Technology in the future will allow someone whose body becomes badly broken, to have their brain put in the body of someone who becomes brain dead. Find out what happens when a 31 year old man ends up in the body of a 17 year old girl, after he is cryogenically frozen following a motorcycle crash. Mean Girls 3026 Written by Toni Trepasso Edited by Gwen Brown, with my many thanks to her.

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No one ever sees it coming; injury that is. ‘Oh, it can’t happen to me. That only happens to the other guy.’ I’ll admit, I was the same way. Every time I rode my motorcycle, I never gave a second thought to what might happen if someone in a car wasn’t paying attention to me. I never saw myself ending up in a hospital, until it actually happened.

It was a beautiful spring day in upstate New York. I was taking a ride in the Finger Lakes region and was enjoying the scenery, and crispness that was still in the air, as I took my Honda VTX on a tour of the countryside. I never saw the guy who was passing on a double solid line coming at me, until I hit the crest of the rolling hill. Coincidentally, that was also the same time my bike impacted the front of his truck, sending me through the truck’s windshield. I wish I could tell you what happened next, but I don’t know. I was knocked out and have no clue.

Before you ask, yes, I was wearing my helmet. Even when I’ve been in states that don’t require them, I still wear mine. I always explain it like this, ‘My head may be hard, but it’s not harder then the pavement, so I always make sure I have a brain bucket on.'

I woke up in a strange looking room; full of machines and computer screens like none I’d ever seen before. I let my eyes adjust as I kept looking around to try to figure out where I was, and how I got there, that’s when I saw her. She was pretty, in a ‘girl next-door’ sort of way; blond hair and blue eyes, kind of cute, without looking too beautiful to approach. I had no idea who she was, but she was looking around the room just like I was. I quickly realized it was a mirror I was seeing and the girl looking back at me was ME!

“What the fuck?” I said, hoping to bring to the attention of whoever brought me where ever I was, that I was awake. It was then that it dawned on me that the voice I just heard myself speak in wasn’t my own.

It worked. A woman walked in dressed in a doctor’s uniform like you’d see in a bad science-fiction movie about the future. But that wasn’t the part that freaked me out. She looked awfully pale, and her skin didn’t look right. It was almost plastic looking. Either that or she had a REALLY bad makeup artist.

“Ah, good, you’re awake. Right on time.” she told me in a smooth voice that didn’t sound like a computer, so I assumed she was real.

“Where the hell am I lady?” I spat back.

“The more important question you should be asking is when the hell you are? She said with a smirk. “You’re in the year 3026.”

“Yeah, right, quit yanking my chain.”

“Joshua Martin, born December 16, 1976, in Oswego, NY”, she said. “Mother Margaret, father Gerald. You suffered a bad motorcycle crash on April 29, 2008. Your t-2 through c-5 vertebra was crushed. Your parents made the decision to have you cryogenically frozen in hopes that someday we could find a way to either repair your body, or give you a new one.” she told me as she read the pad she was holding in front of her. “As it turns out, we found a perfect donor match with a young lady who recently suffered a severe concussion and was pronounced as brain dead. With the technology and medical advancements over the past thousand years, we were able to transplant your brain into her body.”

“So you mean to tell me that I’ve been frozen for over a thousand years, and the only compatible donor you could find was a girl who was brain dead?” I sighed as I heard my voice again. “That would explain the higher pitch. But I don’t know anything about being a woman.”

“Well I’m afraid you aren’t going to like what I’m about to tell you then,” she told me; as she read the on my face was look of a mix of confusion and anger. “The young lady we put your brain in, was seventeen at the time.”

“Excuse me? I didn’t hear that right.” I said to her with the anger rising to higher levels. “How old is the body I’m in now?”

“Seventeen,” she told me as she looked to double-check her notes; “Ah, sorry, seventeen and a half.”

“I don’t give a fuck if it’s three quarters!” I shouted back. “I’m in the body of a seventeen year old girl! Or didn’t you notice that my brain was in the body of a thirty year old man before?”

“Yes, we did think about this long and hard. But it’s for the best. This body you are in, is a perfect genetic match for your brain. It was the only choice. It was either this, or let her body die, and keep you frozen. The girl's parents agreed to this,” she told me.

“Look, Doc, I’m not sure I can do this,” I told her, and then sighed again. “I really need a cigarette.”

