Bimbo by the Beach | free bimbofication story

CHAPTER ONE

The sun was glaring and the temperatures were in John’s mind near ridiculous. The day was gorgeous, if you were into that bright, happy, summer vibe. It felt like torture to John and as far as he was concerned there were very few redeeming qualities to being outside in the sunshine. He sighed under his breath as a soft breeze wafted past him, blowing grains of sand in his face. It was right past midday and the beach was absolutely packed with every manner of half-naked bodies. That was the one thing that John didn’t currently mind about his predicament – the scenery.

As far as the eye could see around him, the sandy dunes were covered with groups of people basking under the warm rays. The ocean twinkled back at him, light blue and mesmerizing. The faintest of waves struck the shore without a break, inviting the casual observer to take a refreshing dip in the cool depths. But John wasn’t there to get a tan and look at the sparkling water. He had something much more devious in mind.

California was a long way from Alabama and that was no coincidence. John had run into some unfortunate issues with the local law enforcement after a particular young historian had gone to them with a fantastic story.

Cassandra, the so-called victim, had told the police that she remembered seeing John on her way out of the library he worked at and then the next thing she remembered was waking up in a ratty t-shirt and some sweatpants on a bus bench several days later. What followed was a long and

muddled investigation, which lead absolutely nowhere, but caused quite a bit of a disturbance in John’s quiet everyday life. John had taken it as a bit of an insult, really. As far as he was concerned, he had done a great service to Cassie and she was just being intolerably ungrateful.

He had suddenly become a bit of a local celebrity, but only in the worst sense of the word. There was a constant throve of visitors to his odd little library, asking questions and clamoring for answers. John had felt that it was all getting a bit uncomfortable for him and that it was best to keep a low profile for a while. After getting a few bags together, he caught the next bus out of town and just kept heading west until he hit the ocean. It had all been uphill from there.

It was a lot easier plotting his next conquest when there wasn’t a curious mass of people buzzing about him all the time. Cassandra had been a pleasant excursion into the incredible powers that were at the fingertips of John’s bloodline. He had hemmed and hawed for ages before he finally found the courage to actually test if the rumors about his family were true. The stories the men in his family had told, about being potent warlocks and masters of dark arts, had always seemed like such unfathomable drivel, that it was difficult to take it seriously. But he had learned his lesson with Cassandra and now his hunger had just grown to want to do it again and again.

Sometimes, he thought that his forefathers would probably be a bit appalled at how he decided to use his capabilities. Thankfully though, he didn’t care much about what anyone else thought. His life had been pretty gloomy

and lonely and he could think of nothing better than to use the considerable power available to him for his own personal satisfaction. Besides, even in California very few of the women he saw were anywhere near as perfect as he wanted them to be.

John had a very particular taste in women. As much as he enjoyed smart, sassy women, he much preferred his females a lot more simple. Blonde hair, immaculate bodies, big bolted on breasts and a mind as vacant as her eyes was the ideal description of a woman to him and it was incredibly annoying that all women weren’t exactly like that.

Maybe one day…he thought with mild amusement.

Good of a world domination plan as any.

His gaze rolled lazily across the beach, taking in the relaxed bodies and the skimpy clothes. It was the fifth day in a row now that he had spent on the sand, under the pretense of getting a less sickly tone to his skin, just staring at people behind some dark shades. The first day had gone by pleasantly enough and he had even seen one girl who was close to what he wanted, but unfortunately she was a redhead. There were a few that looked promising, but still needed some work if they strived to be true California babes

- bimbos without a thought but with perfect bodies.

It became apparent to him quickly that even though the state was known for its vapid, big-busted ladies, it was still not good enough for him. Finding a woman, who would be interested in him without a bit of mind altering would take way more energy than he had to give at the time. He had debated the pros and cons of going ‘straight’, dropping

the black magic crap and just relying on his fine wit and irresistible charm. At the end of the day even he doubted he could make himself into a babe magnet, and he thought quite highly of himself. It seemed easier to just dabble in some questionable things than to try and go out to meet actual people.

The thought of socializing was positively disgusting, even if he tried to pretend otherwise. Romance and roses simply were not his thing. So with a mock sigh and a tingling in his stomach, he had dragged out the thick leather-bound book from the bottom of his suitcase and gotten to work.

