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Message-ID: <28023asstr$977638201@assm.asstr-mirror.org>
From: "Carolyn Collins" <carol__collins@hotmail.com>
Subject: {ASSM} "Wonderful Life" by Carol Collins- Repost
Date: Sun, 24 Dec 2000 01:10:01 -0500
Path: assm.asstr-mirror.org!not-for-mail
Approved: <assm@asstr-mirror.org>
Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.moderated,alt.sex.stories
Followup-To: alt.sex.stories.d


During the first part of December last year, this story began running 
through my mind and would not give me any rest until I entered it into my 
computer.

"Wonderful Life" was once sent to this group. The story is rather short and 
it is close to Christmas. Therefore, I am reposting it.

I hope that Frank Capra and Jimmy Stewart would have approved.

Carol Collins

_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com


<1st attachment, "wonderful.txt" begin>

			     SRU: Wonderful Life
				       by
				  Carol Collins

It was the day before Christmas. George Bailey, a tall
thirty year old man, virtually ignored the holiday music
playing on the public address speakers as he moved from
store to store in the large shopping mall in a vain search
for a "Trixi" doll. He passed within feet of a very
beautiful, very large and very ornate Christmas tree without
even noticing it. He was a man on a desperate search for a
promised gift for his ten year old daughter.  "I must find
her that doll!" He thought to himself for the tenth time as
he entered the last toy store in the mall, only to be
disappointed once again.

The "Trixi" doll was this year's most demanded girl's
Christmas gift. A computer in a doll, she had speech
recognition circuits, analog converter sensors for touch and
articulated arms and legs for movement. She was both cute
and the cutting edge in toy technology. At three hundred
fifty nine dollars each, the doll cost more than George
could afford right now. He was, however, willing to go
without eating to buy Zuzu, his only daughter, the one
present that she had asked for this Christmas.

George had heard that some of the dolls were being sold on
the black market for between six hundred to eight hundred
dollars a piece. If he paid that much for one of the dolls,
he would have to use most of his rent money. He had run out
of sick leave from work and was on extended federal
emergency family sick leave. Money was tight, but the doll
would be worth any price. If he only knew a black marketeer,
he would gladly buy Zuzu what she had requested if it took
the last penny he had. After all, she had asked for very
little in her short life. And, he felt that she deserved so
much.

George found himself in an isolated corner of the mall. For
some reason, his attention was attracted to a small shop
that looked out of place in a modern shopping center. A
small door with a hand painted sign declared that the
store's name was "Spells Are Us". Even though he suspected
that there would be no "Trixi" dolls in such an unusual
shop, he found himself drawn to the shop and entered the
doorway. A small bell announced his arrival. The store
appeared larger on the inside than it had looked from the
outside. Although the shelves were cluttered with all sorts
of second hand junk, George's eyes zeroed in on a "Trixi"
doll sitting on the end of the counter. His heart raced as
he moved very quickly to examine the only example of a
"Trixi" doll that he had seen in weeks. George scooped up
the doll and it began to talk to him, "Hello. My name is
Trixi and I am very glad to meet you." George smiled for the
first time in two days. He felt elated! Zuzu would get her
doll. That is, she would get her doll if he had enough money
to pay for it.

"Season's Greetings, George." A voice said from behind the
counter. George had been so focused on the doll that he had
not even noticed the old man in the bathrobe standing next
to the cash register. "Zuzu will love the doll. It is very
popular this year." George tried to decide how the old man
knew his and his daughter's names. He had never seen the man
before. "No, you do not know me. I am a wizard. That is how
I knew about your search for little Zuzu's present." He
moved closer as he added, "Even though it works perfectly,
this doll is a trade in. The price is only one hundred
dollars." George could not get his wallet out fast enough.
He could afford to buy Zuzu her gift, pay his rent, and
still have enough money to pay his utility bills  plus buy
food for the next month! When he asked about taxes, the man
who claimed to be a wizard just waved his hand and told him,
"Don't worry about taxes when you are buying a doll for such
a sweet little girl."