“Actually, I’m not what you’d consider a doctor. I’m a medical android. Back in 2050, there was a high rate of doctor and nursing suicides, so they created my kind to take the emotional response that people face everyday out of the way of what’s best for the patient,” she informed me.

“Great, just my luck, a doctor with apathy; haven’t you ever heard of Patch Adams?” I asked her.

“I am familiar with all of Doctor Adams’ work. Why do you ask?”

“If you show the patient you give a shit about them, they will feel better. What you’re telling me, is your kind just care about treating the symptoms, and to hell with the way I feel.”

“That’s a bit of an over generalization, but I can see your concern,” she told me as her face took on a less stern appearance. “Look, I really don’t know how to answer your questions. I am only programmed to diagnose, treat, and explain. My creators never gave me the program to care,” she said, starting to look sad.

“It’s not your fault. I can tell that you feel bad about not being able to care. But that in itself tells me that you do, on some level.” I said as I held out my hand. “I’m sorry I snapped back there, but I never expected to have to be going through this.”

“It’s not a problem; at least you didn’t get violent. I had one patient try to throw me out a window one day,” she said with a smile.

“Wow,” was all I could think to say. “Uh, did you say the girl whose body I’m in now, her parents asked for you to do this?”

“Well, they just wanted their daughter’s body to go on. They are still here, if you’d like to meet them.”

“I guess I’m going to have to sooner or later. I doubt anyone would believe I’m still the same old me.” I said with a giggle.

The doc–that’s what I’m going to call her–left and came back in with a man and woman who looked to be in their late thirties or early forties. The man was kind of average looking. He had a build on him, like he either worked out, or worked a job that he needed to be in shape for. The woman on the other hand, was a completely different story.

Think back to high school, and the head cheerleader, or perhaps the first time you saw a Playboy Magazine. Tall, I’d have put her at about 6 feet tall, and slender, maybe just over 100 pounds. She had the face of an angel, with smooth skin that didn’t need any makeup, and silky blond hair that she had in a ponytail that came to the middle of her back. I couldn’t really tell any more about her at that point, since she was wearing a sweatshirt and jeans, but the jeans weren’t that baggy, and she appeared to be in pretty good shape.
“These are the people who gave you their daughter’s body.” doc told me. “Mr. and Mrs. Mark and Amanda Smith,” she told me as I held out my hand to them.

Instead of shaking my hand, the woman rushed over and hugged me so tight, I thought my head would pop off. Her husband had to pull her away from me and remind her that the girl they knew wasn’t in this body still. She started to cry, and he held her tight as I rubbed the back of my neck trying to figure out what to say.

“Uh, what was her name?” I asked the group of them standing by my bed

“Amy.”; came the reply from the father.

“That is a Beautiful name.” I said to him as I tried to smile. “Look, I’m not going to try to act like I know what you both are going through. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to loose a child. But for what it’s worth, words can’t begin to express how thankful I am that you both made the choice to do this.”

“Can I ask how old you are?” he asked me as he gently rocked his wife.

“I was thirty one when I had the crash.” I told him. “I got hit on my motorcycle, and was going to be paralyzed from the neck down. That’s when MY parents made the choice to have me frozen.”

“So you’re without anyone too?” he asked, to which I just nodded and started to cry as I came to the realization that everyone I ever knew or cared about was now dead. “And you were a man before right?” to which I just nodded again. “Amanda and I would be honored if you’d come to live with us.”

I didn’t know what to say. I just started crying like a baby right then and found I couldn’t stop. It was as I had my face buried in my hands that I felt two sets of hands on my shoulders and back, that I started to calm down a bit. As I looked up, I saw Mark, and Amanda were holding me, trying to comfort me, like caring parents would a child. I took a deep breath and tried to calm down a bit so I could talk again.

“I’ll be willing to give it a try. But we all need to understand a couple of things. You guys are used to having a teenage daughter around. So I’ll have to make some concessions to the fact that if you act a certain way, or treat me like a child, it’s only because in your eyes, I’m the little girl you’ve spent the past seventeen years raising. Is that fair to assume?” I asked and they both nodded back at me. “Alright, but on the same token, you both need to understand that I have thirty years of memories still in this brain. Thirty years of growing up as a male. And for the last ten years of my life, I was on my own. Working everyday, coming and going as I chose to.” they both nodded again. “If we’re going to make this work, we’re all going to have to cut each other some slack. I’ll do my best to mind the house rules you set down. That’s all I can promise.”

