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It wasn’t a scene I would have believed really. At least not before I somehow trashed a hotel room. The sirens still seemed to be unending, now blending into the background noise of a city which should have been in the midst of just another dull Tuesday morning. Instead it was just chaos. Melbourne usually advertised itself as a ‘cool’ city, but it certainly wasn’t keeping it’s cool now.

I stepped back, shaking my head to try to clear it. Inside was a jumble of questions mixed with panic and anxiety which bore a surprising resemblance to the state of my hotel room. What I needed right now was to have a shower and try to wash all the debris and sweat off of myself. I found that, once I moved the arm of a cheap armchair out of the way, the bathroom seemed relatively untouched. To my delight it seemed as though the water was still running too.

It was only once I had shut the bathroom door and turned the squeaky taps of the shower that I stopped to process things. My body was different. Two things were immediately noticeable to me. One; my boobs were slightly larger (or at least less small) than they were yesterday. And two; the conspicuous bulge that had haunted my panties previously was gone. I gasped in surprise, but more in delight than shock. Nothing felt wrong, and I had been saving up for surgery anyway. 

I tentatively pulled my panties down and stood in front of the mirror. My jaw dropped and I gasped loudly. I definitely didn’t have a dick anymore, instead I could feel the soft heat of my vulva. I smiled with that and let out a little vindictive giggle of celebration, admiring how smooth my pelvis appeared now. What surprised me though, was the other changes I could see. It appeared the blue that I had seen earlier hadn’t just been some strange energy. The girl I looked at in the mirror had powder blue hair that waved softly down her back. It shimmered and almost glowed slightly. 

That wasn’t all. My face (or at least the face of the girl I looked at in the mirror) had softened. My features seemed more delicate, with high cheekbones and a dainty chin. No longer did I have a bold straight nose. Instead it was smaller and had a soft curve to it. Most striking of all though were my eyes. I had always had strong blue eyes, they were the only thing I had been complimented on back when I so foolishly thought I was a boy. Now though, now they were deep and my irises seemed to swirl and move as though some great cyclone lay dormant in them. 

Hot water ran over my body. I stood like that for a long time, just letting it run all over me. Washing away the stress and anxiety the past 24 hours had brought me. I quickly discovered that my body had changed in other ways I hadn’t noticed as much. My waist felt thinner and the skin on my legs didn’t seem anywhere near as irritated as it usually got a day after shaving. A slow sigh of relief escaped my lips. My skin became red and splotchy from the heat but I relished it. 

My soothing shower was soon interrupted however. The hot water started to become cooler. In the space of seconds it felt as though I was being pelted with ice. I shivered and moved to turn the water off and get out of the shower, accompanied by a squealing chant of “fuckfuckfuck thats COLD”. Breathless after my narrow escape, I wrapped myself in hotel towels and glared at the showerhead. When I turned back I noticed my eyes shining through the steam on the mirror. They seemed more alive now. They had a soft glow while those stormy colours swirled around as if awoken from some terrible slumber.

I was transfixed for a moment and then burst out laughing. I could feel tears softly running down my face as I did. But I laughed on. It was a laugh of relief; a reaction to the absurd situation in which I found myself. At the terror I had faced this morning and knew I would have to face later, and the joy and euphoria I felt with my new body. I stayed like this for some time, slumping to the floor and continuing to giggle uncontrollably.

It hadn’t been hard to decide what to wear today. It seemed that my little incident this morning had sent most of my wardrobe out the window following the TV, most of what was left seemed to have been mercilessly snagged and torn against the broken furniture. Looking at the rags strewn around I really had to question myself. What were you planning to use this stuff for Mia? You came here for a house inspection. I managed to find my favourite bralette; a lacy black one that looked super cute. It needed some adjustment but I managed to fit into it pretty comfortably. I found some panties with ease, black of course. I smirked to myself confidently. Matching my underwear always gave me a sense of confidence, even when everything else had gone to shit. 

