Chapter 2. Graham wakes to find some surprising changes.

I woke up feeling surprisingly good, I stretched in the bed and didn't have any of my usual aches and pains that had plagued my waking moments for years. My head felt ticklish and my crotch as well. Idly reaching down to give myself a scratch to relieve the ticking my hands encountered a smooth area of soft silky hair where my penis usually rests.

I sat bolt upright in the bed in sudden panic. A swinging sensation on my chest suddenly registered as uncomfortable. Directly across from my bed I could see a dressing table mirror, looking back at me out of it was a young brunette with a startled expression on her face. I remember hearing her scream as a darkness overcame me.

I came too, I guess it was only a few minutes later, and I carefully avoided looking at the mirror. Turning to the side I heaved myself out of bed.

Sitting at the side of the bed I looked down at myself. Thick cotton pyjamas, not unusual, it was winter after-all. But I've never worn pyjamas with pink rabbits on them before, or with a pair of distinct mounds pushing out the fabric on my chest.

"Ok" I told myself "Think calmly ... how the hell can I think calmly about this! Jesus Christ I've got tits!"

My mind flicked back to last night on the moor, the shooting star, my wish. It couldn't be, could it? I mean that sort of thing just happens in a child's fairy tales. On top of that I am pretty sure I didn't wish to be a woman!

I felt sure if I stripped off and looked at myself in the mirror I would see my old self, I must have been imagining what I saw in the mirror. I closed my eyes tightly and quickly stripped off the pyjamas. Standing in front of the full length mirror on the wardrobe door I opened my eyes.

I am afraid I screamed again, this was beginning to make my throat raw, I needed a drink and I was hungry. I also desperately needed the loo.

I ran to the bathroom absently noting the way my full breasts bounced as I ran, I have to confess it felt good, odd but good. My body hadn't been able to move like that for many many years, if ever.

Standing in front of the toilet I sort of stared down at it for a moment. It was a second or two before it occurred to me I would have to sit for this. Quickly sitting I sighed with relief as a hot jet of urine spurted out of me. As I squeezed out the last drops I reached down to shake of the last few drips and found myself with nothing to shake. I took a moment to wipe off with a piece of tissue and padded back to the bedroom.

Okay, I was a little calmer now and I was no longer in danger of peeing myself. Time to sort out what I looked like. And work out what the hell I was going to do next.

I stood in front of the mirror and forced myself to look calmly at myself. Right, now I had to admit I was impressed.

Long brown hair cascading down over my bare shoulders. I had a nice pair of breasts, I later checked my bra size and found them to be 34C, they hung on my chest well with little trace of sag. Smallish nipples compared to my Maddie's but they looked good on my smaller breasts.

I had a narrow waist with slightly broader hips, between my legs there was a trimmed patch of brown hair but at the moment I didn't feel brave enough to explore any further there. A pair of legs that were maybe just a little thick at the thighs for my size ended at a pair of dainty feet.

Ok lets go back and look at our face, after all that's the bit I have to erm, face the world and look it straight in the eye with. Just as I was about to examine my face there was a knock at the door.

"Hold on a sec." I called. "Be right there."

Shit!

I quickly grabbed my pyjamas and pulled them back on.

Opening the door I found an embarrassed looking guy in a lousy hotel uniform.

"Um, I'm sorry to disturb you miss, but one of the guests reported hearing some one sounding like they were in distress in this room."

"Oh, ahh, sorry, I guess I sort of woke from a bad dream and it took me a while to realise where I was. I guess I'm not used to hotel rooms. Sorry about that."

The guy grinned at me, his gaze travelled slowly up and down my body making me feel uncomfortable.

"That's ok miss, just let us know if there's a problem." With one final leer he left.

Closing the door quickly I lent back on it and breathed deeply. Fancy looking at me like that, what did he think I was, gay or something?

That gave me a pause for thought. I mean, to me I was a guy and the thought of being stared at by another guy sort of upset me. But to the world I was a girl, so if I looked at a girl in the way I used to when I was a man I would be considered a lesbian. So which was being gay?

All I knew for certain was the thought of getting intimate with a man sort of turned my stomach. Don't get me wrong I've never had a problem with gays, I had several gay colleagues working with me at the bank over the years. And as the years went by they became more and more open about it. I honestly couldn't care less, it just wasn't for me that's all.

Now I had to face the thought that I was probably a lesbian.

This may sound stupid but I didn't even have a clue what lesbians did, I couldn't figure out how they made love. I know I sound naive and I was, my only partner knew even less about sex than I did. I wasn't a social person who joined in with ribald chats in the pub or anything like that. I was aware that there was a lot of porn magazines and films about but had never seen one, I wouldn't even have known how to go about getting hold of one even if Maddie or I had been interested.

Shrugging my shoulders I went back to the mirror, after all, that could wait for another day.

Keeping the pyjamas on so that I wouldn't get distracted I looked just at my face, I was quite pretty I guess. I had a nice clear complexion, large brown eyes a small thin nose and a mouth that seemed to be shaped into a permanent smile. I wouldn't win a beauty contest but I surely was pretty.

