry Wizard story]

"You've got an order," chirps the automated response from the computer. The blond teen looks that direction waiting. With no one in the store and no one coming from the back, she leans her broom against the nearest wall and saunters behind the pastry display to the computer. Glancing at it, she sees a rectangular dialog proclaiming the need for a cake.

Satisfied, she heads back to where she was to continue cleaning the already clean floor, but not before calling into the back, "Mister Baker, there's an order to make."

The back door opens and closes. Slapping the dirt off his knees, he exits the back and slips an apron over his head. "What did we get, Crystal?"

"A cake, sir," she replies and goes back to sweeping.

"Crystal, we're both adults here now that you've graduated from high school. You don't need to call me 'sir' when we are alone."

"Sorry. It's habit. I was the way I was brought up, sir." Realizing that she did it again, she slaps her hands over her mouth causing the broom to drop to the ground.

He chuckles as he turns toward the computer noting the growing red on her face. "No," he exclaims without meaning to.

Concern floods her as she rushes to his side, "What is it?"

"We just got an order for a cake."

"I know. I just told you that."

"Yes, the problem is the amount of time. They want it in short order. Apparently there's going to be a spontaneous wedding that they want a reception cake for."

"That shouldn't be a problem for you. You whip them up so fast that it's like magic."

He looks to her and then back. "Yes, but this is a bit much even for my 'magic.' I don't have time to make one from scratch."

"So, you're going to turn it down?" He looks at her again. She looks into his eyes and sees something in there she hasn't seen before. After a moment of silence, she prompts him, "Mister Baker?"

His hands flash to her shoulders. She is startled by the sudden movement. He gazes into her eyes as she looks back. "Crystal, you have worked for me a long time, right?"

Confused as to why he's asking this, she answers, "Yes."

"And this is because you wish to learn how to bake from me, correct?"

"Yes, and every time that I ask to help, you say no."

"If I am going to complete this order, I'm going to need your help." He pauses gauging her reaction, "If you do this for me, I'll promote you to Apprentice Baker and let you help me make more pastries. Understand?"

"Sure," she answers with excitement, "What do I need to do?"

"Strip."

"What?!"

"Crystal, I'm a Pastry Wizard. My magic really is magic." He pauses for her to take this in. In order to finish this order in time, I need to take some shortcuts. One of those short cuts is to skip the preparing batter stage. So, I would like to use you as the cake batter."

Her mind skips and tries to restart, "What?"

"The whole process is painless and temporary. You'll get your body back after they pick up the cake. Please?"

She answers with silence, searching him for anything.

He holds out his hand, palm up, "Do you trust me?"

"It won't hurt and I get my body back?"

"Yes," he tries to find a better word and can't. "Yes," he repeats.

She reaches for his hand and then pulls back, "Is it safe?"

"Absolutely. I've been in this situation more than a couple of times. And nobody has complained."

"O-o-okay," she slides her hand into his. He clasps her hand and shakes it.

Then he brings it to his lips and kisses it, "Thank you so much. I promise you, you won't regret this." Releasing her hand he continues, "Now, go into the bathroom and undress and meet me in the back by the oven. And if you are nervous about me seeing your naked body, I've seen plenty in my time. Yours will be as beautiful as the rest."

As she disappears, he goes into overdrive. Ovens get turned on, batters and leftovers get pulled out of the locations and warmed to room temperature, flour gets tossed around, tools get prepped.

Just after everything gets ready, Crystal shuffles out covering her privates with her arms. "Sir?"

"Oh good. You're ready, too. Hop up on the table and lay on your back." She does and goes back to covering her privates. "Absolutely magnificent. You will be perfect."

Her eyes snap up to his. She's not sure if it is the tone of his voice or what, but she's pretty sure he no longer sees her as a woman. He turns toward her face at last. She sees that he is no longer seeing her at all. He slides her arms away from her. Then with his fingers, he traces a line from her chin down her throat to her breasts.

