Knapstar

Ugh my head, the pain of having your life essence essentially snuffed out is not something you forget. Come to think of it, I guess you would never remember it. Normally after one is strangled to death the word implies finality. Funny thing the concept of finality. What is an ending if only the conclusion to your current chapter. Not saying that this is our first chapter or anything preachy like that. However, upon reflection the real ending is one we choose ourselves. And sometimes we say no. No I won’t go gentle into that- hang on where the fuck am I? Despite the ability to see again the surroundings in which I found myself were definitely not the gym floor. Instead I felt cold, damp and, wait. What are these straps? Oh I’m tied down. Poetic I guess. Simple catch and grab situation, but why? What purpose could one possibly need to extract from me? ‘Oh good you’re awake,’ Michelle waltzed in dressed in what appeared to be a long robe of red. The material was fashioned by the looks of it from this expensive silk. Hmm, I wonder how much that- no seriously focus! God, my head is still mush it seems. ‘The last two days has been something else I tell you.’ Two days! Jesus Christ. Where has the time gone? Definitely a laboratory, with all the wires, monitors, me being strapped to a board. A cage with, oh shit. It’s Cho, and her. The two women were unconscious, trapped inside two separate glass containers. Cho looked like herself again. I’m unfamiliar with the formula of Grey scale so I can’t comment on whether or not it’s permanent. Poor girl. To think this all began not a week ago. In that time so much has happened that it’s hard to keep track anymore. The other girl lay motionless on the floor. Why was she here? What’s Michelle up to? Not much of a bargaining chip. A poor deceased woman. What a horrible circumstance. Emotions heightened as a tear fell from my cheek, my eyes emotionless staring at the young woman. I didn’t even know her name. ‘How do you feel though? Really. I mean, my god! That was something wasn’t it. I mean, whoooo I haven’t felt like that in a long time. It all happened so fast! First with Tom, then with you, everyone screaming and running away I mean, wow! What a rush! Oh I miss this feeling? But tell me what’s going through your head right now? Confusion? Anger? Give me something.’ It was hard to process. Michelle was always a tight older woman who never found excitement in anything. And yet here she was beaming. I didn’t know what to think, my mind raced with so many questions, so many opinions. How can you gloat about the predicament we were all in? I couldn’t explain it. But to give Michelle exactly what she wanted would have been a recipe for disaster. However, emotion is a powerful tool, I mean we both can relate to that. ‘You killed Tom.’ I muttered, unable to think straight as she was trying hard to keep her mood controlled but was so full of joy it was impossible to be able to. Something didn’t add up here. ‘Yes, but he was dead to us long ago. He couldn’t see what we could see.’ ‘And what’s that?’ ‘Freedom,’ she controlled herself enough to release the response. ‘Don’t you see, it’s different now. I can’t tell you how amazing this feels!’ Right this is ridiculous, feeling my anger boil inside me, I pulled hard at the straps waiting for the green vein to appear upon my arm. Nothing. Nothing but my pasty Irish pale skin. Wait what? ‘Ahahahaha! You thought you could ahahahaha! Oh I’m sorry you honestly thought you could ahahahaha!! Oh no that’s too good, oh Grace you kill me off! Do you know that?! Oh you sweet tiny thing!’ Michelle pinched my nose before dancing around the room. What was this? I can’t feel anything. The strength almost drained from me, any emotion I show is controllable, stable. It’s gone. Oh my god it’s gone. I felt this deep sense of relief which washed over me as this insane amount of joy and sadness took over my head. Oh my god! I’m free I’m ahaha I’m actually free! I could- Brain snapped completely back into place as my cogs began to turn. It’s gone. Where has it gone? ‘It’s gone.’ I said to Michelle. ‘Oh isn’t it wonderful! I can’t tell you how amazing it is to be able to feel joy again, to laugh and not destroy half the world in the process! Oh my god! I tell you giving you the costume was the best decision of my life. It left poor little Cho here,’ she stroked the glass panel soothingly. ‘So jealous that she was willing too split her DNA. How could she replicate a formula without first isolating the genomes? And the bitch did it! She got what she wanted and as a result, so did I!’ I looked at Cho as she lay motionless on the ground. Was she dead? The information being thrown my way was too much. To think, Michelle was trying to synthesise a cure the entire time. The act was noble in its concept. The execution left a lot to be desired. ‘Let’s be honest here Grace this was getting out of hand. To have not one, not two but three women infused with Gamma radiation is ridiculous. Let alone four.’ Four? My eyes drifted to the girl on the floor, upon closer inspection I noticed the Black Widow costume she was wearing was ripped in a few places. Nothing major, but you could tell there was resistance. How on earth did that- My mind flashed back to the gym. My wet hand was covered in my own blood as it steadied the girls open head wound. Jesus, this really is becoming a crazy comic book story isn’t it. Who makes up these rules? But that means, she’s alive. ‘The sheer act of one Gamma radiated being does have to exist though. Obviously it does, how else do you explain what happened back there? But the question is, who.’ Michelle walked over to a lever on the wall. Her excitement was palpable. She had hooked up the pipes which lead from four tanks. Each was connected to four glass containers. She pulled the lever as the contents traveled down the pipes before becoming an air born gas around the space. A green aura bled through the contents of Cho’s case. As a grey gas invaded the other girl’s case. I watched as the gas in both rooms evaporated as they both began to stir. Cho was first to rise up, her eyes fluttered open, peering through the glass at me strapped to a board. Can’t imagine what was going through her head. She looked at the girl who began to gain consciousness as well. Standing to attention, she looked cute in the black widow attire. Similarly she looked at her surroundings before staring directly at me. Cho pressed her palm against the glass as it began to shake. Her palm grew in size as the green hue took over it. I watched in real time as her hair shifted from the pure black to the emerald green I had come to know. Her brown eyes faded to the verdant hue. She grabbed her head as she screamed in pain as her thighs thickened as the muscle invaded her once slender body. The body keeled over as her feet grew and she stretched up. Her usual 5ft 7 self easily 7ft. Shifting my gaze to the girl, her transformation began with her feet as they burst out of the shoes she was wearing. The thick tough leather pushed apart as if it were paper. Her read hair desaturated as it took on a black colour dark as night. Her beautiful blue eyes seemed to burn away, bright red orbs took their place. The girl stretched up to 7ft making her costume three sizes too small. Her thighs thickened as the cheap material stretched to its limits. The once black cheap leather became see-through, the screech of the material straining to keep intact until, RIP! the leather exploded off her form. Replaced with Amazon powerful thighs which in turn pushed her hips out. The girl watched in horror as she transformed, unable to comprehend what was happening. Turning my attention back to Cho, her form had thickened substantially. Biceps ballooned up onto her arms as triceps followed. Her hips pushed out giving her an hourglass figure. Her hue had completely changed to that of emerald green. Weight was forced forward when her breasts began to push out. Pectoral muscles following close behind. She had to have easily been an F cup. Retaining my gaze to the left, the hips of the girl made the red belt she wore shake uncontrollably. The material was forced outwards. I watched in real time the belt getting tighter and tighter on her hips until it finally burst off her person. Her arse had inflated exponentially, once resembling a flat board; replaced with a voluptuous apple which exaggerated her figure. Losing her footing, the girl keeled over. Upon stretching up, the outfit split in two; the jacket breaking apart through her increasing mass was both terrifying and well, sexy. I can’t help but admit that the whole transformation was turning me on. The girl moaned while spotting her chest rise. The moment was strange to describe, experiencing this first hand I was well versed in how it made me feel. But this wasn’t her experience. The girl was changing without the knowledge of what was happening. It must have been terrifying. Her shirt became see-through as her breasts forced the material out of the way. Her hue had completely shifted to grey right as the F cup moulds burst out of her top. This was the the straw that broke the camel’s back. The outfit fell to the floor. Her form thick with muscle as six concrete abdominals sculpted on her form. The girl stood up and roared like a monster. The noise pierced the senses. She shook