Fortunately my shorts from yesterday had survived, along with a white tank top. It was when it came to shoes that I had an issue. They were there alright, but when I slid my feet into my black canvas sneakers they felt larger than they used to. I only hoped I wouldn’t slip out of them. It seemed like most of what I had brought was useless now, and I didn’t really want to carry two bags, or stay here. I slung my handbag across my body and marched out of the room as confidently as I could, shutting the door quickly behind me.

                       


 

I must have spent ages showering in the remains of my room, because outside it seemed that things had calmed down a little bit. Entirely relative I know, but the sirens were only coming from one direction now. The cars that hadn’t been completely wrecked seemed to be dispersing, in that very special way selfish drivers do where they end up blocking everything up later on to merge back from driving like a fucking idiot on the footpath.

My phone had no service, clearly something had knocked out the internet and at least a few phone towers. I allowed myself a wry smile, It wouldn’t really take much though. It certainly made things harder for me though, having no map. My phone had managed to charge overnight so I at least had power, and an address. I really only had the vaguest idea of where that was though. Would Jennifer even want to help me? Would she even recognise me as the girl she had contacted online? What if I was just walking into a trap? I was filled with anxiety and trepidation making my way down the road. 

Melbourne was pretty similar to Sydney in a lot of ways. It still felt like a sprawling concrete jungle, it just had trams in it too. It was also heating up very quickly now. I hated the heat.

Being near the city centre helped my sense of direction a little bit. I was fairly sure that if I kept walking up (apparently my mind works like a 2D map sometimes) then I would eventually get close to the suburb at least. The streets were fairly empty where I was. I assumed everyone had either tried to run home or were taking shelter in their offices. It was only when I got closer to Melbourne uni that I saw commotion starting.

One of the old buildings looked as though someone had blown a hole in the side. There was a crowd of rowdy people in their early twenties standing around and looking at some guy with no shirt on jumping all around the building like a kangaroo on a pogo stick. In fact he may have actually had a kangaroo’s tail. It seemed as though half of them had already started drinking. They didn’t seem to be causing trouble right now but I definitely didn’t want to stick around to find out. At least it isn’t just me who’s changed, I mused to myself. Even so I could feel the eyes of several of them leering at me as I lingered. I moved hurriedly past them, my heart rate rising, determined just to keep walking.

It was after I left the uni behind that I really started to get worried. I could still hear sirens in the distance, and though the cars had thinned out, everyone I passed still seemed incredibly shaken. Then I heard voices coming from the laneway to my left. 

“I haven’t done anything! I just want to go home!” sobbed a small voice. Whoever they were, they were surrounded. Navy clad threatening looking people in body armour stood around whoever was crying. They had AFP in bright blue across their backs. Several of them had assault rifles trained at their target. I crept a little closer, hoping they were focused ahead. I was scared out of my wits but my curiosity was too strong. Standing with their backs against an old wooden fence were a small child, and a weedy man in a Pakistan Cricket jersey - who I assumed was their father - next to them, holding their hand tightly. They didn’t look like an ordinary child though. Their arms seemed covered in black feathers, and it seemed like they had a red beak where their mouth should have been.

“PUT YOUR HANDS UP SLOWLY, TURN AROUND, AND FACE THE WALL!” yelled one of the men in blue. I could feel myself trembling, and choked back tears that wanted to mirror those running down the kid’s cheeks. I wanted to do something, but all I could do was try to slip away unnoticed. 

I stormed forward, blindly pushing myself back to my initial goal. I was so upset. So scared and so angry. My tears came unbidden and I couldn’t stop them. I was fucking helpless and I did nothing while the fucking riot squad seemed intent on terrorising some poor kid. Why couldn’t I have helped? Why didn’t I say something? I should have done something! Soon I felt rain hitting me and mixing with the salty tears from my eyes.

 


 

My feet hurt. I felt like I had been walking all day, and I suppose that I had. The wind had picked up considerably and my hair whipped my cheeks and blew across my eyes. I was still seething. Just absolutely livid at myself for not being brave enough to stop and help. And at the Australian Federal Police for doing such a thing. Was a kid with feathers really that dangerous? Or had they taken their policing policies from the likes of One Nation?