"Eat as much of this as you can with your eyes closed," he hands her a bowl of white stuff. She feels him poking at her legs and at various points all over her chest and sides. While he is doing this, she is feeling something else. The white stuff is really sweet and seems to slide down her two throats to rest somewhere. Two throats? When did I get two throats? Is that what he did with his fingers? Crystal wants to see where her two throats go, but she continues to do as she is told and eats the sweet stuff with her eyes closed.

At points, she hears the knife moving but it is so far away, it doesn't bother her. At last, the stuff in the bowl is empty. The sweetness overtakes her and drops her into a little sugary bliss. She feels the bowl taken from her grasp and her arms positioned away from her body.

Then she hears the knife right beside her ear, and her eyes pop open. She looks to that side and sees the knife being raised up and moved toward the other ear. She tries to sit up but she can't. She tries to move her body, but nothing seems to respond. The only thing she can move is her neck, which she uses to look away from the descending knife. Chop!

She rolls her head back to see the knife rising again. "S-sir," she stammers. Unseeing eyes look back at her. "Mr. Baker," she tries again, panic filling her voice.

It works. His eyes focus and see her again. "Relax and close your eyes, Crystal. I'll let you see what I'm doing after this last cut." She nods. "Now look at me and close your eyes. And no matter what happens don't move or open your eyes until I tell you." She looks to him and nods again. Then she closes her eyes.

Chop! This time she hears it with both ears. Like she promised she keeps her eyes closed. Two gentle hands that smell of flour pick her up and set her down giving her an odd sensation. It feels like the bottom of her neck is resting on a cold surface. But that can't be. Her neck is always on her shoulders.

"Go ahead and open your eyes." This reveals a sight that is even more confusing. There on the table below her is a female body without a head. From shoulder to shoulder is a straight line only marred by her huge breasts, the size of over inflated balloons, that rise above and cover most of her torso. Like her neck area, her sides are mostly straight for her hips which flare a little. Then across her upper thighs, past her privates, the rounded rectangle is completed. Her arms are lying there next to her sides separated by an inch. Like the arms, her legs are detached from the body, crisscross below her bottom. Her body is the cake, kinda.

"What do you think?"

"I see it. Mostly."

"Good. I'll continue." He takes the knife and with deft motions, he slices off the breasts while keeping what's inside of them contained. Curious, Crystal has a phantom pain of her breasts being cut off. She looks down at the warming surface and the edge of a counter. Her body is not attached.

"That's my body," she realizes less surprised and panicked than she would expect herself to be.

"Right," he acknowledges and then continues the process. He traces a line from her neck hole to her privates. And then opens those holes and slips an upright toothpick into each. While she watches her body deflate, he steps out to the back of the store.

Moments later, he returns and an upset voice joins him, "Why did you interrupt my sun time?"

What's left of Crystal looks that direction and spots a little larger than normal strawberry in his hand which seems to be where voice is coming from. He looks down at it and answers, "Because I need you."

"Oh," the female voice calms, "In that case, I suppose that's okay. What are we working on?"

"A cake that needs to go into the oven now."

On board, "Then let's get to it." Upon reaching the table, he slides the strawberry into where the bone should be in her left leg. Her thigh bulges a little to accompany the bigger shape. "Hey! What gives?"

"You haven't seen this? Just relax. I'll be back for you in a moment."

Curiosity gets the better of Crystal, "Who's this?"

Without looking up or gesturing, he says, "Crystal, this is Savanna, my first employee. Savanna, Crystal."

He grabs a cake pan and with a little massaging, drops Crystal's cake body in. It slides down the sides. He presses down to make sure all air is out and the batter is level. Running to the oven, he slides in the filled pan and returns.

"Pleased to meecha, Crystal. I saw he got you quick, huh?"

"I've worked here for four years. That's quick? And why haven't I seen you before this?"

