The Adventures of Nebel and Tolk

"Too bad we can't make men."

Nebelhaft plopped down on the mattress and crossed his arms. "I'm not leaving until I know what she wants."

With a sigh Tollkühn closed his eyes and shook his head. When his eyelids lifted, a smile covered his face. He looked about the room, then dashed to the nightstand where he grasped the television remote.

"What are you doing?" Nebelhaft queried.

Tollkühn ignored the question and pointed the control at the television. With a snap the picture tube brightened. The drone of an infomercial filled the room, increasing in volume every moment.

"You're going to wake her!" Nebelhaft protested.

"That's the idea. I'm not waiting until dawn to find out what she wants."

With a grunt, Ellen's eyelids fluttered. Her hand lunged for the nightstand where her slapping palm found the remote less than a second after the elf had dropped it. Closing her eyes, she aimed it and turned the television off.

She yawned, then smacked her smiling lips. Rolling upon her back, she dropped the remote and slid her hand beneath the blankets and then between her thighs as well. A smile formed on her face as her fingers petted herself through the wool of her jammies. "Too bad it had to be a dream," she sighed. Her smiled widened. "If only I was skinny."

Tollkühn smiled as well. "That's easy enough!"

"No! Wait!" Nebelhaft cried, but it was too late.

Ellen's eyes opened as her body shrank. For a moment, only her orbs moved, then her fingers departed her loins, pulling at the slack fabric of her pajamas. With a gasp, she released the cloth and rolled, sitting upright at the edge of the mattress. The tips of her fingers again prodded the loose cloth. "A dream within a dream?" she muttered.

"What have you done?" Nebelhaft asked.

"That's what she wanted?" Tollkühn said. "Now let's go." He bounded across the mattress toward the footboard.

Instead of following, Nebelhaft walked to the side of the bed and looked upward into Ellen's blanched face. "I'm not leaving," he announced, his eyes still on the woman.

Tollkühn spun and scowled. "Hey. You're the one wanted to stop her crying, didn't you? Well, she's stopped. Let's go."

"I'm not sure that's really what she wanted."

"That's what she said she wanted."

"She didn't say exactly that," Nebelhaft recalled.

"Close enough!"

"How many times..."

Ellen stood and headed toward the doorway, taking two pair of elfish eyes with her. Her pajama bottoms slid down her legs as she walked and she stepped right out of them without seeming to notice.

Entering the washroom, she flipped on the light and turned each cheek to the mirror before bringing her hands to the flesh of her thighs, confirming the novel firmness of the feel. "Impossible," she murmured.

Her fingers jumped to her bosom, which she petted through the fabric. With a swallow, she moved her fingers to the seam of her baggy pajamas, but she was shaking too much to work the buttons. Closing her eyes, she grasped the edge and ripped.

Buttons ricocheted off the mirror, tiles, and walls. Air left Ellen's lungs en masse as she beheld the sight in the mirror. She closed and opened her eyes three times. Nothing changed. Ellen's exposed breasts rose and fell twice in succession before she brought her fingers to her taut tummy, petting up and down the length of the unfamiliar cleft down the center.

Without a word, she rushed from the washroom and darted about her apartment, confirming everything was as she remembered it. Everything except her.

Back at the mirror, she gave her body another look before cupping her forehead in her palm. With a shrug, she then opened her medicine cabinet and reached for the aspirin.

"I don't think she's happy," Nebelhaft said.

Tollkühn shrugged. "Sure she is. She's speechless with joy. Let's go."

Nebelhaft shook his head. "You go. I'm gonna stay and make sure she's alright."

"Schneekugel will be leaving within an hour!"

"Fine. Go back with him. After this, Tahiti won't be good enough for you."

"No kidding," said Tollkühn. "They'll probably send me to Texas."

Nebelhaft grinned. "Then you may as well stay."

Tollkühn's eyes drifted upward to the woman. With a sigh, he shook his head. "Alright. I'll stay. Let's go tell Schneekugel what's going on."

"Good," Nebelhaft said with a smile. "And then we can go play with Anne."

Tollkühn's jaw dropped. "What?"

"You told her we'd come back and play with her after we were done with the gifts. We're done."

"But I didn't... Look out!"

Nebelhaft barely jumped out of the way as Ellen turned from the mirror and stomped back toward her bedroom. There she crawled back into bed and curled up in her blankets, but the warmth didn't stop her from shivering herself back to sleep.

* * *

With a sigh Ellen sat upright in her bed and stretched. Rolling as she spun, she sat on the edge of the mattress and trained her gaze toward the amorphous beige carpet. For a few seconds, she was too busy lamenting another lonely Yuletide to notice her legs, or to remember what she still thought to be a dream.

When her attention at last landed on her thighs, her eyes sprang wide. She shook her head and looked again, but nothing had changed. Her eyes drifted with her fingers upward from her legs to her tummy to her breasts. She gasped upon touching the bottom of her bosom, pulling her fingers away as if her body was afire. "It's not a dream," she mumbled. "Is it?"

She rushed back to the washroom mirror where the same svelte reflection greeted her. "How do I know?" she wondered in a whisper. "Is it true, or am I crazy?" Her eyes fell, taking her gaze with them; though during the minute or two she stared she never truly saw the washroom mat below her feet.