uncontrollably, her matted black hair rising from her face from every breath she took. Through gritted teeth and veins throbbing all over her body she ran at the speed of a bullet towards the glass wall. The punch echoed through the room leaving a smudge on the surface. The sheer force of the punch probably would’ve taken anyone’s head off, so god knows how strong these containers were. Cho stood up, fully transformed, her senses darting this way and that. Once they locked onto the girl, her whole demeanour shifted to fury. The presence of the girl was enough to send Cho over the edge. Releasing a horrible deep scream, she smashed against the glass partition between them. The notion distracted the girl, diverting her attention from me to Cho. They clawed at the glass trying to reach each other. The builds of these women were like female wrestlers. While sporting muscle in which would be impossible for someone to gain without ‘help’, they somehow maintained their femininity. Both looked absolutely stunning, but how can you dwell on that when they’re trying to kill each other? ‘Curious, don’t you think?’ Michelle strolled over to me, leaning on the board. ‘Once an unstoppable force meets an unmovable object what happens?’ I turned my attention to Michelle. Her words stabbed as she divulged. ‘How can the worthy outshine the meek? A alpha needs an omega the same way a pen needs a paper.’ Okay now she’s lost me. ‘Of course once there is only one remaining, we’ll just take the victor, lock them away and throw away the key. It’s important to have a fall guy for these sort of things.’ My eyes were transfixed on the two women frantically clawing at the divider, Michelle’s monologue was as preachy as it was pointless. ‘You going to let me out then?’ I said nonchalantly. This whole situation was just too much to process and at the end of the day, it’s gotten to the point where reality has completely flown out the window. So yeah I was done. ‘Why would I do that? So you can stop my “evil plan” is that it? Claim victory? The supervillain thwarted once and for all! Has it ever occurred to you that life’s not that black and white?’ ‘Yes, that’s why it’s called life. It’s complex messy and sometimes a little unexplainable. But this is just, what’s the point? Seriously, so what they fight each other? One dies, the other lives; you take them over to the authorities and then what? You suddenly walk away free to live your life, is that it? No.’ ‘Well you’re right about one thing, there is no point.’ She uttered while undoing the straps, the echoes of banging ringing in my ears. ‘Sometimes there is no plan. No grand scheme to destroy the world, rule the world or god forbid infect the world. Do you know how many times that’s been done? Totally unsustainable.’ I fell from the board as she walked towards the two gamma women. ‘Making a plan is as viable as starting a game. You make the first move, but anything can happen before you reach the end.’ ‘And what is the end?’ I replied, rubbing my wrists. ‘I’m not sure. How can you plan a life for yourself when one minuscule thing will set you off? Seriously, how have you done? What you’ve had this condition for what a week! Look at your life. What have you achieved since this all began?’ It was a strange question. Mentally my life had change drastically, I feel like a completely different person. But physically, very little has actually happened. Most of it has been a shit show in all honesty. She’s right. What is the point? ‘I started this company with one goal, just one. Get rid of this fucking thing. But everything I did a failure, nothing to show. So when you’ve tried everything what do you do? You regress,’ She sat in the chair next to the containers. ‘I never liked you.’ Shocker. ‘Not in a sense that you were a bad person or anything, but you dealt with so much shit. I mean, we both knew how much of an arse Tom was. But you never let it get to you. Always saw the good in people. God I hate that. When you’re stuck with a short fuse everything sets you off. That’s why being cold all the time is the only solution. So out of curiosity, how would you deal with something like this?’ I walked towards her slowly. ‘And just as I suspected you were fine with it. In the space of a week, you sorted out your love life, grew as a person. Found a fucking cure. Seriously fuck you for that.’ That final retort was spat out. ‘And then it occurred to me. Maybe it isn’t the condition. Maybe I am the problem.’ She walked over to the side of the cage with Cho inside and keyed in a code before taking a long breath. ‘You were better at life than I was,’ She took a step forwards. ‘That’s the point.’ She was about to enter the room, before she took another step I pressed another key locking the door again. The sound distracted Cho as she started to bang the glass next to me and Michelle. Michelle was shocked as she looked up, a single tear falling down her cheek. ‘It was never easy. How could it have been? Look at it, really look at it.’ I said gesturing to the two girls. We both stared at Cho and the girl, their primal instincts the only thing that could be read from their faces. Their lats flared as their anger grew, veins throbbing constantly. ‘But we didn’t experience this. There’s a reason so many comics have different interpretations of what happens after an incident. They don’t know. They make it up. How can they know?’ I explained. ‘So sow did it happen?’ ‘Lab accident, six years back. Couldn’t get out of the room in time.’ She replied, her head hanging down. ‘The things I’ve done. The people I’ve hurt, it’s all I have left. When you hurt so much, the only thing left is to hate.’ ‘A full blown spike of radiation is enough to change anyone,’ I reassured her. ‘No one’s perfect. The world isn’t split into good and bad, we’re all equally problematic. The costume was a diluted essence of that traumatic event. What I’m saying is, we experience all aspects differently. I’m sorry for what happened to you. Nothing I can say will change how it felt. But you can decide how the story ends.’ Michelle raised her head once more. Looking from me to the girls and then to the machine. ‘It can’t be stopped. It’s a separate route. To reverse the procedure would cause a chain reaction. It would go critical. Open the floodgates and the room fills with radiation, seeping into the atmosphere. Killing us all, left to scatter in the wind. Who knows what would happen.’ My gaze turned to the empty container next to the girl. ‘How long do we have once it starts?’ ‘Ten seconds tops. Not enough time to escape the blast radius.’ She was right. My mind raced at a thousand miles per second. Shaking uncontrollably I was at a junction. What do I do? Left or right? Oh for once who fucking cares! ‘No, but enough time to deposit it.’ I ran over to the open door and stepped into the third container. Michelle was so shocked that she stood still as the girl became distracted and sensed me next to her, banging on the glass. ‘Don’t open it, whatever happens. Just, take care of them.’ ‘I can’t isolate the genomes. You’ll consume everything. Are you sure you want to do this?’ Michelle asked concerned. ‘Just do it.’ I replied. Michelle walked over to the computer next to me where I was strapped down and keyed in a code. Hitting space bar I saw each pipe lock open, opening the pathway to my container. She walked over to the lever and threw it up. A vacuum-like effect occurred in the neighbouring containers as I watched the first lot from the gamma tank travel down the pipe to mine, followed by the other one. In the corner of my eye, Cho and the girl shrunk and deflated as the residual energy left their containers as well. All four converged on me. And as soon as that happened. BANG! The force of the radiation hitting me was excruciating! The room shifted from my perspective, the wave of green and grey encapsulated the space around me. It felt as if a million stars were covering my vision. It was too much to handle, I felt my body pass out, crashing to the floor. It would be nice to say that’s as bad as it got, but this was just the initial reaction. The hit to the floor made me jolt awake as there was silence. Nothing moved, not the gas, time, life. Everything stood still for one impossible second. Suddenly the gas rushed into me, feeling like I had been pelted by a million bullets, the radiation consumed every facet. Nerves shook violently, trying to contemplate what was happening was pointless. I had never felt so detached from reality. The pain made me want to die. The radiation had other ideas. It began. The first to be affected was my height. Beginning to lengthen, I felt every stretch of my body. Each bone cracked, skin growth. It was painful, feeling this ascended motion; reaching six feet was just the beginning. My body rose from six to seven to eight, before stopping. The world was so small to me now. Everywhere my eyes darted, taking in my surroundings, I knew where I was and yet I’d never felt so lost. Legs reshaped and cracked into place. Every bone and muscle group re-arranging, forming impossibly strong calf’s and hamstrings. Rock solid in their appearance and power. My hand touch my calf and it felt hard as stone. Thighs began to inflate in order to sustain the power running through my leg. The definition in my legs was colossal. Without flexing, each muscle group was