In the year 2000, something happened in a small city within the dead center of Oregon. A ground zero of sorts. In hushed tones, people call it the day the world whimpered. In some places, it’s illegal to talk about it publicly. In others, soothsayers still walk to the streets preaching about this being a beginning of an end.

I’m traveling by bus from Portland to the California Redwoods, the boondocks in the middle of nowhere. I’ve got a backpack filled with everything of importance to me. I'm wearing a military watch, an olive windbreaker, gray shirt, girl’s dark blue denim pants from Walmart, and pink-orange gum-soled converse.

Whatever happened 60 years ago changed the world. And there’s no going back. For the most part, people just want to forget about it and move on. You could call the whole day a build up. Since the 1980s, people have been born with genetic mutations… Most people thought there was something coming.

The bus is electric, like all vehicles nowadays. You can’t even hear it running when it comes to stops, but the ride is still a bouncy one.

They—the people of 2000’s North America—just didn’t know what form it’d take, but it seems so simple now. Most combustion stopped working, namely the combustion that makes cars and guns work. I bet when the sky fell on the day the world whimpered that the military industrial complex wasn’t too happy about it.

I take a sip of coffee from Dutchbros, I got it the last layover. They call it a Cocomo and I call it so sweet it’ll surely rot my teeth. I’ve been traveling for 16 hours by now and had two stops along the way.

One thing is certain, whatever happened in that fateful town, North America has never been the same. Especially after aberrations appeared to haunt us.

The bus comes to a sudden stop, the driver yelling back at me, “this is Duckwood Drive!”

I get up, making sure I’m not missing anything.

“Do you know where you’re going from here, lady?”

I’m still getting used to being recognized as a girl, so it takes a few seconds to register in my head.

“To a certain extent, thank you.”

“Take care of yourself, this is hillbilly country.”

I want to tell him, not on this road, I want to tell him I’d like to see a hillbilly assault me, but I simply nodded once at him. He winks. I can’t decipher what the wink means, and I’d rather he’d have left it like that. Actually, I’d rather he left it at nothing.

I step off the bus and look both ways while crossing the two lane road. A curvy, windy road that is easy to get lost on. Or lost in. It’s about 10 degrees cooler when you're surrounded by these huge, majestic redwoods.

It is its own unique ecosystem, found only here in California. I take a deep breath. You can almost smell the ocean from here, it’s only 15 minutes away.

I start walking. It’s a private road, all dirt, speckled with thick black oaks with moss growing on them. It’s refreshing to be back, I’ve spent many a family gathering on this land.

It’s about a mile, maybe a bit less, to the end of the road. There at the very end lies my destination. My Uncle James’ property.

This road is a windy one, too. It goes past the first property at the very start of the road, which looks like a barn. Then it goes up and up over a hill, taking its sweet time all the while, past another one of the properties on the right with a farm fence.

Rich people from the bay area own these houses almost exclusively. They come up on the weekends to get away from the hustle. But none of the houses are what one might call impressive—they’re all simple houses.

I like it that way, personally.

I get up over the hill on a strait, an open field on my right with a decrypted, decaying barn that badly needs something done with it. On the right is a house with a metal gated fence going around it.

After that, it rises up once more. I’m on top of the hill and it's a steady walk downwards onto this fork in the road. I remember the road on the right takes me where I want to go, the middle would go to another house, and finally, the left will take me on a long walk through the redwoods that circle to the back of James’ property.

I take the right. I get a little nervous and excited as I get closer, I haven’t seen James in a long while.

The road turns to gravel around here. Goes into a gully, and there’s another strait that lines a large property on the right. You can’t see it through the privacy trees. Then a sudden turn downwards, like a spiral almost, that flattens outs and goes around another house on the left. I’d never seen a house there before, but what can I expect?

Not everything stays exactly the same, not with father time turning the clock.

It’s a straight shot once I get around the fence bordering this property, only a small rise and then dip in my sights.

The next strait over that dip is the longest stretch, it’s a five minute walk.

The second to last house is on the right, they’ve got six or so goats that run away at the sight of me.

Finally, the end of the road is in sight. My destination. Blocked by a green gate that looks like it’s had better days. I look up, all you can see are Redwoods towering up in the distance. Feels nostalgic.

The gate isn’t locked, so I open it up enough to let myself in and call out, “James!”