“And in return we’ll try to keep in mind that if you do something that seems a bit odd, it’s because that’s what you’re used to doing.” Amanda told me with a hug.

“Deal.” I told her. “So what should I call you?”

“Wow, that’s a good question.” Mark told me. “It’s not something we’ve really thought about since all this has happened.”

“Then let’s not worry about it right now. We can figure something out later. Right now I’d really like to get out of this hospital gown and into something a bit more comfortable.”

“Right, we have some sweat pants and a t-shirt if you’d like” doc told me.

“Uh, alright, but what do I do about underwear?” I asked as I blushed, coming to the realization that I’d have to wear a bra and panties since girls don’t usually wear boxers.

“We, we brought some of your…I mean Amy’s things from home,” Amanda told me with a blush.

“It’s alright. I understand that when you see me, you still see Amy. I mean, I don’t look like a Josh any more, right?” I asked with a giggle, causing Amanda to do the same. “If it’s alright with you, I kind of like the name Amy.” I said to Amanda, who didn’t say a word. she just pulled me into another head popping hug.

I got dressed and collected the things the hospital had been holding on to for me since my accident. On the ride back to the Smith’s house, I pulled out my wallet and started to cry as I saw the pictures I had of my father and mother. Then I really lost it when I saw the picture of me holding my cousin Jess’ baby on the tank of my motorcycle. He just loved the sound that big v-twin made as I held him like he was my own. It was a look of complete awe and excitement as his mom gave the throttle a couple of twists while his dad took the picture. I was going to surprise him on his birthday the year of my accident with a minibike, but I never got the chance. I guess I was lost in my own thoughts because before I knew it, we were pulling up to a nice house in the same town that I’d grown up in. As I got out, I had a feeling of deja vu. I looked around and though a couple of the houses were gone, I couldn’t forget the block I grew up on.

“What’s the address here?” I asked Mark as he helped me with the box I got from the hospital. He told me and I almost fainted. I was going to live at the same address I’d lived at as a kid.

“What’s wrong?” Amanda asked me, as she caught me from falling.

“This is my house.” I said to her.

“Well, yeah, I guess it is now.”
“No, this is the same address I grew up at as a child.” I explained.

“Wow, small world.” Mark told me as he lead me into the house.

“It’s not the same house, but it’s the same address.” I said as I took my shoes off.

“Actually, this house is on the historical registry. It’s over a thousand years old.” Amanda said.

“Wait a second. Bedrooms on the second floor? And there’s a series of marks on the door jam leading to the room to the right at the top of the stairs?” I asked.

“Yes, how did you know?” Amanda asked me.

“My mom used to mark my height every year when I was growing up.”

“Wow, do you have any pictures of what you used to look like?” Mark asked.

I opened my wallet and pulled out the picture of me and Cam (my cousin Jess’ son) on my motorcycle, then the one of myself getting ready for a pit stop when I was on a racing crew. I had been about Mark’s build, perhaps a bit larger framed, but with all the working out they had us do when I was on the crew, I was pretty fit for my size. I saw both their eyes go wide at first. Having had no real idea what I’d looked like before, and it was kind of funny to watch them looking back at the picture then at me. It was almost like an old Mel Brooks movie skit. The only thing that was missing was a spit take.

“Wow, you were a big boy.” Amanda said with a blush having realized she’d said it out loud.

“Yeah, I guess I was. I played rugby and did the discus on the school track teams when I was in highschool and in college.”

“Where did you study?” Mark asked me.

“SUNY Alfred. I took Mechanical Engineering.” I said with a proud smile.

“No way. So did I.” he smiled back.

“I also was a founding brother of one of the fraternities.” I said again proud of that fact.

“If you tell me Mu Theta I’m going to have to quiz you.”

“Chamaeleon, 21, Thumper, 23, Neon, 11, Mackenzie West, B-3, B-3.” I said smiling. “Shall I continue?”

“What was your name and number?” he asked me.
“Hermes, 9, Spring 1997.”

“Draws, Spring 3006.” he told me. As I was about to ask his house number he cut me off. “We stopped using numbers when the brothers decided it was pointless to try to continue it, since everything up to 300 had been used.”

“Fair enough. I do have a question for you both.” I said looking back and forth between Mark and Amanda. “Do I have to go to school?”

