Mistaken Identity

Downtown - Sheridan, Wyoming

Finlay's heart skipped a beat as Lydia initiated taking hold of his arm and he watched her write her number on it. His fingers tingled where she had touched them. He returned her smile with a warm one of his own.

Finlay nodded, a sense of anticipation building within him. "Absolutely," he replied, a genuine excitement in his voice with a slight hitch of his voice breaking. "I'll give you a call. Take care."

And without a chance to try and say more, the girl was off to the races again. Finlay couldn't help but watch her go, feeling a sense of serendipity in the chance encounter that had brought them together.

As Finlay stood on the sidewalk, watching Lydia's figure recede down the street, an inexplicable sensation began to wash over him. An unusual warmth surged through his body, and he felt like he was being pulled into a waking dream. Unbeknownst to him, his shapeshifting abilities, triggered by an unexpected fascination and attraction, were at work. His reality began to blur, and he couldn't comprehend what was happening.

At first, the changes were subtle, his body taking on a wholly unfamiliar form. His once-masculine features softened and transformed. His blonde hair turned chestnut brown, cascading down his back, free instead of in a single braid just as Lydia's had. His face shifted delicately, adopting the contours and grace of Lydia's feminine visage.

Finlay's clothing became too large, hanging from his now-slender and smaller frame like drapery. His voice, once deep and resonant, shifted in pitch and tone, mirroring Lydia's melodious cadence as he gasped. His height decreased gradually, and his limbs seemed to compress, drawing him closer to Lydia's stature.

Confusion and a growing sense of panic welled up inside him as he realized he was changing into a girl; this was a first. His shoes, too large for his newly transformed feet, caused him to stumble slightly, adjusting to the unfamiliar gait, hip to waist ratio, and curves that now matched Lydia's perfectly.

The world around him continued to warp and shift, as if he was viewing it through Lydia's perspective. He could smell the feminine perfume of his skin. It was as though he had entered her very being.

The sensation of his clothing slipping off him became more pronounced, and in his frantic efforts to maintain his modesty, he dropped the bag of groceries for the second time that day. His hands fumbled with the oversized attire, which threatened to fall to the ground. There was less room in the chest and more room down below that felt foreign and exhilarating at the same time. His heart raced, and he had no idea how to make the transformation stop.

In a surreal moment of vulnerability, Finlay realized he was trapped in this unfamiliar form, and a sense of helplessness overtook him. He was fully transformed into Lydia, a girl in both appearance and essence. A new wave of experiencing emotions rollercoastered through him as he experienced a surge of unfamiliar hormone levels.

Suddenly, as he struggled to control the changes, the pursuing police officer rounded the corner. To the cop's shock, he saw Lydia, or so he believed, standing there with the spilled groceries and a new oversized outfit. Believing he had finally caught up to her, he moved swiftly to apprehend the figure he thought was the elusive fugitive.

"Gotcha you little punk. You're going to pay for that," the cop declared, handcuffs at the ready. The cop red faced and pissed from having to take chase and was not gentle as he pushed “Fin-Lydia” up against the side of the storefront. Finlay tried to protest, but realized his muscle mass had changed as well and he was not as strong as before, and it was cut short as he was forcibly handcuffed. Without his hands to hold onto his clothes, his pants dropped dangerously low and were saved from falling completely because his wider hips just caught them; the upper majority of his boxer briefs were visible. His panicked gaze looked at a man just exiting the grocery store, pleading for help, but the man just ran back inside … as did anyone else whose attention was now drawn to the commotion … not wanting to have anything to do with the scene. (Fortunately no one was present to see the change happen itself, a stroke of possible good timing?)

Unbeknownst to him, the shapeshifter had taken on Lydia's form, and the confusion and chaos of that moment would have consequences, leaving Finlay trapped in the guise of the girl he admired and leading to an unexpected and bewildering turn of events.

In truth, he had helped Lydia without knowing it. Now she was free and her sister safe, because the cop thought he had her.