Our TG Caption

The rest of the afternoon crawls by with an agonizing slowness. Every unexpected sound – a car backfiring, a child laughing too loudly – sends a jolt of anxiety through you and Ben. You both find yourselves subconsciously checking your reflections in the glass doors of Ben's house, looking for any sign of shrinking hands or a softening of your features.
Alex, on the other hand, seems completely unfazed by the potential implications for the two of you. She's busy recounting memories of elementary school, marveling at how "big" everything in Ben's house seems now. She even tries to convince Ben's kids to teach her the latest playground games.
As the sun begins to dip below the horizon, casting long shadows across the backyard, Ben's wife suggests that Alex stay the night. "It's getting late, and frankly," she says with a sigh, "I'm not sure what else we can do." Alex beams, readily accepting the offer.
You decide it's best for you to head home. The uncertainty is suffocating, and being in your own familiar surroundings feels like the only semblance of control you have left. Ben walks you to the curb, his face etched with worry.
"So," he says quietly, "what do you think the chances are?"
You shrug, feeling a knot of dread tightening in your stomach. "Honestly? I have no idea. It could happen tonight, tomorrow, next week... or maybe never for us. That's the terrifying part."
"Yeah," Ben agrees, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's like waiting for a bomb to go off, but you don't know when or where."
You say your goodbyes, a sense of unease hanging heavy in the air. The drive home is filled with anxious thoughts. Will you wake up tomorrow as a child? A teenager? Will you still be you, or will the de-aging process somehow alter your memories and personality?
You arrive at your house and step inside, the silence amplifying your worries. You look around at your belongings, each item a marker of your adult life. The books on your shelves, the photos on your walls, the comfortable armchair in the living room – will these things still be relevant if you suddenly find yourself decades younger?
You try to distract yourself, flipping through channels on the television, but the images flicker meaninglessly before your eyes. You consider calling other friends, but what would you even say? "Hey, remember that time we almost changed genders? Well, now one of us is a kid again, and we might be next!"
Eventually, exhaustion wins out, and you head to bed. As you lie in the darkness, the events of the day replay in your mind like a bizarre dream. The sweeping wave of light, the frantic search in the library, the ominous spell, and now Alex's unbelievable transformation.
Sleep comes fitfully, filled with strange and unsettling dreams of shrinking bodies and oversized furniture. You wake up several times during the night, each time half-expecting to find yourself smaller, younger, different.
The first rays of dawn creep through your window. You sit up in bed, your heart pounding, and tentatively look down at yourself. Your hands still look the same. Your body feels the same. You get out of bed and walk to the mirror, scrutinizing your reflection. The lines around your eyes are still there. The familiar contours of your face remain unchanged.
A wave of relief washes over you, so intense it almost makes you weak. You're still you. Still your adult self.
But the relief is quickly tempered by the knowledge that the day is young. The Arbitrary Abeyance means that the Wave, or its de-aging effect, could still strike at any moment. Alex's transformation is a stark reminder of the unpredictable nature of the spell.
You decide to call Ben. He answers on the third ring, his voice groggy.
"Hey," you say. "It's me. You... you still you?"
There's a pause on the other end. Then, a sigh of relief. "Yeah, man. Still the same old tired dad. No sudden growth spurts in reverse, thankfully."
"Good," you say, a small measure of the anxiety easing. "So... what now?"
"I don't know," Ben admits. "Keep an eye out, I guess? Maybe we should check in with each other regularly?"
You agree, the unspoken question hanging between you: who will be next, and what will they become? The distant memory of the Gender Wave has returned with a vengeance, not as a uniform planetary shift, but as a terrifyingly random and personal threat. The arbitrary abeyance has bought you time, but at a cost far stranger and more unsettling than you could have ever imagined. The day stretches before you, filled with an uncertain future and the lingering image of your friend, now a schoolgirl, eager to learn her fractions.