=::= Sophie Kovalenko's PoV =::=

  A steady stream of impatient meows greeted me the moment I opened my apartment door. And despite how weary I was from work, the noise immediately put a smile on my face.

  "Ok calm down you little munchkin," I told the hungry furball. "C'mon, I'll get you your dinner ready while mine gets cold."

  Azazel was my little bck cat, and she did her best to trip me two or three times during the short walk from the front door to the kitchen. I set my take-out bag on the counter then opened up the cupboard and pulled one of her tins, which sent the little cat into overdrive. In addition to the incessant meowing she started rubbing herself against my legs, while I opened up the tin and dumped its contents into her bowl. The meowing didn't stop until I pced the bowl on the floor, then she all but buried her face into it.

  I continued to smile as I watched her for another second or two before reminding her, "Don't forget to come up for air now and then."

  With my furry friend taken care of I grabbed a vodka cooler out of the fridge, then picked up my take-out bag and continued on into the living-room. I plunked myself down on the sofa and popped open the bottle, then raised it up in toast.

  "Thanks again for dying uncle Mike," I stated to no-one in particur. After a couple gulps of my drink I added, "Best thing you ever did for me. Probably the best thing you ever did for anyone, you transmisic asshole."

  It was six weeks to the day since I had to sit through a reading of the old bastard's will. That wyer woman apologized a dozen times but she still had to go ahead and say my deadname everywhere it appeared on the documents. You'd think I'd be used to that sort of thing by now, considering how it haunted me. Like a curse or something, it kept cropping up everywhere.

  Like at work, people in HR would update their records only to have it pop up again in their computer a week ter. Same with the bank. Even the government, every year I'd file taxes under my new legal name and every year they'd send the receipts and confirmations to my deadname. Hell it even came up in emails with my ndlord now and then, and I'd already transitioned long before I moved in here. It was crazy, there was no way it should have been anywhere in their files. The only thing I could think of was maybe they got it when they checked my credit history.

  I'd all but resigned myself to the idea that I'd never escape that name, except it seemed like things had been different tely. It was too early to say for sure, but it felt like I hadn't seen or heard my deadname in a few weeks.

  I didn't really believe in curses or superstition or any of that stuff, but I couldn't help wondering if it had something to do with that old bastard kicking the bucket. Although the much more likely expnation was I'd stopped noticing it, perhaps because I finally had something real to celebrate. I received an email earlier today, confirming that the st of Mike's estate bullshit had finally been completed.

  Even though the house was sold over a month ago it didn't officially close until st week. Now all the estate taxes had been remitted, along with the various transfer fees and legal expenses. That still left a significant sum of money for me, and it appeared in my bank account today around the same time I received the wyer's email.

  It wasn't enough for me to retire on, but it was more than enough that I suddenly needed to think about financial pnning and investments.

  Honestly my first thought would have been to buy a nice house. Except with the price of real estate nowadays, even with the inheritance I couldn't afford anything that was both decent and a sane commuting distance to work. I could always quit and try finding work somewhere else, but apart from actually having to spend forty hours a week in an office surrounded by annoying coworkers, it was actually a pretty good job.

  In fact it would have been the perfect job, if only they'd let me work from home. Unfortunately every time I asked about it my manager cimed he supported the idea but the c-suite guys kept saying no.

  "Heck with it," I finally sighed. I had a pile of money in the bank, that gave me plenty of options. And I didn't need to make a decision right away. "Dinner now, worry about the future ter."

  I had one more gulp of my cooler then set it aside and picked up my take-out bag instead. I opened that up on my p, but along with the aroma of deep fried chicken tenders and fries I got a face-full of pink smoke.

  "What the hell?" I coughed as I waved an arm to try and clear the air.

  The pink mist quickly dissipated, revealing a strange young woman in a pink-polka-dot purple nightshirt. And as if that wasn't impossible enough, she was literally floating cross-legged in the air before me.

  The girl had short messy bck hair, beautiful dark almond-shaped eyes, and fwless dusky skin. Her lips were bright red, and currently wrapped around a piece of chicken she'd obviously stolen from my dinner.

  Her eyes widened and she looked guilty as she quickly swallowed the stolen food. Then she made an exaggerated waving gesture and grinned, "Hello Sophie! My name's Jenna, and I'm a genie!"

  Normally I'd have been a lot more freaked out by the whole situation, but it was Friday evening and I'd only just got home from work. I was way too tired to panic.