At last, her head moved in a slow bob. Her feet moved as well, taking her to the nightstand and her cell phone. Several button-pushes later, she brought the device to her ear and begged the ringing to stop.

"Ellen?"

"Hi, Beth. Did I wake you?"

"Almost."

Ellen swallowed. "I need to see you," she said as she wandered into the hallway. "To show you something."

"Today?"

"Just for a little while?"

"It's Christmas morning!

"I know."

There was a pause. "Are you ok?"

"I don't know."

Another pause. "Are you depressed?"

"Maybe," Ellen said, her eyes roaming her sparse living room. "I'm not sure. Or maybe I can come see you?"

"Yeah. Do that. But don't knock. I'll look for your car. I'd like to enjoy the adult part of Christmas, you know?"

Ellen smiled. "I know."

"Ok. But hurry."

"I will. See ya."

"See ya."

With a sigh, Ellen folded her phone closed. She was about to head back down the hallway to dress when her gaze landed upon a chair adjacent to the front door. Her head leaned to one side. "When did I put that there?"

* * *

A quarter hour later a different door opened revealing Bethany's wide eyes and stark white face. "Ellen?"

The slender brunette on the porch nodded.

"But," Beth stammered, "how?"

Ellen smiled. "Am I really skinny?"

"I'll say. What'd you do, liposuction?"

Ellen shook her head. "Nothing."

"What? Are you going to tell me you did this in a week with diet and exercise?"

"But I really didn't do anything."

"Look," Beth said. "There's no shame in surgery. You should have told me."

Ellen scowled. "If I had surgery, I'd have scars, right?"

Beth nodded. "I suppose."

With a glance about the neighboring lawns and windows, Ellen looked back to her friend and pulled the lower edge of her sweatshirt to the bottom of her bosom.

Beth's jaw dropped. "Wow." She stood aside and motioned with her head. "Get in here."

Ellen obliged.

"Show me again," Beth insisted as she closed the door.

Ellen again uncovered her midsection.

Beth flipped on the foyer lights, then stooped to examine her friend's abdomen. "I've watched some of those plastic surgery shows, but I thought recovery took more than a week."

"I told you," Ellen insisted. "I didn't have surgery."

Beth's eyes became slits. "Lauren! I didn't even know you were in town."

"What?"

"You and your sister have some nerve," Beth hissed. "This isn't even funny, especially on Christmas!"

"But I am skinny?" Ellen asked.

"You've always been skinny!" Beth said, opening the front door. "Now get out. I've a family, you know?! You should have saved this sort of joke for April."

Ellen walked through the doorway and turned. "You're right. It was a bad joke."

"I'm not the least bit amused."

"I'm sorry," Ellen said, but the door was already closed. With a sigh, she retreated to her car, got inside, and just stared at the road. After several seconds her focus shifted to the white-knuckled grip she had on the steering wheel. With yet another swallow, she pried her hands from the wheel and turned her palms to her face.

"I wonder if my fingerprints are still the same," she whispered.

* * *

Nebelhaft's eyes followed an empty Ben & Jerry's pint carton into the wastecan adjacent to Ellen's bed. He shook his head and looked to his companion. "This isn't going well."

"No kidding," Tollkühn said with a scowl. "That's two Strawberry Cheesecake and one Chunky Monkey. What was the point of making her skinny if she's just going to get fat again?"

"Not that! She isn't happy."

Tollkühn turned his red eyes to the woman curled beneath the blankets. "How do you know? All she's done all day is eat ice cream and watch the romance channel. Isn't that what women live to do?"

"That's not all. She cried. A lot."

"Isn't that why women watch the romance channel? They must like it."

Nebelhaft closed his eyes and sighed. "You don't get it, do you?"

Tollkühn gaped and spread his open palms toward the ceiling. "Hey! We gave her what she wanted. That's all we can do."

"Fine," Nebelhaft said, glancing to the clock. "Schneekugel's probably here by now. Why don't you just go?" With that he jumped up and scampered across the mattress.

"And where are you going?" Tollkühn asked as he scrambled after his friend.

"I'm gonna go back and play with Anne before her bedtime."

"Again?!"

"I said I'd come back." Nebelhaft turned and climbed down the blankets toward the floor.

Tollkühn put his hands to his hips. "So quit saying that!"

Nebelhaft looked up. "Tell me playing tea party with Anne was worse than watching television all afternoon with Ellen?"

Tollkühn sighed and began to climb down. "I guess it wasn't," he admitted upon reaching the floor. "But you think she coulda wished for a cool toy. What little girl wishes for a tea set in this day and age?"

Nebelhaft's eyelids fluttered, but a tear emerged anyway, sliding out to cling to the fur of his cheek. "A darling little girl who just wants a friend."

The pink elf's head moved in a slow nod. "Or two."

* * *

Ellen's eyes roamed the grey of her ceiling in the few seconds before she dared turn them to herself. She still hadn't decided what she wanted to see before she beheld her new skinny form in all its glory.

