The Phenomenon - Ch.3 - Day 5, 6:30pm (Patreon)

The four of us sat around the kitchen table eating dinner, while the news-girls kept talking on the TV. Mom and dad refused to turn it off, despite how depressing it got at times.

Some of the news was grim. Very grim. The last five days had seen a massive spike in suicides. Mostly among former-men, but a few women as well. Folks who couldn't deal with it, who couldn't accept the way everything changed.

In addition, there were reports of violence from all over the world. There'd been loads of riots as well as a spike in domestic violence. Almost every country had implemented curfews and lock-downs, some even went as far as declaring martial law as authorities tried to keep society from falling apart completely. Or at least, that's how they made it sound on the TV news. They tended to sensationalize everything, and this was no exception.

We had some tension here at home too, but nothing that bad. Dad started sleeping in the guest room, since mom wasn't comfortable sharing her bed with 'another girl'. This was despite dad insisting he was still a guy regardless what he looked like. And mom still called him James, she still used he/him pronouns for him and everything, but it just felt like lip service since she'd stopped treating him as a man, as her husband.

Me and Kevin could both tell how hurt dad was that mom basically refused to acknowledge he was still a man, and it upset us almost as much as it upset dad.

As for my own situation, both my parents deadnamed and misgendered me for the first two days. Then Monday at dinner I'd had enough and finally put my foot down about it. I was surprised and grateful that Kevin backed me up. I figured we kind of bonded over the haircut thing Sunday morning, and he was determined to stand up for me as a girl since I helped him feel like he was still a guy.

The four of us had one prolonged argument on the subject at dinner on Monday, but in the end mom and dad both finally backed down. Now they were actually starting to call me Callie, which made me happy. They weren't ready to call me their daughter, and they misgendered me a few more times, but they were slowly starting to use my new pronouns as well as my new name.

I had a gulp of my cola then asked "Hey dad? Any word yet about going back to work?"

Sunday night he got an email from his boss saying the place would be closed until further notice so he shouldn't come in. That seemed to be the case for a lot of people. The news girls talked about the ongoing state of emergency and stay-at-home order. 

Anyone who wasn't working in an 'essential service' was told to remain home. Schools and colleges were closed until further notice as well, so I unpacked all my stuff again Sunday afternoon. Not that any of it fit anymore.

Dad shook his head, "No. And based on what they're saying now, it might be another week or two before things even start getting back to normal."

That was a phrase I didn't like to hear. I knew he was referring to stuff like the economy, but a lot of people were using it to mean like everyone would turn back to their old selves. Literally half the news was about that now, and I went quiet as I glanced at the TV again.

"...Minister of Health gave assurances at a press conference earlier today that our top scientists are working on the situation, trying to understand the phenomenon and find a solution..."

The news cut to an excerpt of the press conference, where a nineteen year old girl in a man's business suit stood talking at a podium, surrounded by other cute girls in suits. The minister addressed a room full of cute girl reporters, and I still wasn't used to how surreal that was.

"Our top scientists are working to understand the situation. Obviously given the enormity of what's happened we cannot give any sort of ETA as to when we can expect a break-through. But we want to assure members of the public we are working tirelessly to find a solution. We've got people working across the country and in conjunction with doctors and scientists around the world. Several volunteers have come forward to help with the studies..."

That was another thing that almost made me laugh. It took three full days before mainstream news media remembered that trans people existed. Then the news broke about trans men being unaffected. The reactions to that weren't so funny, as some people were predictably outraged that the only men left were trans guys. 

At least some scientists weren't stupid about it, they started asking for volunteers among the trans masc communities, to find out why they were immune to the phenomenon. So you had unchanged young girls and unchanged trans men being studied by scientists to figure out what they had in common that made them immune to whatever happened.

There were also a whole lot of crackpot theories. Like it was magic, or aliens, or God did it, or it was a secret government plot, or the lizard people who ruled the world, or it was a government virus but it was released by accident. 

My favourite crackpot theory was the USA developed a secret genetic feminizing virus and tried to unleash it on an enemy nation, like to disrupt them and make them easy targets or something, except it went out of control and affected everybody. There were a hundred holes in that theory but the biggest was even people who were extremely remote and isolated were affected, and it hit everyone at the same time. Like scientists at the south pole and astronauts on the ISS changed just like everybody else.

My second-favourite was one I heard the other day on Discord. It was the usual friend-of-a-friend sort of nonsense, but a story was making the rounds about a drunk trans girl with a magic lantern and an over-eager genie. According to that story she wished everyone was a cute hot young girl, except trans dudes since she didn't want to mess things up for her trans brothers. At least that aspect of the story actually fit reality.

What was kind of wild and a little bit scary was the scientists and authorities hadn't been able to come up with anything that was any more believable than the crackpot theories. Like when you looked at the reality of what actually happened, how else could you explain almost eight billion people all physically changing at the same exact moment? It may as well have been aliens or lizard people or God or magic.