George happily clutched the doll to his chest as he watched
his hundred dollar bill being placed in the cash register.
He began to thank the obviously eccentric older man for his
generosity when the wizard reached beneath the counter. "I
have a gift for the two of you." A small bottle was placed
on the counter in front of George. "If two people each drink
half of this bottle's contents at about the same time, they
can switch bodies." George's eyes incredulously dropped to
the small bottle of amber colored liquid. "You can decide if
you want to use it." George shifted his gaze up to the
wizard's usually mischievous eyes. Surely, the old man was
joking! "Go ahead, put it in your pocket. You can always
decide later if you will use it."

George slowly picked up the bottle and carefully placed it
in his coat pocket. He thanked the man again before leaving
the strange little shop. The wizard, now alone, turned to go
through the doorway into the back room. He waved his hand
and the mall door to the SRU store changed into a blank
wall. He muttered to himself, "I guess I am getting to be an
old softy."

George drove to the children's hospital with his treasure.
Since it was now Christmas Eve, he had no trouble finding a
parking space. As he entered the special ward for cancer
patients, he encountered Cathy Collins, a very pretty twenty
five year old registered nurse, as she was making her
rounds. She was Zuzu's favorite nurse because she spent
every spare moment with the sweet little girl. She smiled
when she saw the "Trixi" doll in George's arms. "Wonderful!
You found one! That is all that Zuzu has talked about for
the last few days. She will be so thrilled!" She smiled up
at George as she patted him on the arm. She thought that he
was such a wonderful man. His only child had terminal
cancer, yet he had always put on a brave front for little
Zuzu. She knew that he must be dying inside as he had
watched his ten year old daughter become progressively worse
and worse. He had lost his wife to a drunk driver traffic
accident only two years earlier, and now, this. Cathy
admired the inner strength possessed by both father and
daughter as she watched him walking down the hallway.

George stuck his head around the door frame of his
daughter's room and said, "Surprise! Daddy is back!" The
thin little girl sitting in the middle of the bed, wearing a
long pink night gown, with an IV in one arm, smiled up at
her father as he entered the room. The chemo therapy had
caused all of Zuzu's hair to fall out the month before. She
wore a red and green stocking cap on her bald little head.
Her body was frail due to the ravages of her illness. She
still managed a bright smile for her father. She had not
noticed that he concealed something behind his back. She was
always glad to see him, whether he brought her a gift, or
not. Her personality was considered to be a treasure by all
that knew her.

"Hello, Daddy! Merry Christmas!" George returned the
greeting as he moved toward the bed and gave his daughter a
kiss on her cheek and she wrapped her arms around his neck
and gave him a kiss on his cheek in return. Zuzu saw part of
the doll peeking around her father and squealed, "Daddy! Is
that for me?" He held the "Trixi" doll up for her to see. He
loved the way her eyes brightened up even more. He knew that
he should have waited for tomorrow morning, but he loved to
give her what little happiness that he could. He smiled as
she wrapped her thin arms around the doll. It began to talk
to her immediately. He sat on the side of his daughter's bed
and listened to the conversation between the computer
controlled doll and his daughter. If he did not know better,
he would have thought that the doll had the intelligence
of a real human being. He loved to hear Zuzu laugh as she
played with the doll. Each laugh was worth the hundred
dollar price of the doll many times over.

George's mind wandered back to the eccentric older man that
claimed to be a wizard. "Spells Are Us" was certainly a
strange name for a store, too. Then, George remembered the
bottle of amber liquid that he had been given. He placed his
hand in his coat pocket and found the bottle safely resting
there. The man had said that two people could switch bodies
if they drank the liquid. Even though George knew that was
something that was impossible, he also knew that he would do
anything to keep his young daughter from dying. The doctors
had told him that she had two months left to live. His boss,
a good man, had promised to hold his job for him until his
ordeal was over. He had taken family sick leave to spend as
much time with Zuzu as possible. He would gladly take her
place so that she may live. He slowly pulled the bottle from
his pocket.

