Howard sits mesmerized by the video which seems to be showing a montage of campers doing normal camp activities, sometimes accompanied by counselors. It barely registers that it only shows girls or that all the counselors are likewise female. Suddenly, a feeling of drowsiness descends over Howard, and he quickly nods off.
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In another part of the campground, you push your way past other boys crowding the corridor, hoping to get a room towards the back for maximum privacy. At last, you manage to find one, obviously meant for two occupants judging by the bunk bed. You hope that choosing a room at the end of the line would also mean getting the room to yourself, but if not, you hope your roommate is also a gamer.
“Yes!” You say, spotting an electric outlet. That will come in handy when your battery starts to run out. Technically, you charge your console through your phone, but the phone would also need charging from the outlet. Just for good measure, you plug in your phone, just in case. With top priorities taken care of, you claim the bottom bunk to stay close to your precious devices, carefully unrolling your sleeping bag and arranging your belongings.
Stretching out on the bed, you check your phone signal. None. The camp is a dead zone. Oh well. Internet AND gaming was too much to hope for, anyhow. Still, with one out of two, you can manage, hopefully.
Suddenly, your vision blurs for a second, and your phone drops from your hand onto your chest. Automatically, you snatch it back up again before it occurs to you that your chest felt different just now. Before you can look down, you spot something even stranger about your phone. It has a pastel blue case instead of your usual plain black one! Plus, your screen shows the face of a smiling teenage girl. She has a pretty face, you have to admit, with bright green eyes, cute nose, and an elegantly milky complexion, all framed by gentle waves of long auburn hair. Some kind of girly filter has also added some cartoon flowers to her hair and a misty effect around the edges of the frame. But who is she, and why is she on your phone? And why do you get the feeling you should know her from somewhere?
Then, you see your hand holding the phone. It looks smaller, more slender with long fingers decorated with glittery nail polish. In horror, you finally lower your gaze to your chest. Two modest mounds greet you from within a gray tank top sporting an image of the tri-force from Legend of Zelda. Beyond that, you can see a willowy body very unlike your old familiar one. Your cargo shorts have been replaced by a smaller equivalent that end about halfway down your oddly smooth, pale thighs.
“Aaae-EEEEK!” Your startled cry comes out in a high-pitched tone that only scares you even more, thus ending in an ear-piercing shriek as you sit up in panic.
BANG!
Your head collides with the frame of the upper bunk, sending stars through your vision and leaving you curled up on your sleeping bag, gripping your throbbing head.
Immediately, you hear a bag hit the floor as quick footsteps rush over and a nervous hand falls on your shoulder. “Oh, gosh, are you okay?” Asks a concerned female voice.
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Several minutes ago…
Howard’s head jerks back up. A chill runs through him, making him shiver. Did the AC just turn on or something? Meanwhile, the video seems to have finished as the screen dims.
Crystal claps her hands for attention. “Alright, new campers! Time to get you to your lodges. Just follow Counselor Layla, and she’ll take you there. Don’t forget your things!”
Howard squints around him, his brain still groggy. New campers? Didn’t Gary already go with the counselors? Despite his confusion, he finds himself standing up in response to Crystal’s instructions. Bending down, he picks up a pale pink duffel bag by his chair. Since when did he have a bag like this? And what is with this feeling of wrongness in his body, like things don’t quite move the way they should?
Slinging the bag over his shoulder, he notices that he is completely surrounded by girls around Gary’s age, all of them hoisting their own luggage and looking rather puzzled.
Wait, he thinks. Shouldn’t I be taller?
Sure enough, even standing up straight, he looks most of these girls in the eye.
Slowly, and with great trepidation, his eyes move down to his own body. The first thing he sees is a pink sports shirt draped over a slender frame, the gentle slope of breasts pushing out the chest area. Girl’s running shorts cover only a fraction of the unfamiliar legs underneath, and white tennis shoes cushion feet that seem a lot smaller than those he remembers. A movement across his back reveals a long blonde ponytail.
I’m a girl! The thought hits the former 42 year old man though the words never quite reach her lips. It feels like whatever panic she ought to be experiencing is being blunted Then, she notices the lanyard around her neck bearing a camper’s nametag. The tag reads: Holly.
“Holly?” She says her name quietly to herself, not really believing the high girly sound of her voice. Her brain is too busy thinking about the oddness of the name. Some part of her knows that Holly can’t possibly be her name, but the rest of her can’t really recall her being called anything else.
By now, she and the rest of the girls have exited the registration building and are trekking across the campgrounds towards a cluster of lodges. The Counselor leading the way stops and turns around. “Alright, campers, go ahead and find an available room. Remember that some of the rooms are already occupied, but each room fits two people. So use this opportunity to find a suitable roommate and make a new friend.”
Obediently, the girls disperse. Holly finds herself entering one of the lodges and choosing a door. Upon opening it, she sees…