“Oh come on” Steve said into his now dead headset. The power in his apartment just went out, cutting his Xbox connection and effectively ending his game and his Saturday afternoon. “What the hell?”
Steve looked out the window and saw the traffic accident that took out the telephone pole at the corner; sparks flew from the downed transformer while an unknown substance leaked out onto the concrete. “Well: it doesn’t look like I’m going to have an internet connection or electricity tonight” he said as he sat back down on the couch.
“Hey what happened to the lights?” Steve’s roommate Mark said as he walked in.
Steve looked up “Goddamn Wizard exploded in our microwave again”
Mark stopped “Uh…I thought you pissed off the internet Fairy and she took it to the next level”
Steve stood up “Car accident took out the pole…you must’ve just missed it” he said pointing to the window.
Mark peeked out “Ouch…hope no one got hurt” and he put the boxes that were in his arms down on their kitchen table.
“What the hell man? Were you out going to stupid yard sales again” Steve asked shaking his head. Mark had a habit of spending his Saturday mornings going around buying things from yard sales; most were harmless, but it kept the amount of clutter in their apartment as an ever growing monster.
“Yeah” Mark said sheepishly “But check this stuff out man…vintage potato peeler”
“We don’t make anything with potatoes”
“Uh…Bee Gees 8 Track” Mark said holding it up.
With a complete deadpan look Steve replied “Dude, what the fuck?”
Mark just laughed “Okay; now this will come in handy today”
Steve looked at what Mark was holding now and said “A board game…really”
“Not just any board game…Livin La Vida Loca: Marriage Edition” he said with a wave of his hands.
“Dude: Seriously. What the hell are you doing to me? You want me to spend a Saturday afternoon playing a cheesy ass board game with you?” Steve said with the deepest head shake possible.
“Come on…what else do you have to do today?” Mark said as he opened the box and took out the instructions. He set them aside and unfolded the board.
Steve looked at the board: There were two staring positions; one with the symbol of a man at the bottom right and one with the woman symbol at the bottom left. Paths went off from each of them but eventually they intersected with the other path.
Mark set out three stacks of cards, one was pink, one was blue and the third was yellow. He dropped a single die on the board and started to read while saying “I go first since it’s my game”
“I am not playing a stupid marriage board game with you Mark” Steve said again.
Mark looked up and with a smile on his face “Have a sense of humor man…seriously; what else are we going to do to pass the time”
Steve sat down and crossed his arms. “I can’t believe I am actually going to play this” he dropped his head in mock shame. “So is this game even allowed in this state…I don’t think two guys are allowed to play that here?”
Mark smiled and said “According to the rules…only two people can play at one time: one has to be the man and one has to be the woman” he picked up the blue marker and placed it at the bottom right starting box. “Since I called it…I get to be the guy…sweetie” he said as he flipped the pink piece to Steve.
Steve looked down at the pink game piece in his hand. He sighed and shook his head “Now I have to play as the woman too…”
Mark missed the comment though. When he had put down his piece, he felt a slight jolt. He cocked his head slightly and felt a slight queasiness in his stomach. He didn’t realize it, but underneath his shirt, his muscle tone had just improved and he had grown a few inches up to 6’1”. He coughed and the feeling passed.
Steve licked his lips and giving in to his roommates desire to play the game, he placed the pink game piece at the woman’s starting spot on the bottom left.
As the piece touched the feminine symbol, Steve got the strangest feeling. His arms went numb, his mouth started to water and he felt a tingling at the base of his neck. The tingling sensation radiated outward and he slowly stood up in confusion. “What’s going on? Something doesn’t feel right” he said with a bit of panic in his voice.
Steve pushed his chair back with the backs of his legs and took a full step back from the table. He hadn’t been expecting to go out that day, so he was only dressed in a pair of baggy black shorts and an old t-shirt. As he stepped back, he moved from the tile floor of the kitchen to the carpet in the living room.
