She had been driving out to meet family when she needed to stop or at least that's what she said when he gave her the room key, Albert remembered. She had seemed like a nice woman, polite, friendly, someone he wouldn't mind giving them a room key. He handed it to her, and he had to laugh when she seemed shocked that it was a literal key.

"Out here we don't have a lot of budget to update. Just be glad the wifi is pretty good." He said all of that with a smile and a laugh. It was pretty normal for most people to react that way.

She took it in good humor and he heard little of her the rest of the night. It was only when he was about to leave the office and turn in at his small ranch house beside the motel that he saw her again. She opened the door to the office with a surprised look on her face. Someone, she had claims, was watching her. Given there were only twenty-eight rooms in the place, it wasn't hard to figure out who it could be. It wasn't like there were neighbors anywhere close enough to be watching.

It was the one who shared a back wall with her. He knocked on the door and told her to wait in her room. Just in case, he had a can of pepper spray and a hidden .38 revolver. If anyone wanted to be stupid he could certainly oblige them. He had dealt with enough criminals and fools over the years.

What he hadn't deal with was a spray of a powerful sedative that knocked him right out. He was unconscious before he hit the ground, and when he next came to, he found himself in the poor woman's room, dressed in her clothes, her body below his aged neck.

He went to the office and found her crying, completely distraught at what had happened to her. He understood her sadness and fear, though he didn't quite share her view of it.

He decided to take a quick walk, talking his old duster with him, at least somewhat shielding his paler body from the sun. As he walked, he wondered how she was doing and if he should go in and comfort her.

He decided against it and sighed. He had no delusions about getting this fixed. He felt for her, he really did, but he couldn't help but realize he had sort of lucked out. He was now much younger, probably healthier, and who cared if he was a woman now? Everything else was better for him. Still, he'd give this back in a second if he could.

He finally decided to go back inside. He wondered who she was doing. Probably the same, he thought, but might as well find out.