A female kangaroo, not just an animal but a female one! Jake knew he had to get home! He was certain the humiliation would destroy him if his friends saw him!
Jake's first few hops were experimental and short.
Then, Jake really decided to go for it and hopped as far as his legs would carry him. He sighed when he landed in the front lawn of a neighbour. Hopping had felt wonderful. Since the driveway of the house was empty, Jake decide to relax on the lawn to figure out what to do.
Jake looked at his breasts. They'd jiggled a bit when he hopped, which was annoying. Breasts were something girls had and yet a pair were now as part of Jake's chest as everything else on his altered body. He was still young enough that he didn't yet desire girls in the way grownups did. Breasts seems strange to him. Big kids and grownups on TV seemed far too interested in them.
"How am I supposed to be a girl? I don't know how to be a girl," Jake said. "How can I date girls if I'm a girl? Does this mean I have to start dating boys or boy kangaroos now?"
Jake looked at the grass. It smelt as enticing to him as baking cookies and a part of him wanted to much on the grass. The sun felt wonderful on his fur. Jake started understanding why his cats would spend hours lying in the sun.
A small black squirrel ran by Jake. It stopped and stood on its hind legs as it sniffed Jake. Jake had never seen a squirrel this close but decided to let it examine him.
"So, what do I do now?" Jake asked.
The squirrel cocked its head before resuming scampering around the yard.
"Lucky squirrel, at least you don't have to worry about explaining why you're a squirrel," Jake said.
Jake stood up and brushed himself off.
An urge hit him. He looked back and forth before leaning down and mulching on some of the grass. It tasted wonderful! Much like a kid discovering a food after years of claiming he didn't like it, Jake wondered how he'd gone this far in life without ever eating grass.
Another thought hit Jake.
"I guess I have to date boys now but all my friends are boys so at least they won't make me do girl stuff," Jake said. "But what if they won't let me to boy stuff? What if I have to start wearing dresses? What if they put me in a zoo?"
The thought of never having to go to school again appealed to Jake but he didn't want to be somewhere where they wouldn't let him play video games or watch TV!
Jake hopped away from the yard and down the sidewalk that led toward his house. He felt himself starting to sweat under the hot sun. He didn't if kangaroos sweat though he doubted he was a normal kangaroo.
He lost himself in thought as he hopped.
Turning into an animal was only supposed to happen in the movies, comics or books. Those stories never bothered Jake. If anything, they intrigued him.
Experiencing it for real however let Jake know the horror the character's in those books would be going through. So many of those books ended with the character transformed and running off screen in a panic or something taking them off screen and that was the least one ever heard of them. Jake could imaged what happened next. It never much bothered him as long as he could end it at any time and go back to his life.
Now that he was the one trapped in an altered body.
Jake tried to think of something less frightening.
His friend Conrad came to mind. Conrad and Jake had been close for years. If anyone could help Jake other then his parents, it would be Conrad. Jake thought about how cute Conrad was and Jake wondered if Conrad would rub his feet or help him to wash or comb his fur. The idea made Jake feel strange and put thoughts in his head that both excited and terrified him. The parts he didn't want to think about also felt funny but also good at the same time.
So lost in thought, Jake didn't realize that he'd not only passed by his house but also had left his street, hopped through another and was now in the field close to his house.
A field covered in long, sweet smelling, tasty grass.
Jake stopped. He realized the thoughts he'd been thinking about Conrad. They weren't right yet Jake couldn't seem to stop himself from thinking them.
"I'm not a girl," Jake said. "Dating is for big kids! How come I think Conrad is cute? What's wrong with me? Someone help me!"
Jake started eating some of the grass to help calm himself down. He'd managed to eat himself to a full stomach before he realized what he'd done.
Holding his head (which only made him feel worse when he felt his large kangaroo ears) he tried to focus his mind. Unfortunately, as Jake was discovering, although personality runs deeper then the physical form, the physical form still affects the way one interacts with the world. Grass was food to Jake's new body and his friend Conrad was now potentially more then a friend.
A battle raged between Jake's human will and the desires of the female kangaroo body that was now his.
Human will was persistent, but physical desire had ways of altering human will to serve its needs. Free will or otherwise, Jake could only last so long before his will would either bend to agree with the desires his body now had or he would go insane.
"This is crazy," Jake cried. "I'm not a girl, I'm not a kangaroo!"
Denial however couldn't change the reality. While we try to encourage others not to judge people based on things other then physical form, Jake was discovering that indeed, the physical did matter. He never wanted to be female or a kangaroo, but he was both now and had to figure out how to cure himself and failing that, how to adjust to it.