Steve stood ramrod straight and perfectly motionless; panic was setting in, he had never felt anything so weird and freaky in his life. Even though he knew he wasn’t moving, he still sensed motion. He was staring at Mark, but his view was changing. He was getting closer to Mark’s height, even though Mark had remained seated. “Oh my God! Am I Shrinking?” Steve yelled and looked down to the floor. Sure enough the floor was getting closer as he was dropping in height from his original 6’ down to just 5’2”.
“AH” he yelled in a voice that was rising in pitch “What the hell is going on Mark?” he added.
Mark stood up and looked down at his now smaller roommate “I don’t know” he said with a shrug.
“Help me!” Steve pleaded “You have to help me”
“Uh” was all Mark managed.
“Oh God” Steve said “Look at my foot” pointing his toes out and placing them back on the tile. “Why are my toenails painted red? And why is my foot so small?”
Their eyes met and all Mark could do was shake his head and raise his shoulders.
Steve’s hands slapped at his legs. His legs had already gotten shorter but now they were changing even further. All of Steve’s body hair was disappearing and his smooth legs were rounding off and becoming quite attractive and feminine. Steve’s eyes widened as his hips flared outward and soon took his rear end with them. His hands grasped at the expanding flesh and squeezed the mass behind him.
“No. No…this is not happening…Oh…” he said as his right hand slid around to the front of his shorts. His penis was rapidly retreating into his body. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no…AH…it’s gone” he said in a much higher voice. His left hand now pulled out the waistband of his shorts and he screamed again at the sight of his now smooth female anatomy.
Anger flashed in Steve’s eyes “Why is this happening to me?” His waist came inward as well as his stomach, leaving a soft but flat front. “If this is because you said I had to play as the girl in that stupid game…I will fucking…”
He stopped as he realized what was happening to his body “…I will…” his hands went to the front of his t-shirt. His nipples had puffed out and become very sensitive and just the slightest brush up against the shirt made his knees buckle slightly. “…I…” Mass began to fill in and his breasts began to grow. More and more weight built up in Steve’s chest. He took them into his hands as they filled in and as they finally stopped growing at 36C he said in a slow and soft voice “I actually have breasts”
He looked up to see that Mark was still watching him change. He couldn’t see the changes occurring to his face, but he could feel them and saw that Mark was watching them; fascinated.
“What?” he asked in his now fully female voice “What do I look like?” Steve took off down the hall towards the bathroom mirror as fast as his short legs could take him. He flipped the dead light switch out of habit but even in the dimness of the room he could still make out the changes to his face.
His hand rode over his now smooth cheek. It seemed more pronounced and his nose was definitely smaller. His eyes were wider and his eyebrows darker and thinner. His ears were smaller and his mouth and lips fuller. He flipped his now long brown hair off his shoulders to behind him and let it cascade down his back.
In shock, Steve took a single step out of the bathroom. He turned toward the game and stared at it at the end of the hall.
“This is your fault!” she yelled and began to stomp down the hall. Her tiny feet and lack of size didn’t make her footfalls sound very heavy. She brushed past Mark at shoulder height and picked up the pink piece from the game board. She turned and threw it across the room where it bounced off the wall and landed on the ground. She stalked towards it and stepped on it while yelling “Change me back! I don’t want to be a girl”
Mark came over and put his hands on her shoulders “Come on…relax” he said.
“Relax!? How in the world am I supposed to relax? I want to change back into myself! I’m not a girl…I’m a guy! This isn’t supposed to be like this. How do I change back? Is that in your stupid instructions?”
Mark took a step back “Uh…no…no it’s not. But I think we have to play the game if you ever want to change back.
“So…I have to win to change back?”
“I don’t know if you have to win, but if a game can change your gender and body like that; I say we should finish it out”
“What kind of game is this thing?” She said as she picked up the pink game piece. Nothing was wrong with it for its journey, but now the name Stephanie was written on it.