Mr. Baker jumps in here, "Well, Savanna here found my magic garden and hasn't wanted to leave since. She is why I had to get my second employee." He reaches over to the talking fruit. Crystal notices that her leg has blushed to a bright red with little dots scattered in a pattern. After pulling out Savanna, Crystal realizes that her leg is becoming a long, leg and foot-shaped strawberry.

Crystal's mind skips again, "How is that possible?"

"And don't you dare say magic. We know it's magic," adds Savanna. Crystal blushes because she forgot this was all magic.

He chuckles and raises his hands. "You got me. Copy spell." He brings a small tart over and sets Savanna on top. The strawberry sinks in. "Savanna, I need your help."

Red hair rises from the whip cream of the tart followed by a bright red face covered in seeds. This makes her look like a spider for a moment. Then a matching strawberry human body joins it. She wades through the filling doing a pirouette in the whip cream before stepping out causing the substance to cover her naked body.

The foot-high Savanna salutes, "Whacha need, Boss?"

"Throw her arms into the blender and start it. That should finish it at the right time."

Savanna hoists an arm over her shoulder and drags it to the mixing bowl. Mr. Baker cuts a slice off one strawberry leg and places it on the end of the other leg. Crystal notices the new leg starting to blush.

"If my legs are strawberries, what are my arms?"

He looks up at her, "Frosting."

"You can change my arms into frosting by touching them, but not my legs into strawberries?"

"Different field of magic. Strawberries and fruit are living things. Flour, sugar, milk and most of the ingredients that I use are formerly living things. The closest I get to ‘life’ is yeast which is a one celled organism."

"What about human?"

"Well, yes, there's that. I can go to human and from human, but that's what all of the wizards can do. I once knew a tree wizard who could turn people into trees for years. In fact, it was a wizard like her that gave me my garden out back."

"Speaking of which," begins the strawberry girl, "how long was I out there?"

"Around ten seasons, I think. I didn't want to let you to grow for another 50 years. Remember how big you got? You were completely unusable for any desserts."

"How old are you?"

"A hundred and fifty?"

"You look barely older than me."

"That's one of the benefits of living in the magic garden. You don't age as faaasssss -- What is that heavenly smell?"

Pulling the pan out of the oven, he sets the cake down, "That's Crystal."

"That's me," she asks gazing at the pink colored dessert that doesn't look anything like her body.

"Wow, Crystal, you turned out great."

"No time for admiration. The customers will be here any moment. Savanna, wash up and then eat up. Try to get to somewhere close to normal size and man the counter." Mr. Baker lowers her to the floor where she sprints to the bathroom.

Meanwhile, the pastry chef stops the mixer and pulls out a electric knife. Crystal feels painless cuts through her body as the utensil slices through the cake. With deft movements, he places the top to the side and scoops up her breast and pokes a clean hole through the nipple. With a gentle squeeze, he squirts whipped cream on the top of the bottom half. After he finishes one, he returns the empty and starts the other.

Then he slices up her legs and spreads the strawberry slices. It feels a little strange for her legs to be touching her breasts. The last of the whipped cream covers the top of the strawberries putting her legs inside her chest. Then the top of the cake goes on trapping her body within her.

Frosting pours all over her. Sweat trickles down Crystal's brow. The spatula smooths the butter cream all around her, locking her body tight.

"AaaaaaAAA!"

"What is it," Mr. Baker asks startled.

"I'm trapped! I can't get free." Crystal begins to breath quick, light breaths.

"Just calm down, Crystal. It'll all be over in a few minutes."

"No! I can't get my arms to release my body."

Savanna rushes back into the room, full sized and with black hair, and trying to tie on Crystal's apron over Crystal's clothes, "What's going on?"

"I don't know," he answers.

"Please, please. Let me go. Let me go."

Savanna looks startled and turns to face the employee, "Crystal, look at me." She grabs the sides of the cake's head until her eyes focus. "Crystal, can you feel your body?"

Panicked, she only nods.

"Have you felt your body this whole time?"