“Unfortunately, the laws on truancy are pretty strict. And since you’re in the body of a 17 year old you will have to go to some sort of school. Be it highschool, or college.” Amanda told me.

“But there is another option.” Mark cut in. “We had been planning on sending Amy to a new school. It’s a bit different then the normal ones. It’s for gifted students.”

“So Amy as you knew her was a brain?” I asked sheepishly.

“Well, her I.Q. was 195.” Amanda told me with a proud smile. “But she never liked to put the effort in at regular school.”

“Yeah, I know that feeling.” I said with a little giggle. “Being bored all day as the teachers try to explain something so the slower kids can grasp it to at least try to be able to use it on the next test. And in the mean time you just sit there and want to jab your pen through your head to make the stupidity stop.”

“That about sums it up.” said Mark. “Amy pretty much told us the same thing. That was why we had her take the test for the new school on the moon.”

“Say that again?” I asked in shock. “The school is WHERE?”

“On the moon; it’s like a city inside that thing. And the students find it relaxing to be able to glance down at the earth from their rooms after class.” Amanda said with a smile.

“You mean to tell me that there is a moon base that has a school on it?” I asked again in shock.

“Yes. Like you’ll learn, much has changed since you’ve been frozen.” Mark told me as he put his hand on my shoulder.

“Uh, so when do I start school?” I asked hoping I’d have some time to get used to this body first.

“In a month, the new term starts and you’ll be entering as a junior.” Amanda said as she too put a hand on my shoulder.

“Well then mom,” I said as I looked at her. “It looks like you’re going to have to give me a crash course in being a girl.”

Hearing me call her mom, Amanda pulled me into a tight hug and kissed the top of my head, then helped me get my box of old things up to my room. She told me that we’d be going out to dinner that night to celebrate the success of the operation, and I’d need to wear a dress. THERE’S SOME GOOD NEWS.

She opened my closet and showed me the fashions she had bought Amy, and to my surprise, the style of dresses hadn’t really changed all that much in the past thousand years. The fabrics were a bit different. They felt lighter weight, yet had higher quality, so I figured they were meant to last longer. I chose a basic black dress to wear since it looked the longest of the bunch and seemed to have the most cover of any of the styles I’d seen in the closet.

“Good choice.” Amanda told me. “I’ve always liked the way that looks on you... I mean Amy.”

“It’s alright mom.” I said with a smile as I tried to get used to calling her mom. “I understand what you mean.”

“Alright, you put that on then come into my room and we’ll do your makeup.” she said with a kiss on the cheek, before she left.

I got to work getting the dress on like I’d seen my girlfriends do back in the day. And to my surprise, it actually wasn’t that hard to do. Even more surprising was how well it fit. It was almost like it was tailor made for this body. I went over to the dresser and looked for a pair of underwear to put on and was taken aback by what I saw. THONGS! They were all thongs in the underwear drawer. I pulled out a pair of cotton black ones with the smallest string for my crack and was met with another surprise. They actually didn’t feel all that bad to wear. I tried to put it out of my head and went across the hall to where my parent’s room had been and found Amanda in the middle of getting dressed herself.

I froze in the doorway as I saw her standing there in noting more then a red lace bra and matching thong. Her body was that of a goddess. That is the only way I can describe it. She had the build of a fitness model, with muscles that weren’t too big, but you could tell she worked out and prided herself on staying in shape. I saw in the mirror that even though she was a mother in her late thirties or early forties, she had a tight, ripped six pack of abs. I couldn’t move. I just stood there mesmerized by the figure of perfection standing before me. She finally saw me looking back at her in the mirror and asked me to zip her up as she pulled on her red dress to match the one I had on. This brought me back to reality as I walked across the room, and pulled her zipper up the middle of her back. It was then that I noticed her dress showed that her back was flawless and the hem of the back opening was at the right height to meet the bottom of her ponytail.

“I take it you’re still getting used to seeing a woman change in front of you.” she said with a smile. “I’m sorry; I forgot to lock my door.”

“It’s alright. I’ll just have to get over it.” I said as I felt myself blush. “If I may add, you have an amazing figure. Maybe we can go for a run in the morning. I used to back in the day, and I found it really helped me clear my head and get ready for the day.”

“Oh honey!” she said as she hugged me again. “I’ve wanted this for so long. I mean.”

“I get it.” I said cutting her off. “Amy never wanted to do that before. It’s alright.”

