Chapter 2: 2: Dissolves Salt

The water was cold. It burned with cold. Luke felt his lungs shrink and push air out through his nose and mouth. The shock hit him. He couldn’t tell which way was up. He forced his eyes to open, despite the sting of the salt, to look for the surface of the water. He flailed his arms to get the seaweed –no– long hair? out of his face. His muscles moved, his arms swept automatically, but there was something about the freezing water: he lost his sense of form, his fingers weren’t quite where they were meant to be, his biceps were out ahead but they were brushing his… His chest? His feet didn’t move water as much as they should. He must have been sinking as he struggled, he felt his hip touch rough stone that he figured was the bottom. He realised he was sideways, moved one leg over the other to right himself –something strange in that motion too– and kicked towards the light.

 

The air hit his hair and made it heavy before it hit his mouth and made it sting. He could taste blood and salt, he couldn’t see past his long hair –He didn’t have long hair– He swept it out of his face with a narrow finger for a brief second before putting his slender hand back to work treading water. He spun his head faster than he could see, whipping his hair behind him. He gave a strong kick that lifted him out of the water all the way down to the –the nipple? The breast? Before the weight of his sodden t-shirt pulled him back down. He saw cliff ahead, turn, more cliff, turn, he saw the lip of the rock and kicked formlessly. His arms pulled water back in quick narrow breaststroke. Instinct tethered them close to his core for warmth; his will pushed them away to pull water.

 

His hand touched rock, Katie grabbed his wrist and pulled. She was strong and he was lighter than he had been, but his clothes were sodden with water. His determination made him pull with his other hand, his waist scraped close to the rough rock but didn’t break skin. Something must have cut him though, the pool was pink with blood. His feet scrambled to push him over, fully onto damp land. When he got to his knees he felt the pain hit. In every part of his body he felt stretched, shrunk, broken and re-fused.

 

He vomited. Katie grabbed his new hair and crouched down beside him, her soft skirt brushed his side. He spat saltwater and blood until retching didn’t bring anything up, then he collapsed on to her lap and cried.

 

"Aw, there-there poppet, I know it hurts but it's ok, it's ok, shh" Katie comforted him over the sound of the sea and his unfamiliar sobs "I know, I know it hurts".

 

They stayed there, water spraying Katie from the sea and pooling up on her skirt, for a long time. Luke’s new body shivered under her hands. After Luke quieted a little she handed him a smartie and told him to eat. She reached into her bag and pulled back out the hand mirror.

 

“Ok pet, I know you’re still hurt, and cold, and this is going to be another big shock, but I did what I just did for a reason. I need you to look at yourself.” She put the mirror in front of herself, turned Luke’s damp head away from her stomach and towards the mirror. His stinging eyes took a second to unblur, to focus at the two women in the mirror. Katie and… and someone. He saw Katie and he saw a crying, soaking woman with Blonde hair and a nose like his mother’s -like his nose?. He saw, he saw her, and she saw herself back.

 

“Katie? Who is..? Who am..? Thank you!” she sobbed in a raw, new voice. and collapsed again.

 

Katie was unsure what to make of that. She hadn’t had that reaction before. Usually she’d explain while the mirror shock set in. Luke seemed to be handling it strangely. She soldiered on; she still wanted to keep control of the situation.

 

“There are certain powers at play here Luke. What just happened to you wasn't just a cold swim, it was a magical event. Do you understand? I need you to nod if you do.”

 

Luke shivered and nodded. Katie gave her another smartie.

 

“Ok, do you understand that you look very different now? And that you’ll sound different when you speak? Say you understand.”

 

“I… I do… thank you!” Luke said; hot tears cooling, gaining composure.

 

Katie laughed nervously “Um… you’re welcome I suppose? That’s not how I thought you’d react. I am true to my word, you can register tomorrow, and you can be eligible for the woman’s bursary if you run like this every week. It wears off in two low tides, about a day, and it’ll be sore in the other direction too, but you can be a boy again Sunday through Friday…”

 

“No.” Luke shook her red blotchy face, felt her teeth start to chatter.

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“Ok, ok poppet, if you never want to do that again that’s ok too, but you can’t register as Luke like that, so we can come up with an excuse for you to drop out of this and that’ll be that. But I think you’ll feel better about this after some tea and dry clothes. Come let’s see Hannah, she does live close” Katie moved to stand, and help Luke to her feet.

 

“N-no that’s not what I…” he said, and thought “Come on it’s now or never, you have to tell her you shivering coward.”

 

 “I d-d-don’t w-want to g-g-go back tomorrow. I w-want this, I have for a long time, th-this exact-t–t-th-thing. Do you under-understand? You can nod your head if you do now.”

 

“Oh” Katie wanted to be in control of this, but she was on the back foot “Oh!” she nodded. “That’s ok, I’m sorry you had to go through that.” She was going to continue but she was cut off.

 

“Oh-k-k-kay, thank you, k-k-can I get warm now?” said L, getting to her feet, lifting her sodden clothes.

 

“Yes, yes you can. I haven't lied to you, not really.” Katie followed her in standing up, she swapped her mirror for a phone and sent a text. “Ok, it’s just a little further. Hannah will meet us on the way”.

 

They walked slowly, Luke leaning on Katie. Luke’s heart was beating hard, she was barely lighter physically, but in her chest she felt an anxiety that made her feel like she could float away. They came to a set of steps where a woman Katie’s age was waiting with a towel. She half-ran over to them when they limped four-leggedly into view, and threw it over Luke.

 

“Awh” Hannah clicked her tongue “I missed the fun part! How was it? I don’t ken how you looked before but you make a fine lassie!”

 

“Th-Th-Thank you!”

 

“Taking it better than me I see, let’s get you in, you look awfie cold.”

 

Hannah led them up the stone steps, unlatched an old wooden gate, and pushed open the door to a small stone house.

“In you go. Don’t worry about the carpet. Theresagirl- oh sorry is that alright? Theresaboy I suppose if it makes you feel any better. Right through here, this way, here’s the bathroom, we’ll give you some time to get acquainted with yourself, won’t we Katie?”

 

“Of course, Thank you Hannah, and… Luke? This didn’t quite go how I planned; I’m used to being the villain. I hope you can forgive me.” Katie sighed.

 

Luke took a silent step past onto the linoleum, closed the door, and twisted the lock an eighth-turn closed. She gave a small pull to check it was locked, stripped her heavy clothes off, struggled removing her laces with her clawed-cold hands before just kicking them off her too-small feet. Her awareness stayed always on the next thing, the careful step over the edge of the bathtub, the button on the shower, frantically turning the dial towards blue as the modest heat of the shower felt scalding on her feet. Slowly, as she stood there cranking the temperature by degrees at a time, she came a wider awareness: she was in a strange woman’s shower; she was a she; she was alone and getting warm again; there was a mirror in the bathroom with a girl in it; she was that girl; she was pretty; she had all the parts and curves she’d expect from the reflection, and they were pretty too; her hair was the same blonde colour, her face had the same tight angular shape she’d grown into but softened at the jaw and more slender; she was a she; she was a girl; she was a girl.

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