The Portal of Possibilities

As my hands brushed against the strange metal device, I looked over to Aaron. His face was twisted in confusion. He had no idea what I was doing. I don't know why I thought it would be a good idea but as soon as he left to go get food, I picked it up and turned it on.

"Aaron," I said as a small smile crept across my lips, "meet Fiona."

He looked at me with a blank expression for what seemed like an eternity before he spoke. "What?"

"I'm Fiona now," I said with a little more confidence than I actually felt.

"You're serious? How did that happen? And why?"

I sighed as if I had been waiting to tell him my long-awaited secret for years. "Well, remember that magic shop we went to last December? The one with all of those weird trinkets and stuff?"

"Yeah," he replied hesitantly with a cautious nod. "What about it?"

"Well, apparently there's this thing in the backroom, and when you touch it, you turn into the opposite gender. Well, not exactly opposite; they say you become your perfect self."

He stared blankly at me again.

"Why would you want to do that?" He finally managed to ask once his brain caught up with his mouth. "Why would anyone want to do that?"

A simple shrug was all he got from me. The truth was, I didn't know why either. Of course, when we were kids, we all wanted to be something different sometimes; when we were sick of being ourselves or whenever life just felt too mundane and boring, but rarely did any of us ever think seriously about making that change permanent by turning into someone else. It was always just a passing fad most of us outgrew before high school even started. But then again, I wasn't just some kid anymore and maybe that's why it seemed so appealing now. It would be nice not to have this debilitating disease holding me back anymore - not that Aaron knew about that part yet.

I'd already made my decision though and there was no changing it now, so instead of trying to convince Aaron of anything further, I simply stated plainly: "Well then, enjoy your food."

As he ate his food in silence while looking at me in confusion from time to time, I sat down beside the device and turned it on again with a trembling hand. The screen flashed bright white before returning to normal and flashing the words *staring* again in bold green font across its surface before fading away into nothingness. I waited patiently for another flash but when none came after several minutes, I reached out timidly towards the machine without thinking twice about what might happen next. When my fingers touched the cold surface of the screen, everything went dark around me - really dark - almost pitch black except for some faint traces of pale blue light emanating from where my body used to be standing moments ago as well as some soft white lights blinking slowly around me like distant stars in space or flashing paparazzi cameras during some big Hollywood premiere event. Then suddenly it all went hazy and fuzzy for a moment before settling down into place: Aaron sitting on his couch eating his Chinese food while reading something on his tablet computer and me sitting beside him - wearing what used to be his clothes and looking like - well - myself!

My hands flew up to my face and gingerly traced over my jawline from earlobe to chin until they stopped at my lips where they lingered for a moment until Finley's kind voice echoed through my mind: 'It should be perfect!'