Mark picked up the blue piece and saw his own name on it. “Let’s…let’s start this game”
Stephanie walked gingerly over to the table and took her seat. She shifted several times before she got comfortable. The extra cushion she now had took some getting used to and she was slightly embarrassed by how her feet lifted off the floor when she scooted all the way back in the chair.
“Okay…so the first thing is in this game you roll and either do what’s on the board space or you take a card if the space says take a card”
“Easy enough” Stephanie said.
Mark picked up the die and let it go “Four; graduate High school with honors” he said reading the board space, feeling a bit smarter.
Stephanie picked up the die and threw it “Three: graduate high school” she smirked and added “Okay”
Mark took his next turn “Six” he moved his piece “College and draw a card” he picked up the top blue card “Big man on Campus…Fraternity President” he said nodding approvingly.
Behind him on the shelf a new picture appeared though neither one noticed it. It was a picture of Mark standing in front of a house with Greek letters on the top. Mark was in the middle of about 30 guys.
Stephanie picked up the die and rolled “Two” as she moved her piece up two spots “Take a year off before collage and travel around Europe…Okay I guess” she said.
Stephanie tilted her head though as she sat back in her chair. Thoughts of Paris and Dublin flooded into her mind…Oktoberfest in Berlin…a small home in Hungary…a restaurant in Italy. “What the fuck” she said out loud as she stood back up. “What is this game? It’s messing with my head now as well as my body!”
“What?” Mark asked innocently.
“What? I land on a space about travelling through Europe and thoughts rush into my head about all these places I’ve never been to but yet seem very realistic to me”
“Just calm down” Mark said soothing her. “We have to play it out Stephanie”
“Don’t call me that” she snapped as a picture of Stephanie in Piccadilly Square materialized on the shelf in a nice frame.
Mark picked up the die and rolled again “Take a card…Law school” he said and he briefly shook his head as three years of legal study filled his mind and a law school diploma appeared framed on his bedroom wall.
Stephanie barely rolled the die in her disgust and outright trepidation. “Four…collage…great”
Mark rolled again and landed on another take a card “Successful in career; start looking to settle down: Move to Green Spot” He moved his piece and smiled.
Stephanie glared at him “How can you be so happy playing this stupid thing” she said as she took the die and dropped it. “Five…take a card” She picked up a pink card that said “High school teaching career is going good: Move to Green Spot”. She picked up the pink piece and dropped it on the green place on the board before she read the writing there: You are now Married.
Stephanie’s shoulders slumped and she shook her head thinking “Well the name of the stupid thing is Marriage Edition so I guess…” her thought though was interrupted by a feeling. Stephanie felt something on her left ring finger…something was there that wasn’t there before. She brought her finger up from the board and screamed “Jesus Christ I’m wearing a wedding ring!”
She tried to pull it off, but it was a snug fit. “Come on…come off you son of a…” she struggled. As she fought her finger she happened to glance across the table; there on Mark’s finger was a matching gold band. “NO!”
Stephanie stood up and slammed her hands down on the table “This can’t be happening. I am not a woman. I am not married to you!”
Mark stood up; he wanted to comfort her but knew it wasn’t the thing to do at that moment. He turned his back to her and said “Uh…whoa” as he looked across the room at the wall.
What had been a bare wall now had a large picture on it…a wedding picture. Mark recognized himself standing there in a tuxedo with his hands on the hips of his bride standing in front of him. It was who he now knew as Stephanie. She was much shorter than him and she looked very happy in the picture with a wide smile and radiant green eyes in her beautiful wedding dress.
Stephanie was now just crying with her head down on the table.
Mark sat back down and picked up the die. “Don’t you dare do it” Stephanie said in a monotone “I am not playing anymore. I don’t want to play anymore”
“We have to” was all Mark said as he dropped the die. He moved both of their pieces now three spaces ahead; he swallowed hard at the writing on the board. “Um…Steph”
She didn’t raise her head.
“Um…Steph…you need to see where we landed” he said slowly.