There was a spell to create and thought he had been through this once before, he knew that there were things that he could do better. Cassandra had taught him a valuable lesson and he wasn’t about to ignore it.

CHAPTER TWO

There were a lot of things an aspiring warlock needed to know and take into account before going out and transforming a woman into something better than she was.

First and foremost, at least in John’s opinion, was how the outcome needed to look. Apparently, the human body was as pliable as the human mind, it just needed the right kind of nudge in the desired direction. John had a very clear understanding of what he liked. Decades of dreaming about having the power to get a woman like the ones in his fantasies had given him plenty of time to perfect his vision.

However, having spent a few glorious days with Cassandra had made him change his views a bit.

Now he wanted someone more tanned. Pale skin was nice, but a true bimbo’s skin needed to look like the average California beach bunny’s – like she spent a considerable amount of her time just tossing and turning meticulously on a towel on a golden shore. He’d also learned that he wanted a woman with more of a booty, while before his attention had been only locked on the breasts. Those, of course, also needed to be bigger. So all in all there was a lot of fine tuning to be done as far as looks went, which was not easy to fit into a short Latin phrase and some magical pixy dust.

As far as the personality of his creation was considered, John had been pretty content with it. It was just the right mix of ditzy but sex-hungry that he liked to see in a woman, so there wasn’t much to change there. The one thing he needed to get rid of was that nasty case of

remembering where she had been when it all started and that she had seen him. There was nothing he wanted less than to have another conversation with the local law and order boys, and he was perfectly willing to go to extreme lengths for that.

So, for the next several days he had worked by night and ogled at people on the beach by day. It was too hot to do much else when the sun was up and he took it as a pleasant excuse to look for the next girl, who he would lay his blessings on. They came in all shapes and sizes and John knew he had the means to transform any of them into the creature of his desires, but not just anyone deserved such a gift. He had slowly worked up a convoluted system of judging the girls he saw to determine whether they were likely candidates or not. It included a general estimation of their looks and height (a feature he hadn’t yet tried to manipulate), whether or not they seemed like they thought they were above the people around them and a guess as to how much they would be missed if they just happened to disappear for a few days of frantic love-making.

Most of them failed in one category or another. John didn’t want someone too close to his ideal, but not anyone outright hideous either. She should be tall - a bimbo needs long legs after all. And, of course, she should behave like a spoiled brat needing to get a lesson taught. He’d seen way too many women, who clearly believed themselves to be superior to everyone around them, to hold a grudge at this point in his life. There were only so many times a man could get rejected before he turned a little bit bitter. It was even truer for aspiring warlocks, it seemed.

After a lot of going back and forth, he had finally settled on a girl he liked. She was 5’10’’, slim and with a nice figure, but flat as a board and a bit dowdy. In his mind he had decided to call her Jenny. She had short, mousy-brown hair and grey eyes and she was on the beach every day alone, just reading one dreary romance novel after the next. Best John could figure was that she had to be one of the millions of aspiring starlets that flooded California, and aside from at perhaps a friend at a generic job at a Starbucks, there wasn’t anyone around to miss her too much. In a word, she was perfect for what John had in mind.

It was a public service, really. The girl deserved to become a better version of who she was and a pair of big tits and blonde hair did wonders for just about any female.

This was going to be the day that he would go through with it. He had a pouch of his trusty magic dust in his shoulder bag and he had memorized the spell so well that it was beginning to creep into his dreams. He could feel his cock getting hard just at the thought of seeing her change.

She’d been reading on a big yellow towel for hours, as she usually did, and John had been mindful to get the best spot between her and the changing room she usually used. He’d been watching her all day and it was becoming quite a chore, really, waiting for her to be done with her book and decide that she was tan enough for one day.

John sighed again and ignored the painful rumbling in his stomach.

Really should have brought a sandwich for this, he thought gloomily. He was debating the merits of popping by the hot dog stand a bit away from the strip just as Jenny flipped around on her back and sat up. She tucked away her

book in a bag by her side and adjusted her sunglasses. The seconds that passed as she packed her things together were agonizing for John, the anticipation almost too much to handle. With a clot in his throat, he reached into his bag and grabbed a handful of the dust he had prepared. He caught himself reciting the words under his breath as he watched her intently, the girl folding her towel now and discreetly adjusting her blue bikini.