  Instead I just looked her up and down and asked, "There was a genie imprisoned in my five-piece tenders combo meal? Does this mean I get some wishes, for freeing you from your greasy prison?"

  She grimaced and shook her head, "Actually no. I wasn't imprisoned in there, I was just hiding? And I'm not yours, I'm... Well this is where it gets complicated? I'm nobody's genie anymore, I'm free. But I'm also spoken for? If you know what I mean."

  "Not really," I shook my head. "So why were you hiding in my dinner? You just really like Louisiana-style fried food?"

  "No!" she insisted. "Or well, ok yes, it smelled really good and I couldn't help myself. I'm not here for your dinner though. Honestly I just had pizza a little while ago? Anyways no. But also yes, you do get to make a wish! I'm actually kind of winging this, but the bottom line is a nameless benefactor has used one of their wishes on your behalf."

  "So you're someone else's genie, but this nameless person is giving me one of their wishes?" I asked.

  The strange genie frowned, "Not as such. Actually tell you what, since I'm totally making this up as I go let's say you get three wishes? But they're time limited, I can't hang around for hours on end while you make up your mind."

  "Oh and the benefactor isn't really nameless," she added. "That'd be pretty awkward, going through life without a name, right? Especially nowadays, with all your ID and paperwork and bureaucracy and everything! Can you imagine? What would they even put on her drivers license? Nope, she's definitely got a name and it's actually really cute. I just meant nameless as in, I'm not at liberty to tell you what it is."

  I found myself staring at her as I nodded, "Yeah. I guessed that part."

  "Three wishes huh?" I added as my eyes drifted down to the empty space underneath her.

  As much as I didn't believe in this stuff, I couldn't come up with any rational expnations for how she got into my apartment. Let alone how she was just sitting there floating in mid-air.

  "Ok," I stated a few seconds ter. "First wish, I wish I could work from home."

  The genie fshed me a wide grin as she flicked her wrist, "Boom! Granted! Good starter wish, very decisive, low risk yet immediate and long term benefits. I love it!"

  Before I had a chance to question any of that my phone pinged with a notification. I set my dinner next to my drink then dug my phone out of my purse.

  "No way!" I gasped as my eyes widened in amazement.

  I was looking at a message from my boss's boss, officially announcing the company's new work-from-home program. And as one of the employees who'd made several queries on the subject, I'd been pre-selected to take part in the initial roll-out. Which started on Monday.

  After reading the announcement twice I mumbled, "Holy crap I don't believe it!"

  "It's true," the genie responded. "So how about that second wish? I hate to rush you, but the clock's ticking."

  My heart was racing as I looked up at her again. Then I gnced around my tiny one-bedroom apartment. I was in the north end of the city, on the sixth floor of a twenty-story building. I spent between one and two hours a day on the subway getting to and from work, and that was considered a retively 'easy' commute. But the pce was way overpriced, the nearest green space was a little park four blocks away, and it seemed like every other week something was breaking down. Last week it was an elevator, the week before that we went two days without hot water.

  An uneasy smile settled on my lips as I responded, "I wish Azazel and I had a nice house of our own, with our own yard in a nice neighbourhood."

  "Another winner!" the genie announced. "Granted!"

  I suddenly felt disoriented as she flicked her wrist, but it passed a moment ter. I was still sitting on the sofa in my living-room, with my take-out chicken dinner getting cold on the coffee table in front of me. Almost everything else had changed though.

  Instead of a screen door opening out onto my balcony with a view across the road to another high-rise, I had sliding gss doors that opened onto a little patio and a lush green backyard. There were a couple mature trees back there, along with a BBQ and my very own picnic table.

  As I stared at my backyard some new information flowed into my mind. My cosy little two-story house was about forty kilometres north of the city, but I didn't need to worry about the commute because I worked from home. The pce was perfect, everything I ever dreamed of. About the only thing I'd miss was easy access to public transportation, but with my inheritance I could definitely afford to get myself a car. And now I had my own driveway and garage, so I had plenty of space for parking.

  "Holy shit," I finally gasped. "I can't believe it."

  Jenna grinned, "It's all real Sophie, so you better believe it!"

  "Anyways you're on a roll with those first two wishes, so how about number three?" she added. "Last one, can you make it count?"

  I gnced around again then called, "Azazel? Where are you baby?"

  My little furball responded with another chorus of meows as she came running from the kitchen. She hopped up onto my p and flopped over to snuggle against my chest while purring happily. I smiled as I gave her some pets and scritches, then started rubbing her fuzzy little tummy.

  "Aww! She's adorable!" the genie excimed. Then she asked again, "So about that st wish?"

