We told them that one of us wasn’t feeling well or that we had plans already. It was early, simple lies that gave us a few days to figure out what w...as happening and what we were going to do. But as I laid there staring off into the darkness of our room, I wondered about our life, like what was going to change?It wasn’t an easy question to guess at. I mean, Helen was changing, not just her new addition either, there was something else. We hadn’t really talked about the changes much. (Honestly,. ” she laughed. “Now let’s go!”I pulled right back out and headed to the Walmart 15 minutes down the road. We did our shopping and Hannah did a good job of picking out the stuff she was supposed to and we finally headed back to her apartment. It took another 10 minutes to unpack everything and put it away before I finally plopped down on the couch.“We done now?” I asked. “It’s hot and I want to throw on my sleep shorts.”“Yeah we’re good now. I’m gonna go sit and do some homework” she replied.I. "Squeeze them against this tissue. Now a final bit ofpowder." Just a minute more while I arrange the mirror on the back of the sunvisor. Now you can turn to the front. Open your eyes, and voila!"Looking out at me from the glass was the face of a young woman, neatlybut not extravagantly made up. A grey tam sat on the head and slantedover one ear. I stared at the strange image, too shocked to say a word."Well," asked Carla at last, "do you think anyone will wonder whether tocall you Miss or. His clothes faded from his limbs as the transformation tookeffect. Looking down, he had a blurred image of naked flesh morphingbetween genders. Her clothing flickered back into existence, too fastfor the eye to follow. First the underwear, materializing out ofnowhere; then the dress, running down her hips in a golden wave.Glittering lights swept across her field of vision, blinding hermomentarily -And suddenly, she was standing beneath a grove of Cypress trees,blinking into a cool April.