She just nodded and sat me down at the makeup table. “Alright, let’s just give you a touch of makeup. We don’t want to hide your natural beauty.” she told me as she pulled out a bag of cosmetics.

She went on to put just a touch of pink lip gloss on my lips and just a hint of rouge on my cheeks. Then she had me close my eyes and I felt her brushing something on. When I opened my eyes, she had put on a hint of eye shadow that matched my eyes perfect. Next she started to brush my hair. It felt kind of relaxing to have her do that, and I closed my eyes, letting her do her magic. When I realized she was done, as she shook me gently from my short slumber, I saw that she had braided my hair into a pony tail just like her’s.

“Wow.” was all I could say as I looked at the girl who looked more like a woman sitting there looking back at me in the mirror.

“You like it?” Amanda asked me with a smile.

“Wow. I’d never put my age at seventeen.” I said with a smile back at her in the mirror. “Maybe closer to twenty. But not seventeen. I look beautiful. I feel beautiful.” I said as a chill ran up my spine.

“Are you cold?”

“No, I just came to the realization that I’m a girl; and got a little chill, that’s all. I’ll be fine mom.” I said which caused her to hug me again.

I went down stairs to find Mark already dressed in a classic suit. Again I realized styles hadn’t changed all that much in the past millennia. Mom came down in a pair of shoes that looked about four inches in the heel. She was carrying a pair of black ones in her hand, and handed them to me.

“Here, you forgot shoes.” she said as she gave me the stilettos.

“Uh, I’ve never done this before.” I told her with a sheepish grin.

“It’s alright, just think of it like wearing your running shoes. You walk mostly on the balls of your feet and your toes.”

I did as she asked and put the shoes on. It wasn’t that hard to stand on them, but when I took my first step I nearly fell on my ass. Lucky for me, mom and dad were there to catch me. I got my balance back and started to blush a bit.

“It’s alright dear, just take shorter steps. I find it’s easier to slide one foot in front of the other, kind of like you’re walking a tight rope.” mom told me with a grin.

I just nodded and took a much shorter step in the fashion she suggested. What I noticed at first was it wasn’t that hard to do. Then I realized that walking this way caused my ass to sway like I’d seen in the movies. It always looked like a sexy walk to me, but I was feeling a bit self conscious when I found myself doing it. That is when my inner voice made itself heard.

“Just go with it. The world is going to see you as a girl from now on. You aren’t a thirty year old engineer and racing mechanic anymore. You’re a teenage girl. So you’re going to be going through everything that a normal girl goes through. There’s nothing we can do to change this. So grin and bare it. Don’t make me put us in the psych. ward.”
We got in the car and headed to dinner. Again to my surprise we went to a little Italian place in Oswego, that I’d been to MANY times before. Once seated the waiter took our drink order as we all looked over our menu’s and I of course knew exactly what I wanted to eat.

“I’ll have a glass of water with lemon, and the spaghetti with meat balls, and no dressing on the salad please.” I said handing the waiter my menu with a smile.

I looked over to see Amanda and Mark looking at me with a bit of a puzzled look on their faces and I felt myself start to blush again before Amanda ordered the same thing. Mark got the lasagna, with a glass of red wine, and before I knew it our drinks were at the table.

“I must say. I think I’m going to enjoy having you around Amy.” Amanda told me with a grin. “You never used to get the same thing as I did. I can remember you always telling me that meat is murder.” she then started to blush as she remembered that it was me she was talking to.

“Here’s the way I look at it. God made meat. Man made tofu. Who do you trust?” I said with a giggle. “Of course that doesn’t work when you’re at a party and the cops show up. That’s why I quit drinking, and smoking herb.”

“So you were quite the party animal in college?” Mark asked.

“You never heard the story of what we did to one of the guys who passed out first at alumni weekend?”

“Wait a minute. You’re the same Hermes from the clock tower story?” he asked with a chuckle.

“The one and only.” I said and then saw the look of complete confusion on Amanda’s face. “Back in the day, the first one to pass out at a party who wasn’t in their tent, or in their bed, was fair game to be fucked with. So one night, one of the guys got wrecked, and passed out half in and half out of his tent. The girls all took turns writing on him with paint markers, and then we rolled him into his tent. We figured he needed a lesson on drinking in moderation, so we loaded him in the bed of my truck and drove him back to campus. Still buck naked, but in his tent. We took all his clothes and put the tent on the platform under the clock tower on campus.” I told her as I watched her shock turn to amusement. “The next morning about 7am, a couple of the cell phones went off. One of the guys was talking with the head of public safety, and the guy in the tent was on the phone to one of the other guys. I of course got the blame since we’d used my truck, and they had it on video. So they made me take a urine test and a blood test. The judge made me go to counseling and I gave up the booze and pot.”