As soon as she had gotten up and turned her back towards him, John followed suit, grabbing his things haphazardly and throwing a quick glance around to make sure nobody thought he was being suspicious. He felt he stuck out like a sore thumb, but thankfully the California crowd didn’t care much, even if you were a slightly creepy gloomy looking dude from Alabama. Quick, nervous steps covered the distance between him and the room the girl had headed into. He gave it a few moments before pulled sharply at the door, tugging the door loose before she could snap it shut.

“Hey, what are you doing?!” she yelped, her voice shrill and full of surprise. John dropped his bag and with his heart pounding out of his chest he recited the carefully constructed words at the bewildered girl. He threw the dust directly at her, making her sputter and cough. A wide grin broke out on his face as he saw it starting to work almost immediately.

John’s stomach filled with a warm feeling as he gazed in wonder at the process of creating his perfect woman. As soon as the first particles of dust had fallen on her a curious change had started happening to her. First, her skin started

becoming darker, as despite all her effort she had still had a bit of that North East paleness to her. Her skinny form started to fill out slowly in just the right places while her waist shrunk. A silent scream was stuck in her throat, never to get out as the magic worked its wonders. Jenny’s hips became wider at the same time as her breasts were growing. John watched with obvious pleasure as her expanding breasts and hips tugged at the tiny strings of her bikini, the fabric digging into her skin as her tits grew too massive to deal with.

Her nipples perked up and pressed against the delicate garment, creating two small mounds on huge billowing breasts that looked almost bolted onto her frame.

The formerly flat and unimpressive ass swelled nicely and her underwear crept into her ass crack, creating a thong out of what was formerly a fairly demure bottom half of her outfit. John’s cock was getting harder by the second, watching the bimbofication take place. Her hair grew longer rapidly, first framing her neck and then falling on her shoulders and chest in long luscious strands. The boring brown color leaked out of her hair, replaced from the roots down by a flawless blonde tone. Grey eyes stared at John in amazement as dots of baby blue appeared in them and then swirled around, until not a hint of her former eye color was present, all replaced by a pure blue.

John bit his lip, his eyes wide in amazement as he studied the transformation. It was just as fun, if not more, as it had ben when he had watched Cassandra turn into Cassie.

His chest swelled with pride. It was as if watching a beautiful piece of art come to life slowly and knowing fully that he was the one to thank for it. Her lips plumped up and got a deeper shade of pink to them and her cheekbones became

higher and more pronounced. There was a healthy glow to her cheeks and her nails had grown longer, the earlier green nail polish replaced by the most ridiculous shade of pink. He loved it.

When it was all said and done, she stood before him as a perfect specimen of a woman. There was a wide, excited smile on her lips and her eyes were filled with joy and not a single thought could be observed behind those vapid irises. Jenny’s hands slowly slinked over her tan, firm, yet supple body, exploring her new self in wonder. John grinned stupidly, trying to regain his composure to go on with his little game.

“Hello. My name is John. Your name is Jenny. You’ll be my bimbo slut today.”

CHAPTER THREE

Jenny, as expected, nodded enthusiastically at John’s exclamation. The girl’s things were strewn about her in the small, but not too cramped dressing room. It was obvious that she was getting distracted by all of the improvements that had happened to her so rapidly. She kept squeezing her breasts and admiring her nails while bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. John thought it was adorable and he couldn’t wait to cum all over the little bleached bimbo.

“Turn around, Jenny, and look at yourself. Do you like what you see?” John crossed his arms on his chest, working hard to control his breathing. His large cock was pressing painfully against his boxers and his balls ached to fill his new cock holster, but he knew it would be better if he waited patiently and enjoyed the process. Jenny twirled about and admired herself in the mirror, big blue eyes wide with surprise and delight. She giggled and her voice was light and melodic, nothing like the shrill shriek she had let out before. Her hands pressed her breasts together and she leaned forward a bit while pursing her lips together, studying the perfection in the reflection.

John exhaled deeply as she nodded enthusiastically, his eyes transfixed on her wiggling ass.

“Yes, John! I think I look great!” she said, making a little twirl in front of him. John nodded quietly, appreciating his handiwork. Not too bad for his second attempt, if he was the one to judge.

“I think you do too, Jenny. But you can call me Master, you shouldn’t be too familiar with me. Otherwise I might not let you suck my cock.” He made a stern face, glowering at the girl with as much assertiveness that he could muster.

