Set amid a protracted war between two small, neighboring countries, the story follows the narrator, who is suddenly conscripted and torn from his peaceful life as a factory worker by day and aspiring novelist by night. Sent to the front lines, he is ordered to rescue civilians, including an old childhood friend who was once a man named John, but now lives as a woman called Marina due to a mysterious global phenomenon that causes body-swaps. When the narrator breaches the house where Marina and her two children are hiding, he confronts conflicting emotions. He once loved the original Marina—now effectively living inside John’s body—and resents that John, stuck in Marina’s body, has become a mother to two children. The narrator’s bitterness clashes with the loyalty and bravery of Marina’s young son, who fiercely defends his “mother” despite knowing she was originally a man. As enemy forces close in, the group flees under gunfire. Marina shields the narrator and the baby from a pistol shot, sustaining a serious wound. In a tense moment, the narrator, refusing to let Marina die, urges her to survive for her children, simultaneously acknowledging her role as both father and mother. The story culminates in a desperate dash to safety, with the narrator vowing to recognize Marina as a true woman—if only she can pull through this harrowing ordeal.