Again, a nod. Savanna shares a knowing glance with her former employer. "Crystal. Crystal, you are not trapped. Crystal, think of it this way. Think of it like you are giving yourself a big hug. A big hug because you are so yummy. And will be making these nice customers so happy."

"And," Mr. Baker adds, "you'll be getting a raise after this and learn how to bake as my apprentice."

Savanna shoots him a dirty look to which he shrugs it off. They both look back at Crystal who is taking deeper breaths. Despite that she doesn't have a heart, they can see her pulse rate slow as she calms herself.

The doorbell chimes. Mr. Baker turns to Savanna, "Go stall them while I put the finishing touches on the cake." As she leaves, he turns to his employee, "Crystal, are you still doing fine?" He eyes are closed while she nods. "Here's something to help take your mind off this. Open up." She opens her mouth and her squirts some of her frosting into her mouth.

Crystal finishes relaxing, "mmmmMMMMMM! This tastes so good."

"Yes, you do." With expert hands, he adjusts her nipples, refills them, and pumps out the borders of the cake. "Now, just a little longer. When you hear the door chime again, I'll come back and restore you."

Then he takes the new cake out front leaving her alone. She hears happy, excited voices even if she can't make out what they are saying. After a coupe of moments, the door chimes.

Mr. Baker returns, "So, can you sill feel your body?"

"I think so. I'm bouncing front and back or is that up and down?"

"That would be about right. I'm going to begin to restore you. Let me know if you ever stop feeling your body."

"Okay."

"Now the first step is to join your head to your new body." Savanna arrives with a white pudding pie

"Hey. Those are my clothes."

"Sorry. I needed something to wear to cover the front. As a strawberry, I don't need clothes."

"I can see that. That's," Crystal closes her eyes. The world is closing in on her. "Ah! Ah!" She manages to squeeze out, "okay."

"Lost contact?"

Crystal nods.

He looks to Savanna who says, "Washington and Chestnut," and then leaves.

Mr. Baker comforts her, "Just hold on for a little longer." She nods again. "Don't panic. I'm grabbing your head." He does and places her neck in the pie. "This is a joining spell." Crystal's face relaxes a little but the tension is still there. "This a transform spell. You could lower yourself into the pie and come out with a normal --"

Crystal bolts up. "Or you could stand up and have a abnormally large head on a tiny body." He brushes her hair causing her head to swing back and forth like a bobblehead, "And that's a growth spell. Any pastries or sweets you eat will help return you to your original dimensions."

"Savanna," Mr. Baker calls out, "Could you bring --"

"I'm already gone," comes from the back yard.

"I guess I'd better do it myself," he mutters to himself. He heads to the front and soon there are some tarts in front of Crystal. "Here, eat up."

Like a Tyranasaurus Rex, she flails around trying to get purchase on the rim to bring the food to herself. She gives up her dignity and falls face first into the first tart. Her chibi body grows as she slurps and scarfs the little dessert. When she stands, she is taller and able to reach whatever she wants. The rest of the sweet buffet disappears in short order. Soon, she is back to normal and dressed in the remnants of the various pastries she devoured.

"Go shower and get dressed. I think Savanna left your clothes in the bathroom."

She does. Once she is out front watching the still empty store, Mr. Baker asks her a question, "So, what did you think?"

"It was all so strange, sir. I didn't like the being trapped part, but the rest was okay."

"Great. Go home and get some rest. Don't eat anything for the next hour or so. The growth spell will wear off then."

"After all that I ate getting back to being me, I don't think I could eat another bite."

"And come back tomorrow and I'll begin teaching you the basics."

"But I already know the basics," she protests.

"That may be true, but you may have learned something wrong or that wastes time."

"Okay, Mr. Baker." She leaves promising she'll bring an extra set of clothes tomorrow for Savanna.

Mr. Baker heads out back to find Savanna buried up to her hips and sinking into the dirt, "Washington and Chestnut?"

"Yup," she confirms.

"That's a couple of miles away."

"Yeah, she's your caliber of wizard."