Stephanie reluctantly raised her head up “Why” she said sarcastically. Her eyes moved to where the pieces sat “Oh shit” she said.
Her hands went to her sides as a definite tightness started to develop there. “Uhnnnn” she moaned as the pressure built in her mid-section.
Mark looked at Stephanie and then back to the board, then back to Stephanie as she started to take a few very quick and short breaths as her hands rested on her lower abdomen. With a bit of resentment, a bit of acceptance and a lot of anger in her eyes she said “Do something you son of a…AH…” she gritted her teeth as her stomach began to rise; slowly at first and it formed into a small bump.
Stephanie shifted in her seat and now sat perched on the edge with her heels pulled up on to the bottom rung of the chair. Her stomach continued to grow larger and larger. Her hips spread outward even further and her bottom spread as well. She felt an ache in her lower back and in her knees and ankles to go along with the one in her sides and front.
Her hands hovered over her expanding body as it stopped at around six months pregnant.
Finally she lowered her small hands onto her stomach and she gave it a gentle rubbing. As her hands worked over the taut skin, Mark looked on anxiously.
Stephanie’s eyes were closed and they remained so for several minutes. She got up and silently waddled down the hall to the bathroom. She eased herself down to sit and she took a deep breath. The world was swirling for her at that moment. Thoughts raced through her mind, everything was garbled to her and she felt dizzy.
She dropped her chin down to her chest and thought “I am St…Marcus; no Marcus was my maiden name. Stephanie Adams: High School English teacher at St. Mary’s…married for 11 months to my husband Mark…wait…NO! Mark is not my husband he is my roommate” Her eyes popped open but she blinked a few times “Wait…I…I’m” she shook her head in despair. She looked at the shower curtain before her…it was a green floral pattern, but it had been plain white that morning, she was sure of it. But then again, she wasn’t sure of anything right then. Stephanie pressed her palms against her temples.
Mark stood by the table and absent mindedly picked up the die. “Five…take a card” He picked it up and read it “Move to big house in the suburbs…apartment life is no life for a baby”
Mark dropped the card on the table and closed his eyes.
Stephanie became aware that the lights were now on in her bathroom. “Finally” she mumbled and stood up using the wall to steady herself. She walked to the double sink and washed her hands, feeling the coldness of her wedding ring against her slightly swollen finger.
She gave a weary smile to the reflection in the mirror while flipping her hair back off her shoulder. “My face looks puffy” she said to herself. She came out of the master bathroom and into her bedroom. She straightened one of their wedding pictures that was hanging askew on the wall next to the King sized bed. She adjusted to elastic waistband of her husband’s baggy black shorts over her swollen belly and pulled down his old t-shirt as well. She took comfort in wearing his clothes when she lounged around the house as her pregnancy advanced. “Fancy clothes and uncomfortable shoes can wait until Monday at school” she thought as she made her way down the hall and past her husband’s office. She glanced in at the stacks of papers on his wide desk. “He’ll make partner in no time” she thought.
Stephanie now paused at the next door. She peeked into the freshly painted room. Mark had just finished the purple and white walls last night since they had found out it was a girl they were expecting just last Tuesday. He still needed to assemble the crib, but it was there along with the rest of the new furniture.
She made her way down the steps and she walked through the living room and then through the kitchen and into the dining room, Mark looked up and said “Are we going to finish this game or what? It’s your turn”
Stephanie gave her husband a sly smile “Seriously…I still don’t know why we own Livin La Vida Loca: Marriage Edition anyway…this is such a stupid game” she finished with a laugh as she plopped into the chair and adjusted herself to get comfortable.
“Um…I think the word you’re looking for is awesome game” he said.
“Yeah; sure” she said as she picked up the die and let it go “Come on six…Six” she yelled. She tapped the pink piece across the last six spots on the board and dropped it on the spot marked Happily Ever After. She stuck out her tongue “I win”
Mark sank down in his seat and just smiled.