How well do you truly know yourself? Well enough to know how you'll look after touching a trans-stone? Go on. Touch the stone and change your body to match your true self. I dare you.

"What on Earth is that?" I asked, looking at a computer monitor that displayed a montage of images from the observatory's main telescope.

"Very funny, Cara," replied the astronomer, a serious looking older man with a wild white beard and a matching mop of thick white hair on his head. "It's a small asteroid about eight miles across at its widest point, and it's nowhere near Earth. According to all the readings, it's not going to come within a million miles of us either. Don't worry. We're safe."

Or so everyone thought... until it veered towards our planet. People freaked out when that happened. I freaked out.

Either that asteroid was really a space ship that would orbit or gently land on the Earth, or it was going to crash into us. Even if it was a ship that didn't crash into us, it could still be full of hostile alien beings.

We were so screwed.

A week later, after seriously rethinking my hobby, I made the long drive up the mountain to visit the observatory again.

"I thought you said we'd be safe, Archie," I accused the same astronomer. I wasn't ready to give up on life. I didn't want to die in an extinction event, as astronomers called it when an asteroid strikes the Earth and kills off huge numbers of plant and animal life.

The old man looked at me with tired eyes. I wanted to ask if he'd been up all night but resisted asking the obvious.

He tried to answer my question by making a few croaking noises. He sounded awful.

I grabbed his hand and dragged him away from the telescope and over to a tattered olive green couch in what looked like a break room. I made him sit and he slumped down until the back of his neck rested on the back of the couch. Satisfied that he'd stay put for the moment, I had a look around.

There were three vending machines, two for junk food and one for drinks, the ugly old couch and a water cooler, as well as a sink, a loose roll of paper towels on the counter and several cupboards over the sink.

I tried to figure out how I could help him. I didn't have any money for the vending machines so I ripped off a paper towel, wetted it in the sink and placed it on the old man's forehead.

"Close your eyes for a few minutes and rest them," I ordered.

He frowned to show that he didn't like that idea, and he soon took the damp paper towel off his head and started to get up. I gently but firmly pushed him back down.

"Don't worry. I won't let you fall asleep. But you do need a break. You look exhausted."

Archie nodded and relaxed, sliding back down on the couch and closing his eyes like I suggested. I took the towel from his hand and placed it back on his forehead.

After checking the cupboards, I found a small stack of paper cups and filled one with water to give to the old man. He sat up and slowly sipped it at first before realizing how thirsty he was. He guzzled the remainder and held the cup out for more.

I took the empty cup and refilled it three times before he was satiated.

"Amazing what a little water and rest can do for you, isn't it?" I asked him.

He nodded and tried his voice. It actually worked.

"What time is it?" he asked me.

"Don't you have a clock somewhere in all this equipment?"

"He shook his head."

"And no watch," I stated, looking at his empty wrists. "Well, it's ten o'clock, Saturday morning. I'm not usually up so early on the weekend but I couldn't wait to see if you found out anything more about the asteroid."

"Violet," he said.

"Excuse me?"

"It's been named Violet."

Besides some official and hard to remember series of digits and letters, astronomers gave all new asteroids a unique feminine name, and the newest find had been named Violet.

"There's a reason for that name," he wheezed.

I held up my hand. "Save your voice. I don't care what it's called. I just want to know if you can tell if it's a space ship. I decided that I'd rather take my chances with aliens than getting blasted by a huge chunk of rock."

Archie smiled and shook his head.

"There's a good reason. A very good reason...." He coughed and held out his empty cup for me to refill.

I brought him more water and he took a couple quick gulps before continuing.

"The rock is glowing... a faint violet color. Seems to be a static discharge of some sort. Strangest thing I've ever seen."

"Okay," I said. "So what if it is. What does it mean? Are we doomed or not?"

I seriously thought about slapping him. I wanted him to stay focused, at least as focused as any severely sleep-deprived person could be. But all he wanted to talk about was the damn static electricity. I finally left him when he started muttering about having to get up to use the men's room. I certainly wasn't going to help him do that.

Another week, another drive up to the observatory. My curiosity got the better of me after seeing the latest news.

When I went in, the same old relic was hunkered down on his usual perch in front of the computer monitor.

"Is it true? Is Violet following us now? What does that mean? How is it even possible?"

"Slow down, Cara. Slow down. Yes, the asteroid has been spiraling in to match Earth's orbit around the sun, and right now, it's trailing us by about half a million miles."

"So what if it hits us then? It shouldn't do so much damage if it's relative speed is so low, right?"

"Depends on where it hits. If it hits an ocean, all bets are off. Everyone on or near the coast would get wet."

"Very funny, Archie."

He smirked.

"So, old man. How much longer before it catches us?"

"According to the latest estimate since its trajectory became stable, we have another twelve days."

"Too soon to start drinking then?"

"Yeah, Cara. Too soon for that. You might want to think about driving farther inland and finding some higher ground though. We're definitely within reach of a tsunami here in Southern California."

"Need a ride, Archie? I've seen your car and I wouldn't trust it as far as I could throw it."

He laughed. "I just might. But something about that asteroid doesn't smell right. I don't trust it so I'm staying put until the last possible minute. Someone has to monitor it. For posterity." Archie smiled.

"I just might stay too then. You'll need a ride and I'll need someone to talk to after the apocalypse."