Turning from the mirror the next problem was who I was going to say I was, I could hardly go up to the post office to draw Graham Pearce's pension.

Searching around the small room I found a handbag under a small pile of clothes on a chair.

Taking it to the bed I tipped the contents on the bed. I couldn't believe how much junk there was in here. I quickly stuffed all the make-up back into the bag, and a couple of foil backed strips of tablets. I thought I knew what they were probably for and couldn't see me needing that sort of protection any time soon.

Small change went back into the bag and a pile of receipts went into the bin. I had three envelopes and a purse left. Looking through the purse I found a driver's license for Linda Pearce. The photo on the driving license was definitely my new face and my registered address was somewhere in Birmingham.

Well onto the letters, the first one was a new credit card in my name and the next from the same bank contained the pin number for the card. Useful. The last took a bit longer to read through. It was a letter from a solicitor inviting me to a meeting at their offices regarding the estate of one Graham Pearce.

I went cold for a second reading about my death, but it suddenly occurred to me that I was probably part of a very select group of people who had managed to live to read of their own death. Graham Pearce may be dead but somehow I was still here, younger fitter and decidedly female but mainly still here.

The letter referred to me as being related to Graham Pearce as I was supposed to be the daughter of his brother Mark Pearce. I had to laugh then, poor Mark was not likely to have sired a daughter, he left his balls along with his legs behind in France in 1944. He came home as a basket case and never recovered, Mark died two years before the new me would have been born.

When I first started reading the letter I had been gripped by a cold certainty that my being here had in some way robbed someone else of their life, that I had sort of taken over another person's body. Now I knew with a sense of relief that this person just didn't exist, somehow she did now and was obviously registered with some authorities as she had a driving licence, but I knew she hadn't existed before my "Death".

So I had to visit a solicitor on, let me see, the 14th April 2006. I had another cold shudder, when I went to bed last night it was mid November 1995 yet this letter was dated 3rd April 2006. I needed to know what today's date was.

I pulled out all the receipts I had just thrown in the bin. One of them was a pre-charge slip for the hotel room dated 13th April, that must have been last night as it was only a reservation for a single night.

Okay so that meant I had to go to the solicitors this morning at um, Eleven. Oh shit I had better get something on and get myself sorted.

Opening the wardrobe I found a backpack sitting there, whoever I was now I didn't unpack last night.

I pulled out the backpack and looked through it. A couple of changes of underwear a pair of jeans and a blouse was all that it held. God this woman travelled light, Maddie would have taken two suitcases for a one night stay in a Holiday Inn.

At the bottom of the backpack was a folded sheet of paper, it looked to be water stained. Opening it up I read another letter.

"Linda

Look hun, I know it hasn't been good for the last couple of months for either of us.

I know we both tried to work it out but it's just isn’t working out. I've met someone else and I want her to move in with me.

I will stay at Jacks until Saturday to give you time to move your stuff out.

I'm sorry it has to end this way. I did try to love you, but you deserve better.

Peter."

The letter was covered in damp patches that I guessed were tear drops. It felt weird that the person I was had cried over this letter but I didn't even know who it was from. The message was enough though, someone was trying to let me know that I had no ties to anyone or anywhere. I had a lovely new body but I was still totally alone.

I must admit I collapsed on the bed and cried tears of self pity, something I would never have done in my former life.

After a while I pulled myself together. I had an appointment to keep. I quickly pulled on one of the clean pairs of panties and struggled like hell to put a bra on. "How the hell do women do this" I found myself thinking as I struggled to do up the catches on the back. I finally got my breasts contained and it felt weird to have my chest squashed into this thing, but at least it stopped them jiggling about every time I moved.

I struggled even more trying to pull on the pair of jeans, god they were tight but I must admit they made my legs look good. Pulling on the blue blouse I found the only pair of shoes to be a small pair of trainers under the chair and quickly put them on.

I looked at myself in the mirror, not bad at all, this could be fun living in this body.

Now make-up, I knew Maddie always had to put her face on before she went out of the house. I pulled all of the make-up back out of the handbag and looked at it without any comprehension. I mean, I knew what all the things were for, vaguely, but didn't have a clue how to put them on.

I decided it would be better to leave it off than to risk putting on a clowns face. I could practice some other time and maybe buy a magazine or two that might give me some tips, Maddie always used to be reading those things.

I threw everything back into the two bags and headed out. I stopped just as I was about to close the door. Shit how was I going to pay for the room, I didn't even know my own signature.

The purse contained two cards one a bank card and one credit card plus there was a new credit card in an envelope. The signatures to my surprise looked to be in my old handwriting just in a different name.

I signed the new card and compared it to the old one, yes it was my handwriting alright so at least I can pay for anything I need for the moment.

Going down to the lobby of the hotel I paid my bill. I tried not to shudder visibly as the guy eyed me up again. I don't think I will ever get used to that. I was so relieved when the credit card went through without a hitch I almost fainted.