“Wow, so we won’t have to worry about you when you go to parties.” Mark said.

“Nope, I’m usually the DD. But then again, I usually piss people off more doing that then when I would get drunk.” I said with a giggle.

“How’s that?” Amanda asked me.

“I take the long way home, and stop at every gas station on the way. I make everyone in the car pony up $5 at every stop and usually end up with $100-$200 a night.”

“That’s evil.” she said with a giggle. “Funny, but evil.”

“If I have to stay sober while all my friends get hammered. Someone’s paying me if I’m driving.” I said with a wink. “Ass, gas, or grass. No one rides for free.”

Our meal arrived and it was just like I’d remembered it. Good thing that in all these years the restaurant hadn’t changed the sauce that was made from a family recipe. All in all it was a good meal. I even got the chance to introduce my new mom and dad to the joy of a cannoli. So it was back to the house to relax a bit before bed. Amanda and I chatted about everything she’d have to teach me about being a girl. The most important would be walking and talking. But we’d have a whole month to work on it, before I’d be on my own on the moon. The only issue of the night came when I reached for her pack of cigarettes when she was having one. I simply lit it and took a long relaxing drag on it, only to see the look of shock on her face as I blew out the smoke.

“Uh, don’t you think you’re a bit young to be smoking.” she asked me.
“Oops, sorry, it’s just I haven’t had one in a while and I usually have one to relax me before bed.”

“I’m sorry, it’s just I saw you do that, and all I see when I look at you is the sweet girl I gave birth to.” she said as she looked sad.

“No, it’s me who should be sorry. I never gave it a thought about how you see me.” I said ashing out the butt in one hand while I took her hand in my other. “I’m sorry. I’ll try to give it up, to make things easier on us all. Besides. I doubt they’ll let me smoke on the moon.”

She hugged me tight and before I knew it, I was ready for bed. Noting really new there, just a pair of shorts and a t-shirt to sleep in and I was off I dream land in no time. I woke up the next day like I’d always did at around 5am, and found a pair of running shoes that looked like they’d never been used. A quick search of the dresser, gave me a pair of shorts, and a sports bra with the tag still on it. I got dressed and realized that puberty was going to be hell for the next couple of years. I looked at my figure in the mirror and saw that while not fat, there was some room for improvement. When I got to my chest, I noticed for the first time that there were nice round orange sized breasts on my chest. While not big by any means, they did look nice on my thin body, and if from what I’d seen back in the day from the girls I’d dated held true, if I took after Amanda, I’d be dragging small melons around by the time I was done growing. I put the thought out of my head and went to the box they’d given me at the hospital to get my MP3 player.

I find it’s easier to pound out the miles with something upbeat to drive you along. So my choice was the Dropkick Murphy’s, Flogging Molly, and the Tossers. I put my head phones on and as I started my stretching I looked up to see Amanda in a similar outfit to my own. She looked at me funny and I saw her lips moving but all I heard was the music. So I pulled out one of the ear buds and asked her to repeat herself.

“I said, what is that on your arm?”

“Oh this, it’s my MP3 player. It’s a portable music player. You have those here, don’t you?”

“Yes, but our’s are just a single ear piece. That thing looks ancient.” she said with a giggle.

“It is. Remember I’m from the turn of the millennia of 2008.” I said with a giggle of my own. “And besides. I doubt anyone here would know of the bands I used to listen to.”

“Let me have a listen.” she said as she pulled the dangling ear bud to her own ear. I watched her start to bob her head to the music and smile a bit. “You know, I could get used to this new stuff.”

“New? That was what those of us in the know listened to back in 2008.” I said with a giggle.

“Right, sorry, it’s just I’ve never heard it before. So it’s new to me.”

“Come on mom, lets get this over with.” I said as I finished my stretching and walked down the driveway to the street.

We took it easy for a block or two then started to pick up the pace a bit. Not that fast, but enough to get the heart really pumping. I used to do a five mile run in the morning before heading to work, and then a couple of times a week I’d go to a pick up game of rugby with a team from Syracuse. So as you can imagine it came as a shock to me that only after a mile or so, I was spent. But I trudged on and some how made it back to the house. Panting and gasping for breath as I walked the final couple of blocks for a cool down. But I still made it.