His rock hard dick wasn’t helping his case, but it wasn’t like she was smart enough (anymore) to know the difference.

The look of pure shock and anguish on her face after his words made him swell even more with satisfaction. She probably hadn’t even noticed that she wasn’t complete without a cock inside her before he told her she might not get his.

“Nooo, Master, please let me suck your cock! I promise I’ll be good and do my best!” Her hands were tied together in an expression of prayer, the girl moving closer to him with a begging look in her shallow eyes. Even when she was pleading and being upset, she couldn’t keep a spring out of her step, making her luscious tits bounce up and down. John sighed theatrically and threw his hands up, looking at the ceiling as if lamenting the grievous situation he was in. He only checked if she was fully buying it once, peeking at her. Even though he was sure of his spell, there was still that lingering feeling at the back of his mind that it was all an elaborate daydream and that he would soon wake up from a long nap on a dusty tome at the library.

“What have I done to deserve such a naughty bimbo, who doesn’t even know her place?! I guess the only thing to do now is to let you try and satisfy me and then we can see if you’re worthy of it in the future. But I’m warning you, Jenny, I don’t like lazy sluts!” John lowered his hands and looked sternly at the girl, whose nipples were almost bursting through the ridiculously tiny bikini. Her large mounds were stretching the fabric and piling over the sides

of the top, making it look as if two napkins had been tied to her chest with a piece of string, not really covering anything.

Jenny nodded happily, bounding up and down and clapping her hands together.

“Thank you, Master! I won’t be a lazy slut, I promise!”

John had barely enough time to register her playful smile before she dropped down on her knees and pulled down his trunks with more enthusiasm than anyone had ever shown while undressing him. Another quality he appreciated in the current spell.

Her eyes grew impossibly wide and her mouth opened slightly as she looked at his cock and then back up at him, completely awestruck. John suppressed a chuckle as she admired his manhood. It was big, sure, but not quite worth the theatrics she was putting on. He knew that Jenny would have a fantastic tight little cunt, though, so perhaps her star struck reaction had some merit to it. She touched his balls with delicate fingertips and then traced the length of his cock, leaning in close to observe it.

Jenny grinned and then stuck out her tongue, giving John a wink as she licked the head of his dick with her nimble tongue. He exhaled sharply and let his shoulders relax at her first touch. It felt amazing to finally have this odd scheme of his pay off again after months of having to lay low and just jerk off to the memories of his last living sex doll.

Jenny worked diligently, licking his shaft and head with the tip of her tongue and then lapping up the drool. She kept humming slightly and he noticed her wiggling every now and then as she tasted his cock, completely thrilled with being allowed to service him. He groaned as she slipped her mouth over the head and grabbed his balls at the same time, squeezing them slightly. Her tongue made swirls on the head as she sucked it into her mouth, pressing her huge tits against his legs. She grabbed at him with her hands and crawled close to him so every time she moved her breasts would rub against him. The tiny room seemed like just the perfect box to plow into the willing bimbo. John could smell the salty air outside and the sound of people milling about kept reaching his ears, but it didn’t really matter. He had gotten his perfect bimbo slut again and he was determined to enjoy her.

The girl moaned deeply as she took his pole deeper, now pressing into her throat. Her big blue eyes kept fluttering open to look at him as she bobbed up and down on the throbbing cock. Soon she couldn’t help herself and she started playing with those gorgeous tits of hers, pinching her nipples through the cloth. John reached down and pulled the flimsy top off of her chest, leaving red marks where the strings struggled before coming loose. The large, bolted on breasts tumbled forth, finally release from their captivity, and John stared at them with evident hunger. They bounded along with every move she made, perfectly round with perky pink nipples.

Her hands squeezed the flawless mounds, fingers digging into flesh as her mouth kept on working him. She pressed them upwards and surrounded his shaft with them, her lips and mouth still sucking at the head. Jenny bounced

up and down, clutching John’s shaft between her tits. Her saliva had made it slick and she pressed it between her soft mounds expertly, titfucking herself with his hard cock. Both of them groaned as she kept going, her lips and tongue desperate for him, and her vacant innocence lost but not forgotten under the guise of the lusty cumslut.