easily accessible. The rear developed while my glutes gained strength in their shifting instance. My once voluptuous lower body returned to me. But rather than it being a pleasurable experience. There was no pleasure. The pain invaded any other feeling. My powerful thighs, as strong as tree trunks could easily squash a puny human’s head like a melon. Did I just think that? “Puny human! Want out! Want out now!” Oh this was her. The feeling was scary in way. And yet oddly familiar. As if a being had been born from my subconscious. Hello old friend. Pleased to finally meet you. The power shifted to my arms, once resembled pipe cleaners, they inflated to a diameter of easily eighteen inches at a guess. They were monstrous in size, but looked completely normal on my new body. Biceps easily viewable without tensing whatsoever. “Strength to pummel puny humans in ground! SMASH!” Oh for fuck sake. So derivative. Triceps developed to complement the arm as a whole. My stature was like a male body builder. It felt that way with my flat chest and narrow hips. As if in response, I felt the growing pressure in my chest, feeling in real time as my pectoral muscles developed. It brought my chest out from its small size to nearly being twice its original measurement. Feeling the flow of power surge into me once more my A cup breasts pushed further and further out, resembling B cup, to C, DD E and finally settling on FF. the force made the costume stretch to its limits before RIP! The costume finally exploded off me. Leaving nothing but a clump of leather on the floor. I was so pre-occupied with the change it hadn’t occurred to me the boots and gloves followed suit. I stood naked, as my waist caved in and my hips widened. Leaving me with a perfect strong famine figure. Finally a set of concrete abs sculpted onto my torso, as my hair cascaded down my shoulder becoming a deep black as it curled around my deltoids. I pressed my face up against the glass, barely able to see my reflection, but I was able to make out two glowing red eyes staring back at me. My skin tone shifted to a darker shade of green than I was used to. But still emerald in appearance. And just like that, it was over. I turned to my right to see the girl looking up at me, fear in her eyes. Yeah, pretty obvious I burned that bridge long ago. Next to her was Cho, shocked at my massive form. I have to admit it was hard to see below me with gravity defying strong breasts in the way. Once the pain subsided, I stood there; dazed in a trance unable to comprehend anything. Just then, something took over. It was like there was a force, pushing me down, my vision began to close reminiscent of the short film Michelle had played. This was it. I was about to lose control. “ARRRRRRRRRRGH!” The beast roared. My vocal cords were being used, but they weren’t my words. “PUNY GRACE GONE NOW!!!! ONLY ME!!!! SMASH!!!!!!!ARRRRRRRGH!!!!!!!!!!!!” The beast punched the glass as hard as she could. A visible crack started to emerge through the confines. I watched Michelle press a few buttons on the console as fast as she could. The container began to shake as it descended into a concrete box enclosing us both in pure darkness. This was it, I’ll never see light again. I passed out from exhaustion of the whole ordeal, letting her take over completely. Fluttering open my eyes, they might as well have been shut. From the judgement of my whereabouts we hadn’t moved at all. Wow, this really must have been a strong vault. Either that or I see nothing when she takes over. Who knows. “Puny!” The voice called to me, mimicking my speech pattern. The whole experience was rather freaky. “Can’t escape cage. Too strong. Me tired.” The feral nature of the beast had subsided slightly. A small glimmer of light could be seen in front of me. I moved towards the light, the closer I came, the surroundings became clearer. The containment unit was in full view now. She must have relinquished control. Wow, she can see in the dark. That’s cool. Suddenly a pulling sensation started to drag me back down into the darkness. “No GRACE! Puny Grace! ME take control now!” The pulling sensation strengthened, leaving a small key hole of vision remaining, as if I was staring into a room through an enclosed lens. ‘You won’t escape.’ The pulling stopped, although I was sceptical about talking to her; at the same time she’s me and I am her. This is not a one sided argument, I wonder if she felt that. “Me escape! Me STRONG!” The voice echoed through my mind. The gurgling power being bounced off the never ending darkness. ‘Yes, but where has that got you? How long have you been at this? A day or two. Brute force won’t release us from this prison. So just give it up already. “Weak Grace always gives up!” She spat out. ‘Yeah she does. And maybe that girl wouldn’t be in this predicament. But this isn’t her you’re dealing with.’ “Once Grace, always GRACE!” ‘Yes and so are you.’ “No me strong! Grace wish she could be me!’ Maybe I was her. That feeling of a primal instinct, a can do attitude in which enabled me to become strong. Confident. Free. Freedom. What is freedom if not a chance to act, to have the right to act. This is what we are. We are one, she was always with me from the moment I put on that ridiculous costume. I hid her away, well it’s time to confront that part of myself and love with the highs and the lows. ‘Yes she does. I’d wish for nothing more than to be you. But I can’t be you and you can’t escape. We have to come to an arrangement.’ “No Grace! Only me! No need for help!” ‘Not help. Embrace. The ability to function in society while being yourself. Come on, we need each other. I can’t ignore you. And you can’t ignore me. I will always be there, that nagging thought at the back of your head. So give it a go. What have you got to lose?’ There was a long silence. But I knew something was happening because she had relinquished control of me in order to contemplate the deal. “Grace would not shut us out?!” She responded finally. ‘To do that I would deny an aspect of myself I have come to love. As long as you wouldn’t shut Grace out? So we have a deal?’ As if by way of answer, I felt my full view return to me. The room as clear as day with the gamma radiating off of me. Using my massive hands, I placed them on the glass as I shook every nerve in my body. The sheer force of the vibration made the cage shake until it shattered into a thousand tiny pieces. Thank you. I couldn’t have done it without you. Well, obviously you couldn’t I mean look at yourself! You’re so small on your own. You need us. Yes I certainly do. Using all the excess force, I jumped creating a crater on the floor of the debris as my body launched itself back to the lab again. The whole room was covered in police tape. Everyone was gone. Not even the police were here. What time is it? Hmmm, I guess I’ll just go home. Yeah I’m knackered. Fucking hell what a day! ——————————————————————— Arriving at the house, the door was still locked. Tom had the key, can’t believe I haven’t been back in god it must be close to a week. With next to no force at all, I ripped the door off its hinges and placed it back when I entered the house. The house was just how we left it. The dent in the floor board. The fridge door on the floor. Dents and debris everywhere. Wow, it felt so long ago. That feeling of uncertainty gone and being complete with myself for the first time was hard to describe. Before I could contemplate anything else, my bare foot touched a cold surface on the floor. Bending down to look, it was a letter. Carefully removing the envelope in order not to destroy it, I read the contents. Dear Grace, The last week has been a lot. I don’t know how to say this but I can’t do it anymore. My mind’s still a blur from the laboratory. I never really understood what being strong meant. In a way, I guess I was scared. We set expectations for people and hope to achieve them, but in order to even begin journey, we have to be happy with ourselves. Fred left me. I don’t blame him to be honest, I wasn’t the person he fell in love with anymore. Being cold and rough isn’t me. And it took a literal monster to show me that. It seems so long ago when we were talking about changing the world through an artificial means. You can’t change the world. The world’s fucked. You just have to make sure you can fight to stay on the right side of it. I lost myself. To have Michelle quite literally beat some sense into me was embarrassing honestly. I wish I could do it all over again, choose a different path. But that’s not how life works. I can’t thank you enough for what you did. I have my life back. Also I don’t care if you made up with Michelle, that bitch framed me and killed Tom and ruined both of our lives. Yeah, I turned her in and threw away the key. But that’s me done. I’m leaving this letter for you when you get back to the house, I know you’ll figure it out. You’re the strongest person I know. Sometimes being small doesn’t make you weak. I wish I knew that sooner. I wish you all the best and hope that you find the clarity in your life in which you helped me in mine. But this is goodbye. I doubt we’ll ever see each other again. But never say never. Love always, Cho. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Placing the letter on the table, my eyes glanced back towards the door. Lifting it off the hinge again, I removed the door and gently placed it next to kitchen counter. My eyes lit up, it was her. She was dressed in a baggy hoodie and jeans, hair tied back in a pony tail and a pair of white converse. Her radiant blue eyes stared right at me. She looked nervous, while her hands ruffled in the front pocket of the hoodie. ‘Hey.’ I said, completely aware that I stood completely naked in front of her. Well it wasn’t the first time. ‘Hey.’ She responded rather shyly. ‘So I came here to, I don’t know what I came here to do really. But I can’t stop thinking what happened in that place. But I wanted to say thank you. The young girl told me what you did. So I just wanted to say thanks.’ I stood still, waiting for her to finish before I began to speak but- ‘I’m still processing in my head what happened. I’m not entirely sure, but I need to know. Are you, you? Seems like a silly question.’ ‘I’m me.’ I responded, for the first time in my life, I was certain of that. I’m an impulsive, timid and wild girl who doesn’t know what she wants, but I’ll figure it out. And I’m all for that. ‘Right, because I just wanted to say. I um. Well I just. Alright, no we’re starting over. Hi, I’m Jen. I’m a mess, impulsive, reckless and a bit of a scaredy cat.’ She said smiling up at me. ‘I’m Grace, I am obsessive, nervous, reserved and sometimes a little bit crazy.’ I returned the smile. ‘Grace.’ Her cute little smile turned into a teeth grin. Her face had a cute dimple when she stretched her lips. ‘I’m so sorry for everything Jen. That isn’t what I’d consider to be a good introduction.’ ‘Well I’ve had worst first dates. None as weird, but definitely worse.’ She began to laugh. ‘Wow, you really get around!’ ‘Not as often as you’d think. But I really like you Grace. Despite myself, I really like you. I don’t know how this would work. But I want to, well I want to see where this goes. But I’m all in. Whatever it takes. I’m in.’ What was she insinuating? Was she thinking what I think she’s thinking. Surely not. I mean look at me, who’d want to be with me? Who could be with me? ‘I’ve done it once. It would be nice to know what’s happening this time.’ ‘Jen, you need to know. This isn’t a temporary thing, once you do this, there’s no going back. Are you sure you want this.’ ‘I want you. This comes as part of the package. Besides, for that brief moment, I looked good!’ She looked at me with that glint in her eye. ‘I’m all in Grace. I’ve watched you from outside this doorway, I’m ready to step inside.’ As if by instinct, I walked over and grabbed a glass from the smashed cupboard and a knife from the drawer, missing my palm, my blood ran from me into the glass before the wound completely healed itself. Walking back towards Jen, I presented her with the bloodied glass. I place it in her hand as she looked at me lovingly. ‘To be honest with you I’m moving out so you’re not missing much by being outside.’ ‘Fine by me.’ She downed the drink in one gulp as she dropped the glass shattering it on the gravel. Her eyes shifted from the clear ocean blue to a deep verdant. Her complexion changed rapidly as her face hued to the beautiful emerald green colour. Before I could do anything. She jumped up to me, instincts grabbed her as her lips made contact with mine. Arms constantly expanding around me as eventually I had to put her down as her height matched mine. We pulled away as her hair grew and broke out of the hair bubble as it cascaded down her side, shifting from red to that deep familiar green. She embraced me once more as we closed our eyes. Her grip tightening around me as her force pulled me close. Finally everything fell away and we stood, two gamma girls in one perfect moment. The End.

#2 - Laura's Lunch Laura looked sceptical about the burger-shaped fritter staring back at her in its plain bun. Taking a tentative sniff of the fried mushroom burger substitute, she grimaced with disappointment. Since making the switch to vegetarian, Laura, like with most things, had thrown herself fully into it. Posters, books, social media groups, mailing lists - she’d ticked off every trope of a true eco-warrior, even down to the little veggie-shaped plushies lined up on her office desk. And what had been the reward? Laura sighed. Aside from the teasing from her colleagues, she hadn't shed a single pound in 3 whole weeks. Laura looked down at her chubby figure in her woolly turtleneck. The little paunch of her belly sagged further as she slumped in her chair, eventually protesting against the waist of her jeans. She reached down and popped open the top button - the office was empty at lunchtime - and the soft bulge spilled outwards in relief. Where was all the extra energy, the