George made up his mind. Even if the liquid was a poison,
Zuzu had only weeks to live and he had already considered
suicide after his daughter's funeral. Consuming a strange
liquid would be a desperate act of a desperate man. He let
his daughter play with her new doll for an hour before he
spoke, "Zuzu, Daddy loves you very much." Zuzu jumped up,
wrapped her arms around his neck, gave him a hug and told
him that she loved him, too. George continued, "A man gave
me some medicine today. It probably will not cure you, but,
we need to try it." He paused as he searched ZuZu's little
face for her reaction. "I think that it is worth trying.
Will you take half of the medicine?" Zuzu told him that she
would do whatever he thought was best. George opened the
bottle.

George turned the little bottle up and drank half of the
amber liquid. It had a peppermint taste. He did not hesitate
as he handed the half empty bottle to his ten year old
daughter. He watched as she swallowed the rest of the fluid.
He sat there on the side of the bed awaiting some reaction.
The wizard had said that he could switch bodies with his
daughter if they drank the contents of the bottle. Nothing
happened. He decided that he must have been a fool to
believe the crazy old man wearing a bath robe in a public
place!

Zuzu seemed to become sleepy. Since she had become sick, she
tired so easily. George covered her with a blanket, kissed
her cheek and sat in the arm chair beside the hospital bed.
Within ten minutes, he was also asleep. Fifteen minutes
later, Cathy Collins entered the room. She had hoped that
she could arrive before Zuzu fell asleep so that the sweet
child could demonstrate her new doll. She tucked the little
girl in and checked her pulse. Satisfied that Zuzu was as
well as could be expected, she turned to the man sleeping in
the bedside chair. She had grown to admire him. She hoped
that, some day, she would meet some one as nice as he was.
She had sent him signals that she was interested in him,
but, he was so focused on Zuzu's problems, he never even
noticed. She retrieved a blanket from a closet and covered
George Bailey before she quietly left the room.

George awoke slowly. He opened his eyes and found himself
looking up at the ceiling. He remembered falling asleep in
the chair next to Zuzu's bed, but now felt that he was lying
on his back rather than sitting in a chair. He raised his
head and found that he actually was laying on a large bed.
Then, he realized that he was in his daughter's body! The
amber liquid had worked! George sat upright in bed and
looked over at his body, or, what had been his body, sitting
in a chair, covered with a blanket.

George pushed the blanket covering his ten year old girl's
body downwards to examine his new body. It had really
worked! His pink night gown covered his thin body from neck
to ankles. He had an IV in his arm and the stocking cap was
still on his hairless head. He realized that he was now the
one with only two months to live. He should have felt sad
but was actually happy. His daughter would live.

Zuzu stirred as she shifted position in her chair. She
slowly opened her eyes and saw herself sitting up in bed.
She came awake quickly as she realized that this could not
be happening. She heard her little girl's voice saying,
"It's okay, Zuzu. Do you remember the medicine that we drank
last night? It switched us into each other's body. Daddy
couldn't watch his little girl suffer any longer. I would
rather be the one with cancer than to have a daughter with
it."

Zuzu slowly stood up from the chair and moved to the bed.
She had tears in her eyes as she wrapped her big strong arms
around her father's frail little body. "Daddy, now you have
cancer!" George hugged Zuzu's much larger body. He was still
glad that his daughter would live on after he was gone and
told her so. "But, Daddy, I don't want to loose you,
either!" They held each other for the next hour. George told
Zuzu of the "Spells Are Us" shop and the peculiar old man
that ran it. He told her that the man claimed to be a
wizard. After the switch that had taken place, George and
Zuzu knew that he was telling the truth.

George lay his head on the shoulder of his now adult male
daughter. He looked up into her concerned eyes and said,
"It's Christmas morning, Zuzu. Merry Christmas!" She wished
him a Merry Christmas as well. George figured that his male
body would last for another forty years. That would be his
gift to his daughter. Zuzu only knew that she did not want
her father to die. She would rather it be her than him.