Finally, she let her breasts fall lower a bit, but her mouth and throat quickly filled the gap. She took him deep, opening her throat wide for him and the head of his dick popped smoothly passed her uvula. She didn’t miss a beat and deepthroated him like a seasoned professional, as if she had spent her youth just blowing guy after guy to get their jizz in her mouth. John could feel his muscles tightening and his heart pound in his chest, her eagerness fueling his hunger. He had gotten several things right when he came up with the spell and one of the major successes was definitely the lack of a gag reflex on the bimbo.

John gritted his teeth, working hard to keep from grabbing the girl by her empty skull and suffocating her on his cock. Jenny was making whimpering sounds and her cheeks were flushed, long blonde curls framing her heart-shaped face. She was leaning forward on her knees, her ass slightly up in the air, and John had clear view of it in the reflection in the mirror. He sighed inwardly. Apparently mirrors made it a lot more difficult to come off as stern and commanding. Hard to discipline a girl when each motion was presented to him in several angles.

His fingers were wrapped behind his head and his muscles were flexed as the talented big-busted slut did her job. She had a knack for it, he had to admit. Perhaps even

more than Cassie had had, even though he had spent a considerable amount of time conditioning her on the perfect blowjob. It was a complicated combination of just the right amount of throat, an active tongue and making him think she really enjoyed the entire act. Luckily the last bit was yet to prove to be a problem with his willing bimbo sluts.

It was difficult to imagine that just minutes ago the girl had been nothing but a brunette wallflower, drifting through the California jungle. Looking at her now, there was hardly any resemblance to the former unremarkable waif.

John patted himself on the back mentally. It really was a service he was providing the lost, dazed and confused women of the world and he did not mind reaping the rewards one bit.

Finally, it was too much for him to bear. He grabbed Jenny by her fluffy, nicely coifed hair and dragged her up on her feet. She looked at him with surprise, a bit of saliva rolling down her cheek from the corner of her mouth. It took more willpower than he cared to admit to keep from blowing his load on her tits.

“That’s good, Jenny. You’re an okay little cock sucker.

Now show your Master how good you are at taking cocks in your other holes,” he muttered, spinning the stunned bimbo around and shoving her against the mirror. Her huge tits squished against the glass, the perky nipples flattened against the cool surface. She yelped loudly as he manhandled her, but it quickly morphed into an excited giggle as she glanced at him over one of her well-tanned shoulders. It was almost criminal how much the little bimbo whore was enjoying the humiliation.

John stepped out of his pants and with one swift move pulled off Jenny’s thong. It was stretched so ridiculously thin around her round ass and hips that it was moments from popping on its own. As soon as it came off, he could feel her scent filling the small room. Inexplicitly, I smelled like cherries and vanilla – an unexpected perk. Sweat was dripping down John’s back and he was pretty sure that for the last few minutes someone had been banging on the door and complaining about them taking too long. It wasn’t as if he was going to pay any attention to it.

“Please, Master, give me your big cock! I can’t stand being without it in me, pleeeeeeease!” she begged, shaking her ass at him. He could see a hint of her completely smooth pussy between the curves of her ass and thighs and it was just about enough to drive him out of his mind.

Mankind doesn’t know what it’s missing. Every man should be fucking a bimbo and every woman deserves to be one, he thought feverishly, spreading her legs with a rough motion of his foot. Jenny just moaned, raising her ass a little in anticipation. She was the perfect vision of everything he wanted a woman to be and it was intoxicating realizing that she was purely his creation.

He held her in place by her hips as he settled into place. John had to kick her bag out of his way, the expensive leather purse crumpling in a pile in a corner. She was soaking wet and he could see a drop of her juices rolling down her thigh. His fingers squeezed into the supple flesh of her hips. Slowly, he pushed into her tight pussy. She split around his hard cock with resistance, the girl’s face and chest pressed against the glass. Jenny moaned loudly and

tried to back into him, to get on his pole faster. It was a tight fit, the girl’s slit slowly giving in to his demanding cock. It was just like he had imagined it. A perfect pussy on a perfect woman.

John started grinding into her slowly, Jenny moaning with each stroke as he pushed deeper into her.