This property is the biggest one on the road, probably 40 acres in total, and he could be anywhere.

There are a few campers and trailers lining the top of this road. Those are new. I decide to knock on the door of the closest one—the best looking one—a big blue and white fifth wheel.

I hear someone get up inside the trailer and the door swings open, revealing my Uncle, beaming bright like usual. He’s gone gray, but he has the same length ponytail in a braid.

“Morgan!” He practically yells.

“James!” I smile back.

“Wow… so you really did turn into a girl, huh? What an affliction to get!” He looks me up and down, saying, “it suits you, somehow.”

I blush a bit. “I never was the most masculine when I was a man…”

“So, how do you get rid of it?”

“That’s what I need to figure out.”

“Well, welcome to my land. It’s been in the Ulrich line for generations, as you know, and one day it might be yours.”

“Thank you, James.”

He shook his head. “No need to thank me, it’s good to have you here. It’s been so long! What, six years since I’ve last seen you?”

“Yeah, I just wish it had been under better circumstances.”

“Any circumstance is a good one to come visit!” James stepped off the trailer, patting my back. “Let me show you around, there’s a few other people living here.”

“Let’s see ‘em,” I said, following him on a road down to my left. I saw right away where he was taking us, a rusted motorhome on a rare piece of flat ground, just 50 or so feet below his trailer.

He knocked on the door of it. Nothing stirred inside.

“Ed lives here… Ed is a gentle giant, a real local, but it looks like he isn’t here right now. Let me introduce you to Audrey, she’s actually your cousin from France.”

“Oh, neat,” I said.

I knew we had family in France, but it surprised me that they would be visiting. As far as I knew, most of our roots come from Germany. Hints my last name, Ulrich.

But I wasn’t about to question him. He took me in, after all.

We walked further down the road, deeper into the redwoods, and took a turn on the road to the right. A small camper came into view.

James knocked on the door… Again, no answer.

“I know they're both here… Well, let me show you the property, eh? Hopefully, we run into them on the way.”

We followed the road across and down. The whole property was sloped like this, it’s probably a good workout. I saw a large cactus planted on the side of the road. It was about as tall as me and wide as three barrels. We kept walking and came to a fence with potted plants inside of it.

“This is my garden,” James said.

“You always did have a green thumb.”

“And some things never change, yeah.” He laughed, James seemed to always be laughing. “Oh, there she is.”

She was sitting in a chair, facing away from me. She had dirty blonde hair in a crown of braids, wearing short green shorts and a light sweater. She looked up at us when we got close, she had been reading a book.

“Bonjour,” she said in a soft voice. “You must be Morgan?” Her accent was enduring and enticing.

She stood up and bookmarked her page, coming up and giving me a hug. She smelt like flowers.

“I hear you’re Audrey, it’s nice to meet you,” I said in an embrace.

“Oui, it’s my pleasure.” She smiled, “James told me you used to be a boy?”

I looked at James. He shrugged.

“It’s a long story,” I said. “I was afflicted.”

She cutely raised a hand to her mouth. “Oh no! I’ve heard about these afflictions. Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine. It wasn’t a violent kind.”

“Oh, that’s good!”

I didn’t particularly want to broach the subject for two reason. One, I didn’t want to talk about my affliction with a perfect stranger, even if she was related.

Two, Uncle James had been attacked by a violent affliction in his younger years. It was why he had a prosthetic arm in the first place… although with his long sleeve shirt it was hard to tell. I had almost completely forgotten.

“You’re going to share a room with her, by the way. At least until I can sort out a permanent place for you,” James said standing behind me.

Audrey grabbed my hand in hers. “We’ll have so much fun together!”

She seemed excited, at least.

That makes one of us…

I smiled back at her and nodded.

“Audrey, why don’t you show him around?” James says, “I’m kinda busy right now, there’s a football game on and the generators running.”

Audrey seems enthusiastic. “Yes, I’d love to.”

She’s still holding my hand, and I don’t quite know what to do…

She grabs my hand and turns, towing me with her down a trail leading gradually down. Water tanks are placed incrementally through the forest, and I remember that these specific redwoods were hand planted a long time ago by the previous owners. You can tell because they’re perfectly spaced between each other.

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Audrey stops by an icebox near the garden and grabs two beers from it, handing me one and cracking hers open with one hand, then taking a drink.

