“What’s wrong?” asked Gene

“I met three alternate selves, but didn’t change anything, and that was my final wish.”

“Final wish?” asked Gene with a confused expression on his face.

“Yeah, I shouldn’t have used up all my wishes trying to change the past. I just want to be a cute girl.”

“You're already a cute girl,” said Gene.

Katie blushed. “Aww, that’s very kind of you, but you know what I mean. I wish I could have a body that was like any other girl.”

“Oh, you should have said that sooner. Have you tried turn-me-into-a-girl dot com?” asked Gene.

“Of course, I clicked the stupid button, but it didn’t do anything. It just told me that I’m already a girl.”

“That’s because you are. Everyone who clicks the button and means it is already a girl, so it’s basically just a no-op. Although we got a lot of complaints from people telling us that what they actually wanted was a girl’s body, so I’ve been working on an update.”

Katie grabbed her phone and opened up a browser. It didn’t take long to find the site, as it was already in her autocomplete history.

“Okay,” began Gene, “now instead of clicking the ‘Turn me into a girl!’ button, you want to scroll down a bit and hit the ‘Give me a girl body!’ button.

A moment later, a very feminine looking Katie was staring at Gene.

“Wow,” said Gene, face flushed. “You were cute before, but now…”

Katie rushed over to the mirror and let out a yelp of excitement. She turned around and wrapped Gene in a tight hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“You’re welcome,” replied Gene, awkwardly wrapping an arm around Katie to return the hug.

The two stayed in the hug for a minute before gently releasing each other.

“So, now that you have yourself a cute body, what next?” asked Gene.

“Ask a cute guy on a date,” replied Katie.

“Anyone in mind?”

Katie smiled and leaned closer to Gene, staring him in the eyes. “Mhmm...”

As Gene finally caught on to what Katie was implying, a surge of panic ran through him.

“What’s wrong?” asked a concerned Katie.

“It’s just…” began Gene. “I don’t think I want to be the guy in the relationship. I wish I were brave like you and could transition to the person that I want to be.”

“Wish granted,” replied Katie, handing Gene her phone.

Gene stared at the button, then closed her eyes and pushed it.

4dsplat

And that's the end! I often find myself wishing that I had transitioned sooner. This story was a way of reminding myself that focussing on what could have been isn't particularly constructive, and that the slow process of eventual realization is important to who I am. (Though if I ever find a way to time travel, I'm totally going back to try and crack that dense egg)