Reposted for Valentine's Day 2026

“Is this one?” Leanne asks as she holds up a blank DVD. “I found it between those two bookcases.”

“Does it have any writing on the label?” I ask.

“Just letters and numbers, ‘TC fourteen dash one,’ whatever THAT means,” my girlfriend replies.

“ ‘TC’ will be for ‘Team Chwilen,’ ” I explain. “Stick that in the envelope too, heh.”

“Come on, up and at ‘em!” Paul yelled as he banged on his son’s door, eliciting a tired groan from the twenty-year-old. “Just ‘cause football’s one step closer ta comin’ home, it doesn’t mean ya can lay around all day!”

“Yes, yes, okay,” the young man grunted through the door as he threw back the covers and sat upright, brushing his messy hair out of his face and shielding his eyes from the bright summer Sun.

“Same goes for you, Luke!” Paul yelled as he banged on his other son’s door.

Once the party was over, it was time for me to plan starting college. I accepted one of several pre-made class listings for first years. Making living arrangements was often even tougher than picking classes in college on Earth, but here it was pretty easy. There were dorms, and there was a single room for each person, with doors that would allow them to pair up couples in adjoining rooms.

I’m a purple bipedal creature, vaguely humanoid, under a pretty broad definition of that term, somewhat stouter and shorter than humans. I have two five-fingered hands and two five-toed feet. The planet is significantly colder than Earth, but livable in the tropics. The technology level is roughly early 21st century by Earth standards.

“I- I’m sorry, what?” Luke asked incredulously as Paul muttered a barely audible ‘Jesus Fucking Christ’ under his breath.

“I said that I don’t want to be a woman any more,” the distraught youngster replied. “I don’t want to be a woman, and I don’t want to be called ‘Lucy’ any more.”

“Well it’s going to be confusing around here with two ‘Lukes,’ ” Luke replied. “’Cause I sure as hell am not giving this name up.”

I let out a surprised and mildly annoyed grunt as I’m awakened by the feel of someone crawling over me — though the grunt quickly turns into a low moan of satisfaction as I feel a pair of breasts in a sports bra threaten to smother my face.

“Sorry babe, did I wake you?” Leanne asks, barely suppressing a giggle. “I just need to check my phone, see if I’m needed actually IN the office today.”

“There IS a nightstand on the other side of the bed,” I remind my girlfriend, who responds by just leaning more of her weight on my head — something I, obviously, have no problem with!

“You okay?” Lucy asked her American friend, who paused to take several deep breaths before replying.

“Yeah,” Phoebe replied, momentarily lowering her mask to take a deep breath, but making sure to raise it back before exhaling. “I dunno if it’s the mask or not, but this is kinda harder than I remember!”

“Okay,” Kacey- the leader of the class- said as she observed the two students taking time getting their breath back. “I think that’s as good a time as any to take a break. Lucy, can I have a word please?”

One day things changed drastically, a second puberty was added during which everyone developed a second set of genitalia of the opposite sex from their originals. Everyone's bodies adjusts as if this was always the case, but nothing else did.

A few short scenes about different people and an in-universe FAQ about the changes

One day things changed drastically, a second puberty was added during which everyone developed a second set of genitalia of the opposite sex from their originals. Everyone's bodies adjusts as if this was always the case, but nothing else did.

Brianna watches her boyfriend's bust balloon up to an enormous size before her eyes, she has trouble not staring, her new equipment reacts.

Kapitel 1: Das Amulett der Verwandlung

Unsere außergewöhnliche Reise begann in den geheimnisvollen Tiefen der unberührten Wälder Lateinamerikas, wo wir jenes antike Amulett fanden, das unser Leben auf unerwartete Weisen verändern sollte. Es war eine alte, perlmuttfarbene Schnitzarbeit mit eingravierten lateinischen Mantras, die mit Juwelen besetzt war. Als wir das lateinische Mantra leise murmelten, begann eine ungeahnte Macht von uns Besitz zu ergreifen.

“Luke!” Paul shouted up the stairs. “Come on, get out of bed, it’s nearly 10 o’clock and we’ve a lot to do today!”

“Yeah, alright,” Luke grunted in reply as he threw back his bed sheets and pulled on his dressing gown, only pausing to look at himself in the mirror before leaving his bedroom.

“Good morning, everyone,” Allan- my university lecturer- says as I (and no doubt all of the other students on my course) get my notepad out. “I’ll let you all have a couple of minutes to get set up, then we’ll begin.”

“I’ll talk to you later,” I say, mirroring the sad smile of the long-haired girl on my phone screen.

“Yeah,” Leanne sighs sadly. “I should be getting to work too in the next couple of minutes. Well, not technically ‘getting to’, but you know what I mean, right?”

I don't usually give warnings for my stories. So when I say this story is dark and leans heavily into psychological horror, you know it's serious. Check the cautions I ticked off and be ready with some tissues, you're going to need them.

Kingston, Ontario, Canada
October 5th, 2016

“Remember to pick up a present for your brother after school, Ada.”

“Nice day for it,” I muse as I enter the park where the rest of the cricket team is assembled.

“Yep,” Stuart concurs. “Pity there’s no ‘it’ for it to be a nice day for, heh.”

“Well- yep, can’t argue with THAT,” I sigh as I gaze around at the other guys, all of whom- myself included- are keeping a distance of at least two metres away from each other.

“So then,” Susie asked Luke and Lucy as they and their friends sat around their usual table in the Student Union bar. “Looking forward to Sunday?”

“Ooh, yes, I’d almost forgotten about that!” Priya giggles as the twins’ blushes deepened.

“…Maybe a bit,” Lucy mumbled.

“Maybe even less than that,” Luke sighed. “Tough to get excited about your birthday when you know your presents are gonna suck.”

“Sorry if we’re putting a dampener on YOUR birthday, Gav,” Lucy said to the young man who was exactly one day young than her and her brother.

“You two look exhausted,” Priya said as Luke and Lucy sat down at their usual table in the Student Union bar. “I don’t need to guess why, do I?” The Indian girl bit her lip as her two friends both shook their heads.

“Ugh,” Luke sighed, sharing a knowing glance with his sister. “Never mind ‘back from holiday’, I feel like I NEED a holiday.” Luke allowed himself a smile as his friends Gavin and Susie smiled sympathetically.

“Welcome To Nevada, The Silver State.”

“You know,” Luke said to his sister as they waited in line to have their photos taken, “I kinda expected my first day at uni to have a bit more fun and a less, you know, paperwork.”

“Or even a bit more learning,” Lucy laughed as she tried her hardest not to fidget.

Even though the twins didn’t see Susie again for the rest of the Christmas holidays, they remained on a high until their return to college at the start of January. Having a genuine friend, someone in whom they could confide opened up new possibilities for Luke and Lucy, possibilities that both were eager to explore, but with caution- caution that was validated when the twins went to their counsellor for their first meeting of 2018.