Doctor Goldberg and Nurse Collins came into the room for the
morning physical. For the first time, Zuzu sat in the chair
and watched as her father was examined and blood samples
were taken. She had learned to hate needles since she had
been in the hospital and knew that they would hurt her
father. He took it like a man and never even made a face as
the nurse drew the blood from his tiny arm.

Doctor Goldberg, who had volunteered to cover all of the
duties on Christmas to let the other doctors have the day
off, became excited while examining George's little girl's
body. He could find no trace of the malignancies that had
been threatening the life of the ten year old patient. He
ordered a lab test to be done on the blood sample
immediately. Cathy, who was doubling over to let another
nurse spend Christmas morning home with her children,
hurriedly left to take the vials to the lab in person. She
pulled the laboratory technician away from his turkey and
dressing to run the test.

Doctor Goldberg asked Zuzu, whom he thought was the father,
to step out into the hall for a moment. "George, I do not
want to get your hopes up, but it appears that the carcinoma
is in remission. If that is the case, then your little girl
will be getting better and you may get to take her home in
another week or two." The doctor saw the smile slowly
spreading across the man's face and cautioned him to wait
until the test results were in before getting his hopes up
all the way. Zuzu hugged his neck and nearly kissed him on
the cheek. She was so happy. As soon as the doctor left to
check on the other patients, she went into the room and told
her father the good news. Later that day, the test results
confirmed the doctors analysis of George's condition. The
cancer had completely disappeared.

George rubbed his arm where the IV had been removed. He sat
on the side of the bed as Cathy hugged him and told him that
she was thrilled that he had recovered. She had grown to
love the sweet little girl as if she were her own daughter.
Cathy knew that she would have had to take a few days away
from work when Zuzu died. Working in a children's cancer
ward required a great deal of love. She cared too much about
her young patients. Especially Zuzu Bailey. Cathy considered
this the best Christmas gift that she had ever received as
she hugged the young girl again.

George later sat on the side of the bed eating his bland
hospital lunch as the real Zuzu and the pretty blonde nurse
walked to the break room to get some refreshments. George
realized that he and Zuzu might be stuck in each other's
body for a very long time. Maybe, after he got out of the
hospital, he and Zuzu could go back to the mall and get
another bottle of that amber liquid? That way, they could
switch back. He did not know that he would never see the
"Spells Are Us" store again.

Zuzu returned to the room with an extra chocolate bar for
her father. He found it to be a very tasty desert after the
hospital lunch. Zuzu talked as he ate, "Cathy and I carried
on a long conversation in the break room. She is such a nice
person and you never noticed that she liked you. Well, I
made a date with her for Friday night. I think Cathy would
make a great Mommy. Who knows? Maybe, she will be your new
Mommy?" George was shocked! He and Zuzu discussed the
situation. Finally, he gave up his arguments as his daughter
sat on the side of the bed and held his smaller body in her
arms. "Don't worry, Daddy, I will always take care of you."

In the dimensional realm of wizards, in the back room of the
SRU store, the old wizard sat in a comfortable chair, with a
crystal goblet of eggnog in one had and a moist handkerchief
in the other. He had watched the scene in the hospital room
through the eyes of the "Trixi" doll. He could see some of
the father and daughter's future. Zuzu would marry the cute
nurse and they would raise three children. Cathy would love
Zuzu as much as her own children. She would be impressed
with how mature Zuzu appeared to be. One of the endearing
qualities that she would love the most about her husband was
the youthful innocence that he would always have. George
would live the life of a normal girl. His hair would grown
to reach half way down his back. He would grow up doing most
of the things that other girls and women did. He would
eventually get married to a very nice man and raise two
children of his own. The wizard was pleased.

Back in the hospital room, George once again wished his
daughter a merry Christmas. Zuzu replied, "Merry Christmas,
Daddy. And, a big thank you and a Merry Christmas to the
nice wizard."

The wizard raised his goblet and whispered, "Merry
Christmas, George and Zuzu."















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