Violet surprised everyone once again. When it was within the Moon's orbit, it suddenly broke up into small chunks that ranged in size from a small car to a bus, and every piece continued to glow the same violet color, even after heating up in the atmosphere and falling to Earth. The pieces spread out and evenly covered most of the land masses, including Antarctica and all the larger islands. Only a very few hit water. There was definitely no space ship involved, only rock, but that rock seemed to be guided somehow. It left everyone scratching their heads, even more so after 'first contact' was made.

By first contact, I mean a young ambitious astrophysicist tried to break off a chunk of one of the zillions of large meteorites. As soon as he 'touched Violet' as they like to say now, he immediately started glowing the same violet color as the stone, and his body transformed.

It was a crazy, scary thing to watch. The man looked to be in a lot of pain throughout the experience that started with the skin on his face rippling and the hair on his head all falling out. When his head started expanding, I thought it was going to explode, but it only enlarged to hold a much larger brain. His intelligence increased beyond anyone's ability to measure and he loved it, at least at first. But he soon had trouble relating to us mere mortals. He became a frustrated hermit. He had to invent a totally new notation to handle his new ideas and he scribbled page after page of mathematical equations that only he could understand. Everyone left him alone and went back to studying the real mystery: Violet.

No one wanted to touch Violet after that so the scientists used device after device to monitor and measure everything they could from a distance. But of course it wasn't long before others touched Violet. Not everyone had access to television and radio, but they all had reasonable access to chunks of Violet. The meteorites really were everywhere.

Touching Violet became all the rage after it was discovered that the experience affected everyone differently. There were only a couple other cases of enlarged heads over the months that followed, and one of those seemed to be related more to a large ego than a desire for more brain power. The man literally had a swelled head to go with his massive ego. He didn't become any more intelligent.

Needless to say, the man with the massive ego wasn't happy and that went for about half of those who touched Violet. Half were upset with the way they turned out but half were very happy with their changes. Many people gained exceptional beauty, strength or some other highly desirable quality. Even many criminals and the less humane among us could be happy with their changes. We soon had real live ogres and trolls walking the Earth, gleefully wreaking havoc. They were incredibly strong and just as evil as you can imagine. Thank goodness we also had gentle giants and other more pleasant freaks of nature to restrain the evil super freaks.

It didn't take long to figure out that the asteroid had some kind of strange magical ability to bring out a person's true nature. Most of those who touched Violet remained human. It was only the more extreme personalities who stretched the boundaries of normality. If someone had the personality of a devil, their body changed to become a devil, cloven hooves, horns and all. If someone had the personality of an angel, they became an angel, sometimes even with huge wings that actually allowed them to fly. As long as someone really knew themselves well, they could be sure of a welcome change.

The older and wiser among us benefited the most. They generally knew themselves best and they usually regressed in age to young adult or late teen. Some even became young children, evidently deciding that they needed a do-over in the game of life.

Sadly, touching the stone a second time did nothing for those who didn't turn out well. No one got a second chance at the magic of touching Violet.

I visited Archie at the observatory for several weekends after the meteorites hit. We had fun trying to figure out how Violet worked. The theories flew fast and hard but none could stand up to the idea that it was all just sufficiently advanced technology that appeared to us poor primitive humans as magic. We soon gave up our fun little exercise in futility and thoughts turned to introspection. I could see the gleam in Archie's eyes when he talked about changing. I had no doubt he'd make a wonderful young man.

"What about you, Cara?" Archie asked.

"What about me? I'm not so old or vain that I could use a change yet," I teased.

"But how do you think you'll turn out? Would you be taller? Stronger? Bigger boobs?" He smiled to show he was joking with that last bit.

I playfully slapped his shoulder. "You dirty old man. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"Well... we'd most likely be a lot closer in age," he said with a wink.

I knew where he was going and I have to say I was tempted. If only I could be sure. After all the surgeries I had, I still wasn't satisfied with my body. I still wasn't all woman and I didn't feel completely feminine. What if I'd been male for too many years of my life? What if my true self was as much male as female? Would I turn out intersexed? That wouldn't be so bad, but what if my body turned back to the way it was before I transitioned?

I couldn't handle my mental mirror any longer. I pushed past Archie and ran out of the building to my car, leaving a bewildered astronomer scratching his soon-to-be dark mop of hair on his soon-to-be young man's head.

I drove for over an hour before I pulled over to the side of the road in the middle of nowhere and cried. After the tears would no longer come, I got out of the car to stretch my legs and, without really thinking, I found myself standing in front of one those damned stones. Here it was; the opportunity of a lifetime. Could I do it? Could I touch Violet and become a genetic woman? Was it really that easy?

I took a step forward through the tall grass of the field where the meteorite landed. Then another, and half a third before my knees threatened to buckle. I couldn't do it. I needed more time. I needed to have some serious discussions with myself before I could gather the courage — or certainty — to become my true self. I needed the certainty. I couldn't go through all those surgeries again. I wouldn't!

I walked back to my car and drove away, silently wishing Archie and everyone else on the planet good luck. My change, if it ever happened, would have to wait.

*** The End ***

 © 2012 by Terry Volkirch. This work may not be replicated in whole or in part by any means electronic or otherwise without the express consent of the Author (copyright holder). All Rights Reserved. This is a work of Fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this story are fictional and belong to me. Any resemblance of any part of this story to real people or incidents past, present or future is purely coincidental.