Stuck in a Rut - Part 1.

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a little warning, chapter 1 may be a little dry, because of exposition. But I hope that can be fixed in the next chapters.
Also, I love comments, and am very nervous - since this is my first time putting anything out for review or critique. Also, if you want to play in my Rutverse sandbox, feel free to drop me a message with questions before you write your story.

Stuck in a Rut.
By Rosalie Redd
Casey Church was a normal 13 year old boy, full of hopes and dreams and fears and anxieties. But in a world where there hadn’t been a girl born in over a century, what was normal?

Chapter 1.

Of course I’m nervous. First day of school and all. But it’s not just that. Not that entering 9th grade isn’t a major milestone in life. I’m a high-schooler. Yay me.

No, the uncertainty isn’t about that. All summer, I tried to avoid the inevitable. I stayed in and did a lot of reading and playing video games. I know mom was concerned, but I just can’t face it yet. So here I am, in class, waiting for the bell to ring. Looking around, I look for faces I know, and I study those that I don’t. There are 25 of us, myself and 20 other boys make up the front of the classroom. In the back of the room, huddled together sit the girls, four of them. They look around nervously, I wonder if they are afraid of us, or afraid of being recognized.

Snapping me out of my funk was the fact that the teacher entered and slammed a book down loudly on the desk. We all looked up, as he started to write on the chalkboard.

“My name is Mr. Hedges”, He said.

Mr. Hedges wasn’t a very big man, perhaps my height, at about 5’7”. He was balding, and had a rather substantial paunch. His brown hair hair was thinning, and speckled with gray. He started roll, and I really didn’t pay attention until I heard my name.

“Casey James Church?”, He inquired looking around the classroom.

I held up my hand and responded with a half-hearted “Here!”

As soon as he moved on, I was back in my head. I glanced around, thinking. There were the 4 girls, still looking nervous. I noticed that I wasn’t the only one looking their direction. The other boys were glancing around at them. Some with interest, some, like me with anxiety or nervousness.

Concluding the roll, Mr. Hedges looked up. “Welcome to World History 1, we will be getting to the normal curriculum tomorrow. For today we will be discussing a matter of great concern to those of your ages. Some of you have already experienced the results.”, He said looking towards the back of the class at the girls. “For those who haven’t, The school board insists that we take the opportunity to discuss with all incoming freshmen the history and the ramifications of the ‘Occurrence’ and the resulting impact on humanity.”

Oh great. I tuned Hedges out again. I knew all about the event that was dubbed the “Occurrence”, we all did. Nobody knows the cause exactly. Some blame a meteorite strike that happened in Siberia in 1908, others say it was the Earth passing through the tail of Halley’s Comet in 1910. All that’s really known is that in the first decade of the 20th century birthrates took a sudden decline. Eventually the birthrate fell to zero, and there was global panic that it was the end of the world.

The major religions declared the end of days, and that it was divine punishment for humanity’s sins. There was mass confusion and talk about the Rapture. It wasn’t until much later that it was discovered that the cause of the decline was the mass sterility of the entire original female population of the world.

It was only a couple years later when the strangeness began. Globally teen males around the world were exhibiting strange behavior. Boys around the ages of 13-16 were suddenly exhibiting homosexual pairing. Even the most staunchly heterosexual males would suddenly ignore the females in their community and go out of their way to seek a same-sex mate. After having sex, one of the pair would begin to show physical changes, usually beginning 5-7 days later.
Within a few months, the individual would be completely female, and able to get pregnant and bear male children.

Of course back then science hadn’t yet discovered the reasons for these changes. The fundamental nature of the change mean that many religions were starting to lose credibility. After centuries of spouting propaganda about how “homosexuality was evil”, they were faced with the reality that now homosexual acts were now required for humanity’s survival.

I looked up to see what Hedges was talking about, he was droning on about the wars that the change had caused.

“When Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914 by Serbian conspiracy theorists that purported Austro-Hungarian scientists had released a virus that caused the changes, war broke out. World War I lasted for almost 4 years, and decimated the economies of many nations.

With conflicts simmering around the world, and countries trying to grab back territory lost to the m in WWI, a new presence on the global scene would once again stir things up in 1939. Adolph Hitler, leader of the Nazi party, declared that humanity was now impure, and that along with what he deemed ‘lesser races’, anyone that embraced the new biological imperatives were an ‘abomination’, needing resources and test subjects for his researchers, he invaded Poland, setting off another World War.”