  I looked over at the young woman who was still floating in the air before me. My heart was racing again as I asked, "You can change reality, can't you? That's what you did for the house, right? Changed reality, so I live here instead of that apartment?"

  "Sort of, yeah!" she nodded.

  "So can you um, if I asked you to change something about my body, would that change reality too?" I asked.

  The genie nodded once more, "Sure, if that's what you want. Maybe try and be specific though? I'm not going to mess with you, but if you leave things open to interpretation I might not guess correctly, if you know what I mean?"

  "Yeah," I grimaced. "Ok, I need a minute to think about this."

  She reminded me, "I don't want you to rush, but I don't have a lot of time."

  The st wish was already starting to come together in my mind, although I couldn't help feeling equal parts nervous and excited.

  I looked over at her and said, "I'm trans, if you haven't already guessed. And the thing is, I didn't hatch until long after going through the wrong puberty. But as much as I'd like a perfect cis-normative femme body, I don't want to give up being trans?"

  "I get that Sophie," the genie responded, and for once she seemed totally serious. "Believe me, I understand exactly what you're saying. I can't really act though unless you use the 'W' word."

  "Understood," I nodded. Then I took a deep breath and stated, "I wish that I could have the ideal body I've always dreamed of, without changing the past or having to give up being trans."

  "Oh and also that all my friends and family and coworkers would still know me and remember me even though I'll look different afterwards!" I added quickly.

  Jenna gave me a knowing look as she pointed out, "Technically that's two wishes, not one."

  I cringed, "Yeah..."

  Then she grinned, "But hey, I'm making my own rules here, so what the heck!"

  My eyes widened and I asked, "Really?"

  "Really!" she nodded enthusiastically. "I'm having a great day and I want you to be happy too, so let's do it!"

  Her expression became serious again as she asked, "Are you ready? Once it's done it's done, no takesies-backsies."

  I gulped but nodded, "Understood. I'm ready, and I'm not going to change my mind."

  "Then done, granted, and goodbye!" she replied as she flicked her wrist once more.

  The genie vanished with a loud Poof sound and an explosion of pink white and blue flower petals, that coated me and the sofa. It even startled Azazel, and she leapt from my p onto the coffee table with an indignant meow while her tail flicked around in irritation.

  "Yeah I know what you mean," I responded as I started brushing the flower petals off myself and the sofa. I fetched the broom and dustpan then started sweeping up as I commented, "The trans flower shower was a cute effect, but I could have done without."

  My own tail was twitching back and forth in annoyance behind me as I swept, while my ears remained folded back. And of course Azazel had to help, the little munchkin started batting pyfully at my tail, which finally clued me in on something important.

  "Holy heck!" I gasped, while my ears and tail all suddenly stood up straight.

  Exactly one second ter I was in the downstairs bathroom staring at the mirror over the sink. And looking back at me was an attractive petite young woman, with long straight jet-bck hair and bright green eyes. Two tall bck fuzzy ears stuck up from the top of her head, and a long bck furry tail swished around behind her.

  "This isn't what I..." I gasped, then grimaced. "Oh. Right. I asked for the body I always dreamed of. Not what I'd been thinking about tely."

  Instead of getting the practical body that I as a thirty-three year old trans woman wished I had nowadays, I'd been given the body that I'd dreamed of on and off since I was a repressed fifteen year old egg with a thing for catgirls.

  I'd probably lost twenty-five centimetres in height and over a decade in age, the short girl smiling back at me in the mirror looked twenty at most. She sure was cute though, and it was clear her body had never once seen the ravages of testosterone. For a moment I worried how I was going to expin this to everyone. Then I remembered it was part of my wish, that they'd all still know me.

  As the initial shock faded I found myself smiling even wider. When I left the office two hours ago I was my usual bitter jaded thirty-something self. Now I owned a nice home in a nice area outside of town, I didn't have to worry about that awful daily commute anymore, and I'd been given the perfect ideal body I spent more than half my life dreaming about.

  "Meow?" Azazel asked as she rubbed herself against my ankles.

  "Yeah I'm still me," I replied as I leaned down and scritched her ears. Then I straightened up and I looked up at myself in the mirror again and smiled, "The new and improved Sophie Kovalenko."

  My tail and ears were both standing up tall and proud again as I finally returned to the living-room to enjoy my dinner. And as I did so I whispered, "Thanks Jenna the genie, and thank you nameless benefactor. You've both made a trans girl very happy."

  PurpleCatGirl