“Holy crap.” I said panting hard to Amanda. “Did your daughter EVER work out?”

“Her idea of exercise was going to the mall with her friends.”

“I can see I’ve got my work cut out then.” I said making my way to the house for a drink of water.

“Don’t worry, it’ll get easier.” she said as she took a drink too.

“It’s kind of disheartening. I used to do five miles in the morning every day. And I was ready to drop after only a mile or so today.” I said between slow sips of water. “I’m going to whip this body in to the best shape it’s ever been in I can tell you that.” I said with a confident smile. “But first I need a shower.”

Mom, smiled and nodded as she showed me the bathroom that was in the new part of the house. I did my thing after she showed me where the towels and soaps were. I figured out how to get my hair out of the pony tail and made sure I washed it thoroughly, before turning my attention to the rest of my new body. I found that certain parts caused me to get a bit of a chill as I soaped up. I forced myself to push the thoughts out of my mind, so I could finish.

Once I was done, I dried off and put on a clean shirt and pair of shorts. The brushing of my hair was a bit more difficult then I would have thought it was. Every time I tried to pull the brush through, I’d hit a snarl. So after a couple of attempts, I gave up and went to find mom. She was in the kitchen and upon seeing me she cracked up laughing.

“You look like a drowned rat dear. Let me help you with your hair.” she said ushering me back into the bathroom. “You have to brush this out as soon as you get out of the shower or else you won’t be able to do anything with it.”

“I tried, but kept hitting snarls, so I gave up.”

She just nodded and had me sit down while she brushed my hair out. To my pleasant surprise, she didn’t hit too many snags and I was brushed out and ready to let my hair dry. I took this chance while she finished making breakfast to talk to her about what I’d felt in the shower.

“Um, mom, can I ask you a strange question?”

“Ask me anything. I’m here to help.”

“Ok, I don’t know how to put this, so I’m just going to say it.” I said then paused to take a deep breath. “When I was washing up, I noticed that when I’d wash different parts of my body, I’d get a tingle. Not a bad feeling mind you, but it forced me to stop and have to collect my thoughts before continuing to wash.”

“Oh. Well I guess you found out about the joys of being a woman. You see, we have parts of our bodies that just a touch will feel good; almost pleasurable sexually. It can be a blessing and a curse at times.” she said with a smile. “You see. You’ll have to be careful that you don’t let those feelings overtake your mind, or else you’ll never get anything done.”

“Oh. I guess I was just used to the combination to that sort of thing with my old body.” I said blushing.

“You’re becoming a woman now. So you’ll need to take care.” she started but I cut her off.

“I know, don’t have unprotected sex.” I said with a smirk. “The last thing I want is to get pregnant.”

“It’s not just that. You’ll have to learn basic hygiene as well, or else you can end up with some nasty infections in places where you don’t want to have them.”

“I don’t follow you mom.” I said confused.

“Like when you pee. You need to make sure you wash that area out well and dry it thoroughly.” she said in a serious tone.

“So no more shake, shake, tuck?” I asked with a giggle.

“This is serious young lady. You want to end up with a yeast infection, or how about toxic shock?”

“What the hell are those?”

“A yeast infection happens when your privates aren’t clean. It can itch worse then poison oak, and you’ll stink like rotting fish.” she said in a cold tone that made a chill run up my body. “And toxic shock is when you don’t keep clean when you have your monthly visitor. That can be dangerous. So you’ll have to make sure that you always keep a clean tampon with you just in case.”

“I don’t feel so good.” I said as I started to feel sick, just thinking about everything I’d have to remember now that I was going to be a woman.

“We’ll get through this. I know it’s hard to hear, but every woman goes through the same thing. It’s just a matter of attention to detail, and making sure you stay clean down there.” she told me as she hugged me tight. And just from the hug I did feel a little better.

I don’t know if it’s just knowing that someone cares about me, or if it’s a natural reaction for the body I’m in, but every time Amanda hugs me, I feel a bit better, no matter what’s going on. It just feels good to get a hug. Something I hadn’t had in a while, before my accident. This is going to be an experience to say the least. But I’ve never backed down from a challenge before; I sure as hell ain’t gonna start now.

TO BE CONTINUED.