He hopped through the field for several more minutes before deciding to go to Conrad's.
The trip to Conrad's house didn't take long with Jake's new hopping ability.
Conrad was outside sitting with his back to a tree playing with game system when Jake arrived. Jake felt intense relief at seeing Conrad. The attraction he felt was no longer scary. It felt natural and Jake wondered how he'd been happy without it.
He knew that Conrad was just a friend up until now but thinking of the possibility of more was now a relief.
Perhaps it was the virus guiding Jake to a way of thinking that would take months if not years of adjustment or perhaps Jake's new body was to blame.
Jake wasn't about to analyze it.
A quick hop and Jake was standing in front of Conrad. Conrad looked up at Jake.
"Whoa, what the heck are you?" Conrad asked.
"Duh, a kangaroo," Jake said.
"Kangaroos don't talk," Conrad said. "This is too weird. Who are you?"
"It's me, Jake!"
"What are you talking about? Jake is not a female kangaroo," Conrad said.
Jake tried to think of himself as something besides a female kangaroo. A shiver ran down his spine when he realized that he couldn't. He knew he was a boy only hours before but now he felt different. Being a female kangaroo in body felt as natural as being a human boy felt hours before.
"I drank some water and it did this to me," Jake said. "Come on, you gotta believe me."
Conrad stood, the fear in his eyes was evident.
"This is too weird," Conrad said. "You can't be Jake, it's impossible! This has to be a dream! Kangaroos don't talk! They don't even live here!"
Jake hung his head.
"You gotta believe me. Remember that time we got into trouble for putting whipped cream in..."
Conrad cringed. "Eww, I don't want to think about that."
"The walls in your room are dark blue, you like the nickname Con ever since your cousin showed you the Wrath of Kahn, spiders freak you out, you like using the name Rad in games, we like to compete over who can get the best score in..."
Conrad shook his head as he looked Jake over. "This is too weird. What if you absorbed Jake or something? Why are you a girl? How come you're naked! How come you have boobs? And what was my best score?"
"1,256,350 points," Jake said. "And I'm a girl, of course I have boobs! When I became a girl roo, my clothes got destroyed."
"But Jake, I -- this is messed up. We gotta fix you," Conrad said.
Jake cocked his head. "I guess I could go back to being a human boy but I'm a kangaroo girl now."
"But, you were just a boy yesterday," Conrad said.
"I know but it feels normal to be a roo now," Jake said. "I dunno why."
"What if they brainwashed you?" Conrad said.
"How would I know? I feel normal," Jake said. "Being a female kangaroo feels normal now. Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I'm not Jake. I hope the other guys will let me be still friends with them.
"Wait, so you like being a girl?" Conrad asked.
Jake shrugged. "I dunno if I like it, it just feels normal now. It's not like I wana start playing with dolls and wearing dresses."
"I guess but we gotta change you back before this makes you have cooties or something," Conrad said.
Jake realized thought about it and realized that even if he felt normal as a female kangaroo, it would be too hard on his family and friends if he stayed this way (assuming he had a choice). However, that would mean giving up on his feelings for Conrad, which despite only recently gaining them, felt as though he'd had them for years. Jake likened it to moving to a new town and feeling as though he'd lived there his entire life within hours.
"First, can you do me a favour? I mean, we're still bros right? I still think of you as my best friend. Now, it just feels like we can be more."
"I dunno if I'm ready for a girlfriend," Conrad said.
"Even if that girlfriend is me? It's not like we have to have sex or anything or even date. At least I'm a girl you know and can still do guy stuff with. Even if us kissing would feel weird at first," Jake said. "if that's too weird, it's okay, we can just be friends. I still think of you as my friend, even if I'm a girl now."
"I want to be your friend too," Conrad said. "Jake, I mean you're like a brother to me. Er, what do you want me to do?"
"Could you rub my feet? They're kinda sore," Jake said.
"But feet are stinky," Conrad said.
"Maybe but mine are all cool and big now. Okay, I guess it feels normal to me but to you they must seem pretty neat," Jake said.
Conrad looked at Jake's feet.
"Yeah, they are pretty big. Can I touch your tail too? It does look kinda cool," Conrad said.
Jake nodded. "Sure, what are best friends for? What's mine is yours."
"Wait, this doesn't make us gay does it?" Conrad said.
"I'm a girl now, so it's okay," Jake said. Then he stuck out his tongue. "Anyway, it's not like we're making out or anything."
"Well okay," Conrad said.
Jake lay down and looked at Conrad.
"If it feels wrong then just think of me as a normal roo. Think of how cool it would be to know a talking roo," Jake said.
Conrad shrugged his shoulders and started rubbing Jake's feet.