Once the pin’s and needles finished. Matthew once more examined himself in the mirror. He was now Kim from the shoulders down. His head actually looked quite out of place on the shapely female body.
He spoke out loud to Kim knowing that she would be aware “This is what you wanted. Here goes. Say goodbye to your boyfriend”
With that he examined the rubbery head dangling from his shoulder. It looked like a cheap rubber mask with a blonde wig on it. The patch of rubbery skin connecting the head to his shoulder appeared quite stretchy. It wouldn’t be hard to lift it over his own head. The only problem was that there were no mouth or nose holes to breathe through. He would suffocate if the mouth didn’t magically open up.
He had to have faith. The skin had fused quickly to him when he had covered other parts of his body. Surely it would do the same with his head. At other times the pins and needles had started after about 30 seconds and the process had been finished within a minute. He could hold his breathe for a minute. It would work.
He took some deep breathes resolving to keep his hands at the bottom of the mask in readiness to pull it off if the hoped for changes didn’t eventuate. He would count to 30 and if the pins and needles didn’t start by then he would abort.
He positioned the mask at the top of his skull with hands gripping it on either side. Then in one strong motion pulled it down. It was a tight fit. It felt like the time at a party some friends of his had convinced him to put a rubber glove over his head. They had seen someone on television do the trick, blowing up the glove like a rooster’s comb. He had failed to blow up the glove on that occasion and had ripped it off in a panic but this time he was determined not to panic. He held his breath and counted in his mind.
1, 2, 3……It was so dark inside the skin he couldn’t see a thing…..18, 19, 20…Still nothing happening. He told himself not to panic…. 26, 27 ,28 then finally the pins and needles started. The mask constricted on him. He realised he would not be able to pull it off even if he wanted to. It was so tight. He was no longer counting… The pins and needles continued….. he couldn’t breathe. He tried to wrench off the mask! He couldn’t! Thoughts of his dead body discovered by hotel staff came to his mind.
Then it was over. He realised he was breathing. Rapidly breathing but he was getting fresh air into his lungs. The mask was no longer compressing his head. He realised he was still closing his eyes. He opened them. He could see! He turned around and looked in the mirror.
There was Kim looking back at him. Kim with her long blonde hair looking rather unkempt. Something was wrong with her neck - There was a four inch wide flap of skin hanging off the left side of Kim’s neck. No make that the right side of Matthew’s face. He became aware he was looking at his own reflection.
He said to his reflection “Hello Kim Newcombe. How are you this afternoon?” It was Matthew’s own male voice that came out. He realised he still had the last remains of his old self. He still had his own neck including his Adam’s apple. “Better do something about that” he said out loud. “The voice no longer matches the body”
After the episode with the torso Matthew guessed what he needed to do. He grabbed the flap of loose skin and wrapped it around his neck. It only needed a little stretch until it had reached all the way around. Matthew held it in place. He waited and sure enough it wasn’t long before he felt pins and needles once more. He released his fingers and saw the skin wrapping into his flesh. His Adam’s apple was no more.
“Testing 1… 2 … 3 …” A sweet melodious feminine voice came out of his mouth. Matthew had one more look at his reflection. He looked to be 100% Kim. He decided he had better start thinking of himself as a she.
“I suppose I should get dressed” Mathew said to herself. "I don’t think Kim usually hangs around the house naked all day long” She liked the sound of her voice. But she was also conveying to Kim her thoughts. Perhaps Kim could read her mind? She didn’t know. But if she expressed those thoughts out loud then according to the receptionist Kim would understand.