Kate sighed. “It would be so much easier if I were thin. I just need to lose a few pounds. That’s all.”
As Tiffany commiserated with her friend, Branwen smiled to herself. So she didn’t have much power anymore. Not the power to change the world. But she did have the power to change one person.
* * *
Kate woke up feeling like someone had stuffed her mouth full of cotton and then used her head as a kettle drum. Tiffany’s version of sympathy meant copious amounts of tasty alcoholic beverages. Not being much of a drinker usually, Kate was suffering the ill effects of way too much sympathy.
She staggered her way to the kitchen and managed to dig up a couple of asprin which she downed along with an entire glass of water. Two painkillers probably weren’t going to cut it, but it would have to do.
She staggered back down the hall to the bathroom and her morning ablutions. She was washing her hands when it finally sunk in that something wasn’t quite right.
Kate squinted at the mirror. Mirror Kate squinted back. Except Mirror Kate wasn’t the same person Kate had expected to see.
She stared at her reflection, mouth hanging open. Gone were the rolls of fat and excess curves, the saggy boobs and the triple chins. Gone was Fat Kate.
Mirror Kate had actual cheekbones! And a jaw line. Under her pajamas her boobs looked small and perky. The pajama bottoms were nearly falling off her narrow hips.
Kate carefully lifted her pajama top and gasped in shocked delight. Her tummy was flat. And not just a little flat, but practically six-pack-flat. The kind of flat women dreamed of having.
She shoved back her sleeves and marveled over her perfectly toned arms. Not an ounce of extra fat or wibbly wobbly skin. No more bingo wings.
“Oh, sweet lord, what on earth?”
Kate ran for her bedroom, stripping off her pajamas that were now way too big. In front of the full length mirror she stopped and stared at her slender, perfectly toned body. “What the hell?”
She poked and prodded herself. This had to be a dream, right? She couldn’t have possibly turned into a size two overnight. Could she?
Kate gave herself a good hard pinch. Ouch. Yep, this was definitely real.
Yanking on a robe she ran to her computer and quickly pulled up Facebook. She expected to find Fat Kate staring back at her. Instead she found picture after picture of Skinny Kate. Skinny Kate with her arms wrapped around Tifanny, the two of them obviously drunk out of their minds. Skinny Kate in a bikini on the beach. Skinny Kate in a slinky dress and sparkly high heels. Skinny Kate looking, well, skinny. There was no sign of Fat Kate anywhere.
“How do you like it?”
Kate whirled around, heart in her throat. Sitting on her sofa, munching on what looked like a red velvet cupcake, was that friend of Tiffany’s. Briana. No, Branwen.
“How the hell did you get in my house?” Kate demanded, edging her way toward the nearest lamp. As a weapon it was marginal, but it would have to do.
Branwen waved the question away as though it was of no consequence. “That’s not important. The important question is; how do you like your new body? Is it everything you hoped it would be?”
Kate glanced down at her body swamped now by her terry cloth bathrobe. A bathrobe that used to fit. Heck, it had been on the small side. “What happened?”
Branwen smiled. “I gave you what you wished for.”
“What do you mean?”
Branwen sighed and rolled her eyes. “Humans. You can be so thick sometimes. And I’m talking about the British kind of thick. You wanted to be thin, and now you are. Thanks to me.”
“You did this?” Kate glanced down at herself again, still somewhat in shock. “How?”
“I’m a goddess. Duh.” Branwen took a huge bite of cupcake. A glob of frosting clung to her lower lip. She licked it off impatiently.
“Branwen. Welsh goddess of love and beauty.” Kate stared at her unwanted visitor. “Oh my god. You’re real?”
“Of course I’m real. Don’t be an idiot.” Branwen took another bite of cupcake before heaving her rather substantial backside off the couch. “Now, enjoy. I’ve got a pedicure.”
“Wait.” Kate jumped in front of the door. She couldn’t let Branwen leave with so many questions still unanswered. “How am I going to explain this,” she waved a hand down her body, “to everyone? Nobody loses this much weight overnight.”
“True.” Branwen popped the last bite of cupcake in her mouth and then proceeded to lick frosting and crumbs off her fingers. “But they won’t remember who you were. They will only remember who you are. Every picture of you, even your driver’s license, reflects your new body. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, Kate Llewellyn has always been a size two.”
“But my clothes don’t fit.”
“Well, I can’t do everything for you.” Branwen yanked open Kate’s front door. “I can change perceptions. I can change photographs. You’ll have to deal with the clothes. One more thing. There is one person who remembers the real Kate Llewellyn. When you find him, you damn well better pay attention. Cheerio.” Branwen gave a little wave as she sauntered across the porch and down the front walk.
Kate stared after the departing goddess, her mouth hanging open and her mind awhirl. As she carefully shut the door, a little smile curved her lips. At last, she was skinny. Now everything would be perfect.
* * *
“Oh my god, Kaitlyn, this is so cute!” Tiffany yanked a turquoise top off one of the racks and waved it around.
Apparently, Skinny Kate went by “Kaitlyn,” a name Kate hadn’t used since Kindergarten. Over the past few weeks she’d been trying to get used to her new self. It was odd that she was the