“Santé,” she says, raising her can. “It means, ‘health.’”

I crack open the beer, take a drink and raise my can to hers, saying, “santé.” I try to replicate her accent, but it fails.

I could get used to this bubbly girl—but doesn’t something seem off? Something I can’t quite put my finger on.

She giggles, in that way that only cute girls can, and starts down the trail again. She gestures for me to come with. I feel a tingle over my body, watching her shapely butt and thick thighs walk away from me. I start walking after her.

“Hey, Audrey, are we close cousins?”

“Not at all!” She said loudly in her soft, soothing voice. “We’re very distant, I don’t even know how many times removed.”

“What’s France like? Where are you from?”

“I come from Northern France, near Normandy. Very historical place, usually foggy, like here in the mornings!”

“Does that remind you of home?”

“Oh, Ed!” She yelled as best as she could, coming to a stop and waving her spare hand—I looked to where she was looking.

There was a man carrying a handful of two by fours, a towering, lumbering type of man… No pun intended. He dropped what he was carrying in a pile of various woods, drywall, concrete bags, and other building materials, then turned to us.

I took a big drink of beer, getting ready to be social.

His rumbling voice came to me first. “Hello, Audrey! Who’s this with you?”

Audrey grabbed my hand again and led me down a path to Ed through the trees, who was standing on a spot that was even and level, sort of like a knoll. A road ran through the middle of it and went even further down.

“Ed, this is Morgan. He—I mean, she—will be staying with us for a while.”

“You any good at building, young lady?” Ed said to me with a gentle smile on his masculine, bearded face.

“I know a thing or two about building a house, actually, yeah.”

He let out a low rumble of a chuckle, saying, “you can help us then. All this is to build a small cabin for guests. That must be you?”

I nodded. “Must be me then. I’d love to help.”

“I’m going to show him the rest of the property! Bye, Ed!” Audrey waved bye and turned down the road.

“Wait—could I actually drop off some of my things first? I’ve been traveling for 16 hours…”

“Oh cher! I didn’t realize, you must be tired!”

= = =

I dropped my backpack down in the little camper. It has enough room for two small beds on either end, there’s a cooler that runs on kerosene, cabinets, a mirror, and a sink… it’s a nice little camper, for sure. And I’ll be sharing it with Audrey, who’s sitting on the other bed.

I finish my beer off with back to back glugs and lay down in the bed.

“You still drink like a man,” Audrey laughed. “What do you have to do to… become a man again?”

“No idea, this all happened yesterday. I’m still scared to even look at my own boobs,” I laughed, looking down at my now modest chest.

“Oh, don’t be! I think you’re quite…” Audrey trailed off. “Belle.”

Even I knew that meant beautiful. I blushed and covered my face with my hands, looking at Audrey. She seemed sincere.

“Really?”

In response, she grabbed her breasts and squeezed them together, saying, “Great assets, eh?”

I pointed my thumb at myself. “Me?”

“Oui! You’ve got a great body,” Audrey giggled. “You’ve gotta take care of yourself, as a dame now. I can help!” She clapped her hands together in resolve. “You can use my skincare products, I’ll show you how to use them!”

So cute… I thought to myself.

Well, there was something I needed help with…

“I do actually need some help, on a girl matter…”

“Yes?” Her eyes were gleaming with anticipation.

“I need—uh, a bra. My damn nipples keep chafing…”

“Oh! I can help!” She reached the end of her bed and shuffled through a suitcase, then threw something at me. “Try that on! I’ll help you put it on.”

It was a lacy black bra. I blushed and lowered my head, inspecting it. The tag said it was for cup size c… I had no idea what my breasts even looked like yet!

“Go on,” Audrey encouraged me. “We’re both girls.”

Furiously blushing, I took off my windbreaker and shirt at once, trying to cover my chest at the same time, and failing.

“Ohh—” Audrey said in the corner. “Maybe it won’t fit?” She stood up and walked over to me. “Bend over like this.” She demonstrated, doing a bow. “And bring the bra up. Do you want help?”

I nodded, feeling a little dizzy after seeing my new assets and not my normal flat chest, and turned around, putting my arms up for her. She grabbed the bra, reached over, lifted the bra over my breasts and up, then pulled the strap back around my back and clasped it.

“There, now turn around and let me see.”