“Yesss, thank you, Master! Thank you for letting me have your cock!” she purred, glancing over her shoulder and giving John a lustful look. She looked so impossibly vacant, yet full of need to be fucked. John had to wonder if just about every porn producer out there had some kind of magical capabilities to make the porn starlets look the same way. The thrusts became harder and faster, Jenny’s warm, tight cunt milking John’s cock with feverish desperation. The tiny room was filled with an overwhelming smell of sex and John couldn’t imagine that anyone outside could be at a loss as to what was going on inside. Jenny kept banging her hand against the side of the mirror and moaning and John’s grunts weren’t exactly of the quiet kind.

He could feel the bleached bimbo start to contract around his throbbing cock, Jenny’s whimpers getting louder and more frantic with each passing moment. She had grabbed one of her breasts again and was licking at it, driving herself further into a frenzy. John complied with her wordless need, pounding into her with new force as if trying to split her in half around his hard shaft. Jenny bit her lower lip and looked at him with those big, blue, innocent eyes of hers.

“Master, may I please cum? I want to cum for you so bad, Master,” she said, her voice a breathless whisper as

most of her energy went to keeping herself under control for her Master.

John grinned to himself, almost pulling completely out of her before plunging back in. He leant close to her ear.

“You’re a good little slut. Obedient. Go ahead, cum for me.” As soon as he had said the words, the girl fell into a long, noisy orgasm. She bucked into him and he allowed her to pleasure herself with his cock, her thankful screams filling the air and probably getting quite a few questioning looks from the people outside. It took quite an effort to keep from finishing while she was still going at it, her pussy squeezing and milking him just like he wanted it.

When Jenny had almost fallen limp against the mirror, John pulled away from her. He grabbed her by her lush blonde hair and spun her to face him, the inkling of exhaustion quickly disappearing from her expression when she realized what he wanted from her. The girl giggled happily and got down on her knees, putting her talented mouth around his awaiting cock immediately. John watched her take his dick in her throat on her first go and his whole body flexed. She jerked him off with one hand while her head bobbed up and down, her whole being focused on getting him off.

It didn’t take long until the sensation of her diligent work and the thought of the mindless bimbo sucking on her own pussy juices drove John off the edge. Long thick ropes of cum started spurting into Jenny’s mouth and she smiled, blissfully thankful to be allowed to have his cum. He pulled his cock out of her mouth and guided it to let the rest of his

jizz cover her face and tits. She kept her mouth open, catching an errant droplet every now and then, like the cumbucket he had imagined her to be.

When he was finally done he was treated to a view of a bubbly, busty blonde, covered in white ejaculate, obviously ready to go again.

“Did I do well, Master?”

CHAPTER FOUR

Jenny had been a treat when cleaning up. She had licked most of the cum off her breasts without a command and her pink little tongue seemed to thoroughly enjoy the process. The rest was taken care of with the use of her yellow towel. First, John had let her clean the sweat and her juices off of him and then allowed her to take care of herself.

All of this had been done with a bright, thankful smile.

When John had composed himself enough (Jenny, of course, was ready to do whatever he wanted right away), they had gotten dressed and walked out of the changing room as if nothing had happened. The next person to go in there would be treated with an interesting image of a face and tits mashed into the mirror and errant droplets of cum stuck to the glass.

Jenny was hanging off of his arm, bouncing with each step, as they walked across the beach to reach the sidewalk.

He could see countless questioning glances being thrown at them, each burning with the question of how a twerp like him got a girl like Jenny. It was easy, really. If you couldn’t bag a babe, you just had to make one for yourself.

“Where are we going, Master?” Jenny asked, twirling one of her long strands of hair between her fingers. She kept smiling vacantly at anyone who cast a look at her, sometimes giving a little wave and giggling. It was mindlessly adorable, but not exactly low key. John paused at the question, pondering the query for a moment. His plan

had really only gotten as far as getting another bimbo and fucking her until they were both raw. Not exactly mastermind-level of scheming.

“I’m not sure, Jenny. But I’m sure you’ll do your best to be a good bimbo wherever we go.” She giggled at his words, probably not comprehending much. He didn’t mind.

John just had to hope that this one wouldn’t have a sudden burst of memory after he got bored of her. He really didn’t feel like escaping to yet another state. Life was inexplicably hard for a warlock specializing in bimbo transformations, it seemed. Felt a bit unfair, but at least he had a blonde, willing bimbo to jump at his every command.

That in itself wasn’t half bad.