Some Parents Lack Imagination When It Comes to Naming Their Children

"Oh no, it's my sister," Andrew whispered. "Please keep very quiet. I don't know how I'd explain the three of you being here."

Unfortunately Fred was having a nightmare, reliving his flight from the terrible thing. At that moment he screamed loudly, waking himself and Velus up in the process.

The bedroom door was flung open. "Andy, are you all right?" his sister asked anxiously. Then she saw his three guests, and was stunned into silence.

"Er, hello sis," Andrew managed. "I'd like you to meet Lord Frederigo D'Honaire, Princess Exotica and Velus. They came through a portal from fifteen hundred years ago. This is my sister Mandy. She's a year older than me. Our parents didn't appreciate, when they named us Amanda and Andrew, that we'd inevitably be called Mandy and Andy by everyone."

"Hello, Mandy," Exotica said, as Fred and Velus also said hello. "Pleased to meet you. Are your clothes typical of what young women are wearing these days?"

"Er yes, I suppose so," Mandy managed, having regained the power of speech (though only barely, having just had the shock of being greeted by a dog). "Would you like to borrow some of my clothes? You're about three inches taller than me, but otherwise we look to be about the same size."

"I was actually thinking of conjuring up some. You see, I'm a sorceress."

"Oh," Mandy said faintly.

Not only did Exotica feel that it was high time that she was clothed again, but also it would be a good demonstration for Mandy, to prove that she and her companions were really who they said they were. "Ydnam ot yllacitnedi em ehtolc," she incanted, shimmying her hips as she spoke.

How on Earth can she get her tongue round stuff like that? Andrew wondered.

1. As Exotica had expected to happen, clothes identical to Mandy's materialised on her.
2. As had happened when she attempted to restore Velus to human form, the spell didn't work. Was something interfering with her magic?
3. It didn't work quite as intended. All Mandy's clothes transferred to Exotica, leaving the poor girl naked.

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