She rushed to the bathroom and confirmed the dream, if it was one, hadn't ended yet. "Ok," she whispered through a grin. "Guess I better make the best of it. Little black dress, here I come."

* * *

That night, with a man she hadn't known at sunrise snoring beside her, Ellen began to weep.

Tollkühn shook his head. "What's she bawling about now?"

"He's not what she wanted," Nebelhaft said. "Not even close."

"What's wrong with him? He looks just like the guys in the catalogs."

Even in the dark, Nebelhaft's eyes sparkled as they glared. "You don't get it, do you?"

"No," Tollkühn said. "She wanted to be skinny. We made her skinny and she cried. She dreams about copulating with a hunk. Then she copulates with a hunk and cries some more."

"Maybe sex feels a lot different than just putting you finger in your ear."

"Maybe she's gonna cry no matter what we do."

Nebelhaft shook his head. "You're wrong."

"Hey," the pink elf began, "we gave her what she wanted. If she's not happy with it, that's her problem. We should just go home. Schneekugel said he's not coming back again."

"No," Nebelhaft snapped. "What she wants is a man to love or not love who she is, not what she looks like." With that, he leapt from the dresser to the mattress.

"What are you doing?" Tollkühn asked.

"Fixing what you screwed up." Standing beside Ellen, Nebelhaft brought his cupped palms to his mouth.

"Wait!" Tollkühn cried, but it was too late.

* * *

"Holy shit! What a case of beer goggles."

Ellen's eyelids fluttered until her vision came to focus on the man dressing beyond the foot of her bed. "What'd you say?"

His eyes widened as they turned toward Ellen. "I, uh," he began, bouncing into one of his socks, "it boggles the mind how time flies. I'm gonna be late for work."

Ellen smirked. "You said last night you had the day off."

"Did I?"

"Yes." Her eyebrows bounced upward. "You bragged about it even. One of the many company perks."

"Well," he said, shrugging even as he donned his shirt. "Musta slipped my mind."

"Yeah," Ellen said with a nod. "Must have." She continued to watch as he scrambled into the rest of his clothing.

Once dressed, the man stood. His eyes roamed the room several times before coming back to Ellen. "I'll, uh, call you?"

Ellen closed her eyes and shook her head. "You don't even have my number you lying sack of shit. Just get out."

The man's head began to move in a slow bob. "You're right. I don't know how this happened. I'm sorry."

"I know how it happened," she snapped back. "Now leave!"

He nodded. His lips and eyes both twitched. He managed a half-hearted wave and all but raced for the door.

The man was barely out of sight before Ellen raced as well. Standing before her mirror, she ran her hands over her figure. "Beer goggles? What did he mean by that?"

From the living room the steps of the departing man ceased with a crash. She looked toward the sound as a curse followed, then several more steps and the sound of the door opening and closing.

With her head leaning to one side, Ellen made her way out of the washroom and down the corridor. There, near the front door, was a toppled chair. "The chair again," she muttered. "I must be losing it."

She locked the door, then dragged the chair back to the kitchen table. There her eyes landed upon a piece of paper with a crayon atop it. "Had time for a classy good-bye note, did he?" she mused with a grin.

Her smile faded as she read the large, printed letters:

Dearest Ellen,

I am most disappointed with the way you've used your special Christmas gift. If you continue in this manner I shall have to simply take it away. You must know some nice boys. Someone from work perhaps- or maybe the library? You won't find what you're looking for at night clubs. And no more copulating until you're married!

Happy Christmas,
Nicholas Klaus

P.S.
I've changed all your clothes so that they fit. You look fine in them. You don't need to buy any more sleazy outfits.

Ellen's brow shrouded the upper rim of her eyes as she put the letter down. "Santa," she whispered, looking again at her body. "Could it really be?"

* * *

A half-flight up the stairwell, a pair of elves squinted from a window into the morning sun.

"What makes you think that'll work?" asked Tollkühn. "She's fat again."

Nebelhaft smiled. "Yes, but she thinks she's beautiful. That's all she ever needed."

"You're sure."

Nebelhaft's head moved in a slow bob. "I'm sure."

Tollkühn shrugged. "I always thought she was beautiful."

"Yeah. She is."

"Now what?" Tollkühn sighed. "Schneekugel's long gone and we'd just get sent to Tahiti if we went back anyway, especially after you signed the old man's name."

Nebelhaft shrugged. "We go play with Anne."

"Until when? She grows up and can't see us?"

"I think Anne will always be able to see us," Nebelhaft declared with a subtle grin, "but we really only need to stay for nine months."

"Nine months! Do you know how hot it's going to be during..." Tollkühn's eyes widened. "Wait. Nine months? You didn't!"

Nebelhaft's smiled broadened. "I did."

THE END
The Adventures of Nebel and Tolk
Copyright 2005 by Penelope Street
Posted with permission at Literotica.com
All other rights reserved.

Special thanks to Jessica and Rob for their editing assistance.

This is a work of fiction. To the best of the author's knowledge, none of the events depicted ever occurred. All of the persons and non-persons portrayed are fictional characters. Their views, opinions, and experiences are invented as well and are not meant to promote anyone's personal beliefs or agenda.