I could hear thunder beginning to roll in and hurried forward. I had to start checking street names now. I knew the house was around here somewhere. Along with my fury and my fear, my apprehension about what to do when I found the house had been slowly rising as I got closer. What would I do if she didn’t let me in? I didn’t really have anywhere else to go.

I stumbled on. Up one street and down another. All the houses looked the same, seeming to blend into each other. My clothes were drenched and I was chilled to the bone. My fingers were ice, and stubbornly refused to respond to my directions. The miserable grey skies overhead rumbled and flashed hot with the occasional blink of lightning. Still I went on. I was sure I was close.

Eventually I found the place, wiping the steady rain off of my phone to double check I had the right number. It was one of those fairly new apartment buildings where the architects decided that using several different colours of brick made their buildings look interesting or something. It ended up just looking odd, but I was relieved to see it this time.

My stomach flipped and churned in response to all sorts of anxious thoughts that ran through my mind. Shutting my eyes tight, I tried to focus myself and eventually my short, staggered breathing became more steady. I swallowed hard and pressed the intercom by the door, hurriedly wiping away my hair and the mixture of tears and rain that clung to my skin.

“Ummm, Hi. This is Mia. I was supposed to come and inspect the house today. Is Jennifer there?” I was met with silence. I pressed the button again. My mind had run through so many different ways for this to go, silence hadn’t been one of them. I was panicking, and the storm broke overhead. Lightning flickered and was immediately followed by a huge crack as thunder seemed to break the air. Fresh tears were running down my face, though I could barely feel them.

“Jennifer, please. I know you don’t have to, but please let me in. The last day or so has been really fucked up and…” I choked on my words, sobbing. “And I don’t have anywhere else to go. Please!” My knees buckled and I gave into my weeping. The storm seemed to close in on me. It was so loud, and so close. 

“Mia?” said a soft voice, from behind a crack in the door. I looked up at the soft brown eye that peeked out from behind it. 

“Jennifer? I’m sorry you have to see me like this, and that I don’t look like I did when we talked online.” I lost myself again in the babbling, barely seeing through the tears that kept streaming from my eyes. “I just woke up this morning. Like this. And then I like blew up my hotel room or something, and…” My tirade was cut short as a shadow seemed to engulf my sight. Jennifer’s arms wrapped around me and she held me tight. Her warmth started to cut through the cold of the rain, and the numbness I felt from all my stress today.

We stayed like that for a long time, I just sobbed into her shoulder until I felt faint. Jennifer held me and stroked the back of my head, making soft soothing noises. She smelled warm and cosy, maybe with a hint of cinnamon? It seemed as though the storm had cleared up while I sat crying, and when I looked up a gorgeous pink sunset framed the face of my comforter.

I let out a little “eek!” in excitement. Jennifer was even prettier than her picture had suggested to me, but what really stood out was her dark little nose and the small, elliptical furry ears. They were the same colour as the rest of her smooth dark skin, but they just made her look so much cuter. I knew exactly who she reminded me of.

“Umm… you have really cute ears” she blushed and I bit my lip, hoping I hadn’t hit a sore spot. I wondered how else she had changed. It can’t have been easy on her, she was doing her best to hide it but I could see her eyes were still puffy and red.

“You have a storm on your head” she retorted, causing me to panic in confusion. I tried to reach up and touch it and though I could feel some kind of energy around my head, I had no idea what it was.

Jennifer laughed, stood up, and then helped me off the ground. I gave her a thankful smile.

“I’m Jennifer Tiggy, nice to meet you” She grinned at me and then grabbed me by the hand. “Come on, I’ll show you around. Don’t worry, you can stay tonight. My housemate fucked off this morning when she saw that I had become some kind of… well I changed a bit.” I tilted my head in confusion and she gave a shrug.

“It’s a whole thing” She replied simply, and lead me inside.

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