Calling Home The New World of SwapTech chapter 6 by deleted_user

The rest stop was an island of bustling noise in a sea of rural silence. Jay, now in his oversized "Got Fuel?" t-shirt, stood in the parking lot, his phone to his ear, his heart pounding. The number on the screen was his wife, Brenda. He had to call her. He had to tell her what happened. He had to tell her he was okay.

The line rang once, twice, and then a familiar voice, his wife’s, answered.

“Hello?” Brenda’s voice was tired, a little annoyed.

“Brenda, it’s me,” he said, his voice a sultry, throaty alto. “It’s Jay.”

A beat of silence. Then, a sharp, skeptical laugh. “Who is this? Are you with Jay? This is Brenda.”

“It’s really me, honey! I swear. I… something happened to me. I’m not in my own body.”

Brenda laughed again, this time with more force. “Tell Jay to stop playing games. I’m tired, I’ve got two kids to deal with, and he’s supposed to be on the road. What is this, some kind of prank?”

“It’s not a prank!” Jay insisted, his new voice a little too loud, a little too desperate. “I’m a woman now! I’m in a truck stop bathroom and… I’m a woman. I don’t know why, but I am!”

Another pause. Then, a sigh. “Look, I don’t know who you are, but you have the wrong number. My husband’s on the road, and he’s not a woman.” She hung up.

Jay stared at his phone, his heart sinking. She didn't believe him. He called her back.

She answered on the first ring. “Don’t call this number again. I’m calling the police.”

“Brenda, wait!” he pleaded, his voice cracking. “It’s me! I know you don’t believe me, but please, just listen. I know things. Things that only we know. I know you hide my favorite coffee mug on the top shelf so I can’t reach it. I know you hate when I leave my socks on the floor. I know you’re the one who ate the last slice of pizza last night and blamed it on the kids.”

Another silence. This one was longer.

“How… how do you know that?” she said, her voice a whisper.

“Because it’s me! I’m a woman now, I swear. I don’t know why, but I am. Please, you have to believe me.”

Brenda’s voice was still skeptical, but there was a hint of fear in it now. “Where are you?”

“I’m at a rest stop. The Roadhouse. I’m in the… men’s bathroom.”

“The men’s bathroom? Why are you in the men’s bathroom?”

As if on cue, the door to the men’s room creaked open, and a burly, bearded trucker with a greasy face stepped inside. He saw Jay, his eyes going wide with surprise.

“Hey, honey,” the trucker said, a smirk spreading across his face. “You lost? This here’s the men’s room.”

Jay ignored him. “I’m a man, Brenda!” he said into the phone, his voice a desperate hiss. “I’m a man and this is my only sanctuary! You have to believe me!”

The trucker walked over to a urinal and unzipped his pants. He turned to Jay, a lecherous glint in his eyes.

“You know, you’re too pretty to be in a place like this,” he said. “Maybe you should come hang out with a real man.”

“Get out of here,” Jay said, his voice a low growl. “Leave me alone.”

The trucker just laughed. “Feisty, ain’t you? I like that in a woman.”

Jay took a step back, his phone still clutched to his ear. The trucker was a giant, a hulking menace. Jay felt a wave of fear, a feeling he hadn’t had in years. He was no longer a man. He was no longer a threat. He was a woman, and he was completely and utterly vulnerable.

“Brenda, please,” he whispered into the phone, his voice trembling. “You have to believe me. This is real. This is really happening.”

Brenda’s voice was softer now, filled with a raw, dawning terror. “Jay… what’s happening? Is there… is there someone else in there?”

“Yeah,” Jay said, his voice barely a whisper. “A trucker.”

“Get out of there!” Brenda screamed. “Right now! Get out!”

Jay hung up the phone. He just couldn’t talk anymore. He had to get out of here. He had to get out of this bathroom, away from this trucker, and find a way to get back to his old life. He just hoped his wife believed him. He hoped he wasn’t alone in this.