I tuned him out again. I know all this. We ALL know all this. But the grown-ups have to be grown-ups and tell us how it is.

It wasn’t until the 1950’s when a team of French scientists discovered the catalyst for the transformations. They won a Nobel Prize for it, even. Apparently when you hit puberty, you start to produce strong pheromones. No, you don’t stink. You don’t even smell it. But a potential mate will, on some subconscious level.

-Shudder-

Then their unique scent changes in response. Oh god oh god oh god… I don’t want to think about this.
Not about the mating frenzy that follows, or about the uncontrollable desire to have sex. I’m afraid. I don’t want to end up a girl. I don’t want to change. But it might happen. If I’m the one that ends up um… taking it in the end, I’m the one that’s gonna be changed. I’m so scared. I’m not big, If my … if he’s bigger, he’ll want to be the man. So I’ll be the one helpless as he fucks my ass. I’ll be the one taking in the enzymes in his cum. He’ll be safe. When he does it to me, his DNA will lock and keep him a boy. I’ll be the one that’s stuck.

Nearing panic and almost hyperventilating, I almost miss that the bell has rung. Wobbling out of the classroom, I stop and lean against the wall. So far, so good right? I mean why am.. am I panicking?
I won’t be 14 for another 5 weeks, I could hit my growth spurt, and I could be safe. I mean Mom is tall. Maybe I won’t take after Dad. I hope I don’t take after him.
The next couple periods passed by in a blur, and I managed to calm down. Maybe it wouldn’t happen today, and if not today, maybe I was safe for a while. Being a freshman, I knew I was at the bottom of the food chain. I wasn’t a jock. I was 5’7”, and scrawny. No muscle mass to speak of. I was plain. Brown eyes and hair, a face that was a little too angular to be attractive. I wasn’t geeky enough to fit in with the geeks or the nerds. Yeah, I enjoyed the usual teen activities, but I wasn’t good at any one thing to fit into that clique. I was resigned to sitting by myself. Maybe that was a good thing.

I looked at my sandwich and sat, concentrating on the peanutty goodness. I noticed the shadow cast over me by the person that came over, but I pretended to be enthralled in the smooth creamy texture, and the crunchy pieces of peanut. That’s when she cleared her throat.

“I’m sorry to disturb you, I saw you sitting alone. Would you like some company, Casey?”, she said in a quiet voice. I looked up at the girl. She was kind of cute. Freckles dotted her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. Her dark blonde hair was short and kind of shaggy, like she was growing it out. I looked at her soft, round face, and big blue eyes. She knew me, and I apparently knew her from somewhere.

I looked up at her, and stuttered. “I...I’m sorry, do I know you?”

She blushed and smiled wistfully. “I’m sorry, I should have introduced myself. I’m Janie Bond.”

The hamster in my brain hopped on its exercise wheel and got to work. “Wait, Bond.. as in...”

“Yeah, well at least I don’t have to put up with all the 007 jokes any more”, she said with a slightly sad smile.

I motioned for her to sit down. I had known James casually since third grade, we were friendly, but not exactly best friends. I looked her over as she sat down. She was slightly shorter than I was, whereas James had had a couple inches on me, the last time I had seen him. I tried not to notice too much, but I’m a warm-blooded teenager, you look at these things. She was starting to come into her curves. Not a beanpole, but not exactly an hourglass figure either.

“When… how… who?” I stammered on like an idiot, apparently. She didn’t seem to mind too much. She just sighed in a sad way.

“You know Paul Bettany, right?”, she admitted. Everyone knew Paul. Already over 6” tall, Paul had been a local terror and bully to all the kids in the neighborhood, me included. Many was the time he had extorted money from me, or picked me up and dropped me in a dumpster.

She sighed and continued. “It was this summer. I ran into him one day, just after the end of school. I thought he was going to threaten me, so I ran from him, but when he got close, he started to act strange. I didn’t understand at first, but then I started to feel funny. He caught up to me, and I didn’t want to run away any more. We snuck off together to the orchards near McCurry Park. It was so intense, we couldn’t keep our hands off each other.. or our lips… It wasn’t like anything I’ve ever experienced. When we finished stripping each other, he… he did it. I couldn’t get him to stop, but I also didn’t want to stop. I begged him to be gentle, and to not do it. But he laughed as he pinned me to the ground and did it.”

