The next morning I had a bit of a headache. I went to the bathroom and took some of my sister’s pain medication. For some reason, they came in a little foil pack with individual pills labeled with different days. Strange!

I showered, using Sarah’s body wash because I was out. As I applied it to my skin I felt a strange tingling! I checked the label to see that it had a special exfoliating formula.

Then I couldn’t find any clean clothes to change into in my dresser. I went to check the dryer, only to see that it had caught on fire! All my clothes were ruined. What would I wear?

“Mom, can I wear some of Sarah’s clothes while she’s off at college? All of mine are dirty or burned!”

“What? No! And your dresser is empty because I packed it. Did you forget about our annual trip to the lake?”

I had completely forgotten that this was a three day weekend! Hooray, I’d get to see my lake friends that I only saw once a year.

When we arrived at the cabin, I realized that I had accidentally brought the wrong suitcase. It was full of my sister’s spare clothes! How embarrassing!

“Well, I guess I’ll just have to dress like a girl.”

My mom winced. “You always forget something. I made sure to pack some spare clothes for you in my bag.”

Thank god! What would my friends have thought? Would they even have recognized me? What if they thought I was a girl?

Finally I saw my friend David. His family lived far but we always saw each other this one weekend. I was impressed. He had really grown since last year! I had to tear my eyes away from his shirtless body. If I was a girl, I would probably be really into him!

“Hey, man!” David said excitedly. “I bought this weird thing online I wanted to try out on you!”

Sure, why not? David produced a strange, flesh-tone rubbery suit from his luggage. What could it possibly be? As I unfurled it, I realized it looked like a human torso, with some areas heavily padded.

“What IS this?! Is this a bodysuit? Is it going to turn me into a girl?”

David looked at me as if I had gone insane. “No, it’s like a super good swimsuit. Supposed to make you really aquadynamic. I would wear it but it’s too small for me.”

After swimming, David and I met up with some friends to play some Liches and Lagoons. Nerdy, I know, but fun!

“Aw man, why did I get stuck playing a girl character? Well, I guess I’ll just have to try to get into character.” I started leaning forward toward David and batting my eyelashes. “Hey there handsome.”

“Um,” Gary, our DM, said. “You can just change the gender on the sheet. It doesn’t affect anything mechanically.” What a relief!

In our game, we found a strange amulet with a pink stone hidden in a secret chest. All the other players shouted “No!” as I decided to put it on.

“Suddenly,” Gary narrated, “You find yourself transforming! Your body becomes pink, thin, and hairless, as all over you start to shrink.”

I waited with bated breath. I think I knew where this was going! Oh dread! Changed from a big strong warrior into a helpless maiden.

“That’s right,” Gary concluded. “You have found the fabled Amulet of the Naked Mole Rat!”
All the players complained as one as Gary took my character sheet.

Back at the cabin, I accidentally tripped on a floor board! Prying it up, I found an old book full of mysterious symbols, unlike any writing I had ever seen!

As I started taking it to my room, my Mom walked by. “Oh, hey. So THAT’S where my old sheet music went.”

I went to my room and decided to play some music on my phone. The track that played was ambient and oddly soothing. If I listened closely, it almost felt like I could hear voices in the background whispering to me.

I found my eyes slowly, irresistibly closing, as I drifted off to sleep.

The next morning I woke up with the music still playing. Checking my phone, I saw it was “Chill beats to study/relax to ASMR.” Must be some kind of strange code!

Feeling bored, I logged onto the ancient desktop computer left at the cabin in case my dad had to work. I stumbled upon a program I didn’t recognize, called “Control Panel,” that presented an array of options to modify and command! Could I change anything with this?!

After messing around with it for about an hour, I realized I had changed the desktop background, AND the default cursor image! Such power!

Later Mom and I drove into town to go browse through the little touristy shops. In one store window I saw a golden necklace with cryptic symbols that strangely drew me. As my mom was distracted, I crept into the shop and grabbed it from its pedestal!

Suddenly, the necklace started to glow, as I heard a voice say, “You’ll regret touching that, young man!” An old woman came out of the shop and said, “You turned on its flashlight function! Now the battery is going to get low.”

I ran, afraid I would be arrested for shoplifting. The police were after me! How could I hide?

I found myself on a side street and darted into the nearest building, a hair salon.

“How can I help you, sweetie?” asked the receptionist.

“I—uh—need a hair cut! I need to look different, fast!”

“Uh, ok. We’re booked for today but we have an opening tomorrow at three? Would that work?”

I didn’t have time for this. I darted out of the salon, grabbing a wig off a manikin head as I left.

I tried to put the wig on my head while sprinting but it immediately fell off and down into a storm drain. Oh well! Just then, I almost ran right into my mom!

“What on earth are you doing?!” she yelled. “You need to learn to respect these women. Young man, you’re grounded. And I’m going to have to find a way to punish you.”

“Oh, no!” I begged. “Please don’t force me to dress up like a girl! It’s too humiliating! I’ve learned my lesson.”

“No,” my mom said grimly. “I’m going to confiscate your phone!” Oh no! This was far worse than anything I could have imagined.

Stuck in my room in the cabin, I sat glumly on my bed. For once, I had nothing to do except sit there and think.

Lately my life had been so uneventful. Every time I thought something interesting might be about to happen I was disappointed! I was feel kind of down now, honestly.

Well, I resolved. I would just have to make my own life interesting!

“Hey Mom,” I said, after creeping downstairs.

“You’re still grounded!”

“No, that’s not—I need to tell you something.”

“Yes?” she said, sitting down after she picked up on my serious tone, and patting the couch next to her.

“I think I… I think I might be trans.”