"What will it be today?"

Nancy surveyed her lizard scales in her reflection, turning her head this way and that. The colours were beginning to look brassy and she was not sure any more that the pattern suited her. Besides, the look required a sleek figure and slithering grace that Nancy did not possess. In the background of the mirror, the other clients of Fantasy Remodelling Salon were having tiger whiskers and butterfly antennae fitted.

"I don't know, Cosmo. Perhaps I should go for some mother-of-pearl horns, or maybe a pair of pixie ears, like yours." Her remodeller's delicate features were set off by daintily pointed ears tinted emerald at the edges to complement his eyes.

"No. They're not really you, luvvie." Cosmo tapped his cheek with his remodelling wand. "Although I agree the reptilian look is so last year."

Nancy's eyes stared back from her reflection full of panic. She had a job interview tomorrow and she could not afford to look out-of-touch. Who wanted a PR assistant who could not keep up with the latest trends? It was worse than using last season's street speak.

"I'm in your hands." Nancy felt a flutter as she spoke, as if she had placed her lifesavings on a shake of the lucky bag. "You've never let me down before."

Cosmo grinned revealing luminous white teeth. In the dark he would be able to see his way home by the light of his smile.

"I wish more people were like you, luvvie. You've no idea how frustrating it is for an artist like me sometimes. People will insist on embellishments that don't suit them." He looked pointedly in the mirror at a man who was admiring a new set of boar-like tusks. "Ridiculous on someone with such a skinny frame, but will he listen?" Cosmo murmured, then turned narrowed eyes on Nancy. His frown suddenly transformed into a beaming smile. "Got it! It's the very latest thing! You wait - in six months' time everyone will be having it. It takes the elvish look to its natural extreme... ideal for someone with your build... "

Cosmo's enthusiastic description followed Nancy as she waited for the lift to reach the roof garden of the New Eden building. Maybe if he had been at the interview it would have made a difference, but she doubted it. Nancy could not help noticing that the interviewing panel had limited themselves to discreet embellishments such as a hint of iridescence on the cheekbones and the retractable polished claws that had looked so elegant when one of them had covered her mouth as Nancy caught her gossamer wings in the automatic door. By the time Nancy had extricated herself one of them drooped like a lazy eyelid. She had decided against taking the chair that was offered her, not having quite mastered the knack of sitting without trapping her wings. This would probably have been enough in itself to seal her failure, but the shade of yellow that Cosmo had chosen to use was 'zingy', as the remodeller had put it: not an easy colour to wear, although Cosmo had assured her it would settle down in a week or two.

As the lift doors opened and Nancy stepped out onto the exposed garden the wind caught her, pushing her against the wall. She heard a crunch as the veins shattered leaking colour in unattractive streaks down the gossamer. Nancy shrugged. It was not worth worrying about now. She approached the garden's edge and looked down at the road far beneath. Cosmo had told her that the wings would shed of their own accord come spring, but Nancy could not wait that long.

She launched herself into the air and an updraft cradled her. At last Cosmo's transformation achieved its intended effect. She became a creature that was floating and ethereal. For a few storeys the ungainly caterpillar was the sylph she had always wished to be.

Amongst the wreckage of crushed gossamer and bones, the people who had gathered looked from the fairy's smile to their plumes and tails. Some clicked on their personal holos.

"Hello? Style Unlimited? I want to make an appointment. You must give me wings."