I did. She tilted her head, “How does it feel?”

“Tight…”

“Well, it’s supposed to be tight. Hm—” She grabbed my breasts and wiggled them around. I thought I was going to faint, and I felt something strange at the touch.

“I think it fits! We’re the same size, Morgan!” She smiled, a beaming smile.

“I was hoping I could get away without a bra, but I guess not…”

“Your nipples will show then, and it feels weird when people look.”

“I guess you're right… Could you show me where the bathroom is? I gotta pi—pee.”

“Oh, I’ve got to go, too. I’ll show you the outhouse.”

I put on my shirt and felt my breasts… they were definitely snug now, and looked way bigger than before. More pronounced. Bras are weird…

Audrey opened the door to the camper and got out, I followed close behind as we went down a trail into a small clearing on the slope with a shack in the middle of it.

“This is it?”

“Oui,” she walked right in and kept the door open. I guess that means she’s waiting for me? “Come in, come in,” she said.

Why do girls go to the bathroom together… Is this peer pressure I’m feeling right now? I go in and close the door.

She pulls down her shorts right in front of me and I see her lacy pink thong.

I advert my eyes… Oh jeez, I can hear her peeing. With the door closed, only an opaque window is letting a small amount of light in.

“How do you think you’ll get rid of the affliction, Morgan?”

“Well, it turned me into a girl, so it must be something only a girl could do… But that’s about as far as I’ve gotten, and I have no idea what it could be.”

“How do you figure it out?” I could hear her grab the toilet paper. I really had to pee now, all at once. It felt like my bladder might explode!

“Libraries, the internet, or a specialist. We’ll see—” I was holding my legs together, trying not to pee myself.

I’m a grown man, for fucks sake! Don’t pee your pants!

“Audrey, I’m gonna pee my pants! Do girls have smaller bladders or something?!”

“Hold on—”

I ran out to the back of the building and pulled down my pants and boxers all at once, squatting down and doing my business.

I let out a huge sigh—relief. Finally, I looked down, hearing a dripping sound—

“Oh my god!” I yelled.

The stream had been too intense, and got all over my denim anyways!

“Fuck!”

Audrey came around the corner and handed me some toilet paper—but there was no hiding my mistake. My pants were soaked, and would definitely smell now.

I felt like I could cry. “Do you have something I can change into, Audrey? This was the only pair of pants I bought, all my men's clothes don’t fit me…”

Audreys' arms were akimbo, standing over me. “I do. You should know women do have smaller bladders. You need to be more aware of your needs so this doesn’t happen.”

“Duly noted,” I said, wiping myself. I pulled up my pants, they were wet and uncomfortable.

“Just go into the bathroom, that way nobody sees your mistake,” she laughed. “I’ll be right back.”

“Wait—you don’t think I’m some sort of dumbass for peeing myself, right?”

She shook her head. “It’s perfectly understandable, you’re getting used to your new body. And… I think I like you, anyway…” She left on that note, sprinting up to the camper.

I waddled over to the front of the bathroom and left the door cracked open, taking off my pants and boxers.

“What a body I found myself with—wait, did she say she liked me?”

Maybe it was just a translation error?

I heard Audrey running back, she opened the door and stepped in, handing me some fabric… It was a purple skirt and a thong.

“I… can’t wear this,” I objected, shaking my head.

“It’s all I’ve got that's clean right now,” she said. “You’re a woman now, embrace it. You’ll look so cute in that!”

“I don’t wanna be cute…” I grunted, frustrated. “Fine, and thank you…”

“You’re welcome.”

I put on the thong, it was lacy and black, it just barely fit on me, pretty tight as well. I got up and seamed the lines, but I felt Audrey’s gaze on me. I looked up at her face, and she nodded with approval.

“You look good in my underwear,” she giggled. “We’ll have to go clothes shopping!”

I put on the skirt next, but was struggling… Audrey came up and helped me zip it up, and put it where it was supposed to be, tucking in my baggy gray shirt into the hem.

“You look good!”

“I feel like some sort of despicable fool…”

“No, really.” Then she leaned in and kissed my cheek. I thought in that low light that I could see her blush, but I couldn’t be sure. I was certainly blushing, her lips were so soft on my cheek…

It felt like I was feeling something for her, more than I would for a complete stranger. But never mind that.

“Let’s get a beer,” I said.