I handed her my napkin, and she wiped away a tear.

“Afterwards, he left me there alone. I was so ashamed. Why did my first time have to be him?”, she lamented.

I gave her a little hug and offered her my oatmeal cookie, which she happily accepted.

“I ran into him a few days later, and questioned him about it. He told me that ‘He was a real man, and that he had hoped he would get someone like me, so he could stay a real man’. After that, I went to visit my aunt in Colorado, and stayed until my change was done. I only got home a few days ago.”, she smiled at me.

“Thanks for listening to me, it actually helped”, she said in an appreciative voice. The rest of lunch went by as we sat and talked about more mundane things. I was glad that Jam.. er.. Janie felt better, but my own fears and apprehensions crept back to the surface.

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Comments

A good start...

The storyline is interesting. Casey's fearful of changing and having sex with another boy and being the one to become female. Janie Bond speaks to Casey and finds relief in doing it.
I would wonder if I were Casey, how she now feels about being female.
Nice first offering. Please continue the story.

Hugs, Jessie C

Jessica E. Connors

Jessica Connors

Great concept, good start...

Donna T's picture

So far, so good. It will be fun to see where you are taking us. Keep writing...

Donna

a very cool idea

interesting start, and welcome to Big Closet

DogSig.png

Looking forward to more

of this story, I would like to find out more about Jamie and what caused her change.

Janie's change.

I'll explain the fake science of it later, but essentially. Those that are penetrated anally become the girls, and those that do it have their DNA structure lock, so they won't be changed. So in Jamie's case, the bully forced that result. And that's also what Casey is scared of happening.

You got me with...

You got me with the Sci-fi aspect of it :)

I like how you have laid out the story so far, yes it was a lot of exposition but you did it in a way that kept the readers attention. I can't wait to see how the plot continues :)

We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.

Oh God...

This story is going to end up being toxic masculinity on steroids isn't it?

I know who I am, I am me, and I like me ^^
Transgender, Gamer, Little, Princess, Therian and proud :D

No cure?

Jamie Lee's picture

What better way to cause world panic, aside of impact by a killer asteroid, than have zero births? But is it total zero births in all living organisms or just humans?

Yeah, they figure out the cause after the horses are out of the barn, and give them a medal for what? The discovery but not the way to reverse it? Let's all slap each other on our backs, we now know why it happens but not how to reverse it. Yeah us!

Janie didn't ease Casey's fears with her story, just caused them to increase. With the change possible, and fear rampant, it's a wonder more don't take their own lives. With all the fear Casey feels, and his not wanting to change, he shows a more desire to live and face what may, than end it all.

But since what initially occurs is olfactory, has anyone every thought of using nose filters to prevent the pheromones from being detected? Or wear a clothespin?

Others have feelings too.

It only occurs in humans.

other species are unaffected. As for nose plugs, I'm sure people have tried, and some with success. but it comes down to biological imperative. The "I'm so fucking horny, and I gotta scratch the itch" issue. So they might just remove the nose plugs out of sexual frustration.

Love This Story

I love this story, I'm up to chapter 41, but thought I would leave a comment on the first chapter since my thoughts are general and not to a particular chapter. Anyway, the thing that bugs me is how this society has failed to adjust to this phenomenon. Its been going on for awhile and it seems the schools haven't made any accommodations, especially when it is happening to its students. I also find the prejudice difficult since every father has likely married a woman who used to be a man. I can understand it and the toxic masculinity and fear, but would have thought the society by now would have learned to deal better and maybe even promote the idea of changing as a good and necessary thing for the survival of the species.

Anyway, those are just my thoughts, but I am thoroughly enjoying the story.

J

Mostly...

The prejudice in this has been racial, but yes, there are toxic males. 110 years (or so) isn't going to miraculously fix this society. Hell, our own society still has these issues. I could get a job equal to a man, and get paid less for it. People still rape women, we are treated as the weaker sex.
How much worse would it be in a society where some people equate not being a strong male to justification to take their masculinity away permanently?

Right You Are

You know, somehow I had forgotten that the prejudice against Casey from DeShaun's father was racial rather than related to the change. Still the kids undergoing the change aren't treated with respect and the boys fear being changed. I understand that being changed from who you have always been will frighten anyone.

I still figure 110 years there should be more in place to support these kids.

But don't mind me, keep on with this story. I'm loving it.

J

mmmmm

I could get stuck on this!

alissa