The cute government minister was still talking, but he switched to speaking French for the next part of the conference so Dad muted the TV for now.

"Do you think they'll find a cure?" Kevin asked.

The thought turned my stomach, but if I said what was on my mind I'd probably just freak everyone out. 

Dad sighed and slowly shook his head. He obviously wasn't hopeful. 

"Of course they will Kevin," mom stated. "Every scientist in the world is working on this. They'll fix it, don't you worry."

After that, the four of us ate quietly for the next few minutes. 

Eventually I broke the silence as I asked, "Do you think any stores will be open? I really need to buy some clothes that fit. Especially undies and bras. And I desperately need shoes."

Mom shook her head, "Most stores are still closed because of the lockdown. Grocery stores, pharmacies, a few places like that are open, but that's all."

Kevin added, "Online shopping still works but I was looking today? Everything's out of stock, like everybody's been ordering new clothes. About the only thing left in stock is the stuff that won't fit anyone now."

He added, "I looked on the second-hand sites too? You can find stuff there but the prices are outrageous. Like six hundred dollars for a pair of track pants."

I grimaced, then pointed out "At least you didn't shrink that much. Most of your clothes still fit, just tighten your belt and you're good."

"I still need shoes sis. And..." Kevin blushed as his voice trailed off. Finally he muttered, "I need underwear. Nothing fits right anymore."

Nobody would say it but he really needed some bras as well. He probably knew that too but couldn't bring himself to admit it. 

After a few minutes I got another idea and asked, "Mom? You used to sew right? Could you teach me how to do alterations? At least I could take in some of my pants and cut the legs shorter and stuff like that."

Mom gave me a funny look, but nodded "Ok Callie. It's been a while, but I still have my machine down in the basement. Maybe we can do that after dinner."

"Thanks mom," I said with a smile.

Dad stayed quiet through that part of the conversation. He seemed almost as uncomfortable with the topic as Kevin did.

The bottom line was all four of us needed new clothes. Even mom's old stuff didn't fit her right anymore. We all needed shoes and underwear and bras and everything else. So far we'd been making do with what we had and none of us had really left the house. Mom went out for groceries the other day but that was it.

I hadn't really heard from any of my high-school friends either. Everybody was just staying quiet, staying home, and dealing with things on their own. Not that I was very social before anyways. That was one thing that hadn't changed for me, most of my social interaction was online before and still was now. 

And talking with other trans girls online, the same sorts of scenarios were playing out with them and their families. They were happy and coping well, their families were freaking out and just barely hanging on.

When we finished eating, mom asked dad and Kevin to do the dishes while she and I got the sewing stuff out of the basement. Mom ended up lugging the machine up the stairs while I carried the storage bin full of all the related knickknacks. 

That was another thing me and dad were both getting used to. We were small petite cute girls, and we'd both lost a lot of strength along with our height. I was the one who put mom's sewing machine in the basement for her a few years ago, and I could carry it one-handed. Now I could barely lift the thing with both hands. 

Mom set the machine up on the dining room table, then she started going through the storage bin she had me carry up. She had a few dozen spools of thread, special scissors, pins and needles and all that stuff. And she had a bunch of old patterns in there too. While she took inventory I ran upstairs and grabbed a few sacrificial articles of clothing to get started on, then hurried back down. 

One thing I'd already learned though, running down the stairs sucked. Running in general could be painful, at least until I got some bras. It was embarrassing but the only alternative was to hold my boobs still and I couldn't do that with my hands full.

Back in the dining-room mom and I got started. First she got out a measuring tape and took all my new measurements, which was a wild experience. My height, waist, hips, bust, outer and inner leg length, everything. She wrote it all down on a piece of paper, then we started with a pair of jeans I'd brought. 

Mom showed me how to measure and trim the leg, how to properly turn in the hem then finally we stitched it on the machine. 

Next she got out a tool she called a seam-ripper, and basically butchered the top half of the pants. Then she put them back together with pins first and got me to carefully try them on and everything.

That was an awkward and slightly terrifying experience. I was still going commando and I was not happy about having so many pins around my sensitive unprotected flesh. And even though mom looked away it was still embarrassing being half naked in front of her.

Things worked out ok though, and I survived the ordeal with my dignity and my body intact. Mom made some adjustments to how the pants were pinned, then we started stitching them back together again. Finally all the pins came out and I tried them on again.

"Wow!" I exclaimed with a wide smile. "Thanks mom this is amazing!"

I actually had a pair of blue jeans that fit me. They weren't the cutest things in the world, the legs were way too loose, but at least they were the right length and they fit my hips, butt, and waist properly.

Mom was still kind of awkward about the whole thing but she was obviously pleased that I was happy. "You're welcome hon. Now let's see if we can take in a t-shirt, and you'll have at least one outfit that fits."

I grinned as the two of us got back to work again.