“The campfire should be going on right now! Come sit with me!” She grabbed my hand and led me out of the outhouse, up the hill, near the rusted motorhome to a blazing campfire where we took a seat.

The skirt was certainly breezy... I looked down, it was a mid length skirt, thankfully. Not one of those short skirts, thank god. I’d have been too embarrassed to show my face otherwise.

James, with his long white hair and wizard's beard, was there already. He was whittling on a piece of wood with a knife.

“Nice change of clothes, haha!” James laughed. “What happened to your jeans?”

“Oh, I insisted she tries on my clothes,” Audrey said, saving me from coming up with a lame excuse. “Doesn’t she look cute!”

“He—er, she?—Well, you definitely have the body of a woman now. But it should be temporary, right, Morgan?”

I was flustered but nodded. “Yeah, it better be temporary…”

We took our seats at the campfire. Audrey leaned in and whispered in my ear.

“He can see your panties.”

I shut my legs right up, getting red in the face and fiddling with the hem of the skirt… Girls sure had a lot to think about…

I looked up to the west, where the sun was setting right now. It was a beautiful orange sunset coming through the trees, with rays of sunlight beaming between the branches. It would be dark in about an hour.

Audrey got up and left, saying, “I’m getting beers, do you want one too, James?”

“Yes, please,” he said.

She walked off and I looked at her leaving. She really did have a nice bottom half.

“So, Morgan. How’s Portland treating you, besides the whole affliction?”

“Good. I have a few good friends there now, after three years of being there. I’ve got a job as an assistant at a supernatural specialist place. Everything’s peachy, until this happened.”

“They couldn’t help you there with your affliction?”

“They don’t specialize in dream afflictions because usually they go away by themselves. I hope mine has a resolution.”

“I know a thing or two about afflictions, try me. What attacked you?”

Audrey came back and handed James a beer, then handed me mine.

I cracked it open.

“It was a frog. A normal ‘ol frog.”

James stopped whittling and looked up at me. “Are you certain?”

I crossed my legs and leaned in. “Yes, do you know anything about them?”

“I’ve heard about it… Frogs are symbols of fertility, and you became a woman from it… can you connect the dots?”

My mind raced, as it did exactly that…

“Are you saying… What I think you’re saying?”

“I’m just guessing here. You should look it up, I can take you to the library the day after tomorrow.”

“What’s going on?” Audrey asked.

“We’re just speculating here, about Morgan’s condition—”

“What he’s saying, Audrey,” I said, putting it bluntly. “Is that I might have to give birth…”

“Maybe,” James said. “Let’s not think about it, for now it’ll only cause you stress.”

There was a pause of silence from us, only interrupted by the crackling of the campfire.

“I do have some other news, Morgan. Your father bought property on this road, he comes every weekend from San Fran. You should go see him, as much as you probably don’t want to.”

“He did, really? Which place?”

“The one on the corner of this road, just across the hill.”

That was the formerly abandoned place I saw…

It was Tuesday today, so that gave me time to mentally prepare myself for a visit with him, and I had no excuse to not see him now that I knew…

“I know he’s a difficult person, but you really should pay him a visit.”

“I know, I was just thinking that…” I took a drink of beer, ice cold lager. Not my favorite. but I wasn’t picky about free beer.

“Who knows, it might be good. You haven’t seen him in how long?”

“Four years. The last time I saw him he said I was like a zombie,” I laughed. “That’s always good to hear from your Dad.”

“I’ll go with you, Morgan. Power in numbers, right?” Audrey said.

Audrey sure was quick to pick up. I actually didn’t mind if she came, and my Dad would be a relative to her as well, however distant.

“That actually sounds really good,” I could hear my own reedyl now somewhat feminine voice when I said that, and it felt so strange to hear. “Thank you.”

I bite my nails. What was he going to say about me being a woman… Would he even recognize me?

“Don’t worry, I told him about your affliction. I mean, I already talked to him about why you were staying with me. So he’ll be expecting it.”

“Oh… good.”

Very good, actually. I took a chug of beer and felt drowsiness sink in.

“Well, guys. It’s been a long day for me, so I’m going to hit the hay.”

“Hit the hay…” Audrey repeated. “What’s that mean?”

“He’s going to sleep,” James explained. “Goodnight, Morgan.”

“